April 2020 Since 1997

A NEW ERA E-MAGAZINE

tasmai śrīgurave namah

Dedicated to the lotus feet of Mastergāru.

 CONTENTS

Editorial

Protection of Dharma 6
The need to the hour

Ganapati 8
The lord of groups

Lessons on Astrology 13

A series on Vedic Astrology

Masters of Wisdom 16
Who are they and what do they do?

Karma 20
A short story

3
Editorial

A PATHWAY TO PEACE
India, traditionally the land of "Gurus” and
"Sishyas" stands as a beacon for many nations and
offers spiritual solace to parched souls. Great Rishis
like Vasistha, Viswamitra, Agastya and others
guided the destiny of many kings and kingdoms
while avatars like Rama and Krishna descended here
to blaze a trail of ethics for men to follow when
bewildered by the problems and tribulations
inherent in the human condition. Their efficacy as
exemplars most potent in the Indian ethos has
enough universal relevance to be of use to seekers
the world over.

In the beginning of the 20th century Swami

Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and many other Indian
seers and Masters of Wisdom rightly highlighted
the glory of our cultural heritage. Ideally, the press,
with its tremendous outreach, would be the best
medium through which to spread the message of
evolved souls. But unfortunately the completely
commercialised media of today is bothered more
about financial success and cheap popularity than
about moulding character through the power of the
printed word.
Mihira has taken upon itself the onerous
responsibility of helping people step into New Era
with poise and confidence that only a good
grounding in sound moral values and a holistic
attitude to life can promote. As nothing is out of the
purview of the Divine, Mihira proposes to cover all
aspects of life - Spiritualism, Astrology, Yoga,
Health, Fine Arts, Service Activities and
sagas of human enterprise besides brief
features on the lives of great men and women
from all walks of life from all parts of the world.
Accounts of places of pilgrimage and teachings
from the Vedas and other scriptures will also be
presented in capsule form. It is hoped that the
guidelines to right living that such holy texts offer
and their unanimous underscoring of the impor-
tance of lives lived in harmony with nature will rectify
the modern obsession with materialistic pursuits.
Mihira's aim is not so much to offer new territories of
intellectual stimulation as to guide each reader in a
journey inward where reserves of peace are waiting
to be tapped.

Founder and Editor

Master M.R.L Rao
 Protection of Dharma
The man who lives in the belief
that the self is the body dies a
slave to the body. The man, who
lives believing that the self resides
within the body, dies a prisoner
shackled to the body. But the one
who realises that the body has
been given as an implement for
the use of the self leads a life of
completeness and attains
immortality at the end of life.
There is no death for such a man.
He only sheds the physical body.
When man realises his true
Master M.R.L Rao
identity to be enlightened
consciousness, he will perceive
body, mind and sense organs etc.,
as rays or fragments of that same
consciousness. He begins to see
the self as the source of light and
his body as an emanation.
Physical bodies are recognised by
him as differentiations from that
light. Death is understood by him
as the merging of differentiations
into their source. The person who
has knowledge of this secret is no
longer bound by bodily
attachments of illusions.
6
The experience of the light in him
will help him to see others as
embodiments of the same light.
He realises that all men are
manifestations of light from the
same Cosmic Fire. When it is
realised that all are "Limbs" of
the same Cosmic Body, the
welfare of that Body acquires a
special significance. Then an
understanding grows in him that
the nation is more important than
the individual.
Similarly, the true meaning of
nationalism will only then become
clear. A limb cannot have an
existence away from or apart from
the body. By the same token, an
individual, a limb of the nation,
cannot be well unless the nation is
well set. Thinking about this will
make it easier to give greater
prominence to nationality than to
individuality.
Such an outlook will tremendously
improve the prosperity of the
nation and with it the wealth and
well being of the individuals who
belong to it. Disaster strikes when
a nation is inhabited by people
who put their self-interest above
the interests of the nation. People
prosper only when they work for
the prosperity of their respective
nations.
Thus, 'Dharma' is that which when
protected by us, protects us.

