Sabian Symbols: A man declared bankrupt
This universal idea is best expressed through planets in
Gemini 28 (27° - 28°)INDIFFERENCE TO FAILURE OR SUCCESS
Neither success nor failure have any lasting significance, each needs to be released in order to move forward "Being supported through trial and error processes" Reaching up to new levels of consciousness we choose to affirm a new beginning and allow that all previous failures and loss belong to the past and have no place in things as they now are. Our community has to be a little hard on those who fail in order to guarantee its own survival, yet it is also somewhat compassionate, at least institutionally, and releases anyone from unfulfilled obligations if they are willing to have another go.
Rudhyar: THROUGH BANKRUPTCY, SOCIETY GIVES TO AN OVERBURDENED INDIVIDUAL THE OPPORTUNITY TO BEGIN AGAIN |
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Through bankruptcy, society gives an overburdened individual opportunity to begin again
Deliverance |
On the spiritual planes, all failure and success is futile
Sometimes apparent misfortune is a blessing. Yet so often we betray the core values of self by dodging responsibility, even going to the absurd depths of trying to cheat karma. The worst of situations, although universally unwelcome, can bring unlooked-for benefits, since through them we learn to develop and demonstrate resourcefulness. Human spirit is unparalleled in its capacity to create solutions. Eternally, each individual somehow discovers that they have capabilities that far outweigh their previous expectations, which lie dormant unless and until there is a demand made upon them to find the wherewithal to cope with something previously they have feared and avoided. This powerful facility to solve problems is much empowered as we gain greater consciousness of a particular phenomenon – that ultimately all failure and success, all reward and penalty, is futile. At a higher level of spiritual attainment, we can learn to adjust our life strategies in line with this knowledge. Neither success nor failure has any real significance in the larger picture of things. Our strategies thus become more like fun than ambitions. We enjoy success, and since failure always gives rise to greater success, then failure is in fact an aspect of success – a stepping stone towards it. What truly matters is our ability to enter new paths of opportunity even when misfortune strikes, in fact especially then. How often do we come across someone whose story is of success emerging out of seeming failure? It happens so often that we can surely come to depend upon it as a reliable process of normal development. The optimist learns not only to accept disappointment calmly, but to use it as a signal that indicates the presence of an exciting opportunity – so they actively look for the silver lining. A truly sincere seeker will welcome another chance further to refine the self by demonstrating indomitability. The advanced person no matter what occurs is always able to bubble up and bounce back, and so has no dread of misfortune. One with this wisdom is delivered from loss; in fact the deliverance goes deeper, even to the level of consequences. We learn that, as long as we have people round us, we are never bankrupt – we see that there is but one consequence that has any lasting significance – and that is the convergence of relationship. What really matters is the quality of connection that arises with other people; whether enjoying success or coping with adversity, what adds sparkle to life is doing it together. Each scenario, even seeming misfortune, comes to us so that we can experience another version of the universal interconnectedness of all that lives and has form. |