Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: There might be something to ASTROLOGY

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

There might be something to ASTROLOGY

How Astrology Can Guide Your Leadership Path with Vish Chatterji (Create Magic at Work)

Do Buddhists believe in astrology?

Do Buddhists believe? As we've said many times, Buddhists can and do anything they want and believe as suits them. Should they? That's a different story. If they find it useful. Certainly, there is a wrong way of grasping things, as with snakes to extract valuable venom for antidotes. But grasped in a safe way, with care and skill, it may be possible to do much with things in the world.

Before launching into an astrological session, one might want to ask an alleged astrologer, psychic, or soothsayer what future they are reading. This will confuse them. Then give them the simple binary choice of "the future that will be" or "the future that might be."

Having asked this of many, it is a wonder how little they thought about it. Is everything (in their view) fate, and one is just reading the map of what will and must happen, or is it freewill, and nothing need happen, but the probability is it might?

If everything is fate, there's no need to know. If everything is freewill, what's the point because what can be known? Smart ones will say it's a bit of both. Some things have to happen, whereas others can be avoided with some direction from them. Vish Chatterji has a good spin in that he claims that the Vedas teach that there's always something that can be done. (Teaching that everything that happens here on earth is the back and forth of karma, he thinks some things have to happen to us but that, with help, they can be managed better to make them more pleasant).

My story

Of course mainstream newspaper "horoscopes" (astrological forecasts) are a bit of a joke. (Papers only print for 12 signs even though there are 13, leaving out Ophiuchus. And there are 8 billion people, so there are only a dozen kinds of day they'll all be having?) They are too general, meant to appeal to readers to increase newspaper sales. It shouldn't even be called astrology.

The question is not, Is all astrology fake? The question is, Is any astrology real? And as for that, one would have to conclude that the answer is...

I became a believer not because I had my chart read but because I didn't.

I was visiting the local Buddhist temple in LA, where I liked to visit to the library and peruse the many titles on the Dharma. One day a monk said to me, "Sorry, not today." I was confused. What could he mean?

How could he stand in the way of me trying to learn and have all my questions answered through reading? I sat by the kitchen, looking over at the library door, which was closed. When the monk went away, I was going to go have a look. I was surprised to see someone coming out in a hurry. When I got up to go in, someone else arrived and rushed in. I took a seat.

Before long that person left, and another came. I'd never seen the library get so much traffic. What could they be reading. This kept happening until finally I asked a monk what was going on. He mentioned that a famous astrologer from the old country was seeing wealthy patrons of the temple. They were all eager to have their charts and futures read. I was baffled. These were wealthy doctors, businessmen, and engineers. Why would they go in for horoscope when they could just read on the floor of their budgies' cages or head over to the Venice Boardwalk to get their palms read by a soothsayer?

To the Moon or Rahu

Eventually, a man I had never seen came out. He was dressed in a modern way but clearly from the old country, an old man and fat. He asked for my help, being in need of a printer. A printer, photocopies? There's a Kinko's down the street. No, he corrected me, I need a machine that prints. Where are they? The temple printer must have been down again, out of toner.

What does the future hold Lady Unluck?

He asked where he could buy one. A printer? Yes. Just buy some toner and put it in that machine. No, he needed a high-quality laser printer ASAP and was willing to pay big money for it. He asked if I wouldn't mind fetching him one or taking him. I agreed. He was willing to throw $500 dollars or more at the purchase. He wanted it just for today, as he was printing out people's charts.

That's who was coming and going and what they were doing in the library. I told him they didn't take returns on printers. No matter, he assured me. It would more than pay for itself in one day. He was so happy to get it and have it to finish his appointments that he offered me a free reading.

I said no way. I wasn't interested in silliness. It's not very Buddhist, wherein the Buddha defined karma as the action we take now, the choice, the steering of our own ship, acting as lamps unto ourselves. He was shocked. His clients paid big money to see him, often flying to the old country to hope for an open appointment. He claimed he was always busy. All he needed was my birth date and time.

I don't know the time. He said it didn't really matter. I said, Aha, of course it doesn't matter because it's nonsense!

Then he said the first thing that convinced me. He said the reason it didn't matter was because we would soon find out if that was the correct time; if it were not, he would be able to tell me the correct time. I asked how. He explained that when he had the correct date and time, it would all line up. What would all line up? The big events in my life.

He offered the reading again. I declined, explaining to him that while I was not superstitious, I was concerned about being subconsciously programmed by his charismatic confidence. It's not that I think that what you will say will come true or has to, it's that I fear it will come true because you said it, because at some level I believed you or feared it and thereby made a self-fulfilling prophecy out of it.

He understood. I was shocked that he did. He offered to tell me when I would get married, how many children I would have, what city I would live in. I laughed and said, you see, you got it all wrong. I don't want any of those things. I try to watch carefully that none of those things come to pass. Maybe astrology is for people who want those mundane (worldly) things.

