Archive for the ‘Astrology’ Category
March 20th, 2010 | 
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Peer View on Ayurveda
Ayurveda means the “science of life”. It originated in India more than 10,000 years ago and is believed to be the oldest healing science in existence, from which all other systems emerged. Pronounced “Aa-your-vay-da”, this ancient healing system has three main focuses:
1) Healing illness
2) Prevention of disease
3) Longevity or age reversal
Laws of Nature and Spirituality In essence, Ayurveda explains the laws of nature that cause health or disease. The first cause of illness is said to be the loss of faith in the Divine or experiencing a spiritual emptiness. From here illness develops due to internal conditions (e.g., foods and liquids) or external conditions (e.g., seasons, lifestyle). The main factors that cause poor health (also described as imbalance) are
1) Poor digestion
2) Weak immune systems.
When food is not properly digested it sits in the body. Nutrients are not absorbed and the food decays and forms toxins. These toxins cause most diseases in the body. Therefore, it is important to have good digestion.
The immune system can become depleted by poor nutrition, overwork, drugs and other excesses. The finest essence of nutrition develops a life sap that protects the immune system, much like the sap of a tree heals the bruises in its bark. In addition to promoting physical health, it is the life sap that becomes transformed through meditation to produce mental peace and spiritual development. With all the immune disorders that are prevalent these days, it is even more important that persons develop their immune sap.
What Makes Ayurveda So Unique?
This spiritual science offers numerous unique benefits:
It looks at people as individuals, not as a generic group.
It heals from the root-cause of an illness, not merely treating the symptoms.
Only natural therapies are offered.
No side effects develop from the therapies.
Therapies are inexpensive and effective
How Does Ayurveda Work?
Tridosha Theory:The basic view of Ayurveda is that all of life (people, food, animals, nature, the universe, and diseases) are combinations of three energy-elements: air (called Vayu or Vata), fire (called Pitta), and water (called Kapha). When these elements are balanced, one is healthy. Illness is defined as an imbalance of these elements; all disorders are excesses of one or more element.
People and the Elements: A person’s constitution (dosha) is predominantly one or more of these elements. Each element relates to certain body types, foods and health concerns. By nature, whatever a person’s constitution is, they have a tendency for it to become excessed. For example an air constitution person (Vayu dosha) is thin and bony. Physical symptoms of excess air include dry skin, cracking bones, gas and constipation. Mental symptoms of excess air include fear, worry, anxiety and nervousness. When an air constitution (Vayu dosha) person is balanced they are creative, adaptable and have no physical health concerns.
Ayurveda notes that certain foods increase air and other foods reduce air. In general, excess air is reduced by eating cooked or steamed foods, and eating every three or four hours. Foods like carrots, rice and mung beans reduce excess air. Broccoli, baked beans and barley increase air (e.g., they cause gas). Excessive lifestyles also increases the air element.Fire constitution people (Pitta dosha) tend towards excess heat. When healthy they are strong, make good leaders and are warm and goal oriented. When the Pitta dosha is imbalanced, mentally they become hot tempered, impatient, irritable.
Physically they develop heat-related disorders such as acne, rashes, diarrhea, ulcers, toxic blood, liver, kidney, gall bladder, heart and spleen disorders.Water constitutions (Kapha doshas) tend towards excess water. When healthy they are strong, muscular, calm and loyal. When water becomes excessed, they develop lethargy, and a hoarding or greedy nature. Physically they develop congestion, overweight, edema, heart and kidney problems, etc.
Review:
Health means balance. Each constitution has a natural tendency to become imbalanced or excessed. By eating foods and living a lifestyle that reduces the the excesses, one remains balanced. Balancing produces healing, prevention, and reverses the aging process.
Many people have two or even all three elements in their constitution. In these cases, both elements tend toward excess. Thus foods and lifestyles that reduce both elements need to be followed.
What Therapies Does Ayurveda Offer?
