Known as the 'Miracle Monk of Lebanon' by Lebanese Christians, Saint Charbel Makhlouf was born on May 8, 1828, as the fifth child of Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Chidiac. The devout Maronite Catholic family lived in the Lebanese mountain village of Bekaa Kafra. As a youth, Saint Charbel Makhlouf was drawn to the exemplary lives of the saints and hermits. However, in 1851, at 23 years of ag

Abdu'l-Bahá was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh. Along with Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, Abdu’l-Bahá, who staunchly persevered and worked towards the realization of His father’s mission, was canonized as the last of the three “central authoritative figures” of the Baha’i faith. Today, Abdu’l-Bahá’s discourses and writings continue to serve as a source of Bahá'í sacred literature. Abdu’l-Bahá was

Born on December 22, 1853, in Jayrambati, West Bengal, in India, Sri Sarada Devi was the wife and spiritual consort of 19th-century Hindu Master and Saint, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Sarada Devi is also endearingly known as the Holy Mother or Sri Sri Maa by the followers of the Sri Ramakrishna monastic order. A venerated woman Saint and mystic of the 19th century, Sri Sarada Devi was the embodim

Since love is at the heart of everything, the be-all and end-all of creation, Maharaj Ji Neem Karoli Baba’s doctrine was simple: “Love everyone, serve everyone, remember God, and tell the truth.” He followed this up by repeatedly saying “Sub Ek,” which means “All is One,” and continued with: “If you cannot love each other, you cannot achieve your goal,” for “the whole universe is our home and all

Maharaj Ji Neem Karoli Baba, known throughout North India as the “Miracle Baba,” was a unique and astonishing mystic who lived in Nanital, in the Himalayas. He was born around 1900 in the village of Akbarpur in Uttar Pradesh, into an affluent Brahmin family. Named Lakshmi Narayan Sharma, He was unmoved by worldly attachments even as a child. He married at the age of 11 but left for Gujarat soon af

Venerated enlightened Master Socrates was one of the greatest ancient Greek philosophers. He showed how discussion and debate could help people understand difficult issues, issues that were superficially political, but deep down were moral questions about the meaning of life and goodness. One of his famous pupils was the venerated enlightened Master and philosopher Plato. Socrates was unlik

During a lecture in 1988, Supreme Master Ching Hai recounted the story of Saint Bernadette. “Her younger brother who always stole her bread asked her, ‘What did you see just now?’ Bernadette did not want to tell him at first, but her younger brother kept asking, so she said, ‘Okay! I will tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.’ So she told both of them, ‘I saw a beautiful woman just now. and gl

Marie Bernarde Soubirous, a humble peasant girl, was known to all as Bernadette. Her life story has transformed Lourdes from a small market town in the Hautes-Pyrénées department into one of the most important sites of pilgrimage in the world. Young Bernadette was a compassionate sister and daughter, but because of the family’s situation and her own health, she did not have the opportunity to get

The Venerated Mahatma Koot Hoomi, also known as Kuthumi or K. H., is one of the great Masters of Ancient Wisdom. Incarnating again and again, the compassionate Savior’s mission is to aid humanity in their spiritual evolution. In His last incarnation as Master Koot Hoomi, He was instrumental in the founding of the Theosophical Society. Alongside Lord Jesus Christ, the Venerated Mahatma Koot Hoomi n

Renowned as “Sheikh ul Akbar,” meaning “the Greatest Master,” in the Muslim world, Hazrat Sheikh Mohye-ed-din Ibn ul-Arabi was an influential Andalusian Sufi mystic, philosopher, poet, and spiritual teacher. Born on July 28, 1165, in Murcia, Spain, Ibn Arabi provided a far-reaching understanding of Islam and spiritual Masters worldwide through his teachings and writings. Ibn Arabi wrote over 350 w

Babaji has appeared on Earth in many different forms and incarnations. He can form a physical body anytime He needs, without undergoing the normal process of being born into the world through a woman as a baby. The book “Babaji Neti Neti,” written by Sita Rami, records these descriptions of Haidakhan Babaji: “His eyes are dark and sparkling, laughing, full of bliss, endless in their depth; seeming

Shri Mahendra Maharaj, popularly known as Shri Mahendra Baba, was a Siddha yogi, an ascetic with supernatural powers. He travelled across the Indian subcontinent professing the coming of Shri Haidakhan Babaji, who was acknowledged as one of the manifestations of Shiva Mahavatar Babaji, the famous Immortal Saint who revived Kriya Yoga. Shri Mahendra Baba Ji had two subsequent visions. On his fifth

