• Superstitious use of ratna or yagya encourages 'victim-mind'

• Conscious use of gems or other celebratory 'reminders' *is* empowering

• Superstition in religious scholarship: make sure it's *you* who knows

• Ritual Remedial Puja versus Charitable Service: which works better?

Jyotisha Practice:

Superstition + Divination

 H.H. Dalai Lama.(2005). Lighting the Way. Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Trans.).

When the Buddha said that 'we are our own master, we are our own enemy', he was telling us that our destiny lies in our own hands.

Paramahansa Yogananda,

Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch. 16 "Outwitting the Stars"

Superstitious awe of astrology makes one an automaton, slavishly dependent on mechanical guidance.

The wise man defeats his planets - which is to say, his past - by transferring his allegiance from the creation to the Creator.

The more he realizes his unity with spirit, the less he can be dominated by matter.

he soul is ever-free; it's deathless because birthless. It can't be regimented by stars.

Caveat: Common Sense Remedies Come First

It is important to mention that before selecting a remedial gem, undertaking a remedial puja or starting a period of remedial seva, one should indeed have exhausted all the common-sense material remedies.

If one has a tax problem one should have already consulted a tax advisor, and if one has a bacterial infection one should have consulted a physician. If one's child has a learning disability, consult an educational specialist; if one has dental problems please see a dentist!

here are many material problems that human technology can and will resolve, in which case the aphorism "the Lord helps those who help themselves" is wisely applied.

Only after common-sense remedies have been completely exhausted does the enquiry into religious sacrifice as a tool of intelligent transformation begin to make "sense".

Fears of Retribution and Punishment can block your natural Intuition.

Intuition = inner teaching

When intuition is unblocked, the conscious power to create one's own destiny is wildly released.

Actually, one was creating one's destiny all along, but fear prevented one from KNOWING that one was, in fact, doing it oneself.

The Real Truth: It's All In There

Every person is creating their own unfolding experience of life, in every moment of every day.

he process by which life experience is generated = projecting stored subconscious images and expectations onto today's reality.

Learn to follow the inner teacher (in-tuition) who is the guide to that massive inventory of thoughts, hopes, dreams, fears, expectations, terrors, aspirations, memories, desires, knowledge, skill, and genius stored in the great warehouse of the subconscious.

You will see the Programming.

You will see the your Path.

Absolutely no one outside oneself has or ever could have access to your truth and your path.

Jyotisha can be a mirror showing your Path

Remember: under no circumstances do things happen "to" one

Reality is being created by a mechanism of projection of accumulated expectations, many of them fear-driven, upon the blank screen of consciousness.

The privilege to have such a blank screen is indeed a great gift!

The priceless opportunity of a human birth is the privilege to even have The possibility of seeing the cycle of projection in action, learning to manage it, and eventually to unload all of the fear and desire that keeps us recycling through endless heavens and hells of "experience".

Jyotisha: tool of consciousness or terror of superstition?

There are many way to gain knowledge of the subconscious inventory and skills for managing it.

E.g., awareness meditation, tantric practice, non-petitionary prayer, selfless service/seva, bhakti/karma/jyapa yoga, many forms of divination, etc. Many, many ways.

One way is Jyotisha.

According to the rule: as above, so below:

Jyotisha is a form of divination (reading the Divine) which uses the patterns of planets in the sky, and their complex interrelationships, to reveal patterns in the subconscious inventory.

Using the mirroring patterns of the planets' movements :: the individual reality, Jyotisha can predict the timing of major releases of subconscious expectation into the field of consciousness.

This major release is called an "event". Jyotisha can predict events.

There is however Absolutely no spiritual benefit to being able to predict the timing of events unless one wishes to use the information to learn what's in the subconscious warehouse (at least, the top level of storage that is active in the current lifetime), the timing of the projection mechanism, and (ideally) how to manage it.

Lacking a spiritual motivation, the user of Jyotisha and any other type of divination falls into destructive misuse of the information as a further encouragement to disempowerment through superstition.

Thus, some moral responsibility rests with the Jyotishi for ensuring that with every dose of predictive information comes strong suggestion for how to use this gift most beneficially.

