BOOK

MAHA PARI NIBBANA SUTTA: English Translation from Pali

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Prachin Bharat

MAHAPARINIBBANA SUTTA

Canonical- दीघनिकाय-महावग्गपाळि-महापरिनिब्बानसुत्तं

Chapter 1

1. So I heard: Once the Blessed One lived in Rajagriha, on a hill called the Gizzha kuta. At this very time, the son of the wife of the Queen of the Vedih family, the king of Magadhi, planned to attack Bajji[वज्‍जी]; and so he said: “I will uproot them, although they are strong and powerful, I will destroy them, I will bring them to the utmost destruction.”

2. This is how he spoke to the Brahmin Vassakare[वस्सकारब्राह्मणो], the first counselor in Magadha, and said: “Get on the road, O Brahman, go to the Blessed One, bow down to venerate his feet, and ask on my behalf, ask him free from sin and misery, joyful in tranquility and joy, healed: And then tell him that Ajatasattu, the son of Vedihi, ruler of Magadha, planned to attack Vajjiyan and says: “I will eradicate these Vajjjans, let them be strong and powerful, I will crush them at the end of them ! “And keep in your memory everything that the Blessed One will say, and repeat to me later. For Buddhas You never tell a lie.

3. Brahman Vassakara listened to the king’s words and said: “So be it!” And ordering to hide a large number of magnificent chariots, he sat on one of them and turned to the top of Korshun, driving as fast as the soil allowed and leaving the chariot he walked approached the place where the Blessed One was. Having approached the Blessed, he exchanged bows and friendly greetings with him and sat respectfully in the direction. And sitting on the side, he said to the Blessed One: “This is what the king told me:“ Pack your way, O brahmana, go to the Blessed One, bow down to venerate his feet at my command, and raise him on my behalf, raise him free from sin and suffering, happy in joy and reassurance, painless. And say, Ajatasattu is the son of the Vedihah, the king of Magadhi decided to attack the Vajjiyan and says: “I will eradicate them, may they be strong and powerful, I will destroy these Vajjiyans, ruin them at the end. And keep it in your memory, all that Blessed will say, and repeat to me later. For the word of Buddha is forever true. “

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Sadhana: Rabindranath Tagore

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RAVINDRANATH TAGORE

The Relation of the Individual to the Universe

THE CIVILIZATION OF ancient Greece was nurtured within city walls. In fact, all the modern civilizations have their cradles of brick and mortar.

These walls leave their mark deep in the minds of men. They set up a principle of ‘divide and rule’ in our mental outlook, which begets in us a habit of securing all our conquests by fortifying them and separating them from one another. We divide nation and nation, knowledge and knowledge, man and nature. It breeds in us a strong suspicion of whatever is beyond the barriers we have built, and everything has to fight hard for its entrance into our recognition. When the first Aryan invaders appeared in India it was a vast land of forests, and the new-comers rapidly took advantage of them. These forests afforded them shelter from the fierce heat of the sun and the ravages of tropical storms, pastures for cattle, fuel for sacrificial fire, and materials for building cottages. And the different Aryan clans with their patriarchal heads settled in the different forest tracts which had some special advantage of natural protection, and food and water in plenty.

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Why I am an atheist: Bhagat Singh (1930)

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A new question has cropped up. Is it due to Vanity that I do not believe in the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God?

I had never imagined that I would ever have to confront such a question.

But conversation with some friends has given me, a hint that certain of my friends, if I am not claiming too much in thinking them to be so-are inclined to conclude from the brief contact they have had with me, that it was too much on my part to deny the existence of God and that there was a certain amount of vanity that actuated my disbelief.

Well, the problem is a serious one. I do not boast to be quite above these human traits. I am a man and nothing more. None can claim to be more. I also have this weakness in me. Vanity does form a part of my nature. Amongst my comrades, I was called an autocrat. Even my friend Mr. B.K. Dutt sometimes called me so. On certain occasions, I was decried as a despot. Some friends do complain and very seriously too that I involuntarily thrust my opinions upon others and get my proposals accepted. That this is true up to a certain extent, I do not deny. This may amount to egotism.

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Anandamat- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay-1882

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আনন্দমঠ – বঙ্কিমচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় -1882

আনন্দমঠ – উপক্রমণিকা
উপক্রমণিকা

অতি বিস্তৃত অরণ্য। অরণ্যমধ্যে অধিকাংশ বৃক্ষই শাল, কিন্তু তদ্ভিন্ন আরও অনেকজাতীয় গাছ আছে। গাছের মাথায় মাথায় পাতায় পাতায় মিশামিশি হইয়া অনন্ত শ্রেণী চলিয়াছে। বিচ্ছেদশূন্য, ছিদ্রশূন্য, আলোকপ্রবেশের পথমাত্রশূন্য; এইরূপ পল্লবের অনন্ত সমুদ্র, ক্রোশের পর ক্রোশ, ক্রোশের পর ক্রোশ, পবনে তরঙ্গের উপরে তরঙ্গ বিক্ষিপ্ত করিয়া চলিয়াছে। নীচে ঘনান্ধকার। মধ্যাহ্নেও আলোক অস্ফূট, ভয়ানক! তাহার ভিতরে কখন মনুষ্য যায় না। পাতার অনন্ত মর্ম্মর এবং বন্য পশুপক্ষীর রব ভিন্ন অন্য শব্দ তাহার ভিতর শুনা যায় না।

