MRVW – HISTORY & HIGHLIGHTS, 2006 – 2016
Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom –
history & highlights from the Archives – PART TWO
Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom - 2007
4 January , 2007
Thea publishes Part 2 – Refutation of Shri Avtar Krishen Kaul’s ‘the Hoax called Vedic Rashichakra and Vedic Astrology. She opens by stating:
‘…I am not surprised that there is some confusion regarding the methods the Rishis used for their discoveries, and that after the split between science and the sacred there should be attempts made to demonstrate that India did possess observational astronomy, contrary to the conclusions reached by historians…’ (To review Part 1, go to Hx and Highlights, Part One, December 2006)
FOR FULL PUBLICATION GO TO THIS LINK:
2 February 2007
Thea publishes a special article for the MRVW: Sri Aurobindo and the Condition of Vedic Wisdom in India
FOR FULL ARTICLE GO TO THIS LINK:
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February 2007
Patricia Heidt writes to Shri Krishan Kaul and the Hindu Calendar Forum:
The idea that the Rashis are a HOAX is not true.
Ms. Norelli-Bachelet (my mentor/Guru) has provided the proof regarding the verses pertaining to VISHNU in the Rig Veda. Mr. Krishen Kaul has further stated that he has gone through every single Scripture and finds no evidence of these Rashis.
I can only assume that when Mr. Krishen Kaul reads he does not understand what he is reading, – i.e., that he simply does not know astrology well enough to hold himself up as an authority having the last word on anything involving this ancient lore. So how can we believe him when he states emphatically that they are not there? He just cannot understand what is glaringly evident in what he reads.
But not only Mr. Kaul. There have been others reading my mail (and Mr. Wilkinson’s) but no one offers scholarly refutation or support re. these verses to VISHNU. No one to date has said, ‘Yes, I agree, these verses clearly point to the fact that the Vedic Rishis saw the Zodiac as a sacred path, and that the symbols were indeed there as pointers/markers on the yearly journey as well as the larger precessional movement,’ or otherwise – I repeat, in a scholarly fashion. Therefore, we must assume that none of the participants as well knows the subject they are vehemently discussing.
Many questions have been raised by the members regarding the validity of astrology. All are debunked by Krishen Kaul. How can he or anyone else make definitive pronouncements about this system of knowledge without an in-depth understanding (by direct experience – not merely a repetition of Scriptures ad infinitum) of TIME and DESTINY, the heart and soul of astrology? Only one with this Knowledge can have ‘the last word’. Certainly AKK does not, nor, as it seems, do other members of the Forum. One questions even whether Mr Loganath, for example, is spending his time validly as a participant since his avowed path leading to Moksha makes his involvement with this system of knowledge AS PRESENTED IN THE VEDA where astrology/cosmology does figure (despite AKK’s denials) a contradiction in terms. Lamentably, there is no one ALLOWED to bring these important matters to light centred on the very issue in question, the presence of the Rashis in the Veda.
Instead of refuting these important facts in a scholarly way, Mr. Krishen Kaul resorted to misogyny and chauvinism. Again, no protest from the Forum members about this behaviour which goes against all Vedic principles and tradition. It looks like everyone simply accepts meekly what he says and thereby condones this reprehensible behaviour.
I join Robert Wilkinson in exiting. I am not able to remain in the forum under these conditions. In closing, may I suggest that the members turn to one who does have the answers, a proven authority on all question of TIME and DESTINY,- i.e., astrology.
Patricia Heidt, PhD
*
Undated, early 2007
Sai Srinivasan, Executive Officer of the MahaMariamman Temple, announces:
In the temple of Arulmigu MahaMariamman, the festivals are being celebrated on the dates calculated according to Vedic/Sayana/Sangam tradition for the FIRST time throughout India.
Festival Dates
Sri Gokulashtami-6.8.2007
Sri Vinayaka Chaturthi-17.8.2007.
Saraswathi Pooja-21.9.2007.
Vijaya Dasami-22.9.2007.
Deepavali-11.10.2007.
Pongal-22.12.2007.
Mattu Pongal-23.12.2007.
Maha Sivaratri-6.2.2008.
Sri Ramanavami-15.3.2008
The following temples also celebrate the above festivals according to Vedic Sayana system:
Arulmigu Kothandaramar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar temple,Valangaiman.
Arulmigu Swarnapureeswarar temple,Andankoil.
Arulmigu Abathsahayeswarar temple,Alangudi.
Arulmigu Pasupatheeswarar temple,Avoor.
Arulmigu Kalinganarthana Perumal temple,Oothukadu.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Udayalur.
Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal temple,Udayalur.
Arulmigu Kailasanathartemple,Saluvanpettai.
Arulmigu Kailasanathar temple,Needamangalam.
