Workshop Announcement
My next LEVEL DEEP Zoom workshop is designed to help you work with and benefit from the current exceptional configurations of planetary energies. Be sure to join me for
Soul and Ego Therapy with Kundalini Yoga
Sunday April 30 at 10:00-12:00 PDT (utc-7)
In this blog I explain the major themes and context of this workshop and what we are dealing with during this pivotal moment in our lives. Our group energy will help you align with and take advantage of the intense transformational energies.
At the end there is a meditation to awaken to your true identity “I am Consciousness.” We practiced this mantra in the previous workshop. It is great preparation for our time together April 30. It helps you build a stable inner foundation from which to live your life. (I practice this at least five minutes every day and recommend it to you.)
The link for more information, to enroll, and to share with your friends and students is
gururattana.ticketleap.com/soul-and-ego-therapy-with-kundalini-yoga/
Personally invite one special person to take this journey with you.
Pluto in Aquarius – The Door to Liberation
The next two eclipses catapult us into the new Pluto in Aquarius reality. Whether we believe we are ready or not, a door is opening. Pluto moving into Aquarius, changes our lives in profound ways. An old chapter is closing and a new one is about to begin.
April 19-20 – New Moon Total Solar Eclipse in Aries
At 29° 9:30 PM PDT (utc-7)
This dynamite total eclipse exactly squares Pluto at 0° Aquarius. This is a WOW moment that will shake us to the core of our being. Eclipses help us break out of old patterns and propel us forward. Something deep is being revealed inside. As we gain a broader perspective, we are no longer willing to accept what is not true for us. We can’t and don’t want to pretend anymore or live with half lies. The last degree of Aries square Pluto demands total honesty and authenticity.
With the Sun, Mercury, Chiron, Jupiter, and Eris all in Aries, we are driven to take a big step forward, try a new approach, and break free from the past. We are supported in releasing fears, beliefs, and misperceptions that have been holding us back from trying something new. We are awakening to a new understanding of ourselves and our lives.
April 20 – The Sun Enters Taurus
At 1:14 AM PDT (utc-7)
Less than four hours after the new moon solar eclipse, the Sun enters Taurus. Taurus earth energy gives us the practical intelligence to make things happen. The Bull gives us the stamina to bring our ideas into reality.
April 21 – Mercury Goes Retrograde
At 15° Taurus at 1:35 AM PDT (utc-7)
Every three months for about 20 days, Mercury retrograde directs our attention inward to explore our lives at a soul level and to become aware of what is buried in our subconscious. Mercury is nearly conjunct Uranus at 16° Taurus. The light within helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have three weeks to line things up to take our next step forward after Mercury returns direct May 15.
A New Life – Pluto in Aquarius
We moved into a new reality and a new life when Pluto moved into Aquarius. One day we will remember March 23, 2023 as an historic turning point in human consciousness. We are experiencing a deep shift in how we view, understand, and experience who we are and how we live our lives.
The deep shift is related to
- the center of power,
- the locus of control, and
- the importance of responsibility.
The center, focus, importance of power, control, and responsibility is shifting from external authorities to we the people and this means to each of us as individuals.
The transition from an asleep wounded ego to awakened soul consciousness is a pivotal piece in the transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age. This means that our spiritual practice is more important than ever. We must create a new inner foundation from which to live our lives.
Transformation of this magnitude is both rare and challenging. Don’t let anything discourage you. You have made it this far. Congratulations! Be grateful. Proceed with confidence that you can trust your soul.
A New Era – Pluto in Aquarius
Pluto’s move into Aquarius is one of the most important astrological events of our lifetime. Pluto’s once every 248 years passage through Aquarius is a game changer. Pluto only changes signs about every 16-20 years. When it moves into a different sign, it activates a new area of our lives. The impact can be quite dramatic, especially for those who have planets in Aquarius. Those with planets in the first degrees of Aquarius will be affected right now.
Whenever an outer planet changes signs, it initiates a shift in consciousness both personally and collectively. Pluto will only spend 3 months in Aquarius in 2023, but that’s enough to give us a taste of what’s about to come in the next 20 years of our life.
