"The Rsi phenomenon is an instance of a human being who, through the allied processes of yoga, tapasya (vows of austerity), sadhanas (systematic spiritual disciplines), bhakti (devotional meditative absorption in God), intense meditation (dhyana), and other esoteric means of systematic self-purification, has achieved absolute transcendence over the non-atman (non-spiritual) aspects of herself. Having gained complete control over the body, mind, speech and senses, the rsi becomes transformed into a being who is thoroughly absorbed in the spiritual Reality. Being thus absorbed, she has a direct and unmediated experiential connection with the truth."

-The Vedic Way of Knowing God

If - by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

"Even when there are reasons for grief like separation from beloved ones, the enlightened one’s mind is not perturbed. He has no craving for sense enjoyment, he has no hankering for them. He is free from desire, fear and anger;— desire is craving for objects not yet obtained. Fear is mental agitation produced by the awareness of factors which cause separation from objects that one loves, or by encountering that which is undesirable. Anger is a disturbed state of mind which produces aggression directed at another sentient being who is perceived as the cause of separation from the beloved object or when confronting what is undesirable. An aspirant of this sort, who constantly meditates on the atman, is said to have attained steady intellect."

(Ramanuja Acharya, Gita Bhashya, 2.56)

"If an individual by himself is engaged in the pursuit of what is most in accordance with the will of God, God being pleased with him, confers upon him spontaneously a holy disposition of will and intellect and actuates him in the right and holy direction." (Sri Ramanujacharya, Vedartha Sangraha 124)

Two sannyasis, a younger one and an older one, were traveling on a pilgrimage. As they walked, they came across a river that had swelled with recent rains. Standing by the riverbank was a young and beautiful woman, anxious and unable to cross the rushing waters.

Seeing the sannyasis, she approached them with folded hands and said, “O holy ones, I cannot cross this river alone. Would one of you be so kind as to carry me across?”

The younger sannyasi, following the strict rules of his renunciant vows, looked away, disturbed by the request. It was forbidden for a sannyasi to have any contact with a woman, let alone carry one.

Without a word, the older sannyasi smiled kindly, picked up the woman, carried her across the river on his back, and gently set her down on the other side. The woman thanked him profusely and went on her way.

The two sannyasis continued walking in silence. The younger sannyasi grew increasingly agitated, his mind whirling with thoughts. After several miles, unable to contain himself any longer, he turned to the older sannyasi and said, “How could you do that? We have renounced the world! We are not supposed to touch women, let alone carry one!”

The older sannyasi stopped, looked at the younger one, and smiled gently. He said, “Brother, I set her down on the riverbank hours ago. Why are you still carrying her?”

"Self-surrender is the very basis of our highest fortune. We cannot but surrender ourselves to whatever beautiful and valuable thing we have come across. Our appreciation for any higher thing is shown by the degree of our surrender to that. So, we can measure the quality of the truth we are connected with only by the intensity of our surrender."

- Shridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja

"In this age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative for spiritual progress other than the chanting of the holy name, the chanting of the holy name, the chanting of the holy name of Lord Hari (Narayana).” (Brihad Naradiya Purana, 38:126)

"It is ordained by God that all evil-doers (dushkritam) will face annihilation (vinashaya) in the end." - Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

"For the protection of the brāhmaṇas (priestly class), the thousand-legged Supreme Being created us, the kṣhatriyas (warrior class), from His thousand arms. Hence the brāhmaṇas are said to be His heart and the kṣhatriyas His arms. That is why the brāhmaṇas and kṣhatriyas protect each other, as well as themselves; and the Lord Himself, who is both the cause and effect and is yet immutable, protects them through each other." (Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.22.3-4)

Large cities today are unsustainable hellscapes. All federal funding for the 350 most populated cities in America must cease entirely. Funding should be given, instead, to cities, towns and villages of 50,000 residents or less until they are all self-sustaining and prosperous again.