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dear dr Satya

Your write up on Synchronicity is very interesting, and expalins to

some extent why the methods like Horary of KP, based on Numbers,

Parrots,Hexagrams etc. work.

Prediction is not a pure,simple application of Rules given the texts.

It is subjective to some extent and depends on the psche of the

astologer.

Regarding your proposed article on Mysteries of Panch Pakshi, a book

BIORHYMS OF THE MOON (Mysteries of Pancha Pakshi), by Prof Dr

U.S.Pulippani(Sunder Varadachary) has been published by RANJAN

PUBLICATIONS 16 ANSARI ROAD DARYA GANG NEW DELHI 110 002.

A Computer programme, without the names of Birds, but indicating the

Good Bad and Medium Times, based on the actual sun-rise, has been made

by RAICHURS of Garodianagar Mumbai 400077( email anant_1608)

This is for information

--- satyaprakasika <satyaprakasika wrote:

> Aum Namah Shivaya!

>

> Namaste dear list members,

>

>

>

> PARROTS, HEXAGRAMS AND NUMBERS

> Synchronicity- An Acausal connecting principle

>

>

> NOTE: Every issue of the Journal will introduce one method or system

> of divination or oracle. This issue carries an article on the I

> Ching, a Chinese oracle based on cyclic changes. The next issue will

> have an in depth article on `Panchapakshi", a system of

> divination propounded by the ancient Tamil siddha sages. This unique

> and highly sublime system symbolizes the cycles of the five elements

> symbolized through five Cosmic birds. Subsequent issues will carry

> articles on other horary methods like `Sarvatobhadra Chakra',

> Swara sastra, Ashtamangala, Shakunam, Lakota and other such methods

> of prognostication. It is hoped that the readers will be able to

> appreciate better and put into practice the principle of

> Synchronicity, with a better understanding of the symbols employed by

>

> various systems. While each of us can adopt one system as the

> principal one, the others may be employed as adjuncts to the

> principal system. With this composite approach, the degree of

> understanding will be higher.

>

>

> For a first hand account of Carl Jung's ideas and an illustration

> of the broad scope and interrelationship of his interests one may

> refer The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 20 vols. Bollingen Series XX,

>

> translated by R.F.C. Hull, edited by H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler,

> and Wm. McGuire. Princeton University Press, Princeton,1953-1979.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ....... May Jupiter's light shine on us .......

>

>

>

> Your use of is subject to

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

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Hare Rama Krishna

---------

Dear Dr. Satya,

Lovely Article, about Carl Jung and the theory of Synchronicity.

However in the middle of the article, people i was engulfed in thinking about

theories of synchronicity, and then you bring about the formulas for divination

of Horaries.

 

The blend is abit sudden for my tastes.

 

Also why didn't you speak more about the topic of Dhyana Yoga, which seems to

find its place whilst calming the mind, and waiting for a number?

 

Otherwise, it was a breathe-taking article, can't wait to see the next one. A

picture of the Hexagram would be useful, for those unaware of finding the 34th

line, etc.

 

Best wishes, Visti.

-

satyaprakasika

vedic astrology

Friday, January 18, 2002 8:09 PM

[vedic astrology] Parrots, Hexagrams And Numbers/Synchronicity- An

Acausal connecting principle

Aum Namah Shivaya!Namaste dear list members,After a long gap, I am posting an

article of mine. Previously I had posted articles covering predictive

techniques and the spiritual/philosophical basis of astrology. This time I am

reproducing one of my articles (Editorial) from the OZCVA's Journal 'The Vedic

Light'. This article attempts to introduce the phenomenon of 'Synchronicity' to

astrologers, with special reference to various oracular and divination systems

of different cultures. If anyone is interested, I may follow it up with more on

different systems. Dr.SatyaNote: This article explores some ideas of Quantum

Physics, Modern Psychology and Astrology. While I have tried to simplify the

essence, people with no background knowledge may find certain terms new. Yet I

am posting it with the hope that it will benefit atleast a few.

PARROTS, HEXAGRAMS AND NUMBERS Synchronicity- An Acausal connecting

principleIt happened many times to me. It happens to all of us sometimes. For

no reason, I remembered a friend who was my junior at the dental school, with

whom I had lost all contact since four years. He was in my mind the whole day.

The phone rang and guess what! It was the same friend. Synchronicity, a term

originated by the famous psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, is used to explain a

parallelism of events which cannot be related causally. The `connectedness'

betweennon-causally related events is termed as `synchronicity.

Meaningfulcoincidences had always fascinated me. I had observed this phenomenon

since childhood. But its significance became more apparent once I started

learning various divination and oracular systems of different cultures in my

late teens. The various experiences and insights that a seeker on the spiritual

path goes through, do not have appropriate English words to describe them. Often

there is this lack of communication, especially between the mystic and the

scientist. Carl Jung's work has helped in furthering the dialogue between

themystic and the scientist. I rejoiced when I discovered that Carl Jung had

words that could partly fill the lacunae in scientific vocabulary in English.

His contribution to modern psychology is immense, and becomes evident when one

looks at the rich vocabulary that he had left behind. Today the terms that he

had designated, such as synchronicity and archetypes, are often used as well as

misused. What is `Synchronicity'? Synchronicity is a phenomenon where an event

in the outside world coincides meaningfully with a psychological state of mind.

