Spirituality and the human
Archangel Jophiel (or Zophiel) is one of the non-canonical angels whose name means “Beauty of God.” Jophiel is the archangel of wisdom, illumination, fidelity, creativity, art, and beauty. The colour belonging to Jophiel is golden yellow, and the gem is yellow citrine quartz. We can invoke the Archangel Jophiel on Thursdays, which correspond with Jupiter in Vedic astrology. Jupiter is likewise invoked through the same colour and gem.
Saint John of the Cross (original name of Juan de Yepes y Álvarez)(1542-1591) was a Spanish Catholic mystic. He belonged to the Carmelite order. He is one of the Doctors of the Church. And He is a patron saint of mystics and contemplatives and of Spanish poets.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a 15th-century Indian saint who rekindled devotion in his times. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mode of worshipping Krishna with ecstatic song and dance had a profound effect on religious worship in Bengal.
Sarada Devi – called The Holy Mother or Divine Mother – was the consort of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. To Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi was the visible representation of the Blissful Mother. If they were ‘married as man and wife‘, it was for the purpose of fulfilment of a great Mission, for the purpose of a great religious and spiritual renaissance in the country, and not to live as the ‘normal man and wife’.
Rumi was the founder of the Whirling Dervishes. He is also considered the greatest mystic poet and to this day, is considered a leader of awakening.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. In his lifetime, Ralph Waldo Emerson became the most widely known man of letters in America.
St Maximus the Confessor is one of the most significant Byzantine saints in the Orthodox Christian tradition. Within a comprehensive Christ-centred worldview St. Maximus engaged and clarified difficult sayings in the writings of St Gregory the Theologian, expanded upon the thought of St Gregory of Nyssa, and wrote extensively on the nature of the Church, asceticism, and self-sacrificial love in Christ and the life of holiness.
Sri Aurobindo (15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950), also known as Yogi Arvind, was an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. His birth anniversary is annually held on August 15. In 2022, it is the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (Yogi Aravind). There is an ongoing controversy among scholars and a section of devotees as to whether Buddha is an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Sri Aurobindo shares his thoughts on Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu.
Buddhism originated in India, based on the teachings, of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha. A Buddha is one who is said to be awake to the truth of life.
Over the centuries his teachings spread from Nepal to Central Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and now Europe and North and South America. Theravada Buddhism is most common in South Asia; Mahayana further north. Buddhism exists in many different strands today, but all schools and sects share basic ideas. About seven percent of the people of the world are Buddhist.
While many people see Buddhism as a religion, others see it as a philosophy, and others as a way of finding reality.
Ibn Sina, commonly known in the West as Avicenna, was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic Golden Age, and the father of early modern medicine. Although Avicenna exericised considerable influence over medieval European thought, in Muslim circles he is considered above all to be a great spiritual leader.
Sant Kabir Jayanti is observed on the Purnima or full moon day in the month of Jyeshta (May – June) as per traditional calendar. In 2022, the date of Sant Kabir Jayanti is June 14. This month’s Full Moon is in a somewhat precarious position, gandanta, the boundary between water and fire signs. This occurrence frequently presents somewhat knotty problems.
Swami Siddharoodha was a wandering advaita yogi. He considered all people equal, he disregarded the caste system that existed during those times. Siddharoodha is one of the least known among the most illumined souls. From childhood he showed characteristics of spiritual maturity. His remarkable story offers great help to spiritual seekers on conduct and right perspective. He was a true sage in a rather deceiving appearance.
April 26 is the birth anniversary of Vallabhacharya, Indian Saint who established the Pushtimarg. Vallabhacharya taught monism or the Shuddhadvaita School of philosophy and it stresses that Sri Krishna is responsible for all animate and inanimate and only through His blessings can a human being attain Moksha.
Avatars act towards their predetermined mission on earth. Shri Shirdi Sai descended onto the earth when the communal clashes were at their peak and He came to reestablish harmony between the various religions. During the same period, Sri Shirdi Sai also brought another saint to earth. Sri Yerrithatha of Hagaribommanahalli of Chellagurki (Bellary taluk, Karnataka), was a partial aspect of Lord Shiva.
Hazrat Rabia Basri was the one who first set forth the doctrine of Divine Love known as Ishq-e-Haqeeqi (Divine Love) and is widely considered being the most important of the early renunciants, one mode of piety that would eventually become labeled as Sufism.
