Sri Aurobindo on Astrology

We turn to astrology because it gives us hope amidst an uncertain world. It also affirms our identity and increases our self-esteem (This is my sun-sign and that is why I am good at that). Unfortunately, it also reinforces our defeatist tendencies ( I am always going to have this problem according to my sun-sign ). This raises the question Do stars rule our destiny? According to Sri Aurobindo & The Mother, the stars are merely indicators of our future; they do not control our destiny. Furthermore, those who take up the practice of Yoga (and by that, I mean more than just breathing and postures) begin to actively shape their own destiny. The practice of Yoga can alter our nature and change our Karma. In such cases, the horoscope no longer remains a guide to the future. The following are observations of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother on the general topic of astrology. The Mother Mira Alfassa on astrology The stars have no decisive influence. It is only if one does not believe in the Divine that one unnecessarily suffers by believing that they determine ones life. I have known many astrologers both in Europe and India. So far, nobody has been able to read the future correctly. There are three reasons for the failure. 1. First, the astrologers do not know how to read the future properly. 2. Secondly, the horoscope is always incorrectly made unless a man is a mathematical genius. And even for such a person it is very difficult to make a correct horoscope. 3. Thirdly, when people say that the stars in this or that house at the time of birth rule your life, they are quite wrong. The stars under which you are born are only tape-recorders of physical conditions. They do not rule the future of the soul. There is something beyond, which rules the stars themselves and everything else. The soul belongs to this Supreme Being. And if it is doing Yoga, then all the more it should never believe in the power of the stars or in any other power. An astrologer who predicts a catastrophe for you is like a joker. Many jokers say things like, Today you will break your neck! But in spite of the joke nothing happens. Only a great Yogi can tell you your future correctly. But even then there is the Supreme Will which alone controls and decides everything.

The most important factor in a horoscope is the intuitive faculty of the astrologer. Why do you believe in what the astrologers say? It is the belief that brings the trouble. (i.e. The astrologer may be right or wrong. The prediction need not be ignored but one must not get obsessed by it either.) Sri Aurobindo says that a man becomes what he thinks he is. Horoscopes have no importance for those who take up yoga, because the influence that works through yoga is much more powerful than the influence of the stars. Palmistry is a very interesting art, but it depends for its exactitude and truthfulness almost entirely upon the real ability of the one who practises it. Moreover, it relates only to the material destiny and this destiny can be altered by the intervention of the higher forces. (Collected Works of the Mother, Vol 15, Astrology) There is a fairly widespread belief that stars have a special influence on the destiny of men, to the extent that an entire system of knowledge is founded on this and, according to the different positions of the stars in the sky, it makes quite complete predictions about what will happen in your lifetime. At an elementary stage of thought, this is expressed by saying that the stars have an influence on our lives. It seems more logical and true to think that it is a sort of notation or recording of the destiny of an individual, for, in the universal unity, everything is interrelated and, if you know how to read the relations between the individual and the universal, you may find in the universal positions of the stars a kind of diagram representing symbolically the life of one individual or another. Experience proves that this notation which is called in astrology a horoscope is not something absolute and that this destiny is not inevitable, for by taking up yoga and developing spiritually, one escapes from the absolute law of these horoscopes. This would be a kind of notation on the material plane of the relations between universal and individual life, and these relations can be altered by the introduction of a higher plane of consciousness into the material plane of consciousness. All this is what might be called a half-knowledge, which is a kind of very primitive attempt to grasp the links of interdependence between universal and individual existence. And all these things are much more like languages which enable us to fix a certain half-elaborated knowledge rather than absolute rules or the notation of indisputable facts. They are attempts, endeavours to understand things as they are, but very incomplete attempts which have a certain attraction for some minds but which are after all only very rough approximations to the truth of things. If we go deep enough into mental human knowledge, we realise that all this knowledge as we have it externally in the mental consciousness is scarcely anything more than a language a fairly complicated one making it possible for us to understand each other but corresponding only very remotely to the truth of things.

There is a direct approach by identity which is much more effective and, so to say, gives you the concrete key to the whole machinery of things, a direct key that needs no complicated science to express itself something that corresponds to movements of consciousness and will, which would not need all the mental complications to express themselves. Then the universal reality in its totality becomes a symbol and can be directly perceived in its essence. (Collected Works of the Mother, Vol 9, 5 February 1958) Sri Aurobindo on astrology Astrology? Many astrological predictions come true, quite a mass of them, if one takes all together. But it does not follow that the stars rule our destiny; the stars merely record a destiny that has been formed, they are a hieroglyph, not a Force, or if their action constitutes a force, it is a transmitting energy, not an originating Power. Someone is there who has determined or something is there which is Fate, let us say; the stars are only indications. The astrologers themselves say that there are two forces, daiva and purusakara, fate and individual energy, and the individual energy can modify and even frustrate fate. Moreover, the stars often indicate several fatepossibilities; for example that one may die in mid-age, but that if that determination can be overcome, one can live to a predictable old age. Finally, cases are seen in which the predictions of the horoscope fulfil themselves with great accuracy up to a certain age, then apply no more. This often happens when the subject turns away from the ordinary to the spiritual life. If the turn is very radical, the cessation of predictability may be immediate; otherwise certain results may still last on for some time, but there is no longer the same inevitability. This would seem to show that there is or can be a higher power or higher plane or higher source of spiritual destiny which can, if its hour has come, override the lower power, lower plane or lower source of vital and material fate of which the stars are indicators. I say vital because character can also be indicated from the horoscope much more completely and satisfactorily than the events of the life (Rishabchand, Sri Aurobindo His Life Unique, p 62) Paramahansa Yogananda. The deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux. These words of Masters often returned inspiringly to my mind. Occasionally I told astrologers to select my worst periods, according to planetary indications, and I would still accomplish whatever task I set myself. It is true that my success at such times has been accompanied by extraordinary difficulties. But my conviction has always been justified: faith in the divine protection, and the right use of mans God-given will, are forces formidable beyond any the inverted bowl can muster. (Paramahansa Yogananda. Autobiography of a Yogi)

