Destiny
Astrology
Many people do not accept the concept of planets and their chemistry being co-related to ours. The subject of Astrology, which attempts to map this, is often scoffed at. Of course, there are a lot of quacks in the market who study the basics and become astrologers to earn a quick buck. There are others who scare gullible people into performing expensive pujas. Others do not have the talent, are plain lazy, and do not want to get into the finer details in order to predict with detailed analysis. Their impatience can make them miss out on some combinations that might help them analyse the chart accurately. But, a bad doctor does not the science of medicine unmake.
Let us understand the subject and see how it works. Let us also examine why it seems to not work.
The birth of a person is considered to be a mahurat. It is the moment of time corrected by adjusting the longitude, so that it is not IST or GMT but time at that specific place. At the mahurat of Birth, the planets are juxtaposed in a particular configuration. Both vis- a-vis the place of birth, as well as with reference to each other.
At this frozen moment of time, which is at a particular cross-section of time and space, a chart is made showing the position of the planets as placed in the zodiac, divided into 12 signs like Sagittarius, Libra, Scorpio, etc.
The position of each planet in different signs of the zodiac and their interaction with the other planets, both in the frozen birth chart and their movement thereafter, indicate the trends of a person’s future. The future is that of the mahurat, or the particular moment, and works congruently with the future of the person, animal, plant or anything taking birth at that mahurat in the physical plane. It could be the inauguration of a shop or the launch of an enterprise as well.
The frozen chart at the time of mahurat is called the Birth Chart or kundali and the movement of the planets as time goes by is called the transit. After the chart is frozen at the time of birth, the planets continue to move at their own pace thereafter, shifting their location as compared to the birth configuration. Just like the sun shifts each month to a different sign, so do other planets at a different pace. The Sun comes back to each sign in a year, Jupiter in 12 years, Saturn in several more as it stays in each sign for 2.5 to 3 years.
Due to the fact that the planets move at different paces, their chemistry does not remain the same as it was at the mahurat of Birth. It is dynamic and gives a number of configurations leading to innumerable results. This is what makes the subject hard to interpret. But it also makes life so variable and unpredictable.
I have tried to simplify the subject only for you to get a whiff of it. The method described above is called Vimshotri technique. In this there is the system of dasas or periods ruled by the planets. Whichever sign is rising in the N.E. (at your birth time) is called the ascendant. They have also devised a system of configuring how many years belong to each planet where it is considered the ruler of a dasa or a period of time. For example, each person’s life is divided into 120 years and the nine planets have a share of those 120 years. Some have less and some more.
Thus, the dasa or period of Jupiter (where it is the major influence) lasts 16 years, the Sun - 7 years, Moon - 9 years, Venus - 20 years, Rahu - 18 and so on. Each dasa unfolds a particular broad destiny trend of its own. This depends on where the planet is placed in your birth chart and which celestial bodies are influencing it. The influences could be other planets occupying a position near it in the same sign, or an aspect from an opposite or diagonally opposite sign. To complicate things further, the planet can be in a house or sign that is friendly or unfriendly. Each dasa is divided into sub-periods and inter-periods which are periods within periods, just like there are smaller gear wheels which turn larger ones. The trend of this period will vary based on these and many more factors. The pages above are not to help you become astrologers, they are a semi-detailed explanation to make you understand that the subject is far more intricate and deep than reading your Star Sign messages in the daily newspaper.
The analysis of how to judge the trends was discovered by ancient fathers who understood this science intuitively and left it behind as a legacy to future generations. Astrologers say that these scriptures were partial documents of a perfect science, propounded by Lord Shiva himself and passed on by his consort Parvati to the seven Rishis. They were re-documented later by Rishi Parashar and it is that knowledge that flows down to us today.
In spite of its missing links and shortcomings, the science of Astrology, Tarot or Palmistry can amaze people with the ability to predict events.
