Skip to content

Tag: why bad is good

Badgoodness

In any horoscope, the 8th house is always considered bad. As per astrological rules, this house brings uncertainties, sudden falls, unexpected bad events and the like. If a strong benefic planet like Jupiter is in the 8th house, some astrologers condemn the poor native to a life of ill-judgement and dull intellect. Life, as we know it, can rarely be painted with such broad brushes.

The 8th house is bad to an extent, yes, but only materialistically. Then too, it can give rise to extraordinary future growth, if the native decides to look at his predicament as stepping stones – as learnings for the future.

What is often ignored though, is that the periods in life where the 8th house comes into focus tend to be the ones where the most spiritual advancement happens. So materialism and spirituality are naturally conflicting. As an example, if one loses money for whatever reasons (family feud, loss of inheritance, friend borrowed and fled, bonus cancelled), it might seem like the end of the world. But spiritual progress is achieved only when attachments and desires are consciously removed. Money tends to be highest on the long list of attachments we have. If a greedy relative, despite committing a variety of sins, seems to be rewarded with a lot of luxuries, we must not worry. The more one drowns in the quicksand of maya (read more here), the harder it is for them to get out.

If we can look at the loss of money as a good thing (bad is good), and embrace the fact that it doesn’t change our core being, we will inevitably mature spiritually. And where are we going to take all this money anyway? We do not need money – at the grave, only grace.

Like it? Please share it!
Leave a Comment

Why bad is good

The goal of human life is to achieve liberation or moksha. This is not some special state where one can toggle the world on or off. Rather it is described as a state where one is ‘always on’ to the Oneness of creation.

If we go to a supermarket after a heavy lunch, we typically only buy what we went in to buy. But if we enter the supermarket ravenous, we will likely fill our trolleys with everything even remotely related to food.

Put a group of seekers into a room, and ask “How many people want moksha this very instant?”, and you will be lucky to see even one hand go up. Such is the power of maya, and such is the strength of our attachment to this world.

The spiritual hunger before entering the satsang, or before meditation or before reading a book on spirituality should mirror the hunger pangs before entering the supermarket. This hunger, this burning desire, will bring about results in a fraction of the time it has taken even many advanced seekers.

When our lives are filled with material successes and goodness (health, wealth, name, fame), we become complacent. The hunger dies down. We become errant, and the human goal stands forgotten. When bad times strike, the pillar of support that spirituality can be, has not been developed enough.

But developed, it still can be. Because the same bad time leads us to search for answers. And in such times, the vigour of the search is far superior. Thus bad becomes good. So let us look at bad times as an opportunity. To learn and to grow.

Like it? Please share it!
2 Comments