Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 The Key to Life! Dear Friends & Subscribers: This morning I awoke and this refrain started rambling through my brain. “The Key to Life”, mmmm, the key to life, mmmm, interesting. What is the key to life? Interesting question since today’s a Moon in Scorpio day. I’ve noticed that Scorpio days and characteristics and qualities of Scorpio in people’s charts are quite often about what is important to us! No wonder I’m thinking today about important life principles! So, back to ‘the key to life’…. I think one of the most important principles of life is wrapped up in that old adage: “Giving is the basis of receiving.” We’ve all heard this. Probably all of our grand parents initially told us about this. Or, we may have heard of this in the Christian vernacular “As you sow, so shall you reap” or the Eastern idea of “karma”. I grew up hearing both about giving and about sowing. In fact that Christian idea made so much sense to me I thought: “God, I must have been really bad!” He he In other words I saw shyness, feelings of loss, suffering, fear, unhappiness, even personal depression inside and I thought: “Wow, I must have been bad!” But you know there’s something good about even entertaining the idea that life is the way we’ve created it! If we don’t accept these principles then we’re doomed to feel helpless, a victim and that the Universe is chaotic and unfair! Maybe this is why these principles of ‘sowing’ and ‘karma’ are there to give us a sense of why. Because, if we’re suffering and not enjoying our life then there must be a reason. Though I have to admit for a long time I mostly just felt the guilt of ‘oh, God, I must have been really bad.” Eventually however, I was blessed with the enlightened thoughts by some amazing Vedic scholars and seers. Initially I heard them say: “No one can bring to you anything but what you’ve created for yourself.” But, then it started to dawn on me, ‘Hey, if no one brings to me anything but what I’ve created for myself…THEN, that means no one brings anything to me, except what I’ve create for myself!’ In other words I’m free to start creating a better new karma for myself. If we’re not a victim or a result of a capricious, uncaring, unfeeling Universe, then I am free to create something new! Make a resolution then: “I’m going to create the best possible new karmas for myself!” There’s another old idea I like a lot. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” I’ve found this very true in life. So many people I talk to feel uncertain, insecure, and unsure of themselves and yet, they don’t realize how this pre-condition sets up failure for themselves! So, we need to believe in ourselves. We need to have a will to do, to be, to accomplish and to achieve. We then need to decide what we want. Do we want a job? Do we want money? Success? Happiness? Marriage? Children? Many, many people today, especially in the so-called new age field ascribe to the philosophy of “Decide First, What You Want. This creates an order in the Universe that can get fulfilled”. Understanding this in the context of karma or sowing, we first have to have a desire for something in order to draw to us its fulfillment. Most people, of course have desires but something happens between the time where we dream and desire and then, how we succeed in accomplishing our desires. We can reflect on this abstractly but I find the realities of Astrology are the best system for understanding this dilemma in the particular. Inside each one of our charts is a clear depiction of what strengths and weaknesses we are being born with. In Western Astrology these exact words, strengths and weaknesses are used. In the Eastern system our strengths are related to our so-called Benefic planets. Our weaknesses are due to our Malefic ones! In fact this is one of the most exhilarating ‘ahas’ that comes to one when we discover upon our Astrology. “Wow, my chart really fits me.” So, even though I was sad at the disposition and psychology of my early life, when I learned that my situation was understandable, heck, even probable due to the Astrological forces in my chart; immediately I felt somewhat better. Over the years I wondered why even just knowing the Astrological reasons for our miseries can give hope. Then, it occurred to me I was enlivening this deep principle of karma. In fact, all the details of our charts are a demonstration, even a declaration of the principle of karma or ‘as you sow…’ In other words, where we’ve been ‘good’ we have our Benefic planets. Where we’ve been mistaken, confused or ‘bad’ this is where we have our Malefic ones. Why? Is the universe being unfair or cruel to us? NO! We experience or suffer the realities of karma so that we learn! God him/herself seems to have one rule. We can do whatever we want in life. But…. And yes, here’s the catch. But, we’re going to experience the natural consequences of those choices for better or worse! Not only is this true in this life, but it’s also true, life after life, after life. In other words if we run out of time to figure this whole thing out in this life; we’ll get another one, and then another, and then another. This is why we’re born with unfinished lives. This is why we’re born with half baked sensibilities and dispositions. This is why we’re born with strengths and weaknesses. Because, we’ve created this. We’ve chosen this path and yet now we regret it. We came in to live this exact life that our