Example Chart (1969, Leo Lagna) — 8th+12th for Mystical Experience vs Just Sadhana, Cancer Drig Dasha Guru Arrival (from 2008) & Libra Dasha Deep Realizations (2015-22)

Choosing the Daśā — Test It on Past Events

Short answers given while the projector was being set up.

• A tangible event such as an accident: look at the 6th and 8th, and at A6 and A8. For a tangible event A6 and A8 are more important than the 6th and 8th houses.
• Moon or lagna as the seed of the nakshatra daśā: count the planets in the quadrants from each. They can tie even when the Moon is not in lagna. "In general, give priority to Moon." Take something else only when it is considerably stronger than the Moon, not mildly stronger.
• Do not pick the daśā by the future you would like to see. When we like somebody we want good results for him. Look at past events — he got the job at this time, he married at this time. If the Moon-based daśā does not make much sense and the lagna-based one, or the one from the Utpanna nakshatra, makes more sense, pick that.

"I am giving you some thumb rules to see who is stronger, but I myself don't have full faith in it. … I do not think anybody knows any thumb rules that work reliably. So the bottom line is, the proof of the pudding is in eating it. So look at some events, see if it makes sense. There is no substitute."

• The same goes for the conditional daśās. He uses them when their condition applies, but always checks against events. Sometimes a daśā that should apply, and that worked well in many other charts, does not work well in this one — "so I go back to the uncertainty."
• Several daśās may work in one chart. See which explains the known past better, pick that daśā, "and then have faith in it, and then predict confidently."

Example Chart — Mysticism and the Coming of a Guru

A student brings the chart of a woman born March 23, 1969, 3:33 PM, in Massachusetts. She is interested in religion and philosophy and is looking for a guru. She works as a technical manager in a financial company. No dated events were available for rectification.

The chart: Leo lagna, 12°. Sun and Rahu in Pisces (8th). Jupiter and Ketu in Virgo (2nd). Moon in Taurus (10th). Mars in Scorpio (4th). Mercury in Aquarius (7th). Venus and Saturn in Aries (9th).

What the rāśi chart shows at first sight

• "Without going into Viṁśāṁśa, the moment I saw the rāśi chart": the 8th lord Jupiter is in the 2nd house with Ketu, the mokṣa-kāraka.
• The lagna lord Sun is in the 8th house with Rahu, the kāraka of occult things, and Jupiter and Ketu aspect him from the 2nd (the 7th-house graha dṛṣṭi, Virgo to Pisces).
• The 2nd–8th axis is fortified. The 8th house is very strong.

"The lagna lord is actually in the 8th house aspected by 8th lord and Rahu, the karaka of occult things. So 2nd and 8th axis is quite fortified. So this is a chart which shows interest in mysticism."

The lagna sits on a divisional border

• 12° of Leo is the border between two Daśāṁśas and between two Viṁśāṁśas. The time as given makes the D-10 lagna Sagittarius and the D-20 lagna Leo.
• The native herself had moved the time 2 seconds earlier. That makes the D-10 lagna Scorpio and the D-20 lagna Cancer. The rāśi lagna stays Leo.
• With no events, the teacher tests the D-10 on her work:

• The ārūḍha lagna may show bossing people around, but that does not make one a manager; even an engineer can do that.
• Verdict: "Her rectification may indeed be correct." A dated career event — first job, a promotion — would settle it.
• The D-20 follows the same change. With Leo rising in D-20, Jupiter is the 8th lord: an anxiety to do something for spiritual progress. With Cancer rising, Jupiter is the 6th lord in the 6th (Harṣa yoga) and also the 9th lord: in his daśā the pull is toward religion itself — learning one, practising one — and toward finding a teacher, not only toward mysticism. Both fit; Cancer is no problem.
• Because the D-20 lagna is not certain, the rest of the reading is done on the rāśi chart alone.

