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https://www.crystales.net/about-me | 2023-06-10T01:08:06 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224656869.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20230609233952-20230610023952-00603.warc.gz | 0.980249 | 497 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__256819216 | en | Greetings soul seekers!
I am Ana Sofia
I have been attracted to crystals and stones since my childhood (more than 50 years ago...yes!). At that time most people in my country, Dominican Republic, did not have the knowledge about the energies and benefits of these gifts of Nature and saw them like "just rocks". For me they were treasures and I was looking for them and picking them up anytime I had a chance. I decorated my doll house with them, put them in my night stand and school backpack, and at night I fell asleep with one under my pillow because I had terrible nightmares; they soothed me and made me feel safe. They became my friends and comforters.
When I was ten years old I received the most amazing gift I have ever received: My godmother brought me two quartz totems from Mexico. I was speechless from excitement and joy. She described to me all of the crystal crafts and jewelry she saw; I was transported to another world. I wanted to go to Mexico! I wanted to see for myself! And when I was 14 my parents took me to Mexico as a birthday gift...my dream came true!
The next day of our arrival to Mexico City we went to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, and for me they were like huge crystal masterpieces. I was in awe.
Around the pyramids, there were a few vendors selling their crystal crafts and I lost it...I got raw crystals, jewelry, animal and pyramids figurines. It was like birthday and Christmas at the same time. Unforgettable experience.
During the years, I have been sharing my little knowledge about crystals with others around me. I also make crystal jewelry to spread the undeniable, unlimited, and powerful benefits of these performers of miracles.
Having crystals does not mean that I don't have problems or setbacks. It does not mean that I am free of sufferings and disappointments. But their energies make me see life from another perspective, like a challenge that I am able to conquer. Even on my darkest night, I see hope and light. I see everything around me and beyond like a constant blessing.
To conclude, I want to end with a quote of my favorite genius Nikola Tesla:
"In a crystal, we have clear evidence of the existence of a formative life force principle, and though we cannot understand the life of a crystal, it is nonetheless a living being". | philosophy |
https://parshaoftheweek.com/tetzaveh | 2022-10-05T08:35:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337595.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20221005073953-20221005103953-00664.warc.gz | 0.943652 | 1,264 | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-40__0__295019998 | en | Every week, parshaoftheweek.com brings you a rich selection of material on parshat hashavua, the weekly portion traditionally read in synagogues all over the world. Using both classic and contemporary material, we take a look at these portions in a fresh way, relating them to both ancient Jewish concerns as well as cutting-edge modern issues and topics. We also bring you material on the Jewish holidays, as well as insights into life cycle rituals and events...
In Parshat Tetzave we continue to receive instructions about the Tabernacle in the desert. One of them is for Moshe to “Make holy garments for Aharon your brother, for honor and glory.” The notion that the high priests and the other, regular priests, should have some sort of special uniform seems sensible, as does the demand that they be “for honor and glory”, that they should be special, appropriate for the place and occasion.
Nachmanides (the Ramban, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270, Spain and Israel), goes to some length to explain what is meant by “honor and glory”. In doing so, he consistently references the clothing “worn by kings in the time of the Torah”, “like the sons of ancient kings”; “known even today as fit for kings and great ministers”. In describing one type of material used in making these garments, תכלת, a purple cloth, he says that “even today, no one would dare wear it other than gentile kings.”
Two interesting themes emerge. One is that, in determining what is, ultimately, a Jewish esthetic – the clothing to be worn by the priests in the Temple – the Torah depends completely on a universal, non-Jewish, esthetic. The high priest is meant to look exactly like a non-Jewish aristocrat. Since this is meant to communicate “honor and glory”, this is not a merely esthetic statement; it is ultimately about values, about what Jews should think “honor” and “glory” look like, and how they should be expressed. And, remarkably, it is a non-Jewish esthetic we reference in order to make that statement about Jewish understandings of importance, beauty, and honor!
This is an extremely powerful statement. Our esthetic values and, along with them, our ethical values, are not meant to exist in a Jewish bubble. We can, and should, look to the world for help in determining how we express important concepts, concepts such as importance, or sanctity, or sacredness. Looking to the non-Jewish world for fashion tips for the high priest points to a willingness to operate in dialogue with that world when making decisions about the way we talk and think about important concepts, how we perform our values, how we express them publicly. We are meant to be in a kind of dialogue with the wider world about these things, and not close ourselves off in some imagined all-Jewish universe. I believe this is true beyond the realm of esthetics, and carries into the connected realm of values, and ethics, which, after all, esthetics are an expression of and companion to.
The second issue is that of the transient (or not) nature of style, fashion, and what they represent and signal. A few times in his explanation, the Ramban uses phrases like “in the time of the Torah”, “the custom is”, “even today…”, which all indicate that there may well be a sell-by date to all of these garments and what they communicate. Telling us that once, years ago, kings and princes dressed in a certain way, and thereby communicated certain things, might indicate that these styles are subject to change, and that a time may come when they express something different – old-fashioned-ness, perhaps, or a primitive world view, or just plain silliness. Virginia Woolf, in her book, Three Guineas, includes photographs of a number of distinguished gentlemen - officers, aristocrats, officials - all looking ridiculous in full regalia – ostrich feathers, leopard skin capes, epaulets, and remarkably shaped hats. When the photos were taken, these gentlemen, and their fans, must have thought they looked extremely impressive, the very epitome of honor and glory. To (some) modern sensibilities, they look ridiculous, barbaric.
