When the Sun shines in Libra (Sept 24 – October23), the sign of the Scales reminds us that our spiritual path is about finding answers to the following questions:
♥ How can we move beyond the titter totter of the precarious balance of physical life?
♥ Where and how do we find inner peace?
♥ How can we cultivate a state of inner balance that is stable, always available, and supportive?
♥ How can we keep our cool in a crazy world?
The Libra archetype is associated with relationships and the qualities of harmony, peace, beauty, and love. Although Libra’s are generally low-keyed, non-aggressive, and diplomatic, like every zodiac sign, in their unawakened state, they are internally conflicted and need to find their path to inner harmony and peace.
Libra’s Inner Alchemy
Libra’s inner alchemy is achieved through establishing a relationship with the elevated expressions of the universal polarities, which I call Stable and Flowing. (subject of my next workshop Sunday October 18).
Libra finds balance in the human psyche through the integration of the non-dual qualities (Stable and Flowing) of feminine and masculine, yin and yang energies. To achieve this integration, we must activate our non-dualistic neutral mind and have an experience of oneness with the universal One. Then we practice living in this state of consciousness in all our relationships.
The most basic touchstone by which to gauge our progress is the extent to which we are unruffled by what others do or say. Our ultimate challenges in relationships and inter-personal communications are
♥ to be able to interact without getting thrown off our own center
♥ to be emotionally non-reactive, and
♥ to not take what others do or say personally.
As we discussed in the previous Virgo Blog, the first 6 signs of the zodiac, along with the first six houses of the birth chart that are below the horizon, represent phases of our personal development. Libra is the first of six houses above the horizon, which represent how we interact with others and the world.
An Aware Mind – Radical Transformation
Libra’s inner alchemy takes us on a journey to liberate our mind from obsessive dualistic thinking. We recognize the disharmony within and in our relationships. As we observe how our conflicted projections manifest in our relationships, we identify the cause of our conflicts and the solution that leads to inner and outer harmony and peace. We point ourselves in the direction of the heart.
Achieving a peaceful self-connected state of consciousness requires an awakened state of mind that operates without getting entangled in past conditioning, indoctrinated beliefs, and emotional attachments. Sometimes Libras appear to be aloof. Maybe they are trying to connect to this place of inner peace.
The most radical transformation of consciousness involves becoming aware that we are aware and that our soul’s basic nature is awareness or consciousness. To interact in the world and remain in a state of inner peace, we must activate and settle into awareness (not thinking) as our default means of operating in the world. Using our capacity to be aware/conscious can liberate us from obsessive thinking.
The Alchemy of Awareness
Awareness includes all our sensory faculties – feeling, listening, touch, smell, and taste.
♥ Awareness is a faculty of the mind.
♥ Feeling, touch, smell, and taste connect us to our body.
♥ With deep internal listening, mind and body connect at the heart.
We activate the faculty of awareness at our third eye. With awareness, we can experience the imperturbable qualities of oneness. Establishing the indivisible, ever-present qualities of peace, harmony, and love as our identity is the key to creating a stable foundation in our mind.
As long as we can stay present to this unshakable presence, we can transcend the vicissitudes of the wobbly, precarious cliff-hanging position of the dualistic thinking mind and the commotional fluctuations in our emotions.
Inner alchemy is not possible when we focus on external objects and if we stay stuck in conflict. We need another reference point so we can shift direction. We need another vantage point, so we can find a more amenable perspective.
We need to shift out of our thinking mind and its context of worry, urgency, pressure, fix it, and cope, to escape from the grind of the ordinary and habitual. In awareness we open ourselves to be present to the miracles that listening, feeling, touching, smelling, and connection reveal.
October 11 – Pluto Goes Direct
When an outer planet changes direction, its energy is intensified several days before and after the shift. Pluto’s energy is cathartic and purifying. We must deal with, heal, or eliminate that which is out of alignment. Pluto’s presence complements the upcoming eclipses.
October 12 – Mars Enters Scorpio
For 6 weeks (October 12 – November 24), Mars in its home sign Scorpio invites us to use its intense energy and passion to pursue our goals. During this time, we can direct our assertive energy toward what we are passionate about. Mars in Scorpio relentlessly pursues what it wants, pierces through obstacles with precision, and transforms what gets in its way.
Solar and Lunar Eclipses
Two times a year we have a pair of solar and lunar eclipses, which are two weeks apart. These are RESET moments, where the universe gives an opportunity, and an exponential cosmic push, to release, recalibrate, and be reborn.
This eclipse season features (1) Libra – recalibrating our mind. (2) Taurus – recalibrating how we take care of our body and live our lives.
October 14 – New Moon Solar Eclipse at 21° Libra
The New Moon in Libra is a South Node Solar Eclipse, which means that something will come to an end to make room for something new. In Libra we are supported in resetting our mind from dualistic thinking to non-dual awareness. This shift is the essence of our spiritual path. In awakened consciousness, we create a harmonious inner state that supports harmonious relationships.
October 28 – Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 5° Taurus
This powerful eclipse is conjunct Jupiter (good news and good fortune) and opposite Mercury and Mars in Scorpio (intense to the core of our being). New opportunities open up to shift the course of karma into destiny. In other words, we aren’t condemned to keep doing the same old thing. We can be released from the past and be supported in moving forward, free from old weighty baggage. Jupiter conjunct the Moon makes us feel confident and optimistic. Venus in Virgo engages in a sweet grand earth trine with Uranus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn. This could be a surprise manifesting moment.
Spiritual Alchemy
Spiritual alchemy is a transformative evolutionary process where we cultivate the internal in-the-body conditions that support and make possible the integration of the multidimensional aspects of our human design, their functions, energies, and intelligence, into an awakened harmonious human being.
How we are with ourselves is also how we are with others, the world, and the universe. Being present to ourselves involves training ourselves to relax, trust, and surrender to what we are feeling so that we can distinguish between what is real/felt and what is only conceptual and an idea in our mind.
Done attentively, our meditative yogic practice results in sensory integration that can stabilize not only our mind, but our presence and our experience of Self. We create our inner foundation for harmonious relationship!
Discover the Secret to Harmonious Relationships
Sunday October 17 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon PDT (utc-7) Followed by sharing and Q and A. Auspiciously (again!) this workshop happens between two transformative eclipses.
You can change the destiny of your relationships! In this workshop. I share with you critical insights about relationships that every woman and man need to know. You will learn practices that you can do to create the inner and outer transformation that you desire.
Sign up now!
Please tell your friends, students, and family about this very special workshop. Everyone will benefit in ways you can’t even know in advance.
Can’t attend live? All those who enroll will have unlimited access to the professionally edited video, available about one week after the event.
(It is important to sign up with the same email address that is on your yogatech.com account. This is where the edited video will be posted. If you wish to change your email address, please do so on yogatech.com prior to the event. Don’t have an account at this time – don’t worry, one will be created for you when we process the list of subscribers!)
The essence of Stable and Flowing Polarities is discussed in detail in Chapter 7 of my book, The Inner Art of Kundalini Yoga. Also available in an e-Version (pdf). Available from Yoga Technology and, for our European friends, from Sat Nam Europe.
