Learn the Secrets of the Nakshatras, Punarvasu: Return of the Light. Learn the Secrets of the Nakshatras Mrigashira Those who. 27 videos Play all The 27 Nakshatras Joni Patry.
'...it's no secret that many of the mystery schools of ancient cultures sought a spiritual rebirth within the individual using the zodiac as a teaching tool. . . . The zodiac described the inner constitution of humans, the structure-function-order of ourselves, mirroring that of the universe. According to the ancients, the archetypal principles revealed by arithmetic and geometry, represented by the zodiac, seen manifest in the designs of nature, technology, art, the clock and calendar, temple architecture, myths, measures, and whole societies have correspondence within each of us. The initiate was taught to see the world inside-out, to see twelve-part wholes as our reflection.'Michael Schneider, The Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science, Harper Perennial, 1994, pp.217-8
I see two ways of going about this research, one is to study from the outside - looking at physical evidence (see my post on Diffusionism and Forbidden Archeology); the other is to look from the inside out. Both ways are valid. Here I focus on the universal template that is within us all - the energy anatomy of the chakras and nadis and how people could have accessed this knowledge even without the influence of another culture's philosophy.
Psychadelics, likely played a role to inspire humanity's knowledge of sacred geometry
Suggested reading: Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy
A Russian archeologist has physical evidence that soma drunk by the Aryians of the Rig Vedic era, was composed of poppy, cannabis, and ephedra (source) - a powerful concoction to produce visions of all kinds! Likewise around the world psychadelic drugs have been the norm in religious and other contexts.
Below is a visual tribute to the geometric cosmic art of the Shipibo people of Peru, known as masters of the psychadelic 'spiritual' drug Ayahausca. Since paleo-lithic times visionary and consciousness altering drugs have been used by shamans in the communities around the world who knew how to prepare and use them for sacred purposes, who were entrusted by the community to gather and share the knowledge that came from them. Shamanic vision (like all types of brow chakra exploration) is likely the inspiration behind all forms of sacred geometry. The enlightened ones do not need drugs. It is possible to develop psychic skills that bring insights like this without drugs. These states come to those who have access to the akashic realms and were born for the purpose of sharing this kind of knowledge. It can also be a seductive trap for sincere spiritual seekers. But in ancient times, this was accessible to any culture and quite possibly its access to the Divine knowledge it needed. Then during the course of interpreting the drawings based on these insights, there would come an understanding of higher mathematics and the geometry's relationship to the stars, planets, seasons, agricultural cycles, human fertility...etc. These things would have very naturally become a civilizing factor in nation building - or even in smaller tribal levels, part of the lore and oral tradition, part of the religion, part of the calendar, part of daily life. And to those cultures who had avataurs, even greater truths would be revealed, as Sri Aurobindo writes in his book on Mystic Hymns.
A Russian archeologist has physical evidence that soma drunk by the Aryians of the Rig Vedic era, was composed of poppy, cannabis, and ephedra (source) - a powerful concoction to produce visions of all kinds! Likewise around the world psychadelic drugs have been the norm in religious and other contexts.
Below is a visual tribute to the geometric cosmic art of the Shipibo people of Peru, known as masters of the psychadelic 'spiritual' drug Ayahausca. Since paleo-lithic times visionary and consciousness altering drugs have been used by shamans in the communities around the world who knew how to prepare and use them for sacred purposes, who were entrusted by the community to gather and share the knowledge that came from them. Shamanic vision (like all types of brow chakra exploration) is likely the inspiration behind all forms of sacred geometry. The enlightened ones do not need drugs. It is possible to develop psychic skills that bring insights like this without drugs. These states come to those who have access to the akashic realms and were born for the purpose of sharing this kind of knowledge. It can also be a seductive trap for sincere spiritual seekers. But in ancient times, this was accessible to any culture and quite possibly its access to the Divine knowledge it needed. Then during the course of interpreting the drawings based on these insights, there would come an understanding of higher mathematics and the geometry's relationship to the stars, planets, seasons, agricultural cycles, human fertility...etc. These things would have very naturally become a civilizing factor in nation building - or even in smaller tribal levels, part of the lore and oral tradition, part of the religion, part of the calendar, part of daily life. And to those cultures who had avataurs, even greater truths would be revealed, as Sri Aurobindo writes in his book on Mystic Hymns.
Shipibo Pattern Ayahuasca Vision by ttaass.com from TAS Visual Art on Vimeo.
Should we all try psychadelic drugs (entheogens) to access Truth? I don't advocate this. They are dangerous and easily misused in the wrong hands* plus I don't believe they make us enlightened, more likely they confuse Truth with the fantasies of our ego.
Here is what my my Satguru Sri Vasudeva wrote in 2002:
To touch the Reality that exists we need to become more awake to the great wisdom that lies before us in the simple things. The mystic William Blake wrote :
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
The Truth is right before us. We need only the eyes to see It. The men and women of ancient wisdom had these eyes. We can learn all the great truths by observing the wondrous workings of Nature. Open your eyes and see the handiwork of our Divine Creator. The Universe is the manifestation of Great Intelligence. Observe it with eyes of simplicity, with the humility of a true seeker of wisdom and with a heart filled with the sincere desire to uncover its mystery. If It finds you worthy it will unfold its secrets to your heart.Sri Vasudeva, Satsang message, 2002
According to the ancient Mayans and Hinduism, humanity has gone through a fall in consciousness (Milton wrote about this in Paradise Lost, from a western point of view) meaning that there was a time when more enlightened teachings were accessible to all people as a natural state of being - in which case the use of psychadelics has never been necessary. Being enlightened is really about being awake to every level of consciousness in the human experience and being able to perceive and experience the wisdom of the Universe from within and in Nature. Today humanity is still coming out of the ignorance of Kali Yuga - but enlightened perception has always been available to those sincere seekers of wisdom who were ready to attain it. Wisdom, says Sri Vasudeva, is intuition taken to Source knowledge. In insight meditation we can move through the layers or dimensions of our being - from the gut instinct level of intuition about what is healthy for survival, into energy perception, and deeper into a causal level of accessing the akashic record of lifetimes, first individual, then cosmic and finally the turyia state where even the individuality or 'I' self becomes identified with the universal 'I' or cosmic Self. My research has uncovered ways in which the nakshatras speak to all of that - all levels of knowledge! This is why it fascinates me so much.
The Cosmological Circle
As found at Stonehenge...
There is a geometrical representation of the 28 psychic points within us linking to the 28 points of the multidimensional universe in which we live. Here is a very superficial synopsis of some of the most astounding things I found in my research.
When I was doing some research on sacred geometry I found Michael Schneider's wonderful research on how numbers show up in the sacred geometry of life - in Nature and in Life's Processes. The ancient template of the Cosmological Circle, rediscovered in the 1960s by John Michell, is based on the number 12. Click on the image below to see more details about it on Schneider's webite 'Constructing The Universe'. (See also his article re. today's practical applications.)**
This image is geometrically aligned to the actual distance between the Moon and Earth. It forms a perfect marriage called 'squaring the circle' between the materialist (square/straight lines) and the spiritual (circle). According to Michell and Schneider's research, ancient civilizations knew about this and built structures and organized themselves according to the teachings of this sacred geometry.
Here we see plainly how the 28 nakshatra system fit in between the 13 moons formed in the circle, like the 28 days of the month in the lunar year.
13 'moons' & 28 points made of 4x7-pointed stars
The Cosmological Circle with the 28 Star PointsAdapted from Michael Schneider's Diagram(click image to link to his site) |
This image can be seen as a template for understanding the philosophies that emerged about cosmology in various cultures.
Cosmos on the back of a tortoise/turtle
It is said that the secrets of the I Ching were inspired by the markings on the back of a turtle, and in a flash revealed how the cosmos works. This has to do with the ba gua / pakua cosmology 'compass' used in feng qui. There is a pre-heaven version and a post-heaven version. The post-heaven one came from a shamanistic experience:'Traditionally, Fu Xi is considered the originator of the I Ching (also known as the Yi Jing or Zhou Yi), which work is attributed to his reading of the He Map (or the Yellow River Map). According to this tradition, Fu Xi had the arrangement of the trigrams (八卦 bāgùa) of the I Ching revealed to him in the markings on the back of a mythical dragon horse (sometimes said to be a tortoise) that emerged from the Luo River. This arrangement precedes the compilation of the I Ching during the Zhou dynasty. This discovery is said to have been the origin of calligraphy. '
A lot of these insights come from altered states. Terrence McKenna, who took psychadelic trips using mushrooms, discovered secrets of the I Ching and the speculation is that the ancient Mayans could have discovered the same secrets through their use of hallucinogenic substances also. Our inner truth can be accessed in all kinds of ways. So, yes the Universe does rest on the back of a turtle - if you know what 'Universe' really means:
The Cosmos/Universe on the back of a turtle 13 moons and 28 smaller sections |
We see in in Hinduism:
The Chinese lunar constellations showing the 4 Directions (7 lunar constellations per direction so we have 7 chakras represented for each Guardian Spirit/dragon or what have you):
Guardians of the 4 Directions |
The 4 symbols/guardians/dragons/emperors represent (among other things) the 2 equinoxes and 2 solistices of the 4 cardinal directions.
