POLL: Why Is Life So Unfair?
Astrology, Mandela Effect, Karma... Share your thoughts!
I woke up this morning, disgruntled by the constant buzzing of my nerves thanks to small fiber neuropathy, and I thought to myself, “Why is life so unfair?”
“Why do evil people thrive while my life has been so difficult?”
“Nothing has come easy to me.”
Well, it’s not entirely true that nothing has come easy to me…I’m a quick learner. But when it comes to all the “goodies” in life, I’m a failure. No happy family with a white picket fence. Chronic illness. That sort of thing.
Meanwhile, some of the worst people on the planet seem to just breeze through life with nary a care.
“Is my karma really that bad?”
I’m studying Vedic Medical Astrology. That sounds a bit weird. It is. But I am an Ayurvedic Practitioner, and it is a branch of Ayurveda that I should know, at least for completeness, but wasn’t covered in my initial training.
The idea is that medical problems are often due to (or at least forecasted by) astrology influences, and by knowing someone's chart, you can recommend remedies to help improve health.
Astrology is one of those things that’s easy to make fun of, and I am frankly a bit embarrassed to say I am studying it. I shouldn’t be. Because in the grand scheme of things, I don’t give a damn what other people think, except for people I truly care about. :-)
But here’s why I’m interested. I had heard how powerful Vedic Astrology was years ago, so out of curiosity, I got a reading from one of my yoga teachers.
I was blown away to the point of being deeply creeped out.
It was like the first time I heard about the Mandela Effect, and discovered that the Berenstein Bears that I grew up with had been changed to Berenstain.
I was a spelling wiz as a kid. As in, I actually competed in spelling bees. In my head, I had read the name “Berenstein Bears” as “BERENSTEEN Bears” as a child. Perhaps BerenSTINE would have been more accurate, but to me they were the BERENSTEEN Bears.
No way it was BerenSTAIN.
So I got a really sinking feeling in my stomach when I heard about that Mandela Effect, which made me reconsider reality.
My first Vedic Astrology reading made me feel similarly. My yoga teacher, who previously knew little about me, could tell from my reading all sorts of things about my life, from my relationship with my mother to my rotating circus of flings.
I’m now learning the “medical” aspect of Vedic Astrology, which explains how the planetary positions affect your health.
So my chart tells me that I have a weakness in Sun, which could lead to digestive issues (among other things), and my Mercury is debilitated, which relates to the nervous system.
I have other indicators in my chart of chronic illness (Moon in Capricorn in the 6th House).
I got chronic mono at the age of 17; at the age of 47 I had a severe stomach infection that went systemic and damaged my nervous system.
My Vedic chart is not a good one for my personal health. It is, however, excellent for spiritual teaching and healing as a profession. One thing that’s not showing up much at all in my chart is a stable partner or kids…which never happened for me.
Now. How can an astrology chart know so much about me? Am I fated to be sick and single? If so, why? Is my karma worse than people who are healthy or happily married?
The good news about Vedic Medical Astrology is that supposedly you can mitigate your bad karma through mantras, charity, and gemstone therapy. But still…the whole thing is weird to me. Are we in some sort of cosmic computer that gives us clues to our lifepath through the planets, which somehow humans accidentally discovered?
Does this mean we are doomed by fate to live out certain lives? Or are we simply influenced randomly by the astronomical forces at play when we are born, and the ancients tried to explain this bad luck by calling it karma?
But if bad karma explained the disparities in life, why are so many rich, successful people total assholes?
Are you trying to tell me that all the sociopathic robber barons on the planet were actually previously good in their past lives, and just happened to turn bad when they popped into their current bodies? Doesn’t make sense.
Why does life shower so many blessings on a few, many of whom seem to be least deserving of it, when others suffer so tremendously, including children?
Or are we living all possible outcomes and I’m just stuck in a bad timeline for myself, whereas Stephanie in Timeline 151569 is rich and having a ball?
I’m working up a contemplative essay, where I’ll explore this subject in depth, but in the meantime, I’d like to hear your thoughts.
PS If you are interested in a Vedic Medical Astrology reading, you can order one here for a pretty reasonable cost…because I’m new at it.
The eternal question posed by Job.
https://blog.petersproverbs.us/2023/01/god-knows-why-we-do-not.html
Yet all the answers seem somehow unsatisfying or incomplete, whether one defaults to "God has a plan" or "Karma" or "everything's random."
For me, I think there is an important point of logic that the Book of Job illuminates which people often overlook: we are finite creatures within a finite universe; we are the creation, not the creator. There are limits not only to what we know but also to what we can know, and whatever is outside of those limits is, ultimately, unknowable.
To apprehend the totality of the universe requires one be able to step outside the universe so as to perceive all at once the totality of the universe, including our place within it. As we cannot do this, we cannot perceive the totality of the universe and so cannot perceive the how and especially the why of its unfolding. That leaves us frustrated and confused when confronted by the seeming injustice of the world.
And yet....if we do not know pain, do not experience loss, how can we ever hope to empathize with those who have? If we do not struggle, how can we be sympathetic to others who also struggle? If we are not hurt, how can we hope to understand--and thence to offer--healing?
Thus I come to a question: which is the more "unfair"? To have prosperity, wealth, and comfort without having to strive? Or to strive and achieve only a little or even less prosperity, wealth, and comfort?
Hopefully your astrological readings don’t cement the ideas that you are eternally doomed to a life of unwellness and being single. Life is always in flux. I do believe that planetary alignment affects energy, but I also believe that our own beliefs can hugely impact our trajectory.
Another though is that horrible rich people who seem to have it all from the outside, are often void of deeper fulfillment on a personal or spiritual level. Conversely, people who have virtually nothing, can have the deepest appreciated and gratitude for the little that they do have, and be happier than mega rich people.
Thanks for sharing your story, it definitely made me stop a while and ponder my own beliefs on what controls the Universe.