That’s an interesting point, although I think it’s fairly clear that the Pali language has exponentially more value than astrology in understanding dhamma contextually. But yeah, there might be some astrology based nuggets of metaphorical depth in certain narratives in the texts, idk. Seems more in the realm of academia than wisdom cultivation though. The Buddha’s teachings aren’t fundamentally based on the movements or symbology of the night sky. Even the major metaphors/analogies seem mostly earth based to me; fire, rivers, the ocean, etc.
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Well sometimes elements are connected to Astrology. And because suttas was mainly written by the same monks that came from Astrology etc, some places things are inspired by what they knew already. But I think some references to gods or deities. And some monks story might be actually explaining a Astrological belief that they made new
I forget which thread here but I literally just read another post about Astrological…stuff being used in the Dhamma. It’s in one of the newer threads as a reply.
Thanissaro has observed that the symbolism used for the jhanas is largely water, for example SN 46.53. The four elements in astrology have properties and water is attributed to feeling. This agrees with the description:
“When tranquillity is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what purpose does it serve? Passion is abandoned.”—AN 2.30
In that sense earth, water, air, fire, are the basis for the Anapanasati and Satipatthana divisions, and knowing the property of fire for example, can engender understanding of the role of the fourth tetrad and foundation. That the Buddhists knew this can be drawn from the attribution of fire to digestion in the body process.
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I am learning a lot. Actually mainly water because the serpent like movement of the stars.
I found myself a introductory verse of Nalaka Sutta connected to The Big Dipper, well known as swastika.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.3.11.than.html
devas of the Group of Thirty
— exultant, ecstatic —
dressed in pure white, honoring Indra
That’s all the stars counted together. I believe together with the moon or sun.
It replace the star that is a sage as close to Asti(Sanskrit) word where swastika is derived.
In ancient Indian astronomy, the constellation of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) is called saptarishi, with the seven stars representing seven rishis, namely “Vashistha”, “Marichi”, “Pulastya”, “Pulaha”, “Atri”, “Angiras” and “Kratu”.
The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit root swasti, which is composed of –
Su (सु) - good, well, auspicious
Asti (अस्ति) - to be or there is
In the planetary system of Dhruvaloka are the planets of the fire-god(Agni), Indra, Prajāpati, Kaśyapa and Dharma, all of whom are very respectful to the great devotee Dhruva, who lives on the polestar.
Here you start connecting the dots of what they did in Early Buddhist text. There is no doubt why Mahā Kāśyapa or Mahākāśyapa was one of the principal disciples of Gautama Buddha in the story.
And here why Buddha is said to go turn the wheel of the DharmaBecause the Big Dipper is always bound by time.
From Nalaka sutta
Seeing what marvel
are the devas so joyful?
They shout,
they sing,
play music,
clap their hands,
dance.
Refers to Orion. Cosmic dance.
There is more things to be learned in the website. But one more thing I can say from Nalaka Sutta
On seeing the prince blazing like flame,
pure like the bull of the stars
going across the sky
— the burning sun,
released from the clouds of autumn
This referred to the sign of Taurus. So maybe Buddha was born at the time the sun was set at the Taurus.
I wished I wrote more but I think it’s better to see yourself. Because even the Serpent that covered Buddha is in the website as a mythology where it’s Hercules Constellation vs Draco Constellation.
So Early Buddhist Text probably has more.
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2022 is the year of the Tiger in Chinese astrology.
This Cambodian mural based on the Chinese five element system shows Buddhas linked to animals representing different stages in the cycle. The tiger represents the element Wood, and the season Spring, when seeds begin to grow.
Wood: Growing, flourishing, rooted yet pushing upward Striving, controlling, flexible strength, self-assured. This is shown by the amount of foliage behind the Maitreya figure.
The Tiger would be equivalent to ‘energy’ in the five spiritual faculties.
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It brings to mind The Chiggala Sutta. The Buddha calls those things we consider great - human existence, arising of a Tathagatha, and the possibility to learn those teachings, “sheer coincidence.”
It does not seem to mean, “attaining the human state while the Tathagatha has arisen is a coincidence.”
Did no one else think the same?
“Monks, suppose that this great earth were totally covered with water, and a man were to toss a yoke with a single hole there. A wind from the east would push it west, a wind from the west would push it east. A wind from the north would push it south, a wind from the south would push it north. And suppose a blind sea-turtle were there. It would come to the surface once every one hundred years. Now what do you think: would that blind sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole?”
