Monday, 7 March 2016
Saturday, 20 February 2016
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Autism Night Before Christmas by Cindy Waeltermann
Twas the Night Before Christmas
And all through the house
The creatures were stirring
Yes, even the mouse
We tried melatonin
And gave a hot bath
But the holiday jitters
They always distract
The children were finally
All nestled in bed
When nightmares of terror
Ran through my OWN head
Did I get the right gift
The right color
And style
Would there be a tantrum
Or even, maybe, a smile?
Our relatives come
But they don’t understand
The pleasure he gets
Just from flapping his hands.
“He needs discipline,” they say
“Just a well-needed smack,
You must learn to parent…”
And on goes the attack
We smile and nod
Because we know deep inside
The argument is moot
Let them all take a side
We know what it’s like
To live with the spectrum
The struggles and triumphs
Achievements, regressions…
But what they don’t know
And what they don’t see
Is the joy that we feel
Over simplicity
He said “hello”
He ate something green!
He told his first lie!
He did not cause a scene!
He peed on the potty
Who cares if he’s ten,
He stopped saying the same thing
Again and again!
Others don’t realize
Just how we can cope
How we bravely hang on
At the end of our rope
But what they don’t see
Is the joy we can’t hide
When our children with autism
Make the tiniest stride
We may look at others
Without the problems we face
With jealousy, hatred
Or even distaste,
But what they don’t know
Nor sometimes do we
Is that children with autism
Bring simplicity.
We don’t get excited
Over expensive things
We jump for joy
With the progress work brings
Children with autism
Try hard every day
That they make us proud
More than words can say.
They work even harder
Than you or I
To achieve something small
To reach a star in the sky
So to those who don’t get it
Or can’t get a clue
Take a walk in my shoes
And I’ll assure you
That even 10 minutes
Into the walk
You’ll look at me
With respect, even shock.
You will realize
What it is I go through
And the next time you judge
I can assure you
That you won’t say a thing
You’ll be quiet and learn,
Like the years that I did
When the tables were turned……
And gave a hot bath
But the holiday jitters
They always distract
The children were finally
All nestled in bed
When nightmares of terror
Ran through my OWN head
Did I get the right gift
The right color
And style
Would there be a tantrum
Or even, maybe, a smile?
Our relatives come
But they don’t understand
The pleasure he gets
Just from flapping his hands.
“He needs discipline,” they say
“Just a well-needed smack,
You must learn to parent…”
And on goes the attack
We smile and nod
Because we know deep inside
The argument is moot
Let them all take a side
We know what it’s like
To live with the spectrum
The struggles and triumphs
Achievements, regressions…
But what they don’t know
And what they don’t see
Is the joy that we feel
Over simplicity
He said “hello”
He ate something green!
He told his first lie!
He did not cause a scene!
He peed on the potty
Who cares if he’s ten,
He stopped saying the same thing
Again and again!
Others don’t realize
Just how we can cope
How we bravely hang on
At the end of our rope
But what they don’t see
Is the joy we can’t hide
When our children with autism
Make the tiniest stride
We may look at others
Without the problems we face
With jealousy, hatred
Or even distaste,
But what they don’t know
Nor sometimes do we
Is that children with autism
Bring simplicity.
We don’t get excited
Over expensive things
We jump for joy
With the progress work brings
Children with autism
Try hard every day
That they make us proud
More than words can say.
They work even harder
Than you or I
To achieve something small
To reach a star in the sky
So to those who don’t get it
Or can’t get a clue
Take a walk in my shoes
And I’ll assure you
That even 10 minutes
Into the walk
You’ll look at me
With respect, even shock.
You will realize
What it is I go through
And the next time you judge
I can assure you
That you won’t say a thing
You’ll be quiet and learn,
Like the years that I did
When the tables were turned……
Saturday, 26 January 2013
ASHVAGHOSHA’S DESCRIPTION OF GAUTAMA’S ENCOUNTER WITH A CORPSE
PRINCE TO THE CHARIOTEER:”WHO IS THIS BORNE BY FOUR MEN,
FOLLOWED BY MOURNFUL COMPANIONS, WHO IS BEWAILED, ADOURNED BUT NO LONGER
BREATHING?”
CHARIOTEER: THIS IS SOME POOR MAN WHO, BEREFT OF HIS
INTELLECT, SENSES, VITAL AIRS AND QUALITIES, LYING ASLEEP AND UNCONSCIOUS, LIKE
MERE WOOD OR STRAW, IS ABONDONED ALIKE BY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES AFTER THEY HAVE
CAREFULLY SWATHED AND GUARDED HIM.
HAVING HEARD THESE WORDS OF THE CHARIOTEER HE WAS SOMEWHAT
STARTLED AND SAID TO HIM, “IS THIS AN ACCIDENT PECULIAR TO HIM ALONE, OR IS
SUCH THE END OF ALL LIVING CREATURES?”
THEN THE CHARIOTEER REPLIED TO HIM, “THIS IS THE FINAL END
OF ALL LIVING CREATURES; BE IT A MEAN MAN, A MAN OF MIDDLE STATE, OR A NOBLE,
DESTRUCTION IS FIXED TO ALL IN THIS WORLD.”
THEN THE KING’S SON, SEDATE THOUGH HE WAS, AS SOON AS HE
HEARD OF DEATH, IMMEDIATELY SANK DOWN OVERWHELMED, AND PRESSING THE END OF THE
CHARIOT POLE WITH HIS SHOULDER SPOKE WITH A LOUD VOICE:
“IS THIS END APPOINTED TO ALL CREATURES, AND YET THE WORLD
THROWS OFF ALL FEAR AND IS INFATUATED! HARD INDEED, I THINK MUST THE HEARTS OF
MEN BE, WHO CAN BE SELF-COMPOSED IN SUCH A ROAD.”
“THEREFORE, O CHARIOTEER, TURN BACK OUR CHARIOT, THIS IS NO
TIME OR PLACE FOR A PLEASURE-EXCURSION; HOW CAN A RATIONAL BEING, WHO KNOWS
WHAT DESTRUCTION IS, STAY HEEDLESS HERE, IN THE HOUR OF CALAMITY?”
FROM GAUTAMA BUDDHA, IQBAL SINGH
LIGHT OF ASIA
EDWIN ARNOLD
But lo! Siddârtha turned
Eyes gleaming with divine tears to the sky,
Eyes lit with heavenly pity to the earth;
From sky to earth he looked, from earth to sky,
As if his spirit sought in lonely flight
Some far-off vision, linking this and that,
Lost -- past -- but searchable, but seen, but known.
