Another remarkable fact is that the day of May 5th, 1970, which is precisely 30 years ago from the above mentioned date, marks a memorable event in the history of human spirituality: it is the day when the Sahasrara chakra was opened on the universal level, clearing the path for the divine motherly energy within us (Kundalini) to rise and give us our second birth (Self Realization, moksha, satori, enlightenment). That was the moment that marked the birth of Sahaja Yoga as we know it today - spontaneous, effortless Self Realization that can be achieved by all human beings, on a mass level.

The 6,000 year period since the last alignment of the seven planets is also interesting. The old traditions of India divide history in four Yugas, or eras, which keep repeating as a cycle. The first one is Satya Yuga, the golden age of Truth when righteousness and the joy of the Spirit prevail. It is the longest Yuga, followed by Dwapara Yuga which is a bit shorter, and when Dharma (righteousness) starts to decline. The decline continues in the third, even shorter, Treta Yuga, and reaches a climax in the troubled times of Kali Yuga, the dark ages, which are marked by confusion and all the signs of crisis of our modern times. But Kali Yuga contains also the seed of redemption - the ardent thirst of human beings for Truth, which manifests towards the end of this shortest and most tumultuous era, leading again into the golden age of Satya Yuga. Kali Yuga is supposed to last around 6,000 years. Does this unique alignment of planets mark the beginning and ending of Kali Yuga, and if we are indeed on the way to Satya Yuga, what are the signs ?

Several ancient texts and prophecies point to the Golden Age being attained not through social or economical reforms, but rather through a transformation in human awareness which would soar to a Divine realm, the Kingdom of Heavens. Also, what is intriguing is the faint echo from the past which informs us of a hitherto unsuspected phenomenon, namely the coming of a feminine spiritual personality, a Mother, who will facilitate a collective rebirth. Here are some selected references which allude to this happening:

• In a book published in 1887 titled The Mystery of the Ages by Marie, Countess of Caithness (Page 316-317) the following prediction appears: "It was generally considered, at the turn of the next century, that the next Divine incarnation was about to come to earth and would be female, the advent of Divine Wisdom, or Theo-Sophia, and that the present age would be the age of making known all that which has been kept secret from the beginning."
   
• Knight John of Jerusalem (11th century) describes in his Book of Prophecies the Mother and the coming millennium: "She will be a great Master of the future times..... She will be the Mother of the Millennium that comes after the Millennium.... After the days of the devil She will make the softness of a Mother flow." "The millennium that comes after this millennium will change into a light time. People will love and share and dream, and dreams will come true. [...] People will be one big body of which every person is a tiny part. Together they'll be te heart and they'll speak one language. [...] Men will have reached heaven... Men will know the Spirit of all things... People will receive a second birth and the Spirit will come into them."
   
• One of the oldest books in Indian astrology, Nadigrantha, compiled and translated by Shantaram Athvale, includes an interesting description of the times around the year 2000 in its chapter Kak Nadi written by Kakayyar Bhujander who was a great astrologer and seeker who lived nearly 2000 years ago. An interesting reference is also made to the year 1970, which is the year Sahaja Yoga was born. Note: by Kruta Yuga the author refers to the short transition period between Kali Yuga and Satya Yuga.

  "While Jupiter is in Pisces a great Yogi will incarnate on the Earth. By 1970 it will have become quite evident to many people that a new era will have started. Kali Yuga will end and Kruta Yuga will start. The axis of the Earth will depress and the Earth's orbit will come closer and closer to the Sun. Human life will undergo a complete revolution. A great Yogi will incarnate at this time. This Yogi will be the incarnation of Parabrahma and will have all the divine powers.

  Until this time a yogi or devotee could achieve the bliss of Moksha and find the ultimate meaning of his live only by following the path of devotion, knowledge and Pantanjali Yoga. But he would have to go through severe penance in order to awaken the sleeping powers of various chakras of his body and finally enlighten the Kundalini Power.

  By the new method of yoga devised by the great Yogi, human beings will be able to attain the joy of Moksha (Self Realization) within one lifetime. It would no longer be necessary to sacrifice one's body or to die in order to achieve Moksha. The Brahmananda which so far only great saints had been able to experience and then only by entering into the Samadhi state at the point of death, due to his new type of yoga could be achieved by ordinary human beings without entering Samadhi state while dying.

  In the beginning it would be possible for one person in crores to attain this Yoga and Moksha. However, after some time the whole human race with the help of this Yoga will be able to defeat itself. People won't have to worry about food, shelter or clothing. While living ordinary lives people will achieve Yoga - Union with God. There will be no necessity for hospitals as there will be no diseases.

  In the beginning the great Yogi will be able to heal diseases with a mere touch. Old age with its destruction of the body will not exist and people will possess heavenly bodies. The whole of humanity will understand the importace of prayer and all the nations will unite together.

