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The Purpose for Man’s Existence

The Purpose for Man’s Existence

The choice

In this work we postulate the following thesis as a presumed purpose for man’s existence: ‘Confronting the enigma of the universe man, part of the enigma, has a choice between belief and disbelief in an external finality, a creator-cause.’

Meaning an Directionality of Sense 

We propose to study in this article the sense-reference of this choice.  Sense is expressed in two manners. The first considers ‘sense’ in terms of ‘meaning’ referring to explanation that man is led to work out with relation to his confrontation with the universe. The second, ‘sense’ is considered in terms of ‘directionality’ of explanation in a two-optional alternative effectuated between ‘belief’ and ‘disbelief’. The motive of choice postulates that through man’s confrontation with the universe, and in order to explain it, a total lack of evidence for the presumption of either option, the individual is obliged to refer to his faculty of belief and deliberate a free and a voluntarily choice between the two options, namely: to believe in a creator-cause or not to believe in an external finality; a creator-cause: a God.

Aim of this study

We will attempt to present the hypothesis of the ‘choice’ and test it against the texts of monotheistic religions and in the thought of certain philosophers, scientists and ideologists, in order to establish grounds for collective attitude patterns as well as individual ones.

The notion of choice

For the purpose of our work we propose to study the choice in its own proper term and then in terms of religious connotations in order to establish its probable validity in this realm. The hypothesis of the ‘choice’ will be examined next according to the attitude of certain philosophers (Buddha, Aristotle, Leibniz, Spinoza, Kant, Nietzsche, Sartre, Russell)(1), certain scientists like (Pascal, Descartes, Freud, Einstein, Hawkins) and ideologists like (Karl Marx), in order to establish the grounds for the decision of the choice in the thought of these thinkers.

Belief and Disbelief

The basic foundation for the notion of the ‘choice’ comprises a decision of preference by the individual person between two options. This study focuses on a presumed two options represented in one alternative namely,

a. To believe, or,

b. To disbelieve, in: An external finality-identified here as a creator-cause: God.

According to the attitude of every individual the ‘choice’, in case of belief, may be spontaneous, immediate, clear and direct (faith), or can be a thoughtful ‘choice’ produced by subjective justification of ‘reasoning’, or can be a combination of the two. Or, it can be a choice of rejection of belief (disbelief) which is produced by an immediate terms depend on man’s convictions. We are in a con chance, such resentment or a prolonged intellectually reflective decision. Thinkers like Aristotle, Pascal, and Sartre considered the ‘choice’ in the same manner revealing the same mechanism in defining the ‘choice’ as a logical process of choosing between two options of the same alternative.

Inborn Curiosity for Knowledge and the problematic

We are assuming that man’s curiosity motivates him to pursue knowledge through thought. The natural need to know is the starting point that instigates the process of awareness of the universe and oneself. We have proposed the idea that the objective of thinking and acquiring knowledge, whether scientific or otherwise is to explain what is. Knowledge in our perspective has a directional finality, to enable man to make his choice. The enigmatic presence, nature, structure, origin and functionality of the universe, are the key questions where knowledge tries to figure out. Whether life is the product of an overall order-plan or the result of hazard-chaotic absurdity demands explanations. Our world offers us problematics that propose causality as part of the hypothetical explanations. The pursuit of knowledge confronts us, at every instance, with a possible hypothesis of a designer, or several, since we did not contribute ourselves to such phenomenon. The lack of evidence for or against such hypothesis imposes the choice as the only alternative.

Knowledge and Perception of it

Science (Latin: sciré: to know, to be acquainted with, to recognize: based on evidence) and arts (another approach of perception, to recognize, to discern, to identify, to be conscience of, to be aware of, to captivate and to represent) are the bases of perceptible reactions. Psychological or spiritual apprehension is equally decisive in perceiving knowledge. Every one is confronted with the same object, phenomenon or thing, but reacts to it differently. These reaction-attitudes can be classified into conception-expression means of communicative decisions. We presume that despite all scientific, aesthetic, moral, psychological or spiritual experiences and discoveries we are unable, until now, to discover answers to ‘ultimate knowledge’. Man we are assuming is at the present state of knowledge is in a state of ignorance with regard to ‘ultimate knowledge’.

Ultimate Knowledge

At the present time the presumed ‘ultimate knowledge’ produced by the confrontation of man with the universe is inaccessible. Man, facing this inaccessibility, recoils to his faculty of conjectural speculations, in search for explanations and lack of evidence to his faculty of belief and disbelief. The alternative of choice imposes itself as an obligation. The choice between belief and disbelief in a creator-cause becomes the only option that confronts the individual. Endowed with the mind, tool of reason, freedom of will and free arbitration, man deliberates his choice in accordance with his own personal convictions. The mechanism of this presumption can be reduced to the followings notions:

A. Confrontation between man and the universe.

B. Astonishment and natural curiosity as inborn aptitudes.

C. The need to explain the world.

D. The incapacity of individual, or even the collective

intelligence, to explain the presence, the origin and finality of

objects constituting the universe, as well as the nature of these

objects, until the present time.

E. The emergence of hypotheses of non-verifiable causes.

F. Total lack of proof, reference, index or even solid argument

for these hypotheses.

observing, examining, analyzing, comparing, synthesizing and

 G. The emergence of a hypothesis of a creator-cause, or

many.

H. The forced confrontation of two-fold alternative of a

choice:

The inevitable obligation of making the choice between the

two options:

A. Belief or

B. Disbelief, in an external finality, a creator-cause: God

K. The finale and inevitable decision of the choice before

death.

L. Death seals the choice.

Confrontation between man and the universe can be examined

at different levels of encounters:

1. The physical encounter, where the object (a butterfly, a tree, a planet, a galaxy) is perceived through our senses. Here the observer exercises curiosity which sets off reaction in terms of questioning. (Physical experience)

2. The aesthetical encounter: Here, the object emanates something which set off a sentimental psychological reaction, whether of admiration or rejection, in the observer. (Aesthetical experience)

3. The ethical encounter: The ethical attitude is related to a sense of duty, a moral responsibility, or morality reaction, a necessity for ethical interpretation of something, a state or an action. (Ethical experience)

4. The intellectual encounter: where the observer resorts to reason. Here, the faculty of reason is employed, namely, concluding concerning the presence, nature, structure and form of an object: constituents, origin and finality of an object perceptibly and the intelligibly. (Reasoning experience)

5. The spiritual encounter: Where the observer seizes the object directly and without the intermediary of the intellect. Here the observer captivates an object or an event through a faculty different from his other faculties. (Spiritual experience)

6. The encounter of the whole: We can, perhaps, add another experience to these five principle ones namely, what is considered as the sixth sense, where a feeling of extra physical, psychological, mental, ethical, esthetical or spiritual perception, e.g. sensing an object or an event without the intermediation of any of these five means. We can consider that in every experience, or a combination of experiences, the individual confronts a phenomenon and this interaction instigates a reaction to whether or not there is causality.

These six encounters, or means of awareness, can be considered as indivisible entity experience, as in Buddhist meditation.

Inevitability of the Choice Lack of Proof

In our perspective we are always postulating that the absence of proof, for or against the existence of causality, renders the choice inevitable. The uncertainty of metaphysics as well as of religious speculation concerning evidence, does not offer us enough support to settle the question of belief and disbelief which remains a suspended decision. (2) The absence of something tangible, or even a solid argument, denoting such causality gives freedom to think in deliberating the choice.

Free arbiter and fatalism

It is in this individual liberty that every person finds expression of his choice. Although man is obliged to choose between one of the two options he has the freedom to make his choice between the two. In the choice responsibility of individual freedom grants the individual his value as a human being. We do not consider fatalism and predestination as valid criterion for the decision of the choice, since it bereaves him from his freedom and his will and renders him not responsible for his decisions. Without such freedom he is reduced to an irresponsible mechanical robot. We assume that the idea of the choice is founded on the freedom of the individual to make his own choice as he wants. No other person can share with him in the final decision in the making of his choice. Although persuasive and dissuasive means of influence, whether familial, societal, psychological, religious or ideological, are endless exercising maximum pressure, in either way and in favor of either option, it is up to the individual himself to make the choice. He alone is responsible While freedom of decision is the criterion of the choice the individual determines the outcome of his final decision. Every individual person can thus envisage the world, interpret it and explain it in accordance to his own convictions.

Vacuum of Ignorance

As was discussed earlier, the impossibility to conclude from universal phenomena, whether empirical-sensible or intelligible-spiritual, the hypothesis of the existence of causality emerges as a probability where evidential knowledge is unattainable. Knowledge in itself, and at its present state, is unable to provide with such explanative answers. Accessibility to ultimate knowledge is needed to acquire evidence. It is when we realize our incapacity to attain ultimate knowledge that personal convictions are prompted by belief or unbelief. Confronted with this state of ‘inaccessibility’ creates a vacuum where man becomes aware of his limitations and where knowledge is unable to provide answers that the choice is imposed.

Oscillation

Although choice is free and willful, but inevitable, it is restricted to two options. No third option is possible. To believe or not to believe, in a creator-cause is a forced decision where one can alternate indefinitely until death where the final decision is taken. Rejection of the choice indicates already that a choice has been taken. A skeptic, the indecisive who doubts or who oscillates between the two options, even the nihilist, can be considered as one who has chosen to reject belief, as long as he did not make his choice to believe. One cannot be a believer and unbeliever at one and the same time. He is either one or the other. He can alternate between the two options as much as he desires but once he makes his choice he is classified in one term or the other.

As is in the case of other major forced human aspects such as form, shape, color, constitution, systems, motivations and needs; eventualities, such as birth, development, aging and death (where man has no choice but to accept and endure), the choice is another forced phenomenon upon man. The term ‘forced’ means ‘obliged to accept and has no choice in the matter’.

Forced Existence

Forced existence refers to the fact that he did not choose to be in his form, his size or possessing systems constituting him physically, mentally, psychologically, ethically and spiritually( for those who believe in the soul). He is forced to go through a life cycle, entering from one door, passing duration of time and then dying. He has no option in all these, not even in the color of his eyes. Nobody asks him whether he likes to come into this life or to age or to imposed and man has to choose. Man is forced into this then find no evidence for ultimate knowledge? Why specific form? Why should man confront the universe?

 Nobody takes his opinion whether he would like to have two arms, two legs, a trunk and a head. He undergoes the process of aging and cannot retard it for a moment. He is submitted to all these processes without the least choice. Similarly, man is forced to interact with the universe whether he likes it or not, for survival and knowledge acquisition. He is forced to think and cannot stop thinking. In the same way we consider the choice as a forced decision that the individual has to take before his death.

Uselessness of Proof

We consider that according to the perspective of the choice any possibility of a proof or disproof for causality renders the decision of the choice void and renders life meaningless with no goal to achieve. For, indeed, why the mystery and why the enigma? Why should man strive for knowledge and undergo a specified duration of time .

Causality

 Man undergo life and death? Why should man have no saying in all these things? The way is indicated, the alternative is situation of choice. Although the decision of the choice can be verified it is next to impossible to verify why man should make the decision of the choice. Maybe the answer is suggested in religious texts. We assume in this work that it is precisely the ‘absence of proof’, for or against a creator-cause, represents the meaning for man’s existence. We consider the choice as the corner- stone for such directionality of meaning. The perspective of the choice provides sense, order and aim for man’s transitory existence where specific conditions are indispensable: a life- cycle i.e. birth, maturity and death; a mind to think; the need for confrontation with an enigmatic universe; the need for an explanation and that this explanation is sterile, the emergence of causality; absence of proof or disproof for such a causality, i.e., a creator-cause and freedom of will to deliberate the final decision.

In this way we consider any individual, whether a philosopher, a scientist, an artist or man of letters, or any person who attempts to establish a proof, or disproof, for such causality practices an exercise in futility. Many, like (Buddha, Aristotle, St. Paul, St Aquinas, Pascal, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Nietzsche, Freud, Russell, Sartre or Picasso) have attempted such an enterprise, namely to give proof for or against the existence of a God, but their Endeavour ended up in pure conjecture.

What is interesting in this attempt is that each of these thinkers had to make up his own choice, despite the lack of proof or disproof.

We emphasize the fact that no religion, among the three principle monotheistic religions (that asserts the thesis of the existence of one God), or among other belief-systems (Hinduism, Zarathustraism, Magus, Sikhism or Baha’ism), advances substantial evidence for its claims.

Purpose of forced phenomenon

In our study we do not attempt to deal with an answer to the ‘why’ question of having to make the choice. In other words: Why should man make a choice between belief and disbelief in an external finality? Or, what is the purpose of this forced phenomenon? For we do not pretend to any argument in the direction of this problematic. Another question which is equally important is: Being so important as a decision, are there any consequences for making the choice? There is no way to verify the validity of such an inquiry.

A third question emerges as well that is related to: who takes the decision of choice within us? Is it our reason? Is it our sentiment? Is it our natural intuition? Our soul? Or is it the other person within? It is very difficult to provide with answers. But one thing is certain; we have to face the universe and we have to choose.

As long as man remains a mystery and as long as the universe and its constituent phenomena remain also as enigmas, yielding no evidence or proof, choice between belief and disbelief in finality, internal or external, is unavoidable. Reason and belief remain as the only resorts in deliberating our decision of the choice.

Viability of collective choice

Although all these questions are important with respect to the choice, we are limiting ourselves only to the notion of choice as a decision between two options. The decision of choice can be observed on an individual level as well on a collective level. Example of a collective choice can be observed in the Jewish People’s attitude displayed in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament and the Qur’an. The attitude of Christians and Muslims towards belief can be traced in the New Testament and the Qur’an respectively. A collective choice of a whole community can be verified for example in a Synagogue, Church or Mosque. The attitude of people in communist countries during and after the dominance of the USSR in the world particularly in the Soviet Union, or in China, North Korea and other rigid communist countries in the twentieth century, manifest a collective rejection of faith and belief, due to the ideological Marxist system. This collective choice can be empirically verified.

Collective choice representative of individual choice

But we consider that collective choice is nothing but an assembly of individual choices taken separately by each individual person, where personal responsibility is total, owing to the freedom and will of the individual. Despite the colossal influence of the collectivity the individual person has always the total freedom and the will to decide his, or her, own choice. Marxist ideology did not eradicate religious belief throughout the seventy years of dictatorship in the ex Soviet Union.

The individual choice is easier to verify with a simple questionnaire where the individual declares his decision or indecision. Communal choice is more difficult to trace than the individual decision. Statistics of people’s belief or ejection of belief are not applicable with precision in the great majority of present world societies. In previous world societies these statistics cannot be verified precisely because of the individual or group freedom on the one hand and the nature of the privacy of the decision on the other. These statistics are unavailable.

Agnosticism and Gnosticism

The choice can be concretely assessed between Gnosticism and agnosticism. Oscillations can be established, without over generalizing or over charging factual evidence with undue interpretations, in the Scriptures. Monotheistic beliefs have been a precise measuring criterion between belief and disbelief in one creator-cause until the present time. This criterion leads to a clear two-fold classification grouping attitudes into two distinct perspectives. According to this criterion of identification individuals are classified either as believers or disbelievers following their choice with regard to a creator-cause. In the twentieth century, and especially in the post modernity, these characteristics became more trenchant and the world population is more and more distinctively divided up between believers and non-believers.

Historical Applicability

The perspective of the choice can be applicable to all epochs throughout history. Fluctuations between the two options can be traced in all Scriptures. While the Middle Ages witness to the tension between the Church and science, later epochs disclose the influence of science and the gradual minimum Union in 1981 and the rise of religious fundamentalism gave role of metaphysics. In contemporary history religious belief can be clearly distinguished from atheistic disbelief on a mass level. This fact has dominated the world scene in the 20thc:

Two-fold Trends

Atheistic Marxism (predominantly disbelievers: about two billions) versus religious belief (predominantly monotheistic: about two billion believers). The break down of the Soviet momentum to the already rising revivalist religious reaction worldwide. Religious revivalism has culminated in the clash of civilizations religiously oriented among different cultures especially in post modernity. Traditional monotheistic movements on a transnational level emerge to constitute a religious rivalry on a world level. Religious revivalism was already in the making during the twentieth century as a reaction to Marxist materialist atheism and to the materialist values of capitalism. The reason for religious revivalism is not that both ideologies whether socialism or capitalism, failed to give a clear meaning for human existence, but rather the dictates of the choice between materialism and the spiritual outlook that decided between the two.

Notwithstanding the strong societal influence over the individual decision in the choice the final decision belongs to the individual himself. No other person, group, community or society can be held responsible for one’s own decision. An individual born and brought up in a Mormon environment, for example, is likely to choose Mormonism as a belief-system in preference to Buddhism, Hinduism or atheism. But the choice of a Mormon of his belief-system in reference to others is not an obligatory choice. Many adherents of one creed or another have left their belief-systems and have chosen others or have rejected belief altogether. Likewise examples can be cited of those who were atheists and chose to believe in one religion or another, or a certain philosophy. Whether religious teachings of certain belief-systems do not permit a change of a belief-system, every person in reality has the freedom and will to do so.

