Hasta Samudrika Shastra 

Hasta Samudrika (very loosely "hand analysis") is a powerful ally of Jyotish. But it enjoys one great advantage over Jyotish: Rapid Accessibility, when properly taught. Because it naturally complements other disciplines like psychology and alternative health care, counselors and their clients in many fields benefit by the information derived through hand analysis.

Background to Hasta Samudrika Shastra 

Three major methods of hand analysis exist: Western, Chinese, and Indian. Although all three share common features, the Chinese and Indian methods have a broadly similar look and feel amid their distinctive differences. The Western method, the youngest among the three by at least two thousand years, is nevertheless the most available in books. Chinese hand analysis forms the middle ground when judged both by its age and user-friendly printed media. Indian methods of hand analysis are the oldest, but scarcely accessible through books.

Two important historical reasons contributed to scarce access to the Indian tradition. First, printed media in the West surpassed India's during the last century. Second, Indian clans continue to pass their methods orally from one generation of clan members to the next. Widely known in India as parampara, this word of mouth transmission guards the knowledge thus passed on as attentively (and as jealously) as a wealthy family safeguards its inherited wealth from bandits. Members of each clan assured the security of their knowledge by never divulging accounts fully. Simply, you were either a family member worthy of instruction or you were an ineligible stranger outside of the clan—regardless of how familiar and worthy you seemed in other respects.

Most of the English books advertised as Indian hand analysis in India these days adhere to Western palmistry, which entered India with the British occupation during the last century. What the average Indian hand analyst in Delhi, Bombay or Calcutta parades as Hasta Samudrika Shastra (very loosely, “precepts for hand analysis”) is therefore nothing but Western palmistry at its core. Mind you, a patina of some select but limited parts of Indian culture usually varnishes that brand of hand analysis. It would, however, be a mistake to dismiss this palmistic crossbreed altogether. All said and done, this ornate Western and Indian hybrid contains many tried-and-true principles of hand analysis, no matter which culture has legitimate claim to original authorship.

To assert as some do that the lack of books in English on “genuine” Indian hand analysis forms evidence of the absence of a classical Indian tradition is to arrive at a colossal misconception. Amid the relics of classical Indian culture, a living tradition of the parampara version of Indian hand analysis thrives, especially in the south of India, where experts ply their trade unknown to the English speaking world. Many of their methods differ radically from the Western brand of palmistry. These Indian techniques use the lines of the palm in ways unique—even in ways opposite—to modern Western hand analysis. Many such Indian procedures measure time on the hand, for example, differently; more importantly, indigenous Indian methods remain inextricably linked to Jyotish and to traditions like Ayurveda, Tantra, Mantra, and the like.

Just as the current form of Ayurveda continues to adapt the tools of modern medicine to its eternal philosophy, so some Indian hand analysts embrace and adapt useful alien principles. A similar process already occurred in Jyotish when Mogul invaders surged into India during the 16^th century. Jyotish adapted the Persian version of Western astrology, favored by the Mogul invaders, to its own thoroughly Indian methods. Did this astrological blending result in suppression of Indian astrology? Yes, in part, but there was an attendant benefit as well. Although the Mogul impulse attempted to demote Jyotish through religious persecution and oppression, the Mogal culture also inadvertantly expanded the Indian astrological tradition with the birth of Tajika (very loosely, “Indian-Persian astrology”). You can visit an Indian astrologer these days and get a Jyotish-flavored analysis of a solar return chart based broadly on a foreign astrological technique.

Overview of Two Hasta Samudrika Shastra Seminars

The seven-day Hasta Samudrika Foundation seminar presents a blend of hand analysis based on accurate ancient and modern procedures. The resulting synthesis of East and West focuses this seminar on useful, accessible material. Because the true Indian tradition of hand analysis involves intricate Jyotish beyond the grasp of most of this seminar’s participants, relaying pure Indian hand analysis needs a commitment greater than a mere foundational seven days. Despite the hurdle, the classes and notes provide motivated students with a stand-alone method grounded in a discreet blend of Western and Indian hand analysis. With such a synthesis of universal principles in place, students may choose to delve into other seminars that focus only on the true Indian tradition of Hasta Samudrika Shastra.

One such seminar is Intermediate Hasta Samudrika Shastra. This seven-day seminar consolidates the principles of the Hasta Samudrika Foundation seminar and adds many details of advanced hand analysis. While the Foundation seminar presents a mix of Western and Indian methods, the Intermediate seminar focuses compellingly on true Indian hand analysis.

Past class sizes for hand analysis seminars varied from twenty to forty participants. Hart teaches the seminars personally, helped by skilled tutors. After each course, knowledgeable tutors are available for on-going private tutoring centered on each course. Other information concerning your best course strategies, especially if you attend from other than the San Francisco Bay area, is only a phone call or e-mail away.