Saints have fourteen unforgettable characteristics that distinguish them, and when even one of these traits is observed in someone, that observation prompts us to exclaim, “He/She is a saint!”
As we read about these fourteen traits, we might think that we too can become saints simply by practicing what saints do, however it never works that way. Mimicking academic or secondhand information never leads to a genuine change in our basic behavior. And though we may convincingly pretend for a while, who we really are will eventually come out, like water seeking its own level.
Saints do not think about how to act. The traits below are spontaneous in a saint and require no thinking at all; they are simply reflections of what is inside a saint; the innermost being of a saint. Since saints appear in all religions, these traits are universal and can be applied to all religions that are not paralyzed by restrictive authoritarian dogmas, i.e., “Unless you believe in —- you cannot be a saint!” “
Therefore, the way in which the saints have arrived at this tremendous shift in consciousness does not lie in their beliefs per se, but through a transcendent understanding of life. This is what you have to study, understand and practice; how the saints lived and practiced their lives. Only then can the traits arise in us.
The fourteen holy characteristics:
1. Loving-kindness: Wishing all people and creatures to be happy and well.
2. Compassion: wishing that all beings be free from suffering.
3. Altruistic or compassionate joy: Towards all beings and their achievements, without feelings of jealousy or comparisons. A sincere wish that everyone succeeds.
4. Equanimity: A clear, calm, awake mind, seeing clearly and not deceived, with no regard for self or others for the Eight Winds of the World that constantly blow at us: praise and blame, gain and loss, fame and shame, happiness and despair. Not to distinguish between friend or foe, relative or stranger, but to see everyone as equal.
5. No attachment to an individual self, which is the illusion that we are solid personalities, which leads to belief in the ego, which leads to arrogance, pride and delusion.
6. Not having doubts, questions or concerns about what a saint has been in the past or will be in the future, that is, in what state he will appear after death. Or “Who am I?” or “What am I?”
7. Do not trust rituals, ceremonies, books or sermons. The saint understands the personal introspection involved in effecting the rare shift in consciousness that is necessary for these fourteen traits to manifest. The saint sees the futility of praying for a new awareness of life and relying on an external source for understanding of him compared to following the difficult path that leads to freedom.
8. Lustful, passionate, and sensual desires no longer torment a saint, which is both the result of the saint’s perception that these things cause long-term suffering, and a general dispassion for the world that arises when the attention of others a saint focuses on the transcendent rather than the greed, hate, and delusion that occupy worldly minds.
9. Anger, disgust, annoyance and ill will towards others are absent in the mind of a saint.
10. The saint is no longer attached to physical forms, and has no desire or adversity to remain in a form or not.
11. The saint is no longer attached to formless spiritual realms or incorporeal heavenly realms and only pays attention to this moment in time, not worrying about his future.
12. A saint is no longer proud, conceited, arrogant, expressive, critical, assertive, or feels superior or inferior. He or she abandons all measurement and evaluation.
13. The mind of a saint is no longer distracted, excited, disturbed, confused and restless, or wanting to rush through life to experience much more. The mind of a saint tends towards tranquility, peace and focus or concentration.
14. A saint is attuned to the suffering of human beings and as such has tremendous compassion for all people, regardless of their station in life or mental abilities. A saint is super smart in this area and not ignorant, which means that a saint understands the delusions we all fall into, namely the illusion that there is a separate self that we must protect and defend, which is the basis of our consternation. . But a saint also recognizes that just mentioning these things to people doesn’t help, it just confuses them, and that only through suffering can people come to the conclusion that they are friends at all, and then, only then, can they come back to life. Yeah. themselves, just as the saints have done.