Showing 428 articles

In Search of Unity

Author: Yaron Barzilay

September 23, 2016

By investigating some ancient traditions from various places and various historical periods, it appears that the suggested path of man’s development is synonymous with the principle of Unity. The search for Truth, a higher reality, has often been presented as an ability to overcome the illusion of separation which causes man to act in contradiction [...]

Soil, Soul, Society – Rendezvous with Satish Kumar

Author: Manjula Nanavati

September 23, 2016

Activist, Author, Academic. Environmentalist, Humanist, Visionary. Satish Kumar believes that the spiritual aspect of our ecosystem has been lost in modern environmental debates, and has been replaced by systemic violence; towards the land, animals, mankind, and even towards ourselves. He maintains that reverence for nature is the only thread that can mend and weave together [...]

Philosophy in Ancient Egypt

Author: Julian Scott

September 7, 2016

It is a commonly held view that ‘the Egyptians had no philosophy’ and that philosophy began with the ancient Greeks. However, some of the major Greek philosophers, including Thales, Pythagoras and Plato, recognised their huge debt to the sages of Egypt for their knowledge and ideas. Plato, for example, spent 13 years studying with the [...]

Know Your Virtues Unwrapping the Personality

Author: Nirit Kremer

August 23, 2016

Personal Note – Unwrapping the Personality I remember that when my dear father passed away, I went to my native place to participate in the ceremonies and spent precious time with my family and friends who came to console us. A lot of people came, shared their positive experiences with my father and their good memories [...]

A New Philosophy of Life and Death

Author: Jorge Angel Livraga

August 22, 2016

Philosophy means “love of wisdom or knowledge”. It is a route illuminated by the sun of truth. Anything which does not respond to this essential characteristic is not philosophy, but mere speculation and alternative repetitions of what others have said, taking as much advantage of the old teachings as a spoon takes nourishment from and [...]

Initiation and Shamanism

Author: Istvan Orban

August 22, 2016

According to Mircea Eliade, the philosopher and historian of religion, shamanism is a technique of religious ecstasy. The word shaman is probably derived from the Tungusic root saman, which means ‘knowing’. What does the shaman know? Basically, shamans are priests, medicine men, singers, dancers, drummers, and they have many other skills as well; but what [...]

Gaia (Gaea), Mother Earth

Author: Pinar Akhan

August 22, 2016

In many cultures, the concept of Mother Earth, the Great Mother existed and was worshipped in various ways. In Egypt she was represented as Isis nursing Horus, in Mesopotamia as Cybele, a seated figure with a lion on each side and large breasts symbolising the fertility and protection of the harvest and grain; while in [...]

The Myth of the Cave

Author: Miha Kosir

August 3, 2016

In one of Plato’s most well known works – The Republic – we find a short story known as the Myth of the Cave. Socrates asks his listeners to imagine a world under the ground where people live in chains, facing the end wall of a cave. Because they are chained they can’t move or [...]

Saying it Right – Doing it Right

Author: Michael Lassman

July 30, 2016

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” was a little ditty chanted in the school playgrounds of the 1960s as a retort from one child to another after being teased or taunted. In truth, it should have been “…but words will really hurt me” – why? Because they can [...]

Renaissance Art and the Enigmatic Genius of Giorgione

Author: Agostino Dominici

July 25, 2016

The Royal Academy of Arts has recently put together an excellent exhibition presenting some of the greatest painters of the high Renaissance (c. 1490-1530) in a single show. The main intent of the exhibition was to revisit in particular the enigmatic figure of Giorgione, considered by many to be the founder of Venetian painting of [...]

Gobekli Tepe – A New Look at Ancient Civilisation

Author: Florimond Krins

June 16, 2016

A German archaeologist called Klaus Schmidt found the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey in the early 1990s. It took Schmidt almost two decades of digging to unravel only a small part of the site, which is huge (around 30 times larger than Stonehenge). It is composed of large circles of T-shaped columns, most [...]

At the service of philosophy – Manly P. Hall’s life and teachings

Author: Agostino Dominici

June 13, 2016

A few years ago, while browsing on YouTube, I happened to stumble across some old recordings of lectures covering an array of metaphysical and mystical topics. I was quickly taken by the depth and breadth with which the speaker, effortlessly, delivered his talks. Soon I learned that the person behind those words was a very [...]