How Are You Holding Up During the Lockdown?

Are you feeling anxious or isolated during the Coronavirus lockdown, or are you using this extraordinary time to focus on your creative projects and spiritual development? First of all, it’s okay to feel whatever you’re feeling; we’re each on a unique path, experiencing exactly what we need at any given time, so there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to feel—now or ever.

Your life has been shaken up on some level, and it’s going to take time to find a more balanced new “normal.” But you can take advantage of these unusual circumstances to uproot the fear and sense of disconnection that may be coming up to the surface, by learning to completely surrender to life.

I’ve explored some of this already (see How To Step Out of the Collective Fear and Following Up With the Coronavirus Pandemic), so now I’d like to share a brief story from the Ramayana, one of the great epics of India symbolizing our trials and tribulations on the journey to spiritual liberation, about Lord Hanuman, the god-monkey archetype of devotion and service.

According to Vedic astrology, Saturn (or Shani) visits every individual at least once for a period of seven-and-a-half years, causing many challenges and changes aimed to resolve past karma. This is not the well-known Saturn Return, and I don’t know of a concept in Western astrology similar to this sade sati (or shani sade), when Saturn transits three specific astrological houses while also affecting other aspects of the individual chart.

Anyway, as fate would have it, the time for Hanuman’s sade sati came when he was busy building a bridge over the ocean to help his beloved Lord Rama and his army cross over to rescue Rama’s wife, Sita, who had been abducted by the powerful Ravana—the ego archetype. Hanuman first requested Saturn to postpone his visit till he had successfully accomplished his mission, but Saturn was adamant, so Hanuman had to accept the will of nature.

But then he suggested Shani to sit on his head, since his hands were engaged in serving Rama and his legs were too short for the planet. Saturn agreed and settled on Hanuman’s head so the mighty god-monkey could continue with his work, piling heavy boulders on his head and then carrying them to the construction site. After a while, Saturn was overwhelmed with the load of stones and decided to climb down.

Hanuman insisted he should complete his mandatory seven-and-a-half years, but Saturn contended he already had, because the seven-and-a-half minutes he stayed on Hanuman’s head felt like seven-and-a-half years! For this reason, it is believed that worshiping Hanuman counters, among many other difficulties, the ill-effects of Saturn. But the real significance here is understanding the power of devotion and service in your life.

I wanted to share this story to illustrate that if you keep a pure, single-pointed mind focused on your goals as a service to the Divine within, you can eliminate any obstacles or challenges on your path. In practical terms, this means staying focused on your projects and responsibilities without neglecting your spiritual practices, rather than letting fear distract or paralyze you during uncertain or confusing times.

After all, your life is your own mental movie, and although you cannot avoid the difficulties resulting from the negative karma of previous actions, both individual and collective, you can always choose to resolve what your life-movie is pointing at, to shift your experience and create a better future. So contact me today to embark on an individualized journey of self-exploration and energy management to develop greater emotional and spiritual freedom, and awaken to Divine Consciousness within and around you!

© 2020 Yol Swan. All rights reserved.