s1va

I thank you for sharing. Astrology is not fortune telling as the world is led to believe. If you look on the left, under my handle "Cauvery", I have listed my interests. Sky-gazing is one of them. I used to enjoy and love watching the stars. I miss it so much. I used to spend hours as a kid, from the terrace just watching the sky. My entire attention rapt, just observing the beauty of the sky. This was not simple time-pass or daydreaming. The mind used to be calm, at peace. When I look back, it just feels like a meditation or contemplation in it's own way. The entire attention used to be on the sky, marveling at the starts, the planets, the celestial bodies, "shooting star" (or "falling stars") and even satellites. I grew up in a rural place in India. The night skies used to be dark. There were not bright city lights. Electricity used to be a privilege We used to sleep on the terrace on certain seasons of the year. I will be gazing, watching the sky, and will peacefully transition into sleep. Gone are those days. I live in large cities these days, near some biggest airports. With noise of planes constant. There are no terraces. Even if I find a spot, I see mostly planes. At times, I can see one or two constellations like Big Dipper. When I travel between cities, while driving at night, I have come across the dark skies some times. They bring back fond memories. To answer your other question, I am not eluding to anything. It is just a simple question. As it reads on the post. The significance of (at) the time any event start in the universe. I strongly believe that there is significance. I have stated this openly. I wanted to discuss and get others feeling. I wanted to hear from everyone, doesn't matter about astrology or any belief. Just like the way you shared. Thank you. You brought up watching the stars. Something that I am so passionate about. I have to drive 3 hours away from where I live to meaningfully watch the sky, like I used to be. It is not really practical given the life outside. But, my passion does take me sometimes there to get the glimpse of what I used to enjoy once. What used to be there, available everyday readily, close to me. Only when we lose things, we understand the value and miss them. But, life always replaces them with something else, that is fanciful to the mind.

Dwai, your posts are beautiful as always, have some inner meaning for me. My story goes somewhat similar to yours. I started learning from the foot steps of my grand father. Then it was my father. Then it was a system that my father followed. Finally until I arrived at my own astrology teacher. My grand father said some things, which at the time I wouldn't believe. Looking back, many things panned out more or less the way he foretold. He learned very little from books. I completely agree that there are two components to this. Just mere knowledge from books or scriptures will serve no purpose. If they were to, one can write a program that comes back with rules or predictions. This is why, science can boldly claim that astrology does not work always. They fail to see the intuitive part of this. I don't want to make the claim that I have such intuitive powers. But, I can say, my friends and some people that consulted with me, strongly believe that there is some value to my words, when it comes to astrology. They trust my words more than that I would trust them. I always caution them, not to get carried away. There were periods, when I did not believe on anything. So, astrology also went away with that. Then the interest always comes back. This is part of me. I also felt that this is all useless at various points and got into spirituality at various times. But, life has taught me again and again, that this is also part of spirituality. There is a meaning to this also and this is part of my life. I can't separate it. I concur with you on the point, if some one were to use astrology to make money, or to purely fulfill their needs, the odds are against them. Whether they fix a time, or try to predict something based on the time (an event started), they are likely to fail. Invariably they will be shown that, it does not work that way. On the other hand, if some one is sincere, a full time astrologer as his/her profession, I don't see anything wrong in them charging a modest fee to make their living in the world we live in today. This goes back to the same discussion we had on yoga. People that stand to benefit should have it in them to give, it is not other way around. If there is greed, whatever the intuitive powers, they quickly disappear, or conversely destroy the person, as the yogic siddhis do. While you shared your experiences, you did not address the question asked on this post. If you don't want to, that is fine.

I am curious, if you would care to expand on what you mean by mechanical forces.

Thanks.

Can I please have a PPD?

Funny. You think of breath. I can only think of sleep. Oh, what about those naps? Lucky, I don't do them any more. Don't have to die one more time during the day.

Do we not die every day? Some would say every moment. We go into sleep. The body leaves the physical plane, transitioning into the world of dreams. Then goes back and forth between dream world and deep sleep. In deep sleep one does not seem to exist. Then we come back to our physical body after alternating between the dream world and deep sleep. They talk about a 4th state, where in one is aware of all the other 3 states. I have no clue what this is. Except, sometimes during the dream state, I feel I know that I am dreaming. When I die from one state and enter the other, I simply die and do not exist on that state. Then I am born into the next alternating state. Then I die on that state. This cycle seems to repeat in what is perceived as every single day to me. One day we leave this perceived body and its states and perhaps enter into another state, generally termed as THE death. This all seem like similar transitions to me. We can argue that during sleep the rest of the world sees the person sleeping, his heart is beating, he is breathing etc. These are all immaterial. To the person sleeping, during sleep, his body or the people observing do not exist. Period.

There are periods when I think along these lines, that I must be the most insane; then some times that I must be the most sane. Mostly, I stay in-between. But oscillate from time to time. I got used to being me You are right about the playful ignorance to stay involved. Welcome, and I would like to hear more from you.

