Elaboration on Face-reading

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Several people have shown a great interest in the Chinese art of face-reading since it was discussed in the uld. To elaborate and clarify: A cleft in the chin includes any kind of indentation, from slight to a "hole." (The more pronounced, the stronger the quality.)

A cleft in the chin does not imply that a person is evil or dishonest. The Chinese say, instead, that it might imply a lack of tenacity in the formation of a reliable, dependable lifedesign. A person with a cleft can make a wonderful and beautiful friend, but might not have the tenacity for the "long haul."

A person should never be judged, or pre-judged (the root of "prejudice") on the basis of physiognomy alone. If she is to be evaluated, it must be on the basis of the totality of her past actions.

The Chinese philosophers held that a person's karma often expressed itself in the face. This is very similar to the palmists' suggestion that the palms of the hand contain a "road-map" to a life even before that life is lived.

Earth is an unpredictable, sometimes scary, place. Due to this, spiritual people welcome all the data that can be obtained about, and from, others. They might use palmistry, astropsychology, and face-reading, for example, to help them better adapt to people in their environment.
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Responses to Karen and Joe

Karen and Joe made some comments re some recent articles in the uld.
Here are responses:

Dear Karen,

The ancient art of Chinese physiognomy (face-reading) is based upon the study of thousands of faces over many centuries. We need not be dogmatic and claim that it cannot be wrong, that it is always correct, but it is generally a reliable system. If we discover contradictions to its principles, or exceptions, we are free, of course, to believe that the entire system is flawed, or that it does not work. Or, in some cases, we might simply need more knowledge, or a more objective perspective. At any rate, it is a very fascinating system that increases understanding of our fellow human beings.

To Joe:

Dear Joe,

Yes, my friend, we must admit that evil really does exist in our world. For ours is a world of illusion and duality. Evil does not exist absolutely-- that is, in the perfect Mind of the Absolute, the Supreme, the Ultimate. But in this world, it is a very real factor. It is really an educational guideline, for its avoidance helps the human mind clarify the meaning of the good, by contrast. We can see how hideous, how
horrible, is evil, and that impels us away from it, keeping us more firmly on the path of goodness. To deny the absolute existence of evil is not to deny the existence of evil. It does exist, and is very real, within the context of a world that itself has only a secondary reality.

An ancient mystic wrote, "God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him." (1 Jn. 1:5) So, in the perfect Mind of God, which is stainless purity, "evil" has no reality; most of what we call "evil" might be the outworking of a perfectly good, and educational, karma. This is the spiritual explanation of suffering.