Healing, Microvita, Astrology

What does it mean to heal? Does it mean to have a healthy physical body, a happy mind, well-adjusted to the circumstances? Does it mean to come closer to the sense of one's real nature? What is the meaning of healing? This is one question when you think of healing. What are you attempting to do?

Human existence is not limited to a physical body so naturally if one wants to heal, one must be aware that there is a physical body, a mind and emotions, and beyond these two, there is a subtle body. Every culture has known that one cannot ignore the subtle body and that most true healing comes in healing the subtle body. For this reason, healers through the ages have placed their hands on the people, putting energy into the body to heal it. It is a very, very ancient practice and you will find it in many different cultures along with use of certain herbs and incantations.

Much white magic has to do with healing. Even homeopathic medicine uses the subtle force of different substances once the chemical force is gone. It uses the energy of different forces to shock the body into a different routine. Since it is not working chemically, homeopathics seems mysterious. They bring an energy to the body that changes the energy pattern and physiology. Living beings have electromagnetic fields, subtle energy auras, energy centers within the body, chakras, subtle mind-stuff and the physiology of the nervous system. There are physical, chemical and energetic systems.

When one wants to do healing, one may use a chemical system. This is a very crude level. Many times the cause of the problem lies in a more subtle system and will not resolve or, the symptoms may resolve but the cause remains. When one wants to use a subtle system but the person has amoebic dysentery or a bacterial infection, one may get better results or faster results with an antibiotic to kill the invader rather than using subtle electromagnetic or energy forces. They will work but it will be more challenging. On the other hand, if one has chronic colitis, western medicine has been very ineffective in treating this. Western medicine can only treat the outer physical systems, the chemical systems in the body and blood and so on. It can barely determine the cause of colitis much less the cure. Western medicine thinks the cause of colitis is stress combined with different sensitivities of the nervous system but they don't know why people would have such nervous system sensitivity or why, when their stress is the same as another, they will have symptoms and the other will not. However, if one looks at the subtle systems of the body, one may see certain deficiencies of energy in different chakras, certain patternings of mind that leave the person susceptible. Changing those may cure the disease. Additionally, one may see subtle histories and see a cause from long ago that left an impact. That impact in the mind, the samskara, does not resolve with crude methods. It requires subtle healing. The healer must be able to access the root cause. As the western mind grows in magnitude, people are realizing that the universe is not simply physical as has been believed.

As mind grows in magnitude, realization will grow and the tendency to consider the subtle aspects of human existence will become more and more prevalent and more and more understood. Healing now called alternative will cease to be alternative. It will be scientifically approached and organized and very widespread. No longer will your physician simply prescribe drugs or surgery. They will also prescribe various methods from acupressure to homeopathy to subtle healing. Medicine will be more integrated. As mind grows in magnitude and awareness comes into the society that you are not merely physical entities, these approaches will get more and more attention, become better organized, better sorted through and there will be revolutionary growth in the science of maintaining wellness in human form. However, the real healing of the human being comes not in the maintenance of the physical body but in the dissolution of the bondages that bind them in maya. This healing is a spiritual matter.

Q. When the concept of microvita was given about seventeen years ago, there was a big expectation of a scientific breakthrough but, in fact, there seems very little progress in understanding microvita. It is not clear whether they arise in saincara or pratisaincara. Is there any way to realize the existence of microvita as something separate from the concept of vital energy or these different subtle energy concepts? What can we do to demonstrate the existence of microvita? How can we accelerate the understanding of microvita?

A. First, one must fill out the theory to make it fully comprehensible and cohesive. Next, one must begin to do research. The problem is, how can one carry out research on the existence of a particle so small and so subtle that it cannot be observed? One must do research on the pattern of the formation of life. From the results of the existence of the microvita, one begins to notice where it is.

There are two methods. One is to use intuitional science to understand microvita and its development and expression. In the physical life of Anandamurti, he gave a great deal of information. More remains to learn through intuitional science and careful logical study. Second point to observe patterns and results in the observable. For there is no life in the rock but there is life in the living substances, in the living entities. You can see it in observing the difference between a living entity and one who has physically died. It is more than the heart stopping and the brain ceasing its activity. There is something distinctly gone.

When one begins to set up circumstance to harness this force and observe results, one may know its existence. Otherwise, one must know and understand it through intuition. It is logical to ask, "Why does a rock have no life but a salamander has life?" They both live near the ground but one is living and one is not. You can say the salamander moves but then the rock also moves over time so why is one considered alive and the other not? What creates this that even western science will acknowledge is life? You can observe it in this type of careful and methodical study of results and in the use of intuitional science to develop clear explanations. It will remain theoretical except to those of intuitional capacity until the human mind and its capabilities develop a bit more but this will not take so long.

Q. You said the subject will be developed on a theoretical level and that could be a subject for further discussion and clarification?

A. Yes.

Q. Because people who don't have even a conceptual understanding will not even know what to look for in the laboratory. So a theoretical understanding in relationship to Brahmachakra or the development of levels of mind and microvita would be a very good subject to discuss more later.

A. Yes. It would be good beforehand to compile all of the different things already said on this subject and to review it so that there is some comprehension of what is available so far. Then from there, the formulation of questions can assist to make a coherent theory. The parts are there but a few elements are missing. This type of work can put that in place. Just to ask random questions will not be as effective for it will be mostly review. Some effort can be made to develop these questions. Then we will have to discuss this and relate it to the rejuvenation of the human body and yogic practices for the rejuvenation of the physical structure.

Q. I have another question in relation to why the time, birth date, year is shaping one's physical future. How is astrology able to look into the pattern of one's psychic being?

A. This universe is as a most complex grid of different energies. Each star is a tremendous powerhouse of microvita and of nuclear energies, so many different energies and chemicals. From the stars, arise the very forces that produce living planets. The star gives offspring. Its children are the planets. They are living beings. From them are born the animal and plant kingdoms, of other living beings. This brings to mind the question of the difference between the rock and the plant and the animal. For Mother Earth has life from the sun but there are different types of life. From the sun the live-giving elements spill forth and from them is the production of the children of the sun, the planets, and those planets produce the other types of beings. This is going on throughout the galaxy and in other galaxies. Can you imagine how much energy and life of great momentum are being put forth and impacted by these great heavenly entities and their gigantic nuclear reactors and different energy powerhouses?

They are radiating these forces out into the cosmos and all these different forces are colliding, impacting each other, influencing each other, their gravitational and other fields. You see the light of the distant star, and you think, "Oh how lovely," but what is not visible to the human eye is far more powerful than the mere light that it generates even at a great distance.

If you grow up in a community of people or a big family with many people, they will all have an influence on you. You are not simply an isolated person. All the people will influence you and the circumstance of your family and the different aspects of the different people will influence you. The cosmos, the galaxy is a giant family and all the different stars are a part of that family and are all in influence with each other. You are the great, great, great grandchildren of the sun. The sun is perhaps the grandchild of another sun. All the family members are having a great influence upon each other. Even in their distant offspring, the plant, animal, and human kingdoms, they have an influence.

In this way, due to the energies, the influences are there. In the science of astrology, human beings have observed certain patterns of positioning. They have taken the patterns with the different times and developed a science by observing these positional relationships. Though it is not a hard science, it does give some truth because it gives acknowledgement to the heavenly entities and gives support to their influence. It does not say how they influence, merely that they do. As a result, this and that will happen. Astrology does not understand the full depth of the relationship of these heavenly entities and their influencing energies. It can give voice to the patterns and impact of those influences. It is intuitionally-based and observation-based, as I have been suggesting the approach needs to be with microvita. There are patterns that develop from the influence of different heavenly entities and the types of energy and the state they are in. If it is an old star, if the star has gone into nova, what is its condition? It will have different types of influence.

