How Jyotisha Readings Work Birth Date Place Time Costs Turnaround Time Payment Questions - Barbara Pijan Lama Jyotisha Vedic Astrology

May all Beings be Happy. ** May all Beings be Free.

Service

Description

From every reading, a donation is given to: Tibetan Nuns Project (in Dharamshala, India)

Birth details required to construct your Jyotisha charts:

All charts require your:

name and Gender - whichever version of your name - maiden, married, self-chosen, religious name, etc. - is your favorite. This name is written on your chart.
birth date - western calendar birth-dates are easiest, but we can often convert from traditional calendar dates such as Nepali and Tibetan systems.
birth place -- city, state, country . Even remote locations such as Himalayan villages can be found properly if we work with alternate spellings.
birth time - ideally from birth certificate (Mothers are less reliable sources of birth time info -- since they tend to remember the onset of labor rather than birth. If you're a mom, you know why!)
To verify that your chart is correct, please provide a few important dates such as your marriage (s), birth of children, etc.
How to send the Payment?

Don't have your birth time?

Learn how to get your USA birth certificate: www.vitalrec.com/birth.html
http://birthtime.info is a service offered by Jyotishi Dr. Heinz Krug that "will calculate your time of birth to the second. Based on the dates of major life events. The results can be used in any horoscope or astrology chart."

120-minute long-distance reading

via MP3 download (or if you prefer, via postal mail on CD)
marriage compatibility
professional planning
life reading

Includes

beautiful hand calligraphed color radix (natal) chart
printed vimshottari dasha and varga charts.

Barbara's audio readings can be found in homes and offices across the US, Europe and Asia. Very popular birthday gift.

Please provide a name with gender, birth date, place, and time along with some verifying dates (marriage, childbirth, etc.) plus your 10 most important questions.

How to send the Payment?

Gem Recommendation

12-18 pages, depending on the nativity
Via email

Sample Gem Recommendation Report
delivered via email only
PDF format
includes separately attached PDF of the Jyotisha nativity and Vimshottari Dasha timeline

Gift Certificate!

Two-hour reading on 2 audio CD's
hand-calligraphed Vedic radix and navamsha chart
delightful birthday and celebration gift!

How to send the Payment?

As divination systems go, Jyotisha is relatively complex, and it is not realistic to expect an accurate answer from a quick scan of the nativity. It really does take several hours of reading time to understand a individual Jyotisha nativity.

Yet, it's a common experience for all of us that the anxiety and frustration surrounding what seems like "one simple question" can gain great mental power. The power of "one simple question" increases to the point where it can dominate one's entire field of consciousness.

It's easy for us narcissistic humans to fall into the rationalization-anxiety trap, wherein it seem like there is just one simple obstacle standing between oneself and Complete Success .

So how to address the self-referential anxiety of a Burning Question?

SELF-EMPOWER:

(1) Take positive steps. Build your own future on the basis of unshakable faith

As Edgar Cayce often said, "Mind is the builder". To reduce victim-mind anxiety working through the steps described in these and similar books:

"The Magic of Believing" (1948, Claude Bristol)
"The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" (1966, Joseph Murphy).

(2) To Alleviate immediate anxiety, try doing some Quick divinations.

(3) Talk sense to the Ego

Ultimately, every single thing that happens in one's life is completely within control of the partnership between oneself and the Divine Intelligence. Don't let the other-blaming ego-mind mislead you. Every single moment of every single day is the product of this core creative relationship. Let it be based on personal accountability , positive expectations , and Trust.

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha

Q:

Dear Barbara,

I'd like to order a gem recommendation. Can I get you to answer a few questions when you are doing the gem report?

Namaste:

Thanks for your note. Gem recommendations are intended to answer only one type of question:

which ratna are suitable for the nativity, and when (according to the Vimshottari dasha) should suitable ratna be applied?

Because gem readings are narrow in scope, they are also low in price.

The full reading packages, which involve 2+ hours of analysis and presentation, are designed to interpret the nativity and make some predictions using the vimshottari dasha timeline and transit tables. The scope of a full reading creates enough context to allow me to answer 5-10 of the native's present time questions. Naturally, there is neither time nor sufficient context for questions in a gem reading.

Best wishes,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotish

Q: : Hello Ms. Pijan Lama:

Thank you for your site, it's wonderfully informative.

