For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool - Dr. Abdul Kalam, Indian scientist & former Indian President

I came across a shared Facebook post (original post seems to be: https://www.facebook.com/inspiringyoungindian/posts/469460376566343), having this fantastic quote of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam, a Muslim by birth & faith, an Indian scientist and top Indian science & technology advisor, & former President of India, along with his photos with contemporary spiritual Gurus of India mainly of Hindu and Jain faiths, which show how he practised this quote/teaching of his:

"For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool"
The above quote is from his book, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/450429-for-great-men-religion-is-a-way-of-making-friends.

What a great inspiration the life of this Muslim scientist son of India is for people like me who respect and adore the multi-faith ambience of the majority of Indians today! As the fakir of Shirdi, Shirdi Sai Baba, would say, "Sabka Maalik Ek" - The God/master of all is ONE.

[I have presumed that the owner of the photos in above facebook post which have been shared below, would not mind this sharing on this free blog post without any financial profit motive whatsoever.]

The set of photos show Dr. Abdul Kalam at/with:
*) Tirumala-Tirupathi Venkateswara temple, Andhra Pradesh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumala_Venkateswara_Temple



*) Sringeri Shankaracharya Bharathi Tirtha of Sringeri Sharada Peetha, Karnataka, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sringeri_Sharada_Peetham



*) Pramukh Swami Maharaj of Swaminarayan sanshta Ahmedabad, Gujarat, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramukh_Swami_Maharaj, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bochasanwasi_Shri_Akshar_Purushottam_Swaminarayan_Sanstha



*) Vedic students & teachers (seemingly)



*) Mata Amritanandamayi of Kollam, Kerala, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Amritanandamayi



*) (14th) Dalai Lama of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Dalai_Lama



*) Golden temple (Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, Punjab, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmandir_Sahib



*) (body of) Jain Acharya Mahapragya of Rajasthan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81praj%C3%B1a



*) Sivakumar Swamiji of Sri Siddaganga Mutt, Karnataka, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivakumara_Swami



*) Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba



*) Vedic students & teachers (seemingly)



*) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Bangalore, Karnataka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Shankar_(spiritual_leader) (& 14th Dalai Lama)


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