I found an interesting representation of the Taoist yin-yang symbol relating solar/lunar chi to day time:
This is also in the Mayan representation of the cosmos with the day signs holding positions around the circle:
quincunx design, the gemetric basis of Mesoamerican solar cosmology (from archeologist David Stuart, The Order of Days: Unlocking the Secrets of the Ancient Maya, p.78) |
Archeologist David Stuart has found that the quincunx template (above) based on the tracking of summer and winter solstice is not only the sacred geometric basis for ancient Mesoamerica but agrees with Paul Wheatley's research that it is also found in Chinese structures, and that the colours used in the medicine wheel of North American First Nations are the same or similar. He writes about all of this in his book, The Order of Days: Unlocking the Secrets of the Ancient Maya (starting on p.78). He observed a ceremony where nine elders represented the nine 'suns' (dots on the design), where the center represents all kinds of things: the moon, a pool, earth. These ceremonies and the oral tradition have preserved the basics from ancient times throughout the Americas. In the North Americas it became the Sundance, the Sweat Lodge, and the Medicine Wheel - all of which incorporate this basic sacred geometry. This is also, writes Stuart, the basis for the Mayan concept of time. Of course there are countless variations on the theme!
All of this makes sense through the lens of enlightenment teachings. The Sanskrit word Maya means illusion - the illusion of the mental world (either in gross or subtle forms) that is the creation of Consciousness. Maya is the illusion of form creating the illusion of space, and the illusion of forms that change creating the illusion of time. Maya is the projection of the cosmic mind that exists within us as our Source Consciousness involved in the play of Maya. We are like the avataurs in a macrocosmic video game where the object of the game is to become conscious of the hand holding the hardware and align with it. Sacred ceremonies of all kinds are created at their deepest level to be rebirthing experiences, where participants enter into the womb and the heart of a sacred space to facilitate the meditative process of entering into deeper layers of our being. The result, healing or awakening or insight depends on how deep we are able to go - so there are benefits on many levels. The ancient wisdom has much to teach us about incorporating sacred knowledge into the very fabric of our lives in all areas of life - all houses of the horoscope.
The swastika - a misunderstood ancient symbol
The swastika is possibly the most ancient auspicious symbol known to humanity and is found in all ancient cultures from around the world, including the Mayans. We find in ancient images of the Mayans and Egypt for example human forms in postures imitating it which makes sense because the tree of life that the swastika represents is within us not only in the sun and in the whole universe. Every time the Catholic priest is making the sign of the cross this are invoking the power of this symbol whether they know it or not! It speaks to the most innate things within us - upper brain, lower brain, left brain, right brain. It is the mystical above that is the north of spiritual evolution), below that is the south of grounding in the material or 'devolution'), the east of new consciousness awakening or rebirthing itself, and the west of transitioning into the underworld of the inner world ruled by Moon-mind... It includes all the physiological things, all the psychological things, all the social things, all the spiritual parts of ourselves (the spiritual not being a subcategory but that which encompasses all of that and more)...
solar cross (swastika) from around the world |
Here is an excellent article about the 12,000+ year old symbol of the swastika and includes a link to a wonderful BBC documentary explaining how some really flawed scholarship in the 1920s lead Hitler to believe that he could use the swastika as a symbol for his neo-Aryian race. The documentary also ends with a British Rabbi saying, after visiting a Hindu temple filled with swastikas, that dialogue with the Hindus about the true meaning of the swastika could bring these cultures closer together united in their common goals and beliefs (link). How important it is to wash away the misconceptions and disinformation of the past and get to the core truth of these things! The swastika is also implicated in the Hindu Kundali, and belongs to this very ancient body of knowledge related to the cosmological circle and our co-creative and evolutionary soul journey - not to the agenda of any politician!
From China we have the Pakua/Bagua cosmic energy 'map' that incorporates the twenty-eight lunar mansions, all the yin/yang I Ching hexagrams, the cosmological circle and probably lots of other things I don't understand because it is a combination of systems layered on top of one another. Here is a detailed explanation of it with diagrams (link).
Sacred Dimensions in Medieval Europe
Even the Catholics incorporated it into the architecture of churches, cathedrals etc. so that the experience of being in the physical space of a church would have a subliminal effect on the soul, because these sacred proportions reflect the energy anatomy of the soul. The Chinese have preserved this knowledge in Feng Shui,*** and the Indians in Vastu - so that we can incorporate divine proportions into any space and align our energies with the macrocosmic life force energy meridians. Below is a church design by architect Francesco Di Giorgio Martini (1439 – 1501):
(link) |
Notice how one would follow the ascent of Kundalini in arriving to the church in worship, beginning at the feet. The public area is the heart space - anahata chakra is all about socializing. The inner sanctum reserved for the Christ (Krishna consciousness) is in the head - brow chakra, the GV20 point of the church.
