Value added Tradition

Note: I have hyperlinked some words for a better understanding of the content

Some months ago, I read a news article stating an addition of a zodiac sign and a shift of the existing zodiac sign periods by one month from 2011. Simply put, this change is due to a relative wobble of earth's axis in the earth-moon system. So all the sidereal astrological systems would be affected due to this wobble. Vedic astrology, which your next-door astrologer practises, is a sidereal system and so your zodiac sign would also change due to this wobble

This was a regular news item for me, but I saw it was some sort of question of existence for some (actually, many) people around me. One fellow was discussing how his zodiac sign would change and was frustrated about how one could become a Virgo all of sudden while he/she was a Gemini till the day before. I couldn't stop my enthusiasm to know how the fellow thinks and asked him what difference could a change of zodiac sign do to in his life. He replied that a change in zodiac sign would change his horoscope and so the predictions of his qualities, life and marriage would change. And his entire life was changed just because earth-moon system had a wobble. He said that it was unfair as it affects people's career, marriage and lifestyle.

So I told him that he should switch his belief system to palmistry which won't be affected due to this wobble, instead of astrology which might change anytime when some cosmological event happens. His answer was that he doesn't believe in palmistry. Then I asked him why he would believe astrology in that case. He replied saying he has absolute faith in it as it's part of Indian tradition and it's by his tradition that how he is defined and made.

Yes, he's correct. Every person is built out of his own tradition. I'm what I am due to the tradition in which I was brought up. We get many things from tradition. Our language, dressing style, food habits, social norms, customs, ethics (to some extent), way of looking at human relationships (to some extent) and many more come from tradition. It is a template in which we get raised and it is marked by a long chain of history and civilization that flourished and paved way for our existence. Some aspects of tradition are purely sociological, whereas some are religious. Throughout our life, we really cannot change the way how some aspects of tradition influenced us in our childhood.

And as he said, astrology is part of the contemporary Hindu tradition. And going back in history, Ashwamedha was part of the Hindu tradition at least during the Mauryan dynasty (185 BC). But the exact ritual is not a part of contemporary Hindu tradition. Most of us don't know the exact ritual of Ashwamedha as mentioned in the Yajurveda. So, why is it not part of contemporary Hindu tradition anymore?

Ok, let's suppose Indian government now starts performing Ashwamedha in the truly Vedic way for supremacy in the world and to make India the No.1 economy in the world and to eradicate poverty in the country. Would anyone welcome it with their share of support? Of course no one would. This is because people are enlightened enough in animal welfare and women rights to oppose this and draw a line. But again, Ashwamedha is one of the most powerful and pleasing sacrifices to the Gods as mentioned in the Vedas and every other Emperor in Hindu mythological epics performed this ritual and it worked well for them in bringing success and supremacy.

So, is it fine to discard insensible and irrational aspects of tradition as times change? Or we would be betraying the holy texts of canon composed by people in 2nd century BC if we leave some of them as nonsense and not applicable? If the ritual mentioned in Yajurveda was a divine revelation to the Aryans, then that should be the exact and only way to perform it to please the Gods. Who are the 21st century people to discard or change it just for a whim of animal welfare and women rights?

Now coming to astrology, it's the alleged "science" (people often forget it's astronomy which is science) that explains the effect of a handful of stars and planets on the the entire 7 billion world population, to the level of individual human behavior, luck, marriage, career, health, children, success, earning, expenditure.. and so on.. Physicists (who don't know anything the Aryans knew 3500 years back) have discovered some fundamental interaction forces till date in the entire universe. None of those explain the effect claimed by astrology. Even though some physicists claim these are the only possible forces present in universe, if there is any other force present in this universe (the astro'logical' force), it should hold good to a statistical study.

I'm giving reference to one study conducted in India here. It was a double-blind trial to verify the statistical success of astrological predictions. The results showed that the astrological predictions were as accurate as that of a coin toss, around 50%, whereas statistically meaningful predictions would be 70% or higher. If one would do the same experiment to check electromagnetic force between a pair of charge carriers, the success of predictions would safely be above 99.99% (It would be 100% if any applicable quantum mechanics is included)

So, next time, if you are about to consult an astrologer for a match-compatibility, hold on and toss a fair coin. Look up as yes for heads, no for tails, check the result and proceed accordingly.

Even if you consult the astro-guy, the probability of a successful prediction from him would be the same !!

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23-12-2012.. the Armageddon???

Updatin my blog on Friendship day is givin me mixed feelings.. as a matter of fact, dese days i m not gettin bothered abt days of the week.. evryday has been a sunday for me for the last 3 months.. so i m welcomin August, the 4th month of complete holidays for me.. hopin dis is the last month for my vacation..

Hail Augustus Caesar (Emperor, Roman Empire) and Larry Ellison (CEO, Oracle Corporation)!!

