THE BOOK OF LIFE ... CHAPTER ONE

1. There is no other God than thy own Self whose reflection is the wide world around.

2. Thou shalt not worship any as God save he that hath shown thee the Way.

3. And he shalt be worshipped in spirit alone and never in form for the Self within, that is the Lord, is formless too.

4. Thy Lord and Master is thy own Self, seated deep within and seeking nought from thee for It is they essence, so what shalt It seek?

5. If ye shalt worship, then do so to thy preceptor who art thy Self reflected in thy purest mind, thy core communing to thee.

6. Thou shalt please him ever with service supreme for in it lies thy highest good, the following of his precepts, obedience of his commandments, fulfilment of his wishes and practice of the principles taught thee by him that hath given life and light to thee.

7. He who hath given thee direction in this maze ye call life shalt lead thee unto thy highest Self too in the fullness of time and know ye that it is thy Self which is the Self in all and that all that appears to be not thee are but thy Self covered up by the light of this world.

8. So, adore thy preceptor who art thy purest form but do so forsooth never in form for he forbids the worship of the finite that warps thy thoughts in the mire of matter.

9. In spirit abide, and in spirit adore, him who hath given thee light of thy inner Self for verily he that receiveth the wondrous word shalt be set free from all bondage.

10. Light of the world, O, thy light is hid deep within where dark may not ever overcome thee, and know that light to be thee in thy inmost Self akin to the Sun that shines ever and never dims, so also is they truest Self.

11. Thy Lord seeks nought from thee save thy continual contemplation of thy core consciousness where freedom is, holiness is and all that is good and welcome for man is.

12. So, live thy life not in liveried form but cover thyself in simple thought of the Self within that ye may be freed from this error of sight that sees the all and fails to witness the One within.

13. Live within in blessed bliss and seek ye not the life without for fraught it is with shadow of death, but the life within flows fragrant free, nor tinge of doubt nor shade there be.

14. Hold hard to thy guide as ye proceed through the rough ravines and the precipitous paths en route to the summit of the Self supreme where the twain in bliss shall merge for sure and be the One that never was two nor three nor more but ever was one or less than so, nought, nought and nothing more.
15. Thou shalt eat, drink and sleep in moderation for thine it is to keep the vital stuff.
16. Thou shalt not forsake thy infirm parents but shalt serve them to the best of thy ability.
17. Thou shalt seek the pleasure of the soul and not that of the palate for in such withholding lies the liberation from the pain of the unceasing cycle of life.
18. Thou shalt honour thy nation and of thy nation seek that which is consonance with humanity in the whole.
19. Thou shalt not smoke or drink or partake of forbidden food, for the elements purified will lead to a greater joy and liberation thereof.
20. Thou shalt ever speak the truth and hold on to truthfulness through your trials and tribulations but shalt never compromise the general good for such personal adherence for the other one ought not to pay for your virtue by undergoing pain or loss of security.
21. Truth in the absolute is one but may be approached in a myriad ways. Hold unto the path that ye hast been endowed with but wish well to those that traverse along parallel paths.
22. Dogma binds, spirituality frees. So, hold fast unto the Spirit that ye shall in vision see that which is thy aspired end, thy glorious Self.
23. Study the Word daily and make a sacrifice of thy life unto the good of all.
24. This life is an ephemeral dream but live it well to realize thy permanent abode lest thou shalt fall into darkness which goes by inertia. Ever strive to live well and righteously so for in thy effort lies the well-being of many. Then, having had the taste of life ephemeral, renounce to prepare for the grand departure.
25. Purity being the sole source of energy, be pure by all means to achieve thy wherewithal in life and to give up when the call comes or when age beckons thee the other way.
26. Thou shalt conserve thy energy and not fritter it away in fruitless pursuits, frivolities and anger, lust and greed.
27. As thou sowest, so shalt thou reap. A single cause may bring forth a single effect or multiple causes may produce a resolved effect. So, there is clemency in good action, mercy in love as truer deeds ward off evil effects.
28. Act wisely to strike off fetters for unwise deeds forge more links to bind the soul to bondage base.
29. Seek the company of the Word within and the Light that shines in the sanctum serene where silence reigns save the Om and the dark is dispelled in effulgence free.
30. Seek not the path from prophets false but seek ye the light from thy Master that knows for whosoever knows the Self shalt show the path and none else, none else.
31. The Self is all that is, what else ye seek in ignorance of thy real nature? None else is but the Self.
32. Read the library of the Self to know the world around but never judge the Self by the standards of the world. Science illumines the ignorant mind, this Self-knowledge enlightens the wise.
33. The Self is neither born nor does it die, neither does it live nor have cessation of existence, for it is the essence of existence transcending life and death. Itself illimitable, it does not enter into space-time-causality but is the witness to it all.
34. This One is beyond enumeration and so cannot be called the One but is the nameless one, formless, unqualified, without attributes, location or alliance. Solitary, serene, self-brooding, this is the sole Presence, unbounded, spherical infinitude that is at the heart of things while roof-life hangs the Cosmos.
35. Transcending the 'I', this Atman is the non-dual existence, self-conscious, the golden thread running through the pearls of life, the pervasive Presence through eternity, lonesome, alone, without a second nor with any hope of a replication. Subject it is forever with the objectified world its shadow.
36. The power of forgiveness wins over enemies but this power must be with discretion uses, else, evil will rise in society.
37. Love is the essence of life and love consists in sacrifice.
38. Renunciation, truthfulness and purity are the pillars of religion and without these any movement in the name of God peters down to politics of a debasing kind. So are prophets of old often the initiators of perfidious political movements that have deluged the world with blood and wholesale destroyed civilizations.
39. Silent are the saints, vocal the politicians who amass an army of followers for their nefarious political ends in the name of religion and God. Like dewdrops these pure children of light freshen the soil and help blossom the flowers of humanity. These are the living wells of spirituality and deserve our highest worship. They us unto liberation.
40. Shrouded in mystery are the origins of religion but clear as daylight is thy own origin where thou shouldst seek spiritual sustenance from. Thou art thy saviour, thy prophet, thy liberator, seek none beyond.
41. What thou cast off follows thee, what thou forsake enslaves itself to thee. Knowing this, reject all and be the master of this universe for thine it is to renounce thus and possess.
42. Truth abides in the heart of all, yet, truth reveals itself not, for myriad are the desires that cover up the face of truth. The dust of desire having been washed off by the tears of divine love, truth manifests itself in its pristine purity flooding the form in bliss.
43. Holy is the water that holds the soul, holier the soul that beholds it.
44. There is no coming or going, 'tis but a flight of fancy that in delusion displaces the soul from point to point when all of space-time is but an extension in thought, a stretch of imagination. The Self ever broods upon the Self, spaceless, timeless, uncaused.
45. Mark ye thy Master that hath given thee light and freedom in removing the scales off thine eyes and set him apart from the rest of humanity that ye shall be blessed in such honour. For blessed is he that doth follow the Lord and find his footing in this maze of Maya, the desert-sand of life. And that Lord know it to be him that hath cast off his all to save thy soul. Follow him!
46. Unto him belongs the eternal beatitude who shall spurn the offers of this narrow plot ye call the earth and greet that is offered him from the highest heavens, his fountain of perennial peace, the Self within that is the source of all.
47. When the final moment comes, let not the thought revert to aught of earth but may it flow in to the One within which art the end of all.
48. Birth was but a blessed dream, life itself a dream of sorts, and now that death stares stark in the face, will ye not see the dream-end too and so shake off this dream of dreams?
49. Live thy life in a manner free that ye may never bondage see. Shun the shame of of finity free and fearless abide in infinity.
50. Give unto others all that ye wouldst give unto thine own in distress. Blessed be the giver for unto him belongs the bounty of the world and the peacefulness of the Self serene.
51. The disciple runs into grave danger on forsaking the Guru. Hence, transgress not the preceptor's bounds.
52. Submission to the preceptor achieved, all attainment is at hand. Then, victory is within sight of the final scaling over the precipice to the garden of joy.
53. On this side is the deadly chasm; on the other side is Paradise. O devotee, seek to hold the hand of thy preceptor as thou traverse the razor's edge.
54. All is well when the Guru is pleased; all foul up when ye incur his displeasure. For the pathfinder never lets thee down but ye doeth it to thyself. Therefore, forever seek solace in his company, seek ever refuge at his blessed feet.
55. Culture is plummeting. You, my children, must be the vanguards of the new civilization that must now set in to save humanity from extinction.
56. Is there a link between the great saviours of humankind? Could they be manifestations of a single super-soul with a single agenda, that of human redemption? What are the missing links? What are the links that be? Where is the flow, the continuum? Discover that ye may be delivered.
57. Whosoever knoweth It, knoweth It not, but, verily, verily, this I say unto thee that whosoever hast lost his self and found himself in It, hast known It and yet not known It for sure, for who can know the unknowable save by deflection of It's shadow from Itself? Therefore, be It and be It in truth alone, for the Messiah liveth on this side of the mountains as well.
58. Water of the Jordan or water of the Ganga? Each is pure by its self-standard or the standard of the clime but rare, indeed, is the one that sees into the heart of things and sets forth the value in the light of the soul that is the substance of all that is, and never the shadowy world about. The Self is the standard, the essence, whose crust is the wide world ranging from the dust to the Divine.
59. Know the preceptor to be of the nature of the Self and thy final fruition too. There the Trinity meet.
60. When shall it rain the water of the heavens, cleansing the soul of all its dross? When shall it flood the mansion of this man, taking away the dark and lighting up the cells that lie in wait for the call of the Sun? The plains fill up, so do the valleys, and in this mountainous terrain, shall not the water stand? From end to end the light washes its beams onto fallen man, raising him unto the realm within, his lost domain. And then, freedom is.

61. Superstition of the ages have held their sway till date. The time has come when thou shalt strike out against these ancient fetters that bind thee down and proclaim with voice of truth thy inherent rights, the rights of man, boundless, free.

62. Light the lamp of knowledge within to dispel the dark of the outside.

63. Whosoever cares for the needy, shares his all for the same; whosoever shares what he hath with those that hath not, cares indeed for all.

64. Duty lies in serving all, not in piety divorced from the well-being of brother man. Piety purifies the soul of man that he shall serve his brother best. Fraternal feelings must include all, not mere clan or tribe or sect or nation but the whole of blessed humanity and even beyond to the lower beings. And it is blasphemous to label the worm as low, for who shall rank life-forms so, when in Brahman all are threaded the same.

65. Prosperity pursues the virtuous one who knows the use of wealth. The vicious one, mired in self, ever seeks well-being but is denied the same. For him it is a craving so crass that Nature spares nought for him. So, seek thy wealth but ever seek, before, the virtue to wield thy power, pelf, in righteous way for the good of all and, last of all, for thy own good.

66. Why fear thy fate when in virtue thou shalt cross the ocean of terrible life? Why fruitless dwell on the night of death when springtime blossom thou fail to see? Awake, awake, O sleeping souls, and virtuous, valorous, smash the dream, this nightmare dreaded of forms and names.

