Revised: Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter June/July 2007

[Guest guest]

(Dearest moderator: There was an error in the article " Combinations

That Indicate an Astrologer. " K.N. Rao has Mercury in the 12th house.

This error has been fixed in the text below.)

 

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Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter June/July 2007

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Contents

-- How to Think, How to Talk, and How to Attract Money (a partial

book review of " The Science of Getting Rich " by Wallace Wattles)

-- The Path Into Shastra Part III: Repetition Makes Perfect,

Repetition Makes Perfect

-- Combinations That Indicate an Astrologer

-- Spontaneous Knowingness: The Jyotish IQ

 

Dear Friends,

 

I offer you this newsletter to enhance and deepen your experience of

Vedic Astrology. In these newsletters, expect to find a combination

of helpful articles, book reviews, Jyotish links and more. The

purpose of this newsletter is to educate and titillate the Jyotish-

loving public. The opinions given within are solely those of the

author.

 

In this issue, work on your relationship with money by reading my

article, " How to Think, How to Talk, and How to Attract Money (a

partial book review of " The Science of Getting Rich " by Wallace

Wattles) " . Enjoy Deborah Allison's third article in the " Path Into

Shastra " series, called " Repetition Makes Perfect, Repetition Makes

Perfect " . I contribute an article on which elements of a chart

indicate someone can succeed in Jyotish. And Deborah Allison explores

spontaneous knowingness—intuition—the Jyotish IQ.

 

Please visit my website at www.jyotish.ws at your convenience. The

best articles from these newsletters are archived on this site. I

offer access to an excellent yagya program.

 

- Michael Laughrin (Michael)

 

 

How to Think, How to Talk, and How to Attract Money (a partial book

review of " The Science of Getting Rich " by Wallace Wattles)

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Review and Commentary by Michael Laughrin (Michael)

 

This is an ambitious-looking title, but I will try to give you, the

reader, the simple metaphysical rules, as I understand them, relating

to prosperity and money.

 

The universe is made of unseen Mind-stuff, which I will call the

Absolute. This mindstuff can be molded into any thing that one may

want—a candy bar, a Lexus, a helicopter. " How, " you may say? Here we

come to Desire and how to desire. The books I have read seem to say

that one should clearly want a thing, in a steady, easy way, for 100

days. Now, I know, some people are obsessive-compulsives and they

still don't get what they want. I believe that one should meditate

every day, pray every day, tithe every week, and do some yagyas (in

some form or another) if one can. These actions may be said to be the

prerequisites to getting what you want. Then what?

 

- Think about what you want. This seems to work best if you focus on

one thing at a time.

- Do not think about what you do not want. Let the dirty water of

unresolved emotions pass under the bridge of the intellect.

- Read " The Science of Getting Rich " or another uplifting

metaphysical prosperity manual (such as Katherine Ponder's books) for

at least 5 minutes each day.

- Be easy about this process. Enjoy life. Be here now while you are

desiring for the future.

 

As far as talking is concerned, it is similar to the thinking part,

except that more emphasis is placed on what NOT to say. Do not

complain. Do not curse. Develop a positive mental attitude and

express it in your words. The world is filled with millions of

wonderful things—the rivers, the trees, cars, Nature, art, etc. The

wonders of Life are endless and the miseries are few. Focus on the

glories of God's creation - at least, most of the time.

In your speech (and in life in general), give more than you get.

Praise more than finding fault. Tell jokes—if the people who hear

your jokes like them. Be uplifting. Be lighthearted. Everybody gets

tired of a sad sack. However, do NOT be a mood- maker who acts like a

king while living like a pauper.

 

This is where affirmations and denials come in. An example of an

affirmation is: " Thank you, God, for the $2 million I need to do XYZ

deal NOW. " A good example of a metaphysical denial would be: " There

is nothing in the Universe that can stand between me and my

prosperity NOW. " A note on denials: many students of metaphysics are

quite familiar with affirmations and use them accurately, but not

many are as familiar with denials. If you have fixed ideas that are

interfering with your happiness or prosperity, you need Denials more

than Affirmations. Denials will tend to break up your old, calcified

notions that are getting in the way of you getting what you want. For

a more thorough explanation of Affirmations and Denials,

read " Lessons in Truth " by Emilie Cady.

