From: "Haydn Huntley" <huntley@gable.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: a.m.t FAQ, last revised 10/31/92
Keywords: FAQ, meditation
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 11:56:58 -0500

In article <1992Nov6.094236.15218@comp.lancs.ac.uk> geoff@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Geoffrey Coulson) writes:
>I've been hearing about this Jyotish stuff for a while now. I'm not
>not 'a priori' against astrology but find it hard to believe that it
>could be specific and individual enough to be of any real use. For
>example, does it just talk at the level of "this is a good day for
>cultivating relationships" or is it something more definite? 

Actually, one of the differences between Jyotish and Western
Astrology, is their attitudes.  A Western Astrologer might say "May
12, 1993 might be a good day for cultivating relationships", while a
Jyotishi might say something more like "You'll probably get married or
have a romantic relationship in the middle of May 1993."  Some people
say that Western Astrology tends to speak from the individual's point
of view, while Jyotish makes predictions about what will happen,
especially about fateful things.  In the field of Jyotish, there is
also some knowledge about how to avert or change what might happen, or
how to use it in a different way, so that it isn't so bad.

>The thing I'd particularly like to ask is how, exactly, does is the 'level
>of consciousness' taken into account? I know from my own experience that
>TM can result in an experience of greater clarity and, sometimes, 'cosmic'
>sorts of experience, but I'm trying to think how this can help an
>astrologer apart from sharpening his/her intuition in some unquantifiable
>way. Is this all that is meant by taking into account the level of
>consciousness or is something else meant that I am unaware of?

Perhaps Chris was writing about the differences between some of the
Jyotishi's styles of predictions.  In India, it is traditional to tell
a person both of the good and bad, of what they will be able to have
easily, and of what they will never be able to attain.  When one
listens to such a reading, if there is much "bad" stuff, it can be a
real downer!  So, the Maharishi Jotishis (and many other Jyotishis as
well) have been giving their interpretations a different character --
in a person's chart, one might say that the different symbols
represent different energies, and one might also say that there is no
such thing as "bad" energy.  Energy is energy, right?  It is just a
matter of whether it gets to flow and express itself and do something,
or whether it gets bottled up and comes out in some twisted,
frustrated way.  So the newer Jyotishis are starting to do a better
job of advising people how to use all of the energy to their fullest
potential, rather than passing judgements on whether or not it will
make them rich, give them a placid marriage, or children who behave
well.  For some individuals, an easy life is unattractive -- they want
challenge and excitement, not boredom!

An example of the difference between traditional Indian Jyotish and
the new style of interpretating, would be when an individual has
planets in either their 8th or 12th house.  The traditional
interpretation would be that the person would be miserable, and suffer
losses, while the more positive interpretation would be that the
person would have spiritual interests, and they would have success in
pursuing enlightenment or goals which are of a less material nature.

Does this make sense?  Two good books on Jyotish are:

Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer,
by James T. Braha

The Astrology of Seers,
by David Frawley

In spite of their titles, both books were written for people who know
zero about Jyotish or Astrology, and they're easy to understand.

--Haydn

-- 
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*  Haydn Huntley    huntley@silver.ucs.indiana.edu  *
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Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental