Author: Finn Wandahl Publisher: The NEURAL SURFER Publication date: January 1997
E-mail David Christopher Lane directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu
I want to go back to the home base now.
WRITTEN IN THE STARS: a visit to a Bhrigu Samhita astrologer. Authored by: FINN WANDAHL wandahl@dk-online.dk WRITTEN IN THE STARS - A visit to a Hindu palm-leaf Astrologer) by Finn Wandahl, e-mail: wandahl@dk-online.dk On the 3rd of January 1990 at 6 o'clock in the morning, my girlfriend = Arlette and I were standing, freezing near a little village in the = Himalayan mountains of North India. We were not feeling very comfortable = as we were very near to a wooded area, where a pack of wolves were = prowling about. We were waiting for the bus to take us to down the = mountain where our two Tibetan friends, Professor Drakton and Tenzin = Choegyal, were expecting us with a cup of nice hot coffee. We knew by = then that we had a hard journey and some strange adventures ahead of us. Before I proceed with the story of what happened, maybe I should = introduce our Tibetan companions: PROFESSOR DRAKTON Mr. Jampa G. Drakton is professor at the Tibetan Medical Centre, = teaching Tibetan Astrology and rendering astrological services to His = Holiness the Dalai Lama. Mr. Tenzin Choegyal is his disciple. We became very good friends and I will explain more about Professor = Drakton and the Tibetan astrology in a future article. During our conversations, Mr. Drakton and I talked about the palm-leaf = horoscopes and the remarkable predictions which can be obtained from = them. The Professor was aware of some of the secrets behind them, and I = myself have got an English translation of some palm-leaf horoscopes from = friends in India. Both of us had heard about a huge collection of very old palm-leaf = horoscopes belonging to some astrologers in Hoshiarpur in the state of = Punjab. This collection was supposed to be something quite unique and = extraordinary. We met with our two Tibetan friends and got on the bus for Hoshiarpur. = It was an unpleasant journey. The busses in India are not very = comfortable and they drive so fast on the winding mountain roads that = you almost feel that you are risking your life; but finally, some time = after noon, we arrived safely in Hoshiarpur. HOSHIARPUR Hoshiarpur is a strange place, notably influenced by the fightings = between the Sikhs and the Hindus which have been going on for years in = Punjab. The atmosphere was rather depressed and there was a touch of = suspiciousness. It was very dirty, and our hotel rooms had a terrible = smell of urine. The bedclothes had probably never been washed, but = fortunately we had brought our own sleeping-bags. The only reason for us = to accept our hotel rooms was the fact that all doors and windows could = be secured by bolts from the inside. The hotel staff was rather = suspicious looking and did not inspire our confidence. Once when the four of us were sitting in one of the rooms, there was a = strange noise coming from outside the door. Professor Drakton pulled out = his large knife, and silently he opened the door. There was nobody out = there, so we relaxed. At this point, the Professor criticized my knife as it had no blood = groove. He explained that "You cannot draw your knife out of the corps, = if there is no blood groove, and this makes you defenceless". I got the impression that he knows quite a lot about these things, as he = was fighting against the Chinese in 1959, when Tibet was invaded. Later we found out that we had good reasons for not feeling very secure = in Punjab. During the short time of our stay, 8 persons were brutally = murdered. Also, the Authorities had asked us not to stay in Punjab for = more than a few days as a maximum, as it was too dangerous for = foreigners. MEETING THE ASTROLOGER After this little incident we went by bicycle-rickshaw to the place of = the Astrologer. It must have been a rather odd view: Two tall and = well-fed Danes sitting in a bicycle-rickshaw with a very thin and humble = Indian in front riding the bicycle. Behind us in another rickshaw you = could see our two Tibetan friends, laughing. After a while we came to the place of the Astrologer. He claimed that he = had been expecting us and introduced himself as Mr. Maha Shiv Bhrigu = Shastri. He said that he would try to find my horoscope in the huge = collection of palm-leaves. I gave him my date of birth etc., but it did not seem to interest him = very much. He was more concentrated on a kind of Ephemeris from = Chandigarh (a major town in Punjab) from the present year (1990). = Actually he made a horary chart, and it was my impression that the time = of our arrival to his ashram was the most important event, which set all = other factors into motion, rather than my date of birth. Then the Astrologer entered into a room next to us and looked among the = bundles of horoscopes