Swami Swaroopananda: “The lamp has great significance in our culture. Saints point to that shining, eternal, smokeless flame whose light is all-pervasive. This is the brilliant Light of Consciousness, which when reflected in the mind makes our inner thoughts glow. Not only does it project the world in its entirety, but also illumines it. In that Light, we recognise the universe with all its happenings, experiences and limitless wonders. However, what we actually experience depends on the texture of our thoughts. Whether the flame is smoky, dull or wavering is contingent on the nature of the mind. The rishis advise us to purify the mind so that it becomes like the steady flame of a lamp, burning in a windless area, removing the darkness around it.”
NYTimes: ” The University of the People, which [Shai Reshef] founded in 2009, is an online-only institution that charges nothing for tuition. Students don’t have to pay for textbooks because all the educational material is made available for free online, and there’s no room and board because there’s no campus. They do have to pay $120 for each final exam, which they must pass to earn credits. For 40 courses, that adds up to $4,800 for a bachelor’s degree — although for students who face severe financial hardship, even the exam fees can be waived.”
Shikha Dalmia: “Populism, the rule of many, and authoritarianism, the rule of one, might seem like antipoles. But they are intimately related because where populism, in the true sense, appears, so do various forms of illiberalism that if allowed to run their course result in strongman politics with its contempt for dispersed power, checks and balances, freedom of the press, and other similar constraints on one-man (or woman) rule. Latin America of course is replete with examples of authoritarians from both the left (Hugo Chávez, Venezuela) and the right (Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil) who came to power precisely via the populist route.”
