Monday, 30 September 2019
Friday, 20 September 2019
Astrology: Fall Equinox, September 23, 2019
This is the last quarter before the year 2020 which begins with a momentous Saturn-Pluto conjunction and ends with an epochal Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, marking the beginning of a new era. The Fall Equinox chart is very similar to the Summer Solstice chart, only more intense. We have two fairly difficult T-Squares, but the oppositions on both also form a Triangle of Potential, which help balance things and make them easier to deal with. See Summer Solstice post: https://theosophyproject.blogspot.com/2019/06/astrology-summer-solstice-june-21-2019.html
Conspiracy
Theories (Mars-Jupiter-Neptune T-Square)
This aspect can bring
unrealistic, deluded views and can foster extremist, fanatical tendencies. It
can even lead to foul play, slander and fraud. Religious fanaticism could be an
issue (Jupiter in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces). For example, there is a fanciful New Age prediction of an imminent collective shift of consciousness that is quite popular on the Internet. As always, vigilance and discrimination is encouraged.
With the Triangle of
Potential, the situation is helped with a perseverent, productive, respectful
attitude and a sense of dedication to just causes (Saturn/Pluto sextile
Neptune, Mars trine Saturn). There could be nit-picking over details (Mars in
Virgo). One also tends to have high energy, ambition and enthusiasm, but with a
domineering tendency (Mars Conjunct Sun).
Failure
to Connect (Moon-Mercury/Venus-Saturn T-square)
Although there is a general
feeling of friendliness and social graces (Mercury/Venus conjunction), there is an underlying insecurity
and fear of rejection. There is also a tendency for anxiety, harsh speech, and
a general sense of inhibition, shyness and frustration in relationships. This
can lead to a tendency for emotional manipulation and impulsive sexual
initiatives.
The Triangle of Potential
brings a sense of close family ties, a practical idealism and an effective assertiveness
to help balance things. (Moon trine Neptune, Saturn sextile Neptune) Moreover, there is another key aspect for both
T-Squares which can bring an outgoing, supportive, sympathetic attitude and an
articulate, philosophical outlook to help balance things (Venus/Mercury sextile
Jupiter).
Summary
With Pluto and Saturn opposite Cancer, lots of retrograde planets, two eclipses, and some difficult Mars aspects, the Summer may have been quite challenging. With the Fall season, the year ends in an interesting way with the year's two main aspects (Saturn sextile Neptune and Jupiter square Neptune) at their most intense. Therefore, on the one hand, we have a strong tendency for delusion and deception, fueled by extremism and fanaticism. On the other hand, there can be strong feelings of insecurity, alienation and anxiety, which can lead to manipulation and rejection. However, there are some strong, friendlier, well-placed aspects that can provide the key to providing productive resolutions of underlying issues. A T-Square is an intense, high energy aspect, and along with the Triangles of Potential, which bring positive, constructive attitudes, there is a distinct opportunity for resolving issues that can lead to personal transformation, in the sense that underlying issues can be better resolved if a catalyzing situation causes them to be brought out in the open, so they can be identified and examined.
With Pluto and Saturn opposite Cancer, lots of retrograde planets, two eclipses, and some difficult Mars aspects, the Summer may have been quite challenging. With the Fall season, the year ends in an interesting way with the year's two main aspects (Saturn sextile Neptune and Jupiter square Neptune) at their most intense. Therefore, on the one hand, we have a strong tendency for delusion and deception, fueled by extremism and fanaticism. On the other hand, there can be strong feelings of insecurity, alienation and anxiety, which can lead to manipulation and rejection. However, there are some strong, friendlier, well-placed aspects that can provide the key to providing productive resolutions of underlying issues. A T-Square is an intense, high energy aspect, and along with the Triangles of Potential, which bring positive, constructive attitudes, there is a distinct opportunity for resolving issues that can lead to personal transformation, in the sense that underlying issues can be better resolved if a catalyzing situation causes them to be brought out in the open, so they can be identified and examined.
In the last two years, I've
been focusing on the aftermath of the strong revolutionary energies (the 7
Uranus - Pluto squares) which lead to rebuilding and re-organizing for a new
phase. However, this re-building process has probably been rather slow and
sluggish and probably won't gain steam until the end of the rocky year which
2020 promises to be. Once the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction occurs at the end of
2020, things should start to move forward in a big way, as a new decade and
20-year cycle begins in a phase of Jupiterian optimism.
Friday, 13 September 2019
A Mumukshus Daily Life
Mumukshu is a Sanskrit term for one who is focused on attaining liberation, and a
seeker of knowledge and truth. This article was adapted as part of ‘’Some Practical
Suggestions for Daily Life’’, which appeared in Theosophical Siftings Vol. 3
and later became part of a popular little booklet with Blavatsky’s ‘’Practical
Occultism’’.
