March Equinox, Mahavishuva, 21 March 2023
To Honourable Prime Minister Modiji
Sub. : Maha-Vishuva (Vedic March Equinox) today
We have been following the G20 meetings and we send you sincere thanks for your fine leadership. It was disappointing that the delegates could not come to a joint statement at the recent meetings of Foreign Ministers. We agree with you that ‘global governance has failed’ and the way forward is to focus on what unites rather than divides.
It is obvious that a consciousness of unity needs to emerge more fully among all the nations of the world on this earth. This was the focus of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga. Re-instating the true Vedic Calendar as the Global Calendar (One World, One Calendar) will take the world back to those roots of wisdom embodied in the mahavakya – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
The Vedic year (the Samvatsar Satra) began on the March Equinox, (Maha-Vishuva), that day initiates the yearly journey as recorded in the Veda. The Vedic Uttara-Sankranti was observed on the day of the winter solstice when the Uttarayan or the Devayana, the ascent to the Divinity, began. These fixed points are uniform the world over and form the eternal basis for the World Calendar.
Let’s begin this journey back to the Vedic roots in India with the installation of the Sri Rama idol at Ayodhya. Because Ramlalla chose to make his long awaited coming in 1949 on the December Solstice, we requested you (vide our letter dated 26th January, 2023) to have the installation of the idol also on the upcoming December Solstice of 2023.
‘As Sri Aurobindo has explained in his Secret of the Veda – The vedic year-long sacrifice leads to successive dawns of wider truth (1). 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 (2). Therefore the “doors” have to be opened on the correct day of the year.
Hence, for the successive dawns of wider truth to arise, for the eternal states of existence to become a reality, the Ram Temple needs to open its door to bless India on the first dawn after the end of the longest night of December 22, 2023 – on the dawn of 23rd December, 2023, when the Earth will begin to experience an increase of the Light with every succeeding dawn.
This is what will deepen a consciousness of unity. It’s 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. Every Indian will then 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 (3).’
We look forward to the inauguration of the new era for India on 23rd December, 2023.
With best wishes and appreciation, we send you a recently re-published book written by our Founder/Director on Partition of India: its cause, its purpose.
Patricia Heidt, Ph.D, Director
- 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.’ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p. 182
- ‘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 Veda24.5; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p.179
- Rig Veda,191.4, Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 16 p. 182.
cc: Shri Champat Rai, General Secretary, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust
cc: Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
cc: Draupadi Murmu, Honorable President of India
enclosed: copy of Partition of India, its cause, its purpose
To: Honourable Prime Minister Modiji
26 January 2023, Republic Day, India
Subject: Pran Pratishtha, Ram Mandir
For many years we’ve been following the developments surrounding the Ram Mandir; we’re filled with joy to see Lord Ram’s magnificent Temple rising at his birthplace. Thanks from all of us here at ACC for your strength and energy which has helped this sacred event to take place so speedily.
In 2010, after Justice D.V. Sharma of the Allahabad High Court issued his verdict, our Founder-Director, Thea (Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet), published a seminal article about the appearance of the ‘Warrior-Child of Ayodhya’ (1). She states that the long-awaited judgement – after 60 years – was a ‘landmark in the history of modern India’: it reinstated the role of the Icon or Idol in the Vedic civilization.
As a cosmologist, Thea carried the judgement a step further and highlighted what she believed to be a core value of the Vedic civilization that was directly involved in the Ayodhya issue that should not be ignored. It was on the fateful night of 22-23 December, 1949, exactly at the December Solstice , that Lord Ram, 7th Evolutionary Avatar, came as a ‘warrior child’ and took possession of his sacred abode.
Thea reminded her students that the Evolutionary Avatar comes at a specific time and for a specific task: just as the cosmos is in constant motion and evolution, so too does the Indian society, based on the cosmic harmonies, enjoy a means of renewal to combat fossilization and fundamentalism leading to collapse. This ’mechanism’ is the coming of the Vishnu Avatar: when they appear on the scene, they set the mechanism in motion (2).
*
The reason we write once again to you, Prime Minister Modiji, regards the statement in the news made by the General Secretary of the Temple Trust, Shri Champat Rai: ‘The construction of the (Ram) temple is expected to be completed by December 2023 and Lord Ram is expected to be seated in the sanctum sanctorum by the Makar Sankranti festival in January 2024.’
The symbolic message of Ramlal’s coming was unmistakable; how can the descendents of Shri Ram ignore it? Surely if Shri Ram chose to make his long awaited coming in 1949 on the December Solstice, should not the Ram Mandir Trust consider that the Pran Pratishtha also take place on the December Solstice of 2023?
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We have been thrilled and impressed as we watch the construction work which has taken place under the supervision of the Ram Mandir Trust since the historic Supreme Court judgement of November 2019 gave the land to the Ram Janmabhoomi. Recently, our convenor[1], Shri Mukund Ainapure, visited the Ayodha site and reported, ‘I feel so blessed’.