একে এই বিস্তৃত অতি নিবিড় অন্ধতমোময় অরণ্য; তাহাতে রাত্রিকাল। রাত্রি দ্বিতীয় প্রহর। রাত্রি অতিশয় অন্ধকার কাননের বাহিরেও অন্ধকার, কিছু দেখা যায় না। কাননের ভিতরে তমোরাশি ভূগর্ভস্থ অন্ধকারের ন্যায়।

পশুপক্ষী একেবারে নিস্তব্ধ। কত লক্ষ লক্ষ কোটি কোটি পশু, পক্ষী, কীট, পতঙ্গ সেই অরণ্যমধ্যে বাস করে। কেহ কোন শব্দ করিতেছে না। বরং সে অন্ধকার অনুভব করা যায় – শব্দময়ী পৃথিবীর সে নিস্তব্ধভাব অনুভব করা যাইতে পারে না।

সেই অন্তশূন্য অরণ্যমধ্যে, সেই সূচীভেদ্য অন্ধকারময় নিশীথে, সেই অননুভবনীয় নিস্তব্ধ মধ্যে শব্দ হইল, “আমার মনস্কাম কি সিদ্ধ হইবে না?”

শব্দ হইয়া আবার সে অরণ্যানী নিস্তব্ধে ডুবিয়া গেল; তখন কে বলিবে যে, এ অরণ্যমধ্যে মনুষ্যশব্দ শুনা গিয়াছিল? কিছুকাল পরে আবার শব্দ হইল, আবার সেই নিস্তব্ধ মথিত করিয়া মনুষ্যকণ্ঠ ধ্বনিত হইল, “আমার মনস্কাম কি সিদ্ধ হইবে না?”

এইরূপ তিন বার সেই অন্ধকারসমুদ্র আলোড়িত হইল। তখন উত্তর হইল, “তোমার পণ কি?”

প্রত্যুত্তরে বলিল, “পণ আমার জীবনসর্ব্বস্ব।”

প্রতিশব্দ হইল, “জীবন তুচ্ছ; সকলেই ত্যাগ করিতে পারে।”

“আর কি আছে? আর কি দিব?”

তখন উত্তর হইল, “ভক্তি।”

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Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man

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Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man

Main Branch: France Fontainebleau
(Formerly “Chateau du Prieuré”)

[1922]

The Prospectus for Gurdjieff’s Institute describes its program as “practically the continuation of the Society that went under the name of the “Seekers after Truth” . . . founded in 1895.” The following excerpt reproduces the main text pp 1-6. — Pages 7-11 list the proposed courses followed by an 8 page “Historometrical Individual Record (for pupils and patients of the first category.”

The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man by the G. I. Gurdjieff system is practically the continuation of the Society that went under the name of the “Seekers after Truth.”

This Society was founded in 1895 by a group of various specialists, including doctors, archaeologists, priests, painters, etc., whose aim was to study in close collaboration so-called supernatural phenomena, in which each of them was interested from a particular point of view.

During the existence of the Society, its members undertook many very difficult journeys, mostly in Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Thibet, India, but also in other countries. They also undertook a good deal of work of various descriptions in connection with their object, which involved much labour and organisation.

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Liber AL vel Legis -The Book of the Law

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Introduction

I

The Book

1. This book was dictated in Cairo between noon and 1 p.m. on three successive days, April 8th, 9th and 10th in the year 1904.

The Author called himself Aiwass, and claimed to be “the minister of Hoor-Paar-Kraat”; that is, a messenger from the forces ruling this earth at present, as will be explained later on.

How could he prove that he was in fact a being of a kind superior to any of the human race, and so entitled to speak with authority? Evidently he must show KNOWLEDGE and POWER such as no man has ever been known to possess.

2. He showed his KNOWLEDGE chiefly by the use of cipher or cryptogram in certain passages to set forth recondite facts, including some events which had yet to take place, such that no human being could possibly be aware of them; thus, the proof of his claim exists in the manuscript itself. It is independent of any human witness.

The study of these passages necessarily demands supreme human scholarship to interpret— it needs years of intense application. A great deal has still to be worked out. But enough has been discovered to justify his claim; the most sceptical intelligence is compelled to admit its truth.

This matter is best studied under the Master Therion, whose years of arduous research have led him to enlightenment.

On the other hand, the language of most of the Book is admirably simple, clear and vigorous. No one can read it without being stricken in the very core of his being.

3. The more than human POWER of Aiwass is shewn by the influence of his Master, and of the Book, upon actual events: and history fully supports the claim made by him. These facts are appreciable by everyone; but are better understood with the help of the Master Therion.

