Self-Realization and Inner Peace (8th lord in the 4th house)

In the course of working on my new readings, I have been explaining the nature of the 8th lord in the 4th house according to the imagery provided to us by the Vedic seers. The explanation of how this placement affects self-realization and inner peace is something I feel worth sharing. The original author tries to explain it with reference to an image of someone “without happiness”…

Without happiness: Since the 4th house represents our inner heart, it concerns contentment and inner peace. This is the type of happiness that the 8th lord brings a shroud over. It becomes more difficult to clearly perceive what would really make us happy. Without knowing this, it is nearly impossible to find true peace. In your favor, the combination facilitates the ability for spirituality, and occult to reveal the nature of your inner self. Many people without this combination find it easier to be “in touch with themselves” and thus experience contentment and peace. But in truth the “self” they are in touch with is an illusion of the self based on temporary and ever changing identifications with a species, gender, race, nation, family, etc. Thus in the big picture their so-called peace will only bring them calamity as the hands of the clock march unstoppably towards the anihilation of everything they consider themselves to be “in touch with.” The great thing about the 8th lord in the 4th house is that it allows us to conceive of our inner self in a way that others are simply blind to. It will help you see the inner self that is invisible to common people. Basing your self-identity on this deeper vision of reality, the peace you can eventually find via mastery of your 8th lord will never be lost even after the death of everything people commonly mistake to be themselves.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Harming Beings – 6th lord in the 12th house

Image via Wikipedia

Vedic Wisdom gives us a caricature of the nature of the 6th lord in the 12th house as creating a person who does not observe non-violence, but winds up harming other beings. I will now explore the reasoning for this caricature.

Harming beings: This specifically refers to the Vedic principle of ahimsa (non-violence), which is one of the very primary virtues. Ahimsa is a topic of the 12th house. The 12th house is the sky above the eastern horizon. The eastern horizon is where the Sun rises, and therefore represents birth and becoming visible and physical. So the 1st house, the eastern horizon represents the physical self. The 12th house is the sky above this. In the sky just above the horizon is all the wind and rain which erodes and dissolves the land. Thus the 12th house represents everything that erodes the physical-centrered and self-centered way of existing.

In a self-centered way of existing, we naturally feel like we are important and the people and things in the world are resources for us. The 12th house wants to enlighten us by eroding this self-centered illusion. But if the 6th lord – lord of obstacles – inhabits the 12th house, the symbolism is that there is a blockage, an obstacle inhibiting the 12th house from doing so. If we are in a self-centered concept of life, we exploit others. We do not take care to be non-harming (ahimsa). This is what the author is alerting you to. He is telling you that you must pay much more careful attention to being non-harmful to others. Why live in a way that leaves a big footprint behind you? Why live in a way that inconveniences others? Why for example, eat meat? It is not at all necessary – although maybe someone might think it is “enjoyable.” These sort of debates have to be welcomed more hospitably into the heart of us with 6th lord in the 12th house, or else we risk seriously damaging our future karma and having our next birth in very unfavorable conditions.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Vedic Pantheon – and the 1st lord in the 9th house

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In Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, the sage Parashara illustrates the nature of the 1st lord in the 9th house by stating that it inclines one to become a “Vishnu devotee.” I will now explain what he is talking about.

The Vedic pantheon contains many gods. There are two reason why: (1) There are many powers in nature, thus many gods, and (2) There are many different people who need different things from religion. Most of the gods have specific roles, rather like sanctified stores in the shopping mall of religion. If you need x,y,z go to God #34, if you need a,b,c go to God #28, etc. The head among the gods are Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. Brahma is not quite on the same level as the other two because he, like the other gods, is an ordinary being invested with the power to act as a god. Vishnu and Shiva, on the other hand are directly Godhead. So these two are well known as the cheif Gods of the Vedic pantheon. Shiva has the responsibility of destroying things – ultimately the entire universe; while Vishnu takes charge of preserving the universe and its components.

The 1st lord in the 9th house increases ones interest in being moral, which in some form or another is “religion.” In a sense, the 1st lord in the 9th house – on it’s own, in isolation from other factors in your horoscope – is a symbol of the pinnacle of morality and religiousity. The author illustrates this by pointing specifically to Vishnu specifically because he, following the standard classical Vedic conclusion, considered Vishnu-centered religion the topmost evolution of morality. Why? Because it is the least selfish. After all, selfishness is the antithesis of morality! So it is very logical that the gods whose function is to fulfill desires, etc. are subordinate to the Godhead who is worshipped for the sake of morality alone.

Actually, the author does not merely point to “Vishnu-religion.” He points to a “Vishnu devotee.” This refers specifically to the Vedic spiritual path of bhakti. Bhakti is the root of all spiritual paths because it is the essence of all morality – love.

By illustrating the 1st lord in the 9th house with the image of a Vishnu devotee, the author means to communicate that this placement makes one truly moral, truly religious. It decreases the interest in religious pretention or secterian badge-wearing and increases the interest of being at the heart of what morality and religion really is all about: serving others and loving the divine.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

What is Morality?

An important thing about morality is revealed by studying the 9th house. To find it in the sky – look straight up and then look just to the west of that. That area is the 9th house. When you look up you are looking at the open sky – thus you are looking at the area which symbolizes the public, society, and your role in it. That is the 10th house. If you look to the western horizon you are looking at where the Sun sets, opposite to where the Sun rises. The place the Sun rises represents our birth and being in this worl. The opposite place, the west, represents all the other people in the world with whom we relate. That is the 7th house. The 9th house is between these two. It is the western neighbor of the 10th house. Thus it represents how our role in society afftects other people. That says a lot about what morality is. It is an awareness that everything you do impacts everyone else in the world – and therefore your own desires should be tempered and limited by the needs of others.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com