TIBETAN ASTROLOGY AND KALACHAKRA
TO READ YOUR PAST AND FUTURE LIVES . The problems which these Tibetan priests seek to solve are comprehended under three headings: The place of the spiritual entity among the Nidanas, or the sequence of consequences, which cause the physical incarnation of the soul. (Order the sign of the Zodiac).
The level or plane of consciousness in which the entity functioned prior to its present life, which contributes the moral force to the present existence. (Planetary spheres - Loka - Region).
Such details and circumstances of the previous existence as may account for the karma, or processes of retribution, which are at work in the present existence. (See indicating planet in Birth Chart).
In addition to these, a horoscope may be erected for the moment of death by which the future state of the soul or entity is estimated. (Flight to Loka - Planet sphere – Region
The principle behind the Bhava Chakra (Wheel of Houses - Cycle of Trans migratory Existence) recorded on the ceiling of the Lamias monastery at Sik-kim is entirely astrological.
The outer circle of the figure is divided into 12 parts, which are termed the nidanas, or the causes that move the soul to rebirth. These nidanas are the 12 zodiacal signs, each one of which contains within it an impulse to action, or as the ancients termed it, a cause of contact. The first nidana, under Aries, is called the unconscious will. It is represented by a blind man, and signifies the soul passing from death to rebirth. The second nidana, under Taurus, is called conformation, and is represented by a potter and his pots signifying the soul shaping the materials of the mental and physical natures.
The third nidana, under Gemini, called the conscious will, is typified by the restlessness of the monkey. It signifies the rise of conscious experience in the soul.
The fourth nidana, under Cancer, called self-consciousness, is represented by a ship containing man, woman, and animals and signifies the rise of the quality of individuality.
The fifth nidana, under Leo, is represented by an empty house, and signifies the development of the sensory perceptions.
The sixth nidana, under Virgo, is a figure representing marriage, and signifies the focusing of the sense perceptions upon exterior objects.
The seventh nidana, under Libra, is represented by a figure with an arrow in its eye, and signifies the illusions of pain and pleasure and their reaction upon the soul.
The 8th Nadine, under Scorpio, is called desire, and is involved in the experiences of gratification.
The ninth nidana, under Sagittarius, is termed indulgence, and is represented by a man collecting fruit into a basket. It signifies attachment to worldly possessions.
The tenth nidana, under Capricorn, represents maturity, and signifies the fullness of material existence brought to its highest philosophical level.
The eleventh nidana, under Aquarius, is compensation represented by the birth of a son. This signifies the paying off of all debts to nature and final detachment there from.
The twelfth nidana, under Pisces, shows the dead body being carried to the grave. It signifies decay of all points of contact by which the life is held to the material state.
After the twelfth, the first begins again, and so on through all the cycles of existence. The nidanas of course, represent the dominating consciousness or the place of the spiritual self in the great cycle of progress. While our little life has its birth, growth, maturity and decay, so many hundreds of these lives form together a greater cycle involving a vast process of life moving through its several stages.
By the position of the sun, the nidana is determined; and by the Ascendant, the subdivision of the nidana is ascertained. Thus, a person born with the sun in Pisces is born to the experience of detachment, for he is bringing a cycle of experience to an end.
A person born with the sun in Scorpio is born under the eighth nidana, and the sole purpose of his existence is to experience the consequences of greed, personality, and possession.
The Ascendant of the horoscope represents a minor cycle of experience with a great one. It qualifies and the general significance. For example, the fifth nidana, or Leo, is an externalising of the sensory power and generally manifests as ambition.
If the Ascendant is in the third nidana, of Gemini, representing the effort to establish individual sufficiency, it qualifies the major factor and denotes that the ambitions will be of an intellectual or mental nature. By calculations based upon this arrangement, the primary purpose of the soul's incarnation is established. In application, it is generally found that this purpose more or less dominates the individual in whose horoscope it is indicated.
In the Tibetan monastery figure, Kala Chakra, the central part of the design, representing the world or, more exactly, the conditions of consciousness which together make up the world, is divided into six parts. (See front page). In the painting, these parts or panels are filled with elaborate designs setting forth the conditions of souls in various levels or degrees of spiritual development.