 

This pretty much covers what I wanted to say in this article. Simple?

You bet. Easy? It often seems very hard at first. Do I walk my talk?

Pretty well, at least as far as money is concerned. Another

book, " The Seven Day Mental Diet, " says that if one can go seven days

without any complaining or negative talk whatsoever, then it is as if

one has permanently cut the negative tapes that seem to be running

through one's mind.

 

What does all this have to do with astrology? Nothing! But many of my

clients have brought up these issues with me and therefore I offer

these classic metaphysical ideas as possible aids in our search for

health, wealth, happiness and Enlightenment.

 

Getting the book: " The Science of Getting Rich " by Wallace Wattles is

a small book available from 21 Century Books or Amazon.com. Or, you

can get the book as a PDF for free (and print it on your printer if

desired) at www.scienceofgettingrich.net

 

 

 

The Path Into Shastra Part III: Repetition Makes Perfect, Repetition

Makes Perfect

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By Deborah Allison (upgpf)

 

NOTE: Please see Part I and Part II from previous newsletters at

www.jyotish.ws/wisdom

 

The second golden key to unlocking the wisdom of Shastra is known in

Sanskrit as abhyasa which can be translated as " practice "

or " repetition. " A very famous sutra in the immortal Yoga Sutras of

Patanjali states: abhayasa vairagyabhyam tan nirodah which

means " through practice one gains the maturity to resolve the

fluctuations of the mind. "

 

Stating it succinctly as the second principle of exegesis, we could

say that the value and importance of a principle is directly

proportionate to its emphasis through the device of repetition. I

repeat: The value and importance of a principle is directly

proportionate to its emphasis through the device of repetition.

 

In Sanskrit there are no italics, punctuation or underlining. How to

provide emphasis? One of the most important devices is this principle

of abhyasa. When a particular principle is repeated in several

Shastras or within a single work, we must respect it as having great

emphasis and importance. For example, in Brihat Parashara Hora

Shastra (Parashara), a root work for Jyotish, the greatest number of

chapters are devoted to dashas and bhuktis, emphasizing that Jyotish

is kala shastra—the shastra of time—and the promise of a chart

unfolds in time.

 

There are also ten chapters on Yogas. This is the second greatest

number of chapters devoted to a particular area in this work and the

importance of yogas gets even more powerfully emphasized when you

look across many Shastras and find that overall, the greatest number

of shlokas deal with yogas. In Phaladeepika, the number of verses

dealing with yogas exceeds the number of verses in all the other

chapters. Something is being communicated here that we must not miss.

Yogas are predominant and should be given their proper emphasis.

 

Now let us examine this principle with respect to the quality of a

planet as a natural benefic or a natural malefic. If you examine how

many shlokas recite the benefits or difficulties associated with the

natural state as opposed to how many shlokas deal with the functional

benefics and malefics, you might well question the emphasis seen in

many contemporary books and lectures on the functional nature of the

planets. It has its importance as it is in the Shastras, but where is

the emphasis? It is lost by not understanding these principles of

exegesis.

 

Along these same lines, Parashara reminds us of the problems

associated with the lords of the 6th, 8th and 12th houses with many,

many shlokas detailing their effects in bhava analysis, dasha

analysis, poverty, illness, etc. etc. etc. These temporal malefics

are given much more prominence through the device of abhyasa than the

functional nature which again, seems to be an overemphasized pet

principle of present day practitioners.

 

In fact, if we combine the first two principles of exegesis discussed

so far and understand that what comes close to the beginning of the

work has more importance, we find the discussion of the qualities of

the grahas, including which are natural benefics and which are

natural malefics, come right after the invocation in Parashara. Where

and how extensive is the discussion of functional benefics and

malefics in Parashara? It starts somewhere around Chapter 34

(depending on the edition) and extends for one chapter only. These

are clear signals as to which constitutes a core principle and

therefore a guideline for sound interpretation based on the

priorities of the seers in this grand and sacred tradition.