[1] Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom
An equally important fact we wish to call to your attention : the warrior-child Ramlala chose to appear exactly on the December Solstice, entry into zodiacal Capricorn/Makar. His timing affirms the importance which our ancient Fathers gave to the YEAR. The central figure of the Vedic Sacrifice was the YEAR with her balancing points of the Solstices and Equinoxes.
Step by step matters have been worked out so carefully in terms of space , i.e. the place of installation of the new Ram idol, his Garbhagriha. May we ask you (and those entrusted to these decisions) to also install the deity at the correct time – on the December Solstice 2023 – not only because Ramlala chose to appear on that very Solstice in 1949 but also to honour our Earth’s true Vedic calendar.
Ramlala has appeared on the contemporary scene to restore the ancient truth that made the Vedic civilization indestructible … his coming had a purpose: to save the Tradition, to keep it ‘eternal’ (sanatana) by a process of Updating. He guides us to the knowledge (3).
*
As Sri Aurobindo has explained in his Secret of the Veda – The vedic year-long sacrifice leads to successive dawns of wider truth (4).
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 (5).
Therefore the “doors” have to be opened on the correct day of the year.
That’s why the Vedic year (the Samvatsar Satra) began on the March Equinox (Maha-Vishuva) that initiates the yearly journey as recorded in the Veda; and the Vedic Uttara-Sankranti was observed on the day of the winter solstice when the Uttarayan or the Devayana – the ascent to the Divinity began.
Hence, for the successive dawns of wider truth to arise, for the eternal states of existence to become a reality, the Ram Temple needs to open its door to bless India on the first dawn after the end of the longest night of December 22, 2023 – on the dawn of 23rd December, 2023, when the Earth will begin to experience an increase of the Light with every succeeding dawn.
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.
Every Indian will then 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 (6).
With best wishes and appreciation,
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director
References:
- Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, (Thea), The Warrior-Child of Ayodhya: the Significance of his appearance for the Hindu Samaj, 5 October 2010.
http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/10/warrior-child-of-ayodhya-1.html
- Ibid, Part 2. http://puraniccosmologyupdated.blogspot.com/2010/10/significance-of-his-appearance-for.html
- ‘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.’ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p. 182
- ‘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 Veda24.5; Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 15 p.179
- Rig Veda, 191.4, Sri Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 16 p. 182.
cc: Shri Champat Rai, General Secretary, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust
cc: Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Culture
cc: Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
cc: Draupadi Murmu, Honorable President of India
enclosed: copy of The Warrior Child of Ayodhya
Makara Sankranti, Solstice, 22 December 2022
This is Draft - 1 prepared for Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji. See Draft - 2, which follows this letter; It was dispatched to The Prime Minister on Makara Sankranti.
Sub.: One Nation, One Earth, One Calendar
We celebrate with you today the December Solstice, entry of Earth and her family into the zodiacal sign of Capricorn. May we take this opportunity to congratulate you and the nation as you assume presidency of the G 20 – 2023 summit. Your choice of a lotus to show India’s cultural heritage and faith was inspired; the central focus of Sri Aurobindo’s own symbol is the lotus. We pray that you and the nation are guided by his vision for One Earth, One Family and One Future.
Dear Prime Minister: As a follow up to our 21 September equinox email, may we ask you to consider our ‘idea’ – to gather together a group of interested people to study and set up an Earth Calendar for both India and the World. Honouring and celebrating the EARTH YEAR together is one of the most profound ways we can go further, and in your words, ‘catalyse a fundamental mindset shift to benefit humanity as a whole.’
There is no better time to initiate this than on the sidelines of the summit. May I review with you these facts on which we base our idea:
- Sri Aurobindo’s vision is a significant part of the ‘new circumstances’ shaping our future globalisation. Can India help the world ‘go further’ and see (a) that we are an evolutionary race in transition, this mental stage of development is not the last or highest? (b)) that we are not meant to be liberated from life on earth, for a better place? It is our planet’s destiny to be the ‘home’ for all people who look forward to a life of fulness and harmony.
- Sri Aurobindo’s vision has renewed and ‘updated’ that of our ancient Ones: they understood that the Earth was a special place in the solar System. For most ancient civilisations the yearly ‘journey’ of the Earth around the Sun was central: they followed the Earth’s ecliptic path as the planet circled each year around her sun, supported by the four cardinal pillars of the Earth- the solstices and equinoxes.
- For some it was a ‘journey’, while for others it was a ‘yoga’. Their Calendar was organized so that the entire society participated. They were a civilization nurtured on Fulness, centred on Skambha – the Cosmic Pillar. In India, the journey honoured two basic rhythms of the earth, Uttarayana and Dakshinyana; The Year opened with Mahavishuva on the Equinox of 21/22 March and as Sri Aurobindo verifies, the Aryan warrior undergoing tapasya, achieved the ‘victory’ ten months later with entry into the Solstice of 21/22 December. (The Secret of the Veda)
- It is through the equinoxes and solstices that the Earth as a family is connected to the cosmos. These unchanging landmarks, which herald the four seasons of our year, provide stability on the journey and are deeply engrained in our biological clocks. These cosmic harmonies are the Earth’s unique contribution to the Solar System. The tilt of our earth’s axis as she circles round her Sun through the ecliptic path, sometimes shortens the light of the day, sometimes lengthens it the light. But always our Earth and her people are honouring and saluting Surya, the great Sun Deity.
