Lesson 1

[Guest guest]

1. Try to define the role of God in your life.

 

I started really believing in God when I got the Bhagavad-gita through a

devotee from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. I was

raised in a christian family, but never really got a clear picture of Who is

God, and what is our relationship whit Him. Of course, there is a certain

feeling of mysticism, but still it remains very unclear, rather a bit

impersonal. But the Bhagavad-gita opened my eyes, om ajnana timirandhasya

jnananjana salakaya caksur unmilitan yena tasmai sri gurave namah, by the

mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Krishna our eyes are opened with the balsem of

knowledge and thus we can see clearly. In Bhagavad-gita God Himself, Sri

Krsna speaks to us, teaches us how to come to Him, how to develop love for

Him and enter into an eternal relationship with Him. Fallen as we are in the

material world, we have been wandering around up and down from the heavenly

planets, svargaloka to the most abominable hellish planets like patalaloka,

life after life, who knows for how many rebirths, but now in this human life

form we have got a chance to start on the path of returning home, back to

Godhead, by reading the vedic scriptures and chanting the Lord's holy names,

in this way developing our dormant love for the Lord. This love of Godhead

is eternally there in our hearts, but it is sleeping, unmanifest, like a

spark of fire within which is unvisible, but can be illumined and kindled by

the way of jnana and tapasya, ultimately leading to bhakti, love of God.

As a devotee of Krishna within the International Society for Krsna

Consciousness, known as the Hare Krsna movement, for about ten years now, I

am happy to have found the path which will enlighten my existence and lead

me to liberation from this material world, where there is danger at every

step. The process is easy, by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra and following

the principles of a pure life, one gradually develops one's love of God and

thus experiences transcendental bliss even within the present body.

 

2. What have you done in the past one year to come closer to God?

 

I would say that studying jyotish has positively inspired me to become more

serious in my path of devotion. I study jyotish since about one year and am

still very new, on the basic level, but find a lot of enthousiasm to learn

more about the vast topic of jyotish sastra.

 

3. Which statement is more relevant:

a. God is all, or

b. All is God

 

This would definitely be God is all. God is all-pervading, He is the

Supersoul (Paramatma) within everything, and at the same time everything is

within Him. The statement all is God is also true in the sense that nothing

can exist without being connected with God, everything is God's energy

(shakti) and thus non-different from God, but that doesn't mean that one can

say: I am God, for that will not be so. The jeevatma cannot become God,

Paramatma, since it's constitutional position is to be subordinate to God,

servant of God, Who is the master of all that is. In that sense there is a

clear distinction between the jeeva soul and God that one is the servant and

the other is master. But that relationship is not like in the material

world. Not that one only takes and the other only gives. Since the jeevatma

is part and parcel of God, his duty is serving and loving God, but since he

is part and parcel of God, actually it is to his benefit, since he will

experience spiritual bliss by doing so. There is nothing except for God,

nothing can exist outside of God, God is all and also all is God, but there

is a quantitatively difference between the living entity or everything which

is created and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Qualitatively there is no

difference, but quantitatively yes, one is unlimitedly small (the jeeva) and

the other is unlimitedly great (God, Krsna) but both are Brahman, spiritual

in nature. The jeeva only becomes entangled in the material world due to

it's being infinitesimal small whereas God can never become entangled. He is

the sarva-karana-karanam, the cause of all causes, anadir adir govindah,

Govinda, or Krsna, is the beginning of all that exists.

 

4. How is the role of a Jyotish different from a priest?

 

Being a purohit, priest myself, I would say that a priest would only be

limited in his functioning if he does not master the science of jyotisha

also. A priest functions in performing the different samskaras (purificatory

rituals) for people who are looking to purify their existence. For many of

these samskaras the priest will need to calculate good muhurtas and charts

e.g. for a name giving ceremony for a child the first syllable of the name

can be determined by jyotish. Of course, the priest not necessarily has to

do that himself, but could also consult a jyotishi for that.

Another point is that people may consult a priest for these samskaras

without actually expecting or paying attention to spiritual instructions

given by the priest, but when someone consults a jyotishi, then it is to be

expected that he/she does so because he/she is in trouble with material life

or with the mind, and as such will depend much more on the advise given by

the jyotishi, thus the duty of the jyotishi is more responsible than that of

the priest, since the jyotishi will have much more power to influence the

life of the person seeking advise from him/her. Therefore the more the

jyotishi is skilled in sastra, the more he/she will be able to guide the

persons coming to him/her and lead them on the spiritual path back home,

back to Godhead. The philosophy to utilize here is: in like a needle, out

like a plow.

 

5. Make a list of all Sanskrit terms in this Lesson under different starting

letters and prepare your personal dictionary of Jyotish/Sanskrit

terminology.

 

A-

avidyamaya- ignorance

 

B-

brahman- spiritual existence

brahmaloka- the highest planet in the universe, planet of Lord Brahma,

also refers to the spiritual world

brghu- sage

baddha- bondage

budha- Mercury

brhaspati- priest of the demigods (=guru)

C-

cit-shakti- the energy of consciousness, knowledge

 

D-

deva- demigod

 

E-

F-

G-

graha- planet

guru- Jupiter

 

H-

I-

J-

jyoti- light

jyotish- knowledge of the light

jyotishi- knower of the light

 

K-

kaliyuga- the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy

kala- time

 

L-

M-

mrtyu- death

N-

narayana- the Supreme Personality of Godhead

O-

Om- the first syllable representing God

P-

Q-

R-

rudra- the destroyer of the material universe

S-

surya- the Sun, natural atmakaraka

sukra- Venus, the priest of the demons

shakti- energy

T-

tattva- truth

U-

V-

vayu- air

W-

X-

Y-

Z-

 

did it out of my head, I have to fill in much more, but that's for later.

 

Your servant,

Dhira Krsna dasa