67. A nation is not built by a mass of indolent fools nor is it built by characterless politicians or avaricious businessmen. A nation is built by millions of selfless individuals who can sacrifice their lot unto the good of all, caring not what may befall them in the bargain. These are not traders in love but are patriots whose religion is national well-being and whose motto human welfare in the name of the highest ideal, that of Self-realization. Such a life of pure service lead, my children, that ye may not spend thy terrestrial time in vain.
68. The world is going to ruins in the absence of genuine love. All that is there in the name of love is barter, trade in love, so mired in materialism the world is today. It is here that ye may be of service to the world if ye will set up a high ideal of selfless love for all and sundry, especially, the weak and the oppressed, the destitute and the dispossessed,the sick and the suffering.
69. Thou shalt pursue beauty in thy quest for truth and truth in thy adoration of beauty for, verily, thy deepest welfare is bonded in the twain.
70. Educate thyself if ye will bring about human welfare. Knowledge helps lifts the veils that hang over the eyes and keep one in servile state. Ideas dispel illusions, empower the soul to battle against the iniquities of life. So, know and serve to advance civilization.
71. International understanding is an imperative today in a world increasingly getting interconnected at every level, in every phase. Cross-cultural interactions are routine nowadays and this requires effective communication of ones' own culture without any proselytizing pretensions and appreciation of others' cultures with a view to absorbing what is best in them. Education, absorption, assimilation and growth---this is the way forward.
72. The youth may transform the world for the better if they choose to be objective about the problems besetting it, resist brainwashing, indoctrination and all of its ilk, and set about reshaping their own lives along lines of enlightened rationality. A system of scientific education, despite resistance, may yet transform the world and remove much of the maladies that affect it today. Therefore, it is imperative to work for the proper education of the masses. Herein lies dharma.
73. Ye can never attain to Truth unless ye be ever truthful in thought, word and deed.
74.  Failing in thy duty to conform to truth, thou showeth before the world thy weakness of will. What glory thou behold in such debasement of thy self , what aspirations of thine dost thou seek to fulfil thus? Verily, do I say unto thee that whosoever shall abide by truth shall attain to Truth and none else. Hold fast unto thy supreme Self and with every breath seek the living God within who art the essence of Truth.
75. Wonder of wonders is that man clings to faith and refuses to reason, believes in the mercy of a tyrant God and rejects the benevolence of brother man, suffers superstition in hope of heaven and renders life on earth unto a veritable hell. Primeval light peering through polluted mind seeks deliverance through cosmic delusion. The result is religiosity of a vicious kind, fanatical, obsolete, absolutist exclusiveness that knows neither acceptance of others' beliefs nor tolerance worth the call. Seek within thy inner self the sanctum of the Spirit and break free from age-old darkness. Step ye into the realm of light and bear the bliss of freedom. Within the human frame lies the God ye seek, within the heart of hearts lies the bliss ye yearn for.
76. Fanaticism wins over liberalism in securing adherents on account of its intensity of negative concentration and because the human species is not yet evolved enough in the general to discriminate between truth and untruth. Fantastic propositions hold the human mind more securely than reasonable realities. The delusive idea of infinitude in ignorance leads men to pin faith in the fanciful articulations of messiahs and prophets themselves perverted from truth by self-deception. Yet, such is the grip absurd imagination has on the untrained mind that billions fall for it and suffer subjection to gross materialism masquerading as spirituality. God, the figment of man's imagination, rules over him and sentences him to servility for ages before the critical mass of reason be reached when he will wake up to his faculty of free-thinking and rational enlightenment. Much later will come spirituality that transcends matter and reason and reaches the core of consciousness which is the seat of the absolute Brahman.
77. Pitfalls of logic suit irrational faiths well, fallacies fructify as foisted tenets, dogma displaces deliberation. Imposition impairs insight as spirituality takes to flight. Pollution of personality prosecutes proceedings despite pretentious claims to purity of purpose and the slightest deviation from dogma decrees devastation as blasphemy barbecues blessedness. A scientific revolution is the way out but alas, it may yet be at a heavy cost. 
78.Revelation must fulfil reason, not contradict it. If it runs contrary to reason and is exclusive in its occurrence, reject it, for truth must have validity either in universal experience or in enlightenment which must be open to all. This is the only way past dogmatic adherence to irrational beliefs, founded on so-called revelations, and their foster-child, fanaticism. If peace and prosperity in their highest sense are to prevail on earth, archaic superstitions must be given up and rationality upheld as worthy of being integral to the human pursuit for truth and excellence. This, however, does in no way mean that religious practices pertaining to cultivation of the inner life of man have no place in the future renascent order of things. Rather, reason is to be the safeguard against falling into the pitfalls of magic and mummery and absolutist assertions of the chosen ones of an arbitrary God who speaks only to the ignorant that dare not contradict Him in terms of enlightened reason. Reason that is chastened in the crucible of renunciation and purity where the least contamination of lust, lucre, power or pelf is assiduously avoided to attain to the subtlest of nervous evolution whereby the higher truths of the spirit may be perceived, such sublimation of the mental faculties are in conformity with the pursuit of truth without a tinge of external imposition or internal presupposition. Such is the rational way of the spirit as it obtains in enlightened India which in no way contradicts the investigative, evidential methodology of science as applied to the inner world and is free of dogma, doctrine, diktat or mental imposition of any kind, for freedom being the goal of this search after truth, freedom is held as the means to it as well. The Abrahamic religions have much to learn from the democracy of spirit as obtains in Hinduism and if they do so, they stand a moderate chance of surviving the onslaughts of modern science. Else, they will dwindle in course of time, for an increasingly educated humanity will refuse to abide by archaic irrational prescriptions of scriptures or absolutist assertions of messiahs or messengers. Man is on the rise and only the spiritual traditions of India that collectively go by the name of the Sanatan Dharma or, popularly, Hinduism can accommodate the rising aspirations of the human soul that will brook no opposition as it manifests progressively its godhead. Only Hinduism and its derivative schools of religious thinking such as Jainism and Buddhism allow this fullest bloom of the human soul and only these will survive the ravages of time. Grounded in the scientific spirit as these are, they are in perfect compatibility with the findings of modern science and are being strengthened by the mathematical formulations of science unlike the Abrahamic religions which are forever in conflict with science and, as such, are threatened with extinction at the hands of science. Either they reform their ways, become tolerant of other faiths and learn to harmoniously co-exist with all, or they will go down the way other ancient religions have at their hands, for, in the very words of Christ, ''Whosoever shall liveth by the sword, shall perish by it." Long live the meek Hindus and all those who choose to emulate them in civility of behaviour, catholicity of culture and universality of acceptance! Om!
79.The tenets are there to follow, the faith has a foundation and the Self is the ground on which to stand. But adherence to the preceptor is the key for in him the principle becomes flesh. Whosoever follows the Guru, reaches the goal.
80.Spiritual effusions are often a hindrance to spiritual progress for a sudden overload of emotions often degrades the aspirant after a temporary high. Therefore, seek to subdue emotional overflow with discrimination and channelise the energy within to sever the karmic links that bar the way to freedom.
81. The world is battling to be human, the divine is far away still.
82. Freedom they fight for is of the bound soul, spiritual freedom is far far away.
83. Material cravings having been met, the thirst of the soul begins. Then comes renunciation and with it comes light.
84. Perfection is one and performance is another. Between the two lies perseverance buoyed by patience. Effort and execution are siblings that behold each other with an equal eye.
85. Be pure, be holy, for such are the bearers of the best fruits humanity is heir to.

                                    

PAKISTAN, PEACE AND PERFIDY

Never to be forgotten are the horrors of Partition perpetrated by the perfidious politicians of the times in collusion with the British, topping whom was Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Gandhiji gave away 55 crore rupees to the newly-born state of Pakistan only to be betrayed by the beneficiary with the annexation of parts of Kashmir. China then pressurized Pakistan to surrender a part of it which is now called Aksai Chin. Had Patel been in charge of the home affairs even in Kashmir and not Nehru with his kid gloves, we would never have lost an inch of Kashmir to Pakistan. Pakistan lost the 1965 War to India and the Indian army could have marched into Pakistan and won back significant masses of our lost territory but the sudden ceasefire agreed upon by Lal Bahadur Shastri put paid to our chances and allowed the rogue State of Pakistan to continue its mischief till in 1971 three million East Pakistanis were slaughtered by the invading West Pakistan army of which over 80% were Hindus. It was a calculated genocide of the Hindus whose women were mass molested in a bid at wholesale ethnic cleansing. The Muslim clerics played the catalytic role in this barbarous violation of Hindu women by declaring them 'war booty'. The Indian army rescued the East Pakistanis, captured 90,000 Pakistani soldiers who became prisoners of war for a while only to be released with Pakistan signing the Simla Agreement in 1972 and recognizing the sovereignty of the newly-formed state of Bangladesh. But the prisoners, all war criminals were, after all, set free to carry on with the programme of the future undermining of peace and stability in India. Then came Kargil. Vajpayee was taken in by the peace initiatives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while the wily Musharraf and the I.S.I. sent in the Pakistan army to invade the high hills of Kargil in their barbarous bid to occupy the whole of Kashmir. The fools were foiled, though at significant cost on our side, and yet again, we let them off the hook with a ceasefire which never ceased ever after from their side though on our borders. Next came the 2001 Parliament attack, then the 26/11, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, a veritable siege of India's financial capital by Pakistani terrorists and we did nothing by way of retribution. And only the other day, the Air-force Base at Pathankot was attacked by Pakistani terrorists and we called over the Pakistani establishment to share intelligence with them regarding the attack! Blasphemous national policy, is it not? Here, hundreds of terror attacks, border incursions and the entire episode of fuelling terror in Kashmir on a day-to-day basis by Pakistan and its stooges in India have not been mentioned for the sake of maintenance of brevity. 350,000 Kashmiri Hindu Pandits have been literally cleansed off the Valley of Kashmir and they are living as refugees in their own country, thanks to fanatical Muslim terror outfits backed by Pakistan. This is the tale of the failed Islamic State of Pakistan that India considers her very important neighbour with whom peace treaties may be signed and summit meets held for pursuit of an ever-dwindling peace. Our Prime Minister goes to Pakistan unscheduled on his return flight from an official overseas trip to strike a deal of friendship with the traitorous Nawaz Sharif, attends his grand-daughter's marriage ceremony, touches the feet of the mother of the Pakistan PM, only to be paid back with a return gift of Pathankot. Thus much for Pakistan and peace. Jai Hind!

