Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The original Point Leo 'resident surfer'?

These photos are from the
Scotty Palmer article on the '73
Point Leo 1200 surfing contest
which appeared in the July 24
Sun newspaper. Someone at the
CES (Commonwealth Employment
Service) saw it and thought it
was a good idea to put it in my
 file because Scotty mentioned
that surfers weren't much
interested in getting a job when
the surf was up. 
As far as I know, I am the original Point Leo resident surfer: I first moved to Point Leo in May, 1970. I would come home from school and go to the beach, only to find it deserted.

Nowadays, everyone would consider this a blessing. But it was the early 70's, and surfboard riding was only just starting to blossom, and surfing buddies made it a whole lot more enjoyable, especially as a teenager. I missed them.

So, at first I considered this as a sort of punishment, the mid-pubescent relocation from a prominent Melbourne suburb to a lonely remote Peninsula locality (technically a hamlet - the population grew from 9 to 13 when my family moved in) as I had no-one to surf with except for weekends.

That lasted only a couple of years. Soon it was teeming with surfers from Frankston, Seaford, Mornington and the whole Melbourne Metropolitan area. Basically I had one year of lonely surfing (1970) followed by a summer of making friends with all the campers and tourists who surfed; then the next year of getting to know  anyone and everyone who visited the area to surf, and by '72 it was getting crowded.

In contrast, during the Xmas holidays when the camping area was full and on weekends every man and his dog would gravitate to Suicide Point on Sunday, it was common to find fifty or sixty surfers out at the Point and half a dozen scambling on and fighting for each wave.

My first year out of school, '73, was punctuated by a couple of Melbournites moving down and a lot of panel van fringe Frankstonites frequenting the area, often midweek. By 74 and 75 popular surf spots were starting to get seriously overcrowded.

During that first year, '70-'71, my father (Wal Treloar as he preferred to be called, although he also answered to Wally or Walter) was the Ranger. At times I would man the ticket box and collect parking fees. By the time I was 16 years old I was driving the Foreshore Committee's Massey Ferguson tractor, doing the rubbish rounds from East Creek to the Point, through the camping area, and down to First Reef.

At that time there was also a temporary arrangement for under-age camping on the other side of the creek at First Reef (roughly where the old Surfie Shacks were built for earlier National Surflifesaving Carnivals), which made bin collection a real hassle. There was no proper infrastructure, no proper campsites or roads, just a paddock with vague markers here and there.

Eventually the instigator, local General Store proprietor Arthur Jones's plan was nullified and camping went back to the normal 126 sites max instead of 200. (there was always a certain amount of flexibility but always only a handful of extra campsites were allocated).

As my dad was the ranger, I understood the camping arrangements. There were maps in the front verandah showing campsite layouts, 1-126 in detail. I made it my business to familiarise myself with all these campsites' locations, because I was a frequent family camper since 1963 and had experienced several shifts from one campsite to another, making for a diverse camping experience.

So that's how I developed a quasi-eidetic memory of everyone's name (and Star Sign)... Doing the ticket box. Whenever anyone questioned the fee, I'd deliver them the standard "The 1948 Land Acts, Section 218, paragraph 30 states that upon entry into the reserve, the Foreshore Committee may charge a parking fee, etc. etc." Usually they would fork over the twenty cents in order to shut me up.

When I was young I failed to appreciate how privileged I was to have had that experience in my upbringing. Certainly it is out of the ordinary, but I couldn't fathom it at the time. It is only when one sits back, hears about others' accounts, and reflects on how unique my circumstances were that I realise what extraordinary karma I must have accumulated in order to qualify for this sort of existence. How many kids get to grow up as the first resident surfer in a relatively unpopulated area? Not many. Thank you Lord. 

Hare Kṛṣṇa हरे कृष्ण 




Saturday, September 23, 2017

The Pseudo-Scientific Spiritual "Research" Foundation

One day I was looking up what kind of energy comes out of the eyes, fingers, feet etc (I remember reading about it in one of Śrīla Prabhupāda's books, I think it might be shakti but I don't really know) when SSRF ("Scientific Spiritual Research Foundation") came up in one of the search results. They didn't have the answer I was looking for but being an Indian site (PSSRF or "Pseudo-Scientific Spiritual Research Foundation" as I call them is not their real name. They call themselves SSRF but I added the prefix Pseudo- because they aren't at all scientific), it had some other information, some good Vedic stuff like sleeping Eastwards, and some other entirely weird stuff - like why hugging was bad, how to eliminate your problems by putting them in a special box, and how to get rid of the Evil Eye.

