"Just as a man will use a staff to climb a mountain, so should virtue be used in life."

Yogaswami of Jaffna (1872-1964)

Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket. Swami Chinmayananda

He who is born in the fire will not fade in the sun. South Indian Proverb

Culture without religion is tourism.

Years ago, I used to walk for miles to meet my Guru. The distance appeared no longer than a few furlongs. Dada J.P. Vaswani

Disciple: Is it possible to cleanse India of degenerate practices?

Swami Vivekananda: What nonsense you say, you coward! You have well-nigh thrown India into ruin by always crying "It is impossible, it is impossible!" What cannot human effort achieve?

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Mark Twain

Praise shames me, for I secretly beg for it. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) a celebrated Bengali writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913

I would love to find that my future army contained a vast preponderance of women over men. If the fight came, I should then approach it with much greater confidence than if men predominated. I would dread the latter's violence. Women would be my guarantee against such an outbreak. Mahatma Gandhi

He creates the Universe and then reveals Himself to us and in us. He made Himself manifest. Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture

Those who hate people of lower nature, become people of low nature.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evilÑhate begetting hate, wars producing more warsÑmust be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

If thou thinkest twice before thou speakest once, thou wilt speak twice the better for it. William Penn (1644-1718), one of America's founding fathers

Why do people long for eternal life when they don't even know what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon?

There was once a wise man who lived simply. His spartan food habits reflected this. He had a friend who, being a sycophant of the king, lived in great luxury. One day this friend called on the wiseman while he was eating. Looking at the food, the friend said, "My friend, if you can please the king like me, you will be free from this wretched food." The wise man smiled and replied, "My friend, if you can be pleased with this simple food, you can be free from the wretched job of pleasing the king."

Enough is never enough, until you have had enough of having enough.

Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me. In the great teaching of the Vedas, there is no touch of sectarianism. It is of all ages, climes and nationalities and is the royal road for the attainment of the Great Knowledge. When I am at it, I feel that I am under the spangled heavens of a summer night." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American philosopher and writer

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. Siddhartha Gautama (ca 566-486 bce)

At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation is the ancient Hindu way. Here we have the attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family. Dr. Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889-1975) a respected British historian

What is the instant? That is what we have to discover through a moment of concentration. What is the moment? We all know what the past isÑmany people live in the past, over and over again, and they never catch up with the present. Other people live in the futureÑbut of course when they do, they are really only living in the past, too, and they never find the present either. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001) from "The Eternal Now," 1961

DID YOU KNOW?

Nepal Temple Rules at German Expo

It took 29 Nepalese craftsmen and engineers four years and us$2.8 million to carve and erect a 75-foot-tall wooden stupa, tower, together with a 36-foot temple for Expo 2000, Hannover, Germany. The temple stole the show, stunning visitors from Germany and all over the world. Competition was fierce, with impressive pavilions from 173 countries. The Nepali structure sat near the main gate, and because of its height could be seen from all over the Expo. The pavilion was poised in a half-acre mandala-shaped garden with a pond.

Avoidance of Backbiting

Tirukural 182:More vile than violating virtue and committing crime is slandering a man, then smiling to his face.

Tirukural 186:If a man spreads tales of others' faults, his own worst faults will be exposed and spread.

Tirukural 187:Not knowing the companionable art of cheerful conversation, men estrange even friends by divisive discourse.

Tirukural 190:If men perceived their own faults as they do the faults of others, could misfortune ever come to them?