Barbara Pijan Lama Jyotishavidya

How to Write

the Guiding Questions

for

Your Jyotishavidya Reading

Suggestions

Answering questions from a principled Jyotishavidya viewpoint requires checking the Vimshottari Dasha calendar.

To be able to locate the planetary significators which match your question, precise and careful crafting of the questions is essential.

• specify the operators = who-what-where-when-why
• use subject-verb-object grammar

Please ensure that each question

• states one's envisioned accomplishment or activity
• states the outcome timeframe

EXAMPLE

“does the nativity support taking next year off work to study full-time for my professional licensing exam?”

• timeframe next year
• anticipated activity or accomplishment high-stakes exam study [for an elite financial operations license]

EXAMPLE

"My partner and I want to have our first child, but I still work in a very stressful sleep-depriving job, and we are still depending on my income while he builds an art studio. Does the nativity support us having a child within the next two years?"

• timeframe within the next two years
• anticipated activity or accomplishment birth of first child

FORTUNE-TELLING QUESTIONS are not answerable within the ARRAY of Vimshottari Dasha calendar

Jyotishavidya is not fortune-telling.

Jyotishvidya works with tables of correspondence between human events and planetary characteristics. If the events are not sufficiently specified, then there is not enough information to make an exact query of the calendar systen

Due to lack of specificity, the Samayavidya cannot answer wandering vague musings, such as “tell me what you see for her” or "when will my luck change" or “what will really happen during the rest of my life.”'

MORALLY CHARGED QUESTIONS

Neither can the samayavidya answer questions about whether something is good/bad/right/wrong. Moral judgements are culturally relative.

Jyotishavidya operates from a universal viewpoint not limited to any culture or historical era.

• However, alawcourt CAN answer those ethical questions
• - so it can be useful to ask Jyotishavidya questions about the judgement outcomes of the lawcourt.

Very broad, unclear, or morally charged questions may be a better match for a psychic reading or other intuitive divination.

Jyotishavidya is divination.

However, vedanga Jyotishashastra is not fortune-telling, not psychic-intuitive energy reading, and not psychotherapy.

Jyotishavidya is about revealing the pre-incarnationally crafted Learning Plan for the current lifetime in the School of Earth.

Jyotishavidya inquiries produce poor results when the questions are driven by anxiety or guilt.

Better results are obtained when the reading is sought for purpose of increasing one's awareness of the pre-incarnationally planned personality and learning methods.

The samayavidya provides a broadly spiritualized, contemplative interpretation of the timing of unfoldment of repeating patterns of implicit expectation and behavioral results.

• Understanding these patterns may increase one's access to inner guidance for making wiser choices.

Thoughtful, carefully formulated questions usually discuss a measurable outcome or a behavioral reality that occurs within the people-places-things classroom of the school of Earth.

Questions can inquire about making specific life decisions, the learning pathways of interpersonal relationships, expectations regarding future unfolding experiences, or your deepening the interior awareness of spiritual purpose.

All choices are made by the personality in celebration of the Divine Intelligence.

• There are no victims.

Please note that Jyotishavidya readings are offered to students of the samayavidya for educational purposes only. Readings have no warranty either express or implied.

Evaluating Planned Learning Outcomes

Subjective Moral Judgments

Good and Bad , right and Wrong, money and Worthiness

To make socially weighted value judgments on the results of the graha using a morally critical evaluative judgmental language of good and bad , it is necessary to consider the paradigm of belief, cultural morality, and social-ethical values of those different people who interact with the native and judge the native .

• Through some cultural lenses -- including family cultures and worship cultures = this graha is // good //
• Through other cultural lenses -- including family cultures and worship cultures = this graha is // bad //

Other People cannot be the judge of the authenticity or legitimacy of Your Own Learning Plan.

• Other People must apply their own lenses, their own judgment rules, and their own values frameworks, to the unfoldment of their own Learning Pathway.

Everyone has their own truth.

• Other People can never completely understand or validate your own interior spiritual growth process.
• You have enrolled into the School of Earth in order to satisfy your own hunger and duty to Learn about being an Earth Human.

You wrote the Plan.

• Although the Plan was vetted and confirmed by your Council of Guides, you remain the Lead Author.

When writing your 10 guiding questions for the reading, please refrain from using subjective value judgment, self-criticism, or extensive blaming narratives about "other people".

VOCABULARY for GUIDING QUESTIONS

Use measurable, meaningful, tangible, specific, behavioral words to describe the situation or experience.

Unless you are in middle school, please avoid filler words.

• amazing
• incredible / unbelievable
• huge
• awesome
• great
• fine
• fantastic
• wonderful
• anyhow
• something
• stuff / some difficult stuff / tough stuff / stuff like that
• anything like that
• kind of / sort of
• I guess / you know / who knows
• this and that
• to be honest / in all honesty

Unless you are describing a cataclysmic physical disaster, such as an earthquake or erupting volcano, please avoid

• immense / unmeasurable
• massive

Please avoid using words for self- judgment, self-blame, and guilt

• good
• bad
• right
• wrong
• should
• must / have-to / ought-to / supposed-to

Instead, use qualitative and quantitative measurement words.

Ask about behavior of others, not motivation of others.

• The partners, the boss, the kids - these are MIRRORS to help guide you toward a richer self-understanding.

EXAMPLE

Clear objective description of the scenario, highlighting the native's financial anxiety, with background

• As a start-up partner, i've been earning about 50% of my salary in stock options for the past two years. I have 20 years experience in our scientific industry and I put in 60-hour weeks. I just remortgaged the house so that my family can live on less until the first IPO. We had strong initial funding from the family office of one of the partners. He talks to the family office using a foreign language, which makes me nervous. The rich partner just bought a new hilltop house in the prestige neighborhood of our town, along with a fancy sportscar. I don't even know what this partner does during his work-from-home hours. He is the so-called finance guy, but we do not need more financing right now. We need engineering and technical development. I am feeling overworked and exploited. I am wondering if, after all this sacrifice, this arrogant fellow is showing me some big red warning flags. I am worried about a big loss. It seems like mismanagement or possibly fraud.
• QUESTION Am I going to be cheated out of this multi-year major investment of my money and time?

EXAMPLE

Same question, less background, still clear

• I'm feeling nervous about losing my investment in our start-up. It's a 6M investment. I'm increasingly upset about one of my start-up business partners. He gets 1/3 of the profit when we sell or go public. However, he does about 10% of the work. He is also flaunting a lavish lifestyle while the other partners are earning only half salary (other half is stock option). His family office is funding us. The family speaks a different language, even when other partners are in the room, which feels like intentional non-transparency.
• QUESTION Am I just paranoid, or is there something in the stars that shows a collapse coming?

EXAMPLE

To-the-point question, clear and precise, background not needed

• One of my partners (the finance partner) is starting to look like a cheating fraud, and I might be his trusting victim. I think he may be spending our start-up finance money on his luxe lifestyle. Do I have a predator or fraudster or con-man masquerading as a business partner?

FORTUNE-TELLING QUESTIONS ARE NOT ANSWERABLe

Fortune-telling questions are usually brimming with anxiety.

Fortune telling questions are usually veiled requests for personal validation.

Fortune telling questions do not refer to specific situations but rather to one's state of mind.

Fortune telling questions require a yes/no/good/bad/right/wrong answer.

Fortune telling questions are not answerable in Jyotishavidya, because Jyotishavidya looks for tangible outcomes of complex situations.

However,other forms of divination such as pendulum or bibliomancy can be helpful to guide simple yes/no immediate choice-making.

For high anxiety questions, look for a divinatory method that delivers yes/no response without nuance. Then ask an exact who-what-when-where specific question. [no "how"] For example, will I pass the _ exam on _ date? Will I get the _job that I interviewed for _today?

Your spirit guides know of course because they live outside of time-space. If you can calm down for a hot minute they will tell you the answer!

QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT ANSWERABLE

NOT ANSWERABLE

"What does my chart say about marriage?"

HOW TO REWRITe

The chart says a great multitude of things. Please ask about whether a tangible outcome can be mapped to a defined person, place, or thing.

Questions must ask about specific situations. Not about one's worthiness, righteousness, validity.

Define who-what-when-where. [no why, no how]

• For example, "I've postponed the quest for a marriage partner, since I wanted to fully concentrate on studies. I have never dated. My parents are quite anxious for me to settle down. I'm not sure about accepting an arranged marriage. I'd like to know whether it looks like I will wed within the next few years."

NOT ANSWERABLE

"does the chart have any insights about business?"

HOW TO REWRITE

The chart has thousands of insights. Please ask about a specific outcome of a specific situation.

• For example, "As a seamstress with fashion sense, i've long wanted to open a business selling bespoke garments. Do my career markers show success in shop management, clothing sales, catering to women's tastes?"

NOT ANSWERABLE

"do you see any financial challenges in the future?", "do you see any issues happening in my life?", "do you see anything in my family that I should worry about?"

HOW TO REWRITE

Everyone has financial challenges. Everyone has issues. No one should worry - it is a colossal waste of time.

Please do not ask about whether "any" events may occur. Rather, identify a specific situation and ask about its outcome.

• For example, "My siblings and I inherited my grandparents' farmland. They worked the fields and livestock for sixty years, and they were part of a great local community. But I live in a metropolis far away, and I have no interest in farming. I want to sell the land ASAP. My siblings want to keep the land for sentimental reasons. Does it look like I can convince them to sell in the next year?"

DESCRIBING RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS

Are there painful, invalidating, harmful, unfair relationship experiences?

Yes, indeed. Terrible pain, grief, sorrow, guilt, rage, horror, anger, anguish, despair.

• When you describe mirroring relationship drama-and-trauma, please describe [their behavior] and [your feelings] in precise behavioral words.

PAST EVENTS

• Describe what DID happen [fact, naeutral observation]
• Your emotional response to another person's actions is a subjective truth [fact, naeutral observation]
• Avoid extensively reviewing what should have happened [grievance, resentment, blaming]

FUTURE EVENTS

• Avoid ruminating on your inchoate fears or vague worries about the future
• Define the desired future actions of the partner [example: I would like to be treated with respect. Identify the cultural behaviors which show respect.]
• However, if the future-fear involves a threat of violence, this is very serious and beyond the scope of Jyotishavidya. Contact police or protective services.

EXAMPLE

Too vague. Every couple has disagreements - this is a filler statement.

"Happy" is also a filler word because it refers to a neutral state with neither pleasure nor pain. "Happy" means is-ness, occuring, being, state of "hap". ["Hap} is both a noun and a verb in Old English.]

• My wife and I have some disagreements. Will we be happy in the future?

Useful and productive query using behavioral language

• We have three kids in college, two sets of aging parents, and a house mortgage. We agree to prioritize education, money, and in-laws, in that order. We disagree about socializing [I love going out, she doesn't] and exercise [I'm active, but she has gained four stone since our wedding, has mood-swings, and is now pre-diabetic]. She offers me no affection, manages the household, and spends hours each week talking with her relatives by phone. I'm romantically interested in a co-worker, although I haven't acted. Her parents will soon move here. I want more out of marriage than housekeeping and regular meals. I'm feeling trapped. Can we find a point of sexual or emotional contact?

FINANCE

Questions about money are inherently questions about self-worth.

Ask about defined goals and specific objectives, not worthiness. Presume that you are WORTHY as a birthright.

Ask about your own beliefs and expectations, as detailed in the Learning Plan - not about how to satisfy your parents and grandparents.

The reading is about YOU and your preincarnationally designed Learning Pathway

The reading can describe the matching patterns between your hopes-dreams-wishes-desires-expectations and Your Plan.

EXAMPLE

Vague and unexamined anxieties, compensation fantasy.

• I want to build my business and join the billionaire class, so that I can change the world in a magnificent, heroic way. Tell me when that magical praiseworthy time shall arrive.

Rational question about assets and investments as seen within bhava-2 [savings] and bhava-11 [earnings] or bhava-5 [gambling wins] or bhava-4 [real-estate, vehicles].

• Generally, when could I expect to build up capital for investment? Ever? When are earnings generally strongest? Do certain periods have higher expenses or drain on savings?
• My fearful parents are pushing me into accounting and business because they believe that money runs the world. However, i'm more interested in academics and art. Would I have enough resources for a modest lifestyle if I followed my own tastes?

Note on getting other people to change

Many questions ask how to transform other people’s problematic actions and character.

it may be worth mentioning that – except for the temporary use of force - it is not really possible to change others’ behavior.

• One’s true power lies in one’s ability to change one’s own response to their behavior.
• Parents can only provide guidance -- sometimes very intense guidance, usually constant and relentless guidance --
• But ultimately the spirit which has incarnated in the child has the final decision making power.

The people surrounding one are indeed a manifestation of one's own thought projection.

• This is not a state of powerlessness.
• Everyone is richly empowered to create - but it is necessary to accept Responsibility for Creating.
• Each student in the School of Earth has 100% power to alter one's own beliefs and expectations.
• Through focused conscious intent. , one may alter every item within one’s environment including all of the people

The Jyotishavidya reading advice will be delivered from this core principle of spiritual life, which is cultivation of awareness.

Help, what should I do? What choice will maximize my happiness? What would be the best course of action?

Jyotishavidya cannot make value judgements about what is “best”.

Rather, Jyotishashastra can suggest which planetary influences are dominant at the times when decisions must be made by the querent.

The samayavidya can predict the characteristics of events which are pre-incarnationally planned. These events serve to focus the student’s attention along the Learning Pathway.

The samayavidya gives perspective and insight for consideration by the querent. Only you can decide ultimately what choice to make. Only you control your levels of consciousness and compassionate intent.

Avoid Vague, open-ended questions

Vague questions are unanswerable in Jyotishavidya because they do not ask about the learning role of any mental-emotional-physical experience or expectation.

Examples

what are the important things that I need to know about?

• [This formulation is appropriate to business coaching or expert consultant, where the focus is on a single material goal -- not Jyotishavidya which examines a complete lifetime]

what is the purpose of my life?

• [overarchingly, all incarnations have the same purpose, which is to learn about how the divine genius expresses through the vehicle of an earth-human]

what can you tell me about...?

• [Please ask for insight into a measurable outcome in your life -- not for a core dump of entire database of the Jyotishi's knowledge! The purpose is to examine the querent, not to examine the Jyotishika.].

will anything change in this job/relationship/situation?

