Gandhi Message - Spring/Summer 2012

GANDHI Quarterly Newsletter of The Gandhi Memorial Center, Washington, DC

Volume X X X XVI, Numb er 2&3, 2012 - Spring/Summer Issue

The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Incorporated, was founded in the United States of America in 1959 by Swami Premananda of India.

The purpose of the Foundation is to disseminate the philosophy, ideal, life, service and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The Foundation is a legally independent, nonprofit cultural and educational organization.

Gandhi Memorial Center

Dedicated to the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the Gandhi Memorial Center seeks to offer a broad representation of authors from many cultures and times, as well as displays, recordings, lectures and demonstrations of cultural and educational value.

The Library of the Gandhi Memorial Center is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm (except during July and August).

Our Appeal

For the expansion of its ideals and activities the Foundation will gratefully receive donations of funds and contributions of books, publications and memorabilia pertaining to Mahatma Gandhi and his associates. Please make checks payable to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Inc., or contribute online at our website: www.gandhimemorialcenter.org/contribute The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation is a 501c(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. The staff of the Foundation and Gandhi Center are dedicated workers who serve without any remuneration throughout the year. Your contribution is an offering towards the services and activities of the Gandhi Center.

Your contribution is tax deductible.

Gandhi Memorial Center 4748 Western Avenue Bethesda, MD 20816 301-320-6871 Email: info@gandhimemorialcenter.org Web: www.gandhimemorialcenter.org www.Facebook.com/GandhiMemorialCenterUSA Š 2012 Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Incorporated.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Content Drawing of Gandhiji by Kowta Rammohan Sastri.............................front cover Exerpt: Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi by Srimati Kamala..................................2-4 Recent Programs...................................................................................................5-9 Noble Thoughts.................................................................................................10-11 Student Programming......................................................................................12-15 Recent Music Offerings.........................................................................................16 Special Visit by Narayan Desai.............................................................................17 Thoughts from Gandhiji.........................................................................back cover

“Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. Life is an aspiration.

Its mission is to strive after perfection which is self-realization.�

- Mahatma Gandhi

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EMERSON, THOREAU AND GANDHI: An Excerpt from Mahatma Gandhi: An American Profile

By Srimati Kamala

Though surface conditions of culture and history shape different appearances, the same timeless and universal ideas have emerged to shape the common destinies of our two countries, India and America, crossing the oceans to commingle in the current of understanding.

Emerson championed the dignity of the common man; Thoreau sought the companionship and wisdom of the American Indian and cherished the life of rustic simplicity close to Nature and thereby close to God; Gandhi called the “poorest and lowliest and lost” of India’s society “Harijans” (“Children of God”), and also had faith in the humblest expressions of life. By their expansive and charitable consciousness of the kinship of human evolution, all three men have been absorbed into the world thought that transcends national bounds.

We identify all three as philosophers, though none arranged a system of theories by structured logic. Each rather had a practical passion for wise living governed by self-knowledge, faith and intuition. They were all interested in conducting life with the belief that the whole or perfection of it can be realized by even this parcel of it—that in each of Nature’s limitations the intimation of the Cosmic dwells, and that therein resides the moral consequence of harmony of oneself with the cosmic principle (dharma).

From 1919 upon his return from South Africa until 1948, his martyrdom, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi occupied the center of the Indian stage and was the chief hero of a great historical drama that culminated in the independence of 400 million people. The intrepid strength of this frail little man changed the entire political character of the world overnight: At independence India became the world’s largest democracy; the population of the “free world” doubled. The world seeks to know: Who was the man?

Dressed in a loincloth, at home among scavengers, the Harijans, the villagers, or the elite—from beggars to the King Emperor—Gandhi demonstrated a Yoga, or harmony, in the art of living. His ideal was that of man perfect and balanced, who remembers his Maker, who lives at peace with God and with his fellow creatures.