His Excellency Ben Ammi Ben-Israel was the beloved founder and anointed spiritual leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem. After having a divine vision in the 1960s, he led a group of African American Hebrew Israelites on a pilgrimage, eventually settling in Israel, “the Promised Land.” In Dimona, Israel, he established the now-thriving Kingdom of God (or Yah) spiritual community. Driven by inner revelations and guided by biblical scripture, he immersed his followers in the compassionate ways of God. Throughout his lifetime, His Excellency Ben Ammi Ben-Israel lectured extensively and authored many books discussing different topics, from biblical prophecy to a healthy lifestyle, emphasizing non-violence and veganism as fundamental to a successful spiritual life. In February 1966, His Excellency Ben Ammi experienced a miraculous vision that would set in motion the beginning of a new life – physically and spiritually – for himself and fellow African Hebrew Israelites. One evening, as I lay there on my bed, and the Angel Gabriel came [and said]: “Bring the Word of God,” that it was time to start the journey back to the Promised Land and to establish the long-awaited Kingdom of God. And the year of the exodus would be 1967. In 1967, the first group of 350 African Hebrew Israelites left the United States and initially resettled in Liberia. His Excellency Ben Ammi and his followers endured two years in the harsh and challenging environment there, undergoing many trials and tests of faith. It was viewed as a cleansing period for the group. During this time, community members planned to have a ritual slaughter of a goat as per secular tradition. His Excellency Ben Ammi stopped the cruel practice from taking place, explaining that this was not the kind of sacrifice that God wanted, but rather it was their devotion. He implored them to be repentant in their hearts and expel their old unclean habits. In 1969, His Excellency Ben Ammi and his followers began to settle in Israel. The group founded the now-famed African Hebrew settlement at the city of Dimona, in the Negev Desert in central Israel. At Dimona, Israel, His Excellency Ben Ammi established the Kingdom of God, or Yah, settlement. The settlement is self-sufficient and run in accordance with the spiritual principles inspired by Genesis.

A venerated enlightened Master, humanist, poet, and theologian, Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi Rūmī, known simply as Mawlana in Persian and around the world as Rumi, embodies universal love and understanding that is unfettered by the bounds of tradition. Master Rumi’s early spiritual education was under the tutelage of His father Bahauddin, a professor of religious sciences. When the great scholar Sufi Burhaneddin al-Tirmithi arrived in Konya, Rumi studied under him for nine years. His training was based on the foundations of Sufism: divine love, worship, and consciousness of God with humility, austerity and abstinence, piety, and tolerance. Rumi learned that to serve others is to serve God. At the age of 37, Master Rumi met Shams al-Din of Tabriz, an enlightened Sufi mystic and Master Dervish who significantly influenced Rumi’s view and path in life. With Shams’ guidance, Rumi was able to awaken His deeper metaphysical nature. Master Rumi soon started His insightfully marvelous work, the Masnavi (Mathnawi), consisting of 26,000 verses of divine poetry. Master Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry, and dancing as a path for reaching God. He believed music could help devotees to focus their whole being on the Divine, and to do this so intensely that the soul was resurrected. It was from these inspirational experiences that the practice of Whirling Dervishes developed. Master Rumi taught that “Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians should be viewed with the same eye.” In the last few years of Master Rumi’s sojourn on Earth, He compiled His six-volume epic work Masnavi, as well as the Persian prose work called “Fihi Ma Fihi,” meaning “It is What It Is.” These timeless works continue to provide precious wisdom and guidance to readers worldwide. Master Rumi’s poetry expresses the secret of existence: God is absolute Love, and we must become that same Love in order to recognize God, to know God, and to get closer to God. With deep gratitude for His compassionate, uplifting teachings, we conclude today’s program with a beautiful reminder from Master Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.”

In the early years of His time in Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo reread the Vedas in its original Sanskrit text, discovering its true meaning: “…I found, first, that the mantras of the Veda illuminated, with a clear and exact light psychological experiences of my own, for which I had found no sufficient explanation either in European psychology or in the teachings of Yoga or of Vedanta.” Together with a group of disciples, Sri Aurobindo established an ashram in 1926 that still welcomes visitors today. It was envisioned as a vibrant place for the progression of humanity into a global community where even daily tasks were dedicated to the spiritual pursuit of oneness with the Divine. Since the founding of this spiritual community, the vegetarian diet was embraced as the optimal way of eating for wellness that benefits the physical and transcends to the metaphysical. Sri Aurobindo explained that cruelty-free plant-based foods bring peace and clarity, supporting the awakening of one’s spiritual consciousness while also refining and stabilizing one’s overall personality. Thus, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram serves only vegetarian foods. As Sri Aurobindo explained: “Life is life – whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man’s own advantage.” Sri Aurobindo taught that there are higher levels of consciousness above intelligence. He emphasized that humanity has come to a stage where a new level of consciousness is awakening, and we must assist that awakening. This will lead to a new type of humanity which will live in a Divine consciousness of oneness. Beyond the human mind, there will be a suprahuman, supramental consciousness. In “Sri Aurobindo on Himself,” the Master wrote: “The one aim of [my] Yoga is an inner self-development by which each one who follows it can in time discover the One Self in all and evolve a higher consciousness than the mental, a spiritual and supramental consciousness which will transform and divinize human nature.” Sri Aurobindo also explained that we are experiencing the current planetary crisis because the human mind cannot solve the problems. Only by rising above the mind into higher intuition and a supramental consciousness can we experience oneness with the world and resolve all the issues.

