Inner Guidance

Dear Pooja,

Thank you for your question. Swami Kriyananda used to say that the most important yoga posture was “learning to stand on your own two feet.”

Is it possible that you are hopping around too much, going to various gurus, healers, and astrologers? A true healer or guru, as well as a wise astrologer, will try to strengthen you own inner core of connection to the Divine. Are you seeking your direction in life?

Yogananda’s all purpose healing affirmation will help you to develop your divine will. Watch the video and practice the affirmation daily for one month or more. Please also use this prayer, “I will reason, I will will, and I will act, but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right path.”

Learn to meditate, for the sense of inner concentration and stillness will help you to discern your next step in life. If you feel an inner nudge to try something new, take a step or two in that direction. Check it out. See how it feels in your heart. If it still feels right, take a few more steps. All the while, pray to be guided by a true Avatar. These divine, perfected ones, want you to find your highest path. Call out to Them in earnest prayer to guide you in body, mind, and soul.

Yogananda’s all purpose healing affirmation will help you to develop your divine will. Watch the video and practice the affirmation daily for one month or more. Please also use this prayer, “I will reason, I will will, and I will act, but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right path.”

Swami Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramhansa Yogananda, wrote a book called the Holy Science in which he taught the correct timing of the Yugas, and that we are currently in the beginning of Dwapara Yuga, correcting the notion that we are still in Kali Yuga. He also shares in the book the most accurate ayanamsha to use in Vedic astrology, and this is now referred to as the “Yukteswar” ayanamsha, even though he did not actually invent it; he simply referred to it in his book, to give those who were interested a divine clue as to the best ayanamsha.

I am not an astrologer, but I have had my Vedic astrology chart read by the Yukteswar method several times, and it was uncanny at how accurate it was at precisely marking the main events of my life. I have also had my chart done by another method, called the Lahiri (note — this does not refer Lahiri Mahasaya), and it was inaccurate, by two years for those same major events. I have also seen the accuracy of the Sri Yukteswar ayanamsha when applied in other people’s lives, as well, such as in those who have come to me for healing sessions, and from the reports of friends and acquaintances.

(If you cannot find anyone to do the Yukteswar ayanamsha, you can also request the B.V. Raman ayanamsa, which is readily available in India. The timing of it is very close to the Yukteswar method; it only differs by about two weeks regarding major life events.)

Swami Kriyananda, in deep conversations with an astrologer at Ananda, said that it is primarily by those major events that we can judge the accuracy of an ayanamsha. Swami Kriyananda had his own chart done by several methods over the years, in order to compare the results. He said you can only really judge astrology by those main events in the birth chart because the smaller events are often just too vague. I believe that this is part of what you have experienced, Pooja. Please resist the urge to go to an astrologer very often. If you find someone your trust, you can ask them to do your birth chart with the Sri Yukteswar ayanamsha.

I believe that this is part of what you have experienced, Pooja. Please resist the urge to go to an astrologer very often. If you find someone you trust, you can ask them to do your birth chart with the Sri Yukteswar ayanamsha. Bear in mind that Paramhansa Yogananda taught in his writing about the Bhagavad Gita, that only a Master is truly qualified to do your astrological chart, for he can see into your soul. Yogananda also taught that the true chart is created at the moment when our soul enters this plane, at the moment of conception! Because this knowledge is virtually impossible to attain, the first breath of the baby is used as a second best option. I only mention this to help you to break the spell in your own mind of the power of astrologers, or of psychics, etc. They have their own limits, until they, too, are perfected in God. Bear in mind, too, that the truly divine teacher or Guru will not usually spell everything out for you!

Bear in mind, too, that the truly divine teacher or Guru will not usually spell everything out for you! Sometimes you need to develop your own will to act, and to pray and affirm more deeply, while always seeking to grow closer to the divine will for the unfoldment of your life. Which brings me full circle: please do the prayers and affirmations at the beginning of this letter. Put one foot in front of the other.

Please feel free to request healing prayers for guidance in your life. Thank you, again, for your question! I have been meaning to write about the usefulness of the Yuketesawr ayanamsha for some time now. Again, I am not an astrologer, but I conferred with a Vedic astrologer who has practiced the Yuktewar ayanamsha for 30 years now. In his readings, he helps a person to find their inner strength to meet the challenges presented in their astrological chart. Some predictive astrologers are sometimes too fatalistic, and thus sap a person’s will to meet their challenges. Life is a school given to us by our karma. We need energy and joy to meet our lessons as they come to us.

“Forget the past…. Human conduct is ever unreliable until man is anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.” Sri Yukteswar Giri.

May you be guided and blessed.
Mary Kretzmann
Ananda Healing Prayer Ministry