LEARN ASTROLOGY - LESSON 67
PEARLS OF WISDOM FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
God lives in the hearts of those who have no lust, anger, arrogance and pride and those who are without greed, excitement, aversion or attraction and are free from fraud, hypocrisy and deceit.
God lives in the hearts of those who always think of God as their master, companion, father, mother, preceptor and everything.
For peace and enjoying the bliss, we can follow these Pearls of Wisdom:
1. Patience is very important in life and at all times.
2. If there is a mistake or misunderstanding one should not hesitate to accept.
3. There is always some scope for learning.
4. Wise people ignore the acts of foolish persons.
5. Anger, greed, encroaching tendencies, pride and lust make a person blind.
6. For literary/intellectual understanding/creativity one requires:
Intelligence
Imagination
Exploratory mind
Concentration
Patience
Confidence
Objectivity
Some more pearls from Ramayana, the epic:
1. While describing the character of saints (holy persons) and those who are unholy, Saint Tulsidas, the author of Ramayana, says that the holy persons give happiness to others while the unholy persons live for making others unhappy. So, those learning and practicing astrology should follow the conduct of holy persons.
2. Ramayana says that without going into the merits of advice or sayings, one should follow the advice of one's parents, guru (teacher) and God, as this always blesses the person with happiness and peace.
3. Those who do not respect or heed to their parents and God and those who seek service from holy persons are just demons. Such persons always cause sufferings to others and perish after experiencing sufferings in life.
4. While patience and self-control are necessary for being successful and peaceful in life, generosity remains a virtue, above all.
In Ramayana, lord Rama says, "Only those who are simple find me. I do not like those who are involved in manipulations and cheating."
MISSION OF LIFE & ASTROLOGY
At some point of time in life everybody is faced with the question as to what is the mission of one’s life. A poor man may think that he is only living for toiling and facing hardship in life while a rich man may think that he is only living for enjoyments in life. Though all human beings are born with different fortunes, depending upon their past karma (deeds), their journey in life is towards moksha or nirvana or liberation from earthly bondage. There are impediments in life in the form of diseases, accidents, lack of financial resources, emotional setbacks, deeper involvement in sensual pleasures, anger, greed, attachment, etc.
How to reach one’s ultimate goal of attaining moksha or how to realize the mission of life is the most important question faced by both the haves and have-nots, that is the rich and the poor. One has to fight one’s way through the impediments. The sure way to realize the mission succeeds is through divine conduct as described by the Ramayana. The contentment in life with one’s lot and increasing one’s utility to the humanity is the real short cut. The divine conduct includes practices of kindness, generosity, benevolence; being free from greed, excitement, attraction or aversion, envy, fraud, hypocrisy and deceit; and to avoid deeper involvement in sensual pleasures, anger, arrogance and pride. Seeking blessings of saints, especially in person wherever possible, help the person in mitigating the sins. This knowledge helps the person in being free from attachments. Contentment helps the person in winning over greed, lust and anger.
The planets, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn rule the divine qualities and impediments depending upon their lordship in their charts. Rahu and Ketu rule the impediments. The positive role of a strong Sun in the birth chart of an individual is the evolution of soul through sound health, good fortune and strong will power. The weak and/or afflicted Sun impedes the evolution of soul through greed, lack of will power, envy and pride. The positive role of a strong Moon in realization of one’s mission is through easy availability of necessities of life; a fully developed mind with clarity and contentment with one’s lot is very important. One can then continue one’s mission-oriented journey in life. The weak and/or afflicted Moon robs one of the proper care by the mother, causes retarded/slow mental growth, a disturbed marital relationship and an agitated state of mind. While a strong Mars gives tremendous initiative to the person to pursue one’s pursuits in life a weak and/or afflicted Mars confronts one with impediments through anger and involvement in excessive sensual pleasures.
A strong Mercury gives the power of understanding and communication while a weak and/or afflicted Mercury confuses a person and impedes the mission-oriented journey. The impediments are caused by pride. A strong Jupiter makes a person kind, charitable, benevolent and contented while a weak and/or afflicted Jupiter makes one selfish and cruel. A strong Venus provides material comforts while a weak and/or afflicted Venus impedes the mission-oriented journey through material pursuits in life. A strong Saturn blesses the person with a long, secured and healthy life while a weak and/or afflicted Saturn makes one suspicious in nature and the person feels insecure. Rahu rules materialistic pursuits. If it is well placed in the chart and is not forming a close conjunction with any of other planets/houses, then its power to cause impediments is reduced. Its close connection with any other planet or house tampers with the positive role of the said planet or house. The extent of damage to the afflicted planet or house is more if the said planet is weak. Ketu signifies miseries and obstructions. Its close relationship with weak and/or afflicted planets is always indicative of serious problems in life impelling one to seek divine solace through spirituality. The close impact of Ketu shows the helplessness of the man to fight the impediments with one’s material resources.
Those people who continue their journey through divine conduct are always in the service of God and they need not affiliate to any particular religion or place of worship for meditation.
The divine will in store for a person is foreknown in astrology through the position of the planets noted regarding the time of birth of the particular person. The strength, placement, inter-relationship of planets, the operational periods of planets and the continuous impact of the current positions of planets on the natal position of planets guides us to the course of life including the spiritual evolution and attainments of the mission of life.
In the background of the above, we all see in our day-to-day lives affluent persons exerting themselves to achieve their greedy plans unsuccessfully and digressing from the true mission oriented journey of their lives while the blessed ones are never tempted by greed, pride, lust, arrogance and excitement. Saintly personalities keep on coming and leaving in our lives to show us the true path for all human beings. The crux of their teachings is capable of saving the mankind from numerous problems created by one’s own lust, anger, arrogance and greed.
The mighty and invincible foe of the man is attachment to the world. While the planets like Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn breed attachment, Rahu turns it into the greed. Greed turns one blind and then one loses the sense of righteousness to satisfy it.
To effectively conquer attachments and be a winner in all situations, one needs the following attributes:
Valour and fortitude;
Truthfulness and good conduct;
Strength, discretion, self-control and benevolence;
Forgiveness, compassion, evenness of mind;
Adoration of God;
Dispassion;
Contentment;
Charity;
Reason;
Highest wisdom;
Pure and steady mind;
Quietude;
Various forms of abstinence;
Religious observance;
Homage to Brahmins and to one's own preceptor;
Piety
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