There is a famous Sufi story: A man went in search of a Master. He was ready to go around the world, but he was determined to find the Master, the true…
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The holy shadow
Let me tell you a very famous Sufi story, “The Holy Shadow.” There once lived a saint so good that the angels came from heaven to see how a man could be…
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Way to be pure
It happened….A man used to come to a great saint, and he would always ask, ‘Sir, one thing puzzles me. You are so innocent, so pure, how is this possible? Suspicion arises…
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Truth at any cost
The Chhandogya Upanishad has a beautiful story.Let us begin with it. Satyakam asked his mother, Jabala, “Mother, I want to live the life of a student of supreme knowledge. What is my…
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The French Revolution: A history
In 1834, the philosopher John Stuart Mill discovered that, although he had signed a contract with his publisher to produce a general history of the French revolution, he was actually too busy…
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Adi Shankaracharya: Philosopher-poet-saint-scholar-teacher
One day, while walking through the streets of Varanasi (Benares), Adi Shankaracharya, India’s celebrated Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher of the 8th century, encountered a chandala (an untouchable) carrying a load of…
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Immanuel Kant: The philosopher sage of Königsberg
Here is a famous anecdote about the German philosopher Immanuel Kant: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was known for his rigorous routine and punctuality. Every day, at exactly 3:30 PM, he would take a…
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The Greek philosophical trinity
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are commonly referred to as the Big Three of ancient Greek philosophy. They are also sometimes referred to as the Socratic trio (since Plato was a student of…
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Hippocrates: Father of modern medicine
Way back in the year 430 BC, a plague struck the ancient city of Athens. Arriving via the port, the deadly epidemic quickly spread through the crowded city, without sparing any segment of the…
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Measures of success
There are two key indices to measure a country’s success, the wealth index and the happiness index. The wealth index is often a measure of a country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per…