The six compartments of the circle are divided into upper and lower hemispheres of three compartments each. The upper hemisphere represents the three nobles states of being which are denominated in degrees of excellence: 1 - the world of the gods; 2 - the world of the Titans or heroes; 3 - the world of men.
Together these three parts depict the happy states of consciousness, which are the reward of good karma, that is, lives of noble thought and action, balanced towards giving in life. The three compartments of the lower hemisphere of the circle depict the misery resultant from bad karma, or destructive thought, emotion, and action. The three compartments are named respectively: 1 - the world of animals; 2 - the world of ghosts; 3 - the world of hells or spheres of violent retribution.
In each of these six parts of the world is also depicted a form of the Buddha symbolizing the universal enlightenment, which regenerates and preserves evolving souls in all the spheres of being.
The sun, of course, represents the Buddha, the power of diffused illumination. The solar energy, distributed through the natural creation, is the universal source of the impulse toward light and truth.
The six compartments through which the sun's light shines pertain to the other major bodies of the solar system known to the old astrologers, the world of the gods.
The world of the gods is the sphere of Jupiter consciousness; that of the Titans, Martial consciousness; that of human beings, Mercurial consciousness. These planets, therefore, dominate the upper hemispheres of the sphere of consciousness. Venus represents animal
consciousness; The moon, the imaginative consciousness, termed the world of ghosts; and Saturn, the retribution consciousness or the karmic hells
Reincarnation
In the East, it is taught that each soul coming into material life enters from one of the six compartments of the Wheel of the Law. Astrologically, the rule for determining the origin of the soul's present life cycle is as follows:
Examine the horoscope and discover whether the sun or the moon is stronger.
1. Determine this from position, dignity, and aspect. Then observe in which decant the more powerful luminary is placed. (10 degrees divisions in the Zodiac)
2. Find the ruler of this decant according to ordinary astrological practice, and the ruler of decant shall signify the sphere of consciousness, or Lokas, from which the soul came into birth. (Planetary Body's Sphere).
3. Next, examine the position of the planet, which is ruler of decanting as to its dignity, positioned, aspect, etc.
4. From this determine the quality of the previous life.
5. If the ruler of decants enjoys dignity and high position, the same would be true of the previous life of the native.
6. If it is afflicted, cadet, or ill placed, the previous state of the life was unfortunate.
7. The Brahmans practice a similar system. They consider only four worlds, but the method of determining this important matter is identical in both systems. In astrology, the sign ascending on the eastern angle of the heavens at the moment of birth is the general signification of the present incarnation.
And the entire horoscope is read from this Ascendant, and all the testimonies of the chart are blended with the fundamental keynote of this ascending sign. The zodiacal sign upon the cusp of the 12th house may be termed the preceding sign to the Ascendant, and the zodiacal sign upon the cusp of the 2nd house may be termed the succeeding sign from the Ascendant.
As the Ascendant signifies the present state of the evolving soul, the cusp of the 12th house becomes the signification of the life previous to the present one, and the sign upon the cusp of the 2nd house, the next incarnation after the present one.
The rule is that angular houses signify the present life, succeeding houses the next life to come, and cadet houses the previous life and its karma. If, then, we move the horoscope sufficiently to bring the 12th house cusp to the Ascendant, we can then read the horoscope as the nativity of the previous life.
Ordinarily the 12th house of the horoscope is termed the house of self-undoing, in that it reveals the fundamental weaknesses of character which undermine the probability of present success. The term self-undoing is identical in meaning with karma, or the accumulation of past actions, which overshadow present conditions.
This accumulation is carried forward from life to life until all weaknesses are overcome and final perfection is achieved. It naturally follows that whatever zodiacal sign dominates the present life of the individual, the sign previous to it signifies the karma brought forward from the past. The positions of the ruler of that sign and planets in the 12th house reveal the circumstances of the previous existence, the probable place and time of the previous birth, and the general circumstances of that existence.
Aries Ascending indicates Pisces to have dominated the previous existence. Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, is the beginning of a new cycle of experience. Aries people have come into this life from a previous existence of limitations, responsibility, and bondage. Their present life is therefore a release, and they move forward, dominated by strong ambition and enthusiasm.