“It would be a sheer coincidence, lord, that the blind sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, would stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole.”
"It’s likewise a sheer coincidence that one obtains the human state. It’s likewise a sheer coincidence that a Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, arises in the world. It’s likewise a sheer coincidence that a doctrine & discipline expounded by a Tathagata appears in the world. Now, this human state has been obtained. A Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, has arisen in the world. A doctrine & discipline expounded by a Tathagata appears in the world.
“Therefore your duty is the contemplation, ‘This is stress… This is the origination of stress… This is the cessation of stress.’ Your duty is the contemplation, ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.’”
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Buddha I believe is true sage who kept the true meaning behind. Like he has the teaching to be like the elements. Because they won’t complain. I believe he taught how truly understand this world to truly trancend this hell.
You will find an abundance of material in Jeffrey Kotyk’s 2017 doctoral thesis, Buddhist astrology and astral magic in the Tang Dynasty.
https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/54858
See especially chapter 2, Astrology and Eurasian Civilizations…
The initial story [in the Divyāvadāna] relates how Ānanda was magically summoned against his will into a home by the mother of a caṇḍāla girl. The girl found him attractive and sought to marry him. The Buddha freed him with the use of a mantra. The girl later became a bhikṣuṇī and sees the error of her ways. The rest of the text explaining astrology, measurements and other mundane matters is related by a caṇḍāla King Triśaṅku, and appears to be a divination manual appended onto the sūtra.
One aim of providing such information on divination seems to have been to demonstrate that a member of the caṇḍāla caste could be equally as learned as a brāhmaṇa, thereby discrediting the claims to religious authority held by Brahmins. Knowledge of astrology was a form of social capital, and the author of the text, with a clear anti-Vedic agenda, evidently sought to advance Buddhist interests by spreading this knowledge in the form of a sūtra. Neither the Buddha, nor any of his disciples, is responsible for providing such information, which perhaps indicates a sentiment that sangha members are not to teach such mundane things. Nevertheless, the validity and value of astrological knowledge is affirmed in this text.
There were those in the Buddhist community in India, however, who objected to both the practice and validity of astrology. Such arguments are given in the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra 正法念處經 (T 721), which was translated into Chinese by Gautama Prajñāruci 539.99 Daniel M. Stuart proposes that this sūtra was compiled over many years between 150–400 CE.100 With respect to the sectarian affiliation of this text, Warder suggests it “was apparently the Mūlasarvāstivādins who composed the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna Sūtra”. Stuart, however, contests this, stating, “As far as the philosophical background of the text is concerned, the authors/compilers/redactors were no doubt learned in some species of Sarvāstivāda.”
In quite strong language this sūtra condemns the practice of astrology by bhikṣus. It lists it among thirteen other practices, which include painting, singing, closely associating with kings and residing with evil people, warning that such practices are a hindrance to meditation and recitation. Such hindrances result in rebirth in the hell, preta and animal realms. Such individuals are even abandoned by their protective deities.
The refutation of astrology in the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra was likely a reaction to bhikṣus practicing what was an increasingly popular art of astrology and, to some at least, perhaps a lucrative profession. The sūtra attempts to creatively convince the bhikṣu to turn away from mundane star gazing.
“There are three great luminaries [graha, i.e., planets], called illness, old age and death. These are the greatest and perpetually present in the world. That wicked śramaṇa does not contemplate this, but further contemplates other worldly luminaries. That person is foolish, not having wisdom gained through hearing [*śrutamayī prajñā?], contemplating the twenty-eight worldly nakṣatra–s [constellations]. One is at fault to contemplate like this and not contemplate the twenty-eight transcendental nakṣatra–s. One will enter the city of nirvāṇa should one be able to contemplate and truly observe them. The twenty-eight are the five skandha–s, five upādāna-skandha–s and eighteen dhātu–s. One who contemplates these will arrive at nirvāṇa. When there is observation of things as they truly are, detachment from desire and the upholding of precepts, nirvāṇa is consequently attained. It cannot be attained through the contemplation of counting stars [i.e., astrology].”
The attack on astrology also includes refutation of its efficacy through various arguments. For instance, the text asks why the lives of people differ, even when they are born under the same stars. It is pointed out that humans, animals and preta–s might be born under the same star, yet they also are not identical. It is argued that it is through the force of karma, rather than the force of the stars, that there are differences among living beings. The sūtra further discusses the untenability of such concepts as astral influence (the belief that stars directly influence life events), a concept we will see conversely affirmed in later literature.