Vimśottarī: Jupiter daśā

• None of the conditional nakshatra daśās applies, so plain Vimśottarī is used.
• She is in Jupiter daśā. Jupiter–Ketu finished recently — it must have stirred a strong inner pull toward the occult, "impulses from previous lives". That is why she is now talking of finding a guru.
• Jupiter–Venus is running. Venus is the 9th lord counted from Jupiter and is in the 9th house from lagna. Interest in dharma, religion and a guru fits. Venus may give a guru.
• Jupiter–Sun is still to come. The Sun is the lagna lord in the 8th, and Jupiter is the 8th lord. "Lagna lord when he is in the 8th house, he gives excellent spirituality." Sun's antardaśā is more conducive than the present one: "Venus may give a guru, but Sun will give real sādhana and progress from it."

Dṛg daśā: Cancer daśā (from March 2008, 7 years)

He confirms with Dṛg daśā, which he calls more reliable for spiritual matters. In Dṛg daśā the daśā sign is the progressed 9th house, so the progressed lagna is the 5th from it.

• Cancer daśā began in March 2008. Progressed lagna: Scorpio.
• Mars, the lagna lord, is in that lagna. Lagna is the seed and it is strong, with the energy of Mars. Her spiritual life is invigorated for these 7 years.
• Will a guru come? The rule he had given earlier: for a guru to come, the bhrātṛ-kāraka or the 9th lord must be associated with lagna.
  • The 9th lord from Scorpio is the Moon. He is exalted in Taurus, the 7th house of interaction, and aspects the lagna.
  • Mars is the bhrātṛ-kāraka, and he is in the lagna.
  • "Bhrātṛ-kāraka is in lagna and 9th lord is aspecting lagna. This is a perfect case. So this daśā is the daśā of arrival of guru."
• Will there be experience in this daśā? From Scorpio, Jupiter and Ketu are in the 11th and Sun (the 10th lord) and Rahu in the 5th. The 5th–11th axis is strong, and the 5th is upāsana, bhakti and mantra. A good period for becoming a devotee of some deity and repeating a mantra.
• But experience comes from the 8th, and from Scorpio the 8th is not fortified: its lord Mercury is in the 4th. "Nothing really happening."

Dṛg daśā: Libra daśā (2015–2022)

• Progressed lagna: Aquarius.
• The 8th lord Mercury is in lagna. Indicator number one.
• The 7th lord Sun is with the lagna lord Rahu, in the 2nd. A māraka combination.
• The 2nd lord Jupiter is in the 8th. Another māraka combination.
• All of it on the 2nd–8th axis, which becomes very powerful. "So this shows death-like experiences. So this is actually when some level of realization is very likely."

"I will be surprised if 2022 passes without some kind of mysterious mystic experiences for this lady."

• "I am very confident that after 2015 she will start experiencing peace."

Experience needs the 8th and the 12th

"By the way, you shouldn't say this to everybody."

• Those whose natal chart does not promise it will not experience the Self to any level in this life. They will only do sādhana and reap its fruit in some other life.
• Experience needs very strong 8th and 12th houses, with the influence of Jupiter, of Ketu, of benefics.
• If the 6th is strong or the 9th is strong, you only do sādhana, only rituals. You do not experience anything.

"Very, very strong 8th and 12th are needed for experience. Otherwise there is only sadhana. No experience."

• In this chart the 8th is very strong, and the Libra daśā creates the same influence again. So she will have mystical experiences.

The daśā praveśa charts

A student asks for the daśā praveśa chart (the chart for the moment the daśā begins). Read from the progressed lagna.

Cancer daśā praveśa (2008), from Scorpio:

• Moon and Jupiter flank the lagna — a śubha kartarī, equivalent to Gaja-Kesarī on lagna. The sādhana starts on a good note.
• The 9th house is not strong: the 9th lord is in the 12th. The indications for a guru are not reinforced here.
• The 10th house has Saturn and Ketu. The 4th house is very strong, with Venus, Mercury and Rahu in it, the 4th lord in the 4th. The 4th is the house of direction. "Whether guru comes or not, some direction will definitely come during this period."
• The lagna lord is in the 8th: some sādhana.

