Astrology: Jupiter sextile Uranus, February 17, 2022

Happy Accidents

With a full moon on the 16^th (with a  Venus-Mars conjunction in Capricorn), a Jupiter-Uranus exact sextile on the 17^th, Sun entering Pisces on the 18^th and the US having a Pluto return on the 22^nd it looks to be quite a shift in direction over the next few days.

In a previous post I wrote:’’Judging from the previous ones, the third and final Saturn-Uranus square (December 24, 2021) could bring some heavy difficulties, but it is also an opportunity to come to terms with the previous conflicts. It can be considered as a final reality check before this aspect gradually fades, embarking on a new, optimistic, constructive phase that the Jupiter-Saturn cycle brings.’’

The difficulties did arrive, with a highly contagious Omicron Covid wave beginning during the holiday season, and with mounting frustrations, a remarkable Canadian trucker vaccine mandate protest occurring by the end of January. This occurred as the Saturn-Uranus square was waning, moving past the five degree orb where I consider it to have strong effect. Therefore I do posit that it is a waning burst of frustration before a new phase begins. Moreover, with the flu pandemic of 1918, it seems the public tolerance and the government resources hit a limit after two years of combating the virus, so perhaps hitting a two-year threshold can explain the outburst, which is consistent with the volatile aspects of a square involving Uranus.

‘’This aspect has played out globally with public health mandates in response to COVID-19, especially vaccines and vaccine “passports.” Saturn sees vaccination and documentation as the evidence-backed, rational, pragmatic, and proven approach to dealing with a global pandemic. Uranus sees it as an authoritarian overreach that imposes on its freedoms.’’ (Astrology with Andy)

With these truck occupations, one notices an odd juxtaposition of friendly winter fair atmosphere with expressions of good will, on one hand, and aggressive, extreme right-wing ideologies on the other. Moreover, the rather grandiloquent, yet fuzzy statements by the protesters seems consistent with a Jupiter in Pisces influence. The creative use of technology seems to be aided by both Jupiter in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus. The exact Jupiter sextile Uranus may give the protesters a boost of enthusiasm and new ideas, although it might likely give a greater boost to the law-enforcement strategies, due to the inherently conservative, rigid stance of the protest under a waning Saturn-Uranus aspect that fuelled it. It's possible that this new aspect could also see a significant shift in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has been festering since the end of December. 

Jupiter in Pisces

May 13th, 2021 to July 28th, 2022

December 28, 2021 to May 10, 2022

October 28th, 2022, to December 20th, 2022

‘’Pisces is a Water sign. With a Water sign Jupiter, we have a stronger belief in a higher power. We are most able to attract luck and rich life experiences through our intuition, imagination, and compassion. Helping those in need boosts our own morale.’’

‘’In Pisces, we can be avoidant or indulgent, if overdone. We should watch for escapism, bending personal philosophies or morals to suit the situation, deception and self-deception, restlessness and vague discontent, and unwillingness to face problems or negative situations directly.’’

‘’It’s also a fantastic period in which to improve our understanding. We see beyond class, religion, and other labels, and we tend to connect with ideas, beliefs, and practices that have a universal nature.’’ (Astrology Café)

Jupiter sextile Uranus

‘’Jupiter sextile Uranus transit makes you eager for positive changes in your life. You should have good fortune, freedom, and opportunities to make your life more exciting and interesting. This is a good time to tackle difficult tasks that have caused frustration or limitations in the past. Creative intelligence and experimentation can lead to new ideas and breakthroughs.’’ (Astrology King)

‘’With Jupiter forming a sextile to Uranus, changes and innovations are exciting. We’re open to new energies, approaches, and attitudes. Fortunate events occur as a direct result of our willingness to entertain the unusual and to think outside of the box. This transit favors group activities, financial endeavors associated with groups or organizational efforts, online connections and ventures, educational pursuits, writing, publishing, speaking, and humanitarian efforts. Our outlook is positive and optimistic.’’ (Astrology Café)

Therefore despite, the chaotic phase we are going through, I still consider this new aspect to be a more specific beginning of a more optimistic, progressive phase related to the new Jupiter-Saturn cycle. The upcoming Apr 12 – Jupiter conjunct Neptune aspect will bring a strong spiritual influence, although the difficult conditions of the Saturn-Uranus square with Jupiter in Pisces will return briefly at the end of the year.

