These Lessons are being written for three types of students:

To Avoid Calculations

First, those who want to avoid the mathematical part of astrology either because they do not know the subject or, feel that computers can do all this for them. But still, they must know some basics of astrology and are able to appreciate when a horoscope is discussed. They want to have a quick and systematised method of doing and understanding astrology. This book is being written mainly for beginners who can learn Hindu astrology without having to learn anything by rote. They must do the exercises given at the end of each chapter systematically, again and again. If they avoid doing that, there is no hope of their ever learning astrology.The word used originally Vedic has been dropped as I read recently that Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the great social reformer of the last century, objected to astrology, (Jyotisha) saying that Vedas had no predictive astrology at all. The use of the word Vedic astrology in the USA is obviously wrong.

To Cure Astrological Constipation

The second category is of those who have read many books on astrology and developed an incurable astrological constipation. It will be difficult for them to start with a clean slate as they cannot unlearn what they have. Yet, this book may help them remove some of the cobwebs in their minds. I have not seen them succeed much. They have their minds cluttered with dogmas which they mistake for astrology. They read books on astrology and ask the question, where are the secrets of predictive techniques in the book. They do not know how to see even in a case study, how these predictive techniques are discussed in a book. It is more so in the West, where their attitude towards any subject including astrology is totally mechanistic.

Those Who Have No Time

To the third category belong some elitist groups like engineers who are used to a method and system of analysis of a subject. The books in the market, even the text books are only a mere repetition of what is also well known. Not one of these books can solve the problem of finding a method of assessing the potentiality of a horoscope. I have received appreciation from this group. They have realised the value of a systematic approach.

The first and the third categories mentioned here will benefit most, as has been my experience of teaching astrology for over two decades.

Appreciate the Method and Technique of Hindu Astrology

The essential purpose of writing this is to show that in astrology there is a method, a technique and a scientific analysis which has to be learnt to be appreciated. It is after this only that each astrologer can work hard and develop his predictive style. This then is a book on teaching a style along which one can proceed to evolve a predictive method.

Advice: Use the Computer Intelligently.

Manual Casting

1. It must be emphasised here that the student must read a good book and learn manual casting of horoscopes to avoid some of the traps into which those who depend on the computers, fall, very frequently, as has been my experience in the USA, and now also in India.

Developing Predictive Ability

2. It is when you are casting a horoscope manually that you develop astrological predictive ability. Most of the astrologers who have sub-standard ability are those who just do not know how to proceed with their analysis of a horoscope unless the computer gives out all the details. The computer which can be of great help, is also a big handicap for many reasons, the main being the well-known verdict on the ability of a computer, ‘garbage in and garbage out.’

3. Let me point out the defects I have found in nearly twenty computer programmes I have seen so far. The most irrational addition being made there are some computer predictions, which is idiotic. A computer gives the degrees of a planet even as, 24060'.

Computers Cannot Predict

a. Most of the programmers have poor predictive or no predictive astrological ability. They can never know what is wrong with the programmes and how to correct them, even if the mistake is pointed out to them. In the USA they are always in such a great hurry to produce Jyotisha programmes that while some of them are dependable, most of them are wrong and, very elementary compared to many Indian programmes.

Irrelevant Information

b. In the competetive world in which we live, these computer programmes come out with lot of irrelevant information, lifted from badly and unintelligently translated books of Hindu astrology into English.

Fatalistic Feelings

c. Computers encourage a mechanistic view of astrology because the Hindu word, jyotisha, which means light is what no computer can ever provide. This mania of giving literal meaning of yogas and placement of planets in different houses and their meanings causes fatalistic feelings. No good and well-researched book on yogas has been written yet. Some cook books on yogas have been produced by greedy writers who wanted to make some quick money. In India, a young man committed suicide after reading some written predictions in a computer printout. The reason was that the computer lifted literally all the negative meanings from the badly translated books available in the market. These books have been written by writers who have done no original research of their own to give a positive and new meaning to many outdated concepts of the agricultural and pastoral age in which these books were written.

Develop a Personal Style 

d. In doing jyotisha you have to develop your style. How then to develop it? First of all, looking at a horoscope you should be able to see whether the casting of the horoscope appears to be correct or not. If not, take a set of ephemeris and check it yourself. It is after doing this that you will understand why computer programmes, such a great facility, also dump into your head lot of irrational and negative information which can create only gloom.

Compudiots

e. Finally, as I have seen in the US departmental stores, if the computer is out of order, the girl at the counter (or the young man) cannot even tell you how much you have to pay. In jyotisha, if you cannot calculate manually or mentally, at least once in a while, you had better not learn it.

Strong words? Yes. We are living in an age of what I call ‘compudiots’ and the Internet on which anyone can put his garbage. Recently, I saw the claim made by an American computer programme on astrology about medical diagnosis of a disease! There is no astrologer-doctor who has made any break through in this field yet. How could this claim be made? Were you to read such a medical diagnosis, all that will happen is disaster. We have allopathic doctors who do their diagnosis and prescription of medicines by about a dozen antibiotics. There are ayurvedic doctors who do not know astrology. Astrological-medical diagnosis is just in a rudimentary form.