Image by williamcromar via Flickr
The ancient seers of India described human life as having four stages, each of which has a specific goals. Within and beyond them all is a fifth goal. Each of the five elements propels interest on of those goals. Ether, which everything is in and which is in everything, interests one in the fifth goal. The other four goals belong to the four elements used by the planets to cultivate their signs. The element within a sign determines what goal it proposes to the planet that inhabits it.
The first thing I need is pleasure. I am not alone, all life has this basic underlying motive. Air creates sensations and is responsible for making us desire pleasurable ones. The air signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius mark the way points along the evolution of this goal of life. Gemini gives new ideas of fun, Libra attempts to realize those ideas, and Aquarius tries to transform them into something better.
Next, I need stability and security. Lollipops are great, but when I get one I start to worry about where the next one will come. So I want to save money or make a lolli-stash so I can get one whenever the desire hits me. The earth element in Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn promote this goal of life in various ways. Taurus gives the fundamental impetus for economic security, Virgo helps work out how to accomplish it, and Capricorn tries to transform it into something more significant and lasting.
People with stability become targets. As soon as I get a stash of lollipops the neighborhood bullies try to take it by force. So I become interested in the third goal of life: morality. Fire, which brings order to chaos, facilitates this. Aries gives the inspiration to fight against cheaters who would take away what I worked hard for. Leo grants the actual authority to enforce and enjoy a moral existence. Sagittarius tries to transform morality into something even higher and broader.
Now that I have my block in order, behaving like good moral kids, my lollipop stash is safe. OK, what next? The pause gives me time to reflect, “What is all this fuss over lollipops in the first place?!” Water, as you probably guessed, enables us to ask if there is there something deeper than all this elaborate civilization we have built around, basically, candy? Water inspires the fourth goal of life: enlightenment. Cancer gives the impetus to look within. Scorpio enables the process of self-realization. Pisces tries to transform it into something greater.
What could be greater than enlightenment? The fifth goal, ether’s goal, which is in no sign, but in all of them; which is beyond all the other goals yet includes them all. The fifth goal is the supreme pleasure of air, the supreme treasure of earth, the supreme moral of fire, and the supreme realization of water. It is prema, absolute selfless divine love for the Supremely Intimate Being.