4. The full detailed account of the events leading up to the dictation of this Book, with facsimile reproduction of the Manuscript and an essay by the Master Therion, is published in The Equinox of the Gods.

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Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson:Gurdjieff

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ALL AND EVERYTHING / FIRST SERIES

Ten Books in Three Series

FIRST SERIES Three books under the title of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man.

SECOND SERIES Two books under the common title of Meetings with Remarkable Men.

THIRD SERIES Five books under the title of Life Is Real Only Then, When “I Am. “

All written according to entirely new principles of logical reasoning and directed toward the accomplishment of the following three fundamental tasks:

FIRST SERIES To destroy, mercilessly and without any compromise whatever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world.

SECOND SERIES To acquaint the reader with the material required for a new creation and to prove the soundness and good quality of it.

THIRD SERIES To assist the arising, in the mentation and in the feelings of the reader, of a veritable, nonfantastic representation not of that illusory world which he now perceives, but of the world existing in reality.

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THE PROPHET By Kahlil Gibran-1923

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“His power came from some great reservoir of spiritual life else it could not have been so universal and so potent, but the majesty and beauty of the language with which he clothed it were all his own?”

—Claude Bragdon

CONTENTS

The Coming of the Ship
On Love
On Marriage
On Children
On Giving
On Eating and Drinking
On Work
On Joy and Sorrow
On Houses
On Clothes
On Buying and Selling
On Crime and Punishment
On Laws
On Freedom
On Reason and Passion
On Pain
On Self-Knowledge
On Teaching
On Friendship
On Talking
On Time
On Good and Evil
On Prayer
On Pleasure
On Beauty
On Religion
On Death
The Farewell

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Land of Two Rivers – A History of Bengal From the Mahabharata to Mujib-Nitish Sengupta

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Book excerpt

PENGUIN BOOKS 2011

Preface

“This is by far the only book that covers the history of Bengal from the earliest times until the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 as an independent country. Bengal, or ‘Bangla Desh’, as it is called by all Bengalis in the cultural sense (as distinct from the post-1971 country of Bangladesh in the political sense), has gone through many changes across centuries. There was the first partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon which was resisted by the majority of the people. There was also the second partition in 1947 when a majority of the people called for a partition of the province into a Hindu-majority segment and the Muslim-majority segment, the former going to India and the latter going to Pakistan. From that point the two Bengals ceased to share a common political history and the Bengali-speaking people were split between the province of EastBengal (known as East Pakistan from 1956 till 1971) and the Indian state of Wiest Bengal. In 1971 East Pakistan revolted against West Pakistan and seceded to create a new nation-state known as Bangladesh.During the last four decades, I have been known as an author on management, economics and related subjects. It will surprise many friends to know that I majored in history and started my career by teaching history in PresidencyCollege, Calcutta, in 1956–57 before I joined the Indian Administrative Services(IAS). I was then gradually sucked into the world of management science and applied economics and took a PhD in management from the University of Delhi”.

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THE IDEA OF CHRIST IN THE GOSPELS OR GOD IN MAN:GEORGE SANTAYANA

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THE IDEA OF CHRIST IN THE GOSPELS OR GOD IN MAN

A CRITICAL ESSAY BY GEORGE SANTAYANA

CONTENTS

PART FIRST

THE IDEA OF CHRIST IN THE GOSPELS

I Inspiration
II Character of the Several Gospels
III The Messiah
IV The Son of God
V The Son of Man
VI The Miracles
VII The Parables
VIII The Prophecies and the Precepts
IX The Prayers
X The Passion
XI The Resurrection

PART SECOND

ULTERIOR CONSIDERATIONS

I Traditional Assumptions
II Monarchical Theism
III The Concept of Creation
IV The Fatherhood of God
V Moralism
VI God’s Love of Man and Man’s Love of God
VII The Animal Psyche and the Supernatural Soul
VIII Self-Transcendence
IX Conclusion

INSPIRATION

Many a ’’Life of Jesus” has been composed in the effort to recast the narratives in the four Gospels into one consecutive and credible history. For a believer, if he were greatly inspired, such an undertaking might be legitimate; yet it would be hardly required, since the narratives, though independent, fall together of themselves, in the pious mind, into a total and impressive picture. The history of Christian faith and of Christian art sufficiently proves it. But this presupposes an innocent state of mind that accepts every detail, no matter how miraculous, with unhesitating joy, and is ready sympathetically to piece out the blanks in the story, and to imagine ever more vividly how everything must have happened. So every orthodox preacher does in his glowing sermons, and every devout soul in its meditations.

If, however, the would-be biographer of Jesus is a cool aide,
with no religious assumptions, his labours will be entirely wasted,
because he has mistaken the character of his texts. The Gospels are
not historical works but production of inspiration. They are sum-
monses and prophecies, announcing the end of this world, or at
least of the present era, and prescribing the means by which individual souls may escape destruction, and enter into a Kingdom of Heaven which is at hand.

Essentially, then, the Gospels are prophetic; they bring “glad tidings”; yet they are not written by the prophets themselves, but gathered together a generation orContinue Reading