Then cried he, while his lifted countenance
Glowed with the burning passion of a love
Unspeakable, the ardor of a hope
Boundless, insatiate: "Oh! suffering world,
Oh! known and unknown of my common flesh,
Caught in this common net of death and woe,
And life which binds to both! I see, I feel
The vastness of the agony of earth,
The vainness of its joys, the mockery
Of all its best, the anguish of its worst;
Since pleasures end in pain, and youth in age,
And love in loss, and life in hateful death,
And death in unknown lives, which will but yoke
Men to their wheel again to whirl the round
Of false delights and woes that are not false.
Me too this lure hath cheated, so it seemed
Lovely to live, and life a sunlit stream
For ever flowing in a changeless peace;
Whereas the foolish ripple of the flood
Dances so lightly down by bloom and lawn
Only to pour its crystal quicklier
Into the foul salt sea. The veil is rent
Which blinded me! I am as all these men
Who cry upon their gods and are not heard
Or are not heeded -- yet there must be aid!
For them and me and all there must be help!
Perchance the gods have need of help themselves
Being so feeble that when sad lips cry
They cannot save! I would not let one cry
Whom I could save! How can it be that Brahm
Would make a world and keep it miserable,
Since, if all-powerful, he leaves it so,
He is not good, and if not powerful,
He is not God? -- Channa! lead home again!
It is enough! mine eyes have seen enough!"
Eyes gleaming with divine tears to the sky,
Eyes lit with heavenly pity to the earth;
From sky to earth he looked, from earth to sky,
As if his spirit sought in lonely flight
Some far-off vision, linking this and that,
Lost -- past -- but searchable, but seen, but known.
Then cried he, while his lifted countenance
Glowed with the burning passion of a love
Unspeakable, the ardor of a hope
Boundless, insatiate: "Oh! suffering world,
Oh! known and unknown of my common flesh,
Caught in this common net of death and woe,
And life which binds to both! I see, I feel
The vastness of the agony of earth,
The vainness of its joys, the mockery
Of all its best, the anguish of its worst;
Since pleasures end in pain, and youth in age,
And love in loss, and life in hateful death,
And death in unknown lives, which will but yoke
Men to their wheel again to whirl the round
Of false delights and woes that are not false.
Me too this lure hath cheated, so it seemed
Lovely to live, and life a sunlit stream
For ever flowing in a changeless peace;
Whereas the foolish ripple of the flood
Dances so lightly down by bloom and lawn
Only to pour its crystal quicklier
Into the foul salt sea. The veil is rent
Which blinded me! I am as all these men
Who cry upon their gods and are not heard
Or are not heeded -- yet there must be aid!
For them and me and all there must be help!
Perchance the gods have need of help themselves
Being so feeble that when sad lips cry
They cannot save! I would not let one cry
Whom I could save! How can it be that Brahm
Would make a world and keep it miserable,
Since, if all-powerful, he leaves it so,
He is not good, and if not powerful,
He is not God? -- Channa! lead home again!
It is enough! mine eyes have seen enough!"
Sunday, 6 January 2013
POEMS OF FRANCIS THOMPSON
Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play
Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play;
Go, children of swift joy and tardy sorrow:
And some are sung, and that was yesterday,
And some are unsung, and that may be tomorrow.
Go forth; and if it be o'er stony way,
Old joy can lend what newer grief must borrow:
And it was sweet, and that was yesterday,
And sweet is sweet, though purchased with sorrow.
Go, songs, and come not back from your far way:
And if men ask you why ye smile and sorrow,
Tell them ye grieve, for your hearts know Today,
Tell them ye smile, for your eyes know Tomorrow.
The Kingdom of God
O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air—
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!—
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places;—
Turn but a stone, and start a wing!
‘Tis ye, ‘tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Saturday, 14 July 2012
AKASH BHORA SURJO TARA
Akash bhora shurjo tara
Bishwa bhora pran
Tahari majkhane ami peyechhi
Peyechhi mor sthan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
Asim kaler je hillole
Joar bhatae bhubon dole
Narite mor raktadharae legechhe tar Tan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
Ghase ghase pa phelechhi
Boner pathe jete
Phuler gandhe chamak lege uthechhe mon mete
Chhariye achhe ananderi gan
Kan petechhi chokh melechhi
Dharar buke pran dhelechhi
Janar majhe ajanare karechhi sandhan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
Bishwa bhora pran
Tahari majkhane ami peyechhi
Peyechhi mor sthan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
Asim kaler je hillole
Joar bhatae bhubon dole
Narite mor raktadharae legechhe tar Tan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
Ghase ghase pa phelechhi
Boner pathe jete
Phuler gandhe chamak lege uthechhe mon mete
Chhariye achhe ananderi gan
Kan petechhi chokh melechhi
Dharar buke pran dhelechhi
Janar majhe ajanare karechhi sandhan
Bishowye tai jage, jage amar gaan
PERSONS ASSOCIATED WITH BRAHMO SAMAJ
RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
Raja Rammohan Roy has come to be called the ‘Maker of Modern India’. Without giving up what was good and noble in the past, he laid the foundations for a great future. He put an end to the horrible custom of burning the living wife with the dead husband. He was a great scholar and an independent thinker. He advocated the study of English, Science, Western Medicine and Technology. He spent his money on a college to promote these studies.
Brahmo Samaj
In 1828, a man named Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) founded an organization called 'Brahmo Samaj'. Indian historians consider this organization forerunner which paved the way for reformation in India and its establisher as the 'father of modern India'. Raja Ram was a Brahman from Bengal. He was a British civil servant in India. He saw in British rule of India the best things that were benefical to India. He adored the west European philosophy of democracy, liberalism and humanism. He had a great interest in non- Indian cultures and religions. He was especially impressed by Christianity and other religions which preached the existence of one Almighty God.
Raja Ram tried to create a new Hindu religion philosophy and enfolded in it the existence of one God and other beliefs, which were then not the predominant features in Hinduism. He attacked some Hindu traditions and features among them caste system, child marriages, Sati - burning of the live wife over her dead husband's pyre, idolatry and other beliefs. He tried to change the popular Hindu traditions and claimed that the popular Hindu traditions were different from the real Hindu beliefs.
