SOME LEADERS AND REFORMERS OF MOVEMENTS TOWARDS INDIA CENTURY. October-2010

CONTENTS
Page No
FOREWORD
OVERVIEW
SOME LEADERS AND REFORMERS Maharshi Roerich
Swami Chinmayananda
Swami Ranganathananda
Raimondo Panikkar
Gopala Krishna Gokhale
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi
Matha Amritanandamayi
Brahma Kumaris
Bhagawan Shree Rajaneesh
Anand Coomaraswamy
J. Krishnamurti
Srila Prabhupada
Paramahamsa Yogananda
SARPV Chaturvedi Swami
Dr David Frawley
E.B. Havell
Annie Besant
Henry David Thoreau
Romain Rolland
Ralf Waldo Emerson
Sister Nivedita
Edwin Arnold
Rudyard Kipling
Amma Sai Era Meera about Sri Rama
Emergence of Mr. Gandhi





e, true political change in India would only be possible when a new generation of Indians became educated as to their civil and patriotic duty to their country and to each other. Believing existing educational institutions and the Indian Civil Service did SOME LEADERS AND REFORMERS OF MOVEMENTS TOWARDS INDIA CENTURY.

FOREWORD
(Photo of NS Ramaswamy)
Earlier, we had brought out an Educational Booklet with “Some Seers and Sages of India” as its theme. This month our Educational Booklet has the theme : “Some Leaders and Reformers of Movements towards the India Century”. In a sense, it is the continuation of our earlier purpose. It is to highlight, though briefly, some masters whose work would lead to the birth of a new civilization combining the best of the West with the best of Eastern wisdom.
The new renaissance, which springs from a knowledge of the ancient booklets of India, is expected to have a great impact on the world. The first renaissance was the result of translations of Greek and Latin work being made widely available. The invention of the Printing Press in the 15th Century helped this movement. Today, with the internet and other developments in information technology, combined with interest in and availability of translated versions of the Vedas, including Ayurveda, it is bound to have a tremendous effect on the world in future. The India Century Mission sees such a future. We work towards disseminating correct information in a humble way. We hope to kindle interest in these topics to a vast section of people, not merely to scholars who already know these things.
In this issue, we introduce some of the people who have taken a lead in recognizing and spreading contributions of ancient India. Some of them adhered to some traditions, but were greater than that tradition. Some of them built up institutions based on their vision. Some of them were Indians and others were not. But all of them are worthy of being understood, remembered and to act as sources of information for coming generations. Their world view corresponds to that helped by visionaries, such as Swami Vivekananda who foresaw the dawn of India Century. We have selected only some, but admittedly there are many more who need to be introduced.
I deeply appreciate the magnificent contribution of Prof. K.M.P. Menon in the making of this booklet.
N.S. Ramaswamy



OVERVIEW
We are well into the second decade of this century after just a couple of months. What have we learned in these eventful years after gaining Independence? During the momentous debates and decisions it was expected that an initial period of about half a century of turbulence and turmoil was inevitable considering the inexperience of the new classes which inherited power from the British who were keen to pass it on. Winston Churchill had predicted that power would soon pass on from the men of straw to charlatans and blackmailers and the blood of innocent millions would be on the head of Mr.Attlee, the post-war prime minister of England who was in a hurry to make India free. Equally worth pondering are the words of Macaulay much earlier who remarked that the legal system he devised was a grafting of an enlightened system on despotism. 'These are mentioned not to look down upon ourselves but to point out how far we have to progress in order to be the centre of the world rebirth -the new renaissance of learning and the human spirit with India as it's focus- which we call The India century. The theme this month is: “The Reformers and Leaders of Movements Towards the making of India Century”. We provide an introduction to the men and women who saw the future and tried to reform society and shared their vision with others. All of them believed in the contribution of India in the realm of the spirit and its value to the world of the future.

We have brought together much information that is not found together. We hope that along with the power gained by just being informed the reader will be inspired with a new spirit. Complacency and dispiritedness should give way to a sense of urgency and high morale. At the least it should raise curiosity of our young readers and make them want to know more!

Renaissance – Old And New

By the end of the current century, the world shall see a great change in such a way that India shall be looked upto as the dominant source of inspiration. This is what makes us call this century the 'Indian Century'. This involves a new rebirth of learning' a second renaissance similar to the one in the 15th century which was triggered by the translation of Greek books and the invention of the printing press.

The new world renaissance movement and some of its leaders and reformers is the theme of this booklet.

The movement refers to the second rebirth of Learning in the twenty first century which had been predicted by not only Swamy Vivekananda but by many scholars such as Goethe, Ampere, Romain Rolland etc.

The first renaissance has been often discussed .It started in Italy in the fourteenth century in a wonderful flowering of Art and Culture It swept through Europe In England it enlivened the Elizabethan age with great plays and a remarkable spirit of adventure.

It spawned a new scientific spirit, a new humanism and a spate of new inventions. It caused a change in the way mankind saw itself and the world.

The inspiration for the European renaissance was the rediscovery of the great learning and the lost culture of ancient Greece which had been transmitted to the Roman empire and was available in Latin texts before Rome itself fell to the Vandals leaving Europe to a thousand odd years of bigotry and darkness.

The invention of the printing press was providential in the spreading of the new learning and the new Humanistic spirit.

Among the works of the ancient Greek teachers which inspired the later European scholars with the most decisive influence were the Notes of Aristotle. It is necessary to mention this so that we can make some meaningful comparisons.

Aristotle was the teacher of the conqueror Alexander who came to India in the fourth century B.C. He “brought philosophy down to earth” and was the first to treat Reality as treatable in separate discreet packages –as different subjects.
The new Renaissance may change all this. That is not meant to denigrate the great achievements of the first renaissance of learning which made Europe rise up after the Dark Ages beginning with the 15th century. Rather in future mankind will be offered a more fuller Life .This will happen when classical European humanism is tempered with a new spirituality gained ancient Indian wisdom.

The accessibility of ancient Indian wisdom is bound to play a similar role as that made possible by Greek and Latin knowledge in an earlier epoch. Philosophy that is Learning may become more transcendental ,giving due recognition to the spiritual side of man .Reality may be seen through the insights of the seers and sages of the Vedas and the Upanishads. Their outlook was more expansive more inclusive and holistic and in conformity to the conclusions of modern experimental materialistic sciences.The unity of all things, the “Logocentric vision” of the rishis may once again become the ‘dominant’ world-view. In other words Sanathana dharma may hold the centre-stage in the conscience of the world. When this happens we can say that the IndiaCentury has come about.

This booklet is not about the ancient rishis but about the many learned and dedicated souls who understood the science and the thought of ancient India. They strive to spread this in the world. They try to cleanse Indian society of the evils which have crept in over the ages taking advantage of the freedom ingrained in our system with spurious claims to religious sanction. The sages figured here are all not only those who put Indian Wisdom on the world map but also those who have attempted to shake the system in India out of its bad accretions such as sati and child marriages. In this respect Gokhale was more relevant and effective than his rival Tilak who did not want to interfere in social customs before gaining FREEDOM FROM British rule. Though some of them adhered to some ancient tradition or other, all of them possessed such over-arching individuality that no tradition could contain them. Raimondo Panikkar for instance though formally a Catholic theologian was emphatically a Benaras trained Hindu Shastri as well as a wonderful English author of such works as the Vedic Experience. Gokhale the liberal democrat and admirer of Mill and Burke was a Maths professor and also a Chitpavan Brahmin scholar of the Vedas. David Frawley the modern American scholar is also Vamadeva Shastri the tireless proponent of the wisdom of the Vedas. Such are the people who move the new world renaissance forward.
K.M.P. Menon


SOME REFORMERS AND LEADERS


MAHARSHI ROERICH

In any discussion of the new Renaissance of Learning and rebirth of the Human Spirit, we have to include one of its outstanding pioneers, Nicholas Roerich[1874-1947]. Son of a government lawyer, he also studied and passed out from the St.Petersburg University in Russia, simultaneously qualifying himself as an artist from the Imperial art Institute. His very first painting attracted Tolstoy towards becoming his friend and advisor. For many years he was to Russian art what Tolstoy was to Russian Literature. His ability was many-sided and brilliant. He was a scientific explorer, mapping the unknown areas of the Himalayas, studying its flora and fauna, the geological wealth, ethnology migration patterns and so on. He was the first to point how cutting down trees was harming the ecology of large swathes of land and to measure the rate at which the Gobi desert was expanding. Though he started life as a high official of the Russian imperial government, after the Revolution, he often financed his expeditions by the money he earned from his paintings. His paintings were widely renowned and had a good market in the U.S.A.

His paintings always conveyed the spiritual aspect along with beauty. He was keenly alive to India's culture and our past which was his inspiration. KRISHNA, LAKSHMI, DREAMS OF INDIA, INDIAN PATH-are some names of series of paintings by him. He collected rare manuscripts and studied aspects of eastern culture at URUSVATI the international centre he founded in the Kulu valley.

After the second world war, he donated substantially for re-habilitation of Russia which had suffered badly by the German attack. He was a friend of many Indians apart from Nehru and Gandhi and Tagore. His son, Stanislav, married an Indian celebrity and spent a fruitful lifetime in India. Nicholas the versatile professor died in India on 15th. December 1947 and his memorial in Kulu describes him as Maharshi Roerich.

He wanted Independent India to be a major spiritual and civilizing force in the world as it was in the past. He was sure this would happen. When asked what he found so attractive about India, his answer was that one should judge the present by the Future!

Prof. Roerich was a member of so many varied Societies in different parts of the world. A pact named after him was adopted by UNESCO to preserve cultural monuments even by warring countries.He was the first to start a Russo U.S.A. Friendship Society. Honours and recognition still keep coming to him as memorials so many years after his death. An asteroid has been named after him in the recent past.
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SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA
(Courtesy Brahmcharini Sadhanaji)
There are many saints and sages in the history of India. There are also many gurus. But visionaries are only a few. Sri Swami Chinmayananda was not only the sage of modern times, not only a guru but also a great visionary, whose work touched not only India but the whole world. From time to time, the world witnesses birth of a Yuga Purusha who comes for the purpose of leading the suffering humanity to the path of Dharma. And we are the blessed ones who have had the great fortune of being under the direct guidance of this Guru Sri Chinmayananda, a great Gnani who carved for us the ideal model of Karma Yogi sweetened with endless Bhakti. Those who met him will never forget the glow of Chinmaya (Pure consciousness) that He carried around everywhere at all times.
Involvement in the Independence Movement
In 1940 young Balan joined the Luknow university were he studied English literature and law. He was very active in the life on the campus appeared in several dramas in the theater, and became a member of the literary club, the debating club, and was on the university tennis team. Balakrishnan Menon was an attractive young man and in demand in social circles. But it wasn't all he did. Sensitive to the life around him in 1942 Menon joined the Indian independence movement, for independence of his Country was an issue very dear to his heart. He was involved in writing and distributing leaflets, organizing public strikes and giving speeches. Menon's rare leadership qualities made him visible in the movement and soon a warrant was issued in his name. He had to go into hiding, but soon after returning he was caught and put in prison. He spent several months in the overcrowded prison in terrible conditions. Terror, near-starvation diet, lack of hygiene and lack of ventilation invited disease.

In prison he had plenty of time to reflect on his own life, as well as on life in general. He had seen lifeless bodies carried out daily - the reality of death could not be ignored. Questions such as: "What is the meaning of this life? Is there something more permanent and if so what is it?" occupied his mind. Weakened by months in jail he fell ill with typhus fever. There was little hope for his recovery. Consequently, he was carried out into the night and tossed on the side of the road on the outskirts of the city.
Swamiji reports the event saying:

"The British officer threw me out when he realized I had contracted typhus in his prison. He did not want another body on his record ! but luckily for me, a kindly Christian-Indian lady took me into her home and cared for me like a Son. Later she told me that my nose reminded her on her son who was with the army. Suppose you can say I was......... 'saved by the nose'."

However, Swamiji was not predestined to die then, for his great mission in life had not yet started. After several difficult weeks and months he slowly regained strength and got well.
As soon as he regained health he was eager to get on with his life. He finished the university studies, graduated in law and English literature and chose the journalists career. In 1945 he moved to Delhi, the center of political activities, where he joined the editorial staff of the national newspaper of the Indians, The National Herald. Menon's passion for self-expression, the need to participate in the nation's revival gained him reputation of an extremely dynamic and controversial reporter. He was loudly voicing his opinion on every aspect of Indian life history, culture and of course the current topics, such as inevitability of independence, and the social issues. His innate compassion for man was evident through all the writings. His sympathies were with the poor, but at the same time he actively participated in life of the privileged class.
His eloquence, brilliant intelligence, and the unique ability to come up with a joke on any occasion made him a popular member of a local Club where he was a loud voice in controversial discussions on social and political issues. But even though young and ambitious, he soon discovered for himself the emptiness of the so called "good life". Underneath the noisy parties, the expensive clothes and jewelry and empty talk he sensed dissatisfaction, agitation and often despair. The selfishness and insensitivity of the ruling class were striking.
This made him discover again the topic left behind some fifteen year back - the Hindu religion. The old memories of childhood; the joy of falling asleep with the mantra on his lips, the loving and reassuring picture of an old grandmother who dedicated her last years to chanting the name of Lord Krishna.
Turning Point
Japa came back to Menon. He took Up the practice again, with the refreshing realization that perhaps there was more to life than political and social struggle, parties and intellectual discussions - though he still did not know what it was. "This feeling" as Swamiji recalls it later, was soon followed by an intense study of philosophy, both Indian and European. Secretly, before going to sleep he was doing the OM NAMAA SIVAYA mantra chanting.
It was at this crucial moment in his life that he came across books of Swami Sivananda, Vivekananda, Ram Tirtha, Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi and others He began studying philosophy' both Indian and European. The most profound influence made on Menon writings of Swami Sivananda, who stressed: "Be good. Do good." "Serve, Love, Purify, Meditate, Realize, and be free". Menon was impressed, but doubts still lingered in the mind of this self-acclaimed agnostic. He decided to explore it right where the action was - in the Himalayas - the center of spiritual life in India. Thus in the summer of 1947 the radical young journalist arrives at Swami Sivananda's ashram with the intention to find out "What is the true meaning of spirituality? Does it make any sense in life?" It would be a good subject for his new article, he thought.
However, already the first meeting with Swami Sivananda blew away Menon's preconceived ideas about spirituality. The master's dignity, his brilliant intelligence, the special aura of divinity captured him. Further more, the ashram was not at all what he expected. It was a dynamic place where numerous spiritual and social projects were continuously going on, and yet there was a very special peace and tranquillity felt in the mist of all the activity. It brought about the fascination in the doubting mind of the young journalist Swami Sivananda, who right away saw a great spiritual potential in Menon paid him special attention and used to tease him: "God gave you such an intelligence! Why don't you use it for Him?! You can join us and become a swami ! "
A month later Menon returned to Delhi as a changed man and, a year later moved to Rishikesh, but for some time he was still going back and forth to Delhi continuing his Career of a journalist.
Spiritual path
Finally he joined Sivananda ashram, and on the 25th of February 1949, the auspicious day of Sivaratri Swami Sivananda initiated Menon to the order of sanyas. His name become now SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA SARASWATI, the one who revels in the bliss of pure consciousness.
Swamiji studied and worked in the ashram for some time. But for him the only path was GNANA YOGA, therefore Swami Sivananda told him: "You need to master the scriptures! Go to Uttarkashi to study under the renown vedantic master, Swami Tapovan!"
Thus Swamiji spent 8 years studying the scriptures at the feet of Sri Swami Tapovan in the high Himalayas in Uttarkashi. It was not easy, for Swami Tapovan was a great disciplinarian and a very demanding teacher. He never repeated his lesson twice. Swamiji lived in the cowshed with the stone for a pillow. However, Chinmaya was the uttama adhikari (the best Student), his burning desire for Self-knowledge knew no obstacles. He was often seen sitting all night in meditation in a quiet forest or on the Ganges banks. days he spent on studies and contemplation and guru seva (service to the guru).
After finishing studying the Bhagavad Geeta, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras Swamiji says to his guru: "I feel the immense urge to go down to the plains and share the wealth of the holy scriptures with my fellow countrymen. I want to run down like the a Ganga which nourishes and inspires with its refreshing waves."
Swami Tapovanam did not share the enthusiasm of his disciple He told him: "People are not ready yet, they will not understand you!" The guru suggested instead: "Take a trip down to plains wandering around as a renunciate, living as a beggar among those you had once known. Swamiji traveled on foot Some six months living on bhiksha; sleeping in ashrams, temples, and under wayside trees."
In November of 1951, Swami Chinmayananda completed his tour of India and returned to Tapovan Kutir in Uttarkasi But he came back even more convinced that his mission in life was to bring the rich and forgotten Vedantic philosophy to every corner of the world. He had witnessed the spiritual and economic degradation throughout his homeland, and was resolved to do series of Geeta Gnana Yagnas in all of the big Cities of India and abroad.
But Swamiji was not going to disobey his Guru, and would not leave without guru's blessings. Again he asked Swami Tapovan for permission, and this time Swami Tapovan said, all right, go and start your gnana yagnas but on one condition - you must have at least four people in the audience including the speaker, And Guru's words were fulfilled. Truly enough the first gnana yagna in Poona started with four people.


Spiritual renaissance begins
Thus Swami Chinmayananda came down from the high Himalayan peaks to bring the knowledge of the rishis and with it the revival of moral and spiritual values in the whole nation. The need for such a direction in India's recently won independence was urgent for the nation was falling down from the philosophical level of the old principles of Vedanta. His primary aim was: " To convert Hindus to Hinduism".
This hasn't been an easy task. From the very beginning Swamiji had to face lots of opposition, it seemed that he had everyone against him. Never before was studying of the scriptures in India open to everyone. Up till then the sacred spiritual knowledge was kept secret, being a privilege of the learned priest class. So when Swami Chinmayananda came thundering down with the message of the scriptures, tradition bound India was shocked. The priest class, the guardians of the scriptures hearing that the young radical swami invaded their closely guarded territory, were outraged and criticized him strongly. Not only was he taking the secret knowledge to the streets by holding public lectures, but he was teaching it in English, the language of the foreigners! The priests and preachers called him a rebel and swore that God himself would tear out Swamiji's tongue for such sacrilege."
Even the educated class would not support the renaissance of spiritual culture that Swamiji was initiating. The English educated intelligentsia was not ready to receive his message. Trying to imitate the ways of the West, materialistic and skeptical, they were oblivious of the traditional Aryan spiritual culture of Hinduism.
But Swamiji did not give up. He used to tell us that Success is our birthright, and he has proven it with his life, He knew that given time he will win the hearts and minds of the nation Undefeated, He traveled through the country urging that all national activities be should be organized around higher spiritual ideals, proving, that spirituality is not a hindrance to progress, but enriches life and gives it new meaning Swamiji, the greatest missionary of our times Swamiji tirelessly worked for 42 years in spite of His ill health traveling throughout India and the whole world with no holidays, no breaks. He used to say: "When I rest, I rust". His joyous presence brought inspiration and strength around. Easily approachable He clarified doubts and anxieties, and offered guidance at the satsangs and discussions to men and women across the globe. Swamiji always found time for an honest seeker, regardless whether he was a child or the distinguished scholar or politician. Ever punctual, never complaining, full of enthusiasm, ready to help and guide, never missed an appointment, even when sick. He taught the importance of spiritual knowledge in every day life. His style was new, somehow shocking but irresistible. He explained philosophy of ancient scriptures with logic of science and at the same time with dynamism and humor the methods suitable to the modern youth. His charming smile cheered hearts, and magnet of his clear strong voice soon started drawing hundreds then thousands to the lectures.
At the lectures Swamiji demanded that everyone had the Upanishad and Geeta text in hand, and that everyone participated in the chanting of the Sanskrit texts.
Apart from lecturing Swami Chinmayananda wrote commentaries to major Vedantic texts as well as many of His own books that dealt with different aspects of true religion, including books for children. His approach is unique. By the use of scientific logic and simplicity of style He made the profound scriptural knowledge easy to understand and brought it closer to us by illustrating it with examples from our own life. Written in modern language they perfectly serve the needs of the modern people.
Once a child asked Him, Swamiji where do you live? Swamiji answered: "at the airports and the train Stations". And it is true this great saint did not have a home of His own, a matter of fact He owned nothing. Upto the end of His life He never stayed in one place more than a week. With "Hari Om" He used to arrive and with "Hari Om" He would leave one place for another, taking with Him but the love and the satisfaction that more hearts were inspired to live Vedantic way of life, the life of spiritual knowledge and the noble values. He used to say: "Vedanta makes you a better Hindu, better Christian better Muslim as it makes you a better human being."
Chinmaya Mission
Already in the 60s the results of Swami Chinmayananda's work were striking. The Chinmaya movement touched every corner of India and it was the time for Swamiji to take the principles of Vedanta out into the world. He started lecturing abroad. Year by year Mission centers were growing in numbers everywhere around the world. Mission motto is: "Give maximum happiness to the maximum of people for the maximum of time.
But Swamiji knew that simply attending the lectures and reading the books our lives will not be changed. That is why He introduced the weekly study groups and classes where newly learned ideas could be reinforced and assimilated in the mutual discussions.
Swamiji gave special attention and affection to children, for He saw them as the builders of the future. For them He organized the Bala Vihar and Yuva Kendra classes, which He called children's clubs. Those classes teach the principles of Hindu religion and culture helping the youngsters to unfold their hidden potential in the light of dynamic spirituality. Many of them have grown up as the most successful and highly cultured members of society To see them prosper Swamiji remarked, was the best Gurudakshina he ever received.
Chinmaya Mission sponsors 62 schools in India where apart from the normal school curriculum children learn the Vedic heritage. There are also nursing and management schools to provide higher education. The spreading; of the Vedantic knowledge is assured by continuous publishing and distributing Swamiji's books all over the world.
In order to have the Vedantic knowledge brought to every corner of the world and every avenue of life Swamiji started ashrams in India and America where the new teachers, brahmacharies and Swamis: of the Mission were trained according to the old guru-kula tradition. The main ashram in India are in Bombay, and in Himalayas in Siddhabari. In America ashrams are in Piercy, San Jose, Washington, Chicago, Flint, New York state, and Florida. In His great compassion Swamiji wanted to help poor, sick and the old, that is why He started free clinics, hospitals, vocational Hari Har schools, orphanages, and old peoples homes.
Lifelong Achievements
In 1992 Swami Chinmayananda gave an address in the United Nations titled "Planet in Crisis". Just before the Mahasamadhi Swamiji was recognized as a world-renown teacher of Vedanta and Hindu religious leader. He was selected as a President of Hindu religion for the Centennial Conference of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda gave His address a hundred years ago. He was also honored in Washington, DC, at "World Vision 2000", a conference of religious leaders sponsored by Hindu Vishwa Parishad on August 6-8, 1993. The award was to be presented to Swamiji for His selfless service to humanity and as his extraordinary achievement in creating a renaissance of spiritual and cultural values in the country of His birth, India.
Unfortunately, Swamiji was not able to appear for the last two functions as He attained Mahasamadhi on August 3rd.
Swami Chinmayananda, the greatest Missionary and the visionary of our times left His bodily form in San Diego on August 3rd but His mission will continue, carried out by all of us with the zeal and love that He taught us for years. His body was taken to India and buried in Siddhabari ashram, but His teachings and His achievements will live for ever


SWAMI RANGANATHANANDA

Swami Ranganathananda (1908–2005) born Shankaran Kutty was a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Math order. He served as the 13th president of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

Ranganathananda was born in 1908 in a village called Trikkur near Trichur, in Kerala. As teenager, he was attracted by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna and joined the Mysore centre of Ramakrishna Order as a Brahmachari in 1926. He served the Mysore Centre for 9 years and was under Swami Siddheswarananda and another 3 years under him in the Bangalore centre. He was initiated as a Sannyasi (monk) in 1933, on the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's birth by Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna. Between 1939 and 1942, he served as the secretary and librarian at the Rangoon branch of Ramakrishna Mission.

He then served as the president of the Karachi centre of math from 1942 to 1948 until the partition of India, after which the mission found it difficult to continue its activities at Karachi. At Karachi, L.K. Advani came in contact with the Swami and used to listen to his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita. Advani said that Ranganathananda was a "great influence" during his formative years. According to Advani, at Karachi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah had once listened to Ranganathananda's lecture on Islam and Prophet Mohammed and remarked, “Now I know how a true Muslim should be.

From 1949 to 1962, he served as a secretary at the Delhi centre. Then from 1962 to 1967, he served as the Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, director of School of Humanistic & Cultural studies, editor of mission's monthly. The swamiji became president of the Hyderabad branch in 1973, where he developed Vivekananda Vani School of Languages, a temple, library and delivered spiritual discourses. He was elected to the post of vice-president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1988. In 1998 he was elected as the president of the mission.

Ranganathananda was chosen by the Indian government for Padma Vibhushan award in 2000. He declined the Padma Vibhushan as it was conferred on him in his individual capacity and not for the Mission. He accepted the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1987 and the Gandhi Peace Prize in February 1999 as both were conferred on the Ramakrishna Mission.

Since his residence in Bangalore in the 1930s, Ranganathananda has been a popular teacher and lecturer on Indian spiritual culture. By the mid-1950s he was known within India as an authority on practical Vedanta. Since the 1960s he made nearly annual lecture tours to Western Europe, the United States, Australia, and Singapore. He also lectured in Iran and in the Soviet union. Ranganathananda is noted for this contributions that bridges Western science and Vedantic spirituality.

Raganathananda lived the last days of his life in the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur in West Bengal. He passed away at Woodlands Medical Centre, Kolkata, at 3:51 p.m. on Monday, 25 April 2005, owing to cardiac arrest. He was 96. His mortal remains were kept for darshan at Belur Math (near Kolkata) on that day, and were consigned to flames at 12.30 p.m. on 26 April 2005. India Post released a postage stamp in the denomination of Rs 5 to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Swami Ranganathananda, during December 2008 at Kolkata.

Ranganathananda is regarded as a scholar and a teacher. Ranganathananda has written over 50 books. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has published around 29 of these books.

His famous book includes Eternal values for a changing society and commentaries on the messages of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. He was known as a good orator. Ranganathananda's weekly classes and public lectures were popular among the followers. Ganapathy, correspondent of The Hindu writes that "In all his lectures, Swami Ranganathananda had stressed on the philosophy of eternal religion, a practical Vedanta, which teaches universal acceptance". Ranganathananda conducted moral and religious classes for the prisoners in the Bangalore and Mysore jails. In Delhi, Swami Ranganathananda organised social services at hospitals and worked for the relief of leprosy patients. Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh described Swami Ranganathananda and Swami Vivekananda as "leaders with a modern mind and scientific temper."

Quotations

"Are you growing spiritually? Can you love others? Can you feel oneness with others? Have you peace within yourself? and do you radiate it around you? That is called spiritual growth, which is stimulated by meditation inwardly and by work done in a spirit of service outwardly."

