ASTROLOGY IN HUMAN LIVES by Thinesh Silvaraju

Griha Pravesham is a ceremony performed on the occasion of one's first entry into a new house. Once the house is ready, the family moves in on an auspicious day that is determined by the astrological charts. Purity of the panchangam (almanac) and auspicious time or muhuratam must be considered during the griha pravesham. Three types of griha pravesham have been mentioned in our ancient scriptures:

Apoorva: First entry to newly constructed house on a newly selected land

Sapoorva: Entry into an already existing house after traveling abroad or migration elsewhere.

Dwandwah: Entry into a house to after reconstruction or renovation subsequent to damage due to fire, flood or earthquake

For apoorva griha pravesham, the exact auspicious time needs to be adhered to. For sapoorva griha pravesham or dwandwah griha pravesham, the purity of the panchangam should be given due consideration.

Vastu pooja

Vastu pooja for vastu devata is performed outside the house before the actual entry into the house. A copper pot is filled with water, navadhaniyam (nine kinds of grains) and one coin. A coconut is then placed on the top of the pot. Coconut is covered with the red cloth and tied with the red thread called moli. After this the priest performs the pooja, add the husband and wife take this copper pot in the house together and place it near the yaagam (ceremonial fire).

Vastu Shanti

Vastu shanti or Griha shanti, involves the offering to the devas or yaagam. A yaagam is performed to prevent harmful influences of the planets, remove negative vibrations and create a peaceful environment. Once all the poojas are concluded, a feast is offered to the priest. He is also given some dakshina or fees for his services and good wishes.

These two poojas are essential. Other poojas like the Ganapathi pooja, the Satyanarayan pooja or the Lakshmi pooja are optional, and can be performed if priest recommends them.

Griha pravesham is not complete until the doors of the house are fitted with shutters, the roof is covered, the Gods of vastu have been worshipped or offered sacrifices, the priests have been offered feast.

House-warming ceremony should not be performed when the lady of the house is pregnant or on Tuesdays.

Once the griha pravesham ceremony has been completed, the family can then move into the house.

ASTROLOGY IN HUMAN LIFE by Thinesh Silvaraju

Astrology is an elaborate system of knowledge and there are voluminous treatises containing very

intricate calculation based on the position of stars and planets and the inter-relation existing between them and the various phenomena

on earth including human life. Because of the evidence at hand, several scientists regard this branch of knowledge with reverence, although they cannot explain its rationale. Carl Jung, the renowned psychologist, was inspired to evolve his ideas on synchronicity from his serious studies of I Ching, a book on ancient Chinese astrology. As long as modern science has not reached a final conclusion about the nature of mind and matter, the scientific methodology or the conclusions of science cannot be taken to be the only means to acquire knowledge or as the final word.

The practice of astrology involves many years of intensive study like any of the professional courses of modern science. Some of the astrological observations, of course, go wrong; but errors happen in every sphere of human activity. Doctors often fail to diagnose correctly despite their intensive medical training. Let us think of those investigators who involved astrology as a system of knowledge.

No man of thought worth his salt would consider savants of yore like Varahamihira to be of lesser intellect; the difference is that they employed their intellects in different directions. Savants like Varahamihira earnestly sought to discover the holistic relations between man and nature and revealed what they found out with utmost humility, unlike some of the modern scientists who specialize in some particular field and tend to believe they are competent to pass judgement on everything. We also are often prone to consider a Nobel-prize winner in a particular subject to be omniscient.

NEW SCIENCE

There are indications that a new scientific thinking is also veering round the ancient perspective that the universe is both mental and material. The view of the ancient biologist Sir Julian Huxley that all the activities of the world-stuff are possibly accompanied by mental and material happenings and his preference to name the possible low intensity mental happenings in matter as 'psychotic' happenings is indication of this new line of scientific thinking.

The trends indicate that the emerging new science will be taking a more balanced view of the two aspects of Reality--mind and matter. Sri Roger Penrose, Professor of Mathematics at the

University of Oxford, revealed that what prompted him to write the book The Emperor's New Mind was the reaction against people making rather outrageous statements about the capacities of computers assuming all we were doing with our minds was computation. The emergence of the new science calls for a deeper comprehension of the nature of mind. In this context, the following observation of Sir Roger Penrose in the Interview assumes much significance: “Whatever that future science is--and we can point to the direction it may take --it will have quite a different character from the science of today. What we have today cannot come to terms with what mentality is."

In the evolution of this new science, the critical research of the ancient knowledge which gives much emphasis to the ancient knowledge which gives much emphasis to consciousness is likely to contribute a great deal for a better understanding about ourselves and the universe. If the teaching of astrology and allied subjects is conducted with a research orientation, it may indeed prove to be an advantageous 'leaps backwards' for humanity.