My wife’s classmate Maggie was standing for elections in a particular state. He was a second-generation politician, his father having a reputation of being honest. A lotus in the pond! Maggie had worked hard for over 10 years in his constituency. He was loved by friends, associates, and the public. He attended all marriages, death ceremonies and functions of villagers in his constituency and gave gifts to all the villagers out of his personal earnings. He was sure to win. I unfortunately, connected him to my friend, an astrologer in the U.S. After asking for his date of birth, place and time, he quickly calculated the position of the planets on his software and five minutes later, he said there was no chance Maggie could win this election. He said only if all other candidates died could he possibly win. Maggie had been told he was a sure winner. His face fell! The Astrologer called back a little later and said four years later his luck would change and Maggie would win the next election hands down. No question. Maggie lost the upcoming election! Four years later, he was appointed the State Secretary of his party. Five years later, he won despite heavy odds against him. Does Maggie believe in Astrology now? As this book goes into print, the astrologer says he has a great career ahead. Good luck Maggie!
Personally, I have had the opportunity of witnessing many predictions come true. Our friend was getting married to a member of our Club.
The lines on the palms are indicative of the future trends of our lives.
They had been dating for four years. The Astrologer, mentioned earlier, was also a member of Otters Club. After reading her palm, he said she should not marry her fiancé. The marriage would not last. We all laughed, they got married, had a couple of kids, and then got divorced. Uncanny!
My brother-in-law was a senior executive of one of India’s largest multinationals. He was popular and liked by all his seniors. When my sister showed his horoscope to my friend, the Astrologer, he said he didn’t see a good future in my brother-in-law’s chart. He said my sister would be the bread earner. Unfortunately she is. He died in an air crash 20 years ago.
A senior executive in my company was looking disturbed for many months. I kept wondering what was bothering him. I called up my friend in New York and gave him the details of his birth chart. A few minutes later, he asked me what the matter was. I said my executive’s depression. I could not believe what the Astrologer said next. He said my executive had been having an extra-marital affair which may have gone sour. That was the cause of his sadness. Hesitantly, I asked the executive if he was having an affair. He said “Sir, do you think I am that kind of person?” I said, “Not at all.” The astrologer had erred for sure. Six months later, the executive told me about his affair and wanted advice on what to do about it.
Tarot
If you look beyond Astrology and Palmistry at Tarot, there too is a lot to mystify you. My wife’s sister-in-law is a brilliant Tarot Reader.
My daughter was fed up of working with a real estate developing company and wanted to resign. She asked her aunt Bindu (the Tarot Reader) to do a reading. The Tarot Reader said it’s a good idea and my daughter should resign. She told my daughter not to worry, she may get another job the same day. I was irritated with those weirdly sized cards.
That evening had a story to tell. My daughter resigned and the M.D. of her company accepted, but offered her another job in the same company, with a completely different profile. Maybe they weren’t so weird, those Tarot cards.
Psychic Predictions - a personal experience
When I was in college, I liked a girl, but it just wasn’t working. I used every strategy in the book. The flowers, the violin, the charm. It worked and then it didn’t. I was depressed. I wasn’t used to the weight of that little word ‘No’. I visited a lady called ‘Mataji’ in Dadar. Many had praised her psychic abilities. My friend Gopal drove me there. He didn’t really ask where we were going. When we found the address and went into Mataji’s house, we saw an unimpressive lady seated on the floor. She said “me Mataji” in Marathi. Before we knew what to say, she said Gopal would be in bed for 15 days if he did not change his high-heeled boots. She also told him he was having an affair with a Muslim lady living a few houses away from him. When he looked defiant, she said her name was Rehana or Rukshana, she had a round face and was married. Gopal was out of there. And he did trip, got a nasty sprain and was in bed for two weeks.
I was quite nervous and speechless. She said, show me her photo. I did. It was in an envelope. How did she know? Anyway, she said you will have no relationship with this girl. There were several girls in the photo! She pointed to the one. She said her mother had asthma and ulcers. The next day, the young lady confirmed the mother’s ailments, but could not figure out how I knew. And nothing developed between us. Thank God for that! Finally I married a much nicer person (a little aggressive in old age, but nicer all the same).