Jung looked for a theoretical concept that would account for such paranormal

`chance' phenomena. The origin of the principle of synchronicity is linked with

Jung's limited acquaintance with theI Ching. In 1930, he first used the term

`synchronicity' todescribe an " a-causal connection between psychic states and

objective events". Let me hasten to add that Jung carefully distinguishes

"synchronicity" from the mere "synchronism" of events occurring simultaneously

but unconnected in meaning. In other words, every coincidence is not

meaningful. Only meaningful coincidences come under the phenomenon of

synchronicity. Jung's initial attempts to understand synchronicity seem to

havebeen influenced by the classical idea of astrology too- "the objective time

moment". This supposes that certain quality exists in a moment of time itself-

"To everything there is aseason and a time for every purpose under the heavens;

a time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to pluck up

that which is planted; A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to breakdown

and a time to build up; a time to Dance; a time to get and a time to lose; A

time to keep and a time to cast away", as the Ecclesiastes states. This concept

of a certain quality to time, is fundamental to Vedic astrology, which has its

roots in the ancient Vedic practice of timing their rituals according to this

quality of time, in fact so much so that in the post Vedic times, Time was even

personified as a mighty Being- Mahakala the Lord of Time. Qualitative time seems

to explain why astrology and other forms of divination work. But synchronicities

are not always dependent on such a moment of time. Precognition, for instance,

does not occur in"same-timeness". Jung gradually gave up the supposition of

qualitative time. He concluded that since qualitative time is nothing but the

flux of things, and is as much "nothing" as space,thishypothesis ends up in a

vicious circle- "the flux of things and events is the cause of the flux of

things, etc". Jung thought that it would be possible to link his "a-causal

principle" of synchronicity to new ideas emerging in physics.Things happen both

in physics and biology according to Quantum logic of uncertainty. After

Heisenberg's discovery of the uncertainty principle, most quantum physicists

like Niels Bohr and Max Planck were concerned with demolishing the principle of

Causality. Heisenberg had experimentally proved that things may happen without

any cause. Planck says that even the rationalists have to admit of mysteries

and miracles that do happen without any causal relationship. He wrote," though

the order of nature is admittedas inevitably predetermined by the Supreme

Cause, yet the causal chain in the world itself may at any time be interrupted

by the intervention of a supernatural power." Jung's close friend, the

Nobel prize winning physicist, Wolfgang Pauli, was one of the several scientists

interested in Jung'sviews. While Jung held that " a union of psychology and

physicsseems entirely possible", Pauli "discovered the presence ofArchetypes in

the scientific theories of Kepler"! Jung and Pauli agreed that the trinity of

classical physics- time, space and causality- could be turned into a quaternity

by adding synchronicity as a fourth term. Of course this conflicts Einstein's

theory of General Relativity,that the structure of space-time is smooth and

continuous. God doesn't play dice! I can almost hear Jung asserting, "Maybe he

does. But we don't know by whatrules"! Synchronicity was defined by Jung as an

"a-causal connecting principle," an essentially mysterious connection between

the personal psyche and the material world, based on the fact that at bottom

they are only different forms of energy. "It is not only possible but fairly

probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and the

same thing. The synchronicity phenomena point, it seems to me, in this

direction, for they show that the nonpsychic can behave like the psychic, and

vice versa, without there being any causal connection between them" (On the

Nature of the Psyche," CW8,par. 418.)Jung associated synchronistic experiences

with the relativity of space and time and a degree of unconsciousness. "The

very diverseand confusing aspects of these phenomena are, so far as I can see

at present, completely explicable on the assumption of a psychically relative

space-time continuum. As soon as a psychic content crosses the threshold of

consciousness, the synchronistic marginal phenomena disappear, time and space

resume their accustomed sway, and consciousness is once more isolated in its

subjectivity. . . . Conversely, synchronistic phenomena can be evoked by

putting the subject into an unconscious state" (On the Nature of the Psyche,"CW

8, par. 440).Jung hoped to establish synchronicity as a law equal in status to

causality. To this end he even devised carefully planned statistical

investigations into birth charts. Of course eventually his original experiment

parted company with orthodox statistical methods. In searching for an objective

law, he had found the reflection of the subjective psyche of the observer in the

apparently objective material! He discovered that "synchronistic events draw

theobserver into what is happening and make him an accessory tothem". Jung had

succeeded in proving (?) that " A secret, mutualconnivance exists between the

material and the psychic state of the astrologer. This correspondence is simply

there like any other agreeable or annoying incident, and it seems to me doubtful

whether it can be proved scientifically to be anything more than that." But Jung

seems to be ambiguous about the degree of subjectivity or objectivity of

synchronicity. "Synchronicity takes thecoincidence of events in space and time

as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence

of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic)

states of the observer or observers."This is a bit ambiguous. The relationship

between the observer and observed remains confused, giving rise to two

understandings of synchronicity. In the first version there is already an

"interdependence of objective events amongst themselves"(say, planets and an

event), observed objectively. Yet the second version involves the subjective

participation of the observing psyche. In other words the experimenter's psyche

is alsoinvolved. Again sounds like an echo of Quantum physics! The first version

(let us call it Synchronicity O), with its objectivity, could be examined for an

inherent theory or law. The second one (what I call Synchronicity S), with its

secret, mutual connivance, is unique and lawless. It depends on, and even

brings to light, the psyche of the observing subjects so that theindividual's

own psyche is mysteriously reflected in theobjective material.Jung moves

ambiguously between these two versions of synchronicity. If synchronicity in

its broadest sense has to be meaningful, then it must have a subjective

component, because it is impossible to separate "meaning" from subjective

psychic activity. Yet in suggesting a form of synchronicity based on an

"interdependenceof objective events amongst themselves", Jung also has to

positthe existence of a psychoid level of reality, existing prior to human

consciousness. This implies an order and pattern in the cosmos, a

transcendental meaning inherent in the collective psyche. Synchronicity

postulates a meaning, which is a priori to human consciousness and apparently

exists outside of man. This is perhaps the principle or phenomenon that is

behind all oracular and divination systems. This is the basis of the Indian

Horary (Prasna) method of fixing the ascendant by a number given by the client.

