Do We have a Choice?

Heaven and earth are impartial;

they see the universe as a straw dog.

The sage is non-judgmental,

she treats all her people like straw dogs.

The sage is like Heaven and earth;

to her none are especially dear;

nor is there anyone she disfavors.

She gives and gives without condition,

offering her treasures to everyone.

(Tao Te Ching)

I can only laugh when we rational folks come up with some objective reasons why we choose or quit an occupation; or even more absurd, the reasons why we supposedly fall in love, or out of it. The world is not what it seems to be. We feel our way through life and make up rational reasons later to rationalize what we have done in the first place. A force beyond our comprehension pushes our buttons and we sway with it like puppets in a marionette theater. 

Just watch for yourself how you are carried along by forces that appear random when you have reached an important cross-road: the crucial job interview when everyone appears all smiles and when the sun shines brightly. The third date with a lover when miraculously the birds are chirping and the butterflies are dancing in the air. Scents; the weather; the looks of hair, bodies, and faces; the moods people are in; meaningful symbols that pop up just when they matter the most. What appears random to the scientific mind is meaningful synchronicity for the spiritual traveler. We are not in charge, She is!

Every job, every relationship, every success, illness, or meaningful event is designed to help us live out our karma. But we don't need to be helpless puppets, or straw dogs as Lao-Tzu called them; we can wake up within the movie production; we can become its executive producer, scriptwriter and main character all in one go. Life is here to help us cut our subconscious karmic bonds. We can connect to the Tao, and get lifted up to the the next spiritual level, holding on to Her Hand every step of the Way. It is ok if our personal agenda got us to this point, as long as we wake up today and start the true mission we have been sent on. 

Perhaps some ties need to be cut when we wake up because they were stitched together by careless or even evil intentions. Perhaps we have to double our efforts to heal some ailing relationships. But mostly awakening is just about letting go. It is about realizing that love - or the cry for it - is behind everything. Bless everyone and everything that got you up to this point. Everything has been carefully planned to make awakening possible here and now. Past karma has been used up, and we have been shaken sufficiently to embrace our holy mission and return Home.