III.6. Vedic Astrology: Space Age Science or Superstition
Part III.6
Vedic Astrology:
Space Age Science or Outdated Superstition
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������ The government of India recently (2001) decided to reintroduce
the subject of Vedic astrology into the schools and to teach it at a university
level in non-Sanskrit courses. Naturally, this movement has met with tremendous
opposition by a number of so-called modern or secular thinkers. They see the
introduction of astrology as returning India to the dark ages and the harbinger
of creating a Hindu religious state in the country. They would equate astrology
with all the social evils and superstitions that the West associates with
India.
However,
astrology remains popular worldwide and is not limited to religiously
conservative people (most orthodox Christians and Muslims have always been
against it). In the West, it is common among the New Age and futuristic groups,
though most scientists are opposed to it. In England, however, there is also a
move to teach astrology in the schools and do scientific research on it.
������ The question arises: What is Vedic astrology and how important
is it to understand India and its venerable traditions? The answer is simple:
Vedic astrology is an integral part of Indian culture, as commonly used today
as thousand years ago in the country. In fact, the computer revolution has made
Vedic astrology, which requires detailed calculations, more accessible. Schools
of Vedic astrology can be found in the major cities of India, offering in depth
two year courses on the subject. Regular new books on Vedic astrology are
coming out every year through the main publishing houses in the country and
these continue to sell well. There is no region of India where astrology in one
form or another is not popular or not part of older traditions.
Astrology is an integral
part of the Hindu tradition, which most Hindus still use on a regular basis.
Buddhists and Jains also have their traditions of Vedic astrology, which is the
basis of Tibetan astrology and the Tibetan calendar. A number of scientists in
India follow Vedic astrology and find it to be scientific. This includes
physicists, medical doctors and engineers, several of whom are well known
writers and teachers of Vedic astrology. Of course, all Indian politicians use
Vedic astrology, so deep seated is its usage, even the ones that publicly deny
it, including Pandit Nehru.
We should note
that traditional Vedic astrology includes astronomy (its mathematical side),
meteorology, and astrology per se (its predictive and interpretative side). It
reflects a yogic or integrative approach to the universe that studies how the
individual and the cosmos are related, and how biological forces and celestial
phenomena mirror each other. It fits in well with the other yogic sciences and
spiritual pursuits that have long characterized Indic civilization.
Great yogis and
sages of India up to modern times have followed Vedic astrology or written
about it. These include Sri Aurobindo, Paramahansa Yogananda and his guru Sri Yukteswar
(who was an astrologer), and Ganapati Muni (chief disciple of Ramana Maharshi).
Astrological works have been ascribed to great Hindu sages like Vasishta,
Parashara, Bhishma, Kalidasa and Madhvacharaya. Great astrological thinkers
like Varaha Mihira have been placed among the great sages and poets of India.
Indian philosophy, literature and religion commonly use astrology and refer to
it.
The Value of Vedic Astrology
What is the
value of Vedic astrology that has kept it alive for so many centuries? First of
all, Vedic astrology is the basis of the Hindu calendar that is still followed
throughout the country and used for determining national holidays like Ram
Navami, Krishna Janmashtami, Shivarati, Navaratri and Diwali. From it arises
the designation of the Hindu months as Chaitra, Vaishakha and so on. To
understand this calendar requires a knowledge of Vedic astrology. Such dates
are not arbitrary but reflect the celestial influences in operation on them.
������ Second, Vedic astrology is a limb or branch of the Vedas, a Vedanga. It is said to
represent the eye of the Veda. After all, everything in life depends upon
timing. In the Vedic view, timing is not simply a matter of keeping in harmony
with business and political trends but requires attunement to the celestial
influences that create time and dispense the forces of karma. Vedic astrology
is used for determining the right timing of Vedic rituals and for the right
timing of all events, spiritual and mundane, including Vedic sacraments and
Yoga practices. It is also used for naming of children in India, using sounds
that reflect the moon�s constellation at the time of birth.
������ Third and most importantly, the Vedic astrological birth chart
is a crucial document for understanding our karma. It is like a road map for
our entire nature and life experience. Interpreted properly it provides keys to
our unfoldment on all levels from physical and mental health, to education,
career, relationship, family and the spiritual path. In this regard the Vedic
astrologer is like a scientist or a doctor, uncovering the deep currents of our
destiny.
������ In such interpretative usages, we must note that Vedic
astrology is not a kind of fatalism. Vedic science is first of all the science
of karma, which means action. It teaches us that we create our own destiny in
life by the nature of our actions. But there are two qualifiers with this
process. First, our action occurs over time. This means that who we are today
is a result of what we did yesterday, including our actions in previous lives.
In order to change what we are now takes time. Previous wrong actions can still
affect us today, though we can alter our future. Second, our action occurs in
the field of cosmic law, which is connected to cosmic forces of time through
the stars and planets. We must consider the forces of the world and the laws of
nature in which we act, whether those of health and disease or ignorance and
enlightenment. We can�t change our destiny in such a way that requires altering
the laws of the universe or the functioning of the cosmic mind!
������ Vedic astrology shows us the basic karmic pattern that we have
to work with in life. But it also shows us how to modify and optimize our karma
both for the present and for the future. Towards this end it uses various
remedial measures like gemstones, mantras and yajnas (rituals). These help us
draw in the benefic energies of the cosmos and ward off those that are
destructive. A good understanding of ones birthchart and how to rectify the
planetary influences within it is a great aid to help us get a handle on our
karma in life. This means that Vedic astrology has a practical relevance for
improving our lives. It helps us optimize our life-potential, not reduce it to
some preconceived pattern.