- Currently our world societies have organised their annual Calendars with two starting points – 1 January and 21 March equinox: each is significant. But over time, the Calendar of our ancient ones, based on the cosmic harmonies of our Earth, has fallen into disuse.
- Instead of using the Tropical zodiac (the Sayana system) for measurement, based on earth’s own path around the Sun through the ecliptic, pundits shifted their observation and measurements for temple timings out to the Constellations in the distant heavens. India no longer celebrates two of its outstanding landmarks in consonance with the cosmic harmonies of the Earth: Mahavishuva (March Equinox) and Makar Sankranti (December Solstice) are celebrated 23 days late.
- Pundits are measuring the ‘sankrantis’ in the wrong zodiac. Both zodiacs/calendars are important, but you must know what you are looking for: there is an individual destiny and a universal destiny. The Sidereal/constellational calendar is used to measure the large cycles of our universe, the astrological Ages, based on the Precession of the Equinoxes. But for temple timings and individual horoscopy, Earth’s own measure – the Tropical Vedic Calendar – must be used. There is no Vedic knowledge in the Nakshatras (of the Sidereal calendar); there are no solstices and equinoxes in the constellations.
In the West, the Universal Calendar honors all four of the equinoxes and solstices and entry into Capricorn is recognised as the Solstice; but people do not understand the deep Vedic connections.
8. In a world of despair and confusion, an Earth Calendar, such as the one above, helps to organise a community, a nation, or a world. The cosmic pillars – the solstices and equinoxes – divide the Cosmic Year into periods of time, or stages of meaning and consciousness. The year becomes a ‘journey’ toward a goal, as it was for our ancient Fathers. And so the unfolding of Earth’s time as she moves around her Sun through the ecliptic pathway can fill our people with purpose and hope.
9. In the hymn below the Rishi refers to these 4 periods of the Cosmic Year as ‘eternal worlds’. Without effort, one ‘world’ opens to the other, as the Vedic Warriors tred Earth’s ecliptic path, ever higher and wider through the months and the years to the Capricorn Mountain peak (from the physical, to the vital to the mental to the supramental stages of consciousness). This path was the altar of their sacrifice.
Certain eternal worlds… 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 that
Brahmanaspati makes manifest to knowledge (RV, II, 24-5.)
We thank you for considering our ‘idea’, and wish you a successful year ahead, a successful Summit.
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director
Cc: Draupadi Murmu, Honorable President of India
Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC), at Skambha, is located in the Palani Hills of South India. Aeon Trust was founded by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea) on 5 January, 1986. It is registered with the Government of India and has 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).
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)
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Letter To Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Makara Sankranti, Solstice, 22 December 2022
Sub.: One Earth, One Family and One Future
Today we celebrate the December Solstice, entry of Earth into the zodiacal sign of Capricorn. We congratulate you and the nation as you assume presidency of the G 20 – 2023 summit. Your choice of a lotus to show India’s cultural heritage and faith was inspired; the central focus of Sri Aurobindo’s own symbol is the lotus. We pray you and the nation are guided by his vision for One Earth, One Family and One Future.
Dear Prime Minister: may we ask you to consider our idea: to gather together a group of ‘people of Knowledge’ to study and set up a Calendar for all people of the nation. Honouring and celebrating the EARTH YEAR together is one of the most profound ways we can go further, and in your words, ‘catalyse a fundamental mindset shift to benefit humanity as a whole.’ There is no better time to initiate this than during this year, the 150th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s birth.
May I review the following with you - the thoughts on which we base our ‘idea’:
- India is unique, no other nation on earth has a zodiacal connection of such depth, no other nation celebrates the day of entry, when the Sun is seen to enter its zodiacal sign, as a National Holiday. No other nation displays a physical connection with the sign’s very hieroglyph. The graphic below shows that India’s ruling sign, Capricorn, is ‘located’ on Earth when the sign is superimposed on the landmass known as Akhand Bharat (1).
2. The revelation of the zodiac, including the tenth sign, Capricorn, most likely was through a Rishi of the Vedic Age (ibid); it is knowledge long lost, except for the records in the four Vedas. Those verses clearly describe a consciousness of unity unknown to us today. And it was Sri Aurobindo’s mission, as the 9th Evolutionary Avatar of Vishnu, to clear away the cobwebs covering that lost Vedic knowledge, which is the vibrant foundation of the Sanatana Dharma.
