Sometimes I believe that one who is on a spiritual path should offer services free, and once on a spiritual path how do people know if they are doing the right occupation as a service?
Please withhold my name, thank you for your feedback.
Hello __________
Beliefs are powerful. Beliefs can set a tone for certain realities to occur. Poverty is often associated with wealth of the spirit and wealth of finances is seen as the fall of the spirit. This thought pattern runs so deep that it often influences us on profound levels. Unconsciously we believe that if we are called to be in “service” an economic crash will pursue and we will be stripped of our material wealth. Somehow we have been programmed to believe that poverty and the spiritual path are a team. There is no such rule!
For the second part of your question you need to ask yourself the following questions; has your longing to live a more spiritual life included a need to change your occupation? When you were are “called”, did you determine the path or were you “called” to the path that the Divine determined you were most suited to?
Perhaps that path is not an occupation; perhaps it is one of personal transformation in a more understated form.
Hi Carol, I have some questions below:
What is enlightenment? Is it the same a raising your consciousness? And,
When Buddha found enlightenment, was it something he reached and stayed there, or is it a practice, that you do everyday?
Thanks for clarifying.
Hi Shelley,
The concept of “enlightenment” as a spiritual path is associated more with Eastern spiritual traditions than it is with Judeo-Christian theology. Enlightenment is the unfolding process of spiritual awakening. It is our emergence from our self-imposed bondage. Bondage caused from the inability to use ones understanding without the guidance from another. Enlightenment is a form of transformation. It is essentially gathering all the parts of you that are light to come together at the same time; the manifestation of the energy of your spirit in totality.
I do believe that there is some misconception that becoming “enlightened” will somehow provide us with innate perceptive abilities and continual peace thus allowing us to change conditions of earth-based reality. We hold these perceptions because most people need a tangible outcome for their efforts, if they are going to exert themselves, they need results they understand and for most that is 3D based.
This is a brief overview of the life of Buddha; I will let you determine whether or not you feel he stayed in a state of enlightenment or if he had to work at it daily.
Gautama Buddha, the historical Buddha, lived between 563 and 483 BC in the area known now as the Indo-Nepalese region.
He was born into royalty. When the young prince was in his twelfth year, the king called the wise Brahmans in council. They revealed that Gautama would devote himself to asceticism if he cast his eyes on age, sickness, or death.
Wanting his son to be a universal monarch instead, the king surrounded the palace with a triple enclosure and guard and proclaimed that the use of the words death and grief were forbidden. The most beautiful princess in the land, Yasodhara, was found for his bride, and after Gautama proved himself in many tournaments calling for strength and prowess, when he was 16, the two were wed and had a child together.
Gautama was kept amused and entertained for some time by this privileged life behind the palace walls until one day his divine vocation awoke in him, and he decided to visit the nearby town. The king called for everything to be swept and decorated, and any ugly or sad sight to be removed. But these precautions were in vain for while Gautama was travelling through the streets, an old wrinkled man appeared before him. In astonishment the young prince learned that decrepitude is the fate of those who live life through. Still later he met an incurable invalid and then a funeral procession. Finally heaven placed in his path an ascetic, a beggar, who told Gautama that he had left the world to pass beyond suffering and joy, to attain peace at heart.
Confirmed in his meditation, all these experiences awakened in Gautama the idea of abandoning his present life and embracing asceticism. He opened his heart to his father and said, “Everything in the world is changing and transitory. Let me go off alone like the religious beggar.”
Grief-stricken at the idea of losing his son, the king doubled the guard around the walls and increased the pleasures and distractions within. Yet even this could not stop the troubling thoughts in Gautama’s heart or close his eyes to the realizations of the impermanence of all life, and of the vanity and instability of all objects of desire.
His mind made up, he awoke one night and, casting one last look at his wife and child, mounted his horse and rode off. For many years he studied the doctrines until, having felt the need to learn more elsewhere, he traveled and fasted. His two teachers had showed him how to reach very deep states of meditation. This did not, however, lead to a sense of true knowledge or peace, and the practice of deep meditation was abandoned in favour of a life of extreme simplicity which he shared with five companions.
Resolved to continue his quest, Gautama made his way to a park near present day Benares. Here he sat beneath a tree meditating on death and rebirth. Discovering that excessive fasts destroy strength, he learned that as he had transcended earthly life, so must he next transcend asceticism. Alone and weak, he sat beneath the sacred Bodhi tree of wisdom, and swore to die before arising without the wisdom he sought.
It was here that Gautama attained knowledge of the way things really are; it was through this knowledge that he acquired the title Buddha (meaning “awakened one”). This awakening was achieved during a night of meditation, which passed through various stages as the illumination that Gautama had sought slowly welled up in his heart. He knew the exact condition of all beings and the causes of their rebirths. He saw beings live, die and transmigrate. In meditating on human pain, he was enlightened about both its genesis and the means of destroying it.
In this meditation he saw and understood each of his previous existences, and then understood the chain of cause and effect. He then reviewed the death and rebirth of all living beings and understood the law that governs the cycle of birth and death. He was able to identify the Four Noble Truths.
