“Even in rags I am a God, fallen I am divine, high
I triumph when down-trod, long I live when slain!”
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), Indian philosopher and poet
Quotations there have been, in superabundance. But what original commentary can you supply from the uniqueness of your particular life? What holy text have you absorbed and made your own? In what ways have these timeless truths renovated your nature? Are you content to be a hollow phonograph, mechanically repeating the words of other men? Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855-1936), guru of Satyananda Giri and Paramahansa Yogananda
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Stop identifying with the world created by your mind and a new world will open up before you. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, spiritual leader, guru, humanitarian of Kerala
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Can he rectify false weight whose own scales are uncertain? Can you enlighten your neighbor while you yourself have no light? Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), 19th-century mystic and guru to Swami Vivekananda
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Light and darkness live together in the mind, and thus the soul seeks grace and ignorance at once. The jiva’s inner knowing is bereft of light. Apart from those who have attained wisdom, the rest despair of ever dispelling their mind’s darkness. Tirumantiram 1010
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Let there be conflict. The cream arises in conflict. What harm is there if this world is destroyed? What good can there be if it continues to exist? There is nothing very seriously wrong with anything. Satguru Yogaswami (1872-1964), Sri Lankan mystic
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You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you, too. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921-1990), Indian philosopher, poet and linguist Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb
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When you reach the heart of life, you shall find beauty in all things, even in the eyes that are blind to beauty. Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American author
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Should the perfect virtue of perfect men ever diminish, this mighty Earth would bear our burdensome weight no more. Tirukural 990
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The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world. Cotton made into various clothes we call by various names. Gold made into various ornaments we call by various names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold. The one is real; the many are mere names and forms. Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), Indian guru I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God Sufi proverb
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Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), mystic poet
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To trust a man who has not been tested and to suspect a man who has proven trustworthy lead alike to endless ills. Tirukural 510
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I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer. Jim Carrey Canadian-American actor, comedian and producer
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There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point; that is the secret. Swami Vivekananda
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Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations? George Carlin (1937-2008), American comedian and actor
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Many there are who do not even hear of Atman; though hearing of Him, many do not comprehend. Wonderful is the expounder and rare the hearer; rare indeed is the experiencer of Atman taught by an able preceptor. Katha Upanishad, 1.2.7
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Becoming means there’s change. We’re getting more refined, getting more spiritual. Being means it already exists. Go deep enough into the soul and you get past the part that’s becoming; you get into the part that’s being, the essence of the soul. If we can get into the essence of the soul—which is done through meditation—we can find that part of us that’s already one with God. Nothing has to happen for that part of us to be one with God; we just have to find it. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
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You are perfect this very moment. You are all that you will ever be. If you don’t see it that way, then you live in a difficult state of affairs, striving toward perfection and being imperfect along the way. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001)
D I D Y O U K N O W ?
HOW MUCH DOES AN ELEPHANT COST?
IT IS SAID THAT IN ANCIENT INDIA, if a king wanted to ruin a man, all he had to do was to gift him an elephant. The recipient could not refuse the royal largess, nor could he afford its upkeep. The unfortunate owner soon met with financial ruin. One wonders, is that still true today?
As it turns out, it just might be. Buying an elephant in India can cost upwards of $10.000, but that’s just the initial purchase. According to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, keeping just one elephant costs $133,000 annually! Without the availability of lush vegetation, the monthly cost of food can be over $6,000. The average human consumes just four pounds of food each day, whereas an 8,000-pound Indian elephant will eat over 330 pounds. Their diet can include bananas, lettuce, grasses, leaves and bamboo, but hay, herbivore pellets, and acacia leaf fodder are the mainstays of a domestic elephant.
In India, apart from their religious work, elephants are used for moving logs, hauling loads to remote areas, transporting tourists and pulling carts. They are valued over mechanized equipment because they can work in water and require little maintenance, needing only vegetation and hydration. They can be trained to memorize specific tasks and will remember over 30 commands. As of 2000, there were 13,000 to 16,500 working elephants employed in Asia.
CROSSWORD
Across
1. Confluence of three rivers (2 words)
6. ___veni Marg, a very wide street through the mela grounds
7. High ranking swami in a Hindu monastic order
9. A means of expression; to utter
10. ____ Gange, “Hail to the Gange River,” mantra for pilgrims (2 words)
12. Sound of laughter
14. Individual’s soul
15. Colloquial Indian English for the royal “bath”
17. Shri __ Shankaracharya
18. Number of pilgrims who came to the 2013 Kumbh Mela (2 words)
22. Curve in a river
25. The most well known mantra
27. Act of receiving blessings; seeing and being seen by a holy person
29-30. Pitcher Festival, the largest gathering of humans ever (2 words, with a space)
Down
1. Reality; truth
2. Ceremony where a new member is welcomed
3. __maste
4. Hindu monastic order, originally means “wrestling ring”
5. Most sacred river in India
7. ___atma, great soul
8. Central scriptures of Hinduism
11. __msa, to do no harm
13. __anishads, Hindu texts
14. ___iti, the mother of Indra
16. Frozen water
19. ___i, energy centers, or channels, through which the energies of the subtle body flow
20. In the countryside
21. One of the navagrahas in Vedic astrology
22. The side of a river
23. Act
24. Kerala festival celebrating Vamana
26. ___a, great; immense
28. “___ Namo Narayan,” greeting of the Saiva Akharas and saints
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Crossword answers are based on this issue’s articles. For completed puzzle as well as an interactive online version visit: bit.ly/july13crossword [http://bit.ly/july13crossword]