Alignments that make Spiritualists

Here is a quick thought.

There is something called parivrajak-yoga which is an astrological alignment defined as having four or more planets in a single sign. The effect of the yoga is classically defined as “renunciation” and sanyassa. The actual effect is that we lose interest in enjoying the world and prefer to / need to look for deeper relevance and meaning in life. Therefore we wind up giving away or abandoning what most people would want in search for that deeper thing that we truly want.

Why is it that 4 planets in a sign has this effect?

Some people think it’s because it makes you unstable and crazy, to have that many parts of life  (planets) put in the same environment (sign).

Here is what I think:

There are sankhya-yogas and really this parivrajak-yoga is a derivation of those. Sankhya means “count.” The sankhya yogas count how many signs the planet occupy. Now you can see why I say parivrajak-yoga is a derivation of sankhya yogas: because it counts how many planets are in a sign.

There are only seven planets you can deal with (Rahu and Ketu don’t factor in to sankhya-yogas, and classical astrology doesn’t count the multitude of new planets and quasi-planets). So if you have four planets in one sign it means that at most you can only have your planets in a total of four signs (if the other three planets are each in separate signs). So if you have a yoga for renunciation (parivrajak-yoga) you cannot have a sankhya yoga higher than four houses. The higher count yogas produce people who enjoy life and are materially productive. The lower count yogas produce people who struggle to attain something more significant.

The fifth yoga is particularly important to this discussion. When the planets occupy five signs it is called harsha - the effect of which is that we see the world as something fit to enjoy. We are more delighted with life, and see everything as something enjoyable (this is putting it in a bright perspective, it also makes hedonists). If you have four planets in one sign you cannot have this harsha. That means you cannot get excited about exploiting people and objects for your personal enjoyment and pleasure.

If you have four planets in one house you must have either a four, three, two or one count yoga. And these are all yogas which make us dissatisfied with the external world and seek something better.

I think this is the logic behind parivrajak-yoga.

Superstitions about Rituals and Mantras

Everyone is worried about how to pronounce the mantras properly. It’s not important at all.

“What!?!?” they cry, “there are so many tales in the scripture of mantras mispronounced giving disastrous opposite effects!”

Yes. That was then. This is now.

This is Kali Yuga.

You see universal time is very, very long. There are four aeons (“ages”) which last for huge spans of time. Hundreds of thousands of years. We are in the fourth age, the final age of the endless cycle. It is like the winter of the universe, devoid of living power.

If we think that Vedic rituals and the related mantras have independent power in the age of Kali we are wrong. Period, end of story. Nor is there any way to “unlock” their power in this age. The only thing which has truly mystical power in this age is the all-powerful name of god. Specifically the 16 word, 32 syllable formation of the names of God as Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. The pramana for this is opulently abundant in the sastra. Here is a good list: http://www.salagram.net/Yuga-Dharma-The.html

Vedic pujas and mantras have no magic power in this age. Only the Hari Nama (names of God) has power. Therefore any samskara – marriage, conception, etc. – which is not accompianied by Hari Nama Sankirtana is merely a hocus pocus. The same is true of any astrological rememdy, puja, mantra, etc. In fact the entirety of the ritual can be thrown into the ocean with neglect and distaste; so long as Hari Nama sankirtana is there the “ritual” is a perfect success. The bells and whistles of the ritual are only there to get the attention and respect of less educated people so they pay attention when the Hari-Nama Sankirtana comes along in the function.

The mystical power of the mantras and pujas is gone, period. Why do you think there are no flying castles in NYC? Does this strike you as an age of true magic? Do you see flying carpets on the freeway? No. The magic is drained from kali yuga. There is no magical power available, no mystic potency. Therefore rituals and incantations (mantras) don’t work anymore – regardless if they are performed and pronounced flawlessly or not.

Although we can deride something as “hocus pocus” – hocus pocus itself does have some power and use.  The forms of the old magical incantations and rituals STILL DO have a psychological impression (“samskara”). Although they have no supernatural power anymore, they do have natural power, and that, in this weak wintery age, is relatively powerful in and of itself.

Therefore I stand before you all boldly and declare loudly that it makes no difference if you get the details of the ritual or the pronunciation right or wrong – so long as you get the essence of the psychological connection to the meaning of the ritual and mantra. And in an even more confident voice I say to you, “If you want something with true mystic power – take the blessed names of Sri Krsna to your lips without cessation.”

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

What is Krishna’s Horoscope, Really?

Image by Fred Matos via Flickr

Question: Also lord krishna’s horoscope. BV raman gave one version, Prashant trivedi given other. What horoscope ISKCON follows? I prefer prashant’s version.

Neither person has any authority or capacity to understand Svayam Bhagavan Sri Krsna. “Tarko ‘pratishtha” Only Mahajana yena gata sa pantah – one the great, great krsna-bhaktas have any intimate knowledge of Krsna all others make fools of themselves by discussing Krsna.

Bhagavat Purana, 10th skanda, 3rd dhyaya, 1st shloka tells that Krsna was born with all the stars and planets and houses in very very auspicious positions and combinations and specifically mentions the ascention of Aja-nakshatra (“Rohinii”). Several shlokas later, the Saaraartha-darshinii tika of Sripad Vishvanath Chakravarthi Thakur references an older astrological treatise named Kha Manikya (which now seems to have been lost) that gives full detail of Sri Krsna’s birth chart as follows: “The Moon, Mars, Mercury and Saturn were exalted. Taurus ascended. Jupiter was in Pisces. Sun was in Leo, Venus in Libra, Rahu was in Scorpio. It was midnight, on a wednesday, while the Moon was in Rohini.”

Anyone who refuses to accept this chart ought to have an exceedingly good reason why they are contradicting the guru parampara, sadhu vak, and saastra. I fully accept this chart.

I have three videos regarding interpretations of this horoscope – including the dasha cycles.

- Vic DiCara

Spiritual Horoscope Reading

There are three houses particularly important for spirituality; these are the 4th, 8th and 12th houses. The 4th represents the inner spiritual self, the “heart” or “soul” which is full of emotions and feelings (path of feeling, bhakti). The 8th represents the metaphysics which enliven and enable all spiritual paths. From this house comes the ability to penetrate occult mystery and see the realities that are invisible to those under illusion. The 12th house represents knowledge which undoes the illusion of physicality and selfishness. Every house has its importance spiritually and religiously. Particularly the 5th and 9th are also important to morality and educational capacity – which both have a lot to do with advancing on spiritual paths. Nevertheless, the 4th, 8th, and 12th are the houses of primary importance when reading a chart for spirituality. The connections between these houses, the prominence of the lords of these houses, and the planets which occupy these houses are the essential factors in the horoscope to examine for making a good evaluation of the spiritual potentials and directions appropriate for an individual.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com