However difficult it is to attain, it is the only life worth pursuing, Gandhiji would 2

say, for the effort itself draws us to our maximum potential and teaches us to live harmoniously within ourselves and with the cosmos at all levels.

The basic themes that integrate Gandhi’s life message into one yoga are virtually “The American Dream” as espoused and shaped by Emerson and Thoreau.

As did Emerson and Thoreau, Gandhi evolved his philosophy from life—as a composite of commitments, beliefs, and aspirations voiced and acted upon. For him the transcendental must come to form and manifestation, and it must reach the hovel of the humblest of society: “I am indeed a practical dreamer,” he said.

“My dreams are not airy things. I want to convert my dreams into realities as far as possible.”

At the crucial moment of organization of India’s government, Gandhi relinquished interest in official position and proceeded directly and personally to the people. Furthermore, his concern was more for the causes of human strife and moral debility than for legislative platforms. Laws, he would say, are only patchwork remedies for universal and timeless needs of mankind. His was the voice of conscience, not just of his country, but everyman’s. Gandhi didn’t just want Indians to be free of British yoke; he wanted all humanity to be free of any yoke—especially the yoke of self-imposed limitations of greed, selfishness and untruth.

Many know and remember Gandhi as a complete humanitarian and as a social reformer. In his life of service he lived and worked and spoke for social and religious rights, for religious unity, for social equality, for village economy and for basic education for all. These are noble and idealistic goals, but they of themselves do not comprise what Gandhi essentially was—a man of God. Emerson hailed from a long tradition of New England clergymen. Like Gandhi, his father died when he was yet a boy, and his mother’s courage, faith and religion left their mark on his personality. Like Gandhi, though he graduated in the upper half of his class, he did not distinguish himself in college.

The theme of self-reliance in Emerson’s life ripened through his own experience as he taught school to earn for his own studies. As a young man he, too, was shy and modest—but likeable. As Emerson’s personality developed, so did his conscience. He began to seek deeper laws and meaning from surface issues. He criticized the ministry and religious thought of his time, but wrote and lectured on the subjects of the spirit, the intellect and character. Because he felt that the formal ritual observance of sacraments was not as Christ intended, Emerson resigned from his first and only church pastorship. (Emerson, Thoreau and Gandhi were all criticized for their avowed departures from the rituals and dogmatic observances of their religious ancestors.)

Though Emerson’s life in the bucolic and serene community of Concord cannot be compared to Gandhiji’s in the turmoil of India’s emergence to independence, there are parallels in their public service, and Emerson should not be typified as reclusive or scholarly. For years he lectured throughout the East and Midwest in times when travel was arduous and means of communication primitive. He 3

crossed the Mississippi on ice, traveling at various times by carriage, sleigh, canal boat, steamboat or train—for meager offerings and out of a sense of duty and faith, “to cheer, to raise and to guide men by showing them facts among appearances.”

He actively served as a member of the Fire Brigade, and he opened his home as a library and reading room to generate philosophic intercourse among the townspeople of Concord.

Admittedly, while Gandhi emerged to be politically active, Emerson was deliberate in his reluctance to do so, preferring to plant the seeds of ideas and to stay apart from the practical fray of affairs. While Gandhi patiently pleaded and persuaded with even his adversaries, Emerson did not like to argue or speak out about contemporary social issues. He took no part in fighting the Civil War, though he advocated the abolition of slavery.

Emerson and Thoreau were contemporaries and friends, though exactly when and how they met is unsubstantiated. Thoreau descended from a family of sea captains and merchants. His parents were vigorous-working, intelligent and principled people who instilled in young Henry sacrifice as duty and respect for personal honor. As did Emerson and Gandhi, Thoreau suffered the loss of his father when he was still in his formative years.

Much of Thoreau’s personality parallels Gandhiji’s. Like Gandhi, for example, Thoreau had a passion to explore the conduct of life through disciplined and pure means. In his own time he cautioned men to heed the means of commerce, business and invention consistent with the desirable ends. Like Gandhi, he wanted to simplify living in order to enhance the experience of life’s greatest values. “I have three maxims for life,” Thoreau is supposed to have said, “Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicty.”

In 1841, Thoreau was invited to live with Emerson’s family—his handiwork and carpentry in exchange for room and board. Thoreau’s down-to-earth practicality complemented Emerson’s abstractness, while Emerson’s wider fame presented Thoreau with new acquaintances and awareness. Thoreau chose to be rich by making his wants few. He was concerned not with how we eke out our living, but how we live.

Thoreau, a Naturalist, used neither trap nor gun; he ate no flesh, and he drank no wine. But whereas Thoreau’s personal conduct was just that—i.e., personal— Gandhi’s simplicity had an ulterior humanitarian motive: At home in his cottage at Wardha, Gandhi studiously kept for his use only those instruments and materials which would be accessible to any villager so as not to separate himself from the commonest of humanity.

Thoreau’s intensity and depth of character were often misunderstood as eccentric. Too often his shyness and sensitivity were taken for rejection of or calloused indifferences to the norm. However, it was, rather, that he, like Gandhi, wanted to strip away the artificiality, and he felt out-of-place in “social rites.” He spoke of Nature’s society first, with man a parcel of it. Like Gandhi, he felt that the spirit’s presence in the ordinary and the humble, through the oneness of nature and man and god.

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Brain and Consciousness: Neuroscience Aligns with Vedic Wisdom A Panel Discussion presented by the Gandhi Memorial Center on March 15, 2012 This program, held in the Gandhi Memorial Center Library, offered a presention some of the latest findings about how neuroscience might connect with Vedic Tradition. The three distinguished speakers brought a range of scholarly and cultural insights to the topic.

Subhash Kak, Ph.D. Head of Computer Science Dept., Oklahoma State University, with expertise on information theory, cryptography, neural networks, and quantum information. Vedic Scholar. Author of Mind and Self: Patanjali and Cognitive Science

Karl Pribram, M.D. Internationally Renowned Neuroscientist, Stanford University Professor Emeritus, Professor at Georgetown University, author of Languages of the Brain, and Brain and Perception

Karen Shanor, Ph.D. Clinical and Neuropsychologist, Lecturer at Georgetown University, former White House consultant, Advisory member for Discovery Channel’s Global Education, author of The Emerging Mind

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Unearthing Gender: Folksongs of North India A Book Talk and Signing by Smita Tewari Jassal May 5, 2012 Based on anthropological field research, Unearthing Gender analyzes folk songs sung primarily by lower caste women in north India while labouring in the fields, at weddings, during travels, and in other settings. Smita Jassal uses these songs to explore how ideas of caste, gender, sexuality, labour, and power may be strengthened, questioned and fine-tuned through music. At the heart of the book is a library of songs, in their original Bhojpuri and in English translation, framed

by Jassal’s analytic insights into the complexities of gender and power. The power of these songs, Jassal argues, lies in hinting and suggesting themes rather than directly addressing them: women sing what they often cannot talk about. Women’s lives, their feelings, their relationships, and social and familial bonds are persuasively presented in song, and for the ethnographer, the songs provide a safer, more natural language for these women to articulate opinions than the standard ethnographic interview. In this way, the songs offer an entry into the culture and everyday lives that produce them and embody the voices of a marginalized group that has rarely been the focus of systematic analytical inquiry. Smita Tewari Jassal is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.

PHOTOS: Top: Book Cover Image; Bottom Left: Dr. Smita Tewari Jassal; Bottom Right: Ambassador Nirupama Rao addressing the audience and introducing Dr. Smita Tewari Jassal’s new publication.

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THE GREATEST JOURNEY OF IDEAS: THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM A Photographic Exhibit by Benoy K. Behl May 19-31, 2012 This excellent exhibition of photographs of Buddhist heritage (images of the architecture, sculpture, paintings, and more) in 17 countries by Benoy K. Behl was presented along with Mr. Behl’s short documentary film, The Second Buddha, at the Gandhi Memorial Center in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Embassy of India.