References 

https://astrologyking.com/jupiter-sextile-uranus/

https://astrologywithandy.com/2021/12/08/the-astrology-of-2022/#more-388 

https://cafeastrology.com/events/jupiter-sextile-uranus-2022/

How Canada underestimated the anti-vaccine community

The deadly third wave of the 1918 

Chogyam Trungpa on Spiritual Materialism 2/2

One aspect that can be underestimated when embarking on a spiritual path, is the baggage one has acquired being brought up in a modern western materialistic society. It can take a considerable amount of time to undo the conscious and unconscious habits developed in a mass-media consumer society of materialism, hedonism, individualism, impulsiveness and competitiveness. One result of this can be termed ‘spiritual materialism’ which Chogyam Trungpa eloquently explains. Trungpa himself sadly faced many challenges and pitfalls in presenting Buddhism to western societies with their penchant for capitalism, commercialism and sensationalism.

It is important to see that the main point of any spiritual practice is to step out of the bureaucracy of ego.  This means  stepping out of ego's constant desire for a higher, more spiritual,  more transcendental version of knowledge, religion, virtue, judgment, comfort or whatever it is that a particular ego is seeking.  One must step out of spiritual materialism.  If we do not step out of spiritual materialism, if we in fact practice it, then we may eventually find ourselves possessed of a huge collection of  spiritual paths.  We may feel these spiritual collections to be very precious. We have studied so much.  We may have studied Western philosophy or Oriental philosophy, practiced yoga or perhaps studied  under dozens of great masters. 

Proper shopping does not entail collecting a lot of  information or beauty, but it involves fully appreciating each individual object.  This is very important.  If you really appreciate an object of beauty, then you completely identify with it and forget yourself.  It is like seeing a very interesting, fascinating movie and forgetting that you are the audience.  At that moment there is no world; your whole being is that scene of that movie.  It is that kind of identification, complete involvement with one thing.  Did we actually taste it and chew it and swallow it properly, that one object of beauty, that one spiritual teaching?   Or did we merely regard it as a part of our vast and growing collection?

Whenever teachings come to a country from abroad, the  problem of spiritual materialism is intensified.  At the moment  America is, without any doubt, fertile ground ready for the  teachings.  And because America is so fertile, seeking spirituality,  it is possible for America to inspire charlatans.  Charlatans would  not choose to be charlatans unless they were inspired to do so.   Otherwise, they would be bank robbers or bandits, inasmuch as they  want to make money and become famous.  Because America is looking so  hard for spirituality, religion becomes any easy way to make money  and acquire fame.  So we see charlatans in the role of student,  chela, as well as in the role of guru.  I think America at this  particular time is a very interesting ground.

You should let the first impulse die down.  Your first  impulse toward spirituality might put you into some particular  spiritual scene; but if you work with that impulse, then the impulse  gradually dies down and at some stage becomes tedious, monotonous.   This is a useful message.  You see, it is essential to relate to  yourself, to your own experience, really.  If one does not relate to  oneself, then the spiritual path becomes dangerous, becomes purely  external entertainment, rather than an organic personal experience.

So we try to fit things into pigeonholes, try to fit the situation to our expectations, and we cannot surrender any part of our anticipation to all.  If we search for a guru or teacher, we  expect him to be saintly, peaceful, quiet, a simple and wise man.  When we find that he does not match our expectations, then we begin  to be disappointed, we begin to doubt.

We must surrender our hopes and expectations, as well as our  fears, and march directly into disappointment, work with  disappointment, go into it and make it our way of life, which is a  very hard thing to do.  Disappointment is a good sign of basic intelligence.  It cannot be compared to anything else: it is so  sharp, precise, obvious and direct.  If we can open, then we suddenly begin to see that our expectations are irrelevant compared with the reality of the situations we are facing.  This  automatically brings a feeling disappointment.

Traditionally, surrendering is symbolized by such practices  as prostration, which is the act of falling on the ground in a  gesture of surrender.  At the same time we open psychologically and  surrender completely by identifying ourselves with the lowest of the low, acknowledging our raw and rugged quality.  There is nothing that we fear to lose once we identify ourselves with the lowest of  the low.  By doing so, we prepare ourselves to be an empty vessel,  ready to receive the teachings.

The wrong way to take refuge involves seeking shelter -  worshipping mountains, sun gods, moon gods, deities of any kind  simply because they would seem to be greater than we.  This kind of  refuge taking is similar to the response of the little child who  says, "If you beat me, I'll tell my mommy," thinking that his mother is a great, archetypically powerful person.  If he is attacked, his  automatic recourse is to his mother, an invincible and all-knowing,  all-powerful personality.  The child believes his mother can protect  him, in fact that she is the only person who can save him. Taking  refuge in a mother or father-principle is truly self-defeating; the refuge-seeker has no real basic strength at all, no true  inspiration.  He is constantly busy assessing greater and smaller  powers.  If we are small, then someone greater can crush us.  We seek refuge because we cannot afford to be small and without  protection.  We tend to be apologetic: "I am such a small thing,  but I acknowledge your great quality.  I would like to worship and  join your greatness, so will you please protect me?"

(Trungpa, Chogyam; Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Introduction; Shambhala  Publications, Inc.; Boston, Massachusetts; 1973)

Part 1

Pope Francis on Universal Brother/Sisterhood (Fratelli tutti)

Blavatsky was a critic of the first Vatican council and made various allegations about corruption in the Jesuit order of her time. The Christian College Magazine was published by a Scottish Protestant missionary organization and ran a slanderous piece on Blavatsky. René Guénon's anti-theosophy essay 'Théosophisme' was edited by Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain. The Vatican issued a  report on the New Age movement with conceptual, conjectural, discursive, interpretative, theoretical speculations about Blavatsky which were inaccurate, contrived, and unproven. Also, their report on the condemnation of esoteric philosopher Giordano Bruno was unsatisfactory to me. Therefore, there are some tensions between the theosophical movement and Christian institutions to say the least.

However, did not the Second Vatican Council implement many of the critiques contained in Blavatsky's writings on Christianity? Has this not created a division between conservative and progressive Catholics? So when a man undertakes to promote theosophical concerns such as universal brother and sisterhood, opposition to the death penalty, and respect for the environment, I think such efforts deserve a fair hearing in theosophical forums, as has been done in various Masonic circles.

Fratelli tutti (All Brothers) is the third encyclical of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship".  In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world countries has shown a failure in global cooperation. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars and capital punishment. The document was signed on 3 October 2020, on the occasion of Pope Francis's visit to the tomb of his namesake, Francis of Assisi, and was published the following day on the saint's feast day. The encyclical's title is taken from Francis of Assisi's Admonitions. St Francis of Assisi used to say: "All brothers and sisters".

On 4 February 2019, Pope Francis signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together while on an apostolic journey to the United Arab Emirates. Co-signing the document was the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb,  which was an inspiration for the document. Besides Francis of Assisi and the parable of the Good Samaritan, he also states that he has been inspired by numerous non-Catholics, including Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, and Mahatma Gandhi in a perspective of  Liberal Christianity,  which has Theosophical influences.  Pope Francis participated in a virtual observance of the International Day of Human Fraternity on 4 February 2021, a new celebration founded on 21 December 2020 by the United Nations and which was influenced by Fratelli tutti.

Introduction – Without Borders

8. It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. “Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together”. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.

Chapter One: dark clouds cover the world

32. True, a worldwide tragedy like the Covid-19 pandemic momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problems are the problems of all. Once more we realized that no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together. As I said in those days, “the storm has exposed our vulnerability and uncovered those false and superfluous certainties around which we constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities… Amid this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about appearances, has fallen away, revealing once more the ineluctable and blessed awareness that we are part of one another, that we are brothers and sisters of one another”.

Chapter Two: strangers on the road

68. The parable (of the Good Samaritan) clearly does not indulge in abstract moralizing, nor is its message merely social and ethical. It speaks to us of an essential and often forgotten aspect of our common humanity: we were created for a fulfilment that can only be found in love. We cannot be indifferent to suffering; we cannot allow anyone to go through life as an outcast. Instead, we should feel indignant, challenged to emerge from our comfortable isolation and to be changed by our contact with human suffering. That is the meaning of dignity.

Chapter Three: vision of an open world

87. Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfilment except “in the sincere gift of self to others”. Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: “I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others”. No one can experience the true beauty of life without relating to others, without having real faces to love. This is part of the mystery of authentic human existence. “Life exists where there is bonding, communion, fraternity; and life is stronger than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity. On the contrary, there is no life when we claim to be self-sufficient and live as islands: in these attitudes, death prevails”.

127. This is the true path of peace, not the senseless and myopic strategy of sowing fear and mistrust in the face of outside threats. For a real and lasting peace will only be possible “on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation in the service of a future shaped byinterdependence and shared responsibility in the whole human family”.

Chapter Four: heart open to the world

138. Although this has always been true, never has it been more evident than in our own day, when the world is interconnected by globalization. We need to attain a global juridical, political and economic order “which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity”. Ultimately, this will benefit the entire world, since “development aid for poor countries” implies “creating wealth for all”. From the standpoint of integral development, this presupposes “giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making” and the capacity to “facilitate access to the international market on the part of countries suffering from poverty and underdevelopment”.

