I debated writing this post. I don’t want to offend anyone or create negative attitudes about the things debated in this article. However, I have been introduced to, or spoken to, about this stuff so many times and I’m still confused. I wanted to share what I know and see what you thought…
So here goes!
My parents used to own a shop. Through friends of the family and people they met in the shop, mum and dad used to hear lots about what they were going through, how it could be changed and how their lives could be made better.
When you desire something enough, you’ll often do anything ‘reasonable’ to get it right?
I remember one ‘uncle’ telling my parents that my life would go smoothly if I wore this ring that had a stone that had a pearl finish. He would bless it by praying a certain number of times and he explained how much he would need for saying the prayers, obtaining the stone and getting the ring made.
The same uncle later said I also needed to wear a pendent which had many different coloured stones, positioned around the pendent in the shape of a circle.
Another man told my mum I needed to wear a ring with a red stone.
One lady suggested that I swallow some seeds that had been blessed.
Often these people had explained that they communicate with a god and this is how they know what needed to be done.
Now I am a rational person, most of the time! 🙂 However, all of the above made me feel quite stressed and confused at the time!
To hear all these different solutions made me question, which if any, were correct. How could they all say different things? Maybe they picked up on different things? Maybe I was going through different things that had varying solutions as opposed to constant ones?
To hear that they wanted money for their advice made me think it was nothing but a moneymaking scam. Then I thought that they also need to live and why should they not get paid for this advice if it would help? Wasn’t it too businesslike though? A fixed price for a certain number prayers?
To hear that they talked to God? What if they are communicating with someone or something? What if it’s not a good spirit or being? What if it’s an evil one? How would one know? I’m not sure what I think of this kind of thing but I haven’t ruled out that spirits linger and communicate with us in some way.
When I was younger, less open-minded and more emotional and angry about stuff like this, I used to call this all voodoo stuff which is prejudicial in itself! I recognise that now. However, I am still confused! Any ideas or comments?
7 Comments
Sagar Shah · May 4, 2009 at 11:34 am
I think there is something nice about having something like a lucky charm etc etc.
I’m sure some people do attribute success to something lucky that they own… a lucky shirt / tie / underwear etc etc. Even if it doesn’t have a real effect, people thinking that they have luck on their side will perform better than if they don’t (just look at the pyschology literature on placebo effects). People think that a 1p drug dosen’t work as well as a 50p drug, even though the active ingredient is exactly the same, and some people even get benefits from injections with nothing other than water in them.
As long as people believe in these the role of ‘luck’ I guess there will always be a market for lucky charms, and people will try and make money out of it. If it isn’t an Indian guy selling it, it will be Uri Geller selling his lucky crystals, or someone else selling other types of crystals, or someone buying a fengshui book or something else like that.
If it means people act more confidently and become more successful in what they do, and getting the charm doesn’t cost anyone(or any cerature) anything – why not I guess?
I don’t see it being too different to choosing to wear a wedding ring, or marriage in itself. Rationally, the ring itself and the wedding ceremony should have little impact on behaviour – but in reality it can have massive effects….
Heena Modi · May 5, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Yeah I guess it makes sense
With marriage, there’s all sorts of issues around legality, inheritance, your name/identity, children, whether they’re termed illegitimate or not etc. I don’t really relate it to luck. I guess the change in behaviour would depend on if they’ve been seeing each other, how long for and if they’ve lived together or not. Some people don’t feel different after marriage because of the factors I’ve just mentioned. 🙂
Heena Modi · May 7, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Sagar,
I just thought….lucky charms are one thing but taking something on through fear is another. Being told your life will improve unless you…
You know?
Also, I still can’t get my head around the whole thing about money and talking to God.
Anyway….perhaps other readers will comment and enlighten me with their point of view as well 🙂
Kapil Jain · March 19, 2010 at 8:03 am
To answer this in one line: I would use a title of your another post “Reading (Knowing) is the key to everything”.
Read and listen to those who have given all these knowledge without discriminating between any soul and who just given that knowledge free of cost to all just by sheer compassion towards the whole universe. Go to those who are following that path even now and you will not be
Yes you are thinking right, I am talking about knowledge from Tirthankars and Jain Saints.
Read all that is available from Agam and you will get more and more clarity. Go to Acharya bhagwan and ask about the doubt and the answer given in anekantwad will solve the query you have. Go to local Jinalaya and read books on daily basis (Swadhyay) and you will know the benefits last longer perhaps longer than many lives.
Just from my little understanding here is the answer to your question: Yes, they help you if you believe in them yet they are in most cases useless stuff for most of us.
Here is how it works:
You get some tantra / Amulet etc. from someone. If you believe in that this will works for you, you start relaxing and you will give up the sankalp vikalp (thoughts about it being done or not and how to achieve it) for the work to get done.Since you believe it will be done and hence you are assured. This assurance will help you in focusing more towards achieving your goal and it will also start accumalating punya (Good Karmas) and this punya will help you in getting things done.
Other than this also this Amulets and Mantras can help you in getting things done. This is how it works: You get what is there you have earned through all your lives through your own karmas. This is an eternal principle. But great Acharya say that nothing can fructify in absense of suitable and feasible conditions (Nimitt). What to say more, even tirthankars who already have a life of tirthankar for them destined through their old karmas require some nimitt to take diksha and do penance (Tap). So only your karmas along with nimitt can define your destiny. So if you wear this amulet or some stones etc can help in getting some nimitt through some of jyotish or Vyantar Jati dev who get attracted due to stones etc and help you by becoming/providing nimitt in case your own karmas have any particular thing destined for you.
The mantras etc will help you in getting rid of some specific karmas which may be an obstacle in fulfilling your wishes. They work for accumalation of punya karmas and help you in getting your desired outcome depending on balance of Punya / Paap and your own karmas accumalated through out all lives.
SO in summary nothing can help you if your own karm phal (destiny) deried of all this. On other hand all this can help you if your karmas are ripe for something and there is some minor obstacle.
I believe you do meditation as well, the meditation is the key to breaking karms and hence reducing karms and karmphal related to them. This helps in reducing the cycle of life and death but by asking for more worldly things what you do is you bind more karmas and hence go in opposite direction towards maming this journey long. So although this mantras, tantras, amulets etc help you in achieving in some short term goal, you should not seek all this things as this definitely hamper your long term goal. And also these all things in themselves are of no or very little use and can only help if you have something in your own destiny.
Towards issue raised by you that people seeking money through all these, are definitely junks and if they are so capable of doing things using all this lucky charms etc why can’t they make money for themselves and why the hell in this world do they need to thug or beg like this. So my suggestion to you and all should be that go to Digamber Jain Acharyas who do it just for sheer compassion and without any worldly need so go to them heve their blessings and the result is that that you get most of short term requirement without any compromise on long term achievements, provided all these goals are towards improvement of condition of your soul, to help it in achieving its own true nature (Atma sadaiv urdhvagami mukt chetan jeev hai. Soul is always an upward going free living being, which in its true form is free of all karmas).
Heena Modi · March 20, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Wow!
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I do appreciate it, as I’m sure others will too : )
Burcidi · March 21, 2011 at 8:13 pm
You are right in that this is all a money scam. Because you do not need anyone or anything to connect with God and there is no one (nothing) else that can protect you. You don’t need to wear anything, just pray to God, ask for his protection, ask him to make everything go well for you.
If something goes wrong, know that it’s just a piece of the puzzle and there is a reason for everything, we might not understand it right then and there.
Heena Modi · March 21, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Thanks for this Burcidi.
Your thoughts have touched many things that I believe in.
Ta for sharing! 🙂
Comments are closed.