Ramlal and the Makar Sankranti – revisited

[On 3 December 2012, the Wall Street Journal began an in-depth series titled, 'Ayodhya, The Battle for India’s Soul' discussing the first appearance of the Ramlal Idol in the then Babri mosque on 22 December 1949 and its subsequent impact on India. On the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of the appearance, December 22, 2009, Thea wrote a paper entitled Ramlal and the Makar Sankranti – revisited. Now approaching the 63^rd anniversary of the appearance, we would like to present this article for our Puranic Cosmology Updated readers, given the Journal’s recent interest and because the points Thea made then are still relevant now.]

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Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet

Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology

25 November 2009

On the 21st of December this year [2009], we will participate in a homam at Skambha, at the exact time of the Solstice and entry into Makar/Capricorn – close to midnight – 11:07 PM for all of India, and 10:47 for Skambha.¹ 

This is a very special observance because it marks the 60^th anniversary of the epiphany of Ramavatar as Child at Ayodhya in what was known then as the Babri Mosque, built by the conqueror at the site millions of Hindus believe was the birth place of the 7^th Avatar of Vishnu. We may not have proof of the birth, no ‘certificate’ as such. But we do have cosmic credentials to support whatever transpires regarding this special incarnation in the history of Bharat. And we do know that there was a temple on the site which was replaced by a mosque, a custom widely practised in those days of conquest and rule throughout the world. In India especially targeted were temples sacred to Vishnu Avatars, because the Line of Ten forms the backbone of Hinduism from the Vedic Age to the present as proven by the new Indo-centric cosmology.

Recently I have laid out the pertinent facts in two publications: Secrets of the Earth, PNB, Aeon Books 2009, which reveals the truth of Vishnu Trivikrama and his very precise ‘three strides’ to ‘measure the universe’, or the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th Avatars of his 10; and in a publication of restricted circulation from Aeon Centre of Cosmology, The Partition of India (September-October 2009) where, on the basis of this cosmology with its keys of higher knowledge, it was possible to dissect Partition with amazing results. Both publications are available at the Centre (aeon1@eth.net).

In Partition I commented in the very beginning that the dismembering of India is a problem that refuses to be laid to rest. The same may be said of Ramlal’s epiphany at Ayodhya. Once again the controversy surrounding his birth site – legendary or real, it makes little difference – has erupted. Parliament is in an uproar, the news channels are having a feast engaging in their favourite pastime, Hindu(tva)-bashing; and the few intrepid souls who dare to voice an opinion contrary to this onslaught have to be considered real heroes of the cause. Aggressively guilt is sought by all means to be instilled in the hearts of Hindus throughout the land, accompanied by shame, and, hopefully, repentance. How successful they have been, remains to be seen. Ramlal may have other ‘plans’, other ‘conspiracies’.

As might be expected, I see in the most recent brouhaha a process very similar to what takes place when Partition, for some reason or another, makes the headlines. I repeat what I wrote in the first paragraph of my analysis: it is a problem that just refuses to go away. Why? Apart from the fact that in each case the core of Indianness is touched, there is an element common to both, with a cosmological binding power. It is, precisely, the Capricorn/Makar Sankranti. In The Partition of India the application was largely spatial: the Body of the Mother was measured based on the keys the new cosmology provides. In this case it is largely temporal. It was the timing of the Epiphany that resulted in exactly what Makar Sankranti means – that is, when a ‘seed’ is planted that then uses Time to carry it forward to fruition on the wings of the cycles it produces. This means that when an event takes place in harmony with the true entry in Makar, it simply cannot die or be wished away. It has its own in-built mechanism for survival; similar, indeed exactly, like the whole of Vedic civilisation which was born with the same allegiance of Time.

Now we have reached the 60^th anniversary of the ‘miraculous appearance’. This particular cycle is especially appreciated by Hindus because it marks the completion of the fifth circum-ambulation of the Sun by Jupiter/Brihaspati. This 60^th birthday is often celebrated by Hindus individually; how much more so for Ramavatar? He appeared in 1949 in the form of a child, precisely to allow us to appreciate the fact that as time presses forward he will grow; and given the rightness of things temporal and spatial, he is indestructible.

   

In 1991 I brought out a special issue of our newsletter Vishaal, dedicated to the epiphany of Ramlal at that magical moment, the Makar Sankranti of 1949, just days after the new Constitution of India had been adopted which, need I remind you, took place to coincide exactly with the date of birth when Vishnu’s 9^th Avatar would return as the 10^th and therefore bring to a conclusion the Dasavataras? This was 26/11. These are now iconic numbers, similar to 9/11 in America; and also similar to the American experience, 26/11 in more ways than one marks a before and after.