The last time Pluto was in Aquarius (1777-1798), monarchies gave way to the creation of democracies with the American and French revolutions. The American constitution was written when Pluto was last in Aquarius, 236 years ago. The Enlightenment or Age of Reason promoted individual liberty and religious freedom. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and social reforms. Pluto is again in Aquarius!
Dates of Pluto in Aquarius and Capricorn
Because of its time retrograde, Pluto will move back and forth from Aquarius to Capricorn until its final shift back into Aquarius on November 19, 2024.
March 23 – June 11, 2023 – Pluto is in Aquarius (3 months)
June 12 – January 19, 2024 – Pluto is in Capricorn (7 months)
January 20, 2024 – September 1, 2024 – Pluto is in Aquarius (7 months)
September 2, 2024 – November 18, 2024 – Pluto is in Capricorn (2 ½ months)
November 19, 1924 – March 8, 2043 – Pluto is in Aquarius.(18 ½ years)
The Channel for Consciousness
The Aquarian glyph represents a human being who is awakened to the power of consciousness. The water flowing from the urn is the light of consciousness that illuminates and directs our human journey.
Our spiritual goal is to wake up to the reality that ‘I am consciousness,’ and then to live from that awareness. Aquarius is about living our human life from awakened consciousness. Our path and our purpose is to operate in our human life from the perspective of our soul. This is our path to liberation.
Aquarius is ruled by Saturn (and Uranus), which means that work is involved. Many of us on our spiritual journey have ‘expected’ something to happen. We have lived from the assumption that if we practice Kundalini Yoga, meditate on our breath, or chant a mantra 20 minutes two times a day, something will happen. Yes. Something does happen. Higher frequencies begin to open our chakras as our energy is elevated. The door to oneness starts to open, but we have to be able to walk through the door without all our baggage. We have to release our past programming, or we won’t get in. We won’t be able to stay inside this new reality if our old mindset and unhealed emotions keep pulling us back.
Saturn Entered Pisces on March 7th, 2023
Saturn moving into Pisces March 7 is also an important transit that complements the Pluto process. Saturn only changes signs once every 2.5 years.
Saturn’s job is to test the practical viability of what we are creating in our lives. We feel Saturn’s pressure to upgrade or let go of what no longer is practical or useful. Saturn exposes what still needs to be done and rewards us for the efforts we make.
While in Pisces, Saturn gives us a reality check on our relationship with our soul and the Divine. Are we clinging to concepts, or is our connection experientially real at the feeling and subtle awareness level?
While in Pisces, Saturn illuminates misperceptions and old wounds that make us feel like victims instead of co-creators and participants in our life experiences.
Saturn in Pisces advises us to commit more deeply to our spiritual practice, to open our minds to cosmic reality, and to heal our heart so we can be channels for and embody unconditional love.
Pluto in Aquarius
Pluto represents the desires of our soul, which are much deeper urgings than the desires of our ego.
Our human ego believes it wants perfect relationships, the ideal job, financial security, and physical comfort. These are worthy worldly goals. However, the assumption that our outer goals will bring us inner happiness and peace is faulty. Even when we achieve these external goals, they do not yield the result we expect. Our inner reality can be satisfied only by inner transformation. Our spiritual path, and Pluto’s lesson, is to take us through a process to create an inner foundation where we can be gratefully present to our life as it unfolds. We can be happy and at peace whether we have what our ego wants or not. By working toward what our soul wants, we have the best shot at attracting good things into our life.
Pluto Digs Deep
Pluto reminds us of what we really want and what we have to do to get it. Pluto energy specializes in eliminating what gets in the way of our soul goal of finding inner peace, harmony, and happiness. To do so, we have to face our fears and transform our inner reality. We have to release repressed emotions and conditioning that has been stored in our subconscious. We have to identify the root causes of our human suffering. In the process we can access the power of our soul, know our own truth, and open our heart to unconditional love.
