OUTWITTING THE STARS
“Mukunda, why don’t you get an astrological armlet?”
“Should I, Master? I don’t believe in astrology.”
“It is never a question of BELIEF; the only scientific attitude
one can take on any subject is whether it is TRUE. The law of
gravitation worked as efficiently before Newton as after him. The
cosmos would be fairly chaotic if its laws could not operate without
the sanction of human belief.
“Charlatans have brought the stellar science to its present state
of disrepute. Astrology is too vast, both mathematically {FN16-1}
and philosophically, to be rightly grasped except by men of profound
understanding. If ignoramuses misread the heavens, and see there a
scrawl instead of a script, that is to be expected in this imperfect
world. One should not dismiss the wisdom with the ‘wise.’
“All parts of creation are linked together and interchange their
influences. The balanced rhythm of the universe is rooted in
reciprocity,” my guru continued. “Man, in his human aspect, has
to combat two sets of forces-first, the tumults within his being,
caused by the admixture of earth, water, fire, air, and ethereal
elements; second, the outer disintegrating powers of nature. So long
as man struggles with his mortality, he is affected by the myriad
mutations of heaven and earth.
“Astrology is the study of man’s response to planetary stimuli.
The stars have no conscious benevolence or animosity; they merely
send forth positive and negative radiations. Of themselves, these
do not help or harm humanity, but offer a lawful channel for the
outward operation of cause-effect equilibriums which each man has
set into motion in the past.
“A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial
rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. His
horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable
past and its probable future results. But the natal chart can be
rightly interpreted only by men of intuitive wisdom: these are few.
“The message boldly blazoned across the heavens at the moment
of birth is not meant to emphasize fate-the result of past good
and evil-but to arouse man’s will to escape from his universal
thralldom. What he has done, he can undo. None other than himself
was the instigator of the causes of whatever effects are now
prevalent in his life. He can overcome any limitation, because he
created it by his own actions in the first place, and because he
has spiritual resources which are not subject to planetary pressure.
“Superstitious awe of astrology makes one an automaton, slavishly
dependent on mechanical guidance. The wise man defeats his
planets—which is to say, his past-by transferring his allegiance
from the creation to the Creator. The more he realizes his unity
with Spirit, the less he can be dominated by matter. The soul is
ever-free; it is deathless because birthless. It cannot be regimented
by stars.
“Man IS a soul, and HAS a body. When he properly places his sense
of identity, he leaves behind all compulsive patterns. So long as
he remains confused in his ordinary state of spiritual amnesia, he
will know the subtle fetters of environmental law.
“God is harmony; the devotee who attunes himself will never perform
any action amiss. His activities will be correctly and naturally timed
to accord with astrological law. After deep prayer and meditation
he is in touch with his divine consciousness; there is no greater
power than that inward protection.”
“Then, dear Master, why do you want me to wear an astrological
bangle?” I ventured this question after a long silence, during
which I had tried to assimilate Sri Yukteswar’s noble exposition.
“It is only when a traveler has reached his goal that he is justified
in discarding his maps. During the journey, he takes advantage of
any convenient short cut. The ancient rishis discovered many ways
to curtail the period of man’s exile in delusion. There are certain
mechanical features in the law of karma which can be skillfully
adjusted by the fingers of wisdom.
“All human ills arise from some transgression of universal law.
The scriptures point out that man must satisfy the laws of nature,
while not discrediting the divine omnipotence. He should say: ‘Lord,
I trust in Thee, and know Thou canst help me, but I too will do
my best to undo any wrong I have done.’ By a number of means-by
prayer, by will power, by yoga meditation, by consultation with
saints, by use of astrological bangles-the adverse effects of past
wrongs can be minimized or nullified.
“Just as a house can be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the
shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be benefited by various
protective measures. Ages ago our yogis discovered that pure metals
emit an astral light which is powerfully counteractive to negative
pulls of the planets. Subtle electrical and magnetic radiations
are constantly circulating in the universe; when a man’s body is
being aided, he does not know it; when it is being disintegrated,
he is still in ignorance. Can he do anything about it?
“This problem received attention from our rishis; they found helpful
not only a combination of metals, but also of plants and-most
effective of all-faultless jewels of not less than two carats. The
preventive uses of astrology have seldom been seriously studied
outside of India. One little-known fact is that the proper jewels,
metals, or plant preparations are valueless unless the required
weight is secured, and unless these remedial agents are worn next
to the skin.”
“Sir, of course I shall take your advice and get a bangle. I am
intrigued at the thought of outwitting a planet!”
“For general purposes I counsel the use of an armlet made of gold,
silver, and copper. But for a specific purpose I want you to get
one of silver and lead.” Sri Yukteswar added careful directions.
“Guruji, what ‘specific purpose’ do you mean?”
“The stars are about to take an unfriendly interest in you, Mukunda.
Fear not; you shall be protected. In about a month your liver will
cause you much trouble. The illness is scheduled to last for six
months, but your use of an astrological armlet will shorten the
period to twenty-four days.”
I sought out a jeweler the next day, and was soon wearing the
bangle. My health was excellent; Master’s prediction slipped from
my mind. He left Serampore to visit Benares. Thirty days after our
conversation, I felt a sudden pain in the region of my liver. The
following weeks were a nightmare of excruciating pain. Reluctant
to disturb my guru, I thought I would bravely endure my trial alone.
But twenty-three days of torture weakened my resolution; I entrained
for Benares. There Sri Yukteswar greeted me with unusual warmth,
but gave me no opportunity to tell him my woes in private. Many
devotees visited Master that day, just for a DARSHAN. {FN16-2}
Ill and neglected, I sat in a corner. It was not until after the
evening meal that all guests had departed. My guru summoned me to
the octagonal balcony of the house.
“You must have come about your liver disorder.” Sri Yukteswar’s
gaze was averted; he walked to and fro, occasionally intercepting
the moonlight. “Let me see; you have been ailing for twenty-four
days, haven’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please do the stomach exercise I have taught you.”
“If you knew the extent of my suffering, Master, you would not ask
me to exercise.” Nevertheless I made a feeble attempt to obey him.
“You say you have pain; I say you have none. How can such contradictions
exist?” My guru looked at me inquiringly.
I was dazed and then overcome with joyful relief. No longer could
I feel the continuous torment that had kept me nearly sleepless
for weeks; at Sri Yukteswar’s words the agony vanished as though
it had never been.
I started to kneel at his feet in gratitude, but he quickly prevented
me.
“Don’t be childish. Get up and enjoy the beauty of the moon over
the Ganges.” But Master’s eyes were twinkling happily as I stood
in silence beside him. I understood by his attitude that he wanted
me to feel that not he, but God, had been the Healer.
I wear even now the heavy silver and lead bangle, a memento of that
day-long-past, ever-cherished-when I found anew that I was living
with a personage indeed superhuman. On later occasions, when
I brought my friends to Sri Yukteswar for healing, he invariably
recommended jewels or the bangle, extolling their use as an act of
astrological wisdom.
I had been prejudiced against astrology from my childhood, partly
because I observed that many people are sequaciously attached to it,
and partly because of a prediction made by our family astrologer:
“You will marry three times, being twice a widower.” I brooded
over the matter, feeling like a goat awaiting sacrifice before the
temple of triple matrimony.
“You may as well be resigned to your fate,” my brother Ananta had
remarked. “Your written horoscope has correctly stated that you
would fly from home toward the Himalayas during your early years,
but would be forcibly returned. The forecast of your marriages is
also bound to be true.”
A clear intuition came to me one night that the prophecy was wholly
false. I set fire to the horoscope scroll, placing the ashes in a
paper bag on which I wrote: “Seeds of past karma cannot germinate
if they are roasted in the divine fires of wisdom.” I put the bag
in a conspicuous spot; Ananta immediately read my defiant comment.
“You cannot destroy truth as easily as you have burnt this paper
scroll.” My brother laughed scornfully.
It is a fact that on three occasions before I reached manhood, my
family tried to arrange my betrothal. Each time I refused to fall
in with the plans, {FN16-3} knowing that my love for God was more
overwhelming than any astrological persuasion from the past.
