Gautam Buddha

Buddha, means 'the enlightened one'. And Gautam Buddha was one of the greatest religious teachers that the world has seen. His teachings expounded in Buddhism, are immensely popular in Burma, China, Japan and other South Eastern Countries
A Search for Light
Despite this, Siddhartha found no happiness in materialistic pleasures and so left the palace in search of salvation - ' Moksh'. He was only 29 years old. He roamed the country, meeting various sadhus and saints in his search for inner peace. He lived the life of a hermit and underwent rigorous ' tapasya' to achieve his purpose, but still could not understand the meaning of or reason for life and death.
Finally, one day he reached Bodh Gaya. He was very tired and so sat under the shade of a tree. He shut his eyes and was blessed with a divine light. This was the turning point, as he realized the truth is within every human being. The search outside was pointless. After this he was known as ' Buddha' or the enlightened one.

Quotes- Albert Einstein

• "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be".
• "Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction".
• "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new".
• "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions. z
• "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. "
• "Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character. "
• "Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds."

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889 in Allahabad, central India. His father Motilal Nehru was a prominent advocate and early leader of the Indian independence movement. The younger Nehru graduated from Cambridge University, and returned to India in 1912. Over the next thirty years, he rose to become the top political leader of the Indian National Congress Party and its struggle for independence from Britain. He was jailed seven times.

After independence he served as India first Prime Minister from 1947 until he died in May, 1964. He was also a great internationalist, and one of the founders of the non-aligned movement.

Quotes-Swami Vivekananda

• “We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions,
• it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”
• “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
• “The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside.
• What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”
• “If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.”
• "Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.”
• "Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man”
• "GOD is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life.”"
• “The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
• “It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. First, believe in this world, that”

Quotes - Mother Theresa

• "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies".
• "Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing"
• "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other"
• "It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters".
• "Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given. "
• "Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus. "
• "Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them"
• "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop".

Swami Vivekananda

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S inspiring personality was well known both in India and in America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, colourful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him. People who saw or heard Vivekananda even once still cherish his memory after a lapse of more than half a century.

Swami Vivekananda once spoke of himself as a "condensed India." His life and teachings are of inestimable value to the West for an understanding of the mind of Asia. William James, the Harvard philosopher, called the Swami the "paragon of Vedantists." Max Muller and Paul Deussen, the famous Orientalists of the nineteenth century, held him in genuine respect and affection. "His words," writes Romain Rolland, "are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years' distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!''

Quotes - Mahatma Gandhi

• “There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever”
• "Be the change you want to see in the world.”
• "Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”
• “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
• "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
• "Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected”
• “The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles”
• "You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
• "Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
• “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam Maraikkayar born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the former President of India. A great Indian personality, Dr Kalam is remebered in India as the Misile Man. he is a notable scientist and engineer, and is considered a leading progressive, mentor, innovator and visionary in India.He made a significant contribution as Project Director to develop India`s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle which successfully placed the Rohini space satellite into near earth orbit in July 1980.

Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Ramakrishna Paramahansa was a great Indian religious saint and a teacher of Bengali language. His life was a testament to truth, universality, love and purity. He was a Hindu religious teacher and an influential figure in the Bengal Renaissance of the Nineteenth century. His teachings emphasized God-realization as the highest goal of life, love and devotion for God, the oneness of existence, and the harmony of religions.

Balgangadhar Tilak

The most outstanding Indian personality among the Extremists, Balgangadhar Tilak later came to be known as `Lokmanya Tilak` played a leading part in popularising the culture of patriotism. He started two newspapers `The Maratha" in English and "the Kesari" in Marathi. He was the first congress leader to suffer several terms of imprisonment. He organised the "Ganapati festival" and the `Shivaji festival"

CHANDRASEKHAR VENKATA RAMAN. Physicist, Nobel Prize Winner

C.V.Raman was a scientist in Physics, who won noble prize in 1930. His discovery of the 'Raman Effect' made a very distinctive contribution to Physics. He was knighted by the British Government in 1929. He was also conferred the highest title of 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954.

Raman was born on 7th November,1888 at Ayyanpettai in Tamil Nadu. He had his education in Visakhapatanam and Madras. After getting top ranking in the Financial Civil Service Competitive Exam, he was appointed as Deputy Accountant General in Calcutta (Kolkutta). In 1917 he became the professor of Physics at the Calcutta University. After 15 years service at the Calcutta University, Raman shifted to Bangalore and became the Director of the Indian Institute of Science in 1933. In 1943 he founded 'Raman Research Institute', near Bangalore.

The 'Raman Effect' was a demonstration of the 'Collision' effect of light bullets (photons) passing through a transparent medium, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. Raman's publications include 'Molecular Diffraction of Light', 'Mechanical Theory of Bowed Strings' and 'Diffraction of X-ray's', 'Theories of Musical Instruments' etc. Raman conducted pioneering research in musical acoustics, particularly on Tamboura, the well known Indian musical instrument.