I would rather renounce it all and become a wearer of a saffron robe. He said he could tell me when that would happen, how it would go, when I would succeed (become enlightened?) and other details. I said, you might tell me I won't succeed in this life and then I won't, not because I wouldn't but because you said I wouldn't. I can't take that chance.

He understood again. In fact, he understood so well that he said the ultimate thing, the thing I was never expecting, the smackdown that shut me the heck up and left me in awe and speechless, paralyzed, a believer:

He said, I understand. So let's go in there (to the library) and do your chart -- but only up until today.

What do you mean? I mean, he explained, I will go backwards and tell you every significant thing that has already happened.

You can do that?!?! Sure I can. I'm going to lay out your whole life, what your potentials were when you were born, what you chose, when you chose it...

You can't know that!

I don't know anything, he said; your chart will show it, and I'll tell you what it means. He added, I didn't make it happen. It can't be called a "self-fulfilling prophecy" IF we limit our talking to what has already happened and why.

My eyes widened, and he invited me to take advantage of the opportunity yet again, as he would be gone soon, back in the old country, where he assured me he was very famous and always busy, guiding many.

I later asked the monks about him, and they all confirmed that he was indeed very famous and that all his clients (who were Buddhists and patrons of the temple) spoke very highly of him and his business and life advice. That double shut me up.

How to dress a Scythian prince

This weekend at the Kathina (the sacred robe offering) ceremony, I was reminded of all this as a very pious Buddhist man saw me looking at some Buddhist paintings hung on the wall. He thought he explain. I said I knew what all of them were except one. Why was the baby Buddha (the infant Prince Siddhartha) levitating at his birth. (That wasn't his birth but him at age 7, when he spontaneously entered meditative absorption (jhana, dhyana, samadhi, zen, chan, seon) under a tree during the Scythian (Saka, Shakya) planting festival. His father, King or Chief Suddhodana, saw him and bowed. Surely, according to popular Mahayana and Theravada accounts, what happened was (the Still Shadow Miracle) that he was left in the shade of that tree by his nurses, who wanted to see the festivities up close, and as he meditated, the shade did not move off of him even as the sun traveled in the sky to another angle.
The man, not realizing we were talking about different events, with me thinking this is the birth at age 1 (because in Asia one is born already being 10 lunar months old or "1") and him thinking it is obviously being the first absorption at age 7. Not realizing we saw two different things, he tried to explain the miracle and got into astrology. I told he the above story, and he finished it then begged me for the man's name. I said, I thought everyone knew this man, so you should tell me his name so I can go to him now, and we laughed. Siddhartha levitated at age 7?

Of course, we're Americans. We were weaned on doubt and sacrilege, questioning and overturning things. We don't want old tried and true belief systems to pan out. We want to think everybody was dumb and that now with science we'll be smart. There's a reason why people hold on to the past and traditions. They work. They may not work well or completely, but they work.

Vedic Astrologer on Coast to Coast, Oct. 29

Vish Chatterji is a celebrated Vedic astrologer, yogi, and business coach. He makes the ancient wisdom of India accessible and actionable for modern seekers, helping them find balance and success through true self-understanding. He'll discuss practical insights and tips on how to improve your relationships, based on your planetary personality type, zodiac sign, and rising sign. AUDIO (10/29/24)

Chatterji is an astrologer, yogi, and business coach who makes the ancient wisdom of the Ayurvedic system of India accessible and actionable for modern seekers.

In this audio he delves into Vedic astrology and his coaching practice, which incorporates Ayurvedic principles, categorizing people into three archetypes:

Vata (airy creative type),
Pitta (fiery type), and
Kapha (earthy type).

Chatterji suggests that the Vedic astrological system aligns with what we actually see in the sky and can therefore be more accurate than Western astrology.

He also touches on the mythological significance of Rahu and Ketu (the shadowy causes of eclipses), lunar nodes in Vedic astrology.

They're not planets but points where solar or lunar eclipses occur, representing shadows in space, he explains, linking their symbolism to the human experience of temptation and enlightenment through a captivating ancient mythology about gods (devas, "shining ones") and demons (asuras, titans, anti-devas).

Highlighting how astrology serves as a tool for self-discovery, he says, "The more misaligned we are to our divine plan... the more we have unhappiness."

He stresses the importance of understanding our soul's purpose to regain balance, noting that with Vedic astrology, "There's always a remedy... there's always hope."

His new book, Astrology Decoded, aims to simplify Vedic astrology for everyday readers, offering insights into planetary personalities (with each celestial body having a definite character, Mars being angry, Saturn being organized, Venus being gentle, etc.) and practical remedies.

Astrology, he adds, "is beyond religion" and connects us to a universal consciousness.

He lives in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and gives readings. Callers called in with their exact birth date and time for accurate astrological readings; even a few minutes can account for significant differences (but he'll soon know if that time written on records was recorded accurately). More + AUDIO