Spirit Warriors

                                                                     

On this page you will see a growing Alter of Biographical Material that maps the course of some of the outstanding Men and Women who, through insight, courage, compassion, commitment and love have removed obstacles and contributed towards the growth and (evolution / elevation) of Human Consciousness.

Many Blessings

Citizen Soul Power

Patanjali

The Yoga Sūtras date from around 200 BC. Patañjali has often been called the founder of Yoga because of this work, although in reality he is a more major figure. The Yoga Sūtras, as a treatise on Yoga, build on the Samkhya school and the Hindu scripture of the Bhagavad Gita (see also: Vyasa). Yoga, the science of uniting one’s consciousness, is also found in the Puranas, the Vedas and the Upanishads. Still, this work is certainly a major work among the great Hindu scriptures and serves as the basis of the yoga-system known as Raja Yoga. Patañjali’s Yoga is one of the six schools or darshanas of Hindu Philosophy. The sūtrasgive us the earliest reference to the popular term Ashtanga Yoga which translates literally as the eight limbs of yoga. They are yama, niyama,asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

“When you are inspired 
By some great purpose, 
Some extraordinary project,
All your thoughts break their bonds,
Your mind transcends limitations,
Your consciousness expands in every direction,
And you find yourself in a new, 
Great and wonderful world.
Dormant forces, facilities and talents
Become alive, and you discover yourself
To be a greater person by far
Than you ever dreamed
Yourself to be.”

more on Patanjali

http://www.patanjalisutras.com/

 

 Arundhati Roy

 

There is so much that can be said about this wonderful spirit. First, she is fearless, she is tireless in her good works, she speaks with a voice so compassionate and articulate that, in my opinion she is the full embodiment of the new Love Consciousness. 

Arundhati Roy is also the voice of the World Social Forum.  She is the voice of the voiceless and so much more. 

 She is the voice of Truth.

Namaste my Sister and many Blessings  

More on Arundhati Roy

 

Bob Marley

 

 

Bob Marley was a hero figure, in the classic mythological sense. His departure from this planet came at a point when his vision of One World, One Love — inspired by his belief in Rastafari — was beginning to be heard and felt. The last Bob Marley and the Wailers tour in 1980 attracted the largest audiences at that time for any musical act in Europe.  

Bob’s story is that of an archetype, which is why it continues to have such a powerful and ever-growing resonance: it embodies political repression, metaphysical and artistic insights, gangland warfare and various periods of mystical wilderness. And his audience continues to widen: to westerners Bob’s apocalyptic truths prove inspirational and life-changing; in the Third World his impact goes much further. Not just among Jamaicans, but also the Hopi Indians of New Mexico and the Maoris of New Zealand, in Indonesia and India, and especially in those parts of West Africa from wihch slaves were plucked and taken to the New World, Bob is seen as a redeemer figure returning to lead this 

In the clear Jamaican sunlight you can pick out the component parts of which the myth of Bob Marley is comprised: the sadness, the love, the understanding, the Godgiven talent. Those are facts. And although it is sometimes said that there are no facts in Jamaica, there is one more thing of which we can be certain: Bob Marley never wrote a bad song. He left behind the most remarkable body of recorded work. “The reservoir of music he has left behind is like an encyclopedia,” says Judy Mowatt of the I-Threes. “When you need to refer to a certain situation or crisis, there will always be a Bob Marley song that will relate to it. Bob was a musical prophet.” 

The tiny Third World country of Jamaica has produced an artist who has transcended all categories, classes, and creeds through a combination of innate modesty and profound wisdom. Bob Marley, the Natural Mystic, may yet prove to be the most significant musical artist of the twentieth century. 

 

 

Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda was born Mukunda Lal Ghosh on January 5, 1893, in the holy city of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. From his earliest years, it was clear that his life was marked for a divine destiny. According to those closest to him, even as a child the depth of his awareness and experience of the spiritual was far beyond the ordinary. In his youth he sought out sages and saints, hoping to find an enlightened guru.
It was in 1910, at the age of seventeen, that he met and became a disciple of the revered sage Sri Sri Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. Sri Yukteswarji was one of a line of exalted gurus, with whom Yoganandaji had been linked from birth: Sri Yogananda’s parents were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, guru of Sri Yukteswarji. When Yoganandaji was an infant in his mother’s arms, Lahiri Mahasaya, had blessed him and foretold: “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom.” Lahiri Mahasaya was a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji, the deathless master who revived in this age the ancient science of Kriya Yoga. Mahavatar Babaji, then revealed the sacred Kriya to Lahiri Mahasaya, who handed it down to Sri Yukteswarji, who taught it to Paramahansa Yogananda.

more on Yoganand

http://yssofindia.org

 

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

December 11,1931: Osho is born in Kuchwada, a small village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, central India.
He is the eldest of eleven children of a Jaina cloth merchant. Stories of His early years describe Him as independent and rebellious as a child, questioning all social, religious and philosophical beliefs. As a youth He experiments with meditation techniques.
March 21, 1953: \o becomes enlightened at the age of twenty-one, while majoring in philosophy at D.N. Jain college in Jabalpur.

more on Osho

http://oshoworld.com/

 

 

  

Rosa Parks

Most historians date the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States to December 1, 1955. That was the day when an unknown seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. This brave woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance, but her lonely act of defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere.