Do you do readings for people who are somewhat experienced with Vedic astrology? I have had many astrological readings and am compiling a library on the subject. I understand most of what is on your site except for some of the abbreviations (eg D-1). Also I am familiar with the western names of signs. I understand a lot but if you speak in technical terms, it will help me to have a guide for the key terms.

What is your turnaround time after an order for a chart is placed?

A : Namaste,

Thanks very much for your compliments on the Jyotisha materials at www.barbarapijan.com I'm always happy to know that students of Jyotisha are finding the articles and case studies to be useful.

D-1 is the first varga, I.e., the kundali or natal chart. The other main Parashari varga charts are D-2 through D-60, with D-9 navamsha being most heavily used.

It's great that you're assembling a library of Jyotisha books. Clients and website readers often ask me for book recommendations, and except for the absolute classics I rarely know what to tell them. (I prefer the case-study method to book-reading myself.) If you have time to tell me, I'd love to know: Of the Jyotisha books you've collected, what are your top five? Top ten?

I am an American from Chicago originally (now in Portland, Oregon) so most of what I say in the readings would be intelligible to American English speakers. If I use Jyotisha terminology, I explain what it means and if there is an English translation for the Sanskrit, I try to explain in English. Certain Sanskrit words just don't have direct English translations, but mainly the reasoning of Jyotisha is pretty straightforward to explain.

As you probably know quite well (if you're assembling a library!) Jyotisha is very different from western style astrology. The houses mean different things, the planets cast different aspects, and the Vimshottari dasha is not related to western progressions at all. Sometimes a knowledge of tropical astrology can be more of an obstacle than a help! But in general if a person can tell me their level of familiarity with the Jyotisha vocabulary, I pitch the explanations to the person's background. (My day job is teaching college, so I'm used to explaining things.)

My turnaround time is about 6 weeks right now, maybe longer. Currently there are over 20 readings 'in the queue'. Sometimes I can do a 'rush order' if there is a real need, but normally I do about 2-3 readings or less each week (mainly because I'm teaching other classes) and thus the wait can be pretty long. Most people are happy with their readings when they do get the CD's, but right now my readings are only available to folks who can be patient!

Best wishes for success in your Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama

Counseling Dialogue vis-à-vis Jyotisha Analysis?

Q:

Hi Barbara--Well, I've kind of become hooked on your website--in good ways (and bad) I think. The good I think is just looking to learn and expand my self-knowledge. The bad, I suppose, is looking for "Answers" and shortcuts to having to go through the hard experiences. (What with going through Saturn mahadasha with Saturn in the 7th in Capricorn right now.....I don't think that's going to happen.)

I've thought of asking you for a reading but I balk at the set-up. I am reluctant to leave myself open to having a detailed report of who I am (two hours does, indeed, feel a little intimidating), where I have been and where I am likely to head based purely on my chart. I have a very difficult chart (and life) which--through the grace of excellent teachers, my own extremely hard work and dim-witted stubbornness--I have managed to make work, more or less.

I balk at the idea that you might make an accurate assessment of my strengths and weaknesses based upon my chart without at least getting my perspective and experience as part of the mix--which would could come through dialogue. (You offer the five-ten questions--but I don't consider that a dialogue!)

However, based upon your writings, you seem like quite a thoughtful, learned and also compassionate person. And so, I imagine that you have thought this set-up through. Thus, my question is if you could take the time to comment on my above mentioned concern. I look forward to your response!

A : Namaste,

Thanks so much for your note. It sounds like you might enjoy having a face-to-face reading with a Jyotishi in your local area. The readings that I offer are definitely at remote, and purposefully so.

You raise some important points about styles of Jyotisha practice. Thanks for asking a good question! Here is my current viewpoint:

Practice model = counseling dialogue

Some Jyotishi are very gifted face-to-face counselors who are skilled at handling the anxious and self-justifying interruptions of the client, and who encourage dialogue as a means of gaining knowledge.
The therapeutic counseling model is quite common in western-style, tropical astrological practice. In the West, astrological advising seems to have followed the modern "talk therapy" model, that is itself grounded in the older traditions of rabbinical and pastoral counseling. Some western Jyotishi choose to follow this model also. (For example, see the credentials of astrologer Dennis Harness.)
Perhaps there is such a counselor-Jyotishi in your area.

Practice model = clairsentient reading

Other practitioners of Jyotisha (like myself) need a more protected psychic field of perception in order to deliver an accurate reading.
It is a liability of my own clairsentient sensitivity that I cannot deliver an accurate Jyotisha reading if the flow of interpretation is interrupted by outside noise.
I have to deliver readings in a very quiet psychic space.

Practice model = objective analysis

Given the required quiet environment, my interpretive style is highly analytical. My delivery is targeted to sincere students of the vidya, who are in process of gaining their own proficiency in Jyotisha. I presume, when performing a reading, that the client wishes to acquire knowledge the rules of Jyotisha as a step toward one's own self-awareness.
Students of the vidya are typically more interested in testing the scriptural mandates of classical Jyotisha against their own life experience and the direct experience of those known to them (such as a husband or wife); as well as the predictions which may emerge after the rules have been successfully tested against past experience. They are less interested in 'dialogue' - probably due to the assumption that the rules are rather fixed, and there is no need to "negotiate" for self-acceptance. Things are what they are; the benefit of Jyotisha is clarity of perception toward "what is" which reduces reactivity and opens compassion toward others.
The readings that I offer are primarily a service to students who wish to receive a detailed analysis of the application of Jyotisha principles. Of course it is fascinating to read the application of these principles to one's own nativity, and a correct analysis can serve as a lifetime guide. The analysis is compassionately worded but the goal is spiritual confirmation with material accuracy, not "therapy" in the modern sense.

Time and cost

Inevitably, the working Jyotishi must consider cost of service. Unfortunately, having Ketu in domain-8, I am unlikely to win the lottery, and having Ketu "the sieve" involved with Shukra in nearly every varga, I am indeed unlikely to retain any sort of wealth! Plus, I tithe to the nuns. Therefore, I will probably always need to charge a market value for readings.
The analysis model at current pricing permits a two-hour reading which covers most of the basics of the nativity plus time for 5-10 questions. If I were to offer an *initial* dialogued counseling package in addition to the analysis, the cost of a reading would double or triple, due to the time involved.
However, please note that after the initial reading with me, clients are most welcome to pay for "additional questions" as follow-on discussion to the reading - and many clients do indeed choose this option.

Your present needs

Since you are seeking a "dialogue" it might be beneficial to find a reputable counseling astrologer in your area. It might also suit your purpose to visit a psychologist, or a trained pastoral counselor, or just talk with a trusted friend!

Wishing you good luck and happiness,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha www.barbarapijan.com

Q:Dear Sister Barbara, As seen, you are a dedicated astrologer who is sharing your expert knowledge on Jyotisha Astrological matters.

I'm actually searching for Astrologers who are genuine in sharing their knowledge upon consultations. My point is, I have consulted various astrologers through the Net, unfortunately most of them do not guide me as what they are supposed to. They'll only tell me that I'm so-so star sign, so-so planets are in the said houses and then they'll ask me what is that I want to know(based on 1 question upon consultation). This is after I have banked-in the payment into their bank accounts.

Here's an example, last year an astrologer told me that I'll be entering Shani Maha Dasha period and told me that everything's ok in my astrological chart except I need some Vaastu arangements. Then recently when I ask for Matching compability with my wife, the astrologer told in his report that I am the said star sign and currently I'm going under Shani Maha Dasha. So I'm not saying both are incompetent astrologers, they are actually quite famous and what they've predicted about my star sign and period are actually the same.

However, none are actually telling me that what will be the effects of such periods, what are the other periods I'm going through, the said planets in the said houses will give such effects, etc. Jyotisha is supposed to guide an individual, things which they dont know are told to them so that they may avoid certain habits or things and use their potentials in certain things. However, the astrologers are only interested to ask you; "ok, what's that you want to know?" and that's about it.

The reason I'm telling you this is that of course I would love to know every spheres in life(health, wealth, family, marriage, spiritual, etc). Hence, I'm humbly asking you that is your consultations will also be the same procedures like other astrologers?

Seriously speaking, I thirst for astrological guidiance from a genuine astrologer. I'm going through a bad phase of time now that I need astrological guidiances badly! At times my mind tells me that it could be the works of those envious of me(using evil spells) and times I think it could be due to Astrological reasons.

Adult expectations for a Jyotisha consultation

A : Namaste,

Thanks very much for your compliments.

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experiences in Jyotisha consultation.

It sounds like one of the difficulties may arise from the expectation that Jyotishi are mystical mind-readers who can clairseniently apprehend what you are really asking for, without the client needing to mention it. Of course this is a rather childlike expectation. Still, you are not alone in the superstitious belief that anyone outside oneself can know more about you than you! People do the same thing with physicians, dentists, psychologist, even the tax attorney ... the client can walk into the consulting office without having prepared any questions, hoping that their professional adviser will somehow secretly "know" what is on their mind : )

Just like the licensed professions, Jyotisha practice requires is a set of complex calculations and rules which will yield answers to specific questions . You as the adult consumer should be prepared to ask the Jyotishi to answer those specific questions which are important for you, and to receive answers which are closely related to your specific questions.

Then, if you wish to pay a Jyotishi to give you a professional answer to a query, you can be confident in your adult expectation of what sort of information you will get for your money.

At the level of professional consulting, the advice one seeks from a Jyotishi is not much different from the advice one might seek from an attorney, a physician, or a financial counselor. All of these professionals are trained interpret the rules of their profession and to answer questions consistent with those rules.

My recommendation is for students to learn to interpret One's own Jyotisha nativity so that one does not have to depend on the viewpoint of an outside astrologer.

The reason that I have published a number of articles and sample charts is so that students can use these examples as educational resources. I hope that you can teach yourself to interpret your own nativity so that you don't lose money paying for predictions that are not useful for you!

It is important to be educated in Jyotisha concepts before one consults an outside astrologer. It is similar to visiting the medical doctor - one should have some knowledge of the physical body before discussing it with a medical adviser! Try reading the classic Jyotisha scriptures and utilizing the various Jyotisha websites that are available on the internet in order to empower yourself.

And most of all, please avoid superstitions which claim that the power of the planets resides outside oneself. The power of the planets exists only within oneself, and it is completely within one's own ability to direct this destiny.

... it is important to mention that I do not make use of concepts such as curses, magical potions, amulets, or other superstitious customs. I do often recommend flawless gemstones since I find gems to be effective when properly applied. However, the main remedy which I typically recommend for planetary ills is seva, selfless service to those less fortunate.

Wishing you best success in your Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama

Accurate birth time needed? Yes!

Q: Hello, I have perused your website, and would like to explore the possibility of having a reading done.

My only question/concern is that the time of my exact birth is uncertain as the papers were lost. In other words, I have a window, but would like to know if it is possible to have a full jyotish reading done (and if it is worth it) with this information in context.

Previously, my parents said it was 5:30 a.m., but are not exactly sure. Probably you could rewind an hour ahead or back. Is it worthwhile to have a reading done with this (slightly ambiguous information)?

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. Best Wishes,

A : Namaste,

Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, as you point out, the Jyotisha reading really isn't going to be very accurate given the uncertainty regarding your birthtime.

The Vimshottari dasha timing has a start-point that is derived from the exact degree of the Moon at the time of birth; definitely this degree is in question if you are talking about a possible 2-hour range of birth time!

If you can find an astrologer to do a rectification for you (I am not currently doing them as rectifications take many hours of evaluation work for both the client and the Jyotishi) and if that Jyotishi can give you a confident result, then I'd be happy to undertake a reading for you.
There are many village astrologers in India who give entire readings based only on the general position of the Moon on the native's birth day - time is often missing or only vaguely remembered.
However those astrologers tend to know the clients entire extended family as well as the typical lifestyle of the client's caste, marriage possibilities etc. Therefore the range of predictive possibilities in those traditional settings is actually very manageable and the reading may be quite accurate in context.

For us in the modern world, an individual may rise to great heights or sink to unfathomable lows from one's original social position at birth; multiple marriages are no longer exceptional; and there will also likely be several crafts or professions practiced along with way. It is true that measuring the angles of graha from Chandra lagna and evaluation of the traditional karakas will take you a long way in understanding the person's psychology, an accurate time of birth to the minute is really necessary for worldly predictions.

Wishing you best success in your Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha

Q: Dear Barbara, Could I have the reading and then ask my five to ten questions, after the reading?

A : Namaste,

The requested 5-10 questions are intended to structure the Jyotisha reading, so that the client receives answers to their most important questions. The client's questions do not limit the reading, but rather shape and direct it.