The devotees are requested to participate in all these special functions based on Vedic/Sangam tradition and get the blessings of the Divine.
Fit Person/Inspector. Executive Officer.
*
26 March 2007
Thea writes to the MRVW ‘about the total confusion in the ranks’:
‘…In reading the postings regarding the calendar situation, I am struck by the lack of understanding displayed. One has to first of all understand what purpose the calendar serves. Secondly, that we are discussing a calendar of observances for Hindus, whose purpose is to unify the Samaj around the single Circle with a common starting point.
The starting point is the most important feature (underline added). For this reason the Maha Vishuva of March (March Equinox of equal days and nights) were given prime importance in the Vedic texts with instructions on how to calculate those equal days and nights.
The next most important factor is the calculation of the Makar Sankranti/ Uttarayana occurrence, falling on the shortest day of the year, nine months after the March Equinox. The culmination of the Vedic Journey was this point. This tenth sign/month is the month of victory for the Aryan Warrior.
So these two cosmic occurrences were the only calculations provided in the ancient texts. There was nothing at all to do with the Constellations or any Ayanamsha correction required. This was a later addition and has certainly nothing to do with the Veda. It was and is entirely POST VEDIC.’
I find that the arguments put forth by our readers do not take into consideration the role of these two important calculations for Hindu observances. To bring Shankara into the mix with his perception of unity and his experiences is of no use in this matter. He was not a cosmologist. In fact, his perception led to the conclusion that ‘it is all illusion’……
Why a common starting and culmination point? (underline added) It is because we are not simply interested in a timing tha has no other reason for being but to establish a uniform observance system which will unite all Hindus. For the fact is the tropical zodiac with its symbols – the ‘journey’ as it is known in the Veda – is a PATH OF KNOWLEDGE. It you remove those symbols and dislocate them from the progression as stipulated in the Veda itself, you will not gain entry to the Knowledge.
(‘Certain eternal worlds are there, their doors are opened to by the months and the years…’)
*
31 March, 2007
Thea writes to the Hindu Calendar Forum:
‘… rituals are performed by the zillions, and yet they demonstrate no power to arrest the decline. You now have a declaration of Swami Saraswati Dayananda, and although I have great respect for this noble Soul, I must inform you that he has not understood what the real problem is.
THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME LEFT before Hinduism becomes fossilised as just a shadow of itself. To quote Sri Aurobindo, ‘The letter lived on when the spirit was forgotten: the symbol, the body of the doctrine, remained, but the soul of knowledge had fled from its coverings. (Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda).
You praise the fact that the Ashok Chakra is on the coin, and that the Buddhist Lions is the seal adopted for the nation. But you do not realise that that is the point that we can identify as the beginning of the trouble. It all started about 500 BCE…’
FOR THE FULL LETTER, Go TO THIS LINK:
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4 July, 2007
The Dawn of a New Era
Thea writes what she calls ‘a definitive statement’ for her students to explain how the Nirayana system came into use; it can be used to silence criticisms, she writes.
‘… I have been reporting my discoveries of the 12th century scholar- traveller Al Biruni’s influence over Hindu Pundits in the question of shifting from the Vedic Tropical Zodiac as backdrop for the yearly Sacrifice to the un-Vedic system of measuring the passage of the year on the backdrop of the distant Constellations…
The Vedic system must be balanced on the unchanging four Cardinal pillars of the Tropical Zodiac, which do not hold any prominence in the Nirayana system advocated by Al Biruni. He wrote his famous document, India, critiquing Varamihira’s Brhad Samhita, ‘The solstice has kept its place, but the constellations have migrated, just the very opposite of what Varaha has fancied’ (India, II, p. 7). In other words, an entirely different distant circle is proposed by the scholar…
FOR THE FULL DOCUMENT TO THIS LINK:
https://patrizianorellibachelet.com/TNWblog/?p=46
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25 November 2007
Public Interest Litigation for the high court of Madurai (a document under discussion in MRVW)
The Problem
The Problem we face affecting millions of Hindus, is that whlle each and every temple is duly aligned spatially through the Vaastu Purusha ritual, no such satisfactory alignment takes place temporally. To determine the hour and minute of ritual practices the latter is naturally of far more significance.
A Brief History…
FOR FULL DOCUMENT GO TO THIS LINK:
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23 December 2007
Email from Sai Srinivasan
30 Temples have celebrated Makara Sankranti on 22 December 2007. Among the 30 temples, 15 are under his control and the other 15 under the control of various other officers. He includes the list of names of the 30 temples and wishes Thea and all best wishes.
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9 January 2008
Shri Darshaney Lokesh informs Sai that he and an appreciable gathering celebrated Makar Sankranti on 22 December, ‘arranging a Samuhik Yagyan’ – to welcome the truth that the Sun entered the Capricorn (Makar) 11/37 hrs. IST. All people individually offered the water and showed dhoopam deepam to the entering sun.