Vedic astrology perceives human existence as an integral part of a whole system and views the patterning slightly differently from western astrology. Western astrology views human beings as individuals apart from each other and places emphasis upon individual development. It gives certain patterned understandings at variance with Vedic astrology so their interpretation of cosmic relationships will be a little different. The emphasis is different. Vedic astrology is an older system but it is not fully intact today so it has its flaws. Western astrology is more intact but also has its oversights. Both are intuitional sciences combining intuition and observation to detect the patterns and relationships. A little bit more development is needed by both. They both require more development as intuitional sciences.

Q. A galaxy is made of maybe a hundred or ten billion stars. Where is the first expression of pratisaincara? Is it in the individual stars? Is it in the formation of the galaxy? Is it a scientifically expressible? Is it a meaningful question to ask that, where is the first expression of the force of tamoguna? Where does that actually occur?

A. You are asking where does it first become material and not subtle?

Q. After that, pratisaincara came at a later stage.

A. That is correct, citta must develop fully before there is material manifestation.

Q. You are talking about cosmic citta?

A. Yes.

Q. So pratisaincara is after the five fundamental factors are formed, then tamoguna starts to loosen its force?

A. When tamoguna becomes fully present and citta comes to existence, when in the koshas of the cosmic mind the feeling, "I am," this feeling of expressed existence comes, there has already been the establishment and the creation of the subtle universe.

Q. Yes, that is part of saincara. When you say subtle universe, that is saincara? I am asking where is the beginning of pratisaincara?

A. In saincara, the subtle universe comes to exist, this citta is fully developed, and tamas comes into full expression. Then when the material universe begins to form, the process in microcosm and macrocosm of development of condensation beyond a certain point as we have spoken, the crushing of Purusha by Prakrti causes the development of the first rays of sattvaguna, released from the bondages of tamas or the production of microvita from this material process.

Q. In stars it first occurs?

A. No, no. It occurs simultaneously in the macrocosm and the microcosm. When you ask the question, "first," it assumes a time before and a time after. In the evolution of this cosmos, in the evolution this perhaps is always going on, but there is the cessation of time at certain stages and the development of time at other stages and the expression of time in other stages. In the expression of time in the relative universe when the galaxy forms, Brahma multiplies into endless numbers of particles. These particles begin to coagulate, to form together in the microcosmic sphere but in large, large numbers and soon they begin to form gases, expressions that form into liquid, into solid and then the suns form. As they form, these entities begin to develop the cores in which the density of the particles becomes more extreme and it is at this point that sattva gets released from this continuing process of densification.

Then life comes and the living consciousness of Brahma expresses in this type of life that is the heavenly life, the macrocosmic universe and from that comes the development of the planets and the plant, animal, and human kingdoms and even the kingdoms of the devas that develop beyond the humans. Again life gets more subtle and moves back into the subtle lokas. All this comes from the densification of particles because the consciousness of Purusha becomes more and more confined until it cannot tolerate this confining and it escapes. It does not escape into entirely unbound existence but remains bound to matter and this is the nature of individuality. So one planet is separate from another, individual. One star is not identical to another, it is an individual and it goes through an aging process.

Like this, the universe comes, develops its life and its individuality and dissolves again. Where mind grows more and more prominent and grows in magnitude, the individual eventually loses individuality and mind dissolves into consciousness. There is a point in cosmic development where the development of the material universe comes to a place that the subtle process of pratisaincara takes hold. Before this, the formation of the material universe is more dominant in the microcosmic sphere. Once the formation becomes macrocosmic, then entities do begin to emerge.

I will say a few more words about rejuvenation. In ancient times, yogis through the development of intuitional science delved deep into many topics that not fully known or understood in today's modern science. In those very ancient times, sattvaguna was a little more prominent and so the yogis had the time and the inclination to do great internal study and to develop intuitional science. In those ancient days, using intuitional science, the yogis realized that there were different aspects to intuitional science. One was to view the development of the universe and the relationship and pattern of the different heavenly bodies and entities to each other. That became the science of astrology and astronomy. Others realized that to understand the nature of life and particles and the microcosmic universe was important and that became an area of intuitional research. Others wished to understand human life, the development of mind and the liberation of mind and spirit so that this became the intuitional science.

They realized that many times in their process of intuitional scientific research the yogis had the problem that their bodies grew ill, weak or aged. They developed many good health practices using this same intuitional science that keep the physical structure in tip-top condition so can develop more and more subtle mind and spiritual consciousness. For this, they gave various intuitionally understood health practices such as fasting, eating small portions and cleansing the body to remove toxins that cause the oxidation and aging in the cells.

They may not have known that there are oxidants in the cells but they saw the destructive toxic forces that damaged the cells and they observed this. They used the practice methodology of intuitional science that has two parts. One is to surrender oneself to the divine entity and allow the divine entity to teach you from his all-knowing knowledge. The second is to observe with the intelligence the external world and the results. Those yogis saw that the external world held the results of deterioration of body over time and through their internal research they asked, "What is the cause of this deterioration? Why is the body of one person unhealthy and then passes away at a young age while another can live to be very ancient?" They began to use their observation of the patterns of human life and intuitional science to develop certain health practices to maintain the well-being of the body so there is time for Brahma sadhana with no disturbance of the physical structure. If one has many aches, pains and poor health with no energy, it is very detrimental to sadhana.

The yogis realized that fasting created not only a spiritual state but greater longevity. They recognized that when the body is unstrained by excess digestive needs, it takes prana from digestion and uses it in other ways. First, they began to realize that fasting was very helpful to spiritual development. Then they began to realize that it was also helpful to longevity and that yogis who ate very simple food did not stress the digestive tract and did not always have to worry about their digestion. They could relax and do sadhana. They realized that they did much better and lived longer if food was moderate in its intake. They also realized in their own internal research that if they ate the foods that were of one type they would have more vitality for their sadhana. If they ate another type, their minds would become more active and they would want to do, do, do. If they ate another type or too much, they would become lethargic and just want to sit around. It doesn't take too much subtlety to figure out the different impacts on one's body. Through this observation, they began to categorize the food into the dominance of the different gunas. They realized that if one wants to expand the living consciousness within, one has to take the sattvic food and water. They found that if they drank pure water from high mountain streams, they felt a very good glow inside. From the fresh pure water coming out of the earth in the high mountains springs, they felt very, very good prana. The yogis discovered that the water contains some type of prana, some type of microvita. They discovered that cleansing the digestion system made them feel very sattvic, very pure and very good. Thus, they realized that certain things made the body feel very good, very pure, very sattvic so that the living consciousness was predominant in the cells in the body. They found that other foods and other practices made more tamas, more rajas, and made the mind and body overly sluggish or overly active.

Additionally, health practices came to include how one eats, how much one eats, how one fasts, and how one practices cleansing. They learned that taking certain herbs increased sattvaguna and made the mind more sentient. Other herbs would do very nasty things to the mind. In this way, they developed systems of health practices to make the body subtle, sattvic, clean, and pure for good Brahma sadhana.

Such a body will give off a sweet odor, like wildflowers, a beautiful pure odor and even when the sweat is there it does not have a sour or a bad smell. They discovered a whole science that could understand the state of a body by the smell, by the coatings on the tongue, by the pulses in the wrist. Through these one could understand the health or deficiencies of different organs and the overall condition of the body. In this way, they developed an entire science of health. The discovered that when one maintains a very sattvic condition in the body, good psycho-physical-spiritual parallelism, and takes certain substances to maintain the body, does not overeat, not engage in excesses, takes good care of digestion that bodies live longer, remain in better quality and are more useful. Even if proper care is given, the sattvaguna in the body becomes more and more dominant, suitable to maintain greater degrees of consciousness. In this way, they developed an entire science of health. Ayurveda records much that they discovered.

However, there other practices are part of ayurveda because they are a little more rigorous. They include practices for the rejuvenation of life, to maintain lasting health of the body so the body can maintain more Brahma sadhana. They are not practices to become immortal nor are they practices to sustain one's life for ordinary work. They are practices to sustain life for Brahma sadhana. Many entail simple diet, herbs, fasting, and purifications of body and mind to create an entirely sattvic system.