1. Dhanistha-Satabhisa-Purvabhadrapada Nakshatra: Moon in Aquarius

If you look deeply, if you look beyond mundane life, beyond the day-to-day life we live... If you contemplate on a night sky... you will see that the most intimate and complete relationship man owns is the relationship to the Universe. In fact, it is man’s ultimate relationship: he takes birth, lives and merges back into it. Nothing happens outside of it; even his enlightenment happens in it. Just as the child grows in his mother’s womb, man evolves in the cosmic womb. He is the microcosm of a tremendous cosmic macrocosm. Therefore, all components of man, from the grossest to the subtlest, come from the universe: his body, his mind, his energy and his very consciousness are elements of the cosmos. Universe and man are indivisible. Whatever happens in the Universe resounds in the human consciousness, and whatever happens in the human consciousness resounds in the Universe. Both are a unique consciousness.

Man has been deeply fascinated by the Cosmos since the beginning of time. Early cultures worked on understanding the phenomena that happen in the sky; they observed them in order to understand what role the sky played in their lives. From these attempts, the science of astronomy was born. In this field, the ancient Vedic contribution is well known. The earliest references to astronomy are found in the Rg Veda, which are dated 2000 BC. Around 500 BCE, Āryabhaṭa, a great astronomer, presented a system that showed the earth to spin on its axis and considered the motions of the planets with respect to the Sun. He also discovered how the lunar and solar eclipses occur and was the earliest to discover that the orbits of the planets around the Sun are ellipses, just as Copernicus and Galileo concluded a thousand years later. He even determined the diameter of the Earth to be 5,000 yojanas, approximately 36,000 km, which is very close to the actual figure. These traditions related these objects and their movements to natural events such as rain, drought, seasons and tides; they related them to auspicious or inauspicious occurrences on planet Earth. Jyotiṣa, the science of Vedic astrology, took birth out of observations and perceptions based on these astronomical phenomena. The first astronomers were actually Ṛṣis and sages, who understood the sky was a divine happening; they identified celestial objects with energies and Gods and connected astronomy to astrology.

Jyotiṣa Simply Put Astrology manifested in the inner vision of the ancient sages and Ṛṣis of India. These yogīs and enlightened beings were able to see beyond the realm of names and forms. They could feel and express the subtle reality that exists behind cosmic phenomena. As such, they perceived the primal powers of cosmic intelligence in the planets and stars (the macrocosm), and worshipped the cosmic powers within themselves (the microcosm) as powers of their being. By concentrating intensely on the Sun and other planets, they understood the movement of the life force in their body, and by meditating on the life force, they also came to understand the movement of the Sun and the planets in the heavens. Through this technique called samyama, they could unravel the secrets of the universe. They brought down their understanding into a system of Vedic science, which became known as Jyotiṣa: the science of light. Parāśara was one such sage. He is known for being the father of Jyotiṣa. He wrote the magnum opus Bṛhat Parāśara Hora Śāstra, which systematically explains the theory of predictive astrology. According to history, he is the grandson of Vasiṣṭa and also father of Veda Vyāsa, who wrote the great epic Māhābhārata. The depth of his astrological knowledge was so great that one evening while crossing a river in a boat, he casually looked at his favorite stars in heaven and suddenly realized it was an exceptionally auspicious moment. He concluded that if a child were conceived at that moment, he would be an expert in the scriptures. So he told this to the lady rowing the boat and requested that she marry him. She agreed and the son born out of their spiritual union was Veda Vyāsa! By observing the movements of the celestial bodies through time and space, the science of Vedic Astrology can be applied to each human incarnation to encourage the soul to develop to its fullest potential. In Paramahamsa Nithyananda's own words: 'The moment the consciousness enters the body, the energy level of the cosmos at the time of birth gets printed in that consciousness. Your inner space gets a print of the cosmic energy level and the position of the nine major energy centers of the solar system. The astrological planets are not only astronomical, they are energies. A particular energy of push and pull exists between them. The different energy positions clearly decide the cosmic energy level during the time of birth. Based on that, Jyotiṣa will be able to predict the course of life. Understand, not exact incidences because you have freedom. You have freedom to decide whether to sit here or not, to read this or not.

