definition:

jIva mf(%{A4})n. living , existing , alive RV. &c. ; healthy (blood) Car. viii , 6 , 74 ; ifc. living by (see %{jala-cara-} , %{rUpa-}) ; causing to live , vivifying (see , %{putra-} , %{-jala}) ; m. n. any living being , anything living RV. &c. ; life , existence MBh. iv , vi Hariv. &c. (ifc. f. %{A} Katha1s.) ; m. the principle of life , vital breath , the living or personal soul (as distinguished from the universal soul see %{jIvA7tman}) RV. i , 164 , 30 ChUp. S3vetUp. Pras3nUp. Mn. &c. ; N. of a plant L. ; Br2ihaspati (regent of Jupiter) VarBr2S. Laghuj. Su1ryas. Ka1s3i1Kh. ; the 3rd lustrum in the 60 years “‘ Br2ihaspati cycle VarBr2S. viii , 26 ; N. of one of the 8 Maruts Ya1jn5. ii , 102/103 39 ; Karn2a L. ; n. N. of a metre RPra1t. xvii , 4 [422,3] ; (%{A}) f. life L. ; the earth L. ; a bow-string L. ; (in geom. = %{jyA}) the chord of an arc ; the sine of an arc Su1ryas. ii , 57 (cf. %{tri-} , %{tri-bha} “‘ , %{dRg-gati-} , %{lamba-} and %{zaGku-jIvA}) ; N. of a plant (%{jIvantI} or %{vacA} L.) VarBr2S. iii , 39 ; the tinkling of ornaments L. ; pl. N. of a particular formula Kaus3. Vait. ; cf. %{ati-} , %{upa-} and %{saM-jIva4} ; %{a-} , %{kumAra-} , %{ciraM-} , %{jagaj-} , %{dur-} , %{nir-} , %{pApa-} , %{bandhu-} , %{sa-} , %{su-} ; %{khSudra-jivA} , %{yAvaj-jIvam} ; [cf. %{bi4os} ; Lat. {vivus} ; Lith. %{gIvas} ; Goth. {qvius} ; Eng. {quick} ; Hib. {beo}.]

A jiiva is defined to be a living being, but it goes deeper than that. A jiiva is the feeling of differention from the Undifferentiated. It is who we treat when we see a client. It is the recreation of the Atman from the soul self via manas or mind. It is a personality.

A personality is all well and good. Kind of.

Is it not ultimately a disturbance, much like a dosha?

Astrology teaches many important things, but the principal one is that we are actually Undifferent. We are One.

Content of consciousness (for example, seeing a tree) and consciousness itself are one.

So, the jiiva is important to understand if not to have. Many people want to know, or be reminded of, their story when they come in for a reading.

But what happens when people drop their stories? Is this even recommended?

I contend that is always recommended. Why?

The story will change in the next reincarnation anyway.
If the story is bad, what use is there not to forgive and move on?
Even if the story is good, I don’t know what it gives besides pleasure, which is neither here nor there Ayurvedically, and we’ve got to consider the high likelihood that pleasure might be unsatisfying or addictive.
Maybe I’ll get posts saying I’m against the personality, but this isn’t quite true.

In living, there is just more to life than limitation.

Hart once said, it’s not good to show your chart in everyday life, and yet he also has said “I am what I am.”

Another paradox from the teacher.

We are what we are jiiva-wise, but we are more than that too.

If you have a strong Mars, for example, use its gifts, but don’t think that that is all you are.

Most people in fact get swept up in the forces of their charts and their charts are all that their lives show.

It just seems sad to witness.

Jiiva, wake up!

In many publications, one sees the double vowels omitted from a word in Sanskrit. I do it myself sometimes, but mostly by accident.

For example, vaata, one of the doshas of Ayurveda, is often spelled vata.

This may be because the typeface of getting a long a is difficult and expensive to obtain and share or putting the two aa’s in makes the word look even longer and scarier.

Students then grow up in Sanskrit thinking that vaata is spelled vata.

Nonethless, it’s important to keep track of the vowels.

For example, vata in Sanskrit is actually a type of bird.

It can get worse.

Consider the words maala and mala. (In the definitions below, aa is spelled A while a is kept a. This is standard to the dictionaries used.)

mala n. (in later language also m. ; prob. fr. %{mlai}) dirt , filth , dust , impurity (physical and moral) AV. &c. &c. ; (in med.) any bodily excretion or secretion (esp. those of the Dha1tus q.v. , described as phlegm from chyle , bile from the blood , nose mucus and ear wax from the flesh , perspiration from the fat , nails and hair from the bones , rheum of the eye from the brain ; cf. also the 12 impurities of the body enumerated in Mn. v , 135) Sus3r. Va1gbh. &c. ; (with S3aivas) , original sin , natural impurity Sarvad. ; camphor L. ; Os Sepiae L. ; m. the son of a S3u1dra and a Ma1luki1 L. ; (%{A}) f. Flacourtia Cataphracta L. ; n. tanned leather , a leathern or dirty garment (?) RV. x , 136 , 2 ; a kind of brass or bell-metal L. ; the tip of a scorpion’s tail L. (v.l. %{ala}) ; mfn. dirty , niggardly L. ; unbelieving , godless L. [Cf. Gk. $ ; &240436[792 ,1] Lat. {ma8lus} ; Lith. {mo4lis} , {me4lynas}.]

mAlA f. a wreath , garland , crown Gr2S3rS. MBh. &c. ; a string of beads , necklace , rosary. Ka1v. Pan5cat. (cf. %{akSa-} and %{ratna-m-}) ; a row , line , streak MBh. Ka1v. &c. ; a series , regular succession (with %{nAmnAm} , a collection of words arrayed in a series , a vocabulary , dictionary ; cf. %{nAma-m-}) ; a kind of Krama-pa1tha (cf. %{krama-mAlA}) ; N. of various metres Col. ; (in rhet.) a series of epithets or similes W. ; (in dram.) a series of offerings for obtaining any object of desire (S3ak. iii , 17) Sa1h. ; (in astrol.) a partic. Dala-yoga (q.v.) VarBr2S. Sch. ; Trigonella Corniculata L. ; N. of a river MBh. ; of a glossary.