Chapter Five: better politics

164. Charity, on the other hand, unites both dimensions – the abstract and the institutional – since it calls for an effective process of historical change that embraces everything: institutions, law, technology, experience, professional expertise, scientific analysis, administrative procedures, and so forth. For that matter, “private life cannot exist unless it is protected by public order. A domestic hearth has no real warmth unless it is safeguarded by law, by a state of tranquillity founded on law, and enjoys a minimum of well-being ensured by the division of labour, commercial exchange, social justice and political citizenship”.

Chapter Six: dialogue and friendship

198. Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground: all these things are summed up in the one word “dialogue”. If we want to encounter and help one another, we have to dialogue. There is no need for me to stress the benefits of dialogue. I have only to think of what our world would be like without the patient dialogue of the many generous persons who keep families and communities together. Unlike disagreement and conflict, persistent and courageous dialogue does not make headlines, but quietly helps the world to live much better than we imagine.

205. In today’s globalized world, “the media can help us to feel closer to one another, creating a sense of the unity of the human family which in turn can inspire solidarity and serious efforts to ensure a more dignified life for all… The media can help us greatly in this, especially nowadays, when the networks of human communication have made unprecedented advances. The internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is something truly good, a gift from God”. We need constantly to ensure that present-day forms of communication are in fact guiding us to generous encounter with others, to honest pursuit of the whole truth, to service, to closeness to the underprivileged and to the promotion of the common good. As the Bishops of Australia have pointed out, we cannot accept “a digital world designed to exploit our weaknesses and bring out the worst in people”.

Chapter Seven: renewed encounter

227. “Truth, in fact, is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy. All three together are essential to building peace; each, moreover, prevents the other from being altered… Truth should not lead to revenge, but rather to reconciliation and forgiveness. Truth means telling families torn apart by pain what happened to their missing relatives. Truth means confessing what happened to minors recruited by cruel and violent people. Truth means recognizing the pain of women who are victims of violence and abuse… Every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh; every violent death diminishes us as people… Violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle which seems inescapable”.

Chapter Eight: religion and fraternity

271. The different religions, based on their respect for each human person as a creature called to be a child of God, contribute significantly to building fraternity and defending justice in society. Dialogue between the followers of different religions does not take place simply for the sake of diplomacy, consideration or tolerance. In the words of the Bishops of India, “the goal of dialogue is to establish friendship, peace and harmony, and to share spiritual and moral values and experiences in a spirit of truth and love”.

Thích Nhất Hạnh on Universal Brother/Sisterhood

Thích Nhất Hạnh (11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism and prominent proponent of mindfulness who made Buddhism accessible and practical to a modern Westernized world, in a current of modern liberal Buddhism pioneered by Theosophists Anagārika Dharmapāla and  Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki . He also emphasized environmental concerns. MartinLuther King Jr. wrote: Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity. 

Thomas Merton wrote: I have said Nhat Hanh is my brother, and it is true. We are both monks, and we have lived the monastic life about the same number of years. We are both poets, existentialists. I have far more in common with Nhat Hanh than I have with many Americans, and I do not hesitate to say it. It is vitally important that such bonds be admitted. They are the bonds of a new solidarity and a new brotherhood which is beginning to be evident on all the five continents and which cut across all political, religious and cultural lines. 

The notion of universal brotherhood, or as he termed it, brotherhood and sisterhood, was an important concern of his, expressed through the concepts of ‘inter-being’, our fundamental inter-connectedness with the universe, the ‘loving community’ and it was one of his five essential Mindfulness practices.

We have to have another dream: the dream of brotherhood and sisterhood, of loving-kindness and compassion and that dream is possible right here and now. We have the dharma; we have the means; we have enough wisdom to be able to live this dream. Mindfulness is at the heart of awakening, of enlightenment. We practice breathing to be able to be there in the present moment, so that we can recognize what is happening in us and around us. If what’s happening inside us is despair, we have to recognize that and act right away. We may not want to confront that mental formation, but it is a reality and we have to recognize it in order to transform it.

The Buddha of our time can use a telephone, even a cell phone, but he is free from that cell phone. The Buddha of our time knows how to help prevent ecological damage and global warming; he will not destroy the beauty of the planet or make us waste all our time competing with each other. The Buddha of our time wants to offer the world a global ethic, so that everyone can agree on a good path to follow. He wants to restore harmony, cultivate brotherhood and sisterhood, protect all of the species of the planet, prevent deforestation, and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Harmony, however, is impossible if we do not have a global ethic, and the global ethic that the Buddha devised is the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are the path we should follow in this era of global crisis because they are the practice of sisterhood and brotherhood, understanding and love, the practice of protecting ourselves and protecting the planet. The mindfulness trainings are concrete realizations of mindfulness. They are non-sectarian. They do not bear the mark of any religion, particular race, or ideology; their nature is universal.