“The deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences
the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the
less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.” These words
of Master’s often returned inspiringly to my mind.
Occasionally I told astrologers to select my worst periods, according
to planetary indications, and I would still accomplish whatever
task I set myself. It is true that my success at such times has
been accompanied by extraordinary difficulties. But my conviction
has always been justified: faith in the divine protection, and the
right use of man’s God-given will, are forces formidable beyond
any the “inverted bowl” can muster.
The starry inscription at one’s birth, I came to understand, is not
that man is a puppet of his past. Its message is rather a prod to
pride; the very heavens seek to arouse man’s determination to be
free from every limitation. God created each man as a soul, dowered
with individuality, hence essential to the universal structure,
whether in the temporary role of pillar or parasite. His freedom
is final and immediate, if he so wills; it depends not on outer
but inner victories.
Sri Yukteswar discovered the mathematical application of a 24,000-year
equinoctial cycle to our present age. {FN16-4} The cycle is divided
into an Ascending Arc and a Descending Arc, each of 12,000 years.
Within each Arc fall four YUGAS or Ages, called KALI, DWAPARA,
TRETA, and SATYA, corresponding to the Greek ideas of Iron, Bronze,
Silver, and Golden Ages.
My guru determined by various calculations that the last KALI YUGA
or Iron Age, of the Ascending Arc, started about A.D. 500. The Iron
Age, 1200 years in duration, is a span of materialism; it ended
about A.D. 1700. That year ushered in DWAPARA YUGA, a 2400-year
period of electrical and atomic-energy developments, the age of
telegraph, radio, airplanes, and other space-annihilators.
The 3600-year period of TRETA YUGA will start in A.D. 4100; its
age will be marked by common knowledge of telepathic communications
and other time-annihilators. During the 4800 years of SATYA YUGA,
final age in an ascending arc, the intelligence of a man will be
completely developed; he will work in harmony with the divine plan.
A descending arc of 12,000 years, starting with a descending
Golden Age of 4800 years, then begins {FN16-5} for the world; man
gradually sinks into ignorance. These cycles are the eternal rounds
of MAYA, the contrasts and relativities of the phenomenal universe.
{FN16-6} Man, one by one, escapes from creation’s prison of duality
as he awakens to consciousness of his inseverable divine unity with
the Creator.
Master enlarged my understanding not only of astrology but of the
world’s scriptures. Placing the holy texts on the spotless table of
his mind, he was able to dissect them with the scalpel of intuitive
reasoning, and to separate errors and interpolations of scholars
from the truths as originally expressed by the prophets.
“Fix one’s vision on the end of the nose.” This inaccurate
interpretation of a BHAGAVAD GITA stanza, {FN16-7} widely accepted
by Eastern pundits and Western translators, used to arouse Master’s
droll criticism.
“The path of a yogi is singular enough as it is,” he remarked. “Why
counsel him that he must also make himself cross-eyed? The true
meaning of NASIKAGRAM is ‘origin of the nose,’ not ‘end of the
nose.’ The nose begins at the point between the two eyebrows, the
seat of spiritual vision.” {FN16-8} Because of one SANKHYA {FN16-9}
aphorism, “ISWAR-ASHIDHA,”-“A Lord of Creation cannot be deduced”
or “God is not proved,” {FN16-10}—many scholars call the whole
philosophy atheistical.
“The verse is not nihilistic,” Sri Yukteswar explained. “It merely
signifies that to the unenlightened man, dependent on his senses
for all final judgments, proof of God must remain unknown and
therefore non-existent. True SANKHYA followers, with unshakable
insight born of meditation, understand that the Lord is both existent
and knowable.”
Master expounded the Christian Bible with a beautiful clarity.
It was from my Hindu guru, unknown to the roll call of Christian
membership, that I learned to perceive the deathless essence of
the Bible, and to understand the truth in Christ’s assertion-surely
the most thrillingly intransigent ever uttered: “Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” {FN16-11}
The great masters of India mold their lives by the same godly ideals
which animated Jesus; these men are his proclaimed kin: “Whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother.” {FN16-12} “If ye continue in my
word,” Christ pointed out, “then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” {FN16-13}
Freemen all, lords of themselves, the Yogi-Christs of India are part
of the immortal fraternity: those who have attained a liberating
knowledge of the One Father.
