Fate, Free Will, and Vedic Astrology
By Linda Johnsen March 2004 Courtesy and Copyright Yoga International http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Fate,-Free-will-and-V http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Fat e,-Free-will-and-Vedi edic-astrologyc-astrology1.aspx
My husbands horoscope showed an imminent health crisis. ! had only recently begun studying Vedic Vedic astrology "a system #or predicting the #uture de$eloped by the yoga masters o# !ndia% and ! still wasnt sure how seriously to take it. &i$en how scary 'ohnathans upcoming planetary cycle looked. ! certainly hoped there was nothing to it( )he thing that made me most uncom#ortable, though, was that during the same time 'ohnathans horoscope showed him undergoing a ma*or disease or accident, my horoscope showed me undergoing an emotional trauma on account o# my husband. ! marked on my calendar the day this ordeal was supposed to begin, but didnt say anything to 'ohnathan. ! #elt pretty #oolish worrying about a hypothetical e$ent suggested suggested in a horoscope. horoscope. +till, when 'ohnathan arri$ed home sa#ely on the #ate#ul day ! was secretly relie$ed. )hen he sat me down at the kitchen table and told me hed had a call #rom his doctor earlier that a#ternoon. )he routine test hed had a #ew days earlier had re$ealed a malignant tumor. 'ohnathan had cancer. o matter how long you$e been practicing yoga unless youre completely enlightened, dealing with a li#e threatening illness is incredibly di##icult. ut all though 'ohnathans treatment and reco$ery ! kept coming back to the #act that it had shown up in both o# our Vedic charts, so accurately that you could predict the day it would be diagnosed. +ince !d started studying astern philosophy as a teenager !d read that e$erything happens happens #or a reason reason,, and that that the ma*or experienc experiences es in our li$es-po li$es-posit siti$e i$e or negati$ negati$e-a e-are re due to our karma. ut until until 'ohnat 'ohnathan hanss illne illness ss that that had all been theoretical. ow #or the #irst time ! experienced with certainty that karma is real, that its an actual #orce shaping our #uture. ur Vedic birth charts are maps o# karma, showing a schedule o# e$ents e$e nts that will un#old throughout o# our li$es. Planetary Yoga
)he #irst time ! heard o# Vedic Vedic astrology was when ! read 0aramahansa oganandas oganandas spiritual classic, 2utobiography o# a ogi. ogi. 3)he stars are about to take an un#riendly intere interest st in you,3 you,3 his guru, guru, +ri ukteswa kteswar, r, told told ogananda gananda one day. day. !n !ndia !ndia
ukteswar was #amous both as a 4riya oga master and an expert astrologer. 32 child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his indi$idual karma. 5is horoscope is a challenging portrait, re$ealing his unalterable past and its probable #uture results,3 the master ex plained. ukteswar predicted that ogananda would contract a li$er disease which would last #or six months. ut by doing certain practices and wearing a protecti$e bangle that had been blessed by his teacher, he could reduce the period o# illness to twenty-#our days. +ure enough, a #ew weeks later ogananda became seriously ill. 5e was in excruciating pain #or three weeks. )hen the pangs in his li$er mysteriously $anished. ! hadnt known that Vedic astrology was an honored part o# the yoga tradition-but in #act its one o# the six sacred sciences o# ancient !ndia. 2ccording to legend, it is immeasurably old, but it was codified by the sage Parashara at the beginning o# the 4ali uga, o$er #i$e thousand years ago. 6hy, ! wondered, would yoga adepts concern themsel$es with astrology7 )radition says that with the passage o# time #ewer and #ewer people de$oted themsel$es to ad$anced spiritual practices, and conse8uently they could no longer remember the karmas they had set in motion in their past li$es. +o they were unable to understand why they were born with particular talents and disabilities, or why some people ne$er meet with success no matter how hard they work while others are propelled seemingly e##ortlessly to #ame and #ortune.
Our Vedic birth charts are maps o !arma" sho#ing a schedule o e$ents that #ill unold throughout our li$es% )he sages created Vedic astrology to help human beings understand the cycles o# their li$es based on karma theyd created in pre$ious incarnations. )he horoscope was designed as a kind o# report card #or the soul that summari9ed their le$el o# accomplishment up to the moment they were born. !t re$ealed the karmic status o# di##erent areas in their li#e such as #amily, romance, career, #inances, and spiritual growth. !t also showed when particular karmas #rom the past were most likely to mani#est in the course o# their li#e. 2nd because Vedic astrology helped people see into blind spots in the past and #uture, it was called Jyotir Vidya in +anskrit, meaning 3the science of light," or simply 'yotish "3light3%. The Sages on Destiny & Awareness
Fate and #ree will are e8ually power#ul #orces. et ! consider #ree will to be more important, because it is our conscious choices which create our destiny - Veda Vyasa "Mahabharata%. )he message boldly bla9oned across the hea$ens at the moment o# birth is not meant to emphasi9e #ate-the result o# past good and e$il-but to arouse mans will to escape #rom his uni$ersal thralldom. 6hat he has done, he can undo. -
+ri ukteswar "2utobiography o# a ogi% i$ine awareness mani#ests in many #orms. !t appears as the planets in order to bestow on e$eryone the results o# their pre$ious actions. !n this way it teaches them to renounce their e$il tendencies and do only good. - 0arashara "rihat 0arashara 5ora +hastra% ar!ic factors in Vedic Astrology Tye of ar!a +anchita
0rarabdha
4riyamana
2gama
Definition )he total karma accrued as a result o# our planetary actions in pre$ious li$es. 4arma #rom past li$es destined to play out in our present incarnation.
4arma we$e generated through our actions in this li#etime. 4arma we are setting in motion through our current plans.
Astrological #ndication +hown by the placements in our birth chart "*anma kundali%.
+hown by the cycles "dashas/bhuktis% based on the moons position at our birth and by transits "gochara% to our natal planets. May be seen in a chart #or the present moment "prashna%. ;e$ealed in a chart #or the beginning o# a new pro*ect "muhurta%.
ar!ic $onscio%sness
6e in the 6est like to belie$e were in control o# our own destiny. My yoga teacher, +wami ;ama o# the 5imalayas, would constantly tell us, 3ou are the architect o# your li#e.3 2nd Vedic astrology $i$idly demonstrates that this belie# is absolutely true. )he word karma comes #rom the root kri, which means, 3to do.3 )hrough our thoughts, words, and actions we shape our own #uture in this li#e and the next. y studying Vedic astrology we begin to understand how this process actually works. ur Vedic birth chart sketches a 8uick picture o# our sanchita karma, the karma we$e accumulated during our numerous past births. "+ubcharts called amshas re$eal these karmas in more detail.% 0lanetary cycle called amshas re$eal our prarabdha karma, the #raction o# our total karma that will play out in our present li#etime. For example, the #irst Vedic astrologer ! went to was able to merely glance at my horoscope and planetary cycles and correctly tell me my primary interests in li#e, my career path, when !d gotten married, and that in the early 1<=>s !d li$ed in
an ashram. ut few astrologers are !ore than seenty ercent acc%rate' )he $ery best might be eighty percent correct on a good day. )he reason is kriyamana karma, the karma were creating now. )he horoscope only re$eals our karmic status up to the moment o# our birth. )he chart also re$eals the samskaras or tendencies we carry in our karmashaya, the repository o# karma in our causal body. ut #rom the moment o# birth our attitudes and beha$iors in this li#e modi#y the #uture course o# our karma, #or better or worse. y li$ing with #ull awareness, making wise choices, and acting e##ecti$ely and compassionately, we can to a large extent o$erride the $ectors o# destiny that were set in motion when we took our #irst breath. Vedic astrology does not tell us what will happen in our #uture. !t tells us what might happen unless we consciously act to pre$ent or modi#y it.
Your destiny isn&t #ritten in stone' it is a li$ing thing that changes subtly as your le$el o consciousness changes" 2ccording to the yoga tradition, karma comes in three strengths. First, theres the karma thats easy to change. For example, i# you sign up #or a course in $egetarian cooking but then decide youd rather take a meditation class, you can switch courses 8uite easily. +econd, theres karma that can be altered only with substantial e##ort. !# you graduate with a degree in law, but then decide youd rather be a doctor instead, you can go back to college and get a medical degree, but it will cost you a lot o# time and money. )he $ast ma*ority o# karma playing out in our li$es #alls into these two categories. )he third type is #ixed karma. )hese are the lessons we cant get out o# the experiences we must undergo #or the sake o# our spiritual growth. +ome indi$iduals are born to #ame "the children o# royalty, #or example% or to wealth. )hey ha$e to deal with the issues this karma brings with it, whether they like it or not. thers may ine$itably ha$e to go through a traumatic e$ent like the loss o# a lo$ed one or a serious accident or illness. nly a small portion o# our total karma is unalterable, howe$er.
Vedic astrology does not tell us #hat #ill happen in our uture% It tells us #hat might happen unless #e consciously act to pre$ent or modiy it% )here is also a completely di##erent kind o# karma that can impact our li$es drastically: collecti$e karma. !# someone who is running a cycle that is signaling physical danger happens to li$e in a peace-lo$ing culture, #or example, she may #all and break her leg on the #ate#ul day. +omeone else, howe$er, running the same cycle but li$ing in a culture with a high tolerance #or $iolence, may be the $ictim o# a mugging or assault. !t is absolutely wrong to claim that the $ictim o# a crime karmically 3deser$ed it.3 'ust as indi$iduals generate karma, so do neighborhoods,
organi9ations, and nations. &roup karma can o$erride or strongly modi#y indi$idual karma, particularly during collecti$e experiences like war. )his shows that we are responsible not only #or our own actions but #or the attitudes and acts o# the communities o# which we are members. Write Yo%r (wn )oroscoe
!n Vedic astrology the planets merely signal the time when our karmic debits and credits come due, they dont actually cause any e$ent to take place. )hink o# a tra##ic light: it signals when its time #or us to stop or go. ut its our stepping on the brake or accelerator that makes the car mo$e. )he choice to act and the act itsel# come #rom us, not #rom the stars. 2 horoscope is, in #act, *ust a symbolic representation o# #orces at play in our unconscious. ut because the uni$erse was pro*ected out o# a limitless cosmic mind, yogis say that thoughts and symbols are in a sense as real as physical things. *This is why not only actions b%t also tho%ghts rod%ce +ar!a' 2 symbolic representation like a horoscope can be help#ul in the same way a road map is help#ul. 2nd because horoscopes were designed by illumined sages, they can act much like a yantra "a de$ice #or #ocusing, clari#ying, and directing consciousness%. !$e been working with my Vedic chart #or some years now, and seeing how e$ents in my li#e are mirrored in the horoscope has been a sobering experience. !ts taught me to be much more conscious about the karma !m generating: ! know #or a #act that sooner or later the energy o# my thoughts and actions will return to me. ! recogni9e the need to take control o# my karma i# ! want to a$ert or alle$iate some o# the di##icult times ! see coming, or take #ull ad$antage o# the more auspicious cycles down the road, or create a better horoscope #or my next birth. ar!ic Potency ar!ic Strength 2dridha ridhadridha ridha
Definition Flexible karma we can easily change with a little e##ort. 4arma we can change i# we use considerable sel#-e##ort. 4arma which cannot be changed by human e##ort. nly &od can alter #ixed karma.
(%r -odies & o%r Stars -ody +thula ?padhi
+ukshma ?padhi
Definition 0hysical ody and Vital Force +ubtle ody "Mind%
Astrological Stat%s Mortal. egins dissol$ing at death. +ub*ect to planetary in#luences. Mortal. issol$es at rebirth. +ub*ect to planetary in#luences. but capable o# #reedom through sel#-knowledge and sel#less lo$e.
4arana ?padhi
2tman
@ausal ody "+oul%
+emi-immortal. issol$es at liberation )his 3higher sel#3 carries karmas #rom its pre$ious physical body to a new one at the moment o# reincarnation. 0ure ternal ?na##ected by karma. n the @onsciousness "+pirit% contrary, planetary energies are sub*ect to +pirit.
)he horoscope is a starting point #or spiritual practice, a plat#orm to work #rom, not a *udges sentence that lea$es no chance #or an appeal. our destiny isnt written in stoneA it is a li$ing thing that changes subtly as your le$el o# consciousness changes. Many deep-rooted problems shown in the chart can $anish completely i# sincere and consistent e##ort is applied. ne o# my #riends Vedic horoscope shows delays and serious obstacles both in #inding a husband and ha$ing children. )oday shes a happily married mother o# healthy twins. +he was well into her #orties be#ore she married and approaching #i#ty when her children were born, but her determination to #ind a partner and her willingness to work through the relationship issues indicated in her chart in$oked a #ul#illing outcome. )he horoscope is a starting point #or spiritual practice, a plat#orm to work #rom, not a *udges sentence that lea$es no chance #or an appeal. 0arashara, the #ather o# Vedic astrology, recommended a number o# methods #or rewriting your horoscope i# youre not com#ortable with the one you ha$e. 5e taught that the challenging karma you see there can be partially or wholly erased #rom your karmic balance sheet through consistent, heart#elt spiritual practices such as meditation, prayer, ritual worship, the chanting o# mantras, charitable donations, and sel#less ser$ice. )raditionally in !ndia astrologers were priests who rose be#ore dawn, spent se$eral hours in prayer and meditation, and then de$oted the rest o# the day to ser$ing their community with astrological ad$ice. ?ntil *ust recently there was no set #ee. @lients might o##er a bag o# gold or a hand#ul o# rice, and part o# the astrologers discipline was to be content with whate$er he was paid. )he science o# astrology had been o##ered to humanity as a #ree gi#t by spiritual masters like 0arashara, hrigu, and 'aimini. !ts sanctity as a tool #or helping people #ind their way in li#e was respected. 2strology, in #act, was such an important part o# 5indu culture that children were gi$en a name based on which o# the constellations the moon was in when they were born( )oday its not di##icult to #ind a Vedic astrologer e$en in the 6est, but locating one who spends hours a day doing the spiritual practice necessary to illuminate their readings is extremely di##icult, e$en in the ast. ow it seems as i# many astrologers are most interested in selling you expensi$e gems "a practice not sanctioned by 0arashara% than in teaching you how to work with mantras. +till,
when ! did manage to connect with a genuinely skilled Vedic astrologer, the experience was ama9ing. !t helped me see how e$en horrible experiences, like my husbands illness, were part o# the course curriculum ! signed up #or when ! was born. )his physical body we cherish so much is the least o# what we are. !n reality were multidimensional beings who ha$e li$ed be#ore and will li$e again to su##er-or en*oy-the results o# the action were per#orming right now. 6e are not the $ictims o# #ate were the creators o# it. )hrough noble thoughts and deeds we can shape a more auspicious destiny. +o when we read our #uture in the stars, we need to remember that we oursel$es are the authors. .inda Johnsen, M.+., is author o# Meditation !s oring7 0utting Bi#e in our +piritual 0racticeA aughters o# the &oddessA )he Bi$ing &oddessA )he @omplete !diots &uide to 5induismA and 2lpha )each oursel# oga. 5er sixth book, 1>>> +ums, on Vedic astrology, will be published this year.
)his article appeared in the 'uly C>>D issue o# oga !nternational. )he bi monthly maga9ine has similar articles expressed in simple terms, i# you like to subscribe in !ndia email payal sehgal at: hidelhiEhimalayaninstitute.org or log on to www.yimag.org mail #eedback to esamskritiEsuryaconsulting.net
