We now present “Song of Love” from the book The Songs of Twilight by Victor Hugo. “If there be a velvet grassy expanse By dewdrops pearly dressed, Where through all seasons Flowers by bees care, Where one may gather, Roses, honeysuckle, lily white, I gladly would make of it a site For thy foot to rest. If there be a loving heart Where Honor rules the breast, Loyal and true in every part, That changes never molest, Eager to run its noble race, Intend to do some work of grace, I gladly would make of it a place For thy brow to rest. And if there be of love a dream Which shows, – A something sweet and blessed, – A dream that mingles, I gladly of it would make the goal Where thy mind should rest.”

Internationally, Victor Hugo is best known for his popular novels like “Notre-Dame de Paris” (“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”) and “Les Misérables,” which have also inspired famous movies and musicals. But especially in his native France, Victor Hugo is also regarded as one of the greatest poets. Above all, Hugo's words have the power to move the common person's soul. Today we would like to share with you spiritual poems by Victor Hugo. "When my mind, on the ocean of poetry hurled, Floats on in repose round this wonderful world, Oft the sacred fire from heaven - Mysterious sun, that gives light to the soul – Strikes mine with its ray."

Today, we invite you to kindly join us in the following sacred prayers for peace from lslam. Saum (Fasting) A prayer by Hazrat Inayat Khan. “Praise be to Thee, Most Supreme God. …Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our lives, Until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy, and Thy Peace. Amen.” To conclude our program, let’s listen to a meaningful insight from Supreme Master Ching Hai regarding the best prayer to truly bring about peace for ourselves and in our world. “The secret of response to prayers lies in the way we walk our lives. We must walk the way of love if we want to see love. We must walk the way of Heaven if we want to experience Heaven.”

For millennia, Buddhism has been a beacon of peace. The Noble Eightfold Path, taught by the Worshipped Lord Shakyamuni Buddha, helps humans bring happiness not only to themselves but also to other beings, thus creating peace for all. A Buddhist affirmation in the True Pure Land Buddhist tradition. “…I will try to be kind and gentle to every living thing, and protect all who are weaker than myself. I will try to think pure and beautiful thoughts, to say pure and beautiful words, and to do pure and beautiful deeds, knowing that on what I do now my happiness and misery depends. May every link in Lord Buddha’s golden chain of love become bright and strong and may we all attain perfect peace.”

The advantage of the ideal theory over the popular faith, is this, that it presents the world in precisely that view which is most desirable to the mind. It is, in fact, the view which Reason, both speculative and practical, that is, philosophy and virtue, take. For, seen in the light of thought, the world always is phenomenal; and virtue subordinates it to the mind. Idealism sees the world in God. It beholds the whole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion, not as painfully accumulated, atom after atom, act after act, in an aged creeping Past, but as one vast picture, which God paints on the instant eternity, for the contemplation of the soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a renowned 19th-century American essayist, philosopher, lecturer, poet, and a leader of the transcendental philosophical movement. Emerson is most famous for his essays, through which he expresses ideas of freedom, spirituality, individuality, the great ability of humans to realize almost everything, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. Today we read a chapter from "Nature" titled "Idealism," about how ideal the connection between spirit and nature, between soul and matter, could be. In our spiritual awakening, we are to realize the ultimate oneness and purpose of all things that we've known in experience.

The black drop sank in Ansumati’s bosom, advancing with ten thousand round about it. Indra with might longed for it as it panted. Flying in terror from the snort of Vritra (negative force represented by a serpent), all deities who were thy friends forsook Thee. So, Indra, with the Maruts (storm deities) be Thy friendship: in all these (spiritual) battles Thou shalt be the victor. The old hath waked the young Moon from his slumber who runs his circling course with many round him. Behold the God’s high wisdom in its greatness: he who died yesterday, today is living. Then, at Thy birth, Thou wast the foeman, Indra, of those the seven who ne’er had met a rival. The hidden pair, Heaven and the Earth, Thou foundest, and to the mighty worlds Thou gavest pleasure.

Hinduism is believed to be one of the oldest living religions on Earth. One of the most cherished values of Hinduism is “ahimsa,” or non-violence. An example of this is how ahimsa is honored through a vegetarian diet, which shows compassion to all beings. Today we present Hindu hymns from the Sama Veda praising Indra, the king of the highest Heaven. “The well Thou clavest, settest free the fountains, and gavest rest to floods that were obstructed. Thou, Indra, laying the great mountain open, slaying the Ddnava, didst loose the torrents. When we have pressed the juice we laud Thee, Indra, most valorous.”

But the third Angel came and touched my eyes; I saw the mornings of the future rise, I heard the voices of an age unborn That comes behind us and our pallid morn, And from the heart of an approaching light One said to man, “Know thyself infinite, Who shalt do mightier miracles than these, Infinite, moving mid infinities.” Then from our hills the ancient answer pealed, “For Thou, O Splendor, art myself concealed, And the grey cell contains me not, the star I outmeasure and am older than the elements are. Whether on earth or far beyond the sun, I, stumbling, clouded, am the Eternal One.”

