The 1990s. It’s strange for an enlightened teacher to talk about a time period since we don’t believe in time or space, as most people know it. We live in a continuum of perfect attention. Yet there is time and space in a relative plane. And there’s astrology.
Astrology is the science of time and space. It is the science of karma. It has to do with places in which you locate your body, and energy fields that affect you. What we seek to do is push all energy fields away from our bodies so that we can perceive life perfectly and clearly. Astrology is an indicator of karma. You’re born in a certain geographic place, in a certain dimension. At the moment of your birth, a variety of energies are present and they lock at the moment of birth for you. From that moment on, there are only the various choices one can make from that location, from those energies, with whatever you enter an incarnation with, which is karma—with the knowledge you have, with the knowledge you don’t have, with the tendencies you have and the tendencies you don’t have.
Astrology offers us the possibilities. It simply shows us where we came in, what we came in with, what we don’t have, and the likely possibilities, the karmic permutations according to the time/space continuum of our entry or at any given moment in our life vis-a-vis location. The earth is also revealed through astrology. It has its own little horoscope, you might say. And the planet Earth is going through a series of major transits in the 1990s, meaning not the earth as a place per se but the people on the earth.
The 1990s will be a determining period of time for another cycle. If humanity during this time chooses to throw away a lot of the mirages and illusions it’s fooled itself with, then we will enter a very bright and golden age after 2000. It won’t all happen in one day, but a trend will be started and it will be an upward trend in terms of the evolution of consciousness. If, on the other hand, during this period of time there’s a descent in consciousness, that movement will be locked and we will enter into a much darker age than the age we are currently in. It is not decided.
Of course, as most prophets and mystics have said, there is a very large chance of a major cataclysm of some type, particularly in the area of 1997, 1998 or 1999. It really runs from 1997 to 2003. There’s a karmic flaw or variation there. There could be a giant cataclysm in which all life as we know it on the planet Earth is changed in some way. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s there; it’s a possibility, and many people perceive it and they’re correct. Some say there’s going to be nuclear war; there’s no certainty of anything. Life isn’t that certain. What we’re dealing with are karmic variations, possibilities of cause and effect that are working themselves out on a global scale. It’s not that certain. That’s what makes life exciting—that it’s not that certain.
Self-discovery teaches us to push past karmic possibilities in cause and effect and create entirely new realities that are not based upon anything that’s ever happened before. That’s its purpose. The purpose of astrology is to show us our patterns, to show us our life, and then give us a way to push through everything that’s supposed to happen, to skip it and move on to something more interesting. But in order to do that, we have to know who we are and where we are and what the possibilities are from which we can pick. Most people don’t know that.
The 1990s are, of course, a time of continued population growth on the planet Earth. The consequences are devastating, needless to say. The earth is too crowded already in terms of aura, and it’s growing at a rate of 20 percent a decade. Every 20-percentile growth every decade, of course, is a much larger jump than the previous decade. So the earth, by the year 2000, will be a very crowded place, if you think it’s crowded already.
But the most important thing about the 1990s is that it’s a time of tremendous freedom. People will look back upon this time as a very free time. We’ve become used to forgetting about hope. We think that hope doesn’t exist; everything is worked out against us. That’s the view of the average adult. Not true. Please cast your eyes, as we’re starting the 1990s, to Europe. Look at Czechoslovakia, which ushered in a new government today, the first democratic-based government in many years. No one could anticipate that this would happen. The people have had a bloodless revolution. They have chosen freedom as opposed to communist oppression. The 1990s have begun with some very, very positive signs in Eastern Europe. It’s a time when decisions will be made which will last for thousands and thousands of years.
I suppose that’s true at any time, but not like this. The 1990s for the planet Earth people are like a Saturn return. We’re born when Saturn is in a certain position; Saturn signifies karma. We follow a karmic progression for 29 years, till Saturn returns to its original place. The same progression can continue, but at 29 there’s an optimum moment, there’s a window that opens whereby we can totally change our life. That can be done if you have enough personal power and vision and perseverance and luck, at any time. But at 29 it’s very easy. It’s very hard for people who do not meditate, who do not practice intermediate self-discovery or advanced self-discovery to change. But at 29 something happens to everybody.
