Introduction:

Chapter 2

Freewill VS. Predestiny

Preface to the second edition of
Astro-Logos

Seven years have passed since the initial publication of Astro-Logos, which  appeared three years after my first text Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern  Western Astrologer. Since then, a new world has opened up for astrologers and  for those who enjoy the star language. The reception of Hindu astrology, also  called Vedic astrology or Jyotish (the Indian term meaning the science of  light), has been profound and heartening. When Astro-Logos first appeared, Hindu predictive astrology was an exciting, avant garde proposition for Westerners.  Now, many Western astrologers are fervently studying the Eastern system and  thousands of individuals have already had their Hindu astrological birthcharts interpreted. Word of the great benefits of this event-oriented, rather than  psychological, system is spreading quickly and practitioners of Hindu astrology  in America have their hands quite full.

Further, there are now five other important Hindu astrology textbooks written  by Westerners in the marketplace: Indian Astrology by Ronnie Gale Dreyer, Astrology of the Seers by David Frawley, How To Read Your Horoscope by Tom Hopke, Light on Life by Hart Defouw and Robert Svoboda, and The Astrology of Death by Richard Houck. Also, the American Council of Vedic Astrology, founded by Dennis Harness and David Frawley, presents a five-day Hindu/Vedic astrology conference each year (See Services chapter for more information on this).

My purpose in writing Astro-Logos, aside from teaching readers how to gain full benefit from their astrological birthcharts, was to introduce Westerners,  both professional astrologers and those with only a cursory interest, to the  profound benefits of ancient Hindu astrology. Clearly the time for Eastern  astrology to make its way to the West has arrived. Readers who have heard stories of the miraculous predictive abilities of Hindu astrology and want to know more about how the system works now have their questions and concerns answered in graphic detail. Further, those who want a better understanding of  the differences between Hindu and Western astrology walk away from this text fully armed to conduct their own discourse on the subject.

Astro-Logos was my second book. It was published, as already mentioned, three  years after my first book, at a time when those who had been become fascinated with Hindu astrology were eager for more technical material. My decision to  write a text about Hindu astrology rather than a second textbook, to give  readers not what they perhaps wanted but what I felt was needed, was not popular. But I felt that in the long run, if Hindu astrology was to have a fair  chance in the West, some guidance regarding its context was both necessary and appropriate. Therefore, one of the major objectives of Astro-Logos was to promote the complimentary natures of Hindu and Western astrology.

Astrologers who use both Hindu and Western birthcharts for each astrological interpretation have a profound advantage over those who use only one system. Although the techniques of Hindu and Western astrology must never be mixed, for  the systems are dramatically different, the information gained from the two provides greater perspective as well as more essential, relevant data. Hindu astrology is predictive and event-oriented, while Western astrology excels in  personality development, habit patterns, and personal motivation. The Hindu  birthchart, being more fate- or destiny-oriented, reveals what will occur in life while the Western chart tells how the person experiences these occurrences.

To be fair, both systems are capable of predicting events and psychology, but  practically speaking each system clearly excels in one feature or the other. One reason that Eastern and Western astrologies are so different from each other is  due to cultural needs. Hindu astrology is born of a culture schooled in  predestiny, karma, and reincarnation; hence a fate-oriented astrology. Westerners believe in free will and causation and therefore have developed an  astrology more sophisticated in analyzing psychology, behavioral patterns,  talents, and potentials.

By distinguishing the important differences and benefits of both systems, I  especially intended to disarm intolerant or small-minded astrologers who might take the position that one system of astrology (theirs of course) was  qualitatively better than the other. I also wanted to reduce the threat Western  astrologers might feel about a foreign system invading their territory. If the benefits of Hindu astrology could be made abundantly clear and the misconceptions of Hindu astrology's complexity dispelled, then everyone would  benefit.

Fortunately, I have been fairly blessed to witness the fruits of my efforts  in the above-mentioned matters. Readers of Astro-Logos find it easier to  maintain balance, flexibility, and respect for both systems of astrology. Following the publication of this book, however, I was shocked and saddened to learn that there are a number of Westerners learning Hindu astrology who seek to  deify the Hindu system and, far worse, are so thoroughly ignorant about Western  astrology as to unabashedly dismiss its accuracy and profundity before testing its efficacy. These are not, generally, professional astrologers, but members of various Eastern religions who live by the dictates of their gurus. They are  individuals who routinely and quite indiscriminately glorify anything that is  Eastern, and ridicule or ignore anything which is Western.

The irony of this dilemma is that these Western devotional types who seek to romanticize Jyotish are entirely unaware of the pragmatic and eclectic nature of Indian astrologers, who for the most part are quite willing to use whatever  astrological techniques work. Many Indian astrologers not only respect Western astrology but use certain Western techniques in their practice! Further, were it not for the admiration that Hindu astrologers have for their Western counterparts, I might never have met my second mentor. As told in chapter four,  Ghanshyam Jyoshi, a Bombay astrologer whom I contacted for a birthchart  interpretation in 1984, called all the astrologers in his city to meet me when he found out I was a Western astrologer. It was his friend P.M. Padia whose talents caught my attention. At any rate, had I foreseen the likelihood of such  arrogance from some Western astrologers practicing Hindu astrology early on, I certainly would have addressed the issue in this text.

The most exciting development in my work with Hindu astrology since the  publication of Astro-Logos has been the use of astrological mantras and yagyas.  Mantras and yagyas are techniques which can improve a person's life by altering  negative karma.

Astrological mantras are Sanskrit prayers that entreat higher evolutionary beings to remove difficulties and problems. Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, the ancient Indian body of knowledge cognized by enlightened seers. It is  said to be a "name and form" language. This means that a Sanskrit word is actually a subtle vibration of the object it describes. Therefore, when one chants a mantra to Brihaspati (the Hindu name of Jupiter), the energy or being of Jupiter is invoked each time the word Brihaspati is recited. Mantra chanting  produces noticeable results and many of my clients have achieved profound benefits from their practice.

Two examples are worth mentioning. In the first, a woman sought my astrology services because her husband's well-being was rapidly, and dramatically, deteriorating. The man had lost his job, was running out of money, and his health was declining. My client's life was affected in a serious way, especially  since she was a housewife, not a breadwinner. At the time of her astrology session, which was quite early in my career, I rarely prescribed mantras except for individuals already on the spiritual path. I was not in the habit of mentioning mantras (or yagyas) because they are so foreign and unfamiliar to  most people. But this woman's plea was so strong that when she begged for help,  I gave her the astrological mantra for the planet symbolizing her problems.

Although I felt uneasy prescribing a fifteen-word Sanskrit mantra for a  Midwestern housewife without any metaphysical or spiritual background, mantras and yagyas are an intrinsic part of Jyotish that should not be ignored. Because  Hindu astrology is a predictive, fate- oriented system, it must provide a  solution for altering negative influences. If difficult occurrences or  life-threatening periods cannot be changed, what is the point of knowing the  future? The purpose of astrology is not merely for entertainment. Therefore, I  curbed my doubts, instructed her in the chanting of her mantra, and quickly  forgot the matter. Within a few months, the woman called, thanking me profusely, saying that her and her husband's lives had steadily and dramatically improved from the day she began chanting.

Later that year, I prescribed a mantra for a man who was suffering from a  particular problem clearly related to an afflicted planet in his birthchart. The man was metaphysically inclined so I readily gave him the proper mantra and sent him on his way. After chanting the mantra for some months, the effects were so remarkable that he called to ask if I would give him another mantra to help him  financially. Based upon his birthchart, I prescribed the Venus mantra, which rules the second house (money) of his Hindu birthchart. When I heard from him  next, he reported that his salary had doubled from $50,000 to $100,000. Now he demanded that I teach him the mantras of all nine planets. (All nine astrological mantras are listed in Chapter 5.)

Astrological mantras should not be confused with mantras given by gurus to their spiritual disciples. Those mantras are almost always prescribed to produce higher states of consciousness (nirvana or enlightenment). Such mantras do not  significantly alter worldly karma although many spiritual devotees mistakenly  believe otherwise.

While a higher state of consciousness enhances a person's general grace, and causes the person to be less overshadowed by difficulties or disasters, negative karma earned from past lives returns to highly evolved souls as readily as it  does to ordinary mortals. I have witnessed this time and again in the lives of  many different gurus when analyzing their birthcharts. Unlike mantras that  produce enlightenment, the purpose of astrological mantras is to smooth  difficult periods, curtail troublesome occurrences, and enhance positive areas  of the birthchart.

Although mantras are powerful and effective, most Westerners are unfamiliar  with them or may not have the patience to spend fifteen or twenty minutes per  day chanting. Therefore, in most cases yagyas are more appropriate. A yagya  (also spelled yajna) is a ceremony performed by a Hindu priest in order to alleviate karmic difficulties. During the yagya, the priest lights a fire, burns incense, and throws ghee (clarified butter) into the flames while chanting all nine astrological mantras. A yagya is generally the preferred method for  ameliorating a crisis situation or a dangerous, life-threatening dasa- bhukti (planetary period or subperiod). It is preferred because the priest or priests doing the chanting are experienced in their work and are therefore more likely  to reach subtler levels of consciousness during the chanting, greatly empowering  the sacred sounds.

