Living Authentically

For the Love of Vedic Astrology: James Braha’s Historic a
Lectures, Workshops, Sessions and Special Events In Honor of the Renowned Vedic Astrologer
By James Braha and
Cathy H. Burroughs
of The Aquarius Newspaper staff
James Braha is one of the most influential astrologers
of our time. He has written extensively on Hindu astrology,
and is considered the leading international expert on
Vedic Astrology.
Cathy Burroughs: You use both systems, Western and
Eastern. Why do you love the Hindu/Vedic so much
James Braha: Alan Leo, the famous British astrologer, once
wrote that astrologers with Sun-Neptune conjunctions are
the most predictive of all. I have a three degree Sun-Neptune
conjunction, so his statement always makes me laugh
because I just love the more predictive, fate oriented Eastern
system. But truly, I think my mind is just more comfortable with
Eastern methods and philosophies.
CB: For example
JB: I’m fascinated by the way Hindu philosophy categorizes
life into four areas: dharma, artha, kama (not karma) and
moksha. Dharma is duty or purpose, and relates to the fire
houses, 1, 5, and 9. So, if these houses are prominent, then
the person focuses mainly on his or her mission. The person
lives to fulfill some specific purpose or career.
CB: What is artha
JB: Artha means money matters, and relates to the earth
houses, 2, 6, and 10. If these houses are prominent, the
person is interested in making money. He or she is more
practical. Then comes kama, as in kama sutra, which means
desires. Not sexual desires, but desires in general. Kama
houses are 3, 7, and 11.
CB: Air.
JB: Yes. When these houses are powerful, then the person
has tons of desires and gets them fulfilled, unless other chart
features negate that fact. If I see a client with a great kama
horoscope, that person has likely already succeeded in
several careers, and satisfied so many different desires.
CB: Sounds wonderful.
JB: Not necessarily, because these people don’t know what
to do with themselves. They always ask me: “What do I do
with my life”
CB: What do you say
JB: I tell them to try and enjoy the fact that they get so many
desires fulfilled. And then I look to the dasas and bhuktis, the
periods and subperiods for which Hindu predictive astrology
is so famous, to guide them in what nature has in store for
them during upcoming periods.
By the way, Hindu astrology uses a different house system and
zodiac than Western - sidereal, not tropical – so don’t assume
that because certain houses are prominent in your Western
chart they will still be so in the Hindu chart.
CB: I see.
JB: Finally, there are the water houses, 4, 8, and 12, that relate
to moksha, which means enlightenment and final liberation.
CB: Spiritual matters.
JB: Yes. So, this dharma, artha, kama, moksha feature is an
overarching theme that sometimes dominates a chart. I say
sometimes because not all charts are heavily weighted in one
area. Many charts are balanced between 2, 3 or 4 qualities.
My horoscope is heavily weighted toward moksha and
dharma - spiritual matters and personal mission.
But this isn’t what hooked me. What hooked me was the six
weeks of private sessions with my first mentor in Delhi where
we spent four hours every night discussing horoscopes.
CB: Celebrity or well known persons’ charts
JB: No, charts of my closest friends and relatives. In 1983,
when I first went to India I brought about thirty charts with
me in case I found a teacher. What hooked me was when
Santhanam, my teacher, took one look at my brother’s chart
and said “Did he have trouble with his family when he went
to get married” This was true; my brother, who has the Sun
in his 7th house, married a lady of a different religion and my
parents hit the roof. Santhanam also had Sun in the 7th house,
and had to elope because his family objected to the wife’s
small dowry.
CB: Wow.
JB: What hooked me was Santhanam saying about one of my
closest friends “This man will care little of his appearance”. He
didn’t know it, but he was talking about a man who had once
showed up in court wearing shorts and sandals for his divorce
proceedings! The prediction was so accurate.
CB: How was that seen
JB: Fallen Mars in Cancer in the 1st house, and some
affliction to the 1st house ruler. Then there was the case of
an acquaintance who has a phenomenal singing voice, and I
mean phenomenal. Santhanam saw the chart and said, “this
man, will have a “ mellifluous voice”.
AQUARIUS
In 2015,
the Aquarius Compassion Project
is launching two programs:
PROJECT
1
“the namaste conspiracy”
is a ground-roots movement to put respect back into our
personal and social words and actions. Join us in telling others
- and acting like we mean it - “I honor You.”
the namaste affirmation:
I believe in the sacred worth
of every person
young old rich poor
male female black white
gay straight atheist christian
buddhist hindu shinto muslim
wiccan jew
every human who has ever lived is unique
there will never be another me, or another you
that is why i believe in the sacred worth
of every human
namaste
that’s what it means
2
“we are home”
bringing together the
spiritual community to
address homelessness
in our communities.
PG 14 JANUARY 2015 AQUARIUS
•
www. AQ -atl.com
•
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions,
calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us
to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from
the centre of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every
single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and
respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically
from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to
impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating
others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we
have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human
misery in the name of religion.