THE SIEGE IS ON, AWAKE, AWAKE!

Hindus should study their epics and the Upanishads if they are to survive as a people. Today, they are confronted by the nefarious activity of Pakistan trying to undermine their strength as a community and in due course of time to divide them so that they cease to be a significant force in the world. Then they will deal the Hindus the death-blow and obliterate them as a people altogether. Lest such a doomsday comes and sends the Hindus to oblivion and with it their glorious tradition of the Sanatan Dharma, I exhort all Hindu sisters and brothers to take up the study of Sanskrit, get their children to learn the language of their forefathers and manifest character enough to withstand the onslaught of proselytizing Islam and Christianity. We are decreasing in numbers all the time but, never mind, we may overcome the deficiency through the awakening of the Hindu masses and by bringing about the solidarity of the Hindus. Care for each other, manifest strength of character, study the essential principles of your religion and undertake spiritual practice daily and on a disciplined basis to counter-act the threat of foreign religions whose agenda is conversion of all to bring about a religious monolith the world over, that is, the tyranny of archaic ideology over the civilized peoples of the world at any cost. Hindus, beware! Yours is the treasure of spirituality the world looks up to with expectant eyes to save it from such fanatical oppression and it is, thus, binding on you to save your religion from ruin that you may be in a position to save human civilization from impending barbarism. Arise, my brethren, and save thyself that ye may then save thy brethren under siege everywhere. Unto thee belongs this hour of labour and unto thee belongs the morrow when the sun of freedom shall shine on all.

STOP CONVERSION 1

Hinduism is the only religion in the world that advocates religious pluralism, holding the different religions as so many paths to the same supreme truth of life and existence. Christianity and Islam are, on the other hand, both exclusive religions which uphold the doctrine of them being the sole repositories of divine truth and the pagan religions such as Hinduism as being inferior in content and in their appreciation of godhead, and thus, to be supplanted wherever they are flourishing, by conversion to the 'superior' Abrahamic faiths. This is the seed of all the disturbance caused by fanatical outfits in the world throughout history, this theological stance that one religion alone possesses the supreme truth in its entirety and is the last word on God and man and that all others are in error and will have to be brought to the right path through conversion till the world becomes a religious monolith. But that is never to be, given the natural diversity that is built into the structure of the universe, be it of matter or man. Hence, the conflict continues as each of these competing faiths keeps proselytizing to gather flock, and, where spirituality ought to have been the moving principle behind these religions, it is politics all the way through, the garnering of support for their cause through conversion, fair or foul, it scarce matters. Against this backdrop, Hinduism stands supreme in its refusal to stoop so low as to convert, to uproot one from one's natural cultural habitat, from one's stable settlement of the spirit, by inducement or coercion which it holds as the seed of all violence, a veritable war against the sanctity of the individual, a sacrilege against the soul of man, a pillaging of his essential human dignity that knows no pardon for it degrades man and reduces him to an enslaved being devoid of freedom or fundamental human rights. Conversion is a nefarious practice, is barbaric and redolent of the violent past of these exclusive exercises in faith which ought to now, at long last, learn from the highly civilized Hindus the true democracy of the spirit. It is time now that these Abrahamic religions take stock of the situation ever in ferment in the world today and do some serious soul-searching to liberalize the practice of their faiths knowing as we do that they are not empowered to alter the text of scripture as such. Stop converting the Hindu for the Hindu does not do so to you. In it lies the well-being of your faith and in it is embedded the seed of future peace on planet earth. Om! Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!

BE THOU BRAVE!

Vivekananda devotees, be brave. Swamiji would have nothing to do with cowardice. The freedom fighters, especially the extremists, had the Geeta in their hands, Vande Mataram on their lips and Vivekananda in their souls as they dared the British to leave the country. Even so, must you be to free the country from the internal and external threats that have so beset it. May Swamiji inspire you with courage to do great deeds for the Motherland and the Sanatan Dharma which through wrong usage has come to be dubbed Hinduism! May Bharat Mata give you the strength to carry out her mission of the dissemination of the spiritual culture of the Vedas throughout the world and so bring about a human renaissance in this age when all seem to be lost to the foul play of fanatics and materialists! Jai Hind!

A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE 3

Culture is not on the decline, culture is well nigh gone. Now it is mass mediocrity masquerading as civilization when refinement is a rarity and barbarism barricades whatever vestige of culture is left as the masses march on to the millennium. Proliferation and not profundity is now the watchword. So, citizens beware! This decline will consume you all. There is time yet to rectify your stance but will you? Ponder over this.

WORDS OF FIRE 2

Smash through the citadels of ignorance and proudly proclaim that you are not to be held down any more by Incarnation or Prophet for you are verily the embodiment of the Most High, your own highest Self. Through self-effort reach, O Man, that supreme state of blessedness which soars above the highest heavens, the plane that transcends that Primal Power which in fear you worship but which pales into insignificance before your realized Self.
  

WORDS OF FIRE 1

Each one of you is made up of the stuff of which the stars are not made of but you are the masters of this phenomenal universe and all that abound beyond for you are of the very essence of divinity.

Birthless, deathless spirits you are, perennial beings under temporary delusion that will pass with the passage of time when the cup of your life's experience will be brimful. Then shall you be set free and by whom? Why? Yourself.

This freedom is your true state, your only inheritance, your rightful status. You are blessed beings, sinless, pure, without any vestige of material contamination.

Awake to this realization that you are free already, that you were never bound. Shake off this delusion that you are human and assert that you are divine beings, higher than all the gods and prophets that have bound you to this abject misery of your supposed humanness. Once and for all, break through this network of Maya, strike off these fetters of archaic superstition that you have to submit to any authority on earth or in heaven and stand clean upon your infinite Self. Then shall you know the glory of your Self and never be fooled again.