"I am not alone in the world. . .We belong to a world. . .The vast world is around us. We cannot do without it. We cannot become human without a human world around us. How much we owe to the world of other human beings around us!

"Efficiency and energy comes from emotion, not from intellectual knowledge, which can only direct that emotional energy. But the real impulse comes from emotion. It makes you work at your best."

"So, work hard; perform all duties; develop yourself; then come and surrender to the highest. Do a whole day's honest work, then sit and meditate; then resign yourself to God. Otherwise, that meditation has no meaning or value. Meditation at the end of a lazy day has no meaning; but the same at the end of an active day, filled with good deeds, has meaning, and is rewarding."

"How can we find joy in work? By working for oneself? No; it is not possible to find that continuous joy in work through selfish motivations. Frustration and ennui are the end of all selfish motivations. Frustrations and nervous breakdowns are the end of a self-centred life. The first advice of modern psychiatry to such people is to get out of this prison of self-centredness and to find a genuine interest in other people. Everyone has to learn the lesson some day that the best way to be happy is to strive to make others happy. So wherever you find frustration, you will always discover that the person concerned had been too self-centred and the only hope for him is through learning to take interest in other people, to find joy in the joy of other people. This is the royal path that makes for health, for strength, for efficiency. This great truth---universal and human---we should apply to the world and to our life in it."

The great new mantra today is "Work" and 'Hard Work'; along with Hard work, intelligent work co-operative team work. All great undertakings are product of team work. We can meet the challenge of freedom only when we have learnt this character-efficiency involved in team work and intelligent hard work. This is the philosophy which we have to learn consciously, not unconsciously, somehow stumbling into it.

Work from ego point of view is all tension. But behind ego, there is an infinite spiritual dimension. When that is realized even a little, then extra work won't make one feel that it is heavy. Even ordinary experiences will tell you: Whenever there is love in the heart, the worker doesn't feel heavy. When there is no love in the heart, even a little work makes one feel very heavy. As soon as you have love for a particular cause, you can do anything; do hard work, but have a spirit of detachment based on a larger love.

Work is no work at all. It is a question of agency and attachment. When these two are not there, work ceases to be work, it becomes a play, it becomes spontaneous, and it becomes natural. When you become thoroughly detached, then all that tension goes away. You are working, but you don't feel that you are working. What a beautiful idea!"

Work is drudgery; Sri Krishna will not allow that attitude. There is joy in work also. Do not abandon work; go on doing work; but, mentally renouncing all actions. It is a wonderful state of mind-working and yet not working.

Those who work, work with a zest and with joy and in work, learn calmness and the serenity of the human mind and heart; what a wonderful joy it is to work in such a way!


RAIMUNDO PÁNIKER
(Nov 3, 1918 – August 26, 2010)

In the global village of the future, in order to be successful man will need to have a multiple identity. Pankkar was proud to call himself a Hindu a Buddhist and a Christian at the same time. It was the outcome of deep knowledge. He earned doctorates in Theology Philosophy and Psychology. He was equally at home in many parts of the world. His greatest contribution may well be the path to inter-religious harmony based on spirituality informed by an understanding of mankind’s mental archetypes. That is just like the rishis of the remote past.

Early life and education

Raimundo Pániker Alemany was the son of Ramunni Panikkar, a Malabar aristocrat, who during his student days in England was connected with the struggle to fight for India’s freedom. Subsequently he went to Spain and married a lady from Catalonia, his mother. She was well-educated and from the Catalan bourgeoisie.

Educated at a Jesuit school, Panikkar studied chemistry and philosophy at the universities of Barcelona, Bonn and Madrid, and Catholic Theology in Madrid and Rome. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Madrid in 1946 and a doctorate in chemistry in 1958. He earned a third doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome in 1961. He compared St. Thomas Aquinas's Philosophy with the eighth-century Hindu philosopher Ādi Śańkara's Interpretation of the Brahma Sutras.

Career
He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1946, and was a professor of philosophy at the University of Madrid.[6] He made his first trip to India in 1954 where he studied Indian philosophy and religion at the University of Mysore and Banaras Hindu University, where he met several Western monks seeking Eastern forms for the expression of their Christian beliefs. "I left Europe [for India] as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be Christian," he later wrote. He became a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School in 1966 and a professor of religious studies at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972. For many years he taught in the spring and spent the rest of the year doing research in India. In 1987 he moved to Tavertet, in the hills north of Barcelona, where he founded the Raimon Panikkar Vivarium Foundation, a center for intercultural studies.

He last lived in Tavertet, in the mountains of Catalonia outside Barcelona. Panikkar authored more than 40 books and 900 articles. His complete works are being published in Italian. His 1989 Gifford Lectures are being published in English by Orbis.

In a statement from his residence in Tavertet dated January 26, 2010 he wrote: "Dear Friends . . . I would like to communicate with you that I believe the moment has come, (put off time and again), to withdraw from all public activity, both the direct and the intellectual participation, to which I have dedicated all my life as a way of sharing my reflections. I will continue to be close to you in a deeper way, through silence and prayer, and in the same way I would ask you to be close to me in this last period of my existence. You have often heard me say that a person is a knot in a network of relationships; in taking my leave from you I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for having enriched me with the relationship I have had with each of you. I am also grateful to all of those who, either in person or through association, continue working to spread my message and the sharing of my ideals, even without me. Thankful for the gift of life which is only such if lived in communion with others: it is with this spirit that I have lived out my ministry."

An example of his writing :

The Hymn Of The Origins From “THE VEDIC EXPERIENCE”
Ndsadiya Sukta
The vision of this hymn comes out of a profound insight into the mystery of reality. It is the product of a mystical experience that far transcends the limits of logical thinking; it is a religious chant— for only in music or poetry can such a message be conveyed—in voicing in splendid verses the Primal Mystery that transcends all categories, both human and divine. This hymn, while trying to plumb the depths of the mystery, formulates no doctrinal system but expresses itself by means of a rich variety of different symbols related to the one single insight. The hymn, in fact, presents an extraordinary consistency, which is patent only to the contemplative mind; in the absence of this latter, however, it is bound to appear either as syncretistic or as agnostic, as has in fact been sometimes asserted.

We are dealing here, in the first place, not with a temporal cosmogonic hymn describing the beginning of creation, or even with an ontological theogony, or with a historical description concerning the formation of the Gods or even of God. It is not the description of a succession of stages through which the world has passed. The starting point of the hymn is not a piece of causal thinking seeking the cause of this world or of God or the Gods, but rather an intuitive vision of the whole. This hymn does not attempt to communicate information but to share a mystical awareness that transcends the sharpest lines of demarcation of which the human mind is capable: the divine and the created, Being and Nonbeing. It seeks to give expression to the insight of the oneness of reality which is experienced as being so totally one that it does not need the horizon of nonreality or the background of a thinking process to appear in its entire actuality. This oneness is so radically one that every distinction is overcome; it is that unutterable and unthinkable process that “sees” all that is and is-not, in its utmost simplicity, which is, of course, not a jñana, a gnosis, but an ignorance, an interrogation. The One is not seen against any horizon or background. All is included. All is pure horizon. There are no limits to the universal or, for that matter, to the concrete.

The first verse brings us straightaway to the heart of the mystery and is composed of a series of questions. Neither an affirmation nor a negation is capable of carrying the weight of the ultimate mystery. Only the openness of an interrogation can embrace what our mere thinking cannot encompass. The Ultimate is neither real nor non-real, neither being nor nonbeing, and thus neither is nor is-not; the apophatism is total and covers everything, even itself: “darkness was wrapped in darkness.”

Being as well as Nonbeing, the Absolute (or Ultimate) as well as the Beginning, are contradictory concepts when applied to the primordial mystery. “Absolute” means unrelatedness, and when we speak or think about it we are negating that character. “Ultimate" points toward the end of a process that has no "after,” and “Beginning” toward a point that has no “before.” But what is to prevent our thinking a “previous” to the Beginning and a "beyond” to the Ultimate, unless our mind artificially imposes a limit on its thinking or bursts in the effort? If we think “Being” we cannot be prevented from thinking “Nonbeing” also, and so the very concept of an all-including “Being” which does not include “Nonbeing” defeats its own purpose. Indeed, a metaphysician might say that “Nonbeing” is a nonentity and an unthinkable concept; yet the fact remains that at least on the level of our thinking the concept of “Being” cannot include its contradiction.

This verse tells us that the primordial mystery cannot be pinpointed to any idea, thing, thought, or being. It is primarily neither the answer to a set of riddles nor the object of current metaphysical speculations concerning the how or the why of creation. It is beyond thinking and Being. The symbol of water is the most pertinent one: the primordial water covers all, supports all, has no form of its own, is visible and invisible, has no limits, pervades everything it is the first condition of life, the place of the original seed, the fertilizing milieu.

The seer then continues by a series of negatives: there was neither death nor nondeath, nor any distinction between day and night. All the opposites, including the contradictories, are on this side of the curtain. At this point we have not yet reached Being and thus we have not yet the possibility of limiting Being by Non-being.

This One is not even a concept. It is not a concept limit like truth, goodness, beauty, and similar concepts when applied to the Absolute; it is rather the limit of a concept, unthinkable in itself and yet present on the other side of the curtain as the necessary condition for the very existence and intelligibility of everything. Whereas the concepts of being, goodness, truth, and the like admit degrees of approximation to the fullness, of that to which they refer, the One does not. There are degrees of being, of goodness, of truth. There are no degrees of oneness. The One represents the peak of mystical awareness, which India developed later in her Advaitic philosophy, and the West in Trinitarian theology.

Darkness and emptiness are also symbols of the first moment. This darkness is not, however, the moral or even the ontological darkness of the world, but the primordial darkness of the Origin. The negative as well as the positive aspect of existence belongs to the Ultimate. Evil and good, the positive and the negative, both are embraced in the One that encompasses everything. Now, to cancel darkness by darkness, is it not to let the light shine forth? Furthermore, it is said that desire, love, fervor, were the dynamic forces that brought reality to a temporal process of originating something out of something. Out of nothing nothing can come. Nothingness is not previous to, but coextensive with Being. The source of Being is not another Being or anything that can be considered as being an origin out of which things come to be. The process, according to the intuition of the Vedic rsi, is one of concentration, of condensation, of an emergence by the power of love. This love cannot be a desire toward “something” that does not exist, or even a desire coming out of a nonexisting Being. It is this very concentration that originates the Self which is going to be and have that love. Primordial love is neither a transitive nor an intransitive act; it is neither an act directed toward the other (which in this case does not exist) nor an act directed toward oneself (which in this case is also nonexistent), but it is the constitutive act by which existence comes into being. Without love there is no being, but love does not happen without ardor or tapas. It is fervor, tapas, that makes the being be; they are not separable. The relation between kama, desire and love, on the one hand, and tapas, ardor and heat, on the other, is one of the universal cosmic laws linking Being and the whole realm of beings.

The poets, those sages who seek to penetrate the mystery of reality, discover in Nonbeing the gravitational center of Being; only when this is realized can the cord that differentiates them be extended. The rope connecting Being and Nonbeing is the ultimate rope of salvation.

The two last stanzas voice several agonized queries and give expression to a deep-rooted unextirpable uncertainty for which no reply is vouchsafed, because reality is still on the move and any definite answer would preclude its constant newness. This insight brings us again to that ultimate level where the One is situated. From that depth the sage expresses the most fundamental question about the essential and existential enigma of the universe: What, he asks, is the origin of this universe, of all this, idam? Who, or what, is its purpose, its end, its direction? It cannot be the Gods, for they themselves belong on this side of the curtain. Nobody can know what is the very foundation of knowing, nor can anyone say that it is not known. This latter assumption would amount to being biased in favor of a certain negative theology or philosophy. To say that we do not know can be as assertive as to say that we do know. The last question is not the expression of a renunciation of knowledge or a declaration of agnosticism, which would here amount to a dogmatic affirmation, but the declaration that the problem—and not only the answer—is beyond the subject and object of knowledge itself. Only he who is beyond and above everything may know—or he may not, for how may there be any assurance concerning it? It is not only that we know that we do not know, which would then be mere pretending, but that we really do not know even if it is at all knowable by any possible knowledge. The hymn concludes with this query, this constitutive uncertainty which is of infinite magnitude, because we are all involved in it. To answer the query would amount to killing the very unfolding of reality. It is the openness of this interrogation which allows the universe to emerge and to exist.

Nasadiya Sukta RV X, 129
1. At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?
2. There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.
3. Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the Void, that One, emerging,
stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.
4. In the beginning Love arose,
which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.
5. A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.
6. Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?
7. That out of which creation has arisen,
whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows—or maybe He does not!

The Divine Word Devi Sukta
This hymn, though the name vac does not appear in it, is the most magnificent chant to this feminine principle, the devi of the supreme power, which later on would be known under the name of sakti.

Vac was before all creation, preexisting before any being came to be. It was she who initiated the creative process. The first two stanzas require a total immersion into the Vedic world in order for their full meaning to be grasped. With a beauty of their own, they say in solemn cadences that the Word is not only the First of the whole Vedic pantheon, but that she has a unique place, for her nature is not to be compared with that of any other being, whether created or uncreated.

The Word is not only an integral part of the sacrifice; she is also the Queen who commands homage in every sphere and who, expressing herself under different forms, remains essentially the unique Word that preserves the unity of all worship. Vac is the life-giving principle within all beings, even if they do not recognize this fact; she is the wind, the breath of life. She is the mother, attentive to the needs of both Gods and Men. She bestows her gifts and favors graciously and freely. She, existing from all eternity, reveals the Father and for the sake of creatures "begets” him who otherwise would remain utterly disconnected and nonexistent.
Devi Sukta RV X, 125
1. I move with the Rudras and also with the Vasus,
I move with the Adityas and all the Gods.
I support both Mitra and Varuna,
Indra and Agni and the two Asvins.
2. I uphold Soma the exuberant;
I uphold Tvastar, Pusan, and Bhaga.
I pour wealth on the offerer of oblation,
the worshiper and the pious presser of Soma.
3. I am the ruling Queen, the amasser of treasures,
full of wisdom, first of those worthy of worship.
In various places the divine powers have set me.
I enter many homes and take numerous forms.
4. The man who sees, who breathes, who hears words spoken,
attains his nourishment through me alone.
Unrecognizing me, he yet dwells in me.
Listen, you who know! What I say is worthy of belief.
5. It is I myself who announce and utter the tidings
that Gods and men alike rejoice to hear.
The man I love I make increase in strength.
I make him a priest, a sage, or a learned seer.
6. It is I who draw the mighty bow of the God,
that an arrow may pierce the hater of the Holy Word.
Among the people I arouse the struggle
and I have permeated Earth and Heaven.
7. At the world's summit I bring forth the Father.
My origin is in the Waters, in the ocean.
Thence I am spread through all existing worlds
and even touch the heaven with my forehead.
8. I breathe out strongly like the wind while clasping
unto myself all worlds, all things that are.
I tower above the earth, above the heavens,
so mighty am I in my power and splendor!

The Breath of Life Prana
Wind, Breath, and Life form a triad which modem Man has broken asunder, but which Man some millennia ago still experienced as a whole, for he viewed these three not as identical but as deeply related and belonging together. Movement is a common feature to all three. Movement is not seen here as a metaphysical riddle for our minds, but as a physical datum of our world. The phenomenon of movement may confound our reason (for we may not find a rational explanation for it) but it quickens our being (for without it we would die). Movement is the soul, that is, the life-principle, of every phenomenon in the three worlds. Wind is not just air, but air in movement. Breath is this same movement of the air within living beings. Life is intrinsically movement; it is something that somehow moves without being moved. There is no need to connect this vision with a primitive cosmology or an undeveloped physiology, though the expressions used to describe it may be clothed in the language of the time. The experience takes place at a deeper level of reality, a level where that fatal dichotomy between matter and spirit has not yet occurred. The fear of one extreme should not precipitate us into the other.

Is it possible for contemporary Man to reenact that primordial experience without becoming archaic, primitive, regressive, or even pathological? No amount of intellectual indoctrination, even if it manages to inculcate conviction, will succeed. It is obviously not a question of reverting to an undifferentiated outlook and to an almost animistic level of experience, but rather of viewing things with an integrated and integrating insight which is something more than mere poetic feeling.
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GOPAL KRISHNA GOKHALE






Gopal Krishna Gokhale, CIE (May 9, 1866 - February 19, 1915) was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale promoted not only or even primarily independence from the British Empire but also social reform. To achieve his goals, Gokhale followed two overarching principles: avoidance of violence and reform within existing government institutions.

Background and education

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born May 9, 1866 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, a state on the western coast of India that was then part of the Bombay Presidency. Although they were Chitpavan Brahmin, Gokhale’s family was relatively poor. Even so, they ensured that Gokhale received an English education, which would place Gokhale in a position to obtain employment as a clerk or minor official in the British Raj. Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive a university education, Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884. Gokhale’s education tremendously influenced the course of his future career – in addition to learning English, he was exposed to western political thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke. Although he would come to criticize unhesitatingly many aspects of the English colonial regime, the respect for English political theory and institutions that Gokhale acquired in his college years would remain with him for the rest of his life.

Indian National Congress and Rivalry with Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Gokhale became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889, as a protégé of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade. Along with other contemporary leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Annie Besant, Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities by cultivating a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights. Gokhale had visited Ireland and had arranged for an Irish nationalist, Alfred Webb, to serve as President of the Indian National Congress in 1894. The following year, Gokhale became the Congress’s joint secretary along with Tilak. In many ways, Tilak and Gokhale’s early careers paralleled – both were Chitpavan Brahmin (though unlike Gokhale, Tilak was wealthy), both attended Elphinstone College, both became mathematics professors, and both were important members of the Deccan Education Society. When both became active in the Congress, however, the divergence of their views concerning how best to improve the lives of Indians became increasingly apparent.

Gokhale’s first major confrontation with Tilak centered around one of his pet projects, the Age of Consent Bill introduced by the British Imperial Government, in 1891-2. Gokhale and his fellow liberal reformers, wishing to purge what they saw as superstitions and abuses from their native Hinduism, wished through the Consent Bill to curb child marriage abuses. Though the Bill was not extreme, only raising the age of consent from ten to twelve, Tilak took issue with it; he did not object per se to the idea of moving towards the elimination of child marriage, but rather to the idea of British interference with Hindu tradition. For Tilak, such reform movements were not to be sought after under imperial rule when they would be enforced by the British, but rather after independence was achieved when Indians would enforce it on themselves. Despite Tilak’s opposition, however, Gokhale and the reformers won the day and the bill became law in the Bombay Presidency. In 1905, Gokhale became president of the Indian National Congress. Gokhale used his now considerable influence to undermine his longtime rival, Tilak, refusing to support Tilak as candidate for president of the Congress in 1906. By now, Congress was split: Gokhale and Tilak were the respective leaders of the moderates and the "extremists" (the latter now known by the more politically correct term, 'aggressive nationalists') in the Congress. Tilak was an advocate of civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire, whereas Gokhale was a moderate reformist. As a result, the Congress Party split into two wings and was largely robbed of its effectiveness for a decade. The two sides would later patch up in 1916 after Gokhale died.

Servants of India Society
In 1905, when Gokhale was elected president of the Indian National Congress and was at the height of his political power, he founded the Servants of India Society to specifically further one of the causes dearest to his heart: the expansion of Indian education. For Gokhalnot do enough to provide Indians with opportunities to gain this political education, Gokhale hoped the Servants of India Society would fill this need. In his preamble to the SIS’s constitution, Gokhale wrote that “The Servants of India Society will train men prepared to devote their lives to the cause of country in a religious spirit, and will seek to promote, by all constitutional means, the national interests of the Indian people.” The Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest, and among its many projects organized mobile libraries, founded schools, and provided night classes for factory workers. Although the Society lost much of its vigor following Gokhale’s death, it still exists to this day, though its membership is small.

Involvement with British Imperial Government

Gokhale, though an earlier leader of the Indian nationalist movement, was not primarily concerned with independence but rather with social reform; he believed such reform would be best achieved by working within existing British government institutions, a position which earned him the enmity of more aggressive nationalists such as Tilak. Undeterred by such opposition, Gokhale would work directly with the British throughout his political career in order to further his reform goals.

In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council. He was elected to the Council of India of Governor-General of India on 22 May 1903 as non-officiating member represeting Bombay Province. He later served to Imperial Legislative Council after its expansion in 1909. He there obtained a reputation as extremely knowledgeable and contributed significantly to the annual budget debates. Gokhale developed so great a reputation among the British that he was invited to London to meet with secretary of state Lord John Morley, with whom he established a rapport. Gokhale would help during visit to shape the Morley-Minto Reforms introduced in1909. Gokhale was appointed a CIE (Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire) in the 1904 New Year's Honours List, a formal recognition by the Empire of his service.

Mentor to both Jinnah and Gandhi
Gokhale was famously a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in his formative years. In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa at Gandhi's invitation. As a young barrister, Gandhi returned from his struggles against the Empire in South Africa and received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians. By 1920, Gandhi emerged as the leader of the Indian Independence Movement. In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide. Gandhi also recognised Gokhale as an admirable leader and master politician, describing him as 'pure as crystal, gentle as a lamb, brave as a lion and chivalrous to a fault and the most perfect man in the political field'. Despite his deep respect for Gokhale, however, Gandhi would reject Gokhale's faith in western institutions as a means of achieving political reform and ultimately chose not to become a member of Gokhale's Servants of India Society. Gokhale was also the role model and mentor of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan, who in 1912, aspired to become the "Muslim Gokhale".

Gokhale Institute

The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), commonly known as Gokhale Institute, is one of the oldest research and training institutes in Economics in India. It is located on BMCC Road in the Deccan Gymkhana area of Pune, Maharashtra. The Institute was founded with an endowment offered to the Servants of India Society by Shri R R Kale. The Servants of India Society are the trustees of the Institute.

Death
Gokhale continued to be politically active through the last years of his life. This included extensive travelling abroad: in addition to his 1908 trip to England, he also visited South Africa in 1912, where his protégé Gandhi was working to improve conditions for the Indian minority living there. Meanwhile, he continued to be involved in the Servants of India Society, the Congress, and the Legislative Council while constantly advocating the advancement of Indian education. All these stresses took their toll, however, and Gokhale died in Feb 19 1915 at forty-nine years of age.


Impact on Indian Nationalist Movement
Gokhale's impact on the course of the Indian nationalist movement was considerable. Through his close relationship with the highest levels of British imperial government, Gokhale forced India's colonial masters to recognize the capabilities of a new generation of educated Indians and to include them more than ever before in the governing process. Gokhale’s firm belief in the need for a spiritualization of politics, social amelioration and universal education deeply inspired the next great man on the Indian political stage, Mohandas K. Gandhi; his ultimate faith in western political institutions and classical liberalism, though rejected by Gandhi, would come to ultimate fruition in the Westminster model of government adopted by an independent India in 1950.

MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI
MAHESH PRASAD VARMA






Maharishi Mahesh Yogi born Mahesh Prasad Varma (January 12, 1914 - February 5, 2008) developed Transcendental Meditation (TM), including the TM technique, and was the leader or "guru" of the TM movement, which has been defined as a new religious movement. Varma's given name was Mahesh, while maharishi and yogi are honorifics. Varma was known as "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi" beginning around the year 1960. His devotees referred to him as "His Holiness", and he became known as the "giggling guru".

He became a disciple and assistant of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who was the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of Jyotir Math, located in the Indian Himalayas from 1941 to 1953. The Maharishi credits Brahmananda Saraswati with inspiring his teachings. Beginning in 1955, the Maharishi began to introduce the Transcendental Meditation technique (also known as TM) and other related programs and initiatives to the world. His first global tour began in 1958.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he achieved fame as the guru to The Beatles and other celebrities. In the mid-1970s, he started the TM-Sidhi program, which offered practitioners the ability to levitate and to create world peace. His followers started the Natural Law Party in 1992, which ran campaigns in dozens of countries. He moved to Vlodrop, the Netherlands, in the same year. In 2000, he created the Global Country of World Peace, a country without borders, and appointed its leaders. In 2008, he announced his retirement from all administrative activities and went into mauna (spiritual silence) until his death three weeks later.

According to news reports, "more than 5 million people studied his methods". TM websites report tens of thousands having learned his advanced meditation techniques. His initiatives include schools and universities with campuses in several countries including India, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The Maharishi, his family and close associates created charitable organizations and for-profit businesses that include nearly 1,000 TM centers, schools, universities, clinics, health supplements and organic farms. Estimates of the value of the Maharishi's empire range from the multi-millions to the billions of dollars.

Biography
Birth
The birth name, birth date, and caste of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are not known with certainty, in part because of the tradition of ascetics and monks to renounce family connections.

Many accounts say he was born Mahesh Prasad Varma (Verma) into a Kayastha caste family living in the Central Provinces of British India. A different name appears in the Allahabad University list of distinguished alumni, where he is listed as M.C. Srivastava. Srivastava is the name of his nephews and cousins, and an obituary says his name was "Mahesh Srivastava".The given name "Mahesh", an epithet of Shiva, indicated that the Maharishi came from a Shaivaite family.

The name of his father is given as Sri Ram Prasad,[citation needed] identified as a local tax official in the civil service. One source says he worked in the department of forestry.

Various accounts give the year of his birth as 1911, 1917 or 1918. Biographies by Paul Mason and William Jefferson say that he was born January 12, 1917 in Jabalpur, Central Provinces. The place of birth given in his passport [unreliable source?] is "Pounalulla", India and his birth date as 12 January 1918.

While a few sources say Maharishi came from a lower caste family, the predominant view is that he was a member of the Kayastha caste, a sub-caste of Brahmins whose ancient profession was writing.

Early life

Varma studied physics at Allahabad University and earned a degree in 1942. Some accounts say that he worked in a factory following graduation. In 1941, Varma became a secretary to the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who addressed him as "Bala Brahmachari Mahesh". The title "Bala Brahmachari" designates someone as "a dedicated student of spiritual knowledge and life-long celibate ascetic".Mahesh remained with Swami Brahmananda Saraswati until the latter died in 1953. In 1953, Brahmachari Mahesh moved to Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas. Although Mahesh was a close disciple, he could not be the Shankaracharya's spiritual successor because he was not of the Brahmin caste. Canadian author and journalist Paul Grescoe reported in 1968 that "A British magazine said his teacher was Jagad Guru Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, ... or Guru Dev for short. The Maharishi ... was his pupil for 13 years. When the Guru Dev died, the Maharishi was so disappointed at not being named successor, that he launched an unsuccessful lawsuit." He was trusted to take care of the bulk of Saraswati's correspondence without direction, and was also sent out to give public speeches on Vedic (scriptural) themes. The Shankaracharya, at the end of his life, named Swami Shantananda Saraswati as his successor, and charged Maharishi with the responsibility of traveling and teaching meditation to the masses. One of the claimantsto become Saraswati's successor, Swami Swaroopanand, told a German filmmaker in 2010 that, as a member of the trader class and Saraswati's bookkeeper, the Maharishi had no right to teach meditation or to give mantras, and that "Gurus don't sell their knowledge, they share it." Other sources say that Maharishi worked closely with the Shankaracharya and was considered his "right man".

