"MAP" / GLOSSARY
Locate the number of the corresponding image in the map above -
​then enter the number in Command-F (find) on your keyboard to go directly to the image description

1. Botticelli - “Birth of Venus” Detail - over lightning  -  Zephrus, God of Winds, and the gentle breeze Aura - airborne characters, floating motionless, seem to be creating the universe with their breath - the Gods create the universe - or at least, that’s the way it looks to me and the symbolism intended for this work. 

2. Arunachal Prudesh Tibetan Buddhist - Gompas - monastery interior -  in the Eastern Himalayas - Arunachal Pradesh has been a center for Buddhism for several centuries. It is said that Gautam Buddha, after receiving enlightenment, spent 40 years of his life traveling through the North East delivering life-altering sermons. The eastern Himalayas house some of the largest ancient Buddhist monasteries in India and are a favorite destination for travelers seeking spiritual solace. 

The Buddhist practices followed in Arunachal Pradesh belong to two different orders. Tibetan Buddhism is widespread in Tawang, West Kameng, and remote regions close to the Tibetan border in the north. Theravada Buddhism on the other hand is followed by the people living in close vicinity of the Indo-Burmese border to the east. Their beliefs and rituals may be different, but the belief in doing good and being good remains central to all orders.

3. Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest) Monastery, the most sacred place in Bhutan hangs on a cliff and stands above a beautiful forest of blue pine and rhododendrons. There is a two hour climb from the valley floor, which is already quite high at 7000 feet, to the Tiger’s Nest 3000 feet above, 10,000 feet above sea level. 

4. The Himalayas - The word ‘Hima’ in Sanskrit is ‘snow’ and the word, ‘alaya’ means ‘abode. They are considered the home of the Gods and spiritual center of the world. According to Hindu religion the Himalayas is the abode of Lord Shiva (the aspect of the Supreme Being that continuously dissolves to recreate in the cyclic process of creation, preservation, dissolution and recreation of the universe) - he is immortal - has neither an origin nor an end. Hindus view the Himalayas as supremely sacred, as a corollary to seeing god in every atom of the universe.

5. Mount Everest - The highest mountain on Earth.  Mount Meru is a sacred mountain with five peaks in Hindu, Jain as well as Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. 

6. The Sistine Chapel - A room of worship in the Apostlic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo painted the ceiling with this masterpiece depicting God's Creation of the World and God's Relationship with Mankind.

7. Kecak - a form of Balinese dance and music drama, known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of at least 150 performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and moving their hands and arms, “Chark-a, chark-a, chark-a, chark-a”, and on… the chant goes. It depicts a battle from the Ramayana (one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. it presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages in narrative allegory, a narrative of past events which includes teachings on the goals of human life.). Kecak has roots in sanghyang (a sacred Balinese dance, based on the idea that a force enters the body of an entranced performer), it’s a trance-inducing exorcism dance.

8. ri Harmandir Sahib (The abode of God) - The Golden Temple - the holiest Gurdwara of Sikhism, located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It was built as a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to worship God equally. Over 100,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship, and also partake jointly in the free community kitchen and meal regardless of their religions, a tradition that is a hallmark of all Sikh Gurudwaras.

9. Faravahar or Farohar is a well-known emblem of the Persian identity as well as a symbol of the Zoroastrian faith. It means “I choose,” and is associated with the guardian angel and guide, the divine, uncorrupt, unpolluted part of the human soul. The circle in the center symbolizes the immortality of a person's soul and eternity of the universe. The human body coming out of it represents the mankind. Its upward-pointing hand indicates that the way to Heaven is through righteousness, while the ring in the other hand represents faithfulness and honoring of promises… to live in a good way that helps in spiritual progression of the soul so that it unites with the supreme Lord of Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda.

10. The Hand with a Wheel on the Palm symbolizes Ahimsa in Jainism.The raised hand means stop. The word in the center of the wheel is "Ahimsa". Ahimsa means non-violence. Between these two, they remind us to stop for a minute and think twice before doing anything. This gives us a chance to scrutinize our activities to be sure that they will not hurt anyone by our words, thoughts, or actions. We are also not supposed to ask or encourage others to take part in any harmful activity. The wheel in the hand shows that if we are not careful and ignore these warnings and carry on violent activities, then just as the wheel goes round and round, we will go round and round through the cycles of birth and death.

11. The Mosque – Cathedral of Córdoba -  is the Catholic Cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and located in the Spanish region of Andalusia. The structure is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture. The cathedral was originally a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Vincent the third, When Muslims conquered Spain in 711, the church was first divided into Muslim and Christian halves. Córdoba returned to Christian rule in 1236 during the Reconquista, and the building was converted to a Roman Catholic church.

12. Israel - Temple Mount with Dome of the Rock and old city from the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem. Temple Mount, on a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the most important religious sites in the world. It has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Among Sunni Muslims, the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam. Revered as the Noble Sanctuary, the location of Muhammad's journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, the site is also associated with Jewish biblical prophets who are also venerated in Islam.

13. Sagrada Familia Cathedral - Barcelona, Spain - designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop.

Art critic Rainer Zerbst said, "It is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art. The towers are decorated with words such as "Hosanna", "Excelsis", and "Sanctus"; the great doors of the Passion façade reproduce words from the Bible in various languages including Catalan; and the Glory façade is to be decorated with the words from the Apostles' Creed. The three entrances symbolize the three virtues: Faith, Hope and Love.

14. Crescent Moon and Star symbol is an internationally-recognized symbol of Islam, but actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years. The symbol is featured on the flags of several Muslim countries, and is even part of the official emblem for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It is in fact one of the oldest icons in human history, having been known in graphic depictions since at least as early as the Babylonian period in Mesopotamia.

15. Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament. Christians believe that she conceived her son while a virgin by the Holy Spirit. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her earthly life her body was assumed directly into Heaven; this is known in the West as the Assumption. Mary had been venerated since Early Christianity,  and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion. She is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God.

16. Yin-yang symbol - a symbol that reflects the inescapably intertwined duality of all things in nature, a common theme in Taoism. No quality is independent of its opposite. It describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. This duality lies at the origins of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine, and a central principle of different forms of Chinese martial arts.

17. The Star of David - Jewish - generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It talks about the nature of G-d, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology.

The Zohar states, “There are three knots connecting - three entities - one to another: the Holy One, blessed be He; Torah; and Israel.” The Jewish soul connects to its Creator through the study and observance of Torah. The triangle represents the connection between these three entities. G‑d’s “revealed” energy permeates and provides existence to all worlds, but His essence is completely hidden, transcending all of creation.

Kabbalah teaches that G‑d created the world with seven spiritual building blocks—His seven “emotional” attributes. Accordingly, the entire creation is a reflection of these seven foundational attributes: (kindness), (severity), (harmony), (perseverance), (splendor),(foundation) and (royalty). 

18. Native American Powwow - The word powwow in itself is from an Indian word that has been Anglicized. It is derived from the Algonquian term “pau-wau” or “pauau”, which referred to a gathering of medicine men and/or spiritual leaders. “Pau-wauing” referred to a religious ceremony, usually one of curing. The drum is the heartbeat and central pulse of the Native American powwow. There are always one or several groups of singers who sing as they beat in unison a rhythm on a large drum.

19. Whirling Dervish - a member of a Muslim (specifically Sufi) religious order who has taken vows of poverty and austerity. The practice of whirling is a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). The whirling dervishes are representative of the moon and they spin on the outside (of the Sheikh who is representative of the sun). They spin on their left foot and additionally, they have their right palm facing upwards towards Heaven and their left hand pointing at the ground.

The four salaams (a Muslim  greeting in Arabic that means "Peace be upon you”) themselves, are representative of the spiritual journey that every believer goes through. The first one is representative of recognition of God, the second one is recognition of the existence in his unity, the third one represents the ecstasy one experiences with total surrender and the fourth one, where the Sheikh joins in the dance, is symbolic of peace of the heart due to Divine Unity. 

20. The Spiritual Eye - the 3rd eye or 6th chakra, located between the eyebrows. When the yogi concentrates long enough with half-open eyes at the point between the eyebrows, and when the gaze is without any restless motion, he will be able to see a steady light surrounded by other, but flickering, lights. In time, he will see the perfect formation of the spiritual eye: a dark opal-blue globe within a golden ring of flame.

Gradually, by deep concentration, an extremely brilliant white star occasionally glimmers in the center of the blue. The star is the gateway through which the consciousness must pass to attain oneness with Spirit. The devotee will eventually attain the power to look through it into Eternity; and through the starry gateway he will sail into Omnipresence. Progression through the spiritual eye, experienced by advancing yogis, unfolds first the wondrous perceptions of superconsciousness, the region of rays of light out of which all matter evolves, going beyond all delusive relativities of vibrations. He then realizes the Transcendental Lord—He who exists behind the transitory dreams of cosmic matter. In the transcendental state God spins out His dreams of ideational (causal), astral, and physical universes.

The physical cosmos, with its many "island universes" floating in the eternal void, is encircled by a nimbus of radiant energy that melts away into the larger astral world. The astral cosmos is a grander manifestation of creation than the physical, and runs through and beyond the latter. In the astral cosmos many luminous galaxies of various densities, with their astral solar and stellar systems, are roving in a vaster sphere of eternity.

