Do you believe the universe tries to tell us things

[Astarthatshinesforyou]

And it tries to push us in another direction or gives hints of it?
Currently live abroad, but for a while it feels everything has been against us-not keen on the schools, had money struggles, now lots of ill health and people passing in the family.
I often wonder if it’s just telling us to give up, go back home.
Have you ever felt like this? Do you fight against it or leave things to fate?

Ya?

I think Buddhism is an interesting religion and is something to learn from. I don’t believe in karma however as that is a judgment on a person, which I don’t consider to be true.

It sounds as if you want to go home op. That’s not a failure and you will have learned a lot from the experience.

'Your gut' isn't 'the universe'.
What you're essentially saying is to take your emotions into as much consideration as possible when making a decision.

Whereas theism is the epitome of logic, of course.

How do you know they would have been equally amazing? They could have been the next Ted Bundy. I’ve experienced a lot of loss and pain but I wouldn’t change it for the world as it all led to my DD who is amazing, I would not want another equally amazing child, just her.

You can always find an explanation retroactively, for anything.

Sometime in the past, whether 500 years ago or 10,000 years ago several of my ancestors had abominable things happen to them.

3000 years ago a man and woman had a child. The man went hunting and got killed by a lion. The woman eventually got together with another man and produced the line that lead to me.

So the purpose of the lion was for me to be alive. Without that lion the original couple would have engendered another line and I wouldn't be here posting on MN.

Another way to put this, you always make up any story, for anything bad happening because it will benefit some beings some time in the far distant future.

No.

By universe I take it you mean interventionist god?

'Things happen for a reason' has two meanings. One as above - with reason as purpose - that you have a supernatural guardian angel shaping your path. The other - reason as explanatory cause - is that human actions have causes and that if you look backwards and sideways you can sometimes work out what the reasons were that a particular thing happened.

Coincidences happen because it would be far stranger and harder to explain if they did not. We give them disproportionate attention, so remember them far more easily than all the unconnected everyday happenstances.

Stories are told by the survivors. The people who caught the plane that crashed etc are not around to talk about the subtle or amazing chain of events (in retrospect) that led to them being on that plane rather than another one. We can only hear those stories from the set of travellers who remain alive.

Life, the u overseas throws all sorts at you.
you will find signs where you look for them.
your gut is the best compass.
if you deep down want to go home everything will always feel against you.
if you truly want to stay you’ll stick it out no matter what.
I practise tarot - the universe draws our attention to what’s inside by providing external test of faith

But what you are talking about is having insight and intuition beyond your existing conscious train of thought. Yes of course listen to that. Use it as a starting point for identifying different trains of thought that might not obviously relate to your current plan or choices. Think about why you feel the way you do. Allow different feelings and ideas to emerge. Give them space to grow and join up. Examine them. Think about where you are now and where you could be at a point in the future if plan a, b or c.

No, I don’t think there’s any higher power telling you to do stuff, it’s just life isn’t it. I moved away, not another country but 5hrs drive and not always easy to get back. When my dad was dying it was incredibly hard. I’d have moved back years ago but kids in schools etc, currently have 2yrs left. I think there comes a point you have to consider if current set up still works for you. Some people never return home, that’s fine, as it’s a decision we can only take based on our individual circumstances

That is your subconscious talking. If you want to go home, go.

No, I don't believe that. However, I refuse to live a life that doesn't suit me so will happily change things to improve my life. I don't believe we should have to push through when it's not working. I'm risk averse and try to carefully think through every outcome before changing though, my gut usually leads me to the right decision.

DH has been working a job for 15yrs and the last 5 have been awful for him, every day I've told him to change, even if it costs us more. Finally, he is interviewing and his light and happiness is returning.

I'm sorry for your losses. Dealing with grief is hard enough and it's made so much harder if you're a long way away.

I get the idea of thinking that the universe is telling you something but I don't believe it to be real. I think it's closer to the Baader-Meinhof effect, where you've already got something on your mind and you're now super sensitive to anything that seems like it matches.

But let's say the universe really does change things to nudge us in one direction or another - did the universe make your local schools not very good? Did the universe literally cause people you love to die to prompt you to move back home? If so, that's a universe that is both petty and cruel.

What has happened is that you've moved, things are more difficult than you imagined, and you've had a run of issues back home. That's not the universe telling you anything, that's just life. Good things happen and bad things happen. It's not directed at you.

@Hateam "I believe shit happens.
That's where my deep thinking ends and my problem solving begins."

Excellent post.

As others have said universe is a substitute for God .

My niece, 4 ( different to one I ve previously written about ) was born with an enzyme deficiency which will likely mean she ll be dead before 20 . This is genetic and resessive and no previous family history . About 1 in 100,000 births have this condition.

If some higher being is responsible for that in order to either punish or get me / my brother to do something , then they are a machievian sadist and I ve got no time for them .

Of course it bloody doesn’t. Unless it’s telling people o drive that day on that route, because it wants them to die in a car crash. Or walk home at that time by that route as it wants them to be sexually assaulted.
Think of all the crimes, and massacres and historical atrocities you can think of. Was the universe telling all those people to be there at that time as it wanted that horror to befall them?

What you call 'fight against it or accept fate' I call adjusting your decisions to take account of new evidence and experience.

Normal life experience and decision-making surely?

What would seem to me strange and unusual, would be making a major decision based on best available evidence at that time, then refusing ever to re-examine that decision and adapt your actions in the face of changed circumstance and greater experience.

Why would you do that? What would you be trying to prove about your past decision-making? Seems like stubbornness trumping wisdom.

I presume that poster was calling thinking the universe is telling you something ‘privileged’ because you think the Universe is particularly trying to guide you to a better life, whilst leaving ( or even worse, guiding) billions of other people through history and contemporary to awful fates and experiences.

That does fit the dictionary definition of privilege meaning an individual or group of people given special rights or benefits not afforded to others

Same here. The universe isn't a sentient being, it doesn't have any supernatural powers, but God does.

No I believe in chance and coincidence, but I do believe in listening to your gut feeling, even if it's not what you always want to hear.

I imagine the universe is largely indifferent to us.

However, our brains are very complex and I believe we notice things and put them together in different ways accordingly.

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.” — Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I don’t think like this and don’t think things happen for a reason because many things that happen are shit aren’t they. Things happen and you make the best of any situation you are thrown in to.

Please read my subsequent posts. I work with many people of faith and admire them enormously. But they acknowledge how difficult this is and don't just say "trust in God and it's all fine" They don't say if life is shitting on you you are doing something wrong as the pp I was replying to inferred.