More on Rosa Parks

http://www.rosaparks.org/bio.html

 

Bobby Kennedy

 

Robert F. Kennedy boldly faced tough problems and challenged the comfortable and complacent. To keep his vision alive, his family and friends founded a living memorial in 1968.          Today the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial is dedicated to advancing the human rights movement through providing innovative support to courageous human rights defenders around the world. Through long-term partnerships and cutting edge methods, we assist advocates who have won the RFK Human Rights Award to boldly confront injustice in support of human freedom. We support investigativejournalists and authors who bring light to injustice and encourage the human rights movement through the RFK Book and Journalism Awards. Our Speak Truth to Power program educates the public on the value of the human rights and the courage of its defenders. More on Robert Francis Kennedy http://www.rfkmemorial.org/

 

 

Mahatma Gahndi

 

(Mohandas Karamchand) Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900’s. Gandhi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by his people as the father of the Indian Nation. The Indian people called Gandhi Mahatma, meaningGreat Soul.

At age 13, Gandhi joined Kasturba, age 12, in a marriage arranged by their parents. The Gandhis had four sons: Harilal and Manilal, born in India, and Ramdas and Devdas born in South Africa. While Gandhi displayed loving kindness to everyone else, he was quite demanding and severe with his wife and sons. Use the links below to learn more about Gandhi’s relationship with his family.

Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he accepted a one year contract to do legal work in South Africa. At the time South Africa was controlled by the British. When he attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people. He developed a method of direct social action based upon the principles courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civildisobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals.

In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the tenets of Satyagraha he lead the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent.

India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace. On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78, he began a fast with the purpose of stopping the bloodshed. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast. Twelve days later he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who opposed his program of tolerance for all creeds and religion.

Among the tributes to Gandhi upon his death were these words by the great physicist, Albert Einstein:

 

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

More on Gandhi

http://www.mkgandhi.org/

 

John Lennon

Lennon’s death broke hearts around the world. In the U.S., it recalled nothing so much as the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963, an event for which, ironically, the arrival of the Beatles a few months later had provided a welcome tonic. In the twenty-five years since, Lennon’s influence and symbolic importance have only grown. His music, of course, will live forever. But he has survived primarily as a restless voice of change and independent thought. He is an enemy of the status quo, a bundle of contradictions who insisted on a world in which all the various elements of his personality could find free, untrammeled expression. Innumerable times since his death Lennon has been sorely missed. And just as many times and more he has been present – evoked by all of us who find ourselves and each other in the music he made and the vision that he articulated and tried to make real.

http://johnlennon.com/html/news.aspx

 

Martin Luther King Jr.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

 More on MLK jr.

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

 

Sri Chinmoy

   

 

Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose^[1] (27 August 1931 – 11 October 2007) was an Indian philosopher and teacher (guru) who emigrated to the U.S. in 1964.^[2] A prolific author, composer, artist and athlete, he was perhaps best known for holding public events on the theme of inner peace and world harmony (such as concerts, meditations, and races). His teachings emphasize love for God, daily meditation on the heart, service to the world, and religious tolerance rooted in the syncretic modern Vedantic^[3] view that “all faiths” are essentially divine.

In 2007, Sri Chinmoy was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. ^[4] 

^{More on Sri Chinmoy}

^{http://www.srichinmoy.org/}

 

Lao Tzu

Laozi is traditionally regarded as the author of the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), though its authorship has been debated throughout history.^[3][4][5]

The earliest reliable reference (circa 100 BC) to Laozi is found in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) by Chinese historian Sima Qian (ca. 145–86 BC), which combines three stories. In the first, Laozi was said to be a contemporary of Confucius (551-479 BC). His surname was Li (李 “plum”), and his personal name was Er (耳 “ear”) or Dan (聃 “long ear”). He was an official in the imperial archives, and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the West. In the second, Laozi was Lao Laizi (老來子 “Old Come Master”), also a contemporary of Confucius, who wrote a book in 15 parts. In the third, Laozi was the Grand Historian and astrologer Lao Dan (老聃 “Old Long-ears”), who lived during the reign (384-362 BC) of Duke Xian (獻公) of Qin).^[6][7]

