A Brahmin fortune-teller and his wife , circa 1770 - Thanjavur

collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum = https://collections.vam.ac.uk

Jyotishavidya Practice

Traditional

&

Modern

Remedial Strategies

&

Techniques

Sincere prayer, disciplined spiritual practice, mantra, gemstones and talismans, intervention of realized beings...

Targeted Compassionate Service

Upaya

What are the most effective remedies for infelicitous configurations in the Jyotisha chart?

• Is it beneficial to * worth-ship * worship Jyotisha deities?

• How does prayer, sincere practice , and the intervention of realized lamas affect a person's path as indicated by the Jyotisha kundali?

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• Prayer?

• Sincere practice?

• Realized teachers?

• query: I'm a deeply committed dharma practitioner. How things would differ if I'm 'on the path' vs.if i stray from the dharma?

• query: Do realized beings still in human bodies get" of f the chart" when they achieve enlightenment ?

• advice: Puja versus Seva which approach gives better results?

QUOTATION from Tenzing Gyatso and Renuka Singh. The Path to Tranquility. (2002).

" Buddha never mentioned that the problems we have encountered are the result of misconstruction of a house or starting a project or work on an inappropriate day or time.

Buddha always talked about the negative experiences as a result of having performed negative actions.

So for a good practitioner there is no new year, there is no good or bad day."

What do you think about correcting the evil rays of the planets? Do some forms of upaya really work?

A: Namaste, and thanks for a great question!

The short answer is No.

Except for pure, untreated ratna – which can be effective signal-repeaters to clarify the inner voice -- most "preventative" folk remedies and rituals are nothing more than superstition. They are based on the false belief that humans are powerless victims.

• But since many people are still locked into the social-control rhetoric of the victim narrative, much upaya

  [and drugs] seem to be needed to combat the daily terror of cruelty, abandonment, and pain.

In truth, each person has written their own life-plan, and each of us has the power to choose to respond to the life-plan with inner trust and joy-in-learning.

But when the response to the life-plan is driven by fear of social judgement and shaming, then life can seem terrifying and out of control. And that's when people look for materialistic tools to "correct" their "luck" instead of personally, intentionally changing the habitual beliefs that are generating their experiences.

Why not release fear, rather than waste energy on useless upaya?

The answer is levels of light-infused awareness. The world is still a shadowy place for many people.

During centuries of intellectual darkness during Kali Yuga, critical thinking all but disappeared. A fearful and powerless mentality prevailed, leading to terrible suffering, and mass faith in sympathetic magic.

Although Dvapara yuga is gaining momentum, in those pockets of the world known as “areas of darkness” the medieval victim mentality persists.

But the truth is that the movements of the graha/upagraha follow astronomical rules. Their interactions systematically influence the electromagnetic patterning of human thoughts. And human thoughts – particularly, human beliefs -- produce human experiences.

• So unless the person pays attention to their thoughts, it seems like one is simply a victim of an endless cycle of good luck/bad luck. And one must be on the defensive against constant danger of grave misfortune.
• Unless one takes responsibility for their thoughts, and regulates/curates their thoughts, then it seems like things are happening "to" one. Often, frightening things. When in reality, things are happening "through" one, and it is absolutely possible to control how one reacts to each moment!

Astronomical phenomena cannot be tricked or persuaded to behave against their electromagnetic nature.

Yet each human is divinely endowed with free will to change one’s own thoughts at any time.

When entrenched negative beliefs are intentionally and permanently changed into positive expectation, trust, and joy, then one may approach the Plan with appreciation for its intricate design.

Not intimidation or terror, but rich understanding of Human Life, and welcome to the learning privilege.

• The Jyotishavidya nativity is a preincarnationally crafted Individual Learning Plan.
• It has been very carefully orchestrated to produce a specific unfoldment of wisdom experiences.
• Like most carefully organized curricula, the principled structure of the plan is largely pre-set.