Remind the querent frequently that:

• we are looking into their OWN life path

• They really do own it,

• They can have full control over it -- when and if they wish to claim that control

• but that gaining control does take skill and dedication to the goal.

(Ask any yogi in a cave exactly how MUCH skill and control. A lot!!)

Enlightenment means unburdening the attachment to Fear.

The goal is to gain conscious control over the process of projecting subconscious expectations upon the field of perception.

• The goal is to manage and ultimately to release all accumulated fear.

Superstition is a miserable and completely unnecessary abandonment of one's own power to create and control one's life and environment.

Superstition = buying into a victim state.

Superstition = choosing to perpetuate fear, anxiety, and disempowerment.

Release fear, so you can be relaxed and ready for life!

Letter to a very intelligent, educated, successful client who queried Jyotisha constantly, asking the same questions but never "understanding" the answer:

About using my Jyotisha website to get answers to questions about your own chart:

My Jyotisha website will not do divinations or interpretation for you; it is strictly an educational offering for the conscious mind. Although each Jyotishi must possess a strong meditative framework in order to ground their rational choices, Jyotisha is organized by a set of interpretive rules which work primarily within conscious intelligence.

My website doesn't offer a chart calculation engine. However, provided you have accurate birth date, place, and time - you can get your own online Jyotisha charts easily on the internet.

Be aware that with free charts you will not be able to control calculation variables so results will range from accurate to questionable. Working Jyotishis usually adjust the "standard" calculations to suit their personal divinatory viewpoint.

Eventually, you will need to consult a practicing Jyotishi who knows the rules of the vidya, in order to have the charts meaningfully interpreted.

About Anxiety and Divinations - Jyotisha vs. other methods

If you feel a truly compulsive need to ask and re-ask a particular question, that means your subconscious is pushing hard to bring some inner turmoil up to the surface of consciousness. When there is too much fear or restlessness in the psychic environment, Jyotisha is probably not your best resource.

Compulsive, rajasic energy can destroy the delicate philosophical awareness necessary to interpret planetary patterns. So, if you have a lot of nervous psycho-mental anxiety about a particular question, skip the Jyotisha. Instead, consider using this wonderful online I-Ching site that will do unlimited divinations per day.

Or, consider some other divinatory methods such as pendulum and divining rod work . Direct divining from the subconscious will evoke exceptionally clear and specifically yes-no answers directly from the subconscious. I think pendulum work is a great way to go when the person has lots of anxiety about a particular question. The subconscious is like a child - it gives very simple and clear answers.

When you are in a calmer frame of mind, feel free to use my Jyotisha website as a learning resource. You can use it to teach yourself how to do elementary divinations from a properly constructed Jyotisha chart. This site is far from comprehensive even for beginners, but it can help familiarize newcomers to the planetary perspective. Being myself an intermediate student, I am always grateful to hear other practitioners explain their thought process - even if, after considering their carefully laid out thoughts, I ultimately disagree with them! So that's what this website it - a presentation of my thought process, offered humbly for those who want to know. It's definitely not a quick-answer robot.

Jyotisha is a conscious spiritual practice which requires deep concentration, awareness, and most of all humility. Jyotisha is high philosophy. It will provide the Big Picture in a very satisfying way. It will also provide reliable guidance for short-term decision-making (prasna) if the mind is balanced when asking the question.

However when anxiety rages, divinatory methods which directly access the wisdom of the subconscious by providing "yes-no" answers in a very clear way - such as dowsing and Yi-Jing - are much better to use.

Jyotisha is part mystical and part rational, so each practitioner has a unique method of understanding the charts. On the rational side, there are some basic rules which I try to exemplify on this website using sample charts. However in real readings, each practitioner invokes their own intuition.

And, most importantly, The person receiving the Jyotisha reading must bring their own intuition to the task of interpreting astrologer's assertions and predictions regarding their life path.

If an assertion about your character or a prediction about your future seems really wrong, it probably is. You have to engage your own intuition in cooperation with the Jyotishi to decide what "fits" your knowledge of yourself and your expectations of your life path.