Tour in India (1955-1957)

In 1955, the Maharishi left Uttarkashi and began publicly teaching what he stated was a traditional meditation technique hat he learned from his master Brahmananda Saraswati, which he called Transcendental Deep Meditation and later renamed Transcendental Meditation. The Maharishi traveled around India for two years. At that time, he called his movement the "Spiritual Development Movement", but renamed it "The Spiritual Regeneration Movement" in 1957, in Madras, India, on the concluding day of the Seminar of Spiritual Luminaries. According to J. Lynwood King, in his dissertation Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, the feedback Maharishi received from the diverse population that learned his technique suggested to him that it could be of wide benefit. In his visits to Southern India, the Maharishi spoke in English rather than the Hindi-language spoken in his home area to avoid provoking resistance among those seeking linguistic self-determination and to appeal to the "learned classes", according to Coplin.


World tours (1958-1968)

In 1959, the Maharishi began his first world tour. Of the purpose of the tours, the Maharishi wrote: "I had one thing in mind, that I know something which is useful to every man".

The Maharishi's 1986 book, Thirty Years Around the World, gives a detailed account of his world tours. The first world tour began in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) and included the countries of Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Hawaii. According to that book, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reports: "He has no money, he asks for nothing. His worldly possessions can be carried in one hand. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is on a world odyssey. He carries a message that he says will rid the world of all unhappiness and discontent." The Maharishi and OneIndia report that, in 1959, the Maharishi lectured and taught the Transcendental Meditation technique in Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and London.

When the Maharishi went to the U.S. in 1959, his movement was renamed Transcendental Meditation. That same year he began the International Meditation Society with centers in San Francisco and London. Maharishi was a frequent guest at the Los Angeles home of Roland and Helena Olson and their daughter Theresa, who wrote several books about their experiences. He continued to visit the Olsons' home over the next few years.

In 1960, the Maharishi traveled to many cities in India, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. He lectured, taught the Transcendental Meditation technique, and established administrative centers where practitioners could gather for meetings in his absence.

While in Manchester, England, the Maharishi gave a television interview and was featured in many English newspapers such as the Birmingham Post, the Oxford Mail and the Cambridge Daily News. This was also the year in which the Maharishi trained Henry Nyburg to be the first Transcendental Meditation teacher in Europe.

In 1961, the Maharishi visited Austria, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece, India, Kenya, England, USA and Canada. While in England, the Maharishi appeared on BBC television and gave a lecture to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In April 1961, the Maharishi conducted his first Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course in Rishikesh, India with 60 participants from various countries. Teachers continued to be trained as time progressed. During the course, Maharishi began to introduce additional knowledge regarding the development of human potential, and began writing his translation and commentary on the first six chapters of the ancient Vedic text, the Bhagavad Gita.

His 1962 world tour included visits to Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand. The year concluded in California where the Maharishi began dictating his book The Science of Being and Art of Living. In Rishikesh, India, beginning on 20 April 1962, a 40-day course was held for "sadhus, sanyasis, and brahmacharis" to introduce TM to "religious preachers and spiritual masters in India".

The Maharishi toured cities in Europe, Asia, North America and India in 1963, and also addressed ministers of the Indian Parliament. According to his memoirs, twenty-one members of parliament then issued a public statement endorsing the Maharishi's goals and meditation technique. His Canadian tour generated news articles in the magazine Enjoy and in the Daily Colonist, Calgary Herald and The Albertan.

The Maharishi's fifth world tour, in 1964, consisted of visits to many cities in North America, Europe and India. During his visit to England, he appeared with the Abbot of Downside, Abbot Butler, on a BBC television show called "The Viewpoint". n October of that year, in California, the Maharishi began teaching the first Advanced Technique of Transcendental Meditation to some experienced meditators. While traveling in America, the Maharishi met with Robert Maynard Hutchins, the head of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, and U Thant, the Secretary General of the United Nations. During this same year, the Maharishi wrote his book The Science of Being and Art of Living, which sold more than a million copies and was published in 15 languages.

In 1966, the Maharishi founded the Students' International Meditation Society, which The Los Angeles Times later characterized as a "phenomenal success".

In 1967, the Maharishi gave a lecture at Caxton Hall in London which was attended by Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's wife, as well as Leon MacLaren, the founder and leader of the School of Economic Science (SES).[citation needed]

In 1967, according to religion and culture scholar Sean McCloud, Time magazine reported that the Maharishi “has been sharply criticized by other Indian sages, who complain that his program for spiritual peace without either penance or asceticism contravenes every traditional Hindu belief." McCloud says that Newsweek reported that “many Indian sages contend that his rather simplified system of meditation is without basis in the Bhagavad-Gita --- the epic poem that is Hinduism’s most exalted scripture". McCloud also writes that Look magazine "asserted that tradition-minded gurus, angrily citing the Bhagavad Gita, say that self-abnegation and suffering along with rigid concentration are the prescribed pathway to Enlightenment", in contrast to the Maharishi's "belief that Enlightenment was compatible with active living and easily available to everyone."

Interaction with The Beatles
Main article: The Beatles at Rishikesh

In 1967, the Maharishi's fame increased and his movement "really took off" when he became the "one-time spiritual advisor to The Beatles".The Beatles met him for the first time in London in August 1967, and studied with him in Bangor, Wales, and in February 1968, traveled to Rishikesh, India to "devote themselves fully to his instruction".Starr left after a week because he disliked the spicy food and vegetarian diet. McCartney left three weeks after Starr. Lennon and Harrison departed two weeks later after hearing a rumor that the Maharishi had made sexual advances towards Mia Farrow and a few other women. Lennon wrote the song "Maharishi" (with the lines: "what have you done? You made a fool of everyone") as he was leaving. Later, George Harrison "argued" that the title was disrespectful and possibly libelous. The title and lyrics were changed from "Maharishi" to "Sexy Sadie." Later, Lennon said the Beatles' association with the Maharishi was an "an error of judgment" and "a public mistake".Yoko Ono said in 2008 that if Lennon were alive he probably would have reconciled with the Maharishi.

The New York Times and The Independent reported that the influence of the Maharishi and going to Rishikesh to meditate, weaned The Beatles from LSD and inspired them to write many new songs which later were recorded on the White Album. During this time, they wrote scores of songs including "Spiritual Regeneration," reported to be a "theme song" for the Maharishi and Across the Universe, reported to be a tribute to the Maharishi's teacher, Guru Dev.

Alexis Mardas, head of the Beatles' Apple Electronics, noted the luxurious infrastructure at the Rishikesh ashram. Neil Aspinall, The Beatles' road manager, recalled his opinion in reference to obtaining rights for a feature film that, "This guy knows more about making deals than I do. He's really into scoring, the Maharishi".

The New York Times reported in 2008 that Harrison and McCartney reconsidered the accusations. McCartney said that the rumors of sexual impropriety were raised by Alexis Mardas who "had agendas of his own, and may have fabricated (or at least exaggerated) the story". In a press conference on April 3, 2009, prior to his performance at the David Lynch Foundation benefit concert "Change Begins Within", Paul McCartney commented that Transcendental Meditation was a gift The Beatles had received from Maharishi at a time when they were looking for something to stabilize them. Harrison commented, "Now, historically, there's the story that something went on that shouldn't have done — but nothing did". Farrow's autobiography is ambiguous about the incident: she describes "panicking" and fleeing after the Maharishi put his arms around her in a dark cave, immediately after a private meditation session. Deepak Chopra, who met and became a "disciple of the Maharishi's" in the 1990s before later splitting, said in 2008 that the Maharishi had a "falling out with the rock stars when he discovered them using drugs". In their obituaries of the Maharishi, Rolling Stone and Bloomberg news service stated that the rumor of impropriety was "unfounded" and never proven.

Other influences on popular culture

Because of his involvement with wealthy celebrities, the Maharishi was ridiculed for his business acumen and his love of luxury, such as his habit of touring in a Rolls-Royce. However, the Maharishi is also credited with helping to "inspire the anti-materialism of the late 60s".

Private Eye ridiculed the guru as "Veririchi Lottsa Money Yogi Bear".The Maharishi was also parodied by comedians Bill Dana and Joey Forman in the 1968 comedy album "The Mashuganishi Yogi", and by comedian Mike Myers in the movie The Love Guruand in the character "Guru Maharishi Yogi" featured in the BBC sketch Goodness Gracious Me.

Further growth of his TM movement (1968-1990)

The Maharishi during a 1979 visit to Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

In 1968, the Maharishi announced that he would stop his "public activities" and instead begin the training of TM teachers at his new global headquarters in Seelisberg, Switzerland. In 1970, the Maharishi held a TM teacher training course at a Victorian hotel located in Poland Springs, Maine with 1,200 participants. Later that year, he held a similar four-week course at Humboldt State College in Arcata, California. About 1,500 people attended and it was described as a "sort of a crash program to train transcendental teachers".Following tax troubles in India, he moved his headquarters to Italy and then to Austria.

A 1972, a TM training course was given by the Maharishi at Queens University and attended by 1,000 young people from all over the USA and Canada. At the start of the course the Maharishi encouraged the attendees to improve their appearance by getting haircuts and wearing ties.

In 1974, Maharishi International University was founded. In October 1975, the Maharishi was pictured on the front cover of Time magazine. He made his last visit to the Spiritual Regeneration Movement center in Los Angeles in 1975, according to film director David Lynch, who met him for the first time there. Newspapers, detractors, and even followers began referring to him as the "Giggling Guru", in part due to his habit of laughing during television interviews.

In 1975, the Maharishi embarked on a five continent trip to inaugurate what he called "the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment". The Maharishi said the purpose of the inaugural tour was to "go around the country and give a gentle whisper to the population". That same year, the Pittsburg Press reported that “The Maharishi has been criticized by other Eastern yogis for simplifying their ancient art.”

In the mid 1970s, the Maharishi's U.S. movement was operating 370 TM centers manned by 6,000 TM teachers. At that time, the Maharishi also began approaching the business community via an organization called the American Foundation for SCI (AFSCI), whose objective was to eliminate stress for business professionals. The Maharishi's message was a promise of "increased creativity and flexibility, increased productivity, improved job satisfaction, improved relations with supervisors and co-workers". His TM movement came to be increasingly structured along the lines of a multinational corporation.

The Maharishi's headquarters in Seelisberg, Switzerland
The teaching of TM and the Science of Creative Intelligence, in a New Jersey public school was stopped when a US court, in 1977, declared the movement to be religious, and ruled adoption of TM by public organizations in breach of the separation of church and state (First Amendment).

During the 1980s, the Maharishi’s mass appeal waned and his organization was faced with accusations of fraud and pseudo-scientific deception. However, his meditation technique continued to attract celebrities.

The Maharishi made a number of property investments with the funds he amassed. In England, he bought Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, Roydon Hall in Maidstone, Swythamley Park in the Peak District and a Georgian rectory in Suffolk. In the United States, resorts and hotels, many in city centers, were purchased to be used as TM training centers. Doug Henning and the Maharishi planned a magical Vedic amusement park, Vedaland, and bought large tracts of land near Orlando, Florida and Niagara Falls, Ontario to host the park. The Maharish commissioned plans from a prominent architect for the world's tallest building, a Vedic-style pyramid to be built in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and to be filled with Yogic Flyers and other TM endeavors. In later years, the Maharishi directed the purchase of properties in locations such as islands and land at the geographic center of the continental United States and other countries.

In January 1988, the Maharishi's palace in India was raided by Indian police, who reportedly confiscated $500,000 in cash, securities, and jewels. The raid occurred amidst a conflict with authorities over taxes and the movement was accused of lying about expenses. The Maharishi moved out of India following the tax audit. That same year the Maharishi created a "Master Plan to Create Heaven on Earth", a plan for reduced crime, longer life spans and increased prosperity and happiness.

Years in Vlodrop (1991-2008)

The Maharishi in 2007

The Maharishi's headquarters in Vlodrop, Holland

A detail of the Maharishi's headquarters
In 1990, the Maharishi relocated his headquarters from Seelisberg, Switzerland to a former Franciscan monastery in Vlodrop, the Netherlands. A building, called the "largest wooden structure" in the Netherlands, was built for Maharishi, reportedly at "vast expense". During his time in Vlodrop, he communicated to the public mainly via video and the internet. He also created a subscription-based, satellite TV channel, called Veda Vision, which broadcast content in 22 languages and 144 countries.

The Maharishi is believed to have made his final public appearance in 1991, in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Deepak Chopra, "one of the Maharishi's top assistants before he launched his own career", wrote that the Maharishi collapsed in 1991 with kidney and pancreas failure, that the illness was kept secret by the Maharishi's family and that he tended to Maharishi during a year-long recovery. According to Chopra, the Maharishi accused him, in July 1993, of trying to compete for the position of guru and asked him to stop traveling and writing books, which led to Chopra's decision to leave the movement in January 1994.

He inaugurated the Natural Law Party (NLP) as a means for achieving a "natural government" to enact his plans. His adherents, led by Maharishi University of Management president Bevan Morris, founded the NLP in 1992. It was active in 42 countries. John Hagelin, the NLP's three-time candidate for U.S. president, denied any formal connection between the Maharishi and the party. The chief plank in the NLP's platform was funding the Maharishi's plan for thousands of Yogic Flyers who could create the Maharishi Effect and thereby insure invincibility for every nation. According to spokesman Bob Roth, "The Maharishi has said the party has to grow to encompass everyone".Critics charged that the party was an effort to recruit people for Transcendental Meditation, and that it resembled "the political arm of an international corporation" more than a "home-grown political creation". The Indian arm of the NLP, the Ajeya Bharat Party, achieved electoral success, winning one seat in a state assembly in 1998. The Maharishi shut down the political effort in 2004, saying, "I had to get into politics to know what is wrong there."

In 1992, the Maharishi began to send groups of Yogic Flyers to India, America, Brazil, China and Brazil in an effort to increase global peace through a "coherent world consciousness".

In 2000, the Maharishi founded the Global Country of World Peace (GCWP) "with the goals of preventing war, eradicating poverty and promoting environmental sustainability". The Maharishi crowned Tony Nader as the Maharaja (king) of the GCWP in 2000. The GCWP unsuccessfully attempted to establish a sovereign microstate when it offered USD 1.3 billion to the President of Suriname for a 200-year lease of 3,500 acres (14 km2) of land and in 2002, attempted to choose a king for the Talamanca, a "remote Indian reservation" in Costa Rica.

In 2001, followers of the Maharishi founded Maharishi Vedic City a few miles north of Fairfield, Iowa. This new city requires that the construction of its homes and buildings be done according to the Maharishi Sthapatya Veda principles of "harmony with nature".

In a 2002 appearance on the CNN show, Larry King Live, the first time in 25 years that the Maharishi had appeared in the mainstream media, he said ""Transcendental meditation is something that can be defined as a means to do what one wants to do in a better way, a right way, for maximum results".It was occasioned by the reissue of The Science of Being and Art of Living. That same year, the Maharishi Global Financing Research Foundation issued the "RAAM" as a currency "dedicated to financing peace promoting projects".

In 2003, David Lynch began a fundraising project to raise USD 1 billion "on behalf of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi" to build a meditation center large enough to hold 8,000 skilled practitioners.

In 2007, the GCWP purchased the American Bank Note Company Building near the New York Stock Exchange for its Maharishi Global Financial Capital. Its purpose is to create funding that will support the construction of 3,000 “peace palaces” around the world.

During this period, skeptics were critical of some of the Maharishi's programs such as a $10 trillion plan to end poverty through organic farming in poor countries and a $1 billion plan to use meditation groups to end conflict. In 2008, BBC news reported that "The Maharishi's commercial mantras drew criticism from stricter Hindus, but his promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment drew devotees from all over the world".

Death
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, concerned about his health, became increasingly secluded in two rooms of his residence. He communicated with even his closest advisors by closed-circuit television.

On January 12, 2008, Maharishi declared: "It has been my pleasure at the feet of Guru Dev Brahmananda Saraswati, to take the light of Guru Dev and pass it on in my environment. Now today, I am closing my designed duty to Guru Dev. And I can only say, 'Live long the world in peace, happiness, prosperity, and freedom from suffering.'"

A week before his death, the Maharishi said that he was "stepping down as leader of the TM movement" and "retreating into silence" and that he planned to spend his remaining time studying "the ancient Indian texts". Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on February 5, 2008 at his residence in Vlodrop, Netherlands. The cremation and funeral rites were conducted at the Maharishi's Allahabad ashram in India, overlooking the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The funeral, with state honours, was carried by Sadhana TV station and was presided over by the of Shankaracharya of the North, Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati Maharaj.[citation needed] Also in attendance were state and local officials, 35 Rajas of the Global Country of World Peace, one-time disciple Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and David Lynch. A troop of uniformed policemen lowered their arms in salute.

The Maharishi was survived by a number of nephews and nieces. One nephew, Girish Varma, is chairman of the Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools Group, chancellor of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University and chancellor of Maharishi University of Management and Technology in India. Other nephews include Anand Shrivastava, chairman of the Maharishi Group, and Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, president of Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools.

Appearance and speech
The Maharishi was often seen wearing a white silk dhoti and carrying flowers or wearing marigold garlands. The Maharishi sitting cross-legged on a deerskin became a familiar sight. A 1961 news report describes "hair hanging down to his shoulders". In 1967, Loudon Wainwright wrote that the Maharishi had "grayish-white beard, mustache and long, dark, stringy hair".When the Maharishi was in his 70s, Life magazine writers described him as "a tiny man, just over five feet tall" with a bald head and a white, untrimmed beard who looked much younger than his age. They wrote that he had a high-pitched voice that sounded almost like a teenager. Barry Miles says that the Maharishi had "liquid eyes, twinkling but inscrutable with the wisdom from the East".

Philosophy and teaching

The Maharishi had a message of happiness, writing in 1967, that "being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through happiness. Under all circumstances be happy. Just think of any negativity that comes at you as a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss".His philosophy featured the concept that "within everyone is an unlimited reservoir of energy, intelligence, and happiness". He emphasized the naturalness of his meditation technique as a simple way of developing this potential.

He also taught that practicing Transcendental Meditation twice a day would create inner peace and that "mass meditation sessions" could create outer peace by reducing violence and war. According to a TM website, the performance of yagyas by 7,000 pandits in India, plus hundreds of Yogic Flyers in Germany, brought "coherence and unity in the collective consciousness of Germany" and caused the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Religious studies scholar Carl Olson writes that the TM technique was based on "a neo-Vedanta metaphysical philosophy in which an unchanging reality is opposed to an ever-changing phenomenal world" and that the Maharishi says it is not necessary to renounce worldly activities to gain enlightenment, unlike other ascetic traditions.

Gerald James Larson, a religious studies scholar, states that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is one of a number of Indian gurus who brought Neo-Hindu adaptations of Vedantic Hinduism to the west. Author Meera Nanda calls neo-Hinduism "the brand of Hinduism that is taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Deepak Chopra, and their clones".J.R. Coplin, a sociologist and MIU graduate, says that the Maharishi saw his own purpose as "the 'revival' of the knowledge of an integrated life based upon Vedic principles and Vedantist reality".

Author Barry Miles writes that, in spite of the media's skepticism for the Maharishi's spiritual message, they seized upon him because young people seemed to listen to his pro-establishment, anti-drug message.

Transcendental Meditation
Main article: Transcendental Meditation
During a CNN interview in 2002, the Maharishi said "Transcendental meditation is something that can be defined as a means to do what one wants to do in a better way, a right way, for maximum results". Over a 30-year period, the Maharishi held many advanced, in-residence courses and assemblies in North America, India and Europe for practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique. These courses consisted of long meditation sessions, lectures by Maharishi, discussions based on personal experiences of meditation, questions from course participants, and organizational meetings. This type of in-residence course style continues to this day. By the time of his death, there were nearly 1,000 TM training centers around the world.

In the mid 1970s, the Maharishi began the TM-Sidhi program, including Yogic Flying, as an additional option for those who had been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique for some time. According to Coplin, this new aspect of knowledge emphasized not only the individual, but also the collective benefits created by group practice of this advanced program. This new program gave rise to a new principle called the Maharishi Effect. The Maharishi believed that this group practice of the technique benefited the environment.

Maharishi Vedic Science

Entrance to the Marishi Univerity of Management and Maharishi Vedic University campus in Vlodrop, Holland
Maharishi Vedic Science, or MVS, is based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's interpretation of the ancient Vedic texts. MVS includes two aspects, the practical aspect of the Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi Program, as well as the theoretical aspect of how MVS is applied to day to day living.

These applications include programs in: Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH); Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, a mathematical system for the design and construction of buildings; Maharishi Gandharva Veda, a form of classical Indian music; Maharishi Jyotish (also known as Maharishi Vedic Astrology), a system claiming the evaluation of life tendencies of an individual; Maharishi Vedic Agriculture, a trademarked process for producing fresh, organic food; and, Consciousness-Based Education.

According to educator James Grant, a former Maharishi University of Management Associate Professor of Education and the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Maharishi brought out a "full revival of the Vedic tradition of knowledge from India" and demonstrated its relevance in many areas including education, business, medicine and government.
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MĀTĀ AMRITANANDAMAYĪ DEVĪ



Amma giving darshan

Mātā Amritanandamayī Devī, born Sudhamani Idamannel, September 27, 1953) is a Hindu spiritual leader and teacher, who is revered as a saint by her followers, who also know her as "Amma", "Ammachi" or "Mother". She is widely respected for her humanitarian activities. She is sometimes referred to as "The Hugging Saint".

According to Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, the Vice-Chairman of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, "For Amma, removing the sorrows of others is as natural as drying the tears from her own eyes. The happiness of others, this is Amma’s happiness. The security of others, this is Amma’s security. The rest of others, this is Amma’s rest. This is Amma’s vision. And it is this vision that Amma’s life is dedicated to awakening in mankind."

Biography

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi was born Sudhamani Idamannel in the small village of Parayakadavu (now partially known as Amritapuri), Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala in 1953. Her schooling ended when she was nine, and she began to take care of her younger siblings and the family domestic work full-time.

As part of her chores, Sudhamani gathered food scraps from neighbors for her family’s cows and goats. Amma says at these times she was confronted with the intense poverty and suffering of others. She would bring these people food and clothing from her own home. Her family, which were not wealthy, scolded and punished her. Amma also began to spontaneously embrace people to comfort them in their sorrow. It was not permissible for a 14-year-old girl to even touch others, especially men. But despite adverse reactions by her parents, Amma continued. Regarding her embracing of others, Amma has said, “I don’t see if it is a man or a woman. I don’t see anyone different from my own self. A continuous stream of love flows from me to all of creation. This is my inborn nature. The duty of a doctor is to treat patients. In the same way, my duty is to console those who are suffering.”

Despite numerous attempts by her parents to arrange marriage for her, Amma rejected all suitors. In 1981, after various seekers had begun residing at her parents' property in Parayakadavu for the sake of being Amma's disciples, a worldwide organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, was founded. Amma serves as chairperson of the Math. Today the Mata Amritanandmayi Math is engaged in many spiritual and charitable activities.

In 1987, at the request of devotees, Amma began to conduct programs in countries throughout the world. She has done so annually ever since. Countries Amma has held programs in include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Dubai, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America. She also makes annual tours of India.

Darshan
Many people come to Amma to receive her embrace, which she refers to as darshan. Amma has been giving darshan in this manner since her late teenage years. As to how this began, Amma says, "People used to come and tell [me] their troubles. They would cry and I would wipe their tears. When they fell weeping into my lap, I used to hug them. Then the next person too wanted it… And so the habit picked up." Amma's organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, claims Amma has embraced more than 29 million people throughout the world.

When asked, in 2002, to what extent does she think her embraces help the ills of the world? Amma replied, "I don’t say I can do it 100 percent. Attempting to change the world [completely] is like trying to straighten the curly tail of a dog. But society takes birth from people. So by affecting individuals, you can make changes in the society and, through it, in the world. You cannot change it, but you can make changes. The fight in individual minds is responsible for the wars. So if you can touch people, you can touch the world."

Amma's darshan is the centerpiece of her life, as she has received people nearly every day since the late 1970s. With the size of the crowds coming to seek Amma's blessings increasing, there are times when she gives darshan continuously for more than 20 hours. In a conversation recorded in the 2004 book From Amma's Heart, Amma says: "As long as these hands can move a little bit and reach out to those who come to her, and as long as there is a little strength and energy to place her hands on a crying person’s shoulder and caress and wipe their tears, Amma will continue giving darshan. To lovingly caress people, console and wipe their tears, until the end of this mortal frame is Amma’s wish."

Teachings

In the book The Timeless Path, Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri, one of Amma's senior disciples, writes: 'The [spiritual] path inculcated by Amma is the same as the one presented in the Vedas and recapitulated in subsequent traditional scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita." Amma herself says, “Karma [action], jñana [knowledge] and bhakti [devotion] are all essential. If the two wings of a bird are devotion and action, knowledge is its tail. Only with the help of all three can the bird soar into the heights.” She accepts the various spiritual practices and prayers of all religions as but various systems for the single goal of purifying the mind. Along these lines, she stresses the importance of meditation, performing actions as karma yoga, selfless service, and cultivating divine qualities such compassion, patience, forgiveness, self-control, etc. Amma says that these practices refine the mind, making it fit for assimilating the ultimate truth: that one is not the limited body and mind but the eternal blissful consciousness that serves as the non-dual substratum of the universe. This understanding itself Amma refers to as jivanmukti [liberation while alive]. Amma says, "Jivanmukti is not something to be attained after death, nor is it to be experienced or bestowed upon you in another world. It is a state of perfect awareness and equanimity, which can be experienced here and now in this world, while living in the body. Having come to experience the highest truth of oneness with the Self, such blessed souls do not have to be born again. They merge with the infinite consciousness."

Charitable mission
Amma's world-wide charitable mission comprises a program to build 100,000 homes for the homeless, three orphanages, relief-and-rehabilitation in the face of disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, free medical care, pensions for widows and disabled people, environmental-protection groups, slum renovation, care homes for the elderly, and free food and clothing for the poor, amongst others. These projects are managed and run by various organizations, including the Mata Amritanandamayi Math (India), the Mata Amritanandamayi Center (USA), Amma-Europe, Amma-Japan, Amma-Kenya, Amma-Australia, etc. All the organizations collectively are known as Embracing the World.

When asked about how her charitable mission's development in 2004, Amma said, "As for the activities, there was no planning. Everything happened spontaneously. One thing led to another on seeing the plight of the poor and the distressed. As Amma meets each and every person, she sees their problems face to face and tries to do something to alleviate their suffering. Om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu is one of the important mantras of Sanatana Dharma, which means, 'May all the beings in all the worlds be happy and peaceful.' The spirit of this mantra was put into action."

The majority of work is done by volunteers as a form of spiritual practice. "It is Amma’s wish that all of her children should dedicate their lives to spreading love and peace throughout the world. Real love and devotion for God is to have compassion for the poor and the suffering," Amma says. "My children, feed those who are hungry, help the poor, console the sorrowful, comfort the suffering, be charitable to all.”

