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What is Astrology ? 

What is known about astrology, what is hard to explain in astrology and what I would love to know of astrology

What is Astrology - origin, nature, use and limits of understanding.

Visitors since  1/07/2003

Here are my attempts to answer a few frequently asked questions about astrology and I have tried to answer it the way according to my understanding. (PS. Later I found out this is what some philosophers call Epistemology of Astrology, meaning : origin, nature, use, current status and the limits of human understanding or the knowledge of the subject, never herd of such a thing ? I too.)

My answers in regard to Astrology, could be very different from what you may expect from a typical astrologer. Since I am not a professionally practicing astrologer but a seeker in the quest for knowledge, I have always tried to find answers which satisfies the scientist in myself. The job for which I am trained.  Believe me that I used to be, and still am, a  much more a skeptic than you think I  could ever be and expect from a person who maintains a web site on astrology as a hobby. 

I learned astrology when, a prominent Buddhist priest who knows astrology very well told me the following. "How can you criticize a subject which you know nothing of ?. Want to disprove astrology ?. Then you have to learn the Astrology first. If you genuinely wish to learn Astrology, I am happy to teach you". That is how I met my "Guru" Rev. Nakiyadeniye Gnanuttara Thero for whom I am eternally grateful for the Initiation & knowledge.

Is there something mysterious in astrology ?  (Nature)

People attribute mystery to things due to lack of their knowledge. For an example thousands of years ago people assumed that the lightning and thunder are the acts of gods and also thought that the pyramids were built by giants. Likewise, astrology also got it's bit attached as the knowledge of the  planetary movements are not everybody's cup of tea. This is  true even 10- 20 years ago. When calculations were carried out manually with out the aid of computers. 

Not all, but some astrologers even today try to project mystery around astrology for two main reasons. 

1. To cover up their inadequacy of the knowledge of the subject of astrology and lack of deep understanding of the mechanisms involved. 
2. Keep others in the dark for economic reasons, more people were pushed towards blind belief or faith, more they can milk the people for money by selling them more yanthars, more  manthars, more pujas, more candles, more dhupas, more shanthis, more pictures, more homas, more consultations etc. (Listen to Sri Lankan or Indian Radios or read some News papers and you will understand what I am talking about). Resulting misconception among people and adverse reactions to Astrology from moderate intelligent people in the community.

Astrology What is it ?(Origin)

Planets in the solar system are like an accurate clock in the sky. Their revolutions and movements are very precise. Planets rise and set at definite times. Effects of certain planetary influences are plainly visible such as day and night, change of seasons and tidal effects. It surely have influence on everyday life of all of us. But subtle effects on people are not so clearly evident at a glance.  

Astrology  is a system of observations gathered through ages. For an example Vedic Astrologey was founded by Sage Parashara thousands of years ago and the observations collected through ages are the essence of the Hindu Astrology. Astrology, both Eastern and Western are based on a predictive system very similar to to the one used by meteorology. Instead of forecasting the weather conditions, Astrological predictive system indicates such and such things are highly probable to happen to the people when such and such planetary positions are prevailing. 

An analogy is like looking at a colour traffic light system and decoding what each of the colour light such as red , yellow and green are meaning and saying, like if some one goes when the red light is shining he or she is highly prone to be met with an accident or when green light is shining it is highly probable that he or she will have a safe passage. 

Stars only indicate your past "Karmas"( or the actions ) and depending on the past actions,  the direction of the path of life you are going to take while in the journey, towards the ultimate goal  the: "Natural evolution process towards the Perfection of Mind" *  "kingdom of heaven", "Moksha", "Nirvana" or where ever according to your personal belief. It is as same as, depending on the lane you have stopped, the direction you should turn will be indicated by a traffic signal.

*(If the body can evolve with the natural law of survival of the fittest, then why not the mind ? As there is always body - mind relationship, like the body is constantly changing and evolving , the mind is also changing and evolving. This is the fundamental difference  between Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.  While the Hinduism says that Athma or the Soul stays the same, lord Buddha went further and said,  that the soul or the force of life or the qualities that define  particular character of a person are also subject to gradual change and since, it changes he added, it is impermanent or "Anithya" which is the basic  quality of everything in the universe ),  More explanation on this line is now at the bottom of this page under P.S.)

Can planets influence people ?  

If you ask me whether there is an effect from that red colour light on a person's life my answer is both "yes" and "no". No, because it is just a light. Yes, because it indicates a bad period to cross. But if you attribute a godly character to the traffic light pole and starts worshipping it or think that there is a mystery in it. Then it is the lack of true knowledge and understanding. That is why, about 2500 years ago Lord Buddha said "Kim Karrisatthi Taraka ?" What stars can do ? It is not stars doing any thing to you. It is your own actions and the reactions of past actions (Karmas) are shaping your destiny. Your true savior is none but yourself as it is your duty to steer your life on the correct path.

Possible or impossible ?(limits of human understanding )

Please note that, though the debate on the existence of all powerful almighty one creator being as such is out of the context of this subject of discussion,  I do not exclude the possibility of  that there could  be (Now we call them as ET's and those days Deities or Angels) highly evolved powerful entities (and also some lowly evolved but powerful entities ) in other dimensions or worlds. A true scientist will never ridicule any possibility. However it may look impossible. Remember, that a few decades back  prominent scientists of the time said,  it is impossible for an aero plane to take off the ground as it is heavier than the air. Compared with the vastness and the complexity of the universe, what we have discovered and rationally understood is similar to a grain of sand. If you find something mysterious or something which is hard to explain, that does not mean it is not happening or it is impossible to happen. But that means our current understanding, senses, knowledge and the instruments are not yet developed enough to detect, measure and understand the phenomenon. 

Astrology - from past to present

Astrology is a heritage of all of us, which stood the test of time. If astrology was absolute rubbish, then it would have gone out of circulation many hundreds or perhaps thousands years ago. Since there was some substance in to astrology, which had proved to many people for generations about it's usefulness. Astrology had managed to survive through those generations. Now the time had come for the Astrology to engage in the test of time once again. This time a test carried out by a new breed of seekers living in the era of information age, who are armed with  new technology, new ways of thinking and interested in investigating finding and  presenting the knowledge of the past in a manner applicable to the present. If anybody wish to learn Vedic Astrology, here is a good place to start.

What is an astrological reading: (use)

I would like to tell and caution you, that an astrological reading should not be taken as a gospel or the absolute certainty. And you should not center your entire life on the basis of astrology alone. It is only a tool but an efficient one, which helps you to understand yourself better, in a different perspective. Say it is like a manual of a car, a horoscope reading shows the potential you can achieve as it was at the start line. (Which was many years ago at your time of birth.) And what troubles and repairs you can expect after such and such kilometers of driving. But how do you drive your car after you have taken it out of the factory is up to you, and also depends on many other factors, such as your freewill of decision whether to maintain and drive carefully or not, unexpected happenings on the road and so on. Therefore, there is no certainty that the events we discuss here must happen as stated. What we talk here in this reading are about the probabilities of certain events occurring.

The many of the happenings what we  examine in a genuine reading like what I offer you in this site,  are natural phenomena’s. Nature does not have abrupt demarcation lines. Everything fades out and the new period or phenomenon dawns gradually and very slowly. The same is true for the end of one constellation and the beginning of another. There are no clear cut lines in the sky to separate one group of stars from another, therefore one astrologer can give one date and an another astrologer an other date, but usually it should fall within an acceptable margin of error.

Can Astrology foretell any thing for sure ?

As same as in Meteorology, in Astrology also, there is no definite saying. Because many things can not be told hundred present accurately. As I said in the previous example, even when the green light is shining you can not give a hundred present guarantee of safe passage as accidents may occur due to various other reasons. Life is a very complex thing many influencing factors are taking part during the course of a persons life It is dynamic, constantly changing just like clouds and weather patterns.

Only a divine entity or God can predict for 100% accuracy about the course of a life of a person. No being born as a human (except a Buddha - The meaning of word Buddha itself is the highest of higher human intellect) can predict with 100% surety about course of a life of a person.

Because a persons life is governed by Karma and so complex the karmas are it is difficult to fully comprehend by a person with ordinary intellect.

With respect, I must mention that, even Maha Irshies were not able to do it fully. That is why the ancient texts written by different Irshies, though not always but sometimes suggest different methods or interpretations in regard to the same thing. For an example in regard to Planetary periods or Dashas, there are a number of methods suggested, Ashthoothari, Vimshotharri, Yogini etc..  

Thanks to the works of Irshis and Sages and all the other scholars of the of the past,  about 75 - 80 % degree of accuracy of predictions can be achieved by a good astrologer at present, if more than that, the rest is pure chance. (If anybody says he can do better than that and can always give 100% correct predictions, then he is not an astrologer but a new Buddha. Apart from the Gauthama the Buddha for this "Kalpha" or the epoch, an another additional Buddha had seems to be some how appeared on earth). 

No good astrologer who is honest and who knows the subject of astrology well and has a reputation to protect will never mislead people who do not know astrology and dare to say that he or she can give perfect 100% accurate predictions. 

