CHAPTER ONE:

THE EXOTERIC AND ESOTERIC PATHWAYS

EDWARD TARABILDA: I welcome all of you who have chosen to take part in this forum through the Internet. I assume you have received the introduction to the book we will be creating, "The Spiritual Labyrinth: Alternative Roadmaps to Reality".

Our discussion will make up the various chapters of the book. So all of you are in a real sense co-authors of this book.

A SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST (see Appendix A): With you as both moderator and sole judge of what subjects will be discussed, I suppose!

EDWARD TARABILDA: Isn't that okay? I thought we all agreed that the subject matter of our forum was not only appropriate, but of vital importance for today's spiritual seekers.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I distrust a moderator who claims special astrological insight, and then claims this insight is a focal point for all knowledge. I've read enough books in this field to know that astrological prediction isn't worth the paper it is written on; much less that it serves as an organizing principle for all knowledge.

A CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST (see Appendix A): I don't often agree with this materialist, but on this one issue I totally agree. The Bible warns us against dabbling in any of the occult arts, particularly astrology.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Do you also agree with the materialist that astrology is a worthless science, or is it just a religious issue for you?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Only God can accurately predict what will happen to human beings, although Satan can certainly delude us from time to time through these occult arts.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: What does that mean?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: I don't trust astrological prediction either.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Neither do I. I have found both Eastern and Western forms of astrology to be misguided. They are incapable of giving exact, correct advice in any of the eight fields of living.

A TM © MEDITATOR (see Appendix A): I'm surprised to hear you say that. Vedic Astrology is an exact science. My great teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is revising all of Vedic knowledge including Jyotish (Vedic Astrology). Maharishi Jyotish is anything but misguided. It is the true and correct practice of a very ancient science. And I've never heard him talk of eight fields of living when discussing Jyotish; this must be some quirk of your own.

EDWARD TARABILDA: The eight fields of living define the precise and complete parameters of a true astrological science. Do you think your guru is the final word on all subjects?

TM MEDITATOR: I didn't say that.

A YOGANANDA DISCIPLE (see Appendix A): What Ayanamsha does Maharishi recommend?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Ayanamsha?

YOGANANDA DISCIPLE: Ayanamsha is a Sanskrit term referring to the astronomical calculations for determining star positions in the sidereal zodiac. The tropical zodiac is based on the four seasons -- Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. In the tropical zodiac the Sun enters the first degree of Aries on April 21, the first day of Spring. In the sidereal zodiac, which is based on the constellations of the fixed stars in the zodiac, the sidereal position of the Sun is always some distance behind its tropical position. This lag is due to the precession of the equinoxes and to nutation. These are technical terms in astronomy which you can study for yourself, if interested.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: I don't accept any of it, but I am curious about how many degrees difference there would be between planetary positions in the two zodiacs at any given time.

YOGANANDA DISCIPLE: There are different schools of thought. Yogananda's teacher, Shri Yukteswar, was not only a great sage, but also an adept who understood deeply the various occult foundations of astrology. He has told us the correct ayanamsha and I have no doubt that this is the true one. It is slightly less than the Lahiri Ayanamsha, the one most commonly accepted in India.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: You haven't answered me in a way I can understand. Practically speaking, what is the difference in the two zodiacs?

TM MEDITATOR: I will answer you, even though I don't practice Vedic astrology; I have studied the subject quite extensively. If the planet known as the Sun is in the tenth degree of Taurus in the tropical zodiac when you are born, then in the sidereal zodiac it would be somewhere in the sign of Aries, the sign preceding Taurus. The same holds true for any other star position. What year were you born?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Nineteen-forty (1940).

TM MEDITATOR: Then with the Lahiri Ayanamsha we must subtract approximately -- it changes slightly each day -- twenty-three degrees, one minute and twenty-three seconds from the tropical position to get the sidereal one. For example, ff your Sun was at ten degrees Taurus in the tropical system when you were born, then it was at fifteen degrees, fifty-eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds Aries in the sidereal zodiac. Maharishi Jyotish uses the Lahiri ayanamsha.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: You people are really amusing! I have studied this issue of correct ayanamsha, not because I believe it has value, but only to debunk your so-called "science of the stars". There are so many ayanamshas from so many schools of astrology it makes your head swim. I have personally counted over fifty different ones! This is a staggering number when you come to realize that only one can be correct. How can you call something a science when such disputes exist?

And that assumes that the sidereal zodiac is the correct one to use rather than the tropical one.

A WESTERN ASTROLOGER (See Appendix A): I'm glad the scientific materialist brought up this issue. I deeply resent the Vedic Astrologers who suggest that they practice a more correct science than we do. I use the tropical zodiac, as do most western astrologers, and find it's very accurate and useful.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: You admit that some western astrologers use the sidereal zodiac?

WESTERN ASTROLOGER: Yes.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: This is just one more example of how confused this so-called field of knowledge is.

Aren't some astrologers also using a heliocentric rather than geocentric approach to astrology? And doesn't this indicate one more disagreement over fundamental principles?

AN ASTROSOPHIST (See Appendix A): I would like to add a comment. Is that okay?

ED TARABILDA: Of course.

ASTROSOPHIST: My research indicates a genuine need for heliocentic astrology. As you may or may not know, a heliocentric astrology computes the positions of the stars as seen from the sun, whereas geocentic astrology has an earth-based orientation for calculating such positions.

