When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
This is a follow-up question on the Buddha and Desire question, which I’m including below.
Question:
Why did Buddha decide to stay and teach people after he reached enlightenment? Not that there is anything wrong with helping people to reach enlightenment, but if Buddha was completely fulfilled, why did he “want to free people from all opposites?”
Response:
Buddha didn’t want to teach people because of a desire he felt compelled to act upon. He taught because that was his compassionate nature. That was his dharma or purpose. So his impulse to teach was intrinsic to his very being, not something he did to satisfy a desire.
Love,
Deepak
Wouldn’t soul/essence be fulfilled in itself, therefore not needing or desiring anything? Wouldn’t all desires come from ego?
I’ve been thinking about this lately, so this question/answer hit home.
Could you clarify/elaborate on this concept of dharma/purpose? Something that, like you said, is “intrinsic to one’s very being?” Is there such a thing? I was getting to a place of thinking maybe all impulses came from ego.
Response:
The soul is fulfilled in enlightenment, but there is still an impetus to act in that state of consciousness that is not driven by ego. There is a difference between action born of one’s true nature and action born of ego desire. Enlightened people still eat, breathe, talk, and walk. An athlete before enlightenment will still be an athlete after enlightenment. The same applies to a businessman, teacher, doctor, farmer, or scholar. This is natural action in accordance with dharma or one’s inner nature. Perhaps you can relate to dharma as a father. Being a father or husband inclines you to think and act in a certain way that is not determined by the ego. If we didn’t have a dharmic nature to guide action after enlightenment, and all action ended with our freedom from the identification with desire, then our enlightenment would be a silent vegetative state of inertia—not much fun nor very helpful.
Love,
Deepak
