Have we all been searching

[EvaB]

Hi,
First time post, and I apologize if it seems off topic to you.
Obviously, I would not be here if I had not come to grips with being a female (in spirit), but I have wondered about how common our background experiences are.  In particular, I have been searching for the "answer," which I find to be what I just found (part of it anyway).
Have you all led a life of searching?  Going through an encyclopedia of religions and philosophies?  I have traversed through the range of thoughts (my bachelors was "Mythopoeic Thought").
I guess my litmus test question here is:  Have you read Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching?

[Chloe]

Have you read Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching?

Yes I've read Lao-tzu, among other things. My BA was History, "European Thought and Culture" or "The West", a topic of much discussion these days given less free, authoritarian regimes that seem to be flourishing. Had to look this up:

. . . a distinct stage of human thought that differs fundamentally from modern, scientific thought. Mythopoeic thought, the Frankforts claim, was concrete and personifying, whereas modern thought is abstract and impersonal: more basically, mythopoeic thought is "pre-philosophical", while modern thought is "philosophical".

"Reality is dependant upon the viewpoint of the beholder" (paraphrasing) We create myths in an attempt to make sense of that which we otherwise do not fully understand. Have also studied different religions and science, especially physics which seems to bear this idea out.

Searching, questioning is an elemental part of the human condition?? Is THAT why people spend sooo much time on "cel phones" lately?? (or purely due boredom, entertainment? )

Perhaps 'Mods" will move this to a different forum??

[FinallyMichelle]

Short answer: No

Long answer: Some people's stories are eerily similar to our own and some are so different that it is easy to wonder if they are from the same planet.

Does everyone know how to make moonshine?
Does everyone know how to play the violin?
Does everyone know trigonometry.
Does everyone know how to cut down a tree in a way that it doesn't fall on your house.
Has everyone read the bible?
Has everyone read Horton Hears a Who?

We are trans, not an entirely separate species with one mold to make us all.

[EvaB]

Thanks for your response.  I think too much (doesn't matter if I am male or female, I guess), but my interest in this area is deeply ingrained, plus I am curious if I have other people here with the same range of curiosity.
I did a little project on Lao Tzu, and then I got the idea to ask every person I met if they had even heard of them.  Not a scientific test, but I would hypothesize that only 1 out of 100 replied positively.  It gave me a sense of moderate but profound alienation.
To this day, I didn't realize this alienation wasn't from people not reading Lao Tzu, but subliminally me realizing that I was looking at a reflection and how I didn't really fit.  Until my epiphany, I could not see the truth underneath my experiences.
Again, thanks!

[FinallyMichelle]

  I think that I have been there, sometimes I still am.

Even googling, 'I don't feel like I belong in this world.' doesn't help sometimes. You are not alone. For me transition has helped immensely but has not completely eliminated it.

Take care.
Michelle

[Zoetrope]

Yes, I've been on a lifelong spiritual journey which will continue in the future.

All of that is fundamental to my character, and its the reason why I question everything I see.

I don't think this was an indicator that I would transition someday ... however everything I learned in the past equipped me well to deal with this - to know how to love other as self ... to believe that everybody should be free to speak even if I find it challenging ... and to understand that peace within can't depend on the approval of others.

Be yourself - everybody else is taken!

[KathyLauren]

Not really.  I kind of stumbled across my path (Buddhism) in my 20s.  I thought, "Yes, this!"  That has pretty much been it ever since.

In some ways it may have hindered my transition a bit, but on the whole, it has been good for me.

[Toni]

Hi EvaB.  I have always been interested in and thought about who I am.  I have always been aware of what I was thinking, but additionally thinking "why am I thinking that".  This led to a lot of reading of various philosophers, classical and modern, eastern and western, as well as religions/life guides.  Buddhism seems to suit me best.  I have always been very spiritually connected but was trying to understand the why's of my life.  I have recently, I feel, come to terms with that and understand why my life had to be what it was and why I am here now.  I am at peace with myself and ready to go home when that time comes.  Toni

[Gertrude]

Religion and cultural beliefs tend to be a anti-lgbt, so never went there. It's all out of the minds of man and often unsubstantiated. Science has brought our understanding along quite a bit and will continue to do so. That's the only place I look, besides inside myself. IMO, the answer is we are another natural expression of the human existence and should not bear shame over it. Authenticity is more important than any enculturation or man made belief system. Most people aren't authentic. It's why we have so much addiction and unhappy people. JMO.


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[tgirlamg]

Hi Eva and welcome aboard sister

I have been seeing transition more and more as being a spiritual quest...  Before transition, how can we truly be loved when those around us have never seen our true selves? ... How can we truly love others when we cannot show them who we are?

I believe that, at its' core, transition is a quest to get to a place in our lives where we can truly give and receive LOVE... What could be more spiritual than that?

In many ways, our gender issues make urgent demands of us to grow as spiritual beings. Forcing us to take off the blinders and see the true value in a life well lived... I think that is a very good thing!!!


Onward we go!!!

Ashley

[The Flying Lemur]

I've had the Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng translation of the Tao Te Ching since I was in high school.  It's a beautiful book. 

And yes, my original major was comparative religions.  I can't really say that any religion or philosophy led me closer to "finding myself."  You can really only do that by looking inward, not outward. 

[EvaB]

WOW, what a spectrum of varied and beautiful perspectives.  Thanks for sharing!