Do you need a “guru” to learn astrology?

Do you need a “guru” to learn astrology?

It depends on how you define “guru.” the literal definition is “heavy” which means a source that is full of the thing you seek. In this sense, yes of course you need guru to learn astrology, but that is no different from the need for guru to learn anything and everything. In every endeavor to gain something we don’t have we must seek it from a source that has it.

A very strong connotation of the word guru is a specific person who is heavy with the knowledge, talent or whatever that you wish to acquire. Concomitant with this connotation is the process of humble and faithful inquiry from this person, while rendering service and payments as tokens of gratitude and respect. Do we need that sort of guru to learn astrology?

It would be nice, if you can find an individual worthy of such dedication and trust. But it is not mandatory. Astrology is a skill. You can learn it from any guru, it doesn’t need to be a specific person it can be any good source of knowledge.

In the end the guru disciple relationship depends more upon the disciple than the guru anyway. Even with a traditional “guru” it is we who must make the effort to comprehend and internalize his or her instruction. This is true for every subject, even the most spiritual and ancient. Astrology as we currently practice it is among the least spiritual and ancient of the Indian sciences and arts. I do not subscribe to the notion that one must have a specific person formally accepts as a guru to become expert in astrology. But we should approach all sources of knowledge with the respect we offer to guru.

Jupiter in Leo: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, “Srila Prabhupada,” was born September 1, 1896 at about 4pm, in Calcutta. Using my tropical/sidereal rashi/nakshatra system, this puts Jupiter in Leo.

My textbook defines the baseline effect of Jupiter in Leo like this:

Kingly: Jupiter in Leo enhances our kingly qualities: we become more commanding, powerful, strong and self-sustaining.
Loyal: The loyalty and faith of Jupiter in Leo is deeper and longer lived. Friendships are stronger and longer lasting – but so are enmities.

Kingly

Prabhupada was the leader of an international religious movement that he founded on his own, with almost no visible assistance from others (self sustaining). His nickname was “Senapati Prabhupada” (senapati means “General”, as in the General of an army) because he was very commanding, powerful and strong.

Jupiter is a planet of religion and philosophy. Leo is the sign of kingliness. So (As Prabhupada’s case illustrates) Jupiter in Leo is especially suited to grant the above-described kingliness in relation to religious, spiritual, philosophical and moral arenas.

Loyal

Prabhupada is universally recognized by spiritualists as a shining example of “avyavasayatmika budhih” – unwavering fixedness of intention. He was the paragon of loyalty and fidelity to his predecessors. He loathed the idea of inventing novel concepts or implementations for no good reason, and strongly preferred to stick as closely as possible to exactly what his teacher had taught him. He tried to instill this same idea in his followers (and did so, almost too successfully, one might argue).

As indicated by the textbook, Prabhupada was almost equally loyal towards enemies. He absolutely refused to give one millimeter of forgiveness to the mayavadi (the philosophy that God, especially a personal God, is an imaginary figure or a figure created by illusion), false avatars (people claiming that “we are all God” or “I am God”), sahajiyas (people who take the beautiful intimacy of Krsna as if it were equivalent to ordinary intimacy and a thing easily and cheaply gotten), and many others.

Note about Ketu

Prabhupada’s Jupiter is on the exact degree with Ketu, within just 2 minutes of arc. Thus the qualities of Jupiter in Leo, for Prabhupada, are extremely spiritually oriented. It was during his Ketu phase (dasa) that all the qualities of Jupiter in Leo – especially the kingliness – became very powerfully manifest (his Ketu phase, according to my system, went from December of 1969 through October of 1976).

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Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

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How to Read Omens

How to Read Omens.

Mars in Gemini: Srila Prabhupada’s Practical Intellect

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, “Srila Prabhupada,” was born September 1, 1896 at about 4pm, in Calcutta. Using my tropical/sidereal rashi/nakshatra system, this puts Mars in Gemini.

My textbook defines the baseline effect of Mars in Gemini like this:

Intolerant: Mars is the planet of independence, but Mercury is the planet of cooperation and interaction. So when Mars takes charge of the resources of Mercury it poses a challenge to our ability to interact without others in a cooperative, tolerant, understanding and mutually beneficial manner.

Ambitious in Business: Mars in Mercury’s signs puts ambition into monetary exchanges. Thus it inclines us to desire money, become wise about saving it, and brave in pursuing it.

Know-How: Mars is utilitarian. Mars working through the resources of Mercury imparts utilitarianism to our intellect; better suited to figuring out how to defeat the obstacles and enemies which threaten to frustrate our ambitions.

Intolerant. Although he was kind and compassionate, Srila Prabhupada would not tolerate ANYTHING that was 1 cm deviant from the ideal. All these people would come to him expecting to be babied and encouraged and Prabhupada would not tolerate their nonsense AT ALL. He was very, very strong and heavy and not “flexible” at all. He was very much Mars in Gemini.

Ambitious with Money… Prabhupada had about 200 rupees in his pocket when he got on a boat and came to America alone. From that within a few years he had millions of dollars at his disposal.  He was also a very frugal man.

Practical intellect… Prabhupada’s guru was an enourmous scientific philosopher. He was first a “Siddhanta” because he translated Surya Siddhanta into Bengali and explained it, and did the same for Siddhanta Shiromani. Then he devoted his intellect to bhakti and became Bhaktisiddhanta. He made the most amazing disciples – huge, huge geniuses and philosophers. A doctor from Germany even became his disciple. Other very elevated scholars, the great, great philosophical genius B.R. Sridhar Swami. Our Srila Prabhupada was very humble amidst all these great and learned persons. Yet HE was the one, not any of them, who accomplished the miraculous deed of quite successfully transferring the seed of Krsna-prema-bhakti from India to American soil. WHY? One very important reason is the traits he had as a result of Mars in Gemini: “Practical Intellect.” Srila Prabhupada knew what he NEEDED to know, how to apply philosophical concepts in practical ways, and make them real and concrete and tangible. Prabhupada is a shining example of how practical intellect (characteristic of Mars in Gemini) can be far more useful and impactful than theoretical scholarship.

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Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

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