Introduction to Jyotish Online Course

Session 1 Part 1

Master Teacher David Bruce Hughes

Babaji: So all this material that we’re going to go over is actually on the online course on the Moodle site, and the section that we're going to look at first is called “What is Vedic Astrology?”

What is this thing that we’re studying anyway? Is it fortune-telling? Is it some mystical thing where we can tell if somebody likes us, or if we can understand what they’re going to do tomorrow? Not really, not really. Really, what astrology is, is the study of time. Sometimes you hear people say “The stars cause this,” or “The stars did that,” or “The stars made me do something.” This is very childish, because actually the soul is the senior cause of all causes as far as what we do in this material life, or what we do with this body. The decisions that we make everyday in our lives determine how we are acting, and we have the free will to either accept or reject the influences of the stars and planets. We are not machines, in other words.

So if that is the case, then what is astrology really? Well as I said, it is the study of time. The principle is that things that go on in the stars and planets, or in the worlds of the demigods, are not exactly the cause of what happens here on earth, but they mirror the same cycles of time. If any of you watched our video on fractal time, then you know that the actual shape of time is a fractal. In other words, there’s a pattern that repeats at bigger and smaller scales. And this pattern can be known, it can be understood, and according to Vedic astrology it repeats every so many millions of years, the same pattern.

So everything that’s happening now has happened in the past a long time ago, and it's going to happen again in the future a long time from now. This is all a play. Yet, within that play we have decisions, we have free will, we have the ability to choose which influences were going to accept. So, the stars can show us all the details of the shape of time. They can show us how time ebbs and flows and moves, in a way that is very difficult to see here on earth. So because the study of the stars reveals the patterns of time, it can show us how time is influencing us here on earth also. And that way we can understand things that may be going on here that are hidden, that we can't see with our ordinary material senses. Therefore, astrology is called the ‘eye of the Vedas,’ because it allows us to see how the Vedic philosophy is the truth—the Absolute Truth—and how those principles of Absolute Truth are influencing us here today, in our everyday lives. So this is the knowledge I want to share with you.

The effects of the different movements of time on consciousness are well-known and well-understood in the Vedas. So how can we use this information to help our life today? that's the question. The point is, is that astrology is not a system of fortune telling. You cannot guess who's going to win the Kentucky Derby by astrology, or which stocks are going to go up and down, and stuff like that. Maybe in a very general way, but not in a specific enough way to base important decisions on that. But what astrology can show us is the opportunities that we have. I have defined astrology as ‘a system for making educated guesses about probable patterns in the behavior of individuals and groups of human beings, based on the patterns and timing of the movements of the planets in the skies.’ OK, I'll read that again. Astrology is a system for making educated guesses about probable patterns in the behavior of individuals and groups of human beings, based on the patterns and timing of the movements of the planets in the sky. So it's not fortune telling, it's not magic, it's not mystical powers. Although intuition does enter into the interpretation of astrology, it's really mostly mathematics.

So, what about the history of astrology? In ancient India, the science of astology was very well developed. And here we see an astronomical instrument called Jantar-mantar. Im pointing here at the scales on the side of the Jantar-mantar. These scales are capable of making astronomical measurements with great precision. And people would go up these stairs with different instruments that they would mount on these scales, and they would use them. Here is another stairs right here in the center. So they would mount their different instruments on the scales that you see on the sides, and they would make astronomical observations of great precision. This instrument was used especially by the Persian rulers of India during its occupation. And they actually used these observations in the administration of the state. So astrology is not just an armchair naval-gazing novelty, it's actually a very reliable way of, as I said, making educated guesses about probable patterns in human behavior. And you can do that in your own life and you can do it for other people or you can do it for groups of people. As I said, the Persian rulers used it to manage a whole nation. So, it was a very practical thing and it had a lot of different applications in life. And we may not be able to understand this statement if our only exposure to astrology is typical Western Sun-sign astrology; you know, the kind you read in the Sunday paper, or on different internet sites. Because what they've done is very crude. They have divided all human beings into twelve types, depending upon the location of their Sun sign. The Sun represents the ego, who you think you are. But in Vedic astrology, most of our predictions are based on the Moon and the rising sign. Not who you think you are, but who you really are.

