ASTROLOGY- A SCIENCE OR BLIND FAITH?

 It has always been a topic of heated debate that astrology is blind faith or a systematic method of understanding a person’s life.

Astrology has been emulated in the Vedas and is known to scholars since ancient times.

It is a method of mapping out the exact positions of the planets in relation to the place of birth of a person at a specific time. This is called the ‘horoscope’.

Predictions are made based upon some basic knowledge of the person’s background, as these are the basic points of reference.

The horoscope is a guide which tells us about the inclinations of the person in terms of his potential of progressing, or degressing from this basic reference point.

This can be with reference to his mental attributes, his health, interpersonal relations, fame, wealth, success etc.

Just as a cardiologist can judge the state of the heart by looking at the ECG, provided he can correlate with clinical findings, an astrologer needs to correlate with the person’s basic points of reference.

A horoscope cannot tell the gender of a person, or that what has transpired in the past as there can be numerous possibilities in the absence of any reference point, i.e. the basic correct data of the individual.

This has been used to misinterpret astrology and defame it by many so called ‘scientists’, and ‘rationalists’.

A horoscope can predict the possible dangers and risks in specific areas in a person’s life, so that he can take measures to prepare himself and find alternative ways for the same.

Man has greatly advanced in science and astronomy. We have reached the planets, and people claim that planets have no such effect upon the humans as astrology describes. Considering this as true, why can we not understand that the position of planets in a horoscope are a graph or a measuring instrument which in its various specific patterns indicate something important for each individual at any point of time?

Also we must understand and acknowledge that there are many phenomena in nature that we have not been able to understand completely. That never means that they are untrue!

It would be more useful to understand the scope and limitations of astrology in order to gain benefit from it for humankind at large.

INTUITION:

Everyone has an access to the collective subconscious knowledge. One has to train and understand the mind to enable it to access this knowledge. Just as light will enter into a dark room depending upon the nature of the windows, a clouded mind or a mind that has a biased outlook is able to only partially perceive it, and may not be able to correctly interpret it. An unbiased mind can have intuition.

Intuition is the state of being aware of or knowing something without having to discover or perceive it, or the ability to do this.

In an astrological practice, predictions are made based upon a diagram of the planetary positions at the time of birth. The predictions related to politics, countries, or natural calamities are based upon astrological calculations described under ‘mediniya bhavishya’. In this the horoscope of the political party, country or state, or the party leader is studied.

There is a 40% element of intuition which guides an astrologer to speak in the right direction, as there can be a number of possibilities involved in the astrological aspects.

So an astrologer has to take care to keep his mind free of bias, and handle it gently to protect from negative influence.

Spiritual reading, jaap, meditation and yagna are of great help.