LOS ANGELES, April 03,2014 (by Grace Lim, SCPR): Aerospace engineer Dileep Bhat doesn’t consider the science of his day job and his study of astrology as mutually exclusive. Growing up in India, Bhat learned about the ancient practice of Vedic astrology from his grandfather and uncle. The older men taught him to read and interpret astrological charts through the teachings in the Vedas, 6,000-year-old Sanskrit texts. Later, when Bhat moved to the U.S., some of his engineering colleagues questioned how he could work in science and believe in something so unscientific. “There are certain things in science, like gravity; … you can’t see it, but we all experience it. Astrology has the same kind of principle,” Bhat said.
Vedic astrology, also known as Jyotish, has been part of Indian culture for thousands of years, but its followers have grown in the last few decades. As Western interest in zodiac astrology increased, so did interest in other types of astrology and fortune telling. Of course, not everyone buys into astrology’s claims, Vedic or otherwise. But those who believe in Vedic astrology see an alternative to traditional Western, so-called zodiacal astrology.
A typical zodiac horoscope reading is based solely on the date of birth. But with Vedic astrology, three different factors — the place and time of birth as well as the date are needed for a reading. Bhat uses computer software to turn the three factors into an astrological chart that is interpreted for an individual’s personality traits, physical condition and life events.