Raja Ram and his organization 'Brahmo Samaj' tried to change the social order of India. He established newspapers and schools all around India. He convinced the British in 1829 to outlaw Sati. But during that period there wasn't yet an Indian ethos among the Indians. Indians were never one nation but always a collection of different entities. They were used to different rulers including non- Indians. From their point of view the British were just another ruler over them.But the main contribution of the Brahmo Samaj to the society of India was that it evoked issues that were common to people all around the Indian sub-continent. The notions of this organization were the inspiration for other organizations and various secular political parties, like the Indian National Congress, which were later on created in India
DEBENDRANATH TAGORE
Debendranath Tagore, Debendranath also spelled Devendranath, Bengali
Debendranāth Ṭhākur (born May 15, 1817, Calcutta, India—died Jan. 19,
1905, Calcutta), Hindu philosopher and religious reformer, active in
the Brahmo Samaj (“Society of Brahmā,” also translated as “Society of
God”), which purged the Hindu religion and way of life of many abuses.
Born into a wealthy landowning family, Tagore began his formal
education at the age of nine; he was instructed in India’s classical
language, Sanskrit, in Persian, in English, and in Western philosophy.
He became a close friend of his younger fellow reformer Keshab Chunder
Sen. Tagore spoke out vehemently against suttee (self-immolation of a
widow on her husband’s funeral pyre), a practice that was especially
prevalent in Bengal. Together, Tagore and Sen attempted to raise the
Indian literacy rate and to bring education within the reach of all.
Unlike Sen, however, Tagore remained a more conservative Hindu, while
Sen drifted toward Christianity. This philosophical break between the
two men eventually resulted in a schism within the Brahmo Samaj in 1866.
Tagore, in his zeal to erase Hindu idolatry as well as divisive and
undemocratic practices, finally rejected the whole of the Vedas, the
ancient Hindu scriptures, claiming that no set of writings, however
venerable, could furnish complete and satisfying guidelines to human
activity. Failing to find a middle path between radical rationalism and
fanatical Brahman conservatism, Tagore retired from public life,
although he continued to instruct a small band of followers. In 1863 he
founded Śantiniketan (“Abode of Peace”), a retreat in rural Bengal later
made famous by his poet son Rabindranath Tagore, whose educational
centre there became an international university. Until his death Tagore
bore the title Maharishi (“Great Sage”).
Tagore’s voluminous
writings were in his native Bengali. One of his books was translated
into English, Vedantic Doctrines Vindicated (1845). His Brahmo-Dharma
(1854; “The Religion of God”), a commentary in Bengali on the Sanskrit
scriptures, is considered to be a masterpiece.
KESHAB CHANDRA SEN
Keshab Chunder Sen, also spelled Keshub Chandra Sen (born Nov. 19,
1838, Calcutta—died Jan. 8, 1884, Calcutta), Hindu philosopher and
social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within
the framework of Hindu thought.
Although not of the Brahman caste, Sen’s family was prominent in Calcutta, and he received the required education. At age 19 he joined the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahmā, also translated as Society of God) founded in 1828 by the Hindu religious and social reformer Rammohan Ray. The Brahmo Samaj was intended to revitalize Hindu religion through use of ancient Hindu sources and the authority of the Vedas. Sen was convinced, however, that only Christian doctrine could bring new life to Hindu society.
By the use of dynamic and practical Christian missionary methods, Sen effected social reforms that were badly needed in India; he organized relief campaigns for the poor, promoted literacy among his countrymen by founding schools for children and adults, and issued a number of inexpensive publications to bring reading matter within the reach of all. He condemned child marriage and was instrumental in having the marriage rites of his society recognized by law in 1872. He also advocated widow-remarriage and even intercaste marriage.
While his contemporaries Debendranath Tagore and Ramakrishna remained thoroughly Hindu in outlook, Sen very nearly converted completely to Christianity. The deterrent proved to be his belief that Christ, however admirable, was not unique. Nevertheless, he did want his people to emulate Christ, believing that only a vital Christianity would be the salvation of a stratified and ossified Hindu society. He was more interested in the practical application of religion to social conditions than in depth of thought. An open break with Debendranath Tagore followed, and Sen formed a new society in 1866 called the Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj (“Society of Brahmā of India”). The original society was renamed the Adi Samaj (“Old Society”) and was quickly purged of Christian teaching.
In 1870 Sen lectured widely in England and was presented to Queen Victoria. Again he was impressed with Christianity as a force in English life. Back in India, however, he allowed his 14-year-old daughter to marry the son of the maharaja of Cooch Behār, thus publicly repudiating his avowed opposition to child marriage. As a result, some of his followers broke away, and he organized a new society, Naba Bidhān, or Nava Vidhāna (“New Dispensation”), continuing to preach a mixture of Hindu philosophy and Christian theology. He revived many ancient Vedic practices and sent out 12 disciples to preach under a flag bearing a crescent, a cross, and a trident. Sen retained public esteem until his death.
Although not of the Brahman caste, Sen’s family was prominent in Calcutta, and he received the required education. At age 19 he joined the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahmā, also translated as Society of God) founded in 1828 by the Hindu religious and social reformer Rammohan Ray. The Brahmo Samaj was intended to revitalize Hindu religion through use of ancient Hindu sources and the authority of the Vedas. Sen was convinced, however, that only Christian doctrine could bring new life to Hindu society.
By the use of dynamic and practical Christian missionary methods, Sen effected social reforms that were badly needed in India; he organized relief campaigns for the poor, promoted literacy among his countrymen by founding schools for children and adults, and issued a number of inexpensive publications to bring reading matter within the reach of all. He condemned child marriage and was instrumental in having the marriage rites of his society recognized by law in 1872. He also advocated widow-remarriage and even intercaste marriage.
While his contemporaries Debendranath Tagore and Ramakrishna remained thoroughly Hindu in outlook, Sen very nearly converted completely to Christianity. The deterrent proved to be his belief that Christ, however admirable, was not unique. Nevertheless, he did want his people to emulate Christ, believing that only a vital Christianity would be the salvation of a stratified and ossified Hindu society. He was more interested in the practical application of religion to social conditions than in depth of thought. An open break with Debendranath Tagore followed, and Sen formed a new society in 1866 called the Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj (“Society of Brahmā of India”). The original society was renamed the Adi Samaj (“Old Society”) and was quickly purged of Christian teaching.
