Cycles

Wisdom Teachings
Eternal Wisdom
The Seven Races
Number Seven

Creation is a cyclical movement. Everything comes out of the pure existence - the seeming nothingness - develops, finds fulfilment, withdraws and merges again. This pulsating movement occurs as the phenomenon of 'time' in the field of space. We envision periods of time as linear sequences but they have the structure of threads of alternation which are based on the law of pulsation. The space pulsates and time appears as the duration of a series of events that succeed one another in a cyclic order. There is a constant transformation from the subtle to the dense physical and at the same time from the dense physical to the subtle. We can visualise it as a circular flow of energies called the wheel of creation. The wheel goes round in circles, and thus, there is the process of downward and upward movement. In Eastern wisdom Vishnu, the Lord of Pervasion, is depicted with an outstretched forefinger of his right hand wearing a wheel. It symbolizes the wheel of time, and Vishnu rules the time cycles.

There is a constant cyclical movement of manifestation and de-manifestation, and that is why there are many series of creations. Everything that disappears reappears in a new form. Each night brings a new day and each day is followed by a new night. In the drama of life there is birth, growth, flowering, and finally the return and laying down of the body, only to reappear after a while. This process is called 'Narayana' in the East. 'Ayana' in Sanskrit means 'the cyclical path of energy' which alternately unfolds and withdraws. The unfolding is identified with the sound 'RA'. RA is the seed sound of Agni, the cosmic fire. 'NA' is the sound of dissolution, the sound of negation and absorption. Narayana is the energy responsible for the unfoldment and the return of the universes. To receive the free flow of energy, the seers have conceived the sound formula OM Namo Narayanaya; the mantra is popular in the ashrams, where they keep singing and dancing in joy.

Another name for Narayana is Krishna. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, “I keep on coming through the cycles of time to give you the Way.” The Bhagavad Gita is a teaching of Narayana to Nara. 'Nara' means the indestructible one. In our innermost essence we are indestructible; therefore man is also called 'Nara'. Narayana means the one who creates beings and lets them enter into creation so that they can experience, fulfil, and return.

As they descend into matter, souls from the light of the spirit enter the darkness of objectivity. The scriptures say that the serpent came down the tree and everything was dark. In the outer world we lose the spiritual knowledge and forget our origin. This is called the darkness of ignorance. Without knowledge we do the same things again and again and come into an eternal cycle of birth and death. It is an aspect of time that drives us into ignorance and also raises us back into light and knowledge. The serpent is a grand symbol of time and its coils are seen as the countless time cycles. According to the wisdom teachings, the serpent moves like a wheel, from head to tail and from tail to head. In every cycle of time, the beginning already contains the end, and every end gives rise to a new beginning.

Wise people can live beyond the cycles, beyond light and darkness. This happens only through the identification with the Absolute Light. When we identify with the source of light and darkness, it becomes easier to transcend the cyclical movement. The yoga path is the key to get out of the wheel of creation and still remain in creation. We are then at the centre of the wheel, but no longer in the illusion of circular activity.

There are many people who believe that everything is predetermined. To some extent this is true, but if everything were predestined, there would be no evolution and we would only move in a circle. As long as we live by the patterns of past behaviour, we remain bound to the cycles of birth and rebirth. The stored impressions carry the seeds for future germination. Thus, the karma aspect binds us to some extent but we can reshape it through our will. When the principle of the soul becomes active in our lives, we bring our will into harmony with the Divine Will, and this will is free from the compulsion to return to the earlier experiences. Its impulses are original and new. So there would be a development in our life. The movement is no longer cyclical but spiral. With each repetition we come to a higher turn of the spiral.

The basic form of a time cycle is the pulsation of respiration: inhalation, pause, exhalation and again a pause. Throughout nature there is a cyclical alternation of active and passive phases: with the day, with the lunar month, with the year and with larger life cycles, with the cycles of yugas and kalpas. The cycles are again divided into sub-periods such as the day with morning, noon, evening and midnight; the moon phases with new moon and full moon as well as the eighth ascending and descending moon phases; or the year with the cardinal points of the solstices and the equinoxes. There are many ways to divide the time cycles; with each subdivision we get a different understanding of nature.

It is of great importance to understand the meaning of the cycles of life and of nature. When the knowledge relating to life, nature, time cycles, and the very purpose of life is imparted in childhood, a person tends to be mentally stable and lead a constructive and stable life.

Working with the cycles of dawn and dusk as well as of new moon and full moon is the fundamental step to enter into the unseen and divine fields of light through the visible world and to experience that we are not a separate consciousness. For the meditative practice of Raja Yoga, it is important to know the secrets of the time cycles, as well as the movements of the planets and fixed stars, and to focus on the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles. In doing so we follow the planetary calendar and not the calendar made by humans; only in this way we can grasp the chemistry presented by the time cycles. As we integrate the energies of the cycles into our lives, we are able to follow the path of discipleship.

There are cycles in relation to the Sun, the Moon and other planets like Venus, Jupiter or Saturn. Especially the cycle of Uranus influences our progress and even the progress of the planet through the periodicity of seven years. In seven years Uranus crosses a sun sign. In 84 years, he goes through all twelve sun signs. 84 is an interesting number because it consists of (3 + 4) x (3 x 4). 3 stands for the unmanifest state of existence, and 4 represents the manifested state of existence. The cycle of 84 years is considered complete in itself. In 84 years, Jupiter completes seven cycles. Therefore, in Kali Yuga, 84 is considered a year of fulfilment for a life in a human body.

Every seven years we can start a new stage of our lives. In the first five seven-year cycles, the body gradually evolves until the age of 35 years. Later, the process of disintegration is stronger than the process of construction. All actions committed to the body out of ignorance will be returned to us in the form of sicknesses. Up to 35, we have a good chance to train and cultivate the body, the senses and the mind of the body. After that it gets more difficult; we find that the body we have built around us restricts us, either physically or through material wealth. Everything material has a tendency to settle and solidify.

On the basis of the principle of the number 7 a cyclical visit of energies takes place. After seven days comes a new week; this is not a human convention. After seven unfoldments there is a new cycle coming; the eighth step completes and brings new energies. From new moon to full moon, the eighth phase follows as a transition after seven moon phases; and then there are seven more phases until the full moon. Then the descending phases follow in the corresponding rhythm. Seven years make a bigger cycle. In a series of seven lives, we can complete a stage of development. Humanity is evolving on this planet in seven rounds, where we find the seven races. The word race here indicates a certain evolutionary development. After seven races the current development cycle is completed. Some people have reached their destination earlier; they come to us as wise people and try to help us. There are even others who have already completed the development of the seven rounds of the earth.

Our earth also has its own cycles which can be called the geological cycles. They have sub-cycles that have to do with the development of the kingdoms of nature. In space, cycles within cycles are arranged in a beautiful pattern of time scales and geometrical structures. They create the sense of time to our minds. We are all time-conditioned and work out the plan of our life in terms of time whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Uranus / Moon - The Key. Notes from seminars. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India