Portfolio 1 Column

The Gita is talk between prince Arjuna and his and charioteer Krishna. At the start of the Dharma Yudhha (righteous war) between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna is filled with great moral dilemma and despair about the violence and death the war will cause in the battle against his own kin. He wonders if he should renounce and seeks Krishna’s counsel, whose answers constitute the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna counsels Arjuna to “fulfill his Kshatriya (warrior) duty to uphold the Dharma” through “selfless action”.The Krishna–Arjuna dialogues cover a broad range of spiritual topics, touching upon ethical dilemmas and philosophical issues that go far beyond the war Arjuna faces. According to some, Bhagavad Gita is written by Lord Ganesha which was told to him by Vyasa. The setting of the Gita in a great battlefield. The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis of deas about dharma, theistic bhakti, and the yogic ideals of moksha.The text covers jnana, bhakti, karma, and Raja Yoga. The Gita’s call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Mahatma Gandhi; the latter whom referred to it as his “spiritual dictionary.

The Russian scholar, Nicolai Notovich, was the first to suggest that Christ may have gone to India. In 1887, Notovich, a Russian scholar and Orientalist, arrived in Kashmir during one of several journeys to the Orient. At the Zoji-la pass Notovitch was a guest in a Buddhist monastery, where a monk told him of the bhodisattva saint called “Issa”. Notovitch was stunned by the remarkable parallels of Issa’s teachings and martyrdom with that of Christ’s life, teachings and crucifixion. For about sixteen years, Christ travelled through Turkey, Persia, Western Europe and possibly England. He finally arrived with Mary to a place near Kashmir, where she died. After many years in Kashmir, teaching to an appreciative population, who venerated him as a great prophet, reformer and saint, he died and was buried in a tomb in Kashmir itself. The first step in Christ’s trail after the Crucifixion is found in the Persian scholar F. Mohammed’s historical work “Jami-ut-tuwarik” which tells of Christ’s arrival in the kingdom of Nisibis, by royal invitation. (Nisibis is today known as Nusaybin in Turkey) . This is reiterated in the Imam Abu Jafar Muhammed’s “Tafsi-Ibn-i-Jamir at-tubri.” Kersten found that in both Turkey and Persia there are ancient stories of a saint called “Yuz Asaf” (“Leader of the Healed”), whose behaviour, miracles and teachings are remarkably similar to that of Christ.

John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil-rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. Lewis served as the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966. This is his remarkable story!

Nat Turner was an enslaved African-American preacher who led a four-day rebellion of enslaved and free black people in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831. Turner was recorded simply as “Nat” by Benjamin Turner, the man enslaving this family. When Turner died in 1810, Nat was inherited as property by Benjamin’s son Samuel Turner. Turner later led a violent rebellion of black slaves in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Fugitive enslaved people killed from 55 to 65 people, at least 51 being white. The rebellion was put down within a few days, but Turner survived in hiding for more than two months. The rebellion was effectively suppressed at Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23, 1831.Turner was hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia. This is his story.