While one method (Uttarakalamrita) uses 108 numbers, another modern method (KP)

uses 249! The same number indicates a different ascendant in both the methods.

So could we rely on such methods? Why not? The basis here is not the numbers,

but synchronicity. In KP horary system, sometimes predictions are given based

on static factors like the sublord based on the number given. This seems

illogical to people with no exposure to KP. A thorough understanding of the

phenomenon of Synchronicity can dispel such doubts. This again, is the basis of

some fantastic predictions coming from a relatively simple and straightforward

method like the tarot. In fact synchronicity is at the root of all oracular

systems. The most important and least understood of such methodologies, is

`Nimitta' or `Shakunam', a branch of Vedicastrology that deals with the

interpretation of `omens', based on the phenomenon of synchronicity. In India

it is quite common to see parrots trained to pick the card, in a very common

native Tarot methodology. I still remember that day vividly. Many years back,

on a Sunday morning, during the hot summer days in the state of Tamil Nadu in

Southern India where I did my BDS, as I sat under the cool shade of a wonderful

tree reading a book on birds, I saw this colorfully dressed man with an umbrella

and a wooden box which was both a box that held the tarot cards and a cage for

the parrot. I was always fascinated or at least interested in all such people.

So I called him more to know more about him and to amuse myself, than anything

else. He said that he would charge a rupee for one tarot reading. I paid him

five rupees and got ready for my `reading'. He carefully spread his cards on a

red clothand opened the door of the wooden cage. The little green parrot hopped

out strutting towards the cards. It pulled each card aside and eventually picked

one with its beak and gave it to the man. He took the card in his hand and gave

the parrot its reward with the other- a rice grain. The parrot strutted back

obediently into its cage with the grain in its beak. The man now opened the

card and proceeded to interpret the symbol on the card. In the afternoon

another tarot reader came along singing the familiar tune. I guess they walk

the streets more on Sundays than any other weekday. People recognize them by

their tune and call them. I opened the gates and called him in. As usual the

parrot picked a card. It was the same symbol again! My mind was alert now. Was

this man related to the other reader? Had he sent this second reader? Could

they have trained their parrots to pick a card of their choice somehow? I was

very skeptical, to say the least. I knew that some of the readers were

unscrupulous and made money by trying to sell talismans after drawing cards

that symbolized bad times. I sent him away after a few minutes, almost

convinced that he was trying to trick me. In the evening, I was coming back

from an ashram in a nearby village, after my regular Sunday discussions with a

monk. I was riding back through the busy streets and suddenly noticed the row

of tarot readers sitting on the footpath near the bus stand. I parked my

motorbike and walked to one of them, an elderly looking reader with

compassionate eyes and big whiskers. I paid him the customary rupee and

squatted on the straw mat. The parrot came out and picked a card as usual. I

held my breath and waited for him to open the card. THE SAME SYMBOL AGAIN! Not

one. Not two. Three times! Synchronicity, a-causal meaningful coincidence(s)!!!

Needless to say the relevance of the symbol became clear in the next few days.

Going by the phenomenon of synchronicity, if the mechanisms behind the oracular

prognostications of oracles like the I Ching are none other than synchronicity

and the holographic nature of reality, then pushing a computer button at a

moment thus and generating a Hexagram is perhaps no different than throwing

coins or dice. Whether one picks a card, or throws dice, or cowries, or asks

for a number, or uses york sticks, the result is the same. All these methods

are equally effective. Let me narrate an incident to you. I was sitting in a

business meeting in India. We were assessing the viability of a particular

project. Normally I allow myself as well as others, to assess any business

situation by regular methods first. Any astrological methods are done as a

final check. At one stage, both the business partners sitting there suggested

that I should check what was indicated through some form of divination. I

decided to use I Ching on this occasion. Let me tell you that sometimes I draw

a hexagram by a very unconventional method instead of using coins or york

sticks. I close my eyes and let a number appear in my mind. This happens

passively without one having to try really. Let me also clarify that this does

not involve any psychic abilities and that anybody can try this as long as one

is capable of letting a number come up naturally without any efforts- psychic

or rational. On this occasion I could visualize the number 34. I had noted it

down. But on the insistence of one member there, we called an employee who was

conversant with the I Ching (he had learnt it under my influence) and asked him

to draw a hexagram. Using three coins, he drew a hexagram. The final hexagram

was the 34th! Two different methods of arriving at the symbol by two people

gave the same result! Let me quote Jung here. "Synchronicity . . .

consists of twofactors: a) An unconscious image comes into consciousness either

directly (i.e., literally) or indirectly (symbolized or suggested) in the form

of a dream, idea, or premonition. b) An objective situation coincides with this

content. The one is as puzzling as the other" ("Synchronicity: An Acausal

Connecting Principle"," CW 8, par.858.)What he says is clearly illustrated in

the above-narrated incident. Jung speaks of two factors:a.)An unconscious image

comes into consciousness either1.directly i.e. literally (the number 34

visualized in the mind in this case), 2·or indirectly symbolized or suggested

(the 34th hexagram drawn by the coin method, being the symbol here) in the form

of a dream, idea, or premonition.b.)An objective situation (the viability of the

project) coincides with this content.One thing should be remembered here- the

significance of symbols. A symbol is the best possible expression for something

unknown. Tools like Astrology, Tarot and the I Ching, all afford us symbols rich

with meaning. Of course astrology affords the most comprehensive system of

symbols, symbols that serve as a guide to the human psyche. It gives us a

symbolic description of the individual's mind, the various forces that lie

within the psyche and within the universe, and their manifestations. Thus

astrology can help us to understand what the individual is like inside.