The prefix trans means to go through, across, and beyond. Planetary transits, life transitions, inner transformation, and transcendence are all about moving into another frequency, dimension, and level of awareness. This is what Pluto is all about.
In Pluto territory no fluff is allowed. We have to go straight into the fire of truth, which is available only in neutral soul consciousness. Then our head can bow to our heart. When our heart opens, we can serve love and interact in human life with compassion.
Our spiritual practice is about releasing our wounded programming, so that we are able to walk through the door and stay inside our sacred space. This takes work, practice, and dedication. But it is the best thing to work for in human life. This is the only way to transcend human suffering and enjoy our human experience.
The Spiritual Purpose of Each Archetype
Pluto knows that what we want is inside and leads us through a cleansing process to access what we are ultimately looking for. The Pluto dynamic is always present and prodding us to go deeper to our spiritual core. From the perspective of Pluto, the purpose of each zodiac archetype is to eventually take us the core of our being.
Aries wakes us up to ‘I am consciousness.’
Taurus teaches us that ‘My consciousness is in my body.’
Cancer teaches how to be present in feeling sensitivity.
Leo teaches how to open our hearts to unconditional love.
Capricorn teaches us that we have to stay present in our body to manifest in the world.
The Mind and Consciousness
The air signs teach us about our mind and how to use it.
Gemini begins our journey to explore our mind, starting with the dualistic mind that makes choice, analysis, and evaluation possible.
Libra teaches us how access our neutral mind, where if we listen deeply we can hear the silence beyond thoughts.
Aquarius uses the neutral mind to download consciousness and to use the inspired higher mind to invent new ways of operating, doing, being, and relating.
It is of critical important to experience the difference between the thinking mind and consciousness. Consciousness has intelligence that tunes into the truth.
The thinking mind can make up anything, and it does. The human mind can concoct fantasies, invent artificial intelligence, and make up fake news and every kind of lie imaginable.
A basic problem with the unawakened human mind is that it identifies with what it thinks and believes what it thinks is true. It is always at choice. We need consciousness to be able to access, know, believe the truth, and live from the truth.
The foundation of the Aquarian Age is not artificial intelligence! It is soul/divine intelligence that is available in an awakened conscious mind.
Pluto’s Stages of Transformation
Pluto’s goal is to preserve life, which requires systemic transformation. The Pluto process eliminates what doesn’t work and cannot be sustained. At the same time, Pluto empowers initiatives that create sustainable growth and evolution. Whatever is not built on sustainable foundations will fall.
When Pluto moves into a new sign, it profoundly transforms our individual and collective focus, values, and modus operandi. How Pluto works can seem mysterious and is beyond our control, but its cycle of change happens with the flow of the Universe. Our best shot is to allow, not fight, its progression.
Systemic change takes time.
- The initial phase exposes the dysfunctions and brings chaos and uncertainty.
- During the second phase there is understanding and an awakening.
- In the final stage there is transformation and deep satisfaction.
Stage One – We feel challenged and do not readily accept the fact that we must change. We attempt to use our personal will to resist change and try to make things align with how we want them to be. We are attached to what we want and resist what we don’t want. When we are unable to get what we want, we experience fear, anger, and powerlessness.
Stage Two – We release some resistance and try to understand at a deeper level what is going on inside us. We have to deal with our feelings, emotions, and what is bubbling up from our subconscious. We can experience serious distress, resistance, and feel out of control. This is an intense stage of Pluto’s cycle of change, but it sets the stage for our liberation.
It’s very important to persist in our Pluto process. Almost guaranteed, it will not be comfortable. But it will be liberating! Is that what you want? Then keep going. We have to go deep to access and let go of our resistance. With acceptance we can find release. When we can let go of control, we can find our true power and identity.
Stage Three – When we finally release our resistance and accept reality, authentic transformation can take place. We are empowered and free at a deeper level within ourselves.
To summarize, the first stage confronts us with discomfort, and we respond with resistance. The second stage involves deep inquiry resulting in catharsis, release, and letting go. In the third stage, we feel more alive and energized. We accept and relax into the flow of life. We know deep within that we have changed and that it has been worth the effort.
