An open letter to Swami Ramdev (on his comments on astrology)

February 12, 2007

Namaste friends,

This is an open letter to Swami Ramdev regarding some comments on astrology attributed to him on the BBC website. If any of you have a direct/indirect access to him and can pass this message on, that will be great!

Best regards,

Narasimha

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Namaskar Swami Ramdev,

I admire you for your fight to revive the teachings of Hindu sages for the betterment of the modern world and your tirade against superstition. But I take a strong exception to the logic given by you to denounce palmistry and astrology, as quoted by the following article on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6240681.stm

The above article attributes some statements to you as given below:

> If anything, he condemns all superstition and retrogressive beliefs.

>

> "I don't believe in destiny. Palmistry and all this talk about the lines on

> your hands deciding your future is nothing but nonsense. So is this talk

> of sun signs and auspicious and inauspicious time and place," he says.

>

> "Can you identify any moment or place where God is not there? He is

> everywhere and all the time. So how can any place or time be less or

> more auspicious?" he asks."

I am afraid your logic is faulty and misleading. Hindu sages and scriptures have taught different concepts for people at different levels of spiritual progress. One cannot mix them up indiscriminately.

For a great sage who is immersed in the all-pervading Brahman, what you said above is true. There is God in every point of time and space. There is no duality and there is nothing called auspiciousness and inauspiciousness. It is non-dual Brahman (or Narayana or Sadashiva or Allah or Krishna or Holy Spirit or Buddha or whatever you call Him/Her/It) that fills every point of space and time - every so-called auspicious and so-called inauspicious point of time/space. A deluded person sees various dual objects - good and bad - in It, but a liberated sage sees only Brahman (non-dual self) in all.

If actions started at a particular time result in happiness and actions started at another time result in sadness, such a liberated sage does not look at them differently. He/She will see Brahman in both. A liberated sage described in "Bhagavad Gita" or "Yoga Vaasishtham" does not distinguish between happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, good and bad and other opposites of the dual world. All are simply different manifestations/extensions of the same non-dual Brahman to a liberated sage.

However, it is vital to note that all this applies only to a liberated sage with self-knowledge. A normal person is not self-realized and hence stuck in the delusion of this world appearance. Such a person cannot see good and bad with an equal vision. If joining in a new job at a particular time makes one have a good time and get a quick promotion and joining in a new job at another times makes one lose that job and stay without job for a year, one may not be capable of looking at both in the same way. One may not be able to see both the (so-called) fortune and (so-called) misfortune as manifestations of the same Brahman. To a normal person, both are significantly different. One elates him/her and the other depresses. A liberated sage, however, is neither elated at the (so-called) fortune nor depressed by the (so-called) misfortune.

The same maharshis who have taught and extolled the ultimate non-dual vision as the only reality and dismissed the dual world appearance as a delusion, have also taught the rules to use in swimming the ocean of world appearance. The maharshis were compassionate. They taught not only the highest truths, but also lower truths that one of a lower intellectual (and spiritual) calibre can make use of!

When learned men like you claim that subjects like astrology that deal with auspicious and inauspicious times are meaningless because there is God in all times, they are, intentionally or unintentionally, mixing up different levels of truths. This is misleading and incorrect.

Let me repeat. If one is a self-realized person seeing no distinction between pleasure and pain, health and disease, fortune and misfortune, life and death, then subjects like astrology that deal with the working of the delusive world appearance that rests on such a duality are useless. However, if one is a "normal person" without self-realization, immersed in the duality of this world appearance, then the astrological teachings of maharshis are quaite relevant. If one cannot see pleasure and pain equally and desires to experience pleasure, one can plan his activities accordingly. Astrological teachings of sages like Parasara, Bhrigu, Kashypa and Garga are quite relevant to such a person in planning the activities.

By mixing up concepts of Hindu philosophy meant for different levels of people to dismiss the astrological teachings of maharshis, you are doing great disservice to people like me who have dedicated themselves to spreading the correct teachings of maharshis.

I do agree that there is a lot of nonsense in the name of astrology these days. Any idiot with a pocket book on astrology can memorize a few paragraphs and become an astrologer these days. Several astrologers loot their customers with false/shallow knowledge and commercialism. All that must be condemned. However, that is the fault of some astrologers and not the fault of the subject itself.

There are some who have self-lessly dedicated themselves to a sincere and genuine pursuit of the astrological teachings of maharshis. I am a reasonably intelligent person - I have a B.Tech. degree from an IIT and a masters from US - and I say with full honesty that the teachings of Parasara are truly brilliant and people use only 1% of his teachings today. A new generation of scientifically educated astrology enthusiasts like me are trying to revive the true Jyotisha as taught by maharshis. I do research and teach for free. One can download my Jyotisha software for free and mp3 audio recordings of my Jyotisha classes are also free. I do "service" and not "business" with Jyotisha.

As such, other educated people look at us with suspicion and skepticism. Unfortunately, there is a certain stigma associated with astrology. When other respected people like you with great following denounce astrology, it is quite disappointing and makes our job even more difficult. If you have not studied the Jyotisha teachings of maharshis, please do not comment on astrology. There is no need to make misleading comments based on false logic and make things that are already difficult more difficult for genuine people.

Whether by design or by coincidence, you represent the wisdom of ancient rishis to modern Indian populace. This position places a lot of importance and value in whatever you say regarding anything related to ancient Indian wisdom and knowledge. Kindly use your position with good judgment. If you use your position to wrongly denounce some teachings of rishis that you yourself do not have experience in, it will be unfortunate. It will be a disservice to aarsha vidyaa.

Apart from these notes of discord related to your comments on Jyotisha, I have the highest respect for you. I myself am somewhat of a yogi and have relied on ayurveda for several years now and I respect the work you have done in reviving the popular interest in Yoga and Ayurveda. Please keep up your great work.

Sincere regards,

P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (2007 Feb 11)

26 Seaver Farm Lane

South Grafton, MA 01560 USA

Ph: +1-508-839-1218

email: pvr

Home: www.VedicAstrologer.org

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