3. For that civilisation, the yearly ‘journey’ of the Earth around the Sun was central: they followed the Earth’s ecliptic path as the planet circled each year around her sun, supported by the four cardinal pillars of the Earth- the solstices and equinoxes.
The zodiac was their guide: Mahavishuva, the March equinox, opened that journey with Agni/Aries as leader; ten months later with entry into Makar/Capricorn, they celebrated ‘the victory’ (Sri Aurobindo, Secrets of the Veda).
Uttarayana, entry into Capricorn on the December Solstice, was celebrated as the most auspicious time of the year.
Why was Makar Sankranti so important for our Ancient Ones?
4. What did our Ancient Ones know, why was Makar Sankranti so important for them? At that special time in the annual ‘journey’ of the Year, Earth is directly aligned with our central Sun at her highest position in the heavens, the Sun is directly overhead and casts no shadows. The planet and her family are physically closest to their luminary at this time. (See addendum, end of letter)
The Rishis were consciously aware of the power of Surya, at this special moment in time. They attuned themselves to the cosmos – they put themselves in perfect alignment to receive the Midday Sun’s true essence at this time. They wanted to be inspired, uncontaminated ‘transmitters’ of that energy to the society – and they were, as is evident through their glorious hymns and their ragas.
The Vedic civilisation came into existence on the basis of these yogic experiences (2); from this alignment with their Sun came the ‘eternal’ truths of the nation, the Sanatana Dharma.
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Dear Prime Minister Modiji, the question is, how can we reach those same heights? Can we as individuals and as a nation align ourselves in the same conscious way as the Rishis, so as to receive the energies of the great Deity, Surya, at the Midday Sun? Our confused world is truly in need of this, and it turns to India for this ancient wisdom.
And that is where the problem lies.
India no longer celebrates two of its outstanding landmarks in consonance with the cosmic harmonies of the Earth: Mahavishuva (March Equinox) and Makar Sankranti (December Solstice) are celebrated 23 days late. Instead of using the Tropical zodiac (the Sayana system) for measurement, based on earth’s own path around the Sun through the ecliptic, pundits shifted their observation and measurements for temple timings out to the Constellations in the distant heavens.
They are measuring the ‘sankrantis’ in the wrong zodiac. Both zodiacs/calendars are important, but you must know what you are looking for: there is an individual destiny and a universal destiny. The Sidereal/constellational calendar is used to measure the large cycles of our universe, the astrological Ages, based on the Precession of the Equinoxes. But for temple timings and individual horoscopy, Earth’s own measure – the Tropical Vedic Calendar – must be used. There is no Vedic knowledge in the Nakshatras (of the sidereal calendar); there are no solstices and equinoxes in the constellations (3).
We write to you because it is important for the Nation to celebrate the Earth Year together. It is clear that in order to discover our lost knowledge we must have the same alignment to the cosmos as our Ancient Ones had: that we must align our vision to that Midday Sun.
Your strength and attention is needed to stop the ‘usurpers’ who are out to rid the world of purpose, to keep our sojourn on this earth meaningless. It is obvious from all the good work you do that you believe in India’s destiny, that she is the ‘soul/centre’ of our Earth. We thank you and wish you a successful Summit and year ahead.
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director
- Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea), Why is Makar Sankranti Important for the unity and Integrity of India? 1 January 2016, https://archive.aeoncentre.com/2016-in-focus/
- Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea). The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 7, no. 4, October 1992, https://archive.aeoncentre.com/vishaal/culture-cosmos-3-3/
- Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea), Puranic Cosmology Updated, 2010, https://www.aeoncentre.com/thea-puranic-cosmology-updated-no-4/
cc: Draupadi Murmu, Honorable President of India
cc: Shri G. Kishen Reddy, Minister of Culture
Addendum - January 25, 2023
Regarding the paragraph above about the Annual ‘journey’ of the year, two of Thea’s long time students, wrote that due to the tilt of the Earth at the Solstice, only that portion of the earth within the band of the Tropic of Capricorn receives the light of the sun directly overhead at Makar Sankranti.
I responded that Thea herself referred to Cosmic Midday as that time when the Sun was overhead and cast no shadows. In the letter below one of the students clarifies that Thea is speaking about the ‘shift in consciousness’ or inner light in that portion of the Gnostic Circle known as ‘cosmic midday’. With her permission I reproduce her informative letter.
Dear Patricia:
I think some of the confusion lies in the conflating of Cosmology with Astronomy.
I have a different understanding than you of what Thea is referring to here (From Chap XII, Vedic Altar Updated, highlights added):
“However, it is actually India’s zodiacal sign, Capricorn/Makar, ruled by Saturn, that has given rise to the Mountain/Gopuram because Capricorn is the sign of the Mountain, uttarayana, or the northernmost and highest point in the wheel, known as Cosmic Midday when the Sun casts no shadows, ‘…the (central) Mountain on which rests the sun at midday, and this is the only Mountain worth mention among all mountains” (Pradyumnesvara temple inscription).