“The Adam and Eve story is incomprehensible to me!” I observed with
considerable heat one day in my early struggles with the allegory.
“Why did God punish not only the guilty pair, but also the innocent
unborn generations?”
Master was more amused by my vehemence than my ignorance. “GENESIS
is deeply symbolic, and cannot be grasped by a literal interpretation,”
he explained. “Its ‘tree of life’ is the human body. The spinal
cord is like an upturned tree, with man’s hair as its roots, and
afferent and efferent nerves as branches. The tree of the nervous
system bears many enjoyable fruits, or sensations of sight, sound,
smell, taste, and touch. In these, man may rightfully indulge; but
he was forbidden the experience of sex, the ‘apple’ at the center
of the bodily garden. {FN16-14}
“The ‘serpent’ represents the coiled-up spinal energy which stimulates
the sex nerves. ‘Adam’ is reason, and ‘Eve’ is feeling. When the
emotion or Eve-consciousness in any human being is overpowered by
the sex impulse, his reason or Adam also succumbs. {FN16-15}
“God created the human species by materializing the bodies of man
and woman through the force of His will; He endowed the new species
with the power to create children in a similar ‘immaculate’ or divine
manner. {FN16-16} Because His manifestation in the individualized
soul had hitherto been limited to animals, instinct-bound and
lacking the potentialities of full reason, God made the first human
bodies, symbolically called Adam and Eve. To these, for advantageous
upward evolution, He transferred the souls or divine essence of two
animals. {FN16-17} In Adam or man, reason predominated; in Eve or
woman, feeling was ascendant. Thus was expressed the duality or
polarity which underlies the phenomenal worlds. Reason and feeling
remain in a heaven of cooperative joy so long as the human mind is
not tricked by the serpentine energy of animal propensities.
“The human body was therefore not solely a result of evolution from
beasts, but was produced by an act of special creation by God. The
animal forms were too crude to express full divinity; the human being
was uniquely given a tremendous mental capacity-the ‘thousand-petaled
lotus’ of the brain-as well as acutely awakened occult centers in
the spine.
“God, or the Divine Consciousness present within the first created
pair, counseled them to enjoy all human sensibilities, but not to
put their concentration on touch sensations. {FN16-18} These were
banned in order to avoid the development of the sex organs, which
would enmesh humanity in the inferior animal method of propagation.
The warning not to revive subconsciously-present bestial memories
was not heeded. Resuming the way of brute procreation, Adam and
Eve fell from the state of heavenly joy natural to the original
perfect man.
“Knowledge of ‘good and evil’ refers to the cosmic dualistic
compulsion. Falling under the sway of MAYA through misuse of his
feeling and reason, or Eve-and Adam-consciousness, man relinquishes
his right to enter the heavenly garden of divine self-sufficiency.
{FN16-19} The personal responsibility of every human being is to
restore his ‘parents’ or dual nature to a unified harmony or Eden.”
As Sri Yukteswar ended his discourse, I glanced with new respect
at the pages of GENESIS.
“Dear Master,” I said, “for the first time I feel a proper filial
obligation toward Adam and Eve!”
{FN16-1} From astronomical references in ancient Hindu scriptures,
scholars have been able to correctly ascertain the dates of the
authors. The scientific knowledge of the rishis was very great; in
the KAUSHITAKI BRAHMANA we find precise astronomical passages which
show that in 3100 B.C. the Hindus were far advanced in astronomy,
which had a practical value in determining the auspicious times
for astrological ceremonies. In an article in EAST-WEST, February,
1934, the following summary is given of the JYOTISH or body
of Vedic astronomical treatises: “It contains the scientific lore
which kept India at the forefront of all ancient nations and made
her the mecca of seekers after knowledge. The very ancient BRAHMAGUPTA,
one of the JYOTISH works, is an astronomical treatise dealing with
such matters as the heliocentric motion of the planetary bodies
in our solar system, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the earth’s
spherical form, the reflected light of the moon, the earth’s daily
axial revolution, the presence of fixed stars in the Milky Way, the
law of gravitation, and other scientific facts which did not dawn
in the Western world until the time of Copernicus and Newton.”
