The Moon and Mysticism

Every phase of the moon, you can look up in the sky and notice it. Or if you bring a certain level of awareness and perception to your system, if you just observe your body, you will see for every phase, the body behaves slightly differently. It is very much there both in the male and the female body, but in the female body it is more manifest. As you know, the fundamental reproductive process in a woman is very much connected to the moon’s cycles. The timing with which the moon goes around the planet and the cycles that human beings themselves go through within themselves and the very process of human birth – the process of creating this body – are very deeply connected.

The moon has a large influence on our daily life, which is why in the eastern cultures, particularly in India, we drew two kinds of calendars. For mundane affairs, we have a solar calendar. For all the other subjective aspects of our life, which is not information or a technique but a live thing, we have a lunar calendar. It has always been such that any aspect which is beyond the logical has always been connected to the moon.

As one shifts from the calculations of the logical mind to intuitive ways of looking at life, the moon becomes more important. Generally the influence of the moon is considered illogical. In the West, anything illogical got labeled as madness or insanity. In the English language, the moon is referred to as lunar. If you take a step further, you come to lunatic. But in the eastern culture, we always saw the limitations of logic. There is a logical element to you which helps you to handle the material aspect of your life. But there is a dimension beyond logic, without which the subjective dimensions can never be accessed.

Human perception is a reflection. If you see anything other than the reflection, that means you are not seeing the truth. Any perception is actually a reflection. The moon is also a reflection; you can see the moon because it reflects the sun’s light. So the deeper perceptions of life have always been symbolized with the moon. Moonlight and mysticism have been very heavily connected everywhere in the world. To symbolize this connection, Shiva wore a piece of the moon on his head; his ornament is moon.

The yogic sciences and yogic path were also structured like this. The initial few steps are 100% logical. But as you climb higher, it moves away from logic and goes into areas which are totally illogical. Logic has to be thrown away because that is the way life and creation is structured. So moon becomes very important.

This is the only way any science can happen. If you look at modern science which is still in its infant stage actually, the same thing is happening. They were 100% logical to start with; after they took a few steps, now they are becoming slowly illogical. The physicists are almost talking like mystics. They are beginning to talk the same language because this is the only way it can go, because that is the way the creation is. If you explore the creation, that is how it will be.