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Vedic
Astrology and Science
Vedic astrology
is a system of great complexity and intricacy that few that criticize astrology
are aware of. A well-trained Vedic astrologer must examine the planets, signs,
houses and nakshatras (constellations), along with their permutations and combinations
(aspects and yogas), as well as means of various means of determining their
strengths and weakness (shadbala). A Vedic astrologer takes into account
sixteen divisional (amsha) charts, ashtakavarga (benefic planetary points),
several dasha (planetary period) systems, the annual chart or solar return
(varshaphal) and transits, if not additional factors. The Vedic chart requires
a very multilayered and comprehensive approach that necessitates deep thinking
and patient analysis. When examining group or national events, rather than just
individual charts, the considerations must be yet more detailed, plotting
national currents and sub-currents.
Just as a
scientist must conduct many experiments before coming to a conclusion about the
laws of nature, or as a medical doctor must do special testing before
confirming a diagnosis, the Vedic astrologer must examine a good deal of
information in the birth chart, subcharts and current planetary influences
before arriving at a solid determination of what is likely to transpire. This
type of astrological research, like that of science, takes time and is not a
simple matter of quick predictions.
Such a vast
system of astrological examination is very different than the common stereotype
of astrology as reflecting twelve sun signs (which Vedic astrology does not
follow at all). Reducing astrology to it would be like reducing science to what
is taught in a child�s first grade class. Vedic astrology also remains based on
the fixed stars unlike western astrology that follows the equinoxes, and so the
charge of no longer accurately mirroring stellar positions, which scientists
raise against western astrology, cannot be lodged against the Vedic system.
Unfortunately, most people condemning Vedic astrology have never really studied
the system and are unaware of its complexity (seldom have they read even one
serious book on the subject!). They judge it by stereotypes or by its popular
appearances, reducing astrology to what is found in the newspapers. We must
look beyond popular distortions in the field of astrology, just as in other
fields.
Of course, bad
astrologers are partly responsible for the disrepute that astrology is often
held in worldwide. Astrology, particularly when not honored as a science or philosophy,
can easily get confused with crude fortune-telling. Yet just as traditional
medicine is being vindicated today, so too traditional astronomy (which
includes astrology) may regain its place in the world mind. In fact,
traditional medicine and astrology always went together, not only in India but
also in Europe. Both were linked to spirituality and mysticism and gained the
attention of great minds.
The
Universe in Science and in Vedic Astrology
������ In the Vedic view the universe is the very breath or prana of
the Absolute (Brahman). The breath of God creates the force of time on a cosmic
level, just as our inhalations and exhalation create the experience of time on
an individual level. Time, therefore, is not a mere material force but is a
manifestation of Divine will and energy.
������ The universe of Vedic astrology and that of modern science are
no longer far apart and are getting closer every day. Both have a vision of a
vast universe of space and time that is part of a greater infinite and eternal reality.
Both recognize the existence of many universes and many cycles of creation.
Both recognize subtle forces connecting all objects in the universe in various
energy fields. Both regard each atom in its movement as affecting the entire
universe. Both are trying to unlock the consciousness that such a magical
universe must depend upon for its mind-baffling workings.
Vedic astrology
teaches that we live in a conscious universe interconnected by mind, life and
energy on gross and subtle, inner and outer, individual and cosmic levels. The
individual human being or Purusha has his counterpart in the universal being or
Purusha, of which the outer world is his body. This universal Purusha is time
(Kala Purusha) which works through the Sun and the stars. The basis of
astrological thinking consists of drawing connections or inferences (bandhus)
between the individual (adhyatmic) and the cosmic (adhidaivic). In this regard,
astrology is part of the science of Yoga. It reflects the same understanding of
the unity of the individual and the cosmos.
������ We should note that teaching Vedic astrology in schools in
India is not like the insistence of Christian fundamentalist groups in America
that evolution be banned and the Biblical account of creation taught instead.
Teaching Vedic astrology does not require that modern science is not taught,
nor does it necessarily go against the findings of modern science. It adds an
Indic perspective to science. It also opens the door for greater scientific
study to validate this ancient wisdom. There was a time when Yoga was dismissed
as superstition just as astrology is today. Some medical doctors are taking up
natural forms of healing that the previous generation of doctors dismissed and
backward or superstitious. Clearly, astrology is not far behind in this new
adaptation of ancient wisdom.
Astrology
and Civilization
������ One can understand a civilization by the form of astrology it
employs, which reflects its cosmology and its understanding of time and
eternity. In the modern world, our time is told by clocks and our calendars
have no spiritual meaning. They are just a convenient system of enumeration
that has no real connection to the living universe. Nor surprisingly, our time
has little meaning for us, unless we are sick or dying. We usually count our
time in dollars and are otherwise bored if we are not either making or spending
money. Our lives are not connected to the greater universe or even the local
field of nature. We are not part of the rhythm of the cosmos or connected to great
cosmic cycles. We have often lost track even of the seasons, the phases of the
moon or the rhythm of the day.
Astrology teaches us that time is part of the sacred movement of the cosmos, linked with eternity, and reflects a cosmic intelligence present in the stars. The movement of time is a progressive manifestation of the Divine, an evolution of consciousness on both individual and world levels. Our current civilization has banished the sacred from time and has no sense of the eternal. Even western religions are mainly historically based, not extratemporarily aware, which is why they have largely remained extroverted and aggressive, rather than introverted and meditative like their eastern counterparts. They too have had little place for astrology, which in the West has been mainly a legacy of classical Greek and pagan culture.
Clearly, modern
civilization can be enriched by ancient spiritual sciences, just as these
spiritual and occult disciplines can be made more dynamic through a modern and
global application and proved with scientific research. During this age when we
are looking to travel to the stars, we should not forget that the stars, like
the entire universe, dwell within us. The universe is not apart from us or
alien to us but is fundamentally part of our own nature.
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