March 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010 (Purnima; Leo/Virgo ~ Uttara Phalguni, “She Who is Noble and Dignified”)

I always found the tradition of the captain going down with the ship to be especially puzzling. I mean – why should his loyalty be so firmly connected with something that is a losing bet? What is he proving by sinking with the ship?

At the same time, when the odds are stacked against you and everything is going to hell around you there is great comfort in losing with dignity and nobility rather than running around screaming and panicking.

When you feel you’re being screwed over by the universe or by the petty, selfish world why not pour yourself a nice cup of tea, take a long last look, and let yourself sink down?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 (1st Waning; Virgo/Libra ~ Chitra, “The Casting of Illusions”)

Life plays a really dirty trick on us. We’re led to believe that everything we project is somehow real and lasting. Whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant, we firmly believe that our experience actually has some kind of substance to it.

We’re like a yo-yo in the palm of some great trickster who takes great delight in pushing our emotions out and pulling them back in – until we wake up to this ridiculous game. It brings depression at first and then laughter.

Why should you get so serious about anything when it’s all just going to change into something else? Lighten up and beat the trickster at his own game.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 (2nd Waning; Libra/Svati ~ “The Light Hearted/The Strong Hearted”)

One time when I was in India with my spiritual teacher we were visiting some ancient hills in the southern state of Karnataka. There were many caves set in these hills where countless sages had spent their lives in the pursuit of deep meditation and enlightenment.

At one point, my Guru started to climb these hills with great speed leaving the group that was following him far behind. Suddenly something inside of me became very strong. I really didn’t want to be left behind. There was nothing more that I wanted at that moment than to be next to him exploring these sacred caves.

I’ve never been a fast runner, yet somehow I found myself almost flying in the air and ambling effortlessly over big boulders (in a sari, no less!). When I caught up with my teacher he pulled me into a tiny cave and we sat for a long time in profound meditation.

And I realized that with a strong heart you can fly.

Thursday, April 1, 2010 (3rd Waning; Libra/Scorpio ~ Vishakha, “The Power of Persistence”)

You should never set out to do something with the idea that you might fail.

Friday, April 2, 2010 (4th Waning; Scorpio/Anuradha ~ “The Sage Who Carries the Staff of Wisdom”)

The wise sage who carries a staff didn’t purchase the emblem of his wisdom from Walmart. He earned it.

The way you earn the staff of wisdom is to bear the grief of separation with courage and dignity – like Mother Theresa. She only had one experience of the reality of God in her entire life. Only one.

The rest of the time, she suffered not knowing if that experience was real or if she’d just made it up because she’d been conditioned by the Church to believe in the tangible presence of God’s love. The only way she could live with the pain of that uncertainty was to distract herself with service.

The same truth applies to all the lovers of the world. You can’t really know if your beloved loves you as much as you do. Your job is to bear the pain of exquisite love and when it becomes too much, know that you’ll be given a staff to help you walk through this life.

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (5th Waning; Scorpio/Jyestha ~ “The Jealous Queen and the Alteration of Fate”)

In every fairy tale when a beautiful princess is born inevitably an evil stepmother or witch arrives at the birth bearing a great grudge. She can’t help but curse the precious life because what makes someone an evil witch is the pain of non-belief in her own beauty.

And that conviction of ugliness alters the fate of beauty, which in order to be real must undergo a test. So really the bitter stepmother plays a very crucial role in making beauty strong and not superficial.

Your good qualities are meant to be tested by the injustices of this world. Try not to feel outraged when they arrive uninvited. They are here to cast your most highly valued jewel in an everlasting ring of gold – with fire!

Sunday, April 4, 2010 (6th Waning; Sagittarius/Mula ~ “Abide at the Source”)

When the storm comes, it’s not the time to attempt to swim to shore. When the waves of emotions rise, it’s not the time to make a decision.

Procrastinate your anxiety. Put off your fear. Worry about your self-doubts and insecurities tomorrow. Schedule your anger for next week.

You don’t have to do anything today about your problems.

Monday, March 22, 2010 (8th Waxing; Gemini/Taurus – Mrgashira ~ “The Deer Who Lures the Mind Away”)

All I can say is that I’m happy the Sun is burning up Mercury, so that you only feel restless and hopeless. Your mind, on the other hand, is happily dissolved in some distraction enough not to notice that you may be stuck in a bit of a rut.

The last thing we need is your mind to start going around about why you should have done something different but you didn’t and now wish you had.

Ignorance really is bliss, my friends. So bask in it!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 (9th Waxing; Gemini/Ardra ~ “The Evolutionary Storm”)

Do realize how difficult it is for an egg to hatch or a seed to sprout? Have you ever watched a butterfly emerge from a cocoon or a baby from the womb?

Nothing rare or beautiful or precious or amazing happens without a struggle.

But of course when you’re the one giving birth or hatching from an egg, you don’t need this kind of insight. (In fact, if I were foolish enough to wax philosophical at this moment in front of you, you might scream out some *x!& expletive at me.  So good thing I’m safe within this blog!)

You just need to hold on. Breathing helps. Prayer soothes the heart. And having faith with deep surrender is about all you can do right now.

In fact, all the big ones apply today – Faith. Hope. Forgiveness. Letting Go. Trust.

(And if all else fails, there’s always chocolate!)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 (10th Waxing; Gemini/Cancer – Punarvasu ~ “The Light Always Returns”)

Do you suppose when Moses led his people out of the Pharaoh’s Egypt, he had any idea that the Red Sea would miraculously open up for him at the last minute?

Do you think he expected to be stuck in the barren desert for 40 years without any clue as to how to keep the people’s spirits up and faith in his promise of a holy land? (And you know they complained. A lot.)

And finally, can you believe after everything he went through he never actually got to enter into the land of Israel and feast on all that alleged milk and honey?

I often wonder if he felt ripped off in the end.

Do you think you could also follow the loud command within your heart and accept whatever comes to you even if it isn’t what you wanted when you started out?

Thursday, March 25, 2010 (11th Waxing; Cancer/Pushya ~ “The Wheel of Progress”)

I think it’s really clever to refer to progress as a wheel instead of as a straight line. Real progress always returns you to where you started out and gives you a fresh start.  You never really go anywhere – just around and around and around.

Like the planets in their orbits around the Sun, you just keep going around the same experiences – get dealt the same hand – and play it exactly the same way.

The only part of the wheel that has any sense at all is the hub.  It never moves.  It never changes.   It’s always present.

What in you has never changed – is ever watchful – and is free? Discover that and then you’ve made real progress.

Friday, March 26, 2010 (12th Waxing; Leo/Magha ~ “The Lion’s Mighty Roar”)

I have to admit a secret desire of mine: I’ve always wanted to break into the zoo at night and liberate the big cats.

I desire this because I almost can’t bear their intense apathy.  I often wonder if they wish they were out on the hunt with the adrenaline of uncertainty pumping through their veins – Will I catch the antelope? Will I miss it by a single breath?

It’s got to be more fun than waiting for their trainer to toss the daily hunk of meat over the fence for dinner.

Aren’t you tired of your predictable life? Sure – it’s safe and all, but don’t you long for something you can’t rely on? Wouldn’t it be worth it to at least prowl out on the open tundra at midnight and search for some unsuspecting game?

So what if you don’t get it — at least you’d feel alive!

Saturday, March 27, 2010 (13th Waxing; Leo/Purva Phalguni ~ “The Cat in the Hammock”)

And then there are days like today. Go ahead. Sleep in late.

Sunday, March 28, 2010 (14th Waxing; Leo/Virgo – Uttara Phalguni ~ “Reaping the Fruits of Your Best Actions”)

The best kings are always the best servants.  It’s just not always obvious to the onlooker.  Yet while he’s being fed grapes and fanned by his harem, he’s already rescued, saved, and fortified the multitudes in his kingdom with a single policy.

He doesn’t look like he’s done anything, but meanwhile with a single command so much good has been accomplished – much more than someone with no power but with lots of a big ideas could ever hope to achieve.

Get powerful. Serve intelligently. And relax deeply.

Monday, March 15, 2010 (1st Waxing; Pisces/Purva Bhadrapada ~ “The Commitment to Growing Beyond Boundaries”)

Have you ever noticed that right before you’re about to land your big break, you most feel like giving up?

I can’t tell you how many times I decided to give up on something right before my fate aligned with the miraculous.