 

 

Combinations That Indicate an Astrologer

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By Michael Laughrin (Michael )

 

Note: The charts for this article are available by visiting

www.jyotish.ws/materials

 

Which combinations of planets, and/or which houses, create an

astrologer or one who has a talent for astrology? These are the

questions that I will deal with in this article.

 

First, let us consider what some classical texts say:

 

 

1. " Saravali "

A. Mars conjunct Venus indicates either an astrologer or a

mathematician

B. Moon conjunct Venus conjunct Saturn

C. Sun in Gemini

D. Moon in Sagittarius aspected by Mercury

E. Moon in Leo Navamsha aspected by Mercury

F. Jupiter in a sign of Mercury aspected by Mercury

G. Sun conjunct Mars in the 10th house from the Moon

H. Malefics in the 10th house from the Moon and aspected by

benefics

I. Moon in Virgo aspected by Mercury

 

2. " Sarvartha Chintamani "

A. Lord of the Navamsha sign occupied by the Lord of the 10th

house is Mercury

B. Lord of the 2nd house is the Sun or Mars and is aspected by

Jupiter and Venus and Mercury is Paravatamsha (in many of its own

vargas)

 

3. " Garga Hora "

A. Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the 4th house

B. Moon, Venus, and Saturn in the 5th house

C. Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the 6th house

D. Moon, Mars and Mercury in the 9th house

 

4. " Satyajatakam "

A. Lagna Lord is strong in the 3rd house with a benefic yoga

B. Lord of the 5th house is in the 2nd house with a Shubha yoga

 

5. " Bhrigu Sutra "

A. Mercury is in the 1st house and is associated with a benefic or

is in the house of a benefic

 

Now, some of you are probably ready to put this article down at this

point because it is so dry. Those of you who have had readings with

me know that I do not stress the dry, intellectual approach to

astrology too much. I prefer a healthy mix of basic, logical

principles with a very health dose of intuition. And the older I get,

the more I rely on intuition.

 

However, let us not forget that, traditionally, astrology and

mathematics were taught together. People have said to me, " Oh, I'd be

good in astrology. I'm very intuitive. " And my response was, " How did

you do in math in school? " And it seems that the classical texts, as

quoted above, agree with me. After looking over all the combinations

seen in the previous page, do we find any overriding patterns? You

bet.

 

My main conclusion is quite simple— without a strong Mercury, forget

about being an astrologer. What do I mean by 'strong'? If Mercury is

in its own sign or exalted, it is strong. If Mercury is in an angle

or trine (houses 1,4,5,7,9 or 10), it is strong. If Mercury has no

aspects from, or conjunctions with, any natural malefics (Sun, Mars,

Saturn, Rahu or Ketu), it is fairly strong. And if Mercury is

aspected by or conjunct with a natural benefic (Moon, Venus or

Jupiter), that is a blessing and adds to the strength of Mercury.

Also, Mercury gains some strength from being in the sign of a friend

(Venus and Saturn). These signs are Taurus, Libra, Capricorn and

Aquarius. Do not forget to give the Navamsha equal weight in

determining the strength of a planet.

 

In my opinion, several other planets play an important role in

producing an astrologer: Jupiter (spiritual wisdom), the Moon (the

mind in general), Ketu (the Enlightener) and Rahu (the planet that

digs deeply—past superficial observations). Ideally, all of these

should be quite strong, or, at least, not very weak.

 

Several houses also play a part in giving us one learned in Jyotish

Shastra—the 5th house (house of the mind, past life credit, mantra,

yantra, tantra and discipleship), the 8th house (research and

traditional learning such as Sanskrit), the 9th house (Gurus, higher

education, and respect for tradition) and the 12th house of

meditation and Enlightenment. And, for those who earn money through

astrology, the 10th house.

 

Here is the chart of Narendra Desai (Chart H1

http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ ), the greatest astrologer I know

of. Unfortunately, he is now deceased. He was also one of my Jyotish

teachers.

