Australia

Vedic astrology, called Jyotisha Shastra in Sanskrit, is the traditional Hindu system of astrology which has its roots in the Vedanga Jyotisha, one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the ancient Vedas.

On May 2nd, Deborah Lawlor left her body in Los Angeles, California at the age of 84. Deborah and her husband Robert started Forecomers community in 1968, where, on the barren fields and baked, eroded red laterite earth, they had built two huts, one for living quarters and one for a dance and painting studio.

Robert (Bob) Lawlor passed away peacefully on 29 November in the hospital on King Island, Tasmania at the age of 84. After studying Art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bob discovered the Sri Aurobindo Ashram during his world travel in the 60s.

Ross A. Elliott left his body on June 23rd in PIMS at the age of 73, after a struggle with bladder cancer that took him through several hospitals since March this year.

On July 8th, Damien L. Hedley left his body at the age of 67 in Canberra, Australia, after a struggle with cancer. His funeral was held on July 13th at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Nick Klotz, an Australian newcomer, left his body on September 25th in the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences. He was recuperating from a fracture sustained in an accident in July, when he developed multi-organ failure.