Your Path (Updated and reposted from 11/29/2015)

 

How do you cut a thing into one piece?

(This is a bit of "whatnot" from my mind.  Yeah, it confuses me, as well. If you can't understand it, delete it.  I will understand. It is what it is.) 

 

What is the "Way"?  "Ordinary mind" is the Way.  If you try to direct yourself toward it, you will go away from it.  Thus, it is with Zen. Thus, it is with life.

You must free your mind, to let your body create.

This is just that - a thought.  Like most of my thoughts, I need to consider that it makes little sense to anyone... but me.  I've been admonished, by several readers, for stating things too confusing for young people to understand.  I think, if we hadn't "grown up," we'd be able to understand so much more.  Most of us, it seems, would understand more and certainly be happier.

I get messages from people talking about their struggle to find their specific path in life.  They seem amazed when I laugh.  I tell them they are searching for something they already have.  

They want to find love, not realizing that initiating the search was letting everyone know they were available.  They want to be happy, not knowing they already are.  It is a choice.  They want to find God, not realizing God is already with them.  

The minute we took our first breath, we were already placed on our path.  With life, we were endowed with all we would ever need to make the most of it.  We spend most of our time trying to find what we haven't lost, and not nearly enough time recognizing we already have it.  Our minds are filled with greed, ambition, jealousy... the seven deadly sins.  We need to free our minds to allow ourselves to create.  Consider the adage, "Only the blind man truly sees."  

Your path (the Way) is not something you can know or not know - it just is.  It is confusing for many to be told, that, the "Way" that can be described, is not the eternal Way.  How do you describe the indescribable? 

  

What we see is only our perception of what we know, and what we know is so very insignificant to what is.  Confused?

Take a moment over the next few days, to empty your mind of all the "elephant shit" that clutters it, and consider the path you are on.  Empty your mind of all the greed, ambition, jealousy, and such.  For a moment in time, allow yourself to just be.  You might learn something.  And then, you might not.  

It is what it is.

How do you cut a thing into one piece?  Consider a terrorist who would cut a five-year-old child in half for not renouncing her faith.  Who is stronger, the terrorist with the sword, or the child with her faith?  The terrorist knows how to cut something in two, yet is lost as to how to cut something into one.  

Are we only that which we perceive, or... are we more? I wonder.

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch - it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions offered. After twenty-three years of military intelligence, I believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is a way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience... and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained in 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance, he chose the pen. He wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com