I am a freelance photo-journalist by profession, but in my spare time I have the good fortune of using my skills to serve the spiritual research publishing team at SSRF. Working with a spiritual research team is a unique experience and cannot be compared to working in everyday life. One of the main distinguishing factors is the incredible amount of resistance from negative energies that seekers (of SSRF) face when collating, editing and publishing information on the SSRF website and other associated spiritual journals. I would like to share one such example of a subtle attack on the editorial team of SSRF that I was privy to.

Required – Seekers who can translate and proofread from Marathi or Hindi into English

A precious treasure of Holy texts is available in Marathi and Hindi languages. Presently, we require seekers who can translate and proofread from Marathi or Hindi into English. This seva can be performed from home too. Following are the pre-requisites for seekers intending to participate in this seva :
1. Good knowledge of Marathi / Hindi and English languages
2. Minimum seven hours of availability per week for the seva
3. Preferably, having a computer at home, basic knowledge of …

We had recently written about our dear evolved seeker Mrs. Nirmala Honap (Honap Kaku) and her selfless service to others even while being bedridden. Honap Kaku left her body (passed away) on the morning of 12 Aug 2010 and was cremated the following morning approximately 26 hours later.

Whenever we have attended the funeral of an average person, our experience has been that the surrounding environment is charged with tāmasic spiritual vibrations. You may have read our article on Burial versus Cremation which explains the reason why death is tama predominant. …

In our day-to-day life, we often come across people who have to endure illness in their old age. Some illnesses leave people paralyzed, bedridden and even unconscious. Quite often for the aged there is a fear of undergoing such destiny. The kind of thoughts that could plague their minds are, “How will I function in old age?”, “Will I be a burden to others?”, “My life will become totally useless if I fall severely ill and become bedridden”, etc. This is the story of Mrs. Nirmala Honap who performed spiritual healing on others at the age of 60, despite severe illness.

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.”

For as long as I have lived in the ashram I have wondered why the kitchen, which feeds 250 to 300 seekers daily, has only one kitchen sink. But I maintained an attitude of learning and tried not to comment on what I felt could have been done more logically…. but the question never went away from my mind.
How could it? Every time one was at the sink and trying to wash the dishes for a span of two hours or so, someone or the other would gently intervene and request to either fill a small container of water to clean the counter with, or rinse their hands between cooking, or they needed the sink as they felt like a cup of tea, the seeker about to chop cilantro would bring her colander to rinse the leaves and the one who wanted to churn buttermilk would require the sink as well …