Yet, Human Life is complicated and the Humans Themselves are complex and bewildering. The learning plan can be daunting.

In the School of Earth, we learn mainly through our intensely acute emotional feelings, but also through bodily pain.

If the mental-emotional skills are underdeveloped because the person believes that they are powerless, then the learning instructions of the Plan must percolate down into the physical body.

Thus we students in the School of Earth may need to endure profound pain, until the core belief in victimhood is outgrown. And this growth may require several incarnations.

• In the toxic haze of fear, the agonizing mind may believe that superstitious rituals and magical remedies may provide some relief.
• But so long as they remain locked into fear, hatred, greed, anger, lust, and self-loathing – these blessed learners will continue to suffer immensely.
• And like any victim of torture, naturally they would seek any accessible method to stop the outer-imposed horror.

Dark minds, mired in fear, tend to interpret puzzle-solving, test-taking, and obstacle-crossing skills not as learnings, but rather as threats posing great danger.

However, the purpose of incarnating within the School of Earth is to master the subject of Human Nature. The purpose is not to run away from the Plan, but to comprehend the Plan.

• But if the person is not ready to grasp that they are living according to a plan, and furthermore that they personally composed that plan -- then they will keep doing battle with the inscrutable forces of Fate. And upaya are their weapons in that war!

Someday they will awaken and discover that the Jyotishavidya nativity is not a forecaster of "luck" and there is no need for upaya to battle against crushing outer forces.

It is a planning document for each student in the School. The nativity lays out the educational objectives and the supporting curriculum of tangible sequential experiences. The summative goal is comprehensive mastery of the human experience.

The only thing that can "work" to alter the effects of the nativity is mental, emotional, and physical self-awareness, self-trust, and self-love. Until that consciousness arrives, people will continue to reach for various drugs, sense-pleasures, and upaya - to assuage their fears and their pain.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.

Q: How does prayer, sincere practice , and the intervention of realized lamas affect a person's path as indicated by a chart?

Is it possible for a highly realized person to be able to dissolve their own karma so that they are 'off the chart' so to speak?

A: Great question!

Charitable Service

Nothing burns off pre-incarnationally planned ignorance faster than compassionate service. Karma yoga * Selfless action toward helping others is the best and fastest remedy on Earth.

Folks do ask for gems and mantra and talismans. These remedies can be presctibed. Normally, they are harmless.

Yet, consider that wearing a gem or talisman, or chanting mantra, is only helping oneself.

In truth, the gems may have flaws and the mantra must be properly pronounced in a foreign language. In general, external remedies encourage superstition.

Seva is always the best remedy!

Q: What are the most effective remedies for infelicitous configurations in the Jyotisha chart?

A: The single most effective, easiest and cheapest! remedy is // targeted // selfless service .

Selfless service does not need to be volunteer work, although it usually is.

Seva and Money

It's OK to get paid for helping people -- especially if one serves through a service-ministry helping profession.

Seva is all about providing support and guidance to those who need precisely one's own educated skills. If your conscious Seva is part of your career , it is quite reasonable to earn some economic profit in the process of delivering Seva. Yet, money-profit should be an outcome not a motive .

The power of Seva as a remedy comes not from pay or no-pay, but from the psychic match of one's own sadness/frustration/criticism/anger with a person or group who has one's own predicament, but worse, and help them.

Exempli gratia

• Financial struggles? Help out in a free tax clinic in a low income neighborhood.

• Suicidal depression? Put in some hours on a suicide hot line.

• Feeling unattractive? Work with some burn victims.

• Infertile, trouble creating life? Help families grieving the loss of a child, or hold teeny premature babies that may not be able to love.

• Can't afford a college education? Teach someone to read.

• Angry at your parents? Interact with destructively angry teens.

Whatever the problem is, there is someone who has it worse... and it's amazing how fast one builds compassion -- the antidote to ignorance -- when working with people who have a problem that one really does understand .

