about TIME!

[Guest guest]

Dear FMs,

 

The modern man/woman lives in a strange place, in a realm that is

unsettling. I am not referring to the world where terrorism is on the

rise, and values are confused. I am talking about the confusion that

makes it seem conceivable and possible that we as mankind have

reached the point where we can destroy the beautiful planet earth the

rapid way or the slow way (ecological disasters). If the younger

generations seem a bit jaded, a bit too drowned in 'noise' or at

least noisy music, perhaps it is a defense mechanism. The real world

is so scary that they would rather live in this make believe world of

loud and obscene music and lyrics and violent video games, not

because they are blood thirsty and violent, but because they know

that though loud and violent, the music and the games are really not

so scary and anxiety provoking. Not as much as real life is or

potentially can be, for some and plausably for all! And they know

that neither parents, nor schools nor police or even armies can

really save them when the moment of fear arrives. It is painful to

feel even for a fleeting moment that uncertainty, that anxiety that

fear that the younger generation (born in late eighties and later)

feel.

 

Turning to Jyotish, someone recently used the old beaten line about

Rishis being somehow all knowing and having written (w)holistically

about human experience in their books on jyotish. Now, while hindu

scriptures are unarguably profound, I do not see that depth in

jyotish texts which are of uncertain origin, and of potentially

varying purity or originality. Even technical jyotish points are

cursorily and prefunctorily mentioned, case in point being the

absence of rationale behind the rules and combinations, the sketchy

treatment of vargas and zero examples. It is the <modern> devotee of

jyotish that has waxed epiphanous and seen all kinds of deep

philosophical possibilities in jyotish writings with devotional

fervour. While I salute their zeal and dedication, we all might be

overinterpreting jyotish and its purpose as originally surmised by

the pioneer jyotishis, including rishis and other sages!

 

The way I have seen jyotish and its framework, it does not clearly

state anything too spiritual and a vast fraction of it is devoted to

things of concern and interest to the worldly person, the

householder, the samsarik prani, you and me! Sure there are some

grains of spirituality and combinations for renounciation thrown in,

but it is notable that they have been described as combinations that

make individuals leave worldliness (renouncing the world, sanyaas)

and not as combinations for embracing spirituality, or the higher and

only purpose of human birth. Words are important!

 

In recent zealous and somewhat overzealous times, insofar as jyotish

is concerned, there has been an explosion and plethora of remedies

and religious/ritualistic overtones and overinterpretations galore.

Now people are beginning to see all lifetimes and the picture of the

entire soul in a horoscope that is based on the birthtime (often

inaccurate) that we are experiencing now. If there are so many yonis

and births one has to go through, it is indeed putting a lot of

pressure on the poor 9 or a little over a dozen (upagrahas thrown

into the mix!) indicators that jyotish vouches can explain

everything! At least our western astrology brethren (and sorority)

are more grounded! They use more planets and some 3000 asteroids even

though they do not use those for a full scale holistic spiritual

comprehensive interpretation of the Being that is born as a human

this time!

 

God and Soul are such ethereal and indescribable concepts that trying

to capture them in a specific sign or a planet who has been given a

specific attribute seems arrogant to me, if not unwise or at least

futile. Yet such is the powerful siren song of devotional mind-set

(some would say fundamentalistic thinking!) that people actually

think they are carrying out meaningful conversations and discussions

when they talk about these ethereal ideas in concrete terms using

concrete variables and constants, the kind that jyotish is based upon.

 

And this goes on in a milieu where even basic concrete things that

are measurable, comparable and scrutinizable or verifiable are not

definitively captured in the astrogram, the horoscope! Sure there

will be claims of all kind, but historically, other than a few

individuals predictive success has been at best inconstant, variable

and almost never guaranteed, other than by bombastic, fly by night

operators and some mystics who sincerely believe that they are solely

using astrological rules.

 

I know this will not be taken kindly by some, or even many but I must

say like I see it. The recent commercialism and politics and attacks

and insults that I have seen and experienced on internet jyotish

scene had been quite revealing to this student of the human persona

and human experience.

 

We glibly call jyotish or for that matter all forms of astrology as

science and compare them with pure material sciences such as physics

and chemistry, etc. Some even call Math as a science when it is

really descriptive, like a language (similar to astrology!). To me a

language is something that describes reality as observed and

experienced through symbols and expressions and thus a translation or

transliteration of DIRECT EXPERIENCE.

 

PLEASE, do realize that despite your personal sentiments or passion,

we on the path of astrology have to walk a long way before we even

begin worrying about the status of astrology or its value. We are

really at the bottom level and building the edifice one floor at a

time. This is the time to do hard work and not get devotional or

emotional and over-secure about our passion in life!

 

I think I will stop now!

 

 

Rohiniranjan