June 1997

Quotes & Quips

"Whatever appears in the world is God.
No one knows His beginning, middle or end."

Swami Muktananda (1908-1982)

Load too many of them and even peacock feathers would break a sturdy cart's axle. Tirukural, Verse 475

"You are fine. How am I?" Asked by one psychic upon meeting another psychic on the street.

"Nothing is permanent but change." Greek philosopher Heracleitus (540-480bce)

"That deathless love which the ignorant have for the fleeting objects of the senses--as I keep remembering You, may that love not slip away from my heart." Vishnu Purana, Verse 1.20.23

As he stepped out on the golf course at Ooty, India, a distinguished Hindu gentleman was asked, "But why are you wearing two dothis (wrap-arounds)?" He replied with an optimistic smile, "Because today I might get a 'hole-in-one!' "

Said to be a true story, a thermodynamics professor had written a take-home exam for his graduate students. It had one question: "Is hell exothermic (heat releasing) or endothermic (heat absorbing)? Support your answer with a proof." Most students responded with proofs using Boyle's Law, relating temperature, pressure and volume.

One student wrote: "We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass (weight). At what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

"As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different world religions. Some state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can conclude that all people and all souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

"Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant.
So, if hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose. Of course, if hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over."