T H E following are some of the hints given me by one whom, of all
human beings, I revere most, about the rules which should guide an
aspirant after truth in his daily life. By this I do not mean to back these
rules by his authority, but I request my brothers to take them for w hat they
are w orth. My object in writing this is the same as that expressed in the
following lines:
If I am right, thy grace
impart,
Still in the right to stay ;
If I am wrong, O teach my
heart,
To find the better way.
“Rise at four in the morning. Rise as soon as you awake, without lying
idly in bed, rolling about, half waking and half dreaming. Then earnestly pray
that all mankind may be spiritually regenerated; that those who are struggling
on the path of truth may be encouraged by your prayers and work more
earnestly and successfully; and that you may be strengthened and not yield
to the seduction of the senses. Choose a clean spot somewhat distant from your
house, and having answered the calls of nature, cleanse your teeth. Then retire
to a quiet place in your house, and having saluted Ganesa and your master, do
as follows.
If you are a Raja yogi, picture before your mind’s eye the form of your master
as engaged in Samadhi; or of some god whose image you have seen frequently. Fix
it before you, fill in all the details, circle him thrice and prostrate
yourself before him; then worship him as you would your household god;
having prostrated again, pray that all mistakes of omission and
commission might be forgiven (all this mentally, of course). This will greatly
facilitate concentration, purify your heart and do much more. Or reflect upon
the defects of your character; thoroughly realise their evils and the transient
pleasures they give you, and firmly will that you should try your best not to
yield to them the next time. This self-analysis and bringing yourself
before the bar of your own conscience facilitates in a degree hitherto
undreamt of your spiritual progress.
Or if you practice Yoga, do so, but in practising restraint of breath,
do not allow your mind to wander on any other subject, but fix it on any p art
of your body, as for example on one of the lotuses. This concentration can
also be practised without restraint of breath. Bathe afterwards, exercising
during the whole time your will, that your moral impurities should be
washed away with those of your body. This is effected in the case of Brahmins
by the sprinkling of the magnetised water over them before bathing, and by the
Purusha Sukta and other mantras pronounced while bathing; but they should do
this with a knowledge of their meaning and their effects. Then wearing a silk cloth
or one that was not touched by others since it was dried, perform your
Sandyavandanam . Many do not know the immense spiritual truths contained in it
and the incalculable good it would do them. Perform it properly and with a
knowledge of its esoteric significance, and it forms a yogic practice in
itself. You may then enter upon your daily avocations.
In your relations with others observe the following rules :
1. Never do anything which you are not bound to do as your duty, that
is, any unnecessary thing. Before you do a thing, think whether it is your duty
to do it.
2. Never speak an unnecessary word. Think of the effects which your
words would produce, before you give utterance to them. Never allow yourself to
violate your principles by the force of your company.
3. Never allow any unnecessary or vain thought to occupy your mind. This
is easier said than done. You cannot make your mind a blank all at once. So in
the beginning try to prevent evil or idle thoughts, by occupying your mind with
the analysis of your own faults or the contemplation of the perfect ones.
4. During meals, exercise your will that the food which you take should
be properly digested and build for you a body consonant to your spiritual
aspirations, and not create evil passion and wicked thoughts. The five
oblations to the five Pranas which are offered before eating, the rule enjoined
that we should not speak during our meals and that every mouthful should be
taken after pronouncing one of the sacred names of Vishnu, effect this in the
case of the Brahmins.
Eat only when you are hungry and drink when you are
thirsty and never otherwise. If some particular preparation attracts your
palate, do not allow yourself to be seduced into taking it simply to gratify
that craving. Think that the pleasure which you derive from it had no existence
some seconds before, and it will cease to exist some seconds afterwards;
that it is a transient pleasure ; that that which is a pleasure now, will
turn into pain if you take it in large quantities; that it gives pleasure only
to your tongue ; that if you are put to a great trouble to get at that
thing ; that, if you allow yourself to be seduced by it, you will not be
ashamed at anything to get it ; that while there is another object that
can give you eternal bliss, this centering your affections on a transient
thing is sheer folly; that you are neither the body nor the sense, and as
such, the pleasures or the pains which these enjoy can never affect you really,
and so on. Practise the same train of reasoning in the case of every other
temptation, and though you will fall often, you will effect a surer success.
Do not read much. If you read ten minutes, reflect for as m any hours. Habituate
yourself to solitude, and to remain alone with your thoughts. Accustom yourself
to the thought that no one beside yourself can assist you and wean away your
affections from al things gradually. Bathe in the evening after you come
home from your labours (this is said only of those whose health would allow them
— I. N .). Before you sleep pray as you did in the morning. Review the
actions of the day, see wherein you have failed, and resolve that you will not
fail in them to-morrow.”
Iswar Nisna , B. A ., F. T. S
(The Theosophist v.10, n. 119,pp.
647-649)