“This knowledge was alive and well in the Puranic era; temples across India bear witness to this fact. They were repositories of the same secret knowledge of the Rig Veda. What can be known of India’s destiny ignoring these facts? If we refuse to see the consistent coherency of her destiny via the 10th sign, Capricorn/Makar, how can she physically become the World Mountain, centre/soul of the Earth?“
It is my understanding that when referring to the ‘highest point in the wheel’ Thea is referencing the Gnostic Circle, the Map of 12 Manifestations, and the consciousness of Capricorn when fully unveiled; the role Capricorn/the Mountain/India are to fulfil at that time. We are not there yet. She is not referring to the ‘scientific’ astronomical position of the Sun on December 21st, whose light at present is only directly overhead the globe at a narrowly defined area: the band 23.5 degrees south of the equator (not coincidentally) known as the Tropic of Capricorn.
In response to a request from me for further clarification she wrote:
Patricia, I think of the Sun ‘casting no shadows’ as being equivalent to there being no Ignorance, only Truth. A Consciousness completely aligned with the Divine. This is supposed to occur in the Age of Capricorn and purportedly will have a different meaning in this 9th Manifestation (the birth) than it did during passage through Capricorn in the 1st and 5th Manifestations.
Astronomically, will the body of the Earth Herself change orientation, become upright, so that she no longer has an axis of 23.5 degrees (the number of days India is ‘off’ in her celebrations, remember) resulting in the entire globe receiving the Sun during Makar Sankranti with ‘no shadows’? I don’t know.
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AUGUST 15, 2022
Celebrating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, 9th Evolutionary Avatar
A paper submitted by Aeon Centre of Cosmology, Kodaikanal Tamil Nadu
Last December, Prime Minister Modi announced that 2022 would be dedicated to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s birth. He aptly referred to Sri Aurobindo as a revolutionary leader, as ‘the Prophet of Indian Nationalism’ (using Dr Karan Singh’s words). In a paper published on the Ministry of Culture website, the author (mha.gov.in) writes that Sri Aurobindo has been described as a ‘rishi, a poet, a scholar, a literary critic, a philosopher, a yogi…and much more; … but the question still remains, Who really was Sri Aurobindo?’
Based on the yoga and cosmological insights of our Founder, Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea, 1938 – 2016), we offer that he was first and foremost, the 9th Evolutionary Avatar. The question and the answer are exceptionally important for India. Thea writes that ‘the Sanatan Dharma contains an inbuilt system of renewal
… unique on this Earth in that it forms the undisputed core of the Dharma or the backbone of the structure. This is the Line of Ten Avatars… a string of births stretched over many millennia but nonetheless thoroughly linked through the substance of the missions to be accomplished. The Avatar’s work, though spread out over vast aeons, is one process with one finality: the establishment of the reign of Truth, or the Golden Age, known as the Satya Yuga.’(1) and (2)
Thea calls Vishnu’s ‘Line of Ten’ the Evolutionary Avatars.. They show the next step in the divine unfolding on Earth, they become ‘the seed of the movement’, she writes. Sri Aurobindo is that ‘seed’ for this 9th Manifestation (3), just as Sri Rama was for the 7th and Sri Krishna for the 8th Manifestation.
The credentials for the Line of Ten Evolutionary Avatars is based totally on the cosmic harmonies. They use Time for their action: each appears at a specific Time, every 6480 years, during the Ages of Preservation (ibid, p. 23). Sri Ram appeared as the 7th during the Age of Leo, 12,000 years ago, Sri Krishna followed as the 8th in the Age of Taurus, and Sri Aurobindo, appeared as the Evolutionary Avatar for the 9th Manifestation during the Age of Aquarius.
Gautam the Buddha, widely considered to be the 9th Avatar, does not possess these cosmic credentials, having been born circa 500 BCE.
In the Map, each section of 6480 years is called a Manifestation; they are twelve in number, the same twelve signs of the zodiac. The Map is based on the Precessional movement of the Earth, her slow westward motion along the path of the Earth’s ecliptic. It takes 25,920 years for the Precession of the Earth to make one complete round through the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Thea turns to the Rig Vedic verses to Vishnu to confirm the ancient wisdom; but she offers a new seeing: she writes that Vishnu, the God of Preservation is measuring out the universe NOT by steps through space, but by steps through TIME, via the Precession of the Equinoxes (4).
Let our strength and our thought go forward to Vishnu the all-pervading,
the wide-moving BULL whose dwelling-place is on the mountain,
he who being One has measured all this long and far-extending seat
of our self-accomplishing by only three of his strides.
The symbol figures in the verses above, Lion, Bull and Friend, which describe Vishnu’s famous steps, are three of the four fixed signs of the Zodiac. The zodiacal signs of fixed quality correspond to Sattva of the Indian Gunas, as in Rajas, Sattva and Tamas. Or they can be categorized as signs of Preservation as in the trinity of Creation, Preservation, Destruction/Dissolution (ibid).
The first of his three steps takes the universe through the time epoch known as the Age of LEO (verse 2, the Lion), during which the 7th Evolutionary Avatar, Sri Ram made his appearance. This is followed by the next step – the Age of TAURUS, (verse 3, the Bull), and the coming of Sri Krishna, 8th Avatar.
In verse 5, the Rishi sees Vishnu’s next and last step: ‘for there in that highest step of the wide-moving Vishnu is that FRIEND’. The Friend is the astrological sign for the Age of Aquarius; the time period of the 9th evolutionary avatar, our very own Sri Aurobindo! The fourth sign of Preservation, Scorpio, is left out of the verses because, Thea writes, ‘Vishnu’s measuring begins from that sign, the sign of the Eagle, precisely his Vahana, Garuda.’ (ibid, p 12).
It is no small feat that Hinduism can still lay claim to this ancient body of knowledge through its four Vedas, exclaims Thea; thus we know that the ‘Dasavataras are of Vedic origin and not Puranic, as most believe’ (5). That the appearance on Earth of Vishnu’s last three emanations can be located with such exactitude is obviously for the purpose of preserving the Sanatan Dharma.
*
The primary focus now is on the 9th Manifestation (see Map, red arrow), a period of transition and tremendous possibility as the Earth evolves from the realm of Mind into Supermind – set on its way in 1872, when Sri Aurobindo took birth on Earth as the 9th Avatar of Vishnu. It was a joint mission carried out by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. As Thea explains:
‘…almost the entire focus was to reverse the direction the quest assumed by all the yogas approximately after the time of the Buddha. It was a joint mission to turn the tide – a tide virtually with the power of a tsunami – in that all the great realisers over the past 2000 years, barring very few, had opted for an escape out of the material dimension so as not to face the challenges posed by a creation in matter which appeared insurmountable given the totality of circumstances at this stage of evolution of the species…’(6)
It was on 29 February, 1956, that the yogic breakthrough took place, releasing the descent of a power that would ultimately bring about an entirely new principle operating within the evolutionary process. When the Mother announced that the Supramental Manifestation had occurred, she described it in these words:
‘This evening the Divine Presence, concrete and material, was there present amongst you. I had a form of living gold, bigger than the universe, and I was facing a huge and massive golden door which separated the world from the Divine. As I looked at the door, I knew and willed, in a single movement of consciousness, that “the time has come”, and lifting with both hands a mighty golden hammer I struck one blow, one single blow on the door and the door was shattered to pieces. Then the supramental Light and Force and Consciousness rushed down upon earth in an uninterrupted flow.’ (ibid)
2.
As the Time Spirit arrived in the Ninth Manifestation at the Age of Aquarius, in 1926, when Sri Aurobindo, the true 9th Evolutionary Avatar took up where Sri Krishna left off, he was not recognized.
The fact that Gautam the Buddha could be erroneously inserted into the list of Hindu Avatars as the 9th in the line of ten happened only because over time, veils began to cover the core of Hinduism. The keys to that ancient Vedic Knowledge allowing the Dharma to remain ‘eternal’ were lost (7). Buddhism played an important role in this collapse of energies. It sowed ‘seeds of undermining’ which developed later into a split between Matter and Spirit in the way Reality was perceived – ‘the Spirit was no longer experienced through the Soul, or the Mother…the seeker was encouraged to overstep the Cosmos…’(ibid). With the soul dislodged from its centrality, Thea explains, the Hindu civilization by the Middle Ages, lost its binding energy.
Because the foundation of the Dharma had always been unity, the wise men and women of that Dark Age simply incorporated the Buddhist realisation; ‘it was their lived experience that the Brahman included everything, even the darkness…’. With that the Buddha became the 9th of the Puranic Line of Ten Avatars (ibid). The Puranas however describe his participation in the Line as ‘ruse of the supreme’: one purposefully sent to mislead the seekers, in order to fool the hostile powers.
Thea asks why was it necessary to have a false avatar, a ruse, interjected into the line? ‘Was the fall of the Dharma seen to be a necessary corollary to a rise?’ She refers to Sri Aurobindo’s own words about a ‘wider harmonisation which only the present Age of Supermind can unfold’ (ibid):
‘…But in speaking of the supreme liberation I was simply taking the Buddhist-Adwaita view for granted and correcting it by saying that this Nirvana view is too negative. Krishna opened the possibility of overmind with its two sides of realization, static and dynamic. Buddha tried to shoot from mind to Nirvana in the Supreme, just as Shankara did in another way after him. Both agree in overleaping the other stages and trying to get at a nameless and featureless Absolute. Krishna on the other hand was leading by the normal course of evolution. The next normal step is not a featureless Absolute, but the supermind. I consider that in trying to overshoot, Buddha, like Shankara made a mistake, calling away the dynamic side of the liberation. Therefore there has to be a correction by Kalki.’ (Letters on Yoga, Book 1, Part 5, ‘The Meaning and Purpose of Avatarhood’, Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Volume 28).