It is as same as that, even for a vehicle which is just out of the production line, a good master engineer will never give a 100% guarantee, say to cross a desert alone and without taking any spare parts. Because he knows very well what many things can go wrong and how many brand new vehicles had been recalled due to various defects. But at the same time a foolish driver who may even do not know how to change a plug, due to his foolishness may take the risk of crossing the desert or even declare the exact time he will arrive at the destination. 

Since the Astrology is the only tool an ordinary human being has, to interpret the Quality and the quantity of Karmas an individual posses, Astrology should be treated with respect. Even though it's accuracy is not always 100%. But nobody should center his life on Astrology alone. Nor reject astrology totally. As Lord Buddha had always advised a person must take the middle path.

Mystery or siddhi ?

There are certain components in astrology and other related areas, the mechanism of how it happens is hard to explain. One such phenomenon is called as "Siddhi". Siddhi comes with the constant practice and somewhat akin to sixth sense, intuition or hunch. When a person with a  siddhi says something,  it is more likely to happen the way he predicts it. But if you ask the person where in the original source texts ( such as "Brihath Parashara hora Sahastra " Saravali or Garga Hora") it says such a thing or what rules he had applied to come in to that conclusion, most probably he will say, I just felt it at that moment. So how does a person feels future is a bit gray area.

How do they do it ?

I know one retired graduate teacher in Kandy suberbs who has a very remarkable ability. I can not say whether his predictions are true or not but I am convinced of one thing.  That he can say rather accurately the reason  you came to meet him, as soon as you sit in front of him. He puts that ability in to very good use. Every day he consults 100 people. No more. No matter how many more are wanting or how far they had come to see him. To get an appointment, you have to go at 3 o' clock in the morning and get a number and no prior bookings for any body. He allocates only 5 minutes for each consultation. If you were not present at the time he calls you, the next in the queue is called and you have to come again an another day.

When I went there last year, I got the number 52. Since I was curious, skeptic and suspicious of any listening devises which may have been planted,  I never told or indicated in any manner the reason I wished to consult him. From the inquiries I made from the people who went in and came out before me I found that he had accurately told them the reason they had come to see him that day. If it is pure chance or guess, with so many various kinds of problems people are having and wanting advice, how it is possible to guess it correctly each and every time ?. I also learned that his father also had practiced the same. That means it is a some kind of a knowledge or method that could be transmitted from one person to another. So what is it ? I too would love to learn. But I am sure of one thing. That it is not Astrology he is practicing.

Nadi Astrology

Where are the techniques ?

There is an another branch of prediction system called "Nadi Jyotisha" or the Nadi system of astrology. Which (according to some people)  in many occasions can correctly say even the names of the people who are concerned. Unfortunately the techniques used are not revealed to people outside their immediate family. You must understand that such knowledge could be harmful if come in to the hands of wrong people. May be that is one of the reasons it is still kept in secret. Selfishness or greed is also a possibility. But if somebody will come forward and reveal at least some of the  techniques at least to those who deserve and who will use it for the benefit of those who really need guidance such an act will be a great service to humanity as whole. 

Chasing an elusive leaf ?

("The ola leaves which contain the life histories of nearly every human being on earth.")

Though the chances of such occurrences are very remote, as a scientist who is open minded and think that there is always a possibility of having areas of knowledge which are not yet explored, I do not totally exclude the possibility of existence of extra ordinary Astrological techniques discovered by somebody in the past and  be still on use with some genuine Nadi Reader out there. 

But at the same time, in definite terms I must warn you that, there are not so genuine Nadi Readers and Nadi Astrology web sites are also out there. Of which I am very sure of.

Those pretending to be Nadi Astrology Readers, on the pretext of finding your correct leaf,  will ask you a large number of questions, only to build up your profile. It is more like being involved in a fill in the blanks game, rather than getting an astrological reading. 

For an example, sure they will  ask you what is the first letter of your fathers first name, then after several other questions such as, is your mother dead or alive, are you a graduate, what is your profession etc. suddenly they will ask you what is the last letter of your fathers name?. After several minutes of subsequent questioning like are you currently experiencing some financial problems etc. etc. they will ask you what is the 3rd letter of the fathers first name, is it Ka, Ga, La, Cha ? and so on..  After filling the gaps they will jump out and say , see the leaf correctly told your fathers name too. 

Out of curiosity I went to such a place operated by some South Indians at Colombo.  More...  Continued in next page...

Unique in this site
Book of Life

There are hundreds of really fine  Astrology web sites and thousands of good Astrologers. If you know of a one, then please try to use his/her services as much as possible. 

The only thing an another good astrologer or a site will not be able to provide you and available exclusively from me is the  unique Full Life Reading described at left. You will not get it from any where else. 

Astrology Related Traditions

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