By Kelly Battese
We must walk our own path.
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one many. We ourselves walk the path.”
~ The Buddha
But what does that mean? Walk the path. What path are we on?
These are two major questions man asks himself regardless of his faith or religion. What is the Buddha asking us, what path is he talking about or are we even walking, or how does one find this path or even know when they have found it and are on it?
So many questions from one statement.
One of the wonderful things about Buddhism is it makes the person question themselves, it makes man look inside to see what he is creating for this environment and how that is effecting the world as a whole.
If every action has a reaction, then every action today is creating the reactions of tomorrow and so on and so on until this life is over and we ascend on to the next one—we are creating out tomorrow’s today.
Back to this path the Buddha was talking about.
If we are creating tomorrow today, then are we not creating the further legs of this path?
Or is the path we are on already there but setting up the scenarios that are helping the actions manifest?
If we are creating the path, then we have the ability to change it; we have the willpower to reshape and redirect our path to suit our needs; we have the power to make this something we need and can benefit from. This could be a major learning tool for us in this life that we are lucky enough to learn from and move on or take the lesson with us to the next life time and use then—either way we are creating our tomorrow today.
If we are on the path and it is setting up situations for actions to manifest, then we have no control on our path, but keeping the simple rule in mind of expect the unexpected, thrive in the adaptability of our nature as mankind and to quite the lovable but somehow wise Dori… just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
If you see the answer to the question as both, then you see the true path the Buddha spoke of.
The path of this life time is mapped out and is also formable, we always have the power to change directions of the path and create a new part of the path, but the common thread is its all around us.
Each lesson we are learning today can be used as tools tomorrow and be taught as lessons to someone else, giving us wisdom as we age.
It has taken me awhile to learn to embrace this wisdom that comes with age.
These experiences I am having along my path, to find a good walking stick and some good shoes; for this path that I am on and am creating can last a lifetime and has a lot to teach.
Kelly Battese is a Kansas City native, practicing Vajrayana Buddhist, Reiki Master and has been in the medical field for over 12 years. She loves being a teacher and passing along the knowledge she has. “Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.” ~ Sai Baba
Photo: (source)
Editor: Alicia Wozniak
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