As consultant to the Government of India he wrote the successful application for the UNESCO World Heritage Listing of the Maha-bodhi Temple at Bodhgaya, commemorating the spot where the Buddha gained enlightenment.

Mr. Behl’s documentary films are shown regularly on national television channels in India. A world renowned authority on Buddhism, he gives lectures at distinguished universities, museums and Buddhist temples around the world.

PHOTOS: Top Right: Benoy Behl; Middle Left: Benoy Behl and Dr. Virander Paul, Minister for Press, Information and Culture of the Embassy of India lighting the lamp; Middle Right: Audience enjoying the exhibit; Bottom: Benoy Behl speaking with members of the audience following his presentation.

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Motherland A Photographic Exhibit by Leena Jayaswal April 21-30, 2012

Leena Jayaswal is a full-time professor of Film and Media Arts and head of the photography concentration in the School of Communication at American University.

Leena’s photography has been nationally recognized in galleries around the country. She has worked with famed photographer, Mary Ellen Mark. Her films have been screened in various film festivals around the country.

Her film, An Impression: Dischord Records, was honored as the Best Selected Juror Film at the 2nd Annual Small International Film Festival at the Berkeley Art Center, in California. Her film, Crossing Lines, was picked up for national distribution to public television affiliates around the country and has been shown on 70 different stations as well as numerous juried international film festivals. This film won numerous awards, including Best American Documentary at the Heart of England Film Festival and The Bronze Palm Award, Mexico International Film Festival. She was awarded the prestigious Gracie Allen Award from the American Women in Radio and Television. Crossing Lines is available for distribution by New Day Films.

During the opening of her photographic exhibition, Motherland, Leena discussed the technique behind her photographic creations and shared her own personal cultural journey.

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Flower Meditations A Photographic Exhibit by Sigrid Vollerthun June 3-30, 2012

Sigrid Vollerthun presented her photography-based images of Lotuses from Kennilworth Gardens, Maryland, among an assortment of abstract flower meditation images at the Gandhi Memorial Center in the spring of 2012.

Sigrid was born and raised in Tilsit, Germany. All her life she has had an interest in visual arts and design. From 1972-1973 she was active in the Committee of the Art Society of the International Monetary Fund. After attending numerous workshops and seminars, Sigrid knew she had found her passion and her pursuit of becoming a fine art photographer began.

Sigrid is a self-taught photographer, who is the recipient of several prestigious photographic awards incluidng a coveted winner’s trophy in the International Photography Contest of Nature’s Best Photography Magazine in 2003 and 1998.

In her work, Sigrid pursues both the visible beauty, which she finds abundantly in nature, and the invisible, which we can glimpse occasionally. Her camera has become the main instrument in this pursuit. From the start, she dreamed of using it not only as a recording device but also as a painter’s brush, filling the images with glorious colors, intriguing forms, inspiring abstracts. Her enthusiasm for vivid colors has always been a dominant force in her life, and she enjoys expressing this in her images, at the same time aiming at conveying serenity and harmony... a contemplation of peace and wholeness.

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The spiritual value of the knowledge of the space-universe is not only tremendously constructive but also decisively corrective. Illuminated by scientific knowledge the enlightened devotee will think for himself, with confidence and courage and without fear and servility, and reveal and realize that the attainment of the perfection of God is the unalterable destiny of every soul, and that the real purpose of life on earth is to know, unfold and manifest the god-given qualities of the spiritual self of man. ~Swami Premananda Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive. ~Albert Einstein When the truth about the hidden side of the universe and of man is once more unveiled, demonstrated so far as it can be in a scientific and rational manner, the new scientific findings will stagger the most powerful intellects. We shall then build a pillar of higher wisdom which shall rise up into a new and finer age, and we shall testify anew to those eternal spiritual truths which no advance of science, no progress of civilization, no lapse in human character, can ever render obsolete. ~Paul Brunton Nature is not something set apart from mountains, eagles, rivers, and people, but something that, as it were, runs through the fibers of each and all. In the same way, the Absolute - as the Nature of all natures - is not something set apart from all things and events. The Absolute is not Other, but, so to speak, is sewn through the fabric of all that is. In that sense, the perennial philosophy declares that the absolute is One, Whole, and Undivided - very like what Whitehead called “the seamless coat of the universe.� ~Ken Wilber

