Law of Return
Hi everyone,
I've been reading up on the Law of Return, and I have to admit I'm struggling a little bit with it - at least in term sof the big things that happen in life.
For example, I do believe that if you treat people with respect and love that you will receive the same in kind. And there are definite actions we take that will bring about certain consequences.
My biggest hurdle, with the Law, is what happens when bad things happen to good people, or vice versa? As an example, my Aunty and Uncle lost their son when he was 21 - all three of them are/were people who were not bad - they were average everyday nice people. Another, my husband and I can't have children, but other people can who then abuse and hurt their children. I'm not sure how this fits in with the Law.
It's odd, because I do believe the Law, but I've just got some 'huh?'s about it.... :-)
Looking forward to some wonderful answers from you gorgeous lot of people!!
I so understand your
I so understand your confusion as I have struggles with this very thing. My Father who was one of the nicest "blokes" you could meet lost my mum to a rare form of cancer 8 yrs ago. He gave up work to care for her when she became a paraplegic, neither of them complaining. Once mum went Dad found out he had cancer and started on a 8 year nightmare of illness and infection and diabetes. It was one thing after the other. Even Dad had begun to wonder what he had done to deserve all that had been heaped on him. Dad passsed away in April so at last he is at peace but I can help but question the Law of Return. I have in no way lost my faith but I am questioning it.
I am sorry I cant help you with your question but know you are not alone in seeking answers. I am sorry that you cant have kids. My hubby and I went down a similar path. I had several miscarriges before we decided to foster then ironically I managed to have 3 kids naturally. The Divine works in wonderous ways!!! Perhaps we are given circumstances which we can handle and learn and grow from. Thats about all I have come up with so far.
Peace
serenity:+>
Your difficulties in
Your difficulties in understanding are so familiar to me. I'm guessing that most people spend time coming to terms with the ideas in the Rede and the Law of Return, but here are some of my ideas to get you started as you come to your own decision.
The first thing I realised was that "stuff happens". There are a million things happening around us at all times - a million things all happening because of this or that. Have you heard about the 'Butterfly Effect'? It says something along the lines of "the beating of a butterfly's wings in Brazil might set off a tornado in Texas months later". In our random world, things just happen. That's why they're called accidents. It can be a bad choice behind the wheel, it can be a wrong turn in a gene or a cell. In a very, very basic (and totally unimportant non-life-changing form) level, I would have loved to have been a pilot but I'm partially colour-blind so I can't. I don't see it as payback for something I've done - it just......is. Why did it rain today when I was out for a walk? No reason, it just did. It wasn't payback for me any more than the sunshine that I had when I started out was reward for something good I'd done.
I think that some of my hangups came from the Christian background - good people are smiled on by God and get good stuff, bad people make God angry and they get bad stuff - but it's not that clear cut. In a world view where an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God is in control, it is only fair to question why these 'bad' things happen to 'good' people, but I don't think the Law of Return can encompass that type of view, nor was it meant to.
"For example, I do believe that if you treat people with respect and love that you will receive the same in kind. And there are definite actions we take that will bring about certain consequences."
That pretty much encompases what I've come to see the Law of Return as describing. To use a very famous quote "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" comes to mind.
Basically, for me, I see it as a general warning that the choices you make in life have an impact on you, on others around you and, as an extension of this, rebound back on you because of the way others treat you because of your choices. Make your choices carefully and beware of the ripples they cause.
Personal views only here but I hope they go some way in helping you to find your own way through. Good luck!
Toward First Degree Student Rep
Thanks Serenity and Alistair.
Thanks Serenity and Alistair. I really appreciate your comments.
Serenity - thanks for your condolences on us not being able to have children. It is hard sometimes, but we've decided that we are going to be the best Aunty and Uncle we can be to our nephews and neices (stir 'em up and send 'em home...hehe).
Alistair - what you've written makes a lot of sense to me. I could never believe, even when looking at Christianity, that there is a higher being making all the things that happen, happen. I just thought that a being like that would be far too cruel. Instead, I also think that things just happen sometimes.
Although, in saying that, I do believe that in dealing with those things that happen we can ask for guidance and strength to grow and learn. So, it's not like we are given certain experiences to learn things, because there are some people who would be Masters of the Universe if that were the case, but instead things just happen that we can then learn from. Does that make sense?
I had to laugh when you used the pilot analogy, because that is one thing I wanted to be too, but I can't be because of medical thingys...coincidence or what??
Blessed be
Fionuir
Well...after much reflection
Well...after much reflection this is what I've come up with about my understanding of the Law of Return...would love to hear what other people think, as I certainly know my understanding will continue to grow and change over time.
Law of Return
If you treat others and the Earth with love and respect, it is likely that love and respect will come back to you. If you do not, then you cannot expect love and respect to find you. It is a matter of doing your best, but realising there are definite actions that are harmful and should be avoided. We must think about our actions, reflect on them, and amend them as and where necessary.
Sometimes, though, things just happen. When bad stuff happens it is pointless getting caught up in what you did wrong as there is no way of knowing precisely. It is important to reflect on how you are living, and also to ask for help in dealing and learning from what it is that is happening. The higher powers won’t necessarily take the bad stuff away, but they can help you learn and grow through it.
Blessed be
Fionuir
Glad you're feeling better
Glad you're feeling better about your interpretation of it.
