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THE EIGHT-FOLD PATH OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA SADHU VASWANI “Among the people must I go!” says the Buddha. “They suffer and I must speak to them of the Way to Peace and Joy.” To Sarnath, he comes to meet, if he can, the five bhikkhus who had been with him for sometime but who had left him when he gave up the ascetic way. The ascetic way, he had come to realise, was not the heroic way. The five ascetics see him at a distance, and they say: “Here comes a renegade: we will show him no respect!’“ Gautama draws nearer: they see him and are wonder-struck. A mysterious force seems to go out of him: they cannot resist it! One of them quickly prepares a seat for him: another holds in his hands the begging-bowl of the Buddha: the third ascetic brings water to wash the feet of the Blessed One! The Buddha gives his first sermon to the five bhikkhus: and they become his disciples again. The Buddha’s “Sermon at Sarnath” is well named the “Turning of the Wheel”. The Buddha “Turns” at Sarnath the Wheel of Dharma, pointing out that *April 30 is the thrice sacred Buddha Poornima Day. It is the day of birth, enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha.
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the universe moves round the “Wheel of Law”. In this “Sermon at Sarnath”, the Buddha gives the essence of his Teaching. He calls it the “Message of the Middle Way”. In the Buddha’s days, some followed the “ascetic way”: some others followed the “way of pleasure (bhoga)”. The Buddha said: The right way is neither the way of pleasure nor the way of asceticism. The right way is the heroic way— the way of selfcontrol, the way of purity and restraint. The Buddha emphasises the four “Aryan” Truths, the four Noble Truths. These “Truths” may briefly be summed up thus: 1. Suffering is a fact. To be born is to suffer. To live is to suffer. From birth to death thou dost suffer, O man! 2. Back of suffering is ignorance, ignorant craving or tanha, the illusion of “I”, the false “self”. In this illusion of the “ego” doth man wander from birth to birth. In ignorance he moves on, unhappy, a victim to “thirst”, trishna. Threefold is this thirst: (i) there is the thirst due to lust of flesh; (ii) there is the thirst due to lust of the eyes; and (iii) there is the thirst due to pride of life. 3. The cure of thirst is extinction of trishna, letting it go! Expel desire! Renounce attachment! In “desire”, you “separate” yourself from others: in desire you become a creature of the body. This “separateness”
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will go (i) if you learn discipline— the discipline of will-power; and (ii) if in your heart is awakened compassion for all creatures— for men and birds and beasts. “Compassion” is “maitri”. Filled with maitri, compassion, be one with the One Life. 4. The way to extinguish desire, trishna, is the Eightfold Path— the Path which has “Eight Noble Steps” aiming at awakening of maitri and compassion in the heart. These “Four Noble Truths” are beautifully expounded by the Buddha in the following words: 1. Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of pain: birth is painful, sickness is painful, old age is painful, sorrow, lamentation, dejection and desire are painful. 2. Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain. The cause is the craving which leads to re-birth, combined with pleasure and lust, finding pleasure here and there, namely, the craving for passion, the craving for existence, the craving for non-existence. 3. Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of pain — the cessation, without a remainder, of that craving: abandonment, forsaking, release, non-attachment. 4. Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the Way that leads to the cessation of pain. This is the Noble Eightfold Way, namely, right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right living,
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right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The Path, the Noble Path, the “Eightfold Path” has the following “eight steps” to “Knowledge” called Bodhi (Illumination). Light shines in him who treads the Path, step by step. I. The very first step is right understanding, right view or comprehension. Right view is his who does not mistake the passing for the Abiding, (the transient for the permanent. Wrong views, doubts, mere “opinions”, must be laid aside. 1. Right understanding is his who does not fall into error: and the greatest error is his who regards “ego” as the “Reality”. The “ego” is “illusion”. In the journey through samsara (the world) to Liberation, the illusion of the “ego” must be shed. 2. Realise, therefore, that you move in a transient world. Nothing that you see is permanent: for nothing that “separates” is permanent. What “separates” is the “body”, the “ego”. What “separates” is “illusion”. For Life is One. Forms are transient: Life, the One Life, is permanent and moves on! II. The second step in the Path is right resolution, right intention and aspiration, right purpose. This is the will-to-attain based on (1) self-discipline and (2) the vision that Knowledge or Illumination is possible. In this world of suffering, intend, aspire, resolve that you will
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lessen suffering, not increase it. Develop will-power. Resolve that you will attain to Knowledge or Illumination which will lead you out of suffering. Through self-discipline you can attain to Knowledge. The second step, then, in the Path— the step of right resolve— is taken by him (1) who has no desire to harm any living creature; and (2) who strives to free himself from the slavery of the senses. III. The third step is right speech. This is the first step in the practice of self-discipline. Right speech is essential to self-discipline. Right speech is his (1) who does not speak untruth; (2) who does away with indiscretion, slander, abuse, bitter words; (3) who speaks gently to all, who is not cruel in words, who never speaks in anger or malice: his words are kind and pure; and (4) who speaks neither in selfglorification nor in hate. Such a man speaks in sympathy, knowing that suffering surrounds us all. IV. The fourth step is right conduct. 1. He acts rightly who puts away all thought of gain or rewards, here or hereafter. 2. He acts impersonally. It is not enough to have the right appearance: you act rightly when your inner motive is right. The motive is the deed. Such a man eliminates all thought of retaliation.