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When the whole field of measure is open to original and creative insight, without any fixed limits or barriers, then our overall world views will cease to be rigid, and the whole field of measure will come into harmony, as fragmentation within it will come to an end. But original and creative insight within the whole field of measure is the action of the immeasurable. For when such insight occurs, the source ...has to be in the immeasurable, which contains the essential formative cause of all that happens in the field of measure. The measurable and the immeasurable are then in harmony and indeed one sees that they are but different ways of considering the one and undivided whole. ~David Bohm I can’t prove it, but I believe we’re more than accidental bundles of quarks, more than matter in motion. Our fellowship with other creatures is real, our union with the Creation is already achieved, because we all rise and fall on a single breath. You and I and the black-footed ferret, the earth, the sun, and the far-flung galaxies are dust motes whirling in the same great wind. Whether we call that magnificent energy spirit or Tao, Creator or God, Allah or Atman or some other holy name or no name at all, makes little difference so long as we honor it...that alone deserves our devotion. ~Scott Russell Sanders Amidst the vast unending universe, I travel with wonderment and awe. You are there my Lord in the midst of infinite mystery, alone in your own glory. In this infinite time and space you are there my Lord and I look upon you. All the tumult has come to an end, absolute peace pervades the earth. You are there alone my Lord and I within you stand fearless. ~Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Sudeshna Basu In essence, science and spirituality, though differing in their approaches, share the same end, which is the betterment of humanity.

At its best, science is motivated by a quest for understanding to help lead us to greater flourishing and happiness. In Buddhist language, this kind of science can be described as wisdom grounded in and tempered by compassion. Similarly, spirituality is a human journey into our internal resources, with the aim of understanding who we are in the deepest sense and of discovering how to live according to the highest possible idea. This too is the union of wisdom and compassion. ~The Dalai Lama 11

Takoma Education Campus School Visit - May 24, 2012 The Gandhi Memorial Center collaborated with the Embassy of India in sharing the cultural heritage of India with a group of 12 and 13 year old students from Takoma Education Campus, a DC Public School, through the Embassy School Adoption Program of the Washington Performing Arts Society Women’s Committee. On May 24, 2012 this group of students visited the Gandhi Memorial Center and were introduced to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the art of “Kolam” design, the process of “Block-Printing”, and Indian classical dance.

PHOTOS: Students particpated in Kolam, block print and dance Indian dance activities following presentations by Shanthi Chandra-Sekar, Namrat Dalela and Jayantee PaineGanguly

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Washington Workshop Foundation Student Visit – June 20, 2012 Seven American high school students visited a variety of DC-based institutions as a part of a week-long seminar series through the International Conflict Resolution Program of the Washington Workshop Foundation. During their visit to the Gandhi Memorial Center they participated in a discussion of Mahatma Gandhi and his life message followed by a short film on Gandhi’s Ashram Ideal.

Potomac Lighthouse Charter School Visit – June 8, 2012 Children from this DC Public Charter School visited the Gandhi Memorial Center in order to enhance the young children’s study of India. The children were presented with lessons from Mahatma Gandhi, story-time with Indian folk tales, and an introduction to Indian classical music.