So Vedic astrology can cut through the illusion of egotism, to the real self. And by that we can understand who we really are and what our real purposes is in life. The real test of any astrological paradigm is dealing with twins. Twins are born sometimes only moments apart. And yet we see they have significant differences. Even if they are identical twins—genetically identical, clones of the same egg—they often go on to have certain differences in their tastes, opinions, activities, and so on. Western astrology cannot deal with the phenomena of twins. In fact, according to Western astrology, anyone born within the same general area of the world at the same time would have virtually the same astrological characteristics. However, Vedic astrology can tell the difference between twins, even twins born a few minutes apart. And therefore, Vedic astrology is a much more sophisticated science because it gives us access to the higher harmonics of astrological indications.

Another problem with Western astrology is that it does not use the actual physically observed positions of the stars in the sky. It uses some adjusted positions called an ayanamsa. Vedic astrology is much more scientific because it is called Sidereal astrology, it uses the actual physically observed positions of the stars in the sky. Therefore it's much more accurate. What they are doing in Western astrology is that they are trying to make up for a mistake that was made when astrology was translated from Sanskrit into Persian and Arabic about three thousand years ago. One of the Roman emperors—Plinius the Greater—ordered that this science of astrology, this eastern science should be translated into Western languages. And so the different translators had different ideas about what things meant, than the original Vedic sources did. For example, it's stated in the Brhat Parasara Hora Sastra, the source document on astrology, that “The beginning of the zodiac is one degree Aries, and one degree Aries is the location of the vernal equinox,” the spring equinox, when the Sun comes over the equator on its way northward. Well maybe three thousand years ago it was, but due to a phenomena called precession, that we will study later when we have the background to understand it. The actual location of the equinox has changed. And over the last three thousand years is has moved by about twenty-three degrees. So basically, Western astrology is still based on the idea that first degree Aries is the vernal equinox. And therefore it has become twenty-three degrees out of phase with the actual movements of the planets. So what happens when you do a chart in Western astrology is you take the actual observed position of the planets, and then you add twenty-three degrees and something, to all the positions. Then you have to figure out how the actual prediction should be made, and it becomes very convoluted and complicated. But in Vedic astrology we don't need to do that. Therefore Vedic astrology is much more simple, straightforward, accurate, and it's also cleaner. What I mean by cleaner is that it does not need adjustments to make accurate predictions.

Why do we call it Vedic astrology? Besides the fact that it's from the Vedas. Well actually, the name is Jyotish. Jyoti means light. And Isha of course means God. Isha means the first, or the origin of everything. So God is the origin of everything. And how does he control the universe? By light. Jyotisha means the light of God, or actually how God reveals himself in light. Since God is the controller, Ishvara also means controller. So Isha could be viewed as short for Isvara. So Jyotish, Or jyotisvara means how God controls the universe through light. it's a very sophisticated concept.

When God’s light is covered or filtered, then we can't understand how God is acting. In other words, our intelligence becomes covered by the material energy. But, when we have real knowledge, then our intelligence is uncovered and our original spiritual intelligence can shine forth. So, Jyotish is also, not only God revealing himself, but it also reveals the soul. It gives spiritual light so that we can see who we really are, what our real situation is, what our real options are, what our real destination is. In other words, Jyotish is meant to be used in conjunction with spiritual teachings. it's not meant to function separately or independently from those teachings. But actually, there are many references to astrology in the Vedic scriptures. Krsna says "I am the light of the Sun and the Moon". He also says "I see everything by my two eyes, the Sun and the Moon". So Krsna sees everything, he is everywhere. And He knows everything, because He is light and light is everywhere. So that's another way to look at it.

We also can understand, through Vedic astrology, the actions and operation of the material energy. The material energy is like a trap. When an animal is caught in a trap, unless he knows how to spring the trap, or how to release the mechanism, he can't get out. So we’re in the same situation. We’re in the material world stuck in a material body. Although we are spiritual beings, how are we going to get out of this? So we have to know the structure of the trap, how the trap is working. Just like if people are trying to escape from jail. They need some different information about when the different guards are changed or when the opportunities are there for escape. They need a map. They also need a schedule, when the best opportunity is to escape.