Bhajans

Amma is well known for her devotional singing. There are more than 100 recordings of her singing bhajans in more than 20 languages. She has also composed dozens of bhajans and set them to traditional ragas. Regarding devotional singing as a spiritual practice, Amma says, "If the bhajan is sung with one-pointedness, it is beneficial for the singer, the listeners, and Nature as well. Later when the listeners reflect on the songs, they will try to live in accordance with the lessons enunciated therein." Amma says that in today's world, it is often difficult for people to get one-pointed concentration in meditation, but through devotional singing such concentration can be attained much easier.
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BRAHMA KUMARIS



Brahma Baba, Founder of Brahma Kumar is With an intention to spread the knowledge he gained Brahma Baba founded the Brahma Kumaris.

At an age when people think of retiring, Brahma Baba understood that the true mission of his life has just begun. His spiritual longing, those ceaseless visions crafted him as the founder of the movement of the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya. He has almost everything in him.

His soft white hair and a handsome visage and indeed his wisdom and soothing voice made Brahma Baba the spiritual leader. On a devout height, his existence was soothing and tender, and his eyes exhaled wisdom and understanding, love, strength and compassion.

Born in the year 1876 into a humble home as Lekhraj Kripilani, Brahma Baba was the son of a schoolteacher. Strict Hindu tradition was induced in him from his early days. However, Brahma Baba didn`t follow his father footsteps and instead of becoming a schoolteacher he entered into the jewellery business and established himself as a diamond trader. Known for his philanthropy and also known as a businessman Brahma Baba maintained a highly respectable position within the local community.

In the year 1836, Baba begun his journey, the journey in understanding the truths of life.

The journey was not at all easy. However one day while meditating he felt a warm flow of energy and witnessed a series of powerful vision. He kept on witnessing these powerful visions for about seven months and then the inevitable thing finally happened. His innate vision, his insight knowledge bestowed him with unexampled insights into the innate qualities of human souls whilst revealing the mystifying, deep and cryptical entity of God. Thus Brahma Baba identified the course of "world transformation". The intensity of this sheer understanding was so vivid, it was so very much pulsating that Brahma Baba was somewhat compelled to finish off his worldly business and finally devote himself to this supreme understanding and application of this revealed knowledge. The visions ceased yet the Source, the feeling, the understanding remained Although the visions with him for the next 3 decades which then steered his transformation and indeed of those close to him.

Brahma Baba`s Legacy

In 1936, at the age of 60, Dada Lekhraj started experiencing numerous trance-like visions. In some he saw Vishnu in his various forms of Narayana while in another he saw appalling panoramas of demolition and ruin. He heard a strange voice inside telling him to lay a foundation of a new world based on peace and a spirit of brotherhood. Long seventy years have passed since Brahma Baba received those spiritual visions and through those transcendental vision a million has been benefited. From his teachings the mankind has found empowerment in the present whilst hoping for the future. Brahma Baba`s teaching thus stood the test of time.

At the age of 93, in the year 1969, Brahma Baba passed away. The tower of peace located at the Madhuban Campus is thus a tribute to this great persona; an honor to Brahma Baba who was once an ordinary being but attained that magnitude by realizing the sheer truths of life.
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BHAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH



Early History of the Movement:
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931-1990) was born Rajneesh Chandra Mohan in Kuchwara, a town in central India. Various sources state that "Bhagwan" means either "The Blessed One" or "God" and that "Shree" means "Master". At the end of his life, he changed his name to Osho.
His parents' religion was Jainism. However, Osho never subscribed to any religious faith during his lifetime. He received "samadhi" (enlightenment in which his soul became one with the universe) on 1953-MAR-21 at the age of 21. Rajneesh obtained a masters degree in philosophy from the University of Saugar. He taught philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years and concurrently worked as a religious leader. In 1966, he left his teaching post and gave his full attention to teaching his sannyasins (disciples) while pursuing a speaking career. He had an apartment in Bombay where he often met individuals and small groups, where acting as spiritual teacher, guide and friend. Most of his Sannyasins came from Europe and India in the early years.
In 1974, Osho moved from Bombay southward to Pune, India. Some anti-cult groups have claimed that this decision was made because of local opposition from the public in Bombay. In reality, it was to establish an ashram (place of teaching) which would provide larger and more comfortable facilities for his disciples. The ashram consisted of two adjoining properties covering six acres in an affluent suburb of Pune called Koregaon Park. Some estimate as many as 50,000 Westerners spent time seeking enlightenment there with the guru.
"If we cannot create the 'new man' in the coming 20 years, then humanity has no future. The holocaust of a global suicide can only be avoided if a new kind of man can be created." – he said.

He taught a syncretistic spiritual path that combined elements from Hinduism, Jainism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, ancient Greek philosophy, many other religious and philosophic traditions, humanistic psychology, new forms of therapy and meditation, etc.
In 1980, he was the victim of a knife attack by a Hindu fundamentalist during his morning discourse. Because of police incompetence, the charges against the terrorist were dropped.
In 1981 he left India reluctantly because of health problems. He went to the United States in order to obtain advanced treatment. There have been rumors of income tax evasion, and insurance fraud; it is not known whether these have any validity. The group settled on the 65,000 acre "Big Muddy Ranch" near Antelope, Oregon, which his sannyasins had bought for six million dollars. The ranch was renamed Rajneeshpuram ("City of Rajneesh"). This "small, desolate valley twelve miles from Antelope, Oregon was transformed into a thriving town of 3,000 residents, with a 4,500 foot paved airstrip, a 44 acre reservoir, an 88,000 square foot meeting hall..." Many of the local folks were intolerant of the new group in their midst, because of religious and cultural differences. One manifestation of this intolerance was the town's denial of building permits to the followers of Rajneesh. Some buildings were erected on the ranch without planning board approval. When officials attempted to stop the construction, their office was firebombed by unknown person(s). When the local city council repeatedly refused to issue permits for their businesses, some sannyasins elected themselves to the city council. The town of Antelope was renamed City of Rajneesh.
He returned to Pune, India in 1987, where his health began to fail. Here, he abandoned the name of Rajneesh and adopted "Osho". Some sources explain that the name was derived from the expression "oceanic experience" by William James; others say that it was derived from an ancient Japanese word for master. He died in Pune in 1990.
Beliefs and Practices
Osho developed new forms of active meditation. The best known is Dynamic Meditation which often starts with strenuous physical activity followed by silence and celebration. These were expected to lead the individual to overcome repression, lower their personal inhibitions, develop a "state of emptiness", and attain enlightenment. The person then would have "no past, no future, no attachment, no mind, no ego, no self." Prior to 1985, the disciples wore red robes, and a necklace of 108 beads which had an attached picture of Rajneesh. Osho assigned a new name to each of the disciples. Men were given the title "Swami"; women were called "Ma". Although most members lived a frugal, simple lifestyle, Rajneesh himself lived in luxury. His collection 27 Rolls Royces, given to him by his followers, was well known. (Some sources say he had as many as 100 cars). Anti-cult groups claimed that he urged his disciples to sever their connection to their families of origin. It is true that he felt that the institution of the family was out of date and that it should be replaced with alternative forms of community and ways of caring for children. However, he actually encouraged individual disciples to make peace with their families. Many of the latter became disciples themselves, including Osho's own parents.
He taught a form of Monism, that God was in everything and everyone. There is no division between "God" and "not-God". People, even at their worse, are divine. He recognized Jesus Christ as having attained enlightenment, and believed that he survived his crucifixion and moved to India where he died at the age of 112.
Osho was noted for reading very offensive jokes; some were anti-Semitic; others were anti-Roman Catholicism; others insulted just about every ethnic and religious group in the world. He explained that the purpose of these jokes was to shock people and to encourage them to examine their identification with and attachment to their ethnic or religious beliefs. His contention was that national, religious, gender and racial divisions are destructive.
Recent Developments
Osho repeatedly stated that he would not appoint a successor to replace him after his death. He viewed each disciple as his successor. However, before his death, he appointed an inner circle of 21 individuals to look after the functioning of the meditation resort at Pune and handle administrative affairs relating to his work. They now operate about 20 meditation centers worldwide. Rajneesh's main influence now is through his voluminous writings; they are read by many New Agers as well as followers of Osho.
Osho Commune International® administers the center in Pune, India. Since it was founded, it has been expanded from 6 to 32 acres. The group has a Global Connections department that provides information about centers and activities worldwide. Osho International in New York, NY, administers the rights to Osho's works.
Some of Osho's aides who were imprisoned because of crimes committed in Oregon were released from prison in mid-1998 and deported to England.
ANANDA COOMARAWAMY



It is in Art and Literature that any new movement in the realm of the intellect manifests itself. Ananda Coomaraswamy showed the world a new way of looking at Reality. He did this by explaining the meaning of such masterpieces of Indian art as the Tanjore Nataraja.In fact before his exposition they were not considered master-pieces but relics of a dark past.It is he along with E.B. Havell,Sister Niveditha and the Tagores who caused the paradigm shift.This was the beginnig of not only the Bengal renaissence in the early 20th. century but the New World renaissence that is going on now-with base that is wider than Greaco-Roman.It has an Indian base and is a step towards the Inda-Century that we would like to see come about.

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) was one of the great art historians of the twentieth century whose multifaceted writings deal primarily with visual art, aesthetics, literature and language, folklore, mythology, religion, and metaphysics. His most mature works adeptly expound the perspective of the perennial philosophy by drawing on a detailed knowledge of the arts, crafts, mythologies, cultures, folklores, symbolisms, and religions of both the East and the West. Along with René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon, Ananda Coomaraswamy is considered as a leading member of the Traditionalist or Perennialist school of comparative religious thought.
Born in Ceylon in 1877 of a Tamil father and an English mother, Coomaraswamy was brought up in England following the early death of his father. He was educated at Wycliffe College and at London University where he studied botany and geology. As part of his doctoral work Coomaraswamy carried out a scientific survey of the mineralogy of Ceylon and seemed poised for an academic career as a geologist. However, under pressure from his experiences while engaged in his fieldwork, he became absorbed in a study of the traditional arts and crafts of Ceylon and of the social conditions under which they had been produced. In turn he became increasingly distressed by the corrosive effects of British colonialism.
In 1906 Coomaraswamy founded the Ceylon Social Reform Society of which he was the inaugural President and moving force. The Society addressed itself to the preservation and revival not only of traditional arts and crafts but also of the social values and customs which had helped to shape them. The Society also dedicated itself, in the words of its Manifesto, to discouraging “the thoughtless imitation of unsuitable European habits and custom.” Coomaraswamy called for a re-awakened pride in Ceylon’s past and in her cultural heritage. The fact that he was half-English in no way blinkered his view of the impoverishment of national life brought by the British presence in both Ceylon and India.
In the years between 1900 and 1913 Coomaraswamy moved backwards and forwards between Ceylon, India, and England. In India he formed close relationships with the Tagore family and was involved in both the literary renaissance and the swadeshi movement. All the while in the subcontinent he was researching the past, investigating arts and crafts, uncovering forgotten and neglected schools of religious and court art, writing scholarly and popular works, lecturing, and organizing bodies such as the Ceylon Social Reform Society and, in England, the India Society.
In England he found his own social ideas anticipated in the work of William Blake, John Ruskin, and William Morris, three of the foremost representatives of a fiercely eloquent and morally impassioned current of anti-industrialism. Such figures had elaborated a biting critique of the ugliest and most dehumanizing aspects of the industrial revolution and of the acquisitive commercialism which increasingly polluted both public and private life. They believed the new values and patterns of urbanization and industrialization were disfiguring the human spirit. These writers protested vehemently against the conditions in which many were forced to carry out their daily work and living. Ruskin and Morris, in particular, were appalled by the debasing of standards of craftsmanship and of public taste. Coomaraswamy picked up a catch-phrase of Ruskin’s which he was to mobilize again and again in his own writings: “industry without art is brutality.” The Arts and Crafts Movement of the Edwardian era was, in large measure, stimulated by the ideas of William Morris, the artist, designer, poet, medievalist and social theorist. Morris’ work influenced Coomaraswamy decisively in this period and he involved himself with others in England who were trying to put some of Morris’ ideas into practice. The Guild and School of Handicraft, with which Coomaraswamy had some connections, was a case in point. Later in life Coomaraswamy turned less often to explicitly social and political questions. By then he had become aware that “politics and economics, although they cannot be ignored, are the most external and least part of our problem.”
Closely related to his interest in social questions was his work as an art historian. From the outset Coomaraswamy’s interest in art was controlled by much more than either antiquarian or “aesthetic” considerations. For him the most humble folk art and the loftiest religious creations alike were an outward expression not only of the sensibilities of those who created them but of the whole civilization in which they were nurtured. There was nothing of the art nouveau slogan of “art for art’s sake” in Coomaraswamy’s outlook. His interest in traditional arts and crafts, from a humble pot to a Hindu temple, was always governed by the conviction that something immeasurably precious and vitally important was disappearing under the onslaught of modernism in its many different guises. Coomaraswamy’s achievement as an art historian can perhaps best be understood in respect of three of the major tasks which he undertook: the “rehabilitation” of Asian art in the eyes of Europeans and Asians alike; the massive work of scholarship which he pursued as curator of the Indian Section of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; the penetration and explanation of traditional views of art and their relationship to philosophy, religion, and metaphysics.
In assessing Coomaraswamy’s achievement it needs to be remembered that the conventional attitude of the Edwardian era towards the art of Asia was, at best, condescending, and at worst, frankly contemptuous. Asian art was often dismissed as “barbarous,” “second-rate”, and “inferior” and there was a good deal of foolish talk about “eight-armed monsters” and the like. In short, there was, in England at least, an almost total ignorance of the sacred iconographies of the East. Such an artistic illiteracy was coupled with a similar incomprehension of traditional philosophy and religion, and buttressed by all manner of Eurocentric assumptions. Worse still was the fact that such attitudes had infected the Indian intelligentsia, exposed as it was to Western education and influences.
Following the early days of his fieldwork in Ceylon, Coomaraswamy set about dismantling these prejudices through an affirmation of the beauty, integrity, and spiritual density of traditional art in Ceylon and India and, later, in other parts of Asia. He was bent on the task of demonstrating the existence of an artistic heritage at least the equal of Europe’s. He not only wrote and spoke and organized tirelessly to educate the British but he scourged the Indian intelligentsia for being duped by assumptions of European cultural superiority. In studies like Medieval Sinhalese Art (1908), The Arts and Crafts of India and Ceylon (1913), and his earliest collection of essays, The Dance of Shiva (1918), Coomaraswamy combated the prejudices of the age and reaffirmed traditional understandings of Indian art. He revolutionized several specific fields of art history, radically changed others. His work on Sinhalese arts and crafts and on Rajput painting, though they can now be seen as formative in the light of his later work on Buddhist iconography and on Indian, Platonic, and Christian theories of art, were nevertheless early signs of a stupendous scholarship. His influence was not only felt in the somewhat rarefied domain of art scholarship but percolated into other scholarly fields and eventually must have had some influence on popular attitudes in Ceylon, India, England, and America.
As a Curator at the Boston Museum from 1917 onwards, Coomaraswamy performed a mighty labor in classifying, cataloguing, and explaining thousands of items of oriental art. Through his professional work, his writings, lectures, and personal associations Coomaraswamy left an indelible imprint on the work of many American galleries and museums and influenced a wide range of curators, art historians, orientalists, and critics—Stella Kramrisch, Walter Andrae, and Heinrich Zimmer to name a few of the more well-known. Zimmer wrote of Coomaraswamy: “the only man in my field who, whenever I read a paper of his, gives me a genuine inferiority complex.”
Traditional art, in Coomaraswamy’s view, was always directed towards a twin purpose: a daily utility, towards what he was fond of calling “the satisfaction of present needs,” and to the preservation and transmission of moral values and spiritual teachings derived from the tradition in which it appeared. A Tibetan thanka, a medieval cathedral, a Red Indian utensil, a Javanese puppet, a Hindu deity image—in such artifacts and creations Coomaraswamy sought a symbolic vocabulary. The intelligibility of traditional arts and crafts, he insisted, does not depend on a more or less precarious recognition, as does modern art, but on legibility. Traditional art does not deal in the private vision of the artist but in a symbolic language. By contrast modern art, which from a traditionalist perspective includes Renaissance and, generally speaking, all post-Renaissance art, is divorced from higher values, tyrannized by the mania for “originality,” controlled by aesthetic and sentimental considerations, and drawn from the subjective resources of the individual artist rather than from the well-springs of tradition. The comparison, needless to say, does not reflect well on modern art! An example: “Our artists are ‘emancipated’ from any obligation to eternal verities, and have abandoned to tradesmen the satisfaction of present needs. Our abstract art is not an iconography of transcendental forms but the realistic picture of a disintegrated mentality.”
During the late 1920s Coomaraswamy’s life and work somewhat altered their trajectory. The collapse of his third marriage, ill-health and a growing awareness of death, an impatience with the constrictions of purely academic scholarship, and the influence of René Guénon all co-operated to deepen Coomaraswamy’s interest in spiritual and metaphysical questions. He became more austere in his personal lifestyle, partially withdrew from the academic and social worlds in which he had moved freely over the last decade, and addressed himself to the understanding and explication of traditional metaphysics, especially those of classical India and pre-Renaissance Europe. Coomaraswamy remarked in one of his letters that “my indoctrination with the Philosophia Perennis is primarily Oriental, secondarily Mediaeval, and thirdly Classic.” His later work is densely textured with references to Plato and Plotinus, Augustine and Aquinas, Eckhart and the Rhineland mystics, to Shankara and Lao-tzu and Nagarjuna. He also explored folklore and mythology since these too carried profound teachings. Coomaraswamy remained the consummate scholar but his work took on a more urgent nature after 1932. He spoke of his “vocation”—he was not one to use such words lightly—as “research in the field of the significance of the universal symbols of the Philosophia Perennis” rather than as “one of apology for or polemic on behalf of doctrines.”
The influence of Guénon was decisive. Coomaraswamy discovered Guénon’s writings through Heinrich Zimmer some time in the late 1920s and, a few years later wrote, “no living writer in modern Europe is more significant than René Guénon, whose task it has been to expound the universal metaphysical tradition that has been the essential foundation of every past culture, and which represents the indispensable basis for any civilization deserving to be so-called.” Coomaraswamy told one of his friends that he and Guénon were “entirely in agreement on metaphysical principles” which, of course, did not preclude some divergences of opinion over the applications of these principles on the phenomenal plane.
The vintage Coomaraswamy of the later years is to be found in his masterly works on Vedanta and on the Catholic scholastics and mystics. There is no finer exegesis of traditional Indian metaphysics than is to be found in these later works. His work on the Platonic, Christian, and Indian conceptions of sacred art is also unrivalled. Some of Coomaraswamy’s finest essays on these subjects are brought together in Coomaraswamy, Vol. II: Selected Papers, Metaphysics, edited by Roger Lipsey. Special mention should be made of “The Vedanta and Western Tradition,” “Sri Ramakrishna and Religious Tolerance,” “Recollection, Indian and Platonic,” “On the One and Only Transmigrant”, and “On the Indian and Traditional Psychology, or Rather Pneumatology.” But it hardly matters what one picks up from the later period: all his mature work is stamped with rare scholarship, elegant expression, and a depth of understanding which makes most of the other scholarly work on the same subjects look vapid and superficial. Of his later books three in particular deserve much wider attention: Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art (1939), Hinduism and Buddhism (1943) and Time and Eternity (1947). The Bugbear of Literacy (1979) (first published in 1943 as Am I my Brother’s Keeper?) and two posthumous collections of some of his most interesting and more accessible essays, Sources of Wisdom (1981) and What is Civilization? (1989), offer splendid starting-points for uninitiated readers. We can hardly doubt that the life and work of this “warrior for dharma” was a precious gift to all those interested in the ways of the spirit.
In 1947 Coomaraswamy intended to retire from his position as Curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in order to return to India, where he planned to complete a new translation of the Upanishads and take on sannyasa (renunciation of the world). These plans, however, were cut short by his sudden and untimely death.

JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI


An Outline of Krishnamurti’s Life and Work

Jiddu Krishnamurti was born on 11 May 1895 in Madanapalle, a small town in south India. He and his brother were adopted in their youth by Dr Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society. Dr Besant and others proclaimed that Krishnamurti was to be a world teacher whose coming the Theosophists had predicted. To prepare the world for this coming, a world-wide organization called the Order of the Star in the East was formed and the young Krishnamurti was made its head.
In 1929, however, Krishnamurti renounced the role that he was expected to play, dissolved the Order with its huge following, and returned all the money and property that had been donated for this work.
From then, for nearly sixty years until his death on 17 February 1986, he travelled throughout the world talking to large audiences and to individuals about the need for a radical change in mankind.
Krishnamurti is regarded globally as one of the greatest thinkers and religious teachers of all time. He did not expound any philosophy or religion, but rather talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday lives, of the problems of living in modern society with its violence and corruption, of the individual's search for security and happiness, and the need for mankind to free itself from inner burdens of fear, anger, hurt, and sorrow. He explained with great precision the subtle workings of the human mind, and pointed to the need for bringing to our daily life a deeply meditative and spiritual quality.
Krishnamurti belonged to no religious organization, sect or country, nor did he subscribe to any school of political or ideological thought. On the contrary, he maintained that these are the very factors that divide human beings and bring about conflict and war. He reminded his listeners again and again that we are all human beings first and not Hindus, Muslims or Christians, that we are like the rest of humanity and are not different from one another. He asked that we tread lightly on this earth without destroying ourselves or the environment. He communicated to his listeners a deep sense of respect for nature. His teachings transcend man-made belief systems, nationalistic sentiment and sectarianism. At the same time, they give new meaning and direction to mankind's search for truth. His teaching, besides being relevant to the modern age, is timeless and universal.
Krishnamurti spoke not as a guru but as a friend, and his talks and discussions are based not on tradition-based knowledge but on his own insights into the human mind and his vision of the sacred, so he always communicates a sense of freshness and directness although the essence of his message remained unchanged over the years. When he addressed large audiences, people felt that Krishnamurti was talking to each of them personally, addressing his or her particular problem. In his private interviews, he was a compassionate teacher, listening attentively to the man or woman who came to him in sorrow, and encouraging them to heal themselves through their own understanding. Religious scholars found that his words threw new light on traditional concepts. Krishnamurti took on the challenge of modern scientists and psychologists and went with them step by step, discussed their theories and sometimes enabled them to discern the limitations of those theories. Krishnamurti left a large body of literature in the form of public talks, writings, discussions with teachers and students, with scientists and religious figures, conversations with individuals, television and radio interviews, and letters. Many of these have been published as books, and audio and video recordings.




SRILA PRABHUPADA
Founder of ISKCON

Srila Prabhupada (1896–1977) is the founder-acarya of ISKCON.
Early life
Srila Prabhupada was born in Calcutta, India. He studied in British schools under colonial rule and finally went to university in Calcutta where he studied English, Sanskrit, philosophy, and economics. At university, he became a supporter of Gandhi's independence movement. As a measure of his support he dressed only in white handloom cloth (woven in India) and declined to accept his degree from the university. In 1918, to support his family, he began work at a large pharmaceutical company, then established his own business (the Prayag Pharmacy) in Allahabad. He met his spiritual master (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) in Calcutta in 1922 and took initiation from him in 1932.
Mission
In 1936 Srila Prabhupada wrote to Bhaktisiddhanta asking if there was anything in particular that he could do for him. Srila Prabhupada received the reply that he should ‘spread Krishna consciousness in the English speaking world.’ This was the last instruction he received from his spiritual teacher, as Bhaktisiddhanta left this world soon after. This instruction made a great impression on Srila Prabhupada and formed the focus for the rest of his life.
Subsequently, Srila Prabhupada wrote an English commentary on Bhagavad-gita and assisted Bhaktisiddhanta's mission (the Gaudiya Matha) in its work. In 1944, during the Second World War, Srila Prabhupada began a magazine called Back to Godhead. Single-handedly he wrote, edited, oversaw the layout, proofread, and sold copies of the magazine.
In 1950 Srila Prabhupada retired from business in order to devote himself full time to his studies and writing.
In 1959 he entered the renounced order of life (sannyasa) and began his masterpiece – an English translation and commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam. Working alone he bought paper, gathered funds, and arranged for the printing. Within a few years, he had completed the first of the 12 cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam in three volumes. He sold the books himself and through agents in the larger Indian cities.
Establishing ISKCON
In 1965 at the age of 69, Srila Prabhupada traveled by ship to America and, once there, began teaching people about the Vaishnava tradition. Between 1966 and 1968 temples were established in several American cities. The first Ratha-yatra, a traditional festival that Srila Prabhupada had copied as a child, was held in 1967 in San Francisco.
From 1971 to 1977, Srila Prabhupada and his students developed ISKCON into a worldwide organization. Temples, restaurants, and farm communities were established, along with the Bhaktivedanta Institute and Food for Life.
Between 1966 and 1977, Srila Prabhupada circled the earth fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. In spite of his rigorous schedule he wrote prolifically and his books form a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, and culture. His writings have been translated into over 50 languages and his publishing house (the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) became the world's largest publisher in the field of Indian religion and philosophy.
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PARAMAHAMSA YOGANANDA



Paramahamsa Yogananda was a practitioner of Kriya Yoga who recorded his spiritual journey in the classic work "Autobiography of a Yogi". He was born in Calcutta in 1893. His autobiography was first published in 1946, twenty-six years after he was instructed by his Guru to leave India and go to America to spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga (literally, the Yoga of "ritual action").
Some unusual events are recounted by his mother concerning his early life in the autobiography. His mother described how once when visiting her spiritual teacher, the guru asked her to come forward from the back of a crowd of people and took the young Yogananda in his lap. The master said:

"Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God's kingdom".

Another unusual event she recollected occurred when an unknown monk came to her door and told her she did not have much longer to live. He then explained to her that an amulet would materialize in her hands during meditation and that she should make sure that her son Yogananda was given the amulet a year after her death.

Yoganda describes how "a blaze of illumination" came over him and how "many dormant memories were awakened" when he was given the silver amulet by his brother, who explained to him its significance. Yogananda believed the amulet was a gift from teachers in his former lives who were "invisibly guiding" the course of his current life.

Yogananda's writings document his early life in Calcutta, his college days, his efforts to visit the Himalayas to find a teacher, his meetings with various saints, his finding a guru at age seventeen, and finally his becoming a monk. Later in life, he founded a school in Ranchi, Bihar, based on yogic principles. He later went to live in America for many years. There he lectured widely, wrote books on yoga, and started the Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization dedicated to teaching the art of Kriya yoga to Westerners.

Yogananda's spiritual experiences fit into two general categories: the yogic type which focuses on the experience of "cosmic consciousness" and altered perception, and the devotional type which focuses on worship of deities.