It is now well-known that the so-called “Arabic numerals,” without
whose symbols advanced mathematics is difficult, came to Europe in
the 9th century, via the Arabs, from India, where that system of
notation had been anciently formulated. Further light on India’s
vast scientific heritage will be found in Dr. P. C. Ray’s HISTORY
OF HINDU CHEMISTRY, and in Dr. B. N. Seal’s POSITIVE SCIENCES OF
THE ANCIENT HINDUS.
{FN16-2} The blessing which flows from the mere sight of a saint.
{FN16-3} One of the girls whom my family selected as a possible
bride for me, afterwards married my cousin, Prabhas Chandra Ghose.
{FN16-4} A series of thirteen articles on the historical verification
of Sri Yukteswar’s YUGA theory appeared in the magazine EAST-WEST
(Los Angeles) from September, 1932, to September, 1933.
{FN16-5} In the year A.D. 12,500.
{FN16-6} The Hindu scriptures place the present world-age as
occurring within the KALI YUGA of a much longer universal cycle than
the simple 24,000-year equinoctial cycle with which Sri Yukteswar
was concerned. The universal cycle of the scriptures is 4,300,560,000
years in extent, and measures out a Day of Creation or the length
of life assigned to our planetary system in its present form. This
vast figure given by the rishis is based on a relationship between
the length of the solar year and a multiple of Pi (3.1416, the
ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle).
The life span for a whole universe, according to the ancient seers,
is 314,159,000,000,000 solar years, or “One Age of Brahma.”
Scientists estimate the present age of the earth to be about two
billion years, basing their conclusions on a study of lead pockets
left as a result of radioactivity in rocks. The Hindu scriptures
declare that an earth such as ours is dissolved for one of two
reasons: the inhabitants as a whole become either completely good
or completely evil. The world-mind thus generates a power which
releases the captive atoms held together as an earth.
Dire pronouncements are occasionally published regarding an imminent
“end of the world.” The latest prediction of doom was given by Rev.
Chas. G. Long of Pasadena, who publicly set the “Day of Judgment”
for Sept. 21, 1945. UNITED PRESS reporters asked my opinion; I
explained that world cycles follow an orderly progression according
to a divine plan. No earthly dissolution is in sight; two billion
years of ascending and descending equinoctial cycles are yet
in store for our planet in its present form. The figures given by
the rishis for the various world ages deserve careful study in the
West; the magazine TIME (Dec. 17, 1945, p. 6) called them “reassuring
statistics.”
{FN16-7} chapter VI:13.
{FN16-8} “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine
eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine
eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore
that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”-LUKE 11:34-35.
{FN16-9} One of the six systems of Hindu philosophy. SANKHYA teaches
final emancipation through knowledge of twenty-five principles,
starting with PRAKRITI or nature and ending with PURUSHA or soul.
{FN16-10} SANKHYA APHORISMS, I:92.
{FN16-11} MATTHEW 24:35.
{FN16-12} MATTHEW 12:50.
{FN16-13} JOHN 8:31-32. St. John testified: “But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name (even to them who are established in the
Christ Consciousness).”-JOHN 1:12.
{FN16-14} “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die.”-GENESIS 3:2-3.
{FN16-15} “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat. The woman said, The serpent beguiled
me, and I did eat.”-GEN. 3:12-13.
{FN16-16} “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it.”-GEN. 1:27-28.
{FN16-17} “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul.”-GEN. 2:7.
{FN16-18} “Now the serpent (sex force) was more subtil than any
beast of the field” (any other sense of the body).-GEN. 3:1.
{FN16-19} “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and
there he put the man whom he had formed.”-GEN. 2:8. “Therefore the
Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground
from whence he was taken.”-GEN. 3:23. The divine man first made
by God had his consciousness centered in the omnipotent single eye
in the forehead (eastward). The all-creative powers of his will,
focused at that spot, were lost to man when he began to “till the
ground” of his physical nature.