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The six darshanas are philosophical systems, or schools of thought, that take their authority from the Vedas. As implied by the meaning of the word darshana, to see or to experience, the six disciplines offer unique points of view, six separate windows from which to observe and comprehend Life, six seemingly disparate paths leading towards the one Ultimate Reality through the removal of ignorance of the nature of existence, liberation from suffering, and the attainment of enlightenment.
Tagore always criticized power and materialism for its own sake. The more one accumulates treasures, and the more one amasses all the power in the world, one is actually chained.
It seems to me that the purpose of human life is to grow. When I look back at the moments or the phases through which I have grown, I see them as times that tested me to transcend what I felt were my limitations; be it starting my own business venture with a bagful of doubts about my capabilities, or be it a moment of extreme anger in which I consciously decided not to identify with the anger. These phases had a common factor that we call ‘challenges’. I feel that the universe has it made it so by design!
Just as an artist uses shadows to create depth in a painting, let us look at the challenges that life brings us as shadows that help us develop strength and a deeper understanding of the meaning of life. Like the shadows bring out the contours and highlights in a painting, the obstacles we face in life sculpt our character and reveal our resilience
Despite their universal existence in all civilizations and all times of history, myths have often been scoffed at and regarded as old wives tales. August Comte, the founder of positivism and sociology, relegated myths to the most early and primitive level of intellectual evolution and Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, a French philosopher, associated myth with pre-logical mentality common to the most primitive stages of mankind.
Like all mythology, that of illustrious King Arthur has endured the test of time, transmitting essential eternal values that serve to inspire human civilizations of all ages. From its tale, it is not always easy to demarcate between elements of documented history and magical folklore,
Unity of all mankind may seem at first a lofty and utopian concept, but the actualization of this intention is perhaps the realization of one principle: recognition and respect for the diversity of the human race. We must understand each other, honour each other’s cultural identity, and value each other’s way of life.
If you have visited Stonehenge on the Salisbury plains of England, perhaps you sensed a powerful feeling of mystery, of something hard to define. To the eye they are a series of immense standing stones set in circles. But rather, “Stonehenge is a symbol of Albion, the ancient wisdom of Britain and of different cultural values from a vanished time” writes Archaeoastronomer Robin Heath.
Taking inspiration from Gandhi’s relentless pursuit for Truth, Empowering Real Change: Leadership for a Better World brought together distinguished leaders who have been striving to make a better world through tireless work in their various fields. The event culminated in a Resolution to spearheaded a series of events, conferences and exhibitions across the world, exploring Gandhi’s contributions as practical solutions to address the challenges of our times.
It is evident that beyond entertainment, theatre might also be a means to investigate the world in which we live, and what it means to be human. Recently, I had the opportunity to revisit Othello in which Shakespeare deals with an array of human experience that is always pertinent.
Eight centuries ago a culture of mystical Islam suffused the lands extending from modern day Turkey (Anatolia) to modern day Afghanistan and Iran (Khorasan); it was called Sufi Islam. Etymologically, the word ‘Sufi’ is derived from the Arabic word safa, meaning purity. Mystics of the order created a path towards attaining self-knowledge and god-realisation in their desire to reunite themselves with God. This phenomenon was cradled and nourished by great intellectual, artistic and philosophical icons of the time; foremost among them was Jalaluddin Mohammed Rumi.
Twenty–five centuries ago in Northern India, a man desolated by the quantum and pervasiveness of human suffering in the world, resolved to find a solution. His investigation led him to many masters, abundant knowledge and a plethora of techniques to investigate Truth and Reality, until finally on achieving enlightenment, he devoted the rest of his life to teaching people how to come out of misery.
The Buddha, who never claimed to be anything but human, began teaching, and several hundred years afterwards, his words were compiled into Dhammapada, meaning at the feet of Dharma,
The question of free will is one of the oldest and most enduring questions facing humanity. The ancient Greeks considered it in their tragedies, such as Oedipus Rex, where it seemed as though the hero’s fate was predetermined in spite of any actions he might take to prevent or alter it. The Greeks and their cultural successors, the Romans, had an image of three Fates, who wove and spun the destinies of men, and cut the thread of their lives at a pre-ordained moment.
The year is 1936. The Olympic Games in Munich are underway and Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany, publicly comments, “The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics. It doesn’t separate, but unites, the combatants in understanding and respect.
This article is based on an event by New Acropolis Culture Circle with Raghu Ananthanarayanan, who spoke on the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. Raghu is a behavioural scientist, yoga teacher and author. He has dedicated his life to the study and application of yoga and Indic traditions to guide the inner transformation of individuals and shape leadership and culture building of organizations.