Brian Greene on string theory | Video on TED.com

Brian Greene on string theory | Video on TED.com

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

Houston we have contact!

It has been far too long since I've enjoyed your company so lets not make the pause so long this time.

I've been back in Europe now for about 2 months continuing this incredible adventure of being a full time Art of Living Teacher. Just last night I was coming home with my roommate Ryan. We had been discussing the Thesis for his Masters in Contemporary Percussion. He would like to relate contemporary music to Human Values. His view is that if you can accept a piece of music that most would dismiss as noise, as it is for what it is, and revel in the beauty of it, what is to stop one from applying this more broadly to relationships, situations, life?

This brings up an interesting point. For the millions of us that have taken the Art of Living Course how many of us practice what we've learned? You do your Sudharshan Kriya but have you been able to live up to even just one of the knowledge points on the course?

Its tough. Accept people and situations as they are. Have you been able to incorporate this into your life? Swami Sukchaitanya once said to me that if you can master completely, even just one of the knowledge points, enlightenment has arrived. You may be able to accept an ignorant person, but can you accept a person in knowledge that blames or acuses you of something you did not do? This is a whole other level of acceptance. The heart says that these thoughts in the minds of others are just passing bubbles in that persons consiousness. They have no control of them any way. But the mind asks why? You want a trick to move from the head to the heart? It's easy. I learned it from the best! Turn your why? into a WOW! Wow! All these years of knowledge and this person is still like this. Wow!

What is the alternative? You dont't accept. Then what happens You fume and fight or cut yourself into little pieces and wollow in the injustice! No way! For me there's no choice. My state of mind is too important. There is too much work and fun to be had!

Any blame is an opportunity to grow. That is the beauty of any type of critism. Whether true or faulse it gives you the opportunity to look at your life and how you are leading it. It makes you sharper and your scences more acute. So the next time someone wrongly blames you for something you didn't do, Thank them! They just did you a big favour!

Central America! Here we come!

Global Youth Initiative for Disarmament and Shared Security Conference in Costa Rica

Ralph and Spencer were both very fortunate to have been chosen by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to attend The Global Youth Initiative for Disarmament and Shared Security Conference in Costa Rica. The Conference brought together youth representing the worlds religions to work together for an arms free world and a shared future. Here are some of our experiences.


Thursday, November 5th and Friday November 6th, 2009


Day 1: Depart Montreal for Costa Rica!

We were off to Costa Rica and the excitement was building. What adventures awaited us? Who would we meet? What would we learn? It all awaited us at the equator. Ralph was stuck in a meeting and ended up running late. After hoping in a taxi and arriving at the airport, he realized he had forgotten his wallet at home. After some swift taxi driving and a hefty fare, he made the departure with enough time for us to speak with his brother, Chris, a full time teacher in Jordan. After a live tour of the newly established Jordan Center, courtesy of Chris's Mac book, it was time to board the plane.

Ralph used his ingenuity on the plane and found innovative way of making new friends by exploding ceaser salad dressing not all over himself or the passenger next to him but by sending a Tsunami of sauce on a Mexican gentleman sitting directly behind him. I still have no idea how the physics of that work but something told me the gentleman had other things on his mind. After the laughter stopped Ralph smoothed things over. He gave him his salad. Ha, kidding. That being said, the food was good, and the decent was impressive. Mexico city seems to never end at night. White and yellow lights cover the landscape straight to the mountains. Even some mountains have not been able to escape this overflowing city, as the city creeps over their peaks.

Upon our arrival in Costa Rica we were treated like kings. Ricardo from the Arias Foundation greeted us, sped us past the line through customs, and chauffeured us to the hotel, it was time to end the day and get some rest.

Day 2: Exploring the Rich Coast

Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast”, constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index. The country is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index. In 2007 the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the greenest country in the world. [sources from wikipedia].

How should we spend our first day before the conference begins Spencer and I wondered at the 1^st hour of Friday morning? After careful research and detailed planning in the hotel lobby, juggling between Spanish and English with the front desk clerks, we decided that the best way for us to explore this rich coast was by renting a car and driving to the Pacific Ocean. And that's how we were on our way to Jaco Beach 10 am Friday morning.

The seasons in Costa Rica are quite interesting. Winter is the green season where it usually rains every day in the evening or night and is very sunny and hot during the day. The temperatures vary between 13 and 27 deg C.

We got ourselves a Diesel Toyota Corolla, apparently all cars in Costa Rica run on Diesel. The drive was magical. Never had I expected to see such beautiful, vibrant, lush and diverse exposition of mother nature. Spencer practiced his Spanish by asking Costa Ricans on the side of the roads how to get to “Plaja Jaco”, or “Placo Jaco”, or “placa Cajo”. To his surprise people could not always interpret this mysterious lingo. To our luck there was no high way to take us from San Jose to Jaco Beach, so we had to drive through the mountains and the narrow roads through farm villages and numerous waterfalls. Up to the top of a misty mountain then again down the valley, then again up to the top of another. We were awe stuck and the only 3 words coming out were WOOW, AMAZING and I’M HUNGRY. So we stopped many many times to the side of the road to buy fresh tropical fruits and ate along the way, or should I say Spencer ate along the way while I was rally driving this stick shift Toyota across the Costa Rican Mountains.