The largest or causal cosmos contains countless causal galactic systems with their suns and planets, roaming all through the physical and astral cosmoses and far beyond their boundaries to the outermost sphere of vibratory space.

The causal universe is the womb of creation. In the causal universe, God's finest creative forces of consciousness, and highly evolved beings with their intuitive processes, objectify universes from subtle divine thought forces. As the ocean is behind all individual waves. So is God behind the cells of our body, behind every thought, behind every breath and beat of the heart.

21. Mother Earth -  the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. Here we reincarnate in order to learn karmic lessons and thereby evolve spiritually. When we have mastered the cycle of reincarnation, we have a choice – to start a new cycle of experience on a more advanced planet, or to remain on Earth as Ascended Masters in order to help the rest of humankind. A person as advanced as this will make their choice according to what they know to be the right thing to do, not according to their own personal likes and dislikes.

22. Mecca - Saudi Arabia - considered by Muslims to be the holiest city of Islam; the birthplace in 570 C.E. of the prophet Muhammad, it was the scene of his early teachings before his emigration to Medina in 622. On Muhammad's return to Mecca in 630 it became the center of the new Muslim faith. Each year, millions of Muslims from around the world join in a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj), in fulfillment of one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The importance of Mecca for Muslims is inestimable.

All Muslims, wherever they are on Earth, pray five times a day in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. In addition to prayer, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of every Muslim who can afford it as one of the Five Pillars of the faith. Every year about three million gather for the major pilgrimage, or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu'l-Hijja, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage, or Umrah, at various times throughout the year.

23. The Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Haraam) is located in Mecca - The Ka‛bah is a cube-shaped building located at the centre of the Sacred Mosque. It is the direction towards which Muslims turn in prayer as well as during some other acts of worship. The Prophet said “one prayer in the Sacred Mosque is better than one hundred thousand prayers anywhere else.”

Hajj is the religious journey undertaken to the Sacred Mosque in Makkah and some of the surrounding are as with the intention of performing the pilgrimage rituals. This journey involves a series of activities taught by the Prophet , which include assuming the condition of ritual purity (ihraam), walking seven times around the Ka‛bah, walking seven times between the hills of As-Safaa and Al-Marwah, staying in the Plain of ‛Arafah and throwing pebbles at the stone pillars in Mina.

The Prophet also said, “Whoever performs the pilgrimage for Allah’s sake, avoids intimate relations with his wife, does not fight with anyone nor abuse anyone, he will return home free from sins like the day his mother gave birth to him.”

24. Kumbh Mela - the largest peaceful gathering in the world - considered as the "world's largest congregation of religious pilgrims,”  getting together with one purpose: of their spiritual growth & liberation.  It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation, the exact date is determined according to a combination of zodiac positions of the Jupiter, the Sun and the Moon.  An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Allahabad over a two-month period, including over 30 million on a single day. Pilgrims come from across India and around the world to bathe in the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in Allahabad, India.

Such mass bathings have been recorded for more than 2,500 years and in the belief that it will cleanse devotee’s souls leading to salvation. Maha Kumbhapuri is the world’s largest city which pops up within 3 weeks, exists for 55 days and is removed within 7 days. It is the most sacred space on planet earth, where millions of enlightened beings have walked, are walking and will walk.

It is a place that has all tastes and varieties of Hinduism being served in one place! Another beautiful aspect of the city is that there are no immoral activities. There’s not a single trace of non-veg, alcohol, sexual activities or gambling. The whole city is just centered on one truth; spirituality. In fact, the crime rate is so low, that most tents don’t even have doors or gates. Even food is not sold but rather served freely to to millions every day.

25. The Monkey or Hanuman temple at sunrise in Hampi, Karnataka, India - Lord Hanuman among all Gods and Goddesses is the undying one. His form is a combination of apes and humans. Hanuman, worshipped for his strength, valor, agility, is a man of great learning. He is considered to be an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Shiva. Hanuman, a great devotee of Sri Rama, is the symbol of devotion and dedication.  Lord Hanuman was blessed by all the Gods. Lord Brahma blessed him that no weapon of war could kill him. Brahma blessed him with the power to kill fear.

Lord Hanuman is worshipped for strength. Praying to him ensures that all fears are killed. Lord Shiva blessed him with longevity. It is said that lord Hanuman is the only God who can help to get rid of evil spirits.  It is said that he can remove all hurdles.  Many believe that any poor man who worships Lord Hanuman can become rich and if a rich man worships him, he too never gets poor.

26. Native American Medicine Man - Native medicine may be as old as 40,000 years. The culture never developed written language, so there was no documentation of Native American medicine until Europeans arrived 500 years ago.  Native American medicine refers to the combined health practices of over 500 distinct nations that inhabited the Americas before the European arrival at the end of the fifteenth century. Specific practices varied among tribes, but all native medicine is based on the understanding that man is part of nature and health is a matter of balance.

The natural world thrives when its complex web of interrelationships is honored, nurtured and kept in harmony. Native American philosophy recognizes aspects of the natural world that cannot be seen by the eye or by technology, but which can be experienced directly and intuitively. Just as each human has an immeasurable inner life which powerfully influences well-being, so does nature include unseen but compelling forces which must be addressed and integrated for true balance to be achieved.

27. Buddha - Buddhism is a religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India, and the ultimate goal is the attainment of the sublime state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path (also known as the Middle Way), thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhist spirituality is concerned with the end of suffering through the enlightened understanding of reality. Dukkha is a central concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine, and a central characteristic of life in this world.

It can be translated as "incapable of satisfying,” not to literal suffering, but to the ultimately unsatisfactory nature of temporary states and things, including pleasant but temporary experiences. A wide range of meditation practices has developed in the Buddhist traditions, but "meditation" primarily refers to the practice of dhyana. It is a practice in which the attention of the mind is first narrowed to the focus on one specific object, such as the breath, a concrete object, or a specific thought, mental image or mantra. After this initial focussing of the mind, the focus is coupled to mindfulness, maintaining a calm mind while being aware of one's surroundings.

28. Wat Arun Patota (or Temple of the Dawn) in Bangkok, Thailand - is named after Aruna, the Indian God of Dawn. It is partly made up of colorfully decorated spires and stands majestically over the water. There are over 31,200 Buddhist temples spread around Thailand. This temple is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. In the mythology of Tibetan Buddhism,

Mount Meru is a place that simultaneously represents the center of the universe and the single-pointedness of mind sought by adepts. Thousands of miles in height, Meru is located somewhere beyond the physical plane of reality, in a realm of perfection and transcendence. The four-corner prang of Wat Arun, which house images of the guardian gods of the four directions, reinforces this mystical symbolism.

29. Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral - Reykjavík, Iceland - The church is both a parish church and a national sanctuary in Iceland. Its stepped concrete facade is an ode to modernism and a reminder of the Icelandic landscape. The church is named after the 17th-century clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson, author of Hymns of the Passion.

Hallgrímskirkja is an Evangelical-Lutheran church and is a part of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Iceland. Hallgrímskirkja is one of the most visited places by tourists in Iceland. The church features, most notably, a gargantuan pipe organ designed and constructed by the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn that weighs 25 tons and has 5275 pipes. Every day thousands of people visit the church. 

30. OM - The visual symbol represents the meaning of AUM. It is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions,  a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols.   It refers to ATMAN (soul, self within) and BRAHMAN (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). It is described as the "cosmic sound" or "mystical syllable" in ancient India, or simply as "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts.

The three phonetic components of Om (pronounced AUM) correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe - "the infinite language, the infinite knowledge", or "essence of breath, life, everything that exists", or that "with which one is liberated.”  Allowing the sound of each syllable to vibrate within. This can be done consciously feeling the “A” sound in the heart, The “U” sound in the abdomen and the “M” sound in the head. Any way you do it –The experience is connection , unity and love.

31. The White Buffalo - To Native Americans, the Bison or American Buffalo was a symbol of sacred life and abundance. The lesson learned by the Lakota is that one does not have to struggle to survive. This is especially true if the right action is joined by the right prayer. By learning to appropriately unite the mundane with the divine, all that will be needed will be provided.

The Native Americans see the birth of a White Buffalo calf as the most significant of prophetic signs, equivalent to the weeping statues, bleeding icons, and crosses of light that are becoming prevalent within the Christian churches today. "The arrival of the white buffalo is like the second coming of Christ…It will bring about purity of mind, body, and spirit and unify all nations—black, red, yellow, and white.” The birth of the sacred white buffalo provides those within the Native American community with a sense of hope and an indication that good times are to come.

32. Native American Powwow - The word powwow in itself is from an Indian word that has been Anglicized. It is derived from the Algonquian term “pau-wau” or “pauau”, which referred to a gathering of medicine men and/or spiritual leaders. “Pau-wauing” referred to a religious ceremony, usually one of curing. The drum is the heartbeat and central pulse of the Native American powwow. There are always one or several groups of singers who sing as they beat in unison a rhythm on a large drum.

33. Vatican City - a walled enclave within the city of Rome on approximately 110 acres. It is the smallest state in the world by both area and population. It is ruled by the Bishop of Rome - the POPE - and contains cultural sites that feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The Vatican is the focal point of a vast spiritual and cultural community, and the visible symbol of a living system of ideas and values. The Pope, in his primary role, is the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church with its 400 million communicants who regard him as the earthly vicar of Christ.