Leonardo Da Vinci used idealized classical proportions in his artworks to represent universal principles (he even included music/harmonics into his paintings):
'While Leonardo realized that every figure is different, all were believed to be governed by the same underlying principles of harmony that governed the universe. The microcosm of the human body was mirrored in the macrocosm of the universe and vice versa.
. . . .
In a remarkable series of Studies of the human skull, dated c1489, Leonardo investigated the architecture of the human skull. The main axes of the skull are sectioned just as some of the church designs in his architectural drawings, in order to locate the position of the human soul within. Leonardo locates it at the point where the proportional axes of the skull intersect.'
(University of the Arts, London 2017, link)
The effect of incorporating geometry that resonates with our soul's astral 'geometry' is to create works of art with universal and timeless appeal because they touch us at a very deep level of being. Perhaps in the future living with sacred geometry, whether in buildings, art, music, or even incorporated into political structures - can assist us in balancing our multi-dimensional/inter-dimensional nature so that we may live more in harmony with all of life at all levels of being.
The fascinating science of cymatics
As the wise ones knew, when they created Sanskrit letters/sounds to go with every petal of the seven major chakras, sounds have awesome power! That's why names and words matter. That's why mantras are sound formulas that effect consciousness, mind and matter - all levels!There are scientists who study the visualized manifestations of sound waves under the umbrella term cymatics (see Wikipedia). Cymatics produces fascinating physical evidence of the relationship of sound waves and geometric patterns. It may prove to be linked to the formation of crop circles as well.
Here is an excerpt from The Grand Illusion: A Synthesis of Science and Spirituality—Book One, by Brendan D. Murphy, 2012 (link). I have not read the book so I can't comment. The article claims that the Sri Yantra shape was produced from the sound of OM using a tonoscope (see below) however I have not seen this reproduced anywhere myself:
Sri Yantra - visual representation of OM sound (in 3D it becomes an idealized Mount Meru) |
(Tonoscope Image of Om - link) |
The author claims that the tonoscope produced the Sri Yantra when Om was sounded however, I have not seen evidence of this. This is the shape produced, more like circles within circles:
![Secrets of nakshatras pdf download Secrets of nakshatras pdf download](https://cdn.exoticindia.com/books-2017/nam532c.jpg)
One of these days I have to make one of these tonoscopes and see what pattern my 'om' produces:
Theoretically it makes sense that OM would produce some kind of cosmological shape, because Aum represents all sounds heard together in harmony, it is the primordeal sound. The shape produced above of a circle within a circle is ideal. The Sri Yantra could have evolved from astronomical patterns, just as the orbit of Venus forms a pentagonal star. Astrologer Prash Trivedi experiments with sound to produce crop circles (he claims to have produces the Sanskrit OM symbol in a field after chanting it). The crop circle phenomena is amazing - but then so are the crystalline formations in rocks and all the sacred geometry manifesting everywhere in Nature. I don't know enough about these things to comment but I believe it is possible to reproduce them because they do exist. The ancient ones would have come across this knowledge as well - intuitively and tangibly.
There is definitely far more going on on an astral level than most of us realize that effect our lives in profound ways on subtle and not so subtle levels. I am hopeful that with new technologies we may begin to glimpse their energetic signatures as physical evidence. Researcher Masaru Emoto claimed to have produced microcospic photographs of water crystals responding intelligently to words although I don't know if anyone else has been able to reproduce his methods. I myself have heard clairvoyantly Tibetan monks chanting the OM recorded in a special Tibetan singing bowl. I myself have snapped photographs of people in meditation or even in very emotionally powerful states where spirit orbs have appeared. The experience of sensing energy vibrations becomes more and more tangible as we practice meditation and our sensitivity matures. The more we 'see' or 'sense' these energies, the more we move into the seat of our own power.
We ourselves are consciousness in causal, astral and gross forms - so everything around us reflects what is within us. Consciousness is what is behind energy, what energy begins as. Beyond the psychic domain of mind is a silent space where there are no vrittis, no waves/fluctuations of mind. This is one's True space of power, not the extrasensory powers of mind, but to live in a space outside of mind, witnessing the mind. This is the GV20 space of brahmarandhra. That's why so much importance is given by enlightened people to consciousness evolution, and that's why the ancient religions focused on that and not the magic produced by energy-vrittis.