So the question we need to ask is “What is the actual structure and operation of the trap in which we find ourselves?” So the material world, the material energy operates by time and by light, and astrology describes the time and light of the universe and its changes in great detail. So actually, by astrology, we can see when is the best opportunity for us to escape this trap of the material energy and restore our original spiritual consciousness. This is the most important use of astrology. Not about our career or getting married, or about what we should do for a living, or when were going to get inheritance or something like that. That's very mundane. But actually astrology can show us how when is the best time to approach a spiritual master. When is the best opportunity for us to perform sadhana leading to self-realization and liberation from this material world. Astrology can show us what deities we should worship at different times and so on and so forth it's very very detailed.

Astrology, or Vedic astrology, Jyotish, uses a particular model to express the different all the variables of life in this material world. And it's a very sophisticated model; it's complex. And we're going to learn the elements of this model in this first class today. The Jyotish model is a system of nine planets, called Grahas. We're going to use the Sanskrit terminology because I don't want to bring in ideas from Western astrology or astronomy into Vedic astrology. I want to keep the two separate. So we're going to use the term Graha for planet. So there are nine planets, or Grahas. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, and these are called Rasis. And also there are twenty-seven stellar mansions or Naksatras. Naksatras are a concept that is different from Western astrology, but it gives great nuance and detail to the different divisions of the signs used in Vedic astrology. Basically, Naksatras are derived from the motions of the Moon, whereas the Rasis are derived from the motion of the Sun. Western astrology only considers the motion of the Sun, but eastern or Vedic astrology also considers the motion of the Moon. So the Naksatras are derived from the motions of the Moon, and the Rasis, or signs, are derived from the motions of the Sun.

There are also sixteen harmonic charts. Harmonics means that the signs of the Zodiac, the Rasis, are divided into portions called Amsas. Amsas means a limb. So the signs are divided into Amsas and then the positions of the planets, not only in the signs, or Rasis, but also the Amsas are mapped onto a separate chart called a Varga chart. Varga charts are sixteen different kinds, according to the number of harmonics into which the Rasis are divided, from two all the way up to sixty. So by the higher harmonic charts, if we know the exact time of birth we can make very accurate predictions on, using the harmonics or Vargas. And finally there are twelve houses called Bhavas. The twelve houses represent different areas in the life of the human being. And this is really a very sophisticated system that embodies the entire Vedic philosophy. And when we take a look at those later on we will see how that works.

So there are Four Pillars in Vedic astrology. Four very important concepts that we need to understand with complete clarity, then we can understand what is Vedic astrology. Well the Four Pillars are [1] the Grahas, the planets, [2] the Rasis and Naksatras, or the signs. [3] The Vargas or the harmonic charts. [4] And the Bhavas, or the houses. These four things. I’ll go over them again:

1. The Grahas or planets.

2. The Rasis and Naksatras, or signs.

3. The Vargas or the harmonic charts.

4. And Bhavas, Bhavas are houses.

These four things are the four pillars of Jyotish and if you understand these fundamentals clearly, then understanding the rest of the science will be easy. We're going to go over a detailed definition of Naksatra later on in today’s session. So I’m just mentioning that it is similar to a sign, except instead of twelve of them there is twenty-seven.

If if you know the place and time of your birth, the chart calculated from that information is good anywhere on the planet. Now there are, yeah this is the Absolute Truth about astrology, right. There are such things as local astrological influences, but these are secondary. The primary astrological influence is based on your place and time of birth, and that's good anywhere, no matter where you go on the planet. In fact you will even see in some interpretations on the chart that you’re destined to travel or you can have a opportunity to make a good living in another place on the planet, or something like that. In other words, knowledge of astrology from Vedic calculations is absolute and universal. You can't see in the camera but actually I am looking at a projection, a big projection of the whole screen.

No Omar, that's built by the Persians when they ruled India about five, six hundred years ago. The Persians were very advanced in astrology. They also followed the Vedic texts. I wish the devotees were more knowledgeable about astrology, and it would save them from so much trouble. Through astrology you can recognize for example who is a bona-fide spiritual teacher, who is a liberated soul. You can see all these things in the astrological chart.

Uddhava: Babaji is.

