Well Buddha said we need to decide for ourselves - a good teacher will make that clear. That eventually we need to find out something for ourselves, and that everything else is just steps along that path.
You get astrologers in traditional Buddhism just as you get in the West and they didn't have the modern idea of science in traditional Buddhist cultures even in the quite recent past. Advanced in their ways of thinking about the mind, maybe also about the body also especially mind / body connections which in the West we are in many ways only at early stages of investigation.
But when it comes to pure physics and science, less so.
At the time of the Buddha, then there was no writing in India, and they didn't have the modern ideas of a ratio or negative number or positional zero etc. You don't go to Buddha's teachings to learn science. But you can get interesting things from the interaction between the teachings of Buddhism and science.
The best Buddhist teachers (I mean for Westerners - the ones who have a lot of experience working with Westerners and a lot of contact with Western ideas) recognize this. For instance Dalai Lama, frequent discussions with scientists and very much interested in this interplay of science and the teachings of Buddhism. And sees a lot of value in science and the scientific method.
But - many teachers who know a lot about Buddhism and meditation may have only the haziest ideas of modern science, of how it works or is understood. And when teaching astrology - they are just teaching what they learnt themselves and what they believe to be true.
And - there may be something there that you can understand as science also. Not in the obvious way that the planets are in some way influencing us. But in terms of using astrology as a way to help you deal with complex situations - in much the same way you can also use divination. Where - it helps to have an outside perspective that in some ways is not you. And maybe not generated by any human, but something outside yourself. I think that can help sometimes just because it does come from something that is not worked out and planned by humans at some level. Something coming in that gives a new perspective you might never have had otherwise.
So - I think myself that astrology can be useful. I wouldn't use astrology for prediction. But as a way to get some new perspective on a situation that has gone stale, for instance, it might well help people. You could as well use divination and many other methods. So - if you listen to Buddhist teachers talking about astrology, that perspective could help a bit. I think that generally they don't talk about this much to Westerners, but may still use it themselves. And I think it can be useful in the right context and can be explained in this way, as something of value as a meditator. Especially indeed in context of meditations and teachings on non self etc.
You get astrologers in traditional Buddhism just as you get in the West and they didn't have the modern idea of science in traditional Buddhist cultures even in the quite recent past. Advanced in their ways of thinking about the mind, maybe also about the body also especially mind / body connections which in the West we are in many ways only at early stages of investigation.
But when it comes to pure physics and science, less so.
At the time of the Buddha, then there was no writing in India, and they didn't have the modern ideas of a ratio or negative number or positional zero etc. You don't go to Buddha's teachings to learn science. But you can get interesting things from the interaction between the teachings of Buddhism and science.
The best Buddhist teachers (I mean for Westerners - the ones who have a lot of experience working with Westerners and a lot of contact with Western ideas) recognize this. For instance Dalai Lama, frequent discussions with scientists and very much interested in this interplay of science and the teachings of Buddhism. And sees a lot of value in science and the scientific method.
But - many teachers who know a lot about Buddhism and meditation may have only the haziest ideas of modern science, of how it works or is understood. And when teaching astrology - they are just teaching what they learnt themselves and what they believe to be true.
And - there may be something there that you can understand as science also. Not in the obvious way that the planets are in some way influencing us. But in terms of using astrology as a way to help you deal with complex situations - in much the same way you can also use divination. Where - it helps to have an outside perspective that in some ways is not you. And maybe not generated by any human, but something outside yourself. I think that can help sometimes just because it does come from something that is not worked out and planned by humans at some level. Something coming in that gives a new perspective you might never have had otherwise.
So - I think myself that astrology can be useful. I wouldn't use astrology for prediction. But as a way to get some new perspective on a situation that has gone stale, for instance, it might well help people. You could as well use divination and many other methods. So - if you listen to Buddhist teachers talking about astrology, that perspective could help a bit. I think that generally they don't talk about this much to Westerners, but may still use it themselves. And I think it can be useful in the right context and can be explained in this way, as something of value as a meditator. Especially indeed in context of meditations and teachings on non self etc.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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