One of my most moving experiences conducting a reading for a friend and fellow practitioner was coming up close with Buddha who first appeared in his pre-enlightenment self as Siddharta Gautama and then again in his post-enlightenment self. In the former state, Buddha appeared in a sitting position wearing dark saffron robes, hunched over and appearing weary of the world, Samsara. In the latter state, he was full of vitality and energy, strong and victorious. My friend confirmed that he has had visions of the former Buddha - in a sitting position wearing dark saffron robes. But not of the post-enlightenment Buddha. He was just as astonished and visibly moved by the whole encounter as I was. The post-enlightenment Buddha had a message for my friend - he had been yearning for a breakthrough in his spiritual development and had done virtually everything within his ability but "enlightenment" continued to elude him. Buddha's message to him was he had to demand enlightenment. Pronounce his intentions to the universe and do not buckle until he attains that spiritual breakthrough and pinnacle.
Interestingly, Buddha himself demanded enlightenment. Here's how Buddha demanded enlightenment when he became frustrated at the fact that the ultimate wisdom remained elusive. He sat under a banyan tree in Bodh Gaya and vowed not to rise from meditation until he attained enlightenment. After what many believe to be 49 days, he became enlightened. During those 49 days, Mara the chief of all demons, put all kinds of obstacles in his path. When Mara demanded the throne of enlightenment is his to claim and not a mortal like Buddha, he challenged the Buddha and asked who's his witness. Buddha touched his hand to the ground and asked the earth to bear witness to his enlightenment which it did, thus banishing Mara. And soon a picture of all that occurred in the universe began to form in his mind and Buddha finally saw the answers to the questions that he had been seeking for so many years. In that moment of pure enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha. Once, I had a client who came to see me regarding an on-off relationship with a man. She was already married but had an inexplicable yearning and irresistible connection with this other man. And no matter how hard she had tried to break off her illicit relationship with her paramour, she couldn't. Throughout the reading, I saw her spirit guide standing behind her like a towering figure. She had long black hair and straight bangs - styled like an Egyptian - and penetrating eyes encircled by black kohl. In fact, she looked just like my client who similarly kept her dark hair long with a straight fringe and wore onyx black eyeliner. I asked my client if her main spirit guide is Isis and she confirmed it. As she emulates and prays to Isis, she has grown to bear a striking resemblance with Isis. As my client described her feelings for her lover, I kept hearing the letter, "O" repeating in a deep and thunderous voice. And then I saw another spirit guide - imposing and regal - on her right, next to Isis. That was when I realised that Isis' husband, Osiris, was also present at the reading. And what I was looking at was a soulmate or twin flame connection between my client and her lover. Isis and Osiris are one of the most star-crossed lovers in ancient Egyptian mythology. The myth of Isis and Osiris depicts the transformative power of love. For over three thousand years, before 3000 BC to the second century AD, Isis was worshiped in Egypt as the mother goddess of the universe. She had two brothers, Osiris and Set. Osiris was responsible for the fertile soil and Set ruled the barren desert. When they were of age, the sun god Ra married Isis to Osiris. Isis and Osiris were blissful in their union. As rulers, they were peace-loving and benevolent, and brought forth abundant food from the rich Egyptian soil and the fertile Nile. Set resented the respect and honour that were bestowed upon them by their people. Jealousy ate at his soul. He trapped Osiris in a coffin and heaved him into the waters of the Nile. Devastated, Isis transformed herself into a bird and flew everywhere looking for her beloved husband. She found the coffin embedded inside a tree which had grown around it over time. Isis hid the coffin from Set. But when Set found out, he stole Osiris from Isis, and cut his brother’s body into 14 pieces, which he scattered all over Egypt. Isis remained emboldened by her devotion to Osiris. She journeyed up and down the Nile in a papyrus boat, searching relentlessly for the fragments of her husband’s body. Years passed before she found each and every dismembered piece. When she did, Isis placed each piece of Osiris next to the other, and joined them with wax and gold. Then, through the power of her love, the mother goddess of the universe resurrected Osiris for a final embrace. That resulted in Isis conceiving a child. Their son, Horus, the falcon-headed god, was among the most important gods of Egypt, particularly because the Pharaoh was supposed to be his earthly embodiment. I encountered another pair of star-crossed soulmates in another reading for a client who was relatively young, about to graduate from university but whose parents were pressuring her to marry someone she didn't know through match-making. She's bright and brilliant, and was aspiring to complete her business studies to work in her father's textile company but didn't want to be seen as a threat to her older brother who was the heir-apparent of the family business. Hence, she was of the view that if she was to marry the man whom her parents wanted her to wed as their astrological signs matched and he came from a well-to-do family which is also in the textile business, she would be able to please her family and contribute to the family business albeit in a secondary capacity. However, that would be against her will and desire, and this was confirmed through our tarot reading which revealed that the man of her dreams is an intellectual man who pursues spirituality and profound knowledge, not a businessman. As reading progressed, I saw her spirit guide coming forward and it was bemusing when I ascertained his identity. He was Hanuman, the monkey God from the Hindu religious myth, Ramayana. In Ramayana, the revered ancient Sanskrit epic, Rama, prince of Ayodhya, wins the hand of the beautiful princess Sita but is exiled with her and his brother, Laksmana, for 14 years through a plot by his stepmother. In the forest, Sita is abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka who has 10 heads and 20 arms. Rama gathers an army of monkeys and bears to search for her. They attack Lanka, overpower Ravana, and rescue Sita. In order to prove her chastity, Sita enters fire, but is vindicated by the gods and restored to her husband. After the couple's triumphant return to Ayodhya, Rama's righteous rule (Ram-raj) inaugurates a golden age for all mankind. Hanuman is the wise and resourceful monkey who helps Rama in his quest to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. Rama is only able to free his wife Sita from the demon because of the aid of Hanuman. It is Hanuman who makes it possible for Sita to be rescued, and for Rama and Sita to be reunited. My client's spirit guide, Hanuman, was there to remind my client to hold fast to her belief of being with her soulmate and rejecting all pretences of love or temptations in the meantime. If my client was to marry someone through match-making, as a marriage of convenience, she would be trapped in the wilderness of that gilded cage where happiness and fulfilment would elude her. I conveyed these messages to my client and when I finished, I saw the relief in her eyes. She had known intuitively what would be the right thing to do but needed affirmation and the courage to choose the right course of action and path for herself.
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