Babaji: Well, the whole idea is that space-time is not flat. In the Cartesian Newtonian model of physics, space-time is flat and linear. In other words, seconds of time tick away by the hands of the clock, and one second is the same as any other second; one moment or minute is the same as any other minute. But we don't accept that theory; that theory is crippled. You can understand for example, when you're listening to a beautiful piece of music, one minute goes by very quickly. But when you are sitting in the dentist’s chair, one minute can be very slow. So different moments of time have different subjective qualities based on the influence of the planets according to our chart. When you bring in all those Western ideas like mass and space-time it just confuses the issue, because the shape of time is much more complicated, much more convoluted than Western science can understand. They don't understand because they haven't brought in the concept of consciousness as being fundamental. Even though Einstein kind of brought it in through the back door. We discuss that on our recent post in Naimasaranya Forum, about objectification and identification and elementalism. Einstein and his theory, he realized that actually every observer has his own coordinate system. And really what he was doing was bringing in the concept of the absolute nature of the soul and Supersoul. Wherever the soul goes, the Supersoul is also there. And the Supersoul is the center or the origin of the coordinate systems, so therefore each and every one of us has our own coordinate system and our own system of measurement. So what appears to be a very short moment or a very beautiful moment for one person will be a very long moment for another person. I used this example in a podcast one time: There are two people in a temple. I have seen this many many times. One person is standing there looking at the Deity like “Ahhh, Kṛṣṇa!” and having this wonderful experience of devotion. And another person is standing there looking at his watch, “When are we gonna go?” bored out of his mind. It's the same temple, the same Deity, the same moment, yet one person is having a very deep spiritual experience, the other person is simply bored.

So the reality that each one experiences is due to their state of consciousness, their ontology, and the understanding and insight they bring to the experience. So really, the influence of the planets is not as strong as the influence of consciousness. The influence of consciousness is determined by the ontology that we possess; in other words our understanding, our background knowledge of how the world works and what's really important. So our values and our ontology determine how we experience different things. Because they give us the possibilities of experience and the limits of our experience and also our values, what we consider more important, what we consider less important. So the state of consciousness that a person is in is actually more important, more influential than the planets. The planets do have some influence though, and the more conditioned by material consciousness we are, the more influence the planets have. We've experienced this again and again in doing different astrological readings for different people, that when someone is enlightened or advanced in spiritual life, the different planetary changes have very little influence on their life. But when someone is in material consciousness then the planets have a lot of influence. Is there another question?

Uddhava: Jyotish describes the effects time has on consciousness, is that right?

Babaji: Yes, in general that’s right. And the particular influence that it has will depend on, as I was saying, how spiritually advanced the person is. The more spiritually advanced we are, the more choice we have about whether to accept or reject the influences. It's just like if, I don't know if you’ve ever been surfing, but if you’re surfing and a wave comes along, depending on how you orient your surfboard you can either take the wave and go for a ride, or pass on it and wait for the next one. So that's kind of what it's like when you’re enlightened or spiritually advanced, you have the ability to accept or reject the waves of gravitational, energetic influence that comes from the planets. If you're not so advanced, then you don't have a choice and you get swept along by the wave.

The material universe is more or less a machine. And, just like with any machine, the more intelligent we are, the more we are able to influence the operation of the machine. For example, if we have a car and the car breaks down, if we understand the principle of operation of the car, we can repair it. But if we don't understand how a car operates, we're helpless; we have to call a mechanic or we have to have the car towed into the shop. So it depends on our degree of understanding of the self, the human condition, the body and mind and the way the material world operates, how much influence we have over our own activities, over the different astrological influences and so forth. If we're developed in consciousness then we can actually choose to ignore a particular particular influence, or we know how to deal with it well enough that it doesn't disturb us. That is the value of astrology. For example, what was it, a couple of weeks ago there was this really bad astrological day, and everybody was suffering.

Uddhava: Two weeks ago.

Babaj: Yeah, two weeks ago that Mars/Pluto thing whatever it was. Oh yeah, remember Florian that's when you went on that trip with your friends, you couldn't have picked a worse time. Yeah, yeah that was when there was a very heavy astrological influence and anyone who was not spiritually conscious got completely caught up in it. And people were fighting like cats and dogs and it was nasty. So I just stayed, I just stayed in the house and preached, chanted and preached you know, and I was virtually untouched by it. I could feel it going on around me but it didn't really affect me because I had transcendental engagement. So, the advantage of bhakti-yoga is it takes us out of those material influences, it actually makes us immune to them.