charts are about and now we don’t want to accept it. Of course the time has something to do with this. We’re not taught generally this reality. Oh, we might hear vaguely about it. “Come on now, child you know the old rule, Giving is the basis of receiving!” Boy, I remember hearing that one when I was a child. What dribble, I thought. Sounds inane! I thought. But, God that’s exactly what I needed to hear! He he. There is in my chart a Leo self-centeredness going on. Just talk to my younger brothers and sisters. They’ll tell you. I was the oldest of six but was I kind, considerate and look out and take care of them! No, I wanted to be a little dictator! It wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds. But, I definitely wanted to be there King! I also at the same time had a very small Moon in the 12th House. So, even though I wanted to be King, I also felt weak and powerless. Life is cruel and unfair. No, it was exactly in my chart. So, “Find your self in your Star package!” Find who you are, the good and the bad. Why so you can learn. Don’t be afraid in what you’re going to be finding! You will find strengths as well as weaknesses. Remember the weaknesses are NOT meant to be an eternal judge as to your misery or previous life indiscretions! NO! We can learn from our charts. We can understand the good nesses that are there. We can especially learn from our weaknesses! Contained within every Malefic planet, configuration or declaration of weakness IS a benefic dieing to come out! In other words, contained within every negative is its opposite! So, my selfish ness was meant to show me that I needed to learn to give. I remember the last Christmas when I was being more selfish. Maybe I was 13 or 14. As normal, I was so excited about Christmas coming. I loved receiving presents! Who doesn’t, right? So, my 5 other brothers and sisters and mother and father settled into another glorious Christmas devouring our presents. I had so many too! Like most young kids I’d perused all the presents with my names labeled on them to get a previous gander. Then, we consumed our presents one after another after another. It was an eating frenzy. At the end, however, I turned to my Mother and said: “Is that all there is? Is that all I get?” I watched as my kind hearted Mother’s face dropped. She didn’t say a word, but I watched the disappointment spread across her face, crest fallen. How could I have been so insensitive? Though, it wasn’t till years later when I had my own children when I remembered this experience. And, they too, to some degree did the same thing to me! Now, that’s karma! He he. So, we’re all living the life that we were meant to live. We’re living the exact, specific life that we came into this life to live! Only we could understand it better. Because the very moment when I saw myself more clearly through the objective, unbiased eyes of my Astrology I saw why I had my early life problems. ‘Oh, my, so that’s why I’ve been this way? Why nothing is enough.” When you have a number of planets in Leo, and I had 4! You want to be King! Not only do you want to be a king but you already feel like the King! You not only want to be treated like a king, you feel like a king, and you deserve to be treated like a king! Heck, you even treat your brothers and sisters like they’re your subjects! Years later I began to read about what a good King. In the Vedic literature there are all these wonderful stories of Vedic Kings and Queens. Ever read about Ram? He’s the most glorious King! He had it all. He had a kingdom, treasures, and a great family. Only he had one special quality and that was humility. So, there are inherent lessons in our Star packages. Don’t be afraid to face them. You were born for it! Take heart in the fact that you also are the solution to any challenges and frustrations. When I discovered not only that I had a deserving nature but I also could learn to give; then my life became truly purposeful. Then, I began to live the life that I was truly meant to live. It may seem frustrating. Most people have the experience of wanting to arrive in life. Very few therefore, are adequately devoted to the path. The realities that we need to be facing and learning are right there in our experience. All we have to do is open our hearts and minds to them. The knowledge and wisdom of our charts will help immensely. Find yourself in your Stars. Then, learn the lesson of your malefics. We’re meant to! And, even one or two steps out of the malefic ness of those patterns will bring us hope, relief and finally salvation! Find your Benefices too. They’re your given strengths. It’s comforting knowing that you have some goodness inside too! In fact I like to tell people, wrap your self up in your Benefices. They’re really who you are anyway! Then, reach down and offer a kind, helping hand to your Malefics. They need help too you know. The Key to Life The key to life, then, lies in our Benefices. Where we have them we’re already doing good, making the right decisions and enjoying success! Those people, by the way, who have the most birth Benefices are already rising to the top of their chosen fields. When you look at the leaders of every field in life; you’ll find those with the most Benefices rising like cream, to the top. So, what about the rest of us? Can’t we too, enjoy success in life? Yes, but the key is we need to change our ways. There are great examples of individuals, though they were born under the saddest early