Musings on Meditation

This piece:"How does meditation actually work? Neuroscientists are researching centuries-old Buddhist mindfulness techniques and their effects on the brain", by Christof Koch at Salon yesterday triggered a search through my old posts.

Snips from Mr Koch's article:

....weeklong visit to Drepung Monastery in southern India. His Holiness the Dalai Lama had invited the U.S.-based Mind and Life Institute to familiarize the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community living in exile in India with modern science. About a dozen of us—physicists, psychologists, brain scientists and clinicians, leavened by a French philosopher—introduced quantum mechanics, neuroscience, consciousness and various clinical aspects of meditative practices to a few thousand Buddhist monks and nuns.................What passed between these representatives of two distinct intellectual modes of thinking about the world were facts, data—knowledge. That is, knowledge about the more than two-millennia-old Eastern tradition of investigating the mind from the inside, from an interior, subjective point of view, and the much more recent insights provided by empirical Western ways to probe the brain and its behavior using a third-person, reductionist framework................... More important, even when the monks were not meditating, but simply quietly resting, their baseline brain activity was distinct from that of the students. That is, these techniques, practiced by Buddhists for millennia to quiet, focus and expand the mind—the interior aspect of the brain—had changed the brain that is the exterior aspect of the mind. And the more training they had, the bigger the effect.

The old post my memory was searching for turned out to be this, from 2011: An Astrological Challenge: Candy Barr and H.H. Dalai Lama.  In a nutshell: I'd noticed that the stripper/exotic dancer and the spiritual leader of Tibet shared a birthdate; I set out to see how astrology could explain such a wide discrepancy in outcomes.

Having re-read the post, I'm happy with the conclusion I reached. I particularly enjoyed re-reading the exchange of comment there with my old blog buddy Gian Paul in Brazil. Here's the exchange that caught my eye. It arose as a result of the final paragraph of my post: "Candy Barr found her way from a childhood of abuse by trading on sensuality. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with his position abused, though in a different way, continues to walk the path of spirituality. Are these two qualities, sensuality and spirituality so very different? Are they not two notes of the same chord?"

Gian Paul:
Agreed that sensuality and spirituality may be very akin to each other. There are stories (suppressed of course) about many saints (including J(esus)C(hrist)) having had some intense if not pleasure at least struggle "with the flesh".

One of the stories I found of interest is that of two Hindus, who after seeing a pretty girl, continued on their way. Some considerable time later, the younger Hindu asked if it would have been right to have had an affair with that woman. The elder's response was that this type of question can go on for ages. For his part he had "so totally enjoyed the girl's appearance and looks, that thinking about it again could never match the quality of the original moment of encounter."

Me:
Sensuality and spirituality - yes I pondered a while on that and couldn't come up with exactly what I wanted to write about it, even though I "sensed" a connection.

Sensuality relates to all our senses, not only those of a sexual or lusty nature which are usually brought to mind by the term. To be spiritual I suppose one would need to have all senses firing at full blast, so sensuality is a requirement of spirituality. But spirituality need not be a requirement of sensuality......does that make sense?

Gian Paul:
You are asking difficult questions, Twilight. Here my humble thought: Sensuality (including the more noble, evolved aspects of it) belongs to the "incarnate, material" part of humans.
Spirituality, for who wants to believe in that existing, probably will not mix easily with the "lower nature". Hence the religious kind of aspiration which wishes to overcome, exit the lower nature.

But is that not possibly a construction of the mind? The story of the two Hindus offers a better approach, I find.

Me:
Difficult Questions Are Us! - I should change the name of this blog! :-) Yes, it's a question that everybody would answer, and perceive, in a different way. I've never really understood "spirituality", but had best not get into that discussion.

The Hindu story you quoted does indicate that the ability to appreciate sensually is present in us all - but how we choose to proceed after that appreciation is important.

I'm sure the Dalai Lama appreciates beauty - in female form as well as other forms - it's part of life, part of what we are. But that would be his boundary - the appreciation.Sensuality and spirituality are both emotionally driven, though, and therefore link to that Grand Trine in their charts. Two ways of manifesting.

Sensuality and spirituality - that comparison came to mind again as I read the article linked at the top of this post, and these lines in particular:

More important, even when the monks were not meditating, but simply quietly resting, their baseline brain activity was distinct from that of the students. That is, these techniques, practiced by Buddhists for millennia to quiet, focus and expand the mind—the interior aspect of the brain—had changed the brain that is the exterior aspect of the mind. And the more training they had, the bigger the effect.

In effect, then, does regular meditation kind of shift the wavelength of sensuality for the meditator, possibly permanently away from fleshly lust? In which case, it's a good thing we all don't practice meditation or the species would have died out aeons ago. Sorry if I'm sounding flippant, as I stated in a comment above, "I've never really understood spirituality". Suffice to say that the term spirituality can cover a lot of ground and a lot of mushy New Age fuzziness. But, ignoring that side of it, there is an aspect of this that's troubling. Meditation, and the serenity it can bring about for an individual has to be a good thing as a temporary occasional aid. If it were to be practiced as a permanent way of life it would have to be practiced universally. If not practiced universally - the rest of 'em would trample roughshod over those experiencing their serenity. There's a living example in Tibet, now.

An astrological challenge: Candy Barr & H.H. Dalai Lama

At mentalfloss.com, among a list of famous people who share a birthday we find:
Candy Barr and The Dalai Lama (July 6, 1935)
"Let’s see those astrologers try to explain this one: The notorious stripper and exotic dancer shared her special day with the revered spiritual leader of Tibet. Yin and yang?" ......It says.

Okay - I enjoy a challenge. I'll take that one. I'm not sure whether anybody else has tried, but if so can't find evidence of it online. I have nothing to lose, so.......



Candy Barr, born Juanita Dale Slusher, for those too young (or too foreign like me) to know, was a stripper, burlesque exotic dancer, actress in a pornographic movie, and model in men's magazines.

She was born in Edna Texas, youngest of five children, sexually abused by a neighbour, ran away to Dallas at age 13, and into a prostitution/white slavery den. Married first husband when age 14. By 16 she'd starred in a pornographic movie (one of the first). She went on to be a stripper and burlesque dancer. Fell foul of the law on several occasions, often due to marijuana possession. Several unsuccessful marriages and a prison sentence decorate her biography. While in prison she began writing poetry - a book of her poems has been published, titled A Quiet Mind....Confused. At the beginning of the book, she wrote: "Loneliness is like an early frost. Let us be among the seedlings that survive . . ."
The title poem :

"Hate the world that strikes you down,
A warped lesson quickly learned.
Rebellion, a universal sound,
Nobody cares, no one's concerned.
Fatigued by unyielding strife,
Self-pity consoles the abused,
And the bludgeoning of daily life,
Leaves a gentle mind . . . confused."

She died of pneumonia while in quiet retirement in December 2005.



His Holiness Dalai Lama (born Lhamo Dondrub) is....well we all know he's as far from matching the above as any human could be:

"Tibetan supreme spiritual ruler of his country, in exile. Some six million Tibetans believe him to be the reborn soul of Buddha of Compassion, the Protector of the Land of Snows, the Holder of the White Lotus, the Mighty of Speech, Tibet's Wish-Fulfilling Gem, and Kundun-the Presence. "

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's background is widely known.) Here clipped from Astrodatabank

Born in a small village in Tibet to farmer parents, he was the fifth of seven children. When the 13th Dalai Lama died in 1933, Tibetan elders searched through the nation's children to find him in this, his 14th incarnation. When the search party reached his parent's mud and stone house in Taktser in 1937, the toddler passed a series of tests: He named the monk leading the search, and he picked out several objects that had belonged to his predecessor.

The young boy was proclaimed the Dalai Lama and installed on the Lion Throne in the thousand-room palace in Lhasa, Tibet's holy city. A regent ruled Tibet until the boy was old enough to assume his destined role. Though he was given a thorough spiritual education, he was nonetheless a kid, and played a kid's tricks and games, sometimes getting into trouble and scolded. He insists that he has no regrets about a lost childhood. "The important thing is that men should have a purpose in life," he says. "It should be something useful, something good."

The country was invaded by Chinese communists in 1950 and three years ahead of schedule, the 15-year-old boy was given political and religious authority under difficult circumstances. The Chinese claimed they came to "liberate" Tibet from the "poison of imperialism and religion." In 1959, when Chinese forces drew close to Lhasa, threatening his life, His Holiness, accompanied by a few close advisors and family members, fled to India on 3/31/1959.

