suchandra

Gotta admit it seems you have been right about a lot of things politically. I have even come around to your viewpoint that 9/11 was basically an inside job.

Bloomberg says $3 Billion - that is the problem, these really big figures of cash what makes people mad to appear on this list, always ready to harm their own fellow men. The Vedas instruct this is not human behaviour, this is what animals do, crocodiles, mosquitos, spiders, in fact all animals take pleasure to finish off other animals. And the rascals say, God created nature like that with animals eating each other etc etc. Wrong, conditioned souls seem to desire nothing more.

Wall Street Executives Made $3 Billion Before Crisis

By Tom Randall and Jamie McGee

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aGL5l6xOPEHc

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street's five biggest firms paid more than $3 billion in the last five years to their top executives, while they presided over the packaging and sale of loans that helped bring down the investment-banking system.

Merrill Lynch & Co. paid its chief executives the most, with Stanley O'Neal taking in $172 million from 2003 to 2007 and John Thain getting $86 million, including a signing bonus, after beginning work in December. The company agreed to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. for about $50 billion on Sept. 15. Bear Stearns Cos.'s James ``Jimmy'' Cayne made $161 million before the company collapsed and was sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in June.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are demanding that limits be placed on executive pay as part of the $700 billion financial rescue plan proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO, who received about $111 million between 2003 and 2006, said in testimony to Congress on Sept. 24 that he would accept such limits as part of the plan, after initially opposing them.

``Shareholders and boards should have done something about this a long time ago,'' said Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware in Newark. ``They justified these levels of pay on the idea that they're all geniuses. I think that balloon has burst.''

Wall Street firms have shared profits liberally with employees. The five biggest -- Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns -- paid their 185,687 employees $66 billion in 2007, as problems with subprime mortgages mounted, including about $39 billion in bonuses. That amounts to average pay of $353,089 per employee, including an average bonus of $211,849. The five firms had combined net income of $93 billion during the five years through 2007.

CEO Pay Doubled

The $3.1 billion paid to the top five executives at the firms between 2003 and 2007 was about three times what JPMorgan spent to buy Bear Stearns. Goldman Sachs had the highest total, with $859 million, followed by Bear Stearns at $609 million. CEO pay at the five firms increased each year, doubling to $253 million in 2007, according to data compiled from company filings.

Executive-compensation figures include salary, bonuses, stock and stock options, some awarded for past performance. The options were valued at a third of the fair-market price of the stock at the time the options were granted, a method recommended by Graef Crystal, a compensation specialist and author of the Crystal Report on Executive Compensation, an online newsletter. The companies value the options using different methods.

`Make It Rain'

Wall Street firms have paid employees a greater share of revenue than any other industry, about 50 percent, Crystal said. That tradition at investment banks comes from their history as closely held partnerships of investors who put their own capital at risk, he said.

``In Wall Street and Hollywood, the profits tend to come in great big packets, and everyone wants a piece,'' said Crystal, a former Bloomberg columnist. ``Whether it's the movie `Dark Knight' or a huge merger deal, he who can make it rain, he who can bring everyone to the theater, can earn whatever he wants.''

Until the rain stops.

Lehman Brothers filed for the biggest bankruptcy in history on Sept. 15, with more than $613 billion in debt. The same day, Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America for $29 a share, about 70 percent below the stock's high of $97.53 on Jan. 24, 2007.

Goldman and Morgan Stanley, the two biggest independent U.S. investment banks, were forced to convert to bank holding companies, giving them more access to Federal Reserve funds and buying time to acquire deposits. Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein made $57.6 million in 2007 in salary and bonus, which includes stock and options granted at the beginning of the fiscal year to reward performance the previous year. Co- presidents Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelried each got $56 million.

`Tied to Performance'

Morgan Stanley's current and former chief executives, John Mack and Philip Purcell, were paid about $194 million over the last five years.

Mark Lake, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, pointed to Mack's decision not to take a bonus for 2007 and said the $1.6 million in salary and other compensation he was awarded last year isn't ``a lot'' compared with other Wall Street CEOs.

``He has taken everything he had since rejoining the firm in equity, other than salary,'' Lake said. ``There's a difference in taking stock in the firm as a bonus and taking cash. Stock in the firm, obviously you are tied to performance of the firm.''

Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael Duvally declined to comment. Merrill Lynch spokeswoman Jessica Oppenheim, JPMorgan spokesman Brian Marchiony and Lehman spokeswoman Monique Wise didn't return calls for comment.

Paulson, Bush

``The American people are angry about executive compensation, and rightfully so,'' Paulson told a House panel on Sept. 24, departing from his prepared remarks. ``We must find a way to address this in the legislation, but without undermining the effectiveness of this program.''

President George W. Bush said that night in a televised address to the nation that the plan would provide ``urgently needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse'' and ``should make certain that failed executives do not receive a windfall from your tax dollars.''

Congressional Republicans splintered late yesterday over the proposed $700 billion rescue plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this morning at a news conference that Democrats are circulating a draft of legislation that contains limits on executive compensation and ensures that Congress has oversight over the bailout. Lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today in Washington.

Weak Record

The U.S. government has a weak record when it comes to regulating compensation, said Kevin Murphy, a professor of finance at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

``Every government attempt that has existed to limit or regulate CEO pay has backfired,'' Murphy said. ``I'm fairly confident this one will backfire too. There are always loopholes.''

Regulation of golden parachutes, or protection for executives in the case of an acquisition, were circumvented in the 1980s with severance agreements, and Nixon's wage-and-price- control experiment in the 1970s ultimately failed, Murphy said.

``It's either the compensation committee or the general counsel or the head of human resources who are trying to negotiate a pay package with someone who will be their boss in a week,'' he said. ``These are things that can be done a lot better.''

Corporate Governance

Rather than government regulation, the solution is in better corporate governance, Elson said. Companies should negotiate more aggressively with executives and should establish rules that encourage shareholders to protest excessive pay. The rescue package is not the place to have that debate, he said.

``This will get in the way'' of passing the $700 billion financial rescue legislation, Elson said. ``We are in a crisis. The patient is dying. Let's work on the details as soon as we get the patient out of the emergency room when we can do it in a thoughtful or deliberate manner.''

Not all Wall Street CEOs have escaped unscathed. Cayne sold a Bear Stearns holding once worth $1 billion for $61 million in March. Lehman's Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, who made $165 million between 2003 and 2007, sold 2.88 million of his firm's shares for 16 cents to 30 cents apiece, or less than $500,000, according to a regulatory filing.

Fuld owned 10.9 million shares and restricted stock units as of Jan. 31, valued at $931 million at their peak. He also had in- the-money options and other stock worth almost $300 million, according to Crystal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net; Jamie McGee in New York at jmcgee8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 26, 2008 13:56 EDT

What are combinations and planets signifying migraine headaches? Sun in 12th? Mars in ascendant or 12th? Etc.? Please help.

In case weak digesting power causes migraine this could result of fiery element missing in a horoscope. But since we cannot live for a whole life with migraine there's a solution.