• [this is an anxiety-driven, unformulated - but common - expression of fear of losing control. Naturally, in the School of Earth, the only constant is change. Ask about the changes which are desired,]

Fear fogs the mind

Open-ended questions are undefined, vague, unfocused, usually formulated in a state of anxiety. Typically the querent fears so-called bad news, doomed misfortune, or judgmental criticism. Therefore the questions become so generalized that instead of evoking insight or information, the questions become veiled requests for moral validation. In other words, one seeks confirmation of safety, rather than learning.

The Jyotishika cannot tell you what is important.

• You tell the Jyotishi what is important
• then the Jyotisha looks for evidence of this important thing within the nativity.

The querent needs to ask about what is important to them, and how to attain, manage, or interpret this experience in light of higher understanding.

The Jyotishi does not judge the importance, value, or meaning of the individual's experiences.

The Jyotishi simply identifies the reinterative behavioral-perceptual patterns which indicate that learning is happening according to the preincarnational plan.

Prepwork for Jyotishavidya readings

When questions show fear of negative judgment, psychotherapy can supply a clarifying, calming, and validating acceptance of one's own inherent worthiness.

When there is a preponderance of vague, imprecise queries, it would be recommended to undertake psychotherapy before getting a Jyotishavidya reading. In order to benefit from a Jyotishavidya reading, the querent needs to release anxiety about social judgement [and likely some cultural beliefs about moral punishment] The questions should show a curiousity about the constituent elements of the personal learning curriculum. Therefore, please consider psychotherapy or psychic-intuitive readings while the anxiety is running high.

Cultural Misconceptions

Also unfortunately, in India and its cultural diaspora, the samayavidya has been historically misused as a predatory, manipulative, fear-mongering method of fortune telling. Therefore, one influenced by this culture may presume that all readings produce an anxiety-driven, good news/bad news/good luck/bad luck moralistic judgment. This is mainly the outcome of Kali Yuga ignorance, but it remains widely practiced in the motherland, sad to say.

Mental grammar

Subject-verb-object

To have a valuable, meaningful, pragmatically useful Jyotishavidya reading, please ask clear, specific questions with an objective reference, ideally using SVO sentences. [Subject-verb-object]

Make sure that the object of perception [some person, place, thought, or thing] is the topic of the question. In other words, ask about a tangible experience that you are having, and what to expect in the evolution of this learning experience.

• For example, questions about marriage can be, “my partner has X behavioral patterns, might these become easier to accept or rework over time?” The key element in this example questions is the objective referent, “X behavioral patterns”
• Or ask about feelings, which are the key element in super-learning objective experiences. Example: "intimidation and bullying by boss, along-standing pattern - why does this repeat and is there a resolution through awareness?"

• Jyotishavidya Reading Philosophy

• Contemplative Preparation for a Jyotishavidya reading

• Synchronicity in divination

• Give yourself Permission to ask the Question!

• Questions versus Statements

• Fear of Asking Questions = Fear of Discovering the Authentic Path

• Guilt-language and Shame-language - for clear answers to specific real-world questions, avoid these words

• Why do you need to know my questions?

• Composing your questions for the reading:

• What amount of detail the written questions is required?

• Examples of detailed questions

• Relationship Questions

• CAREER related questions

• Career and Earnings are separate

• What is the format for the included follow-up question ?

• Counseling Dialogue vis-à-vis Jyotishavidya Analysis?

• Adult expectations for a Jyotisha consultation

• Asking questions after the reading

• How to purchase a Jyotishavidya reading

The value of Jyotishavidya readings is driven by the quality of the querent’s clearly written, specific questions.

When the questions are well formulated, the Jyotisha-based answers can be easily harvested from a carefully studied nativity.

The questions must be clearly written.

The questions must contain sufficient material detail.

• Broadly subjective musings such as /when will I be happy/ or /when will I feel financially secure/ are impossible to answer, since these are essentially questions of emotional attunement.
• However, it is possible to assess Chandra's predisposition toward allowing oneself to feel secure or feel happy, which is a matter of baseline self-permission set by the mother and developed by the mature adult per scope of consciousness.

Answers to pragmatic questions can easily be found.

• Practical questions about timing are answerable.
• such as “when are the likeliest times for marriage/book-publication/entrepreneurial-launch/house-buying”

Avoid guilt-language which signals worthiness/unworthiness

Jyotishavidya cannot judge moral worth, such as whether you or some other human is a good person, abad person, aright person, awrong person.

• The Greek root-word /eth/ = Anglish /folk/.
• Ethical judgments arise from folkways = the customs of local cultures.

Jyotishavidya is a global science which frames the human experience in terms of spiritual purpose and potential for awakening through learning.

Examples of (English) guilt words =

• should/must/ought-to/supposed-to/have-to
• good/bad/right/wrong

Avoid making declarative statements instead of asking questions.

• Please ask grammatical questions.
• English statements end with a full-stop.
• English questions end with a question-mark.

If guilt or shame consistently warp the questions, then giving yourself the gift of psychotherapy may be a much better choice.

Get some healing psychotherapy. Come back for a Jyotishavidya reading when the guilt or shame issues have been made conscious, and released into self-responsibility.

To get sharp, clear answers it is necessary to write sharp, clear questions.

Guilt and Shame can make questions way too vague due to fear of unfavorable judgments.

Avoid anxiety driven questions about self-worth and entitlement

• Guilt = the feeling of having done something wrong
• Shame = the feeling of being a bad person

Shame questions tend to be grandiose. They signal a terrible need to produce a psychological compensation for a perceived moral deficiency.

These querents demand a prediction of massive, extraordinary material success as the only acceptable outcome, in order to deflect attention away from the toxic inner shame.

• /I must become stunningly successful in my field. /
• /I know that I am special./
• /Do not tell me about any potential outcomes that are less than spectacular. /
• /When will I become a billionaire/have XXX lakhs of money/dominate my industry/be a worshipped super-wealthy genius inventor/other extreme compensation./

Indeed, beloved, every human soul is special. Divine intelligent flows abundant through every human being. Yet, materially-measured super-achievement is rarely a sign of spiritual awakening.

Guilt questions are full of presumed reasons why one cannot achieve one's desires and goals. The asserted unchallenged reasons = obligations and requirements of family and society.

• Guilt-and-Shame questions are not sincere questions about the potentials evident in the nativity.
• Rather, they expose limiting beliefs.
• They signify attempts to prevent further self-understanding by raising social-cultural barriers to block individual possibilities.
• Usually these questions begin with " because I cannot do ______" or " because I must do ______" .

Language Flags

Avoid injecting anxiety into the questions with guilt -language = should , must, have-to, supposed-to.

Avoid self-judging blame-language = /good/ /bad/ /right/ /wrong/

Formulate questions that are as thoughtful, positive, clear, and direct as possible.

For best results in a useful and valuable Jyotishavidya reading, it is recommended to dedicate some quality time to the process of consciously writing the questions. Before starting to write, it may help to settle the mind in a brief relaxing meditation.

When you write the Ten Clearly Written Detailed Questions for the Update Reading, please try to separate rhetorical or illustrative comments/questions from the substantive questions.

The readings are delivered in a state of concentrated attention upon multiple interactive functions in the nativity. Questions that are not really questions can become a psychic distraction that disrupts the focused flow of the narrative.

The best way to prepare questions for a reading is to write a list of Everything that you are concerned about.

• That might be 20-30 items.

• Let your feelings and ideas expand and just write it out.

• Then set the list aside.

The next day, look at the list again.

• You will probably notice that the questions fall into 2-3 groups.

• Sort them into their groups, then eliminate the duplicates which are the product of asking the exact same question in different ways.

Housekeeping

Remove any statements, including statements that are masquerading as questions

[Some folks make declarations or assertions instead of asking questions, e.g. /Tell me about my cloying mother./ That's a statement and a judgement, not a question!

Remove illustrative dramatizing rhetorical questions such as

• Will this terrible work stress kill me next week?
• Am I doomed to a lifetime of loneliness and rage?

When will my agony end? Et-cetera / ).

After a bit of tidying and organizing, you will probably end up with about 10 useful, targeted, reflective, meaningful, specific questions that can be answered using the information that has been harvested from the Jyotishavidya nativity.

Q. /HOW Questions/ and why they are unanswerable.

A. A deeper level of detail is required to make the questions meaningful.

WH- questions in English

In modern English (after approximately 1600 CE) questions generally begin with the six WH- words

1. who
2. what
3. when
4. where
5. why
6. (w)how

WHO, wHAT, wHEN = yes

HOW, wHERE = no

WHY = maybe

HOW questions require answer = stepwise PROCESS.

HOW questions are commonly found in school examinations, police investigations, and courtroom interrogation. A series of coherent HOW questions can elicit a complete story showing the progress of an action from inception to completion.

However, /HOW questions/ are too vague to be answered within a single divinatory reading. HOW questions require too much cultural assumption about the limits of possibility, and metaphysically require an artificial limitation of the scope of probability.

HOW questions (especially the classic " how will be?" ) are usually fear-based, veiled requests for cultural validation of the fearful querent. The question is vague because the querent is afraid of the possible answer.

The hoped-for answer is /all will be well/.

And, that is true - all WILL be well, from the spiritual perspective. (It could not be otherwise.)

However, if the querent is setting their expectations that the answer can only be understood within the narrow and punitive cultural judgment frameworks of good-and-bad, success-and-failure, praise-and-condemnation, then the " how" question is really asking " how do others judge me?.

Within the time limitations of a focused divinatory reading, open-ended process questions beginning with “how” cannot be answered clearly because they require multi-step answers within a framework of probabilities. They also presume that one's value derives from the judgment of other people (society, family, sangha) and because this is a false assumption, any divinatory answer is doubly misleading.

WHERE questions require answer = PLACE

As a divinatory science, Jyotisha is much less capable of answering WHERE questions. In the current era of mass migration, many querents ask for guidance about where one ought to relocate in order to realize a more magical life. Although numerous attempts have been made to map the various lagna (lines) of various astrological charts (charkha, varga) onto a world-map of Earth, these visual display maps have no proven predictive validity.

Some patterns of motivation to migrate may be seen via certain Vimshottari Dasha information such as a move for economic betterment during the bhukti of an exceptionally strong Vriddhi-pati when bandhubhava is simultaneously notably weak. However, in generally, Jyotisha is not an ideal divinatory mode for answering WHERE questions.

More satisfying and accurate divinatory results can be obtained by the mthod of palm-chakra pulse-signaling (dowsing) of psychic hot-spots on a large-scale paper map.

WHO questions require answer = PERSON(s)

WHAT questions require answer = THING(s)

WHEN questions require answer = TIMED EVENT(s)

For the typical reading, the questions that are the most helpful to elicit useful, practically, applicable, coherent, guiding answers are the /who/ /what/ /when/

It is generally helpful to provide a sentence or two of background to contextualize the WHO-WHAT-WHENquestion.

For example, acommon question of information technology professionals is “when would be the most fruitful time to start a new business?” Often fearing the answer, the querent asks a question that is simply too vague.

Yet, amoment of thoughtful reflection and writing a few background sentences preceding the question can provide enough real-world values and context to help produce a meaningful answer.

Here is an exemplary articulation of reflective professional thinking about a future startup business

“I’ve been working in IT for a large corporation. The pay is reasonable but after ten years in the cubicles, iam feeling the urge to spread my wings. I want to try an entrepreneurial venture. My background is in database architecture. One of my brothers works in the automobile industry (sales) and another brother is in product marketing (grooming items, personal care). We are looking for a fourth partner with front-end software experience.

My question is, do you see talent in my chart for entrepreneurial business ownership? I’ve seen ambitious colleagues fail time and again when it comes to starting their own business. Mainly, they fail because they lack some necessary elements – expertise, funding, executive ability, teamwork skills, core concept, etc. Do you see success for me as a business owner?

Also, iam accustomed to working on very large scale operations, but I understand about scalability and believe I can interpret the principles of larger systems (multinational corporations) into smaller, more nimble, and probably much less asset-rich systems. Although, we likely can get adequate funding at the first stage. My brothers are idea guys (sales, marketing) but I am more of a real-world systems guy. I wonder if my hesitation to join a venture with them is based more in fear of the unknown or more in smart intuition?

So to repeat the question -- is there evidence of my ability to produce a viable startup for selling cars – or possibly other vehicles, or car-related items? If so, which bhukti would be most fruitful?"

Other briefer examples

These are useful, answerable questions because they use the goal-and-timeline structure

• " After experiencing several great romances during my twenties, Ï now feel ready to settle down and start a family. When are likeliest times for me to marry within the next ten years?"
• After my divorce from the first marriage, iwas bitter and did not want to remarry. He really hurt me. However, i've been working with a therapist, meditating, and relaxing the harsh judgment that I - and my parents - inflicted on that miserable scoundrel ... er, former partner. Weirdly, i'm çonsidering a carefully chosen second marriage. I haven't anyone yet. Just musing on the possibilities. Do you see potential remarriage times during the next five years?"
• " After working my way up the management ladder in a large multinational corporation, ifeel stalled in career. I want a top leadership role, and my track-record proves I'm capable. When are the most promising times for promotion to an executive rank in the next few years?"
• " My business, which I grew from my own vision and drive, is now ready for the next step expansion. I need capital and access to talent. I especially need top-quality help with product marketing. When are the likeliest times for me to get the needed investment capital and hire good people for growth?"

WHY questions require answer = REASON(s)

WHY questions are OK for students of the vidya. The WHY answers are delivered from a meta-perspective. They are long, detailed, and somewhat academic. Yet for the student seeking confirmation of the working principles of Jyotishavidya, wHY questions can be the most valuable.

Students of the samayavidya often ask more technical questions about interpretive reasoning. These functional practice questions are asking for an explanation of which real-time operational principles of the vidya are producing the evidence that is seen in a specific example. It is often important to students to inquire or confirm which rules from the Jyotishavidya knowledge base would be applied to explain a particular pattern in the person’s life.

If you are a sincere student of the vidya, wHY questions may be very appropriate to pose in the question-section following a divinatory reading. However, be aware that Jyotishavidya reasoning may be complex.

Therefore, the answer to a WHY question can be lengthy.