The emphasis in the following section of the biography is on Yogananda's spiritual experiences. The first three experiences mentioned here are of the yogic type. In the first, Yogananda has just returned to visit his teacher from an unsanctioned trip to the Himalayan mountains. After apologizing to his teacher for making the trip without his permission, Yogananda went off to meditate, but his thoughts were uncontrollable "like leaves in a storm".

His teacher sensed his mind was disturbed and called him back, expressing sympathy that his trip to the mountains did not produce any tangible spiritual results. The teacher then comfortingly said "your heart's desire will be fulfilled" and struck him gently on the chest above the heart. Yogananda described his experience in the following words.

"My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some strange magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness, I knew that I had never been so fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body but embraced the circumambient atoms.

A different saint induced the second spiritual experience in Yogananda. It had some similarities with the first experience as both were induced by the same means. The saint tapped him on the chest above the heart, as both of them stood on a busy Calcutta street. Yogananda described the transformation in his perception that occurred:

A transforming silence ensued. Just as the modern "talkies" become inaudible motion pictures when the sound apparatus goes out of order, so the Divine Hand, by some strange miracle stifled the earthly bustle. Pedestrians as well as passing trolley cars, automobiles, bullock carts, and iron-wheeled hackney carriages were all noiseless transit. As though possessing some omnipresent eye. I beheld the scenes behind me and to each side as easily as those in front.

Yogananda described his initiation into Kriya yoga by his guru in this third yogic experience.

Master possessed a transforming power; at his touch a great light broke upon my being, like a glory of countless blazing suns together. A flood of ineffable bliss overwhelmed my heart to the innermost core.

"It was late in the afternoon of the following day before I could bring myself to leave the hermitage."

Yogananda wrote later that his guru Sri Yukteswar taught him "how to summon the blessed experience at will, and also to transmit it to others" when their intuitive channels were developed.

The second type of experience mentioned by Yogananda is devotional in nature. In this experience, he had a vision while meditating on a statue of the goddess Kali in the Dakshineswar temple. This is the temple near Calcutta where the noted nineteenth century saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa worshiped and had many visions of the divine mother in the form of the goddess Kali.
Yogananda's sister had complained to him that her husband was ridiculing her religious practice of maintaining pictures of saints in a meditation room in their home. She told her younger brother she had great faith in him and asked for his help. Yogananda went to the temple to ask for the intercession of the "divine mother" to influence his brother-in-law to be more open and accepting of his sister's spiritual interests.
He arrived at the temple at 7AM and began meditation in front of the statue of Kali. He was visualizing her inwardly, and he prayed that she would appear before him in a vision. By noon he had still not received a vision and the temple doors were closed, as was customary. He got up discouraged and walked into the courtyard stepping on the hot pavement. He inwardly addressed the divine mother saying he wanted to offer a prayer to her on behalf of his brother-in-law, but the statue was now hidden from his view with the closing of the temple doors. He describes the vision that followed.
"My inward petition was instantly acknowledged. First a delightful cool wave descended under my back and over my feet, banishing all discomfort. Then, to my amazement, the temple became greatly magnified. Its large door opened slowly, revealing the stone figure of the goddess Kali. Gradually the statue changed into a living form, smiling, nodding in greeting, thrilling me with joy indescribable. As if by a mystic syringe, the breath was withdrawn from my lungs; my body became very still, though not inert.
An ecstatic enlargement of consciousness followed. I could see clearly for several miles over the Ganges River to my left, and beyond the temple into the entire Dakshineswar precinct. The walls of all the buildings glimmered transparently; through them I observed people walking to and fro over distant acres.
Yogananda goes on to describe how only the goddess statue and the temple were enlarged, how his body seemed to be "composed of some ethereal substance", and how he could read his companions thoughts when he gazed at him through the now transparent temple walls. At this point, Yogananda addressed Kali asking her that his sister's husband be changed spiritually. Kali spoke to grant his wish and the scene changed back to normal.
Someone from the temple staff then offered the two visitors a good meal following the vision. The brother-in-law had been angry at Yogananda for making him miss the temple lunch prior to this. After this unlikely event, the brother-in-law became pensive. Yogananda claims his bother-in-law changed from that point on and became increasingly interested in spirituality.
Yogananda described his relationship with his guru in some detail. Several chapters are devoted to descriptions of how his guru handled different situations at the Serampore ashram. Yogananda was always off doing work for his teacher, and as a result had little time for his university studies. He describes how on a variety of occasions, his guru took steps to make sure "the mad monk" as he was known at school would pass his examinations. He considered his final graduation from college a miracle considering how little time he spent in class.
The guru also predicted a variety of sicknesses that would affect visitors and friends, and helped in the cure of some of them. Yogananda also described how on one occasion, his guru manifested a physical body out of thin air, and addressed him telling him about a change of plans and his coming arrival by train that evening.
Yogananda became a monk and was initiated by his guru into the "Giri" or mountain branch of the Shankaracarya order, one of India's largest and most respected yogic lineages. He wrote a number of books and lectured widely in Europe and the United States before his death in 1952. His organization "The Self-Realization Fellowship" is very much alive in the United States and continues to teach thousands of students the art of Kriya yoga.
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SAR PRASANNA VENKATACHARIAR
CHATURVEDI SWAMIJI

N.S. Ramaswamy




Devotees consider him an Avatar of Lord Vishnu and Sri Ramanuja, worthy of worship. Scholars admire him for his erudition. Scientists are simply astounded by his profound knowledge of Science and Technology. Swamiji has accessed knowledge from mysterious cosmic sources, unlike scientists and technologists who acquire knowledge through their five senses, mind and scientific equipments. Medical doctors are amazed at Swamiji’s deep knowledge of human physiology and surgical operations. Plant pathologists cannot believe that a human being knows so much about what goes on within plants. Swamiji is a great musician, a composer and a singer too, who can elaborate on one thousand ragas, based on the 72 well known Moola ragas. Swamiji can dance like an expert Bharathanatyam dancer. He can play Veena and other musical instruments. He can even play them keeping the instruments behind him.

Swamiji is a multifaceted scholar of many dimensions, and further a spiritual master as well. He has taken birth in this holy land. He has spiritual attainment comparable to that of sages, compassion of saints, knowledge of scientists and technologists and scholarship of the highest level. He is adept in Sanskrit and seven other languages. As the Chief Patron of the India Century Mission, he is leading the Movement to fulfill the dream of Swami Vivekananda, who predicted in 1895 that scholars and philosophers of the world would come to India in the 21st Century, seeking solutions to the terrible problems afflicting mankind all over the planet.

Not many can claim such many-sided talents. But Swamiji goes about as an ordinary person. His attire is simple, austere and traditional. He wears a dothi/veshti with an angavasthram to cover his chest. He dons a tuft like a Tamil Brahmin priest. His broad forehead and nose are smeared with holy ash and Vaishnava namam. He wears ear rings. He shares platforms with heavily clad scholars with western clothes or saffron robes. He feels comfortable wherever he is – whether be with Christian priests or ordinary Hindu religious groups. Scientists and Technologists remain spell bound, when he speaks eloquently on complex scientific phenomenon, drawing principles from Vedic slokas and manthras. He synthesizes ancient and modern wisdom, east and west, secular and spiritual – acting as a bridge between extremes and opposites. He can be described only as a phenomenon with no parallel in mythology or history. His advent at this time of Kaliyuga is significant. He leads the Movement to make India Century Mission a reality.

He has been declared “Chaturvedi”, as he is an authority on four Vedas, Upavedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ithihasas, Puranas etc. He not only recites them by heart, but also explains their inner meaning. He highlights the intricacies and relevance of these great philosophical and religious pronouncements of our ancient Rishis to the present times. One of his admirers stated “Swamiji is equal to our ancient Rishis”. He can speak without effort in seven Indian languages, including English, Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi. He knows foreign languages also and some tribal languages too. He speaks lucidly in all these languages at a speed of 200 to 300 words per minute, without referring to any prepared Notes. His lectures are delivered extempore. You give the subject while he is on the stage, and he speaks. You ask any question on Philosophy or Technology. He has the answers.

To those who are close to him, he is a friend, humorous and down to earth, full of humility. It is surprising that a person of his stature and accomplishments could be so simple and non-ostentatious.

He is strict with regard to his diet, never stays in hotels nor eats hotel food. His cook accompanies him wherever he goes. Most of the time he lives on fruits. He does not take coffee or tea or any other beverage. He sleeps on a mat with a small pillow. He has purchased houses or flats in Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Chennai, where his colleagues, devotees, helpers and well-wishers gather around him for advice or seeking help which may be financial or medical intervention to save someone terminally ill. Everything is done spontaneously and freely without any pomp or publicity.

Divine powers - Miracles

Some of his followers feel that Swamiji has Siddhi powers. In fact, those close to him assert that Swamiji has powers far more than conventional Siddhi, which is acquired through Sadhana and Tapas. According to a friend, he was born with these powers. Swamiji can cure diseases, predict what would happen by simply looking at a person, can restore health of a sick or even a terminally ill person. A few of them honestly believe that Swamiji can prolong life. Two of them told me that they themselves are beneficiaries of such a gift from Swami. He can convert stone into diamonds or vise versa. He can produce currency at his will. But he does not use it for himself. Not many would believe that such miracles are possible, defying known sciences and nature’s laws. Thousands have witnessed Sathya Sai Baba’s miracles, which are beyond belief and reasoning.

One of his followers once went to Swami him crying that his daughter’s marriage was to take place the next day and that the groom’s party was demanding Rs. 20,000 as dowry immediately, and that the marriage will have to be cancelled if he as he could not mobilize the amount all of a sudden. Swamiji told him “open your box and you will find the money there”. To the astonishment of the person concerned, when he opened his box, he found the required money. Another person lamented before Swamiji that he had lost everything in his business deals and that he is on the verge of committing suicide. Swamiji asked him how much he wanted, to which he replied ‘Rs. three lakhs’ immediately. Swamiji simply told him “go and look for it in your almirah”. To his surprise, he found three lakhs of rupees in a bundle. But he does such miracles only occasionally, and that too only to help the needy and deserving. He never misuses such powers for his own use and benefit.

Another friend of Swamiji wanted to change the gender of his dog from female to male, which Swami fulfilled. Swamiji regularly goes on long trips by road, and often diesel gets exhausted. He tells the driver to go on. Suddenly driver finds that the indicator shows that the tank is full. Once Swamiji was going for an urgent meeting, and on the way, his car’s tyre got punctured. He asked his worried driver to ignore it and simply drive, as he was late. Lo! the puncture was gone and the tyre was full of air.

His friends have related to me literally one hundred such stories of miracles done by Swamiji. Women, who do not have children, plead to him to bless them. In every case, Swamiji simply blesses and they get what they want. Swamiji has cured incurable diseases such as cancer and kidney failure by simply touching them. Sitting in a chair, using his mental power, he used to move refrigerator, TV sets, etc without touching them. I have talked to those who have been close to him for the last 20 years. It is difficult to believe what they say.

Birth and Childhood days

Swamiji was born in a Agraharam in Trichi as the eldest son of Ramakrishnacharyar of Vishwakarma sect. His parents and his two brothers and sisters are all well settled in life, who call on him at Chennai occasionally. As soon as the baby was born, his father saw a glow in the face. He immediately consulted an astrologer, who declared that the baby was an extraordinary child, gifted with divine qualities, who may very well be an Avatara of God. The astrologer suggested that the baby should be handed over to somebody who can bring up the child with suitable education so that his full potential could be realised.

Swamiji was sent to the local Veda Patasala, where he mastered the four Vedas within a short time under his guru, Sri Krishnaswamy Iyenger. Whatever was taught during the day, Swamiji repeated verbatim on the next day and explained the meaning himself. The teacher could not believe such a phenomenon. The teacher himself became Swami’s follower. After finishing his 8th Standard in Trichi, he moved to Coimbatore, where he stayed with his aunt (Athai), who looked after him well. Swamiji completed his Plus-two in Coimbatore.

Swamji then shifted temporarily to Kangeyam, where there was no water in open or bore wells. But Swamiji could locate spots where water could be found. Since then, he became a popular water diviner. While in Kangeyam, a coconut vendor rushed to him and cried that people were not buying his coconuts as they were tasting salty. Swamiji simply told him to check again, and thereafter, his coconuts became sweet. Swamiji once went to a village, called Vadivelampalayam, where he used to give discourses on Vedas to large audiences. He was only 16 then. They all became his devotees. Thereafter, he spent some time in a village near Karaikudi in Chettinadu, where he gave discourses on Vaishanava Siddhantha. He also used to address on general subjects, including philosophy and technology, which surprised many. Since then, he became very famous as a spiritual leader. On his return to Coimbatore, he continued giving discourses to all kinds of audiences on a wide variety of subjects. In-between, he did minor miracles, which surprised all. He gave a one-week discourse on Ramayana. By that time, he was being referred to as Chaturvedi Swamiji.

Swamiji’s original name was Venkata Saravanan. Later, he was known as Prasanna Venkata Vedachar. People, particularly in his family, used to call him Prasanna. He used to give discourses to families of Chettiars and Naidus. Thus he became popular in Coimbatore. He was staying near Venugopalaswamy temple, where he met an advocate, by name Thirunavukarasu, who arranged a house for Swami in Coimbatore.

After finishing Plus-two, he did not pursue further studies in colleges. But he went on writing examinations to graduate in several subjects that interested him. He took Master’s Degrees in Law, Sanskrit and Philosophy by self study or by simply appearing for examinations only.

There was a well known astrologer, called Venkatachari in Madras, who used to visit Swamiji. He advised Swamiji on several worldly and spiritual subjects. Later, he became Swamiji’s devotee! He taught him Garuda Mantram. One day, a huge kite came and sat on the terrace of the house where Swamiji’s resided. which surprised many. At that time, the nephew of the advocate, who was Swamiji’s close friend, requested for Swamiji’s help for ensuring safe delivery of his niece who was under intense labour pain. Doctors had advised that she needs to undergo cesarean surgery. But Swamiji told him to recite the 58th sloka of Adharva Veda a few times. To the surprise of many, surgery was avoided and the child came out with little pain. This news spread, and more people started coming to him for curing all kinds of ailments.

Swamiji was about 20 then, and some people started calling him an Avatara Purusha. He stayed in Basantnagar in Chennai with his uncle. Though he was staying in a small house, hundreds of people used to visit him for guidance, help in ailments and for financial support. Thus Swamiji was kept busy rendering all kinds of help – spiritual and material. Swamiji did all this as a “one-man-mission”, as he did not have a formal organization at that time.

Once Swami moved temporarily to Tirupur, where he was with one Venkataraju. As usual, Swami used to give discourses and became popular as a Swamiji. Venkataraju wanted to have a grand function for a Coronation (Pattabhishekam) for him. One Natarajan donated Rs. 50,000 for the Coronation function. Swamiji helped to open a shop for Venkataraju for marketing TV and other audio visual equipments. The business did well. Swamiji used to help him by even writing the accounts. While writing the accounts, Swamiji opened the ledger book by recording therein under the head of account “Lord Venkatachalapathy” cash credited Rs. 10,000/-, and asked Arumugam, his close friend who was present, to open the Cash box. To his surprise, Armugam found Rs. 10,000 there.

It was in 1995, when Swamiji was around 24, Venkataraju became a big business man in Tirupur. Swamiji used to often stay at his residence. Whenever he went to Coimbatore, he stayed with Thirunavukarasu. Swamiji conducted a Havan in the village of Tirunavukarasu near Pollachi. Thus such multifarious activities made him popular.

Tatwam-asi

On another occasion Swamiji and Shri.Arumugam went to the Venkatachalapathi Temple at Tirupathi. They were waiting in the queue for a long time and Swamiji felt tired. At last he said: “Why should I wait in the queue to see the Vigraha of Lord Venkatachalapathi, when he is already within me. Swamji was resting on the floor. To Arumugam’s surprise, Swamiji appeared like Lord Venkatachalapathi himself.

Swamji was a born Musician, He knew all the 72 Moola Ragas and hundreds of sub-Ragas. In a Music conference, attended by eminent musicians and scholars, Swamji gave a discourse on the scientific basis of Carnatic music and its spiritual base. He demonstrated his superior understanding of music before the learned audience. He knows about music much more than anybody else. On another occasion, when he stayed at Kantilal Hotel in Chennai, Swamiji demonstrated his ability to bring rain. Accompanied by Arumugham, he sang Amrutha Varshini Raga. To the surprise of all, it rained heavily around the hotel that day.

Swamiji is blessed by Lord Varaha Murthy Perumal and Shri Laxmi Narasimha. In Ahobillam, AP, Sri Siddemallappa and Srinivasan witnessed Swamiji assuming the form of Sri Narasimha. It is belileved that Vishnu Narasimha came out of the pillar there to kill Hiranya Kashipu. Swamiji has been blessed by two Avatharas – Lord Varaha Swami Perumal of Shri Mushmam and Lord Narasimha Swami of Ahobillam.

Scholarly achievements:

A Sanskrit scholar of Poona (Prof. Gadgil) mentioned to me that Swamiji perhaps is the most knowledgeable Sanskrit scholar in India. During 60 years of his research in India and abroad, he had not seen anyone more knowledgeable than Swamiji in Sanskrit and Vedas.

An erudite orator, it is a thrilling experience to listen to his lectures in Sanskrit, English and Tamil, delivered with phonetic resonance and with torrential flow of words on subjects, as varied as social sciences, technology, illustrated with quotations from Vedas and other Sasthras. Conventional Sanskrit scholars may not even be aware of many words used by Swami. An ardent admirer said “Swami knows as much as what 1000 Rishis, who gave India spiritual concepts and Shastras in every field of human endeavours”.

A Godly child:

Swamiji is so simple and could at times act like a child full of innocence and playfulness. Swamiji has taken many rides on Janakiram’s bicycle, sitting on the pillion like a school boy and enjoying the experience. In Chennai, Swamiji stayed in Lloyds Road and CIT colony before moving to his present residence in Habbibulla road. Swamiji helped only those who deserved, as per their Destiny. He also has warned a few people of impending dangers and advised corrective measures as prescribed in the scriptures to ward off ill-effects.

I meet Swamiji

The invisible hand of Destiny brought me and Swamiji together. In fact, it was predicted by one Dr. Gitesh Shah, who, after studying my horoscope three years ago, had predicted that during my Ketu period of 6 years, many developments and events would help me. Since then, many favourable developments have taken place, such as research projects got approved by Government, Heritage Academy received donations, legal hurdles were overcome etc. But more importantly, I came across many great personalities in unusual circumstances, all of whom helped me in my secular and spiritual pursuits. Swamiji and I shared platform in Tirupathi in a National Conference on Gomatha, organized by TTD. When it came to lighting the lamp, one of the organizers of TTD told the audience, full of animal friends and goshala operators “most of you gathered here are worshipping the cow. But cows are not interested in your worship. What cows need is food to survive and a painless death. Only Prof. Ramaswamy is working towards these two requirements of cows. Therefore, he will light the lamp first”.

This encouragement pleased me very much, since I was not only researching and campaigning for providing more fodder and feed to livestock, but also for improving slaughter systems with a view to reducing pain now undergone by livestock during slaughter. Swamiji made a brilliant speech, which impressed me and my wife a great deal. To my surprise, he told me that he was coming to Bangalore and wanted me to meet him. So I went to see him in a Law College where he was writing an examination for his Master’s Degree. Thus started a friendship, I would say. Thereafter, he has been gracious to invite me to Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Pune, where he gave superb speeches on several hi-tech subjects. He also addressed three meetings in the Indian Heritage Academy. Recently, we spent two days together in Kerala, where he addressed a National Conference on Inter-Religious Initiative.

Birthday

I attended his previous birthday in Chennai, which was a grand and regal affair. Bhajan, puja, havan, music, dance and similar manifestations of Hindu culture and traditions attracted a large gathering, mostly consisting of Vaishnavas, who adore him as an Avatara of Vishnu and Shri Ramanuja. More than 200 temples gave him gifts of all kinds, crowned him and garlanded him. He was literally covered with garlands and silken robes, shining with golden embroidery. Dr. D. Swaminathan, Dr. A. Kalanidhi, Dr. Bhatkar and such eminent personalities gave felicitation speeches. I also uttered a few words of appreciation. Swamiji made an eloquent speech in Sanskrit. Though most people did not understand Sanskrit, they simply listened, since they adored him.

Followers
Swamiji is surrounded all the time by all kinds of followers. He has a close circle, who are with him to look after his comforts and to help him. His programmes are scheduled by Soumya, Rama, Ravi of ISKCON, Sudhakar, Shetty, Anand and others. I have gathered information about his life mostly from Arumugam. Others were reluctant to speak as they were not sure whether Swamiji would like publicity of trivial details of his life at one end and his miracles at the other. Therefore, I have given the above information with a certain amount of hesitation. At one end, I would like all his followers to know more about him - both the mundane and the mysterious. At the other end, I wish to prove to the world that holy India can produce such a great scholar and sage, who has divine attributes and powers, the kind of which I have seen only in Shri Satya Sai Baba, who has millions of devotees all over the world. Even if people do not believe in the miracles, there is ample evidence that Swami has definitely excelled in proving his ingenuity and scholarly knowledge in S&T, Vedas and religions. I am confident that Swamiji will take forward the message of Vedas, awakening people and bring in peace and prosperity to people all over the world. He is relentlessly working for achieving the goal of ‘Vasudaiva kutumbakam’ during his life time.






DR. DAVID FRAWLEY

David Frawley, otherwise known as Vamadeva Shastri, is a US citizen by birth and a Hindu by conviction. He is an ideal example of the multi-cultural many sided renaissance personality of the modern world. He has a remarkable “multiple identity”, and is quite at home in both the ancient and modern world. Having studied Hinduism from the inside and adopting the name of Vamadeva Sastri, he has not formally renounced Christianity. Yet, through his Centres in California and in India, he has dynamically promoted ancient Indian wisdom and culture throughout the world. He has trained several scholars in Yoga and Ayurveda as well as Astrology. He is a Sanskrit scholar and more than most scholars, he has expressed in simple language, his penetrating insights and wisdom laced with common sense and understanding of the ancient East and the modern West. He has written more than 20 best-selling books which are bound to further the cause of “India Century” and a new renaissance.

An acknowledged Vedantin, Frawley is an expert in ayurveda, Vedic astrology, yoga, and tantra, all of which, he says, have their basis in Vedanta. Indeed it is the interdisciplinary approach to Vedanta that he sees as his particular contribution in demystifying eastern spirituality.

Frawley has written a number of books on all these disciplines, including Yoga and Vedanta, and Ayurveda and the Mind. His Vedic translations and historical studies on ancient India have received much acclaim, as have his journalistic works on modern India.

Dr. Frawley is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies and is on the editorial board of the magazine Yoga International, for which he is a frequent contributor. He is also the president of the American Council of Vedic Astrology (ACVA).
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ERNEST BINFIELD HAVELL
Ernest Binfield Havell (September 16, 1861 – December 31, 1934), who published under the name E.B. Havell, was a British arts administrator and author of numerous books about Indian art and architecture. He was a member of the Havell family of artists and art educators. He was the principal of the Government School of Art, Calcutta from 1896-1905.
Life
In India, Havell initially served the Madras School of Art as Superintendent for a decade from 1884. He arrived Calcutta on July 5, 1896 and joined as Superiintendent of the Government School of Art, Calcutta next day. In between, he went to England for a year from April, 1902 to March, 1903. While in England, he published two valuable articles on Indian art in the October 1902 and January, 1903 issues of a well known art journal of London, The Studio. In January, 1906 he left for England on long leave and finally in 1908, he was removed from the post.
Havell worked with Abanindranath Tagore to redefine Indian art education. He established the Bengal school of art, which sought to adapt British art education in India so as to reject the previous emphasis placed on European traditions in favour of revivals of native Indian styles of art, in particular the Mughal miniature tradition.
Works
Havell wrote numerous books on Indian art and history, including:
• A Handbook of Indian Art
• The History of Aryan Rule in India
• Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India
• Indian Architecture: Its psychology, structure and history
• Ideals of Indian art
• Indian sculpture and painting
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ANNIE BESANT

