A dialogue I found very interesting;
Try not to see me as an outsider or a pitta provoked person.. yes I may have red hair, and who knows, may have just eaten some hot food in the summer time.
Have you ever thought about how all methods are traps? Judaism, Buddhism, yoga, meditation, tarpana, upaya, mantra, yantra….you have to allow yourself to be trapped by the system in order for it to work.
Yes, absolutely! The key is knowing they are traps while submitting to them. The alternative is no method in which your own mind becomes the only referent. That’s at least as dangerous as any other snare.
For example, if I were to come up to you and suggest something from Wise Traditions, or TCM, you might not do it because of your link to Ayurveda. (I’ve noticed cult like behavior from many Ayurveda students.)
To learn an ancient tradition you have to allow your mind to be cultured. The first step in that is indoctrination. Unfortunately, if people never go beyond the first step, culture easily turns to cult. The ultimate aim of culture and discipline is freedom- the idea of taming the monkey mind instead of having it run roughshod over you. The methods of taming are many, the aim is one.
Ever hear about how Zen Buddhism’s third patriarch, about how setting up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind? Ayurveda seems to be doing a whole lot of that. It seems to reek of spiritual materialism, “oh, buy this mala, buy this copper, eat this, and you’ll be free!” Free from what? Free from the trap of the mind you created? Seems like you can get really deep into this and find no return from the abyss.
I agree, but remember Ayurveda is not a spiritual tradition- it is a system of healing. By drinking water from a copper cup you tonify the liver and scrap āma- there is no suggestion of spirituality there. By wearing a mālā you may cool your pitta on a very subtle level, and by eating specific foods you calm your dosha- all of these have to do with the dharma of the body.
I feel that you have your mind perverted at times when doing these readings, several humans have told me you seem to be using it as a way to advertise for the Institute. Many people have come to their parents after readings, and the parents have all said you’re just trying to generate so that people will check out the place where you get your income.
While I probably do have a bias for the Institute- it really did change my life back in 1998 when I studied here, and I’ve seen it do the same for many others- I have no financial incentive (or otherwise) for promoting its services. I guess for the same reason you recommend a restaurant that you like or an acupuncturist to your friends I also recommend the tute. Truth is, I have not seen every restaurant or teaching institution out there so I can only recommend what I know- and that is a sort of bias. When I see in someone’s chart that they would be benefitted by medical school I recommend that. When I see alternative therapies, I offer those up. I don’t remember but in your case, didn’t I recommend acupuncture? Anyhow, you are right- I do recommend the AI probably disproportionately, but it is not because I have anything to gain from that- believe me- it is only because I know what it’s done for me and others. (By the way, I tell students at the beginning of every year that in my case I never graduated, I flunked Sanskrit and many other classes, but I fell in love with Jyotisha while I was here and that catapulted me in a whole new direction in life).
Astrology seems to be reinforcing limitations. If you reinforce people’s limitations, aren’t they likely to stick? It dwells in the matrix of individual differences..so you walk around looking at people.. “oh, there’s a male, oh, there’s a vata- kapha, ooh, there is a cancer.. and it creates a net like in comic books of “this is who I am, this is who you are, this is how it is.” Then like a fish in an ocean of plastic, you have to remove the net so you can breathe again.
IN the vedantic sense we are unlimited atman, and if you can live that reality I salute you! However, in the relative world don’t you find it useful to know that you’re a male? Knowing what clothes to wear, what bathroom to use, and how to style your hair- you’re lying to yourself if you think that doesn’t condition you. You are in fact following the social rules appropriate to your gender whether you know it or not. The same goes for Vata or Kapha- whether you’re aware of their reality in your life, you are playing out behaviors associated with them constantly. The role of Jyotisha is to shed light on these realities of embodied existence and bring them to our awareness. What you do with them is up to you. If you choose to create limitations based on them, fine. Mantriji, my Sanskrit teacher and Hart’s Jyotisha guru said ‘You have to transcend the planets!’ but he also said ‘don’t throw away the flashlight (jyotisha) until you can see in the dark.’
The buddha iterated something similar: “once you’ve crossed the river, of what use the boat?” The tool is no longer necessary once it’s outworn its use. IF you’re at that level, again, I congratulate you. But if not, if you haven’t learned how to see in the dark yourself, I wouldn’t throw away the flashlight.
Who knows if Parvati’s curse on all of jyotish is true from legend, but either way, I’ve gotten feedback from a lot of people who I previously recommended talk to you, and they’ve all had similar comments on how it felt a little weird you’d suggest taking classes as part of some dharmic trip.
which classes?
I’ve felt that anybody who tells you that he/she has some way of leading you to spiritual advancement is like somebody who picks your pocket and then sells you your own watch. My own family has made similar comments about your business.
I agree, and I’m sorry if it seems that I’m trying to sell somebody spiritual advancement. I have so far to go myself I certainly never intentionally set myself up as a spiritual teacher- God forbid! That’s a very bad karmic slope… What I have spent the last 10 years of my life on is this idea of “what’s my dharma- the natural law of my personality- and how can I live according to that to get a better job, improve relationships, and ultimately find the right spiritual path”? The nature of my work with the DTypes is that there is no one path better than another! In addition, the idea is self-knowledge, not follow a guru. As far as “selling your own watch” and “your business” I have only two things to sell- my Dharma Types book and consultations. All consultations have a money back guarantee- if you don’t like it, I will return your money no questions asked. If your friends/family feel they didn’t get their money’s worth, please let them know the same. This is not only for you- it’s how I run all consultations. As far as the book goes, well, I stand beside it- the information contained in it is much more than my own little mind construed. You can trash me, but don’t trash dharma- as the Mahabharata says, “dharma protects those who protect it, and destroys those who destroy it.”
thephonyunholy 