When day came, Gautama had attained perfect illumination, and had become a Buddha. The rays emanating from his body shone to the boundaries of space. He stayed in meditation for seven more days, and then for four more weeks he stayed by the tree. Through his process of enlightenment he discovered that all sentient beings in this universal life possess Buddha hold, and all are future potential Buddhas.
From that time he had two alternate paths: he could enter Nirvana immediately, or else he could stay and spread enlightenment. After Brahma came in person to beg him to preach the law, Buddha yielded and stayed on the earth. For many years he traveled and taught his wisdom about the force of love and the destruction of all desire.
Although initially hesitant to share his insight on the grounds that humanity might not be ready for such a teaching, the Buddha decided to communicate his discovery to those willing to listen. The remaining 45 years of the Buddha’s life were spent journeying around the plain of the Ganges, teaching and receiving visitors.
After his death, Buddha’s remains were cremated, as became the Buddhist tradition. The passing away, or the final nirvana, of the Buddha occurred in 483 BC on a full moon day in the month of May, known in the Indian calendar as Wesak.
Hi Carol,
Can you tell me a little more about Zeolite and its uses please.
Joanne
Hi Joanne,
I was appalled when I saw how much a bottle of Zeolite was at the Health food store…1 oz for $57.99. This led me to research and find the crystals I needed to create a form of zeolite that has very high vibration and also has other great qualities on a more spiritual side. I sell mine at $30.00 for a 50 ml bottle. Here are the physical benefits.
The Health Benefits of Zeolite
Due to advances in modern technology we have been exposed to never before seen pollutants, toxic chemicals and poisonous heavy metals. We literally live in a chemical soup. The chemicals come into our bodies through the food we eat, the water we drink, and the very air we breathe, the clothes we wear and the convenient everyday products we tend to use. This situation actually threatens our very survival.
Until recently, the only sure way to remove the most destructive heavy metals and toxins from our bodies was through I.V. chelation, a process both invasive and expensive. We now have discovered a totally natural and inexpensive solution to this daunting issue. It’s a miracle mineral called zeolite, and it is perhaps one of the most important substances on Earth today.
Soul Alchemy Healing’s Zeolite Proprietors Blend is a unique formula that absorbs the toxins, free radicals, and metals from your body, and boosts the immune system. Our exclusive Zeolite formula includes an anti Candida Albacans fighting component and has been shown to balance the body’s pH. Foreign cells cannot grow in a balanced pH environment. This mineral has been shown in independent studies to be effective fighting certain types of cancer.
Purification, Detoxification, and Purging with Zeolite
Build-ups of waste products, acidosis and heavy metals can damage our bodies. Unbalanced diets, pollution and food additives can all cause waste products and heavy metals to build up in our bodies. This often leads to acidosis causing “clogging” of the cell membranes. In other words, our cells slowly suffocate. Build-ups of heavy metal toxins (especially cadmium, mercury and lead) are the cause of many serious medical conditions.
The energy of this Zeolite elixir is such a high vibration that it can actually passes between the body’s cells. Due to its extraordinary adsorption and selection capabilities Zeolite binds with waste products, toxins and, most importantly, harmful heavy metals, allowing these substance to be easily eliminated from the body. The high vibration of our Zeolite formula is also a highly effective antioxidant, allowing it to neutralize free radicals on contact.
Other Uses our Ground-breaking Zeolite Formula
Zeolite is a unique antioxidant. A traditional antioxidant works by absorbing excess free radicals into its system because it has an impaired electron. In contrast, zeolite traps free radicals in its complex structure, inactivating and eliminating them.
Other benefits from taking zeolite are:
- Stops acute and chronic diarrhea
- Raises the body’s antioxidant levels
- Binds mycotoxins, forming stable complexes
- Reduces side effects of chemotherapy/radiation
- Stabilizes and regulates immune system
- alleviates headaches and general aches and pains
- regulates blood pressure and pulse rate
- improves degraded conditions of the liver
- improves degraded conditions of the pancreas
The remedy also has….Charoite
Charoite is the gemstone for this age. It provides for a synthesis between the heart and the mind. It sustains your attention span, and opens the heart.
This mineral provides for transmutation of negativity and for grounding to the spiritual self; something needed in these times of extreme earth changes and as we move closer to 2012 and our evolution. It is useful in cleansing the auric body and filling the chakras with a loving spiritual energy and assists you to stay present.
Charoite tends to transmute the symptoms of illness and dis-ease to well-ness. It can be used to treat disorders of the eyes and heart, to provide improvement in autistic pursuits, to alleviate headaches and general aches and pains, to improve degraded conditions of the liver {e.g. due to excess alcohol}, to improve degraded conditions of the pancreas {e.g. due to excess refined sugars}, and to stimulate and regulate the blood pressure and the pulse rate.
This remedy also contains 6 other gem stones with other healing properties.
This is the link to Soul Alchemy's Zeolite