When you practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings, you become a bodhisattva helping to create harmony, protect the environment, safeguard peace, and cultivate brotherhood and sisterhood. Not only do you safeguard the beauties of your own culture, but those of other cultures as well, and all the beauties on Earth. With the Five Mindfulness Trainings in your heart, you are already on the path of transformation and healing. (The World We have) https://www.lionsroar.com/the-world-we-have/

I have spent much of my time building communities and I have learned a lot from it. In Plum Village we try to live like an organism. No one has a private car, no one has a private bank account, no one has a private telephone – everything belongs to the community. And yet, happiness is possible. Our basic practice is seeing each one as a cell in the body, and that is why fraternity, brotherhood, sisterhood become possible. When you are nourished by brotherhood, happiness is possible, and that is why we are able to do a lot of things to help other people to suffer less.

This can be seen, it can be felt. It’s not something you just talk about. It is a practice, it is a training, and every breath and every step that you take aims at realizing that togetherness. It’s wonderful to live in a community like that, because the well-being of the other person is also our well-being. By bringing joy and happiness to one person, we bring joy and happiness to every one of us. That is why I think that community-building, sangha-building, is the most important, most noble work that we can do. (Quote 06/06/2021) https://thichnhathanhquotecollective.com/2021/06/06/6898/

Doblmeier: When you looked out on the crowds that came for your public talks, what did you see?

Nhat Hanh: During my absence, about 35 million people were born in Vietnam, and most of the people of my generation have died. So when I sat in front of an audience of 3,000 or 5,000 people, I saw only children of my generation. I look deeply and I see they are the continuation of the people of my generation, and I was speaking to them like I speak to the people of my generation. Their environment has watered the seed of anger, grieving, and discrimination. The purpose of speaking to them is to water the seed of brotherhood, sisterhood, joy, and hope in them. That is the most noble thing to do. (The Secret to Creating Peace and Harmony, for Yourself and the World… Martin Doblmeier / 03.05.2017) https://brewminate.com/the-power-of-compassion-with-thich-nhat-hanh/

If we think about the earth as just the environment around us, we experience ourselves and the earth as separate entities. We may see the planet only in terms of what it can do for us.

We need to recognize that the planet and the people on it are ultimately one and the same. When we look deeply at the earth, we see that she is a formation made up of non-earth elements: the sun, the stars, and the whole universe. Certain elements, such as carbon, silicon, and iron, formed long ago in the heat of far-off supernovas. Distant stars contributed to their light.

When we look into a flower, we can see that it’s made of many different elements, so we also call it a formation. A flower is made of many non-flower elements. The entire universe can be seen in a flower. If we look deeply into the flower, we can see the sun, the soil, the rain, and the gardener. Similarly, when we look deeply into the earth, we can see the presence of the whole cosmos. (Thich Nhat Hanh’s Love Letter to the Earth) https://www.lionsroar.com/thich-nhat-hanhs-love-letter-to-the-earth/

So the question is whether we are practicing loving ourselves? Because loving ourselves means loving our community. When we are capable of loving ourselves, nourishing ourselves properly, not intoxicating ourselves, we are already protecting and nourishing society. Because in the moment when we are able to smile, to look at ourselves with compassion, our world begins to change. We may not have done anything but when we are relaxed, when we are peaceful, when we are able to smile and not to be violent in the way we look at the system, at that moment there is a change already in the world.

So the second help, the second insight, is that between self or no-self there is no real separation. Anything you do for yourself you do for the society at the same time. And anything you do for society you do for yourself also. That insight is very powerfully made in the practice of no-self. (Building a Community of Love: bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh) https://www.lionsroar.com/bell-hooks-and-thich-nhat-hanh-on-building-a-community-of-love/

“There is no religion, no doctrine higher than brotherhood and sisterhood.” (Thich Nhat Hanh Returns Home) https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/blog/2018/11/3/thich-nhat-hanh-returns-home

Chogyam Trungpa on Spiritual Materialism 1/2

Adopting traditional spiritual practices in the context of a modern western capitalistic materialistic society can be challenging. The modern spiritual marketplace can often provide many distractions that impede the business of overcoming the ego, the personality, or the lower self. One of the most insightful explanations of this problem was written by Chogyam Trungpa, which he called ‘spiritual materialism’. As an example of just how difficult this problem can be, his book dealing with the problem became a trendy product that was absorbed into the spiritual marketplace, and Trungpa himself was sadly caught up in some of the more hedonistic whirlwinds and riptides of the counter-culture movement.