Once the Torah mandates ancient royal attire for the high priest, are we meant to never evolve away from the esthetic framework in which they made sense? Are we commanded to think that this stuff will look glorious forever? Is there room for a changing esthetic, and, along with it, a changing understanding of what honor and glory mean, and how they might best be expressed?
To me, after living in Israel for over 45 years, business suits on Shabbat in shul look and feel somewhat inappropriate, out of place, while a white shirt and dark trousers is what indicates “it’s Shabbat” to me; a suit, especially if I am choking on a tie, feels like I’m on a business trip to America. Younger people in Israel dispense with the white shirt altogether, and go with colors. That says a ton about Israel’s more rooted, informal, egalitarian ethos and communal style, and the Jewish American acceptance of contemporary non-Jewish notions of what “dressed up” looks like. Until the post- Six Day War period, when large numbers of American Jews started visiting Israel, it was unheard of to walk into a shul in the US on Shabbat not wearing a suit or sport jacket.
All these sartorial decisions are legitimate. I would hope that the ability to allow “dressing for shabbos” to change and evolve, in time and place, can teach us to be open to evolving understandings of the messages and values expressed by how we dress as Jews. | philosophy |
https://www.18millionrising.org/loveletters/to-my-movement-sister-ny-nourn/ | 2024-02-29T01:33:59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474775.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20240229003536-20240229033536-00086.warc.gz | 0.981803 | 1,069 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__139528978 | en | Written By Nate Tan
To My Movement Sister, Ny Nourn,
This is not the first letter I’ve written to you. But this is the first one I’ve written since you are out of prison and ICE detention. The letters I’ve written you have been letters of admiration and inspiration. This letter is no different.
When I think about how you’ve impacted my life I am reminded of the late James Baldwin and his letter to Angela Davis. He wrote, “If we know, then we must fight for your life as though it were our own.” You are always fighting for people’s freedom as if it were your own. I remember the stories you used to tell me:
When a judge said you were going to spend the rest of your life in jail, you said: Hell no I’m not.
You fought for a re-sentence and were paroled in 15 years. Still, it was 15 years too long for a crime you did not commit.
When an immigration judge said you were going to be deported after prison, you said: Hell no I’m not.
You wrote to an immigration attorney to fight your deportation case.
When an immigration attorney said that you would likely be deported to Cambodia, a country your family escaped as refugees, you said: Hell no I’m not.
When people underestimated you, you would tell them: I’m going to get free, with or without your help.
Your spirit for freedom was contagious to me. Each story made me believe that freedom was possible. If we were ever to get to a freer world, you’d be one of the leaders to take us there.
I remember crying at your last immigration hearing. When the judge ruled for your release, I was so overwhelmed with immense joy. When I imagine the feeling of freedom — a feeling I’m always chasing — I think of that moment. The moment your release was announced.
I knew when you came home, you were ready to take on the world. And you did.
I was devastated when ICE picked up four of our Cambodian members. This was my hometown. These were people in my neighborhood. The only home they knew was Oakland. I thought, “Can we do this? Can we stop all their deportations?” You looked me dead in the eyes and asked, “How can we keep them home? How can we get them free?”
While I was asking “can,” you were asking “how.” Those who do not have freedom, have no other option than to believe freedom is possible. Because you believed, hundreds, if not thousands of us, believed.
You influenced organizers, attorneys, impacted family members, and elected officials that we can get our community members free. And we did just that. We got every single one of them free. What I took away from this work with you, Ny, is that we have to have a “why.” When the “why” in our life is strong enough, the “how” always becomes clearer.
Ny, without any doubt or hesitation, I am following you to freedom. I will fight alongside you until all people in cages are free. Though the challenge is great, I know the cost of not doing so is even greater. You know better than anyone that none of us are free until all of us are free.
I am a firm believer in what bell hooks shares, “that we would all love better if we used it as a verb.” It is most helpful for me to understand that love isn’t a moment, it isn’t an end point, and it isn’t a temporary emotion, but a continuous set of actions and commitments to each other. I only come to this knowledge because of you, Ny.
I did not know what love as a practice looked like before entering this work. Seeing you fight day in and day out for people behind bars showed me what love looks like in action. You taught me that when you love freedom or a person behind bars, you must believe the greatest outcomes are possible. What we do to get there is always rooted in love. Theories, liberatory praxises, and radical politics are pretty on paper, but it is what we practice with each other that will get us free. Thank you Ny for teaching me that.
Until we all are free,
Nate is a Co-Director at Asian Prisoner Support Committee. He has led and supported anti-deportation campaigns for dozens of Asian Americans facing deportation. He has participated in the #FreeNy, #KeepPJHome, #PardonRefugees, #ICEoutofCAprisons, and now, the #Right2Reunite campaign. During his time as an organizer with Asian Prisoner Support Committee, he has seen the release of upwards of 100+ people out of prison and ICE. He writes to people behind bars all across the nation. In his free time, he enjoys karaoking to 90s boy band songs. | philosophy |
https://stats.unctad.org/Dgff2016/ | 2024-02-22T18:28:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947473824.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20240222161802-20240222191802-00480.warc.gz | 0.946871 | 206 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__99095983 | en | We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.
We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.
We are determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.
We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.
We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people. | philosophy |
https://www.naturaltrendsetters.com/ | 2024-02-29T15:58:37 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474843.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20240229134901-20240229164901-00883.warc.gz | 0.927822 | 226 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__10557767 | en | Welcome to Natural Trend Setters Inc - Our expertise is natural hair care.
We are your one stop shop for the best in natural and healthy hair care. We specialize in healthy tresses and give you styles that work with your life style. In addition, we educate you on what regimens best work for your hair texture. At Natural Trend Setters we are dedicated to bringing your individual beauty to the surface utilizing a unique combination of optimal service in skill.
Natural Trend Setters is an authentic approach to natural beauty. Our salons offer expertise and education to clients who cherish and admire their individual beauty. The philosophy, artistry and techniques utilized at Natural Trend Setters are firmly rooted in African and Caribbean hair care tradition. For over 20 years, Natural Trend Setters has maintained a position as a pioneer in the natural hair care industry.
As a global representation of beauty and wellness, Natural Trend Setters delivers exceptional results to a multi-ethnic hair clientele who are looking to care and nurture their natural hair: (hair in its original state) accented with a Trend Setters signature of style and sensibility. | philosophy |
http://www.unitarianreform.com/aur-faq/ | 2017-12-15T11:49:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948569405.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20171215114446-20171215140446-00084.warc.gz | 0.951483 | 2,974 | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-51__0__64525383 | en | 1 What does it mean to be Unitarian?
In general, Unitarianism is the understanding that the universe has a single (unitary) Source — called “God” by many religions — that is the fundamental cause of all things and therefore not subject to causation or the limitations of time and space. Specifically, “Unitarianism” was coined to describe the Christian belief in a single God in the historical context of other Christian churches who believe in the 4th Century doctrine of the Trinity.
(See Q/A 3 and 3.1 below for comment on the Unitarian Universalist Association.)
1.1 If Unitarians believe in one God, what about the Son of God?
In the Christian idiom, this means worshipping The One God through the only-begotten Son of God — a divine entity also called the Word/Logos of God, the Name of God, and (in the Letter to the Colossians 1:15) “the Image of the invisible God, firstborn of creatures.” Christian Unitarians worship God through the Word because it is the Word through whom God created all things.
Whereas “Father” is how Christians often refer to The Divinity, the Word of God can be described as the Father’s agency, or “divinity” meaning the expression or character of The Divinity. In fact, the Word is specifically identified and distinguished from God this way in the original Greek of the Gospel of John 1:1.
1.2 What is the significance of Jesus Christ to (Reform) Unitarians?
For Reform Unitarians, the Logos was manifest in Jesus of Nazareth as the person “anointed” of God through the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew “Messiah” and Greek “Christ” are both words that translate into English simply as “Anointed,” referring to a ceremonial granting of divine agency using oil, which was common in the ancient Mediterranean.
The failure to understand this fact of translation causes much confusion among misinformed Christians, even leading to absurd redundancies like the phrase “Anointed Christ” or the assertion that “Christ was the Messiah.”
Kings, priests, prophets, utensils, and even the Persian Emperor Cyrus are named “Anointed” in scripture. In every case, the Anointed is so identified in order to express God’s will and character, so that God may create through him, her, or it.
The First Letter to the Corinthians (8:6) makes clear: “For us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we are for Him; and one Lord, the Anointed Jesus, through whom are all things, and we are through him.”
This vertical, subordinate Father-Son relationship between God and His Messiah is a cornerstone of true Christianity: as we read in the Second Letter of John, to deny the Father and Son is anti-Christ.
2 Trinitarians accuse Unitarians of rejecting the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Is this true?
No, Unitarian Christians do not reject the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But Unitarian Christians do not believe that these three are equal partners in a “triune” God simply because they are listed together in scripture. We believe that God is the “Father,” that His Word/Logos is the “Son of God” as the unified agency of God in Creation, and the Holy Spirit is God’s action in Creation as symbolized in diverse ways.
Rather than a “trinity” of coequal persons, Reform Unitarianism sees the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as a three-part sequence or “triplicity” — like an outflowing of divinity: from the hidden aquifer of God the Father, through the single wellspring of the Son and the many streams of the Holy Spirit.
2.1 Why is this view more correct than the Trinitarian view?
If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were truly equal persons in God as Trinitarian theology claims, why are they always listed in the same order? Why are they not truly interchangeable in order?
