Can identity be a choice?
Author: Sabine LeitnerSeptember 14, 2018
“Who are you?” – This is a question I usually ask in one of my classes. Asking the same question ten times in a row, I nudge the participants gently to the realization that we all have more than one identity. Some people tend to identify at first with their name, nationality, gender, profession; others [...]
Brushed by God’s Presence
Author: Kurush DordiAugust 1, 2018
For millennia, specific locations around the world have been regarded with fascination and sacredness. Despite all the materialistic opulence and grandeur of some of the most recent human architectural achievements, there remains something awe inspiring about many ancient structures that have stood their ground for thousands of years. For many, even the most grandiose five-star [...]
That Which You Seek
Author: Dipti SanzgiriJanuary 21, 2018
At some points in our lives, many of us face some nagging questions. What manifests is a sense of restlessness, a lack of real happiness and peace – despite the absence of any apparent reason for feeling so. Questions like, Am I doing what I should be doing? Do my actions have any meaning or [...]
God, Consciousness, Science: Conversations
Author: Sukesh MotwaniOctober 19, 2017
As philosophers born in an age where Science is leading the pursuit of answering questions to do with life, creation and the nature of reality, it becomes incumbent upon us to keep alive the sense of wonder at the underlying order and harmony in the workings of the universe. The search for ‘truth’ and ‘meaning’ [...]
Reflections on the Metaphysics of Music with Shubha Mudgal
Author: Manjula NanavatiOctober 19, 2017
“When the soul hears music, it drops its best guard.” – Socrates Music is perhaps the most philosophically puzzling of all the arts. Unlike painting or sculpture it does not culminate in a physical object. Unlike literature and drama, instrumental music has no semantic value. Yet every tune, melody, theme, raga or symphony is steeped [...]
Are We Human Beings or Human Doings?
Author: Archana SamarthOctober 19, 2017
This question is relevant to the times we live in. The pace of life accelerated by the need for constantly moving, rushing, or accomplishing emphasises the importance we associate with doing. Just being when the whole world seems to be caught up in a whirlwind of action, seems so passive! By doing, we feel we [...]
Karl Jaspers: Philosopher of Otherness
Author: Julian ScottAugust 16, 2017
The biography of Karl Jaspers gives an indication of the immense scope of his work. He began by studying law, then moved on to medicine, becoming a doctor specialising in psychiatry, and finally ended up as a professor of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. One of his first works was entitled Psychology of [...]
Morality, Philosophy and Spirituality
Author: Pinar AkhanFebruary 7, 2017
This article is based on a class given by the International Director of New Acropolis, Delia Steinberg Guzmán, in November 2015. In it she explained that there are three levels through which human consciousness develops, by which we can come to understand ourselves and others better. These three concepts are not unfamiliar to most of [...]
Spirituality and Contemporary Mainstream Cinema
Author: Sukesh MotwaniFebruary 7, 2017
“Who were you that I lived with, walked with? The brother, the friend? Strife and love, darkness and light…are they workings of one mind, features of the same face? Oh my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining.” “Maybe all [...]
Living Together in Harmony
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánSeptember 23, 2016
Those who are incapable of living in harmony with others are also incapable of living in harmony with themselves. What they can’t achieve when working with others they won’t achieve for themselves either. – Delia Steinberg Guzmán Human unity It is our conviction that the human soul is essentially one, so we cannot establish distinctions based [...]
The Philosophical Meaning of the Theory of Reincarnation
Author: Pierre PoulainJune 1, 2016
In most ancient civilizations – like in an important number of faiths – we find the idea of reincarnation, the process that follows physical death. Modern occidental cultures consider death as the opposite of life, and in logical consequence reject death. Death is considered an aim, a disaster, and today most of us are afraid [...]
Lost Horizon
Author: AnonymousJuly 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, [...]