Life
The Path Chooses You & It Isn’t You Who Chose The Path
The Path chose you. It is not you who chose the Path. So, when you are chosen for the Path, you will, surely, be brought to the destination…— Ahmet Hace, Turkmenistan. Source: Mavera
Where am I going? I asked myself…
Don Johnson’s article gave me a soundcheck on my experiences and life in the Islamic monastery back in years ago. It was a place “40:60” in the ratio of knowledge-based to the dervish-services setting.
There were no promises of richness, money, wealth, sex, or materialism gains. Once anyone was there, they died while still being alive. You got down to basic. Perhaps, friendship was part of the gains.
Like Don, some other seniors from the Islamic Monastery or Boarding Schools lived as speakers. They were evangelists and missionaries if they were not religious teachers back in their homeland.
Some of them switched paths in earning a living being engineers, language teachers or translators, while spreading the good news to others as they met along the way.
We slept on thin foam mattresses, foldable in the morning, piled our foamed pillow above. We gathered for night vigil prayers while the world was asleep. Meditations of litanies were part of our routine and compulsory read. Some of us fell asleep while holding our tasbih beads, looking as if we arrived at a high spiritual station of gnosis.
One day, some of us questioned ourselves whether we must we be poor financially to be on a spiritual path. Must someone who serves God in His Works be poor, hungry, and pathetic? Is peace only attainable by being pious and religious? Must we digress instead of progress in life?
Being contended or contentment does not mean we stop striving for more or the better. With more money in our hands, we could do more for good purposes like charity. We do not need to apply from the society for scholarships or sponsorships and funds to advance our studies.
But, the contentment in most of the people I came across, especially for the older generations, was to put an end to many forms of needs. Retire before retirement.
Earning the performance, mid-year, and end-of-the-year bonuses were essential for me. Although part of me felt a sacrifice of the stipulated prayer time, living means working for our necessities and for the dependencies whom we have no choice but to provide for them, too.
Homeward bound, everywhere doors closed, barely offering opportunities for me. I was at the gate of despair, not till I read Don’s article. It came as enlightenment and understanding the messages behind the journey.
Weren’t those days a period of transition? I left everything, let go of what was not bringing me happiness. It was a turning point in life. Reborn.
The beginning of a new journey…
It was then worth the memories.
We cooked, served, cleaned, washed the toilets, and did all the servant’s roles. But, through these were many hidden messages to bring us through this life. I did not see that coming except slowly after 4-years I returned.
Practicality, Sensibility, Intellect, and Choices…
I do not know what would be tomorrow for me, but it came at the right moment while I wrote all these…
There are doors closed, but God leaves a door ajar for me or even for you too, to enter and do something worthwhile. Surely. I am very impatient, while on one part I can be very hesitant because I wonder if the calling is truly meant for me.
“You have to start believing for life to bless you. Because in the same way that the universe does not confront you with any adversity that you cannot overcome, it does not give you blessings that you do not know how to manage.” — 🌹Alberto Garcia 💌
I hope you will visit Don Johnson’s article below, where there contained so many messages behind his journey in the monastery or Ashram. I held this piece in my drafts for weeks. I miss myself — a woman who sees everything in clarity.
Thank you, Don Johnson, for this piece beautifully shared. I feel life has its moments to unfold at greater leaps and bounds or length. It came at the right time, when I started to question myself about life.
🌹how do we move forward?… 🌹Is there anything to regret about? 🌹