In 1890 Annie Besant met Helena Blavatsky and over the next few years her interest in Theosophy grew and her interest in left wing politics waned. She travelled to India and in 1898 helped establish the Central Hindu College in India.
In 1902 she established the International Order of Co-Freemasonry in England and over the next few years established lodges in many parts of the British Empire.
In 1908 Annie Besant became President of the Theosophical Society and began to steer the society away from Buddhism and towards Hinduism. She also became involved in politics in India, joining the Indian National Congress. When war broke out in Europe in 1914 she helped launch the Home Rule League to campaign for democracy in India and dominion status within the Empire which culminated in her election as president of the India National Congress in late 1917. After the war she continued to campaign for Indian independence until her death in 1933.
Early life
Annie Wood was born in 1847 in London into a middle-class family of Irish origin. She was always proud of being Irish and supported the cause of Irish self-rule throughout her adult life. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving the family almost penniless. Her mother supported the family by running a boarding house for boys at Harrow. However, she was unable to support Annie and persuaded her friend Ellen Marryat to care for her. Marryat made sure that Annie had a good education. She was given a strong sense of duty to society and an equally strong sense of what independent women could achieve. As a young woman, she was also able to travel widely in Europe. There she acquired a taste for Catholic colour and ceremony that never left her.
In 1867, at age nineteen she married 26-year-old clergyman Frank Besant, younger brother of Walter Besant. He was an evangelical Anglican clergyman who seemed to share many of her concerns. Soon Frank became vicar of Sibsey in Lincolnshire. Annie moved to Sibsey with her husband, and within a few years they had two children: Digby and Mabel. The marriage was, however, a disaster. The first conflict came over money and Annie's independence. Annie wrote short stories, books for children and articles. As married women did not have the legal right to own property, Frank was able to take all the money she earned. Politics further divided the couple. Annie began to support farm workers who were fighting to unionise and to win better conditions. Frank was a Tory and sided with the landlords and farmers. The tension came to a head when Annie refused to attend Communion. She left him and returned to London. They were legally separated and Annie took her daughter with her.
Annie began to question her own faith. She turned to leading churchmen for advice. She even went to see Edward Bouverie Pusey, leader of the Catholic wing of the Church of England. He simply told her she had read too many books. Annie returned to Frank to make one last effort to repair the marriage. It proved useless. She finally left for London. Divorce was unthinkable for Frank, and was not really within the reach of even middle-class people. Annie was to remain Mrs Besant for the rest of her life. At first, she was able to keep contact with both children and to have Mabel live with her. She got a small allowance from Frank. Her husband was given sole custody of their two children.
Reformer and secularist
Annie Besant - 1880s
She fought for the causes she thought were right, starting with freedom of thought, women's rights, secularism (she was a leading member of the National Secular Society alongside Charles Bradlaugh), birth control, Fabian socialism and workers' rights.
Once free of Frank Besant and exposed to new currents of thought, Annie began to question not only her long-held religious beliefs but also the whole of conventional thinking. She began to write attacks on the churches and the way they controlled people's lives. In particular she attacked the status of the Church of England as a state-sponsored faith.
Soon she was earning a small weekly wage by writing a column for the National Reformer, the newspaper of the National Secular Society. The Society stood for a secular state: an end to the special status of Christianity. The Society allowed her to act as one of its public speakers. Public lectures were very popular entertainment in Victorian times. Annie was a brilliant speaker, and was soon in great demand. Using the railway, she criss-crossed the country, speaking on all of the most important issues of the day, always demanding improvement, reform and freedom.
For many years Annie was a friend of the Society's leader, Charles Bradlaugh. It seems that they were never lovers, but their friendship was very close. Bradlaugh, a former seaman, had long been separated from his wife. Annie lived with Bradlaugh and his daughters, and they worked together on many issues.
Theosophist
Besant was a prolific writer and a powerful orator. In 1889, she was asked to write a review for the Pall Mall Gazette on The Secret Doctrine, a book by H.P. Blavatsky. After reading it, she sought an interview with its author, meeting Blavatsky in Paris. In this way she was converted to Theosophy. Annie's intellectual journey had always involved a spiritual dimension, a quest for transformation of the whole person. As her interest in Theosophy deepened, she allowed her membership of the Fabian Society to lapse (1890) and broke her links with the Marxists. When Blavatsky died in 1891, Annie was left as one of the leading figures in Theosophy. Her most important public commitment to the faith came in 1893, when she went to present it at the Chicago World Fair.
Soon after becoming a member of the Theosophical Society she went to India for the first time (in 1893). After a dispute in which William Quan Judge, leader of the American section, was accused of falsifying letters from the Masters, the American section split away. The remainder of the Society was then led by Henry Steel Olcott and Besant and is today based in Chennai, India, and is known as the Theosophical Society Adyar. Thereafter she devoted much of her energy not only to the Society, but also to India's freedom and progress. Besant Nagar, a neighborhood near the Theosophical Society in Chennai, is named in her honor.
President of Theosophical Society
Annie Besant with Henry Olcott (left) and Charles Leadbeater (right) in Adyar in December 1905
She first met clairvoyant theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater in London in April 1894. They became close co-workers in the theosophical movement and would remain so for the rest of their lives. Besant became clairvoyant in the following year. In a letter dated 25 August 1895 to Francisca Arundale, Leadbeater narrates how Besant became clairvoyant.[4] Together they would investigate the universe, matter, thought-forms and the history of mankind through clairvoyance, and would co-author several books. In 1906 Leadbeater suddenly became the centre of controversy when it emerged that he was sleeping with young boys and engaging in mutual masturbation with them — Leadbeater explained that he had been offering them advice and guidance in order to keep them from sleeping with women.[5] He was forced to resign from the Theosophical Society over this in 1906, but the next year Annie Besant became President of the Society and in 1908 he was taken back into the fold on her insistence. Leadbeater went on to face many more accusations of improper relations with boys, but Besant never deserted him.
Up until Besant's presidency, the society had as one of its foci Theravada Buddhism and the island of Ceylon, where Henry Olcott did the majority of his useful work. Under Besant's leadership there was a decisive turn away from this and a refocusing of their activities on "The Aryavarta", as she called central India. Besant actively courted Hindu opinion more than former Theosophical leaders. This was a clear reversal of policy from Blavatsky and Olcott's very public conversion to Buddhism in Ceylon, and their promotion of Buddhist revival activities on the subcontinent (see also: Maha Bodhi Society).
Annie set up a new school for boys at Varanasi: the Central Hindu College. Its aim was to build a new leadership for India. The boys lived like monks. They spent 90 minutes a day in prayer and studied the Hindu scriptures, but they also studied modern science. It took 3 years to raise the money for the CHC. Most of the money came from Indian princes. In April 1911, Annie and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya met and decided to unite their forces and work for a common Hindu University at Varanasi. Annie and fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College also agreed to Government of India's precondition that the college should become a part of the new University. The Banaras Hindu University started functioning from 1 October 1917 with the Central Hindu College as its first constituent college.
As early as 1889, Blavatsky had told a group of Theosophical students that the real purpose of establishing the Society was to prepare humanity for the reception of the World Teacher when he appeared again on earth. This was repeated again more publicly by Besant in 1896, five years after Blavatsky's death.
Thought-form of the music of Charles Gounod, according to Besant and C.W. Leadbeater in Thought-Forms (1901)

Soon after Besant's inheritance of the presidency, in 1909 Leadbeater "discovered" fourteen-year-old Jiddu Krishnamurti on the private beach that was attached to the Theosophical Society's headquarters at Adyar. Krishnamurti had been living next to the headquarters with his father and brothers for a few months prior to this. The "discovery" started years of upheaval in the Theosophical Society, as the boy was proclaimed to be the likely "vehicle" for the expected "World Teacher". Jiddu Krishnamurti and his younger brother Nityananda (Nitya) were brought up by Theosophists from that moment on, and Krishnamurti was extensively groomed for his future "mission" as the new Christ-incarnate. The boys were soon placed under the legal guardianship of Besant, following a protracted legal battle with their father. Early in their relationship, Krishnamurti and Besant had developed a very close bond and he considered her a surrogate mother - a role she happily accepted. (His biological mother had died when he was ten years old).
In 1929, twenty years after his "discovery", Krishnamurti, who had grown disenchanted with the whole "World Teacher Project", repudiated the role that the leadership of the Society and many Theosophists expected him to fulfil. He denounced the concept of saviors, leaders and spiritual teachers and severed his ties with Theosophy. He spent the rest of his life holding dialogues and giving public talks around the world as an unaffiliated individual speaker, becoming in the process widely known as an original, independent thinker on philosophical, psychological, and spiritual subjects. However, his love for Besant never waned, as also was the case with Besant's feelings towards him; concerned for his wellbeing after he declared his independence, she had purchased 6 acres (24,000 m2) of land near the Theosophical Society estate which later became the headquarters of the Krishnamurti Foundation India.
The Home Rule Movement
Along with her theosophical activities, Annie continued to participate in concrete political struggles. She had joined the Indian National Congress. As the name suggested, this was originally a debating body, which met each year to consider resolutions on political issues. Mostly it demanded more of a say for middle-class Indians in British Indian government. It had not yet developed into a permanent mass movement with local organisation. About this time she lost her clairvoyance, and co-worker C.W. Leadbeater felt called to move to Sydney, Australia.
In 1914 war broke out in Europe. Britain needed the support of its empire in the fight against Germany. Annie said: "England's need is India's opportunity," a clear echo of an Irish nationalist slogan. As editor of a newspaper called New India, she attacked the (British) government of India and called for clear and decisive moves towards self-rule. As with Ireland, the government refused to discuss any changes while the war lasted.
Later years
She tried to accommodate Krishnamurti's views into her life, but never really succeeded. The two remained friends, however, until the end of her life. Annie Besant died in 1933 and was survived by her daughter, Mabel. After her death, her colleagues, J. Krishnamurti, Aldous Huxley, Dr. Guido Ferrando, and Rosalind Rajagopal, built Happy Valley School, now renamed Besant Hill School in her honour.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU




Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)[1] was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time imploring one to abandon waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes cited as an individualist anarchist. Though Civil Disobedience calls for improving rather than abolishing government – "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government" – the direction of this improvement aims at anarchism: "'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."

Early life and education

He was born David Henry Thoreauin Concord, Massachusetts, to John Thoreau (a pencil maker) and Cynthia Dunbar. His paternal grandfather was of French origin and was born in Jersey. His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led Harvard's 1766 student "Butter Rebellion", the first recorded student protest in the Colonies. David Henry was named after a recently deceased paternal uncle, David Thoreau. He did not become "Henry David" until after college, although he never petitioned to make a legal name change. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia. Thoreau's birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord and is currently the focus of preservation efforts. The house is original, but it now stands about 100 yards away from its first site.

Thoreau studied at Harvard University between 1833 and 1837. He lived in Hollis Hall and took courses in rhetoric, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. A legend proposes that Thoreau refused to pay the five-dollar fee for a Harvard diploma. In fact, the master's degree he declined to purchase had no academic merit: Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give the college." His comment was: "Let every sheep keep its own skin",a reference to the tradition of diplomas being written on sheepskin vellum.

Return to Concord: 1837–1841
The traditional professions open to college graduates: law, the church, business, medicine; failed to interest Thoreau. So he took a leave of absence and during that leave of absence from Harvard in 1835, Thoreau taught school in Canton, Massachusetts. After he graduated in 1837, he joined the faculty of the Concord public school, but resigned after a few weeks rather than administer corporal punishment. He and his brother John then opened a grammar school in Concord in 1838 called Concord Academy. They introduced several progressive concepts, including nature walks and visits to local shops and businesses. The school ended when John became fatally ill from tetanus in 1842after cutting himself while shaving. He died in his brother Henry's arms.

Upon graduation Thoreau returned home to Concord, where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson took a paternal and at times patronizing interest in Thoreau, advising the young man and introducing him to a circle of local writers and thinkers, including Ellery Channing, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his son Julian Hawthorne, who was a boy at the time.

Emerson urged Thoreau to contribute essays and poems to a quarterly periodical, The Dial, and Emerson lobbied editor Margaret Fuller to publish those writings. Thoreau's first essay published there was Aulus Persius Flaccus, an essay on the playwright of the same name, published in The Dial in July 1840. It consisted of revised passages from his journal, which he had begun keeping at Emerson's suggestion. The first journal entry on October 22, 1837, reads, "'What are you doing now?' he asked. 'Do you keep a journal?' So I make my first entry today."

Thoreau was a philosopher of nature and its relation to the human condition. In his early years he followed Transcendentalism, a loose and eclectic idealist philosophy advocated by Emerson, Fuller, and Alcott. They held that an ideal spiritual state transcends, or goes beyond, the physical and empirical, and that one achieves that insight via personal intuition rather than religious doctrine. In their view, Nature is the outward sign of inward spirit, expressing the "radical correspondence of visible things and human thoughts," as Emerson wrote in Nature (1836).

1967 U.S. postage stamp honoring Thoreau
On April 18, 1841, Thoreau moved into the Emerson house. There, from 1841–1844, he served as the children's tutor, editorial assistant, and repair man/gardener. For a few months in 1843, he moved to the home of William Emerson on Staten Island, and tutored the family sons while seeking contacts among literary men and journalists in the city who might help publish his writings, including his future literary representative Horace Greeley.

Thoreau returned to Concord and worked in his family's pencil factory, which he continued to do for most of his adult life. He rediscovered the process to make a good pencil out of inferior graphite by using clay as the binder; this invention improved upon graphite found in New Hampshire and bought in 1821 by relative Charles Dunbar. (The process of mixing graphite and clay, known as the Conté process, was patented by Nicolas-Jacques Conté in 1795). His other source had been Tantiusques, an Indian operated mine in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Later, Thoreau converted the factory to produce plumbago (graphite), which was used to ink typesetting machines.

Once back in Concord, Thoreau went through a restless period. In April 1844 he and his friend Edward Hoar accidentally set a fire that consumed 300 acres (1.2 km2) of Walden Woods. He spoke often of finding a farm to buy or lease, which he felt would give him a means to support himself while also providing enough solitude to write his first book.

Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in simple living on July 4, 1845, when he moved to a small, self-built house on land owned by Emerson in a second-growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond. The house was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from his family home.

On July 24 or July 25, 1846, Thoreau ran into the local tax collector, Sam Staples, who asked him to pay six years of delinquent poll taxes. Thoreau refused because of his opposition to the Mexican-American War and slavery, and he spent a night in jail because of this refusal. (The next day Thoreau was freed, against his wishes, when his aunt paid his taxes. The experience had a strong impact on Thoreau. In January and February 1848, he delivered lectures on "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government" explaining his tax resistance at the Concord Lyceum. Bronson Alcott attended the lecture, writing in his journal on January 26:

Heard Thoreau's lecture before the Lyceum on the relation of the individual to the State– an admirable statement of the rights of the individual to self-government, and an attentive audience. His allusions to the Mexican War, to Mr. Hoar's expulsion from Carolina, his own imprisonment in Concord Jail for refusal to pay his tax, Mr. Hoar's payment of mine when taken to prison for a similar refusal, were all pertinent, well considered, and reasoned. I took great pleasure in this deed of Thoreau's.

—Bronson Alcott, Journals (1938)

Thoreau revised the lecture into an essay entitled Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience). In May 1849 it was published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers. Thoreau had taken up a version of Percy Shelley's principle in the political poem The Mask of Anarchy (1819), that Shelley begins with the powerful images of the unjust forms of authority of his time – and then imagines the stirrings of a radically new form of social action.

At Walden Pond, he completed a first draft of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, an elegy to his brother, John, that described their 1839 trip to the White Mountains. Thoreau did not find a publisher for this book and instead printed 1,000 copies at his own expense, though fewer than 300 were sold. Thoreau self-published on the advice of Emerson, using Emerson's own publisher, Munroe, who did little to publicize the book. Its failure put Thoreau into debt that took years to pay off, and Emerson's flawed advice caused a schism between the friends that never entirely healed.

In August 1846, Thoreau briefly left Walden to make a trip to Mount Katahdin in Maine, a journey later recorded in "Ktaadn," the first part of The Maine Woods.

Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1847. Over several years, he worked to pay off his debts and also continuously revised his manuscript for what, in 1854, he would publish as Walden, or Life in the Woods, recounting the two years, two months, and two days he had spent at Walden Pond. The book compresses that time into a single calendar year, using the passage of four seasons to symbolize human development. Part memoir and part spiritual quest, Walden at first won few admirers, but today critics[who?] regard it as a classic American work that explores natural simplicity, harmony, and beauty as models for just social and cultural conditions.

His work “Civil Disobedience” was the inspiration which led Gandhi to form his “Sathyagraha” Movement. His ideas forged the weapons, with which Gandhi overthrew the mighty British Empire. It is an excellent example of “the pen being mightier than the sword”.

ROMAIN ROLLAND



Rolland with Gandhi in Switzerland, 1931.
The two were friends and regular correspondents.
The biography of Sri Ramakrishna and that of Swami Vivekananda by Romain Rolland the Literature Nobel Prize winner of 1914 helped to spread their world wide reputation as nothing else could have done. It helped to further the desire to know more about India and her wisdom among the people of the advanced western world. The writer showed a keenly incisive understanding of the mystic nature of his subjects and also a vast knowledge of the intellectual legacy of the east and the west. In addition he had that essential sympathy to do full justice to his topic. Though known as a communist Romain was a mystic ever searching to discover the meaning of life.

Rolland was born in Clamecy, Nièvre to a family of notaries; he had both peasants and wealthy townspeople in his lineage. Writing introspectively in his Voyage intérieur (1942), he sees himself as a representative of an "antique species". He would cast these ancestors in Colas Breugnon (1919).

Accepted to the École normale supérieure in 1886, he first studied philosophy, but his independence of spirit led him to abandon that so as not to submit to the dominant ideology. He received his degree in history in 1889 and spent two years in Rome, where his encounter with Malwida von Meysenbug–who had been a friend of Nietzsche and of Wagner–and his discovery of Italian masterpieces were decisive for the development of his thought. When he returned to France in 1895, he received his doctoral degree with his thesis The origins of modern lyric theatre and his doctoral dissertation, A History of Opera in Europe before Lully and Scarlatti.

His first book was published in 1902, when he was 36 years old. Through his advocacy for a 'people's theatre', he made a significant contribution towards the democratization of the theatre. As a humanist, he embraced the work of the philosophers of India ("Conversations with Rabindranath Tagore" and Mohandas Gandhi). Rolland was strongly influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of India, primarily through the works of Swami Vivekananda.

Academic career

He became a history teacher at Lycée Henri IV, then at the Lycée Louis le Grand, and member of the École française de Rome, then a professor of the History of Music at the Sorbonne, and History Professor at the École Normale Supérieure.

A demanding, yet timid, young man, he did not like teaching. He was not indifferent to youth: Jean-Christophe, Olivier and their friends, the heroes of his novels, are young people. But with real-life persons, youths as well as adults, Rolland maintained only a distant relationships. He was first and foremost a writer. Assured that literature would provide him with a modest income, he resigned from the university in 1912.
Romain Rolland was a lifelong pacifist. He protested against the first World War in Au-dessus de la Mêlée (1915), Above the Battle (Chicago, 1916). In 1924, his book on Gandhi contributed to the Indian nonviolent leader's reputation and the two men met in 1931.

In 1928 he and Hungarian scholar, philosopher and natural living experimenter Edmund Bordeaux Szekely founded the International Biogenic Society to promote and expand on their ideas of the integration of mind, body and spirit.

He moved to Villeneuve, on the shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) to devote himself to writing. His life was interrupted by health problems, and by travels to art exhibitions. His voyage to Moscow (1935), on the invitation of Maxim Gorky, was an opportunity to meet Stalin, whom he considered the greatest man of his time. Rolland served unofficially as ambassador of French artists to the Soviet Union. However, as a pacifist, he was uncomfortable with Stalin’s brutal repression of the opposition. He attempted to discuss his concerns with Stalin, and was involved in the campaign for the release of the Left Opposition activist/writer Victor Serge and wrote to Stalin begging clemency for Nikolai Bukharin. During Serge’s imprisonment (1933-1936), Rolland had agreed to handle the publications of Serge’s writings in France, despite their political disagreements.

In 1937, he came back to live in Vézelay, which, in 1940, was occupied by the Germans. During the occupation, he isolated himself in complete solitude.

Never stopping his work, in 1940, he finished his memoirs. He also placed the finishing touches on his musical research on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. Shortly before his death, he wrote Péguy (1944), in which he examines religion and socialism through the context of his memories. He died on 30 December 1944 in Vézelay.

In 1921, his close friend, the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, wrote his biography: The Man and His Works. Zweig profoundly admired Rolland, of whom he once said to be: "the moral consciousness of Europe" during the years of turmoil and War in Europe.

Herman Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland "my dear friend".




Quotations

"To one whose mind is free, there is something even more intolerable in the suffering of animals than in the sufferings of humans. For with the latter, it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the person who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any person were to refer to it, they would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime. That alone is the justification of all that humans may suffer. It cries vengeance upon all the human race. If God exists and tolerates it, it cries vengeance upon God." Jean Christophe.
"If there is one place on the face of the earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India....For more than 30 centuries, the tree of vision, with all its thousand branches and their millions of twigs, has sprung from this torrid land, the burning womb of the Gods. It renews itself tirelessly showing no signs of decay." Life of Ramakrishna

"The true Vedantic spirit does not start out with a system of preconceived ideas. It possesses absolute liberty and unrivalled courage among religions with regard to the facts to be observed and the diverse hypotheses it has laid down for their coordination. Never having been hampered by a priestly order, each man has been entirely free to search wherever he pleased for the spiritual explanation of the spectacle of the universe.", Life of Vivekananda.
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RALPH WALDO EMERSON




Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. His teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid-1800s. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society.

Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature. As a result of this ground-breaking work he gave a speech entitled The American Scholar in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. considered to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence". Considered one of the great orators of the time, Emerson's enthusiasm and respect for his audience enraptured crowds. His support for abolitionism late in life created controversy, and at times he was subject to abuse from crowds while speaking on the topic. When asked to sum up his work, he said his central doctrine was "the infinitude of the private man."

Early life, family, and education

Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803, son of Ruth Haskins and the Rev. William Emerson, a Unitarian minister who descended from a well-known line of ministers. He was named after his mother's brother Ralph and the father's great-grandmother Rebecca Waldo. Ralph Waldo was the second of five sons who survived into adulthood; the others were William, Edward, Robert Bulkeley, and Charles. Three other children—Phebe, John Clarke, and Mary Caroline–died in childhood.

The young Ralph Waldo Emerson's father died from stomach cancer on May 12, 1811, less than two weeks before Emerson's eighth birthday. Emerson was raised by his mother as well as other intellectual and spiritual women in his family, including his aunt Mary Moody Emerson, who had a profound impact on the young Emerson. She lived with the family off and on, and maintained a constant correspondence with Emerson until her death in 1863.

Emerson's formal schooling began at the Boston Latin School in 1812 when he was nine. In October 1817, at 14, Emerson went to Harvard College and was appointed freshman messenger for the president, requiring Emerson to fetch delinquent students and send messages to faculty. Midway through his junior year, Emerson began keeping a list of books he had read and started a journal in a series of notebooks that would be called "Wide World". He took outside jobs to cover his school expenses, including as a waiter for the Junior Commons and as an occasional teacher working with his uncle Samuel in Waltham, Massachusetts. By his senior year, Emerson decided to go by his middle name, Waldo. Emerson served as Class Poet; as was custom, he presented an original poem on Harvard's Class Day, a month before his official graduation on August 29, 1821, when he was 18. He did not stand out as a student and graduated in the exact middle of his class of 59 people.

Around 1826, during a winter trip to St. Augustine, Florida, Emerson made the acquaintance of Prince Achille Murat. Murat, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, was only two years his senior; the two became extremely good friends and enjoyed one another's company. The two engaged in enlightening discussions on religion, society, philosophy, and government.

Early career

After Harvard, Emerson assisted his brother William in a school for young women established in their mother's house, after he had established his own school in Chelmsford, Massachusetts; when his brother William went to Göttingen to study divinity, Emerson took charge of the school. Over the next several years, Emerson made his living as a schoolmaster, then went to Harvard Divinity School.

Emerson's brother Edward, two years younger than he, entered the office of lawyer Daniel Webster, after graduating Harvard first in his class. Edward's physical health began to deteriorate and he soon suffered a mental collapse as well; he was taken to McLean Asylum in June of 1828 at 23. Although he recovered his mental equilibrium he died in 1834 at 29 from apparently longstanding tuberculosis.[
Boston's Second Church invited Emerson to serve as its junior pastor and he was ordained on March 11, 1829. Emerson met his first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker, in Concord, New Hampshire and married her when she was 18. The couple moved to Boston, with Emerson's mother Ruth moving with them to help take care of Ellen, who was already sick with tuberculosis. Less than two years later, Ellen died at the age of 20 on February 8, 1831, after uttering her last words: "I have not forgot the peace and joy". Emerson was heavily affected by her death and often visited her grave. In a journal entry dated March 29, 1831, Emerson wrote, "I visited Ellen's tomb and opened the coffin".

After his wife's death, he began to disagree with the church's methods, writing in his journal in June 1832: "I have sometimes thought that, in order to be a good minister, it was necessary to leave the ministry. The profession is antiquated. In an altered age, we worship in the dead forms of our forefathers". His disagreements with church officials over the administration of the Communion service and misgivings about public prayer eventually led to his resignation in 1832. As he wrote, "This mode of commemorating Christ is not suitable to me. That is reason enough why I should abandon it".

Emerson toured Europe in 1832 and later wrote of his travels in English Traits (1857). He left aboard the brig Jasper on Christmas Day, sailing first to Malta. During his European trip, he met William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle in particular was a strong influence on Emerson; Emerson would later serve as an unofficial literary agent in the United States for Carlyle. The two would maintain correspondence until Carlyle's death in 1881.

Emerson returned to the United States on October 9, 1833, and lived with his mother in Newton, Massachusetts, until November 1834 when he moved to Concord, Massachusetts, to live with his step-grandfather Dr. Ezra Ripley at what was later named The Old Manse. In 1835, he bought a house on the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike in Concord, Massachusetts now open to the public as the Ralph Waldo Emerson House, and quickly became one of the leading citizens in the town. He married his second wife Lydia Jackson in her home town of Plymouth, Massachusetts on September 14, 1835. He called her Lidian and she called him Mr. Emerson. Their children were Waldo, Ellen, Edith, and Edward Waldo Emerson. Ellen was named for his first wife, at Lidian's suggestion.

Another of Emerson's bright and promising younger brothers, Charles, born in 1808, died in 1836, also of consumption, making him the third young person in Emerson's innermost circle to die in a period of a few years.
Emerson lived a financially conservative lifestyle. He had inherited some wealth after his wife's death, though he brought a lawsuit against the Tucker family in 1836 to get it. He received $11,674.79 in July 1837.

Lifestyle and beliefs

Ralph Waldo Emerson in later years

Emerson's religious views were often considered radical at the time. He believed that all things are connected to God and, therefore, all things are divine. Critics believed that Emerson was removing the central God figure; as Henry Ware, Jr. said, Emerson was in danger of taking away "the Father of the Universe" and leaving "but a company of children in an orphan asylum". Emerson was partly influenced by German philosophy and Biblical criticism. His views, the basis of Transcendentalism, suggested that God does not have to reveal the truth but that the truth could be intuitively experienced directly from nature.

Emerson did not become an ardent abolitionist until later in his life, though his journals show he was concerned with slavery beginning in his youth, even dreaming about helping to free slaves. In June 1856, shortly after Charles Sumner, a United States Senator, was beaten for his staunch abolitionist views, Emerson lamented that he himself was not as committed to the cause. He wrote, "There are men who as soon as they are born take a bee-line to the axe of the inquisitor... Wonderful the way in which we are saved by this unfailing supply of the moral element". After Sumner's attack, Emerson began to speak out about slavery. "I think we must get rid of slavery, or we must get rid of freedom", he said at a meeting at Concord that summer. Emerson used slavery as an example of a human injustice, especially in his role as a minister. In early 1838, provoked by the murder of an abolitionist publisher from Alton, Illinois named Elijah Parish Lovejoy, Emerson gave his first public antislavery address. As he said, "It is but the other day that the brave Lovejoy gave his breast to the bullets of a mob, for the rights of free speech and opinion, and died when it was better not to live".John Quincy Adams said the mob-murder of Lovejoy "sent a shock as of any earthquake throughout this continent". However, Emerson maintained that reform would be achieved through moral agreement rather than by militant action. By August 1, 1844, at a lecture in Concord, he stated more clearly his support for the abolitionist movement. He stated, "We are indebted mainly to this movement, and to the continuers of it, for the popular discussion of every point of practical ethics".

There is evidence suggesting that Emerson may have been bisexual. During his early years at Harvard, he found himself "strangely attracted" to a young freshman named Martin Gay about whom he wrote sexually charged poetry. Gay would be only the first of his infatuations and interests, with Nathaniel Hawthorne numbered among them.
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SISTER NIVEDITA


Sister Nivedita (1867-1911), born Margaret Elizabeth Noble, was an Anglo-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to India (Kolkata) in 1898. Swami Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita (meaning "Dedicated to God") when he initiated her into the vow of Brahmacharya on March 25 1898.

She was born on October 28, 1867. She was born in Ireland to Mary Isabel and Samuel Richmond Noble. Her father gave the valuable lesson that service to mankind is the true service to God. His words made a profound impression on her. She was very fond of music and art. After completing her education, she took up the job of a teacher and worked for a period of ten years from 1884 to 1894. She was gifted as a teacher.

Meeting Swami Vivekananda

She started taking interest in the teachings of Lord Buddha. It is during this time that she met Swami Vivekananda, who stressed that ignorance and selfishness pave the way for our sufferings. His principles and teachings influenced her and this brought about a visible change in her. Seeing the fire and passion in her, he could foresee her future role in India. She became the first Western woman to be received into an Indian monastic order.