In 1870 Sen lectured widely in England and was presented to Queen Victoria. Again he was impressed with Christianity as a force in English life. Back in India, however, he allowed his 14-year-old daughter to marry the son of the maharaja of Cooch Behār, thus publicly repudiating his avowed opposition to child marriage. As a result, some of his followers broke away, and he organized a new society, Naba Bidhān, or Nava Vidhāna (“New Dispensation”), continuing to preach a mixture of Hindu philosophy and Christian theology. He revived many ancient Vedic practices and sent out 12 disciples to preach under a flag bearing a crescent, a cross, and a trident. Sen retained public esteem until his death.
Saturday, 30 June 2012
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA AND HIS DISCIPLE SWAMI KRIPANANDA
THE LIFE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
BY HIS EASTERN AND WESTERN DISCIPLES
Page No. 3, 13, 33, 58, 63, 67, 69, 73, 489
PASSAGE FROM THE BEGINNING OF AMERICAN WORK
“I am very happy now,” he had written to Mrs. Bull a few days earlier. “Between Mr. Landsberg [later Swami Kripananda] and me, we cook some rice and lentils or barley and quietly eat it, and write something or read or receive visits from poor people who want to learn something, and thus I feel I am more a sannyasin now than I ever was in America.”
Leon Landsberg, the latter of whom lived for about two and a half months with the Swami in his New York quarters on West Thirty-third Street, helping him with the organizational aspect of his work.
The Swami Kripananda , before he was taken into the circle and took the vows of poverty and chastity, was a newspaper man , employed on the staff of one of the most prominent New York papers. By birth he is a Russian Jew, named Leon Landsberg.
“Today, I shall cook for you.” To this Landsberg would ejaculate in an aside, “Heaven save us!” By way of explanation he said that in New York when Swamiji cooked, he, Landsberg, would tear his hair, because it meant that afterwards every dish in the house required washing.
SWAMI KRIPANANDA(LEON LANDSBERG):
I SHALL NEVER FORGET THAT MEMORABLE EVENING WHEN THE SWAMI APPEARED SINGLE-HANDED TO FACE THE FORCES OF MATERIALISM, ARRAYED IN THEIR HEAVIEST ARMOUR OF LAW, AND REASON, AND LOGIC, AND COMMON SENSE, OF MATTER, AND FORCE, AND HEREDITY, AND ALL THE STOCK PHRASES CALCULATED TO AWE AND TERRIFY THE IGNORANT. IMAGINE THEIR SURPRISE AND CONSTERNATION WHEN THEY FOUND THAT, FAR FROM BEING INTIMIDATED BY THESE BIG WORDS, HE PROVED HIMSELF A MASTER IN WIELDING THEIR OWN WEAPONS, AND AS FAMILIAR WITH THE ARGUMENTS OF MATERIALISM AS WITH THOSE OF ADVAITA PHILOSOPHY.
PEOPLE ARE QUICK TO APPRECIATE THE GRANDEUR AND BEAUTY OF A SYSTEM WHICH, EQUALLY AS A PHILOSOPHY AND A RELIGION, APPEALS TO THE HEART AS WELL AS TO THE REASONS, AND SATISFIES ALL THE RELIGIOUS CRAVINGS OF HUMAN NATURE; ESPECIALLY SO, WHEN IT IS BEING EXPOUNDED BY ONE WHO, LIKE OUR TEACHER WITH HIS WONDERFUL ORATORY, IS ABLE TO ROUSE AT WILL THE DORMANT LOVE OF THE DIVINELY SUBLIME IN THE HUMAN SOUL, AND WITH HIS SHARP AND IRREFUTABLE LOGIC TO EASILY CONVINCE THE MOST STUBBORN MIND OF THE MOST SCIENTIFIC MATTER-OF-FACT MAN. NO WONDER, THEREFORE, THAT THIS INTEREST IN HINDU THOUGHT IS TO BE MET WITH AMONG ALL CLASSES OF SOCIETY…
BY THE BY, INDIA HAD BETTER AT ONCE MAKE CLEAR HER TITLE TO THE OWNERSHIP OF THE SWAMI. THEY ARE ABOUT TO WRITE HIS BIOGRAPHY FOR THE NATIONAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THUS MAKING OF HIM AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. THE TIME MAY COME WHEN, EVEN AS SEVEN CITIES DISPUTED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THE HONOUR OF HAVING GIVEN BIRTH TO HOMER, SEVEN COUNTRIES MAY CLAIM OUR MASTER AS THEIRS, AND THUS ROB INDIA OF THE HONOUR OF PRODUCING ONE OF THE NOBLEST OF HER CHILDREN.
SWAMI KRIPANANDA(LEON LANDSBERG):
The portrayal of Leon Landsberg (Swami Kripananda) is, to say the least, unjust and unduly harsh.
In fact, Leon Lansberg (Swami Kripananda) was detachment personified and a true sanyasin. All his actions have to be seen in this light. Swami Vivekananda was very fond of him, and Swami Kripananda was an ardent admirer of Swamiji.
The above quotes should make the position clear.
IT WOULD NOT BE OUT OF PLACE TO MENTION THAT BUDDHA’S DISCIPLES LEFT HIM AFTER GAUTAMA’S ENLIGHTENMENT BUT RETURNED LATER AT SARNATH TO RECEIVE HIS FIRST SERMON.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Friday, 18 May 2012
buddham sharanam gachchhaami Manna Dey Anil Biswas Bharat Vyas ANGULIMAL...
Angulimala Sutta
To Angulimala
I heard thus:
At one time the Blessed One was living in the monastery offered by Anathapindika in Jeta’s grove in Savatthi. At that time in King Pasenadi Kosala’s kingdom there was a robber named Angulimala. He was fierce, with bloody hands, engaged in killing living things without mercy. At that time he destroyed complete villages, complete hamlets and even the state. He killed humans to wear a garland of fingers. Then the Blessed One put on robes in the morning, taking bowl and robes entered Savatthi for alms. Going the alms round and returning from the alms round and after the meal was over, arranged the dwelling and taking bowl and robes, followed up the path to where Angulimala was. Cowherds, farmers and travelers seeing the Blessed One following up the path leading to where Angulimala was staying said. ‘Recluse do not fall to that path, there lives a robber named Angulimala, a fierce one with bloody hands, engaged in killing living things, without mercy. He has destroyed complete villages, complete hamlets and even states. He kills humans to wear a garland of fingers. O recluse, even a band of ten, twenty, thirty forty, or even fifty people going along this path were killed by this robber Angulimala. When this was said the Blessed One went on, silently.
