"The natural obduracy of Varanasi refuses to submit to the humiliation of decay.
She refuses to desintegrate like other cities of prehistory.
She rejuvenates her virginity with each rape.
Wrecks, under which a lesser would long have been buried, have actually been lifted by her into monuments of glory and added faith.
Each wound inflicted on her body has smarted her to attain a heftier recovery and made her gain and added vigour.
Recessions replenish her; deluges fertilise her; death reincarnates her.
The breathtaking nobility of her fantastic river-side-beauty has inspired poets to string verses, artists to draw and paint, music makers to sing, and photographers to gawk and shoot."
("Varanasi rediscovered" by B. Bhattacharya)













"Man, born of woman, has found it a hard thing to forgive her for giving him birth.
The patriarchal protest against the ancient matriarch has borne strange fruit through the years".
(Lillian Smith - American Writer, 1897-1966)






"'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?"
(The Bible - Acts 7:49)












“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”
(Kahlil Gibran - Lebanese born American philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet. 1883-1931)










“Only the educated are free.”
(Epictetus - Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)




“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.”
(Plato - Ancient Greek Philosopher, 428 BC-348 BC)








“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live.”
(Mortimer Adler - American Philosopher, 1902-2001)






"In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand.
Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself. "
(Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895–1986)




“The horse is an archetypal symbol which will always find ways to stir up deep and moving ancestral memories in every human being.”
(Paul Mellon - American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, 1907 - 1999)












“In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast.
Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.”
(Quentin Crisp - English Author, 1908-1999)










"O Solitude! If I must with thee dwell, Let it not be among the jumbled heap of murky buildings".
( John Keats - English Romantic Poet. 1795-1821)












“If we continuously maintain self awareness, we will be able to experience peace and happiness.”
(Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī, also known as Amma - Hindu spiritual leader and teacher, born in 1953)








“From the solemn gloom of the temple children run out to sit in the dust, God watches them play and forgets the priest”.
(Rabindranath Tagore - Indian Poet, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)




"Shri Ram
Jai Ram
Jai Jai Ram"





"Do not abandon yourselves to despair.
We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."
(Pope John Paul II, 1920 – 2005)










"Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.
To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
(Buddha - Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)



"I lost you out of ignorant attachment to my body.
Then I wasted my time searching high and low.
Finally I found you within, O Shiva, then we united in Bliss.
Only though the grace and compassion of Siddhanath could this have happened.

When the mirror of my mind became clear, I realized the fundamental principle that resides in my relatives and others dear to me.
And this non-dual knowledge completely destroyed all thoughts of 'you' and 'I'.
I came to know that the entire world is not different from the divine."
(Lalleshwari a 14th century poetess saint)








There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
( Edith Wharton - American Novelist and short-story writer, 1862-1937)





“He who Himself sees all but whom no one beholds, who illumines the intellect, the sun, the moon and the stars and the whole universe but whom they cannot illumine, He indeed is Brahman, He is the inner Self.
Celebrate the real Deepavali by living in Brahman, and enjoy the eternal bliss of the soul.”

- Daiwali










If there were no God, it would have been necessary to invent him.
(Voltaire - French Philosopher and Writer, 1694-1778)







If I need a cause for celebration
Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind
I rely on my imagination
And I dream of an imaginary time.
(Billy Joel - American Pianist, Singer and Song Writer, b.1949)








“I believe in prayer.
It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.”
(Josephine Baker - American-born French singer and actress, 1906–1975)