Aside from easing difficult periods or removing obstacles, yagyas are also effective in helping a person fulfill important, heartfelt desires. I have seen  yagyas work both in my own life and for others. In 1992, a Hindu priest came into my home to perform a "Mars Yagya," which is a three-hour yagya for people  with love problems. I invited some friends who needed help in this area, along  with my brother because he was in the middle of the worst planetary period of  his life and had experienced non-stop problems for several years. His biggest difficulty was in his work, where he was being sabotaged and undermined by his  own bosses. For months, I had advised him to quit and find another job. But, having suffered so many career problems in the previous four years, he had no  confidence for making a move. Within one week after the yagya, I was shocked  when my brother called to tell me he was fired from his job. On the surface, it  appeared that the yagya had backfired. The yagya had obviously worked, however, because my brother found a new job in less than one week. What's more, his new bosses were tremendously supportive, constantly going out of their way to make him feel welcomed and to help increase his sales.

Another friend who took part in the ceremony that day reaped extraordinary results. His were more related to love matters -- the prescribed purpose of the  "Mars yagya". He had been divorced for eight or nine years and had endured one short-term relationship after another. His pattern of failed relationships was so unrelenting that by now he had barely any hope for marriage. Within days after the Mars yagya, he met a wonderful woman who was clearly superior to all the others I had seen him with. He quickly declared he would marry her. Although he sounded like an infatuated schoolboy, within a year he had married the woman.

A woman client of mine saved thousands of dollars because of a yagya. She had  initiated a law suit against her child's school because her son had been thrown  off a classroom balcony. She lost the court case and was now being sued for  court costs of approximately $25,000. The judge advised her attorney that unless he could cite a similar case in which the defendant was relieved of paying court costs, his client would have to pay. Her attorney searched high and low and  could not locate such a case, so she expected a costly verdict. At this point my client came to me for help and I quickly advised her to have a yagya performed.  Shortly after the yagya, her stunned lawyer called to say that someone had given him a law magazine with an article about a two-month-old court case that worked  in her favor. The woman saved a fortune.

Many kinds of yagyas are available. There are yagyas for marriage, childbirth, wealth, removal of obstacles or delays, and so on. These yagyas are  short and cost only about $150, depending upon the temple. If a person's problems are extremely intense however, a bigger yagya, one lasting seven days, for eight hours a day, may be necessary. These are done in India (yagyas work  even if you are not present) with 108 priests doing the chanting. They may cost  between $700 and $1,000. While the fee may seem high, consider that each of the  108 priests is paid for a full week. A priest can only be involved in one yagya  at a time. For information about where to obtain yagyas, see the "Services" chapter at the end of this book.

One of the best effects of the recent rise of Hindu astrology in the West has  been to prompt leaders of Western astrology to reexamine its roots. In 1993, an  undertaking called Project Hindsight was begun whose mission is to "translate  into English the entire corpus of surviving astrological literature from ancient times to the renaissance." Due to the archaic and cryptic nature of the ancient  writings involved, such a project was extremely implausible before ancient Hindu astrology demonstrated its effectiveness and profundity. The following is a  quote by Robert Hand, the Western world's foremost astrologer/author, taken from an interview in the January 1996 issue of The Mountain Astrologer magazine: "The  everlasting debt we owe Indian astrology, regardless of the degree to which  Eastern and Western astrology become integrated, is that Indian astrology is full of techniques that seem strange to modern Western astrology, but that its  obvious power legitimized the exploration of similar techniques in old Western astrology. Ten years ago nobody would have looked at these [ancient Western] techniques and taken them seriously."

As of 1996, Project Hindsight has already translated many ancient Western  astrological texts and uncovered an impressive collection of techniques that delineate predictive, rather than psychological, results. Much of what has been  found comes close to matching Eastern methods of Hindu astrology. Indeed, the  more translations Project Hindsight produces, the more we are becoming aware that a vast portion of powerful material has been lost. Perhaps the greatest discovery so far has been that of the Greek "chronocrators" (or "time lords"), which are the equivalent of Hindu dasa-bhukti planetary periods and subperiods,  the predictive technique for which Hindu astrology is so acclaimed. It is  quickly becoming clear that ancient Western astrology must have been far more  sophisticated in its predictive ability than we have previously thought. Therefore, some of the distinctions given in this book regarding Western  astrology's psychological nature may, in generations to come, no longer be applicable. For further information about Project Hindsight, see chapter titled  Services at the end of this book.

Finally, I would like to address two concerns raised by readers of earlier editions of Astro-Logos. First, the marriage prediction made by astrologer  Rakesh in chapter two has come about. A very good woman has come to me. We married in 1993, within a year of the "Mars yagya" mentioned above. Second,  those who wish to have a Hindu birthchart interpretation should follow the instructions in the Services chapter. I must mention, however, that although I use both Hindu and Western astrology for each birthchart session, thereby analyzing both psychological and predictive factors, I speak to clients mainly  about Hindu, rather than Western, astrological influences. The reason for this is that so many of my clients either practice Western astrology or have had so many Western astrology interpretations before that the material becomes redundant. Therefore, unless clients ask for greater focus on their psychological profile and behavioral patterns, my birthchart interpretations  strongly favor Hindu astrological analysis.