Qigong as a Remedy

Jyotish archetypes, such as the grahas (planets) and nakshatras (stars), map directly to your energy bodies. This saving grace from the Divine brings you a way out of the endless morass of your karma. For instance, traditionally, Shani (Saturn) holds center court as dispenser of karmic retribution (what goes down, goes around; that is, what you do, eventually comes back to you).  Since he takes care of balancing the scales for poor choices that lead away from Light and harmony, he gets a bad rap and is much feared. Rightfully so, as Shani wields great power to perform his duties. 

But even under the cloud of a difficult Shani dasha (period of time) you STILL have free choice and can take actions to soothe and soften the karmic blows slated to come your way. This follows because the whole expression of Life is in terms of information and energy. Shani, or any other graha, can only affect you through the medium of your energy bodies. If you harmonize them then the nasty pixie dust looming ahead must—and does—temper its fury and even transform to more wholesome patterns.

Beginning qigong exercises work mostly at the level of etheric and lower astral energies. But this is enough to get the show on the road. You can help yourself, and others, through fairly simple qigong exercises. Customizing these exercises specifically for your unique Jyotish chart adds another level of octane to the practice and leads to better outcomes for you.

Interested in getting ahead in life faster? Or, simply weathering what life has dished out on your plate for a while till you catch your breath? Custom qigong exercises can—and do—treat karmic patterns at a much deeper level than ordinary sets of qigong routines. If you practice for a while both ways, you will clearly notice the positive difference that the deeper, karmic approach has. You can use qigong for Jyotish archetypes to support both your personal and spiritual goals.

Here's an example: in all genuine spiritual traditions, the first step of any practice session invokes the spiritual teacher and other relevant archetypes or deities. In Hindu yoga, the sequence goes Guru and then Ganesha ... one, two and you're off to the races. In Jyotish, the guru manifests through the planet Jupiter. In fact, in Hindi the term used for Jupiter is Guru. In turn, Jupiter owns (lords or manages) two constellations—Sagittarius and Pisces. So, now the cast of characters has grown to three. Each embodies a particular string of energies and outcomes. For example, Jupiter signifies growth, health and wisdom. Pisces represents things that one must invest time and resources towards  but also can mean deep spiritual growth. Sagittarius links to the father and righteous behavior. It also bespeaks of the guru's residence and good fortune.

So, say, you want to improve one of these life areas or simply want to start your spiritual practice session on a great footing. What to do? A yogi has three main tools to work with: body, breath (and qi) and mind. Normally, one repeats a mantra (short prayer) to the guru to start the session. But if added grace is required then either energy work (breath and/or qi) or mind should be included. The planets, constellations and other archetypes of Jyotish all map cleanly to the energy channels (meridians) of Daoism and the energy fields of both Hindu yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. To encourage more luck in one's life it's vital that the energies deployed by Sagittarius are harmonized. One fairly simple but truly effective thing you can do is to regulate the flow of qi in the Pericardium meridian (of Daoism and Traditional Chinese Medicine). That is, there's a strong link between this meridian and this constellation. One affects the other and vice versa. Instead of sweeping qi all over the place and hoping for the best, you can target the specific energy flow that most deeply normalizes luck (via Sagittarius and guru). To summarize: first say a mantra to guru, next regulate the Pericardium meridian and finally do several minutes (3 - 5 suffices) of general qigong. Ideally, then invest a short while to meditate in whatever way you know best or which seems appropriate in the moment (5 - 7 minutes is optimal). Here you go ... magic! Honest ... just try it for a while and see for yourself.

Kriya Yoga as a Remedy

Kriya yoga (Hindu yoga) corresponds to further stages of qigong work in the Daoist (Chinese yoga) tradition. These further stages, called neigong (inner energy work) and shengong (subtle inner energy work). lead, in turn, to advanced levels of meditation. Likewise, in the Tibetan yoga scheme of things this stage of practice represents a bridge from later generation stage work to the early stages of completion stage practice. And, in fact, if you examined any genuine esoteric tradition closely, you would find some trace, either explicit or implicit, of this part of the spiritual journey. This follows since all true spiritual traditions aim toward the same end. Each tradition has stronger points though, just as each person you meet has special qualities. The idea here is to develop the Daoist vision more fully as it has the best grounding in the transition from purely physical energy work (qigong) to the early stages of physical and mental energy work (neigong). Kriya yoga ties into this progression at the transition from neigong to shengong so it is a bit of a leap for the average aspirant. Tibetan practices corresponding to this stage also tend to be too advanced and pose an unneeded challenge for folks without the added oomph of a great spiritual master shuffling silently about just down the hall of the monastery or ashram.