Vedanta (/vɪˈdɑːntə/; Hindustani pronunciation: [ʋeːd̪aːn̪t̪], Devanagari: वेदान्त, Vedānta) was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal [end] of the Vedas." By the 8th century CE, the word also came to be used to describe a group of philosophical traditions concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality (Brahman). Vedanta can also be used as a noun to describe one who has mastered all four of the original Vedas. Vedānta is also called Uttarā Mīmāṃsā, or the 'latter enquiry' or 'higher enquiry', and is often paired with Purva Mīmāṃsā, the 'former enquiry'. Pūrva Mimamsa, usually simply called Mimamsa, deals with explanations of the fire-sacrifices of the Vedic mantras (in the Samhita portion of the Vedas) and Brahmanas, while Vedanta explicates the esoteric teachings of the Āraṇyakas (the "forest scriptures"), and the Upanishads, composed from ca. the 9th century BCE, until modern times.

Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is known for his breakthrough stage role as Hamlet, his roles in the television series Criminal Justice and The Hour and film roles including Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I'm Not There and Brideshead Revisited. It has been announced that he will play the role of Q in the James Bond film Skyfall.

Whishaw was born and brought up in Clifton, Bedfordshire, the son of Linda (née Hope), who works in cosmetics, and Jose Whishaw, who works in information technology. He has a twin brother, James, and was a member of the Bancroft Players Youth Theatre at Hitchin's Queen Mother Theatre. He attended Henlow Middle School and then Samuel Whitbread Community College in Clifton, Bedfordshire. During his time with the group, he first rose to prominence during collaborations with their offshoot theatre company, Big Spirit. He was involved in many productions – perhaps most notably, If This Is A Man (also performed as The Drowned & The Saved). This was a piece devised by the company based on the book of the same name by Primo Levi, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. This harrowing and moving book was adapted into a physical theatre piece by the group and taken to the 1995 Edinburgh Festival where it garnered five-star reviews and great critical acclaim. Whishaw played the character of Levi in this and subsequent productions of the show.

Swaminathan Gurumurthy (Tamil: சுவாமிநாதன் குருமூர்த்தி;Hindi: स्वामिनाथन गुरुमूर्ती) is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a journalist and a chartered accountant in India.

He is a strong proponent of the traditional Indian economic wisdom that was a part of every home and village model but he was also associated with some of the biggest corporate deals in India.^{[citation needed]}

Gurumurthy was born in a small village, 160 kilometres South of Chennai (formerly Madras). He had his schooling in a local school and higher education at the Vivekananda College, Chennai. Unable to realize his dreams to study law, he chose to become a Chartered Accountant. After completing the course in 1972, he joined an auditing firm and was allotted the job of maintaining the books of some of the companies of the press baron, Ramnath Goenka. Impressed by this young accountant, in 1975, Goenka offered a job, which Gurumurthy declined.^{[citation needed]} In 1976, he started his own firm, Guru & Varadhan, which was financially supported by the Goenka family.^{[citation needed]} He was drawn into RSS since his college days and continues his affiliation with the organisation and has had an important role in many assignments. He is a leading member of the think-tank of Sangh Parivar.

Wafa Sultan (Arabic: وفاء سلطان‎; born June 14, 1958, Baniyas, Syria) is a medical doctor who trained as a psychiatrist in Syria, and an American author and critic of Muslim society and Islam.

Sultan was born into a large traditional Alawite Muslim family in Baniyas, Syria.

Although Sultan wanted to be a writer, and would have preferred to study Arabic literature, she studied at the Medical faculty at the University of Aleppo due to pressure from her family, stating that she was shocked into secularism by the 1979 atrocities committed by Islamic extremists of the Muslim Brotherhood against innocent Syrians, including her witnessing while she was a medical student the machine-gun assassination of her professor, Yusef al Yusef, an ophthalmologist from the university who was renowned outside Syria. "They shot hundreds of bullets into him, shouting, 'Allahu Akbar!' " she said. "At that point, I lost my trust in their god and began to question all our teachings. It was the turning point of my life, and it has led me to this present point. I had to leave. I had to look for another god." She worked for four years as a psychiatrist in a hospital.

Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu (Hindi: संत श्री आशारामजी बापू, Gujarati: સંત શ્રી આશારામજી બાપુ, born as Asumal Sirumalani on April 17, 1941), also endearingly called "Bapu Ji", is a self-realized Hindu Spiritual Guru from India. He is also regarded as the Greatest ever saint of India, having uncountable number of devotees which also includes very reputed personalities. Bapu preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious in every human being and represents a confluence of Bhakti_yoga, Gnana_yoga and Karma_yoga. Under his guidance, an Ashram was started in 1971 at Ahmedabad on the historically significant place where sage Sandipani (Guru of Lord Krishna) used to do Yagya. As of now, the number of Ashrams have surpassed 350. A documentary video "Voice of Consciousness" showed life-sketch of Sant Sri Asharamji Bapu. His teachings have changed the lives of millions and millions of people.

Asumal Sirumalani [Asaram Bapu], born to father Thaumal Sirumalani and mother Menhgiba. Place of birth being Berani village of the Nawabshah District in Sindh (Un-Partitioned Indibaa) on April 17, 1941 (Gregorian calendar). His father was a wealthy businessman.