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Vedic Astrology is about time.  It is thereby not just about knowing the life.  Vedic Astrology is about planning the life.

 

 

Traditional Navagraha Vedic Astrology

     Navagraha is Sanskrit meaning Nine Planets (Nava is 9 and Graha is planets.)  This is the traditional Indian method -- counting the five Grahas from Mercury to Saturn, the Sun and Moon and Rahu/Ketu (the eclipse points, which are two halves of a dragon in Hinduism).

     Graha specifically means to seize, or grab hold, describing the influences (karmas) symbolized by these heavenly bodies.  Graha, then, is not defined as planet but as an influence.  Philosophically, this is consistent with the Hindu labeling Vedic Astrology as the Science of Light and the Eye of the Vedas.  Indians use astrology to predict their (future) fate. for free will is perceived as limited.  This article Navagraha article from Wikepedia gives further detail.

     Westerners don't like the idea of fate, but, there are certainly many events and circumstances in your life you do not control.  So, a mix of fate and free will is realistic, and knowing your fate must empower your free will.  Further as Westerns too use astrologers to predict the future, there's a deep-seated understanding in both the East and West that fate exists.

    

     While Navagraha Vedic Astrology is not (yet) a commonly accepted term, it identifies the traditional application of Vedic Astrology, which is a complete system within itself -- and again, a predictive astrology, or to be more accurate, the predictive astrology.   Note that this web site is named Vedic Predictive Astrology.

 

  ...the subtle and causal gravities of the Nine Grahas (planets) influence the way in which we experience the results of our karmas by seizing and controlling our subtle and causal bodies.  By analogy, although thought has minimal 'reality' in the physical universe, it is the cause of most physical actions that most humans perform.


-Light On Life by Hart DeFouw

 

 

    The term Navagraha also serves to differentiate India's astrology from modern Western Neo-Vedic astrologers.  Neo-Vedics are people initially schooled in psychological Western Astrology who retain this native language's commitment to the outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) and a myriad of techniques that can often prove anything -- often after the fact.   They bring in Vedic principles, concepts and techniques the Western psychological system to enhance their practice.  Chakapani Ullal, the dean of Indian astrologers in the U.S., calls this mixing of the systems, goulash.   A linguistic analogy is Spanglish

     Amazingly, although Western Hindus tend to adhere to Navagraha, lots of Buddhists regularly believe in, and even practice, Western Astrology, some even Neo-Vedic.  This results even though Western has no philosophical or religious framework, and Buddhism is such a close cousin to Hinduism with its shared Vedic beliefs in karma, detachment, reincarnation.  This is a mystery.

     The void between traditional Navagraha and Western Neo-Vedic Astrology is fundamental, and the public deserves to be informed of this distinction before selecting an astrologer.  That is, if you seek the pure light of Vedic knowledge to illuminate your karmic path, then you need a Navagraha Vedic Astrologer.

 

Copyright Doug Riemer 1998-2010