Taurus Ascending; they have brought forward the impulse of the previous Arian existence. Mostly Taurus brings forward attitudes of Aries, and, beneath their artistic surface, emotional fires bear witness to the militancy of their previous incarnation.
Gemini Ascends we find beneath the intellectual attitude the karmic pressure of Taurus. The superficiality of the Gemini temperament is evident throughout English speaking countries. Still under the general intellectual surface of these individuals you find strong powerful economical and despotic manipulations as a hangover from previous lives lived with the Taurus complex.
Cancer Ascends; Gemini lurks in the background. Cancer people are subject to the distorted imaginations of negative and uncontrolled Mercury. It is hard for Cancer people to be natural and relaxed, for behind them is a life lived under the influence of a negative Mercury agitating the intellect by a complex of opinions and fears that are too often allowed to grow into fact.
Leo is Ascending; there is generally a strength complex arising out of the weakness of the previous life. For this reason, Leo people are apt to be egotistic and power-loving, building a positive outward front to protect a very sensitive, emotional, imaginative, subjective nature held over from the Cancer influence.
Virgo is Ascending; there is a subconscious repentance in the soul. The previous life was under the forceful, dominating influence of Leo. The Leo incarnations revealed the emptiness and vainness of authority, and the native is born into Virgo with a strong tendency to the simple life. Virgo is a sign of atonement, and the individual has the impulse to help a world, which he probably tyrannized in the previous life. Deep inside themselves, many Virgo people have rather a definite Leo superiority complex and a tendency to boss.
Libra Ascends; the individual brings into life Virgo karma. The people of Virgo have a tendency to lean and depend, and this weakness comes forward in Libra as a sense of internal insufficiency. The Libra native is of an artistic, somewhat irritable, delicate temperament. He has strong vanity arising out of his Virgo repentance.
Scorpio Ascends; the strong emotional power of the previous life combines its force with the fiery nature of this sign. Libra is artistic and emotional with a tendency to melancholy. Scorpio intensifies these qualities, giving also depth and organization to the thought. The self-gratification of Libra is the natural foundation for the powerful ambitions of Scorpio.
Sagittarius Ascending produces a jovial temperament, but the Scorpio qualities of the previous life are also present, producing their love of the mysterious, religious, and philosophic aspirations, a strong emotional nature, a love of power and position, and danger of over-indulgence. The Sagittarius releases the schemes and plots of Scorpio as vast promotion projects.
It may at first seem improbable that we should find much of Sagittarius in the Capricorn. With Capricorn rising, however, we find great emphasis upon the ambitions and a considerable measure of the Sagittarius concept of justice.
Capricorn Ascends, the individual generally feels that he is limited or inhibited. The large Jupiter promotions of his previous life are curtailed by the saturnine limitations of his present sphere of action, so he is dissatisfied and repressed.
Capricorn is the most limited sign in the zodiac (a limitation, however, mostly self-imposed), it is natural that the next incarnation should be a revolt against limitation. The result is the Aquarius whose life is often dedicated to unconventionality. With Aquarius rising, there is a general revolt against precedent, convention, and conservatives. Generous in large matters,
Aquarius often retains selfishness in small things essentially Capricorn.
Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and it brings to an end the cycle of karma set in motion in Aries. People with this sign rising will usually have rather hectic lives, gathering up the loose ends of unfinished business.
From Aquarius, the preceding sign denotes vacillation, inconsistency and nervous-ness. From all the preceding signs come responsibilities and problems to be assimilated and transmuted into soul power. It is the particular duty of the Piscine to put his life in order and prepare himself for a new beginning of and a higher level of action. Pisces is the weakest of the signs because it represents the end of a cycle of experience.
By reading the 12th house as the Ascendant, the general pattern of the previous life can be determined with reasonable detail, and we can discover the subtle forces, which have brought us to our present state and dominate our present life.
Through the understanding of this branch of astrology, we can appreciate the old philosophical belief that what we are today is the result of what we have been, and that what we will be tomorrow must be the result of what we are today. We learn from the past, we labour in the present, and we build for the future.
