Showing 250 articles
Raphael: The Drawings
Author: Siobhan FarrarOctober 19, 2017
Raphael was born in 1483 and by the age of 17 he had been given the title of ‘Magister’, meaning independent master. This exhibition of his drawings and studies at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford takes a look at the essence of the artist. The opening lines of the exhibition’s guide read as follows: ’Drawing [...]
The importance of knowing what is good
Author: Sabine LeitnerOctober 19, 2017
If morality is the discernment of what is good and consequently the ability to choose between what is good and what is bad, then we have clearly lost our moral compass some time ago. It seems that we don’t really know anymore what is good for us. And this starts at the most basic level [...]
Yunus Emre, a Sufi Poet from Anatolia
Author: Pinar AkhanOctober 19, 2017
It is said that anyone in Turkey – even the illiterate – will have heard of Yunus Emre. Although he is not as popular here as he is in Turkey, the new TV series “Yunus Emre” is one of the attempts to make him known in the English-speaking world. What made him famous was not [...]
Encountering the Mind through Ashtanga Yoga
Author: Manjula NanavatiSeptember 12, 2017
“When the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not – then say the wise, is reached the highest stage. This steady control of the senses and mind is defined as Yoga. He who attains it is free from delusion.” – Kathopanishad (1) All the greatest spiritual teachers have [...]
The Little Prince: A Journey Inwards
Author: Krutika MehtaSeptember 10, 2017
Most ancient traditions seem to share a dominant myth that revolves around a long and arduous journey with the hero facing danger or death, overcoming obstacles, before accomplishing his purposeful goal and returning home. Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, among others, viewed some of these heroes even as gods. Hercules and Arjuna are examples of [...]
Keeping the Flame Alive
Author: Kurush DordiAugust 29, 2017
As the Sun rises over the horizon and fills the sky with its magical light, a 2000 year old ritual is performed daily in the few remaining Zoroastrian temples of Mumbai. The priest performs a ceremony (5 times each day), tending to the flames of the consecrated fire, offering fragrant sandalwood and incense while reciting [...]
Classical Dance: A Stairway to Spirituality
Author: Purbasha GhoshAugust 27, 2017
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 [...]
More than Melody – Boethius’ Music of the Spheres
Author: Siobhan FarrarAugust 27, 2017
The Music of the Spheres begins in Ancient Greece with Pythagoras who, upon passing a blacksmiths is said to have heard consonance in the different sounds of the hammer. By this he was inspired to discover the connection between vibration, frequencies and pitch. For Pythagoras the octave ratio of 1:2 is considered a symbol of [...]
Aboriginal Culture and its Relationship to the Land
Author: Inma AltedAugust 27, 2017
Aboriginal Australians are the most ancient continuous civilization on Earth. Their ancestors, who first arrived on the the continent about 70,000 years ago, were the first humans to cross an ocean. Split into hundreds of social groups each with its own tribal territory and dialect, a cumulative population of 1.6 billion people has been estimated [...]
Ancient Technology
Author: Florimond KrinsMay 13, 2017
When looking at ancient archaeological features one can be mesmerised by the beauty, complexity and grandeur of some of the buildings, statues or artefacts. In most cases these structures were created at a time of prosperity when skills of a high standard and workforce were abundant. However, in the cases of the Old kingdom of [...]
Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages
Author: Julian ScottMay 13, 2017
The title of this article comes from a book by Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, essayist, professor of literature and novelist, most famous for his medieval whodunnit The Name of the Rose, which was made into a film starring Sean Connery. In this book, Eco introduces us to a culture very different from our own. [...]
Empowering Real Change
Author: Purbasha GhoshMay 3, 2017
Few amongst us can deny a ubiquitous yearning for change – socially, politically, ecologically, spiritually and a myriad other dimensions. Unfortunately, this longing seldom manifests beyond vehemently voicing the already well-recognised need for change or deluging the social media space with our postulates of it. Real change, nevertheless, continues to elude us. Intimidated by the [...]