spiritual wisdom
The Supreme Source Of All Healing
Spiritual practice is unique for every individual. I have been drinking from the well of wisdom in the Vedas for the past 35 years, especially the Srimad-Bhagavatam, also known as the Bhagavata Purana, one of Hinduism’s eighteen great puranas.
The Vedas are the original Sanskrit texts of India’s ancient spiritual culture featuring a vast body of wisdom in every field of human life, to help the soul navigate this world and reach the ultimate destination beyond.
This ancient manual of life was compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, who is revered by great saints and seers as a literary incarnation of God. In Sanskrit, he is called a saktyavesa-avatara, which means one who is empowered with energy of Divinity to fulfill a distinct purpose. In the case of Vyasa, his Divine purpose was the writing of everything that humans need to know to fulfill their aims and completely awaken spiritually.
Although Vyasadeva was an avatar, and therefore not an ordinary person, he felt despondent after composing all the Vedas. His guru, Narada Muni, the great sage among the demigods, then appeared to him and explained that the cause of his despondency was that he had not yet fully glorified the personal feature of the Absolute Truth.
Taking this to heart, Vyasadeva then meditated deeply on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and wrote Srimad-Bhagavatam from his matured and purified realization.
In Vyasadeva’s own estimation, the most profound of all spiritual wisdom within the Vedas is found within the Srimad-Bhagavatam. And the cream of that cream he describes as bhakti, devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Karmic Trap Of Temptation
I love stories that inspires one to look at life differently. I had the pleasure of hearing just such a tale recently, and it was all about temptation.
Imagine Temptation unexpectedly knocking at your door one evening, bearing a gift-wrapped box. He bids you a good day and asks you to invite him into your home. He then offers you the box as a gift and tells you that every time you were to press a button on this box, it will immediately dispense $1,000! You will never have to worry about money again.
But with such an unusually generous gift there is bound to be a catch! Temptation then informs you that every time you press the money box button, a homeless person somewhere in a poverty-stricken community will pass away.
Temptation reassures you however that all people must die sooner or later. And besides, no harm will come to you or your family. You could even use some of the free money to help the disadvantaged in your own community! So, what do you have to lose?
Being human, we are all tempted from time to time. The question is, would you accept such a gift and press the button? Or would you tell Temptation to take the box and leave?
I remember my late mother telling me that when I was about two years old, she kept my baby stroller outside, in the garden, as she had nowhere else to store it when I no longer needed it. It stood there for many weeks, until a struggling young couple knocked on our front door (the woman appeared to be heavily pregnant) and offered to buy the stroller.
When Others Let Us Down
Many years ago, a skilled numerologist told me that her analysis showed that I am the kind of person who always does what she says she will do. “When you commit to getting something done, one can be very sure it will get done,” she said. Therefore, it always baffles me when people make plans with you, or promise to do something, and then they do not follow through. I tend to take it personally.
My late husband often spoke nostalgically of how, back in the day when he first went into business, a man’s handshake on an agreement or promise still meant something. Perhaps times have changed?
Clients often consult with me on similar disappointments in their lives. When they are let down by others, they contact me to seek answers as to why a someone in their life could have been so dismissive of them.
I have personally learned that some people are indeed sincere in the moment they make such promises or commitments, but then they become distracted or forget to follow through. This doesn’t worry them, as they do not have what I call the ‘hyperactive sense of responsibility’ that some of us do!
In a recent holding space healing session, I was surprised to discover that two incidents that occurred very long ago had caused an energy blockage for me. These events seem so minor compared to other instances that caused me much greater disappointment in later years. It reminded me that one should never underestimate influences during our formative years.
The first incident was when I was about fifteen years old, and I had made arrangements to meet up with one of my cousins. I took our arrangement very seriously and was gutted when she wasn´t home when I arrived at her house. I was even more devastated when I complained to my mother about it and she simply responded: “Oh well, don’t fuss over it. Maybe she was just busy.”
The Paradigm Shift Of An Awakening World
Most people respond more strongly to negative than they do to positive news or events. No matter how hard some of us may try to live with grace and gratitude by looking at the brighter side of life, a piece of bad news, malignant gossip, or fear-inducing information is a lot easier to run with than good news. We also react to someone else’s bad behavior much more strongly than their good conduct. We seldom praise or sincerely compliment, but we are quick to judge and criticize.
Case in point is my own experience working as the curator at fine art galleries some years ago. Ten clients would be nice and easy to please, but if the eleventh person was having a bad day they would be the one to get most of my attention. I’ve since gotten a lot better at being able to tune out the negativity and drama resulting from low vibrational frequencies, but it still remains impossible for me not to be affected by it from time to time.
