Custom Search
Spirituality &
Religious Consciousness
Manju-Shri
Nangpar Nangdze (Tib.) from www.buddhamuseum.com
exemplifying spiritual strength
Shri Aurobindo, 20th century performance artist & saint
Ram Dass, "spiritual scout" and service teacher
Ammachi, contemporary saint & healer
Tenzin Gyatso, H. H. Dalai Lama, world spiritual leader, great tantrik
Edgar Cayce, 20th century trance- channel psychic, highly moral person
Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century political activist & saint
Paramahansa Yogananda, spiritual teacher, organizational genius, & saint
Babaji, ancient spiritual director
Jiddu Krishnamurti - spiritual philosopher, anti-hierarchist
Mother Teresa - organizational genius; healer of poor, sick, & rejected
Alice Bailey - esoteric metaphysical author and teacher
"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."
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?"
"He 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."
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
Was Ihr den Geist der Zeiten heißt,
Das ist im Grund der Herren eigner Geist.
In dem die Zeiten sich bespiegeln.
---- Göethe
'Bhaga' = good fortune. 'Bhagya' is the adjective form of bhaga.
Tanu [1st], putra [5th], and dharma [9th] are primary significators of positive karma or merit built up in past lives.
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, & Rahu-Ketu
Ravi - the Sun - significator of the soul - must 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 speech house [dhana bhava] for Shri Aurobindo along with his rising exalted Guru
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, neechha 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 neechha) Shukra is very common in spiritual charts.
Mars can be weak or strong
Mercury tends to be strong, but not always.
If the radix and navamsha are both spiritually strong, and the birth time is accurate, check the Vimshamsha or 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.
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 & Idolatry fail (Letter to a client)
My overall opinion on Vedic-style gem remedies is posted on my Gems page.
About where the real divine energy is: entering spiritual partnership with planetary deities
(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. So the Muladhara chakra in each human body is an image of the deity Shani. So 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 didn’t have a muladhara chakra we wouldn’t 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) but for others exactly the opposite belief -- that the power “originates” in human consciousness (Perspective B) and is projected onto the deities --gives more mental freedom. 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 :)
Treat everyone you meet like God in drag.
-- Ram Dass, One Liners
What did the Yogi say when he walked into the Zen Pizza Parlor?
"Make me one with everything."
When the Yogi got the pizza, he gave the proprietor a $20 bill. The proprietor pocketed the bill.
The Yogi said "Don't I get change?"
The proprietor said, "Change must come from within."
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.
This 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 & Compassion
"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
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
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
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. That is what it means. That is what it costs. That 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
"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.
"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.
America 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 (Sr.) - Remarks at the Annual National Prayer Breakfast, 1 February 1990
"I am interested not in converting other people to Buddhism but in how we Buddhists can contribute to human society, according to our own ideas. I believe that other religious faiths also think in a similar way, seeking to contribute to the common aim....
Just as Buddha showed an example of contentment, tolerance, and serving others without selfish motivation, so did Jesus Christ. Almost all of the great teachers lived a saintly life - not luxuriously like kings or emperors but as simple human beings. Their inner strength was tremendous, limitless, but the external appearance was of contentment with a simple way of life.
...the motivation of all religious practice is similar - love, sincerity, honesty. The way of life of practically all religious persons is contentment. The teachings of tolerance, love, and compassion are the same. A basic goal is the benefit of humankind - each type of system seeking in its own unique ways to improve human beings.
If we put too much emphasis on our own philosophy, religion, or theory, are too attached to it, and try to impose it on other people, it makes trouble. Basically all the great teachers, such as Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Mohammed, founded their new teachings with a motivation of helping their fellow humans. They did not mean to gain anything for themselves nor to create more trouble or unrest in the world.
Most important is that we respect each other and learn from each other those things that will enrich our own practice. Ever if all the systems are separate, since they each have the same goal, the study of each other is helpful."
~~ H.H. Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology of Writings By and About the Dalai Lama Compiled & edited by Sidney Piburn, foreword by Sen. Claiborne Pell, Snow Lion Pub.
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. & Ed.), Elizabeth Napper (Ed.), Snow Lion Pub.
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
"an increasing ability to serve is the only reliable sign of spiritual progress"
updated: 31 August 2008
Copyright © 1994-2015 by Barbara Pijan Lama - Contact - Sitemap - How to Request a Jyotisha Reading - www.barbarapijan.com
- Barbara Pijan Lama Jyotisha Jyotish Vedic Astrology Horoscope Readings Surya Sun Chandra Moon Mangala Mars Budha Mercury Guru Jupiter Shukra Venus Shani Saturn Rahu Ketu Graha Planets Dasha Timeline Nakshatra Navamsha Marriage Children Wealth Career Spiritual Wisdom Death