I'm not suggesting that the time-honored geocentric method is not valid; only that the heliocentic method also has a legitimate place in certain occult research.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Do most astrologers agree on your last conclusion?

ASTROSOPHIST: Probably not.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I rest my case! Not only don't astrologers agree on fundamental principles, but they use faith and belief to decide many of the major controversies. The Yogananda disciple is convinced that his guru's guru knows best regarding the issue of ayanamsha; the Maharishi disciple feels his teacher knows best, and probably the same holds true for every other disciple, regardless of the tradition. It's absurdey to call this a science!

And that is not all. In my studies of your various forms of astrology I found out that one of the major aspects of astrology, houses of the zodiac, is subject to the same types of disagreement. The many different house systems add to the confusion.

One astrologer tries to tell you about your life through an analysis of the Sun in Aries in the Tenth House. Another astrologer states that the Sun is actually in Pisces, and is in the Ninth House by his house system. A third astrologer uses heliocentric computations to reach very different results.

You want me to swallow all this nonsense?

TM MEDITATOR: Maharishi teaches that knowledge is structured in consciousness. This principle is particularly applicable to an astrological science which deals with all levels of human functioning, gross and subtle.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: So we who disagree with you aren't subtle? Is that your point?

TM MEDITATOR: Please be fair. I'm merely suggesting that a science dealing with human subjectivity cannot be learned in the same way as a natural science. One must cultivate great sensitivity of awareness.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Through Transcendental Meditation, I suppose! I will resist that idea until the day I die. Stop giving me all this Hindu propaganda! I will pray to God and gain all the subtlety I need, but I will never let my mind come under the influence of the devil by meditating the way you do.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: You are an even worse fanatic than these astrologers. I hope more scientists join this discussion so I don't feel so alone in trying to create more rational approaches to these issues. (Turning to Ed Tarabilda) I blame you for not bringing more focus to these discussions.

ED TARABILDA: I like the way the discussion is going. The group is bringing out many important issues.

A QUANTUM PHYSICIST (See Appendix A): I've been waiting to enter the discussion at just the right point, and I hope this is a good time.

ED TARABILDA: It is. What would you like to contribute to our discussion -- which at this moment is more of a debate?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: I happen to know the scientific materialist who is so resistant to even the possibility of valid astrological knowledge. He is stuck in the old scientific paradigm of Newtonian physics. This paradigm supports a materialistic view of reality, whereas quantum physics shakes our materialistic assumptions about the nature of the world. We can no longer view the world as a billiard table with balls bouncing around in neat cause and effect relationships. Through quantum physics we now see a world which is like one big, pulsating energy field with not only objects affecting one another in the most curious ways, but also with objects being affected by the subject viewing them.

I'm struck by the similarities between ancient descriptions of the universe as found in the Vedic, Buddhist and Taoist texts, and those of modern quantum physics. There are many new books trying to draw on these parallels.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: And there are many quantum physicists who would never jump to the conclusions you do.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Yes, there is a broad spectrum of opinion about the theological, philosophical and psychological implications of this new knowledge, but I've observed one thing -- the scientists who delve deeply into quantum mechanical levels of reality are more open to the ancient traditions of knowledge. They have been humbled by their discoveries and are less judgmental about subjects outside the scope of modern scientific methods. This would include the whole field of astrology.

TM MEDITATOR: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has made great contributions in this area of study. Faculty at his Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa are devoted to showing the relationship of ancient Vedic science to modern western science.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: I question that. They only use science to support their world view. They should do scientific study on prayer to the one God, not on TM.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: You, the Christian fundamentalist, and you, the scientific materialist, are far apart in some of your beliefs, but your mind-sets are similar. Your minds are both rooted in literalism. The same can be said for the TM meditator and the Yogananda disciple.

We seem to be besieged by both eastern and western forms of fundamentalism these days. Does our Socratic moderator have any thoughts on this subject?

EDWARD TARABILDA: There are a number ...

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST (interrupting): How can you lump me with these people? You, the quantum physicist, should know better. We share a belief in the scientific method, even though we may disagree about applying scientific principles to philosophical issues.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: I suspect that there are greater differences between your thinking and mine than you realize.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Such as?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Your dogged acceptance of scientific empiricism and its assumption that valid knowledge only comes through the senses and scientific instruments which extend the range of the senses. It is one thing to suggest that science deals only with knowledge obtained through empirical observation; it is quite another to denigrate all knowledge not so derived.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: What other means of gaining knowledge could you possibly be talking about?

ANTHROPOSOPHIST (See Appendix A): The great Austrian teacher, Rudolph Steiner, suggested that the scientific methods developed in modern times can be used just as rigorously to unfold spiritual science. He wrote many books about this.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I'm familiar with these so-called spiritual teachers who try to hang on the coattails of science by suggesting that their methods are also scientific. Some of the eastern gurus try this approach, and maybe this Austrian fellow did too -- I don't know him -- but there are flaws in such a theory.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: What flaws?

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I've met spiritual seekers who have been instructed to practice specific spiritual exercises. They are told that these exercises will produce scientifically verifiable results. If they complain about lack of results, or negative results, they are told it's just purification. Can we call this science?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Haven't scientists such as Albert Einstein come up with theories that took many years to prove?

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Years, yes, but not lifetimes!