These two articles give ample listings of the various pitfalls that have emerged as alternative spirituality has gained popularity since the 1960s :

11 Warning Signs You’re Practicing Spiritual Materialism 

Top 10 Traps of Spiritual Materialism

It now seems that publishing these talks may be helpful to those who have become interested in spiritual disciplines.  Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively.  there are numerous sidetracks which  lead to a distorted, ego-centered version of spirituality; we can  deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when  instead we are strengthening our egocentricity through spiritual  techniques.  This fundamental distortion may be referred to as spiritual materialism.

According to the Buddhist tradition, the spiritual path is the process of cutting through our confusion, of uncovering the awakened state of mind.  When the awakened state of mind is crowded in by ego and its attendant paranoia, it takes on the character of an underlying instinct.  So it is not a matter of building up the awakened state of mind, but rather of burning out the confusions which obstruct it.  In the process of burning out these confusions, we discover enlightenment.  If the process were otherwise, the awakened state of mind would be a product, dependent upon cause and effect and therefore liable to dissolution.  Anything which is created must, sooner or later, die.  If enlightenment were created in such a way, there would always be the possibility of ego reasserting itself, causing a return to the confused state.   Enlightenment is permanent because we have not produced it; we have merely discovered it.  In the Buddhist tradition the analogy of the sun appearing from behind the clouds is often used to explain the discovery of enlightenment.  In the meditation practice we clear away the confusion of ego in order to glimpse the awakened state.  The absence of ignorance, of being crowded in, of paranoia, opens up a tremendous view of life.  One discovers a different way of being.

An interesting metaphor used in Tibetan Buddhism to describe the functioning of ego is that of the "Three Lords of Materialism":  the "Lord of Form," the "Lord of Speech," and the "Lord of Mind."   In the discussion of the Three Lords which follows, the words "materialism" and "neurotic" refer to the action of ego.

The Lord of Form refers to the neurotic pursuit of physical comfort, security and pleasure.  Our highly organized and technological society reflects our preoccupation with manipulating physical surroundings so as to shield ourselves from the irritations of the raw, rugged, unpredictable aspects of life.  Push-button  elevators, pre-packaged meat, air conditioning, flush toilets,  private funerals, retirement plans, mass, production, weather  satellites, bulldozers, fluorescent lighting, nine-to-five jobs,  television - all are attempts to create a manageable, safe,  predictable, pleasurable world.

Ego is able to convert everything to its own use, even spirituality.  For example, if you have learned of a particularly beneficial meditation technique of spiritual practice, then ego's attitude is, first to regard it as an object of fascination and, second to examine it.  Finally, since ego is seeming solid and cannot really absorb anything, it can only mimic.  Thus ego tries to examine and imitate the practice of meditation and the meditative way of life.  When we have learned all the tricks and answers of the spiritual game, we automatically try to imitate spirituality, since real involvement would require the complete elimination of ego, and actually the last thing we want to do is to give up the ego completely.  However, we cannot experience that which we are trying to imitate; we can only find some area within the bounds of ego that seems to be the same thing.  Ego translates everything in terms of its own state of health, its own inherent qualities.  It feels a sense of great accomplishment and excitement at have been able to create such a pattern.  At last it has created a tangible accomplishment, a confirmation of its own individuality.

If we become successful at maintaining our self-consciousness through spiritual techniques, then genuine spiritual development is highly unlikely.  Our mental habits become so strong as to be hard to penetrate.  We may even go so far as to achieve the totally demonic state of complete "Egohood."

We have come here to learn about spirituality.  I trust the genuine quality of this search but we must question its nature.  The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.  Ego is constantly attempting to acquire and apply the teachings of spirituality for its own benefit.  The teachings are treated as an external thing, external to "me," a philosophy which we try to imitate.  We do not actually want to identify with or become the teachings.  So if our teacher speaks of renunciation of ego, we attempt to mimic renunciation of ego.  We go through the motions, make the appropriate gestures, but we really do not want to sacrifice any part of our way of life.  We become skillful actors, and while playing deaf and dumb to the real meaning of the teachings, we find some comfort in pretending to follow the path.

This rationalization of the spiritual path and one's actions must be cut through if true spirituality is to be realized. However, such rationalizing is not easy to deal with because everything is seen through the filter of ego's philosophy and logic, making all appear neat, precise and very logical.  We attempt to find a self-justifying answer for every question.  In order to reassure ourselves, we work to fit into our intellectual scheme every aspect of our lives which might be confusing.  And our effort is so serious and solemn, so straight-forward and sincere, that it is very difficult to be suspicious of it.  We always trust the "integrity" of our spiritual advisor.

