An open letter to Swami Ramdev (on his comments on astrolo

[Guest guest]

Dear Narasimha,

A very nicely worded rejoinder to Swami Ramdev.

Also please see my article on these lines below:-

 

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=123744&catID=7&category=Lifestyle&rtFlg=rtFlg

 

Regards

P.N.Razdan

 

, "Sanjay Rath" <sanjayrath wrote:

>

| om gurave namah |

> Dear Narasimha

>

> I have posted a strong reaction to the link that Swee gave for BBC,

also at

> the Ramdev's organisation and also in the blog and lists. This mail is

> published in SJC web and should apper in the news section.

> Best wishes and warm regards,

> Sanjay Rath

>

> Personal: <http://srath.com/blog/> WebPages ��

<http://srath.com/blog/>

> Rath��s Rhapsody

> SJC WebPages: <http://.org/> Sri Jagannath Center ��

> <http://sjcerc.com/> SJCERC �� <http://jiva.us/> JIVA

> Publications: <http://thejyotishdigest.com/> The Jyotish Digest ��

> <http://sagittariuspublications.com/> Sagittarius Publications

> ----

>

>

>

>

> _____

>

>

[] On

> Behalf Of Narasimha P.V.R. Rao

> Monday, February 12, 2007 4:46 AM

> ; sjc-boston;

SriJagannath

> Group; Varahamihira Group; sjc-guru;

> vedic astrology

> [Om Krishna Guru] An open letter to Swami Ramdev (on his

comments

> on astrology)

>

>

> Namaste friends,

>

> This is an open letter to Swami Ramdev regarding some comments on

astrology

> attributed to him on the BBC website. If any of you have a

direct/indirect

> access to him and can pass this message on, that will be great!

>

> Best regards,

> Narasimha

> -----------------------

>

> Namaskar Swami Ramdev,

>

> I admire you for your fight to revive the teachings of Hindu sages

for the

> betterment of the modern world and your tirade against superstition.

But I

> take a strong exception to the logic given by you to denounce

palmistry and

> astrology, as quoted by the following article on the BBC website:

>

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6240681.stm

>

> The above article attributes some statements to you as given below:

>

> > If anything, he condemns all superstition and retrogressive beliefs.

> >

> > "I don't believe in destiny. Palmistry and all this talk about the

lines

> on

> > your hands deciding your future is nothing but nonsense. So is

this talk

> > of sun signs and auspicious and inauspicious time and place," he says.

> >

> > "Can you identify any moment or place where God is not there? He is

> > everywhere and all the time. So how can any place or time be less or

> > more auspicious?" he asks."

>

> I am afraid your logic is faulty and misleading. Hindu sages and

scriptures

> have taught different concepts for people at different levels of

spiritual

> progress. One cannot mix them up indiscriminately.

>

> For a great sage who is immersed in the all-pervading Brahman, what

you said

> above is true. There is God in every point of time and space. There

is no

> duality and there is nothing called auspiciousness and

inauspiciousness. It

> is non-dual Brahman (or Narayana or Sadashiva or Allah or Krishna or

Holy

> Spirit or Buddha or whatever you call Him/Her/It) that fills every

point of

> space and time - every so-called auspicious and so-called

inauspicious point

> of time/space. A deluded person sees various dual objects - good and

bad -

> in It, but a liberated sage sees only Brahman (non-dual self) in all.

>

> If actions started at a particular time result in happiness and actions

> started at another time result in sadness, such a liberated sage

does not

> look at them differently. He/She will see Brahman in both. A

liberated sage

> described in "Bhagavad Gita" or "Yoga Vaasishtham" does not distinguish

> between happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, good and bad and other

> opposites of the dual world. All are simply different

> manifestations/extensions of the same non-dual Brahman to a

liberated sage.

>

> However, it is vital to note that all this applies only to a

liberated sage

> with self-knowledge. A normal person is not self-realized and hence

stuck in

> the delusion of this world appearance. Such a person cannot see good

and bad

> with an equal vision. If joining in a new job at a particular time

makes one

> have a good time and get a quick promotion and joining in a new job at

> another times makes one lose that job and stay without job for a

year, one

> may not be capable of looking at both in the same way. One may not

be able

> to see both the (so-called) fortune and (so-called) misfortune as

> manifestations of the same Brahman. To a normal person, both are

> significantly different. One elates him/her and the other depresses. A

> liberated sage, however, is neither elated at the (so-called)

fortune nor

> depressed by the (so-called) misfortune.

