Jyotisha Practice

SANSKRIT་WORDS = [Eng] "ASTROLOGER"

मौहूर्त mauhūrta

सांवत्सर sāṃvatsara

विप्रश्निक vipraśnika

दैवज्ञ daivajña

ज्योतिष jyotiṣa

ज्यौतिषिक jyautiṣika

नक्षत्रदर्श nakṣatradarśa

दैवविद् daivavid

वैनाशिक vaināśika

नक्षत्रपाठक nakṣatrapāṭhaka

शास्त्रदृष्टि śāstradṛṣṭi

नक्षत्रसूचक nakṣatrasūcaka

नक्षत्रोपजीविन् nakṣatropajīvin

शास्त्रतत्त्वज्ञ śāstratattvajña

ज्ञानिन् jñānin

नाडीतर्ङ्ग nāḍītarṅga

शिवादेशक śivādeśaka

नाक्षत्र nākṣatra

सांवत्सरक sāṃvatsaraka

निमित्तविद् nimittavid

सांवत्सरिक sāṃvatsarika

कार्तान्तिक kārtāntika

ज्योतिषिक jyotiṣika

कालज्ञ kālajña

कालतन्त्रकवि kālatantrakavi

भसूचक bhasūcaka

प्रश्नवादिन् praśnavādin

क्षणद kṣaṇada

भोजक bhojaka

मौहूर्तिक mauhūrtika

गणक gaṇaka

ग्रहचरितविद् grahacaritavid

मुहूर्तकोविद muhūrtakovida

दिव्यदृश् divyadṛś

वराजीविन् varājīvin

हिण्डिक hiṇḍika

दैवचिन्तक daivacintaka

वर्षकोश varṣakośa

दैवलेखक daivalekhaka

ज्योतिष

jyotiṣa

ज्योतिषशास्त्र

jyotiṣaśāstra

नक्षत्रपाठक

nakṣatrapāṭhaka

नक्षत्रसूचक

nakṣatrasūcaka

The

Astrological

Profession

mathemathici

Some formal, practical, methodological, sociological, and ethical opinions

Best Practices

• Confidentiality

• \Superstition and Divination

• Beginner Jyotisha Book suggestions

• Next-step suggestions

• How can I learn Jyotisha independently?

• Where/who are the best available teachers?

• Do you practice Tibetan Astrology?

• How can I learn Tibetan Astrology independently?

• Social opinion of Astrologers

• Will Astrology ever Professionalize ?

• Specificity of Calendar-Date predictions

• Prescribing remedies: psychotherapy vs. spiritual practice

• Which books in English can get me started studying Jyotisha on my own?

• Reincarnation of spiritual teachers, morally or otherwise fallen teachers

• Is a 21st century astrologer a type of therapist?

• Do all astrologers give readings ?

• When you change a Jyotisha research parameter are all previous readings invalid?

And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

The eminent Jyotiṣika B.S. Rao ruefully observes, the disdain in which most astrologers -- even in India - are held

QUOTATION from B.S. Rao, Strijataka (Female Horoscopy) .

10th ed. (revisions by B.V. Raman, 1995.) p. 37

" Any brain, However, in telligent it may be, reels at the stupendous labor which lies before it in astrological calculations.

It is surprising how educated people, themselves discontented with their heavy incomes, can make up their minds to overlook the dignity of the Herculean labor and offer to the really learned astrologer small sums often even less than the humble wages of a street coolie.

Such however is the logic of the learned, and they have the audacity to find fault with the astrologer for false predictions. This is something like jeering at an engineer for not building a tank bund properly when he is paid ten rupees for a work, which really costs a thousand.

What would be his reply, the readers can answer." [end quote]

Shri Rao, who was born in 1866, had to do his own mathematical calculations, either by quill pen, or stone abacus, or by elaborate memorization techniques that were still taught in Vedic-culture villages in his day.

Today - in most parts of the School of Earth - working Jyotishika have the miracle of computers. Modern astrologers are no longer required to produce the Herculean effort of manual calculation, which Shri Rao so admired.

Yet, the ultimate task seems no easier.

The tedious computational effort has receded, only to reveal a more demanding challenge to interpret the historic principles of Jyotishavidya

A serious student of Jyotishavidya, even one using the divinations of the vidya for strictly personal guidance, may be advised that the first pitfall to avoid is rigidity and absolutism. Jyotishavidya is a science of pattern recognition, and the patterns show tendencies and ranges -- not fixed absolute material results.

Social propaganda promotes the view that the material world is absolutely fixed and real. But in fact the material world is the most malleable and fluid and over-determined.

The spiritual creates the mental creates the emotional creates the material. Any change at any one of the pre-materializing levels can utterly change the material outcome. In that sense, the D-9 is more powerful and more predictive than the D-1.

The vidya is designed for inner guidance and inner empowerment. It does not function well in providing guidance to those seeking material advantage over others, conquest and domination, or aggressive displays of outer empowerment. For example it has been repeatedly proven that Jyotisha cannot accurately predict the direction of greed-driven stock market cycles, and the vidya has a remarkable 50% accuracy in predicting power-crazed political elections (in order words, same as a coin-toss).

That type of predictive failure happens because the astral forces pushing the markets and the ego-contests are wildly stronger than the logical social-scientific mechanisms of human behavior. Unfortunately, Jyotisha can describe astral effects only through a material filter.

That filter allows some human phenomena to appear much more clearly than others.

Dominant patterns of motivation and resistance?

• Yes, often the filter reveals a D-9 to D-1 psychological pattern of expectations and resistances which control and limit the individual human potentials of the material plane.

Precise high-stakes material targets involving large numbers of people within a narrow time-frame?

• Rarely can Jyotisha determine the material outcome of the wild firestorms of astral desire. That would be similar to predicting exactly where a single splinter of wood might land during a tornado. Not impossible, but.

The eminent Tamil Nadu astrologer B.V. Raman taught for 50 years. Shri Raman often warned his students not to over-predict. He said "astrology is a science of tendencies".

Like most experiences of adult life, Jyotisha requires a significant tolerance for ambiguity.

Spiritual education

Spiritual education takes a different view of life's problems. Problems are mental constructs which are incidental to personhood.

The ego-membrane is incidental to personhood.

Akashic memory patterning is a complex and intellectually engaging process of moral accounting, but suffering is really not the purpose of incarnation. Con-sci-ous-ness is.

So, spiritual disciplines tend to focus much less on the excruciating details of ego-membrane development, and a lot more on being in a clear space.

Unfortunately, the average person defines the self-entity only in the terminology of problematicity .

Looking for the communicative-language match, aJyotishavidya reading will use a language of problems, akashic memory patterning, how the illusions are operating...

Yet, ideally, the reading creates opportunities for suggesting ways to escape from the entrapment of negative self-definition, of problems , and what I don't have or what's going wrong.

This possibility of a fundamental change in self-definition provides a chance to comprehend a way out of negative imagery, victimization [being eaten] , servitude, the focus on scarcity and other fear-driven identity (with which we are all raised by our loving parents!) - is for me, the whole point of the Jyotisha reading service.

To study Jyotishashastra in greater depth, where and who are the best available teachers?

Personally I have been taught by spirit guides in meditation, and by absorbing Himalayan culture during my time in Nepal.

The present author is more attuned to the message than to the messenger. Cult of personality environments often arise when a number of weak personalities surround a strong-personality individual. It is preferable to avoid cult instruction.

To determine one's own naturally attuned, personally suitable educational environment,

• examine bandhu bhava
• there in bhava-4 and [4th-from-Chandra], find the attributes of schooling
• one's own learning-environment choices are typically well-matched to the defensive, culturally-rooted, seasonal-calendar, routinized, patriotic, ethno-nationalistic, comfort-seeking, home-loving, foundational, property-owning --- conditions of sukhasthana.

Characteristics of teachers and schools

Whatever influences are seen in 4th-angles can predict one's natural learning tastes. Teachers may be feminine-identified (Shukra or Chandra) or masculine-identified (Surya or Mangala). Teacher-figure may be a masculine appreciator of feminine nativities (combination of the masculine graha with feminine graha);

Teacher-figure may be generously charitable [Guru] or strictly regulating [Shani] or a detached mystic [Ketu] or an adventurous foreigner [Rahu].

For more prosaic schooling, examine the bandhesha, and the ruler of [4th-from-Chandra] and the 4th navamsha.

In matters of spiritual education, seek awareness of 4th from 12th from the ishtadevata = 3rd from atmakaraka in D-9 .

The Old, dark World

Ultimately, keep in mind that many or most classic commentaries were written during Kali Yuga.

The principles of Jyotishavidya define the yuga cycles. Naturally, the principles cannot be boxed into any specific temporary yuga.

As fervently as some may wish to embed the wisdom of the samayavidya into a specific Kali Yuga religion, principles of the samayavidya existed before any religion and will persist long after the dark-era religions have faded into obscurity.

As the School of Earth travels again into ascending Dvapara Yuga, modern Jyotishika are participating in a process of recovering the knowledge that has been lost or obscured [occulted] for 1200 years.

The Kali-Yuga cults of terrorizing fear, agonizing pain, and stupifying ignorance, are finished [at least for the next 24,000 years!]

A vastly brighter future is unfolding.

Yet, some Jyotishi still cling to the old darkness.

When the student is attuned to the matching awareness channel, then the teacher's voice can be heard.

It works exactly like tuning a radio dial.

Best route to locating any type of teacher -- even the mundane types but especially the esoteric types -- is through private meditation.

Ask the guides to show the connection to the teacher as soon as you are ready.

Believe it or not, everyone is already connected to their designated teachers for this current lifespan. However, one may need to enhance one's awareness of the existing connection.

Avoid trying to demand. Avoid a compulsion to control the process. Avoid specifying the method or time at which the teacher may appear.

Simply ask to enrich one's awareness of the presence of the teacher. Where is that awareness? It is an interior state of attentive presence.

The teacher's awareness matches one's own awareness. Naturally, the teacher's awareness is more vibrant, more colorful, more tonal, more confident, more dramatic than one's own. The teacher is essentially a future version of your learning self. However, the teacher really is you. The teacher is not, and cannot be, separated from you. Both student and teacher are ALWAYS connected through the eternal gridwork.

Rather than yearning for a teacher, work to know oneself.

The more familiar one can become with one's own inner terrain and with the experience of receiving interior guidance in meditation, the easier it is to know when the radio dial is tuned-in to the right spot!

Then, knowing that you have made the prayer , be aware of opportunities that arise in your environment.

One place to start looking for compatible personalities and learning styles might be the biannual conventions hosted by the ACVA https://www.vedicastrology.orgor the BAVA in Britain https://www.bava.org/

Another type of teacher sends instruction in code, from one of the astral planes. If you are dialed into a non-material school, you will know.

Also if both Guru and dhanasthāna [2, languages] are strong, the study of Sanskrit grammar will repay your efforts.

If you can learn a bit of Sanskrit, you can translate some of the foundational texts for yourself. However, studying Sanskrit can be a overwhelming task for the working American, so top-quality Jyotisha software that supplies on-point Jyotisha reference material (English translations) is an excellent substitute for spending the rest of your life in the library.

Do all astrologers give readings ?

No.

Some astrologers - even master teachers - are strictly researchers. They pursue a spiritual and technical study of astrology, sometimes with a guru or sometimes through conferences, but they don' t necessarily share their learning with clients.

Pure researchers reflect on Jyotisha and the practice devolving from the Vidya, as a contemplative art.

Jyotisha can be read as an esoteric language of cosmic evolution. Just reading at that level is a huge contemplative practice. Sometimes they teach, too, but only advanced students, or only within their religious lineage.

Jyotisha is my primary spiritual practice; but it is also my means of earning a living. I'm in the middle.

Jyotishashastra - tool of consciousness or terror of superstition ?

The ultimate goal is liberation from the cycle of lives and deaths . There are many way to

• gain knowledge of the subconscious inventory And skills for managing it

• hat will generate the awareness

• hat leads to successful achievement of complete peace, or Enlightenment

Exempli gratia,

• Awareness meditation,

• antric practice,

• non-petitionary prayer,

• selfless service/seva,

• bhakti/karma/jyapa yoga,

• many forms of divination,

• etc.

Many, many ways!

One way is Jyotishavidya.

Jyotishavidya can definitely predict events and delight and amaze the public. Luckily Jyotishavidya readings are usually too complex and require too much concentration to allow them to become a mere party trick (which is unfortunately what has happened to most of tropical/western astrology).

Jyotishavidya is a spiritual practice, and it must be honored as a vehicle for consciousness if the practitioner and their client are to retain their spiritual dignity.

There is 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 Jyotishavidya 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 Jyotiṣika 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

• the reading is inquiring 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.

Most Jyotiṣika are from India. How do they work there?

In the land of Bharat, traditional astrologers have primarily either academic or merchant orientation. Most are merchant type who have a public room for brief divinations (prasna) on timing of business deals and marriage ceremonies.

It is traditional to consult at least one astrologer before making a significant financial, political, or alliance-making decision. In the same way, atypical westerner-cultural person would not make any big business moves without consulting at least one attorney.

Q:

I heard that you changed an item in your calculations , and that now all the readings you gave to me and my family are invalid. How can I get valid replacement readings for everyone in my family?

A:

Namaste Xerxes,

Don't worry - the previous readings are valid.

Small theoretical parameters are perpetually being adjusted. Theoretical perspective is evolving. Previous readings matched the energy pattern of the question to the energy pattern of the answer. Authentic matches at a moment in time (prasna) = balanced, paired, fair, equal, valid.

Jyotishavidya is different from conventional science. Readings in the tradition of the samayavidya require an explicit mix of intuition and theory. The intuitive component is divinatory and comes from meditation.

Authentic divination is highly accurate. The theoretical component comes from a 3000 year scriptural tradition, and it is mainly accurate.

There are places in the scriptural tradition where meaning is ambiguous - and these are the places where modern Jyotiṣika tinker with adjustments to parameters.

Vimshottari dasha timelines can vary according to the constituents of the formula.

All readings match the psychic patterns of the recipient at the time they are given. Divinations are always valid for the precise time of enunciation.

People hear what they are ready to hear.

Many people enjoy having a new reading at important life intervals. Refreshing times include onset of a new mahadasha or preceding major life choices.

Sincerely, bPL

Beginner Jyotisha book suggestions

• Fundamentals of Vedic Astrology (Vedic Astrologer's Handbook, Vol 1 ) by Bepin Behari (1993)

clearly written descriptions of basic Jyotisha material, rashi/bhava etc.

• Planets in Signs and Houses by Bepin Behari. (Vedic Astrologer's Handbook - Vol 2) (1992)

straightforward descriptions great for the beginner and intermediate analyst. See how Behari explains Kuja; the reader can appreciate his clarity.

• Myths and Symbols of Vedic Astrology by Bepin Behari -

  more mystical and mythical writing. Behari has a strong theosophical bent which emerges in his Jyotisha explanations. I personally enjoy Behari's views (and share many of them) However, literalists and Bharati patriots like David Frawley find the theosophy offensive. Behari is one of the original articulators of Jyotisha to the west; he did a great job in his generation.

• Light on Relationships : the Synastry of Indian Astrology by Hart Defouw, robert E. Svoboda ( 2000)

Clearly written, humorous, introductory text with with minimal religious vocabulary (nice for beginners) and chock-full of case studies. The authors approach the study of several famous marriages from a variety of Jyotisha viewpoints, emphasizing the mutual angles of the partner's respective charts.

• Light on Life by Hart Defouw, robert Svoboda (1996)

Rich introductory text written in clear modern English. Svoboda's expertise in Ayurvedic medicine adds a supporting emphasis on core cultural categories that pervade all Vedic sciences. Not an easy read, but recommended.

• The Astrology of the Seers by David Frawley (1991)

One of the first truly readable Jyotisha manuals to emerge in English. Might have a bit too much religious imagery for the Western beginner. Frawley is a leading authority in Vedic scholarship.

• The Nakshatra : Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology by Dennis Harness (1999)

A very light read, easily digestible and intentionally superficial. The Nakshatra names and concepts don't translate easily into English. IMO this is a great starting book for western-trained astrologers approaching Nakshatra astrology for the first time. (Just realize that Nakshatra astrology does require much deeper study later in your development!)

Which learning path works best for you?

It is human nature for conservative thinkers to distrust innovation and vice versa. Traditionalists continue to insist that Jyotisha cannot be legitimately practiced outside an authorized guru lineage. Innovative Jyotiṣika insist on their right to learn independently, through peer discussions, private study, and computers.

Choose the style which suits your personality, and enjoy!

Some next-step suggestions

d. David Frawley's Astrology of the Seers Distance Learning Program in Vedic Astrology has received consistently praising reviews since its inception.

Ernst Wilhelm also offers a Jyotish Academy International Correspondence Course

The internet offers abundant resources, including Pandit Narasimha Rao' s great gift of Free Jyotisha Software = Jagganatha Hora!

I trust you will not share my personal information with others without my consent. Please allow me to be clear that no one (including my parents) has my permission to access my Jyotish.

A: Namaste,

No reputable Jyotiṣika would share adult client information without obtaining explicit permission from the adult client. Young children's information normally may be shared with their parents.

(In practice, only the most cheerful information about a child is revealed until the child is old enough to manage the realities of their life-plan.)

Nevertheless, your concern is understandable given what can happen in the Indo-sphere, where corrupt Jyotiṣika could say anything for a price. Sigh. Euro-sphere Jyotiṣika confidentiality practices are not officially regulated, but in working practice are culturally similar to professional medical and legal confidentiality ethics.

Psychically, something interesting happens if an unauthorized divinatory inquiry does occur. Because the divinatory motive is not self-knowledge or guidance, but rather a manipulative and impure desire, the divinatory information gets psychically camouflaged, and the resulting information is almost invariably distorted and incorrect.

Usually the illicit spying is requested regarding a family member or employee. It has certainly happened for BP Lama Jyotishavidya, that husband is trying to spy on wife or reverse, or manipulating parents are trying to spy on their adult children, or an employer is trying to spy on their paid worker. Because the psychically attuned Jyotiṣika already knows that an unwanted, invasive divination will fail, asimple request for confirmation of permission from the target nativity is usually enough to abort this misbehavior.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life's endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

I am experiencing a crisis of faith in Hinduism and questioning the existence of GOD. I am emotionally troubled and I need answers. Please help me. Thank you.

A: Namaste ,

You are correct: Jyotishavidya is a guideline. It works about 99% of the time. The reason the samayavidya works = most people are sleepwalking through life, and most people do not use their conscious intelligence to make creative choices.

If people would learn to use their conscious mind, and listen to the advice * in meditation * from their subconscious mind (intuition) and act on that intuition using their conscious rational mind, then the principles of Jyotisha would not work very well because there would be too much individual creativity.

But luckily for us working Jyotiṣika, most people do what they are told to do, fear what they are told to fear, believe what they are told to believe, and look outside of themselves for tangible truth. Therefore, Jyotishavidya works very well. In fact, the more a person is trapped in superstitious materialism and fear, the more accurate may be the Jyotishavidya prediction for their nativity.

Again, if people would look inside for truth, they would see quickly that most of the things of which they are afraid are not real. Outside reality is only a mirror. However, so long as people look outside themselves for truth and power, rather than looking inside where the divine creative intelligence resides, all Jyotiṣika may have excellent job security!

You will marry the person(s) whom you chose to marry. That decision you made regarding whom to marry indeed occurred before you took terrestrial birth. Similar to all other encoded choices, the choice of a marriage partner is a default pre-programmed choice that most people follow instinctively during each incarnation.

Like all other encoded choices, the marriage partner choice can be changed during the present lifetime if the person is sufficiently conscious to control their own creative powers. This is quite rare However, because most people cannot concentrate their own mind sufficiently to make such a mid-course correction.

Is it possible? Yes. Do most people do it? No.

Most people follow along with the beliefs of the herd, and the herd is not Usually, very smart. You have to be highly individualized in order to realize that God lives within you, that you are composed of God and that your intelligence is not"directed by God" but rather your intelligence"is " God.

If you can realize that fact, that every atom of your body is God and every particle in the world around you is also God, then you can make any type of changes to the original pre-birth plan that you desire. However, the great majority of people follow along with their original pre-birth plan while they are waiting, waiting for changes to occur in the outside mirror.

Imagine if you are standing in front of a mirror and you are making a frowning face. Try to use your fingers to push up the mouth-corners of the face in the mirror. Go ahead, push on the mirror and try to make that mirror smile. What? The mirror does not change even when you are trying your very best to push it and force something to happen? What if you keep frowning but you pray - very hard - for the mirror to smile? Now, make the decision to smile. What? The mirror is smiling now?

That is how reality works. There is no one outside of you that has the power to control you. YOU control what happens in the mirror. But if you want to keep praying to the mirror or shouting at the mirror or creating some big crisis drama about how the mirror will not cooperate with your desires, please feel welcome to continue doing that. God is very patient.

I hope you will undertake the practice of meditation and allow yourself to hear the answers from your inner self. Meditation has nothing to do with sacred doctrine. The answers that you seek are waiting for you, waiting in your inner awareness. Look within.

Wishing you every happiness and success in your studies of the samayavidya,

Sincerely,

BP Lama Jyotisha

My question about this situation is:; Did I do him any harm in telling him this?; Should one relay information if they don't have enough knowledge to do so?

A: Namaste,

Whenever the English word // should // occurs in a sentence, // should // is signaling guilt. Your intuition can confirm.

The speaker may using guilt to lure you into an obligation that you might not want to acquire.

Effective boundaries are essential to a healthy healing practice. Whether the healing modality is providing skillful touch, silent validation, or interpretive frameworks for analyzing copious information, no human can fully solve the problems of another human.;

By design, everyone has their own unique configuration of problems, purposely, and everyone finds their own solutions, intentionally and intelligently. If one person could solve another person's specifically signed problems, the Earth Classroom would not function properly.

Therefore, it is essential for one who is attempting to made headway within their own problem-set to avoid confusing or conflating one's own pre-incarnationally planned situation with the situation of another person. In particular, guilt must be studiously avoided, since guilt not only interrupts one's own advance (by imposing a do-again loop) but also the gluey psychic substance of guilt tends to merge and meld one's own problems with the issues of the guilt-wielder.

In other words, he has his problem. You do not need to have his problem. If you do want to offer a consulting opinion upon his problem, there must be some mode of exchange of value. Typically, he would pay you to offer an opinion. If you do not want to offer an opinion that is a clear boundary.

Stop there. If you are willing to offer an opinion, he must pay you in some fashion for the opinion. If you are willing to accept the currency of gratitude that is your professional choice, but make sure that being paid in gratitude is acceptable to you (and BTW I don't recommend offering professional advice without receiving payment unless it is a very specifically defined seva.)

If he is not willing to pay you, there can be no exchange. Case closed. If he is willing to pay you, do not negotiate. Know your pricing and state your price. Anything less clear and precise opens the door to manipulation by guilt.

Also be super-aware that no one can solve another person's pre-incarnationally planned problem. The system is designed for each person to have a specific curriculum tailor-made for the individual. In the process of solving their chosen problems, one may consult with many, many authorities, from astrologers to attorneys to surgeons to parents to priests any beyond. However, after the long process of gathering information is completed, each individual will make their own decisions and create their own balanced closure in a state of wisdom and justice. Nothing less will do.

Naturally consultants can support and guide those who seek advice along the path-of-problems.

What mentors do

Mentors are persons of senior experience who can provide guidance, advice, and interpretive frameworks to younger practitioners of their discipline. As their name suggests, mentors assist the querent with the mechanics of the thinking process, including logic, method, and systematization; as well as details of getting socialized within the profession.

Clear topical boundaries are mission-critical in the mentoring process. Senior scientists mentor junior scientists about science or about scientific careers. Senior scientists do NOT mentor junior scientists about real estate, cooking, or dancing.;

Mentors communicate about the defined expertise. Senior Jyotiṣika mentor junior Jyotiṣika about the practice of divination and interpretation. Senior Jyotiṣika do NOT mentor junior Jyotiṣika about politics, nautrition, or intimate relationships. BTW it sounds like your friend could be using"mentoring"as a false pretense for wanting to spend more privileged time with you. (Is he in a Rahu bhukti?)

What guru do

Guru can be a name for teacher in human society. When I taught 4th-grade geography in Nepal, the children addressed me as Guruma. Guru does not imply omniscience or even superior wisdom. The word means teacher. There are gazillions of teachers in this world serving at all levels of access.

The Guru-role is usually nothing fancy. Depending on the cultural environment, one designated as a vehicle of Professor Guru is recognized socially as a living container of broad understanding.

Brihaspati is * not* concerned with transmitting information. Information delivery is a province of Professor Budha. Rather, brihaspati is concerned with breadth of perception, diversity, inclusiveness, developing an expansive view. Guru is more about the scope of the view, less about the contents. Guru's doctrine is based on a few core principles (love, faith, generosity, wisdom, compassion) which then expand and expand and expand into detailed manifestations. Budha is the detail-conductor.

Guru generously offers the core teachings, again and again, to all who attend, without exhaustion. As a result, aperson who is socially identified to be playing the Guru role is respected as an expression of generous and all-inclusive Brihaspati.

One who might be an exemplary Guru-role-player, such as HH Dalai Lama or Old Path White Clouds 1926-2022 Interbeing Thich Nhat Hanh Generally does not develop complex argumentation. In their wisdom, they generate many teaching examples which help to show the application of the core principles. They offer exegesis (looking into sacred texts to find those core meanings) and guidance regarding application of the principles to daily situations. However, the ir "message" does not vary. Budha likes speed and variety, but Brihaspati patiently preaches the core set of principles. Mainly, those holding the Guru role embody the core beliefs and role-model while they preach numerous [Guru] examples and parables.