External events arise out of these psychological roots. Predictions are

interpretations based on these psychological symbols. Most predictive texts

explore the probable manifestations of such symbols. Hence the student should

remember that the predictive guidelines are secondary, occupying only a second

place, with the symbols rightfully occupying the first place. Originally there

were no words, only symbols. Ultimately words were appended to the symbols.

After that, people relied more on the words and neglected the symbols.

Gradually the profound significance of the symbols became unfamiliar and

obscure to the people. Yet words and symbols are equally important. They are

forms and essence. Only by relying on both of them can the mystery of any

divination system be fully revealed. Moreover each separate symbol is related

to all the others in the system, emphasizing the interconnectedness of

everything. Right interpretation of these symbols comes with right

understanding. It all depends on the level of understanding of the

astrologer or practitioner. To one person the answer appears as clear as day;

to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. The longer one

practices, the deeper becomes one's understanding of the symbolism of the

particular method employed, and there is no end to it. No practitioner or user

can see in a spiritual tool, anything beyond his own level of thinking at that

stage. One has to agree with Dane Rudhyar that, "No astrologer- and as well no

psychoanalyst-can interpret a life and destiny at a level higher than that at

which he himself functions". Only the user can decide upon theimportance and

meaning of a particular method for him or her. Nichola Tesla, an eminent

physicist opined that, "The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,

it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of

its existence."That decade is knocking at our door. The coming decade will see

this happening. Quantum physics has already opened a dialogue with other arts

and sciences. Art, philosophy, poetry, physics, psychology, medicine and

astrology will soon merge into the One vast Source. Multidisciplinary studies

into the cross roads between some of these fields will interest more and more

seekers, eventually leading us `Back to our Cosmic Roots'- the One Source of

all. What will be its impact on Astrology as an academic subject? Astrology

will have to be ready for its new (?) role in this decade. More and more

astrologers will go beyond the traditional role of "fortune tellers" and assume

the role that they shouldactually play. But one should not mistake the "fooling

around"approach to psychology that some tropical astrologers do in the name of

"psychological readings". Most vedic astrologers feel that psychological

astrology is for lesser brains who dare not predict, while some western

astrologers look down upon predicting as"fortune telling". As an astrologer who

studied and practicedboth the approaches, I feel that both are wrong. How can

one predict without understanding the psychological roots? On the other hand

how would one be sure that all this psychological astrology is right unless one

is able to predict fairly well based on one's understanding of such

psychological roots. I feel that the primary purpose of astrology is not

fortune telling, but an exploration of consciousness, a journey into the

psyche, into the unconscious forces which stem from the past vasanas and

samskaras, into the shadow (a term used by Carl Jung which comes close to the

tantric papa purusha), into the universe that we have within us, into the

conflict between the opposing forces and the process of attaining equilibrium.

Of course these forces manifest as our (as well as others')reactions to

situations,situations that we attract to ourselves because of these unconscious

drives and forces (vasanas and samskaras), which thus indirectly influence our

life path. Fortune telling based on such symbols of the psyche like the

horoscope, dreams, omens etc is the most ordinary usage of this knowledge,

albeit an application prone to error due to various factors. But the highest

benefit of a study of this kind of a subject is self-actualisation or

individuation, a process that assists the individual in an expression of him

SELF, taking him to the final stages of Nirvana. Astrology can help an

individual in integrating the many facets of the psyche to become him or

her-SELF. When this happens the individual feels a sense of psychic

"Wholeness". Don'tthe ancient texts promise that anyone who studies and teaches

astrology is assured of final liberation (Moksha)? Perhaps that is the final

goal of a supra science like astrology. NOTE: Every issue of the Journal will

introduce one method or system of divination or oracle. This issue carries an

article on the I Ching, a Chinese oracle based on cyclic changes. The next

issue will have an in depth article on `Panchapakshi", a system ofdivination

propounded by the ancient Tamil siddha sages. This unique and highly sublime

system symbolizes the cycles of the five elements symbolized through five

Cosmic birds. Subsequent issues will carry articles on other horary methods

like `Sarvatobhadra Chakra',Swara sastra, Ashtamangala, Shakunam, Lakota and

other such methods of prognostication. It is hoped that the readers will be

able to appreciate better and put into practice the principle of Synchronicity,

with a better understanding of the symbols employed by various systems. While

each of us can adopt one system as the principal one, the others may be

employed as adjuncts to the principal system. With this composite approach, the

degree of understanding will be higher. For a first hand account of Carl

Jung's ideas and an illustrationof the broad scope and interrelationship of his

interests one may refer The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 20 vols. Bollingen

Series XX, translated by R.F.C. Hull, edited by H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler,

and Wm. McGuire. Princeton University Press, Princeton,1953-1979. Archives:

vedic astrologyGroup info:

vedic astrology/info.htmlTo UNSUBSCRIBE: Blank

mail to vedic astrology-....... May Jupiter's light

shine on us .......

 

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Aum Namah Shivaya!

 

>a book

> BIORHYMS OF THE MOON (Mysteries of Pancha Pakshi), by Prof Dr

> U.S.Pulippani(Sunder Varadachary) has been published by RANJAN

> PUBLICATIONS 16 ANSARI ROAD DARYA GANG NEW DELHI 110 002.

> A Computer programme, without the names of Birds, but indicating the

> Good Bad and Medium Times, based on the actual sun-rise, has been

made

> by RAICHURS of Garodianagar Mumbai 400077( email anant_1608)

 

I have the above mentioned book by Prof. Pulippani. With no offense,

I should say that the tables in this book have mistakes at many

places. Moreover the author has not covered some very important uses

of Panchapakshi. Like the Sarvatobhadra Chakra, PPakshi has the use

of the sound of vowels/consonants as an integral part of its

methodology, atleast under some circumstances. Furthermore, the blend

of Directions (Ashtadikkula arudha) with Panchapakshi horary system

is not given. PP is a very highly developed system that evolved as an

integral part of the Siddha tradition. It is also linked to the

Siddha marmas(marmas are sensitive points/spots in the body like

acupuncture points) and speaks of certain times when certain points

become sensitive to manipulation. Panchapakshi is a lot lot more than

what the above said english book covers. Of course it is the only

book in English to my knowledge and is responsible for whatever is

known to people who dont have access to the Tamil or Telugu

manuscripts. BTW PP has yeilded better results consistently than

SarvatoBhadra Chakra in my experience. Moreover the uses are manifold

with PP.

 

 

Satya

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Aum Namah Shivaya!

 

Dear Visti,

 

> Dear Dr. Satya,

> Lovely Article, about Carl Jung and the theory of Synchronicity.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

> However in the middle of the article, people i was engulfed in

>thinking> about theories of synchronicity, and then you bring about

>the formulas for> divination of Horaries.

> The blend is abit sudden for my tastes.

 

I agree that it was a bit sudden. I wrote the article as an editorial

for a particular Journal and was a bit miserly due to space

constraints. But one of my books to be released this year, deals with

all these topics in a clearer and consistent manner.

 

 

> Also why didn't you speak more about the topic of Dhyana Yoga,

>which seems> to find its place whilst calming the mind, and waiting

>for a number?

 

Again my book deals with even this aspect, though in a different

chapter.But in this article I excluded many things since the target

readers of the Journal are mostly western astrologers with very

little background in the foundations of Jyotish or Yoga or Tantra. So

I tried not to introduce too much in one place. But my book goes

deeper into the spiritual,philosophiocal and psychological

foundations of Astrology clearly while exploring the parallels

between quantum physics, psychology, philosophy etc.

 

> Otherwise, it was a breathe-taking article, can't wait to see the

next one.

> A picture of the Hexagram would be useful, for those unaware of

finding the

> 34th line, etc.

 

As for I Ching, there is another introductory article in the same

Journal. But not to worry. I am not promoting the Ozcva Journal here.

I will post some important and useful articles here quite often for

the benefit of anyone interested.

 

Best wishes,

 

Satya

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Namaste Dr Satya,

I was wondering if synchronicity (great article..thanx) could be explained in

terms of "Id" or the "Collective Unconscious" of Carl Jung? "Id" refers to a

kind od huge universal cache memory, that's accessible to all Energy Forms.

Could it be that a recently fetched page remains in the cache and when a

request for the same page emanates in near/close future, that page is again

automatically transmitted? Would the synchronicity still hold good after a

fairly long time lapse? Could you please elaborate on this aspect?

Regards,Lakshmi

satyaprakasika <satyaprakasika (AT) (DOT) co.uk> wrote: Aum Namah Shivaya!Namaste

dear list members,After a long gap, I am posting an article of mine. Previously

I had posted articles covering predictive techniques and the

spiritual/philosophical basis of astrology. This time I am reproducing one of

my articles (Editorial) from the OZCVA's Journal 'The Vedic Light'. This

article attempts to introduce the phenomenon of 'Synchronicity' to astrologers,

with special reference to various oracular and divination systems of different

cultures. If anyone is interested, I may follow it up with more on different

systems. Dr.SatyaNote: This article explores some ideas of Quantum Physics,

Modern Psychology and Astrology. While I have tried to simplify the essence,

people with no background knowledge may find certain terms new. Yet I am

posting it with the hope that it will benefit atleast a few.

PARROTS, HEXAGRAMS AND NUMBERS Synchronicity- An Acausal connecting

principleIt happened many times to me. It happens to all of us sometimes. For

no reason, I remembered a friend who was my junior at the dental school, with

whom I had lost all contact since four years. He was in my mind the whole day.

The phone rang and guess what! It was the same friend. Synchronicity, a term

originated by the famous psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, is used to explain a

parallelism of events which cannot be related causally. The `connectedness'

betweennon-causally related events is termed as `synchronicity.

Meaningfulcoincidences had always fascinated me. I had observed this phenomenon

since childhood. But its significance became more apparent once I started

learning various divination and oracular systems of different cultures in my

late teens. The various experiences and insights that a seeker on the spiritual

path goes through, do not have appropriate English words to describe them. Often

there is this lack of communication, especially between the mystic and the

scientist. Carl Jung's work has helped in furthering the dialogue between

themystic and the scientist. I rejoiced when I discovered that Carl Jung had

words that could partly fill the lacunae in scientific vocabulary in English.

His contribution to modern psychology is immense, and becomes evident when one

looks at the rich vocabulary that he had left behind. Today the terms that he

had designated, such as synchronicity and archetypes, are often used as well as

misused. What is `Synchronicity'? Synchronicity is a phenomenon where an event

in the outside world coincides meaningfully with a psychological state of mind.