You don't have to really be expert in Jyotish to be able to look at your chart and the current transits and see when you’re gonna have a good day, when you’re gonna have a bad day, when you’re going to have to apply a lot of will power to correct the influences, when things are gonna sneak up on you and when they're going to be really plain and obvious. Uh, that's really the value of this course I think. Not so much that you are trying to become a professional astrologer or something like that from this course. But that youre trying to get enough knowledge to look at your chart, and understand the particular forces that are acting at a particular time. So that you can deal with them or counteract them. I've been using astrology like that for the past ten years, and it's really saved me a lot of trouble and grief I tell you. Knowing when to lay low, and knowing when I can come out and try to make a push for advancement, has saved a lot of trouble. Knowing who I can trust and who I can't by doing their charts, has really been very very valuable.

Oh, he's asking what about now, not what about no, ok. Today is kind of a lightweight day it's not too heavy astrologically. The other day, what was that Wednesday or Thursday, that was a bad one. There was about eighteen different influences in the course of the day, that was a rough one.

OK so let's go on and finish up this introductory section on what is Jyotish, and then we can go on. Different features of the Jyotish sky are described in the Vedic scriptures. it's not that they are only mentioned in the astrology scriptures, they're mentioned in the general Vedic scriptures as well. For example, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

“This great machine, consisting of the stars and planets, resembles the form of a śiśumāra [dolphin] in the water. It is sometimes considered an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. Great yogīs meditate upon Vāsudeva in this form because it is actually visible. This form of the śiśumāra has its head downward and its body coiled. On the end of its tail is the planet of Dhruva, on the body of its tail are the planets of the demigods Prajāpati, Agni, Indra and Dharma, and at the base of its tail are the planets of the demigods Dhātā and Vidhātā. Where the hips might be on the śiśumāra are the seven saintly sages like Vasiṣṭha and Aṅgirā. The coiled body of the Śiśumāra-cakra turns toward its right side, on which the fourteen constellations from Abhijit to Punarvasu are located. On its left side are the fourteen stars from Puṣyā to Uttarāṣāḍhā. Thus its body is balanced because its sides are occupied by an equal number of stars. On the back of the śiśumāra is the group of stars known as Ajavīthī, and on its abdomen is the Ganges that flows in the sky [the Milky Way].” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.23.3-4]

So, the Vedic sages were very familiar with the anatomy of the milky way, the galaxy, the stars. And they described it as a dolphin, the shape of a dolphin in the sky. This is a huge shape in the sky, because on one side are the fourteen Naksatras on the eastern side of the universe and on the other side the fourteen Naksatras on the west. So, it's described as a great machine, Yantra. Yantra in Sanskrit means a machine or pattern, something that functions in a predictable or mechanical way.

Uddhava: The Matrix.

Babaji: The Matrix, yeah the Matrix. So here we are, where’s my sunglasses? We're stuck in the Matrix and were trying to get out. And what is the formula for getting out? Well of course, chanting the name of God, we know that. The mantra gives us release because it brings us to a level of reality that's not controlled by the machine. Still, we have to deal with the functions of the machine because as I said, it's a kind of trap. And so the Vedic knowledge gives us information about how the trap works.

Here you have all these stars, but which stars affect which areas of the human life? Well this is given by the houses, the Bhavas. Bhava means to exist, or the flavor of existence, it has a double meaning. So you can look at the houses and we'll see this later in a diagram. You can see the houses are like lenses, colored filters over the patterns of the stars in the sky. And we can turn this filter. it's like if you have a gel on a light in a theatre. Have you ever seen a spot light in a theatre, it has different colored gels and a wheel? And you can turn the wheel, and you can make the spotlight one color or another color, it's like that. The houses are superimposed on the map of the sky, the astrological signs or Rasis, Naksatras. And, by turning this wheel at different times of the day and night different parts of a persons life are influenced by the particular stars. They're like lenses or like filters, that only let through a certain color of light, a certain aspect of existence.