The erroneous insertion of the Buddha into the Line of Ten Evolutionary Avatars has had enormous consequences on the Dharma.
- At the same time the civilization lost its time measure; e., Indian astrology lost its key to Time. The shift from the earth oriented tropical zodiac – the Divine measure, Earth’s own measure – to the fixed stars of the constellations was a death blow to the Earth, Thea explains. As salvation came to be equated with freedom from birth on Earth, the Nothingness (or Nirvanic Void) which sought to replace the Vedic fullness of the Sun-soul, produced an inevitable breakdown in the old order.
Hinduism could no longer locate the periods of Vishnu or determine the exact time of the appearance of the Avatar. In fact, at this point, Thea exclaims, the next appearance of Vishnu is not expected ‘until the fourth millennium of our era!’ (8).
2. In addition to losing its time measure, the purpose and value of caste fell into disrepair. In the Vedic Journey, in the sacrifice of the Year, each part of society revealed their highest realisation. ‘Caste was not divisive, it was a path to wholeness and completion’ (9). Chaturvarna was totally based on the cosmic foundation, ‘… an expression of the cosmic Parush, limbs of a single body’ (ibid).
The Divine Purpose of birth on Earth is to move into creation rather than out of it or beyond it, writes Thea, ‘to experience the imminent Transcendent in the heart of each created thing, the Hiranyaretas, or the golden Seed, light of the worlds’…
The purpose of Chaturvarna is to allow the individual the possibility to realise his or her inner truth, in material creation, in a body, on this planet Earth…
Birth on this Earth and into the caste system, or into the magnificent harmonies of the cosmos as one more note of the Infinite, was not intended to be a means of escape from that material creation and a plunge into nirvanic Nothingness or the indifferentiated Absolute…’ (ibid)
3.
During this 9th Manifestation of the Earth there is one place on the planet that holds as the ‘centre’ during the dismantling of the old earth and its evolution from the mental to the supramental consciousness. India has always carried the tremendous ‘burden of her destiny’ as the planet’s soul-centre, writes Thea: the link to the ‘other side’ – that replenishing eternal fount of light and power and bliss, Sat – Chit – Ananda (10). The nation lives on while others, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, have faded and waned out of existence.
India’s ‘centreship’ is not an enviable position; it means that all the problems our civilization has inherited from the last Age of Pisces (234 BCE – 1926 CE) which have been drawn into this destined centre must now be dealt with. India found herself, at the start of the new Aquarian Age (1926), shackled with many unresolved problems, the same ones that are creating havoc across the globe today, arising, it must be noted, from the divisiveness caused by religions. And because she is the Earth’s true cosmological centre what is being worked out in her grand plan, what transpires and unfolds in her consciousness, can affect the whole planet (11). India is rooted in the Sanatana Dharma and therefore ‘exclusivism’ of any sort cannot be permitted.
The Line of Ten Evolutionary Avatars means a march forward, with Hinduism providing a firm foundation upholding the progression. Thea assures us that
’Hinduism is one of the rare expressions on Earth of a progressively unfolding cosmic Truth… because its soul is that very Cosmic Truth, it is one with the deepest purpose of the planetary evolution.
Hinduism can therefore be identified as the vahana (vehicle) of the Earth’s own soul, a truth exquisitely conveyed in the ancient Vedic symbol of the white steed, Agni, carrying Usha, the divine Dawn, across the horizon of the Earth’s awakening cosmic Day.’ (12)
The mission of Shri Ram, the 7th Avatar, was fulfilled thousands of years ago, in the 7th Manifestation; the Ayodhya issue has served successfully as a rallying point to awaken dormant energies, calling attention the Line of Ten Avatars, the most vital feature and backbone of the Sanatan Dharma.
But now is the time to focus on what is transpiring today – a turning point has been reached in Hindu civilization, in the world. It is the evolutionary vision of Sri Aurobindo – 9th Evolutionary Avatar, that carries us forward in our march. Thea explains the special ‘tapasya’ that he undertook to anchor the Earth in a new time:
‘…The avatar must take on the full burden of the work he or she comes to do, Unconsciousness of parts of this manifestation, or an unknowing of the outcome of the struggle and its details, are often essential elements for securing the victory. It must be remembered that a fundamental aspect of the avatar’s function is to live the process, to himself be the field, the Kurukshetra of the divine consciousness in evolution. This cannot be a travesty or a make-believe drama. The avatar lives the process in full; for this he accepts the yoke of ignorance placed upon him by the Supreme, for the benefit of the work to be done. This in fact, is his true great work for humanity, his really noble sacrifice. In this way he serves humanity as no other could do.’(13)
May this 150th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s birth serve to revitalize the spirit and soul of the Hindu nation. May we hear his call for a ‘new spiritual awakening in India’. Let the residue which has accumulated surrounding the core of Hinduism, for over 2500 years, be cast aside so that the crusts that veil the true 9th evolutionary avatar be dissolved.