Importantly, for REASON answers to be personally valid and useful, you may need to have the ability to think categorically about levels of perceptual reality and to appreciate the role of probable realities in interpreting divinatory predictions.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely, bPL

Defining " success"

Examples of detailed career questions

Career Question too vague

Open-ended questions such as “what will happen in my career?” or “when will I be successful?” tend to produce a vague and general response.

“Success” means different things to different people, so be sure to describe what success means to you personally.

Career Questions with sufficient background

More useful and clear answers can be produced by more detailed, specific questions that describe your hopes and expectations.

Where are you now in career trajectory? Where do you want to be?

Examples of thoughtful, reflective, detailed career questions:

“I aspire to own and operate a boutique hotel in a world financial capital. Are the markers present for that type of scenario?”

" Could I become a well-known author? I haven't actually published anything yet, but I have the dream to be a famous writer."

" My mom and I love to bake. We want to start a small bakery here in the town where we were born. There is a lot of tourist foot traffic through here in the summer, but in the winter not so much. I know that running a bakery is a ton of hard work, but working with my mom and serving nice treats has been a sweet dream for a few years. Does it look like mom and me can be business partners? Does it look likely to run a business here in Smallville?"

" I have decades of experience, but I've hit a wall in getting promoted, due partly to a new HR manager who thinks I am overpaid, dead wood. I started writing device drivers fresh out of high school, and my IT skills helped to grow this company. I've managed some big projects here. But I have been passed over for promotion three times in the past year, due mainly to my age and lack of formal diplomas. My smart old friends have moved on. Most of the new hires are young and empty-headed. They rarely know how to DO anything. Am I getting pushed out? Do you see a job change -- or retirement?"

" I have a passion to help people, especially street-people with brain injuries and addictions. My parents are horrified. I want to finish an MA in Social Work, then work for a human services concern. My dad is hounding me to finish a BA in accounting (which I hate) and go to work for a corporation. My grandparents (who live with us) survived the horrors of war and refugee camps. My whole family wants quiet, safety, and money. Except me, who wants to serve. Am I crazy? Do you see me doing Social Work?"

" I am so burned out. Last year I tried to quit the hospital and the manager lured me back with a huge salary raise if I would agree to stay for two more years. I said OK, but I am depressed and exhausted. I want to use my medical skills in a quiet rural setting, ideally in the third-world where I can make a real difference. Do you see me going back to Africa and teaching medicine?"

“I’ve been in management for many years in the same multinational corporation. I crave to move higher, into executive roles. It seems though as if this company hires all of its top people from outside, with very few internal promotions. I have an MBA and 20 years experience with strong accomplishments. Can I get into the C-suite? Do I need to change companies?”

“I’ve been earning well over the past decade in human resources here at a large international bank, while savoring a dream of designing a luxury jewelry line. I’ve been designing a little, in my spare time, and have sold few designs to famous shops here in LA. I want to go fulltime entrepreneur, but don’t really have a safety net if it fails. Do you see a time when courage to pursue my dream can outweigh my fear of losing my home? Does it look like I will remain financially solvent if I take the risk?”

Revenues are not related to career promotions, leadership portfolio, respect, reputation, authority.

One may have an elite position with low pay (such as president of the USA) or an obscure position with high pay (such as people mining bitcoin in their basement).

When asking about earnings, remember that savings (2), earnings (11), winnings from gambling such as stock market (5-9), and inheritance (8) are all separate routes to financial well-being.

Career responsibilities and marketplace income have no intrinsic relationship.

So, make these items into two separate questions.

Some people have no job and no income but are quite wealthy. Others have huge income and no savings. Some market speculators have wild fluctuations of luxury then scarcity. Others win the lottery but in five years their millions are gone.

Most folks are plodding along in a constant state of financial anxiety due to low self-worth, and the graha reflect the financial limitations of their expectations.

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” as Thoreau said.

Q. Is Jyotisha the best divinatory tool for answering your important questions?

A. This depends very much upon your questions.

Many types of moral and psychological questions indicate PERVASIVE anxiety or fear, and these cannot be lucidly answered.

Consider that psychotherapy might be a better first step toward answering your important life questions.

The knowledge base of the Jyotishavidya is descriptive, not prescriptive.

Because they require prescriptive judgments, certain type of questions are unsuitable to the vidya.

Moral questions such as whether something is adjudged to be ethical . The word-root " eth-" = folk, tribe; the root " mora" = wall, boundary.

• Generally moral questions cannot be answered effectively, because ethical boundaries are ethnic.
• Jyotisha is humanistic. The perspective of the fifth Vedanga applies to all terrestrial humans.
• However, ethical questions are local, not global. Moral rules apply to specific peoples and places of settlement. Therefore what is morally prescribed in one location may be morally proscribed in another.
• Jyotisha cannot judge good-bad, worthy-unworthy, blessed-evil. All beings are presumed to be divine emanations, all inherently pure.

Psychological fear-based questions such as

• whether one has permission to develop creative ideas (you can assume that you have permission)
• whether one will ever be happy (you have permission to be happy; using that permission is your choice)
• whether one is doomed to failure (you can choose to doom yourself, but no one else can doom you)
• whether/how one can control other people.

Typically, fear-based questions arise from a negative paradigm of belief.

Evidence of the victim-terror paradigm is seen in questions about manipulating other people, such as XYZ is doing this to me, or I need to control XYZ-other adult.

That victim terror is an anachronism from the ancient reality of humans fearing their predators, left behind in the base of the brain-stem. It was VERY real for cave-dwellers. It is not real now, except in situations of physical danger (when fear is live-saving.) Most fear is psychological, and terror remains a highly valuable asset for those who would seek external control of human conduct.

Jyotishavidya foundational guiding interpretive perspective

Jyotisha operates from a foundational spiritual perspective which presumes that everyone is busy creating their own reality. Although one's own decision-tree is constantly interacting with the decision-trees of others, and one may respond to others with either support or resistance, no one can control anyone else.

Yet due to Confederation policy, fear-mongers (Orion) can disturb the clarity and confidence of earth-human beliefs. Fear can motivate the victim experience and its obverse, the control experience. Fear based questions tend to be superstitious, or driven by anger, jealousy, lust, or greed. The expected answer is usually magical in nature.

Authentic Jyotisha vidya cannot answer any questions that are predicated on the presumption that anyone or anything is controlling the unfoldment of one's own life.

However, the economy of fear has generated a busy marketplace. for the superstitious consumer. The sellers of talismans, protective charms, various material-ceremonial upaya, remedial puja, and power-potions will be delighted to show you their wares!

Effective Jyotishavidya readings require positive questions

Please ask questions that produce a descriptive answer, not a moral answer or a fear-based psychological strategy.

If most of your concerns are about other people or about urgent immediate circumstances, perhaps the lifetime, evolutionary scope of a Jyotishavidya reading might not be the best way to meet your needs.

Perhaps you would be better served by a psychotherapist or a psychic reader

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Usually this happens when the ego-injured person, who has been criticized, blamed, and belittled, is nervously trying to establish their moral worth before posing the actual question.

However, being so concerned with avoiding blame, the querent never actually asks their own question.

As you are composing the questions for the reading, try to be aware of any fear of criticism which may cause one to make an announcement rather than ask a question.

Jyotisha is a global, universal system, not a local ethno-moral system.

Jyotisha has no opinion on local moral worthiness judgments such as right-wrong or good-bad or praise-blame.

Jyotisha can only identify "what" is happening on the unfoldment clock.

Yes, there can be identifiable events such as "others blame you" . However Jyotisha cannot pronounce whether the emotional suffering caused by the blame is right or wrong.

Jyotisha can say only what it is happening, and how long may be its duration.

• " I was deeply affected by circumstances in the home, and I carry that pain always. I need guidance on healing."

what happened? what circumstances? what needs healing?

• " I firmly believe that my parents know what is best for me. However, sometimes I feel that I should be more involved."

If you trust them fully, why are you asking a question about them? What does "more involved" mean? Are you faced with a decision? Do you trust them to make a choice on your behalf, or not?

• " I am fully committed to doing whatever-it-takes to reach super-money status within the next ten years. Please advise what I should do to realize my goal."

Did you notice that there is no question-mark punctuation in either of these English sentences? There is (1) a declaration (2) a command. The advice would be to rephrase the request as a grammatical question, which would indicate a relaxed ego-membrane stance of openness to receive an answer.

Another piece of advice might be that highly successful people do not pursue goals defined as possession of personal money.

Being fixated on " super-money" is a compensatory social anxiety response caused by fear and low self-worth. However, taking pragmatic steps to obtain funding for your exciting project is a sign of intelligence and is likely to succeed.

Economically successful people typically follow their highest excitement, love to work, and work to realize their creative vision. They want to see a mental idea become physically real, and they behave intelligently in pursuing that realization.

Receiving money-energy to invest in their creative effort is a cheerful by-product of that passionate, exciting work. Money itself is never the ultimate goal.

A mid-life adult querent who sought advice regarding the recent eruption of bitter arguments with her parents provided this description of the situation:

• " My father is a wonderful man, respected by everyone in our social circle. My mother is a perfect example of how a mother should be."

Note the should , ared-flag for guilt. Because the question is loaded with contradiction between (1) the realized perfection of the parents versus (2) the self-report of bitter family arguments, whatever answer Jyotisha might be able to provide will be - like the question- contradictory and unsatisfying.

Jyotishavidya is morally neutral

Jyotishavidya is a system of scientific observation and prediction.

The samayavidya is not a religion; it describes religion.

Jyotisha is not a culture; it describes cultures.

Jyotisha does not judge the worthiness or morality of an phenomena.

It simply identifies the phenomena.

Every thought, work, and deed is part of the system. With sufficient awareness, every thought, word, and deed can be correctly identified. However, we much know what we are looking for. Are we looking for the answer to your natural question, or are we being sent on a wild goose chase trying to find something unnatural to you that another person or doctrine has imposed upon you.

Phrasing of the question sets the trajectory followed by the search for the answer.

For example tell me when I will be married is a command. In English, the modal will signifies 99.9 % certainty regarding a future event. For example, the sun will rise tomorrow is a very reasonable use of the hedge-modal "will" in English!

This command is loaded with heavy moral expectation of the many stakeholders that their culturally-judged worth will be validated by the marriage event. The burden for this main's ability to fulfill the expectations of others is shifted then onto the consulting Jyotiṣika. What if there is no marriage forecast?

Rephrasing the command into a grammatical question will release some of the guilt energy that is loaded into this command. In fact, acknowledging the cultural expectations within the background to the question can clarify the query process very nicely. In the following question, the background situation is clearly and objectively described. The answer to this question will be easy to find in the Vimshottari dasha.

• " Now that I'm on tenure track, ifeel ready to marry. My proud parents are anxious to match me, and they are busy networking within our home community. I can feel their excitement ... when they mention the marriage offers they've been vetting... This is their hour of glory. Like any Indian son, iwant to please them. A complication is that I've been living with someone here in Atlanta, for almost two years. My parents don't know about her. Soon she will finish her Ph.D. and apply for research jobs. She will relocate to whatever lab will hire her. We love each other, so this is hard. With all that in mind, can you see when I will be married? Arranged marriage or love marriage? Children??"

The question above is indeed actually three questions. Yet, it is well formulated. The background is clear and specific, it's honest about the moral and emotional complexity, and the questions are straightforward.

Please feel welcome ask the true questions that you would like to ask!

If the reading is focused on a specific interpersonal relationship, then 5-10 questions about the relationship would need to be thoughtfully, carefully, introspectively written. These questions will guide the selection of salient topics for the reading. There are countless pieces of interwoven information in each nativity. The purpose of the questions is to identity which of those pieces of information is important to the querent at this moment of their life.

Especially with intimate relationships that are psychically complex, the wording of the questions needs to be very clear.

For example “how is my husband’s future?” or “will we be wealthy” or "how will we get along as time goes by?" are far too vague and thus not useful questions. Vague questions Generally, indicate a fearful, superstitious approach toward Jyotisha which presumes that the power to generate reality is external to the self.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Each person has programmed an extremely detailed life fabric and the samayavidya can offer some interpretive tools to begin to comprehend some of the dominant patterns in that fabric. Fearful, intimidated, anxious questions are a waste of time in Jyotisha, because these types of questions come veiled with non-permission to accept responsibility for the unfoldment of one's own life path especially where that path intersects with the paths of Others.

Vague and loose questions, lacking reflective forethought, are essentially forcing the Jyotiṣika into an act of fortune-telling. If fortune-telling is the goal of the relationship reading, please buy a pair of dice!

It's much cheaper and the results will change randomly with every throw. Random results from gambling dice are much more satisfying to the superstitious mind which craves chaos and needs to feel out-of-control.

However, if one wishes to use Jyotishavidya for the more appropriate purpose of increasing self-knowledge and thus increasing control over the path of unfoldment, then please put some effort into writing detailed and articulate questions.

In English, questions that begin with "How" require an answer that describes a Process. Jyotishavidya readings are not well suited to process explanations, because the " how" mechanism is abstractly esoteric and few querents really want to know the metaphysical how . Rather, Jyotishavidya excels at identifying characteristic Events within an planetary narrative. In addition to psychological profiling (which is valid and important in Jyotisha) the pragmatic information about the schedule of events is indeed what most people want to know. The best questions therefore begin with "When" and "What".

“How is my husband’s future?” or “will we be wealthy” or " how will we get along as time goes by?" are really not answerable because they are so vague,

However, this version is well-crafted, shows investment of reflective thought about the whole situation, and asks for an assessment. This is a model question:

“My fiancé and I are both well-educated, but we disagree about money. He prefers to live frugally in order to save capital, and he expects to fully support both of his parents in their old age. His parents have saved very little toward their retirement -- and nearly bankrupted themselves on opulent weddings for their children, for what purpose I cannot grasp. They believe their son will care for their every need.

However, iprefer to spend our professional income on a nice apartment, pleasant holidays, tasty food, and nice clothes. I expect my adult parents to prepare intelligently for their own retirement, and to use their hard-earned pension funds wisely. What is the likely outcome of this disparity in values? Is it something that we can negotiate over time (we really do love each other) or is this a deal-breaker for marriage?”

From a Jyotishavidya perspective, the reflective, thoughtful, detailed version of the question is able to direct the attention of the chart-reader to the two partners' Chandra profiles.

