What does the Sun represent in your Birth Chart? And what is its most spiritual meaning?
I thought it would be good to offer some pointers about what the Sun means in your astrological birth chart.
SUN: The Inner Light, cosmic intelligence, consciousness, life and love, the father, power and authority. The Sun is the Charioteer who drives our Chariot of Self. He hold in his hands the reins that go to the horses that pull the chariot of self: the other planets. There are problems if the horses are stronger than the charioteer.
In Vedic Astrology, the Sun stands for Father (as does the 9th House) and Sun stands for your egoic self. But Sun is also your individual spark of the Divine.
I would welcome comments on this discussion.
The true understanding of the Sun is to look at the relationship between our egoic self and the vastness of Source. But how do you name what cannot be named? But the discussion is useful and so please do comment on what I have tried to write. We need to have a sense of ego in order to be able to function in this life, but our ego is not real. It is a construct. It is the boat that gets us across the river, but it is not the other dies of the river. The other side of the river is our true self which is oneness with God and with everyone and everything else.
As I understand it, the Astrological Sun in our Vedic birth chart is our Soul (our individual spark of Jiva Atman). Our soul is eternal, but it takes incarnation over and over again.
Jiva: In the Bhagavad Gita, the jiva, our soul, is described as immutable, eternal, numberless and indestructible.
The Jiva is said not to be a product of the material world, Prakrti, but of a higher ‘spiritual’ nature. It is a refraction of the Atman.
At the point of physical death the jiva takes on a new physical body, chosen depending on the karma that you have collected and the individual desires and necessities of the particular individual spark of jiva in question.
The Jiva is the empirical ‘self’, the ‘self’ determined by the body, the external sense-organs, mind, intellect, and egoism.
But when/if the Jiva breaks the shackles of Prakrti (the material world), it becomes the transcendental self.
Atman: By contrast, the Atman is the ‘self’ which is devoid of empirical cognition, merit, demerit, and other mental modes; this is the transcendental Atman. Atman is the true self of an individual beyond identification with phenomena; it is the essence of an individual.
In order to attain moksha/salvation (liberation), a human being must acquire self-knowledge (atma jnana), which is to realize that one’s true self (Atman) is identical with the transcendent self, Brahman.
If Atman is ‘Brahman in a pot’ (pot=the body), then one need merely break the pot to fully realize the primordial unity of the individual soul with the plentitude of Being that is the Absolute.
Isvara: Atman is sometimes referred to as Isvara (= Lord). Isvara is the ruler and the impeller; Jiva is the ruled, the one who is impelled.
SOURCE: the Universal Atman is the universal life-principle, the animator of all organisms. The Universal Atman is the ‘ground of all being’. Atman is ‘source’. This is a spirituality of immanence and is thus pantheistic.
Paratman: this Universal Atman which is the all-pervading aspect of Brahman is the Paratman, which is different from individual Atman and claims reality for both a God functioning as the ultimate metaphorical “spirit” of the universe, and also for actual individual “spirits” as such.
Ahamkara: the ego is ahamkara, rather than the Atman, and thus it is the cause of pleasure and pain. When one’s mind is in a state of ahamkara, one is in a state of subjective illusion, where the mind has bound up the concept of one’s self with a created thing.
The created thing is usually a phenomenon which can be thought of as external to the self. It could be tangible or conceptual or habitual, and our perception of it comes through to us from our previous life.
Due to our Ahamkaras, the ego is involved in constructing the illusion: the illusion of self – also the illusion of external experiences and realities (we attract according to our state of consciousness and mind; we attract the scripts we need to learn from and grow out of).
The mind has created a state of illusion, but it seems very real to the person: objectivity and reality are obscured. This deeply illusory state is what can often cause people to do adharmic things. Once awareness of the nature of ahamkara arises (this is similar to the Saivite doctrine of Bandhattva), then, for the first time, individual will, determination, sense of morality and ethics, all begin to come into play – which is the first step on the path to moksha/enlightenment.
Removing the “walls that contain human consciousness” to create a “union” of the individual self, i.e. removing the barrier between Jivatman with the supreme self, Paratman, is the goal of yoga consciousness.
The Astrological Sun: is not Atman. The Sun basically depicts egoic sense of self. Atman is Pure Consciousness Itself.
Our ‘Mind’ (as The Astrological Sun) borrows its light, from time to time, from its source, the Universal Atman, the Light of lights, or the ‘Sun of Suns’ and our mind then glitters temporarily like reflection of universal consciousness.
Our Mind is Jada or non-intelligent, but appears to be intelligent by borrowing light from Brahman, just as water exposed to the sun borrows heat from the sun.
Mind is finite (Parichhinna). It is Jada. It is the effect (Karya) of Sattva Guna. It is Vinasi (perishable). It is Chanchala (ever-fluctuating). It is a bundle of ideas/scripts/habits which are Samskaras: i.e. the imprints left on the subconscious mind by experience in this life or previous lives, which then colour all of life, colour one’s nature, responses, states of mind, etc, colour our habits, impulses and emotions.
Mind borrows light from the Adhishthana or Brahman. You can learn to control the mind. The thinker is different from thought. Therefore, mind is not the self-shining Atman. The mind is full of impurities; it is full of Vasanas and Trishnas (cravings). It gets puzzled during anger. In fear, it trembles. In shock, it sinks. It is not pure Self.
By contrast Isvara has full consciousness. At the same time as Isvara has full cosmic consciousness, He knows what is going on in every mind. Bhagavan is a synonymous term for God.
A footnote about the Moon in the Astrological Birth Chart:
MOON: The mother, the past, our roots – and consciousness arising therefrom.
This, the Moon is mind, daily communication, how we receive, feelings and emotions.
In Vedic astrology, the Sun is not regarded as the most important planet in the horoscope. The Sun is a symbol for the soul. Although it is important, the power of the soul can only be realised on earth by making use of the reflected light of the Moon. We cannot look straight at the Sun, but we can look straight at the Moon. The Moon is responsible for making the power of the soul manageable, so that we can use it on earth. The Moon is the most important planet in Indian astrology. This is because astrology is all about how we develop and shape our soul during our life on earth, The Sun comes second. When an Indian astrologer asks what sign you are, he is asking for your Moon-sign.
Read this footnote about what it means to have a weak Sun.
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