Dear Subscribers,

This is my Sunday post, one I hope will generate reflection that goes a tad deeper than our normal processing. As you know, I have spent a bit over 60 years of this incarnation as a Buddhist, but even before that, I was interested in comparative religion. This continued on into college when I was able to combine religion and anthropology. History and meditation also all came in due time. Many Buddhists say that Buddhism is not a religion. It may be a philosophy or a practice or a way to style one's life, but it is not really supposed to be a form of worship much less dogmatic. That said, we all have human proclivities so we imagine whatever we imagine. Respect and reverence are not, however, forms of worship . . . rather, this was not the original intent. One might say that the goal of Buddhism is enlightenment and that this, in turn, benefits from having very good teachers, proper guidance, and willingness to change one's thoughts when prior perceptions do not stand up to reason, experience, and understanding.

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Right Understanding

Knowledge and understanding are obviously not quite the same, but Right Understanding is the first step of what is called the Eightfold Noble Path. How do we acquire understanding? We are actually born with considerable memory, but most people drink the waters of forgetfulness, leaving them dependent on fresh input to develop their understanding. As we all know, humans develop slowly and we are very dependent creatures until we finally reach maturity. During this tedious process, we are bombarded by input. This begins with all kinds of instructions about even the basics of life: eating, sleeping, walking, talking, and so on. By the time we are adults, we have been imprinted many times over, and in today's world, there are very few models for dealing with conflicts between imprints.

To make this very clear, we have religious programing that is impeding our capacity to interact in a friendly manner with people of different beliefs. We have a stunning amount of academic and cultural imprinting that creates structures for our thoughts. We have very little guidance about how to integrate new information that topples our previous understanding. Most rewriting of scripts occurs as a result of staggering claim making, advertising and promotion, and vague references to cutting edge science. I have my own list of pet peeves, but I have worked extremely hard on Right Understanding because we predicate our actions on what we understand and believe to be true. This gives ample incentive to manipulators to intrude on our thoughts which is what education and the media have been doing for eons
. . . except that the scale is so enormous now.

Changes in transportation and travel, emigration and immigration, and the capacity to disseminate points of view over the entire Planet in a few seconds has changed the game considerably and this trend is accelerating with no end in sight. Therefore, it is more important than ever to develop Right Understanding so as to navigate the barrage of thoughts and efforts to influence.

Great Teaching

In contrast to dogmatic influencers, the Buddha advised his followers not to accept anything He said as straight fact unless it met the standard of proof. Hypothetically, we could say that this makes each individual responsible for what he or she determines to be correct. Since we all have had different imprinting, different cultural exposures, different interests and specializations in life, we often do not have the skills to determine what is and is not correct. In such cases, it might be wise to suspend judgment until better equipped to navigate the premises and nuances of unfamiliar territory.

Excellent examples of the difference between fact and truth are abundant. Climate change is a case in point, but before going there, I would like to emphasize that each individual will bring to discussions whatever his or her own expertise is. One person might have studied geology going back to the beginning of Time itself and another may be looking at modern industry, desertification, agriculture practices, solar cycles, you name it. Depending on the method used to form the analyses, conclusions may differ and thus public policy tends to be built on those who prevail in debates or those who tell the powers that be what they want to hear. A lot of discernment is necessary, and this is true in almost every discipline.

To make this as clear as possible, let's say that one is not a scientist, climatologist, data cruncher, or anything else that is relevant to the global debate on climate. One might be a musician where Right Understanding may have a totally different meaning. One may understand harmony and rhythm, composing and performing, and so on. Then, there is some research into tuning and pitch and a wave that pressures society to tune to a different pitch. If one was born in the last century, more or less, one is used to A=440 Hz and perhaps has never questioned this. Now, someone is upsetting conformity by proposing that this tuning was part of a conspiracy to undermine civilization, and we ought to go to Verdi tuning in which A=432 Hz.

For most people, this issue is outside of their zone of interest, and debate seems tangential to their lives; but we all listen to music, and we have been listening to music tuned to A=440 Hz so how has this affected us? Can we even assess this? In my particular case, this issue was quickly resolved because Verdi has been my favorite composer since I first heard La Traviata in my teens. Without making a big fuss, I feel we can approach the issue of tuning from a multitude of angles. The first might be simply to listen to the same composition played on the same instrument, one performance tuned to 440 and the other to 432. Which sounds better? Which feels better? Trust yourself. Do not read the arguments, just listen and feel.

If you are going to pick up this gauntlet, I would suggest that you really do a proper test. Most of the 432 Hz uploads to the net were originally recorded with 440 Hz tuning and digitally retuned. This is interesting but not quite the same as starting with 432 Hz tuning. I don't really want to influence anyone but as a passionate Verdi fan, I would note that Verdi truly understood the human voice; and if you ever held your breath while a tenor shot for a high note, you will understand that the register change that makes that so treacherous is at least partly due to tuning. For me, 432 Hz has a more natural sound that is calmer, but try this yourself. Don't trust me, trust yourself.

Why is this important? It is because, " In the beginning . . ."