From your slightly higher perspective, you can see the structure of the problem, and you have the personal experience to give straightforward, accurately targeted help.

Compassion for the slightly less fortunate comes fast, then gratitude for one's own knowledge. Suddenly, one's own situation (by comparison) seems rather more cheerful. And another being was helped.

Remedial Gems and talismans and protective mantra can be wonderful assets -- but only if they serve as * reminders * and * energy boosters * for the native whose life is focused on service.

The service itself is sufficient And service tends to strengthen itself through practice. So the gems et-cetera. are quite optional whereas the service is essential and sufficient unto itself.

" The only proof of spiritual progress is the increasing ability to serve."

Q: Prayer?

A: : yes to prayers of praise and gratitude, no to petitionary prayer (asking for stuff).

In English, the verb "to pray" " is a synonym of the verb " to tell" .

Telling is a form of report or announcement - usually in the form of a statement of request (petition), such as "I want __________."

A statement of request is still a statement. Petitionary prayers merely announce the presence of a personal desire. The divine perspective is not solicited. Nor, sadly, can the toddler-minded announcers of petitionary prayers likely comprehend thai

Petitionary prayer is a demand for an external force to facilitate materialization of an object. Petitionary prayer tends to have a narrow self-focused perspective, not a broad awareness of the big system in which all thoughts and actions coordinate into a coherent whole.

Petitionary prayer clogs up the blessing-receiving channels with petty demands.

If it is necessary to Say Something (and we humans do love to talk! sing! declare!) it is actually more effective to simply say thank you for what is.

Mature minds offer prayers of thanks and appreciation for the privilege of physical incarnation; requests for light and guidance; and performative blessings such as "may all beings be free" .

• Philosophy of Language enthusiasts will refer to Austin, How to Do Things with Words

Q: Sincere practice?

A: :Sure, the heart of all practice is compassion. As one builds compassion for oneself, all the resistance ignorance fades away, understanding comes, and trust in divine protection deepens.

Yes yes yes.

Q: Realized teachers?

A: Sure, because they are teaching by example. It doesn't matter what they actually say, they are role-modeling, on a completely inarticulate non-verbal level, ahighly positive psychic behavior of permission to access divine truth, so every moment spent in their presence is a teaching on how to Be. Not morally, but spiritually, mentally, and psychically.

The goal is wisdom, which requires psychic tuning to bring in to our bodies, and they are tuned in a very optimal way to bring in lots of deity-sponsored wisdom into the field of awareness.

Realized lamas or high yogis or other super-practitioners are often not optimized for other things. They are often delicate figures who have significant weaknesses in other areas, such as physical and mental health, family relationships, or emotional interactions.

When the monkey-see-monkey-do matching of the lama's psycho-mental channeling is enacted, it can be exhilarating. It may be felt that every moment in the lama's presence creates an incredible personal healing. Yet, it is recommended to perform a regular reality check. Keep in mind that there may be some parts of the lama's life and personality that one might * not* want to match.

But that's another subject!

In general, if a capable tantric master grants the student-aspirant a big up-boost in awareness, that empowerment would be scheduled in the Jyotishavidya Dasha timelines In best circumstances, the empowerment would increase wisdom and decrease resistance. (Ignorance= resistance to truth.)

End result = life becomes somewhat easier and more meaningful.

Q: Do realized beings still in human bodies get" of f the chart" when they achieve enlightenment ?

A: No, humans don't get"off the chart" . As they move toward enlightenment, they stop judging and resisting their script and start enjoying the movie.

The suffering in life comes not from what happens, but how we respond to what happens. The more enlightened, the more conscious and skillful the response to life events, the more comfortable with the flow.

Enlightened or not, anyone who has earned the privilege of flesh-birth has their roll-out schedule activated when it is supposed to get activated.

