Destiny, Free-Will and Purpose of Astrology

People ask this question again and again - what is the ratio of free will against destiny? How much of our life we can control? This is a question that has been asked to me at least a thousand times, so I think that it is a good material for this blog. Astrologers are divided on this subject. Though my answer is very clear that everything is predetermined and nothing can be changed. When I say this the next question, always, is - what the purpose of astrology is, if everything is predetermined? This is an important question and here is my answer.

The word Jyotisha is a combination of two words - Jyoti (light) and Isha (God). Literally speaking, Jyotisha means the light of god. You know why it is called so? It is called so because it is also a tool of self realization similar to other popular ways (marga) like Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raj Yoga, Jnana Yoga etc. If you will deeply observe all these yogas, the objective is to end 'I' – the ego, the self. In Jnana Yoga it is done by constantly remembering that you are the God and there exists no duality... there is no 'I'. That's why Jnana Yogis keep chanting 'Aham Brahamsmi'. While in Bhakti Yoga, you need to dissolve yourself in God through complete surrender, which results in the end of ego. Hence duality dissolves with the ego in this path too. Similarly in Raja Yoga, this objective is achieved through meditation and other techniques. When you practice all these techniques your consciousness starts increasing and a time comes when your consciousness encompasses whole universe, and as a result of this there remains only one consciousness – the consciousness of entire existence and again the individual ego dissolves in this cosmic consciousness.

Similarly, by practicing Jyotisha, an astrologer keeps remembering the fact that everything is predetermined and it keeps hurting the ego or the 'I'. It is because the ego can exist only as a doer, if you understand that nothing can be done by ego, it evaporates at that very moment. At one stage with the accuracy of astrological predictions, astrologer understands that ego is simply a mirage and it is just like a veil on the pure consciousness and this is the point of self-realization. So Jyotisha is the door to self-realization and that is the purpose of astrology.