So let’s say the earth is about to be 29 during the 1990s. We have returned to a certain position. It’s a position of freedom. South Africa is poised on the verge of the potential end of apartheid, probably this year. Countries in Eastern Europe that no one would ever have considered would become free, are about to become free. The Berlin Wall has crumbled as we approach 1990. And this is just the beginning of the 90s.
Now, there’s exterior oppression. There’s a degradation of the environment. But the real issue is inner oppression and the degradation of one’s inner environment. The 1990s is a time when it’s very easy to shift your life and your consciousness around. Everything is extremely mutable, changeable. It’s not always so easy. It’s a wonderful time to practice yoga. It’s a wonderful time to take patterns that have existed for countless lifetimes and change them finally. It’s not always so easy. It’s a Saturn return. It’s a very, very hopeful time. It is perhaps the most hopeful time that the earth has had in millennia. Things that would be impossible to do become relatively easy. But if we don’t try them, assuming that they will still be impossible, nothing will change.
The spirit seeks the spirit. Matter seeks matter. This is a time of tremendous potential for spiritual development and growth for individuals on the planet Earth. The radiances of energy are very positive for the 1990s. Those radiances are always there, but they’re hard to access, they’re hard to get to.
Personally, this is a very important time for me because as an enlightened teacher, it’s time for me to assert my aura fully, as it is for everyone who’s involved with enlightenment. Because this is the time when we can do the most good, because things are mutable. If we assert our auras as fully as we can, we maximize the possibility for individuals to choose personal growth as opposed to stagnation.
This will be, for all people who teach enlightenment or engage in any part of the practice, their most active period. It’s a time of work; it’s a time of adventure. After 2000, it matters, but not as much. The karmas will be locked. They can still be changed on a case-by-case basis, but on a world basis, it’s very hard to do. This is perhaps the most wonderful time that will ever be. And you’re living in it. It’s a time of hope, it’s a time of adventure and it’s a time of testing, of challenge. It’s a time to change.
All this can be said of any given moment and is always talked of by teachers of the occult arts. Yet at this particular time, in this particular interdimensional configuration, things are possible that are very difficult, if not impossible, for a planet at this time in its evolution. It’s a wonderful time. It’s a time of awakening, potentially. Potentially.
So will the great wall that divides you fall? Have you hung onto your beliefs that you had so long ago, and can you bring your optimism up again? Can you end apartheid inside yourself? Can you throw off the totalitarian suppression of forces and powers that have held you down for so long? It’s time. If you’re going to do it, this is the time. It’s always there to do. But after the year 2000, it will be much more complicated. On a case-by-case basis it can be done, but it’s much more complicated. I don’t envy the task of people who begin their self-discovery after 2000. But if they practice the methods that have proven true throughout the ages, it will work for them. It will just be hard, but worth it, always.
There’s an ease and a grace to the next ten years that’s beyond comprehension. But if you don’t press the door marked “exit,” it doesn’t open. If you’ve pressed it many times and it hasn’t opened, you might assume that to press it again would be a waste of your time and energy. This time if you press it, it will probably open. If it doesn’t, get dynamite. (Audience laughs.)
The 1990s is the most important time period to come along in human history in millennia. What will happen, no one knows. That’s what makes it exciting. On a global basis, tremendous changes are already taking place, just as we move into the aura of the 90s. The 90s are an eclipse. Let’s assume there’s a kind of heaviness, a darkness that seems to have been pervading this planet for a long time. But an eclipse of a reverse nature is happening. We’re eclipsing the darkness, and the eclipse is just beginning. It reaches totality around ‘97. Then it really ends around 2000, 2003. It moves faster as it goes on; it’s not an even-paced eclipse. But totality is around 1997, then it disappears fast. It’s done by 2000. It fades a little bit to 2003, there’s a little residual activity, but we’re in it already.
Today is the 10th of December and it’s begun. Already the world is changing in ways that no one could have anticipated—changing towards freedom. Oppressive leaders are being thrown off. The Soviet Union may not be communist for very long. If it falls, all that’s really left is China, and already there have been powerful demonstrations that people there want to be free.
All this is just the mirror of the human spirit. To choose the light or to choose other things is always the question. So it’s a time of great self-examination, a time of great adventure and a time of hope. Yes, it’s a dark age, but there’s a ten-year intermission. Certain things are still difficult—the earth is crowded, there’s a lot of dark aura, there are a lot of heavy karmic patterns—but there’s an era of hope and it’s already begun.
