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In this free web based tutorial course you’ll learn, in
a thorough step-by-step manner, how some of the great vedic astrologers
of the world come to brilliant insights and dazzling predictions.
Since understanding the fundamentals is the basis for being able
to give accurate readings we’ll not skimp on the basics
but at the same time I’ll also try not to hold off on introducing
the more advanced methods. The course will have an additional
article on the average of one per week and will generally be
laid out in sequential lessons with homework exercises.
We’ll discuss the differences between the vedic or sidereal
system and the western or tropical system. For those of you who
want to learn to integrate the two systems we’ll discuss
how to do that without compromising the integrity of either.
Generally speaking vedic astrology is more predictive in its
methods and as seen in its reference texts. However, as a psychotherapist
I can say that I derive a great deal of insight into personality
traits using the vedic system as well.
Just to give you a general idea of the course
we’ll cover:
chart interpretation, planetary strengths and weaknesses - shad
bala, planetary period systems - vimshottari dasa, planetary
combinations - yogas, transit systems - ashtakavarga, divisional
charts especially the navamsa, remedial measures, muhurta - timing
of events and more!
My intention is to pass on the generosity with which the teachers
who I have been fortunate to study with have given to me of their
time and knowledge so that you can now benefit and help others
as well in the future.
India’s Background – Interesting
Facts
For of all, you must know that vedic astrology is the astrology
of India and is some 4,000-5000 years old. This is no fly
by night tradition! In fact, the remarkable thing is that
it’s
a LIVING tradition. If you’ve been studying western astrology
it’s not like you can just fly to Greece and find astrologers
sitting in the streets practicing in the manner of the great
early Greek astrologers. But in India you still can. And if
you’re really serious about learning vedic astrology,
one day you should go. Alright, yes it’s over a billion
people in a country not a heck of a lot bigger than Texas most
of whom are just trying to survive in highly polluted, impoverished
conditions. But what we see today is not what India’s
been. Did you know?: India was once the richest empire on earth about 3000 BC with
cities more technologically advanced than most in Europe till
the time of the Renaissance!
The early vedic sages invented the number system, the decimal
system, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and the value of pi.
Albert Einstein said “We owe a lot to the Indians, who
taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific
discovery could have been made”.
In recent history: the creator of the Pentium
chip was Vinod Dham; the co-founder of Sun Microsystems was
Vinod Khosla; the
creator of the hotmail email system was Sabeer Bhatia; and the
GM of Hewlett Packard is Rajiv Gupta – all from India.
Our word “navigation” comes from the Sanskrit word “navgatih” meaning “nine
movements” referring to the 9 transiting planets (excluding
the outer planets) which were apparently used for navigation.
Just one clue as to how tuned in the vedic civilization was to
astrology and astronomy.
Mark Twain said “India is the cradle of the human race,
the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the
grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition”.
Discovering Ancient Vedic Astrology Today
So
by knowing these facts you realize India is not a country of
slouches. India definitely has an illustrious past which
can be seen by the living traditions that still exist in
vedic astrology, ayurvedic medicine, vastu (architecture),
Sanskrit,
music, dance, yoga, systems of worship etc. You can find
living masters today in each of these traditions who will
give you
a curriculum that will keep you busy for the rest of your
life. Each tradition can be traced to long lineages back
to revered
sages or rishis who formulated their respective systems
directly from intuitive knowledge gained from meditative
insight.
There are two main systems of vedic astrology
practiced today: Parashari and Jaimini which were developed
by the sages Parashara
and Jamini respectively. The sage Parashara is said to be the “father
of vedic astrology” who recorded the main principles of
vedic astrology or “jyotish”, the science of light,
into the classic Sanskrit text known as the Brihat Parashara
Hora Shastra. This forms the basis for the entire Parashari system,
which by far the most widely used in India and the world today.
In 1992, on my first trip to India, I studied
with the late R. Santhanam in New Delhi who translated the
Brihat Parashara
Hora Shastra. of Sage Parashara into English. Since you’ve
probably heard horrifying tales of travelers abroad to India
I’ll spare you a lot of the unnecessary details. However,
I will say that even though I had made contact with R. Santhanam
from the states and was given detailed directions to his house
it still took me a hair raising 3 hour rickshaw ride fighting
through unbelievably noisy and chaotic traffic and getting lost
repeatedly to find it! (I’ve included the picture of the
unmarked intersection to his house to give you a visual idea!).
If I hadn’t called author James Braha who wrote about his
experiences studying with R. Santhanam in his book, Astro Logos,
before leaving I would not have been prepared. Fortunately the
ordeal was worth it. Santhanam had wiped his schedule clear for
four whole days so that I could study with him and I was thrilled!
I brought blank tapes, notebooks and about 30 charts of people
I knew well and we spent about 8-10 hours a day together.
He described past events with each chart and told me how he
had come to those conclusions. He knew my brother was in space
engineering and a comedian, my sister was a school teacher, and
my parents divorced when I was 6. He knew my friends had difficulty
having a baby, and he knew my sister in law was about to have
a baby! When it came to predictions he said that I would later
get a degree in psychology, which I had no plans to do at the
time, and integrate vedic astrology with psychology. Both of
these predictions, and as well as some others, have come to pass.
The most astonishing prediction was the one he
made regarding my best friend who at that time had just become
a monk in the
Mata Amritanandamayi mission. He said that he would be getting
married by 2002, which was the farthest thing from his mind!
It wasn’t till he met his fiancée in 2000 that I
realized Santhanam could be right! They later got married just
as he had predicted almost 10 years in advance!
Later,
on my latest trip in 2000 I had an unexpected glimpse into
the ancient vedic astrology tradition when I was
on a pilgrimage
in the Himalayas en route to Gangotri, the source of India’s
holiest river – the Ganges. We were staying at a hot springs
called Ganganani, which is a popular resting stop along the way
towards Gangotri. I decided to have a look around and came across
a very small temple just up the hill from the hot springs pool.
Since I could read the Hindi script I was amazed to read “Parashara
Ashram”. I asked whoever spoke some English about the origins
of the place and found out that that very spot was where the
great sage Parashara, the father of vedic astrology, had lived
the last 30 years of his life, many thousands of years ago! The
little temple had a stone that was said to have been the one
he sat on during meditation and a small statue of the sage. Sometimes
when you read about these great sages who are said to have intuited
entire complex systems in meditation it’s easy to feel
as though they’re more like mythic characters than real
people. But to have been able to sit in that temple and pick
up on the feeling of reverence that the priest and local people
had for the sage it somehow became real that India does have
an incredibly vast and vibrant living tradition.
Jai Shri Ram
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