The Church, although it is a highly skilled international bureaucracy with impressive resources, derives its great influence, above all, from the great ideas which it embodies, shapes, and expresses—ideas which affect public opinion throughout the world. Catholicism which is such a powerful voice of conscience in today's world, also continues to prepare men for fortitude in the face of adversity and courage in the face of evil. This is the sane and balanced need in our world today.

34. The Sacred Banyan Tree - The Banyan Tree is a cosmic power house, an energy field by itself that has the power to manifest our true desires into reality. To Hindus, its wide canopy is symbolic of Eternity, whereas the equally wide-spreading roots are linked to the spirit world.

Banyan trees are huge trees that live for thousands of years because they keep putting down new roots. “Upward roots, downward branches.” The tree is upside down. The root of the tree is at the top – because the root of the universe is Brahma (the original creator of things) and Brahman (the ingredients supplied by the transcendental Godhead with which Brahma creates). That is the root that is at the top of everything, the tree is both eternal and temporary – because the material world is constantly changing shape. Constant = eternal, changing = temporary. The material world is a tree that is constantly changing.This tree is also sacred to the Buddhists. After attaining enlightenment, Lord Buddha is believed to have sat under a Banyan tree for seven days, absorbed in his new-found realization.

35. Mahavatar Babaji - the Deathless Avatar has resided for untold years in the remote Himalayan regions of India, revealing himself only rarely to a blessed few. "Mahavatar" means "great avatar", and "Babaji" simply means "revered father”. The deathless Babaji is an Avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass."

In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh. It is Mahavatar Babaji who revived in this age the lost scientific meditation technique of Kriya Yoga. In bestowing Kriya initiation on his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, Babaji said, “The Kriya Yoga that I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century is a revival of the same science that Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna; and that was later known to Patanjali and Christ, and to St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples.”

It is said, Babaji is ever in communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully illumined masters — one with a body, and one without a body — is to inspire the nations to forsake wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang evils of materialism. He has been described by Yogiraj Siddhanath in many ways including: “Absolute Consciousness beyond karmic law of cause and effect...the great incomprehensible Isness of the Zero not Zero, the Non Being Essentiality”.

36. Kapaleeshwarar Temple - Chennai’s (Madras) India, its most active and impressive temple - a temple of Shiva. The temple is said to be more than 2000 years old .The Vijayanagara kings rebuilt the temple during the 16th century and added the majestic 37m gopuram ( a monumental tower) at its gateway after the much older temple was destroyed by the Portuguese.

37. The Holy Festival - in India - “The Festival of Colors” - The Holi festival commemorates the victory of good over evil, brought about by the burning and destruction of the demoness named Holika. This was enabled through unwavering devotion to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu. Holi got its name as the "Festival of Colors" from Lord Krishna, a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, who liked to play pranks on the village girls by drenching them in water and colors.

The festival marks the end of winter and the abundance of the upcoming spring harvest season. Holi celebrations start on the night before Holi with a Holika bonfire where people gather, do religious rituals in front of the bonfire, and pray that their internal evil should be destroyed as the bonfire starts. The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi - a free-for-all carnival of colors, where participants play, chase and color each other with dry powder and colored water, with some carrying water guns and colored water- filled balloons for their water fight.

Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. It is the festive day to end and rid oneself of past errors, to end conflicts by meeting others, a day to forget and forgive. People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives.

38. The Lotus Flower - In Buddhist symbolism the lotus is symbolic of purity of the body, speech, and mind as while rooted in the mud, its flowers blossom on long stalks as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals. Perhaps the major Lotus flower symbolism is it’s association with spiritual awakening or enlightenment. A person’s path in life is said to be similar to that of the Lotus. Starting at the seed stage, early in the karmic cycle, through to the bud emerging from the dirty water, representing a person following the path of spirituality and leaving attachment behind, and finally blossoming, this is when a person has become fully awakened and has achieved nirvana. It is also the form of the Seven Major Energy Centers in the body (Chakras).

The symbolic representation of a chakra is a lotus, with each chakra-lotus having its own particular number of petals. The greater the number of petals, the higher the frequency or vibration. As light flows through the chakras, it activates them. You can imagine this as the wheels 'spinning' or the lotuses ‘blossoming'. As each energy center 'spins', it radiates its own unique color - one of the seven rainbow rays of God's light - at the spiritual level. For example: The Heart Chakra a beautiful rose pink lotus has 12 petals. Situated in the center of the chest, Love, compassion, beauty, selflessness, sensitivity, appreciation, comfort, creativity, charity, and generosity are all positive expressions of the heart.

39. Panorama of Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet - ('Place of the Gods'), the capital of Tibet, China, the most resolute pilgrims make painfully slow progress towards the Potala Palace: three and a half paces forward, raise hands to the heavens, bend, lie flat on the ground in prostration, rise, repeat. Around the base of the palace they will encounter another pilgrimage route, called the Kora, travelled by hundreds of people every day as they make their way clockwise around a path punctuated with sacred images.

40. Ancient Byzantine mosaic in the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy - one of the most important churches in early Christianity, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an amazing experience for lovers of art and architecture. It dates from the mid-6th century and contains what are probably the finest Byzantine mosaics in the western world.The hypnotically colorful mosaics are some of only a few in the world that remain from the time of Emperor Justinian I

41. Taj Mahal - Persian for Crown of Palaces - an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess who died giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. The tomb is the center piece of a 42-acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall. The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrate the love story held as the inspiration for Taj Mahal. It is one of the Wonders of the World.

42. The Blue Mosque - The Sultan Ahmed Mosque - After a crushing loss in the 1603-1618 war with Persia, Sultan Ahmet I, decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to reassert Ottoman power. It would be the first imperial mosque for more than forty years. While his predecessors had paid for their mosques with the spoils of war, Ahmet I procured funds from the Treasury, because he had not gained remarkable victories. It caused the anger of the ulema, the Muslim purists. It has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade İznik style ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs.

Today, a public announce system is being used, and the call can be heard across the old part of the city, echoed by other mosques in the vicinity. Large crowds of both Turks and tourists gather at sunset in the park facing the mosque to hear the call to evening prayers, as the sun sets and the mosque is brilliantly illuminated by colored floodlights. the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer.

43. Hinduist Temple in Jodhpur, India - Religion and worship are deeply rooted in the people of Jodhpur. There are not only Hindu temples in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Rather, there are places of worship in Jodhpur, India for people of every religion. Jodhpur has churches for Christians, mosques for Muslims, gurudwaras (a place of worship) for Sikhs and even Jain temples for Jains. This shows the amount of religious freedom in the city. It is said that there may be at least 600,000 temples in India. Temples teach you to Aim High in Life, think big and achieve it, good things are never destroyed...they are power houses, they charge your battery because hundreds of thousands of saints have stored their energy in the temples for generations.

44. Guan Yin - Buddhism - an East Asian bodhisattva associated with compassion - commonly known as the "Goddess of Mercy" in English - often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity” with miraculous powers to assist all those who who pray to Him and is often depicted as both male and female to show this figure's limitless transcendence beyond gender. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, meaning "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World”

45. Krisna and the Sudarshana Chakra - a spinning, disk-like weapon with 108 serrated edges used by the Hindu god Vishnu and used for the ultimate destruction of an enemy. The depiction of Vishnu with Sudarshana Chakra also means that Vishnu is the keeper- owner of the celestial bodies and heavens. The Chakra comprises 10 million spikes in two rows moving in opposite directions to give it a serrated edge. The Sudarshana Chakra is not thrown. With will-power it is sent against the enemy. It rotates very, very fast after leaving the finger and chases the enemy. The chakra itself is round and has something like the points of arrows all around its edge. It has tremendous occult and spiritual power to destroy everything.

It is believed that once the divine chakra has destroyed its enemy, it returns to the attacker. This means that even after the launch, it remains within the control of the warrior. It travels along the path of zero stress nature and can reach anywhere within a moment. Sudarshan Chakra is silent and when an obstruction is posed in its way, the speed of the discus amplifies. Since the word Sudarshana collectively means "vision of which is auspicious". Lord Sudarshana is generally worshiped during Holy Yagyas to ward off negative energies or vibrations.

46. Ganesha - one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. The Lord of Success and destroyer of evil and obstacles. Hindus believe in one God with many “attributes.” These attributes have different forms making it easier to address and visualize aspects of an infinite, formless God. Ganesha’s image is found throughout India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality.

Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists. Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. Ganesha is widely revered as the the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honored at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.

47. The Cosmos - a Spiral Galaxy - a massive collection of stars, stellar remains, gas, dust, and planets. Galaxies can contain as few as 10 million stars, or as many as 100 trillion. Astronomers believe that there are about 170 billion galaxies in our universe, each varying in shape from spiral, elliptical, to irregular.

As with everything observable in our universe, galaxies adhere to the Golden Ratio: nature’s key to perfect design - the Divine Proportion. This design is a mathematical miracle. Based on the Fibonacci sequence, which goes 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34.. and so on forever, where every new number in the sequence is the combination of the two preceding it, its ratio 1.6180 has come to be known as the perfect proportion for creating well balanced and eye pleasing art and architecture. In fact every form of designing, from painting to photography to web design, the Golden Ratio has become the way to go. Everything from the Galaxies, to the mountains, natural phenomenon like typhoons and hurricanes, right down to the trees and plants and seed formations, all things seem to be created on this one ratio; Phi.