I distinctly remember crying on innumerable occasions in my doctoral adviser’s office sputtering that I wasn’t cut out for all the cruelty of academic rigor. He’d just nod his head as he’d feed me sheets of tissues and (pretty good) pieces of dark chocolate.

(A note to all you graduate school hopefuls: former rabbis make the best PhD advisers. And actually, for that matter, probably the best cellmates, the best bankruptcy attorneys, and the best chess players.)

I tell you — after the tantrum, the drama, and the catharsis, the rainbow always came out.  I’d get some boon.  I’d be shown a sign. I’d pass some difficult test.  And I’d take a few more steps forward.

I became such a believer in this every-now-and-then-the-universe-tosses-you-a-bone magic, that even now I profess it every chance I get.

Believe me, I’m not a pom-pom wielding Polly Anna on this one, my friends. This is genuinely a good start to a good week to a good spring to a good financial recovery. The seed is definitely spinning under ground almost ready to pop forth in all its green goodness.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 (2nd Waxing; Pisces/Uttara Bhadrapada ~ “The Blessed Lotus Feet”)

Finally a Tuesday I can feel good about. Our noble Moon has won the heart of the lovely and lusciously beautiful princess Venus, while our heroic Sun-king battles the intrusion of the rival prince Mercury – the unwelcome guest at the fest who threatens to steel away the princess and the royal bounty together.

I say – fie on you Mercury!

Now where is my May Pole? Where are all the fine young lads and maids?

Let us frolic. Let us frolic. Let us frolic.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (3rd Waxing; Pisces/Revati ~ “A Fish Swimming in the Transcendental Ocean of Bliss”)

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds…
O no! It is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken…
(Sonnet 116 ~ Shakespeare)

Don’t give up on the reality of perfect, joyous and ever-lasting love. But know this: you’ll never find it until you realize the perfect, joyous, and ever-lasting love inside of you.

You are what you seek.  Open your eyes and see how everything is nothing other than what you project.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 (4th Waxing; Aries/Asvini ~ “The Twin Brothers Who Rescue Us With Truth and Hope”)

Okay enough with all this sickening sweetness already.  Time to ride out bareback onto the open prairie and find some damsel in distress to rescue at the last minute.  Or a hungry orphan to adopt.  Or a load to take off the back of a tired old man.

Who are you meant to serve in this lifetime? What story do you want to tell around the fire when your riding days of glory are over? If this were your last breath, what in your life just lived would bring the biggest smile to your lips?

Stop thinking about it.  Pretend the house is on fire.  And just do it.

Friday, March 19, 2010 (5th Waxing; Aries/Bharani ~ “The Boatman Who Rows You Across the River of Samsara”)

Call me weird, but I must confess that when Death arrives at my door with his crooked grin and poor timing I kinda feel like I’ve woken up from a dream to what’s really real.

Of course I don’t like the grief part.  At the same time, I feel so grateful with each Death who comes to visit for the opportunity to straighten things up for myself.  I like the resolutions I make to laugh at how foolish we are when we think we have a plan, to go ahead and love even when you know one day you’ll have to move on alone, and to not resist the tremendous urge I sometimes feel to run –  full on — into the ocean totally naked and shout “hurray!”

So what if the boatman arrives at your shore today? Are you ready to step aboard? Will you let him take you across the river of your fear, doubt, and insecurity over what you did in the past or what you’re worried about happening in the future — to the eternity of the present moment?

Saturday, March 20, 2010 (6th Waxing; Aries-Taurus/Krittika ~ “The Ascent of Kundalini, the Liberating Power”)

I must confess one thing: I genuinely love all people.

Sunday, March 21, 2010 (7th Waxing; Taurus/Rohini ~ “The Fertile Goddess”)

Have you been trying to conceive a child, a new career, a satisfying love life or even a single good idea for a long time, but nothing adheres?  All lights are green today.

Thinking about dumping the old paradigm, packing up the bags and heading out of town?  The train just arrived at the station.

Wondering if the karmic retribution due to you will ever be paid back in full?  The tax man is at your door with your refund check in hand (with compounded interest).

Tired of seeing everyone else get all the happy breaks, while you continue to pine away in your self-pity, unworthiness, and impoverishment of spirit? Good news! You’ve just placed first in swimsuit AND evening gown.

Now practice a bit more on the self-confidence act and you just might win this pageant, baby.

To the faithful readers of this blog: My sincerest apologies for the absence of the Weekly Moon Forecast last week.  No excuses, except for too many things for this one set of hands to accomplish.

Monday, March 8, 2010 (9th Waning; Sagittarius/Mula ~ “She Who Dissects the Roots”)

These days it’s a tough to be a Guru. In the old days, you never had to leave your village to impart wisdom. You just lived simply, practiced deeply, and gave freely. And everyone in the village took care of you in exchange for your blessings.

But nowadays, Gurudom is big business. In order to get the spiritual message out, resources are required to market, build, and spread. And with resources acquired, the power to maintain them becomes necessary.

It’s so complicated that simple human needs are often kept from the holy realm of the spiritual teacher. They can’t hardly shit without someone being scandalized.

In the old days, in the village, you just shit along side your Guru in the field. You heard him making love to his wife in the next room. You observed him getting annoyed with his servant. And in all his ordinariness, you realized that you in all your ordinariness are also Divine.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 (10th Waning; Sagittarius/Purva Ashadha ~ “Good Merit Experienced on Account of a Prior Noble Deed”)

This week is a killer for idealism. Even here in The People’s Republic of Boulder, I saw a sign in someone’s yard that read, “WarBama.”

I mean – come on, people.

Are we such silly ninnies that we could actually believed that our President in one year could magically wave a wand over our nation’s problems and ZA-ZAM we’re all skipping rope again?

Progress in the real sense takes a long time, often over many lifetimes. In fact, you may not see the benefit of your goodness in your own lifetime – because time is so vast. But just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean that every action we take has no affect.

Plant the seeds every day – and let them sprout when they want to.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (11th Waning; Sagitarrius/Uttara Ashadha ~ “She Who Achieves the Highest Victory Through Skillful Means”)

In the elephant world, the matriarch is chosen because of the size and strength of her tusks. To all the others in her tribe with inferior tusks, they trust that her great tooth is tougher than all the rest to get them through their obstacles.

Today sharpen your inner tusk and garner some courage. See beyond your usual instinctual reactions to the difficulties in your life and imagine a totally unique solution that is so obvious, she is standing in front of you – a great elephant queen.

Thursday, March 11, 2010 (12th Waning; Capricorn/Shravana ~ “She Who Listens to What’s Before the Words”)

In one of his ten incarnations on the earthly plane, the preserver of the universe, Lord Visnu, appeared as a dwarf. His mission was to slay the demon-king Bali who was gigantic beyond measure.

Lord Visnu realized that in his tiny demeanor the demon would be difficult to conquer, so he did what all great strategists do: he used psychology to defeat him.

Bali had one weakness that Visnu knew all too well. He was excessively generous. So Visnu approached him with a request he knew the demon wouldn’t deny – to grant him sovereignty over all the territory he could cover in only three strides.

Seeing the dwarf, Bali laughed and whole-heartedly conceded to the request.

With his first step, Visnu conquered the entire earthly realm. With his second step, he conquered the manifest universe. And with his third step, he became master of beyond the beyond.

So today, take a small step in the right direction. You’ll master way more than anyone ever believed you could (including yourself).

Friday, March 12, 2010 (13th Waning; Capricorn/Shravana ~ “The Silence Prior to the Mantra Om”)

Today it’s probably best not to say anything. When you find yourself wanting to react, stop yourself and question whether it’s really worth it.

The truth is that there really isn’t any value to words at all. In fact, they just confuse you and take you out of your heart, which can only feel.

So better to stay in your heart than to get entangled in the messy realm of words and their multiple meanings and distractions. Just let it go.

Saturday, March 13, 2010 (14th Waning; Aquarius/Dhanistha ~ “The Drum of Evolution”)

Sometimes the greatest accomplishment that you can realize is that you got through a difficult week. It’s over now and trust me, you definitely grew.

Sunday, March 14, 2010 (New Moon; Aquarius/Satabhishak ~ “The Empty Circle”)

Today the Sun moves out of Aquarius and into Pisces – thank god! He’s really been a pain this past month deflating our self-esteem, devaluing our self-worth, and like a guest who’s outstayed his welcome keeping us from a good night’s sleep.

And while I don’t like him much in Pisces, at least he’s stoking the fires behind your great ideas and dreams that you all but forgot about.

Like an annoying parent, he’s reminding you to finish your homework. So get to it!