Last Saturday in Texas we had the rare experience of a “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse. In ancient times, many people had dramatic interpretations of this event that often took the form of a bad omen. Nayaswami Jyotish, Ananda’s spiritual director explains it in spiritual terms in this blog post on the subject.
The moon is often considered to represent our hidden, emotional nature, while the sun represents the outward-flowing life-force. Paramhansa Yogananda, in a fascinating statement, said that the physical sun is the symbol of our spiritual eye. The implications are vast, implying that the whole of the physical world is merely a symbolic representation of inner, spiritual realities.
Nayaswami Jyotish goes on to explain how the moon representing our underlying egoic tendencies expressed often in fear and attachments to our likes and dislikes, obscures our spiritual vision; but through yoga we learn to neutralize this reactive process that “eclipses” our ability to live fully in and access our true spiritual nature. With the practice of Kriya Yoga in particular we gradually gain enough control to remain calm and centered no matter what life throws at us.
It is clear by the world events that we are being challenged deeply to live in our higher nature. It’s a call to everyone to go beyond the purely reflective, emotional and egoic nature symbolized by the moon, and by doing so, discover behind the temporary darkness is the Power and Light of the Divine energizing our entire universe. Our destiny is to realize that this transformative and unitive power resides within each and everyone of us, right now.
Together seeking a better world,
Ananda in Texas