We never hear “the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father” or “the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit,” because the underlying theology — understood by the writers of scripture and earliest Christians, but lost on later Trinitarians — was a theology of divine power flowing from God the Father through the subordinate Son and Spirit, not a polytheistic god of three equal persons.
2.2 How did the early Church view the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
The earliest mention of the word “trinity” in Christianity was in the 2nd Century by Theophilus of Antioch, who spoke not of a trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit persons in God, but of “the Trinity of God, his Word, and his Wisdom,” with Wisdom being a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Word and Wisdom are clearly not equal persons alongside God the Father. They are subordinate divine agents of God Most High.
Around this same time, Clement of Alexandria described God as uncreated, while the Son and Spirit were “first-born powers and first-created,” echoing Colossians 1:15 which describes the Son as “firstborn of creatures.” Son and Spirit are again clearly not equal ‘persons’ alongside the God the Father.
Also during this early period, Irenaeus described Son and Spirit as the “hands of God.” All of these earliest Christian ways of describing the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit are consistent with Reform Unitarianism, but utterly contradict Trinitarian theology.
2.3 Why do so many modern Christians believe that Trinitarianism is central to Christianity?
Later in the history of the church, the word “trinity” was misconstrued by church leaders, who first conflated the Son with the Father, and later added the Holy Spirit to this error. This change in doctrine was accomplished through a sordid series of political maneuvers, and by means of slandering and violently persecuting (even murdering) those holding the original Christian view.
The gradual corruption of this theological mistake is well-documented in the records of church councils, but conveniently ignored and glossed over by modern church leaders who are emotionally and institutionally invested in erroneous Trinitarian theology.
3 I have heard that Unitarians do not really have any specific beliefs any more. Is this true?
The name “Unitarian” has been retained by liberal religious groups descended from traditional Unitarians, but who are no longer faithful to the beliefs of those Christians who purposefully chose that name to distinguish themselves from Trinitarians. These groups have good intentions, but have retained the label “Unitarian” irresponsibly.
For example, the American Unitarian Association (AUA) was taken over in the late 1800s by a theologically non-Unitarian splinter group known as Free Religionism; the victorious Free Religionists retained the “Unitarian” name even after purging Unitarian theology from all official statements of principles. The Unitarian Universalist Assocation, which formed when AUA merged with the Universalist Church of America in 1961, continues this practice.
Nevertheless, the proper and honest theological meaning of the term “Unitarian” remains the same.
Unitarianism is not about membership in a particular group or organization, and there are many Christian churches with Unitarian beliefs who do not use the term “Unitarian” to describe themselves.
3.1 What does it matter if the name is used for groups that no longer believe in Unitarianism?
Just as it is a fallacy to consider any government with “democratic” in its official name a democracy — or to consider all self-styled “republics” as genuine republics — it promotes confusion, error, and irrational circular reasoning to define Unitarianism as the philosophy of an organization with the word “Unitarian” in its name.
Names should be selected responsibly, with the purpose of clarifying meaning; meaning should not be blurred by clinging to labels that are no longer accurately descriptive. The best way to promote “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” is to make sure the meanings of words are not unnecessarily confused, and to name organizations based on the principles they actually promote.
4 What does it mean to be a Reform Unitarian?
To reform can mean to restore something that is lost or corrupted. It can also mean to improve something by amendment or development. Reform Unitarianism embraces both of these meanings.
In many ways, modern Unitarianism is an extension of the Protestant Reformation, and is therefore a reform movement by its very nature. In fact, outside of the context of reforming long-standing Trinitarian error, the name “Unitarian” makes little sense. The original Christians, although Unitarian in theology, would have had no reason to use this term until conflationists clumped Father, Son, and Holy Ghost into an unscriptural “triune God” through a series of Imperial councils, resulting in full-blown Trinitarianism during the 4th Century.
4.1 What is Reform Unitarianism restoring and improving?
Reform Unitarianism attempts to restore the religion of Jesus Christ before the errors of the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople. Specifically, Reform Unitarianism wants to restore to Christianity the original values exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth:
- ecumenism, and respect for good and truth in other traditions
- open-mindedness, the virtue of Hope
- reason, the virtue of Faith or “fidelity”
- respect for argumentation and explanation over blind dogma
- focus on the deep nature of reality rather than superficial sectarian politics
- allegorical, anti-literalist approach to ministry
4.2 Is Reform Unitarianism only concerned with restoring and improving Christianity?
More broadly, Reform Unitarianism is an attempt to restore reasoned discourse on religion based on a common definition of “God” (capitalized) as the single, uncreated Source for all created things. These created things necessarily include divine creatures (imaginary or not) which are unfortunately referenced, in various languages, using the same word as that used for the uncreated Source, “god” in English.
The confusion that results from this failure to apply the language of religion in a rational way is the cause of an inexcusable amount of error, deception, and inter-religious conflict.
So, Reform Unitarianism is a reformation not only of our concept of Christianity, but of our concept of religion in general. Too often, ecumenical efforts and public discourse on religion — or even against religion — fall prey to confused and vague language.