Our aura is hugely affected by sound. Each sense is associated with an element and a chakra. Sound shapes the etheric body which in turn has the blueprint for the physical. If the sounds around us are harmonious, our auras will be better organized and this means all activities of the body will function better. As you know, I do music therapy and believe it is the most powerful form of healing available. It is very labor intensive and strenuous for the facilitator but it is profound for the patient. In any case, sound is not a neutral component of our lives. Whether one is talking about the Mozart Effect on learning or the deeper physiology and psychology of life, sound makes a difference. You can easily prove this to yourself by comparing the peacefulness of sitting near a bubbling brook to listening to something loud and jarring on a headset.

Pet Peeves

My point goes far beyond climate change and music. I am concerned about impassioned points of view that are not actually supported by facts. We have obvious controversies such as who did what to influence elections. This is how the media sells copy. They have to have advertisers to survive so they have to make dramas out of whatever will grab public attention. Facts can potentially interfere with the bottom line so keep the issues hot and rake in the benefits. Am I too cynical? Sometimes that is perhaps true, but you can decide that for yourself. My purpose is to suggest that we take responsibility for what we choose to believe. We cannot jump on board every train, but we can exercise discernment.

As you all know, I am an astrologer. In times past, astronomy and astrology were a single discipline, but they have split apart. If we look at academia, we see that astronomy was granted credibility; and astrology, where accepted, has been moved into closer alignment with psychology. It is actually taught in some universities, but usually as part of the psychology department.

During my most recent rabbit hole adventures, I started with what I thought was a simple question: "What difference does it make to the Vatican whether the solar system is heliocentric or geocentric?" It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question, and I expected an answer to the question in less than an hour of surfing. In my mind, the Creator would still be the Creator regardless of what we believe so why haul anyone before the Inquisition or excommunicate them or burn them at the stake. Trying to understand the motivations of the Vatican turned out not to be very simple. Moreover, it is entirely possible that neither of the competing arguments is actually correct. Fast forward to the present and we see a new Space Force coming into being, investments in space tourism, plans to relocate to Mars, and, dare I mention, all based on premises that may or may not be correct. The question might therefore be who benefits by directing funds to space as opposed to solving the problems on Earth? Unless people are completely irrational, this is actually a good question.

Now, I will take a chapter out of history and tell you how it looks from the angle of the rabbit hole. The question was not which argument is correct but what is the basis for preferring one argument over another? Facts, I suspect, had nothing to do with the positions taken. One can be very convinced by one's mathematical calculations, which is how such hypotheses come into being, but why does this upset people? Fast forward to our present time and we can ask who benefits by accepting the Big Bang theory or string theory or any other popular idea that has made its way into the curriculum. For me, in my rabbit hole, the Big Bang theory is very much more threatening than anything proposes by Copernicus. The Big Bang displaces the Creator and proposes that random atoms do unpredictable things in an expanse of chaos. If then, this had been proposed 500 years ago, of course, it would have been regarded as the ultimate heresy so why is it not suspect today?

My point is not that I have answers but rather the questions themselves must be addressed so that the views we hold stand up to scrutiny. I do not care which discipline we choose. We could look at money and economics, food and agriculture, art and music, psychology and spirituality, anything! The point is simply that when we purport to know something, we should be sure of our facts and confident that if we postulate our actions on those facts that we will be in deeper harmony with our own souls. I do not care what the answer is so long as it is correct. Once you know you have the facts right, you can proceed to the next step and then the next.

If however we are careless about how we build our understanding, it goes without saying that the conclusions may be incorrect and the actions based on those conclusions will later be regretted. This also means that when we entrust our education and spiritual training to others, they must have mastered what we have yet to learn. Frankly, I do not see this level of wisdom at the highest levels of influence, and this often makes me quite nervous.

Summary

It goes without saying that there are issues that I have contemplated for many years, decades, and probably lifetimes. I suspect we have the clue to obsessions when we see how some topics grab our attention and others cannot even hold our attention for a minute. As I wrote that, I immediately thought of baseball. I enjoy sports but as a participant, not a spectator. There are exceptions, I like to watch ice skating and sometimes gymnastics and earlier today, I was distracted for a few minutes by pickleball. I had never heard of it, but it was proposed as essential for retirees. I guess it is a cross between tennis and ping pong with a lower net than badminton. I think I got that right, but the point is that astronomy might hold my attention for months and years . . .

Healing is obviously more important than astronomy but to the extent that all imbalances have causes, it helps to know whether the causes are local and environmental, co-factors of life style and habits, deeply psychospiritual and/or karmic. So, sometimes we have to go deeper; and astrology, in the right hands, is a great tool.

You note, however, that as much as I have been digging for Truth, I have not written up my tentative findings on the rabbit hole. I feel I should do this and do it relatively soon, but I think it is important to lay the foundation for some bubbles to burst.

We are approaching Thanksgiving. I know many of you are busy with family gatherings. For some, this means travels and last minute preparations. I would like to suggest that you dare to raise a few points when getting together with those closest to you. We are celebrating survival, giving thanks for having made it to the New World and getting through the hardships of a world that was foreign to the early settlers and colonists. The Pilgrims survived because they were aided by the very people that were later persecuted. Tremendous crimes were committed in order that Europeans could escape the Inquisition, Plague, and persecution that were epidemic at the time in Europe. At this time, we need to readjust our footprints. We cannot undo what was done, but we can embrace some of the values of those whose relationship to Turtle Island have been more responsible. We can also extend our friendship to the First Nation People and thank them for allowing us to live here. It is time for peace and harmony.

Blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2019

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