Libra daśā praveśa (2015), from Aquarius:

• Mercury, the 8th lord, is in Aquarius again. He could have been in Capricorn, Pisces, Aries or Taurus on that day; he happens to be in lagna again.
• Rahu and Ketu are again on the 2nd–8th axis, reversed. The 7th lord Sun is in the 2nd, aspecting the 8th.
• This repeats what the natal chart shows. "Very likely in 2015 to 2022, she will experience something. So she has to start doing some sādhana."

Which antardaśā of Cancer daśā brings the guru

Each antardaśā sign is treated the same way: the 5th from it is the lagna.

• The first antardaśā, the one running, is good enough.
• Gemini: Libra becomes lagna. No strong 9th. Not likely.
• Taurus: Virgo becomes lagna, with Jupiter and Ketu in it. Forget the bhrātṛ-kāraka and the 9th lord — Jupiter is the natural guru. Jupiter and Ketu in lagna can show a spiritual master coming.
• Aries: not really likely.
• Pisces: Cancer becomes lagna. The 9th house has Sun and Rahu; the 9th lord Jupiter aspects the 9th and aspects the lagna lord Moon. A strong chart, a good chance.
• Taurus and Pisces are the strong possibilities.

Guru or no guru, the period is good. "Guru is there to give guidance. If you can get guidance from inside, you don't really need a guru." That guidance too comes from some guru; he can guide without your knowing it.

Sādhana and the deity

"People with such strong … 8th house, that Jupiter–Ketu influence, they are actually capable of meditating well. Other people, they are only capable of reading stotras, reading prayers."

• The instruction: sit with the back straight, upright but not tense, head straight. Close the eyes — "that is very important". Focus the mind as much as possible; do not panic when it wanders. Repeat a mantra every day.
• Iṣṭa devatā by the usual method: the ātma-kāraka is Mercury. The 12th from him in the navāṁśa is Aries, holding Saturn and Venus; its lord is Mars. Venus can show Lakṣmī and Saturn Viṣṇu (Saturn also shows Kālī, Mahākāla and other deities; Mars can show fierce deities). The teacher is not comfortable suggesting it.
• "We don't have to always guide somebody towards iṣṭa devatā. And we may be misjudging iṣṭa devatā. Our knowledge is very imperfect." Mokṣa may come through Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, but she may not be ready for that yet.
• What he suggests instead, from the rāśi 8th house: the 8th holds Sun and Rahu; for Sun with Rahu, Śiva is indicated. Jupiter is the 8th lord and aspects it. Sun and Jupiter dominate her 8th house, her experience — that is Śiva. She is also running the daśā of the 8th lord Jupiter.
• She should read about Śiva and keep a picture: Śiva as the greatest ascetic, as the Parama Guru, Dakṣiṇāmūrti, who has no passion and has overcome all weaknesses.
• Mantra: Om Namaḥ Śivāya is enough. To remove māyā, add the māyā bīja: Om Hrīṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

"Which mantra you are doing is secondary. Whether you are doing that mantra and whether you are actually repeating that with the focus is the most important thing."

• "This is somebody who will achieve something in this life."
• The advice: mantra upāsana for the next 7 years. "She will definitely achieve after 7 years."

The year's Tithi Praveśa chart: when to pass on the mantra

He checks what she is running in the annual chart for 2008–09, to see why the guidance came now.

• Tithi Praveśa lagna is Virgo. Mercury (21° Pisces) and Venus (12° Pisces) are together in the 7th house of interaction: the lagna lord with the exalted 9th lord, and with them the Sun, the 12th lord of mokṣa.
• A5, the mantra pada, is in the same sign.
• Mercury–Venus antardaśā of the annual daśā runs September 6 to 17, then Mercury–Sun to about September 20. The class read her chart and chose her mantra inside that window.
• He asks the student to convey the mantra to her before September 17 — or at the latest before the 20th, since the Sun is also fine.