The assessment must evaluate not only money, but also security, comfort, and parents -- all elements of the Chandra Narrative . The better-written question is likely to produce a must more principled, precise and useful Jyotisha-based response.

Synchronicity and Natural Affinity

between the querent and the diviner during divination

It is also true that natural affinity and synchronicity do have an effect.

If the astrologer is not guided by your questions, but rather the astrologer is allowed to select the patterns which the astrologer personally finds most intriguing, from among the thousands of patterns present in your nativity, then the astrologer could very well select some patterns which are indeed of strong interest to you!

However, we will have much more targeted results if you will be kind enough to write some clear, well-thought-out, and important questions. These questions produced by you can help train my attention upon the information patterns that you seek to see.

Questions which require a bit of background are great. For instance, someone recently asked about his medical career, whether he would pass an important professional licensing exam. This fellow needed to provide some background on his medical education, the type of exam etc.. We were able to find the relevant patterns efficiently (without any guessing!). Indeed the Jyotisha charts indicated he would pass but just barely, and on his third and final try. I was delighted to receive the querent's email confirmation that, despite nearly crippling anxiety and low confidence, he finally passed the exam!

I much prefer to receive your written questions via email, but it's OK to send via snail mail if security is very important. All materials are completely confidential, of course. Please provide as much or as little detail as you like, but - again - more background is generally more helpful to me..

Divinations of all types give much better results when the querent has formed clear and complete questions in one's mind.

The process of writing out questions definitely helps establish psychic permission to receive clear, intuition-confirming answers.

Milestone event that lacks... an event

Request for remedy - problem not identified

" When will I achieve spiritual realization?"

" Will I ever be happy and satisfied?"

" How is my marriage?"

" How will be my children's success in life?"

" When will I be wealthy and successful?"

" When will I reach the heights?"

" When will my ship come in?"

provided as a"milestone event" .... OK, what happened?

• " 2001 was the good time in life although so many incidents happened"

Concerning a child - what is the child doing? Here the writer is so consumed by judgment-and-criticism energy that the actual behavior is not mentioned.

• " In my son we have seen several instance of an undesirable behavior. My wife tolerates it. But I want to put a stop to it; I think it will lead to trouble. Can you suggest a remedy for this problem?"

" my mother is in her 80's and healthy, but I wonder if she'll get dementia, and also whether I could financially manage residential care for her. Do you see a timeline for her life and health?"

" My husband and I have used nearly all of our disposable income for repaying student loans, and now after ten years of working full time (both of us!) we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We might suddenly be able to afford to buy a house. Yet I'm not sure I want to be bound to one place; and this last round of foreclosures since the 2008 collapse really scared me. I feel so ambivalent about buying now... can you see good and bad (likely and unlikely) times to buy a house? In Canada or in India?"

Q: What amount of detail for the written questions is best for the Jyotishavidya reading ?

A: as much written background as you can provide is helpful. A timeline is very helpful also. I am perfectly happy to read several paragraphs of questions with background if you can find the time to write it!

Just make sure that you clearly identify which sentence in a descriptive paragraph is the actual question. Some people write extensive ruminations, musings, and opaque reflections but their question is never asked.

Each question should be a grammatical question punctuated by a question-mark. In addition to the grammar function, aquestion-mark also helps to signal emotional openness to receive an answer.

Writing out the setting for the questions not only helps confirm the accuracy of birth time, but also sets a clear and detailed agenda for the reading.

Questions that * don't* work are very broad, dreamy, anxious, or poorly formulated.

TOO VAGUE . Generally vague questions indicate that the querent is so afraid of the possible answer that they pose the question to be un-answerable.

• What can you tell me about my mother?

• Will I get rich?

• Will I be successful?

• Will I find true love?

Oy. The questions must be clear so that the answers can be clear!

What is meant by rich ? The highly relative and anxiety-charged term rich must be clearly defined to be of any use. How do you define rich? What are the constituent elements of the condition described by the adjective rich ? Do you mean

• perceptually rich = surrounded by deeply satisfying beauty and healing sound
• object-rich = containment of material or digital objects into a physical or electronic box
• emotionally rich = deep sense of belongingness and contentment
• intellectually rich = extensive knowledge collection, power of evaluative thought
• or some other kind of enrichment?

The word RICH in English means having power (right) . What sort of power(s) do you desire?

Same with the psychically charged adjectives successful and loved. The English word success means next step (sub/super = after + cedare = to go, to walk). What is your definition of a desired Next Step? It would be slightly more clear (although not always more accurate) to define what you think is the social expectation for your next step. However ideally it is most clear to define which step you would prefer, without regard to the fearful, presumed, social judgement!

LOVE is another unexamined concept. Love is everywhere. It is the glue that holds the universe together. It is constitutionally impossible for a person to lack love. Yet, people fabricate belief systems which overlay the primal reality (that humans and all beings live in a cosmic soup made from light and love) with the most bizarre claims than one lacks love, is unlovable, is unworthy of love. If you are breathing, you are in love! Please be more clear about your vision for what you wish to experience in terms of love, embrace, belongingness.

Better formulated questions provide background and specific expectations .

Here are some examples of questions I have received in the past, regarding mother, rich, successful, love

• Examples of detailed questions

Clearer questions will give a more accurately targeted answer!

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Questions versus Statements

Importantly, there is a difference between asking a question and making a statement.

If the questions are posed as questions then coherent answers that make sense in terms of the trajectory of the Vimshottari Dasha 120-year life path will be found in the fullness of the Jyotishavidya nativity

.

However, if the person simply delivers a series of statements, there is no way to answer a statement.

If a person has already commanded their world that the future must proceed according to some fixed expectation, then there is no functional reason to have a Jyotishavidya reading to enquire into the future.

When statements are issued in place of questions, it shows (unfortunately) that the mind is closed to new information and guidance from the samayavidya will be difficult for the client to accept.

If I receive statements in lieu of questions I will do my best to deliver a reading, but I cannot afterward enter into a discourse with a client who wants to"argue" that my forecast contradicts their assertions.

Please think carefully about your questions. The usefulness of the reading for you will depend a great deal upon the precision and detail of your questions.

Although it might show a 'question mark', it's not really a question

• fantasy asserted in lieu of facts

• statement in lieu of question

• demand for a specific result

" Question" 1:

My younger brother is a jealous parasite who lives on my parents' money. I traveled to UK to make a career and have done very well for myself. I do not send money home because I am sure that my parents will spend it on my lazy lying brother. However I do send proper gifts to mom and dad at Diwali etc.

My question regards the family properties. I learned that my parents have left their home and lands to this good-for-nothing dole-wallah. They have cut me from their estate entirely. I have every right to inherit my share and have filed a district case. Please tell me when the matter will be resolved in my favor.

" Question" 2 :

I am God-fearing man who has worked hard to provide the best for my family. I believe in discipline for wife and children. This is taught in our Holy Book. Two years ago, by evil influence of her mother, my wife kidnapped our children to her parents' home.

A corrupt judge decided"domestic violence" (false). I am divorced her and judge says no further contact. I remarry in this year. [statement] Please mention when I shall meet a pure woman this year and when is the marriage date no later than January 20xx thank you.

" Question" 3:

I am sick of my husband's philandering ways and I will not tolerate it. He gets everything he needs here at home. I am just sick about it. Divorce is not acceptable in our church. He needs to stop. Please tell me the time when he will stop and also I want a public apology, when does that happen?

" Question" 4:

I will have great success in film acting; by strength of my desire, handsome looks (photo attached) and many long years of waiting. I plan to join the dramatic cast of an important film in 19xx and to join the"Millionaire's Club" of film actors no later than 19xx. I have seen in a clear vision making my handprint into the cement at [famous Hollywood venue] and this should happen within 4-5 years. Please confirm the time of my greatest success.

Example: "Mother"

Too vague and general:

• " Tell me about my mother."

Helpful amount of detail:

• " My mother has been abusively critical toward me since childhood. She wore nice clothes, had beauty appointments, and took holidays while I worked to earn my college tuition. I raised my children without any support from her. She was always too busy to help me. She spent all of her money to look nice to impress other people, and she saved no cintamani * mani * money for retirement.

Now that she is elderly, she expects me to pay her care expenses from my salary. I feel deeply resentful of her selfishness, but I wonder if we might experience some healing of this relationship now that she is old and weak.

Should I agree to pay for her care? That would be a serious financial pinch. Will our relationship improve?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" My mother spends every weekend at her conservative church. She talks about the Bible, about love and charity, and how Jesus says to care for others. She works in a soup kitchen feeding meals to hungry strangers. A lot of people think my mom is a really good person. But at home, she is viciously critical of me and my sister. She has destroyed my marriages. She was so mean to my husbands that they left me. My last husband said I had to choose between him and my mom, and when I could not choose, he walked out.

Every visit with her ends in tears (mine). My sister has completely stopped talking to her but (especially now that I am divorced again) I would like to try to heal our mother-daughter relationship. My sister claims that mom has borderline personality disorder and she will always be like this: sweet and caring to strangers but nasty and hurtful to her own family.

According to the Jyotisha tradition, what do you see about my mother in my chart? Should I allow her back in my life? Or just stop trying to have a normal mother-daughter relationship because of her mental illness?"

Example:" Rich"

Too vague and general

" Will I get rich?"

Helpful amount of detail

" My parents were hard-scrabble Arizona ranchers who owned their land and cattle but very little else. As a child I dreamed of making it big: a 20-room mansion, the swimming pool, collector cars in the garage -- just like in the movies!

I've been in real-estate sales for about ten years, and I currently earn about US_100K per year. I don't "feel" rich yet, but I think I could get there, when I start earning US_300K or more.

What does my commission sales income look like for the next ten or twenty years? Is there anything I can do to speed up my earnings?"

Helpful amount of detail

(This amount of detail clearly shows the themes of salvation and rescue. Jyotisha should )

" I've been on disability for about 15 years. Before that I was an office worker. I do not communicate with my family members, but I do volunteer in a local animal rescue shelter sometimes. Also sometimes I attend a local salvation church.

I think every day about winning the lottery, and I pray to God every morning to please send me a winning ticket. None of that small stuff for me. I want the really big amazing multi-million dollar ticket. But I play scratchers too. I'm sure I deserve to win big.

According to the Jyotisha tradition, please tell me when I will win the PowerBall."

Example:" Love"

Too vague and general:

" Will I find love?"

Helpful amount of detail (although somewhat comical):

" I am hoping to get married soon. I am looking for my soul mate. This is the person who loves me completely for exactly who I am without any changes or compromise.

I will know her when I see her. I will not accept anything less than perfection in a mate, and I know that my soul mate from God will also see me as a perfect man.

She will be so beautiful like a fashion model with slender physique, perfect skin, lustrous hair, obedient, and no more than 1.6 meters tall.

When will I find my true love?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" I have been in a series of painful romantic relationships, and by now (my mid-thirties) I can see repeating patterns of low self-esteem and self-destruction (mine and partners). My current partnership is starting to get stressful and I want to get us both into therapy before I repeat the failures of the past.

However, my guy just won't commit to work on it. He says he's not doing anything wrong, he's just being himself, and if I don't like him I should just get out. It's the same old cycle - a guy who just won't deal with his feelings, and me the loser.

Can I break out of this horrible cycle? Will I ever find true love?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" My parents are now in the process of arranging a suitable marriage for me, their only daughter. I feel like they have been waiting for this moment to somehow"prove" their value in our community, and now they are deeply involved in the negotiations -- to the point where they think of nothing else. It's so stressful for them and for me too. They email me every day. I feel like my parents are trying to"sell" me in order to gain approval in our community.

I am not the girl that they are selling. I am not modest, obedient, religious, or traditional . I am independent, educated, modern, and I hate to cook!

Also, they don't know about my boyfriend here ... he is from a different community. We have been together for about a year. We haven't talked about marriage (there would be some serious cultural problems with that) but we live together and we love each other. I love my parents deeply, and I don't want to shock them or hurt them, but I also love my boyfriend and I resent the whole process of being"retailed" in the marriage market.

According to the Jyotisha tradition, what should I do?"

Example :"Successful"

Too vague and general:

" Will I be successful in life?"

Too vague and general:

" Will my children be successful?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" I am a single mom with three kids in high school. After working part-time while the kids were little, ijust recently got into a demanding full-time job that involves a lot of traveling. The kids are on their own some nights, and I'm tired, but I would love to break some sales records and move higher in this company. Will I be successful?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" I plan to sit for the (USA) Foreign Service Exam next year. I study every day and took a prep class. Still, i've heard it's tough. According to the Jyotisha tradition, will I be successful?"

Helpful amount of detail:

" I failed the medical board certification exam in pediatric oncology twice last year. This spring, i'll have my third and final chance to pass. Naturally I'm terrified of failing - but my family astrologer says I will pass this time. How does it look? Test date April 15, 2002."

More examples of better-formulated questions:

Super-generalized questions such as "will things change?" reflect fear of getting clear answers . Of course things will change - we don't need astrology to know that!

The important question is, will things change according to my positive expectations? Or, is there negative energy, ignorance, fear, anxiety, or interference from well-meaning but manipulative Others that is fogging up one's view of one's own authentic path?

If there is too much anxiety surrounding the reading, specific and immediately useful, spiritually validating answers will be difficult to produce. Be sure to clear out"other people's opinions " before formulating your questions!

Too vague and general:

" ... My first question I have is about my business and my finances. Will they change any time soon? What will happen in my long term relationship I have? What will happen with owning or building a home? What will happen to my direct family if I experience changes in my life. They rely on me for everything!"

Suggestions for clarifying and specifying the inquiry:

If you have time to develop questions which are a bit more specific, the psychic intent that you invest in writing out specific questions will set the energy for clear and useful answers.

For example, you ask"will my business and finances change?"

Unfortunately his type of question is a bit too vague. Vague questions indicate high anxiety, and anxiety impedes the reading. Indeed, everything changes constantly.

More detail in the formulation of the question would be very helpful.

What is your business specialty, what are your goals and expectations for the business, and what if any obstacles do you foresee?

There are millions of details in the Jyotisha charts, so it helps tremendously for me to know a bit of detail. Then I can select the patterns that match your current situation.

What will happen in long-term relationship? is also very vague. It is simply the nature of life that everything is evolving and changing, all the time! Thousands of things will happen in your relationship, on spiritual emotional mental and physical levels.

