What if you're missing the purpose?

by journey-on 161 Replies latest jw friends

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  journey-on

  For those of you who espouse the philosophy that one needs to discard who we "think" we are and embrace the "reality" of who we really are, what if, there is a Divine purpose to our miniscule existence in the here and now and that purpose is to experience the pull of opposite forces (duality), and you are missing it by not allowing yourself to experience the ego self? What if you are missing the whole purpose of this pull of pain and joy by trying to suppress it or place yourself outside of it? The below is a short story sent to me by a friend and it is an example of what I'm inferring. Please give me your open-minded answers or thoughts because I am at a crossroad in my spiritual journey, and this particular subject is stumping me.

  THE BUTTERFLY:

  A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

  So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

  The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

  What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

  Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If god allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
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  bigdreaux

  i am reading a book right now called, ZEN and the art of happiness. it's by a guy named chris prentiss. what he says is, every experience in life you have, is the best possible thing that can happen to you. no matter what it is, i thought ,this guy is crazy. then, i read more, and he basically says what you are saying here, in that the struggles in our life are what make us who we are. the book goes into great detail explaining it, but, on a personal level, i thought about this. and sure enough, the worst things that happened in my life, wound up having great benefits.

  take, for example hurricane katrina. i lost EVERYTHING!!!!! my house, my job, most of my friends, my family now lives 8 hours away from me, where we used to live within 2 miles away from each other.

  but, out of all that, i met my wife, i have a better job, my niece is going to go to better schools, my parents are happier. so, yes out of tragedy, new life and opportunity arise.
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  changeling

  Nice story, but instead of "God's way", could it have been nature's way? The butterfly was not fully formed. The man interrupted and stunted it's developement. Why does god have to enter the equation?

  Why do we have to have a purpose dictated by a supreme being? Why can't we make our own purpose based on our individual strenghths and taste? Why can't we live and learn and experience life as it unfolds?

  changeling
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  journey-on

  Thanks for your response, Bigdreaux. I'm sorry for the temporary pain and suffering you went through, but so glad you found stronger wings to fly above it!

  P.S. - I love the Cajun culture....especially the food!!
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  AlphaOmega

  That is the very thing that will not allow me to let go and adopt a more gnostic way of "being".

  Our life is here for a purpose. I am sure that PART of that purpose is for the EXPERIENCE.

  We are here to touch, taste, smell, see, hear and think : experiencing life through these limited senses should "remind" us of all that we are missing out on. It should make us yearn for the fullness of "being". The fullness of being with our God. In effect, we yearn for Eden - we mourn for it and desire it again.

  Imagine if I took away your sense of taste, then years later I waved a loaf of fresh bread under your nose - you could see it, feel it's freshness, smell that just-baked smell, but you would never be able to taste it again.

  However, the torture would be that somewhere in your memory, the memory of the taste of that bread would be awakened. You would desire it again.

  The same can be said of freedom. If it is taken away - you desire it, whilst when you had it, you took it for granted.

  The flipside is that we can get "hung up on" the experience and never find that yearning. We have, in effect, "become drunk" on the world around us as we experience it through our limited senses.

  Just some more thoughts to add to the melting pot
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  journey-on

  Changeling

  Nice story, but instead of "God's way", could it have been nature's way?

  Yes. Perhaps instead of looking at God as "that big man in the sky", look at Him as nature's way. Actually, if you read the Bible without all the religiousity, you come away with much of that idea. He is creator and creation and the act of creating all rolled into one.
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  journey-on

  AlphaOmega

  Our life is here for a purpose. I am sure that PART of that purpose is for the EXPERIENCE.

  I so agree with this! Our creator dwells within this body temple and He experiences his creation through His created.
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  fifi40

  Journey On

  The most difficult life experience I have had was the loss of my 2 day old son, sixteen years ago. At the time it felt like my world had collapsed. It is the only time I have ever considered ending my life.

  I am trying to think of good that came from that experience and I would say that on a personal level it taught me that I can survive. It taught me that no matter how rough life gets you can take it one day at a time and things do get better. It taught me the importance of valuing those we love. It also taught me (and this is controversial) that sometimes religous belief is a huge help for some in getting through the 'painful' times and whether those belief's are true or not, if someone uses them that is ok with me (I know people will disagree with me).

  On a less personal level I think it opened my heart to those who are suffering..............whether or not they can be helped is a different matter, because I think change or healing starts with the individual suffering.........but I guess what I am trying to say is that it taught me to resist the urge to judge others but to rather look behind a persons 'front' and understand where there motivation/defense comes from.

  It also made me appreciate life.
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  AlphaOmega

  I so agree with this! Our creator dwells within this body temple and He experiences his creation through His created.

  Indeed, so if all we do here on Earth is rush around, bumping into each other... what is the purpose ?

  I reckon that it has to do with what we pass onto each other when we "bump". Just like everything in life, it has to do with the flow of information (be it factual, sensual or whatever).

  If God experiences THROUGH us... How can we return his love to him ?

  By loving those that we "bump" into on our journey - therby returning it to him. That is borne out by Jesus words in Revelation "that you did for the least of my brothers - you did it for me" and it addresses the "karma" of the Lord's prayer.

  Also, this explains how WE are forgiven by God when WE forgive others.

  I am not suggesting pantheism, rather panENtheism.
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  journey-on

  Fifi40

  The most difficult life experience I have had was the loss of my 2 day old son, sixteen years ago

  I can't even comprehend this kind of pain. So very, very sorry for your loss. Nothing "good" comes from that kind of experience, but something to help you grow spiritually or emotionally or psychologically can come from it. I'm sure you've developed a great deal of empathy for mothers who have had to face this in their lives and can tell them that ending theirs is not the answer. You've been there.....