Choice of ‘reason’ and choice of ‘faith’

The fundament in choice is lack of proof for the existence, or non-existence of a creator-cause. The choice is not founded on a hazardous conviction of the individual. It can resort to ‘reason’ or/and to ‘faith’ for its own justification.

If reason can be described as deliberate awareness of mental apprehension process (as in the satellite dilemma which  requires justification), faith can refer to direct decision (as in the aesthetical experience of a rose which may prompt a rose- conceptor, or simply it presumes a creator-cause as act of faith), or reject all metaphysical explanations.

Both reason and faith lack evidence and are founded on personal conviction. It is not within the domain of logical speculation to assign reason to the mind and faith to the heart (for the simple reason we cannot identify any of these proof. Both stem up from the perceptible and both phenomena), as some religions depict. If reason is a deliberate systematic awareness of phenomena based on facts, faith can be presented as an immediate criterion of judgment based on feelings. The former may result in the latter lack for factual end up in conjecture. This is where the choice becomes a forced obligation.

If we accept these criteria (reason and faith), and for the sake of the argument, as means of deliberating the choice, we can proceed to examine the notion of choice in belief-systems of monotheistic religions and then in the thought of a selection of thinkers.

We believe that the idea according to which any belief- system, whether religious (which can be considered as the invention of man’s own thought, or by divine inspiration as proclaimed by religion), or any presumptive philosophy, is brought about by man’s confrontation with the universe.

Empiricism as the separating line

Science and metaphysics are separated by empirical criterion. Although both are expressed by symbolic expressions of communication, both are short of evidence to provide support for belief or disbelief. While scientific empiricism can lead to disbelieve, metaphysical thought can be achieved through the very lack of evidence. All depends on one’s personal reaction to phenomenon. The universe offers the choice for both parties. Each party justifies its own preference depending on its choice.

When Napoleon asked Laplace, why there was no mention of God in his works; Laplace (an ardent believer himself) retorted to Napoleon: ‘Sire, I do not need this hypothesis for my theory.’ creator-cause.

The Encounter

The encounter of Laplace with the universe, and in order to interpret it with scientific rigor, he reduced it to mathematical formulas. It is exactly at this very point where mathematical interpretation is established we can separate belief from disbelief. According to the attitude of the individual person, here a scientist-mathematician, we can classify the person according to his belief or disbelief.

Mathematical interpretation of the universe does not permit access to verifying the existence or the non-existence of ultimate truth. At the point of the encounter with the universe the six-level dimensions of experience is set off immediately, intuitively and directly. These experiences are means of assisting the individual to conclude his final decision.  Departing from the same phenomenon, the thinker can opt for one option or another. The same phenomenon can lead the individual into opposite directions.

Theosophical Examples of the Encounter

For example, Nietzsche chose to reject the idea of a God-cause while Leibniz chose to believe in this cause. Both thinkers, looking at the same phenomenon-the universe- did not change their attitudes. Kant, as another example, encountering the idea of what is ‘moral’ concludes the necessity of the existence of God, ‘God is a moral necessity’. Nietzsche, by rejecting the moral, rejects God. He further considers that the universe is the product of hazard and chaos. Leibniz considers order and organization as references denoting the necessity of God’s existence. The choice between belief and disbelief vis-à-vis the existence of an ‘external finality’ or ‘cause-creator’ may be considered as ‘crisis of doubt’ or as ‘crisis of soul’ or even as ‘crisis of conversion’ and ‘crisis of situation’. It is certainly a conflict within man as well as without. pretend to neither truth nor to reality. These are s by its very nature, tends to search for truth ,

The Dilemma

 It is an inner conflict between identification and truthful reality. It is the doubt in the authenticity of one or the other. The mind stands as a judge, but in the choice it is impossible to establish its findings. The choice is an obligation as long as ultimate knowledge remains a mystery, unverifiable. Crisis of decision can be permanent without preferring one option to the other and can remain so until death. Here the indecisive individual oscillates permanently between the two options without any decision. The skeptic suspends his decision of judgment permanently for reasons of lack of proof. The annihilator annihilates the decision on the grounds that the reality of the decision cannot be attained. The doubtful is indecisive and alternates between the two decisions convincing himself one time of one option and another with the opposite option. In all these cases lack of evidence suspends decision. But indecision belongs to non-belief as long as the individual does not choose belief.

The nature of faith and religious belief

The departing point for this question is a difficult one, i.e. distinction between faith and confidence in reason. A definition of belief can denote, ‘to captivate one’s intelligence under the authority of God’, and faith, which presupposes the point of view of motivation, such as ‘the divine authority, accepted purely and simply; it is the respect that submits before superiority’, considering the divine authority as ‘the guarantee for revealed truths, is not only the motive for belief, but it becomes the cause’. The difference between the two is that ‘the act of faith is founded ontologically, but not logically, on preliminary certainties’. In one way we can perhaps assume that faith as certainty of belief without proof is superior to knowledge because it goes beyond it (notwithstanding contradiction in terms), ‘it is the immediate can be produced, but this is not the case. There is water atom.

Experience versus conjecture

We have no accessibility to what is the comprehension of a supra-sensible reality’, without the intermediation of reason, a sort of ‘illuminated intuition’, ‘understanding the unintelligible’, a ‘trust’ that ‘vanishes by demonstration’. We can consider that, the act of intelligence that precedes and prepares the act of faith, and works on the motivation and credibility leading to adhesion, which is the conclusion of an inquest and an adhesion of science. The inquest which satisfies the mind is concluded favorably. It is an act of faith in the supernatural, but is of a natural order. Belief is a thought of the possibility of the existence of a thing that lacks proof for its existence. Despite the limitations of this definition of belief, belief remains open to human imagination. Belief seizes to be belief if a proof can be produced. We can not assume the validity of a thing by an empiric scientific proof: our knowledge according to which a particle of water is formed of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen is dependant on atmospheric conditions (chemical-physical criteria) conducive to the formation of the structure of this atom of water, its origin, its presence or its purpose. Our knowledge is limited to its artificial presence in terms of life element. But ‘why should it be?’ is difficult to reply.

Responsibility of the choice

Being forced into having to deliberate one’s choice the individual has the responsibility of his choice in as far as his choice is unavoidable. There is no evidence for the presumption of responsibility. But the fact that the choice is inevitable renders man this responsibility. If such responsibility can be proven then evidence for either option, no reference indicating this responsibility and lesser still any evidence that the choice is an obligation, except that one has to make it. Confrontation between man and the universe is a Nevertheless; an underlying sense denotes implicitly these two assumptions namely, the inevitability and responsibility.

The inevitability can be indicated by the fact that every individual has made his choice or is deliberating his choice. The presumption of responsibility stems from the fact that every individual must take the decision.

The choice is individual and universal

Universality of the Choice

Within the perspective of the choice we assume that every individual person, sane and adult who has the faculty or judgment (reasoning), the liberty (to decide between the offered two options), the will (to deliberate) ought to choose: individual interaction where the individual experiences consciousness of what exists. Life with its vicissitude imposes on man dissuasive and persuasive effects in as far as the choice is concerned. Not only the mere confrontation of mind-universe has decisive element on the choice but also life experience becomes a determinant factor. Every individual person is subject to his immediate environment, small or large, and ultimately exposed to the whole world. All events, whether birth and death, good and evil, love and hatred, health and illness, gain and loss, are phenomena of thought and reflection enabling man to determine his final decision.

The choice as an inner conflict

Subjectivity of Finality

The conflict is an external-internal strife within man to deliberate the final choice. As an internal conflict we consider that the choice between belief and disbelief is in paradoxical opposition in every individual. The two opposite, just like life and death instincts, are innate and the decision rests subject to one’s subjective convictions. In this perspective we do not consider the dialectical process as valid mechanics of explanation, for the the conflict becomes more acute where indecision or vitalist-finalist ones in explaining the universe. We make reference to the natural impulse of reason. Choice involves two alternatives of which the actor is allowed one solution and not a synthesis: an individual is either a believer or a disbeliever. He alone can produce the final decision. Natural instincts, as well as interaction with the universe, persuade and dissuade man to choose either way.