The best example is, of course, a sunflower seed where they spiral out in the divine proportion of 1.618, and if we count the seeds of any spiral the number will be the Fibonacci sequence. As the tree spirals upwards the number of leaves around each stem will be a Fibonacci number. It is astounding, to find out that even the human body is relevant to the phi, the distance of the finger from the base to the wrist is larger than the one preceding by a Phi. Flower petals have this ratio, snail shells have the golden spiral, animal bodies exhibit similar tendencies, human faces are said to be more beautiful if they are closer to the Ratio in their proportion, even the reproductive dynamics of a honey bee is based on the Golden Ratio.

This perfection is convincing evidence of a perfectly ordered universe. The odds of a perfectly ordered universe appearing out of chaos is an inconceivable number and therefore provides convincing evidence as to the reasonableness of a Divine force behind the perfection of everything that is.

48. Ocean Waves - The universe may be chaotic and unpredictable, but it's also a highly organized physical realm bound by the laws of mathematics. One of the most fundamental (and strikingly beautiful) ways these laws manifest is through the golden ratio. Even the waves in the ocean adhere to the Fibonacci sequence, the Golden Ratio. And it continues throughout nature: chameleon tails, spiderwebs, flower buds, snail shells, whirlpools, pine cones, and galaxies.

49. Ducks flying South for the Winter - Migration - animals instinctively know how to survive - how and where to move and when to do it. Everything is in order in our universe and everywhere you look, you’ll find evidence of perfection and balance in incomprehensible detail. Birds play a wide variety of roles in Native American mythology. Frequently they serve as messengers from the Creator, or between humans and the spirit world.

50. Purple Yantra - the Sanskrit word for a mystical diagram, especially diagrams from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. They are used for worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; used for the benefits given by their supposed occult powers based on Hindu astrology and tantric texts. used for specific benefits, such as: for meditation; protection from harmful influences; development of particular powers; attraction of wealth or success, etc.

As an aid to meditation, yantras represent the deity that is the object of meditation. These yantras emanate from the central point, the bindu. The yantra typically has several geometric shapes radiating concentrically from the center, including triangles, circles, hexagons, octagons, and symbolic lotus petals. The Lakshmi Yantra is a diagram of six intersecting triangles. The three upward pointing triangles represent the male energy and the three downward pointing triangles represent the female energy. The whole geometric design is encased in a lotus design, representing the universe or creation.

The yantra symbol thus represents the creative aspect or fertile aspect of the cosmos.The Shri yantra is a very powerful symbol that dispels all negative energy from its vicinity and fills it with positive, progressive, and auspicious energy. It is believed that Goddess Lakshmi has great affection for the Shri Yantra and blesses those who possess it.

51. Aborigine Spirituality - Australia - Aboriginal religion, like many other religions, is characterized by having a god or gods who created people and the surrounding environment during a particular creation period at the beginning of time. Aboriginal people are very religious and spiritual, but rather than praying to a single god they cannot see, each group generally believes in a number of different deities, whose image is often depicted in some tangible, recognizable form.

This form may be that of a particular landscape feature, an image in a rock art shelter, or in a plant or animal form. Aboriginal people do not believe in animism - the belief that all natural objects possess a soul - they do not believe that a rock possesses a soul, but they might believe that a particular rock outcrop was created by a particular deity in the creation period, or that it represents a deity from the Creation Period.

They believe that many animals and plants are interchangeable with human life through re-incarnation of the spirit or soul, and that this relates back to the Creation Period when these animals and plants were once people. Aboriginal Australian myths are expressions of beliefs about how the world came into being, how it came to be how it is, how people came into existence and relate to their land, and the Law they must follow. All these myths come from the ancestral spirit beings of the Dreaming.

Many of these spirits are in animal or other form, and so give rise to totemic connections with the human beings who descend from them. There are many kinds of rituals including: Magico-religious rituals: These rituals emphasize techniques, of an incarnation or ritual action to produce a predictable effect. These include healing rituals, love-magic rituals and rain-making rituals. None of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages contains a word for “time.”

52. Hands in the air - The Holy Festival - in India - “The Festival of Colors” - The Holi festival commemorates the victory of good over evil, brought about by the burning and destruction of the demoness named Holika. This was enabled through unwavering devotion to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu. Holi got its name as the "Festival of Colors" from Lord Krishna, a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, who liked to play pranks on the village girls by drenching them in water and colors. The festival marks the end of winter and the abundance of the upcoming spring harvest season.

Holi celebrations start on the night before Holi with a Holika bonfire where people gather, do religious rituals in front of the bonfire, and pray that their internal evil should be destroyed as the bonfire starts. The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi - a free- for-all carnival of colours, where participants play, chase and colour each other with dry powder and colored water, with some carrying water guns and colored water-filled balloons for their water fight.

Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. It is the festive day to end and rid oneself of past errors, to end conflicts by meeting others, a day to forget and forgive. People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives.

53. Yantra - MANDALA: The Hindu term for circle. In Hindu and Buddhist meditations, it is used to raise consciousness. In meditation, the person fixes his or her mind on the center of the "sacred circle." Geometric designs are common. The center of some mandalas show a triangle with a bindu (dot) inside a circle. It represents the merging of male and female forces. The perfect balance of the design engages, calms, and focuses the mind. As a Mantra is a spiritually charged Sound, a Yantra is its visual equivalent.

'YANTRA' means machine or the absorbent of cosmic energy. the Sanskrit word for a mystical diagram, especially diagrams from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. They are used for worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; used for the benefits given by their supposed occult powers based on Hindu astrology and tantric texts. used for specific benefits, such as: for meditation; protection from harmful influences; development of particular powers; attraction of wealth or success, etc. As an aid to meditation, yantras represent the deity that is the object of meditation. The yantra typically has several geometric shapes radiating concentrically from the center, including triangles, circles, hexagons, octagons, and symbolic lotus petals.

The Lakshmi Yantra is a diagram of six intersecting triangles. The three upward pointing triangles represent the male energy and the three downward pointing triangles represent the female energy. The whole geometric design is encased in a lotus design, representing the universe or creation. The yantra symbol thus represents the creative aspect or fertile aspect of the cosmos.The Shri yantra is a very powerful symbol that dispels all negative energy from its vicinity and fills it with positive, progressive, and auspicious energy.

54. Roots - The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. With its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, it dwells in three worlds- a link between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance, and a masculine, visibly phallic symbol- another union. In Jewish Kabbalah, the inverted tree represents the nervous system as well- the ‘root’ in the cranial nerves, with the branches spreading throughout the body; it also represents the cosmic tree- rooted in heaven, the branches all of manifest creation. The Tree of Life is a universal symbol found in many spiritual traditions. It stands for many things, including wisdom, protection, strength, bounty, beauty, and redemption.

This image is symbolic of the Creator as it sustains creation with its abundant fruit, protection and regeneration. It also represents humans as we too develop roots, strengthen our trunk and branch out to a wider vision of life as we grow. It provides shelter. Tall and strong, it has deep roots. It reaches skyward. It loses its leaves and grows new ones ... bears fruit ... gives shelter. With nurture and care, it lives for generations.

An important symbol in cultures and faiths around the world, The Tree of Life links the heavens, the earth, and all that is hidden and growing below. The Tree of Life is central to modern Kabbalistic study. It embodies creation, existence and the return to the divine in ten spheres and twenty-two connecting paths. In Kabbalah - the Jewish mystical tradition underlying Judaism and Christianity - two different images are used. One is upside-down and the other right-side-up. The original icon emanates out of the divine world of unity and is depicted as upside-down, with its roots flowing from the divine place of unity and infinite light.

55. Hands Together - Prayer Circles - coming together, unity, Unity in Diversity - "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation” that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance of physical, cultural, linguistic, social, religious, political, ideological and/or psychological differences towards a more complex unity based on an understanding that difference enriches human interactions. Michael Novak (American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat) wrote: Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human race. This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for choice, in an atmosphere of social trust.

56. Mother Teresa - also known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta - was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries. They run hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children's and family counseling programs; orphanages; and schools. Members must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, as well as a fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor” She once said, “"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

57. Nelson Mandela - a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served 27 years in prison, yet went on to serve as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation. . A symbol of global peacemaking, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He once said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

58. Abraham Joshua Heschel - a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was active in the American Civil Rights movement. In his book “God in Search of Man” he discusses the nature of religious thought, how thought becomes faith, and how faith creates responses in the believer. He discusses ways that people can seek God's presence, and the radical amazement that we receive in return. He practiced what he called “radical amazement” in his work with religious others. “The opposite of good is not evil,” he said, “it is indifference.” A favorite quote: Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.”

