Showing 250 articles

Samsara

Author: Anonymous

July 1, 2014

Director: Pan Nalin Cast: Shawn Ku, Christy Chung, Neelesha BaVora, Lhakpa Tsering, Tenzin Tashi Duration: 145 min “What is more important: satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one?” What is “Samsara”? For the Buddhists, Samsara is the wheel of rebirths. More specifically, it means rotation and change. Its rotation comes from the force of [...]

Lost Horizon

Author: Anonymous

July 1, 2014

Release year: 1937 Duration: 132 minutes Movie category: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy Director: Frank Capra Writer: Robert Riskin (screenplay), James Hilton (novel) Cast: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt and Edward Everett Horton “In these days of wars and rumors of wars – haven’t you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, [...]

Life Of Pi – Insight

Author: Rahil Mehta

June 26, 2014

This book by Yann Martel published in 2001, subsequently inspired a movie of the same name in 2012 (By Director Ang Lee). The book has won a series of awards including the UK man booker prize. The story is about a 16-year old boy who suffers a shipwreck in which his family dies, and is [...]

The Strong-minded Snake (Determination)

Author: Anonymous

June 21, 2014

Once upon a time there was a doctor who was an expert at treating snakebites. One day he was called for by the relatives of a man who had been bitten by a deadly poisonous snake. The doctor told them, “There are two ways of treating this snake bite. One is by giving medicine. The [...]

The Razor’s Edge

Author: Anonymous

June 1, 2014

Production: 1946 Country: USA Directed By: Edmund Goulding Starring: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Anne Baxter, John Payne, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore, Elsa Lanchester Written By: John Byrum, Murray Bill Soundtrack composed by: Jack Nitzsche Director of Photography: Peter Hannan DVD Distribution: Fox Length: 145 min. Plot: Based on the novel by [...]

Gladiator

Author: Anonymous

June 1, 2014

Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed Duration: 155 min. This is a pure Hollywood movie that nonetheless refers to a very important era of history – the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire. This movie reminds us of the glory of Rome, long before Christian historians misjudged [...]

The Symbolism of the Raven

Author: M.A. Carrillo de Albornoz & M.A. Fernández

May 22, 2014

The black of its feathers and its mournful cry make the raven, which feeds on carrions, a bird of ill omen. This reputation is also to be found in China even though the Chinese see the raven as symbol of filial gratitude, considering the fact that it feeds its parents. In Japan as well the [...]

The Symbolism of the Giants

Author: M.A. Carrillo de Albornoz & M.A. Fernández

May 22, 2014

Gaia, the Earth, gave birth to the Giants in order to avenge the Titans whom Zeus imprisoned in Tartarus. They are chthonian beings, symbolizing, by their gigantic physical mass and their spiritual poverty, the predominance of forces arising from the Earth. Giants represent magnified commonplaceness and the image of unrestrained physical and brutal instincts.  They [...]

The Birth of Buddha

Author: Anonymous

May 21, 2014

Twenty-five centuries ago, King Suddhodana ruled a land near the Himalaya Mountains. One day during a midsummer festival, his wife Queen Maya retired to her quarters to rest, and she fell asleep and dreamed a vivid dream. Four angels carried her high into white mountain peaks and clothed her in flowers. A magnificent white bull [...]

Let’s play some Chess

Author: Agostino Dominici

May 13, 2014

Although I have never been a chess player I have always been fascinated by the various elements which constitute this game. Looking at the black and white chess board or the shapes of the various pieces I feel as if something very old and mysterious has been hidden behind those symbols. The origins of this [...]

Rowing Against the Current

Author: Jorge Angel Livraga

May 13, 2014

“The difference between a floating tree trunk and a boat made of the same wood is that the latter has oars and can row upstream.”Dr. N. Sri RamI heard these words from him in my distant youth. The phrase was not part of any of his lectures and I do not know if it is [...]

Celebrating 2400 Years of Plato’s Academy

Author: Yaron Barzilay

May 13, 2014

The year 2013 marks 2,400 years since Plato established his Academy in Athens. Founded in 387BC, the Academy has continuously influenced humanity since inception, be it the Mediterranean Civilizations, numerous western philosophers including the renaissance men (who referred to Plato as a divine philosopher,) to our modern world of today, in which Plato’s teachings still [...]