For the second time they said it and the Blessed One went on, silently and for the third time they said it and the Blessed One went on, silently.
The robber Angulimala saw the Blessed One coming in the distance and it occurred to him: Indeed it is wonderful, people come along this path in bands of ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty, they all got into my hands, this recluse comes all alone, without another, may be he thinks to overcome me. What if I kill this recluse? Then the robber Angulimala took out his sword and armor and fixed his bow and arrow and followed close behind Blessed One. The Blessed One performed such a psychic intention, that the robber Angulimala pursuing the Blessed One with all his strength would not reach the Blessed One. Then it occurred to the robber Angulimala: It is indeed wonderful, earlier, I could overtake a running elephant, a running horse, a moving chariot, here running with all my strength, I cannot reach up to this recluse. He stopped and called to the Blessed One. ‘Stop! Recluse stop!’
Angulimala, I have stopped. ‘Stop you too!’ The Blessed One said.
Then it occurred to the robber Angulimala: These recluses, the sons of the Sakyas talk the truth and are established in the truth: Yet while walking why did he say, I have stopped and Angulimala you too stop! What if I ask about it from the recluse?’ Then the robber Angulimala said this verse to the Blessed One.
‘While going the recluse says ‘I have stopped,’ when I have stopped, he says I have not stopped.
Recluse, explain this to me, how have you stopped and I have not stopped.
Angulimala I have stopped for good, giving up punishing living things.
You are not restrained towards living things, therefore I have stopped and you have not.
After a long time did we meet a great sage in the great forest,
I will throw away demerit for good, hearing your words enjoined with the Teaching.
Then and there the robber threw away his weapons into the depths of the forest, fell at the feet of the Blessed One and begged for the going forth.
The Blessed One, the sage with compassion, for the whole world, gave him the going forth saying. ‘Come O Bhikkhu!’ that was his going forth
Then the Blessed One with venerable Angulimala as the second monk went through the streets of Savatthi and arrived at the monastery offered by Anathapindika in Jeta’s grove. At that time at the entrance to the palace of king Pasenadi of Kosala was assembled a large gathering, making much noise: Lord, there is a robber Angulimala, in the kingdom. He is fierce, with bloody hands, has no compassion for living things, destroys, hamlets, villages and states. He killing humans collects fingers to wear as a garland round his neck. Lord he should be punished.
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala left his palace with about five hundred riders on horseback and approached the monastery. Went as far as could be reached in that conveyance and approached the Blessed One, on foot. Approaching the Blessed One worshipped and sat on a side. Then the Blessed One said thus to king Pasenadi of Kosala ’Great king, has king Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha arisen against you, or has the Licchavis of Vesali arisen against you?’ ‘No, venerable sir, neither king Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha has arisen against me, nor the Licchavis of Vesali have arisen against me. Yet there is a robber in my kingdom, by the name Angulimala, fierce, bloody handed, without compassion for living things. He destroys hamlets, villages and states killing humans to collect fingers to wear a garland round his neck. Venerable sir, I cannot punish him.’
‘Great king, if you see, Angulimala, with shaved head and beard, donning yellow clothes, gone forth homeless, abstaining from, destroying life, taking the not given, telling lies, partaking one meal a day, and virtuous. What would you do to him?’
‘Venerable sir, I will get up from my seat on his arrival, prepare him a seat, invite him, arrange to provide the four requisites of life, robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill and provide him righteous protection. Yet venerable sir, how could such virtues come to evil doers, like him?’
At that time venerable Angulimala was seated close to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One stretched his right and said, to king Pasenadi of Kosala: Great king that is Angulimala.
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala was shivering with fear and his hairs stood on end. Then the Blssed One knowing that king Pasenadi of Kosala was shivering with fear and that his hairs were standing on end, said thus: Great king, do not fear, there is nothing to fear now. Then all that fear vanished from the king and approached venerable Angulimala and said. ‘Venerable sir, are you Angulimala?’
‘Yes, great king, I’m Angulimaala.’
‘Of what clan is the venerable one’s father and of what clan is the venerable one’s mother?’
‘Great king, my father is Gagga and my mother Mantani’
‘Venerable sir, venerable Gaggamantaniputta, take pleasure in the Dispensation, I will provide with the four requisites of life such as robes, morsel food dwellings and requisites when ill. At that time venerable Angulimala was a dependent on morsel food, a forest dweller, a rag robe wearer and confined to three robes. So venerable Angulimala said to king Pasenadi of Kosala.’ Useless great king, my three robes are complete.’
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala approached the Blessed One worshipped, sat on a side and said. ‘Indeed, it is wonderful, how you tame, those that have to be tamed, how you appease those that are not appeased, how you make the not extinguished to extinguish. How you tame those that could not be tamed with stick or weapon, without stick or weapon. Now we have much work to do, we would go. Then king Pasenadi of Kosala getting up from his seat, worshipped and circumambulated the Blessed One, and went away.’
Then venerable Angulimala putting on robes in the morning and taking bowl and robes entered Savatthi for alms. When going the alms round in Savatthi in due order, saw a certain woman with the pains of childbirth, then it occurred to him, indeed beings are defiled. Then after the alms round and after the meal was over, venerable Angulimala approached the Blessed One worshipped, sat on a side and said to the Blessed One: ‘Venerable sir, when I was going for alms in due order, I saw a certain woman suffering from the pains of childbirth and it occurred to me: Indeed beings are defiled.’
‘Then Angulimala go to Savatthi, approach that woman and tell her. ‘Sister, since my birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’
‘Venerable sir, won’t it be a lie told with awareness, I have destroyed many living things with awareness.’
Then Angulimala go to Savatthi and approach that woman and tell her. ‘Sister, since I was born in the noble birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’
Then venerable Angulimala agreed went to Savatthi approached that woman and told her. ‘Sister, since I was born in the noble birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’ Then she got well and the child was also well. Then Angulimala withdrawn from the crowd, secluded and diligent for dispelling abode and before long for whatever reason sons of clansmen rightfully leave the household and become homeless, that noble end of the holy life he here and now knowing realized and abode. He knew, birth is destroyed, the holy life is lived, what should be done is done. There is nothing more to wish.
