Sahaja Yoga Meditation Australia

The sky at night is breath-takingly beautiful with millions of stars in their familiar constellations.  From time immemorial it has been a humbling experience for humans to consider the vastness of the universe and the steadfastness of the planets which continue in their orbits.  Astrology has also held a fascination for us for thousands of years and many treatises have been written linking the paths of the planets with our destinies.

I used to be very sceptical about astrology.  I could not understand how the planets could possibly influence our lives on earth.  From listening to the lectures of Shri Mataji, however, I have since learnt that the mechanism is, at first glance, quite a simple one. 

How does astrology work?  My understanding is as follows.  Everything in the universe is part and parcel of the whole.  The whole universe, including the planets, is reflected in each individual as the chakras.  The same patterns of the universe are reflected an infinite number of times from the macrocosm (the entire universe) to the microcosm (the individual person, the cell, the minutest atom).

In Sahaja Yoga the left channel is the Moon side and the right channel is the side of the Sun.  In astrology the Moon influences the emotions, habits, memory, the past and our heritage.  The Sun influences our will, our ego, personal identity, vitality, hope and authority.  The left and right channels and the sphere of influence of the planets that govern them are totally in agreement.

In addition, each planet corresponds to a chakra.  For example, Mars is the planet that rules the first chakra, the Mooladhara chakra, and Saturn is the planet that rules the Vishuddhi chakra at the level of the throat. 

Just as each chakra has a sphere of influence in the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our being, so do the planets.  For example, the Mooladhara chakra is concerned with honesty, straightforwardness, fearlessness, and purity and integrity in sexual relationships.  This corresponds with the sphere of influence of the planet Mars which determines the energy and vitality of the physical body, and manifests in the degree of aggressiveness, belligerence, courage, assertion and determination, and in the expression of the sexual drive and male-female relationships. 

The relationships or angles between the planets in an astrological chart have significance.  For example, if the relationship between two planets is square (90 degrees), opposition (180 degrees) or inconjunct (150 degrees) the aspect is a difficult one in the area of life that is influenced by the planets involved.  Difficult or unfavourable aspects give a person an opportunity to evolve and learn how to overcome the problems presented in his or her lifetime.  Sextiles (60 degrees) and trines (120 degrees) are favourable aspects.  These aspects help us to use our strengths and give us the tools we need to grow and overcome the difficulties.  It becomes clear how a person’s destiny can be revealed in their birth chart.

When we consider that the planets are related to our chakras we can begin to see how karma is worked out in our destiny.  Difficult or unfavourable aspects allow our karma to be expressed, and the planets involved will determine which areas of our lives it will affect.  The planets involved, of course, will be the ones that govern the chakras whose qualities we have not expressed positively, the areas in our lives where we have made mistakes.  The expression of our karma gives us an opportunity to overcome the difficulties, to “put things right”, to rise higher spiritually.

With Sahaja Yoga, we can easily rise above our destiny.  As we meditate, our bad karma is “sucked in” and no longer affects us.  As we cleanse our chakras, our bad karma that we have collected in the chakras is cleared out.  We learn what will keep our chakras clear and how to keep within the maryadas (limits) of the chakras, so that we do not continue to collect bad karma.  We can really “wipe the slate clean”.  It opens up new and exciting possibilities for the rest of our lives.  Truly, the sky’s the limit!

When it dawned on me that this was the mechanism for how astrology and karma work I was amazed by the complexity of the whole process.  Every individual has his or her own destiny and all the individual destinies are placed in an interlocking matrix with the destinies of every other individual.  I caught a glimpse of an infinitely sophisticated computer, a truly omniscient being, that considers everything, down to the smallest detail (down to the numerology of names!) and works it all out.

I feel awe-struck by the enormity, the complexity, the intricacy of such an undertaking.  It leaves me speechless!  It makes me thoughtless!

Kay Alford