Recently, I was watching a video by a musician-artist, St. Vincent, where she talks about 'shame' as this horrible thing we experience- but must make friends with, as a natural part of growing. An example she gave was learning something new (like an instrument), performing etc and how there is often embarrassment and shame in the beginning at not being good enough. This is obviously because it takes time to get better at something, and so we're bound to make fools of ourselves. Now, I could relate to all this as I'm a musician and have composed/performed etc too. But she does not have a shamed avastha, while I do.
And it made me ponder- that it's not that an avastha is indicating the person is feeling that emotion while others are not- it's that they have an unhealthy or unrealistic relationship to that emotion/state of mind..
So, someone who has a shamed avastha is not alone in feeling shame or embarrassment with whatever planet/area of life it is in. But they think it's an abnormal thing, and thus don't accept 'shame' as a normal part of the human experience that we must power through and evolve, but instead get stuck in it. This, of course, leads to various behaviours and compensation over time.
Similarly for other avasthas. I think this could even be true for the "Good" avasthas. For example, someone with a proud planet could be overdoing it not just because of their other bad avasthas, but because they have an unrealistic relationship to the idea of 'pride' itself and may get stuck in it. But of course it is a relatively more pleasant thing to be stuck with 🙂
Does this resonate with anyone else?
(Though it's possible I've said something a bit too obvious!)
Thank you for putting this into words. I've been thinking about something similar pertaining to my own Avasthas. I have Saturn and Mars starving each other in the 7th. Both are in good dignity (Mars is exalted and Saturn in OH, Saturn has great uccha and dig bala), meaning that I generally get good results with the things of that house. But boy, is it stressful. I used to regularly perform as well and anytime there was any exposure to the public, my adrenaline levels would spike uncontrollably. It felt like a life-and-death situation. People would tell me to "just relax", after all I was performing well, what did I have to be so stressed about?
The older I get, the less I feel the burden of that Saturn, luckily. There's an element of public speaking in my profession. We always work in pairs. I always marvel at how level-headed and relaxed some of my colleagues are (I assume their 7th houses aren't similarly "fraught"). We're in the same situation, doing the same work, yet we seem to feel and perceive the stress completely differently. Even during my graduate studies I noticed how my fellow students were experiencing the same level of stress and anxiety that just comes with the constant pressure to perform, but I seemed to be the only person who beat herself up over it so badly (classic Mars/Saturn) and also the only person to consistently frantically overwork herself at the expense of everything else in her life.
Over the years, what's helped me is keeping in mind that courage isn't the absense of fear, but doing things in spite of it. Anyway, this example goes to show that people with "difficult" Avasthas probably do experience certain "normal" human emotions differently and judge themselves for it. In the new master's course, Ernst also mentions that people with proud planets do judge themselves and others based on that planet because it becomes the yardstick against which they measure every other behavior.
@leela - I think what you write about shame avasthas make a lot of sense.
Garvita is a proud avastha but not a kind of false pride. Indeed the planet is experiencing true pride because it has that real capability of doing what needs to be done and feeling great about it. It's all the bad avasthas that suck our life force.
Garvita is a proud avastha but not a kind of false pride. Indeed the planet is experiencing true pride because it has that real capability of doing what needs to be done and feeling great about it. It's all the bad avasthas that suck our life force.
I don't think Lajjitadi avasthas necessarily indicate our capacity or capability though, I believe the other avasthas decide that. And probably the person themselves, and their will power and courage. LAs just shows us how we feel about it. But of course, a proud planet will usually have the capability, but one cannot say that a shamed or starved planet does not have the capability.
However, I didn't mean that Garvita can lead to false pride. But let me try to elaborate. Lets say someone is working on a project that lasts for 1 or 2 years- how often in that duration is "pride" with true merit? Maybe for a job well done, after completion? Maybe during some moments of sticking through doubts and reaching a breakthrough? Pride and a pat on the back has its merit only during some moments. Rest of the time is just.. you know, regular, even if we are doing a good job.
I was just speculating that a person with a proud planet may expect to feel proud more often, in an unrealistic fashion. Which can either lead to disappointment, or maybe a tendency to show-off? I feel like there is something in them that does seek constant reassurance that they are doing a good job.
But I could be wrong.
Definitely a large part of this may be due to the other bad avasthas. I was just bringing up the point that it could also be an unrealistic expectation of what "pride" itself looks like, and the frequency with which we actually feel it in life... which is not that often.
I think what you write about shame avasthas make a lot of sense
Yea, it's true that what I've said is probably most pertinent to shame, because it is an intense feeling and can lead to avoidant behaviours, which eventually takes a toll.
Pride is not such a huge issue even if our ego gets attached to it. It's largely a pleasant thing anyway.
Though from a spiritual perspective, we could say it is a problem.
The way I see it is that the "bad" avasthas simply create unrealistic expectations about things in a person's life, and when they fall short of these expectations, they feel a certain type of way about it, angry, bitter, frustrated, etc.