During the reading, I continue to mention predictions that arise through a step-wise inspection of the radix and navamsha (along with other vargas as needed), a review of the Vimshottari Dasha, and an evaluation of the impact of current transits (related to the current planetary bhukti lord).

Most people appreciate a reading that is targeted to their near-term concerns. Near-term concerns can certainly be spiritual and mental as well as emotional and material. And near-term can mean "from now until death". (Esp. for those of us getting older!)

I find that detailed questions are very helpful in making sure that the reading is useful to the client. Some clients may have anxiety about the potential revelations of a reading. A superstitious thinker may expect some shocking and unexpected information will emerge. Of course that never happens -- Jyotisha like all divinatory methods simply confirms the native's own intuition and brings a small amount of subconsciously held knowledge into the conscious light.

A Jyotisha reading should be a cooperative consulting exchange between two adults. The adult client says to me, the Jyotishi: "here are my concerns, you are professionally trained, what answers can you provide to me, from the knowledge you have gained in your training?"

Jyotisha practice requires engaged intuition (as do surgery, midwifery, parenting, marital diplomacy, etc) but Jyotisha is not a "magical" process that provides sudden and miraculous new information.

Jyotisha really is a database system and it has to be queried intelligently. Guiding questions from the client are a great asset to a successful reading. Naturally, the Jyotishi can follow a standard set of questions according to the progress of the twelve houses (how is the health? how is the career? how is the meditation practice? etc.) and that is the default review for any reading.

I can certainly walk through the default review process, and that may prove quite useful as a general update on your life circumstances. If after the general update is finished, you would prefer to ask the 5-10 questions, each "follow-up" question would be available as an "additional question" via email.

From my practice point of view, I do permit clients to request a reading first with no guiding questions and ask the additional questions at one's leisure, if the client is comfortable with paying separately for each additional question.

I do have some clients that ask a new question each month or so; they simply go to the PayPal page on my website and press the "additional question" button.
Typically these clients are evaluating a series of prospective spouses (India) or a batch of eligible employees (USA) or examining different education-to-career paths (worldwide). For them, multiple additional questions is suitable and they find the additional payments to be reasonably priced.

Again, you're more than welcome to save your questions for after the reading -- but do be aware that it is considerably more expensive that way! (... because it takes me much more time).

Hope you are doing well and enjoying a lovely summer,

Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotisha

Q: Madam, Namaste, I came to know about your site recently and found it very useful.

I would like to request you for 'Two-hour Jyotisha reading ' for me .

I would like to know whether it is possible to send all the readings as attachment to the mail instead of postal delivery . I mean , instead of saving on CD , is it ok for you to zip the mp3 and pdf files (Jyotisha Radix and Navamsha charts ) and send as an attachment . Could you please kindly confirm.

Hoping to hear from you soon ... Many Thanks

A : Namaste,

For providing the Jyotisha readings to folks who prefer direct download, I use this All-electronic delivery method =

MP3 can be posted to a special page on www.barbarapijan.com
Jyotisha nativity (charts, Vimshottari dasha timeline, transit report or yoga report) = PDF then attached to email or I can send the paper documents via post.

Right now my turnaround time on Jyotisha readings is approximately 8 weeks. I apologize for the delay - caused by my university teaching schedule. The turnaround delay will be shorter after exam periods. Currently there are about 15 readings in my queue.

Wishing you best success in Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, Barbara Pijan Lama

Q:

Dear Barabara Pijan,

I saw on your website that you do not have a phone—I think that is brilliant. I also do not have a phone here, but of course, being in the Himalayas—it is much easier to be without one. I think it is beautiful that you are able to carry out your depth of Jyotish and path in the US. ...

... I live in the Himalayas (in an ashram), high up in the mountains outside of Uttarkashi .... Recently, we have been able to access the internet (!) and recently I came across your beautiful website. You have done a remarkable job.

We live a very inward life here, and occasionally I have deep and profound experiences of consciousness which relate to the field of jyotish. The whole cosmic display of everything in life is so beautifully expressed in the simple yet unbelievably profound graha, nakshatra, rashi and bhavas.

I am interested in getting a reading from you, but as a monk in the Himalaya I am not getting a salary—all of our needs are taken care of by donations. Do you offer a discount for those like us? ..., I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for offering so much knowledge and insights on the net that you have so beautifully compiled and integrated for us all.

All bliss from up here in the mountains,

K.P.

A : Namaste K.P.