 

You will note that Mercury does not have many of the strengths I

spoke of. However, it is the ruler of the 5th house of intellect

placed in the 12th house of meditation. Furthermore, it is fully

accepted by its good friend Saturn, which is exalted in the 6th

house. Saturn is the ruler of both the 9th house of the Guru and

traditional learning, and the 10th house of career. Jupiter, that

most spiritual of planets, is strongly placed in the 7th house where

it fully aspects the Ascendant. Also, in this chart, Jupiter is lord

of the 8th house of research. Ketu, the planet of discernment, is

placed the 10th house of career along with Uranus, the outer planet

that Western astrologers say rules astrology. Narendra, also, said

that it is Uranus that makes (or breaks) an astrologer. Also the

nakshatra of Satabhisha is supposed to be associated with astrologers

and Narendra Desai had Ketu posited there. One more thing—the Moon,

the general planet of the Mind, is placed in Gemini, a sign ruled by

the oh-so-important planet, Mercury.

 

Now please look at Chart H2 http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ , that

of the very famous Indian astrologer K.N. Rao. Again we have Mercury

in the 12th house, but otherwise the combinations are more classical.

Venus conjunct Mars in the 1st house indicates an astrologer. Mercury

is very strong—exalted and in its own house of Virgo. The planet of

Enlightenment and discernment, Ketu, is with Mercury and the Sun in

the 12th house of Moksha. Jupiter, the second-most-important planet

that shows an astrologer, is exalted in the 10th house of career. Now

let us look at the important houses—5, 8, 9, and 12. The Lord of the

5th house, Saturn, is in the 3rd house. From there it aspects the

5th, 9th and 12th houses, so there is a good connection with most of

the important houses. Also Saturn, as ruler of the 5th house, aspects

Mercury and Ketu, two very important astro-indicators. The ruler of

the 8th house of research, Venus, is in its own sign, Libra, in the

1st house. Also it is conjunct Mars and the Moon. Also, Mr. Rao has a

very nice yoga whereby all the grahas are in signs ruled by benefic

planets.

 

Now please examine Chart H3 http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ , that

of the grandfather of B. V. Raman, Professor Rao. He is widely

considered to have been the very best astrologer of his day. Here the

destiny to be an astrologer shines.

 

First of all, the two main planets of astrology, Jupiter and Mercury,

are conjunct in the 10th house of career. Secondly, they are both in

the " astrologer's " nakshatra, Satabhisha. Third, we have a nice

connection between the lords of the 5th house (Mercury) and the 8th

house (Jupiter). Then there is Mars, the ruler of the 12th house, in

the 5th house of the mind. Also Mars aspects the 8th house of

research and the 12th house of Moksha from the 5th house. Last but

not least is the wonderful exchange of signs with Mercury and Saturn.

This directly involves the 2nd, 5th, 9th and 10th houses by

rulership. It also involves the 4th, 8th and 11th houses by aspect.

So, taking into account just the second house and the 10th house, we

are also involving the 5th, 8th, and 9th houses. This is the chart of

an astrologer! And the Sun, Mars, Saturn and Ketu are all in stars

ruled by Mars.

 

Now please look at Chart H4 http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ , of my

brother Timothy Laughrin. According to the classical rules that form

an astrologer, this individual should not only be an astrologer but

should be very famous! Timothy has at least 4 big classical

combinations to create a very good astrologer:

 

- Conjunction of Venus and Mars

- Moon in Leo aspected by Mercury

- A malefic in the 10th house from the Moon aspected by a benefic

- Lord of the Navamsha sign occupied by the Lord of the 10th house is

Mercury

 

But is he an astrologer? No! He is a software engineer. Now, this

does not disprove the classical combinations. Rather, we must adapt

our minds to the time and place these yogas were written. In ancient

India, astrology was just as complex as it is now. But, there were no

computers or even calculators. Therefore, to do astrology

successfully, one first had to be an excellent mathematician. And my

brother is that. He got an 800 on the GRE in Math. Also, Timothy

scored an 800 on the Advanced Math section of the SAT's. So, to my

mind, anyway, this proves the usefulness of the ancient combinations

rather than disproving them. We must have flexibility to see how

things go together. Traditionally, math and astrology always went

together.

 

This gives you some ideas about combinations you can look for to see

if one has the abilities and inclinations to become an astrologer. It

is obvious that one must be flexible in applying the rules, because

real life seldom follows the rules that we humans try to impose upon

it.

