Q: While you have already taken me on the path of meditation, paranayama, yoga abhyas (yoga practice) and whatever are been done, it is through you. How much should I believe in “grah dasha”, “sade-sati”? Deep inside I believe that if we are moving in the proper direction and when you have already blessed us, neither “grah” will affect us and we will be strong enough to face the effects of “sade-sati”.

A: Well Ashwani, the “sade-sati” and the effects of the bad “graha” are just the accounts being settled of your bad “karma”. Any “sade-sati” when it comes, may be physically, externally, you may experience some bad things like loss of money, loss of name, but one thing is very good in this bad, odd, suffering full times and that is, if you use the “viveka”, the “gyana” given by the Guru, then you can change this bad time into the time of your spiritual practice.

Mantra japa, sadhana (spiritual practice) cannot erase the effects of your “dradh karma” – ripe karma. Only “adradh karma” – the unripened karma can be deleted or its effect can get minimized. But as such, everyone has to face the karma. Be a human being, take the responsibility, take the charge of whatever “sade-sati” or bad “graha dasha”… What will it do… May be it will take away your money, may be it will disintegrate your family, may be infamy will your way, may be you end up in a jail, may be you end up in a hospital. What worse can it bring; these are the only things which it can bring.

But if you use all this turmoil, difficult situations in your favour by knowing that things are being broken & taken away to teach you a lesson, this is what we have to bring – “vairaagya” – (dispassion). One day, we do have to leave everything, so why not now and who cares about the social name, fame and riches… If it is today, enjoy, if it goes away, let it go.