KS&L 293 The Economics of Being Spiritual Part 2: Spiritual Practitioners

The truly dedicated soul seeks out a spiritual practitioner to help guide them in the understanding of not just their childhood, but also the other things that are happening in their lives and to awaken in them the understanding that they are here to evolve as souls. Perhaps that human spiritual guide helps them to understand themselves on a whole new level.

What is interesting about those who seek out a spiritual practitioner, if they are even fortunate enough to find a competent one, is the unusual fact that they are not sure how they feel about paying them. Many, many people feel that a spiritual practitioner should want to work for free, and should only work for free. Somehow, they should not need the money and that the money somehow negatively taints the process. Not everyone feels this way, but enough people do, that this part needs to be addressed.

People are funny. They willingly pay thousands of dollars for a five-day seminar but resent paying for the practitioner’s time. People pay for the knowledge they receive in a book, but resent paying for the tailored knowledge that is given to them focusing on their particular situation.

Finding a spiritual practitioner is a unique challenge. They are not listed in the phone book. They do not have any mortal credentials for who can certify them? You will not find any certificates on their walls proving they can do what they do, but when you find one who helps you, it can change your life. Karmically, if you are meant to find one, you will, otherwise, you may never even know that these people exist.

Consider that it may take lifetimes for that spiritual practitioner to get to the level of spiritual insight to even be able to take on a client. They will have studied all of their lives and seldom have a day when they are not studying, working on continually improving themselves, and they are always on call. All of them will have spent the time, effort and money on their own human teachers to get to the point that they can even think of taking on a client. Many of them never set out to do this work. Consider how tremendously daunting it is to take on a client who has been raped, is being possessed or haunted, is being controlled by a black magician or who is suicidal. Often, people just start calling them and so it begins. No one consciously wakes up one morning and decides to do this level of spiritual work for others. It just happens.

The energy it takes to handle even one client on a spiritual level is tremendous. When they give this energy out, they do it with a willing and generous heart. Many of them do offer the service for free, earning positive karma in the process. However, if they give all of this energy out without monetary gain, then because they are in mortal bodies, they end up with a serious physical energy drain. The karma of their service to their client is going to be returned to them one way or another. However, when the client does not offer something in return for the energy the practitioner pours into them then a spiritual imbalance begins to take place.

Reciprocity means that you give something for that which has been given to you. When you give it in gratitude to that person, there is a more balanced feeling between the two parties. Spiritual people still have to eat, still have to pay bills in mortal life. Many of them give and give because most of the time, their clients only call them when they are in dire straights and are penniless. It is as if karma forces the client to finally come to the conclusion that they need help beyond what a good psychotherapist can do. How do you put a price on the work someone does that helps you reconnect to God? How do you value what that person does to help you heal your broken heart or your fractured soul?

Many people are bitterly disappointed when spiritual practitioners charge for their work, and tell them so. Many do not realize that sometimes, you have to pay for what you receive and that to have even found one of these people is it’s own miracle. Payment also honors the lineage of spiritual teachers through all the mists of time. Spiritual law states that when a student is ready, a teacher appears. That teacher/practitioner may have no choice but to do this work: that is absolutely their karmic path and they have to take people whether they pay them or not. However, if and when situations become out of balance, they have the difficult task of trying to right the situation.

So there are economics to be considered along the way of spiritual growth. Sometimes you need to keep your purchases in balance and yet at the same time realize that you do have to pay for the knowledge that you receive. It is critically important to understand that sometimes, the money will be quite well spent. Other times you may not know how something benefited you for quite a long while. However, the spiritual knowledge you acquire, the growth you experience and the soul evolution you achieve are the only things that live within you, which you take with you at death. Sometimes, you just have to understand that the knowledge you may have paid money to acquire will eventually become priceless to you over time.


*This KS&L is dedicated to my treasured teacher Tashi Leo Lightening.