Paradoxical opposition

As long as the enigma of existence remains as such and the universe is inexplicable in terms of how and why, we are confronted with belief and disbelief in causality. Inner-external interactions, whether opposite or congruent, are directed to give the individual grounds for choosing. The subjectivity of decision explains extremes of attitudes throughout history ranging from absolute rejection of belief in a ‘God’ (militant atheists) to convictions of certitude of belief (unison with God: ascetics, mystics, Sufis). We consider the choice as a universal phenomenon since every individual, adult and sane, is subject to the confrontation with the universe and is obliged to make a decision. While the choice is an inescapable decision during a life-time, death seals the choice.

The choice is an external conflict

Here the conflict lies in the inclinations of the individual, while deliberating his choice, towards mechanicist arguments is created to make a choice, for example, the skeptic, the doubtful, and the nihilist. Oscillation between one option and the other indicates clearly this conflict.

The choice is non transmissible

The choice is restricted to the individual himself. It is purely an unshared personal experience. Interaction with the universe is an individual and personal activity that cannot be communicated nor transmitted. As the experience is personal and subjective the decision of the choice cannot be transmitted from one person to another. Prescription of feelings and thoughts of personal convictions can be communicated but the experience itself cannot be shared by two persons. The decision depends entirely on the attitudes of every person, his personality and his personal reactions and decisions. The process of deliberating the choice is the result of infinite confrontations between man and the universe. At every encounter the individual is confronted with the decision itself. i.e., observing natural phenomenon.

Throughout history and under different types of pressures the choice was subject to influence, e.g., religious, societal, political, economic, educational, ideological. While influence can be enormous the decision itself remains the free will of the individual. Only when the individual himself decides on his choice the decision is made.

The individual choice and the collective choice

Collective choice is the assembly of individual choices. Whether the individual or the collectivity is subject to societal influences, this does not deprive the individual from his liberty to choose. Here we do not share the opinion advanced by Henri Lacroix of ‘dominance of authority’ and ‘the absence of liberty and will’ with regard to the decision of the choice whether through ‘personal faith’ or ‘collective choice’. We do not approve either that ‘authority’, whether ‘implicit or explicit’ and ‘submission to the notoriety, ‘imitation, ‘habit’ or ‘automatism’, ‘collective excitation’ or ‘ecstatic cult’ replace the personal decision of the individual. These factors, individual himself. No other person, a collectivity, as mentioned above, can have influence on the individual’s decision of choice but the final decision belongs to the can take away the freedom of the individual, for individuality is a particularity for every human.

Societal syndrome

In a society we observe the two opposite choices in coexistence. The choice itself can be a group identification of adherence, in separation and in concert. It can be also a criterion for harmony and dispute, conflict and war. It has direct impact on political, social and economic relations and structures of the adherents of belief or disbelief. Entities, or collectivities, belonging to either option can also decide the form and group conduct. It establishes criteria for national, regional and international relations. It is, in fact, a basic feature of individual identification and collective behavior. Conflicts and wars as well as peace and rapprochement are direct results of opposite choices. Crusades and Church inquisitions are but few examples.

Collective choice according to religious belief

In ancient history influences can be observed in the deliberation of communal decisions. The influence on collective choice is often the influence of certain individuals. For example, the influence of the individual decision of Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti, the Egyptian Pharaohs (1352 BC), to abolish polytheism and establish monotheism, limiting deity to one god: Ateni the god of the sun, was decisive in the Pharoanic society. The influence of Moses (according to the Torah), of Jesus-Christ (according to the four Books of the Evangel) and the influence of Muhammad (according to the sources of Islam: Qur’an and Tradition) is of verified importance. On the other hand, the influence of disbelief practiced by certain individuals like Buddha, Nietzsche, Freud, Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels, Lenin, Mao Tse Tong, is massively observed. much as deciding on one option.

Most political influences are imposing influences where the masses are subjected to choice pressures by indoctrination, pressure, temptation, education and other dissuasive and persuasive methods. But the choice remains always subject to individual free will.

The choice is free and voluntary

We discussed above the choice as a personal and individual decision. Jean Jacque Rousseau, in Oeuvres, expresses his personal choice throughout the different phases of his life: ‘I believed in my childhood by authority, in my youth by feeling, in my adulthood by reason; now I believe because I have always believed.’ It is more likely for a Mormon brought up in a Mormonism community to be a Mormon, a Jew to be a Jew within his community, a Muslim to be a Muslim within his, or an atheist to be an atheist if he is brought up in an atheist environment. But there is always the freedom of change of belief to another belief system or to the rejection of belief. If the decision is individual and free, indecision can be, and often is, a reason for adjourning the final decision. It is up to the individual to fluctuate between the two options.

The Determining Will

The will is considered here as the determination to affirm an idea or a sentiment and passes to action. The role of freedom is to enable man to choose between the two options, it is the final concluding act of the individual’s freedom. Determination of decision by the will can be temporarily or can be permanent. The temporary decision is a decision that is subject to change. The permanent is a determinant and irreversible final decision. The permanent decision can seal the choice once and for good until death.

Spinoza, Kant and Sartre Positions  

Spinoza considers the will as ‘the capacity to place oneself outside the chain of causes and effects’, but this denotes impartiality of decision. If the will can liberate itself from this, it acts independently of it. Descartes considers the will as ‘not really free but only when it is illuminated by understanding’. On the other hand, such a will indicating ‘human power to choose’, is not admitted by Spinoza. For Descartes, man has the power ‘to do or not to do’.

This choice does not implicate any arbitrariness. Descartes considers the ‘indifference’ which produces oscillation from one side to the other, without inclining towards one or to the other, is the basest degree of freedom. He considers understanding illuminates freedom and hence the decision of choosing is taken perfectly ‘in knowledge of cause’. Spinoza, on the other hand, does not situate freedom in free judgment but in free necessity. For Spinoza, ‘man does not have the will to do or not to do’. Man considers himself, and wrongly so, is above the laws of nature, assumes a finalist prejudice making him believe that all in nature is made for him. For Spinoza man is free when he knows that he exists and acts in a determined manner as all accomplished beings in nature.

Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason presupposes the double character of man. If man, by his sensitive character, is subordinated to natural determinism, he is entirely free by his intelligible character and imputable of his actions.

Sartre, in L’Etre et le Néant, assumes that man is ‘condemned to be free’. In the case where he is ‘first project’ of himself, man chooses entirely his life: ‘there exist no values a priori susceptible to justify his acts’. From this freedom, without foundations, ‘man can not be conscience except in ‘anguish’.’ He denied the existence of God.

Mechanicists versus Vitalist-Finalists 

In our perspective we consider that ‘choice’ is an effect produced by the confrontation between the mind and the world, and hence ‘understanding’ is always free. Otherwise, man becomes a mechanical robot void of reason and have no ‘reason of being’. The value of man consists in this very freedom to think, act and feel as he likes. The choice between the mechanicist-atomistic-physical explication and the causalist-finalist-extra-physical explication is an important indication of the liberty of the individual.

The biased choice

Nietzsche and Leibniz

The biased choice indicates that the individual does not need to confront with the universe in order to make his choice. In fact, he can choose between the two options prior to his interaction with the universe, or outside the confrontation, for other reasons than the confrontation with it. Nietzsche has decided very early in his adolescence to disbelieve in the existence of God and was a militant atheist all his life; he was simply angry with God. Leibniz, similarly and early in his adolescence, decided to believe in this cause and defending it; he loved God. In the case of the two philosophers, they both confronted with the universe and concluded their opposite attitudes drawing support from the same phenomena for each one’s position.

We ought to specify here that a great number of persons choose between the two options with reference to the same phenomena, motivated by various reasons other than their confrontation with the universe. For example, there are those who reject the idea of the existence of a God because of personal dissatisfaction, or hatred or anger against God; there are those, on the opposite side, who believe in the existence of God for psychological satisfaction and dependence, or out of fear and hope. This choice can be identified as the ‘biased choice’, being prior to the actual reflective confrontation with the universe. The decision is then taken ‘outside’ the confrontation with the universe but the universe and experience serve to consolidate the arguments of each party. The pivot point of difference is always lack of evidence for either position.

The choice is empirically verifiable

Finally, we consider that the notion of the choice can be empirically verified. Every individual, mentally healthy and adult, has either already deliberated his choice between belief and disbelief in a creator cause, or he is deliberating this choice. This decision, whether already taken or in the process of being taken, can be actually identified. We have assumed that, as the forced presence of man’s being, the imposed life-cycle, form and structure, motivations and needs, as well as his development, aging and death, considered to be programmed or non-programmed, he is obliged to make the choice.

Confrontation with the universe, whether for the purpose of survival or for acquiring knowledge, is inevitable. Man in his actual state as presence, structure and functioning is already endowed with natural instincts to confront and interact with the universe. He has to think and acquire knowledge. The obligatory interaction between man and the universe necessitates comprehension and explanation. This is the basis of acquiring knowledge. The need for an explanation instigates the idea of a cause, but lack of evidence for such a cause leads to the choice between belief and disbelief.