Mother Teresa

"I was to leave the convent and work with the poor, living among them?to be God's Love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity."

Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997), born Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.
By the 1970s she was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a documentary, and book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to expand, and at the time of her death it was operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programs, orphanages, and schools.

She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticism. These include objections by various individuals and groups, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Parenti, Aroup Chatterjee, Vishva Hindu Parishad, against the proselytizing focus of her work including a strong stance against abortion, a belief in the spiritual goodness of poverty and alleged baptisms of the dying. Several medical journals also criticised the standard of medical care in her hospices and concerns were raised about the opaque nature in which donated money was spent.

Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Matha Amrithanandamayi Devi's Dream

Amma's Dream
"Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one day, everyone should help the poor and needy. It is Amma's prayer that at least this small dream be realised." —Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Mahatma Gandhi

Born: October 2, 1869Died: January 30, 1948.Achievements: Known as Father of Nation; played a key role in winning freedom for India; introduced the concept of Ahimsa and Satyagraha.

Mahatma Gandhi popularly known as Father of Nation played a stellar role in India's freedom struggle. Born in a Bania family in Kathiawar, Gujarat, his real name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (M.K. Gandhi). The title Mahatma came to be associated with his name much later. Before Gandhiji's arrival on the Indian political scene, freedom struggle was limited only to the intelligentsia. Mahatma Gandhi's main contribution lay in the fact that he bridged the gulf between the intelligentsia and the masses and widened the concept of Swaraj to include almost every aspect of social and moral regeneration. Paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death, famous scientist Albert Einstein said, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a man as this walked the earth in flesh and blood".

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar. Gandhiji was born in middle class family of Vaishya caste. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, was a Dewan or Prime Minister of Porbandar. His mother, Putlibai, was a very religious lady and left a deep impression on Gandhiji's mind. Gandhiji was a mediocre student and was excessively shy and timid.

Gandhiji was truthful in his conduct right from the childhood. There is a very famous incident in this regard. A British school inspector once came to Gandhiji's school and set a spelling test. Gandhiji spelled all the words correctly except kettle. The class teacher noticed the mistake and gestured Gandhiji to copy the correct spelling from the boy sitting next to him. Gandhiji refused to take the hint and was later scolded for his "stupidity".

Gandhiji was married at the age of thirteen to Kasturbai. He was in high school at that time. Later on in his life, Gandhiji denounced the custom of child marriage and termed it as cruel. After matriculating from the high school, Gandhiji joined the Samaldas College in Bhavnagar. After the death of Gandhiji's father in 1885, a family suggested that if Gandhiji hoped to take his father's place in the state service he had better become a barrister which he could do in England in three years. Gandhi welcomed the idea but his mother was objected to the idea of going abroad. To win his mother's approval Gandhiji took a solemn vow not to touch wine, women and meat and remained true to it throughout his stay in England.

Gandhiji sailed for England on September 4, 1888. Initially he had difficulty in adjusting to English customs and weather but soon he overcame it. Gandhiji completed his Law degree in 1891 and returned to India. He decided to set up legal practice in Bombay but couldn't establish himself. Gandhiji returned to Rajkot but here also he could not make much headway. At this time Gandhiji received an offer from Dada Abdulla & Co. to proceed to South Africa on their behalf to instruct their counsel in a lawsuit. Gandhiji jumped at the idea and sailed for South Africa in April 1893.

It was in South Africa that Gandhiji's transformation from Mohandas to Mahatma took place. Gandhiji landed at Durban and soon he realized the oppressive atmosphere of racial snobbishness against Indians who were settled in South Africa in large numbers. After about a week's stay in Durban Gandhiji left for Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, in connection with a lawsuit. When the train reached Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, at about 9 p.m. a white passenger who boarded the train objected to the presence of a "coloured" man in the compartment and Gandhji was ordered by a railway official to shift to a third class. When he refused to do so, a constable pushed him out and his luggage was taken away by the railway authorities. It was winter and bitterly cold. This incident changed Gandhiji's life forever. He decided to fight for the rights of Indians. Gandhiji organised the Indian community in South Africa and asked them to forget all distinctions of religion and caste. He suggested the formation of an association to look after the Indian settlers and offered his free time and services.

During his stay in South Africa, Gandhiji's life underwent a change and he developed most of his political ideas. Gandhiji decided to dedicate himself completely to the service of humanity. He realized that absolute continence or brahmacharya was indispensable for the purpose as one could not live both after the flesh and the spirit. In 1906, Gandhiji took a vow of absolute continence. In the course of his struggle in South Africa, Gandhiji, developed the concepts of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Satyagraha (holding fast to truth or firmness in a righteous cause). Gandhiji's struggle bore fruit and in 1914 in an agreement between Gandhiji and South African Government, the main Indian demands were conceded.