First, a few general observations.

Think on this: had the gender of these two individuals been reversed their lives would have run along VERY different lines.

Dalai Lama would most certainly not have been Dalai Lama if born a girl. Who knows which way life would have forced her to proceed, what she would have needed to do to make her way ? And had Candy Barr been born male, he might have escaped childhood abuse, managed to obtain a reasonable level of education, and....become a preacher in one of Texas's many churches, writing numerous books for the spiritual development of his flock.

Gender - a giant hurdle, to be added to the vast geographical and cultural differences into which the two babes were born. How similar would we expect their lives to be?

To my mind astrology, via the natal chart, presents just a "shape" an outline, which could be filled in numerous different ways, within the confines of that "shape".

Time of birth is a crucial element in the natal chart.

Astrodatabank offers 4:00 AM for Candy Barr with an AA rating ("birth certificate in hand") so we can rely on that one, within a few minutes anyway.

The Dalai Lama's birth time has been the subject of some deliberation. Astrodatabank has given 4:38 AM an A rating, which some commenters consider is undeserved. Still, Astrodatabank is pretty strict, has its reasons, the A rating would not have been given without cause - that time is reliable enough for me. My software will not give me the village where he was born, as stated by Astrodatabank, so I've found the nearest co-ordinates to the birth place they give.

I've taken place of birth for Candy Barr from Astrodatabank: Edna, Texas.





Okay. Any minor discrepancy in exact place, or exact time of birth will not seriously affect what needs to be looked at.

First thing to consider is how different were the earthly situations into which they emerged. These were, of course, as different as they possibly could be, as were their early experiences: sexual abuse in one case, reverenetial adoration in the other.

Patterns drawn by planetary transits, especially those of slow-moving outer planets affect individuals with similar birth charts in similar ways, which though similar at core may seem wildly different as they manifest.

I see the shadow of a similarity in the two patterns of life here. Candy Barr, an abused child, fled from her home to an equally unfortunate life style. Dalai Lama was forced, by an invading enemy nation, to leave his home country and live out his life in exile. Both individuals must share some kind of inner strength to have overcome their challenges.

Time of birth is the only significant difference in these charts. Dalai Lama has Cancer rising, with Cancer Sun and Pluto in first house of self. Candy Barr had Gemini rising with Cancer Sun (just) in first house along with Gemini Mercury. Rising sign is said to be the lens through which an individual is seen by the world -and through which she/he sees the world. There are wide differences between Cancer rising and Gemini rising. Cancer = gentle, caring, nurturing, quiet. Gemini = social butterfly, bubbly, quick-witted, short attention span. So Candy Barr had this one astrological difference from Dalai Lama: the overlay of Gemini to modify her gentle Cancer Sun.

A Grand Trine in Water signs in both charts links Cancer Sun/Pisces Saturn/Scorpio Jupiter. I see this as representing emotional strength - something which, odd as it may seem, they surely share.

During the period between 1959 and 1960 when transiting Saturn was opposing their natal Cancer Suns both these individuals experienced traumatic times: Dalai Lama had to flee from his homeland of Tibet into India. Around the same time Candy Barr was imprisoned: "After being incarcerated for over three years, Barr was paroled from Goree women's unit on April 1, 1963" (Wikipedia).

Both have Moon (inner self) and Neptune (creativity) conjoined in Virgo. Virgo is ruled by Mercury planet of communication. Barr wrote a book of poems while in prison; His Holiness has written at least 72 books while in exile.

Both individuals are known to the world by names other than the names given to them as children. I'm not sure whether this might relate to Moon conjunct Neptune - Neptune connects to illusion, after all.

Summing up:

Candy Barr found her way from a childhood of abuse by trading on sensuality. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with his position abused, though in a different way, continues to walk the path of spirituality. Are these two qualities, sensuality and spirituality so very different? Are they not two notes of the same chord? Do they perhaps both arise from that Grand Trine in Water signs?

DOING WHAT THEY DO/DID




(Teaching Joan Collins how to strip).


Any other ideas from passing readers on these two charts will be gratefully received.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Barr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Dalai_Lama