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3. His conduct is guided by the Inward Law, the Dharma, the Moral Law. He realises the truth of the injunctions: “Thou shalt not kill!” “Thou shalt not commit adultery!” 4. Continuing to act according to Law, he finds, one day, that he has developed insight. When his deeds are in harmony with and not out of the Moral Law, he develops insight into life, and he realises that the purpose of life is not power but blessedness, joy, peace! V. The fifth step is right means of livelihood. “Right” means “ethical”. Maintain your integrity and purity. This is the moral foundation of life. 1. He who takes step number five in the Path earns his livelihood honestly. He realises that in his work he must be honest. He avoids taking bribes: he avoids, too, taking undue advantage of another. “Thou shalt not rob”— is one of the injunctions of the Buddha. He also, says: “Thou shalt not drink alcoholic liquors.” Right conduct, thus, must be enriched by right living. 2. Such a man is blessed, indeed: he is not a doubter: and he acts with a clear mind. His anna (food) being pure, his mana (mind), too, becomes pure. VI. The sixth step is right use of energy, right effort. Right use of energy is use in obedience to Law.
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1. Such a man eats, drinks, sleeps, works, rests— in accordance with Law, the Dharma. 2. Therefore, he does not waste his energy in spectacles of idle dancing or singing which do not uplift but only distract. VII. The seventh step is right mindfulness, right alertness, awareness, watchfulness. His mind strives for peace. He aims at Truth. The man who moves on the Path, in the seventh step, is aware that life is sacred. He keeps awake— day and night. He is ever watchful lest he fall. The great Truths of Life are ever before him— a light on the path of life. VIII. The eighth step is right concentration or meditation. For this self-control is necessary. The meditative man is a man of selfcontrol. He radiates sympathy and love. He becomes a man of maitri, compassion. He sees himself as a part of the Whole, the Infinite, and he learns to love — not his separate life, but all men, all living beings. Life, it is true, is to be purified. But purification is through compassion. You must throw away the idols of false and conventional life. Hence the importance of meditation. This will give you new insight, new knowledge. When compassion is born in you, you gather new strength to serve the world. The Buddha holds that there is something wrong with the Universe: nature and
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man contain something blind, petrified, dead: we live in a cosmic cemetry. The universe we see around us is a “false” universe. Yet through meditation and contemplation the earth may become a mirror of the Divine. Treading this path— the Eightfold Path— the mortal may attain to the Perfect Life which the Buddha referred to, again and again, as nirvana (Peace): This Path is the Path to Liberation: it is not the Path of rites and ceremonies. It is the Path of virtue and sanctity. What you need is the will for right thought and right action (karma), the will for virtue and purification. This “Noble Eightfold Path” may well be presented in the form of the following eight beatitudes: (1) Blessed are they who understand That Life is One. Its “forms” do come and go: But Life itself floweth on! (2) Blessed are they who resolve That they will build the strength To lessen suffering and pain And attain to Wisdom pure! (3) Blessed are they who speak in sympathy and gently to all, Who do away with bitter words And never speak in anger or in hate!
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(4) Blessed are they who rightly act And put away all thought of gain, Who know that motive is the deed And who, renouncing power, are pure, indeed! (5) Blessed are they who earn Their daily bread in such a way That brings not hurt nor pain To living creatures on the Earth! (6) Blessed are they who cast Out ill-will and pride in daily life And act obedient to the Law In sympathy and love! (7) Blessed are they who walk the Way, Aware by night and day that life is sacred still! They strive for Peace: and ever before them shine The noble Truths of life! (8) Blessed are they who meditate In silent joy and see how rich, indeed, Is the life of Compassion, Service, Love! Radiant as the Lamp of Light is such a life! Thus taught the Blessed One, moving from town to town and village to village, teaching men and women the Way of Deliverance— the Way of Peace, Compassion and Illumination.