Ramlal’s growth presses on. The play of circumstances, or the circle’s periphery of which he is the binding centre, generates the events which will continue to prove that the only Makar Sankranti is the December Solstice and not the falsehood presently considered to be the beginning of Capricorn/Makar, 15 January, 23 days after the entry has passed. Isn’t it significant that Hindus, unlike the rest of the world, celebrate this most important festival LATE? But we are reminded again and again of the what and when of the true Sankranti. Tradition records that Bhisma also understood its importance by choosing to leave this plane on that date and no other. His case is the most precise confirmation of the innermost secret of the December Solstice, for apart from being the moment when a reversal takes place and the compression of the Light (cows/rays) begins to increase, its import for a Vedic Rishi and Initiate is that the Light experiences the same ‘death’ as the human being who faces his own death: one’s consciousness-being is compressed to a ‘point’; and through this method of extreme contraction a portal is reached which alone can give us entry to Swar – not ‘heaven’ as we wrongly understand the word today, but the dimension of immortality, the home of the Immortal Ones. From Swar, the Earth-bound dimension, those Immortal Ones continue to oversee the destiny of Bharat. Bhisma understood and timed his journey accordingly.

This is the profound meaning of Makar Sankranti and why its timing must be celebrated at the moment of the year’s shortest (compressed) day. Ramlal gave this instruction to the Hindu Samaj when he appeared at Ayodhya at that precise and sacred moment. But apart from the Sankranti there are other noteworthy configurations surrounding his 1949 epiphany which I discussed in the special December Solstice issue of Vishaal. I have decided to present here the entire section on Ramlal from the series featured in Vishaal entitled, Culture and Cosmos, cosmic harmonies in Hindu civilisation and society. Since the newsletter was prepared for students of the New Way cosmology, it may be somewhat difficult for the layperson to follow; but its relevance now is important. Therefore, I am presenting here the entire sub-section, and with footnotes added when required.

Ramlal of Ayodhya: the Retrieval Conspiracy

Though the Knowledge has been well preserved in myth and epic, as well as in the realisations of certain Yogis throughout the Ages, the element that was lost in the vision was the correct key to Time which I sometimes refer to as the ‘0 Point’, – time, that especially elusive substance which was itself the focus of the Manifestation after the Egyptian Space Conquest was drawn to a close.²  In the intervening years, Ram and Krishna prepared the soil for the full conquest of Time – or rather its integration into the complex workings of the cosmic manifestation – in the 9^th  Manifestation³ in which indeed the number 9 would play a most significant role. But more than the 9, the 0’s discovery was the single most important factor to allow for this ‘conquest’. To briefly summarise why this was so, in all schools of higher knowledge the only scale known was the Space Scale of 1 to 12. This could provide utilisation of the horizontal/space dimension, but the VERTICAL or the Time dimension was left out of the process. Hence, it was not an integral manifestation. To incorporate Time as an ‘ally’ in the process, the first prerequisite is knowledge of the 0 because the Time Scale consists of 10 ‘notes’ but beginning from 0 rather than 1. This is what allows it to be considered a ‘vertical’ dimension. The true description, however, is a ‘seed’ unfolding from within, drawing out from itself the 9 notes which it contains in unextended form. These 9 notes are thus the 9 planets of our system. The 0 of the system is the Sun. It is only in this way, with the discovery of the Zero, that the Sun can be accommodated in its proper position as centre of the solar system.

This ‘shift’ signified the most important breakthrough in the study of cosmic harmonies for many hundreds of years. At the same time, it is through the Time Scale’s 0 to 9 that the planetary structure could be connected to the calendar. Thus Time would become the ‘ally’ by virtue of the fact that its operations could be ‘measured’ in our flow of Earth-time and its power could be utilised to build elements of the new order through the medium of the individual/collective consciousness. Hence the Strategy of myth/epic and the individual realisation would be of foremost importance in such an operation.

Concurrently, this shift introduced the need for a very great precision which hinged on the correct assessment of that 0 Point. Without that knowledge there could be no effective means to utilise Time in a non-speculative manner, nor could processes be initiated and monitored to permit a much greater conscious participation of the individual in the process of transformation. I repeat, none of this was possible before the discovery of the Zero. And it is an extraordinary confirmation of the premises of the new Cosmology that having established the fact of an Egyptian ‘space conquest’ and the shift to India for the ‘time conquest’, and that for the latter the 0 would be indispensable, it was precisely India that gave to the world the concept of the Zero. With this accomplished the work could begin.

