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| Absolute | Aries | Aurobindo |
| Academy | Aristotle | |
| Alan Leo | Astrology |
A term often used to refer to Ultimate Reality, the unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent Being- utterly nonrelational to even the most subtle level of consciousness. The Absolute is used to refer to the nondual reality, which not only transcends the phenomenal, dualistic universe, but is also the very essence of Relativity or the dualistic universe. The Absolute is synonymous with nirvana, Brahman, the Tao, the impersonal Divinity and the primordial reality. Aurobindo, an Indian philosopher says, “We mean by the absolute, something greater than the cosmos which we live in, the supreme reality of that transcendent Being, something without which all that we see or are conscious of as existing, could not have been".
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, which contained a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, outside the city walls of ancient Athens. The archaic name for the site was Hekademia, which by classical times evolved into Akademia and was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC, by linking it to an Athenian hero, a legendary Akademos. Some scholars contend that this was, in fact, the first university.
Plato's immediate successors as "scholarch" of Akademia were Speusippus (347–339 BC), Xenocrates (339–314 BC), Polemon (314–269 BC), Crates (ca. 269–266 BC), and Arcesilaus (ca. 266–240 BC). Other notable members of Akademia include Aristotle, Heraclides, Ponticus, Eudoxus of Cnidus.
The Academy underwent various phases, arbitrarily classified as follows: (i) the Old Academy, under Plato and his immediate successors as scholarchs, when the philosophic thought there was moral, speculative, and dogmatic, (ii) the Middle Academy, begun by Arcesilaus (316–241 BC), who introduced a nondogmatic skepticism, and (iii) the New Academy, founded by Carneades (2nd century BC), which ended with the scholarch Antiochus of Ascalon (?-68 BC), who effected a return to the dogmatism of the Old Academy. Although philosophers continued to teach Plato's philosophy in Athens during the Roman era, it was not until AD 410 that a revived Academy was re-established as a center for Neoplatonism, persisting until 529 AD when it was finally closed down by Justinian I.
Alan Leo (1860-1917) was an eminent British astrologer, theosophist and author, who is considered the father of modern astrology. Leo wrote a series of astrological books, founded the successful magazine Modern Astrology and established an organization that remains vibrant some 90 years later.
Born William Frederick Allan in Westminster in 1860, Leo was cared for by his mother, a member of the Plymouth Brethren after his father left when Leo was nine. Brought up by his mother in difficult circumstances, Leo had no formal education beyond grade school. In 1885, began studying astrology and met F.W. Lacey and Sepharial (Walter Old), members of the inner circle of the Theosophical Society. Through them, he met Madame Blavatsky and became a Theosophist himself.
Using the professional name of Alan Leo, he and Lacey decided on November 12, 1889 to launch The Astrologer's Magazine, later renamed Modern Astrology. When Lacey withdrew in 1894, Leo became the sole proprietor. The next year he met his future wife, Bessie, who was a palmist and phrenologist and they married in 1896.
By 1898, the magazine was doing so well that Leo was able to give his full energies to astrology. With the success of his horoscopes and publications, Leo was able to found the "Society for Astrological Research". In the early 1900s, he wrote several substantial books as well as a number of short works on astrology.
In 1909 Leo tripped to India where he studied Indian astrology and as all good theosophists would, he joined the then president of the Theosophical Society, Annie Besant, at the Society's headquarters in Adyar.
By 1915, Leo had authored or helped produce about thirty astrological books. His books were so popular that they were repeatedly reprinted, and almost a century later they are still in print. During that year he set up the Astrological Lodge of the Theosophical Society, which despite having gone through many changes, still meets today.
Through his publications and tireless efforts, Alan Leo became so widely known that he created renewed interest in astrology, but with a different emphasis than astrologers who came before him. Whether by inclination, philosophy or events of his era, Leo emphasized character description rather than prediction. His motto was 'character is destiny' a phrase that some believe was introduced by Heraclitus. Leo also emphasized the intimate relation of astrology, reincarnation and the law of karma. As he states in the preface of his book 'Esoteric Astrology': To-day my whole belief in the science of the stars stands or falls with Karma and Reincarnation, and I have no hesitation in saying that without these ancient teachings, Natal Astrology has no permanent value.
