When Hollywood worries about stars, it comes to Tibetan astrologers

DHARAMSHALA, JULY 3: Even those who regard astrology as foppery will admit that it makes world look vivid and full of possibilities. The Men-Tsee-Khang Astrology department based in Dharamshala is a charitable institution run under the authority of the supreme Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. It offers a whole range of services, one of the more interesting being a prognosis about one’s rebirths, i.e. whether you will be born as a human or an animal. If that sounds banal enough, it can also tell whether after death you are destined for a communion with God or are doomed as a ghost.

The institution has a massive following which transcends national borders. The present waiting list is close to 500, which means that if a request for a prognosis report is accepted today, it shall be delivered in around two years time. And those who have availed the services include several Hollywood stars.

Tsering Choezom, a senior astrologer working for the institute says, “Yes, several high profile people visit us. But as per our ethics we observe full secrecy. Since the people often confide their darkest secrets to us, we do not reveal their identities.”

But locals say several actors including Richard Gere and Halle Berry have visited the institution.

Tibetans take their astrology very seriously. As if to convey that it has sound rational basis, this centre has been placed cheek by jowl to a medical sciences institute. In way of conduct and functioning it could pass off as any well organised office.

It doesn’t have the weird paraphernalia which one associates with astrology centres and has instead around a dozen normally dressed and poker faced men and women, working assiduously on their computers amidst a range of neatly stacked book shelves. In fact, most of the business is done through emails.

“It is not a frivolous thing for us. We have a lot of faith in it. In fact, we don’t entertain every request. Only once we know that the person who has made the request has genuine faith in our system do we offer our service,” says Choezom. The institute has its own website and merchandise like amulets are sold through it.

The institute may be tight lipped about the predictions it makes, but it did offer its prescription to those who want to be reborn as humans. The possibilities for this are extremely slim. In fact, in strictly mathematical terms, the probability is one sixth.

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