59. Joseph Campbell - an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: "Follow your bliss.”

Campbell's concept of monomyth (one myth) refers to the theory that sees all mythic narratives as variations of a single great story. The theory is based on the observation that a common pattern exists beneath the narrative elements of most great myths, regardless of their origin or time of creation. The central pattern most studied by Campbell is often referred to as the hero's journey and was first described in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

As a strong believer in the psychic unity of mankind and its poetic expression through mythology, Campbell made use of the concept to express the idea that the whole of the human race can be seen as engaged in the effort of making the world "transparent to transcendence" by showing that underneath the world of phenomena lies an eternal source which is constantly pouring its energies into this world of time, suffering, and ultimately death.

To achieve this task one needs to speak about things that existed before and beyond words, a seemingly impossible task, the solution to which lies in the metaphors found in myths. These metaphors are statements that point beyond themselves into the transcendent. The Hero's Journey was the story of the man or woman who, through great suffering, reached an experience of the eternal source and returned with gifts powerful enough to set their society free.

He explains God in terms of a metaphor: God is a metaphor for a mystery that absolutely transcends all human categories of thought, even the categories of being and non-being. Those are categories of thought. I mean it's as simple as that. So it depends on how much you want to think about it. Whether it's doing you any good. Whether it is putting you in touch with the mystery that's the ground of your own being. If it isn't, well, it's a lie. So half the people in the world are religious people who think that their metaphors are facts. Those are what we call theists. The other half are people who know that the metaphors are not facts. And so, they're lies. Those are the atheists.

One of Campbell's most identifiable, most quoted and arguably most misunderstood sayings was to "follow your bliss". He derived this idea from the Upanishads. “Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: Sat-Chit-Ananda. The word "Sat" means being. "Chit" means consciousness. "Ananda" means bliss or rapture. I thought, "I don't know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don't know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being."

60. Eckhart Tolle - a German-born resident of Canada, best known as the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to your Life's Purpose. In 2011, he was listed by Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world.

Tolle has said that he was depressed for much of his life until he underwent, at age 29, an "inner transformation". And in this state a question arose without an answer: who is the ‘I’ that cannot live with the self? What is the self? I felt drawn into a void! I didn’t know at the time that what really happened was the mind-made self, with its heaviness, its problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed. It dissolved.

The next morning I woke up and everything was so peaceful. The peace was there because there was no self. Just a sense of presence or “beingness,” just observing and watching. He recalls going out for a walk in London the next morning, and finding that “everything was miraculous, deeply peaceful. He writes that religions "have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual substance has become almost completely obscured,” that they have become "to a large extent ... divisive rather than unifying forces" and become "themselves part of the insanity.”

Tolle writes that "the most significant thing that can happen to a human being is the separation process of thinking and awareness" and that awareness is "the space in which thoughts exist....the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” ] At the core of his teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution.

An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet” A famous quote: Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.

61. Maya Angelou - American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

She’s best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim. She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, sex worker, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa.

She was active in the Civil Rights movement and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. She said, “I would encourage young men and women to develop courage. It's the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can be anything erratically every now and again, kind, fair, true, generous, just, merciful, all of those, every now and again. But to continue to be that all of the time, day in and day out, night in and night out, you have to have courage.” A favorite quote: If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.”

62. Muktananda - the monastic name of the Siddha Yoga guru who was the founder of the Siddha Yoga spiritual path. He was a disciple and the successor of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote a number of books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti, Vedanta, and including a spiritual autobiography entitled The Play of Consciousness.

He wrote about meeting his guru saying, “Nityananda stood facing me directly. He looked into my eyes again. Watching carefully, I saw a ray of light entering me from his pupils. It felt hot like burning fever. Its light was dazzling, like that of a high-powered bulb. As that ray emanating from Bhagavan Nityananda's pupils penetrated mine, I was thrilled with amazement, joy, and fear. I was beholding its color and chanting Guru Om. It was a full unbroken beam of divine radiance. Its color kept changing from molten gold to saffron to a shade deeper than the blue of a shining star. I stood utterly transfixed. After the awakening of the Shakti, this process of yogic movement began to take place within my entire body. I saw my own double many times.

In the Sahasrara at the crown of the head, I perceived the brilliance of a thousand suns. I also saw the Blue Being. Sometimes I would lose myself within; then I would regain consciousness. I am ecstatic! I have found the best place of all, right within myself.

A fundamental characteristic of the Siddha Yoga path is this shaktipat-diksha, literally translated as “initiation by descent of divine power,” though which a seeker’s Kundalini Shakti is awakened by the Guru. Once active, this inner power is said to support the seeker’s steady efforts to attain self-realization. Saktipat is considered an act of grace on the part of the guru or the divine. It cannot be imposed by force, nor can a receiver make it happen. It’s the conferring of spiritual "energy" upon one person by another. Shaktipat can be transmitted with a sacred word or mantra, or by a look, thought or touch to the 3rd eye. A favorite quote: “You can't stop the waves but you can learn how to surf.”

63. Black Elk - a famous Native American medicine man and holy man of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux). He lived primarily in South Dakota and was second cousin to the war Chief Crazy Horse.

He recounted his religious vision, events from his life, and details of Lakota culture in his book “Black Elk Speaks.” When Black Elk was nine years old, he was suddenly taken ill; he lay prone and unresponsive for several days. During this time he had a great vision in which he was visited by the Thunder Beings, and taken to the Grandfathers — spiritual representatives of the six sacred directions: west, east, north, south, above, and below.

These ... spirits were represented as kind and loving, full of years and wisdom, like revered human grandfathers.” When he was seventeen, Black Elk told a medicine man, Black Road, about the vision in detail. Black Road and the other medicine men of the village were "astonished by the greatness of the vision.” He learned many things in his vision to help heal his people. He had come from a long line of medicine men and healers in his family;

Among other things he saw a great tree that symbolized the life of the earth and all people. In his vision, Black Elk is taken to the center of the earth, and to the central mountain of the world. Mythologist Joseph Campbell explains this recurring symbol among religions as "the axis mundi, the central point, the pole around which all revolves ... the point where stillness and movement are together ...." Black Elk was residing at the axis of the six sacred directions. Campbell viewed Black Elk's statement as key to understanding myth and symbols.

As Black Elk related: And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy. Favorite Quote: There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is Within the souls of men.

64. Martin Luther King Jr - American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest orators in American history.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree with a dissertation on "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman".

In his “I have a dream” speech, he said,” I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

As a Christian minister, King's main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them.

His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism, King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India”. With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959. The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity”. A Favorite quote: Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

65. Albert Einstein - German-born physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, among other feats. He is considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century and forever changed the landscape of science by introducing revolutionary concepts that shook our understanding of the physical world.. He had a passion for inquiry that eventually led him to develop the special and general theories of relativity. In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.

One of his most defining qualities was his remarkable ability to conceptualize complex scientific ideas by imagining real-life scenarios. What would happen if you chased a beam of light as it moved through space? If you could somehow catch up to the light, Einstein reasoned, you would be able to observe the light frozen in space. But light can't be frozen in space, otherwise it would cease to be light.

Eventually Einstein realized that light cannot be slowed down and must always be moving away from him at the speed of light. Therefore something else had to change. Einstein eventually realized that time itself had to change, which laid the groundwork for his special theory of relativity.

He is well known for his theories about light, matter, gravity, space, and time. His most well known equation is E=mc2. It means that energy and mass are different forms of the same thing. He received honorary doctorate degrees in science, medicine and philosophy from many European and American universities.

As for spirituality, among many things he said:
1) “Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man - and one in the face of which. we with our modest powers must feel humble.

2) The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—-a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.

3) The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men.

66. Sashay Sai Baba - an Indian guru and philanthropist. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. His materializations of Vibhuti (holy ash) and other small objects such as rings, necklaces, and watches, along with reports of miraculous hearings, resurrections, clairvoyance, bilocation, and alleged omnipotence and omniscience, were a source of both fame and controversy. His devotees considered them signs of his divinity, while skeptics viewed them as simple conjuring tricks.

Nevertheless, The Sathya Sai Organisation, founded by Sathya Sai Baba "to enable its members to undertake service activities as a means to spiritual advancement”, has over 1,200 Sathya Sai Centers (branches) in 126 countries. Through this organization, Sathya Sai Baba established a network of free hospitals, clinics, drinking water projects, auditoriums, ashrams and schools.

He believed: Love - for all creatures. Service - to others. Put a ceiling on one's desires. The world is maya (illusion), only God is real. Every person is God in form, though most do not experience this as their reality.

Meditation - Baba taught two techniques, so ham (Upanishadic mantra for repetition and focus) and jyoti (Light meditation). Inclusive acceptance of all religions as paths to realizing the One (God). Ahimsa (non-violence), shanthi (peace), dharma (right conduct, living in accord with natural law), and sathya (truth). A Favorite Quote: When there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there will be Peace in the world.”

67. Mahatma Gandhi - the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

He first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organizing peasants, farmers, and urban laborers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination.

Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving Swaraj or self-rule.

He was born into a Hindu family in 1869, and he remained a devout Hindu throughout his life. However, he was strongly influenced by ideas from several other religions and eventually developed many of his own unique ideas about religion, philosophy and the right way to live. He believed Religion should pervade every one of our actions. Here religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief in ordered moral government of the universe.

It is not less real because it is unseen. This religion transcends Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc. It does not supersede them. It harmonizes them and gives them reality. - The Allah of Islam is the same as the God of Christians and the Ishwara of Hindus. Even as there are numerous names of God in Hinduism, there are many names of God in Islam. The names do not indicate individuality but attributes, and little man has tried in his humble way to describe mighty God by giving Him attributes, though He is above all attributes, Indescribable, Immeasurable. - Religion should pervade every one of our actions.

Two Favorite Quotes: “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

68. Dalai Lama - he Dalai Lamas are believed by Tibetan Buddhist followers to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity. - His Holiness is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

He frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the preservation of Tibet's Buddhist culture, a culture of peace and non-violence.

on the level of a religious practitioner, His Holiness’ second commitment is the promotion of religious harmony and understanding among the world’s major religious traditions. Despite philosophical differences, all major world religions have the same potential to create good human beings. It is therefore important for all religious traditions to respect one another and recognize the value of each other’s respective traditions. As far as one truth, one religion is concerned, this is relevant on an individual level. However, for the community at large, several truths, several religions are necessary. Favorite Quote: Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

69. Pope Francis - current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.
 
Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III, who died in 741.

Pope Francis has called for the expansion of women’s roles in the Church. He has condemned the Church’s focus on abortion and gay marriage, believing it should focus on helping those in need. Pope Francis has stated that those who live a good and moral life — even if atheist — can achieve Heaven.

He encourages peace and dialogue between religions, and respect for followers of Islam, stating: “Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.”

Favorite quote: Without hope, we can walk, but we’ll become cold, indifferent, self- absorbed, distant and isolated.

70. Jesus - The name "Jesus" is derived from the Hebrew-Aramaic word "Yeshua," meaning "Yahweh [the Lord] is salvation." The name "Christ" is actually a title for Jesus. It comes from the Greek word "Christos," meaning "the Anointed One," or "Messiah" in Hebrew.

Most Bible scholars agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who performed many miracles of healing and deliverance. He called 12 Jewish men to follow him, working closely with them to train and prepare them to carry on the ministry. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah.

Jesus propounded a simple philosophy of faith, love, and forgiveness. He spoke often in parables, pregnant with timeless morals. But to his close disciples he taught deeper truths, truths that have their correspondence in the deepest metaphysical concepts of the more ancient yoga philosophy.

Many believe Jesus Christ is very much alive and active today. In Spirit and occasionally taking on a flesh-and-blood form, he is working unseen by the masses for the regeneration of the world. With his all-embracing love, Jesus is not content merely to enjoy his blissful consciousness in Heaven. He is deeply concerned for mankind and wishes to give his followers the means to attain the divine freedom of entry into God’s Infinite Kingdom.

A favorite quote: Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

71. Bhagavad Krishna - lived many centuries before Christ. Revered throughout India as an Avatar (incarnation of God), the historical facts of Krishna’s life are interwoven with a maze of legend and mythology.

The sublime teachings of Lord Krishna are enshrined in the Bhagavad Gita. “The Bhagavad Gita is the most beloved scripture of India, a scripture of scriptures. It is the Hindu’s Holy Testament, or Bible, the one book that all masters depend upon as a supreme source of scriptural authority.... So comprehensive as a spiritual guide is the Gita that it is declared to be the essence of the ponderous four Vedas, 108 Upanishads, and the six systems of Hindu philosophy....The entire knowledge of the cosmos is packed into the Gita.

Supremely profound, yet couched in revelatory language of solacing beauty and simplicity, the Gita has been understood and applied on all levels of human endeavor and spiritual striving — sheltering a vast spectrum of human beings with their disparate natures and needs. Wherever one is on the way back to God, the Gita will shed its light on that segment of the journey.... He said: Approach those who have realized the purpose of life and question them with reverence and devotion; they will instruct you in this wisdom.

Favorite quote: “Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening. Live in the present.”

72. Mahavatar Babaji - There are no historical records relating to the birth and life of Mahavatar Babaj, the deathless avatar has resided for untold years in the remote Himalayan regions of India, revealing himself only rarely to a blessed few.

The name was given by Lahiri Mahasaya and several of his disciples who met Mahavatar Babaji between 1861 and 1935. Some of these meetings were described by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi, including a first hand telling of Yogananda's own meeting with Mahavatar Babaji.

Mahavatar" means "great avatar", and "Babaji" simply means "revered father”. According to Yogananda, the Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters–one with the body, and one without it–is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism.

Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self- liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.

Mahavatar Babaji was one of the many people featured on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He can also be seen on the cover of George Harrison's 1974 album Dark Horse. It is Mahavatar Babaji who revived in this age the lost scientific meditation technique of Kriya Yoga. In bestowing Kriya initiation on his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, Babaji said, “The Kriya Yoga that I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century is a revival of the same science that Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna; and that was later known to Patanjali and Christ, and to St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples.”

A favorite quote: "If you are at peace, I am in peace. If you are troubled, I am troubled. If you have problems, I have problems. There will always be hills and mountains to overcome on the way to God. Do not be disturbed by the mountain falling down. It is the duty of the mountain to fall down and it is the duty of the soldiers to move the mountain.”

73. Lahiri Mahasaya - Born in India, at the age of thirty-three, while walking one day in the Himalayan foothills near Ranikhet, he met his guru, Mahavatar Babaji. (see above) He became engulfed in a spiritual aura of divine realization that was never to leave him. Mahavatar Babaji initiated him in the science of Kriya Yoga and instructed him to bestow the sacred technique on all sincere seekers. Devotees from every part of India began to seek the divine nectar of the liberated master....The harmoniously balanced life of the great householder-guru became the inspiration of thousands of men and women.”

As Lahiri Mahasaya exemplified the highest ideals of Yoga, union of the little self with God, he is reverenced as a Yogavatar, or incarnation of Yoga. Lahiri Mahasaya established no organization during his lifetime, but made this prediction: “About fifty years after my passing, an account of my life will be written because of a deep interest in Yoga that will arise in the West. The message of Yoga will encircle the globe. It will aid in establishing the brotherhood of man: a unity based on humanity’s direct perception of the one Father.”

Lahiri Mahasaya passed on - entered mahasamadhi (the act of consciously and intentionally leaving one's body at the time of enlightenment) - in Banaras, September 26, 1895. Fifty years later, in America, his prediction was fulfilled when an increasing interest in yoga in the West inspired Paramahansa Yogananda to write Autobiography of a Yogi, which contains a beautiful account of Lahiri Mahasaya’s life.

A Favorite quote: “Seek divine wealth, not the paltry tinsel of earth. After acquiring inward treasure, you will find that outward supply is always forthcoming.”

74. Swami Sri Yukteswar - a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya and attained the spiritual stature of a Jnanavatar, or incarnation of wisdom. Sri Yukteswar recognized that a synthesis of the spiritual heritage of the East with the science and technology of the West would do much to alleviate the material, psychological, and spiritual suffering of the modern world.

These ideas were crystallized by his remarkable encounter with Mahavatar Babaji (see #72 above), the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, in 1894. “At my request, Swamiji,” Babaji said to him, “will you not write a short book on the underlying harmony between Christian and Hindu scriptures? Their basic unity is now obscured by men’s sectarian differences. Show by parallel references that the inspired sons of God have spoken the same truths.”

Sri Yukteswar recounted: “In the quiet of night I busied myself over a comparison of the Bible and the scriptures of Sanatan Dharma (a name proposed as an alternative, "native" name for Hinduism). Quoting the words of the blessed Lord Jesus, I showed that his teachings are in essence one with the revelations of the Vedas (the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Believed to be “not of man”, authorless). Through the grace of my paramguru, my book, The Holy Science, was finished in a short time.”

It was to Swami Sri Yukteswar that Paramahansa Yogananda came as a youth. Babaji had told him: “You, Swamiji, have a part to play in the coming harmonious exchange between Orient and Occident. Some years hence I shall send you a disciple whom you can train for yoga dissemination in the West. Under Sri Yukteswar’s spiritual training and discipline, Sri Yogananda was prepared to begin his worldwide mission in the West.

A favorite quote: Ordinary love is selfish, darkly rooted in desires and satisfactions. Divine love is without condition, without boundary, without change. The flux of the human heart is gone forever at the transfixing touch of pure love.

75. Paramahansa Yogananda - personally blessed by Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar — all three of the paramgurus in his spiritual lineage — to carry out the mission of disseminating Kriya Yoga worldwide.

He was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced millions of westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi. His goals included: To disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God.

His techniques were non-denominational and had nothing to do with any particular religion. You could keep your religion and practice the techniques for a direct, personal “experience” in spiritual awareness, that expanded and enhanced your personal spiritual beliefs through an experience in pure Awareness.

He set out to teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort, of man’s limited mortal consciousness into God Consciousness. To reveal the complete harmony and basic oneness of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original Yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna; and to show that these principles of truth are the common scientific foundation of all true religions.

He wanted to liberate man from his threefold suffering: physical disease, mental in- harmonies, and spiritual ignorance. To unite science and religion through realization of the unity of their underlying principles.

About Kriya Yoga: The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment. He founded the Self Realizations Fellowship.

A favorite quote: As often as you fail, get up and try again. God will never let you down, so long as you don't let Him down, and so long as you make the effort.