Popular legends say that he was conceived when his mother gazed upon a falling star, stayed in the womb for sixty-two years, and was born when his mother leaned against a plum tree. He accordingly emerged a grown man with a full grey beard and long earlobes, which are a symbol of wisdom and long life.^[8][9]. In other versions he was reborn in some thirteen incarnations since the days of Fuxi; in his last incarnation as Laozi he lived to nine hundred and ninety years, and traveled to India to reveal the Dao.^[10]

According to popular traditional biographies, he worked as the Keeper of the Archives for the royal court of Chou. This reportedly allowed him broad access to the works of the Yellow Emperor and other classics of the time. The stories relate that Laozi never opened a formal school, but he nonetheless attracted a large number of students and loyal disciples. There are numerous variations of a story depicting Confucius consulting Laozi about rituals.^[11][12]

Many of the popular accounts say that Laozi married and had a son named Zong, who became a celebrated soldier. A large number of people trace their lineage back to Laozi, as the Tang Dynasty did. According to Simpkins & Simpkins, many (if not all) of the lineages may be inaccurate. However, they are a testament to the impact of Laozi on Chinese culture.^[13]

Traditional accounts state that Laozi grew weary of the moral decay of city life and noted the kingdom’s decline. According to these legends, he ventured west to live as a hermit in the unsettled frontier at the age of 160. At the western gate of the city, or kingdom, he was recognized by a guard. The sentry asked the old master to produce a record of his wisdom. This is the legendary origin of the Daodejing. In some versions of the tale, the sentry is so touched by the work that he leaves with Laozi to never be seen again. Some legends elaborate further that the “Old Master” was the teacher of the Buddha, or the Buddha himself.^[14][15]

By the mid-twentieth century, a consensus had emerged among scholars that the historicity of Laozi was doubtful or unprovable, and that the Daodejing was “a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands originating in the -4th century.” Alan Watts (1975) held that this view was part of an academic fashion for skepticism about historical spiritual and religious figures, arguing that not enough would be known for years, or possibly ever, to make a firm judgment.^{[16] [17]}

 

Eckhart Tolle

In his view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace. He states that “being in the now” brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind, an awareness which helps in transcending the ego. The ego means here the false identification with forms and labels: body, mind, thoughts, memories, social roles, life-story, opinions, emotions, material possessions, name, nationality, religion, likes and dislikes, desires, fears etc. If you are present, you recognize yourself as the space of consciousness in which the thought or impulse arises, you don’t lose yourself in thought, you don’t become the impulse. Being present is being the space, rather than what happens. He says that we should use the mind as a tool, and not let the mind to use us.

In his view, the “pain-body” is the emotional component of ego; it is created by the cumulation of suppressed emotions, the suffering of non-acceptance of what is. The size of “the pain-body” differs from person to person; it originates in the person’s past conditioning, usually the early childhood.

He says that our true “identity” is the underlying sense of I Am, which is consciousness itself. Awareness of Being is self-realization and true happiness. He states that we people are very important, because we are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.

In his view, all wanting implies that the future is more desirable than the present. As long as you want something, you are seeking to reach some point in the future that promises fulfillment. Thereby you are making the present moment as well as the other persons into a means to an end. You don’t need future or future lives to find yourself, and you need to add nothing to you to find yourself.

He believes that the New Testament contains deep spiritual truth as well as distortions, which are due to a misunderstanding of Jesus’ teaching. He teaches that when you are present, you access your inner knowing and you will sense what is true and what was added on or distorted.^[6]

In his view, love comes into existence when you know who you are in your essence and then recognize the “other” as yourself. It is the end of the delusion of separation, which is created by excessive reliance on thinking.

In his view, this shift in consciousness for most people is not a single event but a process, a gradual disidentification from thoughts and emotions through the arising of awareness.

More on Eckhart Tolle

http://www.eckharttolle.com/

Thomas Paine

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” This simple quotation from Founding Father Thomas Paine’s The Crisis not only describes the beginnings of the American Revolution, but also the life of Paine himself. Throughout most of his life, his writings inspired passion, but also brought him great criticism. He communicated the ideas of the Revolution to common farmers as easily as to intellectuals, creating prose that stirred the hearts of the fledgling United States. He had a grand vision for society: he was staunchly anti-slavery, and he was one of the first to advocate a world peace organization and social security for the poor and elderly. But his radical views on religion would destroy his success, and by the end of his life, only a handful of people attended his funeral.

More on Thomas Paine

http://www.thomaspaine.org/contents.html