Spirituality and the human
On this day, we take up an important question explored by our seeker, about memories from the past, and the ups and downs of life. Ups and downs are inevitable for all, for we are crossing the ocean of life, and there are always waves on the ocean. Some waves are high, some calm and some are low; some come crashing down upon us, and other waves lift us to joyful, exhilarating heights. Today our seeker asks The Master about reliving problems from the past.
Much of this book has been given over to descriptions of varia priesthoods, Deified Emperors, and the rites of the Arval Brothers and Vestal Virgins. What was their purpose and function within the state? Why have they been included as illustrations of the life of the state on the Palatine with Vespasian taking direct intervention, as described by Rutilius Gallicus?
AD 74, late May. Falco has just arrived home from Lepcis Magna in Tripoli with dire news to deliver to his sister. Vespasian and his Great Census interrupt. Next day, Falco crosses his bridge of the unknown and delivers the news. A little 6 year old girl, strong candidate for election as a Vestal Virgin, approaches Falco with her suspicions that someone is trying to kill her. Falco (recently raised to equestrian status by Vespasian, and appointed Procurator of the Sacred Geese and Poultry) has had enough for one day. He declines to take the girl as a client and sends her home. An act which was to cause him quite some work.
This novel opens with the startling perspective that Falco and partner are auditing businessmen whose trade is slaughter. Of wild animals and humans. Their stock in trade was measured as units of mass murder. We’ll take a look at this and its impact on the humanity of Falco and Helena Justina.
Meanwhile, Emperor Vespasian is confused that there are no monies in the imperial treasury. (An unfavourable balance of trade was the culprit.) In order to beef up the imperial statutory reserves Vespasian engages Falco and Partner to set matters aright with the Great Census of Rome.
August-October,AD73, Falco is back in Rome after his expedition to Baetica, and is having a drink with Petro, his long time friend from his days in the Second Augusta. Petro is suffering durance vile, away from his wife, Arria Silvia. Petro is going into partnership with Falco; Ma (Junilla Tacita) has other ideas and wants her convalescent Anacrites to team up with her son!
Falco is inveigled by the Chief Clerk Laeta into attending a dinner for the Society of Olive Oil Producers in Baetica. This is just a front for select persons to eat well, drink well, rub shoulders with the top echelon and watch titillating dancers. Falco is aware that Laeta is setting him up. However, there is an unexpected problem with violence towards some attending. One is killed, the other, well, he is close to Hades, and as Falco puts it, lying on his pallet with his fare for Charon in his hand. (Charon took the newly dead across the river Acheron or Styx if they could pay for the ride.)
Going Green on the Inside is a small book written by housewife, mother and teacher-aide, Caroline Proctor of Melbourne. It is a simple exegesis of the oneness of all creation, and how our world, our experience, is created internally – and affected by – the foods we eat.
The Falco Novels are the work of UK author Lindsey Davis, first appearing in 1990. To date, there are 20 novels in this series. Falco is Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer (delator is the proper term, Latin) working in Rome after his discharge from the Roman Army, during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian.
Nichiren also known as “Nichiren Shonin” or “Nichiren Daishonin” was a Japanese Buddhist priest who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Nichiren is known for his sole devotion to the Lotus Sutra, asserting that it was Shakyamuni Buddha’s ultimate teachings and was the exclusive method to attain enlightenment. Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the “Kamakura Buddhism” schools.
Won is a modern school of Buddhism, established in Korea in 1916. Won’s founder, Sotaesan, adapted traditional Buddhist teachings to apply them to the modern world. The name “Won Buddhism” comes from the Korean words won (“circle”) and bulgyo (“Buddhism”), literally meaning “Round Buddhism” or “Consummate Buddhism.” By “consummate,” Won Buddhists mean that they incorporate several different schools of Buddhist thought into their practice.
The Shirdi Sai Baba movement began in the 19th century, while Sai Baba himself was living in Shirdi. A local Khandoba priest, Mhalsapati Nagre, is believed to have been his first devotee. In the 19th century, Sai Baba’s followers were only a small group of inhabitants of Shirdi, and a few people from other parts of India.
Because of Sai Baba, Shirdi has become a place of importance and is counted among the major Hindu places of pilgrimage. The first Sai Baba temple is situated at Kudal, Sindhudurg. This temple was built in 1922. It is believed that Sai Baba gave one Rupee to Dada Madye ji with which he built the temple in Kudal. Today, The Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi is visited by an average of 25,000 pilgrims a day, and during religious festivals, this number can reach up to 100,000.
There are many stories of the childhood of Sai Baba of Shirdi; he is in a league with the childhood of Jesus, for there is a palpable lack of written records. What is given here is sources from ‘sruti, that which is heard, a form of divine revelation given to seekers of the Divine those who seek the divine and nothing else in their lives. It is meet and fitting to consider that Sai Baba of Shirdi remained in one location for sixty years, and called devotees to him, those who were his bhaktas in ages past. Time is a plaything for the One who is master of time and space, the kalapurusha. Read on and consider the ‘sruti appended.
Little is known of the early years of Sai Baba of Shirdi. Even his name is unknown as Sai Baba is not an appellation in the usual sense. Sai is a term of Persian origin, usually attributed to Muslim ascetics, meaning holy one or saint. Baba, on the other hand, is a Hindi term attributed to respected seniors and holy men, and literally means “father”. So the etymology of Sai Baba means “holy father”, “saintly father”.
The Full Moon of September 9 has passed; the Earth moves on towards the next new moon, which will be a time of changes in our skies, our seasons and the planets. Depending on where you are on this planet, the Fall equinox arrives on September 23 – or it may be the Vernal Equinox, which hails Spring in the other hemisphere. In this post, we look to changes and consider the 4th Dimension.
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) began her adult life as a socialist seeking religious truth and ended it as a Catholic influenced by socialist ideals. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago, her early adulthood included work as a progressive journalist reporting on social issues of the day. In November 1917 Day went to prison for being one of forty women in front of the White House protesting women’s exclusion from the electorate.
In 1927, following the birth and baptism of her daughter, Day was received into the Catholic Church and became committed to using Catholic teachings to fight poverty and social injustice. In 1933 in New York City, she co-founded (with Peter Maurin) the Catholic Worker newspaper that advocated pacifism and positive social action. Day opened homeless shelters across the country and later led movements protesting nuclear war, militarism, and racial bigotry.
On this day, we start a new series of posts on this website, excerpts from the Conversations with the Master series by a Polish ascetic. We choose to post these excepts for we find the unique inner signature of the Divine in these conversations.
As you read on, you will discover that the author has a very humble relationship with the Divine, whom he calls “Master”. The author is also very, very human, and has his ups and downs in life. Sometimes he is reluctant, sometimes other pressures upon him cause him to put his pen down, and at other times, what comes out of the pen excites his enthusiasm and takes him to new vistas of experience of the Divine.
The Master: How can we describe The Master in these conversations? The Master answers questions. The Master can leave you dangling in the air gasping for breath and understanding. The Master is a loving parent, caring, guiding, protecting and drawing the reader (whom He and She addresses often) along the many paths to Loving Divinity. We leave it to you to have your own experience of the Master in these guided selections.