5 What is American about American Unitarian Reform?
The United States of America is unique in the history of Unitarian Christianity in that its founding was influenced by many thinkers whose views on religion were distinctly Unitarian.
American Unitarian Reform takes on two tasks. Firstly, it seeks to restore and improve the Unitarianism of America’s founding and early years. Secondly, it seeks to imbue the society of the United States with the Unitarian virtues that informed its foundation: rational and disciplined open-mindedness.
5.1 Doesn’t this violate the “Separation of Church and State”?
When AUR celebrates the confluence of Unitarian Christianity and American civic life, this is not to insist that the US government take religion seriously (since this would be a violation of both Unitarian and American principles) but that we as believers should live by this pious and rational principle: any religion which seeks to guide its members to moral action should describe the Creation adequately to identify the Divine will in history and political life.
For example, when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserted that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice,” he was making a theological point that did not deny the harsh facts of reality. In fact, Dr. King was paraphrasing Unitarian pastor Theodore Parker. When AUR speaks of imbuing society with rational religious virtues, it is in this spirit.
6 What is the Reformed Unitarian attitude toward scripture?
The prophet Jeremiah (Book of Jeremiah 8:8) condemns scripturalist sanctimony: “How can you say, ‘We are wise because we have the law of Yahweh,’ when actually the lying pens of scribes have handled it falsely.” Clearly, even scripture itself asserts the fact that it can be corrupted by its handlers, a phenomenon that has been well established by both archeaology and textual analysis.
Those who attempt (ironically) to debunk Jeremiah 8:8 put forth other verses that flatter scripture, but there is no explanation of the verse itself except as a clear recognition that written revelation falls prey to the faults and sins of its keepers.
For example, in the Second Letter to Timothy (3:16-17) the author asserts that “all scripture is God-inspired and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Many have mistaken this to mean that the scripture as we know it — as canonized long after both Timothy and his correspondent were dead — is perfect and without error.
However, being “useful” is not the same as being “perfect.” For those who believe in the One God, only God is perfect. In fact, Jesus himself taught that “God alone is good.” Moreover, for those who believe in the One God, all things in Creation are from God (see Corinthians 8:6), so identifying something as “God-inspired” does not imply perfection. Worshiping created things as perfect is idolatry, and scripture is a created thing. | philosophy |
https://www.booksbyjolene.com/post/living-in-the-age-of-rage | 2023-01-27T21:18:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764495012.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20230127195946-20230127225946-00659.warc.gz | 0.926127 | 426 | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-06__0__85096361 | en | Living in the Age of Rage
In the past few years, I’ve been surprised how many times I’ve been triggered…by anger. I scan the news and…I’m enraged. I encounter people who have strong opinions about how I should live my life (which don’t resonate with me at all), and my buttons get pushed. Anger bubbles up in me much easier than it ever has in my life.
I’m not the only one. So many people are angry. We’re now living in the age of rage.
Yet, there are good reasons for the anger. We don’t want to repress the rage, but we also don’t want to fuel it like we’re witnessing now in our world. Pouring gasoline on a fire…only makes the flames rage out of control.
So how do we live well in an age of rage?
1. Notice what pushes your buttons. Pay attention to what makes you mad. Become mindful of what’s triggering your anger.
2. Know that anger is an important signal. It’s telling you that something’s wrong. Take time to discover what’s not right and how you want to make things better.
3. Express your anger in healthy ways. I journal. When I’m furious, I draw a roaring lion head and list all the things that make me mad inside of the lion’s mouth.
4. Funnel your anger into a creative pursuit. Recently I painted a monster (which is the photo accompanying this blog), and the process turned my rage…into laughter.
“Anybody can become angry. That is easy. To be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy,” Aristotle said.
Let’s discover how to set our anger in motion to drive toward something healthy and healing. | philosophy |
https://notes.bagerbach.com/the-map-is-not-the-territory | 2023-10-01T03:10:14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510734.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001005750-20231001035750-00102.warc.gz | 0.961526 | 129 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__13882116 | en | All models are wrong; some are useful.
The map is not the territory. All models are wrong (but some are useful). If we are surprised by some occurrence, it is not the world that is weird, it’s our view of it that is. Reality is reality; your perception is your perception. (Source: Think Like Reality, by Yudkowsky).
It’s a problem when your understanding is of the map, rather than the underlying territory. Remember that you’re relying on a model (which is, by nature, limited) of reality, not reality itself.1 | philosophy |
https://coralsandsacademy.com/learning-from-failure-and-overcoming-it/ | 2020-09-26T15:53:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400244231.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20200926134026-20200926164026-00567.warc.gz | 0.955676 | 813 | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-40__0__23724361 | en | Learning from Failure and Overcoming It
Failure is a difficult fact of life. It is impossible to experience life without also consistently falling short. The fear of failure often keeps us from fulfilling goals, preferring the easy, less world-changing paths to the difficult, failure ridden ones.
When we take time to allow those failures to change us, however, it enables us to find true success in life, not only in academics or occupation, but in relationships as well.
Below are five tips for overcoming failure as well as learning from it.
- Failure is the Key to Success
When you fall short, remember the failures of those who have found success before you. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, failures will prepare you for ultimate success just as much as the little successes will.
It’s helpful at times to look to others who have accomplished the thing you hope to. How often did they fail? How long did it take them to get to where they are? No one finds immediate success. Instead of letting it defeat you, allow failure to propel you forward.
- Don’t Allow the Frustration to Fester, Let it Out
Failure is stressful. It’s difficult to keep a level head in the face of pain and disappointment. Find a way to release your frustrations. Take a walk, play a sport, write about it, even just allowing yourself to have a good cry about it can work wonders. Don’t allow the feelings to fester. Don’t distract yourself from it or give up on your goals. Face them head on.
- Reflect on What Went Wrong
Once you feel less emotionally stressed, reflect on what went wrong. Be brutally honest with yourself. It can get really easy to blame external forces for the failure, rather than taking responsibility for our own mistakes. Some aspects of the event may have been out of your control, but take time to recognize the things that were in your control and what habits and actions you need to adjust to avoid similar setbacks.
- Don’t Overgeneralize the Failure
Messing up is normal. Everyone experiences failure on a regular basis. However, it’s critical to remember that you as a person are not a failure just because you suffered a setback. The heroes of history have all failed. What makes them worth learning about is the fact that they overcame those failures. They learned from the experiences and moved on.
- Learn from It
Once you’ve reflected on what went wrong, apply the necessary changes. Other failures may come along, but by making these changes, the likelihood of suffering the same failure will be significantly lower.
As you do this, however, keep in mind that you may fall back into those habits that caused the problem. It’s difficult to make some changes overnight, but keep working at it. Eventually the new way of thinking and/or behaving will come naturally to you. Just like anything of value, it may take time to achieve.
Failure is hard, but in some ways, it’s what makes life worth living. It gives us the opportunity to change and become better and wiser people. When we treat setbacks as opportunities rather than roadblocks, we can find joy, not only in the destination, but in the journey as well.
Adams, R. (2017, December 07). 5 Ways to Overcome Failure and Achieve Your Goals.
Retrieved December 15, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rl-adams/7-ways-
Cole, S. (2014, September 04). 4 Steps To Overcoming Failure And Using It To Your
Advantage. Retrieved December 15, 2018, from
Edberg, H. (2018, August 21). How to Overcome Failure: 9 Powerful Habits. Retrieved
December 15, 2018, from https://www.positivityblog.com/how-to-overcome-failure/ | philosophy |
http://www.aikidoofnorthcounty.com/beginner.html | 2018-01-16T22:42:16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084886758.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20180116224019-20180117004019-00650.warc.gz | 0.952198 | 1,295 | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-05__0__83816626 | en | What is Aikido?
Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba from 1930 to his death in 1969. The essence of Aikido can best be described in the translation of its name. The word “Aikido” in Japanese is made up of three characters. Ai means “harmony or oneness.” Ki means “energy or spirit.” In a larger context, Ki also means the spirit of the Universe. Do means the way or the path.” This Signifies that the study of Aikido is not merely the study of the techniques of self-defense, but represents a: philosophy that a person can incorporate into his life.
Aikido can be seen as a way to harmonize with an attacker's force or energy, and in so doing allow the force to turn itself back on the attacker. This leaves the attacker to deal with his aggression and not the practitioner. It is a lesson to both, that mindless violence is self destructive. Aikido is interpreted as a “Way of life in Harmony with the Universal Spirit.”
How is Aikido Practiced
The practice of Aikido can take many forms. It includes various meditation techniques, individual exercises both with and without weapons (wooden swords. and short staff), partnered exercises, movements that teach body awareness. Ki development and healing practices.
What is a beginning class?
A beginning class in Aikido teaches the basic principles of the art. That is the idea of mind-body coordination. This is accomplished by the demonstration of four principles: Keeping one-point, Being relaxed, Keeping weight underside, and Extending Ki. Exercises that increase body flexibility, allow the mind calmness, and basic body mechanics are used to achieve this training. Fundamental self-defense techniques that demonstrate these principles are taught.
Do I need to wear anything special?
The traditional garment worn in Japanese martial arts training is a Gi. However loose fitting pants and long sleeved top are acceptable.
Does Aikido rely on physical strength or size for effectiveness?
Aikido is an art that does not rely on physical strength for its effectiveness, through the training of correct body posture and movement a physical integrity develops that allows anyone to practice the self control and evasive techniques that can avoid conflict, both physical and mental.
AIKIDO: A Unique Art of Self-Defense: Meaning of the word Aikido
The word "Aikido" in Japanese is made up of three characters. The first and most important is "ai," which means "to meet, to come together, to harmonize.'" The second is "ki," which means in modern Japanese "the mind, the soul, and the spirit." In the larger context, "ki" means the spirit of the A Universe, and not only the spirit of mere human beings. The third and last character is "do," which means "the way, as in kendo, or judo, to signify that the study of Aikido does not encompass merely techniques of self-defense, but represents positive ideals which a person can incorporate into his life.