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‘TIS A STRANGE WORLD! J.P. VASWANI
It is a strange world in which we live, a world which is governed by the law of karma. A son is born to a father. He feels happy and rejoices. Little does he know that the child has come to settle up old accounts. A young man and his first cousin were in love with each other. After they got married, the girl found that her husband could not provide her with all the luxuries she wanted. She asked for a divorce and claimed from her husband the house in which they lived. Poor man, he had to surrender his house and is, today, wandering homeless! Through karma, we come into contact with those with whom we have karmic debts. We give them what we owe them and receive what they owe us. Birth is never a matter of accident. Karma determines the family in which I am born. It is commonly believed that if I do evil, I shall be punished *In a letter
for it. The Law of karma, however, is not punitive but reformative. It may appear that the law of karma is punishing us for certain misdeeds we may have committed in a near or remote past. The law of karma never punishes. It puts us in an environment where we may have opportunities for self-growth. The law of karma provides us with experiences meant to help us to grow into better and nobler persons. Therefore, let us accept the situation in which we find ourselves and make the most of it by learning the lesson which a particular experience has come to teach us. That is the way of spiritual progress. Karma binds those who identify themselves with their bodies (and the mind). Karma binds those who are conditioned by time and space. So many of us think: “I was born at such and such a time and at such and such a place. I am so many feet
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tall and weigh so many pounds. I am living in a palatial mansion and am prosperous and have great influence over the people.” When we think along those lines we create a cage of time and space within our own minds and stay cooped up in it all our life. In reality we are not bound by time and space. For it is we who have created time and space: time and space have not created us. “Birthless and deathless art thou, O Arjuna!” says the Lord in the Gita. “Weapons cannot
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cleave thee, fires cannot burn thee, waters cannot wet thee, nor winds dry thee away. Thou art immutable, eternal, allpervading, beyond time and space.” Blessed is the person who realises the Self: to him there are no problems. He has the freedom which belongs to the children of God. For us, children of time and space— there are seemingly endless problems. Our greatest problem is we ourselves.
The Child “Life is a maze, a puzzle-path,” said a young college student to me, last evening. “I feel confused, confounded. I see no way out of the perplexities and problems which baffle me, again and again. I am as a child lost in a fair. What may I do?” And I said to him: “Brother! If only I become as a child, I have no more to do. The child trusts its mother and knows that the mother will always keep it safe from harm.” Our difficulties and dangers begin the moment we cease to be children. When I think I have grown up and am able to look after myself, I am faced with trials and tribulations, Which overwhelm me, again and again, and which rob me of the true joy of living. The child is singularly free from worries and cares, for it knows, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the mother is there to provide for all its needs. The mother anticipates the needs of her children and provides for them well in advance. We, who think ourselves to be independent, create for ourselves a situation in which we have to slave from dawn to dusk. True freedom belongs to the child!
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SCIENCE OF MAN-CULTURE SADHU VASWANI
It seems to me the ashramas of the Rishis were superior to many of the modern centres of thought and culture. The Ashramas were in contact with nature. “We want the poetry of life” — said Shelley. The Rishis had the poetry of life. Modern civilisation is restless: for it has lost the cosmic sense. The Rishis lived in fellowship with the Cosmos. What a thrill of joy in the hymns and songs of the Vedas and the Upanishads? It is not correct, I humbly submit, to say as do many Western critics of the Rishis, that they were pessimistic. They were immensely optimistic. They communed with the spirit of joy. And they understood the value of sanctified leisure. Civilisation with all its accumulations and expansions has become very complex today; and economic pressure is heavy.
Much of our time is taken up with meeting the material needs of life. The Rishis belonged to an age of simple, refined, artistic civilisation. They had leisure. Leisure is not idleness, but consecration of inner energies to the deeper values of life. So it was that the Rishis developed a Science which, I believe, has a value and message for the modern man. We speak today of agriculture, sericulture, horticulture. But there is a science, the Supreme Science— the Science of Man-Culture. The problem of man-culture, as it presented itself to the Rishis’ illumined mind, was the problem of the evolution of Man into the Super-man. The Super-man of the Spirit. Not Nietzsche’s Super-man of egoism and aggressiveness. The Super-man of the Krishna—
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Buddha— Christ type, not of the Ceasar— Napoleon type. The Science of ManCulture I speak of must not be confounded with what is known as “Anthropology”. As we understand it today, anthropology has two aspects: (1) Physical Anthropology: this is the study of man regarded as a biological entity, i.e. the study of natural man; (2) Cultural Anthropology, i. e. the study of man as creator of civilisation. In the Rishis’ Science of Man-Culture the central note is the “Atman”. This word is in English often rendered as ‘‘Self’’. May I not, also, use the word “Spirit”? Both the words Atman and Spirit are connected radically with “Breath”. The cosmic process was by the ancient Rishis interpreted in terms of “Breath”. “Breathing in” and “Breathing out” of Brahman were, according to the Rishis’ vision, the two aspects of the life-process of the Universe. So it was that the illumined minds of the Rishis discovered what I believe to be the basic law of manifestation— the Law of Rhythm. The emphasis in the Rishis’ Science of Man-Culture, I repeat, is on the Atman. So in that significant answer to the question of Maitreyi— one of the great ladies of ancient India— Yajnavalkya says: “As out of the lute are the sounds and out of the trumpets blown are the sounds, so out of the Atman are sciences and scriptures.” An illuminating saying this—that scriptures and sciences are breathed forth from the Atman!