Big difference, no?

Aama and ama.

ama 2 mfn. (pron. ; cf. %{amu}) this AV. xiv , 2 , 71 (quoted in S3Br. xiv and A1s3vGr2.) [The word is also explained by %{prA7Na} , `" soul "' cf. Comm. on ChUp. v , 2 , 6.]
Ama 2 m. (probably identical with 1. %{Ama}) , sickness , disease L

You don’t want to be calling your ama, much less your amma, aama.

Paarvati and parvati.

Paarvati is consort of Shiva. Parvati is a stone.

Are you convinced? It’s really quite important.

I know I’m cheating a little bit because other special non-Western letters are usually not being accounted for on my site so far, but at the very least, it’s good to keep track of the double (long) vowels.

I also am choosing to keep using Ayurveda instead of AAyurveda and sutra instead of suutra because they have already entered the American lexicon that way.

definition:

lIlA f. (derivation doubtful) play , sport , diversion , amusement , pastime MBh. Ka1v. &c. ; mere sport or play , child’s play , ease or facility in doing anything ib. ; mere appearance , semblance , pretence , disguise , sham Ka1v. Katha1s. Pur. (ibc. sportively , easily , in sport , as a mere joke [903,3] ; also = %{lIlayA} ind. for mere diversion , feignedly) ; grace , charm , beauty , elegance , lovelniess Ka1lid. Katha1s. Ra1jat. ; (in rhet.) a maiden’s playful imitation of her lover , Dalar. Sa1h. Prata1p. ; a kind of metre (4 times $) Col. ; N. of a Yogini HParis3.

This word comes to mind often when I do a chart. Each person’s life seems to be a beautiful incredibly well written Shakespearean-level play, “mere sport” to the jiiva beneath.

I think the subdefinition “a maiden’s playful imitation of her lover ” is also important.

Krishna and the gopis are a beautiful example of a celestial love affair. Krishna, in charge of the leela, is graciously allowing our ultimate attempts at imitation of Him. It’s a beautiful thing, and the play is beautiful to witness in chart readings and in life.

Hymn to the Ganga

The Goddess is the stream of consciousness, flowing with inspiration,

Adorable, blissful, She who partakes of everything.

Wave of pure consciousness who quickly flows over the three worlds,

The pure one who plays at the head of Shiva.

My mind is at home at your lotus feet.

She is the one who gives pleasure.

Mother of the three worlds, the greatness of your waters is reknown.

I do not have the power to comprehend your greatness,

Give your protection from my ignorance, one whose nature is compassion.

Speaking of ignorance and compassion, I beg of you the latter for the former that oozes out of my voice as I try to do justice to the above, and fail. For a better, clearer and purer version, purchase from Karunamyi‘s site.

The chandas or meter of the piece is amazing, and I’ll try to address it in another post.

To study Indian Astrology a good grasp of Sanskrit is a must.

-the great C. S. Patel in CVA Journal, II, 1, page 4.

Where do I begin to talk about Sanskrit?

With it being a limb of the Vedas, actually many limbs, with the language structure being not just the FORM but the CONTENT of the Vedas themselves?

With Panini writing down the consonants made by Lord Shiva dancing?

It is simply larger than me, and I do not know where to begin.

Be sure that I do not know much, but that I will present here translations such as I can make of them.

Actually, it’s important to know that translations are hyperdimensional like and of the universe itself.

Trust, and take confidence in the fact that Sanskrit is actually crystal clear once you master the basics, like the 2200 roots. Sanskrit seems EASIER THAN ANY OTHER LANGUAGE, no kidding.

Of course, at the same time, I can not do justice to Sanskrit. I am just an idiot, but I like sounds.

Jyotish comes from two Sanskrit words, jyoti, meaning light, and ishta, meaning a Divinity.

One may take one’s ishta devata or personage of Divinity to in fact be the Jyotir Vidya or knowledge of light itself.

This would not be too obscure for many theoretical physicists in our midst.

Astrologers were society’s astronomers once, and with a tweak of the lens of discrimination/definition, can still be considered so

That actually is not the sutra, but it’s a fair translation, and it comes from Paul Valery (1871-1945).

It was my favorite quote in my 20′s. Figures I could find it in the Yoga Sutras.

Here it is:

zabda GAnaAnupati vastu zunyo vikalpaH

Conceptualization [one of the unhelpful definitions/limitations on the field of consciousness] is when you don’t have an actual object but rely upon concept in language. (I.9)

Gosh, growing up and getting educated in the 80′s all I was surrounded with was Foucault and post-modernism.

What a waste of time.

I wish that I had known that all I have to do is SEE!





Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, Ch. 1, 400 B.C.E.

A Tao that can be tao-ed is not lasting Tao.

A name that can be named is not lasting name.

Name-less — the beginning of Heaven and Earth.

Named — the mother of all things.

So, we must be always without desires to see the mystery:

If we always have desires we will see its limits:

These two are the same; once there is out-going, then there is difference of name.

As the same they are called obscure. The obscure of the obscure is the gate of all mysteries.

Translated by P.J. Maclagan (1898)



I’ve heard that word/name/Tao is Purusha, meaning/expression/named is Prakriti, “the Mother of All Things”.

It all makes sense.