To become a “proficient” astrologer, you don’t need to be spiritually advanced. But that is just proficiency. It means you are good and can do your job ably. You can study the charts and all their permutations and interpretations, memorize the signs and their ascendants, and have all kinds of book knowledge.
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But to be an inspired and excellent astrologer, you must be spiritually advanced. Astrology is only one component of a complex system. It includes past lives (where Saturn was on your natal chart in this lifetime), your aura, your energy fields, and so much more. Therefore, to be a truly gifted astrologer, you need to have a psychic gift that turns it into an art, even more than a science.

Yes, enlightenment is the answer for external happiness. This is because internal and external happiness are linked. If you are not happy within, at peace with yourself and the universe, no matter where you are or what you are doing, you will not feel any kind of lasting joy.

You may be on the beach in Hawaii, sipping a Mai Tai under a clear, bright blue sky. The ocean is majestic with its glittering barrel waves. But if you think you are your ego mind and its problem-generating apparatus, you will quickly descend into a hellish state. Maybe you will compare your body to someone else’s on the beach and start the criticism process of them or yourself.

Or maybe you will think of all the work you left undone at home. And that reminds you of the difficult people you work with. Then you might feel dread because your beautiful vacation will come to an end. You will have to pay for it. It reminds you of other financial worries. On and on it goes, yackety yack.
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Enlightened people know that they are not this non-stop commentator in their heads. They identify themselves with something greater and infallible. They know they are The Eternal Soul and not this finite mind that thinks it is protecting us by generating fear, even when we are relaxing on the beach. Momentary thrills and temporary kicks are possible without enlightenment. But for lasting joy, underneath all the turbulence on the surface of life, enlightenment is a must.

If we go by appearances, it may not be easy to know if a person is enlightened. Many enlightened people have seen the light, possess spiritual understanding, and live within their souls on a continuous basis. But they go about their lives in an unassuming way and don’t make a fanfare of their grasp of the non-physical universe.

If we go by who touches us deep within and we feel at peace with this person because they have an aura about them that we cannot see with the eyes, then we are on a surer footing as to who is enlightened or not. It is not about what they say. Sri Ramana Maharshi taught all his disciples in total silence for many years. Then he broke his silence because he felt that was more effective at the time. His words were infused with the holiness he held within his heart. Those who were and are receptive to it felt and feel it today.

It isn’t even about what they do. Rajneesh, or Osho, was a nitrous oxide addicted sage whose behavior and apparent greed for Rolls Royces did not present an admirable picture. He descended into vindictive language and actions and obviously loved being worshipped by his followers. Yet within all this chaos, I could detect an enlightened man at one time. His actions did not show it because he let the thrill of being considered God infuse his ego-mind. He even referred to himself as Bhagwan, which means “God.”

One of my favorite enlightened beings is (was) Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. He was a chain smoker who was mostly a cigarette merchant for much of his life. Yet his words resonate within my consciousness and soul as being the Real Deal. I know deeply within that this is an enlightened being. Yet, by his actions, smoking violently as he answers questions, and even losing patience, the average person might not be able to see it. They may judge him and expect an enlightened being to be an immaculate saint.
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Sainthood is not a prerequisite for being an enlightened being. And just putting on saffron robes or chanting and sitting in meditation for hours is also no indication. The enlightened person awakens something within the heart of the receptive person who is ready and actively seeking something beyond the wheel of birth and death. If the soul of the person is not ready or receptive, that person will not be able to discern enlightenment. They then become the victims of the false prophets and power-hungry psychopaths who twist our desire for higher consciousness for their petty ego-gratification.

​It is indeed very difficult to watch people we love who resist healing and continue in their old health-destroying and happiness-avoiding habits. We can offer suggestions but that is about it. It is not up to us to swoop in and make changes for them. It isn’t even up to us to open their hearts. When they are ready their hearts will open. No amount of persuasion or even secret prayer will be effective until they ask for your help.

It is like the old expression: “You can’t rip the skin off the snake.” But when the snake is ready, it sheds its skin easily and naturally. Often people come to their own healing when their back is against the wall and they are down on their knees in desperation. Then they may turn to you for your wisdom and guidance or they may find a spiritual teacher that is in tune with what they require. It is all up to them.
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All of us vibrate at different levels according to where we are on our spiritual path. Our loved ones may be at a different stage in that path. We don’t want them to suffer the way they do. But it is truly only up to them to make the choices that lead towards higher vibrational levels. It won’t work if we try to do it for them. The process is highly individual and well-designed.

The fastest way to finding your soul is to sit in the presence of a guru or an ascended master who is already living in that vibrational field. Instead of trying to do this on your own, be humble enough to accept the pointers of this enlightened being and you will eliminate a lot of trial and error.

Yes, you can leave attachment to all worldly things, too. But it must be done from the consciousness that they are not real and they are not eternal. If you approach this from the point of view that you are buying yourself into heaven, it will not be an effective way. It all must take place in the Now and not be put off to some future event.
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Finding that silence within, unperturbed by the ceaselessly chattering mind, is the path to discovering your soul. There are many paths that lead to this state of Unity. You may even find it by reading the words of an inspired yogi who is speaking from the heart.

