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I am regularly asked to predict when something will occur in someone’s life, or when their problems will be over. There are certainly astrological tools which are used to attempt this kind of prediction, and occasionally they are correct. The question whether we have free or will or whether or future is already decided for us is a vibrant argument among astrologers, and I fall on the side of the power of choice and decisions. Naturally, the ability to think clearly and listen to one’s own instincts varies from person to person, and some planetary conditions make this harder than others. Understanding the nature of these times – when to fight the flow and when to give in to it – is one of the gifts of astrology. Especially now when Mars is in Aries, the planet and sign of Will and personal manifestation.

At any rate, this is piece is from Parahamsa Yogananda’s book Autobiography of a Yogi. I apologize for the gendered language which of course was common back in the ancient times of the 20th century! 💖

Parahamsa Yogananda did not believe in astrology. His family’s astrologer had predicted that he would be thrice married and twice a widower, and told him he might as well be resigned to his fate. He refused to be bound to this prediction and set fire to the horoscope scroll on which he had written “Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the divine fires of wisdom.”

The starry inscription at one’s birth, I came to understand, is not that man is a puppet of his past. Its message is rather a prod to pride; the very heavens seek to arouse man’s determination to be free from every limitation. Man’s freedom is final and immediate, if he so wills; it depends not on outer but inner victories.

“The deeper the self-realization of a [hu]man, the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.” These words of Master’s often returned inspiringly to my mind.

Occasionally I told astrologers to select my worst periods, according to planetary indications, and I would still accomplish whatever task I set myself. It is true that my success at times has been accompanied by extraordinary difficulties. But my conviction has always been justified: faith in the divine protection, and the right use of man’s God-given will, are forces formidable beyond any the “inverted bowl” can muster.

 

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