In earlier newsletters we explored how, according to the Tibetan tradition, everything manifests from source, through the light realm into the physical realm.

On our Soul's journey out through the stages of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, our Soul was in the light realm. In Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra the Soul was in physical form. Scorpio was the point of transformation, where Soul and form become one. Now the Soul is on the return journey: the path, way, or method was found in Sagittarius, yet it still needs to be applied so that we return fully to light ... 

So what does this mean for us personally? Let's explore!

Returning To Light but in Physical Form

The light never leaves us... it just appears to leave, as our attention wanders away from our essence and becomes distracted by worldly concerns. Yet in any moment, we can turn our attention back to our essence: the light of our being.

This is what Jesus meant when he said "the Kingdom of God is at hand". Enlightenment, or full spiritual awakening, is much closer than you think... it is a matter of training your attention to remain in the light of your awareness and not to get lost in thoughts and daily activities.

So the return of the Light is not the light returning to us, but us returning to light. As we keep our attention increasingly on how we flow our energy, by setting pure intentions: such as flowing compassion for the benefit of all beings, and thereby purifying any thoughts, speech, and actions that generate density in our energy field, we actually become physically lighter. Our energy channels open up and allow more light into our being.

Capricorn and The Rainbow Body

Eventually, it is possible that our physical body could transform into light, however this is the culmination of a very long and dedicated path - a path of discipline - which is why Capricorn is the path of yogis, sages, and the determined disciple.

There is a process whereby the physical body can transform into the Rainbow Body without experiencing physical death. There are many accounts of great yogis experiencing this high degree of enlightenment, but in our dense, material-focused age such accounts are becoming fewer and fewer.*

The authentic experience of Rainbow Body is where the Soul light has fully 'returned' and filled the body to the degree that the body actually becomes light.

*A recent account of a yogi's transformation into Rainbow Body is described in "Rainbow Body and Ressurection" by Catholic priest Father Francis Tiso.

Bringing Heaven To Earth

This is what the Tibetan means when he speaks of the highest Soul purpose of Capricorn as 'bringing heaven to Earth'. It is a process of bringing light to Earth through the physical body, to such an extent that it actually 'enlightens' humanity and the Earth herself, and by doing so brings great benefit to Earth and all her creatures.

For this process to unfold, there has to be complete surrender and genuine dissolution of all traces of ego. There can't be even the subtlest sense of holding on the a personalised sense of 'self' that is 'doing' something. Remember the great Indian sage Patanjali described ego as, "a limiting sense of "I" that attributes the power of consciousness to itself".

The process that we call spiritual awakening is the natural unfolding of the power of consciousness itself, not something that can be done by ego. Indeed, if we try to 'do something' to reach awakening, we will block the process and prevent awakening entirely!

This is why the Tibetan says 'only on his knees can he go through that door'. Kneeling is traditionally associated with humility, and it is only in genuine, pure humility, after the total dissolution of ego, that we can pass to the next level in Aquarius - the path of the bodhisattva.

Here we are not speaking of ego in the everyday sense of the word, but we are referring to our deepest sense of a personal self. Even in our deepest meditation, we can be ever-so-subtly holding on to a sense of 'me' that is doing the meditation! This is what Lama Thubten Yeshe, in "Mahamudra: How To Discover Our True Nature", refers to at the intuitive "I".

If we are still experiencing even the most subtle sense of a personal self, it will block the process of full awakening. The way is to keep letting go into being.

Even if 'we' think 'we' have to let go. That could still be our ego trying to control the process! The process of awakening is simple, yet not easy. It is a practice of deepening awareness and letting go, to the degree that each time we notice we are holding or grasping, even ever so slightly, we release and let go and rest more deeply in being.

This is the true path of Capricorn. It may start as a method, but eventually even all method has to be released, until there is simply being.

Letting Go of Bliss

We may even have arrived at a point where we have experiences of deep peace and bliss in our meditation, but if there is still a subtle sense of self, "Me", an experiencer who is the one 'having the experience', then we are still not fully awakened, and have further to go.

At this point we may need to turn our focus away from the light, or the bliss, and open up even more fully, so that we can release any trace of self, and fully awaken into vast, alert, presence.

Once we have a deeper awareness of this process, we may be closer to understanding the Tibetan's keynote for Capricorn: