We have 186,000 nadis, or channels of energy in our body. At different times, different channels open. Sometimes that channel opens by which you get intuitive thoughts. Some other time another channel opens by which you experience emotions. Another time another channel opens. It’s very fascinating. If you keep thinking about happy people, you get happy, that channel gets opened. Thinking about unhappy things, the unhappy channels open.
That’s why I have said, “Don’t hate anybody.” Why should you not hate anybody? What is the reason? Not for the sake of the person whom you hate, but for your own sake. Your own mind, your nervous system, will assume the form, shape and color of that person. That is why we don’t hate anybody. Is this an intelligent thing to do, or not? The most intelligent thing to do is not to hate anybody because whomsoever you hate, you get those impressions embedded in you.
We spoke about the 3 spaces. Bhut Akasha is the outer physical space. Chit Akasha is the inner space, the space of the mind. And Chid Akasha is the space of pure consciousness. All 3 are space: Bhut Akasha - the physical space, Chit Akasha - the mental or ethereal space, and Chida Akasha - the causal space.
The causal space is what is called Shiva, the pure, unblemished, unattached nature of yourself. Why do I say true nature? What is the truth? Truth is that which doesn’t change. Chida Akasha, the causal space, which is called Shiva is your true nature, which doesn’t change at all, - which is ever and always the same.
In the Chit Akasha - the inner space of the mind, thoughts and emotions hover around like clouds moving in the sky. Whatever clouds move in the sky, does the sky get colored by them? Does the sky get affected by them? No. The clouds come, they move, and they go. In the same way, emotions come and they go; thoughts come and they go.
To some extent everyone is aware of this. To some extent you get thoughts on which you’ll never act. Every thought that you have, do you act on it? You get thoughts on which you don’t act. That ability to filter out inappropriate thoughts is what keeps you sane.
What is the difference between a sane person and an insane person? An insane person acts on almost every thought. That’s why you call them insane because there is no filter there. Going one step ahead in wisdom, not only do you not act upon certain thoughts that hover around, you don’t even identify yourself with those thoughts.
How do thoughts hover around? This is another thing that you need to see. The microcosm and macrocosm are so intimately connected. The macrocosm and microcosm together form one organism. The whole world is just one organism. So how does this affect the space?
It’s just like the meteorological department which says rain is going to come, or they predict thunder showers, or sunshine, or hurricane. All this is predicted. In the same way, the stars and the movement of the moon predict the ups and downs in the minds. This is pure calculation.
Chida Akasha (the causal space) is different from the Chit Akasha. It is just like the space inside each pot is different. Suppose you have ten pots of different sizes, the amount of space inside each pots will be different. It depends on the pot. How do you calculate something as one liter? Because the container has one-liter space in it. Another pot has two liters’ space. A third pot has half liter space in it. It is like that.
So, in a similar way, by looking at the different astrological charts, people decipher the different kinds of chit Akasha. Someone who is Aquarius will keep quiet until one day they’ll explode. With someone whose moon is in Gemini, you might predict that the person is double minded, always yes and no. From the chart of a person who is Taurus, you may predict that they’re very focused, they’re go getters. In the chart of someone who is Leo, you see that they’re very adamant, and they never listen to anybody. So some of these traits are identified from these charts. It indicates the Chit Akasha - the type of thoughts and emotions this person will have.
Then time also matters. When someone has Jupiter in the 8th house, this person, for that one whole year will have all kinds of doubts. They will doubt everything; they will doubt themselves and doubt others. With the 8th house in Jupiter, wherever they are, they will want to run away from there. But it won’t stay forever. After they manage to get through that one year, then it all changes and becomes different.
Similarly, when there is a combination of Saturn and Mars, you will find anger in the individual, as well as in the society, in the cosmos and in the nation. You can say that in the nation there’s going to be anger and conflicts running high. See what is happening now, these last two to three months, there are bomb blasts, issues, and problems in so many areas.
Astrological predictions are just like meteorological predictions. They need not always be correct. Meteorological predictions don’t work all the time. The day before yesterday, they said there were going to be thunderstorms, but we had sunshine! So Astrology is only a probability. You can say it is a possibility.
Similarly, moods depend on the moon. A mood does not stay for more than two and a quarter day. That is the amount of time the moon is at one place. The moment the moon moves from that place; your mood also changes. And when the moon and Saturn combine, people get depressed. So these emotions, these feelings, they come and they go away. Nothing is permanent. No planet is permanently stationary in one place. They all move. But when you identify yourself with any one of these emotions, you get stuck. That’s when you don’t move. That is when it infiltrates into your body and you get sick, and all such things happen. Isn’t it fascinating? So what is the way? How to move on from that?
On a cloudy day, when a flight takes off, what does it do? It goes above the clouds, and then there is sunshine. That is what the spiritual practices are. They move us away from the Chit Akasha to the Chida Akasha. We move beyond all the emotions.
If your flight has a radar in it, night landing is possible because there is a radar. You can take-off at any time, and land anywhere. A helicopter cannot take off, or a primitive plane cannot take off. But one with a radar, one with the sophisticated instruments can take off.
Do you know why 'Om Namah Shivaya' is chanted 108 times?
People a long time ago observed how the 9 planets moving through the 12 constellations brings 108 units of change. So to enhance the good effects and to reduce the malefic effects, 'Om Namah Shivaya' is chanted 108 times. That uplifts you, uplifts your spirit, and takes you beyond. It connects you to the Chida Akash.
In India, especially in Tamil Nadu, they use the term ‘Chittambalam Shiva’. This refers to the space of Chida Akasha. Many people don’t understand the meaning of this. It is, “I call Shiva and I land up in the Chida Akasha, the space which is consciousness”.
In every puja, if you have observed in the ashram, the moment they say Shiva Chittambalam, I take off into the causal space called Shiva. Shiva Chittambalam is the same as Guru Tattva, or Shiva Tattva, or the Self. Everything is that, and that is called meditation. That’s what happens when you transcend. All the thoughts move away. Emotions get settled and we experience the most tranquil, most benevolent and most beautiful inner space. That’s what the Kriya does, takes you round and round, and then takes you out of this orbit. You go round, round, round and then you eject out of the orbit and move into that space.