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Spirituality and Religious Consciousness
Manju-Shri
Nangpar Nangdze (Tib.) from www.buddhamuseum.com
Saintly Charts exemplifying
spiritual strength and psychic genius
-
Shri
Aurobindo, 20th century performance artist and saint -
Ram Dass, "spiritual
scout" and service teacher -
Ammachi, contemporary saint and
healer -
Tenzin Gyatso H. H. Dalai
Lama, world spiritual leader, great tantrik (student of
texts) -
Edgar Cayce,
20th century trance- channel psychic, highly moral person -
Archbishop
Desmond
Tutu - Advocate for social justice -
Rudolf
Steiner - mystical philosopher and educator -
Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century political activist and saint -
Paramahansa
Yogananda, spiritual teacher, organizational genius,
and saint -
Babaji, ancient spiritual director -
Jiddu Krishnamurti
- spiritual philosopher, anti-hierarchist -
Mother
Teresa- organizational genius; healer of poor, sick, and rejected -
Alice
Bailey - esoteric metaphysical author and teacher -
Swami
Vivekananda - yogi, missionary, teacher of Advaita -
Swami Shri
Yukteswara Giri - teacher of P. Yogananda -
St.
Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer y Albas - canonized
in 2002, founder of Opus Dei -
Madame H.P. Blavatsky,
founder of the Theosophy doctrine 1831-1891
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"The most incisive discriminator of practice
is not doctrine, but lifestyle."
"An
increasing ability to serve is the only reliable sign of spiritual
progress."
To the mind that is still, the
whole universe surrenders.
--
Lao Tzu
"There are
two ways to look at life.
You can
either believe that there are no miracles, or you can realize that everything
is a miracle."
-- Albert
Einstein
"The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal.
It can'
t be
organized or regulated.
It isn'
t true that everybody should follow one path.
Listen to your own
truth."
~~ Ram Dass
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You may remember the story of how the devil and a friend of his were
walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick
up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket.
The friend said to the devil, "What did that man pick up?"
" The
picked up a piece of the truth," said the devil.
"That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend.
"Oh, not at all," the devil replied. "I am going to help him organize
it." ~~ Jiddu
Krishnamurti
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Was
Ihr den Geist der Zeiten heißt,
Das ist im Grund der Herren eigner Geist.
In
dem die Zeiten sich bespiegeln.
----
Göethe
Bend down and there it is:
No need to wrest it from others.
With the Way in complete agreement,
The mere touch of a hand is spring:
The way we come upon blooming flowers,
The way we see the year renew itself.
What comes this way will stay;
What is gotten by force will drain away.
A secluded person on an empty mountain,
While rain falls, picks some blades of duckweed.
Freely feeling the flash of dawn:
Leisurely, within the celestial balance.
~~ Ssu-k'ung T'u (837-908) (from dailyzen.com)
Bhagya
Houses
'Bhaga' = good fortune. ('Bhagya' is the
adjective form of bhaga.)
When
these three "Trikona" [triangle] houses are all
favorable, a person has some good experiences in life and they also
gratefully appreciate those experiences.
Also, there is less tendency
to feel victimized, and therefore to compensate for one's victim state by
lying, cheating, stealing etc. Trinal strength contributes a general upgrade to
awareness, appreciation, and access to the good things in life. (Yes,
they are all free.)
Strong
Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Rahu-Ketu -
Suraja the significator of the soulmust be well-established in order for a
saint to become a spiritual role-model, leader, teacher, and dharma
icon. Note the Sun's strong Simha position in writings house [3] for
Shri
Aurobindo along with uchcha Guru in 2 = speech.
-
Goddess
worshippers, healers, and those committed to compassionate action for
the benefit of humankind need a good
Moon. Moon in karmaa bhava makes a person
famous. Note Mahatma
Gandhi's Moon/Rahu powerful in Karka/10.
-
A strong
Jupiter in rashi and navamsha, in his own sign, mulatrikona,
exalted, neechcha
bhanga, or in kendra or trine, is also required for access to moral
and spiritual knowledge base developed in scholarship in past
lives.