What specifically would you like to know about? Perhaps prospects for marriage, or children, or property ownership-stewardship ? Or other specific developments that you would like to see materialize in the future?

You ask, what will happen with owning or building a home?

Similarly, please tell me what you would like to happen and what steps you are taking toward making your dreams manifest. Where and when and what costs and co-ownership and other details are quite important.

Otherwise we can only see generalities. If you can provide clearer details, ican then tell you what obstacles and timing issues, if any, are present in the Jyotisha charts.

What will happen to my family if I experience changes in my life?

Well, if you did not experience changes in your life you would not be breathing! Please let me know what sort of changes you are concerned with, and what your fears and hopes for specific future scenarios might be.

Also, if you can be a bit more detailed about your relationship to your family? Do you have young children, or dependent elders? Is their reliance financial, moral, emotional, etc?

Thanks for taking the time to assemble your reading questions. I know that writing out specific questions does take time, but the reward is a much better Jyotishavidya reading .

Fear of Asking Questions

The Jyotishavidya reading is not about fate

The framework of the fifth Vedanga may reveal one's own authentic life path plan

The vidya may serve to separate one's own authentic learning patterns from the impositions and demands of other people

Others who have a stake in one's own incarnation (and who may meddle in it) may include ancestor spirits, family members, co-workers, religious authorities, television advertising et-cetera

Their energy and image projections can get confused with one's own.

When things don't go as planned or hoped for, the usual reason is not the"heavy hand of fate" , but rather the failure that can be predicted when one attempts to carry out someone else's projected expectations or fears (such as the unfinished business of a parent).

One signal that one is trying to live according to a false set of expectations (usually trying to please a parent or a spouse) = a fear of asking questions , and the presence of debilitating anxiety about"what will happen" . In other words "what will happen" when and if the Jyotishavidya reading exposes that a clever predatory Other has been insinuating their own agenda into your space, and expediently using your life-force energy for their own ambitious purposes!

(In Jyotisha this sort of psychic fraud is Typically, rahu, but also Shani-Chandra, and Typically, amoral judge in your life such as parent, spouse, or predatory guru-figure whose trust in divine love is so low that they heavily project upon others and refuse you the right to have your own path.)

Indeed, our intuition - if uninterrupted by predatory if"well-meaning" external energy - may give a very clear read-out of precisely what will happen along the spiritual path. In the intuitive world, there is no time and no space. Only spiritual certainty.

Jyotisha is a spiritual tool. The Jyotisha charts will confirm the unique contents of your personal plan, factoring out the interference patterns caused by other people projecting their images into your field of perception.

Jyotisha information will never contradict your true intuition. (If it does, the birth info is incorrect.)

Please let me know what your expectations are in regard to your most important goals (home, family, business, relationship, etc), and I can then offer you the Jyotisha opinion on whether your present expectations are matched in the astral pattern, or whether some adjustment of expectations is warranted.

If you absolutely cannot provide questions, ido recommend a bit of light meditation on what sort of information you expect to receive and how you might beneficially use it.

This sort of psychic preparation is just good practice any time"secrets "are being revealed; it ensures your right to use the information as you see fit and prevents interference from superstition.

The readings are recorded in MP3 audio-file format= available for download. Readings include one free follow-up question, via email. If you have more questions about reading details or Payment please feel free to email me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, bPL

Q: Why the Client Questions?

Why do you need to know my questions before you can do the reading?

Isn't my fate written in the stars?

A: If you decide you would like a reading from me, please advise the birth date, birth place, and birth time (ideally from the birth certificate).

Also please let me know your questions. The way my readings work, iask for detailed questions with quite a bit of background. I find that writing out the questions for the reading focus provides good psychic grounding, and sets a clear intent for the client to receive useful information.

• For example, "what will happen with my career" is way too vague of a question.

• It's an okay question for your own personal divinations, which one may perform over and over again, but not specific enough for a diviner to compose a properly targeted answer.

• A useful and directly matching answer requires a useful and specifically stated question.

• The vague question needs to be much more focused to provide me some concrete career details that help me know the level of answer you are seeking.

• It helps to give details like"I am an engineer or homemaker or astronaut or politician; I have such-and-such skills training and am at mid-point of my career; I have certain opportunities for advancement and travel; my spouse prefers certain options etc."

• This amount of background scenario allows me to comment on specific developments in the Jyotisha chart.

So if you would like a reading, please do write out a couple of questions that are important to you, with as much detail as you have time for. Some folks write 2 questions and some write 20, but the important part is to let me know what choices you are negotiating and what your leading values are.

One who has enjoyed Jyotisha (or Nadi ) readings in India may have noticed a cultural tendency there to make bold predictions of name, fame, and glory (or catastrophic disaster) for every man and woman in the village. Also in India, the viewpoint of fixed destiny or an interpretive orientation toward victim-mind, presuming that events happen"to" people, is quite different from my own viewpoint.

I read Jyotisha script from the understanding that people are actively creating their own experiences by following a subconscious program. I do believe that this programming can be altered through force of consciousness.

But I also appreciate that it takes so much energy to alter the program script that most people are better off just letting the program run naturally.

• The Jyotisha scripts are somewhat generalized, and the language of Jyotisha is set in medieval India.

• Therefore, to give accurate readings for those of us living in the dizzying material diversity of the West, it essential for me to know which material lifestyle you and your family have chosen.

In India one may be able to judge 90% of a person's reality through their appearance. But because we live in the West, iwill ask you to tell me some of your socio-economic and religious details so that I can frame the reading in terms that are meaningful to you.

Q: All you require for the reading is a birth date, place and time.

Is there anything else that would be required for a more precise reading?

For example details of my family, my gender etc etc.

I mean will all the people who were born at the same time and place have the same present and future as me?

This has always been a question in my mind because there are other people in my family who have the same birthday, and we all have different personalities.

A: Very good question, and one worth examining!

Jyotishavidya uses multiple varga (divisional) charts, and some of these charts will change every minute:

The Nakshatra of Svamsha also changes very quickly. Mere seconds of time difference will change the pada of the navamsha lagna's Nakshatra .

The shasti-amsha (1/60th portion) changes every two minutes.

Birth twins will normally have different Shastiamsha varga - and often other varga are different too.

I have several cases of twins born only 2 minutes apart with different Dvadashamamsha -10 charts for parents, different Siddhamsha for intelligence and spiritual empowerment. Naturally, they report variance in their life experiences of parents (D-12) and perceptual agility (D-24).

If someone were standing by the birth with a stop-watch and could capture the moment of the first breath to a .25 minute level of accuracy , and the software was top-quality, we could get a very accurate set of Jyotisha charts.

Using the existing birth-time

• known issues

In reality, the best birth times are accurate only to the minute, and even hospital birth times are Typically, reported several minutes after the infant's first breath (even with a nurse wearing an accurate wristwatch, standing right there).

• Many birth times are estimated within 5-10 minutes, and some are very vague such as "about noon" .

• In some peasant cultures (notably India) parents or well-wishers may superstitiously report a "better" birth time if the accurate moment of birth is perceived to be less benevolent or less marriagable. Mula - Nirṛti and female Jyeṣṭha - Antares Births in particular can be falsified to improve marriage-matching prospects.

• celebrity figures may distribute false birth-times to protect their privacy

• even non-celebrities may report false birth data as a shield against black magic

Inaccurately recorded birth time whether accidental or intentional is frustrating for astrologers. Jyotiṣika do the best possible assessments using the birth time as recorded by the family.

In any case, several events must be used to confirm the accuracy of the birth time. It is never good to speak upon the implications of a Jyotishavidya nativity

until a minimum of three life events have been confirmed using the vimshottari dasha.

Rectification

The process of rectifying a chart for an estimated or unknown birth time can take many hours. Most US Jyotiṣika charge a considerable price to rectify an unknown birth time.

Rectification involves a labor intensive, reducing and sorting process. The final birth time result is obtained by a process of elimination. It is mentally taxing to perform. However, the results can be very gratifying to the Jyotiṣika when suddenly, with a correct time, the Vimshottari dasha timelords generate the expected results.

In truth, rectification is best done by someone whom knows the native personally, because of the subtle observations involved. However, it can be done by a series of not-this-not-that logical eliminations too.

Confirming a known time - accepting the birth certificate time

• Confirming a known time is fairly easy, given a few milestone dates like marriage, childbirth, important graduations, death of a spouse or parent, etc.

• As a general practice, ido not confirm the birth time unless the person has a marriage, childbirth, or death date to use.

• I really have to trust the birth certificate.

Other cultural background is helpful

Yes, thank you, knowing the gender and other relevant cultural background is also very helpful!

Close-in-time births in same locale are indeed similar lives

It will be true that all the babies born on the same minute as you in the town of your birth, may have very similar life paths.

• Some of the details will vary such as marriage partners and careers, but their internal narratives (how they feel inside) will be much the same if birth is within a minute of each other and within a mile of each other on the same date.

• Nevertheless, there are small differences which can have a big effect such as the Shastiamsha which can change several times during each minute depending on latitude.

Born on same date, years apart, very little commonality

People born on the same date (like you and your relative) nee have little in common astrologically except the degree of the Sun.

Q: What all does the audio-file reading talk about ?

Is there a set of topics that you go over for every horoscope?

If so then, what are they ?

Can we decide what areas we would like to be emphasized for our horoscope ?

Or is this covered by the 5-10 questions we are allotted ?

A: bhava-based Structure of the Reading, Extra Structure from Your Questions

There is a set of topics which naturally structures the reading: the clockwise progress from bhava-1 to bhava-12. We look at the planets and signs of each of the twelve radix houses, plus the navamshar.

Vimshottari dasha + natural behavior of the planets = personal timeline

• The behaviors of the planets in house and sign (bhava and rashi) are then correlated to the life timeline on the Vimshottari Dasha.

• Once we understand the behavior of the planets in their unique locations at the time of your birth, then the Vimshottari Dasha helps predict more precisely when and in what intensity the planets will give their full fruit . The Vimshottari periods "trigger" the effects of the planets

Detailed questions

• I encourage folks to send me detailed questions with as much background as possible. In order to answer the questions properly, we do"talk through" the twelve radix houses anyway.

• When questions are provided, the questions are introduced at the beginning of the audio-file reading, and I will pay special attention to chart factors which will provide the effects that the person wants to know more about.

• Each of these areas are built-in to the Jyotisha chart, and I would briefly cover them in any case, but I will spend more time talking about a particular area in the chart if the querent has told me that this area is especially important to them.

More details = better

• As always, more details are better; Specific questions are better. When people ask a broad, general question like,"tell me about my career" I really can't answer in great detail, because there are so many factors to choose from. I need more detail in the question, so I can give more detail in the answer.

• Specific queries might be, just as examples,"I just finished medical school and" or"I've been a housewife for 20 years and" or"I am a mid-career accountant and I am thinking of starting my own business and" or"I have the choice of working in my field in two different countries and" .

• You get the idea. It helps me so much to know a bit of background because what one person means by"successful" or"comfortable" or"rich" is quite different from what someone else might mean.

• In truth, most people don't have measurable goals set for their life path. They are bumbling along, just hoping things will work out. Hah! One of my favorite broad unanswerable questions! I am often asked if a certain romantic relationship will "work out" ! Similarly"tell me about my mother" or"tell me about my family"are so broad that these queries require much more detail.

Side benefits of writing out the questions for a Jyotishavidya reading include the psychic grounding and reflective goal-setting that comes with the writing process.

If you decide you would like a reading, please feel welcome to write out as many detailed questions as you have time to write.

Most people find that in the process of writing out their most important questions, that they are actually asking the same questions from several different points of view.

Q:

Regarding, the mode of payment, if I choose to pay by credit card. do I just need to do this through PayPal and then I am done, right?

A:

Right! PayPal will send me an email confirming your payment, then we are ready to put your reading on the calendar. Typically my queue is long enough that a 60-day lead time is in place. As soon as your reading day arrives, iwill start working with your birth place, birth date, birth time, and your detailed personal questions.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q:

Hello, from reading on your website, iget the impression that you do only recorded readings?

Do you do them in person or by phone as well?

A: Namaste, that's right, only recorded Jyotishavidya readings via MP3 download

This restriction is actually for psychic purposes. I find I do a much better reading when I can concentrate on the flow of the Jyotisha divination without interruption from the anxiety of the client.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely, bPL

Q: Hello, iwould like to ask: how does the "Two-hour Jyotishavidya reading via MP3" work?

I mean - Do I call you and you read my chart for 2 hours or you do it alone and after I receive the MP3 via download? Thank you

A: Namaste, the second option is correct. The Jyotishavidya reading is not interactive. I do the reading in the studio, record the reading on MP3 audio file, and upload the file to a server from where the client may download to one's own computer.

One follow-up question, via email, is included in the reading price.

Best clients for the readings

• The Jyotishavidya readings are provided primarily for students of the vidya . Jyotishavidya readings are also suitable for those with some cultural familiarity with eastern philosophical values, such as folks who participate in eastern cultural religious practice or who have lived in Buddhist or Hindu society for some period of one's life. Those with a background in some type of dharma practice will find the concepts easier to digest.

• Jyotisha is quite different, in logical principle and in vocabulary, from western style astrology. Therefore, aJyotishavidya reading might not be suitable for a person who is more accustomed to the western tropical-astrology viewpoint. Jyotisha is primarily a predictive and evaluative art; it involves much less "personal psychology" than the western-style tradition.

Delivery time

• Occasionally when my Jyotishavidya reading queue gets quite long, there can be a rather long delay in delivery time for the reading package.

• Delays of 1-2 months from time of purchase are now common. My turnaround time tends to improve a bit during university holidays but it is always at least one month wait time.

Also, ican offer a gift certificate by mail or email if you would like to purchase a reading for a friend as a gift for delivery at a later time. Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q: Is the reading package cheaper if I make my own Jyotisha charts ?

Dear Barbara

Namaste !! I am an amateur in Vedic Astrology and really really impressed by your website. And this is my bible.

I live in India and was wondering as to how to go about a reading for me. I don't need any birth charts ( I happen to own a Jyotish software).

I need is the following:

1) Life predictions 2) Marriage and my future. 3) Children

Actually all of these are so related.....if I said know about the future that would be good enough. ...I am not sure how much would this package cost. ...