(Trungpa, Chogyam; Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Introduction; Shambhala  Publications, Inc.; Boston, Massachusetts; 1973)

Part 2

Astrology – The Year in Review (2021)

Jupiter square Uranus, January 17, 2021

Mars (in Taurus)  square Saturn (in Aquarius), Jan. 13, 2021

Mars  square Jupiter,  Jan. 23, 2021

After the major social upheavals that the Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto conjunctions of 2020 brought with the Covid-19  epidemic, this intensity spilled over into the first quarter of 2021, marked in the United States on January 6^th with violent public demonstrations at the senate buildings in the nation’s capital and in Myanmar where the army overturned the government, resulting in major public protests. One of the year's major aspects, Jupiter square Uranus, went exact not long after, on January 17. According to the Valerie Mesa:

‘’Jupiter in Aquarius is encouraging the collective to cultivate social awareness, and aspire towards change. The concept of humanitarianism and progress are of crucial importance during this time. Its square to disruptive Uranus, however, could trigger everything from an overarching enthusiasm around the thought of revolution to global anarchy. There could also be an excessive impulse and/or sense of idealism surrounding rebellion, but it isn’t necessarily realistic either.’’

1^st Saturn square Uranus,  February 17, 2021

A month later, on February 17, the other major aspect of the year, Saturn square Uranus occurred (the first of three exact stations, the others on June 14 and December 24). According to Narayana Montufar:

"While traditional Saturn likes to build and preserve, Uranus likes to change and destroy. This aspect is basically the old versus the new, a clash between rebellion and tradition. When Saturn (which is in Aquarius right now) and Uranus (in Taurus) form a square, we often see cracks appear in the foundations of society. The problems with our political, financial, and social institutions become exposed, and then they crumble… so we can rebuild them based on the concepts of freedom, inclusivity, and individuality"

One facet of this aspect can be seen in the rise of tensions with autocratic governments, according to Kenneth Roth:

The conventional wisdom these days is that autocracy is ascendent, democracy on the decline. That view gains currency from the intensifying crackdown on opposition voices in China, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. It finds support in military takeovers in Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, and Guinea, and undemocratic transfers of power in Tunisia and Chad. And it gains sustenance from the emergence of leaders with autocratic tendencies in once- or still-established democracies such as Hungary, Poland, Brazil, El Salvador, India, the Philippines, and, until a year ago, the United States. (Can Democrats Rise to the Occasion? Human Rights Watch World Report 2022)

2^nd exact Saturn-Uranus square, June 14, 2021

The first quarter of the year witnessed dramatic convulsions in the aftermath of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, notably with turbulence in American politics and the emergene of a second wave of the Covid pandemic. The second semester continued to witness social conflicts as the world struggled to proceed with the vaccination roll-out as efforts were made to control the re-merging pandemic.

Leading up to  the summer solstice, there was a lunar eclipse (May 26), a Mars-Pluto opposition (June 5), a solar eclipse (June 10), the 2^nd exact Saturn-Uranus square , 2021The solstice was a very intense one, with two powerful aspects, the challengeing Grand Cross and the beneficial Grand Trine, both involving the Moon, which can be quite powerful in a transit chart, even though it doesn’t last long. Some of the major news events from the Jun 9-15 period include:

More than 350,000 people in Ethiopia experiencing dire hunger, with millions more facing "high levels of acute food insecurity," Ethiopians head to the polls  for the country's first multiparty election in 16 years. Anti-government protesters flooded the streets of Lebanese cities as the country's currency tanked, adding to a string of economic woes. Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Israel's new prime minister, ending former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12 years in office.

In the United States, president Biden attended the NATO G7 summit in the UK. and the US-EU summit in Brussels, recommitting to global concerns like cybersecurity, global health, and climate change.  A severe drought occurred, and the Delta variant appeared as responsible for a six-fold increase in hospitalizations in one Missouri city. The Keystone XL Pipeline deal was officially cancelled.

Around the Summer Solstice, also in the United States, ten mass shootings happened across the nation leaving at least seven people dead and more than 40 injured. It was the latest in a streak of violent weekends in America. The weekend before this, there were also 10 mass shootings that left 12 people dead across seven states.  On June 25 A Minnesota judge sentenced Derek Chauvin to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. The sentence "is one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, calling it a "moment of real accountability."

The Summer Solstice marked the beginning of a Mars/Saturn/Uranus T-Square, one of the most intense aspects of the year, which was at its most intense around July 4. Around this time, there occurred the assassination of the Haitian president, as well as a string of bad floods, forest fires, hurricanes, building collapses, vehicle accidents, and freak accidents.

