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What is Vedic Astrology all about?
Vedic Astrology (VA) is a spiritually
profound & quantitative system of
predictive-knowledge governing both
the ‘timing of occurrence’ as well
as the ‘intensity’ of all the
significantly happy, as well as the
significantly tragic events of our
human life. Such ‘Significant Life - Events’
in this discipline are understood to arise,
in accordance with cosmic laws which govern
the changing patterns of our ‘destiny’.
Using the mathematical model of astronomy,
involving the movement of the nine planets;
VA portrays what ‘destiny’ is in store for
us in the womb of time. And whenever such
a ‘destiny’ threatens to take the malefic-form
of a ‘conspiracy or obstruction’ leading to
suffering at certain times in our life;
it lays down individual-specific Spiritual
Remedial Measures for modifying & overcoming the same.
Put differently, it may be taken to be ‘Kaala Vidya’,
or a system of Vedic-knowledge on the nature of ‘Time’,
in so far as its benefic & malefic impact on our ‘destiny’
is concerned. Alternatively, it may also be considered to be
‘Jyotir Vidya’, the composite-name for astronomy & astrology
in that ancient Vedic-civilization. Here we should not miss
out on the etymological meaning of Jyotir Vidya:
It is a spiritual system of knowledge, which enables us
‘to See or illuminate’, - that which we are looking at in the
field of our destiny or life. For this very reason, the Vedic Rishis
(Sages) had defined Jyotir Vidya as ‘The eye of wisdom’.
Does our High-Tech Modern
World need the Wisdom of the Ancient
Vedic
Sages?
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“When psychologists have investigated precisely what we resolve,
it appears we are terribly self-centered, primarily preoccupied with our
health and looks.”
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- Dr. Raj Persaud [1]
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(Ref 1, Pg 56, while talking about ‘the kind of
resolutions’we moderns make).
It is inherently difficult for people of one civilization to be able
to swing into the perceptions of people of another, especially when the
two civilizations are poles apart, as in the present circumstances
in which we find ourselves. As moderns,who have a strong sense of
pride in our marvellous scientific & technological achievements,
as also a concomitant feeling of ‘self-sufficiency’ arising there from;
the basic question of whether we really need all this wisdom of
the Vedic Sages for bringing light into our supposedly
‘disconsolate’ lives, must certainly have troubled our
conscience at some time or the other. It is therefore
natural for us to address ourselves first of all to
this touchy question - which seems to remain ever
in the background.
As our world-wide modern civilization
has addressed itself primarily only to the challenge of bringing
happiness & fulfilment to man’s physical and mental
appetites; and falls silent - whenever it has to either to grapple with our sufferings & misfortunes
or lead us to Divinity & peace in our inner-life - we may safely conclude
that it has really nothing much to offer in these subtler spheres of life.
We must realize in the first instance that it has not been ‘designed’ to deal in a purposeful
way with either our spiritual appetites or with the deeper philosophical questions of
our human existence - concerning the nature of ‘Divinity’, death & the ending of our
physical & psychological suffering.
By the time we come to recognize its spiritual
inadequacy & bankruptcy, half of our life is actually over and
done with. It is at this stage that we may ‘wake-up’ to
become serious seekers and start looking for various means to
bring about inner peace and contentment - since this has been
the one thing, which has been constantly elusive in our
lives - in spite of the apparent fulfilment of our
physical & mental appetites!
Having arrived at this impasse, if we would
have knocked on the doors of Vedic astrology of India; then, it
is at this point that the wisdom of the ancient Vedic Sages,
would have begun to reveal itself to us - in the form of the
Remedial Measures. Not that Vedic astrology is the only source
of wisdom and blessings from the ancients. Everyone should have
heard of Yoga & Ayurveda; in addition to a whole host of other
ancient-therapies & remedies - both Eastern as well as
Western - for bringing fulfilment for the deeper yearnings
of man’s soul. In the light of this self-critical introspection
into our modern civilization, we will now turn to our real objective.
The Modern World-View vis-à-vis the Ancients’:
Our contemporary world-wide modern civilization,
which has essentially come to be set in a Western technological and
secular mould - in contrast to the ancient civilizations- is anything
but spiritual, as it is avowedly not ‘God-centered’ at all, in so far
as its comprehensive vision of life is concerned. In fact, rather than
being ‘God-centered’, it is either purely centered on the pursuit of
technological-knowledge, leading eventually to wealth & professional
success (all for the glorification & fulfilment of an ephemeral ego);
or worse still; it is often centered entirely only on the pursuit of
pleasures & comforts, to the exclusion of every other higher humanitarian
and spiritual value in life. In such a modern world-view then; the spiritual
realities of the soul, God & the unity of all life are more or less reckoned
to be uncalled for ‘hindrances’, in the way of our headlong pursuit of
individual success & the sensory gratifications in life.It is this radical
divergence of our world-view from that of the ancients, which puts us
at a definite disadvantage; when it comes to our grasping the significance
and utility of Vedic astrology, within the context of our dramatic, but
troubled lives.
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