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The Darshanas: Six Schools of Indian Philosophy
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.
01 Jul 2021
Celebrating Human Values Through Culture
Human Values are the noble, guiding principles that must shape our behaviour, attitude and interactions with others. Cultivating these values therefore, is crucial for fostering a harmonious and inclusive society. Culture, the rich tapestry of all the fine arts, as well as the philosophy that underlies customs and traditions, plays a significant role in nurturing and developing human values. To this end New Acropolis, in Mumbai, hosted a carefully curated selection of philosophy, film, music and dance on 10th June 2023, at the Chemould Prescott Road art gallery, to celebrate culture in its myriad forms.
01 Jul 2023
Mandala: Voyage to the Center
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…
01 Jul 2015
Building Values of the Olympic Spirit
Some of us from New Acropolis (India North), along with 17 other countries came together to take part in the 8-day long, Philosophical-Sports Pre-Season event in Greece. But what is a Pre-Season about? How does New Acropolis, a School of Philosophy connect with the School of Sports?
31 Oct 2024
Classical Dance: A Stairway to Spirituality
In our perpetual pursuit of the perceived definition of success, our minds and bodies are incessantly engaged in surface level occupations; being ‘busy’ appears to be a natural choice to satiate our voracious material and intellectual needs. Nevertheless, somewhere a higher center within us remains starved and an intense yearning to unite with something larger than our individual selves is palpable. Despite material abundance, technological advance and unrestrained liberties, the overwhelming spiritual vacuum is incontrovertible. True, there are fleeting instances in which we do manage to establish an evanescent connection with the spiritual realm. However, the avenues to approach that elusive higher dimension, that lies deep within, in a more sustained manner appear abstract. To address this prevalent emptiness it is worthwhile for a seeker to explore the few unequivocal portals that facilitate such transitions.
01 Jul 2017
Spirituality and Contemporary Mainstream Cinema
“Who were you that I lived with, walked with? The brother, the friend? Strife and love, darkness and light…are they workings of one mind, features of the same face? Oh my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining.”
01 Jan 2017
Ankor, The Last Prince of Atlantis By Prof. Jorge Angel Livraga Rizzi – Book Review
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.
01 Jan 2015
The Importance of Context
Philosophers and social scientists agree that human action can only be fully understood by relating it to the context in which it takes place. Nothing can be understood in isolation from its context, and nothing even exists without a context. It is always the context that gives meaning to what we think and do, and explains why we do what we do.
01 Apr 2024
Philosophical Principles of Sanskrit
As if echoing these ancient scriptures, quantum physicists state that creation began with the Big Bang – a first pulse of vibration; vibration is sound. The beginning of creation is therefore conceived as a primordial word. As creatures evolved,
01 Apr 2016
Qawwali: Call of the Spirit
This article serves only as an introduction to the legendary origins, metaphysical purpose, and the traditional form used in the practice of Qawwali. It would be impossible to capture the cultural nuances, complex history, and social impact of the genre in this brief work, but I hope to share some principal themes that have emerged from my own amateur investigation, to help the reader embark on their own exploration of this magnificent Sufi practice.
16 Sep 2022
Education and Art
There are many studies that show that involvement in the arts can lead to increased academic performance. Dance, drama, music, and the visual arts in the school curriculum enable children to develop self-confidence and self-understanding, problem solving skills, perseverance and discipline, focus and concentration, creativity, self-directed learning, collaboration…
31 Oct 2024
Sophie’s World – Book Review
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.
01 Oct 2014
The Universal Language of Symbols
New Acropolis India celebrated World Philosophy Day on 17th November with a special event in Mumbai that explored the meaning of Life through symbols.
UNESCO commemorates World Philosophy Day on the 3rd Thursday of November every year, to recognize the contribution of Philosophy as a force of transformation for the development of individuals and societies. To this end it encourages philosophical dialogues, conferences, and workshops with participation from scientists, philosophers and artists from all branches of knowledge, as well as teachers, students and the general public, in order to refine the ethical principles that should guide humanity to build a better world.
17 Dec 2022
Naad Yoga: The Search For Silence
Many ancient traditions unequivocally describe the role of sound in the divine process of creation. The Bible declares, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. (1) Hindu and Buddhist traditions believe that OM is the sound of creation, of the unmanifest diversifying into all the variations of energy that make up our universe.
01 Apr 2021
Duty of Fraternity
As the summer months climax with the annual monsoons breathing fresh life into the soil, Nature renews her promise to every being in her domain. It is a promise of continuity, and as if by magic, life vibrantly awakes, and breaks into song, with every creature, every plant, and every spirit dancing together in unison.
01 Jul 2015