The Vidya of Jyotisha is itself highly reliable. But practitioners are humans and they can make mistakes. If your intuition is loud and clear that the interpretation is erroneous, be willing to tell the Jyotishi that your instincts are telling you that something is wrong.

(Unfortunately, 95% of mistakes are from querent providing incorrect birth data.)

How superstitions block the trust that produces intuitive truth:

Jyotisha is a practice of divination which means it evokes the divine truth. Divine truth is known primarily through our intuitive intelligence; however once the intuition rises into consciousness we can "know" strong truths at the rational level as well. Intuitive knowledge is never dogmatic and always authentic. However intuitive knowledge is somewhat delicate. It can only rise into consciousness when the mind is peaceful and balanced.

Unfortunately, if we approach Jyotisha with superstition and fear, the intuition will be blocked and we will *never* get any truth out of it. Please be sure to eliminate superstition and fear from your motivation as you approach the Jyotisha reading. This information is valuable to you. You can be sure that if you have requested a reading in the first place, your inner self finds this information timely and valuable. Calm your anxiety; soothe your restless mind. There is nothing in the realm of divine truth that could possibly hurt you - and there is a lot that can definitely help.

Pure Jyotisha is actually very clear information that could be derived just as easily and completely from other sources or combinations-of-sources such as meditation and contemplative prayer, or books-with-meditation, or dreams.

After most people receive a reading, they contemplate it, integrate the reading into their journaling and meditations, reflect on it and treasure it for years.

However a few people even amongst my normally educated privileged reflective clientele have such strong psychic "punishment pictures" that they approach the Jyotisha information in superstition and fear, and they say they cannot "understand" it.

Or, in the extreme cases, they actually lose the reading tape and charts before they can absorb the reading. This type of extremely anxious reaction to a Jyotisha reading indicates a great fear of the truth which is better handled in psychotherapy or religious counseling.

Please release punishment fears before entering the divination space:

As a Jyotishi all I can do is to encourage these folks to release the fear, especially the *fear of punishment* which is blocking their intuition. I would encourage you to ignore the astrology for awhile, and concentrate on psychically releasing the fear of punishment. It's likely that you are harboring some serious past-life guilt, compounded by moral errors from low awareness (perhaps) in the current life.

I say this speculatively, judging from the presenting symptom that the Jyotisha information has taken on a nervous, superstitious quality - not the deeply calming, validating, meditative quality it has by nature. This fear of punishment causes people to seek out and cling to negative information, while they disregard and invalidate positive information.

Then return to this and other mystical divinatory website to continue your queries in a clear and calm psychic space:

My website is organized topically, so that a student can follow a hyperlink to the subject that interests them - marriage, children, vocation, health, etc - and see a selection of charts which exemplify the planetary profile for that subject. It is organizationally quite straightforward. I have also posted some philosophical essays on divination, best practice, etc. Amusingly, I get more feedback on the philosophical material than anything else!

When you have cleared out the hysteria, released the fear, and moved through superstitious entrapment, you will find the information flowing very accessibly - Jyotisha, and also everything else! Replace this punishment fear with trust and calm. I know you are extremely blessed to have good Buddhist teachers and a bit of a Sangha support which is certainly all anyone needs socially and meditationally to release the fear.

Doing or asking for too many divinations is a sign of neurotic ego entanglement:

A person should be able to use their own intuition to determine the Tao of his or her next week, month, or year. Jyotisha supports this intuition, elaborates and develops it, but Jyotisha does not replace your own intuition. Checking the planets every day or every week is neurotic. The longer view, ideally 120 years but understandably for most folks 3 or 5 or 10 years (length of a classical retreat) is much more appropriate to the meditative vibration of Jyotisha.

In the taped update readings I always review the big picture (120 years) before zooming in on the present year or two. Reviewing the big picture helps allay minor superstitious fears. But if a person is imprisoned by major superstitious fears, they will fetishize the Jyotisha. Once polluted by idolatry, the partnership between human and divine provided through the "Vidya" of Jyotisha will give only toxic results.

About the healing power of ego-release-meditations:

I encourage you to concentrate exclusively on releasing fear through Buddhist practice. *Replace with trust*. Leave the astrology alone for awhile, until some of this punishment energy can be flushed out.

