A Personal Good Luck Stone. Perhaps An "Attachment" & Recipe For Misfortune!

[rockyysdt]

I met an interesting character today.

A gentleman called John who appeared very excited about sharing his ability to read my fortune.

A Sikh of the third caste, he indicated he was a student of Astrology for eleven years.

I had a few minutes on my hands so I allowed him to read my fortune over a cup of tea.

Firstly l asked him to tell me about his Sikhi faith and what it involved.

I confided that Buddhism currently reflected my leanings in life.

He looked at my forehead & with my date of birth, advised me that 2008 & 2009 were bad years for me. In terms of illness (not economic hardship) he was spot on.

After studying the lines on my right hand he said, with the exception of possible accident or sudden illness that I would have a long life. He could also tell from my hand lines that I was an employee and not a businessman, which was also correct.

He scribbled something on a small piece of paper which he rolled up into a ball and placed into my closed hand.

He then asked me to choose a color which I like & select a number from 1 to 5.

I was blown away to find the color blue & the number 4 both clearly written on the piece of paper l unrolled.

With odds of less than 3%, John had no way of knowing what was in my mind. He said it was the power of God.

He said that July 2010 onwards was going to be very lucky for me.

Ample money would flow in and out of my life & l would experience happiness.

He also said that a particular gem would help me with luck & offered me a stone which l could have fashioned into a ring.

He also advised me to be mindful of a weakness in my personality.

He indicated that l have an open mind & open heart & sometimes it would be better to be a little guarded or hold back some of my thoughts when interacting with others. I suppose just talking to me would reveal this.

He qualified by saying that l should never cut body hair or nails on a Saturday, to ensure the flow of good luck.

At this point my mindfulness kicked in with thoughts of the Buddhas teachings.

• Firstly, despite his prophecy of good fortune & money, my only ambition is to live without need & to find true happiness.
• Secondly, attachment, let alone attachment to a stone, is the opposite of what the Buddha taught & exposes me to negative thoughts should the stone be lost, not to mention shaving should l go out on a weekend.
• Thirdly, wanting to believe Johns power & ability to prophesise, caused my ego to inflate. Dhamma teaches that inflated ego leads to attachment & suffering.

I tried to explain to him that his religion placed an artificial ceiling on his life (third caste), and that his chosen religion is purely a reflection of his conditioning.

John explained that he is devoted to his master, prays to his God atleast 4 hours everyday, works to support orphans in India, and studies astrology.

Could John have special powers due to many hours of unguided practice or is he clever at what he does?

Can practice without Dhamma offer access to higher powers?

Edited June 21, 2010 by rockyysdt

[sabaijai]

It's a very common trick on the Indian subcontinent. I had my fortune told by a Sikh in Kathmandu over 30 years ago, and in my case the little piece of paper, when unfurled, contained four items: the month I was born (I hadn't told him), my age, my girlfriend's initials (she wasn't with me at the time) and 'L' for 'left' as he guessed which dice I would pick up at the end, the left or the right. All four were correct.

I don't know how they do it, but virtually every South Asian fortuneteller I've met seems to be able to pull this off with ease.

There's a name for the trick, but I don't recall what it is at the moment.

However it's done, it's impressive.

[camerata]

Those guys hang out around Starbucks in Bangkok looking for foreign tourists. They start off by pointing at your forehead and saying, "I can see that you are a lucky man..."

[rockyysdt]

It's a very common trick on the Indian subcontinent. I had my fortune told by a Sikh in Kathmandu over 30 years ago, and in my case the little piece of paper, when unfurled, contained four items: the month I was born (I hadn't told him), my age, my girlfriend's initials (she wasn't with me at the time) and 'L' for 'left' as he guessed which dice I would pick up at the end, the left or the right. All four were correct.

I don't know how they do it, but virtually every South Asian fortuneteller I've met seems to be able to pull this off with ease.

There's a name for the trick, but I don't recall what it is at the moment.

However it's done, it's impressive.

They must have real power.

