CONSOLATIONS

A Time for Balance ... Impermanence ... the Scorpian

The news during the past three months has been anything but good ... The boom economy has collapsed .. and no one is laughing ... Currencies are falling all over the planet ... and people are beginning to worry about their jobs ...

In London, England someone put up a roadside memorial commemorating the death of the 'boom economy'. It included a cross with a British Pound on it ... and even flowers and cards.

The mocking display brought smiles to the passersby .. and those with cameras or cell phones took pictures of the display .. something to show their children or grandchildren in the coming years ...

If anything .. the banking crisis has shown us just how fragile the world is .. just how quickly things can change .. or come to a sudden and abrupt end ...

Now no one is sure what's going to happen next ... maybe plagues .. maybe famine .. or maybe Moses walking down Wall St. and throwing the Ten Commandments at that bronze bull ...

Who knows what forces are at play here ..

Many people are blaming corporate greed for the debacle .. But greed is part of human nature ... and if we don't want it to happen again .. we will have to change... And the only way we can do that .. is to change the kind of thoughts we put in our heads .. especially those thoughts ... that are more concerned about ourselves than others.

Impermanence

According to the Eastern way of thinking ...life is impermanent and the things of life are impermanent ... Nothing ever stays the same ...

The earth and the sun are ever moving objects .. never stagnant .. that race through space at speeds that boggle the human mind...

The earth has gone through many incarnations ... at one time it was a smoldering and steaming ball of spewing volcanoes which cooled and eventually became the home of dinosaurs ... and then one day a huge asteroid hit the earth .. where the Yucatan Peninsula is .. and the dinosaurs died out and vanished ...

.. and now .. we only have their bones as a reminder ... of just how quickly things can change .. or come to a sudden and abrupt end..

The good news is .. that the end .. although it can be brutal .. offers an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start all over again ... New beginnings are always filled with hope .. the hope to build something different .. something better .. or just something that won't came crashing down on our heads.

The Scorpion

It's almost fitting the collapse of the banks occurred during the time when the Sun was in Libra ... and about a week or so before it entered Scorpio. Libra is associated with balance and the scales of justice and Scorpio is associated with the sting of death ...

In mythology Orion goes on a hunting trip to Crete with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto ... During the course of the hunt Orion boasts to Artemis that he could kill any beast or creature on Earth ... Earth takes exception to the challenge .. and sends a giant scorpion to kill Orion. The creature succeeds .. the goddess .. feeling somewhat responsible for the boast and Orion's death .. asks Zeus to place him among the constellations which he does .. along with the Scorpion ... probably as a safety measure ... just in case Orion starts feeling invincible again .. and decides to slay all the stars or something.

SRI NEEM KAROLI BABA MAHARAJJI

Today is the birth celebration of Sri Neem Karoli Baba Maharajji who is sometimes referred to as the Wonder Mystic of Northern India. He was born in the village Akbarpur, which is in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, into a wealthy Brahmin family. At an early age he left home and became a sadhu, a forest holy man, who became known for his miracles and psychic powers. He preached 'love all, serve all and feed all'.

Sri Swami Chidananda, President of the renowned Divine Life Society, who passed away at the age of 93 on August 28, 2008, referred to him as "one of the most unique phenomena among the religious fraternity of Saints, Sages and holy Fakirs of Northern India".

During his life Maharajji helped build temples and ashrams and feed millions of people. He was a worshiper of the ever popular deity Hanuman and always encouraged his followers and devotees to read the Gita and the Ramayana. One of his favorite sayings was "It's better to see God in everything than to try to figure it all out."

In the late 1960's Richard Alpert, a Harvard Professor, traveled to India to find the truth about the Truth and in his quest he found Neem Karoli Baba. After spending time with the elusive sadhu saint, Alpert returned to the United States as Baba Ram Dass and wrote an account of his journey to India and the spiritual transformation he had undergone due to his meeting with Maharajji.

When the book 'Be Here Now' appeared on bookshelves in the west it became an instant success. The book served as a sort of bible for hundreds of thousands of young people who were caught up in the drug culture at that time. Many of them traveled to India to seek out the famed guru while others went from experimenting with drugs to experimenting with religions and in some cases even creating philosophies of their own.

Maharajji passed away and attained 'Mahasamadhi' in Vrindavan, which is near Agra, on September 11,1973. If you wish to learn more about him, you can go to his website. It has more than ample information about the locations of his ashrams and temples and the books written about him.

My favorite section is ... Lilas of Maharajji ... The pages here contain stories that are based on personal experiences devotees and followers have had with Maharajji. Because these stories are less formal and at times can make you laugh and cry, they have a warm and endearing quality about them that make them stick in your mind.

