Nirvana/Self Realisation/Liberation
In my understanding, self-realisation is synonymous with Liberation which is synonymous with Nirvana. Nirvana was the term coined by Gautama Buddha during his phase of actualisation and realisation. Self-realisation as such means your inner realisation where you discover the true essence of your inner being. To be more precise, it is an awakening of the being within. The process of self realisation leads to the answer of the biggest ever rhetorical question ‘Who Am I’?
It may sound untrue if I say you are more than your skin, more than your present body, more than your achievements and are far greater than time. In all honesty and reality, you are. You are a soul who has travelled hundreds of births to achieve this human form. Hence do not let this human form go in vain. The sole purpose of your human form is a blessing, an opportunity to establish oneness with the Universe. When I say oneness I mean harmony, peace and realisation. In a lay man’s terms, realisation is the process of taming the human mind, humankind’s most formidable opponent. This opponent lives within and conquering it delicately and gently is your biggest challenge. This can be done through meditational techniques listed down in the chapter ‘Author’s Note’. You can use the technique listed in the particular volume for your Zodiac sign or read through the rest and choose the one form of meditational technique that suits you the most. I perform the Vipassana meditation. It has become a way of life for me. Vipassana is a simple technique which promises remarkable results. It is a tried and tested technique strongly recommended for achieving glimpses of spiritual enlightenment. I am confident that once you start meditation and see the positive results, you won’t stop what you started. As the saying goes, unless you fall in love, you won’t know what love is.
In our modern times, we are busy with achieving material and emotional gains. This larger purpose is completely lost and you thus lose the purpose of your birth. The sooner you realise that your greatest achievement rests in establishing oneness with the universe and not going against it, the better it will be for you. Now you may ask, why should I even be discussing realisation when I am already happy and content within or without? If this question plays in your mind, I have the answer to it.
Why should I realise?
You may not know what success is unless you have tasted it. You may not know what chocolate is unless you have eaten it. You may not know what love is unless you have felt it. So it is with self-realisation. You may not know what you are missing out on unless you have had a glimpse of it. These glimpses I have had through my study, belief and open mindedness to accept spirituality. You won’t know how beautiful it is, how happy one feels by being in this state, how simple detachment seems, which is probably the main reason for our misery, unless you have had glimpses of realisation. To achieve this and to help you get on with it I have introduced Spirituality readings in this book.
When it comes to liberation I am not there yet, but my attempt is to help with whatever I have studied and understood about the Body, Mind and Spirit. ‘Your Spiritual Reading’ for the year ahead is a special chapter in this book that arose from this understanding and experience through Tarot. It informs you about where you stand spiritually and helps you take the first step towards your ultimate purpose—self-realisation, to get in close contact with the real Being in you.
I have also created a final chapter in each book—the ‘Author’s Note’—which will guide you towards improving your life. This chapter has two exercises, one to read and one to perform. Both are goal-oriented and will help you achieve your dream, desires and eventually self-realisation.
These three benefits of Tarot—future predictions, the concept of change, and ultimately spiritual enlightenment—are inter-related. These three levels of life—the physical level (Predictions), the mental level (the power and control to change your life) and the Spiritual level (the realisation)—are like the three corners of a triangle. As you achieve one, the next will follow. This book aims to give you a glimpse of all three and I only hope you use it your fullest advantage and restore oneness with the Universal energy.
How is Tarot Different From Numerology and Astrology
If you have ever wondered how Tarot predictions are different from Astrology and Numerology, let us unravel this mystery now. In most cases, you would have your own preference for Astrology or Numerology. In picking up this book, you are giving Tarot a chance and I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Astrology is the study of planetary positions in relation to your birth date and time. Through this celestial study an astrologer can predict your personality, strengths and weakness, and past and future events. In Astrology, the Sun and the Moon’s positions play an important role in the celestial chart that reveals a person’s destiny. As these planets revolve and change their positions, so does an individual’s fate.
Numerology is a symbolic study of numbers and reveals one’s characteristic traits. This study of an individual’s characteristics helps us in understanding his strengths and weaknesses which can then be applied to various aspects of life like work, love, or health to get the best out of them. This study is done through the frequency of energy emitted by these numbers within the physical Universe. Birth date plays an important role as most Numerological predictions are based on it.
Tarot is a set of cards used to predict one’s future. Tarot Reading is not just about the cards but also about the Reader’s intuitive skills. Every individual possesses what we call a sixth sense, but only a few develop it to reach a point where it can become a power, beyond the understanding of normal consciousness. This intuition, when combined with the mystical Tarot cards, becomes a perfect tool to predict your destiny. Tarot is thus very different from Astrology and Numerology. It isn’t scientific as the other two mediums but it is definitely metaphysical.
What is this Metaphysics? It is the branch of science or Philosophical Science which studies the less explicable concepts, like the existence of God, the study of what is there and what isn’t, what is cause and what effect, what exists, why and how. It is the study of all reality, visible and invisible, natural and supernatural; for instance our belief in the existence of spirits whether evil or benign, or of the origin of the Universe, which despite all the scientific reasoning and explanation, still retains a tiny seed of mysticism. Another such example is the belief in life on other planets—we haven’t discovered this but we do believe or at least argue on the existence of Aliens and their UFO’s. One may not have seen God or experienced divine presence, but the belief in God’s existence is strong. You may even want to consider the human soul; it has no form, no colour, but we believe that it exists. In my experience, intuition too belongs to such an area of study and exploration. How can one explain the sixth sense, the intuition that something will happen or it may not, the intuition that guides me to predict your destiny which is unexplainable but with results that are acceptable and believable? This is the place where Tarot fits in perfectly. It is inexplicable yet remarkably accurate.
Tarot predicts everything that you may want to know about your life. You just need to find the right Reader. Therefore the accuracy of Tarot cards entirely depends on the skill set of the Reader. A reader develops this skill with great effort by deploying techniques of meditation, patience and constant study. The knowledge of these tools makes the Reader sound in her intuition, thereby helping her relate better with her deck of Tarot cards and providing a prediction that is unmistakably precise and accurate. Astrology and Numerology lack the mystical divinity which a Tarot reader brings through her intuition. The cards whisper your destiny into the Reader’s mind and enable forecasts for your life.
Astrology