Warm regards - from India

A: Namaste,

Thanks for your note. I am always happy to know that students of Jyotisha like myself are receiving benefit from the materials ai

Procedure for reading payments is listed at Jyotisha services payment

The reading package always contains these items

• digital audio files of the Jyotishavidya reading delivered in quick-spoken Midwestern USA English.

• Charts included: radix * rashi, naavamsha, and 16 divisional varga

• Vimshottari Dasha timeline for 120 years

Because there are numerous methods for calculating the nativity, it is important to coordinate my calculations with my interpretation; therefore, ialways as a matter of course include charts and Vimshottari Dasha printouts (or PDF's) with every reading.

• Removing a particular document such as a varga chart or a Vimshottari dasha timeline, does not alter the price of the reading.

In pre-computer days, certainly, the astrologer's time was so much consumed with making calculations that the majority value of an astrological chart was the labor involved in astronomical computation.

In addition, if one was raised with a culturally superstitious view of astrology, where the hand-written documents (chart diagrams, magical number squares etc.) are treated like talismans, it might be easy to believe that the document medium itself has some mystical-power value.

However, these days, anyone with access to the internet can generate free Jyotisha charts. IMO the Jyotisha documents themselves, available to create and re-create at the push of a button, have no value at all except as temporary containers of timeless Wisdom.

The value lies in the power of the interpretation to generate life-changing insight.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

But I can't afford your prices!

If the reading prices seem out of reach, take that as a signal that that your spirit does not want this type of reading.

Your spirit wants you to do your own work!

• In truth, one can usually generate a much more powerful level of insight about oneself, by doing one's own Jyotisha research into one's own family, friends, and work-mates. That research into the lives of others is what clears up the mirror for one to see oneself.

• It is strongly encouraged, for any learner who has the sustained interest, to study Jyotishavidya via the many free materials on the internet or via inexpensive books where available. (India is definitely the best place to find Jyotisha books! although there are several good shops in the USA as well

• Free or low-cost software is easy to obtain.

Rather than buy expensive readings from abroad or suffer the ponderous mystifications of traditional village Jyotiṣika, it is recommended to use a personally accessible method of personal divination and create own predictions

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely, bPL, Jyotishavidya

Counseling Dialogue vis-à-vis Jyotisha Analysis?

" what will Source do next in this personality context?"

Q:

Hi Barbara--Well, i've kind of become hooked on your website--in good ways (and bad) I think.

The good I think is just looking to learn and expand my self-knowledge.

The bad, isuppose, is looking for"Answers "and shortcuts to having to go through the hard experiences. (What with going through Saturn mahadasha with Saturn in the 7th in Capricornus right now.....I don't think that's going to happen.)

I've thought of asking you for a reading but I balk at the set-up. I am reluctant to leave myself open to having a detailed report of who I am (two hours does, indeed, feel a little intimidating), where I have been and where I am likely to head based purely on my chart. I have a very difficult chart (and life) which--through the grace of excellent teachers, my own extremely hard work and dim-witted stubbornness--I have managed to make work, more or less.

I balk at the idea that you might make an accurate assessment of my strengths and weaknesses based upon my chart without at least getting my perspective and experience as part of the mix--which would could come through dialogue.

(You offer the five-ten questions--but I don't consider that a dialogue!)

However, based upon your writings, you seem like quite a thoughtful, learned and also compassionate person. And so, iimagine that you have thought this set-up through.

Thus, my question is if you could take the time to comment on my above mentioned concern. I look forward to your response!

A : Namaste,

Thanks so much for your note. It sounds like you might enjoy having a face-to-face reading with a Jyotiṣika in your local area. The readings that I offer are definitely at remote, and purposefully so.

You raise some important points about styles of Jyotisha practice. Thanks for asking a good question! Here is my current viewpoint:

Practice model = counseling dialogue

• Some Jyotiṣika are very gifted face-to-face counselors who are skilled at handling the anxious and self-justifying interruptions of the client, and who encourage client-with-Jyotishi dialogue as a means of gaining knowledge.

• The therapeutic counseling model is quite common in western-style, tropical astrological practice. In the West, astrological advising seems to have followed the modern"talk therapy" model, that is itself grounded in the older traditions of rabbinical and pastoral counseling. Some western Jyotishi choose to follow this model also. (For example, see the credentials of astrologer Dennis Harness - www.dennisharness.com

• Perhaps there is such a counselor-Jyotishi in your area.

Practice model = clairsentient reading

• Other practitioners of Jyotisha (like myself) need a more protected psychic field of perception in order to deliver an accurate reading.

• It is a liability of my own clairsentient sensitivity that I cannot deliver an accurate Jyotishavidya reading if the flow of interpretation is interrupted by outside noise (either physical noise or psychic noise).

• I have to deliver readings in a very quiet psychic space.

Practice model = objective analysis

• Given the required quiet environment, my interpretive style is highly analytical. My delivery is targeted to sincere students of the vidya, who are in process of gaining their own proficiency in Jyotisha.

• I presume, when performing a reading, that the client wishes to acquire knowledge the rules of Jyotisha as a step toward one's own self-awareness.

Students of the vidya are typically more interested in testing the scriptural mandates of classical Jyotisha against their own life experience and the direct experience of those known to them (such as a husband or wife). Also they like to test the predictions which may emerge after the rules have been successfully tested against past experience.

They are less interested in therapeutic 'dialogue' and more interested in objective case analysis. Of course each reading is very specifically personalized - since no two births are the same. Yet students of the vidya realize that the system while highly sophisticated is ultimately quite mechanical, and that the rules are rather fixed.

The target of any Jyotishavidya reading is an accurate prediction. This is an absolutely mechanical matter. Yet, as noted, the mechanics are highly complex and it may take lifetimes of study and testing to get it right.

For BP Lama Jyotishavidya, all personalities are presumed to be composed wholly of Source (what else is there?) and inherently perfect .

There is nothing to "fix" , or "avoid" or "worry about" . The reading target is to determine "what will Source do next in this personality context?"

To answer this question"what next?" Jyotisha tools such as Vimshottari dasha, various varga, transit tables, inter alia can be deployed. The reading consists of a staged assessment of the 12 bhava of the birth chart * kundali, followed by a review of the Vimshottari dasha timeline, and noting of any currently influential transits. Then based on the previous outlay of factors, the 5-to-10 personal questions may considered in a case-analysis fashion.

In my non-interactive practice, there is little opportunity for the constant interruptions of the judged-and-fearing-judgement ego which can distract the Jyotishi and corrupt the prediction.

In this non-interactive practice, the target of the reading is * not* to therapeutically allay anxieties or repair damaged ego-structure by engaging in a dialogue rich with ego-attribute adjectives such as "good person" , "honorable" , "successful" , "worthy" , "well married" , "wealthy" , "blameless", "pure motive" , etc.

In fact, the reading is essentially a two-hour monologue which overflows with descriptive adjectives that are absolutely necessary to convey the imagery of the Framework. However, the adjectives are meant to be DESCRIPTIVE not PRESCRIPTIVE and in no way does the Jyotisha description connote any sort of ego-manipulating "social judgment" upon the native.

The knowledge tradition of Jyotishavidya is a spiritual science; its judgments are scientifically descriptive but morally neutral. (Here the term 'scientific' is used not in the sense of modern laboratory process but in the broader original sense of scientia meaning deep knowledge.)

Not only am I not skilled in this type of ego-rebuilding healing; I basically do not believe it is the proper aim of a Jyotishavidya reading .

Truly, many, many, many people in our world are suffering from traumatic ego-damage due to abusive parenting and corrupt belief systems. One in desperate need of therapeutic ego-emotional healing and social approval should * before requesting a Jyotishavidya reading * intelligently address this urgent need for ego-membrane repair by seeking qualified therapeutic support.

After stabilizing the ego's constant urgent need for self-justification, it may be fruitful to seek a Jyotishavidya reading . (Or, ideally, to begin to educate oneself in the mechanics of the samayavidya.)

At this stage of awareness, there is no need for the representative of the vidya (the Jyotishi) to endure the time-consuming therapeutic exercise of the client interrupting the explanatory, predictive discourse in order to negotiate for self-acceptance.

Rather, at this stage, the client should possess the e agerness of the sincere student (Latin 'studere' = 'to be eager') to learn more about things as they are. IMO the greatest benefit of Jyotisha is its ability to increase one's perceptual clarity toward what is which steadily reduces ego-reactivity and opens compassion toward others.

The readings that I offer are primarily a service to sincere students who wish to receive a detailed analysis of the application of Jyotisha principles to their own personal clockworks.

of course it is fascinating to read the application of these principles to one's own nativity, and a correct analysis can serve as a lifetime guide. The analysis is compassionately worded but the goal is spiritual confirmation with material accuracy, naot"therapy" in the modern senser.

Time and cost

Inevitably, the working Jyotishi must consider cost of service. Unfortunately, having Ketu in bhava-8, iam unlikely to win the lottery, and having Ketu the sieve involved with Shukra in nearly every varga, iam indeed unlikely to retain much affluence

Plus, itithe to the nuns. Therefore, iwill probably always need to charge a market value for readings.

The analysis model at current pricing permits a two-hour reading which covers most of the basics of the nativity plus time for 5-10 questions. If I were to offer an *initial* dialogued counseling package in addition to the analysis, the cost of a reading would double or triple, due to the time involved.

However, please note that after the initial reading with me, clients are most welcome to pay for"additional questions "as a follow-on explanation to the reading - and many clients do indeed choose this option.

Your present needs

Since you are seeking a"dialogue" it might be beneficial to find a reputable counseling astrologer in your area. It might also suit your purpose to visit a qualified healer such as a psychologist, or a trained pastoral counselor, or just talk with a trusted friend!

Wishing you good luck and happiness,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Adult expectations for a Jyotisha consultation

Q: Dear Sister Barbara, as seen, you are a dedicated astrologer who is sharing your expert knowledge on Jyotisha Astrological matters.

I'm actually searching for Astrologers who are genuine in sharing their knowledge upon consultations.

My point is, ihave consulted various astrologers through the Net, unfortunately most of them do not guide me as what they are supposed to.

They'll only tell me that I'm so-so star sign, so-so planets are in the said houses and then they'll ask me what is that I want to know(based on 1 question upon consultation). This is after I have banked-in the payment into their bank accounts.

Here's an example, last year an astrologer told me that I'll be entering Shani Maha Dasha period and told me that everything's ok in my astrological chart except I need some Vaastu arangements.

Then recently when I ask for Matching compability with my wife, the astrologer told in his report that I am the said star sign and currently I'm going under Shani Maha Dasha.

So I'm not saying both are incompetent astrologers, they are actually quite famous and what they've predicted about my star sign and period are actually the same.

However, naone are actually telling me that what will be the effects of such periods, what are the other periods I'm going through, the said planets in the said houses will give such effects, etc.

Jyotisha is supposed to guide an individual, things which they dont know are told to them so that they may avoid certain habits or things and use their potentials in certain things.

However, the astrologers are only interested to ask you;"ok, what's that you want to know?"and that's about it.

The reason I'm telling you this is that of course I would love to know every spheres in life(health, wealth, family, marriage, spiritual, etc).

Hence, i'm humbly asking you that is your consultations will also be the same procedures like other astrologers?

Seriously speaking, ithirst for astrological guidiance from a genuine astrologer.

I'm going through a bad phase of time now that I need astrological guidiances badly!

At times my mind tells me that it could be the works of those envious of me(using evil spells) and times I think it could be due to Astrological reasons.

A : Namaste,

Thanks very much for your compliments.

I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experiences in Jyotisha consultation.

It sounds like one of the difficulties may arise from the expectation that Jyotishi are mystical mind-readers who can clairsentiently apprehend what you are really asking for, without the client needing to mention it. Of course this is a rather childlike expectation. Still, you are not alone in the superstitious belief that anyone outside oneself can know more about you than you!

People do the same thing with physicians, dentists, psychologist, even the tax attorney..The client can walk into the consulting office without having prepared any questions, hoping that their professional adviser will somehow secretly know what is on their mind.

Just like the licensed professions, Jyotisha practice requires is a set of complex calculations and rules which will yield answers to specific questions . You as the adult consumer should be prepared to ask the Jyotishi to answer those specific questions which are important for you, and to receive answers which are closely related to your specific questions.

Then, if you wish to pay a Jyotishi to give you a professional answer to a query, you can be confident in your adult expectation of what sort of information you will get for your cintamani * mani * money .

• At the level of professional consulting, the advice one seeks from a Jyotishi is not much different from the advice one might seek from an attorney, aphysician, or a financial counselor. All of these professionals are trained interpret the rules of their profession and to answer questions consistent with those rules.

One recommendation is for students to learn to interpret one's own Jyotishavidya nativity

so that one does not have to depend on the viewpoint of an outside astrologer.

The reason that I have published a number of articles and sample charts is so that students can use these examples as educational resources. I hope that you can teach yourself to interpret your own nativity so that you don't lose money paying for predictions that are not useful for you!

It is important to be educated in Jyotisha concepts before one consults an outside astrologer. It is similar to visiting the medical doctor: one should have some knowledge of The earthen body before discussing it with a medical adviser!

Try reading the classic Jyotisha scriptures and utilizing the various Jyotisha websites that are available on the internet in order to empower yourself.

And most of all, please avoid superstitions which claim that the power of the planets resides outside oneself. The power of the planets exists only within oneself, and it is completely within one's own ability to direct this destiny.

... it is important to mention that I do not make use of concepts such as curses, magical potions, amulets, talismans, or other superstitious folkways, ancient customs, or established cultural norms. I do often recommend flawless gemstones since gems are effective when properly applied.

However, the main remedy which I Typically, recommend for planetary ills is seva . Selfless service targeted to those who have one's same problem but in a worse degree is the quickest, most effective remedy of all.

And Seva is Free.

Wishing you all best success in your Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama

The results are usually useless. Usally I know more than the astrologer.

The three red flags of divinatory questioning are "SHOULD-GOOD-KNOW"

Questions such as "when is a good time to X" are actually quite useless, because they are not really questions about X. It is a camouflage question that is really asking "Am I a good person? Because good people get good results, they are valued, they are worthy of respect, and loved. SO I NEED THINGS TO BE GOOD!"

Most people are so worried about whether "things "are reflecting "good" judgment upon them that they have no idea how things really are . Thus they do not know what is really happening mechanically around them, physically or psychically. They do not function very successfully in the world.