“Belief in the teachings of one religion generally presupposes disbelief or

denial of the tenets of another religion. If such a thing exists in the mind
it is a stumbling block on the way of salvation. The tenets of anyone reli-
gion are good as long as the believer does not entertain the idea that the
non-believers are all sinners, and they go to eternal hell. Belief is the only
one thing that brings salvation, but it is not the belief of a particular
religion. Belief in the Omnipresence of God makes man a God-man. The
God may not be a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist. On
the lower planes man is inclined to own God as his own god and attribute
his own ugly features to his own God. God is beyond the imperfections of
man though He pervades man.”
Master E.K

7
 Ganapati
(Translated writings of Master M.R.L Rao)
There are many mantras dedicated
to various deities in the Veda. It is
due to this that they who do not
understand the Veda assume it
teaches polytheism. The Veda also
proclaims that there is only one
Supreme Lord who is immanent in
all. He displays his powers in
various aspects of creation and in
doing so, he appears as the Lord
of that particular aspect. When
creating - he is Brahma, when
preserving – he is Vishnu and when
absorbing back into himself – he is
Shiva. For example: a man is a
father to his son, a husband to his
wife and a brother to his sister. The
man remains the same but he
appears in various guises to the
son, wife and sister. The same
applies to the Lord who is
antaryāmi and pervades all.
This Lord is called Ganapati when
he is the master of the ganās
(groups) at the beginning of
creation. The word “Gananāyaka”
means the “Lord of Groups”. The
planets of our solar system revolve
around the Sun in groups. Scripture
says that there are 12 Suns in all
8
including ours which revolve or the the meaning of the word.
around an even greater Sun in the The divine couple exist as two lines
center. The aspect of the Lord travelling from the same source
immanent in creation who rules which can only be joined by the
and regulates these groups in the third line which is Ganapati. This
cosmos is Ganapati. forms the equilateral triangle which
is Ganapati’s yantra.
Humans exist as 7 groups on earth.
These groups are again sub-
divided into races, sub-races and
families and undergo constant
development. The power (shakti)
which drives and governs these
groups is again Ganapati.
We cannot form a shape with two
lines, we need a third line to join
Speech only becomes meaningful
them which is why the first
when divided into groups of words.
geometrical shape in the cosmos is
The Word and it’s meaning exist
a triangle. Other shapes like the
separately as Parvati and
square, diamond etc. can only be
Parameshwara. They come
formed after this.
together to give birth to Ganapati

9
There is a difference between
vocalized sound and speech. This
sound when broken up into parts
forms vowels and consonants.
These, when joined together form
words and these in turn form
sentences. A collection of
sentences forms a story. This story
is life itself. If this life is to be made
joyous, one should know where to
pause and where to start. This
knowledge of pausing and starting
is granted by the Lord of obstacles
– Vināyaka.
We require brakes when driving a
motorcycle or a car. It can be
deadly if they are non-functional.
The vocal chords in us which
produce sound are called
Grāvānaa in the Veda. Ra
represents the Agni bīja or the
Ignition principle in nature. ‘G‘ is
the Ganapati bīja or the braking
principle.
This means the braking principle,
represented by Ganapati,
constantly regulates the flow of
speech to produce meaningful
alphabets, words and sentences.
This is why he is called by names
such as Vighnanayaka,
Vighneshwara etc.
There is a parallel between the
spoken word and creation. The
word eternal means to have no
beginning or end. Tamarind, water
and salt exist separately as
ingredients but when mixed
together in the right proportions
create Sambar. This is apūrvam (a
new manifestation of matter that
has no existence in the past). In the
same way, the manifestation of
creation is a continuous process of
being re-created at every instant.
The energy or Shakti that powers
this process is called Hasta – the
Nakshatra with the same name
being one of it’s manifestations.
This is why Ganesha is also called
Hastimukha.
This Shakti also provides the
impetus for the anugraha or grace
of the Guru in our solar system. He
is also called Brihaspati or
Brahmanaspati and is the
purusharuupa or male form of
Saraswati. He is to be propitiated
before all new beginnings, whether
they be studies or auspicious
occasions.
Those who seek aishwaryam (that
which you need comes to you
unasked for) or material or spiritual
10
comforts will find these within each
reach if they worship Ganapati.
The practice of performing
udvāsana (sending away the deity)
at the end of Ganapati puja is a
practice that is of recent origin and
has no Vedic sanction. It may be
that a section of society felt they
can go back to their vices once the
divine presence has left the place
of worship and so added this step
to the ritual.
The very act of worship must
involve performing āvāhana or
invoking the presence of the deity
into oneself. The Ganapati mantra
must be chanted while visualising
the deity in our heart and brow
centers. Gam is the Mantra, the
form of the deity is the Yantra and
the act of visualizing Ganapati is
the Tantra.
The state of mantra-siddhi is
experienced when these three
come together as one. Those who
experience this state, find their
individuality melting into and
becoming one with Ganapati – this
is called the Jnānastithi and they
are then elevated into the state of
samādhi from here. The sādhaka or
aspirant then himself becomes
Ganapati. The grace of the Lord
flows into the world through him as
a conduit.
We need shakti to rise from the
bottom. This concept is true
whether it be applied to an object
we are lifting with our arms or to
raise our level of consciousness to
experience higher planes of
existence in meditation (dhyāna).
This phenomenon of raising to the
higher from the lower is called
uddhāra. This shakti or ability to
raise which is inherent in Ganapati
is represented by his curved trunk
(vakratunda). Those who possess
this shakti can raise and uplift
themselves as well as others.
The story goes that mother Pārvati
created Ganesha out of the paste
she applied to her body before
bathing. The Divine Mother is the
highest nature (parāprakriti). Her
paste symbolises the
supermundane or undifferentiated
consciousness beyond the three
gunās (parōrajas). It is the state of
existence before the creation of
multiple planes of consciousness
(lōka).
Creation (the form she created
11
from the paste) then manifested in
globular shapes firstly onto the
etheric and then onto the physical
plane.