Sabina’s Tryst with a Psychic
A well-known restauranteer’s girlfriend was working with British Airways. Her boyfriend was about to launch a high-profile restaurant in Mumbai. It was a huge gamble. She went to see a psychic in London to ask how this venture would fare. The psychic said it would do well and that she saw a small pond with fish in it. Her name was Ann Walker. She had a spirit guide whose name was White Arrow (I guess spirits need better branding agents!). Sabina disagreed. She said there was no fish tank at all. The psychic claimed she could see it and she was certain.
Sabina had not been to her boyfriend’s restaurant for a few days and had no clue about the open fish tank that had been suggested by their Vaastu Consultant. When she returned, she was surprised to see the fish tank. Her husband is one of India’s best-known restauranteers. His name is A.D. Singh.
The most unique predictions I experienced were with Gurudev. Twenty-five to thirty years ago he had said Mumbai would be flooded, many would die and water levels would rise to a high point. It happened two decades after he passed on.
My father and I were going to Gurgaon from Chandigarh by road. We had a long argument between Ambala and Karnal. I insisted on meeting Gurudev on our way back and grudgingly my father accepted. He sat in the car and I walked into Gurudev’s house to take his blessings. He looked at me disappointed and asked if I’d argued with my father. I mumbled and said it was nothing. He went on to repeat both our conversations in exact words. Shocking! How? He then advised me to apologise and I did.
One of my college friends and I regularly met Gurudev together. He was a simple Chartered Accountant with a small practice, but a magnanimous heart. Gurudev would often say to him “I will make you a world famous leader and one of India’s best politicians.” We would be thrilled to hear this, but there was no sign to suggest that this might come true. He wasn’t even a member of any political group. Years passed and he rose in rank to become Chairman of a Public Limited Co. Three months before the Parliamentary elections, he was offered a seat by a party. He was a minister for seven years, holding four important portfolios. He is invited internationally to give talks on various platforms and admired for his humility and honesty. He acknowledges Guru’s grace, lives simply and does not take advantage of his position. Surprisingly, his wife and son are both humble and never try to impress. He knows what is today, was exactly what was meant to be. Hence the humility. He does his utmost to fulfil his duty and goes out of his way to be nice to his junior most workers. He considers his job an opportunity to serve people. That is his purusharth (self-effort).
There are many more stories, but I guess the ones above are adequate to make a case. Is it possible to know the future?
Yes! Yes! Yes! A many times, Yes!
Later in this book, I will share some case studies about the predictions of the Bhrigu Samhita in Hoshiyarpur. Of how I saw them unfold as a witness. Add to this collection of my stories, the predictions of Nostradamus, the famous Indian astrologer B.V. Raman, and what does it spell? It spells Destiny.
So, and it’s a big so, if the trends of our life are predetermined and the future has already happened in a cross section of time and space that lies ahead, how do we examine the concept of Guilt? Nostradamus had predicted the life of Hitler, 400 years before Hitler was born. So did the little man have the choice of not being the architect of the Second World War? Could he have stopped the chain of events and misery that he seemed to have created? Could Alexander have become a trumpeter instead, Jesus, a star carpenter, Buddha, a benevolent King?
Life does not happen the way it logically should. Circumstances are not predictable through logic. We are destined to orchestrate those screw-ups. Say stupid things. Be selfish, be charitable, be indifferent or insensitive or we could be self-sacrificing and become Gandhis (not these political ones) or Martin Luther Kings or Guru Gobind Singhs.
The boy who went to study law in England, never planned to walk around in khadi and win a war of independence. He never planned to fast in protest. Destiny had it for him to become a Mahatma.
There are many billionaires. How many turn around from being cut-throat businessmen to pure philanthropists? Why Bill Gates? Why Azim Premji? Why Warren Buffet?
Destiny: A Fructification
Destiny is a result of the line-up of karmas waiting to fructify. They can do so only in sync with the chemistry of the planets. When the movement of planets is negative for you, your negative karmas will get fructified. And conversely, when you have a good star movement, you will have your desires fulfilled, be lucky in love, money, fame, war, or whatever seems to be positive (though it may not really be so).
Even the dreams you get during positive planetary movements can be good ones with spiritual visions and happy experiences.
These karmas are fruits of the stored up samskaras in the long-term memory of our inner consciousness.
For those who have not studied the meanings of samskaras and don’t understand the play of karmas, you may like to read a book called Karma Sutra (for details log on to Karmasutra.co.in). Understanding the subject of karma will help you understand destiny better.
For our subject here, it is important for us to accept that there is a destiny and things happen just as they are supposed to happen. It is understandable when the so-called intelligentsia disagree by saying life is what you make of it. They will turn out to be the czars of samskaras. They will have to take birth after birth to complete the circles they draw themselves. In order to become free from the circle of birth and death, they will have to surrender their intellect to realisation and wisdom.
‘If you sit at home and do nothing will things happen for you?’ ‘It is effort that gives results.’ These are opinions I hear often. Naturally, the common person is going to defy belief in fate. It has taken more than 30 years and thousands of experiences to make me believe in destiny. I am happy to have shared with you earlier and hereafter some interesting experiences that might influence your belief.
(Please refer to the Chapter on Purusharth, self-effort. Though it seems to disagree with what is written above, on the face of it. If you go into the depth of it, you will realise that it does not.)
Bhrigu’s Prophecy
A close friend of my father’s, Dr. Chandra, was a wonderful human being, and had three children. He visited the Bhrigu Nadi at Hoshiyarpur to know the future of his family. His son was a student at the film institute in Pune and his daughters were both lovely girls. The Bhrigu Nadi predicted his son’s career would not take off and he did not have a good material future at all. When the son graduated from the film institute he was one of the luckiest ones from his class and got himself a role as the hero in a film. The film was being made by a producer who had released several hit films in the last few years. The famous Dharmendra, who was a top star at the time, also had a prominent role in the film. People expected this film to do very well. It bombed at the box office! The young man was far more handsome than most heroes of his time, but luck was not his to benefit from. He got a few roles in small plays thereafter. Currently he teaches song and drama in a school in South India. A star was not made and Bhrigu knew it 2500 years ago.
Dr. Chandra’s elder daughter was unbelievably shy of talking to men and refused to meet potential suitors. Her parents, disheartened by her shy approach, tried to unsuccessfully introduce her to several prospective partners. She would always say no. I tried to hitch her with an acquaintance of mine from Abu Dhabi but as usual she said no, without even meeting the handsome suitor. Bhrigu had said, she will have two children. She got married at the age of 39 to a man who already had a son from his first wife. She had a child of her own, and Bhrigu was right, 2500 years ago.
Dr. Chandra called my mother and announced that he was going to die in August of a particular year. He was not unhealthy, and so my mother did not believe him. And Bhrigu was right 2500 years ago. He died a natural death in August.
Statutory Warning: The predictions I have cited are the ones which worked magically well, however, the same astrologers have made mistakes in other cases and not all their predictions have turned out accurate. So though the science is amazingly accurate, the practitioners are prone to making errors of judgement.
Knowledge of the existence of destiny can provide the necessary shift from expecting to accepting.
Most people believe that they can make things happen. However, they feel that though they can make things happen, they probably don’t try hard enough, or they make mistakes, or someone else does not allow it, or a thousand other reasons why what we expect to make happen, doesn’t happen.
That we cannot accept. We have to find a fault. More often than not, our own.
We didn’t plan things well enough, got distracted, didn’t persevere enough, and so on, and so endlessly on!
Failure of our expectations leads to disappointments. We should have, could have, would have, are three famous quick fire excuses. There are 360 degrees of viewpoints from where you can look down upon yourself. Therefore inferiority complex is an easy infection to catch. We even pay to get convinced that we are idiots! Hard to believe isn’t it? These are some of the handicaps that you need to deal with on the journey towards self-acceptance and self-love.
