Horoscope – to believe or not to believe
Are Horoscopes correct? Whether to believe them or not? I am sure most of had this doubt.
There is some truth in this whole horoscope business. To my understanding it works out something like this:
Firstly, it is a common misunderstanding that a horoscope has our “destiny” predetermined in it and that we just follow it like puppets. That’s not true- a horoscope does NOT tell you your future. Rather it calculates your past and present karma and extrapolates it into the future.
It is like a mock test. A mock test based on your preparation in the past forecasts how many marks you may get if you continue with the same preparation. But that does not decide your test out come. You still have things in your control and by effort, we can change that.
A horoscope has to be seen only in that view. If a horoscope tells you that you are going to have such and such thing in future, it only means that based on your present karma and assuming that the present trend continues, you will get such an outcome in the future. But we do still have the power to change it.
One more question related to this believe-not_to_believe is why is there so much non-uniformity in the forecasts; for some ppl things turn out exactly the same, for some ppl they do not. If jyotishya is right, it must be right for everyone. Why this difference then? The following are some of the reasons for it:
1. Jyotishya is very much dependent on factors like time, place of birth etc. Even a 5 min difference in birth time or time of sunrise in that place may make huge difference in your jataka. In some cases we do have accurate timing, but in some cases, we may have the wrong time of birth, thus wrong horoscope.
2. As I said earlier, you can still with strong will change the forecasted outcome.
3. Seen isolated, this whole thing is nothing more than a bunch of numbers. A jyotishi has to understand what those refer to and based on it tell one about the horoscope. This involves insight and keen understanding. Something like a share market- anybody can tell you what the share rate of a company is, what’s the growth rate is etc. But it requires an insight to tell what those numbers mean, whether it is “good” or “bad” etc etc.
posted by S at 11:21 AM
9 Comments:
1. Statements like "this is what jyOtiSha does" etc. need quotations from scriptures or great saints to support.
2. The contradiction between astrologers, I don't think, arises only out of differences in inputs as to the time. In fact I am not even sure traditional astrology has the kind of time resolution that captures five-minute differences - aren't the inputs tithis, nakShatras etc. which don't keep changing in that short intervals?
3. Are you sure we can change the outcome? Doesn't Sri Ramakrishna say that man has no free will?
The contradiction between astrologers, I don't think, arises only out of differences in inputs as to the time.
Time input is one example (and the most common one too). There are differences in the opinions on other subjects too... but they are more like the opinion difference of people over the details; if we treat astrology too like a science, then we should also give that it only represents knowledge till now, and some improvements still possible, paving way for theoretical differences. For example, biologists may agree with the principle of evolution, but they may have opinion differences on issues like gradual vs cambrian explosion.
Are you sure we can change the outcome?
I am surely not qualified enough to pass judgments on the great freewill vs destiny debate. Its just my opinion, thanks to Swamiji.
Doesn't Sri Ramakrishna say that man has no free will?
Opinion it may be, but I don't think the rope-tree analogy of Sri Ramakrishna negates it.
SRK only says that the length of the rope (ie., the freedom a man has) is decided by god.
But please note that god does that decide the length of rope out of random fantasies. He does so based on the behavior of the man.
Hence it is possible for the man to behave right and ensure that the length of his rope is extended by god.
The sentence "I am capable" should not be read as "I am capable all by myself". It can also be read as "I am capable, thanks to the God standing behind me"
Can you quote either Swamiji or SRK's rope-tree analogy on that? Because I don't remember having come across anything to that effect. I have only read statements like "What the Englishman calls freewill is an illusion set by the Mother", where is man's will - there is only God's will etc. Also "thou workest thine on work; men only call it theirs", the analogy that people are just cases but it is God who is doing everything ( not just giving fuel or defining limitation ) using the leather sheath etc.
Can you quote either Swamiji or SRK's rope-tree analogy on that?
I tried searching for that, but could not locate it. I vaguely remember it- so lets drop that one and use another one.
Let’s take the example of Markandeya’s story. It was lord Shiva who gave a boon to his parents and also destined a short life to him.
It was Shiva again who made that boy deathless as a result of his devotion.
Here the life of markendeya was predetermined by god's will. But Markandeya could change it- not by himself, but with the help of god.
As you can observe Markendeya’s short life was god’s will, so is his eternity.
I won’t dispute your point that that it’s always god’s will that is done. I will only add that God’s-will need not be seen as a static entity. It can be a dynamic entity as well, responding to the devotees will. Once you see it as a dynamic entity, both the “it is gods will that is always done” and “you can change your fate” are accommodated.
Well, such possible explanations could be there. But a story from purANas is no substitute for bonafide Ramki utterances!
Is there big difference between Indian astrology and western zodiac?
I have seen this website having childrens zodiac, will this be different from astrology?
http://www.indianhindunames.com/zodiac-astrology-baby-traits.htm
Divya, the Indian Astrology is predominantly Lunar based, while the Western Zodiac is Solar based. But more that, I do not know much on the subject.
The tropical western astrology takes earth as the base while sidereal eastern astrology takes nakshatras as base .
Start with simple and small steps to check astrology . for example check physical features . step by step you will gather more confidence
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