The major course of life- if you will get enlightened or not can be predicted. Principles can be predicted, not policies! Having an idea about your horoscope will give you intelligence and acceptance in your life: intelligence to take decisions and the acceptance to bear the inevitable things. According to me, a seeker should have a basic knowledge about his horoscope.’ Jyotiṣa and Living Enlightenment Jyotiṣa can help one to read his destiny. But what is actually destiny? There are only two types of destinies: The first one is destiny as defined by a dictionary: destiny lived within the boundaries of the ego, with its own expectations, hopes, desires, successes and failures. It is constantly changing. Because it evolves under mind’s law, it is mechanical, accidental and coincidental. This ‘destiny’ is lived in the dimension of the mind, so it has no existential reality in itself. It is nothing more than a reproduction of one’s past in the © Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam. All present, which conditions the future in a mechanical way. The other destiny is existential and ultimate; it is the flowering of consciousness into enlightenment. Understand: the only thing predestined in the scheme of life is that man is meant to evolve to reach enlightenment. The rest is just incidental; it happens for no other reason than to teach and mold the being towards seeking enlightenment. Living enlightenment is all about making conscious choices, free from the unconscious push and pull of the saṁskāras. The further you wander from your center, the more you lose yourself in your periphery, the more you are subjected to incidents and accidents. Whereas, when you live enlightenment, you are centered, you are within your boundaries, you are aware. You become predestined, because your predestination is to reach enlightenment; your destiny is to become more and more aware. Then you become the agent of your fate, and you move beyond grahas' influences. This is how you come to terms with your karmas. For that to happen, a simple understanding of the forces at work in you can help clarity manifest in your daily routine. In addition to this, you can follow a couple of guidelines to keep your body healthy with the science of Āyurveda and raise your energy level with yoga, the use of gemstones, rudrākṣa beads, mantra chanting, and a basic knowledge of your psychological tendencies coupled with the ancient Vedic wisdom expressed by the great enlightened Masters. All these remedies will bring lucidity about your mental set-up and support for eventually dropping your conditionings, unclutching from your mind and emotions and fostering your intelligence and energy to Live Enlightenment.

Existence has many ways to teach us through experience. It would make you more insecure, more uncertain, because that's how life is, that's how existence is. When there is more insecurity, more danger, the only way to respond to it is with awareness. Just stand in your sincerity and authenticity. Money is not the aim of the cosmic constitution; your soul's journey is the aim! The learning that stands behind the experience is the goal. Ultimately, whatever you have now will leave you when death comes. Trust life to take care of you! Envision the problem under a bigger scope, a cosmic scope, which will give you great freedom and insight into the inner mysteries of life! Kick this laziness out! It is time to fight your indulgence. One should better face the problem instead of running away to hide in one's room, to do useless things which will not help you to grow. Now, only intensity will help to fight your inertia. After all, problems are not eternal. When we are depressed, we feel we will be depressed forever. No! It is not possible. You are constantly changing, people are constantly changing, and problems are also constantly changing. Nothing is fixed in Existence. What is required is a little patience to wait for things to move, and a little courage to face situations without making big problems out of them. And lo, in no time, the whole thing is forgotten! 62 Moon in Aquarius Śani (Saturn god) as represented in Tiruvannamalai Ashram(India). Around Saturn stand the other 8 Navagraha deities (deities associated with the nine planets), along with their Navagraha trees (trees associated with the nine planets), to bless all with abundance. The circle of deities is placed around the main deities of the temple, Sri Anandeshwara and Anandeshwari; located near a powerful energy field of 1008 Śiva lingas radiating Śiva’s cosmic energy in an extremely auspicious atmosphere.