21 February 2008
Thea writes to her students:
‘…when temple construction begins the very first thing done is to lay out the basic ground plan, which is really the founding of what is called the Vaastu Purusha, or the Cosmic Person, as the foundation on the ground of the temple. This means that the cosmos is brought to Earth and the temple becomes the link between Heaven and Earth. It is an extremely beautiful perception, and the means to carry this linkage out is simple and exact. Astrology is the basis for the entire process.
I have been reading George Michell’s ‘The Hindu Temple’ on this point. His chapters describing the cosmic linkage are beautifully written, simple and thorough. Moreover, they reveal how important it has always been considered to make the correct link between the determination of the Four Cardinal Directions for the structure’s orientation, and the same ‘orientation’ where the time factor is concerned, to those same Cardinal Points. Indeed, the two go hand-in-hand: the actual purpose of the Vaastu Purusha is precisely to carry out the indestructible linkage between time and space at the navel of the Earth that is being brought into being in the temple. This is an astonishingly sophisticated concept.
The ground plan is thus oriented to the Four Cardinal Points in space, while the Time plan (the most important part of the process) is equally oriented to the Four Cardinal Directions IN TIME via the Tropical Zodiac, the Earth’s journey along the ecliptic. No temple can function properly without this combination. It is truly blasphemy to oblige devotees to worship in structures that do not have this correct alignment of time and space, rooted in the centremost Point of the main axis of the temple to be constructed, the position where the Deity will stand.
Think of it: in the USA and elsewhere abroad temple after temple are being built, costing vast sums, much more than ever spent in India. And yet THESE STRUCTURES ARE WORTHLESS AS FAR AS THE TRUE VEDIC TRADITION IS CONCERNED. There is no connection at all with the Veda. There is no link between Time and Space. Those temples that have been built using the Nirayana system for the timed start of the process are simply worthless. What are the Temple Administrators doing? Sleeping or patting themselves on the back for having attained such an influential position? I know of ONLY ONE who is sincerely concerned; and he is a member of our Group. Only one in a country of over one billion people.
What a tragedy. Thea
‘*
22 December, 2008
The Solstice and beyond…Thea sends an email to the MRVW:
‘…it is not that everything is done at the exact moment the Sun enters Capricorn (Makar) on the Solstice. That marks the ENTRY. The gestation of the ‘seed’ goes on until 14 degrees Capricorn, usually my birthday (5 January). This is the traditional festival of Light. It was the Saturnalia in ancient Rome, which again, lasted for a certain number of days…
FOR FULL ARTICLE, GO TO THIS LINK
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Circa 2008 –
Loga sends this email to the Hindu Calendar Forum:
The celebrations of festivals and rituals, the Sariyai and Kriyai are calendar based. What I want to mention but perhaps did not do well is that such religious activities are designed to open up the Third Eye at which point the efforts become Yogic and where further developments lead to transcendence of religions and scriptures. This is the best metaphysical wisdom India has. Loga
Thea responds to Loga, and tries to clarify:
Transcendence was/is not the Vedic Way. It is an EARTH-ORIENTED system that includes all the intermediate planes as valid and integral aspects of the Divine. The quest for the Beyond leads to a denial of the Earth’s purpose in the heavenly harmony – and, more specifically, a denial of the soul. The conflict lies there.
The Vedic Way is set apart and made unique by this soul-based ‘journey’, hence the endless store of myths Vedic Civilisation preserves for the world – because the soul is their birthplace.
The movements of the cosmic harmony, which express this Earth-oriented experience as a means to integrate all aspects of the Supreme without a need to exclude or transcend anything in the manifestation, are never denied validity. The Vedic Realisation does not set the limitations you have constructed in your message below, that once this or that happens, all the rest can be discarded.