Please appreciate that neurotic hyper-queries into Jyotisha will not work well. We all need to calm down before making the divinations. When you feel calm and intentional and you're sure that you're not just neurotically looking for punishment information : go ahead and access my website, select the subject area that interests you, and see if you can follow along with the analysis. 

Q:

Hi Barbara,

I have been intensely worried about the marriage prediction you made in my reading last year. You said that I would marry someone who either was my teenage companion X, or someone very much like X.

I have another partner now whom I very much love and who has many of the marriage partner profile elements that X also has, which you described for me in the reading. However, the possibility that my intended partner really is X and not just someone who in certain features resembles X, is really bothering me.

Although X and I haven't seen each other in years, I once would have given anything to marry him. He was once my whole world! I still remember those feelings sentimentally and I feel a resurgence of the angst and desire I once felt in my urgency to marry X.

Is X really The One, even though he's now part of my past? Or is the man I now partner with, who has so many of X's qualities but is nevertheless a very different and unique person - definitely not X! - really The One?

I'm so confused and upset - I feel like I invested so much desire in X, and gave him such a huge part of my life, that maybe I have almost willed myself to marry X, despite not really wanting to anymore... and having a much more loving available partner now...

I feel like I don't have full permission to love my new partner and even considering marrying him ... so long as your prediction that I might marry X is sort of hanging over my head. Can you help me clear this up?

A :

Thank you for asking! The question you ask is critically important!

The purpose of divination is to confirm your intuition.

If the divination takes on an independent authority beyond the realm of your own intuition, it becomes Superstition.

• Divinations which confirm intuition are validating and empowering.

• Divinations which are projected onto an authority outside yourself are frightening and disempowering.

• We want to enjoy ONLY the validating and empowering readings.

Divinations of any type - Jyotisha readings, tarot cards, tea leaves, patterns of bird flight in the sky - any of them - are snapshots of synchronicity (as Jung called it) which are intended to CONFIRM the interior, authentic, personal intuition.

If something I said in a reading matches something you've been sensing or feeling or intuiting within yourself, then the reading has served its "confirming" purpose.

On the other hand, if a judgment or prediction arises in any type of divinatory reading which palpably contradicts your own intuition, by all means disregard that divinatory claim!

Spiritual interference:

Contradictory information coming out of readings is always the result of other beings interfering in the reading. Some of these beings currently have bodies and some of them are disembodied spirits.

I try to protect the aura around my Jyotisha readings from manipulative spirits, as much as possible, but "well-meaning" spirits (e.g. parents and spouses) as well as malicious ones do sometimes sneak in.

Luckily the person who receives the reading will know when something is counter-intuitive or not right. The querent will usually feel uncomfortable with whatever claim I am making, and they will be on alert to the possibility of psychic interference.

Sooo... if *any* result of the reading, *any* prediction or assessment, does not feel right to you -- please disregard it. Also - if you are so inclined - be on the lookout for what beings might have an interest in making that type of false result to seem believable.

Regarding your specific situation, I believe I was noticing that the marriage profile elements contained many of X's natural characteristics - age, social position, family relationships, career etc. Your new partner ALSO has all of those characteristics, AND he is the one you say you presently love! So please interpret my prediction in a way that is positive, empowering, and validating to your true intuition. If the man you love also matches the profile, consider the Jyotisha reading to be a confirmation of your spiritual instincts to find a partner well suited to you.

Look for this partner's marriage profile. If you seem to be also a good fit for him, the reading is doubly validated!

Thanks for stepping up to take your power.

Sincerely,

Barbara

Superstitious use of ratna or yagya encourages victim-mind and defeats Shani's purpose

Gems can be used consciously, as an aid to empowerment awareness

Better results from meditation/self-awareness, and Charitable Service

Namaste,

Thanks for your note. I do sometimes recommend remedial gems, with the caveat that Vedic gems must be 'pure' and properly energized to have effect. I am less inclined toward yagyas, but if the person has a good relationship with a reputable priest in India I do not oppose the method.

