posted December 02, 2010 05:33 PM            

It has been the view of Western observers that the East
has a tendency toward fatalism and resignation to
whatever fate has delivered to them.

I was always somewhat surprised that most of the
Tibetan lamas and teachers that I met (outside of using
the lunar cycle to plan and time events) were not all that
interested in the astrology. Perhaps astrology may have
a number of more secret uses in Tibetan Buddhism,
which are not presented to the general public, and of
which I am not aware of. One thing I can report is that
Tibetans are not interested in the kind of astrology of
personality so popular here in the West.
To the Buddhist mind, our personality makeup is not
really all that important. Unlike Western astrology, Tibetan astrology is not an astrology of personality. For,
no matter what our personal makeup, good or bad, the
remedy remains the same from the Buddhist point of
view: mind practice of one form or another.

In fact, throughout the East, you do not find the interest
in personality psychology that we have here in the West.
The reason is clear to anyone who has studied Eastern
philosophy. They have no need to flirt with the deeper
areas of the mind, but have long ago been introduced to
matters of psychology, and assume them as a matter of
course, rather than as a novelty. Here in the West we
are just beginning to learn about the training of the
mind. Psychology here is still new to us.

Remember that reincarnation is the accepted belief
system in both India and Tibet and, for that matter (in
sheer numbers of people), the greater part of the world.
They have, as a standing belief, what we have as yet to
accept -- the continuity of consciousness beyond death.
They are the majority, we the minority.

Here in the West, this awareness of cycles or life
beyond physical death is not self-evident to most of us.
As astrologers, we may attempt to bring it to the public's
attention. Yet as a society, we have yet to come to such
a conclusion, much less push toward making this a part
of our day-to-day beliefs.

Buddhist countries, long trained in the analysis of
emotions and desires, have little interest in re-examining
emotional and personality issues, which have already
been clarified in ancient times. Instead, the interest in
expanding the awareness of the person (happy or sad)
beyond such personal issues and focusing on the actual
root of our problems and sufferings is assumed.
Everyone over there in Asia knows this from childhood.

Any Western astrologer can easily check this out for
himself by doing an astrological reading for an East
Indian. They are not remotely interested in our
psychological observations. Concepts that fascinate us
here in the West like: soul, spirit, unity, are already their
old friends.

Their response to our psychological pap is "Yes, yes,
yes... please get on to something of importance, like
exactly how many children will I have, and what will their
sexes be." Or, "How much money will I make this year
and when."

There is no point in hinting to a Tibetan or Hindu that
consciousness may extend beyond this life or that he or
she is somehow “one” with the creative forces. That is
for them already a given, a fact upon which they have
depended all of their lives. The psychological crib out of
which we Westerners are just learning to climb (when it
comes to the mind), the continuity of consciousness,
and all that these thoughts suggest, is old news in
China, India, Tibet, and most of Asia for that matter..