76. Yogiraj Siddhanath - descended from the ancient family of Ikshavaku Rama of the Solar Dynasty in India. Though he belonged to a royal family, with all the comforts of palace life, he was a born siddha and went into spontaneous enlightened states from the age of 3. During his childhood days, He was aware of his larger self dwelling in his helpless little body. From the age of three, he would sit long hours in meditation and have visions of Shiva, Krishna, Rama and Christ.

An Illumined Being with direct experiences of Mahavatar Babaji, Yogiraj spent his early years in the Himalayas with the great Nath Yogis in whose presence he was transformed, realizing the unity of all Yogas and Religions. A Master of Kundalini Kriya Yoga, Yogiraj’s message to Humanity is EARTH PEACE THROUGH SELF PEACE. In conveying his message, Yogiraj goes beyond the limited reach of words and offers the grace of direct Experience.

Favorite quote: For thousands of years people have been trying to disprove God and they have failed. And for thousands of years, people have been trying to prove God and they have also failed, for God is not a subject for proof, disproof or intellectual speculation. God is a direct experience...and each one of us must experience it for ourselves. The only way to have a direct experience is through meditation. Kriya Yoga meditation is rightly called the lightning path, and exemplifies the glorious Indian heritage of pure spirituality.

77. Ramakrisna - represents the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings.

Sri Ramakrishna, as a silent force, influences the spiritual thought currents of our time. He is a figure of recent history and his life and teachings have not yet been obscured by loving legends and doubtful myths. Through his God-intoxicated life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the monopoly of any particular age, country, or people.

In him, deepest spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. The God-man of nineteenth-century India did not found any cult, nor did he show a new path to salvation. His message was his God-consciousness. When God-consciousness falls short, traditions become dogmatic and oppressive and religious teachings lose their transforming power.

At a time when the very foundation of religion, faith in God, was crumbling under the relentless blows of materialism and skepticism, Sri Ramakrishna, through his burning spiritual realizations, demonstrated beyond doubt the reality of God and the validity of the time-honored teachings of all the prophets and saviors of the past, and thus restored the falling edifice of religion on a secure foundation.

The greatest contribution of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world is his message of the harmony of religions. To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation of God in His diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary.

Sri Ramakrishna faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal. Thus he declared, "As many faiths, so many paths." The paths vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity; it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship of religions based on their common goal -- communion with God.

This harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness. In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony gives us hope and shows the way.

Favorite quote: “Mad! One must become mad with love in order to realize God. When a person attains ecstatic love of God, all the pores of the skin, even the roots of the hair, become like so many sex organs, and in every pore the aspirant enjoys the happiness of communion with the Supreme Universal Self.”

78. Swami Vivekananda - an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.

He introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. He said "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me.”

Among things he believed: It's Your Outlook That Matters: It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. - Life is Beautiful: First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful.

If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves! - Learn Everyday: The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.

A Favorite quote: Why do we use the old word God? Because it is the best word for our purpose; you cannot find a better word than that, because all the hopes, aspirations, and happiness of humanity have been centered in that word. Words like these were first coined by great saints who realized their import and understood their meaning. But as they become current in society, ignorant people take these words, and the result is that they lose their spirit and glory. The word God has been used from time immemorial, and the idea of this cosmic intelligence, and all that is great and holy, is associated with it.

Do you mean to say that because some fool says it is not all right, we should throw it away? Another man may come and say, "Take my word," and another
again, "Take my word." So there will be no end to foolish words.

Use the old word, only use it in the true spirit, cleanse it of superstition, and realize fully what this great ancient word means. If you understand the power of the laws of association, you will know that these words are associated with innumerable majestic and powerful ideas; they have been used and worshipped by millions of human souls and associated by them with all that is highest and best, all that is rational, all that is lovable, and all that is great and grand in human nature.”

79. Ramana Maharishi - at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" - He was struck by "a flash of excitement" or "heat," like some avesam, a "current" or "force" that seemed to possess him and he initiated a process of self-enquiry asking himself what it is that dies. This he recognized as his true "I" or Self. This resulted in a state which he later described as "the state of mind of Iswara or the jnani.” Six weeks later he left his uncle's home in Madurai, and journeyed to the holy mountain Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai, where he took on the role of a sannyasin (the life stage of renunciation ), and remained for the rest of his life.

He soon attracted devotees who regarded him as an avatar and came to him for darshan ("the sight of God"), and in later years an ashram grew up around him, where visitors received upadesa ("spiritual instruction”) by sitting silently in his company and raising their concerns and questions.

Since the 1930s his teachings have been popularized in the west, resulting in worldwide recognition as an enlightened being. Ramana Maharshi gave his approval to a variety of paths and practices, but recommended self-enquiry as the principal means to remove ignorance and abide in Self-awareness, together with bhakti (devotion) or surrender to the Self.

He said, “Submission to this Guru is not submission to any outside oneself but to the Self manifested outwardly in order to help one discover the Self within. “The Master is within; meditation is meant to remove the ignorant idea that he is only outside.” When asked whether he gave initiation he always avoided a direct answer. But the initiation by look was a very real thing. He would turn to the devotee, his eyes fixed upon him with blazing intentness. The luminosity, the power of his eyes pierced into one, breaking down the thought-process. Sometimes it was as though an electric current was passing through one, sometimes a vast peace, a flood of light.

A favorite quote: “No one succeeds without effort... Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.”

80. Amma - means “mother” in many languages - Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī - known as “The Hugging Saint” - a Hindu spiritual leader and guru who is revered as a saint by her followers. She has created a global empire from rose-scented embraces that her followers say cure cancers, ward off evil spirits, and “feel like the ocean.” But it’s after she leaves that the real miracles happen, according to countless followers.

Amma stays in her seat the whole time, refusing to stop until she greets the last person in the hall—even if that means the program lasts until midnight. She says she gets her energy from the “eternal power source.”

She has hugged around 34 million people during her annual worldwide tours. Her humanitarian organization, Embracing the World, continues to provide much-needed health care, disaster relief and education for India’s poor. Amma says that her religion is love. She has never asked anyone to change their religion but only to contemplate the essential principles of their own faith and to try to live accordingly.

Favorite quote: “Be like the honeybee who gathers only nectar wherever it goes. Seek the goodness that is found in everyone.”

81. Haile Selassie - ("Might of the Trinity”) - worked to modernize Ethiopia for several decades before famine and political opposition forced him from office in 1974.

Rastafari is an Abrahamic new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor from 1930 to 1974, as God incarnate and the Messiah who will deliver believers to the Promised Land, (identified by Rastas as Ethiopia).

Haile Selassie never regarded himself as God, nor did he adhere to Rastafari. Rastafarians regard Haile Selassie I as God because Marcus Garvey's prophecy - "Look to Africa where a black king shall be crowned, he shall be the Redeemer" - was swiftly followed by the ascension of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia. Haile Selassie I is regarded by Rastafarians as the God of the Black race. This is supported by the Rastafarian idea that God himself is black. Rastafarians use Biblical names such as Lord of Lords, King of Kings and Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah for Haile Selassie.

Many Rastafarians trace Haile Selassie's lineage back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. They believe that the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon found in the Book of Kings (1 Kings 10:1-13) provides further proof of the divinity of Haile Selassie I. Rastafarians believe that King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had sex during the visit, which led to the conception of a child who was in the same line of descendants as Haile Selassie I.

To many Rastafarians this shows the divine nature of Haile Selassie, as Haile Selassie is therefore related to Solomon's father King David and therefore to Jesus. Rastafari holds to many Jewish and Christian beliefs. Rastas accept the existence of a single triune god, called Jah, who has incarnated on earth several times, including in the form of Jesus. They accept much of the Bible, although they believe that its message has been corrupted over time by Babylon, which is commonly identified with Western, white culture.

Specifically, they accept the prophesies in the Book of Revelations concerning the second coming of the Messiah, which they believe has already occurred in the form of Selassie.

A favorite quote: Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success.

82. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of a worldwide organization that has been characterized in multiple ways including as a new religious movement and as non-religious. Because he often laughed in TV interviews he was sometimes referred to as the "giggling guru.”

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Maharishi achieved fame as the guru to the Beatles, The Beach Boys and other celebrities. In the late 1970s, he started the TM-Sidhi programme that claimed to offer practitioners the ability to levitate and to create world peace.

The Maharishi's Natural Law Party was founded in 1992, and ran campaigns in dozens of countries. He moved to near Vlodrop, the Netherlands, in the same year. In 2000, he created the Global Country of World Peace, a non-profit organization, and appointed its leaders.- he Maharishi is reported to have trained more than 40,000 TM teachers, taught the Transcendental Meditation technique to "more than five million people" and founded thousands of teaching centers and hundreds of colleges, universities and schools.

His philosophy featured the concept that "within everyone is an unlimited reservoir of energy, intelligence, and happiness”. He emphasized the naturalness of his meditation technique as a simple way of developing this potential. The Maharishi had a message of happiness.

A Favorite Quote: "Being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through happiness. Under all circumstances be happy. Just think of any negativity that comes at you as a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss”.

83. Guru Nanak - the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated world-wide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab. He has been called "one of the greatest religious innovators of all time. He travelled far and wide teaching people the message of one God who dwells in every one of His creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. He set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.

His words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns in the holy text of Sikhism, He said, “There is neither Hindu nor Mussulman (Muslim), but only man. So whose path shall I follow? I shall follow God's path. God is neither Hindu nor Mussulman and the path which I follow is God’s."

