2 things you were told not to bring up at the dinner table...

Religion and Politics - a commentary by H.H. Ravi Shankar

The role of religion is to make one righteous and loving And politics means caring for people and their welfare. When religion and politics don't coexist then you have corrupt politicians and pseudo-religious leaders.

A religious man who is righteous and loving will definitely care for the welfare of the whole population and hence becomes a true politician. And a true politician can only be righteous and loving. He cannot be anything but religious. All the Avatars and prophets have been caring for people and so were in politics. You can find many examples to this effect.

When religions restrict the freedom to worship and restrict modes of worship they become unsuitable for creating a harmonious society. When religion becomes all encompassing and gives full freedom to pray and worship in any manner -- that religion will bring righteousness and peace in people and will be suitable for any society.

People think politics and religion have to be kept separate because many religions did not give freedom to worship and did not care for all people equally. History has shown that religion has created conflict. But irreligious societies (e.g. communism) have created chaos and corruption.

Today both religion and politics need reform. Religion has to become broader and more spiritual to allow freedom of worship and broader to encompass all the wisdom in the world. And politicians have to become more righteous and spiritual.

- Sri Sri

|| Jai Guru Dev ||

I will be there! - World Culture Festival

Happy New Year! :)

Yesterday the new year began in the Vedic Calendar. The Vedic Calendar is a lunar calender so instead of the year starting on January 1st as it does in the solar calender, the year began yesterday April 4th, 2011. Ok, so your were a little early in celebrating this year but cudos on the enthusiasm! :)

2010, was the year of distortion. Its not difficult to see how this reflected on the events that happened in 2010. Suddenly many natural calamities, wars, financial troubles, and difficulties in personal matters (relationships, business, etc) happened. This year however you'll be happy to know is the year of stability.

Now what does this mean? Does this mean that I will have no troubles and everyone will be singing in the streets? Hmmm...not really.

It's very simple. Vedic Astrology is not some kind of crystal ball, fortune telling tool that will tell you who will win the NCAA Championship, or tell you which stocks to pick to get rich quick, I know I was disappointed too :). Rather Vedic Astrology is a Mathematical Science used to predict the effects that the constellation and planetary positions will have on people on this planet and more specifically you!

Have you ever had periods in your life where you worked very hard and very little came out of it? Or a period where you put very little effort and everything you touched was a success?

The facility or difficulty of starting projects, making decisions etc can be influenced by the position of the 9 planets in 12 constellations. This is not to say that you are under the control of your grade 7 Planetary Science project. No, you are not a dog on a leash but rather I would say a sailor in the ocean of life.

The sailor is not controlled by the wind but it is most definitely in his interest know which direction it blows in order to chart his course. No matter how well you tie your sails, arrange the riggings, if the wind is blowing towards you, you will not sail into it. Tough luck me dear. Similarly, there are times in your life where certain directions would be preferable to take as a result of the astrological effects at that time in your life.

This is not to say that you have to wait for a "good period" to do any act, it simply means that you need to be skillful in your action. This is the reason that Yoga, Pranayama and Sudharshan Kriya exist is so that in any period you can make decisions from a clear and focused mind which includes becoming more aware of your environment and its effect on you.

When you do Sudharshan Kriya you begin to effect your environment instead of your environment effecting you. This is above and beyond the most powerful and important fact of the matter. The next step is that of fine tuning, and a knowledge of the benefits of Vedic Astrology can give your practice and your life that extra boost.

World Culture Festival Berlin 2011 invitation by Spencer