Vedic astrology (how to learn)

[Viraja]

Namaste,

I came across this study plan to learn the fundamentals of Vedic astrology: http://www.learnastrologyfree.com/vedicstarbook.htm

I have ordered 'Light on Life' by Hart De Fouw and Robert Svoboda, then planning to purchase 'Hindu Predictive Astrology' by B.V.Raman. I plan to read my BPHS volumes 1 & 2 a bit later into the study as the last time I tried to start learning Jyotish on my own with them, I ended by quitting the entire study owing to overwhelming amount of information.

Are there any personal favorites that you would love to add? Kindly suggest.

Thanks & Regards.

[Rohiniranjan]

Namaste,

I came across this study plan to learn the fundamentals of Vedic astrology: http://www.learnastrologyfree.com/vedicstarbook.htm

I have ordered 'Light on Life' by Hart De Fouw and Robert Svoboda, then planning to purchase 'Hindu Predictive Astrology' by B.V.Raman. I plan to read my BPHS volumes 1 & 2 a bit later into the study as the last time I tried to start learning Jyotish on my own with them, I ended by quitting the entire study owing to overwhelming amount of information.

Are there any personal favorites that you would love to add? Kindly suggest.

Thanks & Regards.

Since I was fortunate to have had the blessing of being self-taught (books, articles etc, free of biases that otherwise tend to creep in...), I found the best study-aids were the horoscopes of regular living people whom one can question directly! After seeing scores of regular even ordinary people with maha this and that yogas and numerous dhana yogas and the opposite scary kinds as well, ones education becomes realistic and reality-based... ;-)P

[Viraja]

Dear RR ji,

Of course what you say is true. Since I want to know the basics that I am not proficient with (the signs, the planets, the houses, the nakshatras....), etc, I want to start with some good books first and then plunge into requesting and reading charts to further the understanding. :-)

[Crocus]

Namaste Viraja

I hope your present studies of jyotish bear fruit for you. I am learning too and have got a great deal from "Light on Life". It is clear and is thorough enough for a Western beginner like me. Jyotish is a very diverse and vibrant living tradition and it seems this one book will take you only so far. Mr Raman's enormous range of books focusing on different aspects of the art/science has been an enormous help. As my studies begin to deepen I have collected a whole bunch of them. The two volume set called "How to judge a horoscope" was particularly useful to me. They form a house by house, example-based exploration of the method of judging bhava, its lord and its karaka. It is quite repetitive but I have read them three times so far and collated notes, finding that very repetition good practice and an antidote to the unwanted interference from previous exposure to astrology.

I gratefully received BPHS for my recent birthday and intend to study it chapter by chapter using the less condensed, more modern books to unfold its meaning. I have three classical texts - BPHS, Brihat Jataka and Prasna Marga - and look forward to teasing out their gems whilst orientating myself with the "non-canonical" newer books.

Of course although I am a bookworm I love to work charts through and hope the application of these techniques will provide more accurate prediction and thus be more useful to people, if the Goddess wills it. I lack the confidence at present to process the charts of living people around me, RRji, and currently work only on those of public figures. One day, one day...

Looking forward to May and the warm Sun.

[Rohiniranjan]

Good Luck!

Dear RR ji,

Of course what you say is true. Since I want to know the basics that I am not proficient with (the signs, the planets, the houses, the nakshatras....), etc, I want to start with some good books first and then plunge into requesting and reading charts to further the understanding. :-)