This morning, I received a clip about a brilliant speaker, who seems to be drawing thousands of people to his lectures on life sciences etc. He gives a vivid example and at the end of the story he asks, ‘how many of you agree that the greatest obstacle in your lives is you?’ 5000-odd people raise their hands in acceptance.
Religious teachers convince us we are bad. We agree.
Management speakers show us how shallow we are. We agree.
My belief is, if this is what I am, then this is what I am! I may not be a cool dude, nor the prettiest girl in town, nor the richest, nor the most intellectual, nor the smartest, nor the, nor the, nor the …….but this is what I was meant to be and this is what I am. This is me on an ‘as is where is’ basis. The created me, the intended, the destined me. The result of the Karmic Me. But not, the Guilty Me!
Surmounting Guilt
About 30 years ago, I was sitting in a room, locked from the inside. I had a meat chopper in my left hand. I was planning to chop off my right hand. I had slapped a worker with my right hand for having being insolent and insulting. He was a certified pain-in-the-neck, no doubt. Having chosen the spiritual path, how could I do something like this?
I felt guilty. I was going to punish myself.
I was counselling myself that I would feel the pain and surely my family would hospitalise me. I would lose a lot of blood but I guess I would survive. But what I was about to do was only fair and well-deserved. The only problem was, would my left hand have the strength to chop off my right hand? I was working out the logistics in a kind of dazed, emotional upheaval, state of confusion, fear, whatever, when all of a sudden, I heard a silent voice in my ears. It was like a voice without a sound. One-hundredth of a whisper, but clear and distinct. The voice said, “Who are you to blame me? You are my painting. I am the artist. By blaming yourself, you are blaming me.” I was shell-shocked.
I felt guilty about being guilty.
I am what I am because this is what I was meant to be. If I am guilty, then my destiny is guilty.
Does that mean this book is an advocacy to do whatever you like and blame it on the power supreme? It would seem so to people who want to think convenience. Not to people who think acceptance.
The advocacy here is Acceptance. I accept the fact that in a fit of anger, I slapped Khemchand, the domestic worker. I would hope and pray that such an act is not a part of my future karma. I would apologise and try and compensate Khemchand with a monetary reward, a gift, an apology. I would ensure that my mind was convinced to find other ways to react to such situations! The result would be the way in which future destiny manifests itself in the present. I was to be a changed man in the future and thus I would take the effort to make that difference in the present.
If the future was supposedly not to be as it is destined to be, my mind would have been inspired to think of behaving differently in the present. To explain this more simply, events of the present lead to effects in the future. What you sow today, fruits tomorrow.
So if you look at this in the reverse, what is fruiting today is because of what was sown in the past. The future would inspire thoughts in its past {Refer to later chapter on Reverse Purusharth}. I had to become a spiritual person and so I had to contract arthritis which would make me meet Gurudev. The seed for my spiritual fruit was arthritis.
Another line of thinking is, if my business had to fail in the future, I might be inspired to strategise wrongly in the present.
If destiny is a movie already made, then isn’t it wiser to be a witness? A viewer? The fact that Bhrigu & Nostradamus, Mataji & Gurudev had been able to predict the future, means the future has happened, but we haven’t reached there yet.
So, if you have reached the interval of the movie, you know for sure that after the popcorn, you are going to watch the second half. You know the movie is fully made. (Refer to Purusharth). So you can accept the second half as it comes, even though you have not seen the end. You are aware that the movie in every show has the same end.
You are not aspiring or fighting to change the end or the story as it is. But in a cricket match, you don’t know which way the match will go. So you are cheering and jeering and hoping and praying for your team to win. The results produce emotions either way. Would they do so if you were watching the replay? No! You know the future of the match. So there is acceptance.
The problem is ignorance. Avidya. If we were seers, we would know the future. Then we would accept and not expect.