The Pluto process of transformation is on-going. We are continuously challenged by life to live from our truth and to align our actions with our heart and the universal flow. When we can relax into a sense of flow with deep acceptance, we have passed this Pluto test, and we keep going towards love and light. There is always more. And it just gets deeper and richer.
Pluto steps are progressive. We cannot skip steps. We are at different stages in the Pluto cycle of transformation at different times in our life. Where we are depends on
- where Pluto is in our natal chart,
- the sign and degree of our natal Pluto,
- where Pluto is currently moving through our birth chart, and
- the aspects that Pluto is making to the planets, houses, and angles in our birth chart.
Conclusion
As the planet of power, Pluto’s sign tells us who has the power. In Capricorn, big corporations and the elite had the power. In Aquarius, we, the people, have the power. However, power comes with responsibility. Awakened Aquarius empowers humanity to take responsibility for transforming every aspect of our lives.
The current astrological shifts point to radical change, enormous challenges, and also great opportunities. When old systems breakdown, there is a huge force that pushes for change. Creativity is unleashed to manifest new forms. New perspectives, understanding, and knowledge become available. With shifts of this magnitude, it is natural to have fear and doubts and be confused.
The task ahead may appear daunting and overwhelming. We are all being called upon to be the architects of the future. The Aquarian Age is about each of us offering our piece and playing our part. That we can certainly do.
Meditation to Awaken to ‘I am Consciousness’
We can release resistance, old beliefs, and subconscious programming when we find a spiritual solution to our pain and suffering. The core of the spiritual solution is to experience “I am consciousness.” This the inner foundation from which we can relax into the flow of existence. Our head can bow to our heart. We don’t have to figure everything out anymore. We have found the door to liberation, and we can walk through it.
This mantra opens the one eye of consciousness. It stimulates the hormones in the pituitary and pineal glands to secrete, which makes it possible for the third eye (that sees from oneness, not duality) to open. We realize that our identity is consciousness. With conscious we can become the witness that sees life as it is. We can simultaneously detach from the thoughts and stories in our thinking mind and be present without attachment in our body to what we are feeling.
Ong Ong Ong Ong
So Hung So Hung So Hung So Hung
Ong = Creative Consciousness, So Hung = I am that
Sit in easy pose or any comfortable position with your hands on knees, fingers in Gyan Mudra (thumbs and forefinger touching). Inhale deeply and chant Ong Ong Ong Ong powerfully at the brow so that you feel the vibration inside your head. If you begin to cough, you are chanting too strongly. A comfortable resonance is sufficient. This activates the pituitary and pineal glands to secrete their nectar and awaken the faculty of awareness.
Then chant in a softer tone So Hung So Hung So Hung So Hung. This is a statement and confirmation of your truth that your true identity is in fact consciousness.
The complete mantra is chanted on one breath, but if needed take a short inhale between the two parts. Chant for 5-11 minutes.
To end, inhale deeply and feel the vibration in your mind, heart, and whole body. To complete your session, you may wish to shake your arms, do spinal flex, or any physical movement to feel connected to your body.
Take a few minutes or more to put your whole attention on your One Eye. Be the witness of your life. Notice that you can watch your life from observer consciousness. You can feel your emotions move through your body. You can watch the thoughts in your mind. Your consciousness is inside your body. You are inside and the observer of everything.
For at least a week practice only being the observer. Then from the observer you can practice being the listener and the feeler. But don’t jump that far until you deeply experience that your identity is consciousness that witnesses yourself and the world. To be able to separate the soul from the ego, we must be anchored in witness consciousness. This is a lifetime exercise and the essential lesson of spirituality.
Every morning practice anchoring in the stable center in your mind. During the day come back to your witness vantage point. You have found the door to liberation. Remember to walk through it and stay inside. It is the best place to be.
This meditation is one of 120 kriyas and meditations to be found within the pages of my popular book – Sexuality and Spirituality (2nd Edition). Also available as an eBook.