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: You are giving a worst-case scenario. Some individuals could practice these spiritual exercises and achieve great results in just a few years.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I don't hear about them. All I hear about are those poor, deluded souls who blindly follow spiritual teachers and end up brainwashed and penniless.

TM MEDITATOR: Scientific research on the TM technique indicates profound benefits from the practice. Our people are not brainwashed. Many are very great scientists, creative artists, business people, etc.

YOGANANDA DISCIPLE: We haven't felt the need to research our kriya yoga practices in the lab. We know they work effectively.

TM MEDITATOR: There has also been scientific research on the beneficial effects of the TM and TM Sadhu programs, especially when performed as a group practice.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: I've heard of this research. You gather thousands of people in a particular city, and have them meditate together over a certain period of time. Then you measure the effects of this group activity on crime, disease, and the quality of life in that particular area.

Didn't you perform these experiments for a while in Washington, D.C.? I believe it was around 1993.

TM MEDITATOR: Indeed, we did, and the results were remarkable. The quality of life in Washington, D.C. improved dramatically as a result of our efforts there.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: You also have a large number of people practicing these group meditation programs at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, do you not?

TM MEDITATOR: Yes we do.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: And you claim the same wonderful results for the people of Iowa?

TM MEDITATOR: All the scientific research indicates overall improvement in the quality of life anywhere these group programs are conducted.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: So you say. The fact of the matter is that this so-called research is terribly biased. You always try to take credit for all the good events which transpire during your group experiments, while denying any responsibility for the bad ones.

The same holds true for your research on individuals practicing TM. Anything not favorable is ignored.

TM MEDITATOR: That's just not true.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: It is true and I have documents to prove it. You also like to stifle or ignore research which is unfavorable to TM, or which shows other forms of spiritual practice as being equally or more effective.

TM MEDITATOR: You are just being negative. I don't want to talk with you any more on this subject.

SHRI AUROBINDO DISCIPLE (See Appendix A): It is certainly possible that any "true believer" -- to borrow the phrase of Eric Hoffer -- will often try to distort or control scientific research so that his cause or group will appear in the most favorable light, and it is equally true that he feels totally justified in so manipulating things. But we should not think that this applies only to eastern spiritual groups. Christian fundamentalists are notorious for such activity.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: It stems back to that fundamentalist mind-set I was starting to ask about, when the scientific materialist cut me off a while ago. I hate to admit it, but many scientists are as dogmatic and rigid about current scientific opinions as religious fundamentalists are about biblical matters. If a scientific study comes out suggesting some conclusion, they readily accept it. If a later study contradicts the first, then they accept the later study without blinking their eyes. Opinions change within the scientific community, especially in arenas where scientific methodology is less precise, such as sociology, economics, and other social sciences.

Or they use scientific studies to support their own viewpoint at the expense of their opponent. How many times have you watched a debate on television between two scientists, economists, or political candidates where each argues that their statistics are the correct ones, not the opponent's. And how difficult it is for scientists to be emotionally unattached to their views, and capable of adapting to new evidence that contradicts their old beliefs!

Thus we increasingly use scientific opinions in the same way that we use religious beliefs. We wave flags, we preach, we emote, we even start wars over issues stemming from scientific and technological developments and the special interests they create -- I'm thinking of oil interests and the Gulf War.

Not only that, but we tend to take a skeptical attitude towards realms of life not amenable to scrutiny through the scientific method. We try to put people on the defensive for bringing up matters which are not empirically verifiable. Read the history of philosophy if you doubt what I say.

And, in doing this, we fail to see where these biases towards science and the physical, and against the metaphysical are also beliefs, no different from any other form of belief.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I think you are exaggerating how a scientist views life outside of science. I have no objection to people fooling around with metaphysics -- just don't call it science.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: Sensible and supersensible reality are both open to scientific exploration. For me this is not a belief, but my own experience. Rudolph Steiner suggested that materialists are handicapped when they cast off their body and enter the after-life. Without some exposure to spiritual science while in the body, they are like spiritual cripples in the supersensible worlds.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I'll take my chances, thank you!

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: I'm not proselytizing in saying these things. I just feel that these ideas are of great interest to many people.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Indeed they are. Everyone has an interest in the life following death, except for the materialist who holds out no such hope or possibility. And Rudolph Steiner's detailed descriptions of life between death and rebirth, are, to many people's minds, a great contribution to esoteric knowledge.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I've been waiting for you to mention the exoteric and esoteric, since this first chapter is supposed to define these two pathways. I think you've failed to keep us on track, but what can I expect from someone who devotes his life to a so-called science of the stars?

EDWARD TARABILDA: My friend, this whole discussion we've been having on astrology, religion, the scientific method and other related topics is the best way to bring out the distinction between exoteric and esoteric approaches to knowledge. "Exoteric" means the outer pathway of knowledge suitable to the general public. "Esoteric" refers to the specially initiated, or those of a more elite, inner circle of sages and serious seekers.

The term "religion" is most often related to the exoteric pathway; the term "spirituality", to the esoteric pathway.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: But no one thinks of himself as exoteric; he only thinks this of the other guy. So these words merely become terms related to status. "I'm spiritual, but you are merely religious!"

