Spirituality and the human
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, perhaps modern India’s greatest sage, recommended Atma-Vichara or Self-inquiry as the best and most direct approach for Self-realization. However, a careful examination of his teachings reveals that he recommended yogic approaches of devotion, mantra or raja yoga – he encouraged whatever might aid a person in their sadhana.
Author of The Interior Castle, reformer of the Carmelite order, and pioneer of Christian mysticism, St. Teresa of Ávila is one of the most influential and inspiring saints in the realm of Christian spirituality.
Nandanar was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He is considered as one among the 63 Nayanars (Shaivite Saints). Nandanar belonged to a small village known as Adhanur in Tamilnadu. He belonged to the community that made percussion instruments and in those days they were looked down by the upper community. After his daily work, he would spent most of his time singing the glories of the Lord.
Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for Engaged Buddhism. Known as the “father of mindfulness”, Nhất Hạnh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.
Arutprakasa Vallalār Chidambaram Ramalingam (5 October 1823 – 30 January 1874 [Attained Immortality]), whose pre-monastic name was Rāmalingam, is commonly known in India and across the world as Vallalār. He was one of the most famous Tamil Saints and also one of the greatest Tamil poets of the 19th century and belongs to a line of Tamil saints known as “gnana siddhars” (gnana means higher wisdom).
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.