There're different types of migraine and one has to first try out for natural solutions without payment and medicine. First one should find out if things change when there's no more eating after 4 pm.

Many people find this helpful. In other words, migraine can result from a temporary blockage in the small intestine when digestion is weak. Since this happens easily when eating in the evening change eating habit to eat in the morning and at noon, no eating in the evening.

Another thing is eating too much cooked food. Once you find out that your migraine has something to do with the eating habit, things will gradually settle and migraine disappears.

When waking up in the morning with migraine what happens when you fast till the migraine disappears, at what time does it disappear? It should disappear not later than 5 pm.

Ok, today my webrobots discovered some from the original bhajan recordings of Acyutananda prabhu. Since it is not sure if there's any interest I just post the mp3 download link of one, Kesava Kali Mala, 7.4 MB

Siddha Yoga can make India a world power

posted 28 September 2008

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=142848

In April of 2000, Sushila’s WBC count had reached dangerous levels. As a last resort, in May 2000, Sushila took initiation from Guru Siyag. Just nine days after taking initiation from Guru Siyag, Sushila began to stage an amazing recovery.

TODAY WE spend millions of dollars to get rid of deadly diseases like cancer, AIDS and other incurable diseases. In India alone, the money spent on developing a national health system and healthcare projects, runs into thousands of crores of rupees. Even after these hefty efforts, rural India remains isolated from healthcare. The urban population always prefers private healthcare services. In addition to losing valuable foreign exchange, India is also losing manpower, as most rapidly-spreading diseases are affecting the younger generation.

This destructive process can be reversed by adopting the time-tested “Siddha Yoga”, absolutely free of cost, according to Guru Siyag. He was addressing the “Shaktipaat Diksha”, an initiation ceremony for learners of Siddha Yoga, on the evening of September 25, 2008, (Thursday) at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. If Siddha Yoga, based on the solid principles of Vedic science is adopted, nobody can stop India from emerging as a world power. To achieve this, we have to differentiate between the artificial Yoga and the Siddha Yoga. The Yoga being practised today is a kind of physical exercise and not the Siddha Yoga described by Maharishi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

Diseases that human beings suffer from are classified by modern medical science under two broad categories — physical and mental. These are treated with internal medicines and/or external medicines or therapeutic applications. Ancient Indian sages delved deep into the mysteries of life through meditation and learned that diseases are not caused by accidental exposure to germs or pathogens, as medical scientists believe. The sages learned that much of human suffering is actually caused by the actions of each individual in his/her past life. Each action, good or bad, leads to a reaction in the same life cycle or is carried over to the next. Since each individual is trapped in an unending cycle of life and death, human suffering through diseases and the highs and lows of life continue ceaselessly. Modern science does not accept continuance of life after physical death. That is why it looks for physical solutions to diseases but fails to come up with lasting cures. If science finds a cure for one disease, other more challenging ones crop up. This is because they refuse to believe that the root of the problem lies far beyond the physical existence of human beings. Indian Yogis however learned that beyond physical and mental afflictions lies the spiritual disease. In other words, the spiritual Law of Karma - actions of the past resulting in diseases and other forms of suffering in the present life, governs human existence and life after life, in a never-ending cycle. In his treatise ‘Yoga Sutra’, the Indian sage Patanjali classified diseases under three categories – physical (Aadhidehik), mental (Aadhibhautik) and spiritual (Aadhidaivik).

A spiritual disease needs a spiritual remedy. Only regular practice of Yoga under the guidance of a spiritual master like Guru Siyag can help the practitioner find a spiritual remedy for all his/her afflictions. It is only the guru who can help a disciple to cut through the web of the Karmic past, get rid of disease/s and realize the true purpose of his / her life through self-realization. Guru Siyag has proved in a number of cases that the practical application of Yoga can indeed heal and even cure chronic ailments such as arthritis and diabetes and terminal diseases such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. Countless patients, practically given up for dead by doctors, have not only survived and regained good health but are also leading almost normal lives after seeking Guru Siyag’s blessings as a last resort and getting initiated into Siddha Yoga. Yoga takes over and succeeds where modern medical science reaches its limitation in finding a lasting relief or cure for a disease.

It is not surprising therefore that most patients who have lost all hopes of survival even after trying out every possible medical option, usually come to Guru Siyag for help. Bhanwar Lal Jaat, a resident of Jodhpur (Rajasthan-India) was one such patient who had become a full-blown case of AIDS in its final stage. Doctors treating him discharged him from the hospital one day and asked his relatives to take him home as he was on the brink of death. It was in this condition that Bhanwar Lal was brought to Guru Siyag on a stretcher one October afternoon in 2002. He could neither speak nor move his limbs. He barely managed to blink his eyelids in affirmation, when Guru Siyag asked him if he could hear. Guru Siyag then gave Bhanwar Lal a divine word and asked him to silently chant the mantra continuously. Desperate to live, Bhanwar Lal did as he was told and began to show visible signs of recovery in a matter of one week to the utter astonishment of all around him. He later put on weight and regained normal health. Since then, he has been leading a normal life. He has no HIV-negative certificate though. Despite the tell-tale signs of Bhanwar Lal’s amazing recovery from AIDS and his apparent healthy condition today, the local medical fraternity refuses to probe his case as it scoffs at the idea of a spiritual cure of a disease that even doctors in the advanced West have not been able to find.

The case of Sushila, a resident of Bikaner (Rajasthan-India), who suffered from leukaemia, was also similar. In April of 2000, her WBC count had reached dangerous levels. As a last resort, her family sought alternative healing and were soon told by friends about Guru Siyag. In May 2000, Sushila took initiation from Guru Siyag. Just nine days after taking initiation from Guru Siyag, Sushila began to show amazing recovery. Within two months of practising Siddha Yoga, Sushila’s WBC count was found to be within normal range. Word about the spectacular recovery of patients like Bhanwar Lal and Sushila spread like wild fire and soon desperate HIV / AIDS and cancer patients started pouring into Guru Siyag’s Ashram to seek his divine help for their survival. The same has been the case with people suffering from cancer. Adhyatma Vigyan Satsang Kendra (AVSK), the spiritual organization headed by Guru Siyag, has compiled a list of the large number of terminal and chronic cases of the diseases cured. Typically, however, in almost every case of amazing recovery of a patient through Guru Siyag’s Siddha Yoga, physicians have refused to acknowledge the incredible reversal for which they had no plausible explanation. The benefits of Guru Siyag’s divine powers can be extended to a greater number of people in India and even abroad. However, his repeated attempts to reach out have run into a wall of indifference erected by the bureaucracy, politicians and the urban elite, which has no real faith in the healing powers of the divine force. It is in the face of this persistent indifference and even a degree of hostility at home in India that Guru Siyag is now trying to reach out to the West to take the benefits of Siddha Yoga to humanity around the world. He is aware that people with the scientific approach in the West have an open mind about probing new horizons of knowledge even if such knowledge doesn’t fit into the rigid criteria of physical science but gives the desired results all the same.

What defines purity ?

The Vedas!

The Vedas instruct for example that cow dung is pure, we cannot argue.

