A "Calling"

[marduk]

As noted, calling may not be the correct term for my particular experience. But for now I use the term "calling" because I am not the seeker; I am being sought.

Do you have a sense of who is doing the seeking?

No.

How are you so sure?

I've found deep down attachments that I didn't figure out after weeks and weeks of meditation... ones I didn't know even existed.

 

[Burnt State]

I would have to qualify the difference between desire for what you don't have as the desire that creates suffering whereas our other types of desire, those that can be fulfilled , or that leave us dwelling curiously on edge in the state of desire , have a different kind of temporary reward.

 

[Soupie]

Do you have a sense of who is doing the seeking?

No, but I "imagine" it as "a" something (as opposed to multiple somethings).

How are you so sure?

Because I do have a deep desire as well, and the feeling/experience described above is different.

I suppose an unconscious desire could feel like a calling... But I'm not sure how or why it would, and that's not the sense I have of it.

 

[Burnt State]

As noted, calling may not be the correct term for my particular experience. But for now I use the term "calling" because I am not the seeker; I am being sought.

Well then the solution is simple. Practice patience and the seeker will find you in their own time, when the need is great.

 

[Tyger]

Well, sometimes. And other times it's just much more fulfilling and fun.

You bet.

 

[Tyger]

Well then the solution is simple. Practice patience and the seeker will find you in their own time, when the need is great.

Waiting
by John Burroughs

Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For lo! my own shall come to me.

I stay my haste, I make delays,
For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways,
And what is mine shall know my face.

Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray,
Nor change the tide of destiny.

What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall reap where it hath sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.

The waters know their own and draw
The brook that springs in yonder height;
So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delight.

The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.

 

[marduk]

"When the student is ready, the master appears."

All you can do is make yourself be ready and be open I guess.

 

[smcder]

That's a great idea and partially the reason for this post. I was wondering if others had a similar feeling/experience and could direct me to a resource regarding it. The term "calling" does seem to be part of the Christian spiritual perspective, and I wonder what other spiritual perspectives would have to say.

@smcder shared in another thread the concept of the Perennial philosophy which I will explore.

I will check these out for sure. Thanks.
Excellent!

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the perennial philosophy as you explore this.

 

[boomerang]

it's important to be wary of desire.

“Yield to temptation...it may not pass your way again!”

― Robert A. Heinlein

 

[Burnt State]

“Yield to temptation...it may not pass your way again!”

― Robert A. Heinlein

That way lies Danger Danger Will Robinson! And while some yieldings have produced some of life's best moments indeed, others were alleyways of self destruction that took me some time to climb out of. I think that opportunities are things not to let pass, but I wish I had more wisdom and life experience to better know the toll on myself and others when it came to giving in to the temptations of youth.

 

[boomerang]

That way lies Danger Danger Will Robinson! And while some yieldings have produced some of life's best moments indeed, others were alleyways of self destruction that took me some time to climb out of. I think that opportunities are things not to let pass, but I wish I had more wisdom and life experience to better know the toll on myself and others when it came to giving in to the temptations of youth.

I think Heinlein's exhortation is at least partly tongue-in-cheek, and foolishness is just that. But--risk and gratification are roommates. Chase away the devils and the angels fly off with them.

 

[boomerang]

I

Hello!

For the past couple years, I have been experiencing what I have described as a "calling." I haven't experienced any external stimuli; the entire experience/feeling has been internal and subjective.

Here's how I describe it: It feels as if a something is gently calling, pulling, tugging at me - not physically but metaphorically. It wants my attention, or wants me. It's a positive feeling. And for my part, I'd like to - or be willing to - do something about it, but I'm not sure where to start.

At times, I have felt that there is something positive I can do for this something, such as a vocation. Let me be clear that I am not saying there is a voice telling me to do something. There is no voice. Furthermore, I haven't experienced any missing time, high strangeness, synchronicities, or anything paranormal. I also haven't experienced any trauma, head or otherwise.

Currently, I chalk this experience up to what one might consider unconscious psychological experiences. It's possible the something is really just my deep mind urging my conscious mind to do something.

I've searched for information about a "calling" and most of the resources are from a Christian perspective.

Does anybody have any resources they could point me toward regarding this experience? Thanks.

I'm posting about this a second time because I think I may have missed a constructive suggestion--a possible path to your goal that has been mentioned here, but I want to emphasize it.

