VI. Western vs. Eastern
The key to happiness lay with oneself. One need not look to outside
agencies. Westerners who thought that they could get happiness from outside
sources are now veering to ancient India’s point of view that one’s
happiness rests in one’s own hands.
VII. The Search for Evidence In Support of Vedic Astrology
Astrology has a long history from the dawn of civilization. In India we have
evidence of astrological knowledge even in the great classics The Ramayana
and The Mahabharata.
It is on record that Hindu astrologers at Alexander’s court predicted his
death by poisoning in Babylon. Alexander avoided that city for a time but in
the end he entered it and died as foretold. Julius Caesar consulted
astrology in his battle dispositions and was successful but could not pay
heed to the warnings of Spurina that he would die on the Ides of March.
Napoleon, it is well known, was advised by the famous woman astrologer
Lenormand who repeatedly advised him not to march on Moscow but he
disregarded her warnings and met his fate. In medieval Europe, of course,
astrology occupied an honored place. Albertus Magnus, regarded as the father
of scientific method, though a scholar and theologian, thought that a wise
men could annul or modified the effects of the stars. Lord Bacon, the father
of modern scientific method (the advancement of learning) was himself a
competent astrologer. He saw no contradictions between science and
astrology. He held that astrology should rather be filtered than rejected.
Even the great Newton, the formulator of the laws of motion supposed to be
the cornerstone of materialism, able to banish God from the Universe, was
himself in astrologer. He had a collection of astrological works in his
library and when his friend and pupil Halley protested to him about his
regard for astrology he replied “I have studied these things and you have
not.”
Even here modern science seems to indicate that we’re not really in total
control of our destiny. For instance, Sarnoff Mednick, Professor of
psychology at the University of Southern California, says that his research
(including measurement of brain waves, etc.) has shown that some people have
a genetic predisposition to commit crimes. In a study involving 9000
children he said one could predict the onset of criminal behavior as much as
10 years in advance.
Ralph Morris, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Illinois
Medical Center, studied more than 100 patients over five years and founded
bleeding ulcers and chest pains became more frequent in two-thirds of the
patients at times of the full moon. His findings were published in the
January 8th 1982 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Professor Morris thinks that the incidence of health problems may be linked
to the changes in gravitational and electromagnetic fields. He says that
while no one has pinpointed a cause and effect relationship there is
considerable support for a theory that speculates that magnetic interaction
between the earth and moon may affect physical and emotional processes. He
further thinks that this interaction could affect humans because of
electrical charges and metals such as iron in the body. Support of this
theory that the moon influences humans comes from J. Allan Mynek, professor
emeritus of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University. His studies
show that increase in arson, violent crimes and strange behaviors in mental
hospitals occur when the moon is full.
Prof. Frank Brown, department of biological sciences at Northwestern
University, says that all life is sensitive to the electromagnetism of the
atmosphere. Humans, he says, are “just a plethora of magnetic fields”, and
studies have shown the changes in the magnetic fields can, for instance,
effect metabolism. Other researchers like A. P. Krueger of the University of
California Berkeley, point out that ion levels are known to change 100-fold
during electrical storms and that positive ions in the air can drastically
increase the levels of serotonin, a biochemical associate with a wide range
of stress and anxiety reactions in animals.
Jupiter has always been considered by astrologers to be a very special
planet in the horoscope. Modern science reiterates this in the February 1982
issue of The Science Digest which says “Jupiter is probably the only planet
that is slowly contracting and thus generating thermal energy which radiates
into space at twice the rate it receives energy from the Sun. Because it’s
very strong rapidly rotating magnetic field interacts with the solar wind,
Jupiter emits intense radio waves”. This in conjunction with the fact that
human beings are influenced by electromagnetic fields should be sufficient
cause for investigation as to whether planets may, after all, have some
influence on the destiny of man.