Because the Vedas teach it therefore we have to accept.

However, modern science also admits that cow dung is antiseptic - antiseptic, that which destroys micro-organisms that cause disease.

Similarly, according to sastra someone who is situated on the spiritual platform and is free from sexual attachment, is free from consuming intoxicants like alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and tea, doesnt indulge in any kind of gambling and eats only vegetarian food after having it first offered to God, he's pure. Lord Krsna defines "pure" as, "transcendentally situated", and says at the end of His Bhagavad-gita, 18.54,

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāńkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiḿ labhate parām

One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.

PURPORT

To the impersonalist, achieving the brahma-bhūta stage, becoming one with the Absolute, is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee, one has to go still further, to become engaged in pure devotional service. This means that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord is already in a state of liberation, called brahma-bhūta, oneness with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute, one cannot render service unto Him. In the absolute conception, there is no difference between the served and the servitor; yet the distinction is there, in a higher spiritual sense.

In the material concept of life, when one works for sense gratification, there is misery, but in the absolute world, when one is engaged in pure devotional service, there is no misery. The devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has nothing for which to lament or desire. Since God is full, a living entity who is engaged in God's service, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, becomes also full in himself. He is just like a river cleansed of all dirty water. Because a pure devotee has no thought other than Kṛṣṇa, he is naturally always joyful. He does not lament for any material loss or aspire for gain, because he is full in the service of the Lord. He has no desire for material enjoyment, because he knows that every living entity is a fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore eternally a servant. He does not see, in the material world, someone as higher and someone as lower; higher and lower positions are ephemeral, and a devotee has nothing to do with ephemeral appearances or disappearances. For him stone and gold are of equal value. This is the brahma-bhūta stage, and this stage is attained very easily by the pure devotee. In that stage of existence, the idea of becoming one with the Supreme Brahman and annihilating one's individuality becomes hellish, the idea of attaining the heavenly kingdom becomes phantasmagoria, and the senses are like serpents' teeth that are broken. As there is no fear of a serpent with broken teeth, there is no fear from the senses when they are automatically controlled. The world is miserable for the materially infected person, but for a devotee the entire world is as good as Vaikuṇṭha, or the spiritual sky. The highest personality in this material universe is no more significant than an ant for a devotee. Such a stage can be achieved by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who preached pure devotional service in this age.

B S Raghavan was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee and having worked directly under Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Wanted: A balanced approach

http://bharata-hindunation.blogspot.com/2008/09/wanted-balanced-approach.html

It is a hallowed principle of jurisprudence that justice should be even-handed, and both sides to a dispute must be given a full hearing before conclusions are drawn. The media coverage of the disturbances in both Orissa and Karnataka and the action taken by the Centre are so one-sided as to make any fair-minded person feel extremely worried.

I am not a practising Hindu, perform no rituals or ceremonies and have no religious hangups. Further, having worked directly under Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi [images] for nine years (1961-9) as the secretary of the National Integration Council from its very inception (besides my other duties in the political division of the Union home ministry), I have savoured from close quarters the spirit that animated the heroes of pre-Independence era. Hence, in sharing my uneasiness with readers, I have tried my best to rise above any prejudices or preconceptions, and appraise events on the touchstone of fair-play and freedom from bias.

To anyone for whom the print and electronic media were the only sources of information, it would seem that the Hindu fanatics, behaving like dreaded terrorists, had been making killing fields of both Orissa and Karnataka, by indulging in murderous attacks on Christian minorities, and the destruction of sacred religious places.

The emerging picture of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal -- all subsumed under the pejorative rubric Sangh Parivar or the Saffron Brigade (why not, by the same token, call the Congress the Quattrochi Brigade or the Left the Hammer-and-Sickle Brigade?) -- is that, encouraged from behind the scenes by the communal monster, the Bharatiya Janata Party, they are ruthlessly going on a violent spree, just to vent their hatred of minorities. In short, the impression given is that swarms of totally insane thugs are on a rampage without any provocation whatsoever, holding both states to ransom, and the state governments, in open sympathy with them, have done little to prevent their excesses.

Not the best way

God knows there have been condemnable incidents making innocent Christians fear for their lives. There can be no wishing away of the despicable and willful desecration and destruction of places of worship in Khandamal in Orissa and in some places, including Bengaluru [images], in Karnataka. Certainly, any wanton resort to violence should be put down with an iron hand and peace and harmony among all sections of the people restored at all costs.

Only a dispassionate and disinterested inquiry can credibly establish whether in the particular cases of attacks on churches, the respective state governments acted with due sense of urgency and concern for the well-being of the affected communities. Sending on a hurried visit some functionaries from the home ministry toeing the official line, unfamiliar with local conditions and listening to only the slanted version, is not the best way of getting at the truth.

Also, it must be remembered that it is, and will always be, a matter of judgment whether more or less could or should have been done by the state or central authorities to enforce the law, round up the ruffians and quell the disturbances in any particular set of circumstances. Such cases cannot be weighed on a fine scale. I say this having dealt with a number of instances of violent outbreaks and insurgency during my nine years in the home ministry and two years as chief secretary of a north-eastern state. Journalists and columnists, enjoying the good fortune of never having to manage crisis situations, should, therefore, think many times before showering their verdicts on the happenings, and especially guard against saying or writing anything approaching character assassination.

If ideal benchmarks of adequacy and promptness of action were to be applied, no central or state government will shape up. The notorious indifference and connivance exhibited by the government of the day in 1984, when more than 4000 innocent Sikh men, women and children were hounded from place to place and burnt alive and butchered in cold blood, and the palpable failure to visit the perpetrators with condign punishment, will continue to haunt the memory of all right-thinking persons.

Original sin

Even today, the popular perception is that terrorism is getting its impetus from the hamstringing of the police and security agencies by the ruling coalition at the Centre which wants to nurture its Muslim vote banks and that it handles the Tamil Nadu government with kid gloves when it deliberately sets about outraging the sentiments of the Hindus. Hence, in a sense, every government in India, both at the Centre and the states, is living in a glass house and is hardly in a position to throw stones at others.

All the reports and commentaries that I have seen on the disturbances in Orissa and Karnataka, neatly sidestep the original sin and the consequential long-simmering discontent among the Hindus. They make it look as if the attackers, who were readily assumed to be members of the 'Saffron Brigade', were madly running amok without any justification. Reams have been written and billions of sound bytes have gone on air describing in lurid detail all that has happened to the churches and the Christian community, with no equal space given for the real cause of all the trouble.

Swami Lakshmananda was a revered figure in Orissa who was engaged in service to the weaker and vulnerable sections of the population. Allegedly, the local Christian votaries of conversion saw him as a thorn in their flesh. Whatever that be, the fact was that some time ago, he was the victim of attack by a gang bent on doing away with him. Luckily, he escaped at that time, but his enemies had their way the second time.

The Centre could have set all speculation at rest if, with all the mighty and extensive intelligence and investigative machinery at its disposal, it had ascertained the truth behind the murders of the Swami and his associates and unhesitatingly named the desperadoes. Its own inability, or unwillingness, to expose the forces that were behind the killing should be taken to have contributed to the flare-up that followed in Khandamal.

Extreme provocation

Similarly, as regards Mangalore and Bengaluru, those who are quick to castigate the state government gloss over the extreme provocation contained in an obnoxious pamphlet, Satya [images] Darshini, in Kannada language, circulated in the name of an outfit called the New Life Church, scathingly scandalising Hindu gods and goddesses in the foulest of language.

I want to ask of the holier-than-thou commentators to place their hand on their hearts and tell me whether similar scurrilous observations about what is regarded as holy and sacred would be tolerated by any community anywhere in the world. Suppose someone were to write and distribute similar things about other gods and their messengers, will not the whole of India be convulsed by the mother of conflagrations? Will not the intellectuals and professed secularists then be trumpeting only the atrocious nature of the provocation, without saying a word on the massacring of innocents in every city at the hands of hooligans?

One need not even go as far as gods and goddesses: Suppose one's wife or parents are the targets of such scatological stuff distributed far and wide? Would one smile it away? Or, suppose one exhibits in a public forum paintings of particular individuals and their kith and kin in the nude, will those individuals celebrate it as an expression of artistic freedom? Why then show this perverse support to sacrilege perpetrated against Hinduism alone and work overtime lambasting the spontaneous reaction of largely simple and pious people who are sustained in their quotidian hardships by their faith in their gods and goddesses?

To me, somehow, it does not stand to reason or common sense.

There is yet another aspect of this perversity. It gives a handle to foreign governments and busybodies to bad mouth India as a den of fanatical Hindus who love nothing better than being at the throats of persons of other faiths. A country which rained death and destruction on Iraq by flaunting a tissue of lies, indulged in unspeakable atrocities in Abu Ghraib and for the last eight years, is keeping Muslim detenus in Guantanamo Bay without trial and treating them as worse than vermin, denies visa to Narendra Modi [images] to the resounding applause of self-styled secularists who do not realise the egregious nature of the insult to the entire nation.

In sum, the secularism as practised in the country is letting it down, besides polarising the population. It is time a body of persons reputed for their objectivity and erudition went into the meaning and implications of secularism and communalism. Nehru set up a Committee in 1961 for this purpose under the chairmanship of Asoka Mehta of which Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prof Mujeeb were among the members. Unfortunately, its labours were interrupted by the Chinese invasion of 1962, and it was wound up. Getting going from where it left off is eminently worthwhile.

B S Raghavan is a retired IAS officer who was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee, Director of Political and Security Policy Planning in the home ministry, and chief secretary of a state

Hi

 

I used to recite shree durga stuti by chaman lal bhardwaz on navratras,but this time I dont have book with me and navratras are near.I have tried my best to get the book,but cant find it anywhere.I am in florida.Please anyone ,help me and let me know where can I find the book ?????????????? or read it online..my email adress is arpan_ishu@.co.in.

 

Thanks!

Shri Durga Stuti

Miti Ka Tan Huaa Pavitra, Ganga Ke Asnan Se |

Ant Karan Ho Jaye Pavitra, Jagadambe Ke Dhyan Se ||

Sarve Mangal Mangalye, Shive Sarvarth Sadhike |

Sharanye Trambake Gauri, Narayani Namo Stute ||

Shakti Shakti Do Mujhe, Karoon Tumhara Dhyan |

Path Nirvignya Ho Tera, Mera Ho Kalyan ||

Hridya Sinhasan Par Aa, Betho Meri Maa |

Suno Vinay Mam Din Ki, Jag Janani Vardan ||

Sundar Deepak Ghee Bhara, Karoon Aaj Tayaar |

Gyan Ujala Maa Karo, Metto Moh Andhkaar ||

Chandra Surya Ki Roshni, Chamke Chaman Akhand |

Sab Mein Vyapak Tej Hai, Jwala Ka Prachand ||

Jwala Jag Janani Meri, Raksha Karo Humesh |

Dur Karo Maa Ambike, Mere Sabhi Kalesh ||

Shradha Aur Vishwas Se, Teri Jyot Jalaoon |

Tera Hi Hai Aashra, Tere Hi Gun Gaoon ||

Teri Adhabhut Gaat Ko, Padhoon Mein Nischay Dhar |

Sakshat Darshan Karoon, Tere Jagat Aadhar ||

Man Chanchal Se Baat Ke, Samay Jo Aogun Hoye |

Dati Apni Daya Se, Dhyan Na Dena Koye ||

Main Anjan Malin Man, Na Jano Koi Rit |

At Pat Vani Ko Hi Maa, Samjho Meri Prit ||

Chaman Ke Aogun Bahot Hai, Karna Nahi Dhyan |

Sinhvahini Maa Ambike, Karo Mera Kalyan ||

Dhanya Dhanya Maa Ambike, Shakti Shiva Vishal |

Angh Angh Mein Rum Rahi, Dati Din Dayal ||

Nice point Suchandra. Even on the bhakti path falsely liberated are often manifesting and fooling many. We see them with qualities like personal charisma, good speaking abilities, large (but superfical) body of shastric knowledge, so many years of being in "the movement" etc.

 

These people will give the off the demeanor of advanced and liberated souls and the weak minded will fall in line behind them proclaming them liberated saints. A real dog and pony show.

Thanks Theist, have to admit that I never consciously understood that term, vimukta-maninas, describing something like a psychological process within the mind, that you feel liberated and even emanate it.

When entering into the search mask at www.causelessmercy.com/t - "vimukta-maninas" - there're 47 results, what says Prabhupada considered this verse of quite some import.

"Na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścin nāyaṁ" is quoted 124 times, only three times more.

Looks like the vimukta-maninas state of mind attracts people who consider this as worthwhile and desirable.

Mouse and Keyboard Dirtier than Toilet Seat

The Daily Mail (UK) on 27 Sep 2008

How your computer keyboard is five times dirtier than your toilet seat - and could even give you ‘qwerty tummy.’

Many users are at risk of becoming ill with stomach bugs, according to the consumer group 'Which?'

It warned that ‘qwerty tummy’, named after the first six letters on a keyboard, could sweep through workplaces after tests on equipment in its own London offices showed alarming results.

One keyboard was so dirty that a microbiologist ordered it to be removed, quarantined and cleaned.

It had 150 times the acceptable limit for bacteria and was five times as filthy as a typical lavatory seat.

Anyone who eats a sandwich or piece of fruit having been tapping on such a keyboard can pick up bacteria that could lead to a stomach upset.

The scientist swabbed 33 keyboards for food poisoning bugs e.coli, coliforms, staphylococcus aureus and enterobacteria and compared the results to those found on a lavatory seat and lavatory door handle.

Four of the keyboards were considered a potential health hazard and one was “condemned”.

Two had “warning levels” of staphylococcus aureus and two others had “worryingly elevated” levels of coliforms and enterobacteria, “putting users at high risk of becoming ill from contact”.

The expert said the findings were typical of offices all over Britain.

Which? computing editor Sarah Kidner said: “The shocking results revealed that some of these keyboards were harbouring harmful bacteria that could potentially give their users a stomach upset.