Nakṣatra: the constellation in which the moon sits in the heaven at a particular time, commonly called as ‘birth Star’ Vedic sciences: refer to a number of disciplines found in the Vedas, a large body of texts originating in ancient India; among the oldest sacred texts Ṛg Veda: an ancient Indian sacred collection of hymns, counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas Āryabhaṭa: one of the first astronomer and great mathematician of India, born in 476 Copernicus: (1473 – 1543) the first astronomer to formulate a heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe Galileo: (1564–1642) Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and important astronomical observations Yojana: a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India, between 6 to 15 km (4 and 9 miles) Ṛṣi: a sage through whom the hymns flowed, a “seer” able to reach states of higher consciousness. Yogi: a practitioner of various forms of spiritual discipline, as yoga Parāśara: author of many ancient Indian texts and important astrological texts, known as a traveling Master Bṛhat Parāśara Hora Śāstra: a prominent astrological scientific text, written as a recorded dialogue between Parāśara and his disciple Maitreya Vasiṣṭha: Rāma’s guru, a great Ṛṣi who had complete knowledge of the whole cosmos and the gods Veda Vyāsa: a sage of ancient India, compiler of the Vedas and great epics like the Māhābhārata Māhābhārata: one of the major Sanskrit epic of India and philosophical scripture, depicting a great war that happened in India, written in 250 000 verses Samskāra: engraved memories stored in the subconscious part of the mind. They are continually interfering with our decision making process Grahas: energy centers, energy fields that planets exert in the universe. They are generally assimilated to ‘planets’ Karmas: the collection of unfulfilled experiences and actions that stay in us and constantly pull us to fulfill them Āyurveda: a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian Subcontinent, ayus meaning ‘life’, and veda, meaning ‘related to knowledge’ or ‘science’ Yoga: literally union, union of the individual self and the divine Self, often taken to mean Hatha yoga, which is one of the components of yogāsana, relating to body postures Rudrākṣa: a large broad-leaved tree whose seed is traditionally revered and used for prayer beads, or mainly growing in foothills of the Himalayas up to South-East Asia Sanskrit: the language of the Ṛg Veda and of many scriptures, as well as mantras Mantra: a sound, a formula, sometimes a word or set of words, which because of their inherent sounds, have energizing properties. They are an approach to spiritual evolution Unclutching: understanding that each thought is completely independent, unconnected to the precedent; which leads to disengage oneself from the mind, resulting in experiencing the no-mind state Cakra: literally a ‘wheel’: refers to energy centers in the mind-body system Ājñā: sixth cakra, located between the eyebrows, known as the master cakra, locked by excessive seriousness Tamas: the behavior of laziness or inaction Lord Brahma: the creator of the trinity Lord Śiva: rejuvenator in the trinity also means ‘causeless auspiciousness’ Pārvati: consort of Lord Śiva, mother to Gaṇeśa Viṣṇu: the preserver in the trinity; His incarnations include Kṛṣṇa, Rāma ect., also means ‘all encompassing’ Gaṇeśa: the very revered elephant god who removes obstacles Agastya: a great sage who introduced and popularized Vedic tradition in South India Viśuddhi cakra: the fifth cakra, or subtle energy center located in the throat region, locked by comparing ourselves with other Dośa: in Ayurvedic medicine, one of the three biological humors or energies (kapha, pitta, vata) which combine in various proportions to determine individual constitution and mental and physical disorders Vata: one of the three humors (body constitution) of Āyurveda, related to the principle of movement in the mind and body; air element 68 Moon in Aquarius Vajrāsana : common yoga and meditation posture, where the person sits on his heels Cin mudra: palmsupraised with thumb and forefinger forming a circle and other three fingers outstretched Guru Pūja: form of worship offered to the master Asana: body postures performed in yoga, literally means ‘seat’ Aṣṭānga namaskār: prostrating to a deity or master by lying on the floor with all eight limbs of the body touching the earth Bhujangāsana: ‘cobra posture’ in yoga, in which the head and chest are raised while lying down Pranic layer: the second layer of energy of the body, related to prana or life energy Brahman: the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality, the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything in this Universe Bīja mantra: refers to the single syllable mantra used to invoke certain deities Pūja: a ritual made of different offerings related to the deity propitiated Navagraha dośa: literally means ‘planetary defects’ or inauspicious alignment of planets Homa: ancestral Vedic fire ritual Nirvanic layer: seventh subtle body that we have and last layer of energy which is the space where one experiences intense bliss Physical layer: the gross body made of flesh and bones Aum: the primordial cosmic sound from which the whole Universe emerged 70 Moon in Aquarius Hrim: bija, or seed mantra relating to feminine energy Śakti: energy, intelligent energy, considered as the feminine aspect of Śiva Ahaṅkār: ego or excessive pride due to one's possessions, material wealth, intelligence or powers Jivan Mukti: the state of achieving liberation from the cycle of birth and death during one's lifetime