Using a holistic approach, Ayurveda offers therapies for each of the five senses because different people learn better through different senses. Therapies include;
Taste: Herbs and nutrition.
Touch:Massage (abhyanga), Yoga, exercise.
Smell: Aromatherapy.
Sight: Color therapy.
Hearing: Music therapy, mantra meditation, chanting. Spiritual therapies include meditation, living ethically, and working in a career that one loves or is purposeful.
Environmental factors are also considered from this holistic outlook. These therapies include house, apartment and office structure and astrological effects. These are sciences unto themselves. Vedic architecture (Vastu Shastra) and Chinese Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) deal with the laws of nature that integrate the earth, the person and the planets and stars. The exterior and interior design of buildings can also enhance balance or cause imbalance. Vedic astrology (Jyotish) is the science of understanding the laws of nature of the planets and stars, and how they influence us.
What Does Holistic Mean?
Holistic has two meanings.
1)It looks at the whole of one’s life. Health and disease are byproducts of all aspects of one’s life: nutrition, career, mental frame, family and social activities and spiritual life. If one area is weakened, all areas begin to suffer. If a person is unhappy at work, it will affect all other areas of life.
2)Holistic means holy. Ayurveda reminds us that to have and maintain true health, one needs to take some quiet time for spiritual development. The goal of life is Self-Realization. This is a state of unshakable Divine mental peace.
Dr,Rajesh Dubey
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Precession of the Equinoxes
What is it, and how does it affect Astrology?
The argument of the Precession of the Equinoxes is one frequently made by those opposed to astrology, who claim that it ‘disproves’ astrology and renders it invalid. This is perhaps best illustrated by an answer we gave in response to a recent question:
“How can astrology be valid when the points in space you refer to are no longer in the same positions as they were thousands of years ago? Doesn’t that invalidate all of this horoscope stuff?”
I think the phenomenon to which you are referring is known as the Precession of the Equinoxes. Because of this phenomenon, the zodiac signs do not now correspond with the constellations of the same name. This point is often made by astronomers and others to apparently ‘prove’ that astrology cannot ‘work’. In actual fact, astrologers are well aware of the Precession and its effects.
The point referred to by Astronomers as the vernal equinox, and by astrologers as 0 degrees Aries is in fact seen each year from the earth as slightly before its previous year’s position against the background of the constellations. This is caused by a wobble in the earth’s axis, caused by unequal gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon on the earth’s surface. The point referred to as 0 degrees Aries is actually seen from earth now as being in the constellation of Pisces. Aha, the sceptics say – that proves astrology is nonsense, you say that someone’s sun is in Aries when in fact that point in space is now in Pisces, right? Wrong.
It is vital to understand the difference between constellations and the zodiac. Much confusion arises for the lay person because the constellations have the same names as the signs of the zodiac, but they are not the same thing. The groups of stars marked on charts as constellations are not actually groups at all. What we see from earth is the grouping of several points of light, some from points many millions of light years away, and others from much further even that that. These ‘groups’ have no definite boundary lines as such, but are conveniently classified by man into constellations.
At the time that these constellations were being named and their name becoming known in the public arena, the 30 degrees of ecliptic, starting from the vernal equinox, was called Aries and the constellation that appeared as its background was therefore also called Aries. No precise date can be given for this, but the precession of the equinoxes was not discovered until 134 b.c by Hipparchus.
It is the vernal equinox point (0 degrees Aries to an astrologer) that appears from earth to move further back each year – the constellations remain in the same positions. However, the signs of the zodiac are and always have been counted in 30 degree segments from the vernal equinox point. Aries will always be the first 30 degrees of the ecliptic (with the others signs following on), and therefore will, each year, appear slightly further back against the background of the constellations.