Jung looked for a theoretical concept that would account for such paranormal

`chance' phenomena. The origin of the principle of synchronicity is linked with

Jung's limited acquaintance with theI Ching. In 1930, he first used the term

`synchronicity' todescribe an " a-causal connection between psychic states and

objective events". Let me hasten to add that Jung carefully distinguishes

"synchronicity" from the mere "synchronism" of events occurring simultaneously

but unconnected in meaning. In other words, every coincidence is not

meaningful. Only meaningful coincidences come under the phenomenon of

synchronicity. Jung's initial attempts to understand synchronicity seem to

havebeen influenced by the classical idea of astrology too- "the objective time

moment". This supposes that certain quality exists in a moment of time itself-

"To everything there is aseason and a time for every purpose under the heavens;

a time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to pluck up

that which is planted; A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to breakdown

and a time to build up; a time to Dance; a time to get and a time to lose; A

time to keep and a time to cast away", as the Ecclesiastes states. This concept

of a certain quality to time, is fundamental to Vedic astrology, which has its

roots in the ancient Vedic practice of timing their rituals according to this

quality of time, in fact so much so that in the post Vedic times, Time was even

personified as a mighty Being- Mahakala the Lord of Time. Qualitative time seems

to explain why astrology and other forms of divination work. But synchronicities

are not always dependent on such a moment of time. Precognition, for instance,

does not occur in"same-timeness". Jung gradually gave up the supposition of

qualitative time. He concluded that since qualitative time is nothing but the

flux of things, and is as much "nothing" as space,thishypothesis ends up in a

vicious circle- "the flux of things and events is the cause of the flux of

things, etc". Jung thought that it would be possible to link his "a-causal

principle" of synchronicity to new ideas emerging in physics.Things happen both

in physics and biology according to Quantum logic of uncertainty. After

Heisenberg's discovery of the uncertainty principle, most quantum physicists

like Niels Bohr and Max Planck were concerned with demolishing the principle of

Causality. Heisenberg had experimentally proved that things may happen without

any cause. Planck says that even the rationalists have to admit of mysteries

and miracles that do happen without any causal relationship. He wrote," though

the order of nature is admittedas inevitably predetermined by the Supreme

Cause, yet the causal chain in the world itself may at any time be interrupted

by the intervention of a supernatural power." Jung's close friend, the

Nobel prize winning physicist, Wolfgang Pauli, was one of the several scientists

interested in Jung'sviews. While Jung held that " a union of psychology and

physicsseems entirely possible", Pauli "discovered the presence ofArchetypes in

the scientific theories of Kepler"! Jung and Pauli agreed that the trinity of

classical physics- time, space and causality- could be turned into a quaternity

by adding synchronicity as a fourth term. Of course this conflicts Einstein's

theory of General Relativity,that the structure of space-time is smooth and

continuous. God doesn't play dice! I can almost hear Jung asserting, "Maybe he

does. But we don't know by whatrules"! Synchronicity was defined by Jung as an

"a-causal connecting principle," an essentially mysterious connection between

the personal psyche and the material world, based on the fact that at bottom

they are only different forms of energy. "It is not only possible but fairly

probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and the

same thing. The synchronicity phenomena point, it seems to me, in this

direction, for they show that the nonpsychic can behave like the psychic, and

vice versa, without there being any causal connection between them" (On the

Nature of the Psyche," CW8,par. 418.)Jung associated synchronistic experiences

with the relativity of space and time and a degree of unconsciousness. "The

very diverseand confusing aspects of these phenomena are, so far as I can see

at present, completely explicable on the assumption of a psychically relative

space-time continuum. As soon as a psychic content crosses the threshold of

consciousness, the synchronistic marginal phenomena disappear, time and space

resume their accustomed sway, and consciousness is once more isolated in its

subjectivity. . . . Conversely, synchronistic phenomena can be evoked by

putting the subject into an unconscious state" (On the Nature of the Psyche,"CW

8, par. 440).Jung hoped to establish synchronicity as a law equal in status to

causality. To this end he even devised carefully planned statistical

investigations into birth charts. Of course eventually his original experiment

parted company with orthodox statistical methods. In searching for an objective

law, he had found the reflection of the subjective psyche of the observer in the

apparently objective material! He discovered that "synchronistic events draw

theobserver into what is happening and make him an accessory tothem". Jung had

succeeded in proving (?) that " A secret, mutualconnivance exists between the

material and the psychic state of the astrologer. This correspondence is simply

there like any other agreeable or annoying incident, and it seems to me doubtful

whether it can be proved scientifically to be anything more than that." But Jung

seems to be ambiguous about the degree of subjectivity or objectivity of

synchronicity. "Synchronicity takes thecoincidence of events in space and time

as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence

of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic)

states of the observer or observers."This is a bit ambiguous. The relationship

between the observer and observed remains confused, giving rise to two

understandings of synchronicity. In the first version there is already an

"interdependence of objective events amongst themselves"(say, planets and an

event), observed objectively. Yet the second version involves the subjective

participation of the observing psyche. In other words the experimenter's psyche

is alsoinvolved. Again sounds like an echo of Quantum physics! The first version

(let us call it Synchronicity O), with its objectivity, could be examined for an

inherent theory or law. The second one (what I call Synchronicity S), with its

secret, mutual connivance, is unique and lawless. It depends on, and even

brings to light, the psyche of the observing subjects so that theindividual's

own psyche is mysteriously reflected in theobjective material.Jung moves

ambiguously between these two versions of synchronicity. If synchronicity in

its broadest sense has to be meaningful, then it must have a subjective

component, because it is impossible to separate "meaning" from subjective

psychic activity. Yet in suggesting a form of synchronicity based on an

"interdependenceof objective events amongst themselves", Jung also has to

positthe existence of a psychoid level of reality, existing prior to human

consciousness. This implies an order and pattern in the cosmos, a

transcendental meaning inherent in the collective psyche. Synchronicity

postulates a meaning, which is a priori to human consciousness and apparently

exists outside of man. This is perhaps the principle or phenomenon that is

behind all oracular and divination systems. This is the basis of the Indian

Horary (Prasna) method of fixing the ascendant by a number given by the client.