Stay out of the self-judgment trap. Phrase Jyotisha divination question using a non-judgmental vocabulary.

If you notice any "SHOULD-GOOD-KNOW" flags, try to rewrite those questions without using any moral value judgments.

Eliminate 'good', 'bad', 'right', 'wrong', 'positive', 'negative' etc. unless these adjectives are marking quantifiable measurements on a clearly identified scientific scale.

'Positive' and 'negative' are neutral when describing air temperature, and "good" is sometimes a synonym for "useful technology" . However, in human relationships and self-valuation these value-laden adjectives can indicate an agenda of trauma-originated, pain-fearing self-abuse.

To produce the most useful, pragmatic answers, try to formulate questions using the most neutral, specific vocabulary.

Accurate birth time needed? Yes!

Q: Hello, ihave perused your website, and would like to explore the possibility of having a reading done.

My only question/concern is that the time of my exact birth is uncertain as the papers were lost.

In other words, ihave a window, but would like to know if it is possible to have a full jyotish reading done (and if it is worth it) with this information in context.

Previously, my parents said it was 5:30 a.m., but are not exactly sure. Probably you could rewind an hour ahead or back. Is it worthwhile to have a reading done with this (slightly ambiguous information)?

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. Best Wishes,

A: Namaste,

Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, as you point out, the Jyotishavidya reading really isn't going to be very accurate given the uncertainty regarding your birthtime.

The Vimshottari Dasha timing has a start-point that is derived from the exact degree of the Earthen-Moon at the time of birth; definitely this degree is in question if there is a possible 2-hour range of birth time!

• If you can find an astrologer to do a rectification for you and if that Jyotishi can give you a confident result, then I'd be happy to undertake a reading for you.

• (I am not currently doing them as rectifications take many hours of evaluation work for both the client and the Jyotishi)

• In records of rural births the time is often missing or only vaguely remembered. There are many village astrologers in India who give entire readings based only on the general position of the Earthen-Moon on the native 's birth day mainly based on the pada of the lunar nakshatra. These readings can be very accurate in regard to emotional issues, which are frankly the main substance of the karma that is facing folk who live out their lives in emotionally intense drama of a village existence.

• Those astrologers tend to know the clients' entire extended family as well as the typical lifestyle of the client's caste, marriage possibilities etc. Therefore, the range of predictive possibilities in those traditional settings is actually very manageable and the reading may be quite accurate in context.

For us in the (Rahu-ized) modern world, an individual may rise to great heights or sink to unfathomable lows from one's original social position at birth; multiple marriages are no longer exceptional; and there will also likely be several crafts or professions practiced along with way.

It is true that measuring the angles of graha from Chandra lagna and evaluation of the traditional karakas will take you a long way in understanding the person's psychology. For most of us, an accurate time of birth to the minute is really necessary for worldly predictions such as career on the basis on the lord of the 10th navamsha.

Wishing you best success in your study of the samayavidya,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q: Dear Barbara, could I have the reading and then ask my five to ten questions, after the reading ?

A : Namaste,

The requested 5-10 questions are intended to structure the Jyotishavidya reading , so that the client receives answers to their most important questions. The client's questions do not limit the reading, but rather shape, guide, and direct it.

During the reading, predictions are mentioned that arise through a step-wise inspection of the radix and navamsha (along with other varga as needed), areview of the Vimshottari Dasha, and an evaluation of the impact of current transits (related to the current planetary bhukti-pati).

Most people appreciate a reading that is targeted to their near-term concerns. Near-term concerns can certainly be spiritual and mental as well as emotional and material. And near-term can mean "from now until death" . (Esp. for those of us getting older!)

Detailed questions are very helpful in making sure that the reading is useful to the client. Some clients may have anxiety about the potential revelations of a reading. A superstitious thinker may expect some shocking and unexpected information will emerge. Of course that never happens -- Jyotisha like all divinatory methods simply confirms one's own intuition and brings a small amount of subconsciously held knowledge into the conscious light.

A Jyotishavidya reading should be a cooperative consulting exchange between two adults. The adult client says to the Jyotishi: "here are my concerns, you are professionally trained, what answers can you provide to me, from the knowledge you have gained in your skills training?"

Jyotishavidya practice requires engaged intuition -- as do surgery, midwifery, parenting, marital diplomacy, etc. -- but Jyotisha is not a magical process that provides sudden and miraculous new information.

Jyotishavidya = a database system and it has to be queried intelligently . Guiding questions from the client are a great asset to a successful reading. Naturally, the Jyotishi can follow a standard set of questions according to the progress of the twelve houses (how is the health? how is the career? how is the meditation practice? etc.) and that is the default review for any reading.

For BP Lama Jyotishavidya, can walk through the default review process, and that may prove quite useful as a general update on your life circumstances. If after the general update is finished, you would prefer to ask the 5-10 questions, each "follow-up" question would be available as an "additional question" via email.

For BP Lama Jyotishavidya, it is OK clients to request a reading first with no guiding questions and ask the additional questions at one's leisure, if the client is comfortable with paying separately for each additional question.

• I do have some clients that ask a " newly important" question each month or so; when the readings calendar is open, they can go to the PayPal page on my website and press the "additional question" button.

• Typically, these clients are evaluating a series of prospective spouses (India) or a batch of eligible employees (USA) or examining different education-to-career paths (worldwide). For them, multiple additional questions is suitable and they find the additional payments to be reasonably priced.

Again, you're more than welcome to save your questions for after the reading -- but do be aware that it is considerably more expensive that way! (... because it takes me much more time).

Hope you are doing well and enjoying a lovely summer,

Sincerely, bPL

I have paid for the gem recommendation and I am looking forward to receiving it.

I'd like to ask you a few questions as well, and I'd be grateful if you could offer a few words on each of them.

Thanks for your website - I'm always learning from it. I know you're busy so whatever you can do to answer to these eight questions would be appreciated.

Sincerely, XX Los Angeles

Thanks for your payment and yes, i'll be happy to complete a ratna recommendation for you.

However I wanted to be sure that you know that a gem recommendation is not the same as a Jyotishavidya reading and it is not designed to provide answers to individual questions.

The ratna recommendation document assesses the 12 bhava of the natal kundali and reports on the applicability of the nine traditional jewel remedies for each bhava. Information includes timing of application and removal of the gems, following the sequence of the vimshottari dasha.

The ratna report is a lower cost service, designed only for the purpose of providing an opinion to folks who are interested in purchasing a Jyotisha-qualified jewel, and specific questions are not included. (Most remedial ratna buyers like to obtain a second and third Jyotishi opinion as well.)Questions can be answered (indeed, questions are required) in the broader and more detailed 2-hour Jyotishavidya reading .

Wishing you all best success,

Sincerely,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyot.

Q:

Dear Barabara Pijan,

I saw on your website that you do not have a phone—I think that is brilliant. I also do not have a phone here, but of course, being in the Himalayas—it is much easier to be without one. I think it is beautiful that you are able to carry out your depth of Jyotish and path in the US. ...

... I live in the Himalayas (in an ashram), high up in the mountains outside of Uttarkashi .... Recently, we have been able to access the internet (!) and recently I came across your beautiful website. You have done a remarkable job.

We live a very inward life here, and occasionally I have deep and profound experiences of consciousness which relate to the field of jyotish. The whole cosmic display of everything in life is so beautifully expressed in the simple yet unbelievably profound graha, naakshatra, rashi and bhavas.

I am interested in getting a reading from you, but as a monk in the Himalaya I am not getting a salary—all of our needs are taken care of by donations. Do you offer a discount for those like us? ..., iwould greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for offering so much knowledge and insights on the net that you have so beautifully compiled and integrated for us all.