EDWARD TARABILDA: You've made an important point. And yet, when we look at the history of religion and all of its rules and customs, and all the foibles arising from religious ideologies and disputes, and then we compare this history with the lives of truly spiritual people and the powerful edification they have provided us, do not the two terms once again become significant? Is there not a valid distinction between the religious masses and those spiritual leaders who inspire the masses? Are not the former more exoteric and the latter more esoteric in terms of knowledge and experience?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: When we look at the history of science, we see the same distinction. For a long time Newtonian Physics gave us a view of reality which fostered a materialistic approach to life, where only the physical, the surface of life, is seen as real. Quantum physics changed all of that. We now are open to the more esoteric aspects, the hidden aspects of life.

EDWARD TARABILDA: These two terms become meaningful when we realize that knowledge is structured in consciousness, and that knowledge is different in different states of consciousness.

TM MEDITATOR: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has talked in depth about these various states of consciousness. He suggests that there are seven major states of consciousness: sleep state, dream state, waking state, transcendental consciousness, cosmic consciousness, God-consciousness and unity consciousness.

The last three states are not commonly experienced by humans today, but they can be attained through scientifically validated spiritual techniques such as TM.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: Rudolph Steiner has given similar descriptions of the various states of consciousness. He calls the three higher states "imaginative awareness", "inspirational awareness" and "intuitive awareness".

I hope you, the TM meditator, weren't suggesting that only spiritual techniques validated by modern science are useful for reaching higher states of awareness. Just because your organization chooses to scientifically research TM doesn't give you some special status compared to some other spiritual organization.

TM MEDITATOR: We live in an age of science. People want scientific verification of what they think is useful for their lives.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: I hope we've seen not only the benefits, but also the dangers of that approach through this discussion! If knowledge is structured in consciousness, and science is limited primarily to the physical, exoteric realms of existence, then we had better not place too much confidence in its abilities outside the exoteric realm. Or have I not done justice to the recent developments in quantum physics and its ability to penetrate into the more esoteric realms of existence?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Certainly quantum physics is helping us understand what was hidden from us in past ages, but this development has had the effect of re-enlivening our interest in ancient and modern occult knowledge, rather than superseding it. As I said before, we have been humbled by quantum physics. Only time will unfold all the ramifications of these discoveries for philosophy, religion and human development. Now science will not lead as before, but will walk in equal partnership with the rapidly developing subjective disciplines of knowledge.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: Didn't Nostradamus suggest a similar idea: that a time would come towards the end of the twentieth century, when objective and subjective knowledge would reach parity, and each would then stimulate the other, resulting in a new knowledge whose whole will be greater than the sum of the parts?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes, he did, according to some who interpret his work, and I agree with the quantum physicist who suggests that the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living is a major step in creating a subjective science capable of standing on an equal basis with objective science.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: You have a lot of convincing to do before I can accept that.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Nostradamus was in league with the devil! I have no interest in his predictions! God forbid that astrology in any form be placed on an equal footing with the Bible as a subjective form of knowledge.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I am tired of your proselytizing.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: And I'm tired of your trying to turn science into a false idol.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Will you, Ed Tarabilda, now answer my question, if you can, about why so many people in the world seem to have a fundamentalist or rigid mind-set? The discussion we've just had seems to be further evidence of this fact. No one seems immune from this disease of the psyche.

EDWARD TARABILDA: To give you a satisfactory answer I must briefly discuss the eight fields of living and their various relationships. Is that okay?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Yes, but I was surprised when you agreed with the scientific materialist and the Christian fundamentalist that astrology, as presently practiced, is of dubious value.

EDWARD TARABILDA: For the last eight or nine years I have been suggesting, to the discomfort of many, that the true practice of astrology was lost some three to five thousand years ago. What is being practiced in the name of astrology in both the East and West is a distorted system which is more harmful than helpful in almost every situation.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: What makes you so confident of this fact?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I have been able to rediscover the true science of the stars, and call it the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: How did this happen?

EDWARD TARABILDA: For many years I experimented with various forms of western and eastern astrology. My first exposure was to western astrology; later to the eastern systems. As I evolved spiritually I began to have a very interesting experience while interacting with other people.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: What was that?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I could sense each person's spiritual nature and how it differed from the spiritual nature of others. All the various archetypal paths to God became clear to me, and at the same time, I could see the relationship of these paths to the science of astrology, and in particular, to the planets. I was also shocked to find that astrology, as presently practiced, was unable to confirm my spiritual cognitions.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Did that lead you to doubt your cognitions?

EDWARD TARABILDA: No, they could not be denied. It led me to re-examine the whole science of the stars in a most complete and thorough way. Suddenly, I regained the lost science in a flash of insight, and this restored science of the stars was totally in harmony with my own cognitions. I also tested its results in the lives of the great and not so great. It didn't fail me then, and it doesn't fail me now.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Which means your ability to sense someone's spiritual nature is now always confirmed with this "restored" astrological science?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes, and not only someone's spiritual nature, but also other major factors in their life as well. But I'm not totally comfortable with the word, "restored", because I am not sure how much of this knowledge is a restoration and how much of it is my own unique contribution.

We must remember that the human being is now different than he was five thousand years ago. The modern human being has a highly developed ego and a corresponding faculty of discrimination previously unavailable to humankind. Rudolph Steiner speaks of this development in the greatest detail. This discriminative faculty now allows us to use the science of the stars in totally new ways.

This is why I emphasize over and over again that a true science of the stars is an extension of Gyana Yoga, the path of intellect. Gyana Yoga is one of seven major yogas, or paths to God.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: What are the other six?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The yogas arise out of the seven major aspects of the human personality and their corresponding planetary significations. They are as follows:

1) The physical body (Saturn) and Hatha Yoga, the path of physical purification;

2) The five senses (Venus) and Raja Yoga, the path of increasing charm, refining the senses to find God;

3) The mind (Jupiter) and Karma Yoga, the path of selfless service and giving;

4) The intellect (Mercury) and Gyana Yoga, the path of discrimination;

5) The will (Mars), and Laya or Kundalini Yoga, the path of the risk-taking warrior;

6) The heart (the Moon) and Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion;

7) The integrating factor within the personality (the Sun) and Surya Yoga, the integral path of Yoga where some or all of the other six yogas are combined into one integral practice.

An eighth path, Tantra, is ruled by the two Nodes of the Moon. The Nodes uphold the old saying that there is an exception to every rule. Tantrics are the rebels in the spiritual life. They help ensure that the yogas do not erode into meaningless convention or idealism.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Why reduce the whole of spiritual life to these eight paths? Why not forty or fifty paths?

EDWARD TARABILDA: These eight paths represent eight significant patterns in the spiritual life -- eight significant roadmaps for reaching a full appreciation of reality. Certainly there are sub-paths within each of these major paths. In fact, each individual has a path totally unique to himself. But this in no way does away with the significance of understanding one's own archetypal path, and how it differs from each of the others.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: So each person is on one of these eight paths regardless of his own unique approach to that path?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes, and the greatest purpose of a true science of the stars is to help an individual know which of the eight paths to God he is best suited for. By this I don't mean fitting someone into a system of thought. When I tell people their spiritual path, it almost always resonates deeply within them. It is a confirmation of their experience, and a clarification and expansion of their understanding regarding this experience. We can own an expensive sports car, but if we don't know its value, we may treat it like an old sedan. So too with our spiritual nature.

And there are three great values to such a consultation:

1) It helps us fulfill that adage of Christ, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you", or the Vedic adage , "Established in being perform action".

2) It is a wonderful form of self-understanding and self-empowerment.

3) It helps us honor multi-dimensional approaches to reality. We don't try to fit others into our mold; nor do we let them do it to us.

TM MEDITATOR: Are these eight paths the eight fields of living you were referring to earlier?

EDWARD TARABILDA: No. The "Eight Great Paths to God" © belong to one field, the most important field of living -- the field of spiritual life. There are seven others:

1) Dharma, or right action

2) Interpersonal relationships

3) Career

4) Creative play

5) Wealth or primal desire nature

6) Mental health

7) Physical health

Think of these seven fields as spokes on the wheel of life, with the eighth field, spiritual life, the hub of the wheel. These fields are not arbitrary groupings -- you will find them in all the ancient systems of knowledge if you look deeply enough. For example, if you study the Chinese geomantic system called "Feng Shui", you will find these same eight fields in the octagonal figure called the "Ba-Gua", although the names differ slightly.

CATHOLIC PRIEST (See Appendix A): I find this discussion fascinating, although Pope Paul has warned about the dangers of astrology and other occult subjects. To be a catholic is by very definition to be open to all things, but I must admit I am uneasy about even entering into this dialogue with you.

EDWARD TARABILDA: You are welcome. I was in the seminary in my early years.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: What order?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I was studying to be a Glenmary missionary in their minor seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. I left after high school. It was the nineteen-sixties and great waves of change were blowing through the church. I no longer saw the church as relevant to life. I certainly would not have such a harsh judgment today.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: But you no longer practice your faith?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I've dropped all the old labels. Maybe we can speak more of this later.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: Okay.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Please tell us how your "true science of the stars" differs from the old, false science?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I wish it were so easy, but it is not. All the issues raised earlier with your participation -- tropical versus sidereal zodiacs, proper ayanamsha, heliocentric versus geocentric zodiacs, proper house divisions, and other issues not raised, but of major relevance -- all these issues have solutions that are structured in consciousness. They cannot be given out informationally.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: How convenient for you! You can claim total astrological knowledge while denying the validity of everyone else's knowledge in this field, and you don't have to prove any of it! Talk about self-aggrandizement!

EDWARD TARABILDA: Such a response is easy to offer and hard to combat. There are, however, many reasons why the knowledge of this true science of the stars cannot be given out to the public. Here are just a few:

1) It would be abused by unscrupulous people. We may be lucky Hitler followed misguided astrologers, and squandered good troops when they misjudged the Russian winter.

2) The foundations of this knowledge can and must be discovered in consciousness. Since most people have not prepared themselves for reliable self-discovery, they could not be convinced of these inner rules.

3) It would be difficult to find tests which would satisfy scientists. For example, even if I could show that ninety-five percent of the people agreed with the description of their spiritual nature, could this ever satisfy a scientist? Or could a scientist accept the existence of an Eightfold Ayurveda? I'll discuss this in a later chapter on health.

There are other reasons as well, but they all hinge on the central idea that knowledge is structured in consciousness, and is different in different states of consciousness, and that there are legitimate reasons for dividing knowledge into exoteric and esoteric realms. Spiritual initiation is necessary before one is exposed to advanced esoteric knowledge.