While one method (Uttarakalamrita) uses 108 numbers, another modern method (KP)

uses 249! The same number indicates a different ascendant in both the methods.

So could we rely on such methods? Why not? The basis here is not the numbers,

but synchronicity. In KP horary system, sometimes predictions are given based

on static factors like the sublord based on the number given. This seems

illogical to people with no exposure to KP. A thorough understanding of the

phenomenon of Synchronicity can dispel such doubts. This again, is the basis of

some fantastic predictions coming from a relatively simple and straightforward

method like the tarot. In fact synchronicity is at the root of all oracular

systems. The most important and least understood of such methodologies, is

`Nimitta' or `Shakunam', a branch of Vedicastrology that deals with the

interpretation of `omens', based on the phenomenon of synchronicity. In India

it is quite common to see parrots trained to pick the card, in a very common

native Tarot methodology. I still remember that day vividly. Many years back,

on a Sunday morning, during the hot summer days in the state of Tamil Nadu in

Southern India where I did my BDS, as I sat under the cool shade of a wonderful

tree reading a book on birds, I saw this colorfully dressed man with an umbrella

and a wooden box which was both a box that held the tarot cards and a cage for

the parrot. I was always fascinated or at least interested in all such people.

So I called him more to know more about him and to amuse myself, than anything

else. He said that he would charge a rupee for one tarot reading. I paid him

five rupees and got ready for my `reading'. He carefully spread his cards on a

red clothand opened the door of the wooden cage. The little green parrot hopped

out strutting towards the cards. It pulled each card aside and eventually picked

one with its beak and gave it to the man. He took the card in his hand and gave

the parrot its reward with the other- a rice grain. The parrot strutted back

obediently into its cage with the grain in its beak. The man now opened the

card and proceeded to interpret the symbol on the card. In the afternoon

another tarot reader came along singing the familiar tune. I guess they walk

the streets more on Sundays than any other weekday. People recognize them by

their tune and call them. I opened the gates and called him in. As usual the

parrot picked a card. It was the same symbol again! My mind was alert now. Was

this man related to the other reader? Had he sent this second reader? Could

they have trained their parrots to pick a card of their choice somehow? I was

very skeptical, to say the least. I knew that some of the readers were

unscrupulous and made money by trying to sell talismans after drawing cards

that symbolized bad times. I sent him away after a few minutes, almost

convinced that he was trying to trick me. In the evening, I was coming back

from an ashram in a nearby village, after my regular Sunday discussions with a

monk. I was riding back through the busy streets and suddenly noticed the row

of tarot readers sitting on the footpath near the bus stand. I parked my

motorbike and walked to one of them, an elderly looking reader with

compassionate eyes and big whiskers. I paid him the customary rupee and

squatted on the straw mat. The parrot came out and picked a card as usual. I

held my breath and waited for him to open the card. THE SAME SYMBOL AGAIN! Not

one. Not two. Three times! Synchronicity, a-causal meaningful coincidence(s)!!!

Needless to say the relevance of the symbol became clear in the next few days.

Going by the phenomenon of synchronicity, if the mechanisms behind the oracular

prognostications of oracles like the I Ching are none other than synchronicity

and the holographic nature of reality, then pushing a computer button at a

moment thus and generating a Hexagram is perhaps no different than throwing

coins or dice. Whether one picks a card, or throws dice, or cowries, or asks

for a number, or uses york sticks, the result is the same. All these methods

are equally effective. Let me narrate an incident to you. I was sitting in a

business meeting in India. We were assessing the viability of a particular

project. Normally I allow myself as well as others, to assess any business

situation by regular methods first. Any astrological methods are done as a

final check. At one stage, both the business partners sitting there suggested

that I should check what was indicated through some form of divination. I

decided to use I Ching on this occasion. Let me tell you that sometimes I draw

a hexagram by a very unconventional method instead of using coins or york

sticks. I close my eyes and let a number appear in my mind. This happens

passively without one having to try really. Let me also clarify that this does

not involve any psychic abilities and that anybody can try this as long as one

is capable of letting a number come up naturally without any efforts- psychic

or rational. On this occasion I could visualize the number 34. I had noted it

down. But on the insistence of one member there, we called an employee who was

conversant with the I Ching (he had learnt it under my influence) and asked him

to draw a hexagram. Using three coins, he drew a hexagram. The final hexagram

was the 34th! Two different methods of arriving at the symbol by two people

gave the same result! Let me quote Jung here. "Synchronicity . . .

consists of twofactors: a) An unconscious image comes into consciousness either

directly (i.e., literally) or indirectly (symbolized or suggested) in the form

of a dream, idea, or premonition. b) An objective situation coincides with this

content. The one is as puzzling as the other" ("Synchronicity: An Acausal

Connecting Principle"," CW 8, par.858.)What he says is clearly illustrated in

the above-narrated incident. Jung speaks of two factors:a.)An unconscious image

comes into consciousness either1.directly i.e. literally (the number 34

visualized in the mind in this case), 2·or indirectly symbolized or suggested

(the 34th hexagram drawn by the coin method, being the symbol here) in the form

of a dream, idea, or premonition.b.)An objective situation (the viability of the

project) coincides with this content.One thing should be remembered here- the

significance of symbols. A symbol is the best possible expression for something

unknown. Tools like Astrology, Tarot and the I Ching, all afford us symbols rich

with meaning. Of course astrology affords the most comprehensive system of

symbols, symbols that serve as a guide to the human psyche. It gives us a

symbolic description of the individual's mind, the various forces that lie

within the psyche and within the universe, and their manifestations. Thus

astrology can help us to understand what the individual is like inside.