13:20
'…this natural timing of 13:20 is a cosmic indicator based on relationships inherent in natural processes: on the macrocosmic level, in the motion of the stars, planets, and galaxies; on the microcosmic level, as reflected in the proportions of the human body and the biological rhythms of plants and animals; and even further still, on the infinite level, in the subtle inter-dimensional movements of consciousness and mind. It is like the processes of division and multiplication: we find that it is consciousness that divides creation, by a factor of 13, because it is only when we are conscious of something that we can appreciate that part of creation; and it is creation that multiplies, by a factor of 20, the number of creation.'
Men, Hunbatz, The 8 Calendars of the Maya: The Pleiadian Cycle and the Key to Destiny, 2009 (Kindle Edition, loc.113)
The sacral ratio 13:20 was re-discovered by José Argüelles on Dec 10, 1989, as outlined in his writings, (here is an open access pdf to Time and the Technospherelink). This research seems to be a mixture of mathematics, authentic Mayan archeology, and intuitive wisdom. Hunbatz Men was a Mayan Daykeeper who shared many shamanic secrets in his talks and writings. Argüelles saw 13:20 as an expression of natural time and 12:60 as an expression of artifical or physical time. What I am seeing is the subtle dimension and the physical dimension harmonizing - expressed in lunisolar multi-calendar systems. Argüelles had very interesting notions of time - time as art. From a mystical point of view he is correct - because time has no existence in Pure Consciousness. We are dreaming space, time and everything else in this human experience of an 'I'.
The quotation from Hunbatz Men underscores the many layers of meaning we need to distinguish when working with sacred geometry. The most superficial level is the gross, the physical. And then where it meets the subtle dimensions of experience. This is the realm of healing arts like accupuncture and the occult sciences. Going deeper we arrive at the revelations of saints and yogis, into the level of consciousness transformation which approaches the real spiritual level. Beyond the saints and yogis is the level of Self-realization that is beyond duality - and that upon which the noblest religions past and present are based, insofar as they have remained true to the teachings they have compiled. As a transcriber for my Guru, I know how even a single word or even a misplaced coma can alter his meaning and intention - if words can ever hope to capture the experience of a Self-realized being. Multiply that kind of error by eons and you get a mixture of truth and fantasy - but that is a topic for another kind of discussion.
The bottomline is Consciousness. Next Energy, which is Consciousness in Expression. This is Tantra. This is the Shiva-Shakti of the Hindus and the Yin-Yang of the Taoists that is also expressed in the Mayan symbol of the Hunab Ku. When I see 13:20 I think of the 7 chakras expressed (as David Frawley has interpreted Sri Yukteswar's Holy Science) as 6 lunar + 6 solar expressions of the chakras root to brow and the 13th being the purest one, the destination chakra of the crown and crown consciousness. And the 20 expresses the 20 layers of the sahasrara which, in limited expression whilst in a human experience, spread out into the 20 GV points or stages along the sushumna which the ancient Mayans expressed as the Daysigns. I believe this is the real meaning of it and that everything about the 13:20 derives from this.
As Argüelles said that 12:60 relates to the material world, this is expressed as the 12 zodiac signs and the 12 solar months of the year, while 60 relates to seconds, minutes, hours based on the 360° - all these things relating to the physical world our minds perceive with the physical senses. We also have subtle senses (indryias) and these are what allow us to intuit and perceive the inner world that the 13:20 expresses.
Squaring the Circle
5040 } the 1st 7 numbers multiplied together
7920 } multiple the next 4
What's so special about these numbers? See this video:
It has to do with the cosmological circle - the geometric and ratio of the Moon circling Earth.
The cosmos in our head
Carl Johan Calleman decoded many secrets about this cosmology encoded in the step pyramid at El Castillo in Chichen Itza. This is also linked to the cosmological circle (viewing a pyramid from the top, the eye view of the heavens). I found this interesting interpretation by John Major Jensins from a link called the Maya Cosmogenesis:
13:20 and the synodic cycle of Venus (shamanic astrology)
The Mayans were particularly interested in keeping track of the movements of Venus and related it to their version of the enlightened one, Ku'kulkan (the Kundali of the Cosmos). I recognize the feathered serpent as the fully risen Kundalini with the two energy nadis (feathers represent channels for the energy) are the petals of the brow chakra. Venus' synodic cycle of 584 days breaks down into 20 approximate lunar months of 29.2 days each. During this cycle Venus follows the Sun going around it 13 times, and the Earth goes around the Sun 13 times. (See YouTube illustrations: link1, link2 for an idea of the path of Venus and the ways shamanic astrology has created mythology out of it.) Venus is an expression of that Vishnu energy, that Christ Consciousness or Krishna Consciousness or Guru Consciousness that is the enlightened master. After a complete cycle, Venus is reborn into a new zodiac sign.
In recent years the Mayan temple known as El Castillo has been known to have been built overtop of two small shrines or mini-pyramids and these in turn over a ceyote (underground river sinkhole), so that the feathered serpent also has an association with water. Again this works well with the enlightened experience of Kundalini moving through the watery terrain of sushumna. In the heavens the Milky Way was likened by the ancient Egyptians to the Nile and both are representations of the sushumna. In Hinduism this becomes the river Ganga coming out the top of Shiva's head as an expression of the ecstasy of the enlightened master. And in Christianity this is the water of life, that Jesus spoke of in the Bible. The Moon is associated with Soma, the elixir and Amrita the nectar - both being forms of Ananda in various stages of samadhi and enlightened consciousness. Venus is semen, another metaphor for the ecstatic experience of the rapturous witnessing Self that comes from enlightenment. So these are all variations of the one universal experience - and the Divine has holographically reproduced what happens within us in the beautiful celestial dance of the planet Venus.
13:20 & the 4 partitioned brain
Calleman found that in the construction of 9 stepped pyramid was represented a 13:20 sacred ratio representing great periods (like the Hindu yugas). Notice that in the 27 nakshatra system the cosmic circle is divided into 27 sections of 13°20' and even for the pada system we have 3°20' reflecting this sacred ratio. Clearly this has something to do with the sacred geometry of the moon.
INSIGHT: From the study of Calleman's books and other things, it seems that '13' is always about the chakras, as represented by the 13 full moons in a solar year (the ones we have to work through from root to brow). The number 20 has more to do with the nadis or energy currents that interconnect the chakras through their 'petals'. If we take the Chinese acupuncture system of 12 main meridians + 8 extraordinary meridians, 12+8 = 20. Also it is written in a book on Laya Yoga that the 1000 petals of the sahasrara are arranged in 20 layers of 50 petals each (and the entire Sanskrit language of 50 sounds was created to vibrate chakra petals). So 13:20 is part of an esoteric code for chakras and nadis. And because there are 20 GV points on the ascension path, 20 must therefore refer specifically to nadis related to spiritual evolution.
Calleman has written many marvellous books on this topic (see his website: http://calleman.com/) In his book The Global Mind and the Rise of Civilization, he writes about the 4 partitioned brain - bringing fresh insights into the ancient Mayan understanding of our inner cosmology. Here is one of the diagrams in that book showing how the 4 cardinal directions are part of the basic design of the cosmos as in our inner anatomy (the north pole is considered as the center):
From The Global Mind & The Rise of Civilization by C.J. Calleman |
In Paramahansa Yogananda's treatise on the Bhagavad Gita he also writes about the 4 cardinal directions as being related to areas of our brain with corresponding minor chakra points. Indu Chakra for example is related to the East, representing the forehead area. [I will need to look this up].
Indigenous peoples the world over have some sort of version of this cosmological circle, emphasizing one or other of its aspects. The ancients clearly knew the sacred relationship of everything.
I am sure there is much more I could post here about this but this is enough to give you an idea.
Could the Cosmological Circle be None Other than the Muladhara Chakra?
I think the Airavatha elphant could easily be Ganesha, the lord of Vedic Astrology, who is often linked with the muladhara (root) chakra. This chakra fits perfectly on the model of the cosmological circle. The four cardinal directions corresponding to the 4 'petals' (nadis) of the root chakra are also the four solistice and four parts of the brain and four vrittis (waves of the mind producing 4 goals of life - dharma, artha, kama, moksha) related to the 5 tattvas (also in the Taoist system) of 4 elements surrounding one in the centre. I am convinced it all derives from a shamanistic understanding of the root chakra. This knowledge was available since paleo-lithic times, when people were also tracking the movements of the Moon and other planets and stars. This is the common root of every kind of cosmological knowledge and the most basic kind of knowledge. Every chakra is a universe or dimension unto itself. Some of us can access other dimensions but the root chakra is the earth dimension, the experience of living in a body, on the planet Earth, understanding what 'form' is. This is universal, beyond any philosophy. We can take any system that uses the cosmological circle as derivative of the muladhara chakra.
Behind the world of gross physical vibration is energy, the astral and causal worlds. The creative force in the cosmos is called Brahma and the Brahma nadi that culminates in brahmarandhra at GV20, while in the causal body at the core of our existence as souls in layers of energy fields within the human gross body, is also part of this sacred geometry.