Some of this esoteric knowledge can never be given out to anyone under any circumstances. It must be self-discovered. I am only allowed to explain the outer rules of The Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living, and guide others in self-discovery of the inner rules. Each individual must do the requisite inner research himself.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Which knowledge falls into this last category, if you can say?

EDWARD TARABILDA: One just has a sense about such things. There are no hard and fast rules, just clear intuitions -- so clear that if one is about to violate such an intuition, one feels like one is about to hit a solid wall.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: With these restrictions, how can we evaluate the truth of what you are telling us?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The same as you would evaluate the truth of what any esoteric teacher says -- by taking the knowledge he speaks as a whole, and seeing if it conforms to your daily experience. This is what Rudolph Steiner asks us to do when he describes supersensible realms and our relationship to them during life and after death. This is also what Madame Blavatsky's knowledge, known as Theosophy, demands of us.

It is even easier to evaluate the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living, because it claims to be a predictive subjective science! Test out its predictions in each of the eight fields of living as applied to the world and to yourself.

I'll give some of these world predictions in our discussion here. Others are in audio tape courses I have recorded. Predictions about your personal life must come through personal consultations.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: You haven't taught anyone else what you know and practice? It would be a tragedy if you die and don't leave this knowledge with anyone.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I wrestle with that issue each day.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: Once again I would like to ask why the human race is so prone to fundamentalist-type thinking at this time? Am I just making this up?

EDWARD TARABILDA: No, you are quite correct. Just as an individual has a personality defined through eight distinct fields of living, so does the world at any particular time. This world personality is the result of a horoscope based upon the resolution of many different issues -- tropical versus sidereal zodiacs, heliocentric versus geocentric zodiacs, ayanamsha, if and when appropriate, yugas, etc.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Yugas?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The ancient Vedic teachings speak of four yugas -- long cycles of time, which reoccur regularly in the course of human history. There is considerable disagreement on when our present cycle began and when it ends.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: So what is this crucial date?

EDWARD TARABILDA: This knowledge must be self-discovered, because it rests upon the correct resolution of all the issues just mentioned, but I can give you the benefit of this knowledge, and you can then evaluate its truth or falsehood.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: All this secrecy runs contrary to the spirit of our age!

EDWARD TARABILDA: If serious students rigorously use the methods of science to evaluate astrology while maintaining a meditative state of mind, they too can discover what I have discovered. They will also then see the futility of trying to bring out this knowledge in a public way. May I continue?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: By all means.

EDWARD TARABILDA: The world horoscope is also defined through eight fields of living. As we said, the most important field is spirituality, the hub of the wheel. In this field the world is now governed by the two Nodes of the Moon -- the North Node and the South Node, which work as a team, or as two halves of one body.

The nodes are mathematical points rather than cosmic bodies, and you can read about their astronomical significance in standard texts.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: What do they represent as qualities?

EDWARD TARABILDA: The nodes represent the principle of rebellion, revolution, and iconoclasm. They uphold the principle of difference. They help purify society of outmoded conventions, institutions and ideals. Robin Hood is an archetypal example of such an outlaw.

Since this is the case society's heroes and heroines are the great rebels: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Elvis Presley, and a whole host of other cult figures so admired by the youth of our generation. And it is the youth of any generation who are most in touch with the spirit of the age. This is an occult fact.

And what are some of the most popular movies of our time? "The God-Father" trilogy, "Elliot Ness", and "Dirty Harry". We are preoccupied with rebel gangster figures and rebel cops who wage war with them. Clint Eastwood made his fortune on such roles.

The role of the rebel is now acted out in real life through street gangs and their grip on youth. Even those youth who don't belong to street gangs take on many rebellious qualities in relationship to society, parents and family.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: How does this relate to my question about fundamentalist mind-sets?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I'm getting to your question. These two nodes of the moon are shadow planets, meaning they don't have any energy of their own, but reflect the energy of one of the seven major planets.

The North Node of the Moon represents more surface spiritual qualities of the world whereas the South Node represents our more underlying spiritual aspirations. In the world horoscope the North Node takes on the qualities of a weak Saturn, and the South Node takes on the qualities of the Sun.

A weak Saturn brings this strong fundamentalist bent to our spiritual life, and to life as a whole, since the spiritual permeates every other field of living. The Sun brings a true catholicity to our spiritual quest, and an openness to all the various spiritual paths. This book, for example, will be popular in this age because it represents this solar influence.

But the solar influence is the deeper influence; to a certain extent it is at war with the more surface, fundamentalist value.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: Could we not say that the deeper value grows out of the more surface value, despite the surface value's apparent incompatibility with it? I suggest this idea based upon my reading of Teilhard De Chardin's work. A constant theme of his is that surface conflicts have harmonious underpinnings not always seen by the casual observer.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I can accept that explanation. It is a beautiful one. Let me continue. This weak Saturn governs the physical body of the earth. Since Saturn is weak and since it governs what we call the "disease of dryness", the earth will suffer more and more the disease of dryness, witnessed by deforestation and desertification. Saturn also governs the spleen which, in turn, affects immunity. A weak Saturn signifies weak immunity. Since the earth's immunity is related to the ozone layer and the whole atmosphere, we may see continuing environmental problems connected with ozone depletion. This, in turn, weakens the immunity of all those living on the earth, and brings all sorts of immunity-related diseases like cancer, AIDS, environmental sensitivities, etc.