Your version pretty much agreed with how I've come to accept it apart from one section.
I, personally, just cannot accept that 'bad' things come to people as payback for some unknown thing they've done (unless it's a karma type 'previous life' type thing - which I'm not sure how I feel about). You only have to look around at the people who they are happening to (and, more importantly, NOT happening to) to see that the balance just doesn't work - in my view. Saying that, it's not my place to judge, I suppose, but it just seems a little uneven.
But I do think it's a VERY good idea to think about whether you are drawing things to you, just in case.
I believe Deity is there beside me helping me through difficult times, and, like you, I don't see a higher power who would take such stuff away, like in Christianity.
Glad you've become more comfortable with the issues! Congrats.
Toward First Degree Student Rep
Just thought I'd add in an
Just thought I'd add in an idea that helps me sometimes. I read that before we come into this life, we choose what events and milestones we will experience. It's not Law of Return but, for me, it explains some things. For example, I went through a period of depression a few years ago. I wasn't a bad person but it happened. Now I am through the other side, I realise the value of it. It has helped shape the person that I've become and I wouldn't change it. Sometimes we have to go through things in order to learn important concepts. I can definitely imagine my soul saying, 'right, she won't get this any other way, this lesson needs to be BIG!' I believe that everything happens for a reason, even if I can't see it at the time and the situation is awful but in the end it's clear...er sometimes! I hope this helps a bit, or at least gives you something to ponder. =)
I like the idea. I often
I like the idea. I often wondered how much say the spirit has before reincarnation and had, myself, wondered whether you yourself choose your milestones. Thanks for your post. It's got me thinking again.
Toward First Degree Student Rep
Hello all, I like your
Hello all, I like your outlook Alistair.... don't know if any of you have heard of him, Dr. Ian Stevenson?
Wikipedia "Stevenson traveled extensively to conduct field research into reincarnation and investigated cases in Africa, Alaska, Europe, India and both North and South America, logging around 55,000 miles a year between 1966 and 1971.He reported that the children he studied usually started to speak of their supposed past lives between the ages of two and four, then ceased to do so by seven or eight, with frequent mentions of having died a violent death, and what seemed to be clear memories of the manner of death. After interviewing the children, their families, and others, Stevenson would attempt to identify if there had been a living person who satisfied the various claims and descriptions collected, and who had died prior to the child's birth." More here.... Reincarnation research.
Here's a good interview (medium length) that helps shed some light on what is happening. Unfortunately, the answer to the question of why things are happening the way they are only becomes more elusive than ever after reading it.... Emile
Reincarnation and Law of Return
Hello everyone on the thread : )
I watched a documentary possibly 10 - 15 years ago which focused on the stories of several young children from remote villages in under-developed countries, who claimed to have lived a previous life. I found it interesting, and then forgot all about it.
However over more recent years I have come to the point where I believe we (everyone - thing in every universe) are all part of the same living breathing being. Just like for instance, a body hair, is a hair, yet it lives and is nurtured in a follicle and fed by nutrients that flow from the blood across membranes ... I am breathing air that you have possibly had in your lungs before : ) .... not super analogies .....
We live because of the light from the Sun. Everything that lives, in someway recyles the light from this Sun or another Sun, or lives because something it depends on for life has recycled light energy from the sun. We are recycled Sunlight, and part of our chemical make up is that of Stardust.
Relationship for me with our universe in my understanding, never ends, as neither does love at one end of the scale of human emotions, or hate at the other end of the extreme. I at this time, believe we flow and move, live, breath, create, shed our body which is recycled again, and our essence is reborn to begin the cycle again - why? - possibly because that is what it means to be alive and part of this unblievable epxerience of just living. Your thoughts?
On reincarnation. I remember playing with some toy tin soldiers when I was little - once - and my body knew what it was to be a soldier.
I repeatedly transported to a glade in a forest,where I am observing a pool of water from the over of the trees.I am not at ground level. Am I a person? I don't think so, I think I am a deer.
Even though this world has not yet ended, I think I am going to be here when it does, and feel as though I have already lived through that. That must have something to do with Time.
On the Law of Return. I don't believe that being kind and loving towards others will automatically bring the same to you. Maybe on a superficial level where we don't have to live with the "nitty gritty" of everyday life in the work place in the home. But what is anger, denial,rejection or hate from another person? On a basic level it is part of their life path, their journey, and the work for want of a better word that they are here in relationship with you or I to acknowledge, confront and deal with to become a more enlightened being. And that is the same for us all - and that is okay.
Living life in Love and Truth, is simply the better way to live life to the best advantage of all, and is probably good at keeping negativity on the outer, and yet we learn from the negative as well as the positive. And I remind myself of this fact when the going gets tough. Yes, and a lovely way to be part of the Butterfly effect. I have to end this some where ..... so I will do it here and now and check out the links you kindly shared Emile.
Couldn't have said it better
Couldn't have said it better myself, that pretty much sums it up (don't know about the "body hair" thing though, just kidding).... Emile
Reincarnation
I reckon the documentary was inspired by the study in the link : ) Yeh that hair thing ...... hmmmm!!!
Well, being raised in the
Well, being raised in the country, grandma would say, "The chickens always come home to roost." ; )
Reincarnation
I like the sound of your Grandma :)