The most important thing one can do during this time—if someone were to say, “Well, Rama, what can I do during this period of time to maximize the possibilities of feeling good, of finally clearing it all away,” I would say, just to be truthful with yourself. To be honest with yourself.
There’s no point in getting angry with anyone else. It changes nothing. There’s no point in getting frustrated at yourself. Just be truthful. Determine where you are and where you wish to be. Then use all of your self-effort to make that happen, following the guiding principles of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and seekers of the dharma, of enlightenment. Believe in yourself, step one. Believe in the order, step two. Believe in the teachings, step three.
Self-discovery works. Countless individuals and countless universes have practiced it and achieved enlightenment, or just gone into higher states of knowledge. If you follow the principles, they’re true.
The order of self-discovery—those who practice—deserve your respect. If you respect them, you respect yourself. It’s easy to be critical, but it does no good, that kind of critical. What’s important is to be supportive of all who practice. Anyone on any level, even if they don’t call it self-discovery, who is seeking to awaken to their own potentials and possibilities, to the inner freedom, deserves your respect and support. It doesn’t matter what it’s called or even if it’s called nothing. The recognition of the waking of the spirit deserves your respect. If you respect it in others, you’ll respect it in yourself.
Believe in yourself, always. You have no idea what you’re capable of. You haven’t tried. Try. You’ll be surprised, very pleasantly.
We’re entering an age of hope and of brightness. Certainly, in every bright sky there are a few dark clouds, otherwise there’d be no definition, no perspective. But inwardly there’s a high gradient aura in which all the karmas are loosening. It’s a time of right belief and if you follow that belief, you won’t be disappointed.
It’s a time then to forget everything that we’ve been distracted by and get back to business. It’s a time to remember who we really are, what really empowers us and what gets in our way, and go about the business of enlightenment, individually and collectively. It’s a time to return to old sources that are still good, that perhaps we’ve forgotten about. Or the wells that seemed to dry up—they’re still there, they’re still good.
Return to the sources of your renewal and define new sources. Realize things that we’ve engaged in—practices, states of mind, activities, methods that do nothing for us that we cling to out of desperation, out of apparent necessity, out of boredom, out of routine—and just blow them away. It’s time to be truthful with yourself and say, “Wait a minute, who am I kidding?”
The strongest source is meditation. To meditate with full effort produces infinity, freedom. Next are the tasks and next is just to enjoy beauty. But it’s a time of martial combat, of martial arts; it’s a time of battle. Oppressors don’t just go away, you make them go away—externally or internally.
Passive resistance is good in some circumstances; in other circumstances active resistance is the only way. You don’t have to choose one or the other—you can choose both. To achieve a revolution you have to apply whatever method is applicable in any given situation, otherwise there’s no revolution. The path of least resistance is the best. Passive resistance is fine if it works. If it doesn’t, active resistance must be considered.
It’s interesting, the Dalai Lama, in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, said that he’s been trying passive resistance for Tibet, but he’s beginning to consider the possibility that something else may be required to remove the Chinese. I salute him for being able to step outside of his own convictions in the eye of reality. Step outside of your own convictions and deal with reality instead. Just see what is necessary to clear your mind, purify your being and return to a state of perpetual innocence—a childlike state of hope and belief and the stillness of the sage, the vastness of nirvana.
This is the best time. There will not be a better time. There’s always a better place to get to inside. But in terms of the ease in this particular universe, it will never be easier than now. Unless of course, humanity chooses wisely and the entire age begins to shift and break the downward pattern that it’s in and starts up. Then of course, well, this is just the beginning of something that will get better and better. Otherwise it just becomes more difficult.
Personal growth always gets better and better, but it’s more difficult in an environment, in an aura such as the world has had of hate, fear, negativity and the complete denial of the spirit. Or the rationalizing of it and the packaging of it to the point where it has no power—the local church, the local synagogue, the local guru who says nothing, means nothing and accomplishes nothing.
So it’s an exciting time. It’s a time of battle. Not celebration yet. Battle. Battle and journeys and teaching and learning. But it’s an open time. Who could ask for more?