As long as the
information you receive is reliable, use any tool to further your
decision-making process. But apply your intelligence, gut feel and your FAITH too
to make your choices. You may make some right decisions and you may make some
decisions that go awry in Life. But whatever happens, you will have learned!
A friend told me yesterday
that astrology doesn’t work. And wondered if I believed in it!
I am often asked
this question. And my simple answer is the problem is really not with astrology
as much as it is with astrologers. Astrology is a science. And it works pretty
much like the way computer science or space technology or aviation works, Practitioners
of science can do both __ for instance, they make life saving drugs and they
make chemical weapons. Similarly, astrologers can be two kinds too. The ones
who are like good scientists – precise, reliable, modest and ethical. And the
others who are good with their craft but yet are greedy, want to control you so
they can fleece you and therefore employ questionable practices and rituals in
the name of ‘God’ and ‘religion’.
Obviously, people
are free to choose. I am one who likes the truth up front, on the table and
completely abhor religion and rituals. So, the astrologers I consult are those who
are Masters __ they are as good as Sachin Tendulkar or A R Rahman are in their
crafts.
Even so, I have
also learned that astrology cannot change your Life. In fact nothing can change
your Life’s design. And astrology can’t solve your problems. At best astrology
serves as a dashboard __ just as you need to know various parameters to be able
to drive your car efficiently, astrology can enable you to lead your Life
better. It can help you deal with your problems better. But the aspect of
leading your Life __ living it, being present, making choices, taking
decisions, all of this is, and will forever remain, ONLY YOUR responsibility.
And this is where
Faith comes into play. Faith, again what I have learned, is not about religion.
It is about understanding and celebrating Life. It is about being. Being
present, than about worrying or fearing, when Life is happening to you! I have
learned to simply trust Life, which has given me this lifetime, and trust
people who are Masters in their craft, their science, and lead it to the best
of my ability. I employ astrology like I do a weather forecast. If I know it is
going to be squally, I may prefer being indoors. Or if there are going to be
showers, I will be better off carrying an umbrella. Just because the weather
forecast says a storm lies ahead, I don’t plunge into a depression. And I sincerely
hope no one does too. To be sure, praying to a God is not going to stop a Sandy
hurricane from hitting you. A weather forecast and a natural calamity doesn’t
mean you stop living. It only means you work on being better prepared. And you
learn to accept whatever’s happening with the weather. So it is with you, your
Life and astrology. Trust if you will, choose not to if you won’t! 
Now you may
wonder, and it is quiet logical, as to why and how do you trust someone who
knows a science that you don’t. That’s precisely why you need that person. If
you knew about something why would you need someone else to guide you? And don’t
you trust a doctor, who knows how your heart or kidneys or lungs or liver work
better than you do, with your Life when you sign up for a surgery? And don’t
you also trust a pilot, whom you have not even met nor demanded to see his pilot’s
license to check his credentials, with your Life when you board an aircraft to
fly? So, why not trust an astrologer__who, by the way, is no small subject
matter expert!
Good astrologers,
like good doctors, are not charlatans or soothsayers. They are seers __ they
have seen Life and see its inscrutable nature several-fold better than you or I
do!
There was a time
when, under advise from some quarters, I wore rings with special gems in them,
on my fingers to ‘help protect me during my difficult times’. I was not
convinced with this. But I still wore them because I thought I was not losing
anything by wearing them. On one visit to my astrologer, a 75-year-old veteran,
I showed him my rings and asked for his opinion.
He laughed heartily
first! Then he asked: “Kallaala vidhi-ya matra mudiyuma, Saar?” ‘Can a stone
change your destiny?’
I stared at him
curiously. The absurdity of my choice and expectation that a pre-ordained
design can be altered by wearing a ring became evident to me in a nano-second!
I felt woefully stupid.
Then, he answered
his own question: “Bhakti ala matrum mudiyum.” “Only devotion can change it.”
I also understood
that the devotion he was talking about was not religious fervor. He invited me
to stay devoted to the experience I was going through. He said experience is
the ONLY teacher. And the more I resisted the experience of the challenging
time I was being subjected to, the more I would suffer. Instead if I embraced
it, loved it and devoted myself to the learning process, I may not suffer. Not
that I can immediately change my current reality, he said, but I would be able to
deal with it infinitely better.
I just loved his
perspective and could relate to it completely. So, I put my faith in his
advice. Astrology to me is a tool. It helps me take informed decisions. I use
it as well as I use my cell phone. And both work on science!
As you can see, my
Life goes on __ ridden with squally weather, hailstorms and cyclones, volcanoes,
forest fires and earthquakes, but there’s phenomenal inner peace. Occasionally,
I go back to astrology to refresh the forecast and my Life’s dashboard, so that
I can lead myself and my family onward, on the path, that much better!
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