What is Jyotisha?

All countries are curious about the effects of the stars and planets.

The Vedas have three daughters: Yoga-Mind, Ayurveda-body and Jyotisha-Spirit.

Jyotisha is the Science of Light. Light is spirit. It involves the tracking and predicting the movements of astronomical bodies.

Jyotisha is one of the six Vendagas:
Shiksha This is the Science of phonetics, phonology, and It is a discipline focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. Of the utmost importance is accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of the euphonious combination of words during Vedic recitation.

Chandas Poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number of morae or fixed weight of syllable, per verse.

Vyakarana The analysis of grammar and linguistic analysis having to do with the rules of grammar in order to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas.
Nirukta The etymology and explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning.

Kalpa These are ritual instructions of standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals and rites of passage associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in different stages of life.

Jyotisha The mathematical determining of auspicious time for rituals, and the practice of Astrology and astronomy particularly having to do with time keeping.

To open the Golden Gate, Chant to Ganesha first, you must! ~Yogini Yoda

 

A new student came to me eagerly sharing her साधन sAdhana which is the daily practice of Yogin, a practitioner of Yoga. This was inspired by a discussion of मन्त्र mantra we were having. She asked if I would like her to demonstrate. Of course I replied yes eager to be positive support.

She got into an austere posture with one knee up and the corresponding hand cupping her ear and explained she chants the sound मा mA, which in संस्कृतं saMskruthaM means "no" "didn't" or "not."

Aside from trying to Anglicize the word for mother which is मातृ mAtr the demonstration left out a key element in the magical equation of calling a Goddess, God or any other Divine power.

You see, we must always chant to Ganesha first!

This is how we unlock the entrance to the magical land of the deities

 

and open the gate so that we are heard and invited in!

Otherwise it is impossible to feel the true power of the dynamic sound vibrations which unlock their magic!

Yoga was not originally meant as a physical exercise program or practice of flesh knotting.

It is a tree of knowledge and wisdom for the mind.

The tree of Yoga is an entire body of information that teaches the path to a meditative state. It is like a Banyan tree that grows from the sky downward.

The original postures were the 108 Karanas of Shiva. They are sacred dance.

Yoga is the realization of the embodiment of God. 

The practice of Asana represents a single leaf on a mighty tree.

 We have five layers of bodies.

The physical is the smallest.

 

Why would that be the most important to exercise?

 

Contemplate the five layers. 

 Meditate and release the mind.

Chant!