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There are three elements essential to the Science of ManCulture: (1) Brahmacharya — This is often translated into English by the cold word “celibacy”. I interpret brahmacharya to mean “reverence for the creative force”. The body was, to the Rishis, a manifestation of the Eternal. Sri Krishna rejoiced in the beauty of Nature. India fell in the day when she developed contempt for matter. The doctrine of brahmacharya asks us to have reverence for the body as a temple of the Spirit. There is a creative force in every man. It is sacred. To realise more and more the sanctity of the life-force is to grow in the true spirit of brahmacharya. It has several aspects. There is the brahmacharya of the eye; therefore, look upon none with lust. There is the brahmacharya of the ears; therefore listen not to words of ill-will or hate against any. There is the brahmacharya of the tongue; therefore control your appetites. There is the brahmacharya of thoughts; therefore discipline and regulate them for service. There is the brahmacharya of the heart; therefore be not over-emotional. “Out of the heart are the issues of life”! As you grow in the spirit of brahmacharya your body is gradually transformed. You become a ray of His purity. You are over-shadowed by the Spirit. Your face becomes radiant. The Beloved shines through you! (2) Atmavidya— This is the second element essential to
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the Science of Man-Culture. Atmavidya is Knowledge in the deeper sense of that word. Much of what we call knowledge today is only pragmatic or working knowledge; it is knowledge about an object; it is knowledge that moves round a thing; it is knowledge on the circumference. But true knowledge is entering into the object; it is knowledge from within, from the centre; it is simple direct act; it is knowledge that goes right into the stream of life, the life-movement of which the object is a manifestation. It is the knowledge, of a genius, a seer, an artist, a poet— the knowledge that radiates from the centre. This knowledge is blended with bhakti, is charged with devotion or love. Science and sympathy— it is right to distinguish between the two; it is not right to say that the distinction is separation. (3) Yoga— (i) Union or yoga with matter. Here is the source of the nature-mysticism of the Upanishads. To enter into this yoga is to realise that the body, too, is our Guru, for the body is from God, that birth is of divine origin, not a “fall”, that matter is an apparition of the Eternal, (ii) Union or yoga with the life of history and humanity. To enter into this yoga is to enter into fellowship with the prophets and pioneers, the teachers and artists, the saints and servants of humanity. To enter into this fellowship is to know that in all scriptures and all religions is the many-coloured Wisdom of the Spirit, (iii) Union or yoga with the Atman within. He is the Master
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of masters, the Eternal Sat-Guru. And He is seated in the “cavity” of your heart. “The hearts of the believers”, says the Quran, “are the throne of God”. To enter into this yoga is to be blended with Love and to realise that love is yagna, is sacrifice, Self-realisation is sacrifice; and sacrifice is selfrealisation. “Lost in God, living ever in God’’— to quote again from that Inspired Scripture, the Quran. Yagna or sacrifice is the great note sounded, again and again, in the songs of the Rishis. And this yagna is twofold, (1) Yagna of manas, i. e., restraint or sacrifice of the lower mind— the faculty of calculation and prudence; (2) Yagna of the psychic nature or the desireprinciple. This two-fold Yagna means the sacrifice of “egoism”, the sacrifice of “personality”. Behind all “personality” stands the Super-Purusha. The KrishnaLight, the Christ-Light, shines in glory when the veils of “ego” are withdrawn. Not till the lower hath sacrificed itself may the Spirit of Love be richly manifested. To be impersonal is to enter into Love. This, then, is the supreme end of the Science of Man-Culture — self-dedication, self-sacrifice. The Science of Man-Culture in its perfected form is the Science of Samarpana. The true Super-man, is the man Sacrificial; and better than “salvation” is Sacrifice— blending with the Beloved, becoming “no thing” so that the Beloved becomes the All-in-all.
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Sister Shanti*:
A PICTURE OF HUMILITY AND LOVE J. P. VASWANI Sister Shanti was a picture of humility. She was so loving and so pure. Her flesh and blood, her skin and bones, her mind and heart were pure.... Her thoughts were ever stayed on the Beloved. For Him she lived. To Him she dedicated all her actions. At His Feet she sought her refuge. And all her impurities were burnt to ashes. Of Gautama Buddha, it is said, that while he was at Alavi, he was asked by Hatthaka: “Is the Blessed One joyful and contented with his lot? Does he live happily?” The Buddha answered: “Yes, dear friend, I live happily. My life is filled with happiness.” “How can this be, sir?” Hatthaka asked. “Your thin robes and inadequate carpet of dry leaves cannot possibly protect you against the bitter cold of the long night and the inhospitality of the rough ground. How can you be happy?” “I am, nevertheless,” replied the Buddha. “Do you imagine that happiness is only possible in a palace? Is a man certain of happiness if he lives in luxury with his devoted family in a fine
house with honest and efficient servants?” “Yes, sir, he is,” affirmed Hatthaka. “Perhaps, he may be,” said the Buddha, “in the beginning. But is he not also liable to be uneasy about his possessions? Is not such a person subject to fear, envy, gossip and jealousy? And can his happiness long endure in the face of all the conflicts that arise from his being forced to keep continual watch on his wealth?” “That is certainly true, sir,” Hatthaka agreed. “Such a man must, indeed, be subject to all kinds of anguish due to his riches. In spite of appearances,
*April 25 is the 89th Birth Anniversary of Sister Shanti.