The calendar simply provides the orderly itinerary to reach the Vedic Summit (in the 10th month), and to allow all Hindus, indeed, all human beings born on Earth, to participate consciously in this liberation of the Light – today, just as the Vedic Rishis did thousands of years ago:
‘…Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have come into being, their doors are shut to you (or, opened) by the months and the years; without effort one (world) moves in the other, and it is these Brahmanaspati has made manifest to knowledge…’ (RV, II.24-5, Sri Aurobindo’s translation, ‘The Secret of the Veda’)
All roads do NOT lead to Rome – figuratively speaking. There may be different schools for different temperaments but they either accept the Cosmic/Earth manifestation as the field of the endeavour, to be integrated and not transcended, or they do not. If Transcendence is sought there are other systems to reach that goal. The Vedic Way will not be suitable for that aim. Patrizia
21 February 2009
The ‘New Year’ – Reflections on the decision to introduce changes in the Tamil Nadu Calendar. Thea writes:
‘Confusion abounds again, caused by the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to celebrate the new year on the first day of the month of That, breaking with the current tradition of 14 April – that is, 23 days after the March Equinox…
FOR FULL ARTICLE go to this LINK
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19 June 2009
Thea writes about the inspiration for her series of articles, titled Culture and Cosmos, which appeared in Volume 6, no. 2 of The Vishaal Newsletter, 1991:
‘…Finally, I need to put Culture and Cosmos into the overall perspective of my contribution to the Solar Line and what it adds to the establishment of Supermind as the guiding light of the new times. This series can be equated with Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Foundations of Indian Culture’ which was written as part of Arya in response to a severe critique of Indian culture by a noted scholar of the day. I doubt that Sri Aurobindo intended it to develop into the book we know now under that title. We could say that this was Sri Aurobindo’s exploration into the culture of India. Similarly, Culture and Cosmos became my journey and discovery of Indian culture. It started in the north, inspired by the shenai of the master Bismillah Khan. One evening a friend and I were listening to a recording of a certain raga played by this great master of what I considered to be the mournful lament of the soul, the shenai. For those who are not familiar with this instrument, its closest western counterpart would be the oboe. It is not a solo instrument in the South where a larger version is known as the nagasvaran and is usually played only at marriages and other ceremonials; the soulful quality, I feel, is not as present in either the oboe or the nagasvaran as we find in the shenai.
Thus, it was listening to Bismillah’s music that brought me to understand something fundamental about Indian music. This was not the raga as such, but rather the shruti¸ the permanent, underlying, unchanging drone that is the background of all Indian classical music. To my knowledge, though far from extensive on this subject, I felt the point was being missed. It is the connection the structure of Indian classical music makes with the Vedic perception of reality. Classical music was, for me, just another way of expressing the core perception of the Vedic Way: Fullness. Music was another repository of the Cosmic Truth, the essence of which is that very fullness, conveyed through the sruti.
More pointedly, the sruti was an exquisite means of ‘filling the void’. In Indian classical music, north or south, there is never a void, a silence. The upholding ‘sound of silence’ (the drone) makes sure that the listener is never carried into the Cosmic Ignorance whose characteristic is a denial of fullness resulting in a void of nothingness. Perhaps every aspect of Indian culture will reveal the same Vedic foundation when perception is not obscured by the veils of a divisive consciousness.
Thus Indian classical music was seen to be another means of preserving the ancient way. Everyone concedes that it is cosmic, and therefore certain rules are to be respected in its execution – namely, that ragas are divided into categories determined by the time of the day and the season in which they must be played. Clearly, being seasonal they reveal once again a respect for the Cardinal Poles of equinoxes and solstices, which divide our year into the four seasons.
On the basis of this ‘seed experience’, thanks to Bismillah’s shenai, I began my own voyage into India’s culture, starting in the north and ending in the deep south. Culture and Cosmos carried readers along with me on this voyage of discovery as chapter after chapter was written and simultaneously published in Vishaal. By the time I reached the southern V of the Capricorn symbol-map in my ‘journey’, the shenai was replaced by the veena, Saraswati’s own treasured instrument; and Hindustani was replaced by Carnatic.
To this day the music of the north in comparison seems effete. That of the south, land of preservation, is as it were the purer, more robust and stronger foundation.
I will start by presenting the first section of the June 1991, Volume 6, Number 2, of The Vishaal Newsletter for those of the Movement who do not have the original text…’
*
Circa 2009 – Hindu Calendar Forum:
> Dear Thea,>
> Its important that you stay, and throw your weight
> despite barbs, is
> my request to you.>
> Suresh
Thea responds to Suresh:
Let me clearly state that unlike a number of people who have subscribed to this Forum for whatever reasons, I, for one, consider the calendar to be of immense importance, particularly for a civilisation with roots in the ancient Veda and that considers itself to have a special connection to the cosmos manifestation.
Look at this way, if it was meaningless why did this sidereal system displace the tropical, seasonal system?
The best way to keep the Hindu Samaj weak and ineffective is by divide and rule – in this case through ‘may calendars’, or many ayanamshas, or many zero points from where measuring must start.
*
22 August 2009
‘I would like to provide a somewhat different perspective to the campaign we are presently engaged in to counteract the propaganda machine of the agents of the Status Quo. The problem of the preponderance of the Ignorance has to be understood through the very ‘formula’ Supermind requires for its deployment. There are four integers in the formula. Three are given in Sri Aurobindo’s symbol itself. So, in a sense this is not my revelation but his and the Mother’s since we know that she designed their symbols…/
24 – 26 December 2010
The Importance of Makar Sankranti in Hindu Calendar Reform – a treatment in three parts presented at the First National Conference on Hindu Calendar Reform. Thea is invited to attend the Conference and present her paper.