The role of a Guru teacher-preacher is not logically complex but it is deeply compassionate to the listeners, always developing nice ways to illustrate the main points again and again and again.

Defining Roles

With this understanding of the Guru role,; it might be easier to decide for yourself whether this sort of illustrative, exemplifying, application-of-principle teaching is what you see yourself doing at this time in your life.

If you feel like you might have a strong grasp of the core principles of Jyotisha -- or of another divinatory or healing discipline -- and feel ready to create a learning environment in which motivated others can strive for understanding of the vidya, then it might be fair to say that you're ready to call yourself a teacher.

However, if you're not ready that's just fine! (unless it's a Rahu bhukti in which case the Chandala will make that 'readiness' definition much slipperier...)

The main point = there in nothing in the Guru role which provides for taking on other people's problems and certainly no Guru figure can remove other people's Akashic memory patterning. No Guru-figure can solve that guy's problem for him. He needs to discover what he is doing with his thoughts that is creating his reality. He could be using guilt to try to mask a problem which is causing him pain or embarrassment, and since guilt is so toxic the guilt-holders are always trying to foist their shame onto others, get other people involved in their drama.

First, avoid guilt. If he says "If you won't help me solve this big life problem then you're not a good friend. You should help me." that should is a big red flag. Even if there is a payment arrangement, don't take the case if you intuitively don't want it.

Second, consider what mentors do and see if you feel ready to mentor. Make sure that you are mentoring with topical boundaries. Is he a junior Jyotiṣika who seeks mentoring in order to improve his practice with an aim to serve others? For you to consider being a mentor (even a peer mentor) the answer to that question would need to be a definite 'yes'. Otherwise, the ploy is exposed.

Third, evaluate what the Guru-role typically involves, and see whether you feel ready to accept such an abundantly generous and giving role. I'd guess that you need some further preparation to be ready.

Whatever the answers to the above defined questions about Roles, be ready to give yourself the gift of time - and healthy boundaries.

Wishing you every happiness and success in your study of the samayavidya,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama Jyotisha

"But our village astrologer predicted the exact date of my parents 'marriage!"

Principles of Jyotishashastra vs. Cultural Practices

There is more involved in this exquisitely accurate calendar prediction. Much of the village soothsayer's accuracy derives from a database that is not part of Jyotishashastra.

Consider that the village astrologer very likely knew your parents, their parents, and their parents'-parents, going back generations for both lineages.

He knew the religious calendar, the agricultural cycle, and the histories of the families that settled the area along with their household deities and the days/times sacred to that family's protectors.

He would have known which dates were considered inauspicious. He knew this key information not via Jyotishavidya but via local traditions of deity worship.

Given this very high level of familiarity with the usual patterns of the paradigm of belief of the micro-culture, it would be possible to identify a particular day and even time of a wedding ceremony with considerable accuracy.

Religion, agriculture, and Wedding Culture

Around the world, due to the ritual preparations and feasting required, weddings traditionally coincide with harvests and the more relaxed fallow-times after harvests.

Traditionally, when the community is busy with agricultural work, wedding ceremonies are rare.

For example, during my childhood in a Northern European Roman-Rite adherent community, believers were forbidden to marry during Lent.

Lent means " slow time". It was the cold, dark time of predictable end-of-winter food shortage. In the liturgical calendar, Lent = a designated 40 days of penance and privation (in some years, near starvation). It's easy to see why weddings were forbidden until warmer spring days, when more food was available.

Within this cultural-historical situation, aJyotiṣika predicting the timing of a marriage feast could have eliminated the entire Lenten period. He could reasonably assume a marriage window that opened in in spring (after planting) or during fall season (after harvesting) since that was the cultural norm.

Accurate prediction of ceremonies may require cultural knowledge

This type of non-Jyotishashastra cultural information about deeply embedded habitual beliefs and practices may be essential for making precise predictions about ritual events like ceremonies.

Cultural information is not derived from the principles of the shastra. Rather, cultural familiarity is essential for identifying specific weeks and days, and even pinpointing the hour, at which a precious, and relatively expensive, sacred ceremony would likely occur.

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updated: 14 April 2024

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all that is true, all that is noble,

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whatever is excellent and admirable -

fill all your thoughts with these things."

~~ Paul of Tarsus, Epistle to the Philippians 4:8