There is nothing wrong . I did not say it was wrong. I simply mentioned that I do not subscribe to that view. I don't feel any need (at this moment) to prove anything to myself or others. I am content. Even if I were to embark on proving something, I wouldn't worry too much about "right" or "wrong". I want to answer the question you asked at the beginning of the post. No, I do not want Enlightenment at all. I have tried the wanting method before, and it did not work for me. On the other hand, if Enlightenment is going to happen, let it happen .

I agree "Falseness hunting" as you put it is more practical. But there is no need to talk about it or promote it to others, so to speak. All of us come to see it when we are ready to see it. This is not new, it's been said, and there for anyone that wants to find it. IMHO, presenting this idea to seekers at all levels, and trying to hammer it in has no value. On the other post you said. "Getting to a place where you seen past everything ....." I take one exception to this statement. It is not getting to a place to "see past everything". If I see past "everything", it implies there is nothing left or shoonya. I do not subscribe to this view. There is ONE that is past things that appear as many.

What is the reason to revisit or pull it apart? For that matter, when we are talking from this stand point, What is "Next Day?". I don't have a clue what that is. I verily know at this moment what it is. Where is this "Falseness" coming in next day or previous day? Why the label "Falseness"? Why not the label, "The Truth" or something else? I can go on, I guess, you get the point.

I see where you are coming from. Yes, there may be repetition of what was heard and collected. But, I want to ask the question, is not everything that we discuss, including the language that we use (English) as a medium, is all something heard, collected and repeated many times already? Is there anything new in any of this that we sayl? Every word that we utter is spoken already. Even every idea we convey, is conveyed before at some point, in some place, in some plane of conciousness. Let's take one step back and look at the question you asked, "Are you not just repeating something you heard....?". Isn't this question asked before? Can we not put the same question back to the questioner? Asking, "is your question not a repetition of what you heard and collected?" From such a stand point, we are going to go in a loop, there is nothing left to say or discuss. Not even to ourselves, let alone the perceived others. Edited to add:

Yeah, I did that experiment too, declared I didn't exist. Then when I pinched it did freakin' hurt. I also concluded, who but I could have the pain. After some thought, revised my earlier conclusion from declaring, "I didn't exist" to declare "I alone exist". Not exactly "I alone" exist. There is only ONE that exists, that is manifesting through this body also. Therefore the perceived pain.

I laugh and have lot of fun when I read your posts -- including some welcome posts. Many thanks for the humor -- packed with the message that you want to coney. Wise way to communicate -- I am learning. If I feel down, I guess just reading some of your posts will cheer me up.

Normally, I try to stay away from political topics. After coming here and reading, I can't resist but post. What you have stated are facts. I am baffled that many can't see this. It's not about who is holy and who is a sinner, as this poll turned out to be. It was about the message. Trump did talk about economy, that's something. Whereas the main focus of Hilary's campaign was attacking and ridiculing Trump, no substance of their own. It's funny they are surprised by the outcome.

That is a beautiful explanation. Directly addressing the question that I asked. I have to confess that I am not a big fan of "Art of Living" based on my own experience with the practitioners and the system. It doesn't matter. The quote that you posted has given me some clarity. May be I will understand it better going forward, when I am mindful of the relation between swadharma and the restlessness as beautifully explained. Many thanks, for taking the time to read, and post a reply that is so helpful to me.

Thank you for providing your insight on the topic. I see that the poem that you posted rings a bell with the topic of swadharma. However, I am not sure, if I interpreted or understood it right. On your comment, I have a question. Do you this it is possible by "being true to one's nature" and end up with self aggrandizing follies? Isn't that the whole point? By being true to our nature, we go with the flow. How can that end up in self aggrandizing folly? Conversely, I wonder whether it is possible by "not being true to ones nature" and get positive results. Taking the analogy of bitter gourd once again, can bitter gourd go against it's nature of being bitter, and say, I want to to be sweet, and get positive results? It is not possible for bitter gourd to go against it's nature or instincts. This is the protection afforded by nature to plants and animals. The nature has instilled some instincts in plants and animals. We do rarely, see some plants or animals that seem to act out of their nature or swadharma, and the consequences were always disastrous in my experience. In humans, the nature has gifted us with the freedom, to either be harmonious with the world, by being true to our nature, or go against it and face the consequences. Here is where the important point that I really need to stress. There is no "one set" of rule for humans. When it comes to humans, we are all not bitter gourds. One size does not fit all. There is no concrete right or wrong "swadharma" or "inherent true nature" for humans, in my opinion. What is swadharma for one human, can be adharma for another. This is where the question in this post comes from. Though I appreciate your response so much, my question was not , whether "being true to one's nature" or following "swadharma" will produce positive or negative results. I have concluded (for me), that following swadharma or acting in one's nature can produce only harmonious results, and going against it is counter productive. My questions was, how to identify one's swadharma or nature, when we are in confusion, lack the clarity?

Glad, I am here

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