“The germs found could cause food poisoning symptoms such as diarrhoea.

“The main cause of a bug-infested keyboard is eating lunch at desks, as the food deposits encourage the growth of millions of bacteria.

“Poor personal hygiene, such as dodging hand washing after going to the lavatory, may also be to blame.

“Most people don’t give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don’t clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off a lavatory seat.”

Which? found that one in ten people never clean their keyboard, while 20 per cent never clean their mouse.

Around half cleaned their keyboard less than one a month.

The modern practice of “hotdesking”, in which staff sit at different desks every week, means that workers do not know who has been using their keyboard before them.

Miss Kidner said workers and home PC users should give their keyboards a regular clean, adding: “It’s quite simple to do and could prevent your computer becoming a health hazard.”

Which? says users should unplug computers before wiping surfaces with a damp, soft, lint-free cloth.

Keyboards should be unplugged, turned upside down and shaken.

Verse below, tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, seems to answer this question, how come that people consider themselves liberated although they're not?

It is mental, manina, a kind of illusion within the mind what makes one believe, "I'm liberated". But this imagination seems so strong that others also believe it.

ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas

tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah

aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah

patanty adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah

[sB 10.2.32]

Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse throughout Srimad-Bhagavatam. It means, O my Lord, because they neglect to serve Your Lotus Feet, those who think that they are liberated by dint of very hard austerities again fall down because their intelligence is not pure.

Ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas: those who imagine, manina means they mentally consider themselves vimukta, supremely liberated, what will happen to them?

Aruhya krcchena - even though by practice, aruhya means they went up, krcchena means by severe austerities, they come up. Param padam - to a spiritual situation, tatah - from that place, patanty - they fall down.

Patanti adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghraya - why do they fall down?

'nadrta - they do not worship Sri Krsna, so they fall down again.

There're surely lots of people who make us feel they're liberated and on a higher platform, but unless one becomes situated in krsna-bhakti, it is like an air travel, one finally has to come down again.

Read this on a blog...

Bush doesn’t have the power to wipe his ass without permission.

People don't see it that way, rather if Bush officiates as president he's responsible for everything.

Bush rescues Wall Street but leaves his soldiers to die in Iraq

It was a weird week to be in the United States. On Tuesday, secretary of the treasury Henry Paulson told us that "this is all about the American taxpayer – that's all we care about". But when I flipped the page on my morning paper, I came across the latest gloomy statistic which Americans should care more about. "As of Wednesday evening, 4,162 US service members and 11 Defence Department civilians had been identified as having died in the Iraq war." By grotesque mischance, $700bn – the cost of George Bush's Wall Street rescue cash – is about the same figure as the same President has squandered on his preposterous war in Iraq, the war we have now apparently "won" thanks to the "surge" – for which, read "escalation" – in Baghdad. The fact that the fall in casualties coincides with the near-completion of the Shia ethnic cleansing of Sunni Muslims is not part of the story.

Indeed, a strange narrative is now being built into the daily history of America. First we won the war in Afghanistan by overthrowing the evil, terrorist-protecting misogynist Islamist crazies called the Taliban, setting up a democratic government under the exotically dressed Hamid Karzai. Then we rushed off to Iraq and overthrew the evil, terrorist-protecting, nuclear-weaponised, secular Baathist crazies under Saddam, setting up a democratic government under the pro-Iranian Shia Nouri al-Maliki. Mission accomplished. Then, after 250,000 Iraqi deaths – or half a million or a million, who cares? – we rushed back to Kabul and Kandahar to win the war all over again in Afghanistan. The conflict now embraces our old chums in Pakistan, the Saudi-financed, American-financed Interservices Intelligence Agency whose Taliban friends – now attacked by our brave troops inside Pakistani sovereign territory – again control half of Afghanistan.

We are, in fact, now fighting a war in what I call Irakistan. It's hopeless; it's a mess; it's shameful; it's unethical and it's unwinnable and no wonder the Wall Street meltdown was greeted with such relief by Messrs Obama and McCain. They couldn't suspend their campaigns to discuss the greatest military crisis in America's history since Vietnam – but for Wall Street, no problem. The American taxpayer – "that's all we care about". Mercifully for the presidential candidates, they don't have to debate the hell-disaster of Iraq any more, nor US-Israeli relations, nor Exxon or Chevron or BP-Mobil or Shell. George Bush's titanic if mythical battle between good and evil has transmogrified into the conflict between good taxpayers and evil bankers. Phew! No entanglement in the lives and deaths of the people of the Middle East. Until the elections – barring another 9/11 – they are yesterday's men and women.

But truth lurks in the strangest of airports. I'm chewing my way though a plate of spiced but heavy-boned chicken wings – final proof of why chickens can't fly – at John Wayne airport in Orange County (take a trip down the escalator and you can actually see a larger-than-life statue of the "Duke"), and up on the screen behind the bar pops Obama himself. The word "Change" flashes on the logo and the guy on my left shakes his head. "I got a brother who's just come back from Afghanistan," he says. "He's been fighting there but says there's no infrastructure so there can be no victory. There's nothing to build on. We're not wanted." At California's San Jose University, a guy comes up and asks me to sign my new book for him. "Write 'To Sergeant 'D'," he says with a sigh. "That's what they call me. Two tours in Iraq, just heading out to Afghanistan." And he rolls his eyes and I wish him safe home afterwards.

Of course, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict no longer gets a look into the debate. McCain's visit to the Middle East and Obama's visit to the Middle East – in which they outdid each other in fawning to the Israeli lobby (Obama's own contribution surely earning him membership of the Knesset if not entry to the White House) – are safely in the past. Without any discussion, Israeli and US officials held a three-day security-technology forum in Washington this month which coincided with an equally undebated decision by the dying Bush administration to give a further $330m in three separate arms deals for Israel, including 28,000 M72A7 66mm light anti-armour weapons and 1,000 GBU-9 small diameter bombs from Boeing. Twenty-five Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets are likely to be approved before the election. The Israeli-American talks were described as "the most senior bilateral high-technology dialogue ever between the two allies". Nothing to write home about, of course.

Almost equally unreported in major US papers – save by the good old Washington Report – was a potential scandal in good old Los Angeles to which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently returned after a $225,000 junket to Israel with three council members and other city officials (along with families, kids, etc). The purpose? To launch new agreements for security at Los Angeles international airport. Council members waffled away on cellphones and walked out of the chamber when protesters claimed that the council was negotiating with a foreign power before seeking bids from American security services. One of the protesters asked if the idea of handing LAX's security to the Israelis was such a good idea when Israeli firms were operating security at Boston Logan and Newark on 9/11 when a rather sinister bunch of Arabs passed through en route to their international crimes against humanity.

But who cares? 9/11? Come again? What's that got to do with the American taxpayer?

Agreed, if kirtan is performed by pure Vaishnavas, nothing could improve the efficiency. For neophytes on the path of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, what makes a kirtan, let's say in a towncenter, attractive?

