Gaps for Sadhana

[Guest guest]

Hari Om

~~~~~~

Namaskar Yesha (sadhu)

frederico wrote:   " If it does not take much of your time, I think

not only myself but also other interested members of the forum would

benefit from your posting more about the 16th tithi, the gap"

 

Here is a short review of gaps, per frederico's request.

Gaps, it's based upon a simple principle:  The environment and the

heavens support our spiritual pursuits.

 

A typical day has various time periods( called muhurta's);

Throughout the day/night there are 'gaps' called Sandhya. These gaps

are related to our envirnment and the cosmos. Astronomical bodies or

planets have Sankranti (or transits) and influence us. When we know

when these Sandhya and Sankranti happen, we can meditate, do japa,

etc. for max. benefit at these times. This is how the cosmos

supports our spiritual pursuits, providing optimum times for sadhana.

 

*Gaps and Sadhana*

The 'gaps' , everyday (can be) measured by the moon's (Chandra)

movement though the sky - this is called a tithi. So, 15 tithi's

ascending and 15 declining (30 divisions in a lunar month) - or

waxing and waning. One 'gap' occurs after the 15th but before the

new day and is called the 16th (even though we measure 15 waxing and

15 waning). This 16th is a 'gap' and happens 2X per month.

 

The moon is the ruler (significator called a karaka) of the mind and

hence an important gap indicator, as is the Sun (Surya). Surya is

the indicator of our Atman , called the Atmakaraka.  Surya has gaps

once a month as it moves or the transits  from one sign or  rasi to

another.

 

*Lets Apply This Information*

These gap times are considered satvic meditation times (or sandhya

upasana). for those that meditate, many do sadhana AM and PM. There

are junction points at these times . What's the junction? Twilight

or the changing of the sun's position in the sky that can translate

to ones meditation experiences. The sun plays a key role in timing

everything on earth AND is the atman or soul indicator (Atmakaraka)

for all on this planet. Since meditation deals with realizing the

SELF ( Atman) , the sun has its influence here.

Lets look at a few junction points: Sunrise, noon, sunset and

midnight are considered the key sandhya times during the day.

Also note there are these junction points during the 12 months as

the sun, surya transits one sign to another; Like that, there are

multiple other times, but for now lets look at the following:

 

Morning is Brahma Muhurta Sandhya

Noon for Vishnu Sandhya

Sunset called Mahesha Sandhya

Midnight called Kali or Turiya Sandhya

 

As we meditate close to these junctions, it is thought that Turiya

consciousness (4th state) is closer or easier to reach, hence the

value of these times. For those practicing  gayatri, or instruction

from ones guru. all 4 times many be used... not usually done as

a 'householder' where AM and PM are sufficient, till one gets

the 'calling'.

So, A.M. is Brahma Sandhya - a excellent time around the time before

sunrise. I have without fail enjoyed the best experiences at this

time, as it is said, all nature wakes up at this time. You can (I

can) feel the woosh of life's energy begin at this time.

And PM, is Mahesha Sandhya ~ around sunset/twilight, just as the sun

goes down below the horizon i.e. twilight.

 

*Continuing With the Gap Discussion*

Lets take an example of one gap that occurred on Janurary 14, 2006:

Pending your location in the USA, or world, the Sun transited into

the next sign (called a rasi) at 00:24 hours after mid-night Central

time USA (1:24 AM Eastern Time) on the 14th of Jan (now Saturday AM)

So this is a beautiful thing. You get 4 gaps for the price of 1!

1. The mid-night gap (for those Central time)is called Turiya Sandhya

2. The Gap of the moon from Purnima (full moon) its 15th tithi,

auspicious to begin with, going to the 16th discussed above. This

happens at 3:47 AM Cental time , USA.

3. The Sun going to a new sign Capricorn, at 00:24 hrs, and;

4. Surya, the sun moving from the southern hemisphire to the

Northern hemosphere, with its change to Capricorn -a most auspicious

time.

 

*Additional Ideas*

The Great mantra called Sri Vidya has 15 phonemes or syllables; the

16th is a key one and is considered 'secret'. It is modelled after

the tithi's of Chandra. This Sri Vidya is a Tantric mantra, but has

roots in Vedic knowledge. If you care to read about this, "The 10

Great Cosmic Powers" by S.Shankarananarayanan and the publisher is

Samata Books.

 

Pranams,

yajvan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Yajvan,

 

   Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation on the gaps. It

explains why all my best spiritual experiences occured either at

sunrise or at sunset. I have also had interesting experiences just

after midnight after meditating, such as seeing lights in the sky

(orange globes far above the horizon, lights that shifted from green

to red then white then back to green red yellow and white, and the

most amazing of this occured at 11PM when I was in the penthouse of

a friend´s house and we saw, just some 50 meters from us, a bright

white (or silver?) glove of light. It stood there. I called my

friend who was in his room and he was amazed. We stared at it trying

to measure its distance from us for more than half an hour, then it

simply vanished. While it shone, it looked really magnetic, like

some energy was emanating from it. Me and my friend entered a state

of calmness and started laughing for no apparent reason. It was a

really interesting experience. After it disappeared we went back

down to normal consciousness. I don´t like to believe in things such

as aliens but I think this could be aliens doing some spiritual

experiment with us or something similar. I have also thought about

the possibility that these lights are actually emanations from my

own mind, but I cannot accept that my own mind can emanate something

like that.

   Pranams,

   frederico

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service.