Khenpo Konchog Monlam

Indian Astrology (skar rtsis)

• Indian astrology refers to the system of practical astology derived from the Abridged Tantra of the Wheel of Time (Laghukālacakratantra), in which calculations are made concerning exact planetary positions (gza' dag), calendar dates (tshes grangs), lunar constellations (zla skar), the conjunctions of the lunar constellations with the exact solar position (sbyor ba), and the so-called eleven functionary conjunctions of the planets (snga phyi byed pa bcu gcig). Nine distinct Tibetan lineages of this tantra have been differentiated by Dr Tshul-khrims rgyal-mtshan in Bod kyi rtsis rig kun 'dus chen mo, Vol. 1, pp. 69-282, and it was on the basis of of these textual traditions that the Phug-pa school was founded by mKhas-dbang Nor-bzang rGya-mtsho and Phug-pa Lhun-grub rGya-mtsho, the authors of the Oral Transmissions of the White Lotus: Mother and Sons (Pad dkar zhal lung ma bu) during the fifteenth century. Their lineage, which was further elucidated in the seventeenth century by Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho, the author of White Beryl (Vaiḍūrya dKar po), is also known as the accurate system or tradition of calendrical astrology (rnam par dag pa'i rtsis). See also above, Introduction, pp. 00-00 and Part I, pp. 00-00. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)