So, the fact that the point we call 0 degrees Aries is now seen from earth as being against the background of the constellation of Pisces has nothing whatsoever to do with astrology – it neither proves nor disproves anything. When people assume that it somehow ‘disproves’ astrology, they have not understood the difference between the astronomical constellations and the astrological zodiac. It might help to understand if you can think of the signs of the zodiac as being a kind of shorthand to describe the various degrees of the ecliptic (remember, this always begins at the vernal equinox, and it’s starting point does not change but it appears to against the background of the constellations). Each 30 degree segment of the ecliptic has certain astrological significance, but we don’t actually need to call them Aries, Taurus and so on at all. It is just easier to say (for instance) that in a particular chart Mars is at 3 degrees Cancer rather than have to say it is at 93 degrees of the ecliptic.
I hope this answer has made things clearer for you. It is quite a tricky concept for the non-astrologer to grasp, but basically you should always remember that the signs of the zodiac and the astronomical constellations may share names, but are not the same thing!
Vaastu
Basic Vaastu
What Is Vaastu?
Systematic knowledge of living is called Vaastu. It clearly specifies who should live, where to live, when to live, and why to live. The total human cycle consist of five elements viz. Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Sky. The balancing of these basic five elements along with solar energy and natures magnetic field are the main constituents of Vaastu.
Principle of Vasstu
The five elements are allotted particular direction of the premises i.e. FireSouth East, EarthSouth West, Air-North West, Water in the North East direction and center of the premises left open to the sky. NorthSouth are the magnetic poles. East West are Sun rising and Sun setting directions. Natures principle is that water always flows in the lower direction that is why it is advised in vaastu to keep the North – East direction the lowest. If South-East becomes lower i.e. fire place that in the premises there will always be problems related to harmony among family members, or in other words it will be a very difficult situation for the joint family. It indicates that there is no combination between Water and Fire and no underground Water tank should be constructed in the South East direction. Similarly South West i.e. Earth means Mars is commander in chief of property, should be kept at highest level and well protected from negative forces. If South West becomes lower, in that case there will be no value of problems. If the said property has got entrance from South West direction, being at lowest level, it will have lot of financial problems also i.e. liquid (finance) flowing out of the property and there is no control of Head of family on the subject property.
One should take special precaution having Dead end road or the approaching roads becoming T-junctions along the boundary of the property. Tjunctions invite negative forces/waves to hit the property, which brings negative results towards occupants of the property.
Plantation also plays an important role in the Vaastu. Plants, which contain white milky fluid, take away peace from the occupants of the property, because the Moon and Mercury are the factors for White fluid and green leaves respectively and both stand for mind/brain. Citrus plant bring split in the family and fruit trees with fiber in North East direction of the property, give undiagnosable diseases to the occupants of the property. The human blood contains iron contents, which are directly attached with magnetic field. Head of the Human is treated as North Pole of the Body and feet as South of the Body. For the energetic and comfortable nights, one is advised to keep his head rest towards South so that there is proper alignment of iron molecules of the blood flowing in the body i.e. opposite magnetic poles attract and same pole repulse, which result in disturbed sleep causing lethargy and uncomfortable behavior. The Sunrays early hours of morning are (+) rays, which must be utilized to the maximum by human beings. To utilize this energy one must have maximum open area in East and North East direction. At noon and afternoon, the Sun produces ultra violet and infrared rays, which are very harmful to human body. One must keep West and South West direction blocked to the maximum i.e. with minimum open area left in this particular direction. To utilize these energies, one must keep gradient of the building, South West as highest point and North East as lowest portion of the building.
Conclusion
To achieve best results, basic principles of vaastu should be related to the proposed town, its state as well as country also considering the Vaastu of our own country India, you will find that above mentioned principles of Vaastu are no where near to the existing Vaastu of our country i.e. North East should be lowest where as we have lowest level in South and full of Water of Oceans.
This invites greater need to neutralize the basic defect of Vaastu of our country. Maximum stress should be that more and more people follow Vaastu, for the prosperity for every one and the country.