Aikido and Health
The movements of Aikido agree with the laws of nature which include a flowing flexibility and keeping a stable balance. The aim of Aikidoists is to be one with the Universe, in complete self-control; for when we have self-control, we also have a posture which is completely alert. By exercising our whole body we approach improved health.
The flexible motion based at the hips is like the performance of a dance, a graceful motion. The finger motion, wrist motion and hip motion - the movements, of every part of the body - are unified into a systematically controlled motion. Controlled breathing is an integral part of the basic power of Aikido, and originates from the "Centrum" or "one point," the center point of the abdominal region. This breathing naturally relaxes one's strength, and becomes the basis of constructing a flexible but stable posture for both young and old.
Most of the joint techniques of Aikido employ the moving of the joints in the direction which they can bend naturally. It is different from ordinary reversal techniques, which damage the joints by turning them in the direction counter to natural bending. The "natural bending" techniques in Aikido relate directly to the general principles of circular and spherical motion, and of harmony with Nature.
Dynamic Analysis of Aikido
The human body in motion becomes like a spinning top, and when not in motion the body of the Aikidoist assumes the stable posture of an equilateral tetrahedron (like a pyramid). When the movement begins, the body becomes like a spinning top. In this sense, the techniques of Aikido are performed to change the opponent's mental and physical balance, causing him to revolve around the Aikidoist's rotating "one point" or "Centrum." He finds himself turning around the outer circle of the Aikidoist's top-like movements.
Courtesy and Etiquette
Courtesy in the dojo is an important part of the martial arts. It creates a harmonious atmosphere and it is an excellent means of self-improvement. Courtesy is a sign that you are thinking of the other fellow before you think of yourself. There are a few courtesies that are particular to dojo alone.
- Bow to the Shihan-dai or Shomen when entering or leaving the dojo, the training room, or mat.
- Bow to the teacher (sensei) before and after practice and whenever he instructs you personally.
- Kneel (seiza) and maintain a straight position when the teacher is demonstrating to the class. You may shift to a sitting position (zazen) with your legs crossed, after sitting in seiza for as long as possible.
- If you have a question while training. call "sensei," and wait for a reply, Do not interrupt sensei while he is speaking. Please wait until he is done.
- After class, assist in the cleanup of the training area by sweeping the training mat, the floor around it, or dusting the Shomen and other parts of the training area. | philosophy |
https://mylaceybrain.wordpress.com/tag/paradigm-shift/ | 2019-01-17T08:45:59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547583658901.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20190117082302-20190117104302-00249.warc.gz | 0.974229 | 337 | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-04__0__181735504 | en | one year ago, k. and i boarded a plane to puerto vallarta. i didn’t know it then, but my life would change on that trip. i came down with shingles, which caused a MS flare, which caused chronic tingling in my legs that took 6 months to go away. eventually, it led to my diagnosis.
i had no idea what i was walking into when i got on that plane. quite literally and figuratively, i was leaving behind my life as i knew it. the cascade of events that would follow changed me.
this is just the start of an entire year of anniversaries.
since that spring break trip (my first and only in a shamefully L O N G college career) i can feel the difference in the me before diagnosis and the me after. last semester feels like a dream. it is the bridge between the two me’s–the months where i transitioned between them. it’s not that i don’t believe in the same things that i did before, or that i can no longer relate to the hopes and dreams that i had before diagnosis. it’s just that life in general feels different.
last semester was 4 months of sadness and fear and loss. and now i’m past the initial shock and i no longer have tingling legs (although i still do get tingling occasionally when walking). but i haven’t lost that sense that sometime soon the other shoe will drop. i am learning that i will probably always feel that way.
maybe next year i can learn to be ok with that. | philosophy |
https://www.juliestarrparker.com/post/the-science-of-meditation | 2024-04-23T10:33:51 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296818474.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20240423095619-20240423125619-00335.warc.gz | 0.941831 | 2,082 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__190205517 | en | Written by Julie Starr Parker, Ph.D.
Every semester I give my online Introductory Psychology students a meditation challenge. They are often surprised to have an assignment like this and are generally eager to engage. It’s not a typical academic assignment assessing a specific learning outcome. It takes them by surprise. Often students consider meditation to be a waste of valuable time with no clear benefits. When they complete the lecture material and read the textbook chapter on consciousness and altered states, they learn just how relevant the meditation challenge is to the objectives of their psychology course, and that there is a plethora of scientific research published on the topic. After all, psychology is the science of mental processes and behavior. Meditation is both of those things and a useful psychological intervention.
Thich Nacht Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk educated in psychology, literature, philosophy, and science came by invitation to the United States in 1961 to teach Comparative Religion at Princeton University. His move to the U.S. came within the context of war and political oppression in his country. Although he had founded the Engaged Buddhism Movement to address the suffering caused by the war, he left Vietnam after several of his peers were imprisoned and the government destroyed the school he established. The Vietnamese Government eventually exiled Thich Nacht Hahn and he was unable to return home until 2006. During his time in the United States, he established monasteries and trained thousands of people in mindfulness meditation. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who studied with him, created a psychological intervention called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) based on his teachings.