First of all the melody should be according people's mentality, people's taste what they consider as very melodious. The kirtan performers should be dressed very nicely, after all uniform signals consensus, unity and agreement.

Any suggestions?

Marriott Was Set Ablaze by Americans

The Marriott Hotel Islamabad has turned into ashes and there seems almost nothing left. But the dubious activities of US officials are still going on. And despite what U.S. officials say, the fire at the Marriott was more complex than it looks.

For reasons still to be explained the Marriott’s own internal fire fighting system could not be brought into operation. While the force of the initial blast blew open windows and doors, which helped spread the fire later.

However according to our correspondent in Islamabad, the fire at the Marriott started in room 440 on the fourth floor, a room occupied by a US official named Mathew.

This occurred after the suicide bomber blew himself and the second the truck bomb exploded. At this point everybody rushed out of the Marriott.

Although Mathew may have wanted to join them, he first piled all his confidential documents and data along with his laptop and set them on fire before fleeing the room. Soon the fire spread, burning furniture, doors and then through the carpet and fittings to other rooms and the rest of the hotel; the flames fed with a steady supply of oxygen via the smashed windows and doors.

According to some reports, CIA officials and US marines occupied room 440, rooms adjacent to it and much of the 5th floor. A total of seven rooms were reportedly allocated exclusively to CIA agents, of whom there were a total of nine at the time of explosion. The agents kept changing but the rooms stayed booked for the CIA. The exact death toll of the US officials may be much higher than officially acknowledged.

Despite the fact that a total of 33 fire trucks fought the blaze, the Marriott could not be saved and was an inferno within thirty minutes of the first blast.

Sources say that US officials subsequently removed burnt debris from the scene, while the local media's access to those floors and rooms in the Marriott used by U.S. officials and the CIA was restricted.

Moreover on 22nd September 2008, British Airways suspended its flights to Pakistan and at the time of writing those flights remain suspended.

It is also known that on 19 September two U.S. soldiers arrived at the Marriot with mysterious luggage, which was not passed through the scanners at the entrance. One soldier reportedly took room 444 on 4th floor while the other stayed in room 326 on the 3rd. Both men checked out before dawn 5:30 AM the following day.

Later the same day the hotel became a blazing inferno.

Fire fighters say that temperatures at the blaze were extraordinarily high.

According to an investigative report investigators have also found a tube containing an unknown chemical, which has been sent for laboratory analysis.

One of the two military men that the United States has officially acknowledged dead in the incident was Major Rodolfo Rodriquez, assigned to Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, he belonged to 66th Construction and Training Squadron.

U.S. military authorities have still not announced what he was doing in Pakistan at the time.

The whole episode seems to portend a more serious situation in Pakistan.

Is the United States preparing to make a bigger attack on Pakistani territories as the war has reached the north western city of Kohat, close to the Afghan border and just 100 miles away from the capital Islamabad?

Only time will tell but as Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari assumes office dark clouds are gathering on the horizon.

Dear All,

Being a new member this is my first ever communication with all of you.

I want to start worshiping Maa Bagalamukhi can any of my friends here guide me about the mantras and the detailed way and procedure of worship and also any other information you think will be valuable to me in this regards

Thanks in advance

When chanting the maha-mantra Hare Krsna, Hare Rama, it is not required to worship Maa Bagalamukhi. Maa Bagalamukhi is something like the superintendent of a prison house, this material world is also known as maithunya agara, prison house. When Krsna performed His pastimes in Gokula He wanted to stop the villagers to worship those who manage the material world. In fact when starting to directly worship Krsna by chanting His Holy Name it is, see below, one of the ten offenses to worship superintendants of the material world.

<center>The offenses against chanting the holy name are as follows:</center> 1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.

2) To consider the names of the demigods like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma to be equal to, or independent of, the name Lord Visnu.

3) To disobey the orders of the spiritual master.

4) To blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version.

5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krsna to be imagination.

6) To give some interpretation on the holy name of the Lord.

7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the holy name of the Lord.

8) To consider chanting of Hare Krsna one of the auspicious ritualistic activities offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities (karma-kanda).

9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name.

10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter.

hi,

 

mine friend advise me to drink on urine, especially the first urine in the morning, after wake up.

 

i want to know is this healthy? is this recorded in the ayurveda?

 

thanks

 

chong

No, it is not from the ayurveda, it is harmful to take your own urine. The only ayurveda urine medicine is made from cow's urine. For us human beings our urine is something our body wants to get rid of, toxic substances are removed from the body. The mother of my daughter's girlfriend also came up with this idea. She died one year later at the age of 46.

Don't worry about the "organizations" and institutions and what they are doing or not doing. Dharma is spread by dharmic souls, institutions are not primary. Dharma is the fire element. It spreads like fire.

 

Anyway, we are in the ascending small dvapara yuga, and I believe that this winter 2012 solstice is going to herald it in with trumpets and you're going to see the waning of america as well as of the judeo-christian religions and thought processes beginning markedly at that time.

I think it is of great import to always monitor, oversee and examine the Vaishnava institutions. They base themselves on the authority of the great acaryas, the Vedas and Krsna's words.

In case you keep silent when humanity is mislead by deviant Vaishnava institutions, you become directly involved in terrible karmas of misleading humanity in the name of sastra.

Krsna Himself becomes very furious when the deviants get out of control and He says, "I personally descend to correct those deviants."

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.

"Dharma is spread by dharmic souls, institutions are not primary."

So far presently 6 bio people on planet Earth consider the Vaishnava institutions as the only example for representing Krsna.

"Dharmic souls", you mean powerful charismatic Vaishnava preachers who have great influence to uplift humanity by their teachings but who operate outside the Vaishnava institutions? Any url?

I do not like preaching at all. I can respect someone like Srila Prabhupada for what he did. It takes a lot of courage to go out to the public and share your beliefs but preaching is not my cup of tea even though it seems like it is a necessary part of being considered an actual Hare Krishna. I don't see myself ever getting to that point in this lifetime so the best I can do is have some level of appreciation for Krishna Consciousness as an outside observer.

Thanks AncientMariner, but you just preached when explaining that Prabhupada did a great job.

In fact since this can be read by 6 bio people, you're a world preacher, no more waiting for another lifetime.

Interesting post, Suchandra.

 

I do believe that we are witnessing the death of America. I believe that this is not only caused by America's own chart by also due to the Galactic Winter Solstice happening 12.21.2012 - which is connected with America in so many ways...

 

On 12.21.2012 the Sun will be at the galactic center (6º40" Sagittarius) on a solstice for the first time in 12,500 years.

 

The last time it caused a flood which destroyed Atlantis, the previous cultural capital of humanity. And ushered in the ages of decline which hit their nadir around 500AD during the dark ages.

 

Since that time we have climbed gradually, but have become obsessed with technology. We are in a new age, but have yet to full cast off the shadow of the dark age we left. The global events centered on 12.21.2012 will change that and will user in the ages of ascension in which humanity will gradually regain a more perfect way of existing on earth.