All bliss from up here in the mountains,

~~~

Namaste K.P.

Thanks so much for your kind email. It sounds like you are living a wonderful and peaceful life there in the Himalaya. I too have lived in the Himalaya, and I still do visit occasionally for family events.

Thanks very much for your compliments on the Jyotisha materials at www.barbarapijan.com I am always happy to know that students of the vidya find the materials to be

It might not surprise you to learn that I receive dozens of emails each week asking for Jyotisha guidance. I am able to offer approximately one paid reading per week. With family responsibilities and my university teaching job, that is unfortunately the limit of my service these days!

Unfortunately free or discounted readings are not available from me (there is a psychic reason for that too!) However, in the future I do hope to be able to refer indigent enquiries to some senior Jyotisha students. I know that there are many sincere and deserving aspirants who would benefit immediately from access to the Jyotisha perspective, and I would like to facilitate that access... perhaps some day that will be possible.

At the moment, there are several students (not mine; they have various teachers) who have told me via email that they might be feeling strong enough in their Jyotisha skills to start doing Seva readings via email. As soon as these senior studentsadvise me of their availability for the Seva, iwillannouncethe happy news.

Until then, ido hope that the examples and discussions posted on may be of some service for those who are trying to make sense of one's own Jyotisha timeline.

I welcome suggestions from readers. Please let me know via email if there are particularly topics that you might like to see written on the website. While I am not able to address these suggestions immediately, ido keep such development suggestions in mind and hope that I can continue to publish answers to common questions. (Gochara Shani- Kanya is currently oppressing my 6/12 Chandra-Budha axis. )

While Shanaiscarya does provide a helpful disciplinary structure in the reflective [Chandra] and articulatory [Budha] mind, He also ruthlessly controls the allocation of Time. I wish [Chandra] that I had more time and material resources, but it's Shani's job right now to make sure that I don't!

Wishing you best success and happiness in all of your spiritual studies,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q:

Dear Barbara Pijan,

Thanks for a terrific website, just brimming with wonderful information.

I might like to purchase a reading from you as a gift for one of my family members, but I'm not sure he understands why people ask for astrology readings. (

He's a young engineer, very practical fellow).

How would you explain the reasons that people ask for readings? Thanks.

A:

.... In answer to the question of why folks request Jyotishavidya readings , i'd say from thirty years experience that it runs the gamut. Some people have a broad, general interest in understanding their Vimshottari dasha timeline and its predictive capabilities.

• However, most clients have specific issues with children, marriage, finance, career, health, etc.

• One might be running for political office; another is contemplating surgery; a third is facing a high-stakes professional exam.

• GGraduate school, fertility, aging parents, tax problems, medical diagnosis, corporate mergers, extramarital affairs, spiritual retreats, childhood sexual abuse, major inheritance, buying a house, naervous breakdowns, entertainment careers, religious crisis, conflict with religious teachers, - oy, you name it!

In practice, there isn't too much difference between the reading for the person with the pressing material issues vs. The readings for the folks with the general psycho-spiritual curiosity.

The answers to the big questions emerge from the character of the planets in the houses. The answers to the small questions emerge from the character of the planets in the houses.

So, most of the value of the reading is in simply having a map of the incarnation - the Jyotishavidya nativity

- and giving oneself permission to use the map.

• If the person can read one's own map, fantastic. Other map styles which work just as well include looking into the mirror of self in meditation, reading the details of the hand palms, or repeated divinations in any of the great mystical traditions.

• If one has the cultural taste to request a Jyotishi to read the Jyotisha map and give a viewpoint on what it all means, ican do that in about 2 hours on audio MP3.

• Most folks say that the Jyotishavidya readings are extremely valuable to them, and they express great appreciation for the serenity gained in knowing that there is a map, that there is a plan, and that it unfolds according to personal intention. Many folks request update readings over a period of years (often, every 2 years or at the onset of a major new Vimshottari period.

• As an American, ilack the fatalism sometimes present in the viewpoint of traditional Jyotishi; folks seem to appreciate that too!

Hope this answer is helpful. Sincerely, bPL

Q:

Books? More Detailed Explanation of Practice + Process?

... with your wealth of knowledge, it is obvious that you could write many interesting, comprehensive Jyotisha books that would put a lot of the efforts currently out there to shame.

I have purchased a few books and downloaded a few from scribd, yet I always come back to your outstanding website.

You don't just say"what is " but"why it is "; very much in the vein of the late, great Behari (but with less esoteric emphasis).

As I'm sure you know as an educator, that approach is highly conducive to learning such a complex science.

....do you ever see yourself writing books?

... Also, you have a lot of very useful celebrity profiles on your website, but mostly dealing with specific life issues.

All extremely illuminating!

However, do you ever see yourself doing a complete analysis of a chart, from first look to what eventually delivers on the indications in the chart and what doesn't and why based on the dashas, divisional charts and transits?

Essentially, the process the you use when someone orders a chart reading from you. Is it systematic (bhava by bhava, graha by graha) or do you analyze only what jumps out at you, or little of both?

I am [searching for instructions regarding] an effective approach to reading a chart, because you seem to glean a great deal with your technique.

I know you are a very busy woman, at least your profile suggest as much. But if you can find the time, iwould greatly appreciate a little direction and/or at the very least some hope that you may be publishing or uploading to your website a breakdown of how you do what you do. ...

I am only a year into Jyotisha (previously I studied western astrology), but I have learned more from your website than anything or anyone else. ... any aid that I can get in preparing for that possible future is greatly appreciated.

A:

Thanks very much for your lovely compliments on the site and its educational value for you.

Yes I would be delighted to write some books as time allows; these would probably be e-books that I could correct quickly, unless I was lucky enough to find an excellent sharp-eyed editor. Like any teacher and parent, istruggle to create the time to write. Yet, as family responsibilities settle and perhaps my teaching schedule could be reduced, then yes, writing books become a happy possibility.

Before starting on such a big project, iwould probably conduct a"needs assessment" to solicit feedback from regular readers like yourself. I'd want to ask for the same type of guiding information you've provided above: what questions does a beginner have? And in what order?

After formally collecting requests and making a plan for what to present and in what order, i'll probably do a second survey to find out more detailed needs. For example, once the preliminary knowledge base in in place, what intermediate questions arise? How much of the practice is counseling and how much is predictive? Etc. Then, spirits willing, i'll set to it.

I am presently enjoying a 10 year mahadasha of karmesha-10 Chandra in Ari Bhava, which indicates direct clinical service of hands-on problem-solving (or problem validation !) via client readings and classroom teaching. This Chandra is not suited for romantic sorts of writing, but it is quite good for logical argumentation (step-wise reasoning) and clinical descriptions.

For me - as for anyone - bhukti of bhratru-pati-3 and vidya-pati-5 can produce effective messaging (3) and creative performance via writing (5). Since my [uchcha-Budha] occupies tvyayasthāna of meditations and dreams (12) Budha bhukti are very nice for writing about astral and clandestine realities. (In fact, two academic theses, in religious studies and one in linguistics,were written in Budha bhukti. )

Thanks again for your compliments and request for books or e-books in Jyotisha. I'll see what kind of time schedule Professor Shani is willing to grant. If the lords of 1, 3, 5 and in this case 9-12 (Jyotisha Vidya) are willing, i'd be happy to try to support worldwide Jyotisha education with books to supplement the website.

Wishing you best success in Jyotisha Studies,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q: I'm dating a girl that I met in grad school. We're in that time of life when marriage is looking like the next step.

Both finished professional skills training now. We're not being pushed by families to marry; just kind of finding that we're in the same life phase and enjoy each other's company and ... well, should we get married?

Can I get a quick compatibility check from you to see whether we have good matches?

A:

This is a more demanding question than you might appreciate.

Marriage compatibility readings by their nature must take a serious look into points of lifestyle compatibility and expectations carried in from both persons' childhoods (Surya-Chandra, shukra, rahu-Ketu, mangala etc).

The person requesting the reading needs to do some deep reflection.

Broad and vaguely prescriptive queries such as "should we get married?" are really veiled requests for fortune-telling.

A poorly defined question shows that the querent has not thought carefully about the question. What is the intented scope of the word, Should?

The moral, psychological, and social implications of should require considerable analysis to give a responsible answer.

One specific calendar question that could be asked, might be framed as:

"do our respective timelines per Vimshottari dasha and major gochara influence point to us both getting married during the same season?"

It is also straightforward to ask a Chandra-matching question such as "Is the general condition of Chandra in both nativities overall compatible per nakshatra and lords of 7th from Chandra, 7th-from-radical-lagna, and 7th-from-Shukra?"

Yes, ican answer those specific questions in about 10 sentences.

However, do keep in mind that simply because two people will marry at the same time does not mean they will marry each other!

• Some years ago a woman asked me to look at three male suitors, all of whom she knew from childhood as cohort-schoolmates, all similar to herself in age and cultural background . They all had nearly identical marriage timing.

• Yet, she married none of the three. In fact, all four nativities enjoyed their marriage ceremony within the same week - joining four different spouses, in four different cities!

However, there is a good deal more to adult marriage prediction than the counting of koota's. Modern life is complicated. People live for many decades. Entitlements of modern women to obtain Education and the economic power that education brings have changed modern expectations of marriage. Furthermore, the presumption that spousal happiness rests upon the correct performance of socially prescribed duties on both sides is no longer sustainable.

In years gone by, avillage Jyotishi would match the qualities of docility, domesticity, and fertility with the judgment"woman happy in marriage" . However, it is no longer a quick decision as to whether a woman with those traits will be happy in the modern world. As the economic divisions of labor have shifted, those same traits could now be judged as weak-minded, passive, and incontinent. There are many required questions about the life path of both persons, not just one general estimate of"happiness ".

A too-superficial answer of a too-simple question might mislead an unreflective person into thinking that there is some simple formula for marital happiness which requires no effort from the partners.

Marriage = Ultimate Spiritual Practice

While there are some obvious red flags to avoid when matching nativities, the main key to success in marriage is to practice marriage like a form of karma yoga. That means both people should expect tough resistance sometimes and be willing to accept some penance.

The question is, can they handle the pressure? It must be asked, where are the rough spots? When will I feel the most suffering? Is my marriage commitment a personal religious vow or perhaps a more social action guided mainly by cultural, financial, or historical considerations? There are no right and wrong answers, but there must be honest answers in order to embark upon marriage with mental health based on honest expectations.

If you are really serious about this prospective partner and you have been talking together about a possible life commitment, request a full reading and be willing to prepare some serious questions. Then listen to the answers without interruption.

PPreparing the questions requires intensive reflection and analysis on your part to formulate exactly what outcome you are hoping for -- and also quite a bit of concentration on my part as I determine how closely your graha narrative will match the expectations-hopes-wishes-ideals.

Inspecting expectations

Before we embark upon the effort from all parties that is required for a full reading, there should be a pretty solid motivation to examine the issues.

The Work

People pretty much get out of the Jyotishavidya readings what they put into it.

If client puts in some substantial reflection upon their own expectations then I can look very closely at the supports and challenges for meeting those visionary ideals.

Naturally, it won't give a very satisfactory reading just to ask"will things turn out well? will be be happy?" or other general platitudes.

If we do a full reading it should cover major issues of married life like health, finance, dual career, children, and in-laws.

Combing through those expectations takes work from you. When your part is complete, then I will match your efforts to be honest and wise with my Jyotisha skills for assessing the outcome of the graha

Easy + Difficult = Honest

Some results are easy = electro-magnetic initiating thoughts matched to emotions, little spiritual growth.

Some results are difficult = thoughts mismatched to emotions, although discovering this produces best spiritual growth.

We can only know the size of the gap between expectations and the reality-producing- machine of subconscious emotion, if we can be sure what it is that you think you expect!

Q: What is the format for the included follow-up question?

Q: Can you tell me what sort of follow-up question is permitted?

Perhaps upon listening the reading when you say something, iwould want to verify that what I understand is what you mean - in simple terms, to map what is said to what is meant.

If in order to clarify my understanding of the reading, ineed to ask something on the reading itself - no new question - will that be included in the reading or will constitute "follow up question" and will be charged separately?

A: Namaste,

Yes, that is what the follow-up question is for: to clarify and if necessary elaborate upon any terminology, phrasing, description, or assertion that was made in the Jyotishavidya reading .

Additional questions which are paid separately are those which have new content that was neither mentioned in the previous reading nor included in the 5-10 questions of the previous reading. It often happens that Jyotishavidya readings stimulate or coincide with spiritual expansions and life changes, so that things may appear in a new light and new opportunities may be recognized subsequent to a Jyotishavidya reading . This may bloom into new questions which have become " newly important" . These newly important questions were not considered during the previous readings but may be considered separately afterward.

Typically, anewly important question needs about 30 minutes to consider the relevant factors and answer: thus, the separate cost.

One question regarding the existing content from the reading can certainly be asked and answered, sometimes immediately after the client receives the reading and sometimes years later : )

What I can't do in follow-up however is enter into a teaching discourse, explaining the principles of Jyotisha. Also I can't answer very vague or poorly formulated questions such as "what can you tell me about my mother?" or "will I find happiness?" .

The follow-up question has to be sensible, related to the reading and the 5-10 questions asked during the reading, and have some material denotation - not completely abstract or theoretical. (Of course I love to engage in theoretical discussions but Professor Shani ensures that Time limits these considerably!)

Here is a great example of a request for clarification regarding a phrase /philosophical awareness/ .

“You said that xxx period would be mainly a time of broad philosophical awareness. What do you mean by philosophical? Do you mean intuitive, or religious, or some other level of understanding? How does a broad philosophical awareness impact my daily experience at home and at work? Should I use this period for a special type of teaching or learning? How does it impact my health? What makes this period different from any other period?”

Many clients who request readings are sincere students of Jyotishvidya and their questions are part of their own development as future teachers. This is a path of discipline and honor.

But again, being a mom and a university instructor, my time is limited. So the questions, as well as the answers, have to refer to the topical content of the reading. If an interpretive principle is mentioned, please feel welcome to ask about the principle, and if ; a prediction is announced, feel free to ask about the prediction. However, followup questions should always refer to the topics covered during the reading.

New topics = new readings.

Wishing you best success in Jyotisha studies,

Sincerely, barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q: Hello Barbara,

Here is my follow up question . Tell me all about my life. You did not tell me everything in the reading. You said that my inner expectations trigger the appearance of partners.

Well I want to know ALL about this next partner. You know HE will be a husband because I do not believe within relationships outside of marriage. As you know I have been married numerous times and I am still waiting for the ONE who will complete me so I need to know EVERYTHING about him. I feel that you did not describe HIM completely in the previous reading and that there is MORE that I should know.

Yes I heard you say that it is my own expectation which creates the love partners and that sounds OK to me so I need you now to tell me everything I should work on to get ready for this next love of my life. You know the last marriage was so hard for me, it was a fail, he mistreated me, but I am full of hope for goodness in the future and I believe that God wants only GOOD things for me!

Also I asked you a question about death and you did not tell me everything that I wanted to know. Will you give me some clarity as to why you did not cover these questions in totality in my reading?

I am a good woman and I deserve a good healthy relationship, so please tell me about that relationship, as you know it has to be a man of God, afaithful man who loves me and only me and he should be employed I am so SICK of paying the bills for these men who stop working as soon as they are married to me and my paycheck.

Barbara you know I have a lot to offer the right man and I am ready to be HAPPY by God's Grace. This is my followup question please answer me soon.

Response to a client with a very strong Rahu-6

A: Namaste, iknow you are sincere and I know that you are an experienced teacher, so let's keep trying to craft an answerable question.

In your message that is asking for a follow-up clarification, there is only one question. In English writing, questions are easy to find because they are punctuated with a question mark. The sole question posed in your request is "Will you give me some clarity as to why you did not cover these questions in totality in my reading?"

Three topics are mentioned

• Self, partner, dematerialization

However, naone of these topics contain a question.

" Will you provide me some clarity?" is mainly a polite invitation to provide information; it's not a topical question and the answer for it will not be found in the Jyotisha database. If I consider this to be your follow-up question, the answer would be"yes I will certainly try" .

Let's construct a topical question that could produce a meaningful answer for you. As a native speaker of English, you know how to phrase topical questions: start the question with 'who-what-when-where-why-how' and use a concrete subject, averb, and a concrete object.

Jyotisha questions ideally should be framed in Jyotisha language. If you have a question about the 7th bhava (public marriage, contractual partnership) or the 7th navamsha (private marriage, psychic attraction-repulsion * akarshana ** vikarshana *) or about Chandra (emotional health, intuition, mother) or about any feature of the Jyotishavidya nativity

that has been mentioned in past readings, please ask about that feature.

For example,

• if the most recent reading was unclear in reference to the traditional Jyotisha prediction for material-plane duration of the flesh-body (basically, the number of breaths allotted to the present incarnation) and you would like an estimate of the year of Lightbody Lift-off , please ask about that prediction.

• note that consciousness is eternal and the spirit persists; only the flesh-shell will fall away at the appointed time.

• If a clear question about longevity were posed, iwould be able to respond to that specific question with a clear answer that conditions in the 8th bhava and the 22nd decanate can help to predict the timing and the method. However, the Jyotisha prediction must be paired with an assessment of the lifeline on the palm of your dominant (pen-holding) hand.

In *all* divinations -- not only Jyotisha but also if you like to read Tarot Cards, throw the I-Ching, practice bibliomancy, follow omens of bird-flight, read aura-photos -- it is essential to pose only one specific question.

Jumbled questions indicate fusing-confusion = a lack of discrimination due to emotional distress and inner conflict. Please give yourself the gift of quiet-mind. Wait until you have a moment of undistracted calm in your life, when your emotions are balanced. Then frame the question.

In your case it seems like you have a number of concurrent, overlapping concerns. Try to separate these concerns. Please consider writing out ALL of your many questions in the who-what-when-where-why-how format. In a moment of disgorgement, you might generate a dozen or more questions! Then please choose *one* question to send to me as a follow-up. Naturally, that one question must be related to the topics mentioned in the Jyotishavidya reading .

There are currently several dozen client questions in my queue and they will all be answered clearly as time permits. However, aclear answer needs a clear question.

In addition to being a necessary first step toward a clear Jyotisha answer, the discipline of crafting one specific question produces other spiritual benefits including greater objectivity and calm. The practice of crafting a clear question requires discipline and mental clarity; it is worth doing. I look forward to receiving your question.

Wishing you every success in your study of the samayavidya,

Sincerely, bPL

1. What are the lessons I need to to learn in this lifetime

2. If a growth-challenge arises, how will I handle it?

3. Will I be able to survive?

4. Have I truly learned anything on the spiritual path or is this self-awareness apparent and superficial?

5. What lessons remain to be learned?

A:

Namaste and thanks for multiple questions... However, we need to narrow down to one question please. Also that question must be constructed so that it can be answered in a clear and unambiguous way. Unfortunately in their present condition these questions are much too vague and open-ended to allow a clear Jyotishavidya-based answer.

For example, there are hundreds of lessons, which are actually opportunities to accept the gift-of-understanding, to be learned, and gifts of understanding to be accepted, in each lifetime. Are you asking about the key lesson-gifts during a particular Vimshottari bhukti?

The opposite of life is not death. The opposite of death is birth .

Consciousness is eternal; therefore of course you will survive. We will all survive. Every last one of us! Are you rather asking about the timing of shell-death during the present incarnation?

We are all learning constantly, day in and day out. We all meet challenges in every aspect of life - physical, emotional, mental, spiritual -- day in and day out.

Are you asking perhaps about a narrative of personal worthiness, managing the poison of self-doubt, or experience of social anxiety during transformation of personal identity during specific time periods in life?

For the single question that follows each reading, please identify the timeline period, the bhava, or graha that you would like to know more about.

My followup question is: what is the best use my Jyotishavidya reading to improve my life?

Thanks for the reading! Illuminating and helpful.

Thank you once again for your talent in Jyotisha, all the best,

Followup questions are designed to provide clarification or additional explanation about any of the topics discussed during the reading.

Jyotisha does not prescribe moral (should) choices, or make value judgments such as good/better/best.

Earth is a planet of free will, and each human being is responsible for making their own choices (including the choice to conform to cultural paradigms, the choice to remain in suffering, or the choice to resist change).

Jyotisha is not bound to any particular set of cultural values.

The vidya describes, rather than prescribes.

Therefore, if you would like to compose a question seeking further clarification or details regarding a particular graha, bhava, bhukti, or any of the descriptive phenomena of the Jyotishavidya nativity, an answer can be provided to the best of my ability.

Wishing you and your family every happiness, healing from sorrow, guidance by inner light, and success in all of life’s endeavors,

Sincerely,

BPL

" He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;

Yet, they cannot fathom what God has done

from beginning to end."

~~ Book of Ecclesiastes * Koheleth, 3:11

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