-
Saturn should
be strong enough to provide self-discipline and service commitment but not so
harsh as to be emotionally crippling. In the hand, Saturn finger (next to index
finger and usually the longest finger on the hand) must be strong and
stable with a well-formed fingernail. The promising Saturn
Fingers are frequently seen in the classic
"philosopher's hand" with pronounced knuckles.
-
tantric saints
need major Rahu-Ketu energy in
both rashi and navamsha.
Weakened Shukra -
Venus usually cannot be too
strong in the chart of a saint or spiritually proactive person. A strong
Venus will typically overemphasize sensual pleasures which inevitably distract from
the spiritual path.
-
However, tantric traditions do offer a
technology for manipulating sensual experience toward ultimate increase
of spiritual awareness.
-
These traditions can support the spiritual
development of one whose chart shows excess Shukra.
-
Still, a
weakened (ideally neechcha) Shukra is very common in spiritual
charts.
-
Mars can be weak or strong
-
Mercury tends to be strong, but not
always.
Vimshamsha - D-20
If the radix and navamsha are both spiritually strong, and
the birth time is accurate, check the
Vimshamsha = D-20 [20th divisional chart or "varga"]
for confirmation of best periods for overt spiritual development.
Remember the sign occupied by the bhukti lord "wakes up" that same
sign in all the varga charts. See Relocation
2 for a long spiritual pilgrimage in Himalaya during "wake-up
call" for Surya, the Soul.
Siddhamsha - D-24
Extraordinary spiritual powers or "siddhas"
emerge in the D-24 or siddhamsha. Siddhamsha reveals academic,
philosophical, and other psycho-mental accomplishments in conventional
conceptual thinking as well as the more esoteric range of Tantric
accomplishments associated with mystical traditions worldwide.
Spiritual figures whose powers involve
siddhas, such as Babaji, will show a strong
and auspicious Siddhamsha with key radix bhagya lords - L-1/L-5/L-9 -
operating at high levels in the 24th articulation.
Spiritual
Truth of Gem Remedies - Superstition
and Idolatry fail (Letter
to a client)
My overall opinion on Vedic-style gem remedies is posted
on the Gems page.
(Letter to a client)
IMHO, the source or seed energy is in the
deities. Shani [Saturn] is a godhead. The heavy "
old ball of gas"
Shani
is a mirror reflection, or microcosmic image, of god-Shani.
The
Muladhara chakra in each human
body is an image of the deity Shani. Each item in Shani'
s portfolio
= time, work, karma, structure, bones, discipline, etc. = are tiny
reproductions of this godhead. There are seven major deities ruling Earth
Plane and so seven planets and seven chakras [and seven sacraments and seven
times marching around Jericho brought the walls tumbling down!]
But because each of the "
holographic"
images is a perfect copy of Shani, we can justly say that Shani is a reflection
of our muladhara chakras. Because if we did not have a muladhara chakra we
would not know anything about Shani and therefore Shani would not exist.
For
some folks it is more empowering to believe the intelligence "
originates"
with the deities (Perspective A).
For others exactly the opposite belief gives more mental freedom. They
prefer the belief that the power "
originates"
in human consciousness (Perspective B) and is
projected onto the deities.
When folks need
relief from oppressive human responsibilities, I suggest perspective A.
When they are superstitious and disempowered, I suggest Perspective B.
As
any star-trek junkie knows, due to the nature of holographs, both perspectives
will yield the same view.
I swing between them based on my spiritual needs
at the time.
Hope
this is helpful and/or amusing :)
Hello,
I was just going through your site, And I
read about Paramhansa Yoganadaji. I understand that its meant to convey that
my Guru could realize that God iz everything so we needn’t depend on this
changing world for nethin for in God we find infinite love and then we need
nothing more..and that really is the truth.
But somehow I found the words
“intensely erotic relationship with the ishtadevata goddess” disturbing..
you are a person of great knowledge and i know u must be full of praise for
Yoganandaji ..but somehow i dont find this phrase apposite.. i m not trying
to blame you or something..i respect you for u r a person of great
knowledge...just dat m writing what i felt i shud
Namaste
Every saint has a consciously and intensely
loving (erotic) relationship with the inner deity (ishta-devata, god of
one's heart).
The Greek word 'eros' means 'love'. 'Erotic' in modern
English connotes the most deep and passionate interactions between lovers.