______

1. Assuming that the first Buddha (6thc BC) and Aristotle (4thc

BC), unlike other thinkers, were not exposed to monotheistic

religious awareness, such as Judaism (13thc BC, written 7thc

BC).

2. Henri Delacroix supposes that natural religion opposes

revealed or positive religion, because natural religion cannot

be reference of human nature, heart and reason. He claims that

natural religion treats positive religions as reason and

unreason, confusion of the mind or spirit, predominance of

imagination, the weakness of the critical mind explains

sufficiently the strangeness of religious myths. He considers

natural religion as preceding revealed religion. Henri

Delacroix, Religion et la foi, Librairie Félix Alcan, Paris,

1922, p. 163.

About the Author

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The Life of Buddha: (BBC): 2/5

Spiritual Practice As A Reflection Towards Attitude In Life

Title: Spiritual practice as a reflection towards attitude in life

If our attitude toward everything in life is flippant and easy, then it will definitely be the same in our spiritual practice. We should not do that with our spiritual practice because that is the most important practice that we can do for ourselves.

 If our Guru gives us something that is not complicated or difficult and we still cannot do it, we still find it difficult, we still find so many reasons not to do it, that itself is an obstacle arising. If we cannot even recite a few words, then we should not even think about meditation, contemplation or higher practices that bring bigger results.

 A person who acknowledges a practice from a Guru, says “yes” and does not do it, definitely cannot advance spiritually; he will also not be able to advance in material, worldly, normal daily situations. It is like not caring about losing $100 – if you just stuff the pile of money in your pocket and it falls out while you run around, then why would you worry about losing one or two dollars?

 In the same way, we have our Guru and spiritual commitment. However, when our Guru gives us something and we do not care, or it is according to our mood or how we feel; it is according to our lack of priorities and we throw those practices aside; we promise, we do, we do not do, then everything else in our life will be exactly the same and our projects or endeavours will not reach fruition and completion. If we promise our Guru something and we do not do it, that will also be how we treat everything in life. We can check someone’s conviction in his life, in himself and in other things by his spiritual practice. When you give someone a practice, you can see their personality very clearly.

 If we are like this and we look carefully at what we are focused on in our lives, we will see that our minds are not on big, important things. Instead, we spend a lot of time explaining ourselves and focusing on very small things. We cannot do bigger things because we do not focus and we do not push ourselves.

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

About the Author

Fulfilling his previous lives’ prayers. His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche chose to take rebirth amongst difficult circumstances to be close to those who would need him most.

Recognised by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 72nd Abbot of Gaden Shartse, Gedun Nyedrak, His Eminence’s spiritual lineage actually begins as one of the eight main disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founding saint of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Why is it that only intelligent, educated and humane people agree with what Buddha had to say about life?

He understood the suffering and death every living being has to go through and used extreme words of compassion to make his point in this manner,

Loaded question.

I agree with Rod Phallus.

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The Life of Buddha Part 1

Get Insight of Buddha Life with Buddhist Tours in India

India is popular worldwide for its architecture, culture, history and religion, thus making the marvellous land wealthy in heritage. It is the only land where distinct legends, warriors and great personalities took birth giving a unique feature to India’s religious culture. India is the only country that has more then ten religion thrives in perfect harmony.

Among numerous religions, Buddhism is one such religion which originated in the fortunate and sacred land of India by Lord Gautam Buddha and is practiced in whole Asia. India has remained an important part in the life of Lord attracting pilgrims from all across the world who are enamoured by His Life and teaching. The popular Buddhist Tours will take you destinations of Buddha birth, lived, attained enlightenment, and died. Apart from the birth place of Lord Buddha i.e. Lumbini which is now situated in Nepal, all other Holy destination of Buddhists are situated in India like Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment. Situated in north east state of Arunachal Pradesh is Tawang monastery having superb collection of ancient scriptures, images, thangkas and an 8 m high gilded image of Lord Buddha. More than 500 monks lives here and practice Buddhism.

Another popular Buddhist Destination in India is Sarnath, situated near holy city Varanasi is also quite popular for the first sermons Gautam Buddha gave to his disciples. You can further visit to Kushinagar, which is last place where Buddha stayed and later entered mahaparnirvana. It is also one of the beautiful Holy destinations in India where magnificent golden statue of sleeping Lord Buddha is present. Moving towards south you will come across world famous Stupa of Sanchi, a lovely epitome of the early Buddhist stupa architecture. Here you can also witness monolithic Ashokan pillar, temples, monasteries and sculptural wealth, thus popular as UNESCO World heritage Site.

With Buddhist Pilgrimage Tours in India you can go deep inside the sects, rituals and customs followed by the Buddhism followers in earlier times. You can move to the world famous Ajanta & Ellora caves where you get to watch great paintings and art about Buddhism. The 29 caves of Ajanta are carved on the sides of hills and show finest specimens of cave temple architecture. The wall highlights the rich tales of several incarnations of the Buddha. Likewise the 34 caves of Ellora are adorned and dedicated to Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Buddhist Tours in short will take you close to Lord Buddha.

About the Author

Author is an eminent and experienced Content Writer in Travel & Tourism related topics. Author has written several articles on and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels and India tours etc. Currently, Author is rendering service for Go Heritage India Journeys.

What are the social and religious factors that led people to become followers of the Buddha in his life time?

Hinduism at that time had turned into a vast edifice of meaningless dogma controlled by unscrupulous priests and temples- that is why initially Buddhism was so appealing, but as Hinduism changed through time it overtook Buddhism as the main belief system in the sub continent.

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HH Dudjom Rinpoche

Laughing Buddha Statues

Buddha Statues – Have you ever wondered why there is such a thing as a laughing Buddha? What does he stand for? There are a few reasons for this great Chinese symbol.

The laughing Buddha, or Budai, is meant to symbolize true contentment. Often he is seen carrying a small sack that is said to hold all of his belongings. This shows that he has but only a few material belongings in this world but with his large smile, he is very happy and content in where he is at in life. He may not have much more than a small cloth sack to carry all that he owns, but he knows what true meaning of happiness is and that it is not material objects. He is also known to represent wealth and prosperity as well as abundance.

When you see a laughing Buddha, you will not only see him with a cloth sack but with prayer beads. This is another symbol that should be important in our lives as prayer will help us to achieve perfect enlightenment.

The laughing Buddha is often used in feng shui because of the good fortunes it is believed to bring. Many believe that in order to receive good fortunes in life you must rub his belly each day. In doing this, you will be guided to your personal wealth. You will not ever want to put him on or even near the floor as this will show disrespect for all that the laughing Buddha represents.

Here at Feng Shui Global, we want to meet all of your feng shui wants and needs. For this reason, we have a wide selection of laughing Buddhas. We have both small and large laughing Buddhas that can easily fit into any environment. We do sell several different laughing Buddhas that are great for when you travel so that you never miss a chance to continue your path to personal wealth. We even carry pendants so that you can put them on a necklace or even a bracelet.

The laughing Buddha is a symbol of many great things. He is a symbol for all, even those who don’t practice Buddhism, and will continue to be such a great symbol for many many years to come. When you first receive your laughing Buddha, your path to personal wealth will begin. This is just the beginning of many great things to come. If you live your life like Budai, you will be happy in all that you do. You may not be monetarily wealthy but you will be wealthy in the form of happiness, good tidings, innocent contented joy and even in kindness. Take the first step in your feng shui life and let the laughing Buddha guide your journey to your destination of personal wealth.

About the Author

Buddha Statues

Is this true what Buddha Said?

All beings tremble before violence.
All fear death.
All love life.

I have yet to find anything that the Buddha said that is not true.

Love and blessings Don

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Smiling Buddha Meditation Technique for Peace and Happiness

Buddha Statue: Ultimate Symbol Of Divinity

Looking at a Buddha statue is like looking into the very face of divinity. The aura generated around each piece – figurine, statue or impression, is created to spread an awareness of the divinity within each one of us. Today, Buddha Statues inspire and adorn every kind of social setting, from the Feng Shui designed restaurant, to the curio shop to the modern home and office. The images are on tapestries, jewelry, linen and even upholstery. However, nothing compares to beholding the sight of a carefully crafted Buddha statue on a mantle piece or at the threshold of a room.

What makes the Buddha statue special?