Ramakrishna's analogy on destiny & free will (Re: Horoscope, free will..)
> Ramakrishna Paramahamsa compared the results of past actions to be like > a rope tied around the neck of a goat. Free will is restricted to the > amount of freedom the rope allows one. Ramakrishna is a master of explaining the toughest of philosophical points using the simplest of analogies. His analogies are usually quite apt and brilliant. Yes, karma or destiny (i.e. the result of past actions) is like a rope tied to the neck of a goat. The rope restricts the movement of the goat, but does not determine where the goat goes and what it does! That is upto the goat's free will. A thirsty goat may look at a river nearby and despair as it cannot reach the river due to the rope. It may try and struggle continually, without reaching the river. Another thirsty goat may realize that it cannot reach the river, accept that, look around, find a small bucket of water behind it within reach if it negotiates with the rope and the obstacles. It may turn back, go, drink that water in the bucket and be happy. While the destiny as frozen at the time of birth (and as reflected in the horoscope) is like the rope tying the goat and the surroundings of the goat, the actions of free will after birth are like the actions of the goat - how it accepts and negotiates the rope and its surroundings to get what it wants. * * *

Today's actions (karma) are tomorrow's destiny (karma). Some of today's actions may impact destiny in a future life. Some of today's actions may modify destiny for tomorrow (in this life itself!). Let me extend Ramakrishna's analogy to explain it. A goat tied to a tree with a rope may go around the tree a few times in one direction and the rope may get shorter. It may now be unable to reach places it was able to reach earlier. Similarly, some bad acts of free will in this life may tighten the destiny, make things worse and reduce one's options. It may go around the tree a few times in another direction and the rope may get longer. It may now be able to reach places it was unable to reach earlier. Similarly, some good acts of free will in this life may improve the destiny and make more things possible. * * *

One's mind is conditioned based on one's destiny. One's surroundings and life situations faced by one are influenced by one's destinty. One will be pulled in certain directions. One may feel attraction for another person. Another person may hate one an, abuse one and throw obstacles. One may not have enough money to live happily. One may be adored by millions of people. And so on. One faces different life situations at different times and in different matters. However, destiny only shows how one (and one's mind) is pulled in various directions and what life situations one finds oneself in. Irrespective of the mental conditioning and one's circumstances, one can still choose between different actions. The actions taken by one are not

fixed based on the horoscope. For example, one person may abuse one badly and one may feel great anger towards that person, all on account of a previous karmik debt. But, when badly provoked, one can either succumb to the temptation and fight back or just ignore and move on. Destiny places you in different situations. What you do in those situations is based on how you use your free will. In some cases, free will has a lot of wiggle room and many options and, in some cases, it has fewer options. But, usually, you do have several options that may or may not be obvious and the action you finally choose shapes your destiny in a future birth. * * *

Please note that the Sanskrit word for destiny is karma and the Sanskrit word for action is also karma. Basically, actions of today become destiny of tomorrow. You will get reaction in future to your current actions and destiny is the sum total of those actions that will come back to you. Each action of yours that impacts other beings and objects of this universe will go towards forming your destiny for future. (Here please note that both physical and mental actions count. Any emotions you feel towards someone else and do not necessary express outwardly will also impact that person in a subtle manner and hence counts as an action.) Horoscope captures the good and bad actions, committed physically or mentally to other beings, until the current birth, which are to give their reactions in this life. This is also known as destiny. It does not fix what you do in various situations in your current life. You have the ability to make different choices at important crossroads. The choices you make are your karma (actions) and they shape your destiny for future. They may either impact your current life itself, or become part of the destiny (as reflected in the horoscope) in the next life. * * *

Anybody who tells you that so and so houses show acts of free will does not understand what free will is. Horoscope is the frozen list of past karmas that form one's destiny for this life. It is like the rope tying the goat. Acts of free will are like how the goat negotiates the rope and moves around within the possible area to do its stuff. That is in the hands of the goat. The scope and options available to free will can be estimated from the horoscope, but the exact acts of free will are unpredictable based on horoscope. To complicate things further, how exactly free will has been used until now in this life (which cannot be seen from the horoscope) has an impact on the scope and options available to free will at this time. The exertion of free will until now may have modified the destiny. * * *

I am not downplaying astrology. Going back to the original Chiranjeevi prediction, the prediction that he would come into politics in 2007-2009 and enjoy some kind of power was made using astrology. When someone is already a candidate, even a random prediction of success or failure has a 1/2 or 1/3 probability. But, when there are no signs on the ground, a prediction on one's political entry in a specific timeframe has a very low probability. Such a low probability prediction made 7 years ahead using astrology came true. Moreover, we have all seen many cases where astrology worked spectacularly. I am not saying astrology is nonsense. But I am saying that we do not attempt to understand its shortcomings. When someone's free will works in a predictable way, i.e. when one's free will has very few options and/or one reacts to life situations thrown up by the destiny in predictable ways, job of an astrologer is easier. But, when free will has a wide range of options and/or one used the free will

powerfully, the gap between the destiny as reflected by horoscope and the actual destiny as a result of those actions may make an astrologer fail.