Hari Om Namo Narayana!

I have just written an answer on this placement. You’re encouraged to check it out for greater lucidity on this topic.

Dhananjay’s answer to What are the positive results of rahu when placed in 7th house if there are any?

1. 7th house is the natural house of Libra.
2. It is the house of relationships, partnerships and legal contracts.
3. 7th house is the house of negotiations and ‘market place’.
4. Basically, the ascendant is the native and the 7th house or descendent is everyone besides the native.

Now, ‘Rahu’ in the 7th house has the following impact on the native’s relationships:

1. The native encounters ‘Rahu’ like individuals who are quite ‘self focused’.
   1. ‘Selfishness’ is an extreme representation of ‘Rahu’ qualities and well, some people might be like that too. However mostly, ‘Rahu’ is self-focused.
   2. For example, body builders and entrepreneurs, are represented by ‘Rahu’.
   3. Film stars, models, people in the show business and other areas of work that involve a high degree of self focus are associated with ‘Rahu’ as ‘Rahu’ is all about the self and self serving.
   4. Interesting thing is ‘Ketu’ people make the best movie stars and artists and quite often you will see people with life path 7 are most commonly artists, film stars and people in public eye. However, from the perspective of everyone else who sees them, they are ‘Rahu’.
      1. Yes, we see people through the lens of the ‘Arudha Lagna’ however we see all these people not as they are or who they are but through the lens of a false perception that are the effects, lighting, screen and script etc.
2. The native discovers themselves through interactions with others.
   1. People with ‘Ketu’ in the first house have acquired a considerable amount of self knowledge mastered over many lifetimes.
   2. However, ‘Ketu’ denies them self knowledge readily unless they go towards ‘Rahu’ i.e. other people and the masses, for gaining a better idea of their identity, self, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses etc.
   3. Yes, this knowledge is present in them unconsciously and they can work to develop it through meditation etc. Some may even have psychic powers. However, how things work with ‘Ketu’ is that there is a lot of ‘karma’ involved with the ‘Rahu’ side of the chart without which ‘Ketu’ won’t help with the knowledge and capabilities that he sits containing.
   4. So ‘Rahu’ in 7th house individuals usually have a spouse who does well to direct the native’s capabilities to attain things that they want for themselves.
3. The native finds their desire through their partner.
   1. A person with ‘Ketu’ in the 1st house would be very happy to take a job and earn money to make their spouse happy. On their own, they can quite often be quite detached from personal ambition and desire.
   2. This can sometimes lead to the ‘Ketu’ individual ending up quite exploited by their partners simply because the ‘Ketu’ individual will never say “No”.
   3. Their natural tendency within relationships is to ‘give’. The more they give and do things that make their spouse happy and fulfilled, the more they learn about their capabilities and powers.
   4. This can sometimes lead to them getting involved in ‘narcissist-empath’ relationships where their consistent ‘giving’ drains them out.
4. The native has a partner who sees the value in who they are.
   1. Don’t get it wrong, at the most spiritual level, this can be an amazing partnership where the ‘Ketu’ individual is guided by their partner to achieve the things they don’t know they want or can achieve but are very much capable of.
   2. The partner is the person who looks at the gifts that the ‘Ketu’ native possesses that he/she may themselves be unaware of, and directs them to achieve them quite often, for personal ambition.

All of this might sound very abusive and sometimes even is. We’d have to look at the entire chart for that.

• However, mostly, keep in mind that in reality, the ‘Ketu’ individual loves to ‘give’.
• Also, the ‘Ketu’ individual is guided unconsciously towards choosing a partner who can leverage the ‘Ketu’ native’s self mastery to achieve dreams that both of them can enjoy in married life.
• The ‘Ketu’ individual is lead towards a partner that fulfills some desires (7th house and ‘Rahu’) that the ‘Ketu’ individual has.
• Quite often, it can also happen that the ‘Ketu’ native may be drawn to multiple individuals because of the desires that they perceive fulfilled in them.
• This would depend on the sign, ‘nakshatra’ and house lord of ‘Rahu’.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Mother Teresa had Mars in the 9th house conjunct the Sun)

Wherever Mars is in the chart is where it is indicated that the native expends most energy.

This is why Mars is debilitated naturally in the fourth house of home and exalted naturally in the tenth house of career and ‘outer world’.

What does this mean?

If you think about it naturally you’ll be able to see it.

If you’re expending all of your aggression, your will power, your focus, passion, aggression in the confines of your home, it is obvious that the energy bein expended is too much for the environment in which it is being expended.

This can obviously result in anger issues within the home, a controlling nature, authoritarianism and quite frankly, too much energy for a much smaller space.

Mars is a dynamic planet.

A warrior, soldier, general, sportsman, enforcer, fighter.

His energy is way too much for such small areas of life.

Mars needs people to lead, to command.

He needs an army, he needs bigger challenges and missions.

Therefore, Mars’ energy is best utilized where the challenge is greater, where the area of influence is bigger and where the conditions demand a higher level of output and expansion.

This is why he does so well in the 10th house because Mars likes to grow.

Mars, unlike the soft Moon for instance, thrives in challenges and grows when there is more to be done.

Like any good sportsman and fighter, Mars likes to rise up to the challenge and there is oodles of energy and enthusiasm within him to take on bigger challenges.

So in the same way, Mars in expansive natural house of Sagittarius, the fiery expansive sign of higher wisdom, philosophy, debates, laws, ethics etc. is at home in Jupiter’s playing field.

Mars will read all the books in the library.

He will take on all the debates happily.

He will go through all the literature, learn all the principles.

He will interact and travel, which is also the 9th house..

And then Mars will.. challenge.

Challenge because this is his favorite job.

And this is how Mars behaves in the 9th house.

People with Mars in the 9th house have you can say, a nitro boost to their ability to study, understand, interact, read, debate, learn, grow and keep on repeating this process over an over.

What’s more, armed with this knowledge, they then seek to take on everyone else and turn that challenge into a learning experience thereafter.

With the 4th aspect Mars energizes the imagination, the 12th house.

With the 8th aspect Mars challenges the native’s inner satisfaction.

Bear in mind, the 4th and the 12th houses are two of the ‘Moksha’ houses from the ‘Moksha’ triangle.

So Martian energy at its best in the 9th house gives the native a very practical as well as disciplined approach towards learning and also.. teaching.

These are the dynamic thought leaders and indefatigable pioneers who believe in never stopping the process of learning and continuously put in their energy towards expansion of the mind armed with all there is to know and on the lookout for more.

The hunger for knowledge and syndication of this knowledge is quite deep in Mars in 9th house people.

So this obviously results in a very spiritual and expansionist view of life.

Obviously, the ‘nakshatra’ and sign placement, aspects and strength of Mars in the divisional charts and the D-1 are of prime importance in trying to gauge whether this individual is the ‘real deal’ when it comes to spiritual ‘understanding’ or just a relentless fighter like many experts on TV debates.

You should also read another one of my answers on Mars in the 9th house:https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-effects-of-having-Mars-in-9th-house-for-a-Leo-ascendant/answer/Dhananjay-100

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Aishwarya Rai is said to have married a ‘Peepal’ tree before formally marrying Abhishek Bacchan, to nullify a ‘Manglik Dosha’ in her chart.)

Well, people have been very critical off late of this aspect of our culture. That we base far too much emphasis on the ‘matching of charts’.

Practices like marrying trees to nullify ‘doshas’ and preventing couples madly in love, from marrying just because their charts ‘don’t match’ is also something that has gotten a lot of flak from the youth of today.

I have written a few answers on this topic and you are encouraged to check them out for better perspective.

Jay Kaushal’s answer to Can the astrological birth charts of two people predict whether a relationship will be successful or not? Is it always accurate? Can you explain how further?

Jay Kaushal’s answer to Love Marriages: My parents are refusing to let us marry because our kundli doesn’t match. What should I do?

However, I’d like to point out that although we may have gotten a bit ‘dogmatic’ about this practice in the last few years, the reality is there are evaluations of suitability of a prospective couple in all cultures and religions.

Some processes are more seemingly rational than others but they are still based quite a bit on generalizations and ‘conjecture’.

So there is no fool proof way to judge human character and certainly no accurate way of judging whether two individuals will be suitable for cohabitation over the next 40–50 years!

Haha are you kidding me?

No science in this world can reasonably predict whether two individuals will still be on the same page 10 years from now let alone 50!

But, we try.

We try to form our predictions based on the data we have and try to model what the future could be like.

Now, the problem is not with astrology it is with astrologers.

And saying this has gotten me into a lot of problems with some of them lately but I staunchly maintain this to be the case.

We need to be more inclusive and scientific in how we practice ‘Vedic’ astrology in current times or it will just stop being relevant.

Let me share something interesting:

1. Western astrology lays a lot of emphasis on ‘synastries’.
   1. ‘Synastry’ refers to the interactions between planetary placements of two individual’s charts.
   2. What this means is, if let’s say my Sun is in the 12th house in Gemini and my partner is a Taurus rising, my nature of being spiritual and somewhat withdrawn, is what has the effect of helping my partner who is a Taurus rising, discover their self worth and values.
      1. Why?
      2. Because my Sun in Gemini may be in the 12th house for me and my chart, however for my partner, this Sun goes into their 2nd house in Gemini. Get it?
   3. Most ‘vedic’ astrologers do not even consider synastries when analyzing two charts for compatibility.
   4. This is why, quite often you have cases in arranged marriages where charts match up to 30 ‘gunas’ and still there is a divorce whereas there are cases where the couple marry without getting their charts matched and they have only 12 ‘gunas’ matching but still end up having far beautiful lives together.
2. ‘Vedic’ astrology, at least the way it is being practiced right now, lays way too much emphasis on the ‘mind’.
   1. Someone with a powerful Mars probably has a lot more sex drive compared to someone with a weak Mars.
   2. Yet all that is used to match physical compatibility is based on the ‘nakshatras’ and ‘taaras’ not this aspect at all.
   3. Someone with Mars in Aries is probably not going to get along with someone with Mars in Capricorn even though both Mars are strong.
      1. Why?
      2. Because they are at a ‘square’ to each other. Fire and Earth elements simply don’t co relate well with each other. They both therefore may have high sex drives but they both express these very differently.
      3. I don’t see any ‘vedic’ astrologer even taking this into account while studying charts!
3. Astrology is just one of many similar tools used to study and understand personalities.
   1. Back in the 60s and 80s we had people matching ‘blood groups’ to ascertain compatibility between prospective couples.
      1. Even today in fact, there are dieticians suggesting the appropriate diet and exercise based on these, aren’t there?
      2. How is that different from ‘guna’ matching when it comes to analyzing them from an ‘ayurvedic’ point of view?
   2. You have the Briggs Meyers personality tests that can help ascertain how much a particular personality type is compatible with the other.
      1. This is another statistical method of personality analysis and isn’t full proof either.
      2. Makes use of element such as ‘Intuition and Sensing’, ‘Perceiving and Judging’ to form a 4 point personality type. There are 16 different personality types according to this methodology and honestly, these are highly subjective traits to judge and quantify.
   3. You can match and study personalities based on ‘Graphology’
      1. ‘Graphology’ is applied a lot in the field of criminal psychology and has become very popular over the years.
      2. It isn’t an exact science either but it works pretty well from the perspective of ‘analysis’ and studying key personality traits and can be used to study compatibility.
   4. You can match compatibility based on ‘Numerology’.
      1. Numerology is another way in which people prefer to gain an idea about whether or not a union would be suitable.
      2. Once again, this isn’t an exact science but does work with a certain degree of accuracy predicting key personality traits.

There are many more tools like these and its not uncommon for prospective couples to try to gain an idea beforehand of the strength of the proposed union.

‘Vedic’ astrology is just one of them and I daresay a lot more accurate than the others, if done properly.

Think about it:

As against 10–12 characteristics matched in the techniques mentioned above, ‘Vedic’ astrology utilizes 100s of different elements ranging from:

1. Planetary placements in the D-1 chart.
2. Planetary placements in the D-9 chart.
3. Planetary placements in the D-7 chart.
4. Planetary placements in the D-60 chart.
5. ‘Nakshatra’ placements in the D-1 chart.
6. 5 different types of key ‘lagnas’ to analyze life paths and priorities for different areas of life ranging from finance and self concept to ‘karma’.

• To summarize therefore, I’d say that matching charts to analyze suitability of a union can be a very helpful way to gauge the level of compatibility between a couple.
• However, the astrologer doing the same must know what he’s talking about.
• Matching charts is much deeper than just matching ‘gunas’ which is what most out there are doing.
• Not only this, the couple should be counseled in a joint session on how to deal with each others’ planetary placements and how to best react to each others tendencies for a particular behavior that may be an intrinsic part of their personality.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Well, traditional science and medicine etc. don’t really have a lot of credible ideas about what happens after you die.

However, neuroscience these days has been making discoveries that to be honest almost sound like those guys decided to venture into the occult!

I’m not kidding seriously.

I was watching this series that Morgan Freeman hosts. It’s on Discovery. It’s called ‘Through the Wormhole’ by Morgan Freeman.

In one of the episodes about what happens after you die, they actually interviewed a very eminent neurologist who went through a coma himself.

And when he came back from that coma and got nourished back to health, he came back with so many unexplained visions and dreams, experiences, sights and memories that he began to thereafter research the origins of the same.

Now any other guy would’ve probably just let them go but not him.

For him its like you know, a NASCAR driver being lead to some mythical version of the 64′ Corvette in his dreams, that was as good in a straight line as it was round the corners!

Turns out, there is a thing called ‘Quantum Entanglement’.

Read up about it. It’s utterly fascinating.

So the premise of this theory is first of all that the atoms that make up let’s say, your nose, could well be the atoms that used to make up Cleopatra’s lower lip!

You see, the Earth and the universe recycles atoms all the time.

So much so that you most probably are no longer the same person you were when you were born.. at all!

Your body, complete from the nervous system to the endocrine system, bones, skin everything… has rebuilt itself over the many years of your existence on the planet.

Now here’s the catch.

It turns out that atoms of the same kind are somehow linked to each other.

What this means is, and this is a major ‘Harry Potter’ alert for all the fans out there..

You know that horcruxes story about Lord Voldemort?

How he splits himself into 7 distinct parts of the soul to be able to exist forever?

It’s like that but a little differently.

You know how your brain is storing memories all the time?

Yeah. Those memories aren’t all stored inside the skull in your gray matter. Those memories could partially exist at an external location as well.

And this is as a result of ‘Quantum entanglement’.

Why? Atoms of the same kind can sometimes get ‘entangled’ in a way that defies the spatial continuum like we imagine it to be.

Now, all of that is fun.

What is extremely striking to me and why I chose to answer this question (for a scientific answer, my bio contains the red flags of ‘Astrologer’ and also ‘Life Coach’ ) is this:

This is so damn similar to the ‘Samkhya Shastra’.

So what is it?

I’ve written so much about and it is so obscurely known by people that I’m almost tired of writing about it again and again but here I go once more:

According to the ‘Samkhya’ philosophy in Hinduism:

1. The soul is the driving force of the body.
2. The ‘consciousness’ however, exists even without a body.
3. When ‘consciousness’ exists without a body, it exists in the form of 3 elements: Mind, Intellect and Ego.
4. When the soul desires to undergo physical experiences, the decision for the right body to experience the material world is taken by the ‘consciousness’ i.e. the Mind, Intellect and Ego.
5. Interestingly, there is no discontinuation in the recorded memories or knowledge collected by these 3 entities irrespective of the consciousness being with or without a body.
6. The only difference is that when the individual is conscious, he has recollection of only his apparent reality, the one that he can readily remember and process from the current lifetime so to speak or ‘conscious’ experiences.
7. When the individual is unconsciousness, such as during sleep, all of these experiences and all the memories and data that is fed to the brain through the senses, by these three entities, the Mind, Intellect and Ego, is at the disposal of the soul.
8. If the soul were to leave the body during sleep or during let’s say anything you’re doing at any given moment, it leaves with the entire ‘data set’ of all that is recorded by the Mind, Intellect and Ego through all of the times that they have been part of the consciousness.

Long story short, the consciousness is a bigger entity than memories, concept of ‘self’ and the mind.

This consciousness, is according to the ‘Samkhya’ philosophy and also according to the work of many neurologists researching Quantum Entanglement wrt neuroscience, this consciousness, is free of and dependency on a physical body.

There is no certain proof that the ‘consciousness’ exists within the brain.

It may well be at some other location. You can’t say for sure.

What does that mean for us?

Well, it means that when you die your soul leaves with the ‘consciousness’ and finds another body to download this ‘consciousness’ into and continue the journey from there on.

Damn!

I wonder if I was a writer in a previous lifetime too. I’m not kidding. Sometimes I just put my fingers to the keyboard and words come out all on their own without me trying at all.

Everyone has one skill that is quite like that.

That could well be a past life mastery in that area.

Come to think of it, your consciousness has simply evolved in that area so much over so many lifetimes that it just seems ‘natural’ to you.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om!

Well, you know the biggest thing that gets in the way of you manifesting what you want for yourself?

It’s an inability to be authentic.

When you’re authentic, when you’re 100% in your personal power, your authentic self, you attract things to yourself effortlessly.

The reason is pretty simple:

Fishes are meant to swim and horses are meant to run!

Do what you do the best and do it with confidence, panache, beauty and purpose.

There are motivational speakers out there who cuss every third sentence (like GaryVee) and they’re loved.

There are motivational speakers out there who don’t cuss at all and are in fact extremely polite (like Jim Rohn) and they are just as loved, years after their death at that.

In the same way, you will find there are leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and sportspersons all around the globe who are unapologetically themselves and are completely killing it in life!

You ask these people for advice in interviews and what do they have to say:

“I just do my natural thing and yeah.. I worked hard.”

See when you know what you are here to do and what you want to do, working hard is easy.

But until you discover your purpose and not many know what their purpose is right at the onset, they just take the next best approach: Do whatever you are doing right now, this moment as if this was all you were given to do!

So if there were 5 rules on how to manifest what you want, “giving your 200% to what’s on your plate right now” is Rule #5

It’s really that simple.

I came across this amazing reel by popular comedian Kevin Hart. Do take a look if you can.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GVsNHjconpg

It’s brilliant!

The interviewer asks him what he did before he became a standup comic.

Kevin says: “I was the best sneaker salesman in the world.”

“What do you mean?” asks the interviewer.

And after that, man, the level of detail and thoroughness that Kevin goes into just shows how much he knew about sneakers, feet, posture, injuries, sales, people and man.. business!

It’s brilliant. It’s the best video clip I’ve watched this week to be honest.

And so, you know that is just #1 when we’re talking about how to manifest what you want.

Do what you’re doing right now as if that was the only thing, the only opportunity, the only chance you had at making it big in life.

Give it your everything!

They have a saying in the army: “How you do one thing is how you do another”

That’s 100% true. Seriously it is.

I can guarantee you that if over a period of 10 days, the days you make your bed, brush your teeth and follow through on your daily discipline within 30 minutes of waking up, you will get more done than the days you don’t.

Rule number #4: Assume God doesn’t exist.

This quote reads: “Don’t sit around relying on God. Maybe he is relying on you!”

You need to read the tale about the Mountain man Manjhi, who singlehandedly carved out a road from a mountain that stood between his village and the next one. He was inspired to do so after he lost his wife because she couldn’t be availed medical help in time when she went into labor. This happened because there was no connecting road in their village over that mountain. That mountain that Manjhi singlehandedly carved out of the mountain in 22 years!

Make no mistake, I am a believer. “By god’s grace” is what I say in most of my sentences.

Who uses that in an Instagram bio? Lol I do!

“By god’s grace!”

This is just a way for me to ensure I give thanks to the higher power looking out for me. The power that took care of me when I didn’t have enough to take care of myself. When I didn’t have money to gas my tank, when I was sleeping in the library, because I had no home to go back to, the power who made sure I had the support I needed when I failed and had to move back to my parents’ house.

There’s a power out there I make a point to thank whenever something good happens.

You know what I do though when things don’t go the way they should?

I assume it’s all on me.

Yes.

When it goes well it’s god’s grace. When it goes bad it’s my fault and maybe distantly, it’s as God’s wish was.

Bottom line..

There is no one out to save you kiddo.

You’re on your own.

Live with that mindset and certainly help will arrive when you most need it.

Live seeking and expecting help and it will never be there when you need it.

Keep that in mind when you feel ‘you’re almost there’. Always good to push harder, and take it a little further just on the basis of your own will.

Why take a chance?

Maybe god is relying on you to show the world that the mountain you were assigned, can be moved!

Rule number #3: Open your mind.

So you want to be successful at what you do and how you do it.

You know why you aren’t?

Because your ‘concept’ of how it should be is rigid.

Open your mind man.

You’d be luckier than 99% of the world if you could just have a version of the reality you envision.

Don’t be picky. As I said in rule number #5: Treat whatever is on your table right now as it were the only thing you had in your life to take you to where you want to be.

Maybe this version of what you want will lead you to exactly where you want to be.

Don’t shy off from work.

Always be thankful you have work.

So many people email me regularly with complaints: “I don’t have a job for last X years. When will I get a job?”

I am not too kind to them I’m afraid.

Why should I be?

I didn’t have a job once and I did whatever the hell I had to do to pay the bills!

If you can afford to not have a job for any length of time, man you’ve got some seriously loving and understanding people around you!

Also, you’re lazy.

Go on unfollow me I don’t care. My content won’t be of any help to you in any case any way if you’re lazy because the first decision to change comes from the self.

If you’re busy playing a victim, you’re going to end up a casualty. Life is hard. Accept it. Get over it.

Whatever pays the bills right now.. Grab it with both hands and express gratitude to the universe for giving you an opportunity to be of service!

First do this well. Pay your dues. You’ll get your moment in the Sun.

Earn it!

Rule number #2: Let go of anything and anyone not in alignment with your vision.

No one will care about your kindness, your ability to put up with people who aren’t good for you and pull you down continuously, if you aren’t able to make it.

It’s your dream. It’s your vision. Therefore, to make it a reality, you need to be the CEO of your enterprise.

You need to make sure you don’t waste energy with people, things and activities that bring your vibration down.

You know if you take a powerful magnet and place its North pole with the North pole of another magnet for a long duration of time, what will happen?

It will ultimately get demagnetized.

Why?

Because a magnet is magnetized because of the alignment of microscopic entities within it, called ‘domains’ that all point towards a consistent polarity, in a consistent direction and give it its power of attraction.

If you keep it over a long duration of time against a magnet that is repelling its domains in the wrong direction, it will get demagnetized.

It’s really that simple.

Lose these demagnetizing people, habits, things, ideas and tendencies from your life. ASAP.

Rule # 1: Become fearless

You know the first thing a person does who is fearless?

The person sticks to what he believes in truly and doesn’t compromise on what his values are.

This is an indispensable part of become attractive.

You have to find a way to manifest the life you desire while being true to your values.

I know, the biggest problem is sometimes our values are wrong.

And quite often, we aren’t even to blame for that.

Maybe it’s as a result of our upbringing, maybe a result of our nurturing or inherent nature.

That’s all fine.

If they’re wrong, failures will right them.

But wrong or right, go into the exam of life with 100% confidence that what you believe and more importantly.. most importantly.. what you stand for is consistent with what you want to manifest in life.

And be fearless.

If you doubt yourself and are afraid of failure man..

If you don’t make room for losing things that will need to go to get you to where you want to be..

If you don’t make room for reaching where you want to reach as a different person probably.. a very different person than the one who started out..

you’ll never make it.

