By:
Christian Plumlee
Brianna Johnson
Tyrell Gilmore

These “little
prophets”,
headed by a girl
known as “the
fair Isabel”, went
from village to
village
announcing that
the reign of
Antichrist had
begun, and
would shortly be
terminated by
the Second
Coming of Christ

Mahatma
Gandhi
studied law
and came to
aggravate for
Indian Rights
both of home
and in South
Africa

The two-nation
theory, Hindus
and Muslims,
the fire of
hatred,
prejudice and
enmity, and the
splitting of the
Indiansubcontinent
into Pakistan
and India
they’ve been
promoting the
quest for peace

(Rabindranath
Tagore) where
the mind is
without fear and
the head is held
high where
knowledge is
free where the
world has not
been broken up
into fragments
by narrow
domestic walls

As India's regional
leaders boldly reach
out to Pakistan,
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
appears to have
tamely ruled out a
visit to Islamabad in
the near future. The
deputy chief minister
of Punjab, Sukhbir
Singh Badal, has just
returned from
Lahore, claiming that
a historic moment in
the relations between
the two Punjabs is at
hand
. - See more at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ambassa
dors-to-pakistan/1030155#sthash.k3i0IBZM.dpuf
Ganesha is one of the most distinctive Hindu deities, with
his large elephant head and pot-bellied human body.
Known as the Lord of Obstacles, Ganesha has a dual role of
removing obstacles as well as creating obstructions for
those whose hubris and ambition have become destructive.
As the Remover of Obstacles and the god of success,
Ganesha is honored throughout India and in Hindu
cultures, at both secular and religious ceremonies. When
someone launches a new business or moves into a new
home, for example, the elephant-headed god is invoked to
bless the venture.
Revered for his cleverness and wisdom, Ganesha is also
known as the patron of letters and learning. According to
some scholars of Hindu literature, Ganesha is the scribe
who wrote down the legendary Indian epic the
Mahabharata, dictated to him by the ancient sage Vyasa. It
is said that Ganesha agreed to transcribe the epic only if
Vyasa would recite the poem without pausing.
The birth of Ganesha
One day Goddess Parvati was at home on Mt.Kailash preparing for a bath. As she didn’t
want to be disturbed, she told Nandi, her husband Shiva’s Bull, to guard the door and let
no one pass. Nandi faithfully took his post, intending to carry out Parvati’s wishes. But,
when Shiva came home and naturally wanted to come inside, Nandi had to let him pass,
being loyal first to Shiva. Parvati was angry at this slight, but even more than this, at the
fact that she had no one as loyal to Herself as Nandi was to Shiva. So, taking the turmeric
paste (for bathing) from her body and breathing life into it, she created Ganesha, declaring
him to be her own loyal son.
The next time Parvati wished to bathe, she posted Ganesha on guard duty at the door. In
due course, Shiva came home, only to find this strange boy telling him he couldn’t enter
his own house! Furious, Shiva ordered his army to destroy the boy, but they all failed!
Such power did Ganesha possess, being the son of Devi Herself!
This surprised Shiva. Seeing that this was no ordinary boy, the usually peaceful Shiva
decided he would have to fight him, and in his divine fury severed Ganesha’s head,
killing him instantly. When Parvati learned of this, she was so enraged and insulted that
she decided to destroy the entire Creation! Lord Brahma, being the Creator, naturally had
his issues with this, and pleaded that she reconsider her drastic plan. She said she would,
but only if two conditions were met: one, that Ganesha be brought back to life, and two,
that he be forever worshipped before all the other gods.
Shiva, having cooled down by this time, and realizing his mistake, agreed to Parvati’s
conditions. He sent Brahma out with orders to bring back the head of the first creature he
crosses that is laying with its head facing North. Brahma soon returned with the head of a
strong and powerful elephant, which Shiva placed onto Ganesha’s body. Breathing new
life into him, he declared Ganesha to be his own son as well, and gave him the status of
being foremost among the gods, and leader of all the ganas (classes of beings), Ganapati.
The Size of Sorrow
An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints one
day. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice
returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water
and then drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Ugh! Very salty,” said the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same
handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the
nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the
water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked,
“How does it taste?”
“Fresh and sweet,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious
young man, and explained softly,
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life
remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste
depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the
only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a
tumbler. Become a lake
.”
Kali Ma, called the "Dark Mother," is the Hindu goddess
of creation, preservation, and destruction. Kali, in this
aspect is said to be "The hungry earth, which devours its
own children and fattens on their corpses…" In India the
experience of the Terrible Mother has been given its most
grandiose form of Kali, which just is not simple imagery; it
is the image of the Feminine, particularly the Maternal, for
in a profound way life and birth are integrally connected to
death and destruction.
Kali serves as the archetypal image of the birth-and-death
Mother, simultaneously the womb and tomb, giver of life
as well as the devourer of her children: the identical image
was portrayed in a thousand ancient religions. Current
psychologists face this image with an uneasy
acknowledgement of its power. Apparently the image of
the angry, punishing, castrating Father seems less
threatening than the destructive Mother--perhaps because
she symbolized the inexorable reality of death, whereas he
only postulated a problematic post-mortem judgment.
Perhaps this is one reason the Roman Catholics maintain
the teaching of purgatory, to divert the final end.
.
The Two Wolves.
One night a Shaman Healer sat with his grandson by
the fire. His grandson asks him to tell a story. The
Shaman told him a story about two wolves.
The Shaman said that in every man's mind there are
two wolves who constantly battles with each other.
One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, and ego.
One is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,
truth, compassion and faith.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and
asked "Which wolf wins?"
His grandfather simply replied "The one you feed."
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.chopra.com/articles/2010/03/20/archetype-series-who-isganesha/
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.themystica.org/mythicalfolk/articles/kali_ma.html
.
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://mythologystories.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/the-size-of-sorrow/
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://candesscampbell.com/articles/the-childarchetype
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080909211941AA4n0Si
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.amritapuri.org/3714/ganesha.aum
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://ganapati.perso.neuf.fr/anglais/adetmyth.html