Astrology, Puja & Tantriks

I am a strong believer of Karma. As you sow so shall you reap. Still there have been times when I have not seen the same happen. It may take time to for one to pay for their bad deeds, but it will happen. Makes me wonder why I still believe in Karma?

In an Indian family, like a family doctor there will be a family astrologer whose advice is always seek before doing anything. Sometimes people approach them with silly questions like “whether my son will pass with distinction or not?”

I don’t follow astrology much but my family does. Recently it so happened that I was the one who also took part in the ritual of seeking advice of the astrologer regarding some issues. I have never done that before but just to seek clarity, I went ahead. At the end of the conversation with the astrologer, I was asked if I was satisfied. I was not but you cannot say that on the face right?

I still take a very bleak view of what they say unless they start making bang on predictions. Some people follow it very blindly and even take the advice given too seriously. If life could be so easily predicted why the hell people would have still problems in their life?

Then there are pujas that are needed to perform to appease the gods or get rid of some doshas that can be seen in your horoscope. This again makes me wonder; can by doing a puja; things will change for the better? I remember pujas being conducted to appease the rain gods so that there will be good amount of rain downpour which did not happen.

It more looks like the case of satisfying one’s mental thoughts that by doing such rituals, things will improve. Even when they don’t work out people still don’t lose out on their beliefs. Should that be considered as smart or just being plain dumb?

Also heard about people visiting tantriks so that things could work their way or trying to influence people. These are very much part of reality and is quite scary too. If god is supposed to be the ultimate power, who gave these people the right to mess with it and what is god doing about it, for people who have been affected by the same? If you ever head down south in India, these are very much part of people’s lives.

I was even told to wear certain gemstones as a kid and have never done that. It makes me wonder if by wearing a gemstone, can I stop the effect of something bad that is going to happen. There are many people out there who can be seen wearing them. Don’t really know if it makes the difference or not.

Do you think they give us the clarity that we need or is it just better to take life as it comes no matter what?

Fate/Destiny

If someone would have asked me a few years back, if you believe in destiny/fate I would have said no and that it’s in everyone’s hands to shape their future.

Today things do stand different and if I was asked again the same question, I would say yes there is something called destiny/fate. It can make or break your life, can make your dreams come true or shattered at the end of the day.

I have seen a few people fate change. People who have rode high on their luck and some who could go any further as luck was not with them. Don’t really know how fate works but most of the time it comes across as unfair.

Look at the case of Priyanka Chopra who became Miss World in 2000 in spite of giving a wrong answer. Her question was “Who do you think is the most successful woman living today and why?” Her answer was Mother Teresa who had passed away in 1997. Now don’t you think it was unfair for others that they lost out for answering correctly and the one who won had got it wrong? The winning of the crown acted as a stepping stone in the Hindi Film Industry and she did well to capitalize on her opportunities.

The worst that fate had in store of was for Charles Goodyear who lived in the peril of poverty till his death. His invention (vulcanization of rubbers) made the rubbers more durable and it gave him nothing except tragedy. Saw a documentary on him that made me wonder, whether it was all worth it? And yet in the end, success did not come the way it should have…

One wonders what constitutes fate and makes it work the way it does. Sometime no matter how hard you try you still don’t get what you want. Then you see someone who does not even put an ounce of effort and yet they get what they want without really doing anything. Makes one wonder what is good karma and bad karma?

Sometimes, I do wonder if they are ways of testing the people. Then again why the people who work hard to get what they want are put to test and left disillusioned, while the people who put the least effort have it easy and get to eat their cake too. Isn’t that unfair?

No one can understand what happens the way they do. I guess the only thing one can do is to keep trying for what they want.