Do astrology remedies really work?

Let me clarify at the start that I am not against astrological rituals and remedies. However, I do not subscribe to the thought that these could be the tools to flatter God! 

A man errs in life and then looks for ways to cover the guilt associated with the mistakes. I am dead against resorting to astrology rituals instead of focusing on correcting your Karma. 

People who tend to put all their eggs into one basket often end up losing all of the eggs! It isn’t surprising to see even visibly aware men & women consulting astrologers during difficult times and bringing back a list of all the negative yogas & countless remedial measures with them. But the continuous flow of problems just refuses to abate. Why?  

What exactly is the purpose of these rituals that you perform at the behest of half-baked astrological advice? 

Can these rituals – 

1) Change anything in your birth chart?

2) Appease the afflicted planet & reverse its impact?

3) Change the Dasha/ Gochar?

4) Re-arrange the negative Yogas in your birth chart to the positive ones? 

I don’t think so. Instead of doing any good, blindly following the astrological rituals may, on the contrary, turn you into a disoriented person, with your dedication to work declining with time. 

The main aim of astrology, which is primarily a detailed reading of your birth-chart/horoscope, is to allow an uninitiated individual to understand the basic concept behind Jyotish Shastra (the light that illuminates the future). Astrology is immensely helpful to humans in terms of telling them about: 

1. Their true capabilities

2. Suitability or unsuitability of decisions

3. Choosing a path after weighing its pros and cons

4. To correct what has gone wrong

5. Helping you control your ills

6. Realising the true value of Karma

7. How to remain happy

An individual may remain unaware of the ills or evils in his personality, owing to self-ignorance or family/societal pressure. Astrology is a wonderful tool of ‘Karma Correction’, which tells an individual which wrongs to shun and what to expect out of doing that. In my opinion, a Jyotisha’s (astrologer’s) prime duty is to guide an individual on how to navigate his life through all the Doshas in his horoscope. 

Why astrologers give importance to rituals?

In my opinion, suggesting only rituals and remedies without looking in to the Karmic journey of a person is a short cut of doing astrology. In such cases, either the astrologer does not have the capability to peep deep into person’s Karmic journey or has some other interests. I don’t want to comment beyond this.

 India is known as the cradle of spirituality for the world at large. But you cannot appease God by performing endless rituals or conduct astrological remedies blindly, though people indulge in that, wrongly equating performing rituals with spirituality. If you ask me, the Indian version of spiritualism is an ongoing, cyclical process instead of a one-time tradition. It is this attitude towards spirituality that has helped our society and our religion evolve into its present state through thoughts on spiritualism & philosophy. Some of these thoughts ascribe to schools such as Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Yoga, and Vedanta. The world looks up to the Hindu religion for its openness and inclusivity. The land that we call India is filled with the fragrance of Dharma and Karma and the Indian concept of Jyotish is based on Karma and how to manoeuvre it. Unfortunately, I can see many people nowadays going for Astrological remedies, rituals as a stand-in for spirituality/religion. That, perhaps, is one reason why Astrology is losing its relevance as a science in modern times. But all that is due to a misunderstanding. 

Who should perform astrology remedies?

Though people depend heavily on their astrologer or Jyotish, in such cases, I firmly believe that the person concerned must be the only one to perform these rituals or remedies meant for getting rid of the accumulated Doshas in your horoscope. I may sound different from many of my colleagues, but that is what I recommend to my clients. Suppose you hire a professional to perform even the basic customary rituals on your behalf or are just donning ring fingers loaded with gemstones. In that case, you are being artificial about following the astrology. It is only when one performs such remedies or rituals on their own, that he has a direct connection to their Karma and to the divine power in the process. I am a strong believer in the fact that only such connection will provide real relief to the individual in question. 

Why astrology rituals will fail : A true incident

Let me tell you of a man whose wife was on the death-bed. He was asked to perform the Mahamrityunjay Yagya with at least 11 Panditjis (priests) at 9.30 in the night. Somehow, that man connected with me. Instead of going for that elaborate ritual, I told him that he could go to a nearby shop to buy a book of Mahamrityunjay Mantra and recite the same by his wife’s bedside, without worrying even if his recitation or pronunciation isn’t 100% correct. You won’t believe it, but his wife got better within two days of that ritual. This is, despite the fact that no priests had performed the Yagya for her, as per the suggestion he received previously. Surprised? Don’t be because God wants your dedication, not your pomp and show. 

Why we follow rituals?

Without going into the rituals directly, let me begin by saying that every religion in the world requires a sense of devotion towards a supreme power. However, today, with evolution in every way of life, being spiritual today is misunderstood as being religious. Spirituality is considered to be synonymous with just elaborate astrological remedies and humongous rituals. Quite contrarily, matter of fact is those who indulge more and more in worship and rituals are already engulfed in the materialistic world. So, although rituals were initially devised as a means to strengthen the bond between God and man, today, the inherent meaning of worship, astrology remedies, and rituals has changed drastically. I won’t mince words while saying that today hypocrisy has superseded the impact of rituals. Some of the naive aspects of spirituality in the modern world is – 

1. People feel that God would get angry if they fail to worship.

2. Offerings at temples have assumed the status of bribing the Almighty.

3. Devotees mistakenly think that God needs to be offered gifts.

4. There is serious doubt about who is being pleased with rituals and remedies – God or the devotees themselves.

5. Do people love God, or are they afraid of him?

6. Do people think that performing rituals give them to continue with their flawed Karmas? 

Can rituals help in last moments?

Undoubtedly, some individuals and astrologers consider rituals to be the over-the-counter pop-up pills to cure bad Karma as if they were curing a severe headache. But they are wrong. If you have seriously goofed up in life so far, it is not possible to undo all this with the help of just rituals. In such cases, rituals rarely work. Life isn’t so easy as to keep doing bad Karma but then run back to performing Astrological rituals. It doesn’t work that way! In fact, following the wrong Karma can actually land you at the doorstep of an astrologer who can bring more harm than good to your doorstep! Therefore, I would say this categorically; last-minute rituals do not work at all. Instead, focus on your Karma and don’t harm anyone knowingly.

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