Thea presents Part 1:
‘The paper I am presenting at this landmark Conference will differs significantly from others by the illustrious attendees. The basis for my approach is quite different, it is yogic. Consequently, my understanding will differ significantly from others by the illustrious attendees…’
FOR THE THREE PART ARTICLE, GO TO THIS LINK
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31 December, 2010
Thea publishes a Delegates Report on the Conference in Tirumala, which details the difficulties she had in presenting her paper, as well as her comments.
FOR A DELEGATES REPORT GO TO THIS LINK
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7 March, 2011
Thea receives an email request from Sai Srinivasan, titled H.R. & C.E. Act. He tells her that the Tamilnadu Government is going to amend the section on Calendar Reform in Hindu Temples. He requests her to send a proposal and include the following points:
- Hindu festivals are celebrated on wrong dates because of wrong calculation of Uttarayana.
- The Sangam period was correct because they followed the tropical zodiac like other ancient civilisations.
- The month Thai was calculated correctly based on December solstice.
- There is evidence in Kalithogai, Paripadal and Aingurunuru which are Sangam literary works. In these literary works there is mention of Thai Neeradal. This is celebrated now as Margazhi Neeradal. This is due to the observance of Nirayana system on later periods.
- The Hindu Calendar should be based on solstices and equinoxes.
- Calendar reform is pending from the days of the late Prime Minister Nehru.
- Because of Nirayana system different almanacs follow different calculations. Hence no uniformity in the fixing of Hindu Festival dates.
- This leads to the dissipation of Hindu energy.
- So, it is essential to add a new section in the Act to follow uniform dates to celebrate festivals which is possible only if Tropical Zodiac is adopted.
I request you to prepare a letter based on similar grounds, With regards,
Note: Sai Srinivasan passes shortly thereafter due to a massive heart attack, and there is no record of any action taken on this matter.
*
17 May 2013
Robert Wilkinson publishes VEDA – The Supreme Science of Creation
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26 May, 2015
FACTS NOT THE FICTION OF DENIAL
In this important article, Thea responds to a ‘DENY-ER’, a member of the Hindu Calendar Forum who keeps denying what she reveals but offers nothing in return. She writes:
‘It is time to instruct D and others about FACTS as per the Supramental Manifestation. When I present these FACTS I request our friends to come up with answers, not was has been recently posted by D when faced with the Capricorn Symbol-Map: to him this is ‘emotion’: I am caught up in a way of emotion – as men usually claim patronisingly when faced with mysteries their science cannot explain BUT WOMEN UNDERSTAND.
But the New Way does explain these mysteries. And that is what this website is about: we are lifting the veils on matters held inscrutable for centuries. They were known to the Rishis and were used to create an unparalleled civilisation. Nothing of that exists in India today except in Temple architecture and iconography and in some scriptures such as the Vedas, none of which can now be understood. Why they are not understood is the issue at hand; this is demonstrated in the above symbol-map: it is the zodiacal system that is ignored because the latter-day pundits themselves are ignorant of these mysteries. They therefore insist on boxing in the collective consciousness of this nation to suit a particular agenda, an agenda that was cemented in the destiny of India all during the age of Pisces. It is not the fault of the British, or the earlier Moguls, and all the rest that we conveniently foist the blame on for regression and the loss of the light: the fault line lies within…
I have laboured for a change to the true Vedic calendar that will re-align Hindus of this 21st century to the harmony of that 9th Manifestation. But the pundits who rule over the masses of Hindus prefer to keep them ignorant of these self-evident truths… nonetheless, we are here, I have taken birth for this very purpose: to leave a record of the Supramental Manifestation – for future Ages, for a future that is opening up right now, before our very eyes. Its first FACTUAL presence is known through the Indocentric cosmology of the New Way…
…If Sri Aurobindo knew India to be a special nation, destined to introduce the Supramental Manifestation, these ‘facts’ are part of his avataric mission. And they can only be revealed by the Avatar himself and the Solar Line he set on its way in 1872, the year of his birth. My task as part of the Line is to do just what I am doing in these pages: to re-establish the long lost zodiacal lore, because without it we have only the Nirayana system that drives Hindus farther and farther away from the Sanatana Dharma. The current Nirayana system of astrology has no knowledge content…’
FOR FULL ARTICLE GO TO THIS LINK:
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1 January 2016
Thea opens an online forum on the importance of Makar Sankranti:
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1 January 2016
Thea publishes a three part article on the importance of Makar Sankranti.
Part l: Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
1 January 2016
Part 2::Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
22 May, 2016
Part 3: Why us the Makar Sakranti important for the unity and integrity of India?