ARIES:
Aries is a constellation in the North hemisphere at 2h 30m right ascension, 13o north declination. Aries is famous not because of its brilliance, though, but because of its location: It is one of the 12 constellations of the zodiac. These constellations straddle the Sun's path across the sky, known as the ecliptic. Aries was the most significant of all. At the time the constellations were named, the Sun appeared against the stars of Aries at the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. With the earth awakening from its winter slumber, the equinox was a time of celebration. And it usually marked the beginning of a new year. Today, the Sun's location at the equinox is still known as the "first point of Aries," even though the Sun is in Pisces. The change is caused by a slow wobble in Earth's axis. The Sun will return to Aries - and the ram will regain his status as the leader of the zodiacal flock - when we complete one full wobble in about 22,000 years.
Mantram: I come forth and from the plane of mind, I rule.
The Greeks associated Aries with the Ram who carried Phrixus and his sister Helle on his back to Colchis to escape the evil designs of their stepmother, Ino, who was about to kill them. In crossing the strait that divides Europe from Asia, Helle became giddy and lost her hold, falling off the Ram into the sea when she disobeyed a warning not to look down, the place thereafter became the Hellespont. Continuing his flight, the ram bore the boy to Colchis, at the eastern end of the Euxine or Black sea. On reaching his journey's end Phrixus sacrificed the ram and hung its fleece in the Grove of Ares where it was turned to gold and became the object of the Argonauts' quest.
In ancient Egyptian astronomy, Aries was associated with the god Amon-Ra, who was depicted as a man with a ram's head and represented fertility and creativity. Because it was the location of the vernal equinox, it was called the "Indicator of the Reborn Sun". During the times of the year when Aries was prominent, priests would process statues of Amon-Ra to temples, a practice that was modified by Persian astronomers centuries later. Aries acquired the title of "Lord of the Head" in Egypt, referring to its symbolic and mythological importance.
Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher (384-322 B.C.) and one of Plato's greatest students. Ηe was born in Stagira, a small town on the northern coast of Greece. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. Aristotle attended Plato’s lectures for twenty years, eventually lecturing himself, particularly on the subject of rhetoric. Plato died in 347 B.C. Because Aristotle had disagreed with some of Plato’s philosophical treatises, Aristotle did not inherit the position of director of the academy. In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip II’s son, the then 13-year-old Alexander the Great. Phillip and Alexander both held Aristotle in high esteem and ensured that the Macedonia court generously compensated him for his work. In 335 B.C., after Alexander had succeeded his father as king and conquered Athens, Aristotle went back to the city. In Athens, Plato’s Academy, now run by Xenocrates, was still the leading influence on Greek thought. With Alexander’s permission, Aristotle started his own school in Athens, called the Lyceum. Because Aristotle was known to walk around the school grounds while teaching, his students, forced to follow him, were nicknamed the “Peripatetics,” meaning “people who walk about.” Lyceum members researched subjects ranging from science and math to philosophy and politics, and nearly everything in between. Art was also a popular area of interest.
The search for ideal forms led Aristotle to explore many subjects. His analysis of the ideal form of tragic plays became a guideline for later playwrights in Western civilization. For centuries, European playwrights like William Shakespeare tried to write plays that would match the ideals of Aristotle’s model. Drama was not invented by Aristotle. In fact, he used examples from the works of famous Greek playwrights such as Sophocles to illustrate his main ideas. The Greeks believed that tragedy was the highest form of drama, and Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy were based on this belief. According Aristotle, "a tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions".
When Aristotle’s former student Alexander the Great died suddenly in 323 B.C., the pro-Macedonian government was overthrown, and in light of anti-Macedonia sentiment, Aristotle was charge with impiety. To avoid being prosecuted, he left Athens and fled to Chalcis on the island of Euboea, where he would remain until his death.
Clearly Aristotle believed mathematics to have great importance as one of three theoretical sciences. However, it is fair to say that he did not agree with Plato, who elevated mathematics to such a prominent place of study that there was little room for the range of sciences studied by Aristotle. The other two theoretical sciences, Aristotle claimed, were (using modern terminology) philosophy and theoretical physics. One of the main focuses of Aristotle’s philosophy was his systematic concept of logic. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality. The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being and actions. In his philosophical treatises Aristotle also discussed how man might next obtain information about objects through deduction and inference. His theory of deduction is the basis of what philosophers now call a syllogism, a logical argument where the conclusion is inferred from two or more other premises of a certain form. Aristotle’s philosophy not only provided man with a system of reasoning, but also touched upon ethics. In Nichomachean Ethics, he prescribed a moral code of conduct for what he called “good living.”