These are the ladoos we see in

Ganesha’s hands. There are many
such secrets of Vedic symbolism
which are known to those who
venerate Ganesha. He is the giver
of buddhi (discriminative intellect)
as well as siddhi (ability to
materialize wishes). These are the
two shaktis under his control
which are commonly symbolized
as his two wives according to
scripture.

He who surrenders himself to

Ganesha through daily worship is
blessed with a keen intellect and
the ability to materialize his
desires whether they be mundane
or spiritual.

12
 Lessons on Astrology
Part 1 Master M.R.L Rao

Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series of articles on Jyōtisa or

Vedic Astrology translated from the teachings of Master M.R.L Rao.

“Man’s natural instinct is to seek the mind. This is an animalistic use

knowledge. This urge to learn is
the reason we are called mānavās.
There are two meanings to
mānava – the “offsprings of
Manu” and also “they who
possess and dwell in the manas
(mind)”. The mind has two drishtīs
or points of view, bahirdrishti
(outward facing) and antarmukha
drishti (inward facing). Bahirdrishti
comes into play when man looks
outward and his sensory faculties
are used to make impressions on
of the mind and such a person is
called a jantumānava or
animalistic man.
After a few births and re-births,
the questions – Why was I born?,
Where did I come from?, what are
all these planets?, what is the
Sun?, what is the Moon?, what are
the stars?, what is joy?, what is
sorrow? etc. naturally arise in the
mind of man either in this birth or
at some future birth. When this