Today, in celebrating November 1, World Vegan Day, we invite you to hear what the great philosophers and ethicists have to say about the life choices concerning food, animal rights, and the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. "To affirm life is to deepen, to make more inward, and to exalt the will-to-live. At the same time, the man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give to every will-to-live the same reverence for life that he gives to his own." "That a man was not born a carnivorous animal but born to live on the fruits and herbs that the earth grows…. The basis of my vegetarianism is not physical, but moral."

India – the home of many great spiritual Masters who have brought wisdom and truth to Earth, inspiring us to seek higher purposes in life, thus uplifting humanity to a divine state of living. One such great being is the spiritual master, yogi, philosopher, poet and politician Sri Aurobindo, who graced our planet from 1872 to 1950. “Collected Poems” is the Volume 2 of the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, which includes all short and narrative poems in English that Sri Aurobindo published during his lifetime. “It beheld the stars Born from a thought and knew how being prepares. Then I remembered how I woke from sleep And made the skies, built earth, formed Ocean deep.”

Baha’u’llah was the enlightened Prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith. The Baha’i Faith rests on three core principles: unity of God, until of religion, and unity of humankind. Prayers and meditations by Bahá’u’lláh: I implore Thee, O Thou Maker of the heavens and Lord of all names, by Thy most effulgent Self and Thy most exalted and all-glorious Remembrance, to send down upon Thy loved ones that which will draw them nearer unto Thee, and enable them to hearken unto Thine utterances. Tear asunder with the hand of Thy transcendent power, O my Lord, the veil of vain imaginings, that they who are wholly devoted to Thee may see Thee seated on the throne of Thy majesty, and the eyes of such as adore Thy unity may rejoice at the splendors of the glory of Thy face.

"Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast." "And though of magnificence and splendor, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night." "Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful. And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain." "It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger."

Born in 1883, Kahlil Gibran was an enlightened Lebanese philosopher, author, poet, artist and mystic, who immigrated to the United States when He was young. “Always you have been told that work is a curse and labor a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of Earth’s dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, And in keeping yourself with labor you are in truth loving life, And to love life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.” “Truly you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.”

The immensity of God has relation to spaces, and His eternity to times. His infinity comprehends both immensity and eternity. But as infinity transcends what is finite, and the cognition of it, the finite mind, in order to attain some degree of perception of the subject, it must be treated of in this order: 1. God is infinite because He is and exists in Himself, and all things in the universe are and exist from Him. 2. God is infinite because He was before the world, consequently before spaces and times had birth. 3. God, since the world was made, is in space without space, and in time without time. 4. Infinity in relation to spaces is called immensity, and in relation to times eternity; and yet, notwithstanding these relations, there is nothing of space in God’s immensity, and nothing of time in His eternity.

In the 18th century, a great Swedish scientist and inventor at the height of his career began to see visions of Heaven, spirits, saints and angels. He saw Lord Jesus come to open his inner eye, which allowed him to travel in the celestial sphere and talk with different spiritual beings. This mystical experience transformed the scientist into an enlightened spiritual leader with a new understanding of Christianity. His name is Emanuel Swedenborg. The life and works of this remarkable spiritual-world explorer inspire people to this day. Today we present to you, an exploration and explanation of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, and the true meaning behind it.

Baha’u’llah was the enlightened Prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith. He and His teachings are believed to be prophesied in Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and other religions. Prayers and meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Every man of insight confesses Thy sovereignty and Thy dominion, and every discerning eye perceives the greatness of Thy majesty and the compelling power of Thy might. The winds of tests are powerless to hold back them that enjoy near access to Thee from setting their faces towards the horizon of Thy glory, and the tempests of trials must fail to draw away and hinder such as are wholly devoted to Thy will from approaching Thy court. Methinks, the lamp of Thy love is burning in their hearts, and the light of Thy tenderness is lit within their breasts.

Whether we are Buddhist or Christian, we could find the higher power, within ourselves. When we sit quietly in silence, there will be a lot of information, blessing, love, energies, pouring into our being. We will feel different after meditation. And the longer the period, and the longer we meditate, the wiser, the more peaceful we become. This is how the world will become peaceful, because peace begins with each and every individual. If everyone is peaceful, the world has no war, no conflict. Peace will be made when we are peaceful inside.

“Death has no power the immortal soul to slay, That, when its present body turns to clay, Seeks a fresh home, and with unlessened might Inspires another frame with life and light.” Like moonbeams trembling on water, truly such is the life of mortals. Knowing this, let duty be performed. Bathe in the river of the soul, O man, for not with water is the soul washed clean. The pure soul is a river whose holy source is self-control, whose water is truth, whose bank is righteousness, whose waves are compassion. The spirit it is, that, under the myriad illusions of life, works steadily towards its goal; silently, imperceptibly, irresistibly, moving on to divinity.

“Gems from the East: A Birthday Book of Precepts and Axioms” was written by Madame Blavatsky and published in late 1889. With selections from famous scriptures and books to introduce the months, and Oriental precept or axiom is given for each day of the year. Spirituality is not what we understand by the words “virtue” and “goodness.” It is the power of perceiving formless, spiritual essences. The discovery and right use of the true essence of Being – this is the whole secret of life. “The mind, enlightened, casts its grief away!” – It is not to be known by knowledge! man knows it not by wisdom! learning vast Halts short of it! Only by soul itself is soul perceived – when the soul wills it so! There shines no light save its own light to show Itself unto itself!”