Did Jesus fast in the desert for forty days to acquire his powers (healing, etc.)?

[andrew112]

Did Jesus fast in the desert for forty days in order to acquire healing powers, the power to control the weather, etc., or was it just to acquire self-discipline?

NOTE: I am not writing this thread to discuss whether Christ really existed or not.

Anyway, if he did fast in the wilderness in order to achieve these greater powers, how exactly did he manage to do this? This may all be looked at from a theoretical perspective for people that do not believe that Christ ever existed.

[ethereal]

I believe he fasted for 40 days and prayed/meditated in order to fully raise his consciousness to the highest it can be on this earth plane, i.e. full enlightenment/liberation. When someone is at this level of consciousness, they "understand" all the laws of nature and creation, and can thus manipulate creation (completely?) at will.

These powers are also called "siddhis" in classical Hindu/Vedanta literature, and there are many ways to train yourself to gain them. Raising your consciousness automatically enables you to gain some of them (sometimes). However, almost all sages agree that these powers are a distraction from the main goal of liberation from all suffering.

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by ethereal

These powers are also called "siddhis" in classical Hindu/Vedanta literature, and there are many ways to train yourself to gain them. Raising your consciousness automatically enables you to gain some of them (sometimes). However, almost all sages agree that these powers are a distraction from the main goal of liberation from all suffering.

Them powers is pretty sweet tho!

[Abitofzen]

Originally Posted by Anagogy

Them powers is pretty sweet tho!

Yeah, who wants enlightenment when you can have super cool powers

[Abitofzen]

Originally Posted by andrew112

Did Jesus fast in the desert for forty days in order to acquire healing powers, the power to control the weather, etc., or was it just to acquire self-discipline?

in my mind, all these 'powers' are just abilities that tend to be realized only by the very disciplined.

Keep in mind, that the 'very disciplined' might just be people that have learned to enjoy playing with a practice consistently.

One of my teachers, Glenn Morris, used the number 40 as an auspicious number of days for a given practice of meditation... It comes up several times in the bible.

Dr Morris used to say that we could unlock greater and greater occult powers as the energy moved further up our spine... but he also reminded us that these powers were not enlightenment... and if we weren't cautious, they could be a distraction from enlightenment.

I wrote a post on my site with some of my thoughts on this last year: The Spritual Meaning of Numbers - 40

Good luck in all your travels...

Ben

[Liveformx64]

Originally Posted by andrew112

Did Jesus fast in the desert for forty days in order to acquire healing powers, the power to control the weather, etc., or was it just to acquire self-discipline?

NOTE: I am not writing this thread to discuss whether Christ really existed or not.

Anyway, if he did fast in the wilderness in order to achieve these greater powers, how exactly did he manage to do this? This may all be looked at from a theoretical perspective for people that do not believe that Christ ever existed.

I think the 40 days can be looked at as a culmination of a life's work of studying and meditation all coming together in that 40 days of reflection.

I have found In my years of studying, during the process of ascension it helps to realize that reality exists within you, not without.