There are many different schools of Jyotisha or Vedic astrology in India--the kind I practice is Prashari Jyotisha by Maharshi ('Great Rishi') Parashara whose principal ancient text is Brihat Prashara Hora Shastra.
Although Jyotisha uses principal shastras or sacred texts, at its heart, traditional Jyotisha involves an oral transmission of knowledge passed from teacher to student in an unbroken lineage. My primary teacher has been Hart deFouw whom many regard as one of the best living proponents of this tradition; Hart's guru is Mantriji with whom he studied for 15 years.
In addition to completing The Jyotisha Trilogy in 2006, I've taken many of Hart's other life-changing classes including a three-year study of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras through the Vedic Vidya Institute in San Rafael, California.
Jyothisha is a living vidya rooted in India's darshanas or ways of seeing reality; Vedanta is one such darshana. I've had the opportunity to hear Vedanta classes unfolded in a traditional setting by an esteemed teacher, Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati at his Arsha Vidya Gurukulam http://www.arshavidya.org/ in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. More recently, I've had the good fortune to be able to study both Vedanta and India's classical language of Sanskrit with Carol Whitfield, Ph.D. one of Swamiji's long-time students here in the Bay Area.
I'm also very drawn to the teachings and presence of the Indian saint Shree Ma, the emodiment of feminine compassion, love, and generosity. Jai Ma!