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Osher Life-long Learning Institute at the Gandhi Memorial Center: From March 2, 2012 to May 4, 2012 the Gandhi Memorial Center offered a 10 week course for the members of American University’s Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI) on “India: Culture, Traditions and Gandhi”. This weekly 2-hour class was presented by volunteers who were enthusiastic to share their knowledge of diverse aspects of Indian cultural traditions through interactive lecture/ demonstrations. Invited guest speakers included scholars, musicians, artists, and members of the Indian community. The topics ranged from the origins of Indian languages and literature, tribal traditions of different regions in India, India’s world-renowned textile tradition, Indian classical music, and the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi. Members of OLLI include retired professionals in the DC metropolitan area who are keen to continue a life of learning in retirement. The participant speakers and presenters offered interactive sessions that exposed the OLLI members to the richness and diversity of the Indian cultural heritage.

PHOTOS: Top: Namrata Dalela, Shruti Padsalgikar, Aditee Padsalgikar, Soundaram Thiruvengadam, Racheline Shadap, Shanthi Chandra-Sekar, Carrie Trybulec, Jacki Rockwell. Bottom: Amelie Burgunder, Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi, and Jeff Bauer. Next page - Top: Namrata Dalela with food and textile presentations; Middle Left: Debu Nayak and Samia Mahbub Ahmad; Middle Right: Sudeshna Basu and Jeff Bauer, Bottom: Shanthi ChandraSekar and OLLI members.

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Josh Feinberg Sitar Performance – March 24, 2012 A performance of sitar by Josh Feinberg on March 24, 2012 accompanied by Nikhil Tikekar on tabla. Josh was introduced to music through classical piano and the bass. He later became interested in improvisation and began studying jazz and discovered North Indian Classical Music. He studied with Dr. Peter Row while attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and initiated his training with Ust. Ali Akbar Khan. Nikhil Tikekar received his tabla training from Sri Walmik Dhande in the Benaras Tradition while growing up in Bombay.

Music Fills the Infinite – April 29, 2012 A performance of the music of East and West presented by the Gandhi Memorial Center with Sudeshna Basu (vocal), Jeff Bauer (piano), Fred Dixon (vocal), Lois Jones (piano), Debu Nayak (tabla), and Arun Bagal (violin). Readings from Tagore and Einstein by Steve Bauer.

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Photo: Narayan Desai, Panna Naik, and Natwar Gandhi

Visit by Narayan Desai to the Gandhi Memorial Center March 20, 2012 Narayan Desai is the son of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal secretary and biographer Mahadev Desai. He visited the Gandhi Memorial Center for an informal tea and discussion about his experiences growing up with Gandhi and his pursuits to present the philosophy and message of Mahatma Gandhi.

He was brought up in Gandhi’s Ashram in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad and Sevagram near Wardha. Narayanbhai was educated and trained by his father and the others living in Gandhi’s Ashram.

Narayan, as a way of paying tribute to his father, wrote a four-volume biography of Gandhi in Gujarati, a dream his father could not fulfill in his lifetime because of his sudden death in prison on 15 August 1942. This biography has now been translated into English. Earlier he published a book entitled: “Bliss was it to be young with Gandhi” based on his own childhood experiences of living in Gandhi’s ashram.

He was awarded the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998 “for his tireless work in favor of the promotion of inter-religious and inter-ethnic understanding, tolerance and harmony and hisachievements in the education and training for non-violence and peace.”

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The word Satya (Truth) is derived from Sat, which means “Being”. Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why SAT or Truth is perhaps the most important name of God. Where there is Truth, there also is knowledge which is true. Where there is no truth, there can be no true knowledge. That is why the word Chit, or “knowledge,” is associated with the name of God. And where there is true knowledge, there is always bliss, (Ananda). There sorrow has no place. And even as Truth is eternal, so is the bliss derived from it. Hence we know God as Sat-Chit-Ananda - one who combines in Himself Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss.

For me, Truth is the soveriegn principle, which includes numerous other principles. This truth is not only truthfulness in word, but truthfulness in thought also, and not only the relative truth of our conception, but the Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God. I worship God that is Truth or Truth which is God.

-Mahatma Gandhi