Overcoming difficult Karma - Astrological Remedies
/A few days ago, I came across a video that had more than 2 million hits, offering a mantra that had the power to get you your dream job. This type of pop culture astrology has been popular in India for a long time and is becoming prevalent worldwide in the “click bait” internet age. No one is immune to difficult karma, and naturally we all seek the quickest and easiest remedies.
Truth is no one ever overcame their difficulties by chanting a few mantras carelessly, wearing some expensive gems or performing a simple ritual prescribed by an astrologer. Unfortunately, these oversimplified remedies to our deeply embedded samskaras, keep Vedic Astrology a fringe healing modality, rather than the “Eyes of the Vedas”, as it was named by the Vedic seers and sages.
All the Vedic Sciences, including Yoga, Mantra, Chakras, Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology, have two primary foundational remedies in dealing with hardships and overcoming fate:
1) Sadhana, or sustained spiritual practice that cultivates the power of Presence and Attention. The strength of our mind’s ability to confront and overcome difficulties can be seen by the power of our presence and attention .
2) Balancing and harmonizing the Pancha Maha Bhuta, the Five Elements, in our body, mind and consciousness. The strength of our free-will can be seen by our relationship to the Five Elements; Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.
While not all Karma can, or should be, neutralized, most karma can be influenced by the power of our Presence and the discernment that comes with the Five Elements functioning harmoniously.
The guided meditation video above is designed to help you increase both your power of presence, as well as bring you into a deeper relationship with the Five Elements. The intention we can bring to this practice is to release the Samskaras, that are creating misbeliefs and polarity, resulting in what we call difficult karma.
Vedic Astrology and the Five Elements
Your personal biology, psychology and spirituality functions exactly as Natural Law. When any of the Five Elements go out of balance in our body, mind or consciousness, we find ourselves beset by difficulties.
From the Vedic Astrology perspective, a remedy works by helping us make a course correction in the underuse, overuse or superficial use of an Element, related Planet and Zodiac sign.
- Air Signs: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius and their rulers Mercury, Venus and Saturn
- Fire Signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius and their rulers Mars, Sun and Jupiter
- Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces and their rulers Moon, Mars, and Jupiter
- Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn and their rulers Venus, Mercury and Saturn
(Note that Sun and Moon rule over one sign and one Element only; the Moon rules the Water Sign of Cancer and the Sun the Fire sign of Leo. All the other planets rule over two signs and two different Elements).
Beyond the Four Elements there is the Fifth Element, Ether, that exists in our body, mind and consciousness, as the primal cosmic element from which the other elements originated.
Balancing the Five Elements
The more harmoniously these elements are functioning in a horoscope the gentler the karma of the person. This is why having well placed planets in kendras or angles (Houses 1, 4, 7, 10) is considered auspicious, as each angle will contain the energy of a different element that you can access.
In addition, in order for any spiritual remedy to work we have to cultivate our power of attention through mindfulness and meditation practices. When we are present we are in touch with ourselves, our True inner essence or Atman, so the old patterns and memory patterns contained in planetary Samskara lose their hold. When we are not in the "now” we are in the past or the future, completely at the mercy of our memories, with little free will to navigate our fate.
In reverse, the more discernment we have to access the appropriate Element and Planet at the right time, right place with the right person, the higher the quality of presence in our consciousness, and less the influence of the pre-determined results of the planets on our Karma.
In a distraction filled internet and social media age, cultivating the power of focus, presence and attention is more critical than ever before. Furthermore, if humanity is to thrive in the coming decades, we are all responsible for following Natural Law and creating a more balanced and sustainable outer and inner ecology.
I hope that you will find this meditation to be a valuable resource to get you started on a daily mediation practice. Set an intention and practice this 30-minute exercise for 30 days, as a remedy for whatever is causing you anxiety or grief and see how your perspective changes.
If you want to learn more about how the Five Elements and the related Planets are functioning in your horoscope, consider signing up for self-paced study of Vedic Astrology with me.