circumstances or handicaps, also, rose to great accomplishment! How did they do this? By learning how to change their ways. They learned specific and important life lessons and they got over their weaknesses, their ignorance and their bad habits. What did they do? They discovered and solved the inherent meaning of some of their Malefics! Whether they had chronic feelings of lack of self-worth, or whether they suffered under crushing feelings of emotional despair. Whatever the problem, they found the solution. In other words, they found the light associated with their particular darkness. In all my life, I’ve never found such a great tool as Astrology. I used to be a Philosophy and Education major in college. I studied all the great classics. I studied all the great thoughts of human kind both Western and Eastern history. Of all those philosophies or isms, none came close to the power and profundity of Astrology. Why? Because the knowledge of our Astrology fits us! We can find easily and quickly ourselves, in our charts. And, not only that but contained within our charts is a formula for getting out of our miseries. Not only are our charts supposed to help us see our strengths and weaknesses, but our charts are also there to help us rise up out of our ignorance. You know the root of ‘ignorance’? It’s to ignore. Where we’re ignoring our life we’re bound to suffer. We may have our darkness; we only need to bring the light. The Philosophy of the Benefic or Full Potential of the Planets is there to help us see our light! We’re all meant to develop better and more Benefic forces in our lives. Every step that we take towards more Benefic ness, brings us more and more success and happiness. Yes, we do have our desires, dreams and ambitions. But, we need to figure out how to accomplish those desires. If we flow towards our goals through our malefic forces we’re destined to fail. The world is full of people and situations of frustrations, challenges, problems, misery and failure. Why? Because, these people didn’t learn about their malefics. Maybe they were going too fast, or staying up too late, even working too hard. But, the best intention does not matter. If our Mars inclines us to go too fast we’re going to have accidents! If our Saturn inclines us to work too hard, to stay in activity too long, or to not get enough rest; then stress and misery will be our destiny. Remember, however the choice is up to us. It’s still our choice whether we flow through our Benefic or Malefic ness. They don’t control us! We, in fact, created them! We created them. So, if we created them, we can uncreate them. If we have some Malefic quality somewhere we can change that! In fact we were born to do this. In Vedic science there are many disciplines. There’s Jyotish, but there’s also Ayurveda. There’s Yoga, and Yaguas and even Meditation. Ever wonder what these are all about? They’re there to give us concrete tools to strengthen ourselves! Each Vedic discipline has a unique role in helping us eliminate our Malefic patterns. So, we have a Saturn inclination to create disease or dis-ease? We go to an Ayurvedic doctor and he reaches down to take our pulse. He then may say: “Ah, your Vata is out of balance!” And though we may not initially know what he is talking about, so then he says: “Now, I’m going to give you some prescriptions and things for you to do to help bring your Physiology back into balance.” The key of course being that health is a reflection of our inner health balance. So, we’re told to get more regular rest. Upon closer examination it’s determined that we don’t get enough sleep. It may also be discovered that we stay up too late. Ayurveda, for example, identifies the hours between 10pm to 2am as being the optimum hours to be in sleep. The Physiology gains the most rejuvenative rest if asleep during those hours. “If you have to work, go to bed early and get up earlier.” Not only can the problems of our life and Physiology be seen in our pulses but the solutions are also there. Like that, Jyotish too is meant to give us concrete solutions. Ayurveda may represent the knowledge and wisdom of Physiology but Jyotish is really Vedic Psychology. Ayurveda works primarily with the body while Jyotish deals with the mind. If someone has a Vata problem in their pulse or physiology, Jyotish should be able to find the mental correlate to that physical problem. It’s not surprising then, to find problems with Saturn quite often where there are physical Vata problems. So, we receive some help and prescriptions according to our Ayurvedic physician. Now, we need to receive help and wisdom from our Vedic, Jyotish doctors! Find your self in your Astrology. Where are you at? Are you enjoying, progressing quite nicely? Or are you frustrated, experiencing problems and any of the negatives in life. Now, you know why. Therefore, resolve to find the Benefices in your chart. They’re your power centers, anyway. Then, figure out your Malefics. Write them down. Learn which ones are literally causing you any of your grief and unhappiness. Because you need to really learn them! And, learning them has the real potential of eliminating and transforming them! The Nature of life is to grow and Jyotish is meant to help in that process. It’s been fun talking with you all today. Sincerely, Mark Kincaid Excerpts from new Jyotish book: “The Stars Within.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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