Showing 246 articles
The Right to Speak Right
Author: Gilad SommerJanuary 16, 2021
The topic of freedom of speech has been much in the news in recent years. On one hand, there are those who view the freedom of speech as an inalienable sacred right (especially when it comes to their own speech…) that should not be infringed upon by other people, institutions, governments or corporations, regardless of [...]
An Esoteric Interpretation of the Arabian Nights
Author: Ania HajostJanuary 7, 2021
When the breeze of a joyful dawn blew free In the silken sail of infancy, The tide of time flow’d back with me, The forward-flowing tide of time; And many a sheeny summer-morn, Adown the Tigris I was borne, By Bagdat’s shrines of fretted gold, High-walled gardens green and old; True Mussulman was I and [...]
The Seven Kings of Rome
Author: Agostino DominiciJanuary 7, 2021
The period known as the Roman Kingdom with its seven kings represents the time when the seeds of an emerging civilisation were firmly planted in the “Italian” soil. There is a growing academic consensus that the seven kings of Rome were all real historical figures, including Rome’s founder Romulus. This doesn’t mean that all the [...]
Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are
Author: Manjula NanavatiDecember 27, 2020
One of the foundations of how we conceptualize our sense of self today, perhaps came from the 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes’ most famous maxim, cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am. Taken to an extreme that Descartes himself may never have meant, we are conditioned to prioritize self-interest, applaud the pursuit of [...]
The Rise and Fall of Mayan Civilization
Author: NA El SalvadorDecember 9, 2020
The people of Mayan society built large cities, sumptuous temples, and towering pyramids. At its peak, around 900 AD, the population was estimated at about 200 people per Sq km in rural areas, and more than 800 people per sq km in cities (comparable to the modern Los Angeles County). This vibrant “Classic Period” of [...]
Titian: Combining the Sensual with the Divine
Author: Siobhan FarrarNovember 19, 2020
Titian (c. 1488-1576) is arguably the greatest Venetian painter of the Italian Renaissance, who earned European-wide fame and recognition during his own lifetime. The collection of paintings referred to as his ‘poesies’ (a name he coined himself) delineate poetic pictures or poetry produced in painting and draw upon the Roman poet Ovid’s classic epic, Metamorphoses [...]
The Dance of Life
Author: Trishya ScrewvalaOctober 14, 2020
Dance is a universal language that transcends geography and time; it is a means to express sentiments that cannot be captured in words. Although forms of dance differ across cultures, the aspiration of a true dancer always seems to remain the same – to assimilate and internalize principles of beauty, harmony and grace through movement [...]
A Diary of a Struggling Ecologist
Author: Ubai HuseinOctober 14, 2020
This journey started with my love for food, which prompted me to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts. There, in addition to simply cooking, I was introduced to the various aspects about growing and producing food before it enters the kitchen, including the entire mechanism of factory farming and the resulting destruction caused to the [...]
Living the Samurai Myth
Author: Shraddha ShettyOctober 14, 2020
The word Samurai originally meant ‘those who serve’, although individuals of this elite warrior class in medieval Japan were also referred to as Bushi, or warrior. And Bushido was the code of morality which the Samurai were meant to follow, not just in battle, but also in day-to-day activity. Speaking of this code in his [...]
Aesthetic Intelligence
Author: Sabine LeitnerOctober 1, 2020
We have probably all heard about different types of intelligence: kinaesthetic, verbal, logical-mathematical and lately also emotional and even spiritual intelligence. Recently I came across the term aesthetic intelligence and it inspired me to think about what this could mean in a philosophical and metaphysical way and why it might be important. From a philosophical [...]
John Keats: Immortal Beauty
Author: Maria Virginia ReinaOctober 1, 2020
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness” So begins the epic poem Endymion by John Keats. And in these opening lines, as through his exquisite body of work, he presents to us one of the core themes of his poetry, if not all art: that [...]
Solar Festivals in Tibetan Buddhism
Author: Giulia GiaccoJuly 21, 2020
The qualities of the summer solstice: stillness, light, clarity, openness, warmth and abundance, parallel in many ways the factors of enlightenment in the teachings of the Buddha. However, Buddhism has no celebration around the summer solstice. Summer solstice celebrations don’t seem to synchronise well with the concept of the “middle way”. One of the reasons [...]