External events arise out of these psychological roots. Predictions are

interpretations based on these psychological symbols. Most predictive texts

explore the probable manifestations of such symbols. Hence the student should

remember that the predictive guidelines are secondary, occupying only a second

place, with the symbols rightfully occupying the first place. Originally there

were no words, only symbols. Ultimately words were appended to the symbols.

After that, people relied more on the words and neglected the symbols.

Gradually the profound significance of the symbols became unfamiliar and

obscure to the people. Yet words and symbols are equally important. They are

forms and essence. Only by relying on both of them can the mystery of any

divination system be fully revealed. Moreover each separate symbol is related

to all the others in the system, emphasizing the interconnectedness of

everything. Right interpretation of these symbols comes with right

understanding. It all depends on the level of understanding of the

astrologer or practitioner. To one person the answer appears as clear as day;

to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. The longer one

practices, the deeper becomes one's understanding of the symbolism of the

particular method employed, and there is no end to it. No practitioner or user

can see in a spiritual tool, anything beyond his own level of thinking at that

stage. One has to agree with Dane Rudhyar that, "No astrologer- and as well no

psychoanalyst-can interpret a life and destiny at a level higher than that at

which he himself functions". Only the user can decide upon theimportance and

meaning of a particular method for him or her. Nichola Tesla, an eminent

physicist opined that, "The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,

it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of

its existence."That decade is knocking at our door. The coming decade will see

this happening. Quantum physics has already opened a dialogue with other arts

and sciences. Art, philosophy, poetry, physics, psychology, medicine and

astrology will soon merge into the One vast Source. Multidisciplinary studies

into the cross roads between some of these fields will interest more and more

seekers, eventually leading us `Back to our Cosmic Roots'- the One Source of

all. What will be its impact on Astrology as an academic subject? Astrology

will have to be ready for its new (?) role in this decade. More and more

astrologers will go beyond the traditional role of "fortune tellers" and assume

the role that they shouldactually play. But one should not mistake the "fooling

around"approach to psychology that some tropical astrologers do in the name of

"psychological readings". Most vedic astrologers feel that psychological

astrology is for lesser brains who dare not predict, while some western

astrologers look down upon predicting as"fortune telling". As an astrologer who

studied and practicedboth the approaches, I feel that both are wrong. How can

one predict without understanding the psychological roots? On the other hand

how would one be sure that all this psychological astrology is right unless one

is able to predict fairly well based on one's understanding of such

psychological roots. I feel that the primary purpose of astrology is not

fortune telling, but an exploration of consciousness, a journey into the

psyche, into the unconscious forces which stem from the past vasanas and

samskaras, into the shadow (a term used by Carl Jung which comes close to the

tantric papa purusha), into the universe that we have within us, into the

conflict between the opposing forces and the process of attaining equilibrium.

Of course these forces manifest as our (as well as others')reactions to

situations,situations that we attract to ourselves because of these unconscious

drives and forces (vasanas and samskaras), which thus indirectly influence our

life path. Fortune telling based on such symbols of the psyche like the

horoscope, dreams, omens etc is the most ordinary usage of this knowledge,

albeit an application prone to error due to various factors. But the highest

benefit of a study of this kind of a subject is self-actualisation or

individuation, a process that assists the individual in an expression of him

SELF, taking him to the final stages of Nirvana. Astrology can help an

individual in integrating the many facets of the psyche to become him or

her-SELF. When this happens the individual feels a sense of psychic

"Wholeness". Don'tthe ancient texts promise that anyone who studies and teaches

astrology is assured of final liberation (Moksha)? Perhaps that is the final

goal of a supra science like astrology. NOTE: Every issue of the Journal will

introduce one method or system of divination or oracle. This issue carries an

article on the I Ching, a Chinese oracle based on cyclic changes. The next

issue will have an in depth article on `Panchapakshi", a system ofdivination

propounded by the ancient Tamil siddha sages. This unique and highly sublime

system symbolizes the cycles of the five elements symbolized through five

Cosmic birds. Subsequent issues will carry articles on other horary methods

like `Sarvatobhadra Chakra',Swara sastra, Ashtamangala, Shakunam, Lakota and

other such methods of prognostication. It is hoped that the readers will be

able to appreciate better and put into practice the principle of Synchronicity,

with a better understanding of the symbols employed by various systems. While

each of us can adopt one system as the principal one, the others may be

employed as adjuncts to the principal system. With this composite approach, the

degree of understanding will be higher. For a first hand account of Carl

Jung's ideas and an illustrationof the broad scope and interrelationship of his

interests one may refer The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 20 vols. Bollingen

Series XX, translated by R.F.C. Hull, edited by H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler,

and Wm. McGuire. Princeton University Press, Princeton,1953-1979. Archives:

vedic astrologyGroup info:

vedic astrology/info.htmlTo UNSUBSCRIBE: Blank

mail to vedic astrology-....... May Jupiter's light

shine on us .......

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