Speakin abt calendar n frens reminds me an incident happened 2 days back.. i attended one of my school fren's b'day party along with some old frens from my colony.. discussion went on as usual abt everythin (wat not?? we all r enjoyin our looong graduation vacation).. one of my frens mentioned this 23-12-2012 doomsday.. well.. he was neutral on his belief in dis armageddon but my another old fren was supportin dis doomsday as if hez "Nostradamus reloaded" (maybe dese guys watch "Rahasyam (Secret)" in tv9.. the ultimate crappy pseudo-documentary show.. every documentary in dis show is like some RGV horror movie)

My neutral fren's allegation is dat on da above doomsday Earth is gonna collide with Sun(???).. he also said dat the Indian Vedic calendar was designed only upto year 2012 as our ancestors had knew already dat it wud be "doomsyear" (he dared to coin a new word)..

U know abt me.. i explained to him Vedic astronomical calendar- the Ahoratris, Yugas, Manvantaras, Brahma varshas in it.. n told him therz no possible doomsday threat in da near future acc to it (he got too much of info at one time n ordered more booze).. i was surprised n asked from where he came to know abt all dis "2012 doomsday" stuff.. he was puzzled by dis (with a "wat da hell r u doin sittin at home u stupid?" kinda look on his face) n told me dat dis is the hot-topic doin rounds everywhere (is this really true.. coz i m followin only the political, financial n weather news dese days.. not worryn abt trivia stuff, armageddons in particular)

Well.. he mentioned the wrong calendar (Vedic calendar).. its actually Meso-American Long Count Calendar (Mayan calendar in short) gettin refreshed on 23-12-2012.. n reg the other allegations i collected info from web.. i ll give u a summary of all the allegations for the "2012 doomsday"..

#1. Meso-American Long Count Calendar prediction

 This Mayan calendar keeps time in units of 20. Acc to it 20 days make a uinal, 18 uinals, or 360 days, make a tun, 20 tuns make a katun, and 20 katuns, or 144,000 days, make up a baktun. After 13 baktuns, the numbers reset and the count ll be moved to a higher order. On 23-12-2012, 13 baktuns ll be finished n the Mayan calendar date becomes 13-0-0-0-0. So dis calendar gets refreshed dat day n acc to Mayans, an armageddon comes n takes all the creation in the world with it.

I ll leave it to ur understading the rational validity of dis allegation.. its really a good thing dat in our Vedic calendar the life span of Brahma is 100 Brahma varshas (dat is 311 Trillion yrs.. upto now 155.52 Trillion yrs have passed acc to Vedas).. or else even our Vedic calendar might have predicted a doomsday in the near future..

#2. Galactic alignment

My fren was referrin dis as "earth goin into sun".. well.. we all know abt the "Ecliptic" (the plane of Sun n orbits of the nine planets.. all of dem share roughly da same plane). From our perspective on earth, the Zodiacal constellations move along or near the ecliptic, and over time, appear to recede counterclockwise by 1 degree every 72 years. This is due to the slight wobble or the 'precession' we know in the Earth's axis as it spins.

As a result, approximately for every 2160 years, the constellation visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. Every year for the last 2000 years or so, on the winter solstice, the Earth, Sun and the galactic equator come into alignment, and every year, precession pushes the Sun's position a little way further through the Milky way's band.

So its not "Earth goin into Sun" in 2012 but its actually the Sun gettin pushed slightly into the Milky way every year.. hence dis allegation is a simply a hill of rubble..

#3. Intersection of the ecliptic with the 'Black Road'

Now according to the Meso-American calendar mentioned above, the ecliptic intersects with the "Black Road" (the band of black dust clouds in the Milky way) precisely in the year 2012.. n predicted a significant spiritual change for the Earth.. one thing.. its concrete evident dat the Mayans had no idea abt precession..

We know how "Astrology" (my fav topic u know) predicts / attributes celebration of "Astronomical" conjunctions to changes in the contemporary society (for eg., in Hindu Mythology every "yugantha" i.e., a change of equinox constellation in astronomy, is characterized by an avatar of Vishnu removin 'Adharma' n restorin 'Yuga Dharma' on the Earth)..

These attributions / predictions r due to the fact dat our ancestors believed dat the heavenly bodies influence the life / behavior of people on earth (well.. the "Astronomical" calculations r very perfect n the changes in positions of stars r calculated very precisely.. but the validity of 'effect of those events on human behavior' is quite obscure)

So the rational validity of dis allegation depends on how much commitment we have towards Mayan "Astrological" predictions..

The reason i collected info on dis "Doomsday Conspiracy" is dat my other fren ("Nostradamus Reloaded" guy) told me dat one of his neighbors came to know abt the 2012 doomsday (how?? Courtesy might be some rubbish program in a crappy tv channel) n dat he started smokin n boozin like hell.. he said this neighbour fellow is even sellin his assets (dis i don't believe.. r ppl dat stupid?? may be my fren made dis up)

But one thing.. i m sure dat i ll wish dis "Nostradamus Reloaded" fren of mine on his b'day 25-12-2012.. well.. if there really comes the doomsday, i shall wish Jesus Christ a happy b'day on the same day.. Howzzatt !!