“Furthermore, that man is truly non-virtuous to contemplate the stars, nor will he attain peace. As to that star, its power is not constantly fixed, as it is also hindered and has superior and inferior capacities. This star is again covered by a superior star. That star at a different time is again covered by a different star. Thus it should be understood that contemplation of the stars [i.e., astrology] is untenable. If there is someone who contemplates the stars, thinking that it is due to the stars that there are sufferings and ease, and that it is not from oneself that there are sufferings and ease, then how is it that when those stars are covered by other stars, that they can impart sufferings and ease to others? Thus, it is understood that [sufferings and ease] come about because of karma. It is not the stars which can impart the fruits of virtue and non-virtue like this. … When the Sun and the Moon are devoured by Rāhu, they experience anguish. If the Sun and the Moon cannot save themselves [from being devoured by eclipses], how could they save others?”
The Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra indicates that in addition to undesirable artist śramaṇa–s, there were also a sufficient number of monks who practiced astrology to merit such extensive criticism and condemnation. This is an interesting example in Indian Buddhist literature of astrology being systematically attacked. It seems, however, that such views were actually in the minority, because other examples of a passive belief in astrology are to be found in earlier literature, such as vinaya texts.
There is an account in the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya 四分律 (T 1428)107 in which the group of ‘six bhikṣuṇīs’ tells laypeople that the constellations and stars are favorable, and that they should engage in various activities such as building shelters and shaving a child’s head. The Buddha scolds them for this, but states that they should tell laypeople that when the stars are favorable they should visit monasteries, make offerings to the sangha and engage in fasting. This presupposes that the bhikṣuṇīs have knowledge of astrology. The concern in this incident, however, is that they encourage mundane activities upon having determined by the stars that the time is auspicious. The Buddha instructs that they should instead direct laypeople towards religious activities on such days.
And there are many more articles on his Academia page.
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In the Theravada Vinaya there are instructions on how to draw a wheel of life. From memory it includes running in the hub three animals from the Chinese zodiac, the rooster, snake, and pig, representing the three unwholesome roots (snake=hatred, rooster=greed).
In some depictions, the rooster and snake are grasping the tail of the pig, showing how the suffering arising from the emotional defilements can in cases where dhamma search is not undertaken contribute to ignorance:
“And what is the result of stress? There are some cases in which a person overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, grieves, mourns, laments, beats his breast, & becomes bewildered. Or one overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, comes to search outside, ‘Who knows a way or two to stop this pain?’ I tell you, monks, that stress results either in bewilderment or in search. This is called the result of stress.”—AN 6.63
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I think you mean the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (along with the Vinaya-related material in the Divyāvadāna).
There’s a list of the Indian sources in the linked paper by Marek Mejor.
No it’s in the Theravada Vinaya as found in monasteries in Australia.
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Oh? An Aussie Vinaya gter ma perhaps?
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One commentator classed it as a late addition.
@Suvira if you can find the instruction for making a bhavachakra in the Theravada Vinaya and publish it here it would be helpful.
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I think many things seems late but they where done in early Buddhism. That’s how Buddhism spread. That’s those practices was first kept oral traditions. The monks always wanted to make the laypersons happy and spread the Dhamma that way. So they used certain as a means to open the mind to seek Dhamma or seek Truth. Keep coming etc, there is book that came out Buddhist Magic. One really early practice was putting the verse that was said to Sariputta when he asked what Buddha taught as a protection many places even on a piece of metal like a amulet. The author explains how in Pali it seems Buddha went against magic but other places he gave protective verses. I believe he went against evil magic. Those that truly lie and have bad intentions. But if your intention is too help laypersons in a way that open their mind to truth. For example Buddha sending the woman looking for a house that there wasn’t any death. But laypersons are more free then monastic but even then I remember a verse as if Buddha saying of applying what he teaches to what you know already. I think that’s where certain tradition converted to Buddhism and kept some practices with the intention for Nirvana.
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In Australia we use either the PTS edition of the vinaya or the editions of Theravada countries within those respective communities. 
Sometimes as monastery librarian I had cleaned out a monastery library and found things I wasn’t expecting…mostly lost property…not a divergent manuscript tradition sorry.
There’s nothing about bhavachakras in the Pali vinaya as found in monasteries in Australia.
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Ven Suvira I wonder about thai vinaya. But even in Thai certain things they say stayed purely oral tradition.