Due to our innate survival instinct as humans beings we are simply incapable of ignoring negativity – or in a more enlightened scope, not give energy to it. This is understandable, as our first instinct is usually to protect ourselves by knowing if bad things may be happening.
But, so many people seem to absolutely thrive on every possible fragment of negativity, fear or drama they can find. From messy family quarrels, feuds with neighbors, and rude, unkind behavior in public places, to the brutal, senseless wars that continue to be fought since time immemorial. Every bit of it is and has been based on human reactions to slights, hurts and trespasses – some of it petty and even imagined.
Less Is More When They ‘Know It All’
Some people just don’t like to hear the truth. Do you also know people who seem to avoid you, because they know you’re potentially going to say it like it is? They recognize you as a person who speaks the truth based on plain common sense.
I have known people who have very little common sense and really do not want help, advice, guidance or direction from anyone. They know it all. That is just the way it is with them. The ego can make us not want to take honest advice, and thus we do not have the advantage of learning and growing with help from others who may have more experience or wisdom. I have learned the fine art of silence when I am around these people. I feel awkward, because those who know what I do for a living realize that they are pretty much transparent in my eyes, when they are around me.
I especially have a very hard time when I am around certain people, because you see the damage they are doing to themselves and others. You want to share a better way with them, but you have to let them follow their own path. It may seem like an unnecessary struggle for them, but maybe they are supposed to go through all that pain and heartache. It may be a part of their unique spiritual journey towards soul growth.
Protect your energy by knowing when to practice the art of silence with people who ‘know it all.’ You can’t resonate with everyone, and it is especially pointless if they don’t appreciate it. Why use up all that precious energy if they are only going to be disrespectful?
Spiritual Enlightenment Is Not A Fireworks Display
Many seekers desire spiritual fulfillment, or yearn for enlightenment, assuming it would instantly bring them wisdom, inner peace, and serenity. But instead, true spiritual growth is often delivered in challenging ways we never expected.
Increased spiritual growth often begins with life-altering events, unsettling discoveries, or distressing insights – such as realizing what has really been holding you back from attaining spiritual fulfilment. These learning curves can show up in many ways. For example, as an unexpected ending of a relationship, a health crisis, or the loss of a loved one.
Often, it shows up in the form of disruptive events that expose dysfunctional thought or behavior patterns that have been stifling your mental freedom, or a toxic mindset that has been hindering your ability to see clearly to break free from limiting beliefs and self-sabotage.
The term ‘spiritual enlightenment’ is used very loosely these days and has become a confusing concept to many people. The truth is that authentic spiritual enlightenment is actually not a very big deal. It is seldom the ‘fireworks display’ that our egos might want it to be.
Spiritual accomplishment is nothing to be prideful or boastful about. It is actually a very quiet process; inward and intimate. People who go through this process in an authentic way, report the experience as being a modest, intuitive alignment, rather than a dramatic breakthrough of profound elation.
Only once we have improved our intuitive alignment, are we subtly encouraged by spirit to not to stop there, but to muster up the courage to take further steps in our spiritual growth and evolution. We become increasingly self-aware and are able to assess what we may have done to contribute to the disappointments in our life, and how these dysfunctional patterns may have started.
Heal Your Life With The Great Law
Do you have a lot of recurring drama in your life and the same negative situations repeating again and again? Do you keep attracting the same kind of toxic people and energy thieves into your life?
If so, you may benefit from learning more about the laws of karma and how to apply them in your everyday life, as these universal laws can transform your life for the better if we honor them in our spiritual practice and daily life.
Hindu and Buddhist spirituality recognizes 12 Laws of Karma. The first and most important of these is The Great Law, also known as the Law of Cause and Effect. This fundamental karmic law has helped me a lot to uncomplicate my own life since my spiritual awakening.
The Great Law teaches that whatever we sow, we shall reap. Every cause has an effect. Whatever put out into the world will eventually come back to us. Even the good and bad things we wish upon others will return to bless, or curse us.
Once we understand the role of The Great Law in our life, we become more aware of how we can eliminate negative patterns in our life and begin to attract more positive, new things. The energy we emanate each day in the form of thoughts, wishes, fears, desires, attitudes, and beliefs will determine what will return to us as manifested experiences, events and circumstances.
Intention is everything in karmic law. For example, you start dating someone, but you live in fear of that person leaving you, or betraying you, so you are emanating an energy frequency of fear. In the end, it is very likely that you will lose that person. Fear attracts fear, love attracts love, and gratitude attracts gratitude. It’s that simple.