7-18-98 THE ISTHA DEVATA

One of my students is a highly evolved individual. Thus, it did not surprise me when, one day, he asked: "Why do I have such a strong affinity to the Sun? Why do I worship it so? I explained to him that Agni, the deity ruling the Sun, was his Istha Devata. Put in language a westerner can understand, one's Istha Devata is an attribute of God or an archetype, which when personified and worshipped, becomes a power most favorable to a person's spiritual evolution.

To consider such practices as a violation of the commandment, "Thou shall not place false gods before me" is a wrong understanding. These "deities" are nothing more than positive attributes of the one God and should be treated as such. When a Christian focuses on God's omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, he is not worshipping false idols either; he is merely using positive attributes of God to come into greater alignment with Him-Her.

My student then said: "But the Sun is not my Istha Devata according to the traditional principles of Vedic Astrology." I then explained that none of the predictions and insights of present day Vedic Astrology can be trusted. Let the user beware! Whether this dear soul accepted this viewpoint I do not know, but he treasures the personal knowledge he received regarding his own spiritual path (Karma Yoga), as well as the knowledge he derived in the other seven fields of living. This is all I can ask.