Sri Aurobindo was a 20th-century enlightened Master, poet, and writer. He founded Integral Yoga, a spiritual system that conceptualizes “all life is Yoga.” In His “Letters on Yoga,” Sri Aurobindo wrote about the practice: “[It] does not proceed through any set mental teaching or prescribed forms of meditation, mantras or others, but by aspiration, by a self-concentration inwards or upwards, by self-opening to an Influence, to the Divine Power above us and its workings, to the Divine Presence in the heart and by the rejection of all that is foreign to these things. It is only by faith, aspiration and surrender that this self-opening can come.” Sri Aurobindo presented all living creatures in the world as manifestations of God in different stages of evolution. Therefore, to progress spiritually, one must realize God while living in the world. According to Sri Aurobindo, one’s task is not only to realize God consciousness, but to exhibit it and to transform one’s entire life in God consciousness. We must experience God and express God in daily life. Therefore, in Integral Yoga, all facets of life are incorporated into one’s spiritual practice and in the realization of the Inner Master. In a lecture on March 21, 1989, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of Sri Aurobindo’s enlightenment. “In the past, there was a great enlightened Master in India. When He was imprisoned, He just meditated. He continued with His spiritual practice and didn’t feel any lack of freedom. That’s because when we have a good meditation method, our spirits can go out during meditation. At night, we can leave our body sleeping in bed while our spirit visits Buddha’s Land or Heaven, so we don’t feel any lack of freedom. This Master’s name was Aurobindo. When the government released Him, He became an Enlightened Master immediately afterwards. And, of course, He had many disciples. He is very famous, internationally famous, not just in India. So sometimes, even when we are in such a situation, we can still turn the bad things into good ones.”

“That man, he was respected by the whole country – kings, officials, prime ministers, rich and poor people. And many of the monks, Buddha’s monk-disciples, were in awe of him. So when he pretended, he was sick... He may have manifested being sick. Maybe he was sick. Because he saved so many people, of course he got sick. And they came and asked him, ‘Why are you sick?’ For example, ‘If you are so great, why are you sick?’ He said, ‘I’m sick. It’s just like that. We get sick if we get this body and if we live in this world. But if all sentient beings are not sick, then my sickness will be gone. If they are not sick, then I’m not sick.’” “He was incredible. He was a great Bodhisattva. Many people were delivered because of him, liberated because of him. He was great. He had great, great eloquence, great power. Sometimes the Bodhisattvas are not born to be monks. But to be a layperson, so that… It’s doing a different job. Sometimes they’re born as prime ministers, kings, merchants, virgin boy, virgin girl, or any.” As we learn in the Vimalakirti Sutra, it is Prince Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Supreme Wisdom, who accepts Buddha’s request and makes His way to see Vimalakirti. Vimalakirti challenges the group of transcendent Bodhisattvas to give an example of non-duality. They each give an answer, but all of their examples are still dualistic, using a dichotomy or polarity to describe how one can enter non-duality. Finally, Manjushri asks Vimalakirti for an answer, but Vimalakirti remains silent, saying nothing at all. Manjushri applauds the wise lay disciple, saying, “This is indeed the entrance into the non-duality of the Bodhisattvas. Here, there is no use for syllables, sounds, and ideas.” Indeed, the ultimate Teaching is wordless, in silence. Through the legendary “Vimalakirti Thunderous Silence,” 5,000 Bodhisattvas entered the Dharma of non-duality and attained eternal liberation. Considered a “jewel of Mahayana sutras,” the Vimalakirti Sutra records Vimalakirti’s teachings as he addresses very advanced Arhats and Bodhisattvas from his sick bed. He clarifies the meaning of non-duality and many important themes in Mahayana Buddhism.

Bodhisattva Vimalakirti was a renowned lay disciple and wealthy patron of Shakyamuni Buddha. He is also the legendary figure of “The Teaching of Vimalakirti,” a scripture that is included among the classic Mahayana sutras. His story, as well as the teachings recorded in the Vimalakirti Sutra, are important and highly respected in Buddhist history. The name Vimalakirti means “pure reputation.” Everything Vimalakirti did was in accordance with Buddha’s teachings and to spread Dharma to people at all levels, leading them to liberation and enlightenment. In his lively and magical ways, he taught people to the see through the traps of religion and seek the ultimate Truth in spiritual practice. He would show up in taverns to teach the drinkers about mindfulness, and went to brothels to educate people about abstaining from sensual indulgence. For several incarnations, Vimalakirti had dedicated himself to serve the previous Buddhas. He learned the Dharma from the Buddhas face-to-face, receiving the full penetration of their Teachings, and attained enlightenment. He had the power of a Great Bodhisattva and was gifted with superb eloquence. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of sentient beings to help present them with spiritual teachings. Supreme Master Ching Hai has mentioned Vimalakirti and the Vimalakirti Sutra several times, including during a 1994 lecture in Thailand. “One of his foremost disciples was Vimalakirti, and he was a lay, rich person. He had never left home, never shaved his head, never became a monk. But all the monks of the Buddha were afraid of him because he was very, very highly awakened, almost near to the Buddha – Buddhahood. So, whenever the monks or anyone visited Vimalakirti, they were very respectful and very, very aware of his spiritual power.” Vimalakirti benefitted sentient beings by setting himself as an example and encouraging others to follow his practices. His ample merit brought him inexhaustible prosperity. He practiced the perfection of concentration, and rested his mind one-pointedly in the union of Shamata, which translates to the “tranquility of the mind,” and Vipassana, meaning “to see things as they really are.” He tamed beings who were restless or easily troubled by dullness and agitation. He ascertained emptiness with his wisdom and guided many beings with his insights on the selflessness of persons and of phenomena.

During His spiritual mission, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj went on three world tours. The first was held in 1955. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji spent months in the United States and Europe instructing Western truth seekers on the path of Sant Mat, the Way of the Masters. In 1957, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji was unanimously elected President of the World Fellowship of Religions. He communicated and interacted actively with numerous religious leaders and spiritual teachers, including Yogi Bhajan, Sri Swami Sivananda, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and many others. He began His second world tour during turbulent times in 1963 to share the message of understanding, peace, and tolerance. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji met with political as well as spiritual leaders, including His Holiness Pope Saint Paul VI and His All Holiness Athenagoras I, the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj led the World Fellowship of Religions for 14 years and presided over four World Conferences. For His spiritual and humanitarian work, He became the first non-Christian to be awarded the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights of Malta) in 1962. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji conducted His third and final world tour from 1972 to 1973. In 1974, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji organized the World Conference on the Unity of Man, which had some 2,000 delegates and 50,000 other attendees. Two months later, at the Kumba Mela festival, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji gathered together sadhus and holy men for a Conference of National Unity, organized to cultivate religious unity, cooperation, and the elevation of the economic status of the less fortunate in India. Also that year, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji became the first spiritual leader to address the Indian Parliament. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj worked tirelessly for the liberation of all sentient beings. In the course of His spiritual mission, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaji initiated more than 100,000 devotees.

In 1924, at the Ashram on the banks of the Beas River, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji met Baba Sawan Singh Ji. Immediately, He knew that He had finally met His beloved Master, the One that had constantly appeared to Him in radiant form during His meditations. Hazur Maharaj Sawan Singh Ji gave Sant Kirpal Singh Ji the sacred initiation into the spiritual discipline of Surat Shabd Yoga. At last, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji received the answers to His burning questions about the mysteries of life. He said: “God came into expression from the wordless state as Light and Sound: ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.’” Henceforth, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji devoted Himself entirely to His Master and reaching the summits of spirituality. As directed by Baba Sawan Singh Ji, He made sure to meditate six hours daily, on top of His worldly duties as a husband, father, and government employee. He was a true disciple, and if people asked Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj had a disciple who made great spiritual progress, the Master would cite Sant Kirpal Singh Ji. In the 1930s, with His Master’s guidance, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji began transcribing the “Philosophy of the Masters,” a treatise on the science of spirituality originally written in Punjabi. On October 12, 1947, Baba Sawan Singh Ji conferred the task of Naam initiation (transmission of the inner Light and Sound current) to Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, entrusting Him with the sacred work of continuing His Master’s spiritual mission after He passed from the Earthly realm. The following year in April, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji’s compassionate Master, Baba Sawan Singh Ji, ended His sojourn on Earth. He shared His last moments with Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, transferring His Master Power to His Disciple through His eyes. “Hazur steadily kept gazing for three or four minutes into my eyes, and my eyes, in silent wonderment, experienced an indescribable delight which infused a beverage-like intoxication down to the remotest cores of my entire body – such as was never before experienced in my whole life.”