The word 'saint' means 'clean person'. (holy)
The word 'love' in English originally meant 'fame,
getting attention' and 'love' has now come to represent 'passionate
attraction' (Mangala-Shukra).
All human beings have love relationships. (All are born
with some placement of Shukra. All are born with some conditions of yuvati
bhava.)
If one can read the diaries of holy persons such as
Saint Catherine of Sienna or Saint Francis of Assisi, or accounts of the
songs and talks of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna of Bengal, it will become clear
that the more pure the heart of the saint, the more erotic their
relationship with the Divine.
If you are quite young (and I think you are) it's
possible that your understanding of the scope of 'erotic' energy is not
yet fully developed. Of course, love energy does have a physical
expression - but that is only the simplest and most obvious form.
'Erotic' energy is a force of nature which - when
properly understood - becomes the fuel for brilliant spiritual
transformation.
Wishing you all the best in Jyotisha studies,
Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha
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Treat
everyone you meet like God in drag.
-- Ram Dass, One Liners
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"Let me explain what I mean by compassion.
Usually, our concept of
compassion or love refers to the feeling of closeness we have with our friends
and loved ones. Sometimes compassion also carries a sense of pity.
his is wrong. Any love or compassion which entails looking down on the
other is not genuine compassion.
To be genuine, compassion must be based on
respect for the other, and on the realization that others have the right to be
happy and overcome suffering just as much as you.
On this basis, since you can see that others are suffering, you develop a
genuine sense of concern for them."
~~ H. H. Dalai Lama, The
Dalai Lama's Book of Love
and Compassion
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"So from the
Buddhist viewpoint, in our daily life we are sometimes
too sensitive toward minor things.
At the same time, toward other
major problems that can create long-term consequences, we are not so
sensitive.
Because of this, we find in the scriptures that ordinary
people like ourselves are described as childlike or childish.
In
fact, the term jhi-pa (Tib. 'byis pa'), or childish, is used in
different ways: sometimes it is used in terms of age, which is the
conventional usage; sometimes it is used for ordinary sentient beings, as opposed to the
Arya beings, the superior beings.
Then
sometimes it is used to describe people who are concerned only with
affairs of this life and have no interest or regard for the affairs of their future life, or life after death.
So, the tendency of our
childish nature is to take small things too seriously and get easily
offended, whereas when we are confronted with situations which have
long-term consequences, we tend to take things less seriously."
~~ H.H. Dalai Lama, Healing
Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective. Geshe Thupten Jinpa
(Trans.). www.snowlionpub.com
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Clear
conscience is usually the sign of poor memory.
If you're looking to find
the key to the Universe, I have some bad news and some good news.
The bad news
is: there is no key to the Universe.
The good news is: it has been left
unlocked.
-- Swami
Beyondananda
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I generally believe that
every major religion has the potential for giving any human being good advice;
there is no question that this is so. But we must always keep in mind that
different individuals have different mental predispositions.
This means that
for some individuals one religious system or philosophy will be more suitable
than another. The only way one can come to a proper conclusion as to what is
most suitable for Oneself is through comparative study. Hence, we look
and study, and we find a teaching that is most suitable to our own taste.
~~ H.H. Dalai Lama. (2001). Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists by
the Dalai Lama. José Ignacio Cabezón (Ed.) www.snowlionpub.com
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In the New Age a lot of people airily talk about
being a divine being, but what would it actually mean to be a divine being?
I
think the Buddha and Krishna and other great masters have shown just how
much it actually costs, because to be a divine human being is to live a
life of abandoned passionate love of all things to its absolute fullest at the
core of reality.
hat is what it means.
hat is what it costs. hat is the
only way in which it could mean anything.
Otherwise, we're just playing with words and
cheering ourselves up and that is not going to preserve humanity at this
dangerous moment. I think what we have to do now is to take the challenge of
the very greatest saints and mystics and really Christ ourselves, if you like.
Instead of endlessly appealing to their force to save us we have to do the
work that they came to open up to us....
I think the New Age has to grow up and take that
challenge really more seriously and rigorously and passionately than it has
begun to yet. We are going to have to have an authentic mystical renaissance
instead of a lot of people dancing about and pretending to have mystical
experiences, which is what's going on at the moment.