15 June, 2016
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9 October 2016
Thea passes on 9 October and is cremated at Skamha
2 days later on the celebration of the
festival of Vijaya Dashami.
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21 December, 2020
A reorganization of The Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom.
Thea is honored as ‘Gangadevi’ in a ceremony at the Gangavar River
which runs along the border of Skambha.
23 SEPTEMBER 2022 - AUTUMN EQUINOX (MAHA VISHUVA)
Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Sub.: One India, One Calendar
One way to fulfil the resolve (Pran) of taking pride in our glorious heritage and unity, mentioned in your speech on 15 August 2022, would be to adopt the ancient Vedic Calendar as the National Calendar (tentatively named the Bharat Calendar).
The concept of Vedic Calendar is based on the vedic knowledge – our true glorious heritage – rediscovered by Sri Aurobindo; and elaborated in recent times by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea, 1938 – 2016) in her Manifesto for the Movement for Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (MRVW), referenced throughout this letter. [1]
Why not adopt an Existing Regional Calendar as the National Calendar
The Calendar Reform Committee (CRC) set up by the then PM Mr. Nehru had the following to say about the existing Regional/Lunar Calendars –
The motion of the moon is very irregular and complex and therefore the moon is very inconvenient as a time-marker. Tithi is calculated for each locality. There are in every State different schools of panchang calculations for tithi etc. So the same tithi does not occur on the same day at all places. Hence, the dates for religious festivals differ in each region from place to place. Due to such rival regional calendars, Janmashtami in 1954 was celebrated on 21st August in North India and on the 20th, 21st and 22nd in other parts of India; Durga Puja was celebrated on two successive days in Calcutta in 1952. (1955, Report p.3 & 4)
Clearly, no existing regional lunar calendar can be adopted as the national calendar.
Why not continue with National Calendar prescribed in 1955
The CRC set up to propose a uniform calendar for the whole of India did not exactly achieve its purpose. The task before the Committee was to devise a satisfactory solar calendar first and peg on to it a lunar calendar (1955, Report p. 11). In the end the Committee agreed that its report was a compromise and hoped that further reforms for locating the lunar and solar festivals in the seasons in which they were originally observed will be adopted in future (1955, Report p. 8).
Completing the Incomplete Calendar Reforms of Nehru Era
The present Government, with its focus on unity and the determination to push through difficult but necessary unifying reforms, such as the revolutionary GST (One Nation, One Tax) [2] and the re-integration of Kashmir, [3] is the most qualified to complete this unfinished business of calendar reform pending since the Nehru era.
Proposed Reforms
The Year
To be uniform all over India, the National Calendar (Bharat Calendar) should be based on the Tropical Zodiac, with the new year beginning on the March Equinox.
Properly speaking, the year begins when day and night are equal – the Equinox in March. The year will begin at the Tropical Zodiac zero point (March Equinox), Aries, which remains fixed each year for the Earth, and from this measurement the opposite September Equinox and the Solstices will be derived. The upward journey of the twelve months starts from that Zero Point; it is that very same Zero point, or ayanamsha, that initiates the yearly journey as recorded in the Veda. [1] Year in the Veda means the twelve months of the sacrificial year (the Samvatsara Satra), the twelve periods of the upward journey. [2]
Four Pillars of the Year – the Solar Festivals
The Tropical Zodiac divides the circle/ecliptic of earth’s journey round the sun into twelve equal portions of 30 degrees each (the 12 solar months).This circle/ecliptic is further divided into four parts marked by the Equinoxes and Solstices, the days and nights of equal and unequal measure, respectively. These four pillars were, and remain, the balancing points of the planet in its journey along the pathway of the year. In the Rig Veda this fourfold division is known as Twashtri’s Bowl. [1]
The Bharata Calendar should highlight the four pillars; especially the March Equinox and the December Solstice. The zodiacal year begins with the March Equinox and the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, and reaches Capricorn ten months later. Today, as in the Vedic Age, Capricorn (Makar) was not some nebulous region far out in the Constellations; it was, and remains, for India and the world, the December Solstice – the Makar Sankranti, when the Earth begins to experience an increase of the Light. [1,4]
The CRC also concurred with thse arrangements which ensure that the festivals determined by the sun such as Mahavishuva Sankranti (Equinoxes), Uttarayana Sankranti and Dakshinayana Sankranti would follow astronomically correct seasons. (Report p. 7).
In fact, all festivals (lunar and religious) should follow, like the solar festivals, correct seasons. This takes us to the next measure of reform.
Fixing the Dates of Festival in the Correct Season
The CRC stated – The dates of festival have shifted by 23 days from the seasons in which they were being observed till about 1400 year ago as a result of our almanac-makers (lunar calendars) having ignored the precession of the equinoxes. After agreeing that it is desirable to wipe out the entire amount of shift of 23 days at a time, CRC did not actually do so to avoid a break with the established custom (Report p. 7).