A Buddha statue has the ability to completely transform a living space. It helps those in close contact to introspect and develop inner qualities. Around the world and across many Asian cultures, the statue is revered as one that brings happiness and good fortune. It is associated with inspiration and all the prerequisites of a good life. The very imagery associated with the Buddha is part of the central philosophy. All the statues now crafted and made available online as well as offline are designed to be tranquil, consistently evoking faith and serenity. At the same time, a touch of gold or ornamentation makes the same statue resplendent with a splendor tha3t is timeless in appeal.

When shopping for a Buddha statue, it is imperative to understand the symbolism behind it. The chosen statue should communicate peace and a sense of self-discipline. Going through the various postures and poses of the Buddha brings up different feelings and emotions. Among the many special Buddha statues are:

Buddharupa: Pictorial representation of the Enlightened One in bronze, wood, stone or brass.

Padmasana: Lotus position sculpture on a lotus pedestal.

Abhaymudra: Right hand held up, to expel fear and offer protection and peace.

Reclining Position: Disconnection with earthly matters.

Dhyana: Hands in his lap to symbolize repose.

Akshobhya: Touching the earth, calling on the earth goddess to witness triumph over senses.

Bhaishajya Guru: Medicinal power.

Manjushri: Teacher and keeper of wisdom.

The various statues of the Buddha also depict the eight auspicious symbols – the conch, fly whisk, lotus blossom, endless knot, parasol, water urn, twin fish and the wheel of dharma. Statues depicting the auspicious knot of hair on the Buddha’s head are also popular, for their symbolism with his spiritual wisdom. A Buddha statue is invested in by different people for different reasons. While for most it depicts an aesthetically appealing timeless piece of art, for some the statue is more than clay or metal or ceramic – it symbolizes peace of mind in situations that throw up conflicting emotions. It is an art to comprehend the significance of one.

A buddha statues can be now purchased from online auctions of collectibles. It is not impossible to get one from art forms of the past. The statues now making rave reviews the world over are those from Srivijaya Art (7th – 14th centuries), Khmer art (11th – 19th centuries), Sukhothai art (13th – 15th centuries) and Ayuthaya art (1350 – 1767).

About the Author

A buddha statue is an investment in a home or office accessory that adds a sense of serenity to the ambience. From curios and souvenirs to life-sized statues of the Enlightened One, you can now shop online for the art from cultures across the planet

Wat do d different postures of Laughing Buddha symbolise?

These little statues of Laughing Buddha come in different postures. They mostly carry a cloth sack , a wheel, a bowl, etc. Each posture of Laughing Buddha is said to bring luck of a particular type like, wealth, progeny, education, happiness n so on… Cud sumone help me identify which posture brings which luck?

Safe Travel Buddha: Holds wealth ball and stick with bag over shoulder.

Prosperity Buddha: Hands raised above head, holding ingot/tael.

Love Buddha: Seated with feet together, bag over shoulder and holding wealth ball.

Spiritual Journey Buddha: Gourd or Wu Lou hanging from stick, fan in one hand and wearing a prayer bead necklace.

Happy Home Buddha: Seated with an umbrella behind back.

Long Life Buddha: Sits on bag of blessings, holding up a wealth ball, ingot/tael in other hand.

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The Last Words of the Buddha

