Indian Astrology: A Practical Guide to the Ancient Star Signs of the East by Komilla Sutton

There are four basic Vedas-knowledge, action, meditation, and deeper understanding. These are the basis for Vedic astrology which is anchored in the belief of the transmigration of your soul. Birth is just one small part of the life of the soul, which must travel through and experience many lifetimes before becoming enlightened. The book Indian Astrology…likens that journey of the soul to the water cycle, from cloud to rain to seeping into the earth and evaporation back to the clouds-one of the best analogies I have heard.

We are meant to experience life but we are not to believe that life is all that there is; a compelling answer to the question “why are we here?”

The book also goes into great detail-yet simply-about the three levels of Karma; Sanchita, Prarabdha, and Kryiamana. The first level of karma is the one which we bring into this life with us, the total of all of our other karma from previous lifetimes. The second is the karma you will face in your lifetime today, and both can not be changed. And the third is what this book is about, the karma of free will, where we are allowed to make whatever choices we do in this body, and how it will effect our future lifetimes.

Then the book goes on to explain the planets, sun and moon, and how they relate to the third karma of free will. Star signs typically figure more heavily in Vedic astrology, rather than the sun signs of western studies. However, other reviewers of this book have noted that it does not go into the stars as much as it does the sun -you may want to pick up the other books by this author for a complete collection, which I highly recommend doing, because more knowledge means a deeper understanding.

The book goes on to make the comparisons between your western sun sign and which planet it is ruled by-a point mostly lost on western astrology writers and daily horoscopes in the local paper. The author has studied Vedic astrology for many years, is a regular on TV and radio, and is a much sought after speaker on the subject.