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This piece of writing seems very justifiable. When any science in the world is allowed to flourish why not Astrology. Just as any other science, Astrology also has a right to be taught and learnt. These wordings are perfectly in rhyme with what Sri Swami Yukteswara Giri ji Maharaj, the revered Master of Paramhamsa Yoganandaji, had to say on Astrology (for more knowledge click on 'Paramhamsa Yogananda' in the navigation bar). While Swami Vivekananda (from his lectures) appears to stand against all these sayings. (for more click 'Swami Vivekananda' in navigation bar)
Mixing everything , it can be concluded, that so far as the knowledge is used fairly and wisely, not to trick the general public, it should be accepted by everyone. A subject should not be utilised to cheat another for money. If any science has to survive for long, the learneds have to come forward and use it nobly for the welfare of the mankind.
Dr. B.V.Raman said in one of his lectures that, "There is a perpetual tug-of-war between free-Will and destiny and our actions at any moment are a resultant of these two forces. In ordinary man, free-will is not very strong. His actions in life will, therefore, correspond, to a large extent, to the forecast given by his horoscope. But, in the case of persons of great spiritual development, there will be some variation, even though the general pattern will remain the same as indicated by the horoscope. In this world of relativity, neither fate nor free-will could be supreme. It is some sort of a conditional liberty which man enjoys." [from- Hindu Astrology and the West - by Dr. Raman,pg 247-48]
Here clearly, he rhymes with what is said by Sri Swami Yukteswara Giriji Maharaj.
One thing seems certain, if free-will is made strong and the more the native is in communion with the Supreme consciousness, Astrology, for that native, may not be of any use, but the native's life chart may still be of much use for other learners and practitioners of Astrology. Here, the lectures of Swami Vivekananda asking to realise our true Strength and Will Power, do have much importance for a spiritual aspirant.
Professor B.Suryanarain Rao in his translation of SriSarwarthachinatamani (pg 14-17) gives reasons how Astrology manifests in one's life. He writes -
"Many promises are made by men in the course of their lives but they are not fulfilled. The impression of sound are always stored in our favour or against us as we fulfill or break our promises. Phonograph gives a distinct explanation that what we speak or promise is recorded in the ethereal space. When the dissolution of the body is set in the finer and more spiritual portion goes away with these ethereal records and has to account for it in the future births for the various promises it has to its credit. When the molecules join together and the integrating processes begin to produce human body, they do so with the previous liabilities attached to them. A knowledge of what those impressions were in the previous births and how they work now is clearly indicated to us by the rays of the various planets expressed in the technical language of the astrological symbols."
This is much similar to the Karma Theory what Swami Vivekananda produced in one of his lectures - ...
..."We cannot deny that bodies acquire certain tendencies from heredity, but those tendencies only mean the physical configuration, through which a peculiar mind alone can act in a peculiar way. There are other tendencies peculiar to a soul caused by its past actions. And a soul with a certain tendency would by the laws of affinity take birth in a body which is the fittest instrument for the display of that tendency. This is in accord with science, for science wants to explain everything by habit, and habit is got through repetitions. So repetitions are necessary to explain the natural habits of a new-born soul. And since they were not obtained in this present life, they must have come down from past lives." (The Complete Works...)
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