However, without a lot of resistance to the scheduled events caused by ignorant lower emotions (anger, grief, guilt, anxiety, fear of death) most events can be experienced in a state of amused neutrality.

The flow continues, but -- relative to the scale of enlightenment/unburdenment - one does not waste much energy in trying to change it or react to it.

Normally the basic reptile-brain instincts remain active for life, so even an enlightened sage may have the reflex to protect herself against attack, seek food, avoid extreme hot and cold, etc.

But these things are handled much more skillfully (and typically more successfully) because one has great compassion for others and for oneself.

Q: I'm a deeply committed dharma practitioner.

How things would differ if I'm 'on the path' vs. If i stray from the dharma?

A: You can't really stray from the dharma, since the dharma = all phenomena, all that is.

However, it is possible to lose consciousness and lost the capacity to set intention.

You could stray from the culture of organized religion and formal retreats and teachings. I'd guess that, with Ketu in the dharma house, at some point the tantric graha randhresha-8 Budha could indeed distract you from the dedicated practice path. If so, then so. You'd then feel the release from ritual duties and organizational tasks, as well as loneliness being away from the practice community. That lifestyle would then * Be* your path.

At some point all religious practitioners in all faiths must assess whether their committed practice is still working.

After the crisis of faith, they go two ways: into self-destructive lifestyle believing they have"fallen" , or into guru-free, fully satisfying and skillfully compassionate relationship with the Truth. In your case the navamsha suggests you posses a deep detachment.

This detachment will be a major asset at the moment when you have to strip off the"practice"and the"path"and the"teacher"and just live your truth. You will do very well in the detachment crisis and succeed in making the dharma your own, without psychological or ritual dependence on outside imagery.

Indeed, one can never stray from the path - the person is the path - but one can change one's dancing style as one is ascending!

All the best,

Barbara Pijan Lama, Jyotishavidya

Q: Is it beneficial to worship Jyotisha deities?

A: Yes!

Meditation upon the deities (including planets as deities) may provide substantial instructional benefit. Allow the deities to speak with their own voice (they will use a feedback or echo sort of voice) and to guide your path.

Once the unshakable commitment to compassionate action is in place, then meditation upon deities cannot slip into superstition or petitionary prayer. Meditative communication with the planetary and cosmic deities can be richly rewarding and calming and supportive and enlightening as one moves higher upon the path of service and light.

As decisions become less urgently driven by survival anxiety, choices become more discriminating, more delicate. And one's choices begin to influence a much larger downstream of the increasing numbers of people whom you are serving. Divine guidance is essential!

There are many, many deities available and "on call" (pray-able) to those who ask for guidance.

One of the great benefits of the study of Jyotishavidya = one can know the deities who are in charge of one's graha, key lagna or Chandra's Nakshatra and request to be in communication with those specific guides at times when their Jyotisha elements are active. Daily puja to the ruler of Chandra Nakshatra, and the current bhukti-pat are much recommended.

The nature of the puja should be appreciative and welcoming, never superstitious. The gods are never outside oneself; their beings are huge and subtly interpenetrating into the interstitial spaces within our own bodies.

The gods are literally within us, so during puja one is simply requesting an awakened consciousness of a power which resides within.

The gods are of course delighted to receive recognition and invitation to guide, and they usually respond when it's "their turn" to help manifest the genius inherent in the Jyotishavidya nativity

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On a practical level, the mental engagement with a name and a visual or sound symbol is only the c alling card to get you into the non-mental psychic communication channel with the Jyotisha deity. This channel opens a conversation that should feel stimulating and comforting like a conversation with a smart and trusted old friend.

It is recommended setting aside meditation time and arranging space on the puja altar for honoring and communicating with the Jyotisha deities! Humans like to get empowered and the deities like to extend their influence, so Jyotisha deity * worth-ship * worship is IMO a win-win!

[How Readings Work] [Sample Sacred Jewels Ratna Recommendation - Seva

updated : 11 November 2025

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