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Memory consciousness is not efficient because, simply, we forget a lot of things. It would not be efficient if we retained the memory of every little thing that happened to us, every little thing we thought, and every action and reaction. So we have evolved to retain memories that help us survive. Or, we think they help us survive.

But memory is subject to failure. You might remember what you were doing on 9/11 when the disaster struck but do you remember what you were doing all day on 9/11? I mean every minute of that day and night? Of course, that would be inefficient and your mind would be burdened with useless material.

Do you remember anything at all on 9/1 even of this year? We think we have childhood memories, but how many of them are what our relatives told us about?

Visionary consciousness is not efficient either. Efficiency implies getting things done in the most timely and least costly manner. Visionary consciousness is not interested in getting things done. It sees the perfection in all just the way it is. However, if you want to be a creative force in this world, then visionary consciousness is the way to go.
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Memory is about something that has already happened. Visionary consciousness is about the endless possibilities of all that could ever be. It frees us up to create something new and this kind of growth is the innate pattern of the universe.

Einstein once said,

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

The truth is not something that you finally attain. It is a fluid and not etched in stone. That is why imagination can take you there faster than knowledge. We can all cite examples of something that was “known” by all and ends up being completely false. For centuries most people knew the earth was flat. As people began to circumnavigate the globe, they discovered it was round.

Knowledge helps to bring you to the physical truth about the planet when it is proven in a laboratory or by calculations and deductive reasoning. We found out that the earth was not the center of the universe. The laws of gravity gave us the knowledge behind the fact that we can’t jump off a roof and begin to fly.

We discovered that if we put our hand in a hot flame, we got burned. These are all things that are true about the physical universe. They are the known. They are discovered territory. There is no room for imagination: Will I get burned if I put my hand in the fire? Yes, you know you will get burned. Will I crash to the pavement if I jump off the penthouse roof? No doubt.

But if you want to find out the truth about who you are as a spiritual being, then knowledge of gravity, of your anatomy, of how your brain functions, or how we interact as social species is not enough. Knowledge of human history is not enough. You need the quality of imagination that can envision something that is beyond what your physical senses are presenting.
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Imagination also leads to questions that Einstein used to ask himself, “What if?” What if time is a human invention and is relative to where you are in the universe? He dared to imagine far beyond the fixed laws of Newtonian physics. And because of this, he entered into the inner sanctum that is available to us all, once we break out of what is known and begin to explore the unknown.

When people are on a spiritual path, they sometimes become unreal in their communications with others. There is actually a term for this: “juking.” Juking usually applies to Christians “over spiritualizing” every conversation but it happens across the board with extremely sincere devotees of any religious inclination or discipline such as yoga. They just turn everything they say into a spiritual principle, direction, or cliche.

In my family culture we were not to consider the body to be real or any illness to be true. So if I banged my knee as a child, I might say to my mother, “To the material senses, it seems that I banged my so-called knee.” Then my mother would juke me back with, “Know the Truth about yourself. To the mortal senses it seems that you are in pain but this is an illusion. The Lord shall bear thee up in his hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone (quoting the 91st psalm).”

Meanwhile, I was a little kid that probably just needed a hug and some sympathy. A bandaid wouldn’t have been bad either.

People can show a great deal of ego when they over spiritualize. It is a game of spiritual one-upmanship. They can be so much holier than thou because they don’t let any “erroneous” expressions pass their lips. For example, a person just discovered that time is relative (and of course, we know that this is true but we don’t need to bash someone over the head with it). Someone asks them, “What time is it?” They reply, “Time, what is time? Do you mean earthly time, celestial time, atomic time? Do you know that time isn’t even real in the World of the Spirit?”

Meanwhile, the person would have been happy with, “It’s 9 o’clock.”
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Overly-zealous religious people use over spiritualization as a way of proving how spiritual they are to the outside world and to themselves. But often, it can have the opposite effect. Answering every question with a cliche, such as, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” shows insensitivity rather than sympathy. They have replaced the feelings of their heart with ready-made formulas that they think will make them look very accomplished but shows them to be pompous and robotic.

Trying not to be self-conscious won’t work because it is not about effort. It is about understanding who you really are.

If you think you are this constant stream of commentary and judgment going on in your head, then of course you will be anxious and put your health at risk. This mechanism has evolved for our survival and it is not geared to our happiness or peace. It goes haywire in most people and ensure that their entire lives will be full of struggle to preserve the little miserable “me.”
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You need to get in touch with your Soul: The part of you that is eternal and above the non-stop fearful projections of this survival-mind. Find a spiritual teacher who appeals to you. He or she will point you in the direction of discovering your peaceful Higher Self. You don’t need to go it alone.

Consciousness is all around us, in every life form, including fetuses. Studies have shown that they are responsive to music, emotional states of the mother, and vocal intonations while in the womb. This consciousness continues to grow from within, in healthy fetuses. It is an increasing awareness of inner and outer states of being—such as who you are as a person.

But consciousness is not something like air. It is not external to anything. You cannot breath in particles of consciousness. And it doesn’t wait around until someone discovers it. It is something that stirs within you.

Different beings are at different levels of consciousness. Most exist at the survival level. Others go beyond and explore the vast reaches of expanded awareness, beyond sense perceptions. The are impelled by something within—consciousness’s own propulsion towards growth. Yet they still are not reaching outside the stillness of their own being to grasp at particles of consciousness waiting to be absorbed.