We need not review here the history of this ‘lost measure’, as I have called it. Indeed, it would be apt to state that this was the ‘ray/cow’ concealed by the hostile Panis of the Rigvedic ‘journey’, in the cave of the 8^th sign/Manifestation, Scorpio.⁴ I have discussed this matter in depth in VISHAAL in the series, ‘The Capricorn Factor’. Let me simply state that the sacred Capricorn hieroglyph [see its reproduction at the end of this article], the very landmass of Bharatmata, holds the key to that divine and true Measure. For the real and essential question to ask is, When, in effect, does the Sun truly move into that special time-space of Capricorn, India’s own [astrological] ruler and an entry which, in spite of the loss, continues to be celebrated throughout the country each year? In Sanskrit it is called the Makar Sankranti, or the Capricorn Gateway. But given the decline of the Knowledge, the loss of the correct connection between time and cosmos and the Earth, this entry point has slipped back as if the civilisation’s pulse were skipping vital beats here and there. Finally, in this Age of Aquarius of our 9^th Manifestation [begun in 1926], the loss consists of a full 23 days in terms of the year; regarding the cosmic age – the same circle extended to embrace larger cycles of time – it amounts to hundreds. The Makar Sankranti is celebrated on 15 January rather than the true date: the solstice of 22-23 December [or 21-22, depending on the motion of the Earth].

Be this as it may, conforming to its role of preserver of the highest cosmic Knowledge and land of the new order based on that Vedic Truth, the nation does continue to foster the true things simply by openly celebrating an event cosmic and zodiacal. In the West this date is camouflaged in the tale of the birth of the Christ-Child: 24-25 December. Closer to the mark indeed, but still imperfect, it was adopted as the birthday of Jesus simply because it fell in the traditional Festival of Light, perhaps the most auspicious and universal of all celebrations in antiquity. It was associated with the ‘light’, entirely due to a cosmic/planetary configuration: the Capricorn solstice marked the point when, from its period of longest ‘imprisonment’ (in the cave of the Panis?), the Sun would pass into the experience of increase of its light. This would be reflected in the increase of the length of the day from that moment onward. Hence, the Festival of Light was a celebration of a cosmic event and to locate this ‘gateway’ at any other point in time than the one which would indeed identify the exact beginning of the increase, would make no sense at all, if we place value on the physical harmony and the lived experience. Yet this is what has come to pass in India – largely because that physical reality came to be looked upon as ‘illusion’. Thus, the Yogis of old who should have been responsible for maintaining that correct link with time and cosmos, saw themselves drawn away from their duty by this concept which gradually undermined the act of seeing to the measurable degree of ‘23 days’. Thus that ‘gateway’, which bears no relation to the true entry into Capricorn, is the Makar Sankranti we know and celebrate today. Nonetheless, I repeat, it is indeed respected though the significance and measure may have been lost. The impact of the Vedic Seeing was just too powerful and electrifying to be ignored.

Yet, the Avatars do carry on with their work and in spite of the loss they even contrive to rectify matters, similar to the Egyptian sages, and locate the Makar Sankranti at the real Gateway where it belongs in the divine Measure. This occurred in post-Independence India. I refer, once again, to Ayodhya.

Thus, on the night precisely of 22-23 December, or the Capricorn solstice of 1949, that sacredmost moment when the Festival of Light begins as the Sun enters Capricorn and its light starts to increase, Ram made his miraculous appearance in the Babri Mosque in the form of the divine Child, or Ramlal. It was a night of 3 number-power [22+12+1949=3]. It was Ram’s confirmation in his traditional birthplace that this date is the true Makar Sankranti and the restoration of the lost Measure would coincide with the reestablishment of the ancient Dharma, all of which is the meaning stored in the Capricorn hieroglyph. That hieroglyph would thus prove to be the seal and sanction of the Supreme when revealed. And it would even disclose the true physical dimensions of India.⁵ Its revelation – that is, the time when the hieroglyph would first be ‘seen’ superimposed on that landmass – would mark the beginning of a process which would shape the new India in accordance with this true Measure. Its revelation or unveiling would draw together the two cosmic properties of time and space – the former through the correct and gnostic time-measure or 22-23 December, and the latter through the spatial dimensions of the landmass precisely in accordance with that sacred symbol. This revelation occurred in May of 1974.

