“The individual experient also, in whom citi or consciousness is contracted has the universe (as his body) in a contracted form. …. Then he unfolds Himself in the totality of manifestations viz., principles (tattvas), worlds (bhuvanas), entities (bhaavas) and their respective experients that are only a solidified form of Cit-rasa [the juice universal consciousness].” (Pratyabhijnaahrdayam: The Secret of Self Recognition. Trans. Jaideva Singh. Sutra 4)

“The 12 signs beginning from Aries are respectively the head, face, arms, heart, stomach, hips, space below the navel, the private parts, thighs, knees, ankles and feet of Kalapurusha.” (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. Trans. Girish Chand Sharma. 4-4)

“The Sun is the soul of Kalapurusha; the Moon, his mind; Mars, his strength; Mercury, his speech; Jupiter, his knowledge and happiness; Venus, his sexual love; and Saturn, his misery.” (Jataka Desh Marga. Trans. S.S. Sareen. Shloka 34)

“Maayaa is the lack of discernment of the principles beginning with Kalaa.”

“The principles (that obscure the individual soul) form a group that ranges from Kalaa to Earth. (They are called) “principles” tattva because the entire universe is pervaded by them. Kalaa is said to be (the individual soul’s) limited power of action.” (Aphorisms of Shiva. Trans. Mark Dyczkowsky. 3/3)

I started off studying western philosophy, psychology, logic and rhetoric before moving on to study grammar, writing and French. You can say I opted for the classical Humanities. Kung-Fu practice eventually led me to Buddhism, which I studied for a number of years. Shortly after coming to India, I found myself dissatisfied with Buddhism and found my way to Sankya and then to Yoga and Vedanta. At some point, I began to feel Jyotish astrology needed to be learned and that prediction must be possible (as of course it is). At about the same time I started serious Jyotish studies, I began looking into Kashmiri Shaivism; what they call idealistic oneness; everything is consciousness. The whole universe is just light. They have many names for this consciousness, but many call it Shiva. Shiva is the whole in which everything exists. Jyotish is the science of light just like Tantra is the science of freedom (svatantria). Light in Tantra is energy, Shakti. In Tantra the various rays of light represent various powers of Shakti, just as in Jyotish the various light rays emitted by the planets are the powers of the universe.

In both systems, the focus is on light energy, which is the powers of consciousness. In astrology the planets are laid out in the chart as being situated in the body of Kaala Purusha, each house representing a body part with the position of the planets acting to measure out his various powers. This is Kaala Purusa, ones measure of time, rather then Kalaa (relating to the above quote) which is ones measure of activity.

If I understand all of this correctly, Kal Purusha is Shakti just below the level of maya, but still above the other 24 Tattvas. A blank chart would represent maya before it has been measured out. The astrologer reads what has been measured out. This is why astrologer get so much flack for focusing so much on the karmas. Of course as an astrologer and tantric I can see how all of this has been chosen by universal consciousness.

Meanwhile we are all down here looking at our physical life focusing on all this maya as it’s been measured out to us and wondering why like this. We want some change. We want to get what we want. We want enjoyment and peace and riches (whatever that word might mean to you). We want everything that is of this world and we want it for ourselves and those people who are extensions of ourselves, but strangers and people very different from ourselves, who cares! The truth is, most of us want to live out of self interest rather than for the interest of the universe, and we want power to pursue that self interest. As a species, we have done very well at collecting awesome powers to deploy in our interest, and in the mean time, we are destroying the earth for everyone else who will come after us. In fact, we are destroying ourselves by following our self interest. This is maya!

We are able to pollute the world and build awesome weapons that kill because everything is just objects. Objects come and go without sentiment, though there may be some attachment. Of course everyone has something or someone who is much more than just on object. The love we have for our children is much more than objectification. Our relationship with our children is not objective but personal. Most people cannot act to harm their children, in fact, most will sacrifice themselves for their children’s welfare. This at least would represent the common humanistic feeling. But what if we start to extend this feeling of oneness, yoking together our fate not only with our children, but with everyone, and then perhaps we take that a step further and feel ourselves intimately yolked with all of nature. We are all one after all. If the river is our daughter, how can we pour chemicals down her throat? If the earth is our son, how can we smear him in hot tar and ruthlessly mine his organs? The more we can cultivate this sense of love and oneness with all that is in the universe, the more of our base desires we are willing to sacrifice not only for our own interest, but for the interest of the whole.

I’ve read that this can come in many forms: as love for a child, a parent, or a lover. Vedanta perhaps prefers the steady patient love of mother and child, while Tantra goes in for the exhilaration of lovers. The rapid bubbling of passion that brings us to climax, followed by repose (anticipation, achievement, satisfaction). So, each of us develop our powers to achieve our ends while forgetting that the two are not separate. As the old saying goes, “fighting for peace is like fucking for chastity.” The means and the end are not separate, the tree is in the seed. Nurturing the seed is akin to developing the power we need to achieve our ends in life; of course some seeds get planted in more fertile ground than others. And this is why, in a cosmology like tantra (the science of freedom, I might remind you), past lives are necessary. Perhaps it is at this level of Kal Purusha (below maya, yet still above the other tattwas) that we choose our parents, as well as our time and place of birth. We chose it all so that we might have this experience of human life that each of us are having. This is why I say that the choice of this life must still happen at the levels below maya, because obviously there are still attachments to time, space and the rest. Such speculation on higher consciousness is obviously best left to the rishis.

Meanwhile, the Tantric vision of Kundalini has been much in vogue in the west as people seek to balance their chakras and rise their Kundalini energy for base to crown in order to attain some kind of enlightenment. Meanwhile, the astrology chart is known as Kundali which is a map representing the various powers and energies that we have taken on in this lifetime in order to complete our desires. Self knowledge allows us to use our various powers in order to achieve the best results for fulfilling the goals we have in this lifetime and thus obtaining a deeper level of satisfaction. The rise of Kundalini, I believe is nothing more than the rise of self awareness that allows us find greater balance in our ability to give to and receive from the universe without expecting too much (leading to disappointment) or too little (leading too great surprise). Of course, when the sense of oneness is properly cultivated, self awareness is the same as universal awareness.

As the great oracle in Delphi recommended “Know thyself,” and take peace.

Note: If you have any questions or comments please contact me as I am welcome to exploring errors of knowledge or judgement that are so difficult to avoid in such highly conjectural articles. I welcome all questions related to the topics of my articles as questions only force me to seek greater understanding of such misunderstood topics.