If you can feel your physical body you have some connection with your root chakra and that's good enough. The secret to learning how to live in harmony with our physical body, in harmony with Nature and the Cosmos was known since paleo-lithic times and is encoded in all the sacred teachings to do with the cosmological circle. Living in these times isn't this the kind of knowledge we need to restore our balance with the world we live in? Entire civilizations had parts of this knowledge and tried to live their lives according to it, but there has been corruption, misuse and misunderstanding from the very start. Today with advanced technology and democracy, we have for the first time the ability to pool our knowledge. The inner cosmology is the blueprint for the outer. The outer impacts the inner. This needs to be understood. Science should no longer turn a blind eye to it.
More thoughts about these special numbers associated with the lunar constellations here.
(see also my post Secrets of the Vimshottari Mahadasha Sequence; also Shiva Nataraja and the Ananda-Tandava Cosmic Dance)
9 mahadashas and their 9 planetary lords...what are these talking about? The Sri Yantra has nine levels, same as the Mayan cosmological pyramid. They are all talking about time - time experienced in the mind, in the Maya. What is the long count in the Mayan system has its counterpart in the Yuga system. Nine has to do with stages of transformation. In Buddhism we have 9 levels of consciousness. As I have been taught by Sri Vasudeva there are seven levels of consciousness, and in astrology we have the seven planets - but two have been added that are not really planets but nodes - Rahu and Ketu. There are 4 descending and 4 ascending yugas, and perhaps the 9th is the big bang that restarts the whole cycle. 9 has to do with stages of growth - 9 months in the womb, and I believe it is in agriculture also.
I will need to research this from an enlightened source. For now, a last word from Satguru Jaggi Vasudev:
Cosmology of Sri Yukteswar
Contemplating Sri Yukteswar's The Holy Science and the Four Ideas.Links to Kryia Yoga Practice
Kryia Yoga practice is a yogic purification and transmutation practice with links to ancient astrology. Paramahansa Yogananda gives a short explanation of the basics here (ch.26 'The Science of Kryia Yoga' from An Autobiography of a Yogi). You can read the short introduction in the link where he explains the correspondences to astrology. Basically what he is saying is that six chakras are doubled into lunar and solar gives us the twelve zodiac signs that we can link to within our subtle bodies (the astral and causal bodies). This is what he learned from his Guru, Sri Yukteswar (see above).
From what Sri Vasudeva has taught I think this aspect of the Kryia Yoga practice is the Indian version of the Taoist macrocosmic orbit. What jumped out at me from Paramahansa Yogananda's introduction is this part of it:
'The Kriya beginner employs his yogic exercise only fourteen to twenty-eight times, twice daily.' Paramahansa Yogananda (link)Why 14 to 28? Why these particular numbers? I don't know that much about Kryia Yoga, but I do know that in Hinduism there are 14 lokas of 7 higher and 7 lower worlds/dimensions that are accessed through the chakras. Twenty-eight is of course a doubling of fourteen, but I also wonder whether that has any relationship to the nakshatras.
My research is showing how the nakshtras are related to yogic purification practices. For example, Ardra (GV4) which is (to me) an obvious reference to the yogic practice of creating a kryia (subtle energy experience) to convert sexual energy into spiritual energy by focusing attention on the swadisthana (sexual chakra) and pulling the prana upwards so it becomes more refined and can be taken to any chakra and transmuted there into more and more subtle energies. Just as in Taoism practitioners works to transmute Jing energy into Chi energy and ultimately into Shen at the head, in yoga is it the same from any of the pancha vayus (the five kinds of prana) transmuting ultimately into ojas. The energy not being used at the sacral chakra for sexual pleasure or procreation instead can go to the navel chakra to replenish the body's store of vitality, or to the heart to get that 'madly in love' energy, or to the throat for charismatic and seductive speech, or to the brow where it becomes a kind of intoxication. I've experienced all of these in my own practice so I know without a doubt that the mythology associated with the nakshatras alludes to these kind of energy transmutation practices.
The Moon is known as Soma, that elixir of immortality that is transmuted from Amrita and in its ultimate purified form becomes Ananda, the bliss of Self that comes through grace when one becomes Self-realized. Sri Aurobindo writes about this. This is telling me that the Nakshatras are all about energy transmutation...but not only energy, consciousness also - because that is the journey of life. Energy and Consciousness are the basic components of the Universe (according to Tantra). If Consciousness does not shift, then it is a superficial experience only. Here is what Swami Vivekananda has to say about it:
'It is only the chaste man or woman who can make the Ojas rise and become stored in the brain, and that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue, because man feels that if he is unchaste, spirituality goes away, he loses mental vigour, and strong moral stamina. That is why in all of the religious orders in the world that have produced spiritual giants you will always find this intense chastity insisted upon. That is why the monks came into existence, giving up marriage. There must be perfect chastity in thought, word and deed. Without it the practice of Raja Yoga is dangerous, and may lead to insanity.'