References
- The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 5, no. 6, February 1991
- The Gnostic Circle, 4th, 2020, p. 72. Thea explains that a Kaliyuga is a measure of time, not in years as usually accepted, but as seconds of celestial longitude. A Kaliyuga is made up of four zodiacal signs. A Kaliyuga is not a period of darkness; in fact, the Satya Yuga started in the Age of Leo, 12, 960 years ago, and will be complete in 16 signs of the Zodiac.
- Ibid, p. 58
- Kashmir and the Convergence of Time, Space and Destiny, 2004. Thea adds: ‘Note that the same symbols were used by this Christian visionary (The Revelation, also called The Apocalypse of St. John, (Chapter 12, 7 ) many centuries after the Vedic Age…around 70 AD: “And the first beast was like a lion and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”’
- The Future Realisation, An Exhibition connecting the Supramental Gnosis of the Mother to the Vedic Age, Guidebook, New Delhi, 2015
- See Aeon Centre of Cosmology website: aeoncentre.com for references to the cosmology of Thea’s New Way
- The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 6, no. 4, October 1991
- The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 5, no. 6, op cit
- The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 6, no. 3, August, 1991
- The Burden of a Destiny, 2001
- On the Nature of Centreship, 2013
- The Vishaal Newsletter, Volume 5, no. 6, op cit
- The New Way, Volume 3, Ch. 9, the Map of Evolution, p. 111
This paper is submitted by Aeon Centre of Cosmology (ACC), at Skambha (the Cosmic Pillar), 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. (see www.aeoncentre.com) Patricia Heidt PhD. Director, 15th August 2022
23 SEPTEMBER 2022 - AUTUMN EQUINOX (MAHA VISHUVA)
We are happy to announce
Shri Mukund Ainapure, a member of The Movement for the Restoration of Vedic Wisdom, has accepted the position of Convenor. As well as being an active member of this Movement for the last two years, he has published ebooks on the Rig Veda as interpreted by Sri Aurobindo and made them available to the public at free download (www.auro-ebooks.com).
As the new Convenor he has written the following letter to the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi about adopting a National Calendar for India.
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.
Patricia Heidt , Director of ACC , has also written to the hounourable Prime Minister Modi on this September Equinox.
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).
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)
14 October, 2022
Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji,
Sub.: One India, One Calendar
We have been following your days as you inaugurate the Mahakaleshwar Temple Project in Ujjain. This is a short follow up to our 21 September Equinox letter to tell you we are deeply moved to see you offering darshan and puja within the Temple honouring Lord Shiva.
On this glorious occasion may we also call your attention to something else: not only have you brought attention to this Temple as an ancient centre for devotion to Lord Shiva, but this inauguration highlights the fact that our ancient fathers gave utmost attention to the calculation of time. See attached email by renowned author Amish Tripath who writes that
On the summer solstice, the overhead sun fell directly on the tip of the spire atop the Temple, exactly on the beginning of Dakshinaya as the Sun God began the journey South.
And a very unique feature among the twelve jyotirlingas – the idol of the Makakaleswar Temple is known to be Dakshinamurthi, facing South.
May we not conclude that the Vedic Civilisation which worshipped Lord Shiva was totally governed by the cosmic harmonies of the earth, Uttarayana and Dakshinyana?
May we not conclude that the annual journey (‘sacrifice’) which our ancient civilisation took round the sun was rooted in the ecliptic path supported by the four cardinal pillars of the Earth – the Solstices and Equinoxes?
What has changed?
By the 6th century CE, Varahamira – astrologer and mathematician who made Ujjain his home – corrected the Hindu calendar, writes noted cosmologist Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet/Thea (The Vishaal Newsletter, April 1993). She explains that by this time the Vedic realisation had declined and become a thing of the past. Science separated from the sacred and the calendar used by that ancient civilisation underwent a major change.
Measurements for temple timings shifted out to the constellations. No longer was the annual journey of the nation rooted in the ecliptic path around our Earth, supported by the four cardinal pillars of the Solstices and Equinoxes.
Dear Prime Minister,
We believe the people of the Indian nation need to understand what is at stake now, and take advantage of your vision and your efforts. They need to understand that Temple Timings should follow the Vedic Calendar of our ancient Fathers.
Currently, celebration of Earth’s entry into Cancer (Dakshinayan) and entry into Capricorn/Makar (Uttarayan) are determined by the Constellations, not by the Tropical Zodiac. They are celebrated 23 days late!
The Solstices have to be set right, and brought into harmony with a Calendar based on the Tropical Zodiac, not a Constellational Zodiac.
I am hopeful you will support our suggestion for a National Calendar (a Vedic Calendar); for a calendar that functions as it did for our ancient fathers – one that shaped their lives and revealed the deep union they had with the Earth. https://www.aeoncentre.com/the-earth-calendar-introduction-terms-definitions/
Our best regards,
Patricia Heidt, PhD, Director, Aeon Centre of Cosmology
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)