Guard Your Words

• AAMIR KHAN –”Making films is not purely a business; it is an art form. It is unwise to follow Lakshmi in this business:that’sthe starting point. If you follow Saraswati, then Lakshmi will follow but if you follow Lakshmi, bothwillleave.”
• ADI GRANTH –”Our body in Kali Yuga is a field of action; As a man sows, so is his reward. Nothing by empty talk is determined: Anyone swallowing poison must die. Brother! Behold the Creator’s justice. As are a man’s actions, so is his recompense.”
• AKHENATON –”True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance… Be capable of change in that which is right and men will rely on you. Establish in yourself principles of action and see that you ever act according to them. First know that your principles are just and then act.”
• ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN –”Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity Those who clearly recognise the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.”
• ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD –”What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like, and immorality is what they dislike.”
• ALGERNON SIDNEY –”If vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist.”
• AMBROSE BIERCE –”Martyr: They stood before the altar and supplied – The fire themselves in which their fat was fried.”
• ANDY WARHOL –”I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.”
• ANISH KAPOOR –”Red is a colour i’ve felt very strongly about. Maybe red is a very Indian colour, maybe it’s one of those things that i grew up with and recognise at some other level.”
• ANONYMOUS –”"Corruption continues with us beyond the grave,” She said, “and then plays merry hell with all ideas.”
• ANONYMOUS –”An ethical person ought to do more than he’s required to do and less than he’s allowed to do.”
• ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER –”Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
• ASTAVAKRA GITA –”The man who is pure of heart is bound to fulfil himself in whatever way he is taught. A worldly man seeks all his life, but is still bewildered. Detached from the senses; you are free. Attached, you are bound. When this is understood, you may live as you please.”
• ATHARVA VEDA –”Peace be to earth and to airy spaces!/ Peace be to heaven, peace to the waters,/ Peace to the plants and peace to the trees!/ May all the gods grant me peace!/By this invocation of peace may peace be diffused!…/ Sothatpeace may prevail, happiness prevail!/ May everything for us be peaceful!”
• ATHARVA VEDA –”Words can conferstrength; they can drain it off. Words can gain friends; they can turn them into enemies; Words can elevate or lower the individual. One must learn the habit of making one’s words sweet, soft and pleasant.”
• B R AMBEDKAR –”Unlike a drop of water that loses its identity when ittjoins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man’s life is independent. He is born not for the development of society alone, but for the development of the Self.”
• BARRY LONG –”There is only one truth. It is being where you are. And where you are is where your body is.”
• BENJAMIN CARDOZO –”The prophet and the martyr do not see the hooting throng. Their eyes are fixed on the eternities.”
• BERTRAND RUSSELL –”We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side; one which we preach but do not practice, and another which we practice but seldom preach.”
• BESS MYERSON –”The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”By this attitude of complete renunciation you shall be freed from the bondage, good and bad, of Karma. You shall be liberated, and come to Me.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”It is true that the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be overcome, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment. Those who lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation; but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”One who has control over the mind is tranquil in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, in honour and dishonour; and is ever steadfast with the Supreme Self.”
• BHAGAVAD GITA –”To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in these any attachment to inaction.”
• BIBLE –”Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
• BIBLE GENESIS –”While the earth remainth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
• BODHIDHARMA –”The essence of the way is detachment.”
• BYRON –”There’s music in the sighing of a reed; There’s music in the gushing of a rill; There’s music in all things, if men had ears: Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.”
• CHARLES CALEB COLTON –”Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s set a rolling it must increase.” J
• CHUCK PALAHNIUK –”If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?”
• CICERO –”The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.”
• CONFUCIUS –”If a gentleman has courage but neglects justice, he becomes insurgent. If an inferior man has courage but neglects justice, he becomes a thief.”
• CONFUCIUS –”Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”
• DOUG LARSON –”To err is human; to admit it, superhuman.”
• ECKHART TOLLE –”Enlightenment means rising above thought, not falling back to a level below thought, the level of an animal or a plant.”
• ECKHART TOLLE –”When you live in surrender, something comes through you into the world of duality that is notof thisworld.”
• EDGAR WATSON HOWE –”Everyone hates a martyr; it’s no wonder martyrs were burned at the stake.”
• ERNEST HEMINGWAY –”I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after land what is immoral is what you feel bad after.”
• FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE –”The martyr sacrifices themselves entirely in vain. Or rather not in vain; for they make the selfish more selfish, the lazy more lazy, the narrow narrower.”
• FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE –”Morality is the best of all devices for leading mankind by the nose.”
• G I GURDJIEFF –”If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in one hundred years, but you will be helped. Nature must pay off the debt. It is a mathematical law and all life is mathematics.”
• GABRIEL PENDAS –”Justice delayed is justice denied.”
• GALILEO GALILEI –”All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”For, owners of their deeds or karma are the beings, heirs of their deeds; their deeds are the womb from which they sprang; with their deeds they are bound up; their deeds are their refuge. Whatever deeds they do good or evil – of such they will be the heirs. And wherever the beings spring into existence, there their deeds will ripen; and wherever their deeds ripen, there they will earn the fruits of those deeds, be it in this life, or be it in the next life, or be it in any other future life.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.. .To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him,”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which! devote myself is the truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in truth. Lo and behold, I have become the truth.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”They are not following dharma who resort to violence to achieve their purpose. But those who lead others through non-violent means, knowing right and wrong, may be called guardians of the dharma.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”To him in whom love dwells, the whole world is but one family.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”Words have the power to both destroy and heal, When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.”
• GAUTAMA BUDDHA –”Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
• GEORGES BERNANOS –”The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.”
• GURU GOBIND SINGH –”Meeting them, all filth is washed off, bathing in the Pool of Truth, one becomes truthful, with intuitive ease.”
• GURU GRANTH SAHIB –”Gather in the wealth of the Lord, worship the true guru, and give up all your corrupt ways.”
• GURU GRANTH SAHIB –”Intuitive understanding, wisdom, cleverness, glory, beauty, pleasure, wealth and honour, all comforts, bliss, happiness and salvation, 0 Nanak, appear by chanting the name of God.,”
• GURU NANAK –”One’s true home is obtained by serving the True One. Real Truth comes by being truthful. By falsehood and greed, no place of rest is found, and no place in the world hereafter is obtained.”
• GURU NANAK –”Those who conquer their minds are beings of renunciation and detachment. They are lovingly focussed on the True One, they realise and understand themselves.”
• GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB –”0 mother, I have been blessed with the wealth of God’s name. My mind is free from wandering and is established in peace. Avarice and worldly love dare not touch me and pure divine knowledge fills me. Greed and desire cannot affect me. I am totally immersed in Lord’s devotion. Fear of transmigration deserts when blessed with the jewel of Lord’s name. My mind is free of all desire and I am totally absorbed in bliss. He to whom God – the Ocean of Grace – shows mercy sings the praise of the Lord of the world.”
• GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB –”He who trusts in God and makes an honest living to share with others and injures no one, nor harbours ill will against another need perform on other rituals.”
• GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB –”True realisation of the actual nature of this material world, its perishable, transitory and illusory aspects best dawns on a person in suffering.”
• HORACE –”The covetous man is ever in want.”
• I NAPOLEAN BONAPARTE –”t is the cause and not the death that makes the martyr.”
• IMAM ALI –”Good is not that your possessions, wealth and power… increase, but good is that your knowledge increases and your insight grows more powerful, and that the people are proud to serve God. For when you do good, you praise God.”
• IMMANUEL KANT –”Morality is not really the doctrine of how to make ourselves happy but of how we are to be worthy of happiness.”
• INDIRA GANDHI –”One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to do everything with money.”
• J KRISHHAMURTI –”The man who is seeking truth is free of all societies and cultures… There is no path to truth, it must come to you. Truth can come to you only when your mind and heart are simple, clear, and there is love in your heart; not if your heart is filled with the things of the mind.”
• J KRISHNAMURTI –”The thinker is the thought. We would like it to be different so that the thinker may explain the things to himself by means of the thought.”
• J KRISHNAMURTI –”You are more important than i, more important than any teacher, any saviour, any slogan, any belief, because you can find truth only through yourself, not through another… .Human beings are more important than national and ideological boundaries.”
• JALALUDDIN RUMI –”Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
• JEANNETTE WALLS –”Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.”
• JOEL BARLOW –”For now, the corn house filled, the harvest home, Th’ invited neighbours to the husking come; A frolic scene, where work and mirth and play Unite their charms to cheer the hours away.”
• JOHN BARTH –”It is often pleasant to stone a martyr, no matter how much we admire him.”
• KAHLIL GIBRAN –”Do not fear the thorns in your path, for they draw only corrupt blood.”
• KAHLIL GIBRAN –”If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.”
• KAHLIL GIBRAN –”ork is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love, but only with distaste, it is better that you leave your work and sit at the gate of a temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”
• KAHLIL GIBRAN –”Truth is like all beautiful things in the world; it does not disclose its desirability except to those who first feel the influence of falsehood.”
• KATHA UPANISHAD –”Know that the Self is the rider, and the body the chariot; that the intellect is the charioteer, and the mind the reins. The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are the mazes of desire… When a man lacks discrimination and his mind is uncontrolled, his senses are unmanageable, like the restive horses of a charioteer. But when a man has discrimination and his mind is controlled, his senses, like the well-broken horses of a charioteer, lightly obey the rein.”
• KATHA UPANISHAD –”The intellect cannot reveal the timeless Self,’ beyond all perceptions.But those know are neither body nor mind, but the immemorial Self, the Divine, beyond right and wrong, beyond cause and effect, past and future. That’s when AUM reverberates unceasingly within.”
• LAO-TZU –”By letting it go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you cling, the world is beyond winning.”
• LEO TOLSTOY –”In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, and look around you.”
• LORD ACTON –”Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
• M K GANDHI –”I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirtyfeet.”
• M K GANDHI –”It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”
• M K GANDHI –”Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviours. Keep your behaviours positive because your behaviours become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”
• M K GANDHI –”Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness.”
• M K GANDHI –”To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of all Creation as oneself.”
• MAHA NARAYANA UPANISHAD –”What belongs to ’sat’ or good people, is satyam of truthfulness.”
• MAHATMA GANDHI –”Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.”
• MAHATMA GANDHI –”Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.”
• MAITRI UPANISHAD –”Like waves in great rivers, there is no turning back of that which has previously been done.. .The soul is like a lame man, bound by fetters made of the fruit of good and evil.”
• MANMOHAN SINGH –”My government and I will work with renewed resolve for the welfare of our people.”
• MARKTWAIN –”The only way ro keep your health is to eat what you don’t want.”
• MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE –”True republicanism is the sovereignty of the people.”
• MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR –”Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
• MUHAMMAD IQBAL –”Thespiritof philosophy is one of free inquiry. Its function is to trace the uncritical assumptions of human thought to their hiding places, and in this pursuit it may finally end in denial or a frank admission of the incapacity of pure reason to reach the ultimate reality.”