An example of these tensions can be seen with the Covid pandemic, (which seems to recede in concert with the Pluto and Saturn retrogrades; although this occurs as the weather gets warmer in many places, with less people indoors, so it is harder to track the correlation). The problem has been admirably addressed at a medical level, as great progress was made with the vaccine roll-out process, but it has proven unable to curb the fourth wave and delta variant due to failures at the political level. Despite sophisticated communication technology, governments are having difficulty educating the public of the need for safety measures. When restrictions are lifted, the case numbers tend to rise dramatically. Relatively small, but vocal groups are radically opposed to vaccinations, but end up getting the virus and overloading the medical services. This strong distrust in government is probably not helped by their seeming inability to prevent a majority of vaccines going to the rich, while the poor continue to suffer the worst, although there has been some concerted manifestation of generosity in vaccine distribution such as COVAX. Another related example was the need to apply widespread restrictions on social media platforms in order to curb Covid and vaccine misinformation, as well as conspiracy theories.

Another interesting event that illustrates this tension and also coincides closely with the 20-year Jupiter-Saturn cycle has been the end of United States military occupation of Afghanistan with the ensuing return of Taliban rule around August 14. The September 11, 2000 destruction of the World Trade Center occurred six months after an exact Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, the latest Taliban takeover, eight months after the most recent conjunction. Possibly, it can be seen to signal the end of end era in a certain style of oil-interested military interventions and a steady decline of international US military involvement, previous to the decline of Russia and the rise of China as an international military enforcer. At any rate, an interesting bookend to the previous Jupiter-Saturn cycle, which was marked by the 9/11 disaster.

Lunar Eclipse, November 19, 2021

Heading towards the Winter Solstice, we had the Lunar Eclipse of November 19. Some events at that time included:

China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims has been a point of great concern for the international community, and talks of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games in China emerged.

Rioting broke out at The Hague  over the Dutch government's new coronavirus measures. Elsewhere, an estimated 40,000 people on Saturday crowded the streets of Vienna in the country's biggest coronavirus-related protest to date.

Sudan's military chief reinstated Abdalla Hamdok as prime minister, almost a month after he was ousted in a military takeover. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan appeared with Hamdok at a signing ceremony in the Presidential Palace. Hamdok and Al-Burhan also agreed on a power-sharing deal between civilian and military leadership.

Many high-profile court cases charged with social tensions in the US reached a conclusion: District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Jacob Chansley, the Jan. 6 Capitol rioter known as the "QAnon Shaman," to 41 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in the insurrection. Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, William (Roddie) Bryan were convicted of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. A jury acquitted teenager Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday of murder in the fatal shooting of two men during racial justice protests following the non-fatal shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer. Moreover, two men convicted of assassinating Malcolm X were exonerated after a renewed investigation uncovered evidence proving authorities had withheld evidence that they were not the ones who gunned down the civil rights activist.

The U.S. recorded 100,306 drug-overdose deaths in the 12 months that ran through April, the most ever, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Wednesday. It was the first 12-month period in which overdoses surpassed 100,000. The record marked nearly a 29 percent rise compared to the same period a year earlier, indicating a sharp rise during the coronavirus pandemic.  Five people were killed and more than 40 were injured when a vehicle drove into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Solar Eclipse, December 3, 2021 

We then had the Solar Eclipse of December 3.  Some events at that time included:

The US joined with international allies to impose new sanctions on Belarus in response to the migrant crisis on the border with Poland and the political repression and ongoing human rights violations committed by the regime of Belarus's longtime strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko.

It emerged that China recently tested a hypersonic weapon system, and is rapidly building up its nuclear arsenal, aiming to bring it to at least 1,000 warheads by 2030. Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations for the US Space Force, says China is developing its space capabilities at "twice the rate" of the US, and could overtake the US by the end of the decade. 

There is increasing concern over the potential for Russian aggression against Ukraine. Russia has rapidly escalated its military presence along the countries' shared border, amassing up to 175,000 troops there.

In Michigan , Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old is accused of fatally shooting four classmates and injuring several others at a Michigan high school.

The US is averaging more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, the first time the country has crossed that threshold in two months. Deaths are also on the rise, with an average of 1,651 people dying from Covid-19 each day over seven days. Scientists scramble to determine whether Omicron is more transmissible and more virulent than other strains. 

3rd Saturn-Uranus square, December 24, 2021.

The Omicron variant erupted into a heavy wave of Covid cases over the holidays. An attack in Myanmar left more than 30 people dead. European governments condemned the arrival of "mercenary troops" in the west African nation of Mali.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an anti-apartheid leader and voice of justice in South Africa, died at 90. On January 5, protests erupted across Kazakhstan after liquefied gas prices used for cooking and heating doubled in the new year. Demonstrators broke into the mayor's office in Republic Square, Almaty, and police dispersed thousands of people, detaining some of them.