CONTENTIOUS ISSUES

1. Should statues of great men like Swami Vivekananda, Tagore, Gandhiji, Netaji, Sardar Patel and the like be built or should the money allocated for the purpose be spent on developmental projects like the building of schools, hospitals etc.? I invite a debate on this issue.

2. Do politicians have any notion of their hazardous fate in the wait consequent upon their nefarious anti-people activities while enjoying the seat of power bestowed upon them by those very people? Do they have a conscience that pricks them in their nightly hours when alone they confront their souls or are they dead to any such sensitivity, drugged by the abuse of power to spiritual inertness? I invite your opinion on this issue.

IS HE THE SEVENTEENTH DIRECT DISCIPLE?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Math

Swami Nirmalananda (Tulsi Maharaj) has been mentioned here as one of the 17 direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna as opposed to the list of 16 direct disciples that is the official version nowadays which excludes Swami Nirmalananda and considers him a disciple of Swami Vivekananda instead, although, there is confusion regarding his discipleship to Swami Vivekananda as well. It is an interesting point, nay, a point of vital historical importance, and needs some enlightenment by someone equipped with reliable information on this issue. If the Mission authorities enlighten us, it will be the best perhaps. Hope to receive some response to clear the confusion. Thanking all and paying my respects to all who the Master had chosen as his apostles.

FOR THOSE THAT CARE FOR THE NAMELESS ONES

It is character that is the force in spirituality; it is purity that moves the masses; it is service and unsullied love that win the sympathy of the people. Cultivate these and the world will rally round you.

Seek not the support of the rich for the masses are your real strength. Money can scarce make any worthwhile change in human society; it is love and genuine concern for all that strike chords in the human heart and bring about gradual transformation in society.

Those that wish to work for the masses must identify with them but on an enlightened basis and not on that of fanatical ideology or political aspiration. The masses suffer everywhere and they have suffered so for ages. They have been the makers of civilisation, these millions of mute victims of social tyranny who for all the persecutions of an unjust world order have, nonetheless, by their labour produced the priceless possessions humanity has been heir to and whose spilled blood from their burst veins have built the edifice of all that is glorious and all that is commonplace in human civilisation.

The history of the world is the life-story of these masses of the freshest flowers of humanity whose toil and tears have shaped the course of human existence but whose sacrifices have been allowed to slip into oblivion for want of suitable representation of their cause in ages gone by when their animal labour was all that mattered to the tyrannical upper classes and they were fodder for the feudal lords, their lives worth a pittance.

If such be your love, my brothers, that you wish to pull these masses up from their dark dungeons to the sunshine of life’s efflorescent spring, then give them culture, the right education, to restore them their lost individuality. The task is onerous but attainable if you are armed in supernal love for your kith and kin, your flesh and blood, your very Self in so many garbs, in so many forms, so much so that life ought to be a veritable festival of worshipful service when all around abound kindred spirits fraught with the depth-divine but suffering in oblivion of their essential identity. So, may it be that some among you be fired up by the idealism of youth and, awakening to the divine within you, set up sympathetic flames of love in others for the poor masses that know not the light of day despite the declaration of democracy for all.

Hail my pure, pristine protagonists of the people! For you is the stage set to safeguard the rights of man; for you is the tide in full flow to carry across the ocean of life these billions of survivors of the barbarism of the ages. Character, purity, love --- let these be the watchwords of your movement to restore the balance of life and usher in a new era of equality and justice for all.

PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 7

Q. 1. What is the way to success?
A. 1. Character-formation.

Q. 2. What is character?
A. 2. The resolution of past mental impressions brought about by karma (work) leading to pronounced tendencies of thoughts, motivations, behaviour and action along specific lines.

Q. 3. How may character be formed?
A. 3. By the practice of purity, concentration and unselfishness.

Q. 4. What is purity?
A. 4. It is preservation of the energy resources of the body and the mind by the practice of Brahmacharya, that is, restraint of the senses from indulging in gross pleasure, frivolous and fruitless in the attainment of higher ends in life.

Q. 5. What is concentration?
A. 5. It is the focusing of the mind on progressively smaller zones till point-focus is reached. And then comes transcendence of the mind, cessation of all thought and the revelation of the Self (Atman) which is the abiding Truth in all.

Q. 6. What is unselfishness?
A. 6. It is the release of the individual mind from the narrow bounds of ego-consciousness into the infinitude of Self-consciousness. Beholding the all-pervasiveness of the Self, one is no more attached to puny self-interest but is inexorably drawn towards the welfare of all. Such a one lives only for the well-being of all for in all he see his own Self reflected through cosmic beams.

Q. 7. Is success worth having at the expense of character?
A. 7. Success without character is a contradiction in terms for material success is in no way the index of true success. Man's degree of attainment is to be measured in terms of his human culture rather than his material advancement. Character formed, the battle of life is half won. Then it is but a matter of time before the struggle for earthly survival is won as well. Thus, the formation of character, development of ethical sense and the will to do good to oneself through service to all is foundational to the pursuit of success and anyone devoid of these attributes, however prospering in life, is living a life in futility. For him is the prescription of going back to the kindergarten of life and learning the basic principles of ethical living. Spirituality will come later.

Q. 8. May we pursue prosperity as a goal in life?
A. 8. Prosperity cannot be the goal of life. Hence, it ought not be pursued as a goal in life naturally. However, pursuit of perfection for the Vaishya (the trading class) necessarily involves money as the medium of exchange in a big way and that leads to inevitable accumulation of wealth. But such earning must be obtained through ethical business practices and never any dubious means that transgresses the bounds of law or of the Spirit that is termed 'Dharma' in our scriptures. Money earned thus is for world welfare and not individual enjoyment. If this golden principle is remembered, then prosperity ceases to be pernicious and is instead the base for philanthropy that conduces to the good of all.

Q. 9. If life is ephemeral, then why ought we not to only enjoy it to the fullest while there is health in us to do so and we have the wherewithal to fulfil our desires?
A. 9. Mere sensate pleasure-seeking and the fulfilment of desires thereof is the lowest form of derivation of the infinite bliss that is our very nature. Our divinity beckons us to seek the higher fulfilment of life and we cannot but respond to this higher call despite the intermissions of more vital cravings of the body and the mind. The animal in us is now long dormant through the progression of the evolutionary process and we may now no more be able to halt the further onrush of this current of life sweeping us to the ocean of bliss hidden within us. As such, one may, if one chooses, step aside and dwell for a while in the whirlpool of desires before the buffeting of the billows of barbarous living brings one to one's senses and the path is set right and the bliss sought within, in the inner recesses of one's spiritual heart where the Beloved waits on in patient expectation to consummate the love for the devotee in a final union of ecstasy.