As we know, the human brain and the nervous system are
most sensitive, far more sensitive than photographic film. Moreover, it is a
medically established fact that the optical nerves of the human being are
far more sensitive than the lens of the camera which catches even the
minutest points of stars at a distance of billions of kilometers from the
earth, not to speak of the Sun and other planets which are much nearer. If
the camera is overexposed to the sun, the photo-plague is spoiled by being
light struck. The effects appear simply to be physical. The point for
consideration is that, if the sun and the stars are capable of affecting the
emulsion, the chemical constituent and component of photo plates, there is
no reason why one should reject that the human brain and the nerves are
sensitive to them.
Since time immemorial, the stars have been a guide for travelers in the vast
deserts as well as in the oceans. As civilization advanced and evolution
progressed, the wisdom of the human mind in its maturity felt the urge to
study the movements and influences of stars, planets and heavenly bodies not
only on living beings but also on nonliving beings. Thus, are not the tides
caused by the lunar rays? If the moon has the capacity to stir in the
nonliving, inert water, why should there be a disbelief that the moon, and
for that matter other heavenly bodies, produce effects on the human brain
and the nerves. The effects of the moon on living beings, particularly mad
people, have been medically observed and ascertained. This is why the
mentally and emotionally disturbed are called “lunatics”.
Perhaps many readers know that scientists like Prokofiere, Clytona and
others thought that solar flares, etc. were associated with the mutual
disposition of planets and that variations in the magnetic field intensity
were related to psychiatric disturbances showing that heavenly bodies wield
a definite influence on human behavior. It is known that magnetic electrical
storms occur when sunspots are at their maximum. It is at this time that the
Earth obtains the largest quantum of heat and light from the sun. Similarly,
the weather as well as rainfall is affected by the sunspots. This
astrophysical phenomenon of sunspots was even at one point in time
theoretically extended to research on trade cycles in the field of
economics. This led economists like Jevons and other writers to believe that
business cycles were affected by sun spots with varying intensity in a
cyclical way. These economists argued that when sunspots grew large, less
heat emanated from the sun, agricultural production fell, the purchasing
power of agriculturists was reduced and the Depression began. When the
converse process took place and sunspots grew small recovery occurred and
boom began again. Despite criticism against the sunspot theory that it is
far-fetched and does not explain different phases of trade cycles, the
sunspot theory is not rejected from the standpoint of microeconomics.
Currently, everyone has noticed the anomalies in the weather from the year
2000 onwards. There have been increases and decreases in the intensity of
weather patterns in areas all over the world. It is interesting to note that
more people are dying due to increased cold or increased heat. In the summer
of 2003 it is reported that in France alone 16,000 deaths took place due to
heat. Vagaries of weather have been on the increase. It is said that because
of the increased solar fire activity, as well as electrical storms taking
place these days there is much electrical disturbance and heat in the
atmosphere and one can anticipate increases in the health problems of the
people in the coming years.
Professor A. Tehijevsky noted that both the world wars began when the
sunspots were at their maximum. The noted Russian scientist thought that the
solar emanations from the sunspot regions had such consistency as to upset
the mental poise of human beings and make them warmongering.
According to Professor B. V. Raman, there is a clear link between human
behavior and planetary movements. Family quarrels, domestic tensions, and
crime show a rise up to during certain cycles of the moon, namely Chaturdasi,
Amavasya and Purnima.
It is quite scientific to presume that the Universe bestowed all of its
intelligence upon man, leaving nothing but the mechanical qualities of
rotation and revolution to be distributed among the sun, moon and stars –
the race of giants which populate the cosmos. If human behavior is
intelligent, why is not universal behavior intelligent? If an insignificant
mass of atoms on this earth could produce that Promethean soul of Abraham
Lincoln, why should not a great mass of atoms in the sky engender its still
vaster spirit? If no evidence of divine intelligence can be discovered in
the chemical composition of the stars, it may be said with equal truth that
no evidence of human intelligence can be discovered in the chemical
composition of man. The ancient pagan belief that the stars were the bodies
of great beings replete with wisdom, who could be properly regarded as
“divine”, is no more unreasonable or inconsistent with science than to
maintain that hydrogen oxygen, together with 13 other elements, when
combined in the form of a college professor are capable of propounding
advanced problems in calculus.
** Ref.: Dr. B. V. Raman’s writings
To Be Continued...
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