 

 

 

 

Spontaneous Knowingness: The Jyotish IQ

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By Deborah Allison (upgpf)

 

Note: The charts for this article are available by visiting

www.jyotish.ws/materials

 

Wisdom, " spontaneous knowingness, " intuition and discernment are all

hallmarks of prominent people in all the wisdom traditions of the

world. The special moments of " aha " are common to the painter, the

author, the businessman, and the mathematician as well as to exalted

spiritual masters. The frequency, intensity and recognition of these

moments may vary.

 

Where in a chart do we read the qualities of wisdom? Many think that

the Moon plays a major role in intuition. However, qualities of

intelligence represented by the Moon are much more of a somatic based

nature. The Moon represents what the tradition calls " manas " which is

the sensory, experiencing mind. It is responsible for balance,

homeostasis, and processing sensory input as it comes into the organ

of the mind. It is also the level of feelings and emotions which some

people think of as intuition but is more driven by fluctuating cycles

of raga and dvesha (desires or attachments and aversions). A very

settled and refined manas supports intuition but the latter is

indicated elsewhere in the chart.

 

True intuition is linked to the quietest level of the mind where the

water is " pure and still, " unruffled by the winds of emotions—

whether positive or negative. It is the lamp that does not flicker in

a windless place. How then do we read wisdom, discernment and

intuition in a chart? The seat of discernment is the buddhi—that

discriminating faculty of the inner organ of the mind and the bhava

that represents it is the 5th house. The planets that are important

in understanding the nature and quality of the discernment of an

individual are Mercury, which directly represents the buddhi, and

Jupiter, which represents deep knowledge and the spontaneous level of

knowingness that comes from linking into the source. When the ego,

the manas and the buddhi are powerfully aligned with sattvic

influences, the person is more and more inclined in the direction of

discernment which spontaneously reflects wisdom at the finest levels

of creation and therefore thought and action in line with natural law.

 

Let us consider the chart of Albert Einstein (Chart G1

http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ ), certainly renowned for his

discernment and spontaneous cognition of the subtlest universal

truths about the structure of reality from the lens of physics.

 

If you consider the Moon to be the key for intuition, you are in big

trouble in this chart as the Moon is debilitated in the 6th house

unaspected by any graha. Mercury, too, seems problematic as it is

also debilitated. These two facts have led some misguided Jyotishis

to conclude that the birth time must be wrong. How could a genius

like Einstein have a debilitated Moon, debilitated Mercury AND, since

it is a Gemini chart, a debilitated chart lord?

 

If we recall that the seat of discernment is the 5th house, then the

5th house and its lord are the key ingredients. Mercury as karaka for

intellect counts much less than the house and lord in analyzing this

faculty. The 5th house is unoccupied and aspected by Jupiter and only

Jupiter. The 5th lord is exalted at the mid-heaven and forming

multiple yogas. These yogas include a Malavya Yoga, and the huge

maharaja yoga of the 5th and 9th lords joined together in the most

active of the kendra houses (that also symbolizes space and sky).

Turning the attention back to Mercury, though it is weak, it also

participates in many yogas and has some classic modifications to its

debilitation known as Nica Bhanga Yogas.

 

Another beautiful Gemini chart illustrating this point is that of the

14th Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of the Buddhist religion in Tibet

(Chart G2 http://www.jyotish.ws/materials/ ). Note here that Mercury

has double strength in the lagna as it is both in its own rashi and

has directional strength, or digbala. It is aspected by a powerful

(retrograde) Jupiter who is likewise gracing the 5th house. It may

look like Venus is an issue as it is aspected by such a powerful

Saturn. But in fact, Venus and Saturn are forming the same maharaja

yoga that we saw in Einstein's chart. This brings renown and

preeminence to that very faculty of wisdom and understanding that

comes forward when the lords of these two houses interconnect.

 

These are two examples supporting the all-important role of the 5th

house, its lord, Jupiter and Mercury for the deep wisdom and

discernment that underlies genius and spontaneous cognition of

universal truths. Look around and you may find more.

 

 

Contact Information

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email: michael

business phone: (440) 582-9848; cell phone: (440) 263-2159

web: http://www.jyotish.ws

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