Perhaps achieved after many hours and years of prayer which can be a form of deep meditation.

The odds of having correctly guessed four items must be many thousands to one.

I think the only trick is whether they misuse their power to extract cash.

[rockyysdt]

Those guys hang out around Starbucks in Bangkok looking for foreign tourists. They start off by pointing at your forehead and saying, "I can see that you are a lucky man..."

He said my luck would turn in 2010.

I indicated that 2010 is half over and my luck is still at a low ebb.

He qualified by indicating it would be July onwards, but l must no longer cut my body hair or nails on Saturdays.

[sabaijai]

It's a very common trick on the Indian subcontinent. I had my fortune told by a Sikh in Kathmandu over 30 years ago, and in my case the little piece of paper, when unfurled, contained four items: the month I was born (I hadn't told him), my age, my girlfriend's initials (she wasn't with me at the time) and 'L' for 'left' as he guessed which dice I would pick up at the end, the left or the right. All four were correct.

I don't know how they do it, but virtually every South Asian fortuneteller I've met seems to be able to pull this off with ease.

There's a name for the trick, but I don't recall what it is at the moment.

However it's done, it's impressive.

They must have real power.

Perhaps achieved after many hours and years of prayer which can be a form of deep meditation.

The odds of having correctly guessed four items must be many thousands to one.

I think the only trick is whether they misuse their power to extract cash.

I emailed a friend who has made the fortune-telling subculture something of a lifelong study, and he told me it has nothing to do with meditation or any deep practice. Sleight of hand. There are two pieces of paper, one that goes in your palm or pocket or wherever, and one the fortuneteller writes on as you divulge the answers when asked. As you place the paper in his hand or on the table as instructed, he deftly swaps it for the piece of paper he secretly wrote on. Or something along those lines.

http://ask.metafilter.com/142042/What-was-this-psychics-trick

http://cardopolis.blogspot.com/2004_09_12_archive.html

http://christao408.xanga.com/721464397/god-has-given-you-the-face-of-a-lucky-man---epilogue-added/

Skilled parlour magicians, basically.

[rockyysdt]

I emailed a friend who has made the fortune-telling subculture something of a lifelong study, and he told me it has nothing to do with meditation or any deep practice. Sleight of hand. There are two pieces of paper, one that goes in your palm or pocket or wherever, and one the fortuneteller writes on as you divulge the answers when asked. As you place the paper in his hand or on the table as instructed, he deftly swaps it for the piece of paper he secretly wrote on. Or something along those lines.

http://ask.metafilte...-psychics-trick

http://cardopolis.bl...12_archive.html

http://christao408.x...epilogue-added/

Skilled parlour magicians, basically.

This guy never asked me to tell him which color and number I visualised in my mind.

He placed the scribbled paper in my hand and asked that l clench my fist around it.

He then said to think of a color & number between 1 to 5.

I was then asked to open.

No words passed my lips of the choices l had made.

That's why l was so amazed.

All l did was look amazed and nod to him.

[sabaijai]

I think you missed something. That's part of the trick, ordering the events so that you're not sure what was said, etc.

But if you believe it was psychic power, so be it

[rockyysdt]

I think you missed something. That's part of the trick, ordering the events so that you're not sure what was said, etc.

But if you believe it was psychic power, so be it

Thinking back over what happened l can't be certain anymore.

You're probably correct. There was probably slight of hand.

Much was spoken and l didn't know what was unfolding.

l can say I've ever been known as an astrology devotee.

Edited June 24, 2010 by rockyysdt

[sabaijai]

Look again at this:

He scribbled something on a small piece of paper which he rolled up into a ball and placed into my closed hand.

He then asked me to choose a color which I like & select a number from 1 to 5.

I was blown away to find the color blue & the number 4 both clearly written on the piece of paper l unrolled.

With odds of less than 3%, John had no way of knowing what was in my mind.

He hadn't asked you anything until after he scribbled on the paper and gave it to you. So if it was real, he wasn't simply reading your mind, he was telling you what to think, which would presume even greater psychic power.