13
happens, the mind becomes
introverted and searches for
answers to these questions. The
things we don’t know about are
present in our subjective life. We
have two lives – objective and
subjective. The objective life is the
regular daily life we comprehend
with our senses and the subjective
life is the inward facing life where
we learn about all the objects
around us with our senses and yet
fail to understand them. When we
begin the journey of trying to
understand these two facets of
existence, this journey is called
the Vēda.
Vēda means “to learn about”.
What do we learn about? We
learn about how creation came to
be, about how humans came to
be, the different energies that
work in creation etc. These are all
explained clearly in the Vēda. To
study the Vēda, one must first
worship the Vēda Purusha. It is
said that this Vēda Purusha has 6
angās (limbs) or shadangās. Just
like we have hands, feet etc. the
Vēda Purushā’s feet for example is
the Chandas or meter. The eye of
the Vēda Purusha is the science of
Astrology. Just like we cannot
view creation without our eyes, we
cannot comprehend the Vēda, the
Purānas, the Itihāsas or any other
scripture without a working
knowledge of Astrology. A man
who does now know the science
of Astrology is like a blind man
groping in the dark. Astrology is
the eye of the Vēda, as you learn
more, you will understand how
important this knowledge is.
Without knowing this science,
studying the Vēdās or the Purānās
is like a doctor practising
medicine without a degree or like
a blind man walking down a dark
alley stumbling along the way.
This science equips us with a Light
see the path ahead in life. When
we are walking through a dark
forest, it is enough if we have a
torchlight, we can then walk as far
as is necessary to cross the forest.
Studying Astrology is like having
this torch in hand which shows us
the way forward. Is it not possible
for us to train our hearts and
minds or to plan our daily
activities without this vidya. As I
said earlier, it would be like a
blind man stumbling through the
forest being unable to avoid the
thorny bushes which prick him
14
and also hurting himself by
stepping on sharp rocks.
There are four important
components to this science –
Grahās (planets), Rāsis (Zodiac
signs), Bhāvās (houses) and the
drishtīs (aspects) that are formed
between these planetary bodies
and divisions. The science of
Astrology has been subdivided
into 3 parts – Hõra, Samhitha and
Siddhānta.
Siddhānta consists of the
calculations and astronomical
aspects such as the revolutions of
the Earth, Moon, Sun, the paths
they take across the sky etc.
Samhita consists of topics such as
muhūrtās (auspicious times) for
marriage, how to know a man’s
personality by his physical
features (angasāmudrika), Vāstu,
which species of trees are
beneficial to which persons etc.
Hōra tells us about a man’s
profession, his character and
personality traits, his progress
through life etc. There are some
important events in everyone’s life
– education, marriage, children,
siblings, the relationship he has
with them, wealth, income,
profession. Hōra gives us an
understanding of all such events
in our lives. We will learn Hõra for
the next 2 months. I will not be
teaching Siddhānta or Astronomy
in these classes, we have
technology and computers now
and they will give you all the data
and calculations you need. We
can learn about how to calculate
panchangās and all that in a
separate class on Astronomy
provided there is interest. There is
a lot of mathematics involved.
I need to say a few words about
my credentials as I’m teaching
these classes, I also have a degree
in Astronomy. You need to know
trigonometry, calculus, integration
and differentiation for those
calculations. We won’t need all
that for these classes, we’ll learn
enough for you to be able to draw
the jātaka chakra or chart. Most of
it is already calculated for you in
the panchāngā’s and
Ephemerides. We’ll also learn a
bit about Samhita but our focus
will be on Hōra. Let us first learn
about the Grahās or planets.”
To be continued...
15
 Masters of Wisdom
During the last seventy or eighty
years a section of the public
vaguely has heard of mysterious
sages with alleged extraordinary
powers who live somewhere in the,
Himalayas. Those who sought to
prove their existence were
Madam Vanaja
dismissed either as frauds or
cranks or else as persons with
highly fertile imagination. Such an
assumption is entirely wrong.
We currently live in an age of
bewildering contrasts and
16
extremes. Startling scientific
discoveries in the realms of matter
and even more startling ones in
the realms of mind are occurring
simultaneously. We are, in fact
gradually coming to realise that
which was kept aside by the ration-
alists cannot be disposed of in
high handed fashion.
Supernatural phenomena
previously supposed to manifest
through some sporadic
intervention on the part of the
Deity were believed to be the
result of natural forces in the hands
of those who knew how to wield
them or of perceptive faculties not
known to the mankind in general.
Thus what at one time was
emotionally termed a miracle is
now more level-headedly cat-
egorised as an instant of
clairvoyance, clairaudience,
hypnotism, mesmerism, magnetic
healing, metaphysical healing etc.,
as the case may be. Man has dis-
covered that such faculties lie
latent in human organism. Unless
he has acquired those faculties for
himself, he is dependent on others
for the knowledge of these phe-
nomenon.
The process of developing these
faculties has been reduced to an
exact science in India known as
Rāja Yoga. This science in varying
forms has been secretly in
existence in every ancient
civilisation.
To quote Swami Vivekananda:
"When the mind has been trained
to remain fixed on a certain
internal or external location, there
comes to it the power as it were, of
flowing in an unbroken current
towards that point. When this
power has been so much
intensified as to be able to reject
the external part of perception and
remain meditating only on the
internal part, the meaning then it
acquires knowledge of the finer
manifestations of Nature".
This condition is called Samadhi or
Super-conscious trance and of
what occultists call the higher
planes of existence, leading to
Nirvana or Liberation.
When a man has reached Nirvana
he is not compelled to retain his
physical body or to re-incarnate in
