a girl gets married to a dog in order to break a bad spell

[Taomeow]

In Chinese astrology, an individual reading invariably concerns the family too. The Four Pillars of Destiny contain, respectively, the "palaces" of the Ancestors, Parents, Spouse and Children.

 

Recently I did the charts of two brothers, a newborn and a 3-year-old. The picture was that of the newborn baby being destined to decide the ultimate fate of the whole family -- and this destiny will come to pass, there's no way around it. The only way to prevent it (if there's something to prevent -- the baby's chart is very lucky, and it's not his fault that it will negatively affect everybody else) would have been to possess this knowledge in advance and move conception to a different time. Incidentally, corrections of this nature are routinely attempted in Asia, but since the cultural context has been lost, it is overwhelmingly done incorrectly, with reliance on pop astrology rather than the real deal. So, they schedule induced births on a specially selected auspicious date... duh... pop astrology meets pop technology, and chaos ensues -- there's nothing more inauspicious than an induced birth, which scrambles one's destiny chaotically, and is about as helpful as trying to improve the growth of a tree by pulling it upward by the branches. Or they go with the "year animal" -- abortions skyrocket in Southeast Asia in the year of the Fire Horse. Whereas in real Chinese astrology the Fire Horse that will destroy its family is born on the Day of the Fire Horse, not in the Year of the Fire Horse. A bit harder to calculate in advance... Destiny guards itself well from amateur corrections by the ignorami. One has to really know how to play in her playground to have a chance to make her change her mind. Remember the story about the man who fled to Samarra?.. If not, here it is:

 

"The Appointment in Samarra"
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])

The speaker is Death

There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

[manitou]

Knowledge of mind is not the same as knowledge of an object, knowledge of an object is always relative to a point of reference; of a place and a time; The closer we are to the source of the knowledge, the longer lasting is the knowledge. Knowledge also exists out side of space and time; describing it rather than being of it, at this level though later they also merge; these are the tattva or elements.

 

 

\

 

I'm speaking of the Beginner's Mind from the Zen perspective. The mind that does not sit on knowledge of objects, or a relative point of reference, place, time, or judgmental opinion. It is as open as the air. And yes, I agree - the closer we get to the Source within, we find that the knowledge is there for the Underlying Truths to issue forth, because it is not being impeded by our points of view and fixed ideas, which keep the Underlying Truths (which are within all of us) from flowing outward. But in order to tap into this flow, this mysterious knowledge which Knows and Waits for exactly the right moment to issue forth - we must be as free as possible from arrogance, pride, judgment, prejudice, fixed ideas of anything. What a balancing act we must perform. In one sense, we cannot deny that initially it appears that we are living in a world of solids, and we must step aside and let a car pass so that we will not be hit. On the other hand, we must also understand that neither us nor the car are solid at all; and it is through this understanding of the illusion of what we call the physical world that we are given the opportunity to see through it and get down to the Truth that lies within us and is universal, Logos. That which underlies everything.

 

The Knowledge is mysterious and nothing that has been taught or read. It is tapped into by the clear mind.

[manitou]

In Chinese astrology, an individual reading invariably concerns the family too. The Four Pillars of Destiny contain, respectively, the "palaces" of the Ancestors, Parents, Spouse and Children.

 

Recently I did the charts of two brothers, a newborn and a 3-year-old. The picture was that of the newborn baby being destined to decide the ultimate fate of the whole family -- and this destiny will come to pass, there's no way around it.

 

When I read this, Taomeow, I immediately thought of the measurements of the Hadron Collider determining that when the atoms collide, they distribute themselves into the Past, Present, and Future. Like a time fold. I envision it as a piece of paper; on one side is written Past, (ancestors), on the other side is written Future (babies and future babies), and then if you turn the page sideways so that you are only looking at the very thin edge, this is the present.

[manitou]

And I'm about to go to Home Depot and flow some energy.

I hope your energy flowed nicely yesterday - and that maybe a little energy flowed into the red bucket outside!

[Marblehead]

I hope your energy flowed nicely yesterday - and that maybe a little energy flowed into the red bucket outside!

Ha! Yes, it flowed well. Those people don't do the Home Depot I went to but they are one of my regular points of contributions.

[Taomeow]

When I read this, Taomeow, I immediately thought of the measurements of the Hadron Collider determining that when the atoms collide, they distribute themselves into the Past, Present, and Future. Like a time fold. I envision it as a piece of paper; on one side is written Past, (ancestors), on the other side is written Future (babies and future babies), and then if you turn the page sideways so that you are only looking at the very thin edge, this is the present.

 

Great, this can be a very revealing metaphor if you look closely. This is in line with the view of a very unorthodox and original Chinese philosopher whose name I keep forgetting but whose view I share -- he proved that the present does not exist! -- that's where the "illusion" of this world is rooted -- but that the past and the future are real. If you look at your sheet of paper closely, you will notice that looking at it sideways reveals that it is comprised of its "past" side and its "future" side that continuously communicate and seep into each other -- there's nothing else there, no separation between the two that could be labeled "now." Nowhere to even write the word "now!" So, the only way to really "live in the present" is to study the past and project into the future. That's what diviners do "for a living" -- but everybody else does the "living" this way too, it's just that, unlike the diviner, they don't see the ropes pulling from the future, attached to the pistons pushing from the past.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Taomeow

[Brian]

See also: light cone

[Marblehead]

See also: light cone

I prefer ice cream cones, thank you.

[Taomeow]

I prefer ice cream cones, thank you.

 

Minkowski cones are healthier and more delicious -- except they nourish the heart-mind rather than the stomach.

[manitou]

See also: light cone

I just looked at the light cone images. Isn't that exactly what a chakra is supposed to look like, with the two opposing cones? Talk about microcosm / macrocosm...