 

The Mayan calendar ends at 2012... On the winter solstice of 2012 the Sun will align with the center of the Moola stellar nakshatra where the exact galactic center is presumed to be (6º40' Sagittarius) . Between 12/21/2012 and 12/22/2012 the Sun will cross this point in connection with a solstice.

 

There is also a strong alignment of planets Venus, Mercury and Jupiter on the Rahu-Ketu axis. And the two superstar "malefics" - Mars and Saturn - are exalted.

 

The candidates for American Presidency have Mars and Saturn in suspicious positions related to this event.

 

I feel that there is a very strong possibility of an ice age descending from the southern tip of Iceland and progressing down the eastern coast of North America. Or some similar cold / ice related event heralding the beginning of a substantial change in our way of living which will be difficult and catastrophic at first but which will eventually be beneficial.

 

As a reality check I have to note that I am dealing with time scales on the level of 25,000 years. So even small inaccuracies will produce deviations of a few years. Safe to say we a currently in the margin of error, but 12.21.2012 remains the focal point or mine (and most astrologers') calculations.

Agree, it is hard to believe that US is a singular case since US spread their currency system all around the globe.

In fact 99% of the global currencies are controlled by the World Bank and all the nations paying interest for their monetary system installed by the World Bank.

The last twenty years witnessed a great shift of money upwards, to a smaller and smaller pack of greedy beasts.

While the majority of Americans lost the ability to send their children to universities, these fat cats bought themselves villas in Florida and houses in Tel Aviv.

Worse, they spent their billions buying up the media in order to subvert American democracy and send American soldiers to fight wars in far-away places.

A big part of the stolen money was siphoned off to Israel, where apartment prices went through the roof and are still rising.

So it could be rather a diverting the attention policy of the super rich how they became even more rich - to fool the mass of people that banks are collapsing.

Since we have the prediction of the Yuga Avatar that the Sankirtan Movement will spread in every town and village, I see that things are ultimately developing in this direction.

Only problem why things are delaying, the Vaishnava institutions who are presently turning Vaishnavism into private orgs with private owners and trying to find out if "absolute power corrupts absolutely" ?

Then the leadership of the Vaishnava movement might well be worshipping at that altar rather than at Krishna's corruption free system.

I would experiment with this concept. But off the bat it doesn't sound promising, as it violates more basic rules. For example, water can be either 4 OR 12 houses away from fire. So in the example of Aries / Pisces your theory would be in line with more basic rules in that it would be a 2/12 relationship with is one of passive disharmony. But in the example of Aries / Cancer your theory would be out of line with basic rules because it would be a 4/10 relationship which is a "contrast" relationship which is always a significant or strong relationship, but which would depend upon other factors to determine the nature of the relationship.

 

ALL 4/10 relationships are formed by incompatible bhootas / elements - so your theory seems out of line with more accepted methods.

Didn't see your post since this forum is daily filled up with dozens cries for help and distress calls.

Don't understand what you're saying. I'm not talking about houses but the elements. In what element a planet is situated, either in Earth, Water, Fire, Air.

Let's say you make a Fire and someone else pours Water on it, your Fire is gone. Let's say your Fire doesnt burn properly and someone blows Air in your Fire, it starts to gain power.

Lets say you have a piece of Earth and you want to grow something. Someone comes and pours Water on it - the Earth becomes even more fertile and things grow. Earth and Water are compatible.

In the same way, Air and Water is not compatible, Air dries out Water. Go to any dessert, lots of winds, Air, but no Water.

So these are not "my theories, or speculations" as you suggest, but basic common sense about compatibility of the Elements, even a child can understand, like when someone needs Air he can't get it when diving into Water.

Someone having Moon in element Water, he/she won't get emotional feedback from someone having Moon in Air or Fire.

i feel that the idea of preaching is actually a idea of hatred.for you cannot 'preach' unless you hate all other paths and convince yourself that yours is the only path.one should sing praises of his lord or glorify him,but why 'preaching'?? isn't it very similar to those colonial christian missionaries who came to india to deliver the infidels?isnt it all about showing absolute disrespect about all other beliefs?one should expose his beliefs before everyone,so that anyone interested might follow,but why impose it??

Preaching can be also seen as teaching, trying to help by providing knowledge.

People surely need help and are confused about what is the goal of life.

Today I read a religious magazine and was astounded what they say how the spiritual world looks like, see pics below.

This looks rather like vedic farming and not like the spiritual world. But how can people get the right description if nobody is telling them?

some might object in my explanation of the slokas,but i should inform that these thoughts are not formulated by me and is from a advaitic standpoint.

 

and indeed some slokas need to be interpreted not just in literal sense but also in its emotional aspect.just like in purusa shukta there is no mention of vishnu at all yet we percieve him as vishnu.taking literally that would mean another god--purusha.isnt it?as the saying goes, 'bhavagraahi janardan'(janardan always considers the bhav or feelings that you harbour for him)

Lord Brahma doesn't seem to believe that he is one with Lord Krishna.

2009 - The Gathering Clouds

The Coming Financial and Economic Meltdown

by Drew Lawrence - Duryodhanaguru dasa (ACBSP)

<!-- end intro-content --> <!-- end intro --> http://www.drewlawrence.com/events/2009thegatheringclouds.php

<!-- end sidebar --> The year 2009 is beginning to appear as the year the financial and economic house of cards is likely to fall. On the heels of the upheaval we are currently experiencing with the cave in and collapse of a number of America’s big investment banks, the gathering clouds in troubled skies indicate ominous times to come.

First, let us look to our history, from a Vedic Astrological perspective. The yearly chart or horoscope of any country in the world can be calculated from the moment the Sun and Moon are in exact conjunction in the sky in the sign of Pisces. The latitude and longitude used is that of a particular nation’s capital. Why this specific moment? The conjunction of the sun and moon is an inception point or more correctly, a conception point when father Sun and mother Moon conceive the child who will symbolize the karmic reckoning for the coming year.

We will use the United States as our harbinger since what happens there is likely to affect the greatest number of people around the world. In 1929, the stock market crashed. This ushered in the so-called Great Depression. In the US Yearly Chart for 1929, we find Jupiter in conjunction with the North Node, Rahu, in the 8th house of the chart. Jupiter represents finances, cash flow, money, economy, etc. When Rahu and Jupiter are together, it is a yoga or planetary combination for bankruptcy. Rahu’s gathering gloom of ruin, collapse and karmic retribution threw its dark shadow on the path of progress. The 8th house of the nation’s chart represents failure, undoing, reversal, sabotage and death.

In the USA’s Yearly Chart of 1987, Rahu again confronted Jupiter in a dark alley, this time in the 12th house, and made him pay the ultimate price once again. This assault resulted in Black Monday and the markets crashed yet again. The 12th house represents loss, mismanagement and theft.

More recently, in 2001, the US was attacked by foreign terrorists on September 11th, better known as 911. At that time, Jupiter was in conjunction with Saturn in the 8th house of the Yearly Chart of the US. Though not Rahu, Saturn can behave in a similar manner but is more likely to bring a war-like attack from an outside aggressor or comparable devastation. As a result of this seemingly unexpected assault, the economy experienced a near meltdown, which lasted well into the next year. People went nowhere and did nothing.