  Due to new scientific discoveries science and religions would become one. With the help of the science the existence of God and the Soul could be proved. The veil of ignorance and Maya would be drawn aside and Brahmananda, Moksha which could previously only be attained by yogis as a result of very hard work and severe penance would become easily available to many human beings."

• C.S Lewis (1898-1963) describes the sublime times when humanity will reach an enlightened state of awareness in his book "The Great Divorce": "If I could remember their singing and write down the notes, no man who read that score would ever grow sick or old. Between them went musicians: and after this a lady in whose honour this was being done. [...] Every young man or boy that met her became her son... Every girl that met her became her daughter. [...] There are those that steal other peoples children. But her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them." He goes on to say "Redeemed humanity is still young, it has hardly come to its full strength. But already there is joy enough in the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things in the universe to life."

And what is the feminine principle, the Greek Sophia, the Jewish Shekina, the Chinese Tao, the Christian Holy Ghost, and the Muslim Ruah ? It is the motherly power which exists at the universal level, which we can call as Mother Nature, which makes all living beings grow and does all living work, and which is also reflected with us human beings as the Kundalini energy at the base of the spine. Today, through the advent of Sahaja Yoga, this energy can be felt on our central nervous system, through an ancient secret phenomenon which is now possible effortlessly and en-masse: Self Realization. After this happening, which is the awakening of the Kundalini along the central channel, emerging at the top of the head, one can feel the cool breeze of this All-Pervading Power of Divine Love in the palms and above the head. This is only the beginning, a new dimension that opens to our awareness. It is not a relative dimension, conditioned by the mind, but an absolute one, that allows us to perceive the subtle reality on our palms and fingertips.

Once this initial experience of Self Realization takes place, it can be strengthened by regular Sahaja Yoga meditation, through which our spiritual growth takes place." ²

"The solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 cut across Europe, Middle East and South East Asia which constitute for around one third of the human population on Earth. Thanks to the awareness and hype generated by the media it became the most watched Solar Eclipse in recorded history.

"The Kundalini-Yoga helps the individual (Soul) to regain its identity with the Divine Mother, which is the Cosmic consciousness. Individual consciousness in its lower state is the wakeful state. . .  In kundalini-yoga, the devotee, through the grace of Guru and Sri-Lalita as ichcha-sakti (power of his will) stirs dormant kundalini (coiled up) as body consciousness in muladhara and by conscious effort of will, makes Her pierce through the six chakras from muladhara to ajna. Once the kundalini rises and goes beyond ajna, the devotee becomes cosmic conscious or turiya. . . . Beyond this is turiya state, where individual and cosmic consciousness unite.”           C. S. Murthy Sri Lalita Sahasranama

Even as this piece is in the process of being written this eclipse has already brought about significant earthquakes in countries like Turkey and Taiwan which lie either perfectly on the line of totality or in areas which experienced partial eclipse. It is important to note that this eclipse followed a lunar eclipse which took place a fortnight earlier on 28th July '99. The lunar eclipse took place in the sign of Capricorn ( Dhanishtha nakshatra; around 11 degrees of Capricorn) while the solar eclipse took place with the constellation of Cancer ( Shravana nakshatra; around 23 degrees of Cancer ) in the background.

So the Cancer/Capricorn axis was influenced by these eclipses. As most astrologers are aware Cancer is the sign governing the masses and mass consciousness. Capricorn is the sign governing organization and concrete material manifestation on all levels. This is the reason why the recent earthquakes resulted in destruction of man made structures (capricorn) causing homelessness and pain to the masses (cancer).

I consider this to be just a minor tragedy as compared to the things to follow. The period from now up till the Grand conjunction of 5 May 2000 and Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 28 May 2000 is a very tumultuous period for humanity as a whole and large scale events through the signification's of cancer/Capricorn axis are bound to bring about major changes.

Since our present civilization attributes its advancement to organized structures in the social, political and economic realms, it are these very structures which are at great risk due to the sign of Capricorn being involved in these eclipses. This eclipse gains more strength as majority of the planetary bodies form a Grand Cross in the moveable signs ( Aries, cancer, Libra and Capricorn) at the time of the solar eclipse:—Jupiter , Saturn-Aries Sun, Moon, Rahu-Cancer Mars-Libra Ketu, Uranus, Neptune-Capricorn The Saturn-Mars opposition as is common knowledge in Vedic astrology helps to bring about a war-like situation as the hidden agendas of various nations come out in the open precipitating a conflict. This fact that Mars has been overstaying in Libra in opposition to Saturn in Aries lends more destructive power to this configuration.

An analysis of the planetary positions around the starting of World War 2 reveals that Mars overstayed in Capricorn squaring Saturn in Aries. Also Rahu and Ketu, the moons nodes, were positioned in Libra and Aries respectively around the beginning of World War 2 in sept 1939. This means they were both squaring Mars and Ketu was conjoined with Saturn while Rahu was placed in its opposition. Well this time Rahu and Ketu are squaring both Mars and Saturn.