• MUNDAKA UPANISHAD –”Truth is victorious, never untruth./Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life,/ Reached by sages who are free from self-will.”
• NANDAN NILEKANI –”I’ve been wrapped up in Infosys for 28 years. My only identity is Infosys. I will be going to lead a programme to give identity to every Indian. But today i am losing my identity”
• NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI –”Because Just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals.”
• OFUDESAKI –”Until now eachand everyone throughout the world has been concerned only with himself. How pitiful it is! You have no mind to help others, however hard you may think it over. Henceforth, replace your mind indefinitely! I, Tsukihi, request it from you all equally If you ask what kind of mind it is, it is the mind to save single-heartedly all people of the world.”
• OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES –”Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.”
• OSCAR WILDE –”As one reads history, one is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.”
• OSCAR WILDE –”Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.”
• OSEPH P KENNEDY –”Don’t buy a single vote more than necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.”
• OSHO –”Live with people who are blissful, so that you can have a little whiff, a taste. You will have to live in satsang. You will have to look into the eyes of someone who has arrived, so that you can have a little taste-a little sweetness enters into your being, and you can see. A great longing arises in you, seeing that life is not all misery – that nirvana is possible.”
• OSHO –”Nothing has to be changed, because all is beautiful-that is enlightenment. All is as it should be, everything is perfect.”
• OSHO –”Real education will not teach you to compete; it will teach you to cooperate. It will not teach you to fight and come first. It will teach you to be creative; to be loving, blissful, without any comparison with the other. It will not teach you that you can be happy only when you are the first.”
• OSHO –”Truth is an experience, not a belief. Truth never comes by studying about it; truth has to be encountered, truth has to be faced.”
• OSHO –”What i am trying to say to you is a kind of music i have heard. It has not been heard verbally. It is in the sound of running water. It is in the wind passing through the pine trees. It is in the song of the birds. It is in the silence of darkness. It is in the dancing rays of the sun. It is all over the place.”
• PABLO CASALS –”The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. . But why should love stop at the border?”
• PABLO PICASSO –”Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon.”
• PARAMABANSA YOGANANDA –”Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realise that each thought creates accordingto its own nature… Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.”
• PATANJALI –”Peace can be reached through meditation on the knowledge which dreams give. Peace can also be reached through concentration upon that which is dearest to the heart.”
• PAULO COELHO –”Surrendering completely to love, be it human or divine, means giving up everything, including our own well-being or bur ability to make decisions. It means loving in the deepest sense of the word. The truth is that we don’t want to be saved in the way God has chosen; we want to keep absolute control over our every step, to be fully conscious of our decisions, to be capable of choosing the object of our devotion.”
• PETER USTINOV –”Corruption is nature’s way of restoring our faith in democracy.”
• PLATO –”Justice will only exist where those not affected by injustice are filled with the same amount of indignation as those offended.”
• PUBLIUS CORNELIUS TACITUSThe more corrupt the state, the more laws.
• QURAN –”The ink of the scholar and the blood of a martyr are of equal value in heaven.”
• QURAN –”Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness.”
• RABINDRANATH TAGORE –”Music fills the infinite between two souls.”
• RABINDRANATH TAGORE –”Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and i will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as i live.”
• RABINDRANTH TAGORE –”The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.”
• RALPH WALDO EMERSON –”Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that, unsuspected, ripens with the flower of the pleasure that concealed it.”
• RALPH WALDO EMERSON –”The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode.”
• RAM DASS –”There’s much more in any given moment than we usually perceive, and that we ourselves are much more than we usually perceive. When you know that, part of you can stand outside the drama of your life.”
• RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA –”Truth is one; only it is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth. Everyone is going towards God. They will all realise Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.”
• RICHARD NEEDHAM –”I used to look down on the world for being corrupt, but now I adore it for the utter magnificence of that corruption.”
• RIG VEDA –”One should be cautious not to speak anything that hurts others. Such kind of speech never helps but always brings destruction.”
• RIG VEDA –”The mind is fickle like a fast galloping horse and the only way to control it is by involving it in good actions beneficial for the welfare of all.”
• ROLLING THUNDER –”It’s very hard to do things in the right manner, but as long as we do things right, we are in tune with the Great Spirit.”
• S RADHAKRISHNAN –”When we do our work, plough or paint, sing or think (or play a sport)… if we keep thinking of fame or income or any such extraneous consideration, we will be deflected from disinterestedness. Nothing matters except the goodwill of God. Success or failure does not depend on the individual but on other factors as well.”
• SAMUEL T COLERIDGE –”I do not call the sod under my feet my country; but language – religion – government – blood – identity in these makes men of one country.”
• SARASWATI NAMASTUBHYAM –”0 Goddess Saraswati, salutations to you, the giver of boons, the one who fulfils all desires. I begin my studies. May there always be accomplishments for me.”
• SATHYA SAI BABA –”Action with love is right conduct. Speak with love and it becomes truth.”
• SATHYA SAI BABA –”Iron turns to rust if it seeks the company of soil. It glows, softens and takes on useful shapes, if it enjoys the company of fire. Dust can fly if it chooses the wind as its friend. It has to end as slime in a pit, if it prefers water. It has neither wing nor foot, yet it can fly or walk, rise or fall, according to the friend it selects.”
• SATHYA SAI BABA –”Once we surrender our mind to God completely, He will take care of us in every way.”
• SIDDHASWARUPANANDA –”Everyone is engaged in action. The law of karma means that there are reactions to every action and that a person must endure the reactions to his actions.”
• SOCRATES –”I am not an Athenian or a Greek, i am a citizen of the world.”
• SOREN KIERKEGAARD –”The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.”
• SRI AUROBINDO –”Your aim should be high and wide, generous and disinterested; this will make your life precious to yourself and to others. Whatever your ideal, it cannot be perfectly realised unless you have realised perfection in yourself.”
• SRI CHINMOY –”What we call our joy. God calls our perfection. Each human being has come into the world with the message of perfection.”
• SRI CHTNMOY –”He who does not love life, To him life is a taut And rigid grasp. He who loves life, To him life is a beautiful And powerful clasp.”
• SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB –”0 my mind, day and night, you are always full of wishful hopes. Serve the true Guru, and your emotional attachment shall be totally burnt away; remain detached within the home of your heart.”
• SRI SATHYA SAI BABA –”Carry the name of God to every door, wake the sleeping with it, purify the atmosphere of the streets rendered unclean by angry shouts of hate or greed, faction or fight.”
• SRI SATHYA SAI BABA –”Truth is one; there cannot be two. For, two can only be One, occurring twice.”
• SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR –”The Universe is a multilayered existence; there are many levels: there are the molecular, the atomic and the subatomic levels. So also the human consciousness: though one, yet it is many.”
• SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR –”When people losefaith in the natural goodness of human character, the lack of trust in spiritual goodness is the one reason why corruption has become so widespread today.”
• SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM –”Verily nothing is more purifying than the holy name of God.”
• ST JOHN OF THE CROSS –”Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
• STEPHEN ARTERBURN AND JIM BURNS –”It’s important to let our kids know we are aware of our inadequacies. You have nothing to lose in honestly admitting to them that you didn’t do everything correctly as a parent. The admission may be the key to opening communication and beginning the process of healing your relationships with your kids.”
• SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE –”Nationalism is inspired by the highest ideals of the human race, Satyam, truth; Shivam, God; Sundaram, beauty Nationalism in India has… roused the creative faculties which for centuries had been lying dormant in our people.”
• SWAMI KRISHNANANDA –”Seekers of Truth, aspirants on the path of yoga, devotees of God, lovers of mankind, all these have to pay tribute to the supreme father of energy, vital, which is Surya. If you have any visible God, it is the Sun before you.”
• SWAMI KRISHNANANDA –”The Sun is not merely a huge orb of atomic energy as the physicists would tell us, but a radiant mass of life-giving vitality to everyone. And it is this Surya that is worshipped on Pongal.”
• SWAMI RAMDAS –”People do not know what the name of God can do. Those who repeat it constantly alone know its power. It can purify our mind completely… The name can take us to the summit of spiritual experience.”
• SWAMI SIVANANDA –”The Sun itself stands for all the ideals of the Pongal festival. Its message is that of light, unity equality and true selflessness. These are the ideals of Karma Yoga. Hence, the sun is the greatest Karma Yogi.”
• SWAMI SIVANANDA –”The sun, symbolizing wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light, which receded from you when you revelled in the darkness of ignorance, delusion andsensuality, now joyously turns on its northward course and moves towards you to shed its light and warmth in greater abundance, and to infuse into you more life and energy. The sun signifies knowledge, spiritual light and wisdom…. Makara Sankranti signifies that we should turn away from the darkness of delusion in which we live, and begin to joyously let the light within us shine brighter and brighter.”
• SWAMI’ VISHNU-DEVANANDCI –”Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way.”
• SWAMI VIVEKANANDA –”If the poor cannot come to education, education must reach them at the plough, in the factory, everywhere. How? You have seen my brethren.,. Let these men go from village to village bringing not only religion to the door of everyone but also education.”
• TATTVARTHASUTRA –”Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings.”
• THE DALAI LAMA –”I try to treat whoever i meet as an old friend with dignity, with honour.”
• THE DALAI LAMA XIV –”We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don’t make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace.”
• THE MAHABHARATA –”Health best of all gains and peace of mind is the best of all happiness.”
• THE URANTIA BOOK –”This magnificent and universal injunction to strive for the attainment of the perfection of divinity is the first duty and should be the highest ambition, of all the struggling creature creations of the God of perfection.”
• THE VISION OF HERMES –”Hermes: What marvellous sense has opened up to me? I no longer see with eyes of the body but with those of the spirit. How has that come to pass? Osiris: Child of dust, it is because the Word is in thee. That in thee which hears, sees, and acts is the Word itself, the sacred fire, the creative utterance. Hermes: I see the seven regions which comprise the visible and invisible world… Still, how does mankind journey through all these worlds?”
• THIRUKURAL –”Among a man’s many good possessions, a good command of speech has no equal. Prosperity and ruin issue from the power of the tongue. Therefore, guard yourself against thoughtless speech.”
• THOMAS FULLER –”Better be alone than in bad company.”
• THOMAS READ –”One, with God, is always a majority, but many a martyr has been burned at the stake while the votes were being counted.”
• VICTOR HUGO –”Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.”
• VINCENT VAN GOGH –”An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.”
• VIRGIL –”The greatest wealth is health.”
• WAYNE DYER –”The mind is like a white cloth. Dip it in red dye, it turns red; dip it in green, it turns green. Put it out in the sun for long, it loses its colour. The mind truly is the Self itself, with no colour. Swami Chidananda What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds.”
• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE –”All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”
• WOODY ALLEN –”Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television.”
• WTHSTON CHURCHILL –”Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”
• YAJURVEDA –”We should always be soft spoken. Sweet speech has the ability to attract one and all. On the contrary, vitriolic speech keeps people away That is why one should always be soft spoken so that it enhances brotherhood and affection.”
• YEVGENY YEUTUSHENKO –”Justice is like a train that is nearly always late.”
• YOGANANDA PARAMAHANSA –”Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them… Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.”
• ZEN BUDDHISM –”The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labour and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both.”

About the Author

Dr. Ashok Kumar Sharma, Taxidermist, M.A.(History); Certificate in Taxidermy(Madras); Certifate in Library Science (TOPPER-ML Sukhadia Uni. Udaipur,(Rajasthan) INDIA. Hobby: Cricket; Postal Stamp Collection and Collection of Quotations since 1981.

what are the buddha’s words on depression?

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Deepak Chopra Quotes, Quotations and Sayings