A weak physical system is a polluted system, and the earth is going to become increasingly polluted. As the ecosystem declines the earth will start engaging in self-cleansing processes, the details of which we can only imagine.

CATHOLIC PRIEST: You aren't presenting a very pretty picture.

EDWARD TARABILDA: There is more. A weak Saturn also signifies the growth of mechanistic science and a pervasive materialistic outlook. In this sense the scientific materialist and the Christian fundamentalist are two birds of the same feather. One takes a materialistic approach to science, and one takes the same approach to spirituality and religion.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: I've already distanced myself from the fundamentalists of various religious persuasions, and I don't like having to defend myself again, because you fabricate some theory about Saturn ruling the world!

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: We are constantly fighting with scientists like this materialist, and their pagan views of human evolution. How can it be said we are in any way akin to them?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: A light has gone on in my head! I've never been interested in the subject of astrology, but this explanation of how the Nodes of the Moon, colored by Saturn and the Sun, affect the world, makes great sense to me. Tell us more.

EDWARD TARABILDA: A weak Saturn operates through the North Node of the Moon, giving a superficial and physically-oriented character to the North Node's rebelliousness. Hence the current preoccupation with sex, drugs, and resistance to authority.

The North Node of the Moon relates to outer rebellion, and the South Node to inner rebellion, such as rejection of conventional beliefs and spiritual authority. Spiritual rebellion and individual, playful experimentation are the essence of Tantra. Although often spurned by society, tantrics serve a useful function in exposing spiritual falsehood and destroying outmoded conventions.

This does not mean that we are all supposed to become Tantrics, but it does mean that we should develop some of the strengths of a tantric way of life -- independence from spiritual authority and an experimental approach to finding God.

TANTRIC PRACTITIONER (See Appendix A): I've been waiting for the right opportunity to enter this discussion. Does this mean that during this age we, as tantrics, have a natural advantage over yogic seekers in developing our spiritual life, assuming we are real tantrics rather than people who in the name of spirituality merely indulge the senses?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I think it is a fair assumption, although this does not mean that a strong yogic practitioner cannot also make great progress during this time. However, a yogic practitioner must seek to be in harmony with the qualities of the sun, no matter which yoga he is drawn towards.

TANTRIC PRACTITIONER: Which qualities?

EDWARD TARABILDA: He should seek to learn about all the various paths to God and honor them in everyone. He should see that the tendency towards increasing catholicity in our approach to all things, and the need and drive for greater planetary unification and global oneness, are solar impulses worthy of support.

SRI AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: This was Shri Aurobindo's mission -- to create a solar yoga suitable for all people.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I suggest that integral yoga is not suitable for all people, but only for approximately one out of every eight persons. If there is one thing the Art of Multi-Dimensional Living teaches us, it is that no one path is suitable for all people. Mahavir, the founder of Jainism, also espoused this principle. He indicated that for any issue or process there are always seven different perspectives or approaches. This may seem strange to those accustomed to universal solutions; it is nevertheless true.

TANTRIC PRACTITIONER: Why have we lost this multi-dimensional approach to reality which appears to have been so common in the early Vedic civilization?

EDWARD TARABILDA: It is only a true science of the stars which can give this multi-dimensional perspective of life. When the true science of the stars was lost many thousands of years ago, we no longer had clear examples of these multi-dimensional realities. People began to accept over-generalized "universal" solutions to problems. Today our seduction is complete.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: How can the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living hope to change this condition?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I'm not sure it can by itself. And yet, the solar impulse we have been talking about has this multi-dimensional perspective inherent within it. Our age is therefore ripe for an increasing unfoldment of this principle.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: I still don't accept the idea that Sri Aurobindo's yoga is not universally applicable.

EDWARD TARABILDA: The spirit of his solar path is applicable to all practitioners of yoga, but not the integral practice known as Surya or Integral Yoga.

No one was more in tune with the spirit of our time than Sri Aurobindo. When he speaks of Savitri, the God or Goddess who comes from the Sun to offer a great sacrifice for humanity, he is, in my judgment, actually hinting at certain cosmological realities not easily accepted in his Indian culture. Does anyone sense what I'm getting at here?

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: Rudolph Steiner suggests that the Christ is a great solar being who leaves the Sun and comes to the earth to offer salvation to humanity. If this age is deeply influence by the Sun, then that supports Steiner's insight that this is the age where the Christ force will become an increasingly dominant reality in our lives. Sri Aurobindo may have had this same vision, and then tried to express it in a way acceptable to the Vedic tradition, yet not so controversial.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I have the same idea, although it may be a heretical one to his disciples.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: Sri Aurobindo suggested that Savitri has come many times in human history.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: The Christ force has appeared before as well, although not in the same manner as when he entered the body of Jesus.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: Rudolph Steiner distinguished the Christ from Jesus. I remember that now, but I'm still not impressed with your attempts to link Christ with Savitri.

EDWARD TARABILDA: It doesn't matter; I'm just stating a possibility. The important thing is to realize that the Sun may signify the entry of the Christ force into human evolution. Our spiritual evolution may depend on our coming into an increasingly grateful and loving contact with this force regardless of what spiritual path we practice.