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The 'stars' must be crazy!!

Two days back i attended a function at one of my relative's place.. durin da usual chit-chat on politics(i wud rather call it crap-chat) one of my uncles (hez a distant relative) said dat in dec'08, he read in a news paper an article published by an astrologer predictin da outcome of AP state elections goin to be conducted in march'09.. my uncle said dat da columnist predicted YSR as the cm, and tdp, prp n da others wont give significant contribution to da outcome of election.. well dis was predicted based on da individual "kundali" of the respective political party leaders.. dis column was published in dec'08..

Then i happened to recall a tv show hosted in 'i news' channel on da night b4 the declaration of AP election results.. dis was after the elections in da second week of may'09.. the guests were some 6 famous astrologers in the state.. well although dey differed individually on da num of seats each party wud get (i bet all my future earnings dat the num of seats cannot be predicted in ne astrological means by examining the kundali of individual party leaders).. all dese famous astrologers agreed to one point.. dat Chiranjeevi wud either become a "King" or a "King Maker".. well he became a clown in the king's court (assembly) n is presently cheerin the crowd..

So now we can easily tell y da outcome was in favour of YSR in da former case n y it had become in favour of Chiru in da latter case.. even dese astrologers get carried away by the media-hype, election speculations, exit polls n want to make predictions dat wud be the most likely outcome to happen.. not based on astrology or kundali or watever crap for which dey r famous in the first place but by the speculations in media and decidin on their own intuition which is done by every average tv viewer..

So how can dese astrologers

#1. Who really dont believe in the stuff in which they were "allegedly expert" in (predicting human behavior n future by kundali)

#2. Who believe in their mere human intuition (even animals do dis.. animals have the power of intuition over logic whereas mankind has the power of logical analysis over intuition.. dis is a trade-off)

#3. Who dont believe in themselves

be relied upon for predictin the human behaviour n even deciding the compatibility of couples b4 marriage advising dem not to marry the astro'logically' incompatible couples??

We all know dat 'kundali' is made based on da time n place of birth of an individual.. consider dis realistic (not hypothetical) scenario.. I was born on 17th june 1988 at 10:07 AM in Rajahmundry (now dont ask me accordin to whose watch.. coz da question is perfectly logical n hence shud not be appreciated).. some 50 children might have born on the same day at the very same time in rjy (in rjy dere were some 25 well practising obstetricains dat time.. i m considering a fair possible case)

So the kundali of all dese 50 children ll be da exact same (same date, time n place) n hence the influence of da stars/planets/galaxies/pulsar stars/black holes (even artificial satellites may come into dis list in future) will be the same thoughout their lives.. but its obvious dat the behavior, personality, abilities, areas of interest, way of life, degree of success (what not?) are quite different for dese 50 people.. some may be "Kings" now, some may be "King Makers" now n some may be sittin idle at home now writing blogs like me..

I ll tell u how different people think abt dis astrology n their mode of belief in it..

#1. The first kind of people believe it with their heart irrespective of their education (educated people shud be at least sensible.. keep aside rational).. i've seen dis guy near the labor room in a hospital.. his wife in labor (critical situation) was in operation theater n dis guy was shoutin at his in-laws for gettin the operation started in "astrologically inauspicious" time of the day.. well eventually both the lady n the child were saved.. the punch of dis hunch was dat he is a postgraduate!!

#2. The second kind of people give importance to astrology wen the time/reason/risk permits.. dese people criticize behaving in da above manner for da above situation.. but believe in "auspicious times" wen time permits (for eg. startin a business), consult astrologers for marriage compatibility, etc.,.. i feel dat dis is worse dan the above case.. in the above scenario the person believes in himself although havin the logical ability in da magnitude of a tea-spoon.. but in dis case the guy thinks hez an "ideal,educated, smart intellectual".. but in fact he doesnt believe his head, his heart, the astrologer, even himself..

#3. The third kind of people think astrology is bullshit (include me in dis category) n tell people the way dey think abt astrology (like wat i m doin now).. well i don't wanna criticize myself in my blog.. so feel free to comment upon dis kind of people..

I ll conclude dis post by givin a piece of advice to people who believe in astrology/kundali/horoscope (i generally don't advise.. but u know.. pathetic people badly need help)

So here's the advice.. from now onwards whenever u r hiring someone, don't ask for their resume, ask for their kundali instead n hire dem accordingly.. coz u cant know by lookin at his resume how ur stars/planets/black holes might get influenced after u hire him.. moreover da planets may cast an angry spell on u if u ignore dem in da hiring process.. also to add fuel to da fire, dis is a recession time boss.. the 'stars' must be crazy!!

Predict my future astro'logically'.. i dont believe in myself!!!

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