The words of Albert Einstein add another dimension to this concept. “I see a pattern, but my imagination cannot picture the maker of that pattern. I see a clock, but I cannot envision the clock-maker. The human mind is unable to conceive of the four dimensions, so how can it conceive of a God, before whom a thousand years and a thousand dimensions are as one?”
Self-Blame
Girls who cannot get married till a late age, for whatever reason, get depressed. ‘There is something wrong with me!’ A common strain of thought is the result of loss of self-esteem.
When marriages don’t work out, and break-ups happen, there has to be something wrong with him or her.
When a couple can’t conceive and the doctors don’t find a reason, again it leads to depression. ‘What have we done wrong?’ ‘Why can’t we have kids?’
This is a matter of destiny people! It has nothing to do with self-blame. Your karmas are already lined up to fructify, so you either watch them happen and accept them or you fight a battle to make them happen your way. A losing battle!
Rabia was one of the early Sufi Saints. She was sold to slavery when she was young and a great famine hit Basra. Her master made her work as a prostitute. She had great love for the divine and prayed a lot.
One day her master saw her with a suspended lantern above her head, spreading light. He was in awe and freed her. She became a great saint. Could she have done that with guilt of the fact that she had been a prostitute and a slave? I doubt it! In spite of the odds, she had confidence in herself and faith in the power she worshipped. Can’t we do better than that?
To summarise the subject of guilt, one needs to emphasise that guilt is a corrective tool for social governance. If people felt that there was nothing wrong with telling lies, punishing others, making others suffer, etc., I guess there would not be any need for penal codes, courtrooms, intelligence agencies, child corrective facilities and other such.
It’s a double-edged sword. We teach our children to feel guilty. It’s important for them to know the consequences of lies, theft and the rest of the gambit. They have been taught the two sides of the coin since birth. In fact, since they got promoted to being human beings. Birth after birth. ‘You must give your children good samskaras.’
We even give our pets relevant samskaras like don’t pee in the house, don’t jump on the guests and we call this dog training or cat training. “Don’t eat the neighbour”, I guess, must be tiger training.
The short of it is that for civilisation to exist, sure, we need to define right and wrong. But for a person who wants to go ‘beyond’ what we call a normal person, the rules need to be different. Self rules, not society rules.
For people who want not to be governed by the laws of karma, who want to walk on the path of identifying themselves not merely as social individuals, who want to realise within themselves, more than just their physical and social identities, the rules that they follow in self-perception have to be different.
Rama: Beyond Guilt
The story of RAMA showed his difference in perceptions. He rose far beyond guilt, beyond duality of good and bad, right and wrong, black and white, God and devil, heaven and hell. Yes, He did!
Several of his actions would not be judged by mere mortals as ‘acceptable’. One of the very controversial stories in the epic Ramayana is where Rama shoots King Bali who was the brother and adversary of Rama’s ally, Sughreev. King Bali had the blessing that he could capture half the power of anybody who fights him face-to-face. No one could face him, with half their power amalgamated in his, thus he was undefeated. So Lord Rama hid behind a tree and shot an arrow into the back of King Bali, thereby ending his reign.
Readers of this epic have criticised Lord Rama for killing a man in the back, by no means considered an act of valour in any society or form of warfare. Actually it was considered an act of cowardice. But Lord Rama was a student of Guru Vashisht, who had taught him that this world was a delusion of the mind. Nothing was real, and everything was a figment of imagination, thereby making duality unworthy of merit. He was beyond guilt. And therefore did not feel guilty or embarrassed by his action.
It is only when you reach a level ‘X’ in your evolution can you harbour that philosophy. If Rama had not thought like that, would he not be susceptible to loss of self-esteem?
Another story in the Ramayana, is the one where a mere washerman challenges the chastity of the Lady Sita, the divine wife of Rama. Even though Sita had faced a trial by fire, where she sat in a fire to prove that her chastity was sacrosanct, the wa