I'm not stating any of these things about Savitri and Christ as facts; I'm only suggesting that Sri Aurobindo's and Rudolph Steiner's views of human evolution are, at best, confirmed, and at worst, not contradicted in the world horoscope.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: The archangel Michael is said to be in charge of how this solar force is administered in the world, according to Steiner.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: I only accept what the Bible says about Christ and his mission.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: Do you deny Christ's present day involvement in the world?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Of course not.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: Then do you deny the right of those with spiritual clairvoyance to comment on that involvement?

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: What do you mean by spiritual clairvoyance?

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: The ability to see clearly into the supersensible realms.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: This is all too sophisticated for me. My relationship to Christ is a simple one; it is the devil who seeks to befuddle our minds with complicated theories and explanations.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: All of you are speaking about things which you don't directly experience. I will have no part in any of it.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: I'm not so bothered by the rigid thought and behavior patterns expressed in these dialogues now that I have heard your explanations, Ed, about why this is the case. This weak Saturn certainly has a pervasive influence.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Indeed it does. Underlying this Saturnine influence, however, is the strong solar influence. It is this influence which is the best hope for ensuring our children a decent future.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: I suddenly realize something interesting!

EDWARD TARABILDA: What is that?

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: We even see this division between the exoteric and the esoteric in the field of spiritual life. The North Node of the Moon's influence through Saturn is more exoteric, more on the surface of life. The South Node's influence through the Sun is more esoteric. It is the deeper, more powerful influence.

The North Node through Saturn defines our more outward, religious impulses whereas the South Node through the Sun defines our deepest spiritual yearnings.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Well said. I guess we have done a good job describing the differences between these two pathways, the exoteric and the esoteric.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST: Not to my mind.

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST: Nor to mine.

EDWARD TARABILDA: We must keep trying to understand one another even when it seems like an impossible task. (A short pause.)

I've been reviewing this dialogue to find the best place to bring this chapter to a close, and the best place may be here, except for one idea I would like to end with.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: What idea is that?

EDWARD TARABILDA: I would like to convey just how much Gyana Yoga, the path of intellect, has declined in its fullness through the loss of the true science of the stars.

AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: How so?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Recently I have been reading "The Mind of Krishnamurti", edited by Luis S. R. Vas. The book is a compilation of articles about Krishnamurti, who practiced Gyana Yoga. (See Appendix B.)

Most disciples never want their teacher limited to any one tradition. They always want their teacher to be a master of all traditions and all aspects of life. Consequently, I'm sure that what I suggest will be resisted by some, but assuming for the moment that what I say is true, my point is the following: even these learned scholars are somewhat vague and confused about the uniqueness of Krishnamurti's contribution to knowledge and spirituality.

I would suggest, further, that this is the case, because all Gyana Yogis of recent times have been forced to discuss "pure knowledge" in relatively abstract ways, because the true science of the stars, which gives living examples of otherwise abstract principles, was not available as an integrating force of knowledge.

SRI AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: You are guilty of what you complain about -- you are too abstract!

EDWARD TARABILDA: Let me try to pin it down more. In Chapter Four of "The Mind of Krishnamurti" Claude Bragdon suggests that Krishnamurti's teaching can be summarized in the expression, "Think and love." Other commentators in the book are equally vague in trying to summarize his teaching. Is this the fault of the commentators, or is it a problem in the teachings of Krishnamurti himself?

I suggest the latter. Krishnamurti's teaching, like every sage's teaching, must deal effectively with both manifest and unmanifest existence -- manifest being the field of change and difference, and unmanifest being non-change and non-difference. But without a true science of the stars to guide us, we don't know the archetypal differences which guide change. Without this knowledge, we cannot accept people as they really are -- because we don't know who they are archetypally.

Unclear thinking stands in the way of love, at least for those treading the path of knowledge. To love those who are different from us we must have a clear appreciation of what those differences are, and how those differences are natural to life. Then we can begin to love everyone deeply.

At least this is how things are meant to transpire on the path of Gyana Yoga. For other paths different aspects of the personality lead the path of evolution.

SRI AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: And you are suggesting that astrology, when properly practiced, gives us the clear appreciation of the differences which are fundamental to life, and that naturally leads to full acceptance and love of those differences?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes.

SRI AUROBINDO DISCIPLE: A profound idea.

EDWARD TARABILDA: This is why the spiritual groups of our time tolerate one another, but are hardly accepting of one another. They don't fully appreciate the value of all the different approaches to God. This is the ignorance created when the true science of the stars is lost, and it has been lost for thousands of years.

TM MEDITATOR: So you say!

YOGANANDA DISCIPLE: I'm glad you, the TM person, brought that up.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I recognize the burden of persuasion is on me. I can only ask that you wait until the end of our dialogues before rejecting what I say.

QUANTUM PHYSICIST: It would appear that even Gyana Yoga has an exoteric and esoteric pathway. The exoteric pathway is the traditional Gyana Yoga we read about in the books, where there is an emphasis on the unmanifest, pure knowledge. The esoteric aspect is more powerful, because it integrates the unmanifest with the manifest through a true science of the stars. With this latter approach you can deal with a person's spiritual evolution in very specific and concrete ways, because you know all the strengths and weaknesses of his personality.

Of course this assumes that a true science of the stars exists, and I am reserving judgment on that question, as you suggest.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Thank you for that example of how any level of reality has an exoteric and esoteric aspect. This seems to be a good place to end the first chapter. Do you agree?

(All agree.)