Showing 225 articles
The Challenge of Coexisting with AI
Author: Juan Carlos del RioMay 13, 2023
AI is not a new phenomenon. Humankind, since its beginnings, has tried to create machines and automata, either to place them at our service or to extend our human capabilities. Many of these stories reflect the admiration for these creations and, at the same time, the fear of losing control over these advanced technologies. We [...]
The Wonders of the Mineral World
Author: Agostino DominiciMay 11, 2023
The mineral world, and more specifically the world of precious stones and metals, has always been invested with an aura of awe and mystery. Throughout the ages, kings, magicians, priests and alchemists have often surrounded themselves with special objects born from the mineral world. Objects like magic rings and swords, sacred statues and amulets have [...]
The Symbolism of Renewal
Author: Jean GrunfeldMay 11, 2023
As we approach the Vernal or Spring Equinox (First Day of Spring) once more, human beings today and over millennia have found various ways to note and celebrate the renewal of Nature’s cycle. The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere takes place every year on or around 21 March. In 2023, the Spring Equinox will [...]
Risk and Technology: The Cost of Progress
Author: Florimond KrinsMay 11, 2023
The introduction of new technologies has always brought many debates and controversies until they were finally accepted and became an integral part of societies. It is natural to oppose some kind of resistance when habits and lifestyles are suddenly changed by new ways, especially when it is hard to predict if their outcome will be [...]
The Mystery of Time in Various Cultures
Author: Miha KosirMay 11, 2023
Part I, Individual Perception of Time Why is the phenomenon of time a mystery? It is easy to understand the idea of time taken as a norm to measure the passing minutes and hours, which we do with atomic precision, but when we start questioning the nature of time, it all starts to change. Many [...]
My Friend, the Insect
Author: Carlos AdelantadoApril 9, 2023
One night, like most nights, I was reading while lying in bed. It was a book of lectures by Professor Jorge A. Livraga. It was the end of the day, darkness all around, silence…. By the light of the small lamp on the bedside table, my intellectual activity extended into the moments before sleep. Reading, [...]
The Journey of Individuation and the Power of Symbols
Author: Nataliya PetlevychJanuary 26, 2023
A whole new fascinating world to explore opened up when the notion of the unconscious was discovered. The human being turned out to be not such a straightforward mechanism as had been thought before. And a major role in understanding the importance of the unconscious and its role in shaping human personality and life was [...]
Nature, Symbols, and Numbers
Author: Florimond KrinsJanuary 26, 2023
It is no surprise to anyone in our modern world that mathematics is a powerful tool to describe and even predict certain natural phenomena. From the simple cooking recipe to the launch of a rocket into space, mathematics and numbers are used and help us achieve our goals. As far back as antiquity, mathematical equations [...]
Philosophy and the Sacred
Author: Gilad SommerJanuary 22, 2023
Some of my readers might be confused, asking themselves what is the connection between philosophy, a purely rational discipline, and the sacred? Isn’t mysticism the domain of religion? This misunderstanding is rooted in the fact that today we use the name philosophy for two completely different things. To be more precise, at some point in [...]
My Original Face Before My Parents Were Born: The Tryst with Koans
Author: Sukesh MotwaniJanuary 10, 2023
A Zen master asks his student, “Without thinking good or evil, in this very moment, What is your original Face? …. Show me your Original Face, the face you had before your parents were born.” “Quickly, quickly, without thinking right and wrong…” (Before the engines of thought and feeling start revving, before you’re making judgements [...]
Giordano Bruno: Some Life Lessons
Author: Ambuj DixitJanuary 10, 2023
“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 [...]
SACRED GEOMETRY: In conversation with Adam Williamson
Author: Manjula NanavatiJanuary 10, 2023
Adam Williamson is an award-winning calligrapher and sculptor whose permanent public works can be viewed around the U.K. He is drawn to particular shapes and patterns that embody universal principles found in nature, made visible through the hands of craftsmen. Adam has been commissioned by many prestigious clients including Oxford University, Shakespeare’s Globe London, Westminster [...]