Then venerable Angulimala putting on robes in the morning and taking bowl and robes went the alms round in Savatthi. Then if a clod was thrown at anybody else, it hit venerable Angulimala. If a stick was thrown at anybody else, it hit venerable Angulimala. If a stone was thrown, it hit venerable Angulimala. Venerable Angulimala would come to the Blessed One with a split head and blood dripping, with the bowl broken and with robes torn. The Blessed One seeing venerable Angulimala approaching in the distance would say: Brahmin, endure that, on account of the results of your actions you would have been reaping results for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years in hell. Brahmin, bear the results of your actions here and now.
Venerable Angulimala experienced the pleasantness of release in his seclusion, and then these verses occurred to him:
‘The negligent one became diligent, and illuminates the world like the moon freed from clouds.
When his merit covers up the demerit, he illuminates the world like the moon freed from clouds.
The young Bhikkhu yoked to the Dispensation of the Blessed One illuminates the world-like the moon freed from clouds.
My enemies, listen to the Teaching, be yoked to the Dispensation of the Blessed One.
My enemies, associate friends who show the appeasing Teaching
My enemies, with patience and aversion dispelled, listen to the Teaching and live according to the Teaching,
Do not hurt me or anybody else for any reason, attain to the highest appeasement and protect the firm and the infirm.
Irrigators lead water, fletchers bend arrows, the carpenter bends wood and the wise tame the self.
Some are tamed with a stick, or hook or whip, I was tamed without a stick or weapon, by a such like one.
Earlier when I was a hurter, my name was non-hurter, now am true to my name I do not hurt anyone.
Earlier I was a robber known as Angulimala, and was carried away by the surge of the refuge in the enlightenment.
Earlier I was known as Angulimala with bloody hands, look at the refuge the leader of being is destroyed
Having done many actions leading to birth in hell, touched by the results of actions I partake food without a debt.
Fools are yoked to negligence; the wise protect diligence as the highest wealth.
Do not be yoked to negligence, and sensual pleasures, concentrate diligently to attain pleasantness.
Go to increase, not to decrease, this is good advice, reach the highest of the analytical knowledge’s.
Go to increase, not to decrease, this is good advice of mine, I have attained the Three knowledge’s and done the dispensation of the Enlightened One.
To Angulimala
I heard thus:
At one time the Blessed One was living in the monastery offered by Anathapindika in Jeta’s grove in Savatthi. At that time in King Pasenadi Kosala’s kingdom there was a robber named Angulimala. He was fierce, with bloody hands, engaged in killing living things without mercy. At that time he destroyed complete villages, complete hamlets and even the state. He killed humans to wear a garland of fingers. Then the Blessed One put on robes in the morning, taking bowl and robes entered Savatthi for alms. Going the alms round and returning from the alms round and after the meal was over, arranged the dwelling and taking bowl and robes, followed up the path to where Angulimala was. Cowherds, farmers and travelers seeing the Blessed One following up the path leading to where Angulimala was staying said. ‘Recluse do not fall to that path, there lives a robber named Angulimala, a fierce one with bloody hands, engaged in killing living things, without mercy. He has destroyed complete villages, complete hamlets and even states. He kills humans to wear a garland of fingers. O recluse, even a band of ten, twenty, thirty forty, or even fifty people going along this path were killed by this robber Angulimala. When this was said the Blessed One went on, silently.
For the second time they said it and the Blessed One went on, silently and for the third time they said it and the Blessed One went on, silently.
The robber Angulimala saw the Blessed One coming in the distance and it occurred to him: Indeed it is wonderful, people come along this path in bands of ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty, they all got into my hands, this recluse comes all alone, without another, may be he thinks to overcome me. What if I kill this recluse? Then the robber Angulimala took out his sword and armor and fixed his bow and arrow and followed close behind Blessed One. The Blessed One performed such a psychic intention, that the robber Angulimala pursuing the Blessed One with all his strength would not reach the Blessed One. Then it occurred to the robber Angulimala: It is indeed wonderful, earlier, I could overtake a running elephant, a running horse, a moving chariot, here running with all my strength, I cannot reach up to this recluse. He stopped and called to the Blessed One. ‘Stop! Recluse stop!’
Angulimala, I have stopped. ‘Stop you too!’ The Blessed One said.
Then it occurred to the robber Angulimala: These recluses, the sons of the Sakyas talk the truth and are established in the truth: Yet while walking why did he say, I have stopped and Angulimala you too stop! What if I ask about it from the recluse?’ Then the robber Angulimala said this verse to the Blessed One.
‘While going the recluse says ‘I have stopped,’ when I have stopped, he says I have not stopped.
Recluse, explain this to me, how have you stopped and I have not stopped.
Angulimala I have stopped for good, giving up punishing living things.
You are not restrained towards living things, therefore I have stopped and you have not.
After a long time did we meet a great sage in the great forest,
I will throw away demerit for good, hearing your words enjoined with the Teaching.
Then and there the robber threw away his weapons into the depths of the forest, fell at the feet of the Blessed One and begged for the going forth.
The Blessed One, the sage with compassion, for the whole world, gave him the going forth saying. ‘Come O Bhikkhu!’ that was his going forth
Then the Blessed One with venerable Angulimala as the second monk went through the streets of Savatthi and arrived at the monastery offered by Anathapindika in Jeta’s grove. At that time at the entrance to the palace of king Pasenadi of Kosala was assembled a large gathering, making much noise: Lord, there is a robber Angulimala, in the kingdom. He is fierce, with bloody hands, has no compassion for living things, destroys, hamlets, villages and states. He killing humans collects fingers to wear as a garland round his neck. Lord he should be punished.
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala left his palace with about five hundred riders on horseback and approached the monastery. Went as far as could be reached in that conveyance and approached the Blessed One, on foot. Approaching the Blessed One worshipped and sat on a side. Then the Blessed One said thus to king Pasenadi of Kosala ’Great king, has king Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha arisen against you, or has the Licchavis of Vesali arisen against you?’ ‘No, venerable sir, neither king Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha has arisen against me, nor the Licchavis of Vesali have arisen against me. Yet there is a robber in my kingdom, by the name Angulimala, fierce, bloody handed, without compassion for living things. He destroys hamlets, villages and states killing humans to collect fingers to wear a garland round his neck. Venerable sir, I cannot punish him.’
‘Great king, if you see, Angulimala, with shaved head and beard, donning yellow clothes, gone forth homeless, abstaining from, destroying life, taking the not given, telling lies, partaking one meal a day, and virtuous. What would you do to him?’
