How Can We Humanise the World We are Living In?

Does a circle have sides? – Not really. We can ‘project’ sides onto it but the fact is that there are no sides, only a circumference on which every single point has the same distance to the centre. Is spirituality left or right wing? Well, I also don’t think that it makes sense to ‘project’ a fairly modern concept onto something that seems to be as old as humanity itself. However, there have been several articles recently about the ‘Cosmic Right’ and its ‘dangerous rise’,

The times that we have experienced together in the last few months have been unique. There is no doubt that it has been challenging for many, but my attempt in this article is to highlight the special opportunities that I discovered even in such moments.

Due to the lockdown across the world, many were physically isolated from one another for extended periods of time. While this necessary action forced many of us to retreat physically from the masses, it was also a rare opportunity to do the same with our thoughts,

As we begin to step out after almost two years of being largely confined to our homes, the occasion of World Philosophy Day today offers an opportunity to reflect on the challenges we faced, and the value and need of philosophy in these unprecedented times.
The word Philosophy comes from the Greek words philo (love) and Sophos (wisdom). To be a philosopher, therefore, is to yearn for wisdom, to always aspire to follow truth.

New Acropolis, a school of practical philosophy celebrated Arts Day 2024, in recognition of the value of art and culture in all their myriad expressions, to individuals and to societies. India North, comprising the main centre Mumbai and the Pune branch, hosted an event at each location on June 9th, entitled Many Traditions, One Essence: Seeking Beauty through a Diversity of Expressions.

When we think of the word “myth”, we often associate it with something that is untrue; a superstition, or just a story. However, when looked at from a philosophical perspective, mythology forms a significant part of the human legacy and tradition, passed down from generation to generation, and used as a tool in the moral education of our young…

New Acropolis Culture Circle recently interviewed Professor Thakur S Powdyel, Bhutan’s first democratically elected Minister of Education (2008-2013). An educator by choice, conviction and passion, he is respected for moving Bhutan towards fulfilling the country’s constitutional mandate for education. As a recipient of numerous international awards such as the Gusi Peace Prize and the Global Education Award,

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.

In the developed world, the standards of literacy, numeracy, general knowledge and behaviour are falling. Millions of young people have also become disaffected from school and, despite the fact that previous generations have fought hard to make what was once a privilege of the rich accessible to all, do not see much point in formal education. In the U.K. for example, the figures of truanting have been going up for years and the problem has become so bad that the government is paying the most disaffected students in order to keep them in school and away from the streets.

Human Beings have a natural need to improve and grow. Certain moments in our lives are decisive where we feel we made a breakthrough and in hindsight we may recognize the inspiration and experiences that guided us in those moments. Often we find that in such moments we are more goal-oriented and focussed, thereby able to make accurate decisions and push our boundaries

The word “unify” comes from the Latin unus and facere, “to make one”, that is, to bring together various different parts that are coherent with another, and combine them in such a way that we can achieve a harmonious and homogeneous unity. It is an act of coming closer together, of connection, which, if it did not exist, would mean that each of the parts or beings would follow different paths – something which is not wrong in itself – but it would cause them to be divided, disunited and opposed to one another. Without the gesture of unification, we would have to live in perpetual chaos, in which it would be very difficult to find meaning in existence and its changing circumstances.

One of the most astounding things about ancient civilizations is the unity of their way of life. In the Art Institute of Chicago, for example, there is a beautiful stele from the Mayan ruins of Calakmul in Mexico. This stele presents a ruler in his task as a high priest, dressed in ceremonial garbs, holding ritual objects and clearly executing an important ritual. The ritual in question, we believe, is related to the closing of a ten-year cycle in the Mayan calendar, which was measured to such preciseness, that today we can determine the exact date of the ritual. This stele, therefore, is artistic in its presentation, religious in its significance, political in its authority and scientific in its measurements.

Tall, trim and relaxed in any environment, Yaron Barzilay smiles easily, but weighs his words very carefully. Understated and well-read, he punctuates his conversations unexpectedly, with an incisive colloquial humor that betrays his acute sense of the current socio-economic and political climate, and his capacious grasp of India’s history and mythology.

Professionally, Yaron Barzilay is the Managing Director of IDEX India – a leading diamond trading platform for professional diamond traders worldwide.

With the 2020 Olympic Games being cancelled we may seize the opportunity to reconnect with the spirit of this most famous and prestigious sporting event. For it has not always existed in the format we know it today, the ancient Olympics serving a vastly different purpose than the modern day Olympic Games.

Just how far back they date is a matter of debate but most sources agree that the first Olympics of the ancient world took place in 776 BCE

Jataka in Sanskrit means birth stories. The Jatakas are a collection of over 500 stories that recount the past lives of Siddhartha Gautama, the being destined to become the Buddha. These tales, preserved in the Pali Canon and dated between 300 BCE and 400 CE, are an integral part of Buddhist literature, encompassing profound moral and spiritual teachings expressed simply and directly, making it widely accessible.

There is a relative uncertainty as to when our earliest human ancestors evolved on earth. But it is certain that by that time, a myriad variety of plants and trees had already been thriving on the planet. The very structure of a tree, with its trunk segmenting into branches, twigs and leaves, is a physical manifestation of the philosophical concept characterizing the relationship between the universe and the One; multiplicity from Unity. The tree’s concealed roots further extend the metaphor, of unity springing from a hidden origin or source. Even those of us who do not share this perception cannot help but experience a sense of awe, perhaps even an intuitive reverence, in the presence of a forest of these majestic giants clothed in their silent, steadfast, resilient beauty. Older than man himself, trees have been integral to myths and folklore in almost all cultures as symbols of solace, strength, abundance, and immortality.