House in Baghbazar where Sister Nivedita started her school in 1898.

In November 1898 she started a school for girls who were deprived of even basic education. She took part in various altruistic activities. She worked to improve the lives of Indian women of all castes.

Nivedita was a good friend of many intellectuals and artists in the Bengali community, including the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. She was very close to eminent scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose and his wife Abala Bose, Abanindranath Tagore, and Okakura Kakuzo.

In fact, she is one of the inspirations for development of original art and paintings in India. Artist Nandalal Bose reminded this several times.

Later she would take up the cause of Indian independence. Sri Aurobindo was one of her friend as well. This deep relation with the independence movement compelled her to take the decision to break up the "official" linkage with the Ramakrishna Mission monastic order, so that British government cannot unnecessarily disturb the monastic order.

She knew and trusted Sri Anirvan well, leaving many extraordinarily valuable documents with him. When Shankari Prasad Basu Mahashay came to Anirvan asking about her life, he simply handed over these papers, carefully preserved.

Her identity as a western born and being a disciple of Swami Vivekananda enabled her to do several things that might have been difficult for other Indians. She promoted pan-Indian nationalist. She worked tirelessly serving the people and society at large. She died on October 13, 1911 at Darjeeling, India.
===
EDWIN ARNOLD





Biography
Arnold was born at Gravesend, Kent, the second son of a Sussex magistrate, Robert Coles Arnold. One of his six children was the novelist Edwin Lester Arnold. He was educated at King's School, Rochester; King's College London; and University College, Oxford. He became a schoolmaster, at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and in 1856 went to India as principal of the Government Sanskrit College at Poona, a post which he held for seven years, which includes a period during the mutiny of 1857, when he was able to render services for which he was publicly thanked by Lord Elphinstone in the Bombay council. Here he received the bias towards, and gathered material for, his future works.
Returning to England in 1861 he worked as a journalist on the staff of the Daily Telegraph, a newspaper with which he continued to be associated as editor for more than forty years, and later became its editor-in-chief [2]. It was he who, on behalf of the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph in conjunction with the New York Herald, arranged the journey of H.M. Stanley to Africa to discover the course of the Congo River, and Stanley named after him a mountain to the north-east of Albert Edward Nyanza.
Arnold must also be credited with the first idea of a great trunk line traversing the entire African continent, for in 1874 he first employed the phrase "Cape to Cairo railway" subsequently popularized by Cecil Rhodes. It was, however, as a poet that he was best known to his contemporaries. The literary task which he set before him was the interpretation in English verse of the life and philosophy of the East. His chief work with this object is The Light of Asia which was translated in various languages like Hindi (tr. by Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla). It appeared in 1879 and was an immediate success, going through numerous editions in England and America, though its permanent place in literature must remain very uncertain. It is an Indian epic, dealing with the life and teaching of the Buddha, which are unfolded with ample local color and comely prosody. The poem contains many lines of unquestionable beauty; and its immediate popularity was rather increased than diminished by the twofold criticism to which it was subjected. On the one hand it was held by Oriental scholars to give false impression of Buddhist doctrine; while, on the other, suggested analogy between Sakyamuni and Jesus offended the taste of some devout Christians.
The latter criticism probably suggested to Arnold the idea of attempting a second narrative poem of which the central figure should be Jesus, the founder of Christianity, as the founder of Buddhism had been that of the first. But though The Light of the World (1891), in which this took shape, had considerable poetic merit, it lacked the novelty of theme and setting which had given the earlier poem much of its attractiveness; and it failed to repeat the success gained by The Light of Asia. Arnold's other principal volumes of poetry were Indian Song of Songs (1875), Pearls of the Faith (1883), The Song Celestial (1885), With Sadi in the Garden (1888), Tiphar's Wife (1892) and Adzuma or, The Japanese Wife (1893).
Sir Edwin was married three times[3]. His first wife was Katherine Elizabeth Biddulph of London who died in 1864. Next he married Jennie Channing of Boston who died in 1889. In his later years Arnold resided for some time in Japan, and his third wife, Tama Kurokawa, was Japanese. In Seas and Lands (1891) and Japonica (1892) he gives an interesting study of Japanese life. He received the CSI on the occasion of the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India in 1877, and in 1888 was created CIE He also possessed decorations conferred by the rulers of Japan, Persia, Turkey and Siam.
He was a founder member, together with Anagarika Dharmapala, of the Mahabodhi Society of India.

RUDYARD KIPLING
(1865-1936)

The reader may be surprised to find Rudyard Kipling among the people who have led movements towards the India Century. The fact remains that Kipling is greatly misunderstood by a large number of people who have only heard about him as an arch imperialist. The fact is that very few have understood India and her spirit as clearly as this Nobel Prize winning author. Kipling was the son of Lockwood Kipling, the Principal of the Bombay School of Arts and later of Lahore. Rudyard’s early childhood at Bombay spent among Indians were the happiest years of his life from which he drew inspiration again and again for his great literary work. He would go to temples with the servants and with his parents to the Crawford market near his house. He thought in Hindustani and had to be forced to speak in English at home. This idyllic life came to an end when he was sent to Boarding school in England. Though he came back to work as a journalist in India, his great works based on India were written in the United States where he established residence. He lost his only son in the First World War. This poem addressed to “My Son” much earlier reminds us of the philosophy of the Gita. It is a poem which was framed and hung on the walls of every educated household at one time. In recent years, the popularity of the Hollywood film “The Lion King” worldwide has furthered a reassessment of the thought of Rudyard Kipling. There is no doubt that Kipling was among those who praised India in the conscience of the world.
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son
===
AMMA SAI ERA MEERA ABOUT SRI RAMA
Amma Sai Era Meera is a devotee of Sri Rama. She is widely experienced in the different religious traditions in the world. She is from Russia. She has written a sincere appreciation of the role of Sri Rama in her introduction to some slokas which invoke the protection of Sri Rama. The following is what she writes.
Greatness of Rama’s name
Rama Raksha Sthotram is the work of Maharshi Buddha Kaushika Muni. The word ‘Muni’ shows that he was doing spiritual practice of Mauna or silence. As a result of long silent contemplation, he got a mission of Sri Rama. He was able to write this Raksha Sthotram.
Such Raksha Sthotrams were very popular in the past. Those who recited them were protected by the deity. There is no doubt that in future also many will benefit by such protection as a result of chanting sthotras loudly or even mentally. Chanting the name of Rama is by itself of great value. You can recite other mantras, such as Veda Gayatri, Vishnu Kavacha, Mrityorjayeya or any other mantra or japam that you normally do. One does not exclude the other.
Sri Rama is considered the seventh Avathara or the incarnation of the God Mahavishnu. Mahavishnu is the supreme God in the Hindu pantheon. He is the protector of human beings. Sri Rama is a human figure, the human being the person as whom the God Vishnu chose to be born on this earth. Thus Sri Rama is a historical figure – a human personality. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha mentioned him as the son of the King of Ayodhya. This is supposed to have taken place in the Thretha Yuga.
The word “Rama” has been on the lips of the people for more than 7,000 years. It means one who can fascinate and make one happy. It has two syllables as we can see Ra and Ma. ‘Ra’ is connected with the Sun and ‘Ma’ with Matha – the mother or the earth. In many places in the ancient world, such as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ethiopia, etc ‘Ra’ was the name of the Sun God. The Bible shows that near Israel there was a country called Ramothgeliad. Many ancient cities had “Ra” as part of their names. For example, Ramah (Israel), Ramalah (Palestine), Rome (Italy).
One of the famous Egyptian pharaohs was ‘Ramazes’. Kings of Israel mentioned in the Bible had similar names. For example, Hiral and Iboral. In Russia the sacrificial animal Ram is called Agmetz showing the connection with Agni, the sacrificial fire.
Rama is also a symbol of beauty and love. Thus Rama means Lotus also and Ramana means beloved.
The story of Ramayana is well known not only in India but was widely known in earlier centuries in all the neighbouring countries even as far as Ethiopia and Indonesia.
There is reason to believe that at one time India was the centre of a very large empire which included Iran, Turkey, South Russia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgistan, Israel, Syria, and so on. I was invited to a Jewish festival “Purin” which has a 5000 years tradition. This was in memory of the king Esther mentioned in the Bible. The Jews continued their rituals and traditions through which we remember the old kingdoms. If we examine the background of some ancient rituals, we can know more about the ancient past of India also.
Rama is an embodiment of many virtues: truthfulness, respect and obedience to parents and Gurus, loyalty to one’s wife, good thing, protector of his people, peace loving yet brave when fighting is needed.
The dynasty of the last Russian king had the name ‘Romanoll’. The Gypsies in several parts of Europe are known as ‘Romanys’. In all the European languages it was probably due to the Ramayana that all stories that are about life and love and of long length are known as ‘Ramances’.
As God incarnate Lord Rama is also ‘Atma Rama’ as one who resides in each ‘Atma’. The same Atma pervades everything – the earth and all the heavens.
You can use his name for your own protection. You can just chant “Rama Rama” during difficult time.
If wanted you can also use the following Kavacha or protective sheath to shield you from all danger and bad influences.
“OM… SRI RAMA JAYA RAMA JAYA JAYA RAMA”
“OM… SRI SAI RAM, O SRI SAI RAM”
OM SHANTHI SHANTHI SHANTHI
“OM, SRI RAMA RAMA RAMETI, RAME RAME MANORAME
SAHASRANAMA TATTULYAM
RAMA NAMA VARANANE”
OM SHANTHI SHANTHI SHANTHI HI





Note: Michael Angelo painted this magnificent painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It is a part of a complete works which shows the story of creation. This is one of the most celebrated work of Renaissance Art. Painted in the sixteenth century, the time of the first renaissance, the central figures are thought to be Plato on the left and Aristotle on the right. The artist was keenly aware of the fact that the renaissance was inspired by a new learning of the thoughts of ancient Greece. Plato points upward as if to say that the real world is somewhere above and this world is only a shadow of it. For Aristotle on the other hand our earth was the real world. Aristotle was the real inspiration for the scientific achievements starting with the 16th century upto today. For him, all subjects were separate and independent of each other. In other words, there were discrete. Plato upheld the Indian world view – the oneness of everything. He was so to say an Advaitin. The upheld single finger could also be symbolic of this. In the coming renaissance resulting from the spread of ancient Indian wisdom, we may give emphasis to Plato as well as the Indian Rishis.




THE EMERGENCE OF MR. GANDHI
Photo
October 2nd is the birth date of Gandhiji. This month also we saw the usual ritual homage being paid to his memory. It is very easy to deify him or to denigrate him. Today, the whole world is doing so. It is interesting to see what one of his contemporaries, a keen observer of the Indian scene, Sir Valentine Chirol, thinks about him.