So the houses and the signs, or Bhavas and Rasis, interact, and this is the basis of astrological interpretation. Where is a person, which sign is a person born under, what stars are rising at the time of their birth. And then, from that point we can calculate which houses are effecting which aspects of a persons chart, the planets and so on. So, lets go on here. Now the divisional charts or Vargas, are harmonic charts that allow us to make a very fine, detailed, and nuanced analysis of how the Rasis and Bhavas are interacting. Just like as if you had, lets say a background chart, or like a map of the sky. And then on top of that you have this filter of different colors which is the houses. Then, you have a microscope that allows you to focus in on one area and look at it, examine it in a very detailed way. Well, that would be the Vargas or the divisional charts, harmonic charts. And lets say you have up to a power sixty microscope, you can expand the areas of the chart by up to sixty diameters. The sixty division chart, a very high harmonic chart. So you can examine by different magnifications, and in that way you can focus on certain functions of life which are, influenced by the different areas of the chart. And then of course there's the planets themselves. The planets are like, if you think of the chart with the houses and the signs, as a set, a stage. Like in a Shakespearean play, the stage may be set with a different street scene with houses on it. And then the planets are like actors that live in those houses and perform different roles. And they're active, they have different relationships with one another, they move around and do things. That's what the planets do. So it's like your chart is a stage, and the planets are the actors on that stage, and they move around in and out of the different houses and they perform activities, they have relationships with one another, and they also bring certain influences or focus, reflect certain influences from your chart depending on how the stage is set up. So, the planets may be the same for everyone, but the stage is different because we're born at different times and different places.

So just like a language, a language has nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. You could consider Jyotish a language that describes human life. And the four pillars, are like the four parts of speech we can use to make sentences, and they have their own grammar and syntax. So, the point is, the Four Pillars of astrology are the Grahas, the planets; the Rasis and Naksatras, the signs; the Vargas, the divisional charts; and the Bhavas or houses. These four fundamentals have to be mastered before you can really understand the science of how to interpret a chart. So I'm sure it would be very nice if we could just start casting charts and start interpreting them, but without mastering the fundamentals first, that would be like asking a musician who doesn't know how to play scales to sit down and play Beethoven’s Symphony. You could imagine the result of that. But we experience that all the time. There are many people that claim to understand Jyotish, but they don't have a really basic knowledge of these four pillars or four fundamentals: the planets, the Grahas; the Rasis and Naksatras, or signs; the Vargas or divisional charts; and the Bhavas or houses. You have to have a good grounding, just like a musician has to have a complete knowledge of scales, so that they become automatic, not have to think about them at all. These fundamentals have to be mastered. So this course will concentrate on these Four Pillars and mastering the four basic fundamental areas of Jyotish. Then later courses will deal with chart interpretation and combinations and so on.

So now one more topic before we move on, and that is the ontological function of the astrological chart. The astrological chart in Jyotish is called Kundali Cakra. Kundali means birth, and Cakra means a wheel. The sky is called a Cakra because it's a wheel, it moves around. It turns around the hub, which is the polestar, which is right now Polaris or Dhruva-loka. So the Kundali Cakra is a very interesting device; because even though it's based on time, it gives you a viewpoint that is exterior to time. What do I mean by that? When you cast a chart for someone, even though the chart is based on a certain place and time, you're actually looking down on time; and by manipulating the chart in various ways you can get a perspective on the different aspects of time.

Kundali means birth, Cakra means wheel. So in other words, by giving a map of time, the Kundali Cakra allows us to have a viewpoint that's outside of time. Just like if you look at a map for example, you may be standing on the ground, but by looking at a map it gives you an aerial view of the whole city. And that way it's very easy to find your way around, even though from ground level it may seem very confusing. Similarly, when were in time and were trying to deal with the changes in life, it can be very confusing. But the Kundali Cakra or astrological chart gives us an overview of time. It gives us a point of view that's above time just as a map gives us a point of view that's above the ground, even though we may be standing on the ground. So even though we may be stuck in time, stuck in the material energy, the astrological chart gives us a point of view that's outside of that energy. And, with the information given in the Vedic scriptures for interpreting a chart, it allows us to see what is the shape of time at a particular time when we are born, and how we can recognize what's going to happen in the future based on that information. Again, it only gives indications, it only gives influences, it's not the Absolute Truth. But it gives us an idea of how the trap is configured and how it is sprung, how it works and how it's catching us. And in that way we can counteract the influence of the trap and become free from the influence of material life. That is the value of astrology.