--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "BillyG." <wgm4u@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "shempmcgurk" <shempmcgurk@> > > wrote: > > > > > > I'll bet (no pun intended) that alot of readers of FFL will > remember > > > that reference in Rig Veda about not playing with dice. > > > > > > I remember it from my 6-month course in which we read the Rig > Veda for > > > hours upon hours. > > > > > > Well, I just happened to be reading about "problem gambling" in > > > Wikipedia and on that page a reference is made to that very part > of Rig > > > Veda as an early reference to the problems associated with > gambling! > > > > > > Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/yprkhk > > > > Interesting, the story of the gambling Pandu's and Kuru's in the > Gita > > allegorically have to do with the decent of Man from his awareness > of > > Spirit (garden of Eden) to his identification with the senses, that > > was the 'gamble' man took and as a result he was 'banished from the > > kingdom' (of Spirit awareness) and held incognito (wandering in the > > realm of the senses) for 12 years, symbolically. > > > > Rig Ved: "Downward they roll, and then spring quickly upward, and, > > handless, force the man with hands to serve them." become a slave > > (Vrittis in the chitta) to the senses!! (MMY flower analogy). > > > > I've always thought of gambling as a "sin" because of what it does to > consciousness: if we have unlimited potential, that is, we can do > anything we put our minds to, then what does the roll of the dice or > playing the lottery do to that sensibility? It basically says: throw > your mind, which has this wonderful capacity to manifest anything it > applies itself to, onto the heap of chance and see what comes up. > > It is, therefore, a denial of one's potential. Gambling is saying: I > can't do it on my own so let chance or randomness get me what I want. > > It's an insult to God and our intelligence. >
Sports betting accentuates the natural distinctions between head and heart. I never bet on sports. I cheer for the home team by engaging my head and heart focused together. Maybe the ancient moral advice is based on not creating competing allegiances within oneself, as betting successfully might require. e.g. - If the home team is lousy, a successful bet would frequently require betting against one's heart Mainstream