It's a tragic situation in some ways. On the one
hand you have the corporations and the industrial network destroying the
planet and on the other hand you have a largely fake spiritual renaissance
going on falsely empowering people with half-baked notions of divine identity,
instead of bringing people into the full challenge and majesty, glory and
power and authentic divine identity.So, on both sides you are met with different
illusions. It's very important now.It's never been more important to have the
authentic mystical path out there in its full beauty and full rigor
- Andrew Harvey |
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"If you hurriedly change your religion, then after some time you may
find some difficulties and some confusion.
Therefore, be very careful. An
important thing to remember is that once you change your personal religion,
there is a natural tendency, in order to justify your newly adopted religion,
to take a critical view toward your previous religion. This is very
dangerous.
Although your previous religion may be unsuitable or ineffective for you,
at the same time, millions of people may still get benefit from that
tradition. So we must respect each other's individual rights.
If it is their
belief, and millions of people get their inspiration from it, we must respect
that. And there are many reasons to do that."
~~ H.H. Dalai Lama, Healing
Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective. Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Trans.), Snow Lion Pub.
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"I believe children should be allowed to have a moment of silence in
schools.
But I do not believe an amendment allowing school prayer belongs in
the Constitution.
A
merica has become a great nation in large part because we are conceived
and nurtured in strong religious faith.
But the real test of faith is whether
it is strong enough to tolerate other faiths."
-- Richard Milhous Nixon, In the Arena, 1990, p. 91
"The government ought to stay out of the prayer business."
--
President Jimmy Carter, press conference, Washington,
D.C., 1979
"The values that spring from our faith certainly tell us a lot about our
country.
And consider that for more than two centuries Americans have
endorsed, and properly so, the separation of church and state.
But we've also shown how both religion and government can strengthen a
society.
After all, our Founding Fathers' documents begin with these words:
"All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights."
And Americans are religious people, but a truly religious nation is a
tolerant nation.
We cherish dissent, we cherish the fact that we have many,
many faiths, and we protect even the right to disbelieve."
~~ George H. W.
Bush -41 -Remarks at the Annual National Prayer Breakfast, 1
February 1990
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Intimacy
with the Object of Study
"When engaging in hearing,
it is important to mix the mind, to familiarize the mind, with what is being
heard. The study of religion is not like learning about history.
It must be
mixed with your mental continuum; your mind should be suffused with
it.
- A sutra says that the practices are like a mirror;
your actions of body, speech, and mind are like a face to be seen in the
mirror;
- and through the practices you should recognize faults and gradually
get rid of them.
As it is said in the oral transmission, "If there
is enough space between yourself and the practices for someone else to walk
through, then you are not implementing them properly."
~~ H.H.
Tenzin Gyatso,
Kindness,
Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition. Jeffrey Hopkins
(Trans. and Ed.),
Elizabeth Napper (Ed.), Snow Lion Pub. |
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Seeking Refuge in an External Source
"Now, as [in the past], the concept of a transcendent
god as creator has a powerful and inspiring impact on the lives of those who
believe in it. The sense that their entire destiny lies in the hands of an
all-powerful, omniscient and compassionate being leads them to try to
understand the workings and key message of this transcendent being.
- Then,
when they come to realise that this transcendent being embodies love and
infinite compassion, they try to cultivate love and compassion towards their
fellow beings as the qualities through which to express love for their
creator.
- They also gain confidence and inspiration through a sense of
intimacy or connectedness to this loving, transcendent being.
Although, metaphysically speaking, Buddhists reject
any notion of a transcendent creator or god, some individual Buddhists do
relate to certain higher beings, such as the goddess Tara, as an independent
and real being with power over their destiny.
For these practitioners Tara
is their sole refuge, their greatest object of veneration and their trusted
guardian and protector.
What this suggests is that the inclination to seek
refuge in an external source is something deeply natural for us as human
beings.
- But it is also clear that for other people the
metaphysical concept of a transcendent being is unacceptable.
- Questions form
in their minds, such as: who created the creator -- in other words -- where does
the transcendent being come from? And how can we posit a true beginning?
People with this type of mental disposition look elsewhere for explanations."
~~ H.H. Dalai Lama. Lighting
the Way. Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Trans.). www.snowlionpub.com
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"an increasing ability to serve is the
only reliable sign of spiritual progress"
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