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Grace

By Michael Laughrin (michael@jyotish.ws)

I have my own "hierarchy of values." It goes like this:

  1. Survival
  2. Good manners
  3. Courtesy
  4. Gratitude
  5. Empathy
  6. Grace
  7. Universal Love and/or Enlightenment

So, therefore, grace, in my system, is the penultimate achievement that a human being is capable of.

What is grace?

Well, it can manifest on many different levels:

  1. Physical - seen in the 1st and 10th houses (and their lords) of a chart, as well as by Venus.
  2. Mental - some people are physically clumsy, but are wonderfully adept with their minds. A good example of this is the famous physicist Stephen Hawking. That is mental grace. This is seen by the 1st house and lord, the 5th house and lord, and the planets Mercury and the Moon.
  3. Emotional grace is found when an individual can keep their centeredness in the midst of great stress or a disaster. Many people fall apart under such circumstances. Astrologically, this would be seen by the 1st house and its lord, the 4th house and its lord, and a strong Moon and Venus.
  4. Last but not least is spiritual Grace, the highest and most desirable type of grace. Why is it the most desirable when physical, mental and emotional graces can get you love, money, worldly success, friends, and admiration? Because, in my belief at least, Grace is the handmaiden of Enlightenment. I believe that they go together. And also, the ultimate goal of human existence, after about 700 lifetimes as a human, is to be spiritually perfect. In other words, to enjoy the Grace of the Guru and the Grace of God and to reach Moksha (Enlightenment). In a Jyotish chart, Divine Grace would be seen in the 1st house & lord, the 5th house and lord (past life credit and the Mind as a whole), and, most important of all, the 9th house and lord (the house of the Guru and the gods), and the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is the most powerful benefic; it can bestow the most blessings; and it is the planet most perfectly aligned (when well placed in a chart) with all aspects of the Divine. It is said that Mercury in the 1st house gives 1000 blessings. Venus in the 1st gives 10,000 blessings. But that blessed Jupiter in the 1st house (where it has dig bala) can give 100,000 blessings. Also, I think that probably all of the natural benefics (Moon, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter) should be strong in the chart. Preferably, they should all be in angles, trines and the 2nd and 11th houses. Or, at least, 3 out of 4 of them should be in those houses. 

Many of my clients seem to believe in Jyotish more than I do. Let me put it another way. Many, many people who I know who are serious spiritual aspirants (they meditate every day), have made Jyotish into a kind of false, or temporary, Guru. Now, please understand this: Jyotish is a tool -- nothing more, nothing less. It is a most divine tool. It is extremely subtle (like an electron microscope is subtle), but it is still a tool. The Grace of God and/or the Grace of the Guru can overcome the karma seen in the jyotish chart. Although, based on my personal experience as a jyotishi, it seems that guru-kripa and deva-kripa usually diminish the difficult karma, not erase it completely. Without facing our weaknesses (another name for bad karma), how would we ever learn anything important?

That reminds me of another important thing in Jyotisha: ultimately, there are no good planets or bad planets. All the planets are our teachers. Just like in school, one may remember a certain teacher as being very strict. Yet, as we gain maturity, we may find that we learned more from that strict teacher than from any of the fun, friendly, easy going teachers. 

Here is a way to diminish the bad effects of one's chart. Learn the lessons that your dasha ruler is trying to teach you. Work hard, in a consistent manner, in a Saturn dasha or bhukti. Break the boundaries of our prejudices in the Rahu dasha or bhukti. Make union with God your highest priority in the Ketu dasha or bhukti. If you do this, you will most likely find that life is easier, your burdens are less, and your joy is greater still. Of course, any time is a good time to gain knowledge, do good deeds (karma yoga), or to cultivate Universal Love. 

One can get the Grace of God by ardently following the teachings of one's religion or spiritual path.

Along these same lines, one can get the grace of the Guru by doing what the Guru suggests. And here I must mention devotion. It works in life, it works in the Guru chela relationship, and, I think, it works with the Divine, although it seems to me that one must be extremely devoted to the Divine to receive His/Her grace.

(c) copyright 2017 Michael Laughrin.


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