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I suppose he could not really be called a happy man.” “Friend,” concluded the Buddha, “though it may not appear so, judged by my material circumstances, I am free from sorrow and all the troubles of worldly life. I am not continually harassed with the tiresome details of social life. I have cut off at the root the whole tree of sorrow and misery, and have eradicated all need for greed, malice and delusion and also those sins inseparable from selfishness. Therefore, I am truly happy. Remember, my friend, the secret of happiness lies in the mind’s release from worldly ties.” Of Sister Shanti it may truly be said that she had “eradicated all need for greed, malice and delusion and also those sins inseparable from selfishness.” Hers was a truly unselfish life. She never thought of herself: she always thought of others. To her the “others” were not apart from her: the “others” were a part of her. In every human being, who came to her, she beheld the One Face of the Beloved. Every creature that has in him the breath of life was, to her, a picture of Him whom she adored in the shrine of her heart. Even when she was a child, her soul was in quest— of someone who would take her out of the “life that is divided” into the “life that is united.” Union with God— was what she ardently longed for.
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She was barely ten years of age, when she first came into contact with Sadhu Vaswani. She felt irresistibly drawn towards him. Something within her seemed to say to her: “Here is he whom you have been seeking. Surrender your life at his lotus-feet, and he will lead you to the cherished goal!” As the years went by, the link between the Master and the disciple deepened. And under the blessings and beneficent guidance of Sadhu Vaswani, Shanti’s soul was fashioned into fairness, and she became a child of the Spirit, a pure child of God. She ever aspired to the True, the Good, the Beautiful, the Holy. In her simple, sacrificial, inconspicuous life was a beautiful blend of contemplation and compassion. She spent several hours in silence at the Lotus-Feet of the Lord and dwelt on His wonderful attributes. One day, I asked her in what her prayer consisted. And she answered: “In contemplating the beauty of God and in rejoicing that the Beloved is so beautiful.” And coming out of her silence, she beheld the beauty of God in everything around her, in everyone who met her. So it is that she could blame no one: she blamed only herself. Sinners came to her and many who had gone astray. She gave them the love of her motherheart. A girl of questionable character often visited her and Sister Shanti met her with
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great warmth. Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani did not quite approve of this. To Sister Shanti, the least hint from the Master— Sadhu Vaswani— was usually a command. In this case, however, she continued to encourage the girl to come and be with her, much to the wonder of so many of us. The girl became more and more intimate with Sister Shanti. Strangely enough, Beloved Dada, who was very stern where principles of right conduct were concerned, raised no further objection. Apparently, he entered into her mother-heart and found the depths of love that made her feel one with everyone who came to her in need. This sense of identification with others was a characteristic mark of Sister Shanti. In her heart was the prayer of Shantideva, the Prince who renounced the palace and became a bhikkhu, a disciple of the Buddha: “I will cease to live as self, and will take as myself my fellow-creatures.” Giving love to others became part of her nature: she did it naturally, spontaneously, without effort. Even as a flower gives out its fragrance to those that draw near to it, even so did love emanate from Sister Shanti’s heart to all who approached her. And love is not love until it manifests itself as spontaneous service. Literally, till the last day of her earthly life, she served the poor and needy, the forsaken and forlorn. They came to her as they would
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come to a friend, a mother, and she never turned them away. To some she gave food: to some she gave clothes: to some she gave money : to some she gave words of counsel and spiritual consolation: to every one she gave the benediction of her smiling face, her radiant soul. “Teach me wisdom in my secret heart,” are the words of an ancient prayer. What is in our secret hearts breaks through into the words we speak and the way we live. Sister Shanti’s secret heart was pure. It was a home of love and longing — love for all who suffer and are in pain, and longing, deep yearning for the Beloved, the “First and only Fair.” Her thoughts, were ever stayed on the Beloved. For Him she lived. To Him she dedicated all her actions. At His Feet she sought her refuge. And all her impurities were burnt to ashes. Sister Shanti was an angel of God’s mercy. She was a gift of God to us all. Forty-seven years ago, on May 15, she was called to higher life. I love to think of her as being by me still. And not unoften, I hear her soft, child like voice say: “Let your life be rooted in the love of God, who loves you with an everlasting love!” Her own life was rooted in the love of God. And so love flowed out of her to all— to young and old, to rich and poor, to saints and sinners, to birds and animals, to trees and flowers, to every unit of life. In such love is still the hope of our broken, bleeding world.
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THE ONE-IN-ALL J. P. VASWANI
Rumi, the great sufi mystic tells us: “Every prophet and every saint hath a way, but it leads to God: all the ways are really one.” Truer words were never spoken! In the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, there are no Hindus, Christians or Muslims. In the Kingdom of God, we will not be judged according to our labels or the creeds we believe in, but according to the life that we have lived.
word, but doers of the word.” It is life that is needed— not creeds, not dogmas, not labels or loud professions of faith. Men today, are beginning to lose faith in religion, because religion has been separated from life. Religion will come into its own, when men learn to live in amity and peace with their fellow men. Civilisation is sinking, for there is lack of unity in our lives. Civilisation may be saved if life is built in the vision of the Onein-all.
On one occasion, Jesus admonished his disciples and said to them, “Here you call me Lord, but in the Kingdom of Heaven I shall say I know you not.” He also told his disciples: “You must not be hearers of the
Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani, was one who realised in his spirit, the synthesis between the culture of the East and West. To him, East and West were not ‘disparates’ but brothers in one divine humanity. The East needs
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the West: the West needs the East. They need to understand one another. They need each other in the one fellowship of Humanity, in the one service of truth and love. “The creation of God” he said, “is bound by golden chains to the Feet of the One God, the One Divine Father of us all.” At His Feet are we all one— men of different religions and no religion. For no one is alien in the Kingdom of God. All scriptures embody spiritual wisdom. Therefore, sectarian strifes and quarrels in the name of religion are due to lack of knowledge, lack of understanding and want of sympathy. So it is that quarrels, discords and hatred have entered the sphere of religion. Religion, which was meant to be a bond of union, has become a source of sectarian strife. Beautiful indeed are the words penned by Sadhu Vaswani:
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In all religions, the Light is Thine, In all scriptures, the Inspiration is Thine. In all the saints, the Picture is Thine... But he did not stop with words. His life bore witness to the profound truth of the Oneness of all religions. The religions of the world are not contradictory or antagonistic, he taught us. All religions are true, for all lead to the one Goal: and the Goal is God. “There are so many who can believe only one thing at a time,” he said. “I am so made as to rejoice in the many and behold the beauty of the One in the many. Hence my natural affinity to many religions. In them all, I see revelations of the One spirit. And deep in my heart is the conviction that I am a servant of all prophets.” In such a vision of the one-inall is still the hope of our sinking civilisation.
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n every little thing is a wonder and a beauty which we do not see. In every little ray, as it twinkles in the heavens above, in every little flower and leaf, in every tiny ant, in every atom which makes the dust of the earth divie, in every little spark of the flame that upward doth arise, in every drop of water that slips into the sea, in every little bird that sings in its little nest— aye, in every bee that teaches industry and humility, flitting from flower to flower, and in every butterfly which the Great Architect of Nature has blessed with beauty— there is a divinity reflected in the centre of the soul. — SADHU VASWANI
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Children’s Corner “OWN” WORDS
PUZZLE
Fill in the missing letters for each word. 1. A color 2. Opposite of up
__ __ own __ own
3. Worn on a king’s head __ __ own 4. A community
__ own
5. Circus jester
__ __ own
6. A scowl
__ __ own
7. A formal dress
PICTURE CROSSWORD Nain has decided to clean out her study desk and room. Can you fill in the name of each item she finds?
__ own
You can drink from me, then play this game: What I am made of is my name. What am I?
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DOT-TO-DOT PUZZLE These special friends like each other lots. To see who they are connect the dots.
“Own” Words: 1. brown, 2. down, 3. crown, 4. town, 5. clown, 5. flowers, 6. parade. Scrambled Easter Eggs: 1. chick, 2. basket, 3. candy, 4. bunny, ANSWERS:
A. desert B. jungle C. ocean D. tundra E. forest F. plains
6. frown, 7. gown.
whale raccoon buffalo gorilla camel arctic fox
Puzzle: a glass.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Animal Match-Up: 1. C, 2. E., 3. F., 4. B., 5. A., 6. D.
Can you match each animal with the environment in which it is found?
Dot-to-Dot Puzzle: a bear and a mouse.
ANIMAL MATCH-UP
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Laugh Your Way To Health Wife: I am not talking to you. Husband: Okay. Wife: Don’t you want to know the reason. Husband: No, I respect and trust your decision! *** Lot of people don’t understand the value of their wives... until a judge decides the alimony amount…! *** After a serious operation a lady was still in coma. Her worried husband stood at the foot of her bed. “Well,” said the nurse reassuringly, “at least age is on her side.” “She’s not so young,” said the husband. “She’s 45.” At this point the patient moved slightly, and quietly but firmly murmured, “Forty-four.” *** Champa: My husband says I look younger in this hat. Rohini: Oh, really? What is your age?
Champa: Thirty. Rohini: No, I mean without the hat! *** Teacher: How can we keep our school clean? Student: By staying at home. *** Geeta: When was your son born? Seeta: In March. He came on the first of the month. Geeta: Is that why you call him Bill? *** Today is the fifth anniversary of my wife’s thirty-ninth birthday. *** A doctor was called in to see a very busy patient. “Well, sir, what’s the matter?” he asked cheerfully. “That’s for you to find out,” the patient snapped. “I see,” said the doctor.
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“Well, if you’ll excuse me a minute, I’ll phone a friend of mine— a veterinarian. He’s the only man I know who can make a diagnosis without asking questions.” ***
Ramesh: Well, if I did, you’d be finding lots of faults with my spelling.
What’s
the
difference between “He cleans the plate” and “the plate is cleaned by him.” Student: In first sentence is
not
married,
but
in second sentence ‘He’ is married... *** “Good morning, Doctor.” “Mr. Francis, what happened
*** “Did the movie happy ending?”
Teacher:
‘HE’
Teacher: Really, Ramesh, your handwriting is terrible! You must learn to write better.
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have
a
“Yes, everyone was glad it was over.” *** “Did you see that young lady smile at me?” “That’s nothing. The first time I saw you, I laughed right out loud.” ***
to you? You look terrible!” “You told me to take that medicine for three days, then to skip a day.” “Yes?” “That skipping nearly killed me.” *** I used to practise meditation
Mother: Suresh, eat your spinach. It’s good for growing children.
on an old mat. My wife was not
Suresh: Who wants to grow children?
One day I found the rug
*** Teacher: What do you call mosquitoes in your language? Student: We don’t call them, they come on their own! *** English Grammar class.
happy about the worn-out mat.
missing from its usual place. “Whre is it?” I asked her sternly. “It has achieved nirvana,” she retorted. ***
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Recipes For The Month CARAMEL CUSTARD Ingredients: Bread................................................................3 slices Cold milk...........................................................2 cups Custard powder............................................2 level tsp Very hot milk...................................................... 1 cup Sugar................................................................... 3 tsp Sugar for the caramel........................................ 1 tbsp Method: • Soak the bread in the hot milk. Beat well till smooth and keep aside. • Add custard powder to the cold milk. Mix well. • Combine the bread mixture and the custard mixture. • Add 3 tsp of sugar and boil till mixture thickens. Keep aside. • Take an airtight steel container and melt the 1 tbsp sugar till it caramelizes. • Pour the milk mixture in to this and place it in a pressure cooker. Cook for 1 whistle and then simmer for 5 minutes. • Cool and refrigerate, over turn on to a flat plate and serve cold. EGGLESS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE Ingredients: Semi-sweet chocolate chips...............................½ cup or Cooking chocolate.......................................100 gm Fresh cream.....................................................3/4 cup Sugar, powdered................................................¼ cup Sugar..............................................................1½ tbsp Fresh cream.......................................................¼ cup Method: • Mix the powdered sugar and ¼ cup cream in a bowl. • Add chocolate chips to this mixture and melt over a double boiler. • Stir continuously till mixture is fully blended. • Remove from heat, add vanilla essence and keep aside.
• In a chilled metal bowl whip 3/4 cup cream till stiff. Add sugar, whipping continuously. • Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until blended. (Do not over blend as mixture will become flat.) • Refrigerate until ready to serve. • Variation: Can be served in individual glasses or chocolate cups also. EGGLESS MANGO CAKE Ingredients: For the Cake Condensed milk....................................................1 tin Plain flour..................................................... 250 gms Butter............................................................. 125 gms Powdered sugar............................................... 50 gms Baking powder.................................................... 2 tsp Baking soda......................................................... 1 tsp Vanilla essence.................................................... 1 tsp Milk...................................................................100 ml Water................................................................100 ml For the Icing: Fresh cream......................................................300 ml Icing sugar......................................................... 6 tbsp Pulp of mango...............................................1 mango Mango, chopped................................................½ cup For the Decoration: Sliced Mango.............................................................1
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Method: For the Tarts • Mix the condensed milk, butter and sugar for 2 minutes. • Sift the flour, baking powder and soda together. Add to the condensed milk mixture little by little. • Add vanilla essence and milk and water and beat. Pour into a greased baking tin. • Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes. • Mix together all the icing ingredients except the chopped mango. Beat over ice till stiff and keep aside. • Cool the cake and slice it into 2 parts horizontally. Spread a little icing over 1 part of the cake. Place the mango pieces over it. • Place the other part of the cake over this. Spread the remaining icing on the top and sides. • Decorate with sliced mango. • Optional: Cover the sides with crushed praline. • Variation: Instead of mango, strawberry or litchi can be used. SUGARLESS DRY FRUIT DELIGHT Ingredients: Dried apricots................................................ 100 gms Seedless dates............................................... 100 gms Dried figs......................................................... 50 gms Almonds........................................................... 50 gms Unsalted pistachios.......................................... 50 gms (coarsly pounded almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts together) Cashew nuts..................................................... 50 gms Saffron....................................................a few strands Method: • Wash and soak together the figs and apricots in ½ cup warm water for 3-4 hours. • Cook for 10-15 minutes on a low flame until only 1 tbsp of water remains. Allow to cool. • Chop the dates, cooked figs and apricots finely. Cook with a few strands of saffron, stirring continuously until dry. • Add the pounded dry fruits to this mixture and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring continuously. • Pour this evenly over a greased flat dish. Press well all over to make a ½” to 3/4” thick layer. • Wait until cool to cut into desired sized cubes.
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LITCHI FLUFF Ingredients: Tinned litchi in syrup........................................400 ml Sugar.................................................................¾ cup Fresh cream, whipped till stiff....................... 200 gms China grass, dissolved in warm water............. 10 gms Method: • Add sugar to the litchi syrup and heat it over a double boiler until one boil. • Heat the china grass solution on a slow flame, stirring continuously until it dissolves completely. • Immediately pour in the litchi syrup. Mix and cool the mixture and set in the freezer for 20 minutes. • Beat this with a hand mixie till it becomes light, fluffy and stiff. • Now fold in the cream and put in the litchi bits. • Transfer to a glass dish and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set. • Decorate with whole litchis and serve. • Variation: Litchis can be substituted with mango, pineapple or peaches. MUGHAL RICE Ingredients: Jeera rice (slightly overcooked without salt) .... ½ cup Milk....................................................................3 cups Sugar................................................................8-9 tsp Mixed fresh fruit................................................2 cups (banana, chikoo, pear, mango, papaya), cut into small cubes Mixed dry fruit...................................................½ cup (walnuts, almonds, raisins, apricots, unsalted pistachios), chopped Saffron....................................................a few strands Saffron colour.................................................. a pinch Method: • Boil the milk and add sugar and strands of saffron. Continue boiling for about 5 minutes on a low flame. • Add the rice and simmer for another 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Turn off the flame and cool the rice mixture completely. • Add the fresh fruits, the dry fruits and the saffron colour. Mix gently and refrigerate. • Serve chilled.
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SIMPLE RULES OF HEALTH MUDRAS ON THE RESCUE GANESHA MUDRA TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS A SIMPLE WAY TO HANDLE THE DAY-TO-DAY STRESS WITH FAITH IN GANESHA Whenever you feel run down, the easiest way to lift your spirits is by performing the Ganesha mudra, a simple form of hand gestures. Do this with concentration and dedication. The most loved deity, Ganesha is widely known as remover of all obstacles. He is worshipped first in any ritual. This mudra invokes the blessing of Ganesha. This Mudra is easy to do. • Just sit on the floor crosslegged in Padmasana. • Hold your left hand in front of your chest with your palm facing outward in such a way that your thumb points towards your solar plexus and your little finger points towards your collar bone. • Form a claw by bending the four fingers of your left hand and clasp them with the four fingers of your right hand. Ensure that in this position, your right palm faces towards your chest. • While exhaling, vigorously pull the hands apart without releasing the grip and keeping all eight fingers locked. • This will tense the muscles of the upper arms and the chest area.
• Inhale deeply and let go of the tension. Relax your arms while maintaining the Ganesha mudra lock. • Repeat Six Times. Then lovingly interchange your hands, with your right palm facing outwards and the left palm facing inwards. Repeat the process six times. Release all tension from the arms and bring them close to your chest so that your hands are touching your sternum. Sit in this posture and watch your breath. Ganesha mudra stimulates heart activity, strengthens heart muscles, opens the bronchial tube, and releases any type of tension in this area. Yogis declare that this mudra activates the fire element in the body and opens the fourth chakra, infuses courage and confidence.
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KARANA MUDRA HERE IS A MUDRA TO FIGHT MENTAL DEPRESSION Sometimes we experience a feeling of fear and insecurity without any apparent reason. There is a sudden overwhelming sense of despair and a sharp draining of energy levels. Our ancient wisdom calls this sense of desperation without reason as klesam. Some people tend to believe this to be the effect of evil forces in the air engulfing the personality. Adi Sankara refers to this indescribable feeling in his immortal poem, Sri Subramanya Bhujangam. He says, “O Lord! Within the core of my heart lies a mental affliction. While you have killed the demon Surapadman, you have still not killed this klesam. What shall I do? Where shall I go?”.... mamaantar hridistam mana klesam ekam, na hamsi Prabho kim karomi kva yami. Karana mudra is a weapon to ward off such evil or negative tendencies. This yogic posture emanates energy that helps to dispel negativity, anxiety, fear and depression, and promote inner calm and feeling of happiness. It is simple to do. • Keep the right hand at chest level with palm facing forward. • Fold the ring and middle fingers toward the centre of the
palm and gently press the tip of the thumb. • Keep the index and little finger raised straight upwards. Rest the left hand on the lap. This is one of the most practised mudras in Buddhism. You can commonly see images of Gautama Buddha with Karana mudra. Buddhists call this as ‘removing the obstacles’. It simply promotes certain quietness in the mind, and the ability to feel the inner joy. Our fingers are like plugs that help exchange energy between our pranic force and the cosmic energy. Practise this mudra for about 15 minutes every day. If you can mentally prostrate before Kartikeya while doing this mudra, you can experience a heightened sense of inner security and wellbeing.
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