Ok, just a caveat here - this post was actually prompted by an episode of the Heaven and Earth show I watched while I was feeling quite ill, and was stuck in bed. (To be fair, the show actually doesn't seem that bad, but never mind..) The show had a rabbi, a woman who had assembled her own path, and a woman who was in one of the episodes of "Spirituality Shopper." The woman from spirituality shopper was most of the reason I watched it - it seemed like an interesting show, and she was quite interesting herself.

What caught my attention was something the rabbi said - that paths are meant to come as a whole, and that there are often parts people will skip over because they aren't "fun" if they're assembling a path from bits of various religions. He felt that the non-fun bits were important, as they helped to do things such as teaching humility, and through enduring mild discomfort, helped to strengthen people against the things life throws at them.

If nothing else, things like this seem to give a feeling of give and take for a religion, which probably makes the overall feeling of a path being part of your life stronger.

So what do you think? I personally thought this made a lot of sense, though I'm not sure if my path involves much sacrifice - I do as much environmentally friendly stuff as I can, through recycling, taking public transport, trying not to buy overpackaged goods, and so on, but these don't really feel like major sacrifices. (A bit tedious when you're dragging the glass to the recycling bin and a bag splits, but never mind...)

So three questions -

Does your path have parts that you sometimes wish you could skip over, but you do them anyway because it feels like the right thing to do?

More interestingly, if you're an eclectic, have you selected part of paths that you find difficult or a bit tedious?

And finally - does a path need some hardship in it to toughen people up and make the religion more of a give and take relationship?

I'm not sure what my total path is made up of. I know that it takes a lot of reading and uncertainty! Whether I cut bits of toher paths, I wouldn't say so.
If I want to learn a certain lesson then I'll try to learn it, whatever it takes. If it just so happens to be the fun stuff then so be it!
But I do believe that the point is a valid one, if you have a choosen path then take it, all the way! Why not!
If you haven't choosen then take it as far until you think you've gotten what you wanted from it. ( of course there is always the argument that maybe yopu should stiuck with it until you've gotten what you NEEDED from it, but until the gods work in clearer ways we can never be 100% sure of it can we?)
This looks like it going to be a good thread I look forward to the others opinions!

I saw that show too (or at least most of if) thought they missed some good oppurtunities (which I pointed out on their message board )

Well there isn't much about my path that I dislike, but thats probably coz I am an ecclectic and as such I don't get lumbered with problems or bad ideas inserted by other people.

HOWEVER this is not to say that I have cherry picked all the good love and light bits. Rather its just that as my path is personal it is essentially a part of me and so it becomes hard to really dislike bits of it when there are bits of me I dislike even more

There are bits that are a trial = personal responsibility etc, that take some work but thats about all.

If I had to pick anything it might be having to prove myseld to Andred before she acknowledged me - but then I find this a much stronger relationship (and more rewarding) than one where a deity has put himself into your life with no work.

So even that isn't a real complaint

Perhaps the only thing I don't like is being shoehorned into the form of a hare when I journey - but it could have been worse (centipede comes to mind-4 legs are too many )


To be serious the only 'nasty' bits are accepting that there are things that we don't like - that isn't always easy but it is reality!
Coz

There's also that saying the difficult path is narrow and tortuous, and the wide smooth road the easy option.

To my mind if you skip the awkward bits it comes back to the Fluffy Bunny approach, you fail to learn and also appreciate the free running bits(this applies to life also)

I undestand fully about the recycling choices, no fun on a Sunday morning when 52,000 others are trying to get to the recycling plant. BUT our council have made it easier, they collect, bless them. Until you end up behind the council dustcart, the council glass collection, the council paper collection, and cardboard and green all in one road!!!

Agree - if you miss out the boring bits like discipline and learning, Fluff Bunny comes to mind.

And I don't think I have ever had any interest or job in my life that I really liked that didn't have a grrrr factor in it.

I sometimes have to force myself to meditate but am usually glad I did. When I am not protecting myself properly I find other people's woes dragging me down which is painful. The moral obligation attached to being a pagan of caring about Nature .... just sometimes I want to say "Oh bollox it is someone else's problem ....." but can't.

Yes. That is so true! Acknowledging facts that are not nice but simply true is a hard exercise. But I feel that also this is a necessary part of our spiritual progression.

The next unpleasant thing is to act in accordance with those facts and findings on your path, even if you don't like them. - This does not mean at all acting against your own will but, on the contrary, in accordance with your own will, your path, in a disciplined manner.

I also agree with Sherringham and and Ma that discipline and spirit needs to be kept up even if its hard at times.

What I do and don't like at the same time, I suppose is I don't like to settle on an idea just because it is easy and I can relinquish responsibility, so I think constantly about what fits with my world view and ethics. I don't want to be blinded by the sparkley options but I don't want to ignore them either. This can be tortuous, there are not easy answers when you don't follow set laws. This makes me a free thinker but there are always shackles to throw off. However, after moaning about it, I would rather have it that way than not think at all. Maybe one day it will all come together, but as I am also of the belief that it is an ongoing journey which unfolds and changes as we grow, then probably not. You maynot believe this but I am a happy really. You just got me thinking - again

Snowstar*

A lot of people in more "organised" religions do a lot of pic'n'mix, concentrating only on some parts, and ignoring the bits that they find most difficult or uncomfortable. It tends to only be the most committed who take their religion as a "whole". So I think that the rabbi in the original post was being somewhat disingenuous in appearing to claim that people who follow their own paths are less committed or miss things out.

There are aspects of my personal path that I find hard and struggle with. And sometimes I don't do them. But I know when I'm not doing them, because my inner voice jumps up and down at me and makes me feel a bit guilty. Just because I'm eclectic doesn't mean I'm spiritually shallow - I merely have really thought about each element of my path, and tend to re-think it on an almost daily basis at times. So I'm never just going through the motions - when I do something, I'm doing it properly. Unlike some people in other religions who don't think as much about what they are doing.

My path is also about self-knowledge, and from that comes greater discipline and also love. Both of which are very difficult, and are things that I struggle with. However, I take personal responsibility for my path, and thus I engage with what I find hard.

So in conclusion - personal spiritual development does not necessarily equate with shallowness - superficiality can be found in any religion - eclectics/followers of more obscue/less mainstream paths have tended to think very hard about what they are doing and are therefore possibly more committed rather than less.

Just my take on this issue.

Kabbalah - driving me nuts!

I think you have hit the nail on the head. It is what I was trying to say and you have put it perfectly. I need add no more.

Snowstar

Why is it necessary to suffer or accept the bad with the 'fun' parts when searching or in a path?

To me, this is something that comes with real life, the suffering and aggravating bits that make you want to choke the living crap out of people, but don't because you have a good soul.

Spirituality to me is a way to escape that. My path is for me so I do what I like, not what I dislike about my path. Like Ma said, I also have to force myself to meditate. But to me, it's a necessary ritual, an exercise in self-dicipline and a way to relax and re-think situations. I feel much better about things afterwords. That is what is important.

For me it must be all the homework! Seriously though, Asatru/Heathenism is not known as 'the path with homework' for nothing, and I confess to being a lazy heathen in that respect..meh.
However, I have noted that finding out about ancient Northen gods has also lead me to find out more about out my country, its people and its traditions.
Still I have been busy on the practical side. I found the early days of teaching myself to ride a bike tortuous, especially since you get funny looks if you are unsteady on a bike by your mid-twenties, but as has already been said, the hard parts are a lesson in humility, endurance and forbearance and the feeling of accomplisment when you achieve something is worth it.
If you didn't have to work to achieve it, then it would not be worth it.