The next Full Moon happens on May 1, 2026, at 5:23 pm (UTC) in Libra, 17 degrees 07 minutes. The Nakshatra is Swati, and the Navamsha is Pisces.
Indian philosophy teaches us the following:
“We are not the money we possess. We are not our name, our age, our height or weight, our beauty, our personality, our dreams, hopes, desires, or memories. The mind-body unity we identify as ourselves is not our true self — it is part of nature. Our bones, blood, organs, brain, thoughts, memories, and personality are all inseparably bound by the laws of physics and causality, forming part of an interwoven web of conditioning shaped by the society, culture, and environment in which they exist. Yet none of these is truly us.
So who, then, are we? We are the ‘Witness’ — a transcendent subject who observes and experiences all phenomena. Yet this ‘self’ is not the ego. The ego is merely a constructed concept, a part of the natural world. We cannot see ourselves clearly with our own eyes. But the Witness is always free — never bound by suffering, sorrow, despair, or loss.”
We are human beings, and so we naturally identify with our thoughts and circumstances. We are born into this life to live what we must experience and to work through it. Yet when we study the philosophies of Jyotish and Yoga, we gradually develop the capacity to observe our own situation with greater clarity. When I often say, “Let’s bring awareness to this,” my intention is to help us move more swiftly toward becoming the Witness. It is not other people or external circumstances that create our unhappiness. This Full Moon invites us into that very awakening. Om Shanti.