Saint and prophet in the eyes of the multitude of his followers—saint in the eyes even of many who have not accepted him as a prophet—Mr. Gandhi preaches to-day under the uninspiring name of "Non-co-operation," a gospel of revolt none the less formidable because it is so far mainly a gospel of negation and retrogression, of destruction not construction. Mr. Gandhi challenges not only the material but the moral foundations of British rule. He has passed judgment upon both British rule and Western civilisation, and, condemning both as "Satanic," his cry is away with the one and with the other, and "back to the Vedas," the fountain source of ancient Hinduism. That he is a power in the land none can deny, least of all since the new Viceroy, Lord Reading, almost immediately on his arrival in India, spent long hours in close conference with him at Simla. What manner of man is Mr. Gandhi, whom Indians revere as a Mahatma, i.e. an inspired sage upon whom the wisdom of the ancient Rishis has descended? What is the secret of his power?
Born in 1869 in a Gujarat district in the north of the Bombay Presidency, Mohandas Karamchamd Gandhi comes of very respectable Hindu parentage, but does not belong to one of the higher castes. His father, like others of his forebears, was Dewan, or chief administrator, of one of the small native States of Kathiawar. He himself was brought up for the Bar and, after receiving the usual English education in India, completed his studies in England, first as an undergraduate of the London University and then at the Inner Temple. His friend and biographer, Mr. H.S.L. Polak, tells us that his mother, whose religious example and influence made a lasting impression upon his character, held the most orthodox Hindu views, and only agreed to his crossing "the Black Water" to England after exacting from him a three-fold vow, which he faithfully kept, of abstinence from flesh, alcohol, and women. He returned to India as soon as he had been called to the Bar and began to practise as an advocate before the Bombay High Court, but in 1893, as fate would have it, he was to be called to South Africa in connection with an Indian legal case in Natal. In South Africa he was brought at once into contact with a bitter conflict of rights between the European population and the Indian settlers who had originally been induced to go out and work there at the instance of the white communities who were in need of cheap labour for the development of the country. The Europeans, professing to fear the effects of a large admixture of Asiatic elements, had begun not only to restrict further Indian immigration, but to place the Indians already in South Africa under many disabilities all the more oppressive because imposed on racial grounds. Natal treated them harshly, but scarcely as harshly as the Transvaal, then still under Boer government. In the Transvaal the Imperial Government took up the cudgels for them, and the treatment of the Indian settlers there was one of the grievances pressed by Lord Milner during the negotiations which preceded the final rupture with the Boer Republics. When the South African war broke out Mr. Gandhi believed that it would lead to a generous recognition of the rights of Indians if they at once identified their cause with that of the British, and he induced Government to accept his offer of an Indian Ambulance Corps which did excellent service in the field. Mr. Gandhi himself served with it, was mentioned in despatches, and received the war medal. His health gave way, and he returned to India in 1901 where he resumed practice in Bombay with no intention of returning to South Africa, as he felt confident that when the war was over the Imperial Government would see to it that the Indians should have the benefit of the principles which it had itself proclaimed before going into the war. He was, however, induced to return in 1903 to help in preparing the Indian memorials to be laid before Mr. Chamberlain whose visit was imminent in connection with the work of reconstruction. On his arrival he found that conditions and European opinion were becoming more instead of less unfavourable for Indians, and though in 1906, when the native rebellion broke out in Natal, he again offered and secured the acceptance of an Indian Stretcher-Bearer Corps with which he again served and received the thanks of the Governor, he gradually found himself driven into an attitude of more and more open opposition and even conflict with Government by a series of measures imposing more and more intolerable restraints upon his countrymen. It was in 1906 that he first took a vow of passive resistance to a law which he regarded as a deliberate attack upon their religion, their national honour, and their racial self-respect. In the following year he was consigned, not for the first time, to jail in Pretoria, but his indomitable attitude helped to bring about a compromise. It was, however, short-lived, as misunderstandings occurred as to its interpretation. The struggle broke out afresh until another provisional settlement promised to lead to a permanent solution, when Mr. Gokhale, after consultation with the India Office during a visit to England, was induced in 1912 to proceed to South Africa and use his good offices in a cause which he had long had at heart. Whether, as Mr. Gokhale himself always contended, as a deliberate breach of the promise made to him by the principal Union Ministers, or as the result of a lamentable misunderstanding, measures were again taken in 1913 which led Mr. Gandhi to renew the struggle, and it assumed at once a far more serious character than ever before. It was then that Mr. Gandhi organised his big strikes of Indian labour and headed the great strikers' march of protest into the Transvaal which led to the arrest and imprisonment of the principal leaders and of hundreds of the rank and file. The furious indignation aroused in India, the public meetings held in all the large centres, and the protest entered by the Viceroy himself, Lord Hardinge, in his speech at Madras, combined with earnest representations from Whitehall, compelled General Smuts to enter once more the path of conciliation and compromise. As the result of a Commission of Inquiry the Indians' Relief Act was passed, and in the correspondence between Mr. Gandhi and General Smuts the latter undertook on behalf of the South African Government to carry through other administrative reforms not actually specified in the new Act. Mr. Gandhi returned to India just after the outbreak of the Great War, and the Government of India marked its appreciation of the great services which he had rendered to his countrymen in South Africa by recommending him for the Kaisar-i-Hind gold medal, which was conferred upon him amongst the New Year honours of 1915.
The South African stage of Mr. Gandhi's career is of great importance, as it goes far to explain both the views and the methods which he afterwards applied in India. He brought back with him from South Africa a profound distrust of Western civilisation, of which he had unquestionably witnessed there some of the worst aspects, and also a strong belief in the efficacy of passive resistance as the most peaceful means of securing the redress of all Indian grievances in India as well as in South Africa should they ever become in his opinion unendurable. Mr. Gokhale, before he died, obtained a promise from him that for at least a year he would not attempt to give practical expression to the extreme views which he had already set forth in the proscribed pamphlet Hind Swaraj. At an early age Mr. Gandhi had fallen under the spell of Tolstoian philosophy, and he has admitted only quite recently that for a time he was so much impressed with the doctrines of Christ that he was inclined to adopt Christianity; but the further study of the spiritual side of Hinduism convinced him that in it alone the key of salvation could be found, and all his teachings since then have been based on his faith in the superiority of the Indian civilisation rooted in Hinduism to Western civilisation, which for him in fact represents in its present stage only a triumph of gross materialism and brute force. Nevertheless, when the Great War broke out, he was prepared to believe that the ordeal of war in the cause of freedom for which Britain had taken up arms might lead to the redemption of Western civilisation from its worst evils, and whilst in London on his way to South Africa he had already offered to form, and to enrol himself and his wife in, an Indian Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Yet he was not blind to the flaws of the civilisation for which he stood. He conducted a temperance campaign amongst his countrymen in South Africa, and, brought there into close contact with many Indians of the "untouchable" castes, he revolted against a system which tried to erect such insurmountable barriers between man and man. Perhaps the best clue to the many contradictions in which his activities have continually seemed to involve him was furnished by himself when he said, "Most religious men I have met are politicians in disguise; I, however, who wear the guise of a politician am at heart a religious man," and the doctrine which he holds of all others to be the corner-stone of his religion is that of Ahimsa, which, as he has described it, "requires deliberate self-suffering, not the deliberate injuring of the wrongdoer," in the resistance of evil.
Throughout the war Mr. Gandhi devoted his ceaseless energies chiefly to preaching social reforms and the moral regeneration of his countrymen. He was then an honoured guest at European gatherings, as for instance at the Madras Law dinner in 1915, at various conferences on education, at the Bombay Provincial Co-operative Conference in 1917 when in connection with the admirable Co-operative Credit movement in India he lectured on the moral basis of co-operation, at missionary meetings in which he showed his intimate familiarity with the gospels by reverently quoting Christ's words in support of his own plea for mutual forbearance and tolerance. As late as July 1918 he defined Swaraj as partnership in the Empire, and war service as the easiest and straightest way to win Swaraj, inviting the people of his own Gujarat country whom he was addressing to wipe it free of the reproach of effeminacy by contributing thousands of Sepoys in response to the Viceroy's recent appeal for fresh recruits for the Indian army at one of the most critical moments during the war. His comments about the same time on the Montagu-Chelmsford scheme were by no means unfavourable, and he specifically joined in the tribute of praise bestowed upon the Indian Civil Service for their steadfast devotion to duty and great organising ability. Government itself resorted to his services as the member of a Commission appointed to inquire into agrarian troubles at Camparan, and his collaboration was warmly welcomed by his European colleagues. Nor were there any signs of implacable hostility to British rule in his vigorous protests in the following year against the anti-Asiatic legislation of the South African Union which was again stirring up bad feeling in India.
The circumstances which drove him to declare war against British rule and Western civilisation arose out of the action taken by Government on the report of the "Sedition Committee," which, under the presidency of Mr. Justice Rowlatt, a judge of the High Court of King's Bench, sent out especially to preside over it, had not only carefully explored the origins and growth of political crime during the great wave of unrest after the Partition of Bengal, but recommended that in some directions the hands of the executive and judicial authorities should be strengthened to cope with any fresh outbreaks of a similar character. The Committee pointed out that in spite of the preventive legislation of 1911 it had become apparent before the war broke out that the forces of law and order were still inadequately equipped to cope with the situation in Bengal. For the duration of the war the Defence of India Act had conferred upon Government emergency powers which had enabled the authorities summarily to intern a large number of those who were known to be closely connected with the criminal propaganda, but almost as soon as the war was over their release would follow automatically upon the expiry of the Defence Act, and a dangerous situation would arise again if Government had nothing but the old methods of procedure to fall back upon.
In January 1919 the Government of India announced that legislation in conformity with the recommendations of the Sedition Committee would be required from the Imperial Legislative Council, and two draft bills were published, one of them embodying permanent alterations in the law and the other arming the Executive with emergency powers. The publication of these bills threw the country into a fresh ferment of agitation, and even an Indian judge of undeniably moderate views, Sir Narain Chandavarkar, declared that such measures were no longer required, as with the advent of constitutional reforms revolutionary agitation would, he believed, cease, and, as a warm supporter of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, he felt bound to protest against legislation so entirely at variance with the spirit in which the Report had been conceived and with the expectations which it had aroused. The Extremists read into the bills another proof of the organised hypocrisy characteristic of British rule in general and of the Report in particular, and denounced them as a monstrous engine of tyranny and oppression, against which no Indian would be safe. Government, however, was not to be moved from its determination, and in explaining the necessity for proceeding with the bills the Viceroy pointed out in his opening speech that "the reaction against all authority that had manifested itself in many parts of the civilised world was unlikely to leave India entirely untouched and the powers of evil were still abroad." The Indian non-official members, on the other hand, were solid in opposition, and even those who did not challenge the report of the Sedition Committee intimated that now the war was over they could not acquiesce in such measures until the reforms had come into operation, and unless it was then found that revolutionary forces were still at work and constituted a real public danger. The two amendments, supported by all the Indian non-official members, were voted down by the official bloc. Government did something to allay opposition by agreeing that the Act which was to have been permanent should operate for three years only, and the title of the bill was amended to show clearly that its application would be confined to clearly anarchical and revolutionary crimes. It was further modified in form in the committee stage, but the opposition within the Council remained unmoved, and outside the Council grew more and more fierce. The Extremists who had shrunk from no efforts to misrepresent the purpose of the bills received a great accession of strength when Mr. Gandhi instituted the vow of Satyagraha, or passive resistance, under which, if the bills became law, he and his followers would "severally refuse to obey these laws and such other laws as a committee to be thereafter appointed might see fit," whilst they would "faithfully follow the truth and refrain from violence to life, person, or property." The Moderate leaders at Delhi at once issued a manifesto condemning Satyagraha, but Government stuck to its guns, the bills being finally passed on March 18, after very hot discussion. Mr. Gandhi, having formed his committee, proclaimed a Hartal, i.e. a demonstrative closing of shops and suspension of business for March 30. This Hartal at Delhi started a terrible outbreak which spread with unexpected violence over parts of the Bombay Presidency and the greater part of the Punjab, with sporadic disturbances in the North-West Frontier Province, and even in Calcutta.
The Delhi Hartal brought for the first time into full relief the close alliance into which the Mahomedan Extremists had been brought with the Hindu Extremists, as well as the influence which both had acquired over a considerable section of the lower classes in the two communities. The political leaders had fallen into line in the Indian National Congress and the All-India Moslem League during the 1916 and 1917 sessions, when they united in demanding Home Rule for India, and they had united since then in rejecting as totally inadequate the scheme of reforms foreshadowed in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. But not till towards the conclusion of the war did the Mahomedan Extremists discover a special grievance for their own community in the peace terms likely to be imposed upon a beaten Turkey. That was a grievance far more likely to appeal to their co-religionists than the political grievances which had formed the stock-in-trade of Hindu Extremism, if they could be worked upon to believe that Great Britain and her allies were plotting not merely against the temporal power of the Ottoman Empire, but against the Mahomedan religion all over the world by depriving the Sultan of Turkey of the authority essential to the discharge of his office as Khalif or spiritual head of Islam.
The agitation was at first very artificial, for the bulk of Indian Mahomedans had until recent years known very little about and taken still less interest in Turkey, and their loyalty had never wavered during the war. Some of the leading Indian Mahomedans had indeed openly disputed Sultan Abdul Hamid's claim to the Khalifate of Islam when he first tried at the end of the last century to import his Pan-Islamic propaganda into India. But the long delay on the part of the Allies in formulating their Turkish peace terms allowed time for the movement to grow and to carry with it the more fanatical element amongst Indian Mahomedans. The Government of India tried in vain to allay Mahomedan feeling by receiving deputations from the Khilafat Association founded to prosecute an intensified campaign in favour of Turkey, and professing its own deep anxiety to procure what it called "a just peace with Turkey," for which the Indian delegates to the War and to the Peace Conferences in Europe had been constantly instructed to plead. The greatest success which the Khilafat agitators achieved was when Mr. Gandhi allowed himself to be persuaded by them that the movement was a splendid manifestation of religious faith, as he himself described it to me. For, once satisfied that the cause which they had taken up was a religious cause, he was prepared to make it his own without inquiring too closely into its historical or political justification. For him it became a revolt of the Mahomedan religious conscience against the tyranny of the West just as legitimate as the revolt of the Hindu conscience against the same tyranny embodied in the Rowlatt Acts. Whilst Mahomedans proved their emancipation from narrow sectarianism by joining in the Satyagraha movement of passive resistance in spite of the Hindu character impressed upon it by its Sanscrit name, it was, he declared, for Hindus to show that they, too, could rise above ancient prejudice and resentment by throwing themselves heart and soul into the Khilafat movement. Both movements were to be demonstrations of the "soul-force" of India, to be put forth in passive resistance according to his favourite doctrine of Ahimsa, the endurance and not the infliction of suffering.
But Mr. Gandhi, with all his visionary idealism, was letting loose dangerous forces which recked naught of Ahimsa. Hindus and Mahomedans "fraternised" at the Delhi Hartal in attempts to compel its observance by violence which obliged the authorities to use forcible methods of repression, and of the five rioters who were killed two were Mahomedans. These deaths were skilfully exploited by the Extremists of both denominations, and a day of general mourning for the Delhi "martyrs" was appointed. The spark had been laid to the train, and Hindus and Mahomedans continued to "fraternise" in lawlessness, arson, and murder wherever the mob ran riot. Systematic attempts to destroy railways and telegraphs at the same moment in widely separated areas pointed to the existence of a carefully elaborated organisation. Public buildings as well as European houses were burnt down in half a dozen places, and Europeans were often savagely attacked and done to death, nowhere more savagely than at Amritsar, where five Europeans, two of them Bank managers, were killed with the most fiendish brutality, and a missionary lady, known for her good works, barely escaped with her life. The authorities were not slow to take stern measures. Troops were rapidly moved to the centres of disturbance, flying columns were sent through the country, and armoured cars and trains and aeroplanes were used to disperse the rioters. A Resolution issued by the Government of India on April 14 asserted its determination to use all the powers vested in it to put down "open rebellion" even by the most drastic means. By the end of the month the Viceroy was able to announce that order had been generally restored, though in some places there was still considerable effervescence.
Had the measures taken, however stern, been confined to the repression of actual violence and to the punishment of the guilty, the reaction produced amongst the great majority of Indians by the atrocities which Indian mobs had committed, and the appalling spirit of lawlessness which inspired them, would probably have been at least as great as the impression which they at first made upon Mr. Gandhi himself, who suddenly recognised and admitted that he had underrated the "forces of evil" and advised his disciples to co-operate, as he himself had done at Ahmedabad, with Government in the restoration of order. The Satyagraha Committee, of which he was President, resolved to suspend temporarily "civil disobedience" to the laws, and the fraternisation between Mahomedans and Hindus cooled down, when important Mahomedan associations began to protest against the desecration of mosques by the admission of Hindu "idolaters" to deliver fiery orations to mixed congregations within the sacred precincts. But before the reaction could take real effect, it was arrested by rumours of terrible happenings in the course of the repression in the Punjab which turned the tide of Indian feeling into an opposite direction, and for those rumours there ultimately proved to have been no slight foundation.
The methods adopted in the Punjab had been very different from those adopted in the Bombay Presidency, where there had been scarcely less menacing outbursts in some of the northern districts, besides serious rioting in Bombay itself. In Ahmedabad, the second city of the Presidency, mob law reigned for two days. There were arson and pillage, and murder of Europeans and Government officers. Troops had to be hurried up to quell the disturbances, and for a short time the military authorities had to take charge. The repression was stern; 28 of the rioters were killed and 123 wounded in Ahmedabad alone. There were many arrests and prosecutions. But those stormy days left no bitterness behind them. The use of military force was not resented, because it was directed only against the crowds actually engaged in violent rioting. Martial law was never proclaimed, nor did the military authorities prolong the exercise of their punitive powers beyond the short period of active disorder, nor strain it beyond the measures essential to the suppression of disorder. They never interfered in administrative matters. The Bombay Government kept their heads, and there was nowhere any wholesale surrender of the civil authority into military hands. Mr. Gandhi, who had been turned back by the Punjab Government when he tried to enter the Punjab, was left free by the Bombay Government, and the value of his assistance in restoring order in Allahabad, whilst he was in his first fit of penitence, was acknowledged by the authorities.
Very different was the intensive enforcement of martial law in the Punjab. Even when all allowance is made for the more dangerous situation created by a more martial population and the proximity of an always turbulent North-Western Frontier with the added menace at that time of an Afghan invasion, nothing can justify what was done at Amritsar where the deliberate bloodshed at Jallianwala has marked out April 13, 1919, as a black day in the annals of British India. One cannot possibly realise the frightfulness of it until one has actually looked down on the Jallianwala Bagh—once a garden, but in modern times a waste space frequently used for fairs and public meetings, about the size perhaps of Trafalgar Square, and closed in almost entirely by walls above which rise the backs of native houses facing into the congested streets of the city. I entered by the same narrow lane by which General Dyer—having heard that a large crowd had assembled there, many doubtless in defiance, but many also in ignorance of his proclamation forbidding all public gatherings—entered with about fifty rifles. I stood on the same rising ground on which he stood when, without a word of warning, he opened fire at about 100 yards' range upon a dense crowd, collected mainly in the lower and more distant part of the enclosure around a platform from which speeches were being delivered. The crowd was estimated by him at 6000, by others at 10,000 and more, but practically unarmed, and all quite defenceless. The panic-stricken multitude broke at once, but for ten consecutive minutes he kept up a merciless fusillade—in all 1650 rounds—on that seething mass of humanity, caught like rats in a trap, vainly rushing for the few narrow exits or lying flat on the ground to escape the rain of bullets, which he personally directed to the points where the crowd was thickest. The "targets," to use his own word, were good, and when at the end of those ten minutes, having almost exhausted his ammunition, he marched his men off by the way they came, he had killed, according to the official figures only wrung out of Government months later, 379, and he left about 1200 wounded on the ground, for whom, again to use his own word, he did not consider it his "job" to take the slightest thought.
In going to Jallianwala I had passed through the streets where, on April 10, when the disorders suddenly broke out in Amritsar, the worst excesses were committed by the Indian rioters. But for General Dyer's own statements before the Hunter Commission, one might have pleaded that, left to his own unbalanced judgment by the precipitate abdication of the civil authority, he simply "saw red," though the outbreak of the 10th had been quelled before he arrived in Amritsar, and the city had been free from actual violence for the best part of three days. But, on his own showing, he deliberately made up his mind whilst marching his men to Jallianwala, and would not have flinched from still greater slaughter if the narrowness of the approaches had not compelled him regretfully to leave his machine-guns behind. His purpose, he declared, was to "strike terror into the whole of the Punjab." He may have achieved it for the time, though the evidence on this point is conflicting, but what he achieved far more permanently and effectively was to create in the Jallianwala Bagh, purchased since then as a "Martyrs' Memorial" by the Indian National Congress, a place of perpetual pilgrimage for racial hatred.
Then, two days after—not before—Jallianwala came the formal proclamation of martial law in the Punjab, and though there were no more Jallianwalas, what but racial hatred could result from a constant stream of petty and vindictive measures enforced even after the danger of rebellion, however real it may at first have seemed, had passed away? Sir Michael O'Dwyer protested, it is true, against General Dyer's monstrous "crawling order," and it was promptly disallowed. But what of many other "orders" which were not disallowed? What of the promiscuous floggings and whippings, the indiscriminate arrests and confiscations, the so-called "fancy punishments" designed not so much to punish individual "rebels" as to terrorise and humiliate? What of the whole judicial or quasi-judicial administration of martial law? The essential facts are on record now in the Report of the Hunter Committee and in the evidence taken before it, though its findings were not entirely unanimous and the majority report of the European members, five in number including the president Lord Hunter, formerly Solicitor-General for Scotland, was accompanied by a minority report signed by the three Indian members, two of them now Ministers in the Government of Bombay and of the United Provinces respectively, who on several points attached graver importance to the circumstances which they themselves had chiefly helped to elicit from witnesses under examination. Upon the Report the Government of India and His Majesty's Government expressed in turn their views in despatches which are also public property. The responsibility of the Government of India was so deeply involved, and in a lesser degree that of the Secretary of State, that in neither case was judgment likely to err on the side of severity. The Government of India certainly did not so err, and one must turn to the despatch embodying the views of the British Government for a considered judgment which at least set forth in weighty terms the principles of British policy that had been violated in the Punjab, however short some may consider it to have fallen of the full requirements of justice in appraising the gravity of the departure from those principles in specific cases.
The Punjab tragedy has had such far-reaching effects in shaking the confidence of the Indian people in the justice and even in the humanity of British rule that it is best to quote the language in which the British Government recorded their judgment in their despatch to the Government of India:
The principle which has consistently governed the policy of His Majesty's Government in directing the methods to be employed, when military action in support of civil authority is required, may be broadly stated as using the minimum force necessary. His Majesty's Government are determined that this principle shall remain the primary factor of policy whenever circumstances unfortunately necessitate the suppression of civil disorder by military force within the British Empire.
It must regretfully but without possibility of doubt be concluded that Brigadier-General Dyer's action at Jallianwala Bagh was in complete violation of this principle.
The despatch proceeded to take into account the provocation offered and the great difficulties of the position in which General Dyer was placed. His omission to give warning before opening fire was nevertheless declared to have been "inexcusable," his failure to see that some attempt was made to give medical assistance to the dying and the wounded an "omission from his obvious duty," and the "crawling order" issued by him six days later "an offence against every canon of civilised government."
Upon a military commander administering martial law in a hostile country there lies a grave responsibility; when he is compelled to exercise this responsibility over a population which owes allegiance and looks for protection to the Government which he himself is serving, this burden is immeasurably enhanced. It would prejudice the public safety, with the preservation of which he is charged, to fetter his free judgment or action either by the prescription of rigid rules before the event or by over-censorious criticism when the crisis is past. A situation which is essentially military must be dealt with in the light of military considerations which postulate breadth of view and due appreciation of all the possible contingencies. There are certain standards of conduct which no civilised Government can with impunity neglect and which His Majesty's Government are determined to uphold.... That Brigadier-General Dyer displayed honesty of purpose and unflinching adherence to his conception of his duty cannot for a moment be questioned. But his conception of his duty in the circumstances in which he was placed was so fundamentally at variance with that which His Majesty's Government have a right to expect from and a duty to enforce upon officers who hold His Majesty's commission that it is impossible to regard him as fitted to remain entrusted with the responsibilities which his rank and position impose upon him. You have reported to me that the Commander-in-Chief has directed Brigadier-General Dyer to resign his appointment as Brigade Commander, and has informed him that he would receive no further employment in India and that you have concurred. I approve the decision and the circumstances of the case have been referred to the Army Council.
With regard to the administration of martial law the despatch considers it
impossible to avoid the conclusion that the majority of Lord Hunter's Committee have failed to express themselves in terms which, unfortunately, the facts not only justify, but necessitate. In paragraphs 16 to 25 of chapter xii. of their report the majority have dealt with the "intensive" form generally which martial law assumed and with certain specific instances of undue severity and of improper punishments or orders. It is unnecessary to recapitulate the instances which the Committee have enumerated in detail in both their reports, nor would any useful purpose be served by attempting to assess, with a view to penalties, the culpability of individual officers who were responsible for these orders, but whose conduct in other respects may have been free from blame or actually commendable. But His Majesty's Government must express strong disapproval of these orders and punishments and ask me to leave to you the duty of seeing that this disapproval shall be unmistakably marked by censure or other action which seems to you necessary upon those who were responsible for them. The instances cited by the Committee gave justifiable ground for the assertion that the administration of martial law in the Punjab was marred by a spirit which prompted—not generally, but unfortunately not uncommonly—the enforcement of punishments and orders calculated, if not intended to humiliate Indians as a race, to cause unwarranted inconvenience amounting on occasions to injustice, and to flout the standards of propriety and humanity, which the inhabitants not only of India in particular but of the civilised world in general have a right to demand of those set in authority over them. It is a matter for regret that, notwithstanding the conduct of the majority, there should have been some officers in the Punjab who appear to have overlooked the fact that they were administering martial law, not in order to subdue the population of a hostile country temporarily occupied as an act of war, but in order to deal promptly with those who had disturbed the peace of a population owing allegiance to the King Emperor, and in the main profoundly loyal to that allegiance.
This clear enunciation of bed-rock principles and emphatic condemnation of many of the methods of repression used in the Punjab would have done more to reassure the public mind in India had the actual punishment inflicted on General Dyer and a few others been more commensurate with the gravity of the censure passed on their actions, and in any case it came far too late. It came too late to stem the rising tide of Indian bitterness, intensified by many gross exaggerations and deliberate inventions, which lost all sense of proportion when the Extremists demanded Sir Michael O'Dwyer's impeachment, though many responsible Indians had expressed their unabated confidence in him before he left the Punjab on the expiry of his term of office, just after the troubles, in terms more unstinted even than those in which the Government of India and the British Government conveyed their appreciation of his long and distinguished services—services which assuredly no errors of judgment committed under great stress could be allowed to overshadow. It came too late also to correct the effects of the panic that had taken possession of the European mind when it was still largely in ignorance of the actual facts. For most Europeans had at once rushed to the conclusion that the outbreak in the Punjab, in which no single Sepoy ever took part, was or threatened to be a reproduction of the Mutiny. In the first days, as a measure of precaution, European women and children had been hurriedly collected into places of refuge lest the horrible excesses perpetrated by the Indian mob at Amritsar might prove the prelude to a repetition of Cawnpore. The hardships and anxiety they underwent and the murderous outrages actually committed on not a few Europeans moved most of their fellow countrymen and countrywomen to unmeasured resentment, and not until they gained at last a fuller knowledge of all the facts so long allowed to remain obscure did a gradual reaction set in against the belief which was genuinely entertained by most Europeans, non-official and official in India, and which spread from them to England, that General Dyer's action and the rigours of martial law alone "saved India."
What drove the iron into the soul of India more than the things actually done in the Punjab, for which many Indians admit the provocation, was the reluctance of her rulers to look them in the face, and the tardiness and half-heartedness of the atonement made for them. Not till nearly half a year after the troubles had occurred did the Government of India announce the appointment of the Hunter Committee of Inquiry, and this announcement was coupled with the introduction of a Bill of Indemnity for all officers of Government engaged in their repression, which wore, in the eyes of Indians, however unreasonably, the appearance of an attempt to shelter them against the possible findings of the Committee. Again nearly half a year passed before the report of the Committee was made public, and the bloom had already been taken off it for most Indians by the report of a Commission instituted on its own account by the Indian National Congress which, partisan and lurid as it was, never received full refutation, as the witnesses upon whose evidence it was based were, for technical reasons, not heard by the Hunter Committee. The complete surrender of civil authority into military hands first at Amritsar, and then, under orders from Simla, at Lahore and elsewhere, was, as His Majesty's Government afterwards acknowledged, a disastrous departure from the best traditions of the Indian Civil Service. But, whatever the mistakes committed by the civil authority in the Punjab or by those charged with the administration of martial law in that province, there is above the Punjab the Government of India, and its plea of prolonged ignorance as to the details of the occurrences in the Punjab can hardly hold water. The preoccupations of the Afghan war which followed closely on the Punjab troubles were no doubt absorbing, but had the Viceroy or the Home member or the Commander-in-Chief or one of his responsible advisers proceeded in person, the moment the disorders were over, to Lahore or Amritsar, barely more than a night's journey from Delhi or Simla, is it conceivable that a halt would not have been forthwith called to proceedings which these high officers of state were constrained later on unanimously to deplore and reprobate? And if the Government of India were too slow to move, was there not a Secretary of State who knew, from statements made to him personally by Sir Michael O'Dwyer on his return to England, at least enough to insist upon immediate inquiry on the spot? Mr. Montagu has seldom, it is believed, hesitated to require in the most peremptory terms full information on far more trivial matters. Had prompt action been taken in India, there would never have been any need for the Hunter Committee. As it was, Indian feeling had run tremendously high before its findings were made public. So when the Government of India and the Secretary of State published their belated judgment, the people of India weighed such a tardy measure of justice against the dissent of an important minority in the House of Commons and of the majority of the Lords, the stifling of discussion in the Indian Legislature, which was still more directly interested in the matter, and above all the unprecedented public subscriptions in England and in India for the glorification of General Dyer, whilst the Punjab Government was still haggling over doles to the widows and orphans of Jallianwala—and, having weighed it, found it lamentably wanting, until at last the Duke of Connaught's moving speech at Delhi for the first time began to redress the balance.
The story of Jallianwala and all that followed in the Punjab scattered to the winds Mr. Gandhi's threadbare penitence for the horrible violence of Indian mobs, and he poured out henceforth all the vials of his wrath on the violence of the repression, far more unpardonable, he declared, because they were not the outcome of ignorant fanaticism, but of a definite policy adopted by European officers high in rank and responsibility. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that a Government that tolerated or condoned or palliated such things was "Satanic," and that the whole civilisation for which such a Government stood was equally Satanic. For Indians to co-operate with it until it had shown "a complete change of heart" was a deadly sin. To accept any scheme of constitutional reforms as reparation for the wrongs of the Punjab with which the wrongs of Turkey were linked up with an increased fervour of righteous indignation when the terms of the treaty of Sèvres became known, was treachery to the soul of India. Thence it was but a step to the organisation of a definite "Non-co-operation" movement to demonstrate the finality of the breach. Mr. Gandhi appealed in the first place to the educated classes to set the example to the people. He called upon those on whom the State had conferred honours and titles to renounce them, upon barristers and pleaders to cease to practise in the law-courts, and upon parents to withdraw their children from the schools and colleges tainted with State control and State doles. If parents would not hearken to him, schoolboys and students were exhorted to shake themselves free of their own accord. To the people he opened up simpler ways of "Non-co-operation" by abstaining from tea and sugar and all articles of consumption and of clothing contaminated by alien hands or alien industry. If all would join in a common effort he promised that India would speedily attain Swaraj—the term mentioned was generally a year—and, quit of the railways and telegraphs and all other instruments and symbols of Western economic bondage, return to the felicity and greatness of Vedic times. All this, however, was to be done by "soul force" alone and without violence.
In the course of the only long conversation I had with Mr. Gandhi I tried to obtain from him some picture of what India would be like under Swaraj as he understood it. In a voice as gentle as his whole manner is persuasive, he explained, more in pity than in anger, that India had at last recovered her own soul through the fiery ordeal which Hindus and Mahomedans had undergone in the Punjab, and the perfect act of faith which the Khilafat meant for all Mahomedans, and that, purged of the degrading influences of the West, she would find again that peace which was hers before alien domination divided and exploited her people. As to the form of government and administration which would then obtain in India, he would not go beyond a vague assurance that it would be based on the free will of the people expressed by manhood suffrage for which Indians were already ripe, if called upon to exercise it upon truly Indian lines. When I objected that caste, which was the bed-rock of Hindu social and religious life, was surely a tremendous obstacle to any real democracy, he admitted that the system would have to be restored to its pristine purity and redeemed from some of the abuses that had crept into it. But he upheld the four original castes as laid down in the Vedas, and even their hereditary character, though in practice some born in a lower caste might well rise by their own merits and secure the deference and respect of the highest castes, "such as, for instance, if I may in all modesty quote my own unworthy case, the highest Brahmans spontaneously accord to me to-day, though by birth I am only of a lowly caste." I tried to get on to more solid ground by pointing out that, whatever views one might hold as to his ultimate goal, the methods he was employing in trying to break up the existing schools and colleges and law-courts and to paralyse the machinery of administration was destructive rather than constructive, and that, confident as he might feel of substituting better things ultimately for those that he had destroyed, construction must always be a much slower process than destruction; and in the meantime infinite and perhaps irreparable harm would be done. "No," he rejoined—and I think I can convey his words pretty accurately, but not his curious smile as of boundless compassion for the incurable scepticism of one in outer darkness—"no, I destroy nothing that I cannot at once replace. Let your law-courts with their cumbersome and ruinous procedure disappear, and India will set up her old Panchayats, in which justice will be dispensed in accordance with her own conscience. For your schools and colleges, upon which lakhs of rupees have been wasted in bricks and mortar for the erection of ponderous buildings that weigh as heavily upon our boys as the educational processes by which you reduce their souls to slavery, we will give them simpler structures, open to God's air and light, and the learning of our forefathers that will make them free men once more." Not that he would exclude all Western literature—Ruskin, for instance, he would always welcome with both hands—nor Western science so long as it was applied to spiritual and not to materialistic purposes, nor even English teachers, if they would become Indianised and were reborn of the spirit of India. Indeed, what he had looked for, and looked in vain for, in the rulers of India was "a change of hearts" by which they too might be reborn of the spirit of India. He hated no one, for that would be a negation of the great principle of Ahimsa, on which he expatiated with immense earnestness.
As I watched the slight ascetic frame and mobile features of the Hindu dreamer in his plain garment of white home-spun, and, beside him, one of his chief Mahomedan allies, Shaukat Ali, with his great burly figure and heavy jowl and somewhat truculent manner and his opulent robes embroidered with the Turkish crescent, I wondered how far Mr. Gandhi had succeeded in converting his Mahomedan friend to the principle of Ahimsa. Perhaps Mr. Gandhi guessed what was passing in my mind when I asked him how the fundamental antagonism between the Hindu and the Mahomedan outlook upon life was to be permanently overcome even if the common cause held Hindus and Mahomedans together in the struggle for Swaraj. He pointed at once to his "brother" Shaukat as a living proof of the "change of hearts" that had already taken place in the two communities. "Has any cloud ever arisen between my brother Shaukat and myself during the months that we have now lived and worked together? Yet he is a staunch Mahomedan and I a devout Hindu. He is a meat-eater and I a vegetarian. He believes in the sword, I condemn all violence. But what do such differences matter between two men in both of whom the heart of India beats in unison?"
I turned thereupon to Mr. Shaukat Ali and asked him whether he would explain to me the application to India under Swaraj of the Mahomedan doctrine that the world is divided into two parts, one the "world of Islam" under Mahomedan rule, and the other "the world of war," in which infidels may rule for a time but will sooner or later be reduced to subjection by the sword of Islam. To which of these worlds would Mahomedans reckon India to belong when she obtained Swaraj? Mr. Shaukat Ali evaded the question by assuring me with much unction that he could not conceive the possibility of the Hindus doing any wrong to Islam, but, if the unthinkable happened, Mahomedans, he quickly added, would know how to redress their wrongs, for they could never renounce their belief in the sword, and it was indeed because Turkey is the sword of Islam that they could not see her perish or the Khalifate depart from her.
I wondered as I withdrew how long the fiery Mahomedan would keep his sword sheathed, did he not feel that his own personality and that of his brother Mahomed Ali would count for very little without the reflected halo with which they were at least temporarily invested by the saintliness of Mr. Gandhi's own simple and austere life of self-renunciation, so different in every way from their own. For it is to his personality rather than to his teachings that Mr. Gandhi owes his immense influence with the people. It is a very different influence from that of Mr. Tilak, to whom he is sometimes, but quite wrongly, compared. Mr. Tilak belonged by birth to a powerful Deccani Brahman caste with hereditary traditions of rulership. He was a man of considerable Sanscrit learning whose researches into the ancient lore of Hinduism commanded respectful attention amongst European as well as Indian scholars. Whatever one may think of his politics and of his political methods, he was an astute politician skilled in all the ways of political opportunism. Mr. Gandhi is none of these things. He is not a Brahman, but of the humbler Bania caste; he does not come from the Deccan, but from Gujarat, a much less distinguished part of the Bombay Presidency. He does not claim to be anything but a man of the people. He looks small and fragile and his features are homely. He lives in the simplest native way, eating simple native food which he is said to prepare with his own hands, and dresses in the simplest native clothes from his own spinning-wheel. His private life is unimpeachable—the only point indeed in which Mr. Tilak resembled him. Though he lays no claim to Sanscrit erudition, his speeches are replete with references to Hindu mythology and scripture, but they usually reflect the gentler, and not the more terrific, aspects of Hinduism. He blurts out the truth as he conceives it with as little regard for the feelings or prejudices of his supporters as for those of his opponents. He will tell the most orthodox Brahman audience at Poona that if they want to be the leaders of the nation they must give up their worldly notions of caste ascendancy and their harsh enforcement of "untouchability"; or he will lecture a youthful Bengalee audience, intensely jealous of their own language, upon their shameful ignorance of Hindi, which he believes to be the future language of India and of Swaraj. No one could suspect him of having an axe of his own to grind. He is beyond argument, because his conscience tells him he is right and his conscience must be right, and the people believe that he is right, and that his conscience must be right because he is a Mahatma, and as such outside and above caste. His influence over the Indian Mahomedan cannot be so deep-rooted, and the ancient antagonism between them and the Hindus still endures amongst the masses on both sides; but it is of some significance that his warm espousal of the grievances which large and perhaps growing numbers of them have been induced to read into the Turkish peace terms, has led some of his most enthusiastic Mahomedan supporters to bestow upon him the designation of Wali or Vicegerent which is sometimes used to connote religious leadership.
No leader has ever dominated any meeting of the old Indian National Congress as absolutely as Mr. Gandhi dominated last Christmas at Nagpur the 20,000 delegates from all parts of India who persisted in calling themselves the Indian National Congress, though between them and the original Congress founders few links have survived, and the chief business of the session was to repudiate the old Congress profession of loyalty to the British connection as the fundamental article of its creed, and to eliminate the reference hitherto retained, with the consent even of the Extremists, to India's participation on equal terms with the other members of the Empire in all its rights and responsibilities. The resolution moved and carried at Nagpur stated bluntly that "the object of the Indian National Congress is the attainment of Swaraj by the people of India by all legitimate and peaceful means." Many of the members would have left out the last words which were intended to ease the scruples of the more weak-kneed brethren. But Mr. Jinna, a Mahomedan Extremist from Bombay, whose legal mind in spite of all his bitterness does not blink the cold light of reason, warned his audience that India could not achieve complete independence by violent means without wading through rivers of blood. Mr. Gandhi himself intimated that India did not "want to end the British connection at all costs unconditionally," but he declared it to be "derogatory to national dignity to think of the permanence of the British connection at any cost, and it was impossible to accept its continuance in the presence of the grievous wrongs done by the British Government and its refusal to acknowledge or redress them." He explained that the resolution of which he was the mover could be accepted equally by "those who believe that by retaining the British connection we can purify ourselves and purify the British people, and those who have no such belief." He concluded on a more minatory note: "The British people will have to beware that if they do not want to do justice, it will be the bounden duty of every Indian to destroy the Empire"—which Mr. Mahomed Ali, however, with less diplomacy, declared to be already dead and buried.
That the "Non-co-operation" programme was reaffirmed at Nagpur except in regard to the propaganda amongst schoolboys as differentiated from students, and that threats were uttered of extending passive resistance to the non-payment of taxes and more especially of the land tax, were not matters to cause much surprise to those who had measured the sharply inclined plane down which "Non-co-operation" was moving. But one hardly sees how Mr. Gandhi can reconcile the racial hatred which was the key-note of all the proceedings with his favourite doctrine of Ahimsa. He has, however, himself, on one occasion, openly referred to a time when legions of Indians may be ready to leap to the sword for Swaraj, and though his appeal is to an inner moral force which he declares to be unconquerable, he does not always disguise from himself or from his followers the bloodshed which the exercise of that moral force may involve. In an article in support of the "Non-co-operation" movement in his organ Young India the following pregnant passage occurs:
For me, I say with Cardinal Newman: "I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me." The movement is essentially religious. The business of every God-fearing man is to dissociate himself from evil in total disregard of consequences. He must have faith in a good deed producing only a good result; that, in my opinion, is the Ghita doctrine of work without attachment. God does not permit man to peep into the future. He follows truth, although the following of it may endanger life. He knows that it is better to die in the way of God than to live in the way of Satan. Therefore, whoever is satisfied that this Government represents the activity of Satan has no choice left to him but to dissociate himself from it.
Are there any limits to the disastrous lengths to which a people may not be carried away by one who combines to such ends and in such fashion religious and political leadership?
Gandhiji’s political inspiration

One day in London, in the frustrating pursuit of a vegetarian meal, Thoreau’s biographer Henry Salt, met with Mohan das K. Gandhi and asked: “How influenced were you by Thoreau?”. Gandhi smiled like he had been asked how influential his mother had been. Greatly influenced, he said right off, adding that he knew passages from Civil Disobedience like his own pulse. He shared that he especially admired the sages austere lifestyle and obstinate dedication to freedom – personal, civil and spiritual. He added that all his study always left him “feeling the need of knowing more of Thoreau”. It was a worn-out copy of Civil Disobedience that Gandhi repeatedly took with him to jail during his turbulent years in South Africa fighting for Indian rights. “Like his salt-making and his hand-spinning, civil disobedience was (one of the key) symbols Gandhi shared”, notes author Sujit Mukherjee. Gandhi later told an American journalist that he named his movement Satyagraha (tenacity in truth) after reading Civil Disobedience. Gandhi’s Indian commune near Durban, the Phoenix Settlement, was inspired by Walden Pond, as well as by the works of Tolstoy. “Noble villages of men.” Thoreau had advised. Gandhi took the Thoreauvian ideals of frugal self-sufficiency, vegetarianism and the sacred value of manual, not mechanized, labor and planted them in South Africa and later back in India.