Originally, days of festivals were fixed with reference to seasons. Each Season covered two solar months. Bharat Calendar should fix the dates of festival, in the season and solar month in which it was originally observed, derived from the zero point of the March Equinox. This will lead to uniform dates of festivals for all the places in India for all the years to come.
Why it is important to correctly fix the Dates of Festival
As Sri Aurobindo explains in his “Secret of the Veda” – The vedic year-long sacrifice leads to successive dawns of wider truth. [5] He further says – Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have to come into being, their doors are opened by the months and the years. [6] Each of the four points in the year (two Equinoxes and two Solstices) is the Maha-Dwara, the main portal; and other festivals are the seasonal doors to the future worlds to be opened on the correct day of the month every year. A door opened on the wrong day of the month will deprive us of the light of a wider truth. That is why, we should celebrate the new year on the March Equinox to open the door to welcome the Dawn of the Year; the Vedic Uttara-Sankranti or modern Makar Sakranti on the day of the winter solstice to open the door to the increasing light after the end of the longest night; and each festival on the correct date to welcome the dawn of wider truth bringing in the future worlds.
Once India re-orients its calendar to the solar year and re-aligns the festivals with the tropical seasons, all Indians will observe all the solar and lunar festivals at the same time throughout India; the mass celebrations will no doubt generate powerful waves of collective energy (like the Thaali-Naad during the lock-down or the Maha-Kumbha). It’s only then that the heart of every Indian will beat to the eternal rhythm of the Mother Earth going around the Sun in her annual pilgrimage, coursing through the seasons in her Samvatsara Satra. And every Indian will be “united in heart, with one and common aspiration, with common mind and companionship” (the concluding hymn – the “Bharat Vakya” of the Rig Veda as translated by Sri Aurobindo). [7]
With best regards
Mukund Ainapure
Convenor – Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom
Refer also to the letter and three books sent to you separately by the Aeon Centre of Cosmology.
[1] The Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (MRVW) was founded by Thea in 2006, see her Manifesto (The Zero, the Veda, and the Divine Measure of the Year): https://www.aeoncentre.com/movement-for-the-restoration-of-vedic-wisdom/
[2] As a Chartered Accountant, I have written a Text Book on GST for students of Mumbai University. Details at http://www.mananprakashan.com/
[3] Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny, 2004 by Thea
[4] https://www.aeoncentre.com/calendar/
[5] The victory in the battle against the dark powers is won in twelve periods of the upward journey, represented by the revolution of the twelve months of the sacrificial year, the periods corresponding to the successive dawns of a wider and wider truth, until the tenth secures the victory. Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p. 182. As explained by Thea in the Manifesto, the course of the year carries us to the apex of the journey, the Makar Sankranti, that sacredmost tenth month as measured from the March Equinox when the victory is finally accomplished and the Earth begins to experience an increase of the Light.
[6] Certain eternal worlds (states of existence) are these which have to come into being, their doors are opened by the months and the years. Rig Veda 2.24.5; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p.179
[7] समानी व आकूतिः समाना हृदयानि वः । समानमस्तु वो मनो यथा वः सुसहासति ॥ 10.191.4; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 16 p. 182. I have published several e-books on the Rig Veda as interpreted by Sri Aurobindo, available for free download to the public, at https://www.auro-ebooks.com.
Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Sub.: Vedic Calendar – the Earth Calendar
Greetings of Navaratri! Our founder – Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet 1938 – 2016) – would have been so happy to write this as an ardent Mother-worshipper herself. She called her spiritual autobiography detailing her work for the Earth in the light of Sri Aurobindo – ‘The Tenth Day of Victory‘ – Dussehra, in honour of her vision of the Goddess on the day she landed in Mumbai on her way to Pondicherry.
In fact, Thea would have been very happy to write to you about the actions you have taken over the years which have brought Bharat Mata more deeply into her role as ‘soul/centre’ of our Earth. These were the very concerns she held dear to her heart.
In an early newsletter to her students, in 1991, she explained that Ayodhya was a rallying point to awaken dormant energies in the nation. [1] We think she must be have been very happy when you laid the foundation stone a few years ago for the Ram Mandir!
Thea was concerned that the Vedic Way was being attacked from all sides, and in particular she was concerned for the Kashmiri Pundits. In 2003, at the invitation of His Holiness, Jagat Guru Sri Bhagavan Gopinath Ji, she wrote a series of essays for the community review, ‘Prakash’. She published them later in a book, Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny. In 2019, when you had the courage to lead your government to abrogate Article 370, we at the Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC) also joined those in the nation who thanked you.
