Venus is the brightest planet we see. It orbits the sun one step closer than Earth. So it stays near the sun in our sky and is often called the morning “star” or the evening “star.” When it’s up, you can spot Venus easily. And it’ll catch your eye if it’s near a crescent moon. But where is Venus now? On June 3 it started passing directly behind the sun.
The 4th CHAPTER of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins now with commentary on the preceding book, by way of listing the various means through which we may obtain these supernatural powers (siddhayah).
We may arrive at a place of power and accomplishment based on our birth (janma),
by the use of drugs(aushadhi),
through the repetition of special mantra,
by our own austerities and efforts (tapah), or through the Oneness of samadhi, gained through the practice of samyama. Patanjali does not tell us which of these methods is best, but our own experience of life, and the Sutra’s commentators, make this understanding a near no-brainer. And this is what we will look at in this episode.
As well as a little VENUS exploration! THAT BRIGHT MORNING STAR currently hidden in the skies…
As Before early June 2024, Venus spent over eight months as a dazzling morning “star.” It reached greatest elongation – its greatest apparent distance from the sun in our sky – on October, 2023. It hung low in the east before sunrise for many months, before slipping away in the morning sunlight in early April. For the past couple of months, it’s been too close to the sun to see. Venus is now traveling behind the sun as viewed from Earth. It reached its superior conjunction – achieving the same east-west coordinate as the sun in our sky – a few days ago on, June 4, 2024. Oh dear VENUS where are thou?
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