SACRED THREADS

Ancient traditions .. rituals .. ceremonies .. festivals .. religious practices .. customs .. that have survived through the ages ...

The Hopi and The First Phase of Creation.

In November the Hopi Indians of Northern Arizona celebrate the first phase of the process of creation.

Wu-wu-chim marks the beginning of the Hopi ceremonial year.

Wuwuchim means to generate .. to manifest... The ceremony begins before dawn .. before the lip of the sun touches the horizon .. and returns from the underworld .. to be reborn giving us a new day.

It begins with the New Fire Ceremony ... The red coals from the ceremonial fire are used to light the fires in the Kivas .. the ceremonial underground chambers.

During the ceremony the Hopi use corn meal and ritual smoking as offerings .. to give thanks to Taiowa, the creator ... and the Catsina, the spirits and deities who are under the creator's domain.

As the Hopis give thanks they barter with the gods asking them for bountiful crops .. good weather .. or to help them with their problems.

To make sure that the creator and the deities receive their offerings and their requests .. the Hopis use Pahos...
Pahos is a sacramental object... It consists of a feather from eagle or wild turkey and is attached to a string of native cotton.

It symbolizes the thread that connects the people to the Great Spirit.

The ceremony begins in fire and ends in water.. as the women of the village baptize the men involved in the ceremony by pouring cold water over them.

Wuwuchim is usually celebrated sometime in mid-November.

CALENDAR

November 2008

Saturday, November 1, 2008
Mid-Autumn ... until Nov 6..
All Saints Day..
International Buddhist Film Festival ... Until Nov 9 ... Mexico city..

Sunday, November 2, 2008
All Souls Day.Aztec Day of the Dead.Jnan Panchami Day ..
Jainas celebrate knowledge, education.

Monday, November 3, 2008
St. Martin of Porres .. Feast day ... b. 1579 .. Lima, Peru .. d. 1639.Mystic .. endowed with gifts of aerial flight and bi-location.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Baha’i feast honoring the one Deity as Qudrat--Divine

Wednesday, November 5, 2008
First Quarter Moon

Monday, November 10, 2008
Birth .. Martin Luther (1483).

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tewa Buffalo Dance ... until Nov 15 Birth ..
Mirza Husayn Ali Baha’u’llah .. founder of Baha’i Faith.

Thursday, November, 13, 2008
Full MoonBirth .. Guru Nanak Dev Sahib .. founder of Sikh Faith.

Friday, November 14, 2008
Leonid Meteor Showers .. until Nov 20 ..

Sunday, November 16, 2008
International Day for Tolerance. (UN) ...
Alan Watts .. d. 1973 (b. 1915) .. Philosopher .. Academic .. Writer .. an important voice who helped introduce Zen Buddhism to the West.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Last Quarter Moon ..

Thursday, November 20, 2008
Universal Children's Day.. (UN) ...
Remembrance day for Meister Johannes Eckhart (d. 1328).

Saturday, November 22, 2008
Aldous Leonard Huxley .. d.1963 (b. 1894) .. British Writer .. 'Brave New World' .. 'The Doors of Perception' .. 'The Perennial Philosophy' .. considered the spiritual father of the Hippie movement.

Sunday, November 23, 2008
Native American Zodiac .. Beginning time of the owl people ... when the nights are long and things change .. This is a good time to cultivate concentration, optimism and enthusiasm .. and avoid overindulgence, exaggeration and greed... Until December 22.

Thursday, November 27, 2008
New Moon

Sunday, November 30, 2008
United Religious Initiative Global Assembly ... Mayapur, India ... First Sunday of Advent ..

SREE NARAYANA GURU

a saint for our times ...

Sree Narayana Guru is one the most dynamic holy men India has ever produced... He was a saint,a philosopher, a poet and a social activist... He fought for the under privileged, tore down barriers of bigotry and discrimination and opened the doors of the temples of worship and learning to millions.

He preached 'One Caste, One Religion, One God for Man'... If you have never heard of Sree Narayana Guru ... here is some background stuff on him that makes him a person of interest even in our times.

Narayana Guru was born on September 15,1854 in a small village in Kerala which is a state in southern India.During his life, he fought a caste system that was far more cruel and far more entrenched then the apartheid system in South Africa... His courage and determination inspired people like Gandhi and many others.

Narayana Guru build temples and schools where anyone from any caste could attend... He was constantly on the lookout for ways to break down barriers that separated people... At one temple he consecrated a mirror because the people could not agree on which idol they should worship.

