Related Posts
Last year we had a very special gathering of philosophers in Mumbai, and I had the privilege of looking after the meals for this wonderful event. A volunteer was helping me and I remember, as we started our first tasting of the many meals to come, she said, “Let’s make this tasting a ceremony!” Suddenly the whole atmosphere changed. We took our spoons from the chef with attention and care, and slowly scooped up the dish at the same time. We smiled as we put it into our mouths, savoured the wonderful cooking and declared it excellent! The chef was delighted as indeed were all who watched. A mundane task was turned into a memorable and meaningful one. What a joy!
I confess: I love seeking knowledge. I read a lot, and also hoard many more books than I can actually read…I am a bibliomaniac. Thomas Frognall Dobson spoke of this fictional “neurosis” that prompts an obsessive desire to collect books. (1) But there is a more fascinating Japanese word for it: Tsundoku, which essentially is to do with the hoarding of books, many of which shall never be read. We simply allow these books to pile up on our book shelves.
“And how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?”
These lines from Bob Dylan’s song – Blowing in the Wind – flashed in my head as I put down another book written on Giordano Bruno, arguably one of the greatest philosophers from the 16th Century. The lines of the song and Giordano Bruno’s quest seem to echo each other – to urge humanity to look beyond the dark sheaths of ignorance, the petty disputes, divisions and one-upmanship, and to explore the true identity of what it means to be human, which is much more than the mode of survival that has become the focus of our ‘living’, today.
Between the Middle Ages in Europe when it was engulfed in darkness, and today where we admire the marvels of human creation, connectedness, technological advancement, and medical progress, have we really become smarter, happier, more loving and caring? Why does it feel that the last few hundred years of progress have largely been about attempts to master the everchanging outside, without ever addressing the real core of the problem? Have we even spent enough time to understand what the core is? Have we made progress towards finding out what our life is about and who we really are?
Along with most of the world, we are in almost complete isolation, as a result of the rapid spread of COVID-19. The world seems to have stopped for a while and people, as well as organizations and governments, are uncertain about the near future.
The scene is somewhat surreal, giving an apocalyptic feeling towards what is yet to come. There are some who report a growing interest in ‘end-of-the-world’ literature, films, doomsday theories and alike. Even if the world is really far from heading to complete disaster, it is interesting to examine, as some have already done, the root of the word “apocalypse”.
If it were kosher to have a favorite philosopher, Lao Tzu would be the favorite of many. His teachings and aphorisms are intriguingly contemporary and personal. We live in times where even ethical behavior is characterized by moral outrage rather than moral values. Although people claim intellectual expertise on solving the problems of the world, solutions continue to evade us, in the absence of an ability to reflect and take responsibility through self-understanding. In such times, a man who simply states: “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others, our manners”, is priceless in his worth.
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.
For many of us who live in big cities, Time is something we always lack. We find ourselves struggling to reach places on time, to submit our work on time, to wake up on time, and the list can go on and on… If only someone could give us a little more time to complete everything we want to. If only someone could teach us how to stop time from always moving forward, as if it is falling through our fingers.
armonia, in Greek Mythology, is the goddess of Harmony and Concord. She is the daughter of Ares, the God of War; and Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. At first glance, this could seem strange: a force of war, and a force of love coming together to create harmony.
A good leader is one who has a clear vision of a better future – a future with which their own inner aspirations and values are aligned – and who is able to inspire and lead others towards making this vision a reality. A future for which people work not for their personal benefit, monetary or otherwise, but because they believe in the cause. Through the vision of the leader, people are able to see beyond their own gain and limitations and thereby find an opportunity to reconstruct their own self as they contribute. How wonderful this journey would be – for both the leader and those who follow him!
In 2010, Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal founded Kalarigram, near Auroville, as a traditional Kalaripayattu training center, that conducts classes and workshops in the intersecting disciplines of Kalaripayattu, Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation.
In 1991, Delia Steinberg took over the presidency of New Acropolis following the death of its founder, Jorge Angel Livraga Rizzi, under whose guidance she had worked very closely over a period of more than 20 years.
She is currently Honorary President of the International Organisation New Acropolis.
Under Delia’s leadership, New Acropolis has expanded across the five continents, bringing Philosophy in the Classical Tradition closer to a wide range of people. This development has been implemented through its philosophical, cultural and volunteering programmes, which have provided new approaches while at the same time going deeper into the identity of New Acropolis, as defined in its founding principles. Thousands of Acropolitan members, friends and supporters from all around the world are living proof that the philosophical answers New Acropolis offers in response to the complexities of our times are valid and necessary, since they are based on the values of timeless wisdom, which has enlightened humanity at its most difficult moments.
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.
Among many other psychological diseases, our time is witness to frequent crises of indecisiveness and confusion in people. Many are those who let their lives slip by in a constant state of dissatisfaction, produced by not knowing what to do or how to do it in order achieve effective results.
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.
Just a few kilometers off the Mumbai Harbor, nestled on an island, amidst basalt rock mounds, lay a mysterious complex of exquisite cave temples that whisper a silent homage to the region’s spiritual past. It’s tune inaudible to the nearby metropolis teeming with ambitious commerce, and ceaseless traffic, here the temple walls echo a stark but graceful embrace, and invite the yearning explorer to re-discover a mystical tradition so vibrant in the distant past.