More alarming were two other things...

First, there was no mention anywhere of the Mahā-mantra, introduced by Lord Caitanya in the 16th Century:
       Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
       Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
- which is absolutely bizarre seeing as they go on and on about the value of chanting the Lord's Holy Names (more on that later);

And second, their Nostradamus-derived (but unacknowledged by PSSRF!) predictions about World War III, which they keep altering over the years whenever things like earthquakes, bombings and certain countries' populations suffering massive hits don't eventuate.

Now, the dates of the years for developments in WW3 occur are fairly common knowledge to Nostradamus fans - 2012, 2015, 2018, 2023 etc. But this site which started in 2006 keeps "updating" (read: moving the goalposts, 2014, 2016, 2017) everytime nothing happens, changing the prediction to suit. So I'll give some examples...

Here we see from an early site version no later than 2013 (a rough copy I found on a separate blog) with some pretty bold statements:

2014.. Abundance of natural calamities;
2015.. Destruction by floods and volcanoes;
2016.. Big earthquake in Pakistan;
2017.. Middle East destroyed by bomb blasts;
2018.. America, China and Japan lose big numbers to war;
2019.. Politicians lose credibility as people ruch to Saints for rescue.

[note: as of late Sep '17,there was no " 2016 big earthquake in Pakistan" and nothing unusual in the Middle East. Still time for some idiot to point their nuclear missiles at the US, China & Japan, though I hope not!]  

...which are all fairly in line with "battle in the physical realm" b/n 2013-15:
(click on each pic to view full size)

















...but with no Third World War taking place 2016-18, now it reads as of April 2017:
















...the Physical War now rescheduled to after 2019!

If this keeps up we'll end up running out of time for there to even BE a Third World War to usher in the New Heavenly Kingdom of World Peace.

But wait, there's more... an Online Store! 

True to form, like every Charlatan Indian Guru Business cashing in on New Age freaked-out puppets, the PSSRF sells "remedies", even claiming that agnihotra (fire sacrifices) can neutralise radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons! Available online, special Agnihotra Instruction Manual,  price to you of only US$5.40! Buy now before it's too late.. for when they drop the bomb we will surely sell out in no time!

Apparently nearly anyone can perform agni-hotra, but according to the author the practitioner must be at least 55% spiritual realisation level to afford protection from nuclear bombs. You can buy everything required to boost your level from their site.

[Disclaimer: I do not vouch for anything on their site and I certainly wouldn't give them a single cent. The idea that they sell empowered "Chanting Strips" - everyday Sanskrit mantras printed in colour on little strips of paper for $1 is, just.... well, just for superstitious, gullible people. Imho. Ffs!]

Originally they were saying that the war wasn't inevitable and that if enough people practised spirituality it would counteract the Evil Forces of Mantrik Sorcerers in the Subtle World! And no doubt they will also claim that the dates were wrong because the valuable spiritual remedies that they sell online have forestalled the timing of events by raising the consciousness and purity of the planet!

Alas, they've changed their stance and now say WW3 is inevitable. Maybe they didn't sell enough mantras. 


Who is His Holeness Dr Jayant Balaji Athavale? 

Unlike most Indian prophets, gurus, saints and seers who repeatedly incarnate into holy families to continue their missionary work, DrJBA was an atheist and is a retired Hypnotherapist. He founded the PSSRF in 1985 after "finding God" through Bhaktiraj Maharaj and became his initiate in 1987. In 1999 he and his guru formed Sanatan Sanstha, a Right-wing Hindu group. Of 6 persons owing allegiance to Sanatan Sanstha arrested, 4 were cleared in association with 4 bombings and 3 murders of political opponents. They are still waiting for the results of the ballistic report from Scotland Yard to finally clear up the matter. Some people accuse that hypnotism was used on the perpetrators by Sanatan Sanstha to coerce them into committing the crimes. It has never been proven. 

PSSRF claims it is a non-profit charity organisation staffed entirely by volunteers. Their online store sells their own-branded incense, CDs, self-help books (such as how to use empty boxes to spiritually heal ailments; self-hypnotism; Parenting; Rituals, etc), and my favourite, the Special Package Offer, Shraddha (Fortnight for Departed Ancestors), 10% off. 

They also have online forums, Skype chat rooms (where if you qualify you can advance up through various levels), Webinars, Tutorials, and even 2,3 and 5-day Workshops! Of course not all of it is free.... The 3 day American workshop is US$400.

What is their credibility rating?

I have only ever had one online experience with the PSSRF and I was far from satisfied with the results. According to their website, it is recommended to wear natural fibres (reputedly synthetics attract black energy and negative spirits) so I was wondering about Bt cotton, which is genetically modified. 90% of India's cotton is GMO, and, in my mind is not natural, so my question was, is it unsafe? 

After much fobbing off and toing and froing (it took a couple of days of emails) they finally admitted that they didn't know about the status of GMO, their expertise was about spirituality, and repeated that natural fibres provide the best protection. I never got a direct yes or no and to this day still know shit. So... imagine all those millions of superstitious Hindus running around in Bt cotton thinking they're protected when they're not, ha ha! Or are they? PSSRF can't say. 

They could have given me a direct answer the first time: And they did. I just didn't think that was much of an answer! Where is their highly developed "Sixth Sense" now? What, they can predict the next world war but have no idea about GMO cotton?

I'm not buying that.

Look, they may not be shysters. Their intentions may be honest but if they suffer from a poor fund of knowledge then I think it's hardly tbeir business to go around scaring the daylights out of people. And don't get me wrong. I have the utmost respect for the Vedas. But I seriously doubt that anyone in their organisation is spiritually elevated enough to perform a fire sacrifice that will counteract radioactive fallout from a nuclear bomb. This is, after all, Kali Yuga. In Treta Yuga, when such yajñas were the norm (yuga-dharma) the priest ignited the sacrificial fire with the hymns and mantras recited - no matches were necessary. If the priest couldn't do this he was exposed as being impotent and therefore unfit to perform any such ceremony. 

 


Advaita Vedanta is basically Impersonalism (Māyāvādī) 

Advaita means nondual, as opposed to the dualist Dvaita school (eg Hare Kṛṣṇa) which maintains that God and the living entity have permanent separate identities. The Dvaita sees himself as an eternal servant of the Lord, whereas the nondualist sees himself as equal to the Lord and desires to merge into His existence - becoming one with the Lord. Technically the Hare Kṛṣṇa are Achintya Bheda Abheda-vada (simultaneously different from and equal to the Lord), a sub-sect of the Dvaita Vedantist school. 

To the bhakti-yogi of the Vaishnava Sampradaya this is the greatest offence. The ordinary conditioned soul who puts oneself on the same level as God is most disrespectful. The Supreme Lord never falls down and takes birth in the Material World, never suffers from illusion and makes mistakes, never has difficulty controlling his senses or bodily functions, and most certainly never loses Himself and then has to find Himself in order to become one with Himself again. 

So now we can see why the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā-mantra is nowhere to be found on the PSSRF website - basically they are envious of Kṛṣṇa, and dislike the Dvaita Vedantist's disqualification of this merging nonsense. The Mahā-mantra is essentially a prayer, "please engage me in your service". It is not the Buddhist who walks up to a hamburger stall and orders "make me one with everything". 

Friday, September 08, 2017

Eclipse on Trump



Eclipse Degree (ED) update 8/9/17.

The Aug 22 (Australia time) eclipse was at 29° Leo (Actually 28° 52' 56" but who's splitting hairs?)

Today, Mercury, in direct motion again, has joined the eclipse degree a final time. Last Tuesday morning Mars, the planet of war, passed over the ED just before dawn. The timing of eclipses is triggered by such a pass - either by conjunction, square aspect, or opposition. Often the effect of eclipses isn't known until Mercury contacts the ED, which will be conjunct on Friday the 8th around midday. Bear in mind that Trump's Ascendant is 29° 58' Leo, so these transits will all activate his chart a day or two later. No-one knows Kim Jong-un's chart.

Expect breaking news then...

Looking even further ahead, here's some future transits to the ED:

19th Sept, Venus,  conjunction ;
7th Oct, Sun, semi-square;
8th Oct, Mercury, semi-square;
25th Oct, Venus, semi-square;
5th Nov, Mercury, square;
14th Nov, Mars, semi-square;
21st Nov, Sun, square;
30th Nov, Venus, square.

Some of you may be surprised to see Venus here. Well, not only is it the planet of Love - but also hate and open enemies. Even arch enemies have a relationship of sorts, for without a worthy opponent they'd have no-one to beat their chests at.

I thought I'd include it because, on the positive side Venus rules truces and peace agreements, so those times might be important for negotiations, joining sides or uniting forces. All of this could have a bearing on whether or not World War III breaks out.

More here:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1891898171074618&substory_index=0&id=1424197857844654