Q. 10. Is seeking happiness compatible with seeking enlightenment?

A. 10. The average person seeks happiness in life but the vicissitudes of life soon teach him that permanent and true happiness is an elusive dream in a world of ever-shifting affections. Then he seeks enlightenment by approaching an adept in spirituality and learns that knowledge and not pleasure is the goal of life and that the happiness he has so long sought has been nothing but sensate pleasure wearing the garb of happiness with its underside of sorrow hidden under the tapestry of deceitful delight. His illusions are now dispelled as he receives instructions from his preceptor in the laws governing the spiritual world and a new world opens up before his purified vision full of the bliss of the Spirit within. The aspirant is now happy as he is enlightened in the knowledge of his Self but his happiness is of the nature of bliss and not of the former stuff of sensate pleasure. Such happiness is not a fancy of the fleeting moment but is a perennial possession for it derives from the core of one’s existence, stable, secure and free. The seeking of such bliss of the soul is entirely in keeping with seeking enlightenment for the two are the obverse and the reverse of the same coin, that of existence, absolute and transcendental.

IN RESPONSE TO SWAMI YOGASTHANANDA'S HOLY DIP DURING KHUMBH

When aspirants take a dip in the river during Kumbha Mela, they get purified and when holy men take a dip likewise, the river gets purified as well as sattwa particles from their pure bodies dissolve in the water to add to its spiritual quality. Thank you Swami Yogasthanandaji for taking the dip and keeping up this glorious tradition of replenishment of sattwa of the holy river Kshipra.

PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 6

Q. 1. Why must we love others?

A. 1. Because they truly are not 'others' but are our very selves in essence. We are all one, the single Self behind the multiplicity of bodies.

Q. 2. Where are we now located?

A. 2. We are caught in the system of man-vibration which is the human perception of this universe of sensory dreams. Here we are, almost hopelessly trapped amidst words and images signifying our human predicament and limiting us to ephemeral ends.

Q. 3. Are we in our senses or are we devoid of deeper understanding of our true status?

A. 3. We are hypnotized into the belief that we are humans when truly we are the infinite Self, the unborn, undying reality behind phenomenal dreams, the transcendental truth that is unbounded by space, time and causality.

Q. 4. How may we be free of bondage?

A. 4. By constant assertion of our infinite Self and drowning the puny human ego in the waters of disinterested action for world-welfare, by constant remembrance of our beloved Chosen Ideal (Ishta Devata), by concentration of the forces within the psycho-physical system to the point of making them subservient to our superior will-force and, finally, by the ever-vigilant discrimination between the Real and the phenomenal and, so, disengaging ourselves from the phenomenal and identifying ourselves with the Real, the Self which is our essence of existence, bliss and consciousness.

Q. 5. What is the way to peace?

A. 5. By avoiding unnecessary confrontation with people over the petty things of life, by detachment from the result of action undertaken, by actively seeking nothing in return for service rendered dispassionately but remaining contented with whatever comes by way of return, by avoiding being judgemental about others and, so, cultivating the habit of seeing the good of others and abstaining from fault-finding, by developing a wholesome philosophy of life that allows room for others' shortcomings and emphasizes the efficacy of acceptance of all as they are and not as we wish them to be, and, finally, by strengthening the will-force to hold the errant mind in check and smoothing out the incongruities of our mental responses to life-situations by depth-vision of the Self through the purified practice of meditation.   

PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 5

Q. 1. Is there a meeting-ground for different, mutually opposed, doctrinaire, exclusive religions?

A. 1. Yes, in the pure pursuit of God-realization by individuals of any faith, regardless of dogma, and in the inevitable reformation of human society globally owing to scientific enlightenment when irrational doctrine, dogma or diktat will be thrown overboard as so much trash into the cosmic bin.
Q. 2. Why is that malefic movements of dubious origin and destructive potential are allowed to grow to pernicious proportions before effective action is earnestly contemplated to control them and, where necessary, eliminate them?
A. 2. This is because hypocrites running the world-show forever compromise on truth for purposes of petty personal gain, for political advantages, business benefits and plain fear to control the devil head-on while yet there is time. And this they do on account of a certain debasing spinelessness of character they suffer from despite tall pretensions to education and culture. Deflecting the main issues of totalitarianism of theology and uncomfortable fundamental facets of exclusive faiths and rather setting up a comfortable conversation on inessential superficiality that will never go to address the deeper issues affecting the world on account of the fall-out of fanaticism stemming from these faiths, is now symptomatic of public speaking, lest the speaker comes by harm from a death warrant signed by an over-zealous bigot. Also, it is fashionable among so-called liberal circles to criticise the mother religion of India for offences made by the million by other faiths of fanatical following to give the appearance of equal blameworthiness to all religions. This is a spineless capitulation to the force of fear and the greed for gold, that is, inducements infiltrating the ranks of the modern messengers of information. Covering a corpse under masses of fresh flowers does not arrest the decay of the dead remains but merely fills the air with the added stench of the festering flowers as well. So is it with this despicable cover-up of the conspiracy of religious terror that passes the buck on geo-political situations and colonial inheritances as being responsible for viciousness of such order while the mainstream adherents live ever in a mode of dubious denial about the foundational sanctions which are the mainspring of such dangerous derivatives. The hypocrisy of semi-literate liberals in refusing to debate on the fundamental tenets of these doctrinaire faiths while making seasoned attacks on the one truly universal religion functional in the world is proof of the mercenary nature of these merchants of information and is, along with the pernicious patronage of politicians for these movements, a significant cause why, unchecked, these archaic absolutisms keep flourishing till they have grown to pernicious proportions. Now is the hour to act in reasonable reflection on the ramifications of irrationality and unreason taking civilization down the drains, if humanity is to survive to see a brighter day. Religion must be scrutinized with rational rigour and accepted or rejected in so far as it passes the test of reason. Individual 'inspiration' cannot hold humanity hostage to violent programmes of indoctrination whereby mass mobilization of malefic forces takes place, perpetually threatening peace and harmony on earth and reducing humanity to a conditioned victim of conspicuous conspiracy they call 'religion'.








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PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 4

Q. 1. What is the ideal age for serious spiritual practice?
A. 1. 16-30 years which are the most creative years of one's life and which are the most energetic years as well.

Q. 2. What are is the Ashram-Dharm of spiritual practice?
A. 2. Pure pursuit of study during the days of Brahmacharya (student life till 25 years of age); detached performance of work for self-preservation and world-welfare along with daily discipline of chanting, meditation, etc., during the years of Gaarhyastha (householder's life from 25 to 50 years); forest retreat for scriptural study and meditation on the Divine during the years of Vanaprastha ( retired life from 50-75 years); complete renunciation from the world on embracing Sannyas (mendicant monk's life from 75-100 years). Here, it must be mentioned that the Vedic rishis had divided the human life into four phases of 25 years each on the assumption that a healthy human being may live on till 100 years.

Q. 3. What is true non-violence?
A. 3. The attitude of universal love for all, beholding oneself in all. Gandhian Satyagraha was close to non-violence but never truly so for it was a political movement with opponents to overcome, often using dubious means, which was not in spirit with true spiritual non-violence. The fragrant life of Ramakrishna, in contrast to Gandhi's, was the epitome of true non-violence for it was a life lived with no antagonism towards any and with fraternal love to all, nay, even love proceeding from the realization of the Divine Self in all.

Q. 4. Is charity helpful in attaining to spirituality?
A. 4. Charity springs from love for others and a large-heartedness of spirit that caters to not merely self-survival but world-welfare as well. It leads to a sense of integration with the world at large and an expansion of human feeling for the whole of humanity. Charity leads to progressive detachment for the material possessions of the world as well provided the attitude be right in giving, that of service and not help to the world where the giver is the beneficiary and the receiver the benefactor. Such charity is called 'sattwik' charity and it is service worshipfully rendered to the right person at the right time and in the right manner. It elevates the giver and, in due course of time, should he persist in such giving, opens up his spiritual consciousness making him fit for higher spiritual pursuits leading to perfection.

Q. 5. Is taking spiritual initial from a Guru (spiritual preceptor) an imperative to progress in the spiritual path/
A. 5. Absolutely so. Without spiritual initiation one will be wandering aimlessly in the wilderness while the river of spiritual life flows along its subterranean channels to which one will have no access. Initiation with the sacred word (mantra) by a spiritual preceptor creates a passage unto the depths of the soul and sets one up for the inward spiral into Truth. But the Guru must be pure in his living and motivations, untainted by the desire for material gain and must be a knower of the purport of the scriptures. Ideally, a Guru must be a realized soul or one sufficiently advanced along the path towards Self-realization to be able to generate spiritual enthusiasm in the disciple.

  




  

PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 3

Q. How may we overcome anger?

A. By giving up the idea of righteous anger, that is, of the efficacy of anger as a fruitful force in achieving righteous ends. However, the one constitutionally prone to emotional excitement and expression thereof is very much more culpable to anger when he is thwarted in the fulfilment of his desired ends than the one who is by nature calm and collected and less given to emotional excesses. For the former, anger often is a lifelong companion and a crude one at that. He may be forced to reduce it as he ages, out of health compulsions, when he sees that his body and the brain can no more cope with the sudden onrush of blood consequent on anger. Also, emotional maturity and understanding of life in a higher light help one to inculcate the attributes of forgiveness and detachment which significantly help reduce anger. Besides all these, regularized, routinised living incorporated with disciplined hours of meditation, chanting, prayer and other spiritual practices harmonize the human system and even out the irregularities periodically building up therein to reduce stress significantly and this, is turn, reduces the propensity towards anger. Proper ethical training ought to be imparted at the school level and reinforced later at different stages of life periodically to make one ever remember that one is not the Lord of the universe to have an entitlement to be sitting in judgement over others and passing verdict on their actions or attitudes in terms of violent verbal volleys termed 'anger'. Anger is the result of uncontrolled emotions getting the better of oneself and must be recognized as a weakness during the formative years of one's life by elders and teachers instead of being lauded as a virile virtue denoting a thunderous personality worthy of emulation. Dissociate virtue from anger, recognize it as a temporary nervous debility and half the battle to control it is won. A final point and that is what the yoga sutras of Patanjali state on this issue. Whenever a wave of anger is about to pass through the mind, raise an opposite wave, that of love, to counteract the former wave. This is a most effective way of neutralising a rising current of anger. Prolonged yogic training leads to pacification of the mental impulses at will and the sublimation of nefarious thought patterns into integral divine thinking. Anger is then checked at source, absorbed and transformed into higher intellectual and spiritual energy. At an even higher level of spiritual evolution, the very impulse of the depth-mind that would eventually show up at the surface-mind as anger is given a creative, harmonic direction and anger is, so to say, 'nipped in the bud'. The sincere soul surely succeeds in controlling anger but, alas, after a hard, hard struggle.

PERTINENT QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS ... 2

Q. 1. Where may inter-faith conversation begin?
A. 1. In totalitarian religions accepting that their exclusive approach is not the way forward and it is time to lend their ears to more rational discourse going on elsewhere.

Q. 2. How may harmony of faiths be arrived at, if at all?
A. 2. By becoming aware that different religions are merely different paths to the same goal, that of Self-realization, and that spirituality and not doctrine is the core of religion. God must be experienced and the life of renunciation lived. The violence of conversion must be given up and so must all exclusiveness of doctrine be disregarded. But that is a far cry.

Q. 3. Are the present-day inter-faith meets of any merit?
A. 3. Mostly they are hypocritical exercises of make-believe fraternal feelings between liberals and fanatics but, nonetheless, a beginning has been made in the right direction, although, fundamentally flawed in terms of hiding the hard facts of the constitutional characteristics of fanatical religions.

Q. 4. Do all religions truly lead to the same goal, that of Self-realization?
A. 4. That depends on the aspirant's sincerity and purity entirely. Religion is a path and the path leads to a destination which is Self-realization. However, only the religions of Indian origin have the end of the spiritual quest in Self-realization. The Abrahamic religions do not accept this spiritual end-point and stop short at the dualistic, or at best, at the qualified monistic level. So, the aspirant there does not have a charted path beyond the dualistic level and has to rely on intuition or knowledge of the Indian yogic traditions to further proceed.

Q. 5. Must we believe in authority or ought we to judge the veracity of scriptural pronouncements on the basis of scientific reasoning and sound evidence?
A. 5. We must reject all authority in a civilized way and accept whatever passes our enlightened reason. We must test, scrutinize and seek for solid evidence before we accept any teaching or doctrine of religion. We must be thoroughly scientific in our approach.

Q. 6. Are we born free of religion and are then indoctrinated into it?
A. 6. Yes, so it is. We are born free of any badge of religion, although we are not born free of past religious or karmic influences. Then, religion is thrust upon us as children by the home environment and, more nefariously, by society, in states where totalitarianism of religion prevails. This is very damaging to the growth of the individual and is one of the root causes why we are held down as a species to archaic absolutism masquerading as righteous religion.

Q. 7. What is bondage?
A. 7. Bondage is the apparent subservience of the soul to matter, of the mind to sensate pleasures and pain thereafter, and of the body-mind complex, which we call the organic system, to the transmigratory cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Bondage is of the infinite, immutable Reality apparently trapped into the consciousness that it is the finite, ever-changing phenomena. In reality, though, there is no bondage for the Self; it is ever-free, luminous, whole.

Q. 8. Is rebirth possible?
A. 8. Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism have theorized on rebirth and it is intrinsic to their philosophy of 'karma'. Sages and saints and many ordinary people have also testified to this theory. However, carry out your own investigation and accept or reject as per your findings. If, however, the Vedantic theory of the unreality of the universe is comprehended and realized, then the entire cycle of birth and rebirth vanishes into thin air altogether along with the universe of phenomenal dreams. Even the dualistic God dissolves with the universe and lives on sublimated and transmuted in the Self, the Brahman.

Q. 9. What is meditation?
A. 9. It is the focussing of the mind on progressively smaller zones till point-focus is reached and transcended when the observer, the observed and the act of observation all dissolve into an integrated whole.

Q. 10. Why is purity stressed on in religion?
A. 10. Because purity conserves power, discards distraction and depletion of energy, and clarifies the mind of all dross that clouds the vision of the Self.

IN RESPONSE TO ABHISHIKTA ANUSKA MUKHERJEE'S COMMEMORATIVE POST ON SUKHDEV THAPAR

Glorious work Abhishikta Anuska Mukherjee! The birthday of Sukhdev Thapar is now a commemorative occasion not much beyond the garlanding of the statue of the hero, perhaps, and a pretentious speech by a politician thereafter. To give a LIKE to the post seems almost like a betrayal of the nation for who can forgive the British for their oppression of our forefathers and the desecration and pillaging of our motherland? Shame unto independent India that she fails to recognize the valour of these supreme heroes of the Spirit for want of virility! To even contemplate the sacrifices made by our valiant youth in those days of servile dependence 'to shake off the sterile curse' of alien tyranny, and then to reflect on the perfidious political scene prevailing today and the utter lack of character in the aspirant youth who can barely look beyond their immediate personal gains to the utter indifference about the appalling living condition of the masses, fills one with pain, disgust, abhorrence and hope, that yet the Sukhdevs of yesteryears will seek rebirth in their hallowed motherland for their mission of her regeneration remains unfulfilled.

A member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Organization, co-founder of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, accomplice in the inadvertent assassination of J.P. Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police, and, thus, the avenger of the brutal death of Lala Lajpat Rai from police lathi charge (baton charge), Sukhdev Thapar belonged to a rare breed of revolutionaries who dared the British eye to eye, without hatred or malice but with virtuous violence as befits a kshatriya, to extricate the motherland from the tentacles of British imperialism. He was arrested along with Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru for criminal involvement in the assassination of J.P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutta were also apprehended for exploding bombs in the Central Assembly Hall in New Delhi on 8 April, 1929. Singh and Dutta had thrown two bombs and floated protest leaflets in the Assembly Hall to stir up the nation into engaging in a vigorous movement for independence. That they deliberately avoided escape and embraced arrest was to set up their trial which, they were convinced, would spread the revolutionary fervour across the country and ignite the fire of freedom everywhere.

Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru---that all three of them were under 24 years of age when their valiant end came makes their mature revolutionary thinking all the more remarkable and lends a lustre to their sacrifice that remains undimmed in the annals of the freedom struggle despite the passage of time. A few days before the day of their hanging, Sukhdev wrote a letter to Mahatma Gandhi dissuading him from appealing to the British government for commutation of the death sentence passed on them as it was their conviction that their death would be far more potent in igniting the revolutionary spirit in the masses than a reduced sentence of imprisonment. There was no reprieve for them though. The Court order of their prospective hanging on 24 March, 1931 was overruled and the date summarily preponed to the previous evening by the Home Secretary of Punjab. On the fateful evening of 23 March, 1931 at 7:30 the three heroes passed into folklore. The triumphant trio, deathless and defiant, raised the revolutionary slogan and, laughing full of glee, passed into eternity as if life were but a consecration at the altar of freedom of the motherland. Hail heroes, thy victory shines in the afterglow of thy sacrifice! Inquilab Zindabad! Azad Hind Zindabad!

P.S. The heroes were hanged till death; then their bodies were dismembered, packaged and passed through a hole in the real wall of the prison, transported to the outskirts of Ganda Singh Wala village under the cover of darkness where they were kerosene-cremated and their ashes then cast away in the Sutlej (Shatadru) river some 10 km from Ferozepur.

GAHANANANDA CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS ... 2

As the centenary of Srimat Swami Gahananandaji Maharaj approaches by the day, a sense of nervous expectancy grips the soul for we are not yet sure if it be the will of Thakur to allow his countless devotees to celebrate the occasion in a befitting manner. It entirely depends on Providence now and is beyond our feeble hands to shape the future course of this event. If Thakur wills it, we must be ready to pull in our might to make the occasion a grand success for a centenary comes but once a century and most of us will not survive to the next such occasion. We must be in complete preparedness to devote ourselves to whatever task is allotted us and must not then shirk the holy duty of serving Thakur in the departed Sangha-Guru, the venerable 14th President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna MIssion.

And who says he has departed? He lives on in our hearts and minds and in our souls as a benediction perennial whose fragrance does not wane with the passage of time but sweetens every moment of the passing hour with a freshness that is unsullied by the lapse of time or by change of circumstance. We owe it to him, who gave his all for us, to remember him in every movement of our lives and to fulfil him through our spiritual fulfilment, for we know it for sure that in our holiness and wholesomeness, our prayerfulness and purity, our austerity and attainment, and in our health and happiness lies his highest bliss for he is our preceptor, parent, preserver, Providence, our everything.

CULTURE AND ITS DECLINE ... 1

Verbosity is on the rise today and virtue on the wane. Culture is in precipitous decline as mediocrity rules the roost. The Peter principle operating in society is promoting people progressively to the position of incompetence and this is eating into the vitals of the cultural life of the nation where even in pre-eminently spiritual organizations offices are being held by less than competent persons leading to inevitable and sharp decline in the standards of performance erstwhile in vogue. Editorials somewhere have become a mockery in management as spirituality plummets and compromise with societal standards becomes the norm to garner support for a lost cause. Truth is being sacrificed so often to suit material ends, promises broken, ingratitude for services rendered becoming commonplace and arrogance supplanting sublime same-sightedness that ought to be the attire of the renunciate.

But this is the refined end of a decay which is otherwise rampant at every level in a far grosser form and therein lies our responsibility in setting things right. As population explodes, education proliferates and talent dwindles. In a market of mass mediocrity the man of marginal ability makes his way up the ladder through material perseverance while the gifted, ever dwindling in number, fall by the wayside in the absence of the eagle eye of patronizing expertise. Thus, quality suffers as culture colludes with commerce to make a sham of civilization and this is the prevalence today. If there be any natural law that the sum total of manifested human energy at any point of time is constant, then a wide dispersal of knowledge is bound to lower cultural standards. If again, the totality of human energy increases, say, in arithmetic progression of a very low order and proliferation of education among the masses increases in arithmetic progression of a higher order, then also culture suffers from the same predicament of invading mediocrity.