A Walk down the Ages-III

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Hi,And the walk continues..........1700-1800Birth of Sahajo in Rajasthan, India sometime in this period, who was an enlightened female disciple of Charandas.Again Sahajo's songs glimpsed divinity for the listener. Her contemporary was Daya and it was said that Sahajo and Daya were like the two eyes of Charandas, like two wings of a bird.1700Birth of Baal Shem Tov in Poland. "Baal Shem" means -"Master of the Good Name".From Baal Shem was born the Hassidic mystical branch of Judaism.Baal Shem rejected asceticism in favour of bringing spiritual practices into the daily life.Hasidism is distinguished by the joyful revelry and camradery of its adherents.It is also distinguished by the value it places on ecstasy over study of the Talmud and erudition.The whole standpoint of Hasidism is based on "grace".Godliness comes through grace, not through effort.Hasidism is one of the religions of the world which is life -affirmative.Nothing to be renounced, renunciated.1757Birth of William Blake, English romantic poet and artist.Blake writes" Energy is delight.There is no other delight. The very vitality, the very energy of being is delight, is bliss."1768Death of Hakuin Ekaku, enlightened Japanese Zen Master whose famous "Song of Meditation" begins;All beings are from the very beginning, buddhas."1789The first Congress of the United States convenes in New York City and adopts what is known as the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, religions, press and the right to assemble peacefully, protest and demand change.1800-19001819Birth of Walt Whitman, an American poet of mystical dimensions."I celebrate myself, I sing myself"1828Birth of Leo Tolstoy in Russia whose works "War and Peace", "Anna Kareina" are considered to be two of the greatest novels of all time.Contemporary Russian writers include, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Gorky, Chekhov.1836Ramkrishna was born in Bengal, India.Devotee of Goddess Kali, he attains enlightenment through the meeting with the Tantric Master Totapuri.Ramkrishna was later on known as Ramkrishna Parahamsa, the Great Swan.1844Birth of Friederich Nietzche, in Germany, who later on becomes one of the most controversial philosophers for his condemnation of Christianity.His famous statement 'God is Dead" and in his works "Thus spake Zarathustra", Nietsche presented his ideal "superman" who lives beyond the confines of mass mind- a notion which was subsequently exploited by Adolf Hitler to justify the supremacy of the German race.1853Birth of Vincent Van Gogh, genius of Impressionist paintings.His stay in Provence, during the last two years of his life (1888-90) is regarded as the greatest period of his creative work.At the age of 37 he committed suicide.He writes"I have no complain against anybody or against Life- Life has been a great fulfilment to me. I am committing suicide because all I wanted to paint, I have painted; now there is no point in living. I have done what I had come to do; my work is finished."1860The election of Abraham Lincoln as President of United States of America leads to an end to slavery in America.in 1862, Britain and the United States sign a treaty of co-operation for supressing the slave trade on a global scale.1879Birth of Ramana Maharishi who becomes enlightened as a young man and establishes an ashram in Arunachala, South India.His basic teaching is self-enquiry."I teach you only one mantra "Who am I; Go deep into it;Let it become an existential question, not just words. Let your whole being become the question-Who am I?Once you have known yourself, all is known."1900-20001900A promising nine year old dancer from Poland is admitted to the Imperial Theatre School of St Petersburg, Russia. His name Nijinsky.1902Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis is appointed to a professorship in Vienna.1913Rabindranath Tagore, an enlightened poet from India gives humanity his poem "Gitanjali".1918Women win the right to vote in Britain and two years later in the United States.Gertrude Stein, rationalist and playwright says " A rose is a rose is a rose".In 1946, moment before dying she asks "what is the answer?'When no one replies, she continues "In that case what is the question?".

And dies smiling.1923Khalil Gibran publishes his epic-spiritual poem "The Prophet".1922Escaping from the Russian revolution with his disciples, George Gurdjieff settles in France and establishes his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau-Avon.Gurdjieff's path is the path of spiritual crystallisation and he is a tremendous contributor in the raising of humanity's consciousness.1929In an historic break with the Theosophical Society, Jidu Krishnamurthy, an enlightened Master disbands the "Order of the Star" and declares Truth is a pathless path and no spiritual practice or organisation should be formed tolead people.1969Meher Baba dies in Poona, India.Meher Baba was born in 1894 and after enlightenment, while being flocked by disciples remained in silence.He also conducted experiments with mad people, whom he felt were ripe for going beyond since they were already outside the grip of the "normal" mind.All history is fictitious.All is fiction.Nothing ever happens.Truth IS.All that happens is fictitious.Godliness has no history, no biography.Godliness only IS, there is no "was" and there is no "will be".All history is fictitious.Sandeep