“Let us not pray to be sheltered from
dangers but to be fearless when facing them.”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
When I look inside and see I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look outside and see I am everything, that is love. Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981), Hindu spiritual teacher
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A language is something infinitely greater than grammar and philology. It is the poetic testament of the genius of a race and a culture, and the living embodiment of the thoughts and fancies that have molded them. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), first Prime Minister of independent India
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Greater than a thousand ghee offerings consumed in sacrificial fires is to not sacrifice and consume any living creature. Tirukural 259
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Love, love, love—that is what life is about. Study, pray, meditate, but love, love, love— that is what life is about. All scriptures sing of love. All saints roar of love. All the known prophets continuously demonstrate love. Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993), founder of Chinmaya Mission
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Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. Will Rogers (1879-1935), American actor and humorist
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The wise man should merge his speech in his mind and his mind in his intellect. He should merge his intellect in the Cosmic Mind and the Cosmic Mind in the Tranquil Self. Katha Upanishad 1.3.13
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Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebonese-American writer
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Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), US President
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When you submit yourself to the Divine, where is the need of melody and rhythm? Paravathy Baul, singer and musician, when asked if she had any formal musical training
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Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish writer and poet
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Two men please God—one who serves Him with all his heart because he knows Him; and one who seeks Him with all his heart because he knows Him not. Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718-1783), Russian author
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Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too self-full to seek other than itself. Kabir (1440-1518), mystic Indian poet
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India is to me the dearest country in the world, because I have discovered goodness in it. It has been subject to foreign rule, it is true. But the status of a slave is preferable to that of a slave holder. Mahatma Gandhi
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The true state of meditation is oneness of the meditator with the object of meditation, God. Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), founder of Self-Realization Fellowship
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It is not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American author and poet
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So great is glory gained by men in this world that celestials cease praising ascended sages. Tirukural 234
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In ancient India, the intention to discover truth was so consuming that in the process, they discovered perhaps the most perfect tool for fulfilling such a search that the world has ever known—the Sanskrit language. Rick Briggs, NASA researcher
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What for do we need a book? The whole spiritual truth, every Shastra, is secret in the human heart. Sita Ram Goel (1921-2003), Indian political commentator
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Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin—to say that you are weak, or others are weak. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
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Many Western ideals and goals are based on the underlying attitude that there is only one life—so we had better do everything we can in this life. We had better achieve God Realization in this life, just in case. The Hindu attitude, based on the confidence that we have many lives, is: “I know I’m coming back; no rush. I will do as much as I can in this lifetime, and there will be ample time for further advancement.” Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
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In the final analysis we are all doing exactly as we want, as we must, doing what is next on our personal path of evolution. Nothing is wrong. Nothing should be that is not. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001)
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D I D Y O U K N O W ?
RAJAGOPURA, MOUNTAIN OF THE GODS
WHILE SOME ARE HUMBLE AND small, others tower over the horizon. The rajagopura is truly a sight to behold. These structures adorn most South Indian temples as their tallest element, built above the main entryway. They are layered towers, made of plaster and painted, or more rarely of stone, with hundreds of ornate sculptures on every side.
The term gopura is derived from the Sanskrit words go and pura. Pura refers to a raised or elevated grand structure which serves as an auspicious location for the presence of go—naming an assemblage of cosmic Lords, Gods, Deities, liberated sages or other great souls. Raja names that which is “exceedingly effulgent.” Thus, rajagopura precisely means “the resplendent superstructure housing hosts of Gods and Deities.” The rajagopura is a symbol of the transcendental Mount Kailasa, the eternal Himalayan abode of Lord Siva. The ornamental structures and images seen on its four sides represent the higher, supreme souls residing on the four sides of Mount Kailasa. On the east side of Kailasa are the Indras of bygone ages. On the south, Lord Dakshinamurti, Virabhadra and other Lords are present. Vishnu and His incarnations are present on the west side, while Brahma and the great sages reside on the north side.
CROSSWORD: AMARNATH CAVE
Across
1. Nearest city to the Amarnath cave; most pilgrims start from here
5. Temporary stop along the way
8. Name of the Muslim who rediscovered the cave in modern times
9. Huge kitchen set up for pilgrims along the route
12. ___ true!
14. Person who handles the horses that transport pilgrims on the trekking route, ____wallah
15. Offering to a God or Goddess
16. Short for the 4th month of the year
17. Pilgrimage
19. “Hail,” it’s term in religious songs sung by pilgrims while climbing
22. Stop for a moment
24. Go up the mountain
27. ____: a popular hero God who is an avatar of Vishnu
29. Sacred
31. A welcome drink along the way
33. Vessel with wide mouth and handles
35. The purpose of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave is to see this
Down
1. Yield
2. At the end of a word, it means believer
3. Indefinite article
4. Famous pilgrimage in Kashmir state
6. It has less oxygen as you climb
7. Second ice Lingam regarded as a Goddess of the same name
10. Snakes
11. Agile
13. Hindu monk
18. Shape of a rainbow
20. Goal
21. You go ___ to reach the cave
23. State
25. Freezing over
26. Flower
28. Between you and ___
29. Ap kaisi ___?
30. Stretch out to rest
32. ____va: an individual soul
33. Yes, respectfully in Hindi
34. ___atar: manifestation of a Deity in bodily form on earth
Crossword answers may be more than one word and are derived from this issue’s articles. For answers and an interactive online version visit:
bit.ly/apr13crossword [http://bit.ly/apr13crossword]