According to the US Yearly Chart of 2009, the US is heading toward an economic reversal, the likes of which have never been experienced before. The official date of this chart’s inception is March 26, 2009. In this chart, Jupiter, representing finance and economics, is situated in his sign of debilitation, Capricorn, in the 8th house of failure and reversal. And right nearby, also in Capricorn, is his old nemesis, Rahu. This is exactly the conjunction that took place in 1929 but this one is worse since Jupiter is at his weakest disposition in Capricorn. The details of how this will unfold are anybody’s guess. But at this writing, Lehman Brothers Bank has just filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch has been sold off to Bank of America like salvaged remnants in a fire sale. Only two US investment banks remain — Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The duration of this Yearly Chart’s effects is one year beginning March 26, 2009. Within that time frame, Jupiter will go into retrograde or backward motion from June 15 until October 12, 2009. This may result in the increase of economic and financial woes during this four month period.

Let us examine the underlying malaise which may have contributed to the coming collapse. America, as well as many other countries around the world (and not just Western countries), are embroiled in materialism. They live to shop, spend, acquire and consume. This is further encouraged by the government itself and certainly by the advertising and marketing agencies. If you want to know the goals and objectives of a society and its people, just look at its ads and billboards.

The largest and tallest buildings being built throughout the world are a testament to materialism — big corporations involved in banking, insurance, oil consumption, etc. In ancient times, they were temples, cathedrals and churches built as a tribute to God, for the purification and salvation of the people. The current spate of erect buildings is a tribute to the profits of oil gougers, insurance companies who bend over backwards to avoid paying claims, and banks who attach surcharges when customers call them on the phone and ask to speak to a live employee for help or clarification.

It is interesting to watch these investment banks and brokerage houses fail, those who chant the sacred mantras, “From Greed Comes Profit,” or “From Fear Comes Loss.” It is one thing to protect your money with wise investments with a desire to make it grow and expand. It is another thing entirely when the infectious virus of greed takes over as it did in the case of corporate energy giant Enron. Self undoing is sure to follow. And so too, it appears yet again.

Another example of greed is the sub-prime mortgage debacle when the mortgage companies and banks gave mortgages to people who could not afford them or who could not afford an increase in the interest rate. So many of these people have been foreclosed on and their homes seized by the banks who are forced to carry this bad debt.

Other contributors to the existing chaos over recent years are corrupt clergy, churches and religions, corrupt political leaders, corrupt business leaders, and corrupt accounting firms.

So-called investors and speculators are able to gamble and speculate on the very staples and commodities that people depend on to sustain their day to day lives, such as oil for driving to work and heating our homes. This results in artificially driving up the price of such commodities. A similar problem was caused by Enron when they deliberately created real and imaginary shortages during the 2000-2001 California energy crisis, in order to drive up prices and reap vast profits in the state’s newly deregulated energy market. Enron executives used various schemes to defraud officials running the state’s power grid, to manipulate energy supplies and literally loot the state treasury of billions of dollars. All this in the name of shareholder and personal profit. These executives are now all behind bars.

Now we have the Federal Government (you) bailing out these banks and mortgage companies. This is like paying off the bad debts of a gambling addict and then giving him a large financial cash infusion so that he can begin his nonsense all over again!

We are too dependent on the system and on others. We need to take more responsibility for our own lives and well-being. It is becoming increasingly dangerous to depend on a devious government or political system that is enslaved by profit and greed. People are encouraged to eat food out of a jar, a can or a take-out box. When was the last time you pulled your food out of the ground, washed the rich earth from it and then lovingly prepared a meal? It is time to start seriously thinking about growing your own food, my friends, if you haven’t already.

The United States just prints money whenever it needs it. There is no gold standard. They do not actually have the gold to back up the amount of money they choose to print. What is the difference in the government doing this or you writing a bad check without the proper funds in your bank account? I believe this is called fraud.

How can you print money without possessing gold, carry a trillion dollar trade deficit, fund two wars and talk about starting a third, bear the sub-prime mortgage collapse, and prop up bankrupt banks overwhelmed with bad debt and mismanagement, and still remain a solvent and viable financial entity? Welcome to America!

This collapse is long overdue. We can pray that a healthy and balanced restoration and renewal will come out of all this — a return to spiritual values and human virtue. If I am wrong about this prediction, then wonderful. But I am not the only one predicting such a thing. Others, using their own methods of prediction, are saying the same thing. We won’t have long to wait to find out.

What steps should you take? It is probably best to get out of the stock market entirely. Buy land, gold, precious metals and precious gemstones. This is real wealth in all times of crisis and it is inflation proof. Get rid of US dollars and buy gold or perhaps selected foreign currencies, such as the Euro. If you own land, grow food and drill a well so you can have your own water supply if possible. Drive an alternative fuel vehicle (I bought a horse myself). Remember, they are trying to keep you dependent on them. And look at the result. It is time for us to become as independent as possible.

Also bear in mind, these are cycles and which come and go. After collapse comes renewal. After winter comes the spring.

http://www.krishna.com/en/node/1684

Om shanti,

Suchandra,

I have a few questions

1.Considering that pap(sin) or punya is for the soul .

that's why people are called mahathma,papathma..

then how can a bath(cleanse)your body free you of all sins.

Wat is required is cleansing the thought.

2.

Considering the present scheme of events i doubt the existence of this world for 10 years.let alone 10,000 years.

This is surely correct. Bathing in holy rivers frees one from past sinful reaction. But when people don't cleanse their thoughts and become pure in mind they commit new sins as soon they come out of the holy river.

Therefore Ganga Devi says, people are in this age so sinful that the holy rivers will become overwhelmed with sinful reactions.

In other words, Ganga Devi is asking for to stop flowing on this Earth during the age of kali.

Who is ravan in today's world?

Though we keep burning ravan every year in delhi he is burnt every year and keeps growing(taller) every year.

Looks like he became the sinful people of Kali-yuga.

"On behalf of the sacred rivers - Yamuna, Kaveri, Godavari, Sindhu, Saravati and Narmada - Ganga Devi says, “Lord Krishna, we see that Your pastimes are ending and that people are becoming more materialistic. After You leave, all the sinful people of Kali-yuga will take bath in our waters, and we will become overwhelmed with sinful reactions.”

Lord Krishna smiled and replied, “Be patient. After 5,000 years My mantra upasaka will appear and spread the chanting of the holy name everywhere. Not only in India but all over the world people will chant ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ By this chanting the whole world will become eka varna - one class or designation, namely, hari-bhaktas, devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Because the devotees of Hari are pure, anyone who contacts them will become purified of sinful reactions. These pure devotees will visit India and purify you of your sinful reactions by bathing in your sacred waters. The period of worldwide chanting of Hare Krishna will continue for 10,000 years.

“After that the devotees will see Kali’s full force overtake the world. At that time, you sacred rivers should hide under the earth, as Sarasvati has already done, and wait for the next Satya-yuga.”

The Brahma-vaivarta Purana