But a quarter of a century prior to this geographical/zodiacal discovery, Ram ‘corrected’ or retrieved the Lost Measure. After the glorious epiphany of the Child on the night of 22-23 December 1949, in the Babri Mosque, its doors were locked in 1950.⁶ None were permitted entry. Thirty-six years, or a completed cycle of 4 x 9, were required for the Child to mature in solitude. Thus, when the full 36 were completed, it was on 5 January 1986 that the process was started to unlock the doors of the Mosque. The Congress Party was then in power. A meeting was convened for that very special day – that is, the zodiacal point of the Soul of India and the close of the Festival of Light – to explore the possibility of shifting the mosque to allow a temple to be built on the site in honour of the divine Child Ram. The proposal was rejected. Shortly thereafter, on 1 February 1986, now of 9 number-power, the court ordered the mosque to be unlocked. Appropriately, at 5:19 PM, Ramlal was ‘liberated’.

We are concerned with the lost divine Measure above all else, retrieval of which can permit the new India to be truly born. Ram conspired not only to rectify the position of the cosmic dial by appearing on the very night when in the true Measure Capricorn does indeed begin, but, also connected to his miraculous appearance then, Ram contrived to provide the full measure of the Festival of Light. Ancient tradition has always located this period in the first 15 days of the Capricorn month – from the solstice of 22-23 December to the mid-point of the sign, 5-6 January, or the 15^th  degree of Capricorn. In all there are 15 days involved. The orbital reason for this location has been explained previously, and why it was held as sacred. But for India the period is far more sacred than for any other country or civilsiation because Capricorn is the sign of her soul and its hieroglyph delineates her physical form. It can be appreciated therefore that the correct location in zodiacal/calendrical time and geographical space of this sacred sign is the single most important discovery in the history of Vedic civilisation in terms of India’s expression of her higher destiny.

Is it any wonder then that, in perfect attunement with the revelation of the new way Cosmology, Ram should have ‘chosen’ to appear in such a manner and at such a time so as to rectify or at least draw attention to India’s lost Measure? And that exactly 36 years later his power should make itself felt on 5 January, again in perfect attunement with gnostic time, to disclose the last day of the Festival of Light and the degree/day of India’s own soul? Who was ‘responsible’ for this occurrence? A political party? Who ‘surreptitiously’ placed the child-figure in the Mosque? Who, or what ‘power’ stood behind the opening of the Gate on 1.2.1986 – again, a 9-power day? And complying with whose ‘design’? Was it a political manoeuvre, a communal aberration, a zealot’s madness?⁷   

These questions are irrelevant when it is known, as India knows, that the Time-Spirit works through human instruments. It moves the human consciousness in any direction it wills; however, in accordance with and determined by its higher Purpose. The real miracle is the conspiracy with gnostic time. Can there be a more exquisite display of the universal truth India holds, which in this one act unveiled the Cosmic Truth underlying countless tales of the birth of the sacred Child? Can there be a more profound confirmation for the location of the true Gateway to Capricorn than this divine Epiphany of Lord Ram, precisely coinciding with that entry in the very heavens at the time of his ‘surreptitious’ appearance? Similarly, if I state that myth and epic are universal, this ‘surreptitious’ epiphany, because of its timing, does indeed reveal the universal content in myth in that both in the ancient world and the Christian era, this date was always connected to the sacred Birth. Indeed, Ram the Child has appeared to restore things universally sacred, divine and true.

Finally, the mosque in which the Child Ram chose to appear stands on Plot # 159. In the December Vishaal (6/5), on page 11, I wrote that these were the numbers via the Greek letters TH-E-A, which allowed me to discover the Map of the 12 Manifestations. It is this Map that holds the knowledge of the Line of Ten Avatars.  It is this Map which reveals that 1-5-9 are the numbers of the Manifestations…that fall in the last quarter of the wheel where our present Age of Aquarius is located. Plot #159 is precisely the ‘disputed’ one at Ayodhya upon which the whole controversy is centred and on whose very soil the Child appeared. With this background, I leave it to the reader to decide whether the Epiphany was ‘lawful’ or ‘unlawful’, ‘real’ or ‘surreptitiously contrived’. After all, according to which ‘law’? And with whose connivance?

30 October 1991

Aeon Centre of Cosmology at Skambha

The Capricorn/Makar symbol

and the map of Akhand Bharat

Postscript

For those of you who do not or cannot follow the Indian news but who have read my recent piece, ‘Ramlal and the Makar Sankranti - revisited’ an important point may have been missed. It is, in fact, the most important aspect to the whole exercise.

In the recent events politicians engaged in the usual ‘blame-game’, as the current jargon has it. One party blames another, and back and forth it goes. That is their job, this one-upmanship. In this particular case, two major parties were involved, the Congress and the BJP. So, this involves a sizable quantity of the representatives of the people. The blaming focuses on, of course, the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya, and naturally the Sangh Parivar has come under attack. On their part and quite legitimately, the Parivar has sought to bring up the ‘history’ of what actually caused the ire of whoever did the demolition. Thus, the Congress Party has come under attack since it was, as I pointed out, during that Government’s rule under Rajiv Gandhi that Ramlal was ‘liberated’ and the doors to his modest (but powerful) sanctum sanctorum were opened. Then followed the Brick-Laying ceremony, under the same Government.

Of course these events are important, particularly their timing, as I have written. But what is missed and I trust that my article will make clear, those were all ‘measured’ on the basis of one factor, or seeding. This was of course the Makar Sankranti of 1949 when the idol mysteriously appeared in the then mosque. That was the true beginning and everything thereafter must be measured from that single point in time. But of course, it is an event we would all prefer to ignore!

The most interesting aspect to this entire unfolding is that because no one knows who actually placed the idol there, it is impossible to engage in any blame-game! Of course, as I also pointed out, Mahakal does use human instruments to accomplish his deeds in accordance with gnostic Time. That is a valid point, but it is immaterial to the situation. The fact is history cannot lay the blame on anyone or any political party! We assume that this group or that did the deed, but we have no certainty. Actually, the only ‘blame’ must necessarily fall at the feet of Ramavatar himself, and his faithful companion, Mahakal, the Great God of Time.

This situation perfectly describes the difference between India and the rest of the world. It is also a lesson for not only the Sangh Parivar but the entire spectrum of political parties in the nation: The unfolding of India’s destiny lays in the hands of the Great God, regardless of all the protests this may engender and the disbelief of all those who cling to the image of a reformist Indian civilisation. The Vedic Seeds are indestructible; and when Time matures and the unfolding starts, it is useless to seek to suppress the un-suppressible.

Thea

Aeon Centre of Cosmology

at Skambha

27.11.2009

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^{Footnotes
1 Individuals interested in knowing the exact timing may verify the above through the Indian Astronomical agencies.
2} This refers to the 7th Manifestation with its focus on Egypt, circa 12,000 years ago. That civilisation’s wisemen had the task of ‘conquering’ spatial implications for the evolution of consciousness; witness their extant constructions which were virtual colossi.
³  The 9th Manifestation is our own, 234 BCE to 6480 CE.

⁴  This would be Vishnu Trivikrama’s second stride, indicating the 8^th Avatar’s time of appearance on Earth
⁵  See The Partition of India and the symbol-map at the end of the article.
⁶  These numbers, 1-9-5-0, in themselves hold the message of the appearances of Vishnu’s Avatars.
⁷  Currently (November 2009), the controversy surrounding the demolished disputed structure has arisen from the dead. It is interesting to note the then Chief Minister’s response to the uproar and finger-pointing: he was the very first to come forward and has stood firmly by his role in the affair, more staunchly than any other person(s) involved at the time, and now. Could it be that he derived his strength of conviction from the fact that his own birthday is 5 January – the soul-point of India? There was another participant in the affair, who held a significant post at the time, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. As we would expect, his birthday too falls on 5 January.
⁸  And also the true ‘measure’ of Vishnu Trivikrama’s three strides.      

© Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 2009

On the nature of Disease and Cure - Part VI

By Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Written for the Vishaal Study Group
  16 October 2006

[Link to Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, or Part V]

I want to provide an example of how the physiology of the female places her in a better position to handle the transformation as it needs to be attended to during the transition. And this will help you all to understand why in India a menstruating woman is considered 'impure' and should not do pujas or enter temples, etc. Sometimes this is carried to the controversial position of the famous Sabarimala temple in Kerala. Women between the ages of 10 and 50 are barred entirely from entering the temple because they are considered offensive to the deity (he is male and an ascetic). At least this is the version put out for the public by certain ‘authorities’ who are reluctant to use the menstrual cycle itself as their reason since women’s groups would scream SUPERSTITION!
But there is a deep truth in this position, yet I do not come across anyone with the authority - because of yogic realisations that confer the Knowledge - who can explain the rationale behind this stricture. And so the more liberated woman looks at this custom as offensive and backward. But it is a fact that women do SHED IMPURITIES both physical and subtle during menstruation. In fact, it is precisely this capacity that makes women more physically and vitally able to deal with occultism and certain yogic practices better than men. If the matter could be presented properly, on the basis of true Vedic Knowledge, I feel certain that all sections would be satisfied and no outrage felt; it would also silence those who consider these customs mere superstition; Knowledge would go a long way to restoring the pre-eminent role of women as in ancient societies.
Certainly the better suitability of women for certain occult practices is the case in the New Way processes. What I describe in Volume 3 [The New Way, Aeon Books] could not have been done by a man; hence the 9^th and 10^th Avataric descent requires two female incarnations. We have the documented example of Ram Chandra [20^th Century yogi, ashram in Chennai]. He stopped just before entering the 'chamber', or those innermost regions his yoga had opened up because of the inward plunge he was experiencing. He knew very well that the direction was not correct and that the process had to be Earth-oriented; that is, downward, inward, to the Centre through the Heart. But not having the right structure he could not enter that 'central point', as he called it. However, he was true to his experience; and this is what makes him stand out as a giant among realisers. In today’s India these are few and far between. If they are going to be true to the Vedic Way realisers will have a difficult time finding acceptance in India today.
Another example is what I wrote in D&C5, where the case history I discuss revealed the inability of the male subject to handle his mission adequately so that he would not succumb to the physical disabilities that pursued him precisely because he did not have a physiological mechanism that would allow him REGULARLY to purify his fourfold structure of the debris that was cast at him occulty. Ignoring his vulnerability in this regard did not help either, because other measures could have been taken if the full process had been understood.
The menstrual cycle allows women to discard debris from both their subtle bodies and their physical. Regarding the latter, toxins are regularly accumulated by all women, sometimes to the point of causing serious distress – known as Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS). But even when not so severe there is still an accumulation that is discharged along with the fluids, allowing women to experience this cleansing on a regular basis. Therefore, the affinity with the Moon’s cycles goes much deeper than believed. It also helps to understand why in many cultures there are two calendars, solar and lunar. The latter is valid when Knowledge is available that makes sense of the properties of the Moon. In India there may be Tantric Yogis who do have sufficient knowledge of the occult to make use of the lunar calendar in the appropriate manner. If Knowledge is not the solid foundation of certain cultural practices, then it is better to abandon them because superstition is a terrible affliction that can leave a culture open to forces of Ignorance and Darkness which is usually the case.^*
In The Mother’s Agenda there are entries where the Mother describes her experiences in certain Churches in Europe where she ‘saw’ the real forces that were installed or had taken possession of the altars. She remarked on how the worshippers had no idea that they were praying to a huge Spider instead of Christ! These are cases in point. Because of an ancient tradition, Indian wisemen are aware that this can happen; but they miss the point, or they throw the baby out with the bathwater! In other words, women themselves should be the ones to purify the temple precincts; instead they are closed out. In ancient cultures there were priestesses who attended to the needs of the temples because of their suitability; they were also the Oracles through whom the Gods spoke to the devotee. This is a practice that is still alive in India, but it is relegated to village culture for the most part where women usually fall in trance during observances; therefore we find a mixture that promotes a degeneration over time. Nothing can replace a solid yogic realisation that confers precise Knowledge, if the Tradition is to be re-vitalized and cleansed of these lesser manifestation.
What I write is not just theory. I had my own experience with the menstrual cycle to verify what prior to menopause I could only intuit would occur. When menopause finally did arrive at 56, my intuitions were completely validated.  I experienced that without this regular cleansing certain toxins could not be eliminated and therefore my eating habits had to be changed. This was demonstrated physically through allergies (hives) which would afflict me every time I would divert from the new regime. Finally a new rhythm was established in order to avoid the ingestion of those toxins which before menopause could be handled efficiently with no distress.
This will also explain why hysterectomies, apart from producing a decrease in sexual drive, are usually accompanied by psychological depression unrelated to sex. When a violent intervention of this order is the only possibility of saving a woman’s life, more enlightened measures should be taken to understand that a sacred rhythm has been disrupted. Countermeasures should be taken.
Regarding the occult it is a similar situation. Women are better suited to practices which demand interaction on the more subtle planes. The process described in Volume 3 went even further: one has to face Death without succumbing to a convergence that forces an exit from this dimension as ‘the only solution’ to this intense compression. While I agree that men prefer the ‘upper hemisphere’ activities such as the Mental, there is something else to consider. Women live with and experience continuously the gravitational pull to the centre of the Earth, which men do not experience. That gravitational pull is a physiological reality due to the role blood plays in her cycle, impelled by the lunar rhythms.  It is my view that the extra chromosome which must kick in for the formation of a male foetus out of the female plays the role of closing the male to this gravitational affinity. The ‘direction’ is switched at that point. In X’s words as a child, ‘Women are at the centre of the Earth, men are outside.’
In my experiences with Death I have had to withstand that gravitational pull through compression without succumbing and allowing myself to be driven out of this physical dimension. All my encounters with Death have been similar: driven to a compressed Point. If we cannot resist this compression to form the Base that Ram Chandra describes, Immortality can not be attained. The first step is compression resulting in the formation of a Centre. But before the Centre can come into being which permits these converging, circular operations, realignment is necessary. None of this can occur if first the direction is not Earth-centred. If this is secured, there should be no difference between man and woman in terms of suitability for the supramental processes.

