Spiritually Inspired
I practice spiritually based medicine. My desire to change my career path from conventional medicine was prompted by an intense and unexpected Christmas Eve spiritual experience. My interest in spirituality started brewing during the year of 2008. Early that year I had achieved all of my major life goals. I had a wife and kids. I was successfully self employed as a neurologist and had just finished building my dream home over looking Lake Michigan. But I did not have freedom or happiness. In fact, nothing could make me happy. To achieve these goals I had accumulated 30 years worth of debt. I now had an immense pressure to maintain my current income level, although it was clear that pay cuts were coming in the medical industry. While pursuing my goals, I had neglected the relationships of those closest to me. I thought it was a compromise that would pay off in the long run, but I was wrong. In the end I felt anxious, disturbed and trapped. It seemed that everything around me “needed fixing” and I couldn’t enjoy my family, my home or my career.
After reading a series of different spiritual books from vastly different backgrounds I noticed a common thread of spiritual principles that ran through them all. I came to recognize that the law of karma was real, and how my pursuit of happiness, I had inadvertently caused pain to many others. The law of karma is known in Christianity as “that which is done to others, is done unto you”. This applies to your words and actions, but even more importantly it applies to your thoughts, fantasies and inner most attitude. The circumstances that come back to you do not have to match what you have done to others, but the way they make you feel will. What you hold in your mind and your heart (your inner attitude), is what you give life to in your very own future. Each thought is like a prayer or a wish. Be careful of what you think about and why you do what you do. Be careful of what you wish for.
When I applied this to my own life, I realized I had sold myself short for many of my goals. I also could see that modern medicine did not account for the patient’s spiritual wellbeing, which is the founding factor in one’s health and happiness. I no longer believed in the way I had been trained to practice medicine. I had a strong desire to correct my mistakes and redirect my life. The first thing I did was to forgive the debt of all those patient’s who owed my clinic money. I also began to recognize that having children was a privilege for me, and because they are so open, that they could teach me about life, just as much or more as I could teach them. I began to treat them, and everyone in my life, with more reverence. The spiritual teachings that inspired these changes were the Spiritual Treasures – Final Edition. They stood out from the other books I read because of the comprehensive detail and specific lifestyle changes that were recommended. My previous life experiences had brought up many un-answered questions. These teachings explained all those questions perfectly and gave me confidence to move forward in life.
I immediately vowed to make some major changes in my life. I knew it was important to downsize to a more humble home, change the way I practiced medicine and devote more time to the people in my life. The day I made this devotion, just so happened to be Christmas Eve and the moment I made this vow something changed deep inside of me. An intense spiritual experience unfolded. For the first time in years I felt cozy in my skin and my mind was at peace. I felt a strong energetic presence inside and around my body. I felt that all was well and although I had many problems to work on, none of them really mattered. There was also a change in the way people behaved around me. Near strangers felt very comfortable, dropped their guard and would share intimate details about their lives. Many of these people cried as the full impact of what they were going through in their lives came to the surface. It is difficult for me to describe this experience, but I knew something sacred had happened. That state of being felt so natural and its effects were so positive on myself and others. It spoke for itself. This was how life was meant to be lived. After about three weeks, that state of being “wore off”, and I realized I had much work to do before I would be able to access it again. Fortunately, I had a comprehensive set of teachings which were full of specific life recommendations and spiritual practices.
My spiritual path is known as Kriya Yoga. A spiritual path means that the teachings are passed down from spiritual teacher to student over the ages. There are many branches in Kriya Yoga, and each one is a little different, depending on the teacher. A spiritual path differs from a religion because there is no organization. A founding principle of this path is to recognize that life is full of hidden lessons. These lessons are designed to give us a chance to learn to love. If we work to feel God’s presence in our lives, we can receive guidance on how to solve all problems with love only. To be open for God’s presence in our lives is holistic life work. It requires that we become better people, that we choose spiritually oriented work and continue to improve the quality of our services and products. And that we also work to improve the quality of our relationships, especially our marriages and love relationships.