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Deepavali, Deepawali  or Diwali means "a row of lights". It falls on the last two days of the dark half of Kartik (October-November). For some it is a three-day festival. It commences with the Dhan-Teras, on the 13th day of the dark half of Kartik, followed the next day by the Narak Chaudas, the 14th day, and by Deepavali proper on the 15th day.

Nina Lakhani from the Independent on Sunday wrote a very interesting piece about the deepening crisis with mental health in this country.

A new Swiss study reports that a form of meditation known as mindfulness could help patients with multiple sclerosis, who often suffer from depression and anxiety.

The study is small and only compared multiple sclerosis patients who meditated to MS patients who didn't. Still, meditation is safe and cheaper than the drugs that MS patients take, said neurologist Dr. Moses Rodriguez, who's familiar with the study's findings.

Meditation is an easy way to overcome depression.  Depression or Chronic Unhappiness can happen to anyone at any time of their lives.  It can be triggered by a variety of different circumstances and health issues.  However, there is substantial medical evidence that shows that meditation is an effective way of overcoming depression.  In our experience of teaching thousands of people, we have seen wonderful transformations - and what's more - meditation is easy to learn and practice and the benefits are clearly visible quickly.

More and more Americans are experiencing the profound relaxation benefits that are experienced through meditation.  Here´s an article from the Huffington Post in which the journalists shares her experience of meditation and proposes that senators should also learn to meditate.

Our teacher, Naruna Kleanthous left London today to open our new centre in Astoria, New York.  Jasmini and I did not know quite how to celebrate and we are somewhat housebound due to the heavy snow in London.  So, we had New York Bagels for lunch and made Blueberry Muffins in celebration of this new exciting development. 

We will bring you more news of our activities in New York during the coming months, so do stay tuned.  Rajesh....

Hello – my name is Gerald. I’m a meditating, taxi driving, donut eating, FISU Member! My introduction to FISU was through my girlfriend, now wife, Anusha. I can remember when Anusha and I were out one evening having a drink and chatting about things we would like to do in the future, and one of the things was that she’d always been interested in learning to meditate. One year later I remember taking her to the first session of the FISU meditation course. That evening Anusha was telling me about her experience and that her teacher’s name was Muktesh. I asked Anusha “what sort of name is that?” Anusha explained that it was his spiritual name. I said “one day, you’ll have a spiritual name – Bogbrush!” I never take anything seriously at first, apart from when Arsenal loses, and then I take things very seriously.

The Easter Togathering in Norwich was amazing. Despite the numbers, everyone said how intimate the atmosphere felt and had a definite deep tranquillity. There were some amazing Satsangs covering subjects from the Mind to the examination of certain religious truths and prophets. Karma was also a topic with the introduction of the concept of “providence”, a similar concept to eastern Karma but which originated in the Hebrew Bible.

Greetings from the UK Togathering (Residential Deepening Course) in Norwich. One of our young meditators, Zoe, a 21 year old student of Marketing at the Middlesex University in her 2nd year, has reported an increase in her grades from being below average with passes of around 45-50% to a soaring 75-95% pass rate. She is one course for a 1st (Distinction) when she finishes her degree next year in 2010. Zoe attributes the amazing upturn in her abilities to FISU meditation. She said today ‘I am quite amazed by the upturn in my grades.