Learn basic principles of Vedic Astrology. This study group can be seen as a way to help us understand our minds or do introspection. In Positive Thinking courses, we teach about observation of thoughts. We recommend techniques for assessing whether our thoughts are positive or not. Studying Jyotish gives us many possibilities of how to run our lives. What is our goal? Is it Moksha, Kama, Dharma or Artha? What is our main guna? Are we being guided by a Guru? Is our Guru telling us to enjoy (Venus), wait (Saturn), surrender (Jupiter), be bold (Mars) or be clever (Mercury)?  What is our self image (Sun)?  

 

How does our mind function (Moon)? How is our emotional control?  (In this age of emotional chaos we can understand why the Moon is central in Jyotish.) How is our past influencing our life (Rahu/Ketu)?  Are we looking for new experiences (Rahu) or rejecting outward experiences to focus inward (Ketu)? Jyotish gives us all of the possibilities to provide awareness of our choices. Also we see the way others are choosing. Jyotish can, therefore, be seen as a Yoga Sadhana, a way to practice Swadyaya or self study. Jyotish also provides a wonderful means of communication with others to promote understanding and develop compassion.

 

1. Jyotish intro and planet significations

2. House significations and planet rulers

3. Zodiac signs and their characteristics

4. Dasas and subdasas or periods of the planets

5. How to put it together for a basic understanding

 

Swami Pranavananda has been a Yoga and Meditation teacher since 1995 in the US and abroad. He teaches the Hatha Yoga and Anatomy sections of Yoga Teacher Training courses. He has been director of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco and is currently serving in Vietnam, teaching in the Ho Chi Minh City Center. He has studied Jyotish with Keiko Ito and Komilla Sutton and finds it a valuable means of self-exploration.