Sit down and write, write, write. Don't immediately ask for feedback about it. Preferably a fictional narrative, the more resulting from pure imagination the better. If you do this long enough, especially (I think) in letting your imagination construct characters out of whole cloth interacting in charged situations, things deep within you will pop up on the screen or paper in ways that can be downright spooky. This is not a short or easy path for most people. It can become a tiring kind of meditation. It probably most often takes the form of a lengthy blog or diary, or aspiring fiction.

Anyway--again, good luck.

 

[smcder]

I


I'm posting about this a second time because I think I may have missed a constructive suggestion--a possible path to your goal that has been mentioned here, but I want to emphasize it.

Sit down and write, write, write. Don't immediately ask for feedback about it. Preferably a fictional narrative, the more resulting from pure imagination the better. If you do this long enough, especially (I think) in letting your imagination construct characters out of whole cloth interacting in charged situations, things deep within you will pop up on the screen or paper in ways that can be downright spooky. This is not a short or easy path for most people. It can become a tiring kind of meditation. It probably most often takes the form of a lengthy blog or diary, or aspiring fiction.

Anyway--again, good luck.

can you say more about your personal experiences with this - some examples?





To truly listen to another – without reacting, without infatuation, without dismissal, without boredom – is an art and a grace. To take in what a person is saying and, in this, to receive them completely, is a blessing to them and to yourself.

 

[boomerang]

can you say more about your personal experiences with this - some examples?


To truly listen to another – without reacting, without infatuation, without dismissal, without boredom – is an art and a grace. To take in what a person is saying and, in this, to receive them completely, is a blessing to them and to yourself.

A period of my younger life was spent writing science fiction short stories for hopeful publication. I accumulated the obligatory stack of pre-printed rejection letters and apparently sincere praise from published writers in the Austin group. It's a quirky business at best.

But the long hours of re-re writing stories hatched in imagination seemed to result in my meeting myself in unexpected ways--usually in the form of thoughts and attitudes of the story's characters, things deeply buried that I had no conscious intention of revealing to the reader. I can't recall a specific example.

There was one especially strange chapter in my would be efforts. I had spent umpteen hours putting together a short story about a guy whose head injury had resulted in him being plagued almost to madness by recurrent and constant synchronicity in his everyday life. I then began to experience these myself at a rate that was a little spooky. The one that jumps to mind is that one night I had hauled out a large printed encyclopedia and began thumbing through it in search of something or other. While coarsely flipping pages, I landed by accident on a page about the German artist Albrecht Durer-not even an interest of mine, just as the TV in the background began a short piece on Durer. Or--I would often flash by a billboard or building sign at the same instant a like phrase was spoken on the car radio. This would be something like "Oakwood Apartments" compared to the words "Oakwood" something or other from the radio. And the timing was often exact. This kind of thing kept happening until I finally abandoned the story for another project.

Truly strange? I can't prove it. But I thought so then and I still do.

 

[smcder]

A period of my younger life was spent writing science fiction short stories for hopeful publication. I accumulated the obligatory stack of pre-printed rejection letters and apparently sincere praise from published writers in the Austin group. It's a quirky business at best.

But the long hours of re-re writing stories hatched in imagination seemed to result in my meeting myself in unexpected ways--usually in the form of thoughts and attitudes of the story's characters, things deeply buried that I had no conscious intention of revealing to the reader. I can't recall a specific example.

There was one especially strange chapter in my would be efforts. I had spent umpteen hours putting together a short story about a guy whose head injury had resulted in him being plagued almost to madness by recurrent and constant synchronicity in his everyday life. I then began to experience these myself at a rate that was a little spooky. The one that jumps to mind is that one night I had hauled out a large printed encyclopedia and began thumbing through it in search of something or other. While coarsely flipping pages, I landed by accident on a page about the German artist Albrecht Durer-not even an interest of mine, just as the TV in the background began a short piece on Durer. Or--I would often flash by a billboard or building sign at the same instant a like phrase was spoken on the car radio. This would be something like "Oakwood Apartments" compared to the words "Oakwood" something or other from the radio. And the timing was often exact. This kind of thing kept happening until I finally abandoned the story for another project.

Truly strange? I can't prove it. But I thought so then and I still do.

Thank you for sharing ... intriguing, I'd like to try this. I've did some creative writing in college, at first it was cathartic and then I took a class and later did some off and on, including an online class ... but I've not approached it from a purely therapeutic ("para-therapeutic"? or even exorcistic) intent.

thanks again!