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A traditional Japanese story speaks of a disciple who once asked his master how one could achieve enlightenment. The master suggested in a matter of fact manner, that he must do exactly the same thing he did every morning for the sun to rise. After much pondering, the confused disciple went back to his master to confess that in reality he did not do anything to help the sun to rise every day…
We tend to use the term ‘grappling’, at times, to describe a certain struggle to fight, control, or deal with conflicts and challenges in life. Interestingly, this is a technical word originally used in the martial art form of wrestling, which involves grappling holds, throws, takedowns, joint locks and pins.
Many ancient traditions tell a story of an immense flood that destroyed a civilization that existed thousands of years ago; one that was perhaps far more technologically and spiritually advanced than we are today. Amongst them, Plato speaks of a vast continent called Atlantis that sank into the ocean. Although modern historians have found meagre evidence to corroborate this, too many traditions around the world explicitly, or obliquely, refer to this cataclysm to ignore it completely.
In recent years we seem to see an increasing number of people across the world calling to sharpen the fine boundary between technology employed to serve humanity, and that which takes over our freedom. We have smart phones and watches that make our lives easier, or sometimes more complicated… leaving users sometimes lesser and lesser capable, while devices become ever more sophisticated.
No one can ignore the fact that we are living in a world in crisis, a world of great changes on the ecological, social, economic and even cosmic levels.
On the ecological level, this can be seen in the excessive, irrational and selfish exploitation of the natural resources of our planet Earth.
Some of the factors of this ecological crisis are of great importance for our immediate future. For example, the global warming of the planet, due to an uncontrolled industrialization, with its consequences of the melting of the polar icecaps and the progressive and now unstoppable rise in sea levels; pollution by chemical and radioactive waste of land, water and the atmosphere; and genetic transmutations in many plant and animal species, to cope with the need to feed our overpopulated planet.
Life is a mystery and in mysterious ways, invites us to unravel it. The Truth it guards so protectively is expressed in myriad symbolic forms, some of which have survived over centuries, civilizations, and cultures. For one who is on a philosophical adventure of seeking wisdom, these symbolic forms are a bridge to the hidden Truth, or at least to some aspect of it. One such intriguing form that literally and figuratively conceals the mystery that is man, is a mask.
For centuries art has been a natural means to express one’s inner journey – be it as a community or as an individual search. So has it been for Olivia Fraser, who has used her art to uplift, to produce wonder and beauty, and to find the ‘inner essence’ of things.
Olivia Fraser moved to India in 1989. Initially she was a travel painter before apprenticing with miniature and Pichwai artists from Jaipur, where she learnt their rich, rigorous and intricate tradition. The influence of Nathdwara Pichwai painting and early 19th century Jodhpuri painting,
The term “progress” derives from the Latin “progressus” which means, quite simply, the action of going forward. It is a mere illusion of the senses, intoxicated with hope, the supposition that every forward movement is synonymous with improvement, happiness and joy.
The arithmetic progression of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. does not mean that 2 is better than 1. If we humanize the process, it is evident that everything will depend on the quality rather than the number, for only a fool would prefer to be given two beatings instead of one.
By investigating some ancient traditions from various places and various historical periods, it appears that the suggested path of man’s development is synonymous with the principle of Unity. The search for Truth, a higher reality, has often been presented as an ability to overcome the illusion of separation which causes man to act in contradiction with his own true nature as an integral part of the universe.
Know Thyself. This famous axiom from the ancient Greek tradition seems so simple but in reality these words are a key to living life. As I reflect over the last 5 years, since when I began my journey as a philosopher and started to explore the meaning of these words, it is easy for me to see that I am a totally different person. While externally I may seem quite the same to many, there is a deep inner transformation, a sense of joy, inner strength, purpose and wonder; a whole new outlook to life, a spirit of discovery and adventure.
Traditionally, Philosophy is defined as the love for wisdom. It is this beautiful journey of humbly beginning to
This article is the result of a trip I recently made to Athens, Epidaurus, Olympia and Delphi. Walking through its stunning archaeology, pausing at monuments, and gazing spellbound at its sacred temples, I couldn’t help but ponder what might have inspired such a civilization.
Nursing at her bosom, Greece nurtured such an altitude of knowledge and amplitude of wisdom that it came to be called the cradle of Western Civilization. Herodotus, regarded as the Father of History, lived here. Solon envisioned the origins of Democracy here.
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.
In Sophie’s World, Gaarder manages to skillfully weave together so many disparate genres that this successively dense, quirky, perplexing and illuminating novel defies even the most basic genre labelling. A comprehensive outline of Western philosophical thought that covers 2000 years from Socrates through Marx, Darwin, Freud and Sartre should deem it serious, scholarly and unequivocally non-fiction. Yet it is also a wondrous fictional fantasy about a 15-year old girl Sophie Amundsen and her search for eternal and universal truths that takes the form of a well-crafted mystery.
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.
Om. The first sound of creation as per the Hindu tradition. That sound with which all ancient vedic prayers start and end, as if emulating the sacred process of creation through sound. The classical tradition of music in India therefore, has traditionally been treated as a sacred means to interact with the creative principle of Life; it has the potential to play the role of a bridge between the musician and the divine, the higher aspect of life. In that sense, the classical musician embarks upon a philosopher’s journey, seeking that connection with the source and destiny of all Life.