‘Venerable sir, I will get up from my seat on his arrival, prepare him a seat, invite him, arrange to provide the four requisites of life, robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill and provide him righteous protection. Yet venerable sir, how could such virtues come to evil doers, like him?’
At that time venerable Angulimala was seated close to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One stretched his right and said, to king Pasenadi of Kosala: Great king that is Angulimala.
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala was shivering with fear and his hairs stood on end. Then the Blssed One knowing that king Pasenadi of Kosala was shivering with fear and that his hairs were standing on end, said thus: Great king, do not fear, there is nothing to fear now. Then all that fear vanished from the king and approached venerable Angulimala and said. ‘Venerable sir, are you Angulimala?’
‘Yes, great king, I’m Angulimaala.’
‘Of what clan is the venerable one’s father and of what clan is the venerable one’s mother?’
‘Great king, my father is Gagga and my mother Mantani’
‘Venerable sir, venerable Gaggamantaniputta, take pleasure in the Dispensation, I will provide with the four requisites of life such as robes, morsel food dwellings and requisites when ill. At that time venerable Angulimala was a dependent on morsel food, a forest dweller, a rag robe wearer and confined to three robes. So venerable Angulimala said to king Pasenadi of Kosala.’ Useless great king, my three robes are complete.’
Then king Pasenadi of Kosala approached the Blessed One worshipped, sat on a side and said. ‘Indeed, it is wonderful, how you tame, those that have to be tamed, how you appease those that are not appeased, how you make the not extinguished to extinguish. How you tame those that could not be tamed with stick or weapon, without stick or weapon. Now we have much work to do, we would go. Then king Pasenadi of Kosala getting up from his seat, worshipped and circumambulated the Blessed One, and went away.’
Then venerable Angulimala putting on robes in the morning and taking bowl and robes entered Savatthi for alms. When going the alms round in Savatthi in due order, saw a certain woman with the pains of childbirth, then it occurred to him, indeed beings are defiled. Then after the alms round and after the meal was over, venerable Angulimala approached the Blessed One worshipped, sat on a side and said to the Blessed One: ‘Venerable sir, when I was going for alms in due order, I saw a certain woman suffering from the pains of childbirth and it occurred to me: Indeed beings are defiled.’
‘Then Angulimala go to Savatthi, approach that woman and tell her. ‘Sister, since my birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’
‘Venerable sir, won’t it be a lie told with awareness, I have destroyed many living things with awareness.’
Then Angulimala go to Savatthi and approach that woman and tell her. ‘Sister, since I was born in the noble birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’
Then venerable Angulimala agreed went to Savatthi approached that woman and told her. ‘Sister, since I was born in the noble birth I have not destroyed a living thing knowingly, by that truth may you be well and may the one to be born be well.’ Then she got well and the child was also well. Then Angulimala withdrawn from the crowd, secluded and diligent for dispelling abode and before long for whatever reason sons of clansmen rightfully leave the household and become homeless, that noble end of the holy life he here and now knowing realized and abode. He knew, birth is destroyed, the holy life is lived, what should be done is done. There is nothing more to wish.
Then venerable Angulimala putting on robes in the morning and taking bowl and robes went the alms round in Savatthi. Then if a clod was thrown at anybody else, it hit venerable Angulimala. If a stick was thrown at anybody else, it hit venerable Angulimala. If a stone was thrown, it hit venerable Angulimala. Venerable Angulimala would come to the Blessed One with a split head and blood dripping, with the bowl broken and with robes torn. The Blessed One seeing venerable Angulimala approaching in the distance would say: Brahmin, endure that, on account of the results of your actions you would have been reaping results for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years in hell. Brahmin, bear the results of your actions here and now.
Venerable Angulimala experienced the pleasantness of release in his seclusion, and then these verses occurred to him:
‘The negligent one became diligent, and illuminates the world like the moon freed from clouds.
When his merit covers up the demerit, he illuminates the world like the moon freed from clouds.
The young Bhikkhu yoked to the Dispensation of the Blessed One illuminates the world-like the moon freed from clouds.
My enemies, listen to the Teaching, be yoked to the Dispensation of the Blessed One.
My enemies, associate friends who show the appeasing Teaching
My enemies, with patience and aversion dispelled, listen to the Teaching and live according to the Teaching,
Do not hurt me or anybody else for any reason, attain to the highest appeasement and protect the firm and the infirm.
Irrigators lead water, fletchers bend arrows, the carpenter bends wood and the wise tame the self.
Some are tamed with a stick, or hook or whip, I was tamed without a stick or weapon, by a such like one.
Earlier when I was a hurter, my name was non-hurter, now am true to my name I do not hurt anyone.
Earlier I was a robber known as Angulimala, and was carried away by the surge of the refuge in the enlightenment.
Earlier I was known as Angulimala with bloody hands, look at the refuge the leader of being is destroyed
Having done many actions leading to birth in hell, touched by the results of actions I partake food without a debt.
Fools are yoked to negligence; the wise protect diligence as the highest wealth.
Do not be yoked to negligence, and sensual pleasures, concentrate diligently to attain pleasantness.
Go to increase, not to decrease, this is good advice, reach the highest of the analytical knowledge’s.
Go to increase, not to decrease, this is good advice of mine, I have attained the Three knowledge’s and done the dispensation of the Enlightened One.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
INNER TEMPLE OF SILENCE
This task is really reserved for a few elects. Many make adventures in spiritual life and find in the loneliness of contemplation the higher and loftier ranges of being and consciousness open unto them; the delight and the joyousness become so absorbing that they do not allow them to be disturbed in their silence and become completely hidden in the mood of thought. They become for ever buried in the inner temple of silence.
There are a few indeed, who are privileged enough to enter into the vortex of life to elevate humanity and to scatter the Divine peace and the Divine aroma of life by radiating a spiritual current from them. They scatter light, joy, peace, and power. They descend from the tower of silence to meet a definite problem in a particular epoch of civilization.
There are a few indeed, who are privileged enough to enter into the vortex of life to elevate humanity and to scatter the Divine peace and the Divine aroma of life by radiating a spiritual current from them. They scatter light, joy, peace, and power. They descend from the tower of silence to meet a definite problem in a particular epoch of civilization.
Friday, 23 December 2011
THE DIVINE IMAGE by WILLIAM BLAKE
To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
All pray in their distress,
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is God our Father dear;
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is man, His child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart;
Pity, a human face;
And Love, the human form divine:
And Peace the human dress.
Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine:
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too.
BE YOUR OWN PROPHET
The purpose and intent of what I have to say to you is this, that I have found it possible in my life to worship all of them, and to be ready for all that are yet to come. A mother recognizes her son in any dress in which he may appear before her; and if one does not do so, I am sure she is not the mother of that man. Now, as regards those of you that think that you understand Truth and Divinity and God in only one Prophet in the world, and not in any other, naturally, the conclusion which I draw is that you do not understand Divinity in anybody; you have simply swallowed words and identified yourself with one sect, just as you would in party politics, as a matter of opinion; but that is no religion at all….
Will other and greater Prophets come? Certainly they will come in this world. But do not look forward to that. I should better like that each one of you became a Prophet of this real new testament, which is made up of all the old testaments. Take all the old messages, supplement them with your own realizations, and become a Prophet unto others. Each one of these Teachers has been great; each has left something for us; they have been our Gods. We salute them, we are their servants; and, all the same, we salute ourselves; for if they have been Prophets and children of God, we also are the same. They reached their perfection, and we are going to attain ours now. Remember the words of Jesus: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" This very moment let everyone of us make a staunch resolution: "I WILL BECOME A PROPHET, I WILL BECOME A MESSENGER OF LIGHT, I WILL BECOME A CHILD OF GOD, NAY, I WILL BECOME A GOD!"
Will other and greater Prophets come? Certainly they will come in this world. But do not look forward to that. I should better like that each one of you became a Prophet of this real new testament, which is made up of all the old testaments. Take all the old messages, supplement them with your own realizations, and become a Prophet unto others. Each one of these Teachers has been great; each has left something for us; they have been our Gods. We salute them, we are their servants; and, all the same, we salute ourselves; for if they have been Prophets and children of God, we also are the same. They reached their perfection, and we are going to attain ours now. Remember the words of Jesus: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" This very moment let everyone of us make a staunch resolution: "I WILL BECOME A PROPHET, I WILL BECOME A MESSENGER OF LIGHT, I WILL BECOME A CHILD OF GOD, NAY, I WILL BECOME A GOD!"
STEPHEN HAWKINGS ON GALILEO GALILEI
Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science. His renowned conflict with the Catholic Church was central to his philosophy, for Galileo was one of the first to argue that man could hope to understand how the world works, and, moreover, that we could do this by observing the real world.
Galileo had believed Copernican theory (that the planets orbited the sun) since early on, but it was only when he found the evidence needed to support the idea that he started to publicly support it. He wrote about Copernicus’s theory in Italian (not the usual academic Latin), and soon his views became widely supported outside the universities. This annoyed the Aristotelian professors, who united against him seeking to persuade the Catholic Church to ban Copernicanism.
Galileo, worried by this, traveled to Rome to speak to the ecclesiastical authorities. He argued that the Bible was not intended to tell us anything about scientific theories, and that it was usual to assume that, where the Bible conflicted with common sense, it was being allegorical. But the Church was afraid of a scandal that might undermine its fight against Protestantism, and so took repressive measures. It declared Copernicanism “false and erroneous” in 1616, and commanded Galileo never again to “defend or hold” the doctrine. Galileo acquiesced.
In 1623, a longtime friend of Galileo’s became the Pope. Immediately Galileo tried to get the 1616 decree revoked. He failed, but he did manage to get permission to write a book discussing both Aristotelian and Copernican theories, on two conditions: he would not take sides and would come to the conclusion that man could in any case not determine how the world worked because God could bring about the same effects in ways unimagined by man, who could not place restrictions on God’s omnipotence.
The book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was completed and published in 1632, with the full backing of the censors – and was immediately greeted throughout Europe as a literary and philosophical masterpiece. Soon the Pope, realizing that people were seeing the book as a convincing argument in favor of Copernicanism, regretted having allowed its publication. The Pope argued that although the book had the official blessing of the censors, Galileo had nevertheless contravened the 1616 decree. He brought Galileo before the Inquisition, who sentenced him to house arrest for life and commanded him to publicly renounce Copernicanism. For a second time, Galileo acquiesced.
Galileo remained a faithful Catholic, but his belief in the independence of science had not been crushed. Four years before his death in 1642, while he was still under house arrest, the manuscript of his second major book was smuggled to a publisher in Holland. It was this work, referred to as Two New Sciences, even more than his support for Copernicus, that was to be the genesis of modern physics.
Galileo had believed Copernican theory (that the planets orbited the sun) since early on, but it was only when he found the evidence needed to support the idea that he started to publicly support it. He wrote about Copernicus’s theory in Italian (not the usual academic Latin), and soon his views became widely supported outside the universities. This annoyed the Aristotelian professors, who united against him seeking to persuade the Catholic Church to ban Copernicanism.
Galileo, worried by this, traveled to Rome to speak to the ecclesiastical authorities. He argued that the Bible was not intended to tell us anything about scientific theories, and that it was usual to assume that, where the Bible conflicted with common sense, it was being allegorical. But the Church was afraid of a scandal that might undermine its fight against Protestantism, and so took repressive measures. It declared Copernicanism “false and erroneous” in 1616, and commanded Galileo never again to “defend or hold” the doctrine. Galileo acquiesced.
In 1623, a longtime friend of Galileo’s became the Pope. Immediately Galileo tried to get the 1616 decree revoked. He failed, but he did manage to get permission to write a book discussing both Aristotelian and Copernican theories, on two conditions: he would not take sides and would come to the conclusion that man could in any case not determine how the world worked because God could bring about the same effects in ways unimagined by man, who could not place restrictions on God’s omnipotence.
The book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was completed and published in 1632, with the full backing of the censors – and was immediately greeted throughout Europe as a literary and philosophical masterpiece. Soon the Pope, realizing that people were seeing the book as a convincing argument in favor of Copernicanism, regretted having allowed its publication. The Pope argued that although the book had the official blessing of the censors, Galileo had nevertheless contravened the 1616 decree. He brought Galileo before the Inquisition, who sentenced him to house arrest for life and commanded him to publicly renounce Copernicanism. For a second time, Galileo acquiesced.
Galileo remained a faithful Catholic, but his belief in the independence of science had not been crushed. Four years before his death in 1642, while he was still under house arrest, the manuscript of his second major book was smuggled to a publisher in Holland. It was this work, referred to as Two New Sciences, even more than his support for Copernicus, that was to be the genesis of modern physics.
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