Although the ride to the beach was a phenomenal adventure, our final destination was even better. Jaco beach is the most popular surf town in Costa Rica. Since San Jose is quite far from the beach, time had only allowed us to stay at the beach for 1 hour. Spencer went and got his Surf Board! And there he goes to ride the waves! As for me I enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear ocean watching surfers riding the waves. I even got my first surfing lesson that day!

Day 3: Good morning Mr. President

The ARMS DOWN Conference opened with an address from the President of Costa Rica, Mr. Arias. A former Nobel Peace Laureate, and one of the creators of Disarmament for Development, President Arias’s words were touching as he told a story of Budha and his experience of a world of suffering and poverty outside of his palace. President Arias related Budha’s experience to our responsibility to take action to improve our world. Later we spoke with his secretary, and arranged a short meeting with President Arias before his motorcade’s departure. During our meeting, President Arias was encouraging and interested in what we shared with him regarding The Art of Living and the opportunities for a partnership in his country to work on social projects. He advised us to set up a meeting with the Director of his Foundation to discuss the details. The president complimented us many times on how much he loved Montreal, in particular its cuisine. We are definitely men cut from the same cloth! After a quick presidential photo op we were back in the conference, focusing on the topic of the day, Nuclear weapons. What is their status in the world? What are the reprocusions of their use? Most importantly, what can we do? As we broke into our afternoon sessions, ready to learn more, my body let me know that there was a less important but much more urgent priority. The water in Costa Rica was not as friendly as I had hoped.

Day 4: Meet the Twin Bulls and explore Costa Rican Coffee

Day 4 was the 2^nd day of the conference. We learnt about the 2^nd Goal which is to “Stop the proliferation and misuse of conventional weapons”. I was fighting a cold that morning and did not make the entire morning session. However all the speakers were excellent in illustrating the realities that the world faces with the presence of conventional weapons all around us.

Lunch was held at the beautiful residence of Daniela Torre which is in the middle of coffee plantation fields. Her family grows their own coffee beans and uses that property as a way to attract crowds and inform them about Costa Rica’s Coffea making tradition. Fresh Strawberry juice and a pair of Bulls were waiting for us as we arrived. Apparently Bulls were the first mode of transportation in Costa Rica.

During the afternoon sessions were learnt about Lobbying and Advocacy and brainstormed with our respective teams (North America for myself and Europe for Spence

Day 5: Last Day!

Suddenly the last day of the conference was upon us. The conference session opened with summaries of our plenary sessions, that detailed various strategies for making impactfull change in society. Ralph and I prepared a summary of our groups advocacy session. I told my chocolate bunny joke. You could hear a pin drop. I’m lucky the guy with the cane took the day off. Luckily the presentation went very well with great participation and interest from the audience.

The presentations for our Regional Groups Action Plans were next. The detail and professionalism of the groups was very impressive. Ralph took North American, and I’ll be talking Europe. It was a pleasure to address the entire conference especially the time I took to speak about faith.

The evening finished with a surprise trip to the National Center for Biodiversity. It was pretty late so they might have just taken us to someone’s back yard for all we know. All jokes aside it was gorgeous. Take a look at this swiss cheese plant. I always though Cheese came from milk. Who knew?

The Costa Rican Minister of Peace wrapped up the conference with a heartfelt story from his child hood and his dreams that the children of the future be as fortunate as he was. Then it was party time! We were treated to a traditional Costa Rican dance and music, followed by a performance from a Youth Symphony Orchestra. The finaly was an incredible medley of Michael Jackson hits, absolutely unreal. As the hour approached 10pm and Ralph and my stomachs had nearly digested themselves it was time for a sumptuous dinner, followed by the premier of the disarmament campaign video. And if you can believe it even more entertainment. The night ended early for some and did not end for others, regardless a night to remember for all.

Day 6 Back to Montreal

The sounds of “Where is Spencer?” echoed in the hotel lobby at 6am in the morning as the airport shuttle was getting ready to leave. Spencer decided to take a nap early in the morning but his body failed him and he slept in. Luckily he made the bus shuttle and we were all on our way back to Montreal.

We spent the last few hours in Costa Rica and Mexico with the company of two great individuals who attended the conference: Lawrence from Singapore and Areti from New Zeeland. We discussed everything from religion to human values to politics, sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to board. We were surprised by the fact that the flight clerk was looking for us and came to invite us to board the aircraft. We landed in Mexico City, again amazing view as the plane delicately lands in between the thousands of buildings.

Since the 4 of us had plenty of waiting time in Mexico City Airport, we decided to venture out and visit the area. So we did. With our hand luggage we got out of the airport and landed right into the middle of the city. We found a nice restaurant and decided to have brunch there. No one knew we were from out of town, especially that we had our luggage with us, were talking to the waiters and waitresses in broken Spanish and took photos with the owner of the restaurant who kindly prepared for Spencer and I a vegetarian plate, very rare in Mexico. Our last moments in Mexico City ended up sitting on the sidewalk of a café and talking about life.

The flight back to Montreal was smooth and quick. We watched a movie and talked about the conference and its key learnings. We got back to Montreal at 7:30pm, one hour and a half after the YES!+ course had started. Antoine was teaching and Spencer jo