States affected by the Gulf oil spill have made a call to their citizens to pray to God for help in averting the disaster. Need we really experience peril in order to call on God?

A few days ago CNN reported that state senators in Louisiana had proposed a day for prayer against the oil spill that has devastated the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster on 20 April 2010. “Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail, it is clearly time for a miracle for us,” one of the state senators said.

The Louisiana senators designated 27th June as a day for citizens to ask for God’s help dealing with the oil spill. Their resolution calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast “to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood.”

Our role in this life should be that of a guest. We should be aware that we are guests only and have to go back to our home again… H. H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj

We know that God is Omniscient. Saints are the manifest form of God. They have qualities related to spiritual practice, but most Saints do not have knowledge about worldly matters that is useful in spiritual practice. To my knowledge, H. H. Pande Maharaj is the only Saint who is an exception to this rule. Without thinking, He can instantaneously provide new perspectives on any subject like art, sculpting, spreading Spirituality, classes on raising children in a sattvik (spiritually pure) way, satseva related to collecting offerings through advertisements.

Earlier this year, an actress from Hollywood made use of the Spiritual Science Research Foundation’s research on ghosts in order to prepare for the role of a person who is haunted by an evil spirit.

The Hollywood movie ‘The Unborn’ features a character troubled by a ghost, and this haunted character is played by actress Odette Yustman. Odette Yustman had studied an SSRF documentary on ‘YouTube’ in order to prepare for the role. She spoke in a programme called ‘PopTub’, a daily telecast of best Youtube videos. In this interview she mentioned …

When a traveller has firmly decided to take a particular path, howsoever troubled he may be… – H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj

How to recognize whether tears are due to spiritual emotion or emotion? In cases when a person is possessed, is it the person who is crying or the possessing entity who is acting?

1. Crying due to spiritual emotion (bhāv)
A. Tears are due to spiritual emotion (bhāv) if they occur while chanting and while thinking sāttvik thoughts.
B. Sometimes one cries even when no thoughts are there, but the mind is happy. This is due to unmanifest bhāv.
C. If the tears are due to bhāv, then the body feels light, the eyes …