>

> The same maharshis who have taught and extolled the ultimate

non-dual vision

> as the only reality and dismissed the dual world appearance as a

delusion,

> have also taught the rules to use in swimming the ocean of world

appearance.

> The maharshis were compassionate. They taught not only the highest

truths,

> but also lower truths that one of a lower intellectual (and spiritual)

> calibre can make use of!

>

> When learned men like you claim that subjects like astrology that

deal with

> auspicious and inauspicious times are meaningless because there is

God in

> all times, they are, intentionally or unintentionally, mixing up

different

> levels of truths. This is misleading and incorrect.

>

> Let me repeat. If one is a self-realized person seeing no distinction

> between pleasure and pain, health and disease, fortune and

misfortune, life

> and death, then subjects like astrology that deal with the working

of the

> delusive world appearance that rests on such a duality are useless.

However,

> if one is a "normal person" without self-realization, immersed in the

> duality of this world appearance, then the astrological teachings of

> maharshis are quaite relevant. If one cannot see pleasure and pain

equally

> and desires to experience pleasure, one can plan his activities

accordingly.

> Astrological teachings of sages like Parasara, Bhrigu, Kashypa and

Garga are

> quite relevant to such a person in planning the activities.

>

> By mixing up concepts of Hindu philosophy meant for different levels of

> people to dismiss the astrological teachings of maharshis, you are doing

> great disservice to people like me who have dedicated themselves to

> spreading the correct teachings of maharshis.

>

> I do agree that there is a lot of nonsense in the name of astrology

these

> days. Any idiot with a pocket book on astrology can memorize a few

> paragraphs and become an astrologer these days. Several astrologers loot

> their customers with false/shallow knowledge and commercialism. All that

> must be condemned. However, that is the fault of some astrologers

and not

> the fault of the subject itself.

>

> There are some who have self-lessly dedicated themselves to a

sincere and

> genuine pursuit of the astrological teachings of maharshis. I am a

> reasonably intelligent person - I have a B.Tech. degree from an IIT

and a

> masters from US - and I say with full honesty that the teachings of

Parasara

> are truly brilliant and people use only 1% of his teachings today. A new

> generation of scientifically educated astrology enthusiasts like me are

> trying to revive the true Jyotisha as taught by maharshis. I do

research and

> teach for free. One can download my Jyotisha software for free and

mp3 audio

> recordings of my Jyotisha classes are also free. I do "service" and not

> "business" with Jyotisha.

>

> As such, other educated people look at us with suspicion and skepticism.

> Unfortunately, there is a certain stigma associated with astrology. When

> other respected people like you with great following denounce

astrology, it

> is quite disappointing and makes our job even more difficult. If you

have

> not studied the Jyotisha teachings of maharshis, please do not

comment on

> astrology. There is no need to make misleading comments based on

false logic

> and make things that are already difficult more difficult for genuine

> people.

>

> Whether by design or by coincidence, you represent the wisdom of ancient

> rishis to modern Indian populace. This position places a lot of

importance

> and value in whatever you say regarding anything related to ancient

Indian

> wisdom and knowledge. Kindly use your position with good judgment.

If you

> use your position to wrongly denounce some teachings of rishis that you

> yourself do not have experience in, it will be unfortunate. It will be a

> disservice to aarsha vidyaa.

>

> Apart from these notes of discord related to your comments on

Jyotisha, I

> have the highest respect for you. I myself am somewhat of a yogi and

have

> relied on ayurveda for several years now and I respect the work you have

> done in reviving the popular interest in Yoga and Ayurveda. Please

keep up

> your great work.

>

> Sincere regards,

> P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (2007 Feb 11)

>

> 26 Seaver Farm Lane

> South Grafton, MA 01560 USA

> Ph: +1-508-839-1218

> email: pvr

> Home: www.VedicAstrologer.org

>

> -------------------------------

> Homam manual and audio: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam

> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net

> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org

> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

> -------------------------------

>

>

>

>

>

> _____

>

> avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean.

>

>

> Virus Database (VPS): 000712-6, 02/11/2007

> Tested on: 2/12/2007 4:13:32 PM

> avast! - copyright © 1988-2007 ALWIL Software.

>