Ultimately I prefer that the native accept personal responsibility for their situation, and commit to a healing practice of meditation and service to those less fortunate ("seva"). I believe that forgiveness and intelligent awareness of the power of one's own expectations, shaped by childhood experience and education, are more reliable tools for remediating life karma.

In particular I discourage superstition, which is a victim's choice to put the power outside oneself (super=above, stit=position or standing). Many of us were raised or educated to view life as a process which happens "to" us; unfortunately this is a victim view.

The correct view is that we are empowered creators of our own situation. We create every moment of our life experience through projecting our subconscious expectations upon the blank movie screen of our perceptions. Therefore, observing the intricate process of that projection will eliminate karma of powerlessness, victimization, stuckness, and enslavement very quickly. Superstition is the best way to sustain bondage to old habits, exhaustion, and fear.

I do offer Jyotisha readings which can help outline the pattern of subconscious expectations and predict which expectation will manifest at points on the timeline.

However the power to change one's experience of this timeline lies entirely within the individual. Subconscious expectation is extremely strong and has built up through many lifetimes.

The probability of our making massive, revolutionary changes to these deeply established patterns is relatively small.

That's why Jyotisha is such an accurate predictor of what will happen "to" a person: the patterns are set over eons of incarnation, and the person is very much accustomed to allowing the patterns to play out without conscious interruption.

However, if the person is spiritually inclined (rare, but possible) they might be interested in starting to make a few small changes.

The best way to start chipping away at the massive accrual of fear and resistance which characterize any Shani period, is to accept responsibility for managing one's own mind. It is indeed very difficult to drive a wedge between the mind and its expectations. Probably the single best method for getting empowerment during a Shani period is not a gem or a yagya, but rather doing service for the less fortunate. Ideally, choose a service practice directed toward those who are only slightly less fortunate than oneself - not too different from oneself, who are suffering the same type of oppression as oneself, only slightly more intense and disabling.

For example if one is having money problems (typical of Shani) choose to serve those suffering a worse experience of scarcity - and observe how their negative expectations (fears) cause them to make the same scarcity-ensuring choices, repeatedly. Shani sends a fearful signal from the reptile brain which says "there isn't enough!" It is possible to interrupt that signal, but only after one has seen objectively how it operates in other people. So, choose to serve some dramatically poor people and watch their repeating habits!

If one is having relationship or connection problems (another hallmark of Shani) choose to serve those who are more lonely, more isolated, or more paralyzed. Observe how they are afraid to make connections, then claim that some outside force (excessive duty or busyness, low rank, ugliness, some form of unapproachability) blocks their power.

Shani is about power blocks, negative expectations, fear. It is not easy to release habitual fear but it is *possible,* mainly through self-awareness and accepting responsibility (not guilt!) for one's own projections.

It seems very unlikely to me that any type of superstitious practice, in which one grants the remedial power to an outside person or object (priest, magical diagram, or gem) will remove deeply embedded personal subconscious fears. Only consciousness can take charge of the mind and begin to manage it.

However, during the management training process, I do believe that a conscious practice of "reminding" oneself Of Shani's presence will be helpful.

• Wearing dark blue clothes,

• wearing jewelry of lapis lazuli or blue topaz set in silver (ritually empowered or not, remember these are mental-note type of reminders not magical objects)

• writing with dark blue ink

• decorating the "responsibility" wall of one's home (according to Feng Shui rules) with dark blue (almost black, but still blue)

• enjoying deep, dark blue religious images in any religious tradition:

  • visual images of Shri Krishna in His darkest-darkest blue complexion;

  • sacred calligraphy painted with lapis lazuli pigments in mosques

  • deep blues robes of Christ, Virgin Mary, or the Saints

  • darkest blue "medicine Buddha"

  • deep blue textiles, paints, and glass tints in sacred Jewish environments

  • painted and infused blues in native, druidic, pagan, and indigenous traditions worldwide

  • gazing into the deepest blue waters in your local natural environment (often a very deep pool in nature)

  ... all of these and any other opportunities to choose beautiful, sacred or delightful reminders of Shani's presence, aid appreciation of Shani's power to create Enlightenment. (unburdening of our attachment to fear)

  Luciana, I hope this viewpoint is helpful. I do utilize gems where appropriate but only as an aid to consciousness.

  I believe that selfless service is much more powerful to alleviate karmic struggle with fear than any other remedy. There is always someone struggling worse than oneself who can exemplify the habits we are at the moment, trying to break. This is why service is so empowering for the person who undertakes it!

  If you would like a full reading from me, please feel free to email and I will provide details.

  Sincerely,

  Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha

Superstition in religious scholarship: make sure it's you who knows

Letter to a conscious and well-educated client who was juggling a tremendously heavy load of responsibility. This person enjoys high levels of both academic and religious training.

Jyotisha situation:

• gochara Shani AND gochara Ketu contact radix Surya,

• during Ketu bhukti,

• during Saturn-return

• while Rahu-Ketu and Shani also contact navamsha lagna.

• Natal Shani yuti Surya in kendra: the native is a high professional.

• IMO this was a classic collision of Shani vs. Surya: social criticism and potential annihilation of the bright light of individual choice.

She inquired as to whether 'taking a break' for religious study would be helpful or would in fact exhaust her vitality even further.

Jyotisha view would suggest that only studies with an ethical focus will be useful to you. Practical rational tools which draw on traditional spiritual values will give the best results. Study for its own sake is unsupportable because all available energy is used in defending against the narcissists, protecting the personal integrity from the onslaught of criticism and claims that you have no value except to serve them. They believe that but to some extent you believe it too, so there is not much energy available to do things not related to serving the Righteous Ones. (who are indeed the Self-righteous ones!)

So... my opinion from the classical Jyotisha viewpoint which puts the goals of inner peace and divine awareness ahead of other agendas, is:

• To decline any studies which would further drain your vitality,

• while choosing studies that support your personal self-respect.

IMO superstitious worship of outside male authorities is a pitfall of study in any of the traditional religions. Therefore the teachers must be respectful of women or at least gender-neutral. Just to say that someone is right because he is old or has a long white beard or because 10 other old men said he's right, is not enough.

religious claim must be confirmed by each believer's personal intuition. There can be very long and fascinating scholarly reasons for making a religious claim, but ultimately if religious is to support true spirituality (and not be just an ideology or a type of intellectual politics) then the final confirmation of a 'received' belief must rest with the individual soul. This moment of confirmation occurs in prayer and meditation.

So if your scholarly teachers have made a place for meditation, intuition, and the possibility of a non-historic view (Saturn rules history) -- while of course being very well schooled in all of the literary, linguistic, and historical perspectives - then yes, IMO this is a worthy act of study even for an extremely stressed out (but continuously highly intelligent) person like yourself.

I cannot overemphasis The importance of good boundaries in these times of demanding service. You are surrounded by a host of selfish, needy, invalidating Others who, for karmic reasons, require your care. Your ethical awareness is very advanced, and you have decided to offer the highest levels of care from the physical nursing level to spiritual guidance and support. That is very admirable!

But let us not forget the limits of human capacity. Self-annihilation is not the goal! It is necessary to preserve one's personal integrity despite physical and emotional exhaustion. The only reliable way to maintain self-worth at such an intense time is to establish and nourish a direct connection to the divine.

What we don't want to do is add to your burden. You are suffering much criticism from the elders, who are themselves alienated from their own spiritual tradition and who are quaking in the fear of death. We do not wish to add even one molecule of extra criticism to that already huge burden! If the religious studies are simply too hard intellectually at this point, because you lack the training, and there is a chance that you might walk away from your 'break week' feeling more incompetent and useless than ever, then of course don't go.

If the religious studies you propose will deepen your awareness of the presence of the divine in your own being, to where this presence is in you and with you and positively belongs to you, then nothing could be more supportive and more healing than an intensive and thorough reading of inspired religious texts.

If the study environment is set by exclusive, authoritarian, show-off scholarship, or if it exalts the superstition that the wisdom somehow belongs to the authorities and resides in the authorities -- then the result would be further exhaustion.

Conclusion:

• If you feel entitled to join the scholarly readings, and it would deepen your awareness of the presence of the Divine, by all means go for it!

• If it's more like superstition (where power is outside the self) you'll be better served to stay home and appreciate the changing seasons of nature.