Aristotle also composed a number of works on the arts, including Rhetoric, and science, including On the Heavens, which was followed by On the Soul, in which he moves from discussing astronomy to examining human psychology. Aristotle’s written work also discussed the topics of matter and form. In his book Metaphysics, he clarified the distinction between the two. To Aristotle, matter was the physical substance of things, while form was the unique nature of a thing that gave it its identity. In Ethics Aristotle fixed the true end of man as happiness, a self-contained activity exercising the highest part of our being, the intellect, in accordance with the highest virtue, theoretical wisdom. It is in fact contemplation. Aristotle places at the highest point of his universe a God engaged in abstract thought and man similarly finds his fulfilment in contemplation.
Solely regarding his influence on philosophy, Aristotle’s work influenced ideas from late antiquity all the way through the Renaissance. Aristotle’s influence on Western thought in the humanities and social sciences is largely considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher Plato’s contributions, and Plato’s teacher Socrates before him. The two-millennia-strong academic practice of interpreting and debating Aristotle’s philosophical works continues to endure.
The word astrology comes from the Greek: αστρολογία, astron (άστρον), "star" and logos (λόγος), "word". Astrology is a science that examines the action of celestial bodies upon all living beings, non-living objects and earthly conditions, as well as their reactions to such influences. The study of the stars is one of the oldest sciences known to humankind, tracing its origins back to ancient Sumer and even earlier. The astrological arts were well known to the Egyptians, Hindus, Chinese, Persians, and the great civilizations of the ancient Americas.
Astrology is the progenitor of astronomy, and for many years the two existed as one science. Nowadays, astronomy is considered an "objective" science of distances, masses, speeds, etc., while astrology is a "subjective" and intuitive science that not only deals which the astronomical delineation of horoscopes, but can also be called a philosophy which helps to explain the spiritual essence of life.
Astrology is the science, which defines the action of celestial bodies upon human character, and its expression in the physical world. It is the soul of astronomy and by it the inequalities of humanity are explained. It shows the working of a definite law by which we may realise that as we sow, we also reap. Its antiquity is such as to place it among the very earliest records of human learning. It remains so to this day. -Alan Leo.
Astrology is the science which comprises the foretelling of the regular movements of the planets, the fortunes and misfortunew of men, fates of nations and other incidents relating to terrestrial phenomena.
Thus it inariably follows thet all bodies in nature wethesr animate or inanimate, are subject to the motions of the celestial bodies. Astrology must not be confused with fatalisma. It interprets whta it conceives to be the future of man as moulded by his previous karma kai ndicated by the planetary positions ta the time of birth.
Astrology is divided into different branches:, natal, fixed stars astrology, medical, horary, mundane, electional, progressed and esoteric astrology, each of which is a special study in itself.
"Esoteric astrology concerns itself primarily with the unfoldment of consciousness, with the impacts which awaken it to the peculiar ‘gifts’ of any particular sign and ray endowment; with the reaction of the individual and consequent enrichment through response to the influence of a sign, working through the esoteric planets from the angle of humanitarian awareness, of discipleship and of initiation." - Alice Bailey.
Astrology is founded on the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon, planets, which are analyzed by their movement through signs of the zodiac and by their aspects or angles relative to one another. They are also considered by their placement in astrological houses.
AUROBINDO:
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was a great mystic and philosopher of modern India (1872-1950). Aurobindo was born in Calcutta, India. His father, Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose, was District Surgeon of Rangapur, Bengal. In 1879, Aurobindo and his two elder brothers were taken to Manchester, England for a European education. In 1884, Aurobindo joined St. Paul School. Here he learned Greek and Latin, spending the last three years reading literature, especially English poetry. By the end of two years of probation, Aurobindo became convinced that he did not want to serve the British. He left England for India, arriving there in February, 1893.
In India, Aurobindo engaged in a deep study of Indian culture, teaching himself Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali, all things that his education in England had withheld from him. Aurobindo was a prolific writer, some of his most important works being The Life Divine and The Synthesis of Yoga. He also wrote a profound work about Agni based on passages from the Rig Veda called Hymns to the Mystic Fire. He also founded the Auroville community in Pondichery, based on purna (integral) yoga and contributed much to this century’s hindu revival.
With reagard to humanity, he wrote that the mental level is not the highest possible level. The individual must prepare for a leap beyond the mind, into the limit of one’s fundamental nature. He wrote: "Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of nature's process."