We are honored to continue our interview with Antonia, a Costa Rican-Lebanese and family relative of Saint Charbel Makhlouf, as she shares more stories of the Saint. "He (Saint Charbel Makhlouf) is known as a thaumaturge, a wonderworker. But perhaps the greatest wonder is that He works miracles and wonders for Christians, yes, but He is highly revered by Muslims, who come to His grave a lot

Today, we are so honored to have Antonia, one of Saint Charbel Makhlouf’s family relatives, rejoin us and share more stories of the Saint. "Saint Charbel, or Mar Charbel, did not leave any writings, and very little is known about Him because He was an extremely private person. He never spoke. It is well known that when He was sent to attend a sick person, or to give extreme unction, or for the ano

Known as the “Miracle Monk of Lebanon” by Lebanese Christians, Saint Charbel Makhlouf was a 19th-century monk who lived in Lebanon. We are privileged to have one of His relatives, Antonia, with us to share some stories of Saint Charbel Makhlouf. Antonia is of Costa Rican-Lebanese heritage, and her family has a deep relationship with the Saint. "Since He was a child, He loved the countryside, He lo

Remarking on Saint Charbel Makhlouf’s life, Supreme Master Ching Hai said, “How interesting!! Good we found such treasure within the monastic order of Christianity. He was a Saint of the Fifth Level. Perhaps it will rekindle people’s faith in God and the simple, holy, and connected life that facilitates the sincere to find Hirm within by the Grace and Guidance of an Enlightened Saint.”Kno

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. Dri

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 s

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

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 sel

“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