In learning about Narayana Guru .. one of the things that impressed the most .. was his concern for the environment... Even way back then ... around 1900 ... he condemned industry for its total disregard for the land and the animals that lived there.

The fact that people would build factories and these factories would destroy the surrounding eco-system was an abomination to him.. and he spoke out against it.

Narayana Guru lived in and around Varkala, which is considered one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Sree Narayana Guru was declared a National Saint in 1911... He died in September 1928... His Samadhi Sthal ... or the place of his remains .. is located in Sivagiri .. a place that he built on a hill overlooking Varkala.

THE WILD BOHEMIAN

Not only a Website ... but a Place on the Web

The Wild Bohemian is the creation of Colin Pringle, a sixties hippie with long hair that reaches well past his shoulders and who wants us to think that his brain .. or at least part of it .. is parked somewhere in acid heaven.

What Pringle has done here ... is not only build an interesting website .. but a virtual place that allows us to get into the mindset of the hippies and all the stuff that went along with it ... Here you can travel back in time and get the scent .. the feel of what is was like during that short but spectacular period called the 60's. It's like walking into a headshop .. where you feel free to hang out and take in the sounds .. the people .. and places that were all part of that magic carpet ride that followed Alice .. the rabbit into and beyond the looking glass.

This is a directory link format website. It has a 'hip dictionary', tells stories about Haight-Ashbury, Ken Kesay, the Hell's Angels, the Beats, the Hippies, the Grateful Dead and has links to pages to just about everything Bohemian.

This is one of the better sites on the Internet simply because, for lack of a better word, it's organic. Pringle uses Haight-Ashbury as a seed and over the years has allowed it to branch out into all sorts of directions never losing sight of the roots and the seed that they all sprung from.

This site has been around since 1995 and Pringle, to his credit, has not messed with the design of the site at all. This is an excellent source providing an important window into American culture in the sixties.

If you're into history or something like that, this site is perhaps the best reflection of the counter-culture movement that was so dominant during that turbulent period. It's a zillion times better than anything you will ever read in any book on the sixties.

The Wild Bohemian is a comprehensive website and for all its un-seriousness it connects us in a serious way to an important time in history.

Colin Pringle provides us with a map, a compass, some instructions on how to use the map and even tells us, to some degree, about some of the places, people and things we might see along the way. But like a well placed guidepost he never intrudes he just points here and there and then sits back and let us do the navigating.

This is an easy place to hang out in ... it's not heaven .. but neither is it earth.

Sri Ma Anandamayi

Sri Ma Anandamayi was a poor village girl who, while she lived, became one of India's most eminent saints and luminaries. She was born in Kheora, in what is now Bangladesh, on April 30, 1896 into a poor but pious brahmin household. Her given name was Nirmala Sundari Devi which means 'Immaculate Beauty'.

Anandamayi was one of those rare individuals who was endowed with spiritual powers from the time she could remember. At a tender age, she could enter a state of inner bliss almost at will.

Anandamayi attracted followers from all walks of life. Her reach extended beyond the confines of cultures, traditions and even the borders of her own country. Among her devotees were peasants and scholars, the poor and the powerful and among them there were Christians and Muslims and anyone and everyone else who had the good fortune of crossing her path.

When Mahatma Gandhi heard about Anandamayi, he sent his right-hand man to see to her. As it turned out, he eventually became one of her most dedicated devotees.

Anandamayi was a pilgrim constantly on the go anointing all those who came to see her with a peace and love that seemed to be ever-flowing from her presence. Wherever she went crowds gathered and waited for hours just to get a glimpse of her. She was always in demand.

For those who were well-versed in spiritual matters, she was an anomaly and an enigma. They could not understand how a uneducated woman who never had a guru and never lived in seclusion, could speak the language of scholars, teach the tenants of the faith and assume yogic postures as if they were her own. However, in time they learnt to accept her as one of their own.

When I first learnt about Anandamayi, she was one those individuals who was almost to good to be true ... It was difficult to believe that some one like her had ever existed ... But as I dug into her past and learnt more about her ... I began to realize that she was someone special.

From what I was able to gather ... Anandamayi seemed to belong to no one and everyone all at the same time. She was no one's guru .. was not into organizations .. or things like schedules. Things would just happen around her. For instance .. she would arrive at a certain destination .. throngs would show up to greet her .. and the next thing you know ... chaos would breakout .. and from that chaos order would come .. eventually.

Sri Anandamayi died in Kankhal India on August 27 1982, and attained Maha Samadhi. August 29th.