The main basic belief of Sikhism is to spread the message of kindness, and peace, instead of revenge and spite. Sikhism is one of the most recently formed religions in the world.

A Favorite quote: There is but One God. His name is Truth; He is the Creator. He fears none; he is without hate. He never dies; He is beyond the cycle of births and death. He is self-illuminated. He is realized by the kindness of the True Guru. He was True in the beginning; He was True when the ages commenced and has ever been True. He is also True now.”

84. Anandamayi Ma - regarded as a Self/God-realized master. Sivananda Saraswati of the Divine Life Society described her as "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced." Precognition, faith healing and other miracles were attributed to her by her followers.

Paramhansa Yogananda translates Anandamayi as "joy-permeated". This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe what they saw as her habitual state of divine joy and bliss. A central theme of her teaching is "the supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary" and "only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions".

However she did not ask everyone to become a renunciate. "Everyone is right from his own standpoint," she would say. She did not give formal initiations and refused to be called a guru, as she maintained that "all paths are my paths" and kept saying "I have no particular path” She did not advocate the same method for all. "How can one impose limitations on the infinite by declaring this is the only path—and, why should there be so many different religions and sects? Because through every one of them He gives Himself to Himself, so that each person may advance according to his inborn nature."

Everyone was welcome and she was equally at ease while giving advises to all practitioners of different faiths. Even now, the Muslim population of Kheora still refer to her as "our own Ma”.

She taught how to live a God-centered life in the world and provided the living inspiration to enable thousands to aspire to this most noble ideal.

She also advocated spiritual equality for women; for example, she opened up the sacred thread ritual, (which had been performed by men only for centuries), to women. Her style of teaching included jokes, songs and instructions on everyday life along with long discourses, meditation and reading of scriptures.

Favorite quote: God is without form, without quality as well as with form and quality. Watch and see with what endless variety of beautiful forms He plays the play of his maya with Himself alone. The lila of the all pervading One goes on and on in this way in infinite diversity. He is without beginning and without end. He is the whole and also the part. The whole and part together make up real Perfection.”

85. The Spiritual Eye - This is the only image in this work that I painted myself. It’s in the 3rd eye or 6th chakra, located between the eyebrows. When the yogi concentrates long enough with half-open eyes at the point between the eyebrows, and when the gaze is without any restless motion, he will be able to see a steady light surrounded by other, but flickering, lights. In time, he will see the perfect formation of the spiritual eye: a dark opal-blue globe within a golden ring of flame.

Gradually, by deep concentration, an extremely brilliant white star occasionally glimmers in the center of the blue. The star is the gateway through which the consciousness must pass to attain oneness with Spirit. The devotee will eventually attain the power to look through it into Eternity; and through the starry gateway he will sail into Omnipresence. Progression through the spiritual eye, experienced by advancing yogis, unfolds first the wondrous perceptions of superconsciousness, the region of rays of light out of which all matter evolves, going beyond all delusive relativities of vibrations. He then realizes the Transcendental Lord—He who exists behind the transitory dreams of cosmic matter. In the transcendental state God spins out His dreams of ideational (causal), astral, and physical universes.

The physical cosmos, with its many "island universes" floating in the eternal void, is Page4 5of5 6

encircled by a nimbus of radiant energy that melts away into the larger astral world. The astral cosmos is a grander manifestation of creation than the physical, and runs through and beyond the latter. In the astral cosmos many luminous galaxies of various densities, with their astral solar and stellar systems, are roving in a vaster sphere of eternity.

The largest or causal cosmos contains countless causal galactic systems with their suns and planets, roaming all through the physical and astral cosmoses and far beyond their boundaries to the outermost sphere of vibratory space.

The causal universe is the womb of creation. In the causal universe, God's finest creative forces of consciousness, and highly evolved beings with their intuitive processes, objectify universes from subtle divine thought forces. As the ocean is behind all individual waves. So is God behind the cells of our body, behind every thought, behind every breath and beat of the heart.

86. “Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself......” Paramahansa Yogananda,

87. “In order to carry a Positive Action we must develop here a Positive Vision.” Dalai Lama

88. “Stand as a Rock; You are Indestructible. You are the Self, the God of the Universe” Swami Vivekananda

89. “I am Everywhere, I am No Where, I am Now Here” Mahavatar Babaji as told to Yogiraj Siddhanath

90. “ Earth Peace through Self Peace” Yogiraj Siddhanath

91. “The best Richness is the Richness of the Soul ” Muhammad

92. “Gratitude equals Happiness” The Kabbalah

93. “Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God.” Ramakrishna

94. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi

95. “The mind is everything. What you think you become” Buddha

96. “ Do not be anxious for tomorrow, tomorrow will be anxious for itself ” Jesus

97. The Cross - the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians. In ceremonial usage, making a sign of the cross may be, according to the context, an act of profession of faith, a prayer, a dedication, or a benediction.

Christians believe the cross reveals to us the character of God: His love for lost sinners and His perfect justice meet at the cross. If we want to grow in our love for God, which is the first and greatest commandment, then we must be growing to understand and appreciate of the cross, which shows us His great love. If we want to grow in godliness, we must grow in understanding the significance of the cross, which confronts the most prevalent and insidious of all sins, namely, pride.

The cross is the place where all the wounds of sin are healed. If you suffer from emotional problems--guilt, anxiety, depression, anger, or whatever--there is healing in the cross of Christ. If you are going through tragedy or suffering, there is comfort in abundance as you contemplate the sufferings of the spotless Savior on your behalf.

Cross forms were used as symbols, religious or otherwise, long before the Christian Era, but it is not always clear whether they were simply marks of identification or possession or were significant for belief and worship. Two pre-Christian cross forms have had some vogue in Christian usage. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol of life—the ankh, a tau cross surmounted by a loop and known as crux ansata—was adopted and extensively used on Coptic Christian monuments.

98. Swans - The Hamsa means the Swan and symbolizes the Soul. In meditation, Yogiraj has seen the Hamsa Swan symbolized in the lateral ventricles of his brain. These superconscious states of a Yogi are clearly documented in his film “Wings to Freedom”.

The incoming and outgoing breath in a human being represents the two wings of the swan. When a Yogi unites his mind with the inflow and outflow of his casual breath, he enters the natural state of stillness (Sahaj Samadhi).

The mystic meaning of Hamsa is “I am merged with the Divine”. In the human brain, the Lateral Ventricals exist in the shape of a “Swan In Flight”, with its wing-like ventricles thrust towards the forehead and its head pointing to the back as though the Swan is flying faster than light back to the future.

When a Hamsa Yogi, through meditation and pranayama, activates the Kundalini energy, (the energy in the spine) then these ventricles in the brain open up.

The white swan is mythologically represented as the vehicle or mount of Brahma the Creator. The sacred hamsa, said to have the power of extracting only milk from a mixture of milk and water, is thus a symbol of spiritual discrimination.

99. Doves - seemingly inexhaustible sources of symbolic flavor throughout most histories, cultures and myth. Doves are commonly considered a symbol of motherhood because of their unique ability to produce their own milk. Another confirmation about maternal attributes, as well as self-sacrifice for the sake of their offspring, is that they cease foraging for food just before their babies are born. This temporary starvation ensures a purer milk formulation for their offspring.

Historically, dove symbolism is associated with several mother figures:The Mother Mary in Christian legend (care, devotion, purity and peace). Ishtar in Assyrian culture (promise of hope and salvation). Aphrodite and Venus (viewing the soul or a sense of higher love) The softly lulling coos of the dove are testimony to a divinely calming presence among us. In fact, their soft vocalizations and docile appearance enhances their interpretation as celestial messengers – or the symbolic link between earth and air.

The dove is a symbol of the soul’s release from its earth-bound duty. Doves, usually white in color, are used in a variety of settings as symbols of love, peace or as messengers. Doves appear in the symbolism of Judaism, Christianity and Paganism, and of both military and pacifist groups.

100. Batu Caves, Malaysia - Located just north of Kuala Lumpur, the Batu Caves are one of the most amazing sight in all of Asia. They are one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps.There is a 140ft. tall statue of the Hindu deity Murugah (the Hindu God of War), and lots and lots of mischievous macaque monkeys ready to snatch a snack from unsuspecting tourists.

101.Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar (a Southeast Asian nation of 53 million people and more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering India, China, Laos, and Thailand) - Rising 100 yards above the city of Rangoon - according to many travelers, one of the world’s great wonders. The base of the stupa is made of bricks covered with gold plates. The crown is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. The very top—the diamond bud—is tipped with a 76 carat (15 g) diamond.

People all over the country, as well as monarchs in its history, have donated gold to the pagoda to maintain it. The practice continues to this day after being started in the 15th century by the Queen Shin Sawbu, who gave her weight in gold. The pagoda is famed for holding the relics of four Buddhas and visitors should visit at night to enjoy the chants, the incense, and the great golden stupas shining in the spotlights.

102. Angkor Wat, Cambodia - The mighty Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia is another site which is tough to describe in words. It is the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 2.2 miles long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. To visit Angkor Wat is to immerse yourself in countless 900-year old temples, massive stone faces, sprawling jungles, and groups of young, saffron-robed monks.