 On the subject of male and female propensities, I would like to conclude by relating my experiences regarding horses in their natural state. Several years ago a horse bred at Skambha was returned to me from a riding school so that I could replace my faithful stallion companion who had died at the ripe age of 27. He had served me in this capacity since he was 12, so my riding experience for many years was with this testosterone machine! The replacement horse had been gelded in the riding school. I noted almost immediately that though in certain ways his performance was more suited to pleasure riding, in and for himself as a member of his species definitely a certain depth was lacking. It was as if he lacked a dimension or two. I can only describe it as a feeling of depth. The full range of emotions seemed to be lacking, though the gelding did display more emotion in certain situations than the stallion, but these were subdued or coloured differently. It seems that having before him the objective of covering a mare, the stallion’s sensorial faculties are challenged in a way the gelding does not face. The horse not gelded is therefore more ‘rounded’. But when discussing this with Jockey Silva, for instance, she explains that there is absolutely no difference in a race between the two. Performance in that sense does not seem to change. Nonetheless, the sensation I am left with is this lack of intensity, of depth when the horse is gelded and the level of testosterone drops dramatically.
The question of manipulation of testosterone demands attention in this transitional stage. This entails a transmutation of Mars occultly. It is accompanied by physical explorations of the planet itself.

<sup>___________

* The Navaratri is a case in point. It encompasses and entirely occult process – indicated because it is a night-time observance, centred as it should be on the Goddess. When an observance is at night and lunar it clearly points to a utilisation of the special attributes a woman holds in handling those subtle forces and processes. Covering a 9-night cycle makes the observance especially meaningful.</sup>

***

On the nature of Disease and Cure - Part V

By Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet
Written for the Vishaal Study Group
  28 July 2006

[Link to Part I, Part II, Part III or Part IV]