What I take from this is that anyone can practice energy transmutation for total wellbeing (and my own Guru Sri Vasudeva has provided a step-by-step series on how to do this - free of charge, open access - no sign up required - see link) - however to become enlightened requires the guidance of a master. Perfect chastity is actually on all levels of being, not merely celibacy. Only the most advanced yogis require it, so that all the pranas from all the chakras below the crown can be taken up to the highest point, and for this to happen grace is required, the grace of the Inner Guru and the grace of the Supreme Divine. Nobody can give it to you. It has to be earned.
Cities Based on the Cosmological Circle
Societies ancient and modern where the urban planners had access to sacred geometry built cities and probably the social structures of society to go with it. More enlightened social structures are badly needed and the intentional community movement is a step in that direction. We need to get away from hierarchical thinking and return to a deeper understanding of soul purpose and Self, to live in harmony with all forms of life, respecting all roles and the global ecosystem that is currently out of balance, and its place in the macrocosm. The ancients and the sages of today have a much better understanding than the current elites who now rule our planet.
There is going to be a long list here, an ongoing project, but for now I begin with Auroville, based on Sri Aurobindo's teachings, that grew out of a basic concept drawn by his spiritual partner (below):
Mother Mira Alfrasa's sketch for Auroville - see link for details. |
There are many more cosmological cities to explore...the list will continue here...
Hindu temple construction
The Manduka Mandala is a template for the construction of a basic Hindu temple. Many of the names especially along the edges (the moon path) correspond to nakshatra names or the names of their deities - this is the realm of mind (nakshatras are lunar mansions). Notice how we have 7x4 boxes adding up to the 28, same as for the Chinese system. The inner square is made up of 12 boxes, same number as the zodiac.By Mark.muesse - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34593205 |
Hebrew alphabet - Genesis cosmology
'In 1968 Stan Tenen discovered a pattern in the arrangement of letters in the first verse of the Hebrew text of Genesis. He has spent the next 45 years investigating the meaning of that pattern and what it implies.' (url) As you will see in the video below, that pattern is the cosmological circle. Note that the Hebrew alphabet has 27 letters and the first verse of Genesis that creates this pattern is compose of 27 letter. Both alphabet and verse are 28 including an extra letter.-------
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*(Not intending to demonize Ayuhuasca, click here to see possibilities for certain controlled clinical psychology applications. Dr. Gabor Mate is a really progressive thinker and champion of harm reduction for substance abusers. Being a natural product not extracted and reprocessed it doesn't have the side effects of other psychadelics. Apparently it is more the ritual factors than the actual drug itself that is the real change mechanism in this intervention for PTSD patients...which I suspect is the same for people who take it for spiritual purposes. The mind is a powerful healer too.)
- Read also THE ROAD TO ELEUSIS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ALBERT HOFMANN, an interview done in 2014 'To Hofmann, the most important thing was to prove that the ingestion of these substances was always linked to the sacred, and that their use had to be subjected to the demands of the ritual and the observance of a high priest. By abolishing the habitual division between the self and the other, between the subject and his surroundings, and facilitating the access to a non-dualist reality, the experience with psychedelic substances, in his view, was almost identical to the enlightening experience of religions. But he also warned that, without the correct treatment, without the correct preparation that was granted in mystic environments, the experience with these substances could be fatal ––they can prompt several types of psychic trauma. Today, in absence of a religion like that of Eleusis, only psychiatrists would be qualified to replace the priest on the path to an enlightening experience.'
** Excerpt from this article: 'In 1970 I had also come across the writings of Vitvan, an American master trained in the early 20th century in the ancient Hindu tradition of meditation. His writings provided deeper insight into this cosmos as a vast energy system and the geometric language of nature which can be understood as consciousness manifesting materially as geometric configurations of units of energy, atoms. I think he’s correct in that each of nature’s forms in this living cosmos, from crystals to flowers to creatures, planets, stars and galaxies, is a geometric expression revealing the state in which it’s conscious. Consciousness itself is evolving, trailed by its form. I was amused to realize that the words “matter” and “pattern” derive from the Latin mater and pater, “mother” and “father” — the cosmos takes the form of matter in patterns; i.e., the Periodic Table of Elements, etc. Through Vitvan I was also introduced to the longest and most profound poem written in English, Savitri by Sri Aurobindo Ghose, the astrological language of Biblical symbolism in The Restored New Testament by James Morgan Pryse, and Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski with his teachings of “General Semantics” and how the words we use and think with influence what we “see”.'
***Feng Shui expert Derek Walters has researched the Pakua/Bagua used for Feng Shui and noted in one of his lectures that the 28 lunar constellations were originally incorporated in older versions of it.