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December *Light On Vedic Astrology* Newsletter
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In This Issue:
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December 7, 2003
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India's Amazing Books of Prophecy - The Nadi Shastras
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Newsclip: Hindu Holy Man Who Doesn't Eat or Drink Baffles Doctors
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December Graphical Ephemeris
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Following Mars' Transits
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In The Next Issue & Namaste
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Namaste and Happy Holiday friends!
As we're nearing the close of 2003 I want to share with you a few fascinating articles that stretch our imagination and I think will aid us in starting the New Year with a broad vision of what's possible.
Astrology gives a broad bird's eye view of our lives that helps us step out of our day to day mundane struggles. It helps us develop faith in a larger view of life by showing that there really is a rhyme and reason to the circumstances confronting us. A reading gives us a chance to see the "forest from the trees" so that we can make conscious and informed decisions and take clear directions in our lives.
The Nadi Shastras, India's ancient books of prophecy, takes these concepts to a whole new dimension.
THE MYSTERIOUS NADI SHASTRAS SAW IT ALL BEFORE
Hinduism Today October 1998
Imagine walking into a simple dwelling in India and having someone you have never met pull out an ancient palm leaf and begin reading about your past, telling about the house you were born in and the name of your parents. Hard to believe, but persons are daily intrigued by such details at the Chennai home of Mr. Durai Subburathinam, a "Nadi reader."
Nadi astrology is relatively unknown in the West, and even in India it's surrounded by mystery. Thousands of palm-leaf bundles of prophecy, going by the name of Nadi Granthas in Tamil in South India and Bhrigu Samhitas in Sanskrit in the North, expound minute details about a person's life, including their name, caste, occupation, medical problems and remedies.
Subburathinam says the existence of the leaves can be traced back at least 2,000 years. Reading the leaves is a hereditary profession, passed down from father to son. The leaves are said to be authored by the Sapta Rishis (seven sages), who long ago used their divine sight to look into the future and give details about the lives of every soul who would one day go for a Nadi reading.
Another theory--different from the idea that leaves exist only for those who will come--is that readings for all possible horoscopes were written on the leaves.
The respected astrologer BV Raman spent many years trying to unravel their mystery. He found most readers were able to give detailed information of one's past up to the present, but only a few could accurately predict the future. The best system, according to Raman, were the 36 Tantra Nadis. Each Tantra Nadi contains 1,588,320 astrological charts, which re-occur every 360 years.
A third theory is that kshudra devatas (angels, spirit beings) pass on information about the individual to the Nadi reader.
Raman said, "The correctness of the forecasts depended upon the intensity of the rituals performed and recitation of the mantra to propitiate the devata."
Raman cites an example of a palm leaf: "The native will be born in a holy city on the coast of the ocean. At the age of 20, he will go to a foreign country. His mother will die at the age of 22 in his absence. He will marry at 13. At 32, he will be a lawyer. He will always speak truth and will be pure in heart. There will be no distinction between his thoughts, words and deeds. Before the age of 65, he will meet the king of the white race. He will resort to fasting for the good of the world and will live beyond the age of 70." These accurate details were on the leaf for Mahatma Gandhi.
In Hoshiapur, Punjab, the Nadi reader casts a chart for the moment you walk in his door and then proceeds to find the appropriate leaf, which may take hours. At Subburathinam's Nadi centre in Chennai, only your thumb print is used. The particular pattern of lines in the center of the thumb is identified, and the corresponding set of palm leaves are then taken.
Subburathinam makes it clear that "We are only Nadi readers. What is written on the leaves is read and explained by us. We ourselves do not add anything. Some clients get irritated when some of the facts are unpleasant. We cannot help it. Common people and VIPs from all walks of life have consulted us. We show them the particular leaf with the predictions, and some of our customers are able to read the leaves on their own. Some even buy their leaves for preservation. The language is poetic, and the script is the same as in the ancient temples. We have only a certain amount of leaves. Natives whose leaves are here will somehow or other come to us at the appropriate age specified on the leaves from any corner of the world. Leaves are there not only for Indians, but also for foreigners belonging to other religions. Whoever is destined to look into the leaves will come to us on his own accord. The very word Nadi in Tamil means 'destined to come on its own accord.' So, we do not advertise for our profession. Whoever is destined to come will come. Faith is the root of our system."
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Transits of the slowest moving planets will generally be the most significant and give the most tangible results. Therefore, next to the transits of Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu and Ketu we should follow the transits of Mars.
Mars transit usually takes about 2 months to transit through a sign. However, on December 5th Mars finally went into Pisces for 6 weeks after an unusually long 6 months in Aquarius. You may remember that in August Mars got a lot of press for being the closest to the earth in some 50,000 years!
Mars is the planet of action and energy and therefore its transits will stimulate us towards action while energizing the house it's transiting or aspecting as well as the planets it aspects. Mars is also the planet of war and will show the areas where we may need to attend to potential conflicts.
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Generally Mars' best transits are the upachaya houses 3,6,10, or 11 from the ascendant or Moon.
Here's a basic list of indications of MARS TRANSIT IN PISCES FROM DEC 5TH - JANUARY 25th, 2004, based on your ascendant or Moon.
(Aries) Mars in the 12th - Taking action in your inner spiritual life, spending time alone, doing humanitarian work, or charities. Dealing with repressed anger, debts.
(Taurus) Mars in the 11th - Taking action in your social life, friends, organizations, developing side incomes, and taking advantage of new opportunities. Dealing with conlicts in these areas.
(Gemini) Mars in the 10th - Taking action in your career, promoting yourself, or dealing with conflicts with employers, authorities etc.
(Cancer) Mars in the 9th - Taking action with regards to spiritual knowledge, asserting your beliefs, and ideas. Dealing with conflicts with father, teachers, gurus, the legal system etc.
(Leo) Mars in the 8th - Taking action with regards to difficult situations that you may not want to deal with that are needing to be transformed and changed. Could involve joint finances, chronic health problems, loans, debts, or psychological issues.
(Virgo) Mars in the 7th - Taking action or dealing with conflicts in your relationships, marriage or partnerships, asserting your needs, developing patience with others etc.
(Libra) Mars in the 6th - Taking action with regards to your health, daily work, service, debts. Dealing with conflicts with enemies, co-workers, tenants, employees, or problems involving overwork, stress, or accidents.
(Scorpio) Mars in the 5th - Taking action with regards to creative or intellectual pursuits, expressing yourself artistically, playfully, doing spiritual practices. Dealing with conflicts with children. Careful to not invest or take risks impulsively.
(Sagitt) Mars in the 4th - Taking action with regards to your home, domestic environment, internal life - perceptions and feelings. Dealing with conflicts with your mother or family life.
(Capricorn) Mars in the 3rd - Taking action with regards to communcatings your ideas, advertising, writing, creative pursuits, asserting your will, strength and courage. Dealing with conflicts with siblings.
(Aquarius) Mars in the 2nd - Taking action with regards to your finances, earning ability, accumulating things that you value, improving your diet.
(Pisces) Mars in the 1st - Taking action with regards to your health, asserting or defending yourself, focusing your energies, taking charge of your life etc.
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A friend of mine recently asked me if I saw the CNN newsclip about a holy man from India who doesn't eat or drink. "They say he hasn't had anything to eat or drink for 68 years!!"
I was impressed, but not nearly as impressed as my friend. I had read about a female yogini, Giri Bala in Paramhansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi", who used certain yoga techniques to live without food and water for many years.
Also, while in India in 2000 I had talked to fellow travelers in New Delhi who met a young male yogi in his 30's who didn't eat or drink and was walking across India. I just missed meeting him myself by one week. He meditates while facing the Sun, and draws all his nourishment from the solar energy.
India has such an amazing heritage of spiritual practitioners that we often just have no idea of in the West. Here's the article about Sri Prahlad Jani, the yogi who doesn't eat or drink.
CNN ARTICLE:
MYSTIC'S FAST BAFFLES DOCTORS
AHMEDABAD, INDIA- Thursday, November 27, 2003;
The magician's recent stunt of going 44 days without food is child's play compared with the alleged efforts of India's Prahlad Jani.
This 76-year-old Indian mystic claims to have survived the past 68 years -- yes, years -- without eating, drinking or going to the toilet.
It's an astonishing claim, and one which is being investigated by a team of doctors at the Sterling Hospital in Ahmedabad in India's of the state of Gujarat.
So far, doctors have subjected Jani to a 10-day trial under 24 hour surveillance and have been astonished by their findings.
The reclusive Jani -- who normally lives in a cave about 120 kilometers north of Ahmedabad -- did not eat, drink or relieve himself for 10 days.
"Jani has not passed urine since he was brought here on November 12. He has not taken anything by mouth or by any other route not even water during this period," Dr Urman Dhruv of The Association of Physicians of Ahmedabad, told The Times of India.
"All his parameters are within the normal physiological range. Initially, the project was to continue for seven days but his health allowed us to extend it," said Dhruv.
What's more, there was the baffling discovery that Jani's body appeared to form urine, but that was then reabsorbed back into the bladder wall.
"He underwent all possible medical investigations -- from checking blood pressure to MRI of brain and gut, which were normal," Dr Sudhir Shah, a neurologist, told the Times of India.
"Perhaps, he is more fit than other people of his age. This is an attempt to understand a new dimension in medical science and help mankind."
Jani's explanation is simpler. He has been blessed by the gods after hearing his calling when he was eight years old.
"I get the elixir of life from the hole in my palate, which enables me to go without food and water," news agencies quoted Jani as saying.
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