And your focus and attention to the purification of the Ganga was deeply appreciated by Thea. Just before her passing in October 2016, she wrote a small book, Ganga, soul of Indian Culture, her descent to Earth. She wrote that this sacred river holds the secrets to the cosmic connections that are the foundation for the Sanatana Dharma.
Another of Thea’s concerns was the adoption of Vedic Calendar.
Given her credentials as a well known cosmologist, Thea was invited to deliver a paper at the first National Conference on Hindu Calendar Reform [2] in Tirumala, December 2010. She reminded the conference that the Vedic Calendar is based on the natural cosmic harmonies of the Year, on the ‘Vedic journey’ of the Year. It honors the revolution of the Earth around the Sun through the pathway of the ecliptic; it honors the four Cardinal markers of the Equinoxes and Solstices.
With the rise of science and the loss of the ‘Vedic journey’, the ancient Vedic Calendar was discarded. The sacred duty of time reckoning for the Hindu Samaj was handed over not to astrologers, but to astronomers who are not versed in the Veda; they made the fatal mistake of eliminating the natural year of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun through the pathway of the ecliptic, Thea explained.
Pundits shifted from the Tropical Zodiac with its Equinoxes and Solstices to the Zodiac out in the Constellations. This confusion is still at the heart of the problem: the Constellations cannot be used to measure timings for Temple functions or to draw up a horoscope; they are used to measure the large cycles of time, the precession of the Ages.
Even more important, there are no Solstices or Equinoxes out in the Constellations. There is only one correct day to celebrate India’s national holiday, the entry into Makar/Capricorn – that is on the December Solstice, shortest day of the year. But because Pundits use the wrong zodiac, out in the Constellations, India now celebrates Makar Sankranti 23 days late, on 14 or 15 January.
At the time of Independence, the Saka commission was convened by Prime Minister Nehru to devise a calendar acceptable to all communities and sects. The Government did adopt in 1956 an official calendar, it was based on the Gregorian (universal) model to bring the nation in tune with the rest of the world; but even after all these years, it has not attained full acceptance and popularity. The different communities and religions continue to use their own regional calendars and almanacs, out of a sense of wanting a separate identity or to honor their own founders and saints.
The Earth Calendar honors the Vedic journey of the year with its Solstices and Equinoxes. Regional and community holidays are honoured as well, but the focus is wider: it connects the cosmic journey in the heavens to the inner journey each of us makes, as citizens of Bharat Mata, as we evolve toward what Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘Supramental truth-consciousness’ now unfolding on our earth. They are one and the same journey.
India needs to adopt the Earth Calendar as its National Calendar. [3] We are sending you a link to our Earth Calendar (https://www.aeoncentre.com/calendar/). We hope you will see it as a valuable tool not only to retrieve the ‘lost knowledge’ of the Veda, but also as a way to further your third goal for the nation mentioned in your recent speech: to enhance National Identity. Please see the specific details in a letter Shri Mukund Ainapure is sending to you, as Convenor of the Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom (a special division of our Aeon Center of Cosmology).
And healing the divisions of Partition was a matter of utmost importance to Thea. Aeon Centre of Cosmology is preparing now to republish a book which Thea wrote on the cause and purpose of The Partition of India (2009). Our Prayer – in this year of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth Anniversary – is that you and this glorious nation will continue to receive blessings from Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Thea for a reunited India, Akhand Bharat.
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
[1] (https://archive.aeoncentre.com/vishaal/culture-and-cosmos-2-part-3-contintued
[2] (http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/12/importance-of-makar-sankranti-in-hindu.html).
[3] (https://www.aeoncentre.com/the-earth-calendar-introduction-terms-definitions/).
Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC), at Skambha, is located in the Palani Hills of South India. Our Centre was founded by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea) on 5 January, 1986. It is supported by Aeon Trust, registered with the Government of India having 80 G status. Thea passed on 9 October 2016. Her students remain active at ACC and continue to promote her Indo-centric cosmology (www.aeoncentre.com).
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To her first Board of Directors Thea wrote:
“This is a centre of cosmological/yogic studies, by an applied cosmology, and a practice of Sri Aurobindo’s revolutionary Supramental Yoga… We are discovering and disclosing a completely new path, ‘a new way’.
‘This work can be a beacon, a stable point in the midst of a dying civilisation. For this reason I have named the new land Skambha, that Support of the world, sung of in the Arthavaveda, that cosmic pillar, that ‘axis mundi’.” (1987)
Books Enclosed – 1 copy of each:
Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, space and Destiny, 2004
Ganga, Soul of Indian Culture – her Descent to Earth, 2015
Partition of India, its cause, its purpose – 2009
Letter to Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Copy of Letter fo Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji from Mukund Ainapure, convenor of the Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom