A NEW ERA E-MAGAZINE

Since 1997April 2020

tasmai śrīgurave namah

Dedicated to the lotus feet of Mastergāru.

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Editorial

Protection of Dharma 6The need to the hour

Ganapati 8The lord of groups

Lessons on Astrology 13

A series on Vedic Astrology

Masters of Wisdom 16

Who are they and what do they do?

Karma 20

A short story

CONTENTS

India, traditionally the land of "Gurus” and"Sishyas" stands as a beacon for many nations andoffers spiritual solace to parched souls. Great Rishislike Vasistha, Viswamitra, Agastya and othersguided the destiny of many kings and kingdomswhile avatars like Rama and Krishna descended hereto blaze a trail of ethics for men to follow whenbewildered by the problems and tribulationsinherent in the human condition. Their efficacy asexemplars most potent in the Indian ethos hasenough universal relevance to be of use to seekersthe world over.

In the beginning of the 20th century SwamiVivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and many other Indianseers and Masters of Wisdom rightly highlightedthe glory of our cultural heritage. Ideally, the press,with its tremendous outreach, would be the bestmedium through which to spread the message ofevolved souls. But unfortunately the completelycommercialised media of today is bothered moreabout financial success and cheap popularity thanabout moulding character through the power of theprinted word.

A PATHWAY TO PEACEEditorial

Mihira has taken upon itself the onerousresponsibility of helping people step into New Erawith poise and confidence that only a goodgrounding in sound moral values and a holisticattitude to life can promote. As nothing is out of thepurview of the Divine, Mihira proposes to cover allaspects of life - Spiritualism, Astrology, Yoga,Health, Fine Arts, Service Activities andsagas of human enterprise besides brieffeatures on the lives of great men and womenfrom all walks of life from all parts of the world.Accounts of places of pilgrimage and teachingsfrom the Vedas and other scriptures will also bepresented in capsule form. It is hoped that theguidelines to right living that such holy texts offerand their unanimous underscoring of the impor-tance of lives lived in harmony with nature will rectifythe modern obsession with materialistic pursuits.Mihira's aim is not so much to offer new territories ofintellectual stimulation as to guide each reader in ajourney inward where reserves of peace are waitingto be tapped.

Founder and EditorMaster M.R.L Rao

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The man who lives in the beliefthat the self is the body dies aslave to the body. The man, wholives believing that the self resideswithin the body, dies a prisonershackled to the body. But the onewho realises that the body hasbeen given as an implement forthe use of the self leads a life ofcompleteness and attainsimmortality at the end of life.

There is no death for such a man.

He only sheds the physical body.When man realises his true

identity to be enlightenedconsciousness, he will perceivebody, mind and sense organs etc.,as rays or fragments of that sameconsciousness. He begins to seethe self as the source of light andhis body as an emanation.

Physical bodies are recognised byhim as differentiations from thatlight. Death is understood by himas the merging of differentiationsinto their source. The person whohas knowledge of this secret is nolonger bound by bodilyattachments of illusions.

Protection of DharmaMaster M.R.L Rao

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The experience of the light in himwill help him to see others asembodiments of the same light.He realises that all men aremanifestations of light from thesame Cosmic Fire. When it isrealised that all are "Limbs" ofthe same Cosmic Body, thewelfare of that Body acquires aspecial significance. Then anunderstanding grows in him thatthe nation is more important thanthe individual.

Similarly, the true meaning ofnationalism will only then becomeclear. A limb cannot have anexistence away from or apart fromthe body. By the same token, anindividual, a limb of the nation,

“Belief in the teachings of one religion generally presupposes disbelief ordenial of the tenets of another religion. If such a thing exists in the mindit is a stumbling block on the way of salvation. The tenets of anyone reli-gion are good as long as the believer does not entertain the idea that thenon-believers are all sinners, and they go to eternal hell. Belief is the onlyone thing that brings salvation, but it is not the belief of a particularreligion. Belief in the Omnipresence of God makes man a God-man. TheGod may not be a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist. Onthe lower planes man is inclined to own God as his own god and attributehis own ugly features to his own God. God is beyond the imperfections ofman though He pervades man.”

Master E.K

cannot be well unless the nation iswell set. Thinking about this willmake it easier to give greaterprominence to nationality than toindividuality.

Such an outlook will tremendouslyimprove the prosperity of thenation and with it the wealth andwell being of the individuals whobelong to it. Disaster strikes whena nation is inhabited by peoplewho put their self-interest abovethe interests of the nation. Peopleprosper only when they work forthe prosperity of their respectivenations.

Thus, 'Dharma' is that which whenprotected by us, protects us.

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There are many mantras dedicatedto various deities in the Veda. It isdue to this that they who do notunderstand the Veda assume itteaches polytheism. The Veda alsoproclaims that there is only oneSupreme Lord who is immanent inall. He displays his powers invarious aspects of creation and indoing so, he appears as the Lordof that particular aspect. Whencreating - he is Brahma, whenpreserving – he is Vishnu and whenabsorbing back into himself – he isShiva. For example: a man is a

father to his son, a husband to hiswife and a brother to his sister. Theman remains the same but heappears in various guises to theson, wife and sister. The sameapplies to the Lord who isantaryāmi and pervades all.

This Lord is called Ganapati whenhe is the master of the ganās(groups) at the beginning ofcreation. The word “Gananāyaka”means the “Lord of Groups”. Theplanets of our solar system revolvearound the Sun in groups. Scripturesays that there are 12 Suns in all

Ganapati(Translated writings of Master M.R.L Rao)

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including ours which revolvearound an even greater Sun in thecenter. The aspect of the Lordimmanent in creation who rulesand regulates these groups in thecosmos is Ganapati.

Humans exist as 7 groups on earth.These groups are again sub-divided into races, sub-races andfamilies and undergo constantdevelopment. The power (shakti)which drives and governs thesegroups is again Ganapati.

Speech only becomes meaningfulwhen divided into groups of words.The Word and it’s meaning existseparately as Parvati andParameshwara. They cometogether to give birth to Ganapati

or the the meaning of the word.The divine couple exist as two linestravelling from the same sourcewhich can only be joined by thethird line which is Ganapati. Thisforms the equilateral triangle whichis Ganapati’s yantra.

We cannot form a shape with twolines, we need a third line to jointhem which is why the firstgeometrical shape in the cosmos isa triangle. Other shapes like thesquare, diamond etc. can only beformed after this.

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There is a difference betweenvocalized sound and speech. Thissound when broken up into partsforms vowels and consonants.These, when joined together formwords and these in turn formsentences. A collection ofsentences forms a story. This storyis life itself. If this life is to be madejoyous, one should know where topause and where to start. Thisknowledge of pausing and startingis granted by the Lord of obstacles– Vināyaka.

We require brakes when driving amotorcycle or a car. It can bedeadly if they are non-functional.The vocal chords in us whichproduce sound are calledGrāvānaa in the Veda. Rarepresents the Agni bīja or theIgnition principle in nature. ‘G‘ isthe Ganapati bīja or the brakingprinciple.

This means the braking principle,represented by Ganapati,constantly regulates the flow ofspeech to produce meaningfulalphabets, words and sentences.This is why he is called by namessuch as Vighnanayaka,Vighneshwara etc.

There is a parallel between thespoken word and creation. Theword eternal means to have nobeginning or end. Tamarind, waterand salt exist separately asingredients but when mixedtogether in the right proportionscreate Sambar. This is apūrvam (anew manifestation of matter thathas no existence in the past). In thesame way, the manifestation ofcreation is a continuous process ofbeing re-created at every instant.The energy or Shakti that powersthis process is called Hasta – theNakshatra with the same namebeing one of it’s manifestations.This is why Ganesha is also calledHastimukha.

This Shakti also provides theimpetus for the anugraha or graceof the Guru in our solar system. Heis also called Brihaspati orBrahmanaspati and is thepurusharuupa or male form ofSaraswati. He is to be propitiatedbefore all new beginnings, whetherthey be studies or auspiciousoccasions.

Those who seek aishwaryam (thatwhich you need comes to youunasked for) or material or spiritual

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comforts will find these within eachreach if they worship Ganapati.

The practice of performingudvāsana (sending away the deity)at the end of Ganapati puja is apractice that is of recent origin andhas no Vedic sanction. It may bethat a section of society felt theycan go back to their vices once thedivine presence has left the placeof worship and so added this stepto the ritual.

The very act of worship mustinvolve performing āvāhana orinvoking the presence of the deityinto oneself. The Ganapati mantramust be chanted while visualisingthe deity in our heart and browcenters. Gam is the Mantra, theform of the deity is the Yantra andthe act of visualizing Ganapati isthe Tantra.

The state of mantra-siddhi isexperienced when these threecome together as one. Those whoexperience this state, find theirindividuality melting into andbecoming one with Ganapati – thisis called the Jnānastithi and theyare then elevated into the state ofsamādhi from here. The sādhaka oraspirant then himself becomes

Ganapati. The grace of the Lordflows into the world through him asa conduit.

We need shakti to rise from thebottom. This concept is truewhether it be applied to an objectwe are lifting with our arms or toraise our level of consciousness toexperience higher planes ofexistence in meditation (dhyāna).

This phenomenon of raising to thehigher from the lower is calleduddhāra. This shakti or ability toraise which is inherent in Ganapatiis represented by his curved trunk(vakratunda). Those who possessthis shakti can raise and upliftthemselves as well as others.

The story goes that mother Pārvaticreated Ganesha out of the pasteshe applied to her body beforebathing. The Divine Mother is thehighest nature (parāprakriti). Herpaste symbolises thesupermundane or undifferentiatedconsciousness beyond the threegunās (parōrajas). It is the state ofexistence before the creation ofmultiple planes of consciousness(lōka).

Creation (the form she created

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from the paste) then manifested inglobular shapes firstly onto theetheric and then onto the physicalplane.

These are the ladoos we see inGanesha’s hands. There are manysuch secrets of Vedic symbolismwhich are known to those whovenerate Ganesha. He is the giverof buddhi (discriminative intellect)as well as siddhi (ability tomaterialize wishes). These are thetwo shaktis under his controlwhich are commonly symbolizedas his two wives according toscripture.

He who surrenders himself toGanesha through daily worship isblessed with a keen intellect andthe ability to materialize hisdesires whether they be mundaneor spiritual.

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“Man’s natural instinct is to seekknowledge. This urge to learn isthe reason we are called mānavās.There are two meanings tomānava – the “offsprings ofManu” and also “they whopossess and dwell in the manas(mind)”. The mind has two drishtīsor points of view, bahirdrishti(outward facing) and antarmukhadrishti (inward facing). Bahirdrishticomes into play when man looksoutward and his sensory facultiesare used to make impressions on

the mind. This is an animalistic useof the mind and such a person iscalled a jantumānava oranimalistic man.

After a few births and re-births,the questions – Why was I born?,Where did I come from?, what areall these planets?, what is theSun?, what is the Moon?, what arethe stars?, what is joy?, what issorrow? etc. naturally arise in themind of man either in this birth orat some future birth. When this

Lessons on AstrologyMaster M.R.L RaoPart 1

Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series of articles on Jyōtisa orVedic Astrology translated from the teachings of Master M.R.L Rao.

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happens, the mind becomesintroverted and searches foranswers to these questions. Thethings we don’t know about arepresent in our subjective life. Wehave two lives – objective andsubjective. The objective life is theregular daily life we comprehendwith our senses and the subjectivelife is the inward facing life wherewe learn about all the objectsaround us with our senses and yetfail to understand them. When webegin the journey of trying tounderstand these two facets ofexistence, this journey is calledthe Vēda.

Vēda means “to learn about”.What do we learn about? Welearn about how creation came tobe, about how humans came tobe, the different energies thatwork in creation etc. These are allexplained clearly in the Vēda. Tostudy the Vēda, one must firstworship the Vēda Purusha. It issaid that this Vēda Purusha has 6angās (limbs) or shadangās. Justlike we have hands, feet etc. theVēda Purushā’s feet for example isthe Chandas or meter. The eye ofthe Vēda Purusha is the science ofAstrology. Just like we cannot

view creation without our eyes, wecannot comprehend the Vēda, thePurānas, the Itihāsas or any otherscripture without a workingknowledge of Astrology. A manwho does now know the scienceof Astrology is like a blind mangroping in the dark. Astrology isthe eye of the Vēda, as you learnmore, you will understand howimportant this knowledge is.Without knowing this science,studying the Vēdās or the Purānāsis like a doctor practisingmedicine without a degree or likea blind man walking down a darkalley stumbling along the way.

This science equips us with a Lightsee the path ahead in life. Whenwe are walking through a darkforest, it is enough if we have atorchlight, we can then walk as faras is necessary to cross the forest.Studying Astrology is like havingthis torch in hand which shows usthe way forward. Is it not possiblefor us to train our hearts andminds or to plan our dailyactivities without this vidya. As Isaid earlier, it would be like ablind man stumbling through theforest being unable to avoid thethorny bushes which prick him

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and also hurting himself bystepping on sharp rocks.

There are four importantcomponents to this science –Grahās (planets), Rāsis (Zodiacsigns), Bhāvās (houses) and thedrishtīs (aspects) that are formedbetween these planetary bodiesand divisions. The science ofAstrology has been subdividedinto 3 parts – Hõra, Samhitha andSiddhānta.

Siddhānta consists of thecalculations and astronomicalaspects such as the revolutions ofthe Earth, Moon, Sun, the pathsthey take across the sky etc.

Samhita consists of topics such asmuhūrtās (auspicious times) formarriage, how to know a man’spersonality by his physicalfeatures (angasāmudrika), Vāstu,which species of trees arebeneficial to which persons etc.

Hōra tells us about a man’sprofession, his character andpersonality traits, his progressthrough life etc. There are someimportant events in everyone’s life– education, marriage, children,siblings, the relationship he has

with them, wealth, income,profession. Hōra gives us anunderstanding of all such eventsin our lives. We will learn Hõra forthe next 2 months. I will not beteaching Siddhānta or Astronomyin these classes, we havetechnology and computers nowand they will give you all the dataand calculations you need. Wecan learn about how to calculatepanchangās and all that in aseparate class on Astronomyprovided there is interest. There isa lot of mathematics involved.

I need to say a few words aboutmy credentials as I’m teachingthese classes, I also have a degreein Astronomy. You need to knowtrigonometry, calculus, integrationand differentiation for thosecalculations. We won’t need allthat for these classes, we’ll learnenough for you to be able to drawthe jātaka chakra or chart. Most ofit is already calculated for you inthe panchāngā’s andEphemerides. We’ll also learn abit about Samhita but our focuswill be on Hōra. Let us first learnabout the Grahās or planets.”

To be continued...

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During the last seventy or eightyyears a section of the publicvaguely has heard of mysterioussages with alleged extraordinarypowers who live somewhere in the,Himalayas. Those who sought toprove their existence were

dismissed either as frauds orcranks or else as persons withhighly fertile imagination. Such anassumption is entirely wrong.

We currently live in an age ofbewildering contrasts and

Masters of WisdomMadam Vanaja

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extremes. Startling scientificdiscoveries in the realms of matterand even more startling ones inthe realms of mind are occurringsimultaneously. We are, in factgradually coming to realise thatwhich was kept aside by the ration-alists cannot be disposed of inhigh handed fashion.

Supernatural phenomenapreviously supposed to manifestthrough some sporadicintervention on the part of theDeity were believed to be theresult of natural forces in the handsof those who knew how to wieldthem or of perceptive faculties notknown to the mankind in general.

Thus what at one time wasemotionally termed a miracle isnow more level-headedly cat-egorised as an instant ofclairvoyance, clairaudience,hypnotism, mesmerism, magnetichealing, metaphysical healing etc.,as the case may be. Man has dis-covered that such faculties lielatent in human organism. Unlesshe has acquired those faculties forhimself, he is dependent on othersfor the knowledge of these phe-nomenon.

The process of developing thesefaculties has been reduced to anexact science in India known asRāja Yoga. This science in varyingforms has been secretly inexistence in every ancientcivilisation.

To quote Swami Vivekananda:

"When the mind has been trainedto remain fixed on a certaininternal or external location, therecomes to it the power as it were, offlowing in an unbroken currenttowards that point. When thispower has been so muchintensified as to be able to rejectthe external part of perception andremain meditating only on theinternal part, the meaning then itacquires knowledge of the finermanifestations of Nature".

This condition is called Samadhi orSuper-conscious trance and ofwhat occultists call the higherplanes of existence, leading toNirvana or Liberation.

When a man has reached Nirvanahe is not compelled to retain hisphysical body or to re-incarnate inanother. The choice is open to him

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either to live a disembodiedexistence for all eternity or toremain as a Master of Wisdom fora considerable time at any time onthe earth. In the latter case, Heholds some office in the Hierarchyand helps in a large variety of waysfor the development of humanity.

The Masters are human beingswho have crossed the limitation ofbeing human as ordinarilyunderstood. They know what isrequired by man and they knowhow to inspire him into the re-quired objective work. They knowhow to aid man to hasten his ownevolution without any violation ofthe Laws of Creation.

They bridge the gulf that lies be-tween the human kingdom andDeva kingdom on this earth. Theywork as guides and scouts to co-operate with nature in her working.They also work as custodians ofthe wisdom of man through theages and hand it over for posterity.

The activities of these Masters arenumerous and varied and havebeen so eloquently delineated bythe great chela, Dr. Annie Besantwho said, "They (Masters of Wis-

dom) aid in countless ways, theprogress of humanity. From thehighest sphere, they shed downlight and life on all the world, thatmay be taken up and assimilatedas freely as the sunshine, by allwho are receptive enough to takeit in.

Next, the Masters speciallyconnected with religions use thesereligions as reservoirs into whichThey pour spiritual energy, to bedistributed to the faithful in eachreligion through the dulyappointed "means of grace".

Next comes the great intellectualwork, wherein the Masters sendout thought-forms of high intellec-tual power to be caught up by menof genius, assimilated by them andgiven out to the world; on thislevel also they send out theirwishes to their disciples, notifyingthem of the tasks to which theyshould set their hands.

Then comes the work in the lowermental world, the generation ofthe thought-forms which influ-ences the concrete mind andguides it along useful lines ofactivity in this world and the

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teaching of those who are living inthe heavenly world. Then the largeactivities of the intermediateworld, the helping of the so-calleddead, the general direction andsupervision of the, teaching of theyounger pupils and the sending ofaid in numerous cases of need. Inthe physical world the watching, ofthe tendencies of events, thecorrection and neutralising, as faras law permits, of evil currents, theconstant balancing of the forcesthat work for and againstevolution, the strengthening of thegood, the weakening of the evil."

Master E. K., close associate of theHierarchy says, "the Masters knowabout the obstacles that standbefore a man on the way of hisprogress; the obstacles for hissuccess and the easy and artisticmethod of eliminating them. Theirmethod of elimination is not byexcluding some beliefs from us butby rearranging the already existingpowers latent in man. Thisrearrangement brings out somemore powers hidden in man. Theycan transform the problems of lifeinto the components of oneexperience of continuoushappiness."

It will be seen from this that theMasters may have their heads inheaven but their feet are on earth.They are eminently practical men.

MIHIRA will bring the teachings ofthe Masters of Wisdom in all levelsin the forthcoming issues.

“A Master of Wisdom is One Whohas undergone the fifth initiation.That really means that Hisconsciousness has undergonesuch an expansion, that it nowincludes the fifth or spiritualkingdom. He has worked His waythrough the four lower kingdoms:the mineral, the vegetable, theanimal and the human - and has,through meditation and service,expanded his centre ofconsciousness till it now includesthe plane of the spirit.”

(Letters on Occult Meditation,Master D.K)

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Karma is not the chance dolingout of a happy or unhappy lot inlife by an indifferent if not a cruel,God or Fate. It is the inevitableand inexorable working out of theconsequences of one's own pastdeeds. The retributory nature ofkarma is best explained by thesaying “As you sow, so shall youreap”. There are no exceptions tothis rule and there never will be.Here is a a story from theBuddhist lore illustration Karma inaction.

There once lived a rich merchantnamed Pandu Sarma in the city ofKosambi. One day, he wastravelling to Varanasi in a cart,being escorted by a heftybodyguard called Mahaduta. Hesaw a Buddhist monk walking onthe road. Thinking that time spentin the company of a pious manwill bestow God's blessings onhim, he got down from the cartand walked towards the monk.The monk told him that his namewas Nārada and that he was

going to Varanasi to performsome work for his monastery.

Hearing this, Sarma said withfolded hands "I am also going toVaranasi. I will be staying in room#3 at the well known Kousambēyachoultry. You are most welcome totravel with me in my cart". Nāradawas feeling very tired and so hegladly accepted Sarma's offersaying, "I cannot return yourkindness materially. But I willrepay this good deed of yours bysharing with you my mosttreasured wealth, the teachings ofTathāgata".

After travelling for about an hour,Sarma's cart had to stop becauseanother cart loaded with bags ofrice was blocking the way. Upon

Karma

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enquiry, Sarma came to know thatthe offending cart’s owner, Devala,a peasant had stopped the cart tocarry out some repairs.

Resenting the delay, Sarma, withhis characteristic arrogance andimpatience commanded his bodyguard to push Devala's cart off theroad so that he could proceed.On being shoved to the side bythe sturdy Mahaduta, Devala'scart tipped over and the bags ofrice were scattered in everydirection.

Nārada got down from Sarma'scart and politely told him. "MrSarma! This peasant was yourclose relative in a previous birth.You have now given me a chanceto express my gratitude to you. Asthe person responsible for thismishap you should be helpingDevala collect the bags and loadthem back into the cart. But, I willdo that work on your behalf. Thisis the teaching I wished to sharewith you, you may now proceedto Varanasi".

Humbled, Sarma and Mahadutathen left for Varanasi.

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