Vedanta in Rishikesh, day 5

27 September 2005

There are many forms of “I” – the one who sees, who hears, who smells, who tastes, who touches. But there is another “I” who encompasses all.

Jewelry comes in many forms – rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc – but gold is the common element of which they are all composed. The atma is the gold standard of all the individual selves.

For an analogy, consider the optician, who tests us with various lenses to determine through which we see best. Or think of an insect – a complete little system complete unto itself.

The cuckoo doesn’t build its own nest but lays its eggs in the crow’s nest, pushing the crow’s eggs out. Then the dull-witted crow hatches the eggs of the cuckoo.

There’s a childhood nursery rhyme that says, “All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all.” In fact, although much beauty exists in nature, not all is perfect. The closer we look, the more we see the imperfections.

So it is with marriage. At first love, we see only the rose. After marriage we see the thorns. But after time and devotion, we see the whole – both the rose and the thorns. Once we see the whole thing – the true nature – we gain acceptance. With acceptance comes maturity.

Within the world of objects, everything has its pluses and minuses. A fresh fruit eventually rots. When fresh, I can eat it, but when it rots, it is useless to me. But it is not useless for the insect and worms and microbes that will eat it.

Think of the difference between a high-speed camera – a drop of water splashing into a pool and splashing outward – or time-lapse photography – capturing the blooming of a petal. We cannot see these things with our eyes but they are aspects of reality.

All of nature, including sentient and non-sentient things, exist within a body of laws that govern them – some unique, some universal. The atoms with their nuclei and electrons, the rivers, the trees, people, etc – each operates according to a design that embraces all.

There is so much we don’t understand. Even our knowledge of our skin, which we touch every day, is only skin-deep. But for a scientist who has studied skin, it is no longer a mystery. It is a system that conforms to a set of rules and conditions.

This applies to all natural phenomena. Most of it we don’t understand, but there are laws that do govern their operation. Every planet operates according to its own nature – angle of inclination to the ecliptic, period of rotation, etc – but all conform to planetary laws of motion regarding orbital periods.

Individuality exists, but so too does an over-riding order for all.

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Alan Annand is a graduate of the American College of Vedic Astrology and a former tutor for the British Faculty of Astrological Studies. 

His New Age Noir crime novels (Scorpio Rising, Felonious Monk, Soma County) feature astrologer and palmist Axel Crowe, whom one reviewer has dubbed “Sherlock Holmes with a horoscope.”

He’s also the author of several non-fiction books. Stellar Astrology offers a compilation of Vedic astrology techniques, in-depth celebrity profiles, and analysis of world events. Parivartana Yoga is a reference text for one of the most common yet powerful planetary combinations in jyotish. Mutual Reception is an expanded companion volume for western practitioners, covering the same subject of planetary exchange through the lens of traditional astrology.

Websites: www.navamsa.com, www.sextile.com

You can find his books on Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.