And how that translates into ‘Law Of Attraction’ terms, it’s that you will never be able to ‘receive’ your blessings no matter how hard you have worked to manifest them.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Narendra Modi, India’s 14th Prime Minister, has Mars-Moon conjunction in the first house.)

Moon and Mars together form an auspicious conjunction called the ‘Chandra-Mangala yoga’.

Why is this auspicious?

Well the mind on its own tends to be fickle and impressionable. That’s the nature of the mind.

Those of you who regularly follow my answers and posts will know that I often say ‘Vedic’ astrology, is not just one book that you read and say Ok! now I know everything. To understand it in depth with the right ‘context’, one has to understand all the scriptures that make the backbone of this knowledge, not just predictive texts.

And so, quoting from one of my favorite texts:

‘Bhagvada Gita’ 6.34:

“chañchalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛiṣhṇa pramāthi balavad dṛiḍham
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva su-duṣhkaram”

“The mind is very restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate, O ‘Krishna’. It appears to me that it is more difficult to control than the wind.” says ‘Arjuna’.

Don’t take this statement lightly because it comes from ‘Arjuna’ and not ‘Krishna’. ‘Arjuna’ is considered to be the best among the ‘Pandavas’ and a part of ‘Krishna’ himself.

He is described as a model warrior and model citizen.

If he makes this observation, experiencing what he is at the brink of the biggest moment in his life, you can understand the realization that has dawned upon him.

Acknowledging his observation, ‘Krishna’ answers in the affirmative:

Bhagvada Gita 6.35:

“śhrī bhagavān uvācha
asanśhayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ chalam
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa cha gṛihyate”

“O mighty-armed son of ‘Kunti’, what you say is correct; the mind is indeed very difficult to restrain. But by practice and detachment, it can be controlled.”

• Now this is why Moon when it has no planet 2nd and 12th from it in the chart, is considered to be in a bad placement.
• Nothing ‘bad’ about it as such. It just makes you an individual who likes to stay withdrawn and such individuals take some time to develop their thought process in line with societal and material requirements. The mind left alone takes a while to come to equilibrium. Much like a pool of water after you throw a rock in it, takes time to completely become still again. The mind actually works better with ‘direction’.
  • Jupiter, Mercury are considered good with the Moon. Mainly because Jupiter expands the mind with knowledge and positivity and Mercury lends the mind a natural inquisitiveness.
• Saturn with the Moon interestingly isn’t that bad and many successful individuals have this combination. Saturn Moon people can be a little more serious than others though. However they are usually very good in analytical, patient and long drawn out tasks. They can be very good managers and this applies as much to managing a film set as it does to managing a factory.
• Sun is okay with the Moon up to a certain degree. However, as with Saturn who dries whichever planet it sits with, the Sun has a tendency to burn the planets it sits with.
  • Apart from that, still okay.
  • These planets are good even when second from the Moon as they provide the Moon with a direction for growth. Yes some will lend tougher lessons in that regard for example Saturn second from Moon. However it is still better than putting the Moon alone or putting them 12th from the Moon(with the exception of Jupiter) so that the Mind is constantly being ‘held back’ rather than having a direction to ‘grow towards’.
• Now here’s the interesting part.
  • Venus in a conjunction isn’t that good with the Moon. It’s good both 12th and 2nd from it though but seldom if ever in a conjunction.
  • Neither are either of the nodes and with similar conditions (Which is pretty understandable and I won’t go into much detail about that here.)
  • But Venus? Really? Both Moon and Venus appear to have similar agendas. Don’t they?
    • Hmm interesting.
    • Do they?
    • Well, Venus is a ‘soft planet’ on its own and conjunct the Moon, results in an extra sensitive mind.

1. See the mind works well when it has structure and discipline.
2. This is why the Moon is exalted in the sign of Taurus, which is a fixed, Earth sign.
3. Moon even in Cancer, if alone, is usually very sensitive and emotional.

• So now when the Moon is with Mars, it is actually in a very good position.
• Mars represents drive, instinct and focus.
• All of these are positive attributes that help an individual achieve whatever there is to achieve in the material plane.
• On top of that, Mars and Moon are both ‘devas’ and from the same planetary group therefore they do well together as they are friendly with each other.
• So when Mars is conjunct the Moon, the impressionable Moon is influenced in all the right ways by the planet of action and focus.
• The result is usually a person who is very practical, alert, agile, logical and analytical.
• These individuals can be great in any field of their choice.
  • They are very good when it comes to managing crises.
  • Thanks to the influence of Mars, they often encounter a lot of crises in their lifetime too. So they learn to deal with better than others.
• Now, Mars can signify a variety of fields career wise as it is primarily your drive and focus. So as indicated by other planetary placements in the chart, Mars just lends the impetus required to be successful in whichever area the individual’s free will is aligned towards.
• Depending on the house and sign placement of this conjunction in the chart, a Mars and Moon conjunction can result in a person, who is anywhere from a linguist to a computer programmer or doctor.
• Whatever the individual does however, they are usually very good at.
• The biggest gift of this conjunction is the ability to focus and direct the mind towards the attainment of clear objectives.
• Now obviously, other planets and especially the nodes, if involved in this conjunction can change the significations a lot and to analyze that, the entire chart would need to be thoroughly analyzed. The ‘nakshatra’ placements and the proximity of the conjunction also is very important to determine whether the conjunction stays that way even in the D-9 chart or not.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om!

(The Indian MARCOs are one of the elite commando forces in the world)

Try demotivating a commando, what do you think will happen?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Why is that?

Because he has so much practice at ‘failing’ in a simulated environment, that the fear of failure is non existent in his mind.

The only thing he thinks of is the next step and the next step and the one after that.

Why?

1. He has been trained extensively and brutally to only think like that.
2. That’s what disciplined people do.

They just don’t care for people who try to bring them down because they know, their success does not come from chance, their success does not come from contacts or knowing the right people or money or even god.

Their success comes from themselves.

Such is the level of determination and self confidence in the MARCOs that On 21 October 1987, MARCOS conducted a successful amphibious raid against the (LTTE) base at Guru Nagar. They swam 12 km in the ocean to their target with their combat load in a tow.

They rigged the LTTE harbour with explosives without being detected. After they detonated the explosives and destroyed the harbour, LTTE militants started firing upon them, the MARCOS fired back and swam to safety after the gunfight with no casualties!

Now, if someone told these elite commandos that they are not good enough to perform such an unbelievably difficult operation, what do you think would have happened to their confidence?

Absolutely nothing.

Dear friend,

I want you to know this and I want you to never forget this one fact.

If you want, you may write it, frame it and hang it on your wall.

“No one can break a man who is rooted in discipline.”

If people try to demotivate you, they will only succeed if your foundations in discipline are not strong enough.

All great people have built themselves so strong and so deeply rooted in their discipline that when they do seem to be falling short, out of nowhere, help arrives.

When they do seem to be faltering, out of nowhere, they get assistance.

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”

Marcus Aurelius

Now, Marcus Aurelius, who is considered one of the ‘5 Good emperors of Rome’ of is one of my favorite people who ever lived.

I’ll tell you why.

Firstly, because the man was an absolute genius when it came to administration.

Secondly, because his musings in the book titled ‘Meditations’ are some of the most priceless pearls of wisdom about strength and most importantly, stoicism.

Stoicism is deeply rooted in discipline and self control.

As also realism and practicality.

Marcus Aurelius, was quite understandably, quite widely admired.

Therefore people were always trying to get into his good books.

To ensure that he never let their flattery get to his head even by mistake, he had hired a person with the exclusive job of walking alongside him as he walked through the city.

What’s so different about that? He was an Emperor after all right?

No. This man’s jon description was quite special trust me.

See, whenever people would sing praises about Marcus Aurelius, trying to flatter him and get close to him via flattery. this man’s job was to whisper into the emperor’s ears:

“These are all lies!”

Amazing! Isn’t it?

And so my dear friend, that is the source of your problem.

If you stand to allow people’s words of flattery elate you, you also stand to allow their rude words bring your down.

Care for neither.

If there is anything that is worth being appreciated for, it is your ability to put in the work. Consistently.

Anything else is just ‘noise’.

Ignore it.

Become more grounded, rooted and anchored in your discipline and all of this ‘noise’ will fade away.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

The law of ‘vibration’ works much like the concept of ‘interference’ in physics. Please take a look at the diagrams below and just try to see what you can think of it.

If you want to explore this phenomenon in detail follow the link to the wiki. If you know it good, read on. If you don’t, I’ll explain.

Now, allow me to explain in simpler terms for the uninitiated.

See, ‘interference’ in physics means that when there are two waves from ‘coherent’ sources (‘coordinated’ for the layman) two waves in the same ‘phase’ or for the lay man, in ‘sync’ such that their highs and lows (crests and troughs) match, combine to form a wave that is higher or similar in amplitude.

If two waves from meet and they are out of ‘sync’ then they will cancel each other out sometimes completely.

This is very similar to how the law of ‘vibration’ works.

See we all have energy and we are all radiating energy in some way as well because there are very small electrical currents in our body and therefore, we each have our own magnetic field.

We call this field the ‘aura’.

I can go into a lot of detail here but this is deep concept and then I’ll also have to get into quantum entanglement and I have written an answer on that actually, check it out.

For the purpose of this answer, what you need to understand is this:

Everything you are, your individuality, personality, beliefs, food, habits etc. result in you having a certain ‘vibration’.

You attract things that are in a similar vibration to you and that leads to growth and that attracts other things and people who are at that same vibration.

Like with waves, there are other people as well as objects, who are at the same vibration as you but out of phase with you and you can end up getting drained when you interact with such people or going after such objects, desires and things.

Pets and trees, nature as a whole is always healing because it is a vibration that is primarily the vibration of love.

You see, ‘love’ is considered the highest vibration.

‘Fear’ is the lowest vibration.

Anger, Hatred, Lust all stem from ‘fear’ at some level and dampen your vibration.

So the people, things, experiences, you attract from the vibration of ‘love’ are in your highest interest and help you grow.

The people, things, experiences, you attract from the vibration of ‘fear’, in some form or another, decrease your vibration.

The higher your vibration, the higher the energy you possess to align with big things.

The lower your energy, the less energy you have to attract anything and in fact can fall down to the level of negative vibrations that overpower you.

Meditation, ‘mantras’, ‘saadhna’, all raise your vibration and help you align with higher levels of consciousness.

Now, to function and work, achieve material things and acquire a certain status and standing in the material world, you need to maintain a level of vibration.

Too high and you’ll probably ascend altogether.

Which isn’t bad.

However, we are all here to experience life and grow in some way.

So the physical experience is important.

In the same way, too low and your vibration won’t be able to get you anywhere.

That’s the gist of the law of ‘vibration’.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Dolphins are one of the most intelligent species of aquatic mammals who can recognize themselves in a mirror. Context? Read on..)

This is a very interesting question.

Interesting thing is, ‘Rahu’ and ‘Ketu’ aren’t bodied planets.

They are bodily representations of mathematical points in space.

‘Rahu’ representing the head, the intellect, and also the expression of ‘kama’ which is desire.

‘Ketu’ representing the body, without the head. Therefore, ‘Ketu’ represents the complement to the energy of ‘Rahu’.

And so, ‘Ketu’ is therefore, the lack of desire, introversion, self reflection and intuition, muscle memory and even evolution.

The body is a results of millions of years of evolution.

No matter what your soul is here to do and no matter what the underlying desire to your birth here on the physical plane, you need to understand that everything must function within the confines of evolutionary capacity.

What does this mean?

It means that the human body has certain limitations but also certain capabilities that have evolved to be the way they are over time.

5000 years ago, the pollution was a lot less and probably humans may have been a lot stronger even though they were at a greater risk of falling ill and dying due to diseases that are common for us today.

And today, the human body is not nearly as strong because well, our environment isn’t all that healthy.

So if your soul has taken birth in this day and age, it is because of a specific mission.

In the fulfillment of this mission, the evolutionary changes have granted some advantages and also some disadvantages.

This is loosely classified as the south node ‘Ketu’.

Now, if you narrow it down at a subconscious and unconscious level, you will see that:

1. Your lineage and family also grant such a capacity or lack thereof owing to its history.
2. Your country and your community, race etc. all have their share of history, trauma, knowledge, biases and culture that does have quite a bit of bearing on you.
3. Your gender, your physical traits, your DNA also grant you conveniences and inconveniences when it comes to being able to carry out your mission on this planet.

In fact, Carl Jung talks about the concept of ‘collective unconscious’ which basically states that there are aspects of our collective intellect that are unconscious to the workings of this planet.

For example, dolphins are self aware but many other species of fish aren’t.

So for other fish, self awareness is part of their collective unconscious.

The south node kind of points you towards these aspects in a way by showing you what things you have inherited as a result of programming from previous births on this planet.

I hope this answers your question.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Go Deeper Into Exploring This Topic:

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Excellent question. I want to tell you that what you have asked is so deep that you yourself would not have anticipated the response I’m about to give you. For some time actually I had been waiting for a good question on ‘Jaimini’ and thinking when do I get a chance. Today I think is that day.

So to begin, quite honestly, the ‘Atma Karaka’ (hereafter referred as AK) has I’d say a 50% impact on your career.

And the answer is way way deeper than just that. Why?

Because finding these ‘karakas’.. it’s not as simple as you think it is.

See the ‘Amatya Karaka’ (hereafter referred as AmK) in my opinion holds a much bigger say in how a person advances in their career and what career path they choose.

Now, this is quite a debatable point and ‘Jaimini’ astrology has a huge issue in terms of widespread acceptance as there are multiple schools of thought in the field of ‘Vedic’ astrology and therefore multiple ‘ayanamshas’.

What happens though is that if you shift the ‘ayanamsha’ or the ‘precession’, and you see that all the ‘karakas’ end up changing.

I know, that is such a pain in the neck.

Well, I refuse to become part of this mud slinging competition of sorts that has erupted between astrologers of both sides. Nothing wrong about either schools of thought. It’s just their brand of astrology. As the Chinese say: “There are many roads to the top of the mountain.”

On the one side are astrologers who lean more on the mathematical side:

1. Use Tropical ‘Rashis’ and
2. Sidereal ‘nakshatras’ along with various other fine tuned changes such as the
3. ‘Placidus’ house system. (KP/Krishnamurthy)

The reason for going with such a fine tuned calibrated system is that it is more ‘mathematically’ correct and corresponds to actual ‘astronomical’ observations. I prefer this.

On the other side are astrologers who correspond more to the ‘astrological part’ that is highly standardized and based in simplifcation.

1. Use Sidereal ‘Rashis’
2. Sidereal ‘Nakshatras’
3. Equal house system

Astrologers in this category rely a lot more on ‘yogas’ and traditional interpretations of the texts. They are less tech savvy, a little less reliant on actual astronomical observations and a little more bent towards the ‘astrological’ part of things such as studying things from a lens of pragmatism.

So if you were to bring me a chart for instance, with the system I use I will most probably look at your ‘karakas’ in a very different manner.

Oh wait, one more thing.

Contemporarily, ‘Jaimini’ astrology is further divided into 2 schools of thought:

1. Those who follow the 7 ‘karaka’ system and exclude the nodes. (Popularized by Mr. K.N.Rao)
2. Those who follow the 8 ‘karaka’ system and include the nodes. (Followed by some eminent astrologers like Mr. Sanjay Rath)

• I follow the 7 ‘karaka’ system because I find it mathematically makes a lot more sense. Then again even here I practice my variation of astrology which is more rooted in ‘tantra’.
• But what is my logic for the 7 ‘karaka’ scheme? Because even though the nodes are shadow planets, they are still, not full bodied planets.
• See there are 7 ‘chakras’ in the human body. Each one corresponds to the energy of one of the bodied planets.
• Moving further, there are 10 ‘mahavidyas’, each corresponding to one entity out of 9 planets and 1 ascendant.
• So in my personal perspective, 8 ‘karakas’ just doesn’t fit into the system seamlessly.
• I am in search of that entity in ‘Vedic’ astrology that Particle Physicists were in search of in the field of Particle Physics: ‘A Unified Model’
• The system that makes the most sense according to all Vedic texts on the topic, or at least at the moment, most ‘Vedic’ texts, combining the knowledge across individual subjects, to me, makes more sense.
• It makes more sense to me when looking at the chart and understanding the energies involved.
• It makes more sense to me when advising clients after looking at their charts, on future course of action to change their destiny.
• I am not happy looking at systems that only just say: “If this planet goes there and that one goes here this happens”. It doesn’t appeal to the scientific reasoning in my opinion.
• It is easier when the design itself is so smooth that you don’t need to memorize something, force something or push it into existence.

Now, having gotten all of that out of the way, we come to the point of profession.

See, the AK is the significator of the soul. This means that majority of the lessons that your soul undergoes in this lifetime are going to be derived from the filter of the AK.

The AK therefore helps us understand the bulk of the soul’s experiences on the material plane.

You can have the same AK and have as much chance of being a fire fighter as you would have the chance of being an artist.

The overall ‘experience’ of life is what shall be seen through the AK.

Let’s say Saturn is your AK. Then it means that it is your soul’s desire to undergo struggle, to undergo discipline, melancholy, philosophical solitude et all.

How you channelize this has a lot to do honestly with a lot of different things in your chart.

However, the ‘Amataya Karaka’ has a strong directional factor in pointing your energies in a particular way.

Let’s say your AmK is Mars.

This shows us pretty much that using your will power, focus and aggression are primarily going to be the tools of exhibition for your soul on this planet.

Now, you can do this as much as a Marketer as you can do this as a policeman.

No no, don’t be fooled. Marketing and sales is all Mars.

You might think it is all Mercury but it is one of the most demanding and draining jobs out there.

To have the courage to take rejection after rejection after rejection in the pursuit of ‘closing a deal’ requires a very strong Mars.

This is why you will often see Entrepreneurs with a strong Mars in their chart.

But that brings us back to square one!

The qualification criterion still seems so vague.

Yes, so let’s narrow it down.

Look at:

1. The ‘nakshatra’ of the AK.
2. The true house placement of the AK.

These two things will help you understand a lot about the individual’s professional journey here on this planet. Why?

Because with every ‘nakshatra’ you can more or less narrow down the person’s inclinations toward certain professions.

With the house placement then you can further understand the area of life in which the individual shall be exhibiting these traits.

So let’s say an individual has Moon as their AK in ‘Hasta’ in the 9th house?

Tell me now what is the most likely profession for this person?

Yes, in this case the AK being the Moon itself will have a much greater say on the person’s choices.

Even so, just taking it on merit as an AK, think.

So here’s how to think:

1. ‘Hasta’ ruled by Moon therefore AK sitting in own ‘nakshatra’.
   1. What does ‘Hasta’ deal with the most?
   2. Working with the ‘hands’ is a clue.
   3. It’s a very creative ‘nakshatra’ and deals a lot with creativity and actual ground level routine work. Very rhythmic.
2. Now you see AK in ‘Hasta’ is in the 9th house.
   1. It shows that the individual is going to be involved a lot in teaching and learning.
3. Now what is the primary trait of the Moon as an AK?
   1. It shows that the individual is here to ‘nourish’ and ‘nurture’.
      1. This works at a level that could be physical as well as figurative.
      2. For example, the individual could well be a doctor or pharmacist, surgeon or nurse.
4. Alternatively, the individual could also be a writer writing about subjects that alleviate pain and suffering. Or possibly the individual could be a communicator of some sort handling communication at an office, embassy or institution. Could even be a reporter of some sort or maybe even work at decoding transmitting or relaying information in some way.

Now, you look at the AmK and you then get a better idea about how this is being expressed. If the AmK is let’s say Mercury, this may well be expressed along the lines of communication.

Depending on a variety of other factors that is.

The main theme of the individual’s life is going to be as we saw and whatever the individual chooses to do is going to more or less be aligned along those lines.

Hope this answers your question.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

‘Rahu’ in the second house deals with a lot of themes of stability, values, speech and family.

The native is here to experience the process of creating assets and building a family in this lifetime.

Obviously since ‘Rahu’ is about the soul’s forward motion in this world of ‘maaya’, the native will struggle with these significations early on in life simply because the soul is more adept at 8 house significations, hone over previous lifetimes.

I have written a lot about ‘Rahu’ and his mystical energy and the perspective that I advise to be taken with ‘Rahu ji’ at all times is one of understanding his message and direction to the soul for growth rather than ostracizing and fleeing from those lessons.

I know it sounds tougher than it is but well, the north node is got to be somewhere in the chart!

And wherever he sits, that’s where the soul has the most room for growth as that is where the bulk of the soul’s highs and disappointments as well as valuable lessons are going to come from.

As for the scope of this answer, it would help to consider a few notable personalities who have the north node in their second house:

‘It girl’ Madonna: Famous pop star

‘Rap god’ Eminem

“Float like a butterfly sting like a bee” boxing legend Muhammad Ali

What is common in these examples?

Well, for one, they are some of the most recognizable people in the world.

It’s very difficult to find someone with an internet connection who hasn’t heard or seen these faces. This is irrespective of language.

Second, these people made a name for themselves in a way they stand out from all the others in their field.

They are arguably the ‘GOATs’ or ‘Greatest Of All Time in their fields.

And a lot of that has to do with their outspokenness, their originality, tenacity and rock solid character and persona.

See ‘Rahu’ in the second house of the horoscope is pointing to the native the need to develop a strong anchor in this world.

This is not easy.

It’s not easy because these people quite often are tested mercilessly by society, opponents, circumstances and even the audience.

But they can handle it for the most part.

Why is that?

Because with the south node ‘Ketu’ in the 8th house of personal power, other people’s assets and gains from relationships, in these people know how to mobilize support with their originality and most importantly, tapping in to their own personal power.

Yes, a lot of traditional ‘Vedic’ astrologers might say that the north node in the second house ‘destroys family’, destroys assets etc.

However that is just a matter of perception.

This is because the individual in early life is made to go through these challenges in the areas of the 2nd house in order for their soul to go through the necessary lessons of building their own security.

They find their security ultimately in their originality and their value system.

They can be outspoken many times and may either be perceived as very materialistic such as Madonna or be weirdly ‘simple’ like Eminem who even at the height of his fame wore only a G-Shock wristwatch!

On other times, their stoicism and groundedness wrt their values can get them into trouble as well.

For example, Muhammad Ali’s reinvention of his persona from Cassius Clay to ‘Muhammad Ali’ and a refusal to enlist for the Vietnam war because he felt, like a lot of other Americans, that the US was at fault and he didn’t want to be a part of a war that was not morally right.

For this dissent, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for draft evasion and banned from boxing for 3 years including being fined $10,000.

Did he relent?

No.

And this is quite often how people with the north node in the 2nd house can be.

Sometimes this quality can be expressed negatively with these people standing for what they think is right even when they are wrong.

That can land them in trouble and that is where the necessary lessons of ‘Rahu’ come in with the individual’s need to understand what the ‘right’ values are.

All in all, the north node in the second house tests the individual on their ability to stand up for what is their ‘truth’.

The second house corresponds to the natural house of Taurus and Taurus is a very bullish and slow moving, stable yet potentially destructive sign.

For example Eminem has quite widely been criticized for his strong lyrics and open criticism of society’s double standards.

These traits are what make him famous and recognizable but also what have lead to him copping a lot of flack from a lot of different directions.

All in all, north node in the second house is a good position for the shadow planet ‘Rahu’ and is even considered by many to be an ‘exalted’ position for the north node.

However, the nodes being mathematical points aren’t every really exalted or debilitated like their bodied counterparts.

They can be considered as performing well and not so well.

The north node always tends to perform better in earth signs and therefore also, earth houses as the earthly energy gives a strong grounding to ‘Rahu’s’ excessively cerebral tendencies.

The 2nd house corresponding to the natural house of the sign of Taurus, ruled by Venus, is therefore ruled by a friend of ‘Rahu’ and so this is a good placement where there is a lot of grounding given to the energy of ‘desire’ that comes with any north node placement.

I hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Go Deeper Into This Topic:

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

There is no ‘one size fits all’ in any area of life.

Even if you buy a toothbrush, you will find one brand works better for your teeth than another.

To expect that one gemstone can be lucky for everyone and anyone irrespective of their birth chart is like expecting there is one brand of coffee or tea that everyone in this world will like irrespective of their life circumstances, conditioning and life journey.

I ran out of ‘normal’ tea one day and used my special Darjeeling tea to offer to painters working on my living room and they left half their cups full, visibly disappointed at the ‘quality’ of tea served!

So the thought that one gemstone can be ‘lucky’ to everyone on this planet is quite impossible.

Even then, maybe not entirely.

For example, what about water?

Everyone loves water right?

Why?

Because it purifies, refreshes and rejuvenates!

Same thing.

The one gemstone that would work for everyone irrespective of their planets signs and ascendants would a gemstone that ‘purifies’, ‘replenishes’ and ‘rejuvenates’.

It should be clear and tasteless, formless like water.

Something that cleanses and soothes while not leaving behind its own imprint.

Hmmm.

There are two such gemstones that come to mind.

One of them is crystal and I love crystals. If you read my answers you would know that.

Let’s start with the gemstone first.

White Sapphire

Now, the actual good quality White Sapphire will cost you a bomb.

If you can’t get your hands on the ‘real deal’ please don’t waste your time or money on something that may not be 100% authentic and just go with Clear Quartz.

However, if you can get your hands on a White Sapphire, it’s a great gemstone.

Wear it on the middle finger.

Make sure it is tested by a certified gemstone testing agency, free from inclusions as much as possible, no cracks, blemishes and most importantly, is unheated.

If you get an uncut white sapphire, that’s amazing too. However, most people don’t have the taste for something like that. Up to you.

Beware that all of these changes won’t be easy to digest because quite often it’s not pleasant to find out if let’s say, a trusted associate has been ‘skimming of the top’ for a while or your partner has been less than truthful to you about a lot of things.

However, if you can afford it and if you really are in a place in life where all you need is clarity, this is the gemstone for you.

Clear Quartz (‘Sphatik’)

Clear Quartz is a crystal that I have been using for I guess more than 12 years now.

I’ve been using it in the form of a ‘Sphatik’ rosary for chanting.

Clear Quartz is called the ‘clarity’ crystal and helps the native look at their life in a very positive and optimistic fashion.

Basically, it adds zeal to your problem solving.

This is because it helps to cleanse the energetic field of emotional ‘debris’ and kinds of works like sea salt.

While sea salt just absorbs negative vibrations, clear quartz cleanses them and helps the mind settle down.

As usual, adding this disclaimer because I know too much about gemstones I sometimes feel to take them lightly. So, always good to get your chart analyzed once to understand (even if you know which gemstone is best for you) the right way to wear your chosen gemstone.

Hope this answers your question.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Okay, so hear me out please and read until the end with an open mind.

If you really truly want to get out of this situation and really honestly change around your life, don’t let the words that follow hurt you.

Use them to get an informed an honest perspective of your life. If you do that, I can promise you, you would have traversed in 10 minutes, the journey of at least 5 years.

1. You do know what you need to do right now.

Don’t you?

You do.

• You know exactly what you need to do this minute in order to have a roof over your head and food on the table and a comfortable place to sleep.
• So if you’re confused about ‘career’ path and what you want to do for the rest of your life, you actually do know what you can do but you don’t want to commit to it.
• You’re commitment phobic not ignorant or asleep.
  • Even if you’re wiping tables a few days and playing guitar in the subway some other days and have just enough to eat and not have to stay on the streets, you just need to do more what you’re doing, consistently and that’s enough as a career.
  • From busboy you can become waiter.
  • From waiter you can become head waiter.
  • From head waiter you can become manager.
  • From manager one day you can become owner of your own little place.
    • This is, assuming you are just a busboy right now wiping tables and cleaning dishes, cleaning up the mess that others leave behind.
    • I’m sure you’re better placed than that.
    • So what’s the problem then?
    • It’s lack of commitment.
• This process of growth I just shared might take ‘forever’ and “Do I really need to commit to something so trivial that grows so slowly?”
  • That’s your problem.
  • Growth is always linear. It takes commitment and patience.

Sleep on it, self reflect. You’ll realize it makes sense.

2. You do know where you lack.

• There are definitely jobs that you would love doing right now if you could get them that is.
• So what’s stopping you from getting them?
  • Lack of experience?
  • Lack of qualifications?
• What’s stopping you from getting that?
  • Lack of will.

It gets easy man, once you start doing it.

It’s easy as hell.

• You won’t want to stop because once you are on the path, with each step all you see is how close you’re getting to where you want to be.
• Upskilling starts with inculcating a growth mindset.
  • I don’t know where you are but I can say for sure here in India even ‘middle class’ children have worked harder and braved worse in the pursuit of their studies just to be able to get to college than most people in the West can imagine.
    • There’s something about ‘lack’ of the basics that pushes you to up your game.
    • Have a test tomorrow and the power went out? Great! All the more motivated to do well. The street light, candle light, battery light, all work just fine when you take opposition as a challenge.
    • If you aren’t angry with where you are right now, chances are your struggle is not that basic. Chances are you are well off and ‘comfortable’.
  • Books are cheap. Get second-hand books or even third-hand.
    • I’ve read books that have been torn up and I read half a book then read the other half at a book store sometime later and remaining one day when I spotted it in a friends’ bookshelf. Stop making lame excuses about why you can’t upskill yourself and why you can’t learn.
    • Read a good newspaper that’s enough to improve your knowledge in one week itself. That alone will help you get a good job.
    • Even if you want to start your own business, you need to get the rust off you first. So gaining experience and moving up until you’re ready to start is imperative.
    • Plus, these days there are thousands of books available online for free! If you haven’t read hundreds by now, the only thing missing is intent.
• Then, it brings us back to point one.
  • Your problem is lack of commitment.
  • Once you start, you got to keep at it.
  • That’s it.
• Want that USD 500,000 job?
  • It’s achievable.
• You only have to take one step at a time.
  • Get a USD 50,000 job first.
• Take tests, study, move to the next level.
  • Repeat.
• Now you’re at USD 55,000
  • Take tests, study. Change the company.
  • Now you’re at USD 75,000
  • It’s simple but you have to keep at it.
  • Repeat and stay committed to the process.

You know where you lack but you’re not getting down to covering that ‘gap’.

3. You are surrounded by the wrong people.

1. Either these are people who are doing very good themselves and demotivate you because they want someone to pick after them and be their lackey.
2. Or these are bums who are going nowhere and want company.
3. Which ever applies to your case.

• Let me tell you, intelligent successful people are always willing to help and share.
  • If you put up the right questions there are millionaires on this platform here who will be very happy to help you. They probably won’t be writing long answers but enough to help you out with you need to know.
• And there are people who are so nice, who take the time to have a coffee with me just because I ask politely, respectfully and know how to behave around them and these people charge between USD 1000 – USD 2000 per hour but still take out 10 mins just to chat with me online in a coffee break. Free!
  • How?
  • Get a mentor. Ask successful people for help genuinely as if you are applying for a job and they will share what they know with you if they like you and think you’re worth it.

You know why most successful people help?

• Because most successful people come from crap and if they can help it, and they see you really want to do something good, they are happy to share what they know.
• If you follow their advice and they see you grow, put the work in, evolve and become better at what you do, they would be very likely to hire you.
• Successful people don’t waste time. The invest in people if they think those people can provide sufficient ROI down the line.
• But hanging around with the wrong kind of people does nothing for you.
• You don’t learn anything you don’t grow and you have no incentive to change.

Which brings me back to the first point.

You need to stay committed.

• You won’t just find good people hanging around cafes offering free advice or guidance.
• First job is to get close to them.
  • There are tons of people on Linkedin groups and good quality Facebook groups and you can even reach out to someone you admire, directly and try to get them to teach your something.
  • Remember, they aren’t your therapists or teachers. Just ask them specific questions like this one you’ve put here and they will respond. All you do then is nod and take notes.
  • Even shining shoes on wall street is more of a learning experience than being treated to beer and peanuts and club sandwiches and grilled chicken by people who bring you down and want to keep you down and want to lull you into comfort so that you never grow or evolve.

4. You can afford to be ‘chill’ with the status quo.

• I get so many emails by people who tell me they don’t have a job for 3/4 years!
• I ask them how are you surviving then?
  • “Oh staying at my parents’ place.”
  • Great parents these people have!
  • Mine threw me out as soon as I had the strength to fend for myself. I actually thank my stars today that they did so!
• If you are able to go without working for any period of time, you have people in your life who are just afraid of losing you and that’s what’s keeping you weak. They aren’t being hard enough on you and you’re just using that as an excuse to stay where you are.
  • You wouldn’t have that luxury if you were a single woman with two mouths to feed and no family to support her. Or an honest immigrant with a family to support, who is thousands of miles away from home.
  • Get me?

1. Remember that nothing in life is ever going to happen all at once.
   1. Unless it’s moving very fast in the wrong direction.
2. Building up to a goal you have, that always takes time. Always.
   1. And you need to stay committed and tune out the noise from your life.
3. It needs to be just you and you until you are satisfied with what you’ve built and where you’ve reached.

• The trick is to understand that by staying committed to the process and giving 200% to whatever is in front of you right now, you learn about yourself, build capability and strength.
• This enables you to pivot in the direction of your greatest potential.
• You can’t ‘think’ your way to your greatest potential, your greatest gift.
• It shall be ‘revealed’ to you if you have become worthy of it.

I hope this answers your question.

As I said in the beginning, take what I’ve written as honest advice from a friend. From someone who has been through the worst kind of crap and come out swinging on the other side.

I wish someone told me this when I needed to hear it. I’d probably have been a millionaire by now. Haha

EDIT: I thought it very important to include a more hopeful and less ‘strict’ response. The above points may seem a bit drill sergeant like to a lot of readers. To those who made it to the end, here’s the carrot for your brain after the stick.

Do you know who painted this famous art piece?

If you’re not from the US you probably won’t be as familiar with this painting but look at the signature at the bottom right of the painting.

“Moses” it says; the name of the painter.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses was an American folk artist who began painting at the age of 78!

She spent her entire life engaged in manual labor more or less, on a farm but had an interest in art that she preserved through a laborious life.

She had 10 children of which 5 survived infancy and an outlet for her artistic side for embroidery which she had to stop as she aged because of arthritis.

Then in time, her husband died, she didn’t remarry and went to live with one of her daughters. Fast forward few more years and a few more of her children died before her and lonely and without company, she finally returned to what had caught her imagination at the age of 12: painting.

“Mother Moses” she was called as she began to age. In time this name changed to “Grandma Moses” which stuck to her until her death at the ripe old age of 101!

Her painting ‘Fourth of July’ appears on a US commemorative stamp issued in her honor in 1969

Now, I’d like to tell you once again that the odds of Grandma Moses discovering her personal genius at the age of 78 would have been 0 if she had not paid her dues throughout her life.

She didn’t sit around thinking the ‘best career’ option for herself.

She carried her most passionate emotions about life close to her heart and kept on dealing with life, doing what she had to do, and expressed art in many ways throughout life.

You should check it out. From decorating fireboards to embroidery and what not, she expressed the art she felt inside her in all the ways that called out to her.

Early in life, as a kid, she used lemons and grape juice to make colors for her landscapes.

As I said in the points above, your don’t just discover your ‘purpose’ like that.

It is ‘revealed’ to you if you are worthy.

Your true gift, your greatest talent, is probably not even known to you at this moment. However ‘thinking’ it won’t get you there. You have to work at it, work at it and work at it, at whatever’s in front of you with purpose and commitment.

Grandma Moses was kept her passion alive until the end. She is an icon of hope and patience. Be like Grandma Moses.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Consistently counted amongst one of the world’s richest men, Wareen Buffett has his Saturn in the first house (Placidus/Chalit placement), which can be considered by many as a rather difficult placement.)

You can pull out a bunch of ‘yogas’ involving Saturn and see a lot of things written about if Saturn is placed here then this happens if Saturn is conjunct this lord or that lord then this happens etc etc.

However, you can not know even one ‘yoga’ and understand how Saturn ‘works’. If you know that, you can see

1 Understand that commanding wealth and enjoying wealth are two separate things.

2 Understand that no matter how powerful you are in this world, you will only ever be able to enjoy a percentage of your wealth.

• The point is Saturn in a good position will certainly put you in a place where you are a King of some sort.
• Being rich and enjoying riches per se is more about ‘Rahu’.
• With these two points, now just look at the placement of Saturn in the charts of some of the most influential people who have achieved massive ‘respect’ and ‘greatness’ in their fields.
• Which may be any field at all that they come from. Art, Literature, Politics or Research.
• You will see that the ones who achieved the highest echelons in their respective fields all have couple of things in common.

1. Their Saturn is free from influence or conjunctions with the nodes and malefics.
2. It is usually placed in own sign, exaltation sign or in any of the ‘kendra’ or wealth houses in good dignity or at least in its own ‘nakshatra’.

Let’s take three examples in quick succession then I will continue.

1. Fidel Castro

• One of the greatest ‘dictators’ in modern times.
• He was instrumental in making the state of Cuba a welfare communist state and I think the only one of its kind that ever could see Communism thriving.
• Very strong leader who survived multiple assassination attempts.
  • He had an exalted Saturn in the 7th house in the ‘nakshatra’ of ‘Vishakha’.
  • In Tropical system, Saturn is in Scorpio, N.C Lahiri, Saturn in Libra.

2. Oprah Winfrey

• One of the greatest woman talk show hosts of all time.
• Braved many setbacks in life including being abused by her own father.
• Host of one of the longest running Talk shows of all time.
  • Saturn in 11th in ‘Swati’
  • In Tropical, it is the sign of Scorpio in N.C. Lahiri, Saturn in Libra.

3. Ratan Tata

• One of the most respect CEO’s in recent times.
• Gave India her first home made car.
• Bought iconic British brands that became a source of great pride for India.
• These acquisitions were highly symbolic since India was buying companies from their est. aggressors and rulers.
  • Saturn in 4th in ‘Uttarabhadrapada’, its own ‘nakshatra’.
  • According to Tropical it is the sign of Pisces, in Lahiri, Saturn in Aries.

Let’s take the chart of one ‘legit’ rich guy who has a lot of money and is counted among the richest and in fact, making money is what he is know for.

4. Warren Buffett

• Owner of Berskshire Hathaway
• Consistently one of the world’s richest businessmen.
• Owns sizable shares in some of the biggest companies in the world including Coca Cola.
  • Saturn in the first house in ‘Moola’.
  • In Tropical, Saturn is in Capricorn. In Lahiri, Saturn in Sagittarius.

Now, is there something you noticed that was common with these Saturn placements?

• It’s not the placements per se but how you use them.
• You research the life of each of these individuals and you will see that how they earned their wealth is very consistent with Saturn placement in their chart.
• Saturn my friend, is a planet that irrespective of what people out there tell you, Saturn works if you work.
• Yes one thing is for sure here.
  • Saturn is unafflicted for all of them.
  • An afflicted Saturn means an afflicted sense of patience, discipline and resilience. That makes it very difficult to rise to power in any way.
• Another important thing is the placement of Saturn.
  • Now, Steve Jobs had Saturn in his 3rd house. Did it mean he wasn’t rich? Lol Hell no!
  • But you see people who have built a lot of wealth and are in charge of a lot of wealth and power over time, they have Saturn in ‘upachya’ houses, wealth houses or ‘kendra’.

To be honest, no matter where your Saturn is placed, if you work with your placement, you can be rich.

I’m not saying this to cheer you up.

Look at anyone’s chart and you will see that how you become great and rich is based on how you leverage your Saturn placement.

I mean obviously, strengths of other planets is a huge factor too and so is the dignity of Saturn in the divisional charts. That cannot be discounted.

I hope this answers your question.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

‘Vaastu’ is actually the science of ‘design’ if you really look at it. Many learned architects are in fact taught the basics of ‘Vaastu’ in their courses and I don’t know about private colleges or abroad but certainly the ones trained at SPA, as far as I am aware of, do have a course on this subject as part of the program.

If you look at well designed homes from the past.

By ‘past’ I mean early on when development projects were primarily carried out by the city development authorities. You will find majority of these houses designed as per ‘Vaastu’ principles.

In fact if you have stayed in heritage hotels or palace hotels you will see that a lot of principles of design are actually very logical, natural and seamless in terms of energy flow.

For example one aspect of design that was very popular back then which is no longer found in ‘modern’ designs, makes a lot of sense and is great according to ‘Vaastu’.

(I’m not sure what these are called but I think they are called ‘transom’ windows.)

First this design was in the form of ventilators then it changed to static ‘windows’ and now it’s gone.

Result?

Rooms become pitch dark these days if you close the door.

You can literally suffocate to death if let’s say your AC malfunctions and you had been sleeping with the door shut.

So isn’t this something someone should have noticed or changed in the design of their homes?

Probably but people these days begin to solve problems to reach ‘cleaner’ solutions which lead them to problems that aren’t as ‘apparent’. Then they begin to work their way out of these problems when things go bad, which basically only takes them back to simpler, ‘old fashioned’ solutions that were the norm back in the day.

‘Vaastu’ is just like that.

I’m listing 4 key ‘Vaastu’ points here that address similar concepts and I shall add more of these in the future. For now these will work fine and give you enough food for thought.

1. Main door shouldn’t be South facing.

• If you look at it from the perspective of energy, it’s actually a no brainer even if you have no knowledge of spirituality or the occult.
• See in the northern hemisphere, the Sun moves across the Southern sky as it rises in the East and sets in the West,
• There’s a common saying that “Moss grows on the North side”.
• So if you think about it, having the main door on the North is better so that the entire house receives enough light and heat throughout the day.
• When you build the entrance on the South, basically, the back of the house is more prone to rot.
• Also, much of the energy of the Sun and light and positivity etc. is wasted because tell me, who sits outside their main door to catch some Sun? haha
• From a spiritual perspective, those who have more knowledge about astrology, tarot etc. , South is the direction of Mars and corresponds to the 10th house in the birth chart and has a lot of fire energy.
• So if you are building a home, you want it to be a place of ‘comfort’ and leisure right?
• You don’t want all sorts of energies to come in and disrupt your peace.
• This brings me to the next point that has to do with the entrance as well.

2. ‘Sher-mukh’ entrances for commercial spaces and ‘Go-mukh’ entrances for residential spaces

• Carrying on the same point that I had mentioned above, if the entrance of the plot of your home is such that the entrance is wider than the back of the house, obviously, once more, you have a lot of energy influx that is likely to unsettle you.
• However, this is exactly how you want commercial plots to be because the back of commercial plots is usually for storage and accounts departments.
• So always ensure that one of the best things you can do to ensure that unwanted energies don’t come into your home and that the entire house receives good rotation of sunlight and energy, build a ‘go-mukh’ entrance facing any direction by the Southern side.
• Now, in this, I have written an answer about how entrances and their suitability can vary from person to person based on their respective energy and chart. However, that is a separate discussion and these are general points that will apply to everyone.

3. Keep the North side as beautiful and ‘open’ as possible.

• The North is where a lot of energy comes in as a result of the natural alignment of the Earth’s axis.
• Even if you were to take a paper clip, rub it continuously in one direction and place it on a leaf floating in water, it will automatically align in the N-S axis.
• While the energy of the South is more ‘material’ in nature and the natural element is ‘fire’, the energy of the North is more spiritual and natural as per the laws of nature and it’s the natural direction of ‘alignment’ for us all here on Earth.
• The North is the direction of the flow of prosperity and abundance. This actually is quite commonly believed across different cultures in the world.
• It is so energetic that you can try sleeping your head pointed towards the North for a few days and automatically you will begin to feel ‘out of balance’.
• A few days for change I feel is important. This because I mostly subscribe to the Zen methodology of balance and following what feels right and taking the middle path.
• However, extended alignment towards a high energy direction will actually physically make you feel the difference. If you are susceptible to migraines or insomnia, there is a huge possibility that sleeping with your head towards the North will cause a flare up.
• However, I have seen for people suffering from depression, sleeping with their head pointed towards the North for a few days can actually help lift them up energetically.
• So yeah. Keep this in mind when designing wall units and placing furniture.

4. No toilet in NE, SE or SW.

• Toilets are the most essential components of a home even more than a kitchen I believe.
• That’s because you can play around with the stove and move it easily but a toilet you need to break and rebuild.
• I have written an answer in detail about toilet placements for ‘Vaastu’ please check that out.
• I would say that toilets are ‘energy sinks’.
• In the right direction, they do very well to help release negative energy from the household. That’s where you go to ‘relieve’ yourself and ‘clean’ yourself right?
• Also, no wonder so many of us get such great ideas in the buff. New ideas will come to you when you release impurity and toxicity from your system.
• So the NE and SW are two of the most critical placements in the house. Make sure not to have a toilet here. If there is, obviously there are solutions to everything but sometimes you have not other option but to change the house or break and rebuild a section.
• SE is a no no as well because it’s the corner of fire in the house however it also deals with electricity and energy per se. So you can still find some ways to work around a toilet that’s not at the extreme SE. However if you are rebuilding an old apartment, make sure the toilet isn’t at the SE.

5. Try to have your MCBs, invertor points generator etc and all energy sources in the SE.

• The South East is the corner of ‘fire energy’ traditionally.
• However in modern times we can say it is the corner of energy in the house.
• Fire is more so a traditional interpretation of ‘energy’ since in those days energy primarily corresponded to ‘Fire’.
• Today you have so many important energy sources in the house that guess what generate energy and hence ‘heat’.
• So placing the bulk of your electrical machinery towards the S.E. gives best results.

6. Over head tanks, stairs and all the heavier components of the construction of the house in the SW.

• The South West is actually pretty important as well as feared in all of the occult sciences.
• It corresponds to the 8th house in the birth chart and as such it corresponds to the foundation of the house and the ‘feet’ of the ‘Vaastu Purusha’.
• Therefore the bulk of the weight of the house, storage (not broken parts), should be stationed in the South West.
• The South West corresponds to Earth energy and therefore all important components of the household including the master bedroom should ideally be placed here.
• See the South West is the corner of energy that you want to remain ‘still’ and stationary.
• This could be gold, silver, any important family heirlooms, property papers etc. that you want to be stable and not change hands or be put in the market for trade, such as contingency assets etc. should be kept here. The theme of ‘Earth’ energy is energy that doesn’t move or ‘shift’. I have observed that money and important assets kept in a South locker whose door opens to the North lead to multiplication of assets in the house.
• A swimming pool in this direction is a strict no no.
• Why? Well even though they are full of water and hence carry a lot of weight, just think of it like this: To build a pool you need to excavate a ton of soil from that area of the house and replace it with water. You are upsetting the natural alignment of that area of the house then.

7. North West holds the energy of movement. Guest rooms, game rooms, balconies etc. best placed here. Even toilets do well here.

• The North West is the portion of the house that should correspond to energy that shifts, changes and ‘moves’.
• This is also the corner of the house that can be utilized to keep all the things you need to ‘temporarily’ store.
• Heavy weights, permanent storages, master bedrooms and heavy machinery or important assets documents etc. shouldn’t be kept here.
• The North West ideally in an office space is where we advise the sales team to sit as they are required to be ‘in motion’ and stay healthy and ‘competitive’.
• It is said that couples who are looking to conceive shouldn’t take the NW bedroom as it may delay or cause complications in their delivery.
• This area is best maintained with furniture and activities that last only a short period of time throughout the day.
• Here again, my thoughts may differ from traditional ‘Vaastu’ experts as I have seen people with strong 6th houses do very well if they have a study/ den or sitting area in this section of the house.
• However, prolonged exposure to this section of the house can cause slips, cuts bruises accidents etc. as this section corresponds to the natural 6th house, which corresponds to the energy of health but also maintenance of health and sanitation.
• Keep this region minimalistic in terms of décor and furniture.

8. The surroundings have a huge role to play in the overall energy of the house too.

• The concept of ‘Vaastu’ is keeping a property and maintaining it in along the same principles as you would maintain a body.
• This is why I have had a lot of success in relating designs with individual’s charts and looking at ‘Vaastu’ of houses from the perspective of how one would look at a birth chart.
• In the same way, you may be a healthy and strong individual but placed in inhospitable surroundings you will just not thrive.
• One thing I have noticed is that houses with great ‘Vaastu’ usually automatically have great surroundings. Even then it is important to inspect the surroundings as they do have a sizable impact on the house to.
• What your windows open to, what surrounds your house, the plots adjacent to your house, the scenery, the properties adjacent and readily visible from the windows and doors have a huge impact on the house too.
• So important to keep in mind when looking at a house. If the house adjacent to yours is empty and crumbling and that’s what you’re going to see 24*7 whenever you go into your balcony, it’s not such a good location.
• If the adjacent plot is empty and overridden with dirt, muck, weeds and unwanted garbage or clutter such as rotting old cars and/or a makeshift scrapyard, you can be sure a lot of that energy is going to brush off on your house too.
• I would like to point out here that I once lived in a house that was otherwise good but in one room of the house the energy always felt kind of heavy and I used to avoid going there. Looking back I think I changed that house just because of that room.
• Few months later when I was discussing the same with my dad he asked me: “Who lived on the wall adjacent to that room?”
• Sure enough I realized it was an unhappy household where the residents kept to themselves mostly and actually were kind of withdrawn from the entire locality. It never crossed my mind at the time because normally it doesn’t register in your mind so readily that just by sharing a wall with the wrong environment, if you’re a sensitive person, you can bet you will feel a lot of that energy too.
• This is why corner houses are usually the most sought after, especially if they have good ventilation and good view on all 3 sides.
• Once again, the direction matters. If you have a corner house with the main door in the South West, best avoid it unless it is to be used for commercial purposes or if your chart supports it.

9. There will always be a trade off. There is no ‘perfect house’.

• ‘Lanka’ was supposed to be ‘perfect’.
• ‘Indraprastha’ was supposed to be ‘perfect’.
• What happened though?
• They never stayed in the control of one owner. They were always being transferred to the next person is some way.
• The best house is where, now here if you believe in ‘Vaastu’ you also have to believe in these logical principles which are an essential part of ‘Vedic’ culture..
• The best houses are those where good people live, do good things, offerings are made to gods (‘havan’) and ‘dharma’ is practiced.

I hope these basics help you out. There is a lot to ‘Vaastu’ and I shall be adding more in time.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(‘Amitabh Bachchan’s Blue Sapphire ring is quite famous. Many celebrities are famous for gemstones that have proven to be quite lucky for them.)

• What I have come to realize in the past few years, looking at so many charts, working with so many clients and listening to their experiences…
• a lot of things that you think are ‘con’ in ‘Vedic’ astrology and Hinduism are actually just well intentioned, outdated interpretations, rituals and systems which need to be phased out.
• Thing is, that takes time and effort.

That takes a new batch of innovative and well read intellectuals to enter this field and advise better interpretations and changes/ alternatives.

However, most ‘intellectuals’ just prefer to run away from religion, let alone ‘vedic’ culture and knowledge.

So for example, a lot of the ‘pundits’ and ‘jyotshis’ prescribing these gemstones are not aware of ‘crystals’ and the crystal alternatives to precious gemstones.

Why is that?

Because it’s not mentioned anywhere and they obviously don’t have the exposure to have accessed this knowledge somewhere else.

Otherwise, in my experience that comes from practical application and also research of the same, crystal alternatives can work just as well depending on the case.

• Amber can work just as well as Ruby if the chart supports it.
• Citrine can work just as well as Yellow Sapphire if the chart supports it.
• Moonstone can work just as well as Pearl if the chart supports it.
• Similarly, there are a lot of pretty viable semi precious alternatives to previous gemstones and depending on the chart, you can use them for the same results.

Now, the thing is, precious gemstones are really powerful. That is a fact you can’t run from.

That is indeed something which is you know.. verifiable.

There are many ways for that and I’ve written about them in my answers on gemstones. You can check them out. However, the main thing is, the wearer himself will tell you when a gemstone has ‘worked’ for them.

1. Take the example of Amitabh Bachchan and his Blue Sapphire.
   1. If you’ve been following him, you will see that a lot of positive change in his life has come about since he started wearing that Blue Sapphire.
   2. Now, people can say that is just the ‘Placebo effect’ in action.
      1. However, the premise of the Placebo effect is actually quite wrong I feel. The premise is that potent solutions work and ‘fake’ solutions are just working because the mind ‘believes’ them to actually work.
      2. See, the Placebo effect says that an individual can heal his or herself solely on the basis of ‘faith’ that the prescribed treatment has the power to cure.
      3. So what this basically means is, there is an inherent power of the human body to heal itself.
      4. Right?
      5. Otherwise how the hell is someone’s ‘faith’ healing them?
      6. But you say this to these ‘intellectuals’ when you talk about ‘chakras’ and ‘healing’ et all and they tell you are crazy for believing in these things.
2. Anyway, my point is that gemstones on their own don’t have any power.
   1. If you wearing a gemstone from a purely aesthetical point of view and rich people as well as people in public eye do that quite often, it may even have no impact on your life.
   2. Gemstones function solely to help you better work with the energies of that specific planet in your chart. They empower or disempower that specific planetary energy in your body.
   3. For example Blue Sapphire will only be able to give you results in your life based on your Saturn placement and/or Saturn ‘nakshatras’.
   4. It will have primarily to do with your mindset shift that comes along with that gemstone. You must understand that events are occurring independently as part of the grand plan and it is how the mind reacts and responds to these events that dictates the direction of your life.
      1. Now, another thing to note is that gemstones aren’t for everyone.
      2. Some people have a very strong first house i.e. their focus on the self is quite a bit.
      3. These kind of people are usually never the kind who would ‘believe’ in the impact of anything outside of them in changing their life.
      4. Then there are people whose first house is a little weak i.e. the house strength is low due to some reason. These people usually are the kind of people who do well with gemstones, crystals, meditation, talismans, rosaries etc.
      5. In fact, these people ‘need’ additions to their natural energy in order to shield them from outside influences. Even if you don’t tell them to wear something, they naturally fancy bracelets, jewelry, rosaries etc. on their own.
3. The thing is to understand as an astrologer, who will respond to which remedy.
   1. Many of my clients don’t want ‘mantra’ remedies or a ‘saadhna’ routine. They go out of their way to ask me if I can suggest a good gemstone that can get the task done.
   2. Quite often that works and quite often it doesn’t.
      1. Why? Because as I wrote in the previous answer about ‘Angarak yoga’, spending money won’t help you escape your ‘karma’ bro!
      2. It’s really that simple.
      3. If you are in need to restructure your life to become more spiritual and conscious, you will have to put in the work. If you don’t, then life circumstances are going to push you in that direction.
      4. You are naturally going to encounter situations which are going to force you at some point, to take the necessary steps, do the necessary self work, to grow.

• In some cases, it’s quite often a person who knows that for them gemstones work very well and you can see it in their chart.
• I have prescribed on their own request, to some people, models, doctors and businessmen.. some very very expensive gemstones.
  • This is because they insisted on me advising them on the highest quality gemstone with all the necessary astrological requirements to be fulfilled as well.
  • It was natural because these people sit, eat, socialize and work with high net worth individuals round the clock. They are obviously not going to wear anything ‘cheap’.
• Another thing, every gemstone that is good from an aesthetical point of view is not necessarily perfect from an astrological point of view.
  • So if you really wanted to find the best gemstone that is aesthetically as well as astrologically ‘perfect’ then that takes time and money.
• Look, it all depends on what you want. Some people have a 6” ‘Kubera Yantra’ in their office, some have an 18” one. There’s no end to how much you much ‘top end’ you can go. It’s your call. Also, it depends on your chart too.

All of this, a good astrologer can see in their client’s chart.

However, due to a variety of reasons, they are under pressure to give a ‘remedy’ and the easiest remedies most astrologers know is gemstones. Especially if a wealthy guy walks in for divine help.

• The thing you must understand is, every astrologer is not a life coach or therapist. Every astrologer is not as well rounded to be able to look at your chart and then help you understand what are the range of actions you can take to change your situation and how you need to be approaching your life challenges, the right ‘mantra’ and ‘yoga’ practices for you for maximum benefit etc.
  • The majority of astrologers can just look at your chart and make predictions and give advice which is all based on ‘shlokas’ that they have memorized or been taught by their ‘Guru’.
  • However, the average person who comes goes to an astrologer for actual ‘help’ is expecting more than just that.
  • So the standard ‘advice’ is to prescribe ‘pujas’ or gemstones.

Is this a con?

• Well, sometimes it is. Quite often as I said, it is just lack of knowledge and competence. They are suggesting solutions that they know. It’s that simple.
• What you can do as someone consulting the average astrologer, is tell them that you are only seeking ‘mantra’ remedies that you can do on your own.
• Now, if any astrologer demotivates you from performing ‘mantra’ remedies on your own, that’s a con. Obviously, everyone will have their own methods but you can always say I want a ‘mantra’ remedy and also advise me how to do it please.
• Unfortunately, it is also here that many falter because sadly many ‘jyotshis’ just don’t keep themselves updated with all the plethora of ‘mantras’ out there for deities and planets, ‘nakshatras’ etc. from our scriptures. There are very few of them out there from the traditional school and they are easy to spot.

More than a con, to be honest, that’s just sad.

Hope this answers your question.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(Tina Turner, known as the Queen of Rock, has practiced ‘Soka Gakkai Nichiren’ Buddhism since 1973 and recorded a chanting of this ‘mantra’ in her voice.)

I will get to the main explanation before I have built a brief background about how ‘mantras’ essentially work.

First of all, it is important to understand the background of every ‘mantra’ you begin to chant for the energy generated by that ‘mantra’ to be consistent with the energy you are seeking to bring in to your life.

Now, that might confuse you if you are a pragmatist when it comes to the chanting of ‘mantras’ especially in Buddhism.

Why is that?

• Well there is a school of thought wherein one ‘mantra’ in itself is enough to take you to enlightenment. The key is repetition and focus.
  • In fact, we have a similar belief with respect to mantra ‘siddhi’ in Hinduism as well.
• However, ‘Vedic’ philosophy is about a whole set of ‘mantras’.
  • Volumes of them in fact, for diverse purposes and diverse set of gods and goddesses each with a different ‘specialization’ so to speak.
  • As a subset of ‘Vedic’ philosophy and Hinduism, you have ‘tantra’ wherein there are specific ‘mantras’ for fulfilling a specific goal in your life.
  • This could be a goal related to spiritual development or material development.
  • Similarly, there is a branch of Buddhism called ‘Vajrayana’ Buddhism. This branch is a lot like ‘Tantra’ and has a variety of secret knowledge of goddesses and ‘mantras’ for each of them.

Basically, with each ‘mantra’ you work with repetition to align your energetic vibration in a way that calls in the particular energy of that ‘mantra’ into your life.

Knowing the meaning and understanding a ‘mantra’ fully before you begin to chant it therefore, will have a much greater impact on your practice rather than just starting off chanting and not knowing what energy you are trying to create.

Most people who start chanting for personal transformation, unless they have already been following a spiritual discipline in some way or another, expect changes to come instantly in the way that they want.

When that doesn’t happen or the desired result doesn’t happen, they quit.

It didn’t create the kind of results I wanted it to therefore surely it doesn’t ‘work’.

Nope.

That’s not how it works.

You need to understand first of all what you are signing up for.

A ‘mantra’ will bring about a series of powerful changes in you spiritually, emotionally, mentally until you are aligned with your highest purpose.

For a lot of people a ‘mantra’ will bridge that ‘capability’ gap.

This means, it will help you enhance your mindset enough to be able to reach out to and receive what you are working hard towards.

In other peoples’ cases however, what you are wishing to attract may well be something that stems from a lower energy mindset or ego mindset.

In which case it is in the best interest of your soul’s journey to let it go so that you may attract what is truly meant for you, what truly resonates with the highest version of your self.

For example, let’s take: ‘Namyoho Renge Kyo’:

Origins:

• The origin of this phrase lies in the ‘Mahayana’ Buddhism philosophy. More specifically, it belongs to the ‘Lotus Sutra’ which is a doctrine that forms an intrinsic part of ‘Nichiren’ Buddhism.
  • As a side note, we can loosely classify Buddhism into the ‘Greater wheel’ (‘Mahayana’) and the ‘Smaller/ Lesser Wheel’ (‘Hinayana’).
    • Nowadays, ‘Hinayana’ has come to be regarded more as a derogatory term and should be avoided with the name symbolic at best.
  • Concisely put, the ‘Greater Wheel’ recognizes the need for a soul to undergo experiences of suffering, happiness etc. in order for it to evolve ultimately to Buddhahood. The ‘Smaller Wheel’ looks at all of the suffering of the material plane and recognizes merely the need for renunciation to free oneself of it.
    • I would love to go into more detail about the two but that would be outside the scope of this question, I shall take it up in another answer.
• The essence of the philosophy of the ‘Lotus Sutra’ is that man has within him, at each moment, the ability to overcome any difficulty or problem encountered in life.
• Therefore, all humans have within them, the ability to transform any suffering.

‘Nichiren’ was a 13th century monk, who awakened to this principle and named it “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo”.

• The idea for the practice that he developed was to activate within each individual the transformative ability to liberate themselves of suffering at the most fundamental level of perception of their ability as a human being.
• Which is to say, if you believe that you as a human being are enough in your ability to solve all of life’s challenges, then you as a human being, will find yourself complete in striving to do so.
• The first to awaken to this law was ‘Shakyamuni’ (Siddhartha Gautama) who we know as the Buddha or “Enlightened one”.
• Intrinsically, the “Lotus Sutra” is actually an encapsulation of the conclusion of his teachings. In Japanese they are called ‘Myoho-Renge-Kyo’.

‘Nichiren’ added ‘Nam’ as a prefix borrowed from the Sanskrit word for ‘Namas’ or ‘to bow to’.

The idea was to direct the consciousness of the individual doing the chanting to this universal law of self reliance to overcome life’s obstacles.

If you break it up word by word it becomes thus:

1. ‘Myo’: Mystical or wonderful

2. ‘Ho’: Law

3. ‘Renge’: Lotus blossom (metaphorical)

4. ‘Kyo’: ‘Sutra’ (literal)

5. ‘Nam’: To dedicate, (to bow)

• Now, if you are trying to transform yourself into a better person, letting go of toxic habits, staying strong through difficult times, this chanting practice will help you through all that.
  • That’s because the basis of this chanting practice is to focus your mind to the fact that you have within you all that you need to stand up to and ace the challenge before you.
• Now, if you start chanting this with the aim of manifesting an Audi Q7 when the true purpose of your path and the true journey of your soul in this lifetime is becoming let’s say a healer, you are likely to have uncomfortable experiences as a result of this chanting.
• Your chanting will lead you away from the fulfillment of this ‘desire’ your ego is holding on to and the more you try to resist or fight it, the more you are likely to be whisked away.
• For some one else let’s say, the purpose of whose life is to review cars like Supercar Blondie, well, chanting this ‘mantra’ will take you closer to that goal and help you overcome obstacles in your way and self limiting beliefs that stop you from getting what you want.

Now, this too is very subjective. Why?

• Well the ultimate goal of all souls no matter what path you take is to understand that the material world is an illusion that you can continue to enjoy as long as you like.
• However the true purpose of your soul is to transcend these boundaries and experiences.
• Not everyone is meant to let go of all their desires this moment.
• There is a road and route to that final destination, of being able to see the truth.
• Some souls are meant to understand this final truth by realizing the futility of pursuit of all things.
• Others are mean to understand it by getting what they desire and finding no peace in it.
• Depends where you are in the cycle and how committed you are to the process.

To sum it up, whether or not this ‘mantra’ ‘works’ is not the right question.

1. The right question is, are you open to its working?
2. How committed are you to the process of change?

Because you see, quite often the process of change for the best looks nothing like the way you want it to be.

Hope this helps.

Additional reading:

Here’s an article about how chanting this ‘mantra’ helped transform Tina’s life from a point of rock bottom where she swallowed 50 sleeping pills as a way to get out of her marriage.https://www.today.com/popculture/tina-turner-shares-her-secrets-being-truly-happy-t210635

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

Hari Om Namo Narayana!

(‘Krishna’ was the 8th incarnation of ‘Vishnu’ and a master of the powers of seduction.)

I have recently been writing a few answers about ‘mantras’ and how they work.

You are encouraged to check them out for a better understanding of this topic from the basics.

• See, ‘mantras’ are a part of the trio of tools or methods you can say, of the occult.
• Now, occult has taken up a rather negative connotation as a result of the Western interpretation of this word.
  • This has happened primarily because in Abrahamic religions, ‘occult’ is considered to the be the instruments of the ‘devil’.
  • In fact, one of the major reasons that early colonizers were ‘certain’ that eastern cultures were ‘un civilized’ is the widespread acceptance of many occult practices as part of the primary belief itself.
  • Sure, they do honor the dead on Halloween’s and there is a different festival for that in the Hispanic subcultures of Christianity as well, however that is different.
  • In Eastern cultures and in fact primal cultures so to speak, those that were around long before ‘civilizations’ (as the west defines them) came about, divination was ‘communion with nature’.
    • And nature is not monochromatic.
    • One of the primary lines of thought that propagated and built upon extensively, that you will see in Eastern cultures is the recognition of the supreme power in all entities.
    • Western cultures limit this presence to ‘sentient’ life forms only.

Anyway, long story short, the purpose of the ‘occult’ in Hinduism and Buddhism.. and various other Eastern philosophies is.. intervention with fate.

• The Eastern philosophies look at the experience of life as an expression of duality.
• Even in Greek mythology you will not see that.
• Hades rules over the underworld but that is it. The underworld is separate from the heavens and Earth.
• In Eastern philosophies however, you will often see ‘heroes’ in shades of grey.
• This is an influence you can record across millennia.
• From ancient legends and works of literature that are factual or semi factual to modern literature, manga and anime, you can see this expression.
• For example, in Hinduism, you will see that ‘Krishna’ is said to have 16 ‘kalas’ or ‘talents of a complete man’ and ‘Rama’ only 14.
• Even though we regard ‘Rama’ widely as god in human form in his highest expression as a man, we recognize that for the times, Krishna was still a more complete or ‘better equipped’ man than his predecessor.
  • Mind you, this debate splits devotees wide open in the middle but if you compare them to the primary godhead ‘Vishnu’, you will find ‘Krishna’ resembling him a lot more in habits, qualities and skills.
    • ‘Vishnu’ is the powerful yet clever and industrious god who shapeshifted as the seductress ‘Mohini’ and prevented the ‘asuras’ from getting their hands on the potion of immortality.
    • ‘Rama’ is the brave, courageous and strong yet simple, dutiful man who had relied on pragmatic tools of operation to accomplish the task.
    • Do note that sometimes his simplicity and morality got in the way of achieving objectives faster. He is regarded special because he stuck to them nevertheless, to set an example.

Now, do you know which was one of the most important talents that ‘Krishna’ stood out with?

• Seduction.

Krishna had a charm that no one was immune to.

• From an innocent charm as a mischievous kid that despite his mischief won the women of his village over, to boyish charm that won all the girls over to loving charm as a human being that won his enemies and friends over.. he is smoothness, sweetness and magnetism personified!
• For those who couldn’t see his charm, he was obviously, the godhead himself in human form and well, they were dealt with.
• The beauty of his being is that he was charming and seductive while also being ruthless and shrewd when was necessary.

However, one thing people often miss out is that he was very advanced as a ‘yogi’. Which is obvious because you hear him talk about that at length in the ‘Bhagavada Gita’.

• The ‘mantra’ ‘Kleem’ is the root ‘mantra’ of his energy.
• Now. every deity in ‘Vedic’ astrology and in fact, ‘Hinduism’, has a root ‘mantra’.
• It’s the invoking of that energy.
  • Think of it like this, you have war cries and greetings that have a special meaning to a particular civilization right?
  • In the same way, for the power of every deity, there is a root ‘mantra’ which carries within it the root energy of that entity.
    • You can basically just focus your mind on this one thing your entire life and embody the powers of that deity.

So therefore ‘Kleem’ is an extremely powerful ‘mantra’ the chanter of which is said to develop charisma, charm, seductive powers and magnetism.

Attractive as that sounds, it is not that easy.

Why is that?

1. Well, for one you are encouraged to check out an answer I just wrote expanding upon why ‘mantras’ of seduction and attraction shouldn’t be taken lightly.
2. For another, to be able to master an energy you have to face the shadow of that energy and only then can you wield its powers.

Haha I know all of this sounds like Jedi and Star Wars lingo.

But where do you think those guys got the inspiration of all of those ideas from?

This is at the common pinnacle of operation that eastern spirituality operates in. It is one of the common foundations of training that was given to pupils from ‘Gurukuls’ to the Shaolin Temple and the monastery at Lhasa.

What is it?

It’s that with the good comes the bad and with the bad comes the good. You cannot perfectly control one without mastering the other.

To sum it up, please try to understand that by setting the intention of ‘winning your girlfriend back’, you are seeking to gain control of a nuclear reactor and use it to power a studio apartment.

You might succeed at it but you won’t be able to control it or handle it. Most probably you might end up hurt in some way.

• ‘Kleem’ for one is a powerful ‘mantra’ that activates the Crown ‘chakra’ of the human body’s energetic system.
• This is the ‘chakra’ that is said to deal with connection with the other world, god, super consciousness, other dimensions. Basically it is the only one out of 7 ‘chakras’ that exist outside the body and deals with intricate issues of our consciousness such as connection with source energy.

So well, sorry to be a bummer but it is so powerful that for the uninitiated, it can result in anything from nightmares, sleep issues to insanity.

• However, I would like to point out here that if you decided to devote yourself to the chanting of this ‘mantra’ without expectations and with complete discipline, after about 100,000 chants and many trials and tribulations along the way, you will be successful in developing a very healthy level of influence, self confidence, charm and attraction.
• It can be a very good ‘mantra’ for someone who is an actor or in the field of arts in any way and is working hard to improve themselves and raise the level of appeal and finesse of their work.

‘Working hard’ is important here.

Nothing can out rule or out weigh actual ‘karma’.

Every tool can help to an extent but if you truly want success in the material world, you better back all that spiritual work with actual on-the-ground hard work.

No matter how great a writer’s power of expression, the influence of his publishers or talent of the marketing team; he isn’t ever going to win an award for a book he never finished writing.

Hope this helps.

Hari Om Namo Narayana!