We left off this discussion by focussing on the role the play of circumstances may exert to bring to the surface the core of an illness or physical disturbance. Certainly the most significant aid in any healing process would have to be the discovery of the central ‘knot’ of a disease. And because the physical is the vessel containing all the less dense layers that constitute our total being, we realise that it is often a complicated task to uncover this nucleus, or the illness’s DNA, as it were. But unless we do, only temporary relief may come about such as medication provides; usually the problem returns, often with renewed vigour.
After a lapse of many years, initially what drew my attention back to the art of healing several months ago was my concern for a person of very high spiritual attainments whom I greatly respect. I felt that his constant physical distress was impeding him from a full dedication to his mission, given the continuous demands his numerous physical problems imposed; the point was reached where surgical intervention had become necessary. But according to the subject’s own conclusion, these interventions did not bear the positive results medical science promised. Having reached a more advanced age, these constant lapses were cause of serious concern.
I was struck by the fact that the diagnoses which had led to a certain medication or surgery did not uncover the nature of the actual disease or malfunction. Finally the point arrived where the subject himself came up with a different version of the location of the problem: he felt the doctors might have missed the point entirely. From my perspective, this was an invitation to an entirely different approach. And so, with the subject’s photograph at my side day and night, I began my usual concentration sessions whenever time permitted, in the manner I used to undertake many years ago.
The real nature of the problem, I felt initially, lay revealed in the diverse manifestations of the physical distress. There was improper functioning centred largely on the lower chakra; but, at least in my view, it was all notoriously imprecise. It was in fact this imprecision, or a sort of ‘floating’ quality, that caused me to reflect that the doctors treating the subject over the years, and he himself, were not fully aware of what the problem was. No one seemed to have located the real cause, and hence treatment seemed as imprecise as the illnesses.
In this light, my concentrations were aimed at organising the total field of the problem so that the play of circumstances might provide the key; and this could then unlock the door to a process of true healing, whatever that would be.
My concentrations quickly brought results, though initially the connection between the play of circumstances and the malaise were not at all evident. In fact, I assumed that there was no such connection at all. It went like this: On a sudden impulse I sent the subject the first part of the series ‘The Day of the White Peacock’, though I was not entirely sure why since he has been involved with my work only from its outer corridors in a sense, while that series covered intimate details meant largely for closer associates of the Mother, and knowledgeable of Sri Aurobindo’s mission as originally played out in the laboratories where their joint work had been established. It would have seemed that my impulse was farfetched and perhaps even inappropriate; whereas it was just the contrary. Sending the subject TDWP triggered his own revelation of the real factors behind his continuous physical disturbances.
Revelation came in the form of his reaction to my text and the problems I exposed in that series. He wrote to me that he had similarly been under attack from the orthodox of his school and line of work, as well as others who felt threatened by his teaching. He had even been targeted by a proficient witch doctor. This situation covered many years, but his attitude all along appears to have been simply to ignore them, as he wrote, ‘they run off’ like water on a duck’s back.
Reading these words I instantly knew what lay behind all his physical problems that were like constant companions throughout his life. I saw that while his mind could easily disengage itself from the intrusions and disturbances, his body had a very different story to tell. In other words, this was a case of a serious, long-standing disconnect.
I conveyed this to the subject, but there was no reply.
This indifference on his part was a sort of protective device. Our subject had been sent by his teacher to bring the message of his particular teaching to the West and to set up centres there. It was a pioneering mission. He was carefully selected for this task - that much was clear - since he seemed to be perfectly fashioned for success. But the mission, it seemed to me, was far more dangerous than perhaps originally imagined. It was complex and would involve hidden forces of a subtle nature, entrenched energies that might not take lightly to this ‘intruder’. Indeed, to carry out such a task without the consequences our subject encountered (though ignored by him), one would have to be an ‘impeccable warrior’ as it is known in traditions dating back to ancient times, which do not shun the world but which demand of practitioners that they carry on with their transformation right in its midst; indeed, often using that very incompatibility as a goading power for the inner work. But to do so successfully there would have to be a certain preparation, a protective mechanism which would allow the ‘warrior’ to remain unscathed through this most difficult engagement. I wondered if this had been the case with our subject. His physical condition seemed to indicate the contrary. I felt that he had been thrust into a big bad hostile world without adequate preparation and therefore left vulnerable.
Thus, he did carry out the sacred mission entrusted to him rather brilliantly; but his physical paid the price for a certain lack of ‘impeccability’, the need for which seemed to be ignored, or at least not adequately dealt with. This left our subject vulnerable in his subtle sheaths to ‘infiltration’ from hostile quarters; hence the ‘floating’ quality of the disturbances - because they were indeed volatile in nature, moving about well hidden in those less dense layers.
Apart from the clues I was receiving from the subject’s location in the Gnostic Circle by his age, one’s natal horoscope is often an aid to discover certain predispositions as described above. In our subject it was largely his Gemini rising which confirmed a mental poise or inclination that could be indicative of his ability to DIVIDE himself into these different parts where his mind could disconnect from his body easily. ‘Up there’ all was under control; but this left his body entirely vulnerable. What complicated matters even more was his highly evolved being, where a duality of any sort could hide itself well by the belief that, in his own words, he was above it all.
This Gemini factor might not have had any effect on his health had he led a ‘normal’ life, which was hardly the case for our subject. The nature of his mission alone placed demands on him of a more stringent order.
To illustrate, the caste system in India is very ancient. The very first indication of its existence comes to us in certain verses of the Rig Veda which connects the arrangement directly to the cosmic harmony. Tradition sustains that unlike what is commonly believed, or what may have been the state of affairs after a degeneration set in, the highest caste, the Brahmin, had certain sacred duties to perform for the community which demanded a life of great austerity. This not only involved prescriptions regarding material possessions and other such mundane matters, but an entire regime or life style, as we could call it today. The Brahmin had to perform certain functions for the civilisation which precluded the experiences an ordinary humanity takes in stride with no deleterious affects.
The same could be said for our subject, whose duties were indeed of a high order. These left him not only the target of constant attacks, often from quarters where the manipulation of subtle forces is a trade well known, but even just plain bad will that one encounters as a constant feature from life in a world governed by the Cosmic Ignorance such as ours. These too do take their toll.
We have the experiences of the Mother to testify to the above. She was indeed the target of such attacks. We have it on record from Sri Aurobindo himself that in 1938 he suffered an accident and broke his thigh bone precisely because he was ‘busy protecting the Mother’ during a period when hundreds of visitors poured into the Ashram for the quarterly-held Darshan; to protect her from the influx he had disregarded his own needs. There are a number references to attacks of this nature, finally requiring the intervention of experienced practitioners of occultism after Sri Aurobindo’s departure. This was the case in 1962 when the Mother almost succumbed to ‘black magic’. An experienced Tantra Yogi came to her aid; in the process he also noted that the attacks originated right in her Ashram from among her own disciples!
We can consider the Mother to have been an accomplished Divine Warrior and a supremely competent occultist; nonetheless, she was vulnerable. How much more would our subject have been considering that, for one, women are far more adept at dealing with matters occult and coping with such attacks than men. But in ignoring these realities he must live with these constant reminders of what he chooses to ignore.
  

[Link to Part VI]