Gandhiji returned to India in 1915 and on the advice of his political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale, spent the first year touring throughout the country to know the real India. After an year of wandering, Gandhiji settled down on the bank of the river Sabarmati, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, where he founded an ashram called Satyagraha Ashram. Gandhiji's first satyagraha in India was in Champaran, in Bihar, where he went in 1917 at the request of a poor peasants to inquire into the grievances of the much exploited peasants of that district, who were compelled by British indigo planters to grow indigo on 15 percent of their land and part with the whole crop for rent. Gandhiji's Satyagraha forced British government to set up a inquiry into the condition of tenant farmers. The report of the committee of which Gandhi was a member went in favour of the tenant farmers. The success of his first experiment in satyagraha in India greatly enhanced Gandhiji's reputation in the country.

In 1921, Gandhji gave the call for Non-cooperation movement against the ills of British rule. Gandhiji's call roused the sleeping nation. Many Indians renounced their titles and honours, lawyers gave up their practice, and students left colleges and schools. Non-cooperation movement also brought women into the domain of freedom struggle for the first time. Non-cooperation movement severely jolted the British government. But the movement ended in an anti-climax in February 1922. An outbreak of mob violence in Chauri Chaura so shocked and pained Gandhi that he refused to continue the campaign and undertook a fast for five days to atone for a crime committed by others in a state of mob hysteria.

Gandhiji was sentenced to six years imprisonment but was released in 1924 on medical grounds. For the next five years Gandhi seemingly retired from active agitational politics and devoted himself to the propagation of what he regarded as the basic national needs, namely, Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of untouchability, equality of women, popularization of hand-spinning and the reconstruction of village economy.

On March 12, 1930 Gandhiji started the historic Dandi March to break the law which had deprived the poor man of his right to make his own salt. On April 6, 1930 Gandhiji broke the Salt law at the sea beach at Dandi. This simple act was immediately followed by a nation-wide defiance of the law. This movement galvanized the whole nation and came to be known as "Civil Disobedience Movement". Within a few weeks about a hundred thousand men and women were in jail, throwing mighty machinery of the British Government out of gear. This forced the then Viceroy Lord Irwin to call Gandhiji for talks. On March 5, 1931 Gandhi Irwin Pact was signed. Soon after signing the pact Gandhiji went to England to attend the First Round Table Conference. Soon after his return from England Gandhiji was arrested without trial.

After the outbreak of Second World War in 1939, Gandhiji again became active in the political arena. British Government wanted India's help in the war and Congress in return wanted a clear-cut promise of independence from British government. But British government dithered in its response and on August 8, 1942 Gandhiji gave the call for Quit India Movement. Soon the British Government arrested Gandhiji and other top leaders of Congress. Disorders broke out immediately all over India and many violent demonstrations took place. While Gandhiji was in jail his wife Kasturbai passed away. Gandhiji too had a severe attack of Malaria. In view of his deteriorating health he was released from the jail in May 1944.

Second World War ended in 1945 and Britain emerged victorious. In the general elections held in Britain in 1945, Labour Party came to power, and Atlee became the Prime Minister. He promised an early realization of self Government in India. A Cabinet Mission arrived from England to discuss with Indian leaders the future shape of a free and united India, but failed to bring the Congress and Muslims together. India attained independence but Jinnah's intransigence resulted in the partition of the country. Communal riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out in the country in the aftermath of partition. Tales of atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan provoked Hindus in India and they targeted Muslims. Gandhiji worked ceaselessly to promote unity between Hindus and Muslims. This angered some Hindu fundamentalists and on January 30, 1948 Gandhiji was shot dead by one such fundamentalist Nathu Ram Godse while he was going for his evening prayers. The last words on the lips of Gandhiji were Hey Ram.

Ashoka

The Wheel, which adorns the flag of free India, has kept His memory green. Lord of a vast empire,, after a great victory on the battlefield he grew sick of violence and took an oath never to fight again. He was an ideal ruler. He strove to carry to other lands the light he had won in his life. He dedicated himself to the victories of righteousness.

Author - Mohanachand Keeranagi

Ashoka::

"All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should be happy always."
These are the words of an emperor who lived two thousand and three hundred years ago.
We see in history how even mere chieftains grew arrogant and used their powers selfishly and unjustly. But the emperor who said the above words ruled over the greater part of India. He had the power of life and death over millions of his subjects.
Is it surprising that free India remembers him with admiration?
This emperor was Ashoka (also called ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’). The wheel in the abacus of the pillar which he erected as a memorial at Saranath now adorns the national flag of free India.