wrapped in silk of different colours. One of these = bundles turned out to include my horoscope, giving the predictions of my = life. SAGE BHRIGU It is said that these thousands and thousands of horoscopes are supposed = to come from sage Bhrigu, who lived in the Himalayan region in the = ancient times. Later on the horoscopes have been copied over and over by = clever astrologers who hold the knowledge of the secrets. Originally, = the horoscopes were written on palm-leaves or bark, but the horoscope = that I saw was on paper. The Hindus believe that nobody can consult the collection of Bhrigu = unless it has been preordained thousands of years ago. It is also = believed that sage Bhrigu was the greatest astrologer of all times. In = by book "Astrolog=A1a India" (ediciones Indigo) which has recently been = released in Spanish, I have explained about sage Bhrigu and the = palm-leaf horoscopes in more details, as well as the Indian Astrology on = which these horoscopes are based. THE CORRECT HOROSCOPE IS FOUND After searching for about 10 to 15 minutes among the huge bundles of = horoscopes, the Astrologer Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri said that he had = found the right bundle. He returned with a large bunch, wrapped in black = silk, containing 300 to 400 horoscopes. At this point I almost gave up, = as I felt this was a hopeless task. The Astrologer was optimistic and = suddenly he presented the correct horoscope which was an exact copy of = my birth-chart! It was written on a very old sheet of paper, and the ink = had turned brown from age. I think it was at least 100 years old. It was = the correct Ascendant, and all the planets were placed exactly as when I = was born. Professor Drakton and Tenzin studied the horoscope closely. = The Astrologer's son also looked at it. Everyone agreed: This was a = perfect match. I am aware of the fact that there must be millions of different birth = charts. So from a scientific point of view this is completely crazy. But = it is exactly the way it happened! The predictions were written in some sort of code, and it was read out = like this: "Om - Sri Shukra asked: If a man is born in the Margasira month with = this Graha-dristi (planetary aspects), what will be the name of the = yoga, and what will be the results?=20 Sri Bhrigu answered: Hey Shukra, at that time there will be = Karma-Bandham-yoga, and listen to me about the results: The man is born = in Varn-mahadweep (Europe) in a city beginning with K. (I am born in = Copenhagen, which begins with the sound of "K"). He will come at the age = of 35 to hear my predictions between the rivers Satluj and Vays in a = city called Chachadpuri (Hoshiarpur?). He has come for his family happiness, his longevity and for some special = work, he has to do due to a deep feeling in his heart. His name will be Finn Wandahl (I still think he said Pinn Wandahl). His = father's name will be from Kai-namsa" (my fathers name is actually Kai). Then the reading listed a number of good years, and a number of bad = years; my longevity was fixed with an accuracy of a few hours. = Additionally, it gave some predictions about the future, which would be = too extensive to mention here. But the reading continued: "Hey Shukra, because of bad karmas from the previous life some bad = results have been seen. His wife is no longer with him since three years = ago, and the feeling in his heart became bad. He got obstruction and = difficulties, and his family happiness was spoiled" (This is true, as my = wife left me and took my daughter with her). This was then followed up by a long story about my previous life, in = which I was a Judge who got a curse, which was supposed to destroy my = family happiness in that life and the coming two incarnations as well. SPIRITUAL BLACKMAIL The reading then continued by stating that the curse of the past could = be canceled through a religious ritual, performed by Maha Shiv Bhrigu = Shastri, for which I was supposed to pay him Rupies 51.000,-, equivalent = to US Dollars 3.600,-. Being an educated man I told him that under such conditions I would = prefer the three bad lives, but of course I gave him the Rs. 301,- for = the job he had done. My personal opinion is that the demand for Rs. 51.000,- was something = that the Bhrigu Shastri made up himself to see if he could make some = easy money on this stupid Westerner. On the other hand, it is my = impression that this kind of spiritual blackmail has become quite normal = among the different mystics of India. I think that it is a sad = development which could give Hindu Astrologers a bad reputation in the = long run. I still find that this experience was something very unusual, but due to = its suspect character I will leave it the way I found it: Written in the = stars.
E-mail The Neural Surfer directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu
I want to go back to the home base now.