What is Jyotish?
Jyotish is the name given to the astrology practiced in India. The name means Light of God or knowledge and it provides each of us with a map for greater self understanding.
This self understanding enables us to make decisions that are self honoring and respectful. No one knows who was responsible for recognizing the relationships between human behaviour and planetary motion. However in the case of Jyotish, credit is given to the Maharishi (Sages) of old.
Since the beginning of time humans have looked up into the heavens with awe and wonder. Regular patterns seem to form from the cycle of each day and year when we watch the apparent movement of the lights in the night sky. On clear nights we can still see the fascinating shapes formed in the night sky. Some light bodies seem to be stationary whereas others appear to be moving either forward or backward.
In English the stationary lights were called stars while the moving lights have been called planets. The Maharishi, whose work makes up the Vedas (Book of Knowledge originating from India) used a different word for what we call the planets, within our immediate solar system, between our Sun and the planet we call Saturn. The word they used was Graha which translates to mean: that which can grab. In short they attributed special energy to these bodies.
Before explaining why the Maharishi labelled these bodies differently it is important to consider their way of seeing the world and all of creation. Over the many centuries since the Vedas were compiled, mystics and philosophers from all cultures have arrived at the same conclusions as those expressed in the ancient writings, namely that everyone and everything is connected.
In addition they have all said in one way or another that everything has varying degrees of consciousness and that all forms of consciousness are capable of inter-relating.
Today the recognition of such inter-relatedness is called Non-locality within the field of Physics.
The strength attributed to the Graha was a direct result of their view of all creation. To them the Graha have a significantly high consciousness which enabled them to ‘grab on to’ all other forms of consciousness. It is this explanation that lays the foundation for the importance and accuracy of all forms of astrology.
The Sages went further to explain the movement of the Grahas as a tool for human self-understanding, and as all mystics have, throughout time, they declared the only real knowledge is self-knowledge.
This idea will seem quite foreign at first however recent research has proven there really is communication between different forms of life and matter. Further, in all cases the communication takes place as a result of light transfer, a light identified as consciousness. In other articles there will be more discussion supporting and validating evidence which is being complied daily and which is changing how we see the world and our place in it. For the moment let’s return to Jyotish.
In all probability it was the cyclical motions of the stellar patterns combined with correlations of events on earth that laid the initial foundation for all the branches of astrology. This explanation seems like a logical one however it certainly isn’t the only explanation.
There are four major branches and numerous sub-sets of astrology: Jyotish Chinese, Tibetan, and Western each of which has a specific orientation. For example Jyotish has a very strong spiritual base, Western astrology is more psychologically oriented and Chinese and Tibetan focus more on correct daily living. Whatever the focus, each tradition provides guidance for individuals.
In future there will be articles based on the birth charts of various people. Such articles will provide a clearer understanding of what Jyotish is and how it can be used.
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