another. The choice is open to him
17
either to live a disembodied
existence for all eternity or to
remain as a Master of Wisdom for
a considerable time at any time on
the earth. In the latter case, He
holds some office in the Hierarchy
and helps in a large variety of ways
for the development of humanity.
The Masters are human beings
who have crossed the limitation of
being human as ordinarily
understood. They know what is
required by man and they know
how to inspire him into the re-
quired objective work. They know
how to aid man to hasten his own
evolution without any violation of
the Laws of Creation.
They bridge the gulf that lies be-
tween the human kingdom and
Deva kingdom on this earth. They
work as guides and scouts to co-
operate with nature in her working.
They also work as custodians of
the wisdom of man through the
ages and hand it over for posterity.
The activities of these Masters are
numerous and varied and have
been so eloquently delineated by
the great chela, Dr. Annie Besant
who said, "They (Masters of Wis-
dom) aid in countless ways, the
progress of humanity. From the
highest sphere, they shed down
light and life on all the world, that
may be taken up and assimilated
as freely as the sunshine, by all
who are receptive enough to take
it in.
Next, the Masters specially
connected with religions use these
religions as reservoirs into which
They pour spiritual energy, to be
distributed to the faithful in each
religion through the duly
appointed "means of grace".
Next comes the great intellectual
work, wherein the Masters send
out thought-forms of high intellec-
tual power to be caught up by men
of genius, assimilated by them and
given out to the world; on this
level also they send out their
wishes to their disciples, notifying
them of the tasks to which they
should set their hands.
Then comes the work in the lower
mental world, the generation of
the thought-forms which influ-
ences the concrete mind and
guides it along useful lines of
activity in this world and the
18
teaching of those who are living in
the heavenly world. Then the large
activities of the intermediate
world, the helping of the so-called
dead, the general direction and
supervision of the, teaching of the
younger pupils and the sending of
aid in numerous cases of need. In
the physical world the watching, of
the tendencies of events, the
correction and neutralising, as far
as law permits, of evil currents, the
constant balancing of the forces
that work for and against
evolution, the strengthening of the
good, the weakening of the evil."
Master E. K., close associate of the
Hierarchy says, "the Masters know
about the obstacles that stand
before a man on the way of his
progress; the obstacles for his
success and the easy and artistic
method of eliminating them. Their
method of elimination is not by
excluding some beliefs from us but
by rearranging the already existing
powers latent in man. This
rearrangement brings out some
more powers hidden in man. They
can transform the problems of life
into the components of one
experience of continuous
happiness."
It will be seen from this that the
Masters may have their heads in
heaven but their feet are on earth.
They are eminently practical men.
MIHIRA will bring the teachings of
the Masters of Wisdom in all levels
in the forthcoming issues.
“A Master of Wisdom is One Who
has undergone the fifth initiation.
That really means that His
consciousness has undergone
such an expansion, that it now
includes the fifth or spiritual
kingdom. He has worked His way
through the four lower kingdoms:
the mineral, the vegetable, the
animal and the human - and has,
through meditation and service,
expanded his centre of
consciousness till it now includes
the plane of the spirit.”
(Letters on Occult Meditation,
Master D.K)
19
 Karma
Karma is not the chance doling
out of a happy or unhappy lot in
life by an indifferent if not a cruel,
God or Fate. It is the inevitable
and inexorable working out of the
consequences of one's own past
deeds. The retributory nature of
karma is best explained by the
saying “As you sow, so shall you
reap”. There are no exceptions to
this rule and there never will be.
Here is a a story from the
Buddhist lore illustration Karma in
action.
There once lived a rich merchant
named Pandu Sarma in the city of
Kosambi. One day, he was
travelling to Varanasi in a cart,
being escorted by a hefty
bodyguard called Mahaduta. He
saw a Buddhist monk walking on
the road. Thinking that time spent
in the company of a pious man
will bestow God's blessings on
him, he got down from the cart
and walked towards the monk.
The monk told him that his name
was Nārada and that he was
going to Varanasi to perform
some work for his monastery.
Hearing this, Sarma said with
folded hands "I am also going to
Varanasi. I will be staying in room
#3 at the well known Kousambēya
choultry. You are most welcome to
travel with me in my cart". Nārada
was feeling very tired and so he
gladly accepted Sarma's offer
saying, "I cannot return your
kindness materially. But I will
repay this good deed of yours by
sharing with you my most
treasured wealth, the teachings of
Tathāgata".
After travelling for about an hour,
Sarma's cart had to stop because
another cart loaded with bags of
rice was blocking the way. Upon
20
enquiry, Sarma came to know that
the offending cart’s owner, Devala,
a peasant had stopped the cart to
carry out some repairs.
Resenting the delay, Sarma, with
his characteristic arrogance and
impatience commanded his body
guard to push Devala's cart off the
road so that he could proceed.
On being shoved to the side by
the sturdy Mahaduta, Devala's
cart tipped over and the bags of
rice were scattered in every
direction.
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Nārada got down from Sarma's

cart and politely told him. "Mr
Sarma! This peasant was your
close relative in a previous birth.
You have now given me a chance For more updates, please
to express my gratitude to you. As visit:
the person responsible for this
mishap you should be helping http://
Devala collect the bags and load mihiramonthly.blogspot.in
them back into the cart. But, I will
do that work on your behalf. This https://www.facebook.com/
is the teaching I wished to share Mihiramonthlymagazine
with you, you may now proceed
to Varanasi".

Humbled, Sarma and Mahaduta

then left for Varanasi.

21