Jon Kabat-Zinn put his intervention into practice in 1979 at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the Massachusetts Medical School. He was a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts. He integrated Buddhist mindfulness practices with a scientific perspective, opening the door for mindfulness meditation to be used as a stress reduction tool for people regardless of religion or spiritual practice. Research at the clinic has consistently demonstrated long-lasting improvement in psychological and physical symptoms for research participants.
Thich Nacht Hahn is credited with bringing Buddhist-based meditative practices mainstream in the West. Jon Kabat-Zinn made it flexible and brought awareness to the science behind the mind-body connection to health benefits. In his view, if “you have a mind, you can practice mindfulness, and if you can breathe, you can practice yoga (connecting the mind to the body).”
The meditation challenge that I give to my community college students includes the following instructions:
· Set aside 10 – 20 minutes each day for a week.
· Sit quietly and breathe in and out as usual for about thirty seconds.
· Lower your eyes and focus your concentration on breathing in and out.
· Focus on the abdominal area, aware of the movements of the breath.
· Count each breath – one, inhale, one exhale; two, inhale, two exhale until you reach the count of ten.
· Each time you notice a thought, return to the count of one.
· Alternatively, you may focus on a word, phrase, or prayer.
Students are instructed to research the benefits and challenges of mindfulness meditation, report their findings, and discuss their experiences with the meditation challenge. General student reports range from “life-changing,” and “enlightening,” to “stressful,” and “a waste of time.” For the most part, students embrace the challenge, and some are motivated to continue practicing. Those who have positive experiences report outcomes like some of those found in the research, and the obstacles are no different. It’s those who would benefit the most that often have a more difficult time completing the challenge. Mothers raising young children and working full-time while attending community college classes must carve out early morning or late evening time to focus their attention on meditation. Rambling thoughts pertaining to the myriad of responsibilities and tasks left undone create more stress. They perceive that they are wasting precious time. However, those who stick with it often report that those few minutes that they tenaciously held for the assignment had become precious time they now hold dear.
The term “mindfulness” is easy to find in the research and popular literature. Cheavens and Feldman (2022) define it as “present-moment awareness, the attention you bring to your current thoughts, feelings, and sensations, as well as to the external environment in which you find yourself in any given moment.” The Buddhist principles that form the core of mindfulness meditation include nonjudgement of thoughts, feelings, and other subjective experiences; nonreactivity to those subjective thoughts, feelings, and sensations; and the attitude of acceptance of the present moment. Another important component of mindfulness practice is the beginner’s mind, approaching experiences with curiosity.
Scientific research on mindfulness practices and meditation is growing rapidly. The PsychInfo database reveals more than 11,200 peer-reviewed articles published in the last decade. Much of the research is based on mindfulness personality traits and mindfulness practices.
Some of the reported health benefits of mindfulness include:
· Reduced stress, including stress-related disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia
· Improved memory and mental clarity, which can help fight age-related memory loss and dementia
· Increased attention span
· Increased self-regulation
· Improved sleep quality and shorter time to fall asleep
· Reduction of chronic pain and increased emotion regulation
· Lower blood pressure
· Less anxiety, including social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors
· Less depression
· Greater compassion
A review of research literature found that meditation and mindfulness practices, including Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR, show improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain perception scores. Changes in brain structure and function have also been found in the brains of long-term meditators and people who completed the MBSR program. Behan (2020) suggests that the research supports the assumption that meditation and mindfulness practices are beneficial methods to support different populations and people of varying ages during crises such as the global COVID-19 pandemic.
A review completed by Cheavens and Feldman (2022) suggests that meditative practices can reduce psychological distress and unwanted psychological experiences such as depression, anxiety, stress, and the likelihood of relapsing after treatment for depression. They also found evidence that it can improve sustained attention, problem-solving, and working memory, as well as increase positive emotions and decrease negative emotions and rumination.
The scientific evidence supporting the benefits of mindfulness-based practices such as meditation and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is clear. Pioneers like Jon Kabat-Zinn led the way for Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology, the new science of happiness and well-being. Positive Psychology interventions have been shown to help people increase happiness, and flourishing, and have what Seligman, calls “a life worth living.” Meditative practices are part of this growing Positive Psychology toolkit.
Students in my Positive Psychology classes are introduced to mindfulness meditation from day one. They begin the semester by taking an assessment to measure their perceived level of “flourishing.” Flourishing is defined by high levels of subjective well-being and low levels of psychological distress. Through the course of the semester, they experience in-class meditations, and other mindfulness practices such as “savoring,” and “flow.” To savor is to expand a pleasurable experience through present-centered awareness. Flow is a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and refers to complete immersion in an activity. To experience this present-centered state of consciousness, the activity must be one with the right balance of skill and challenge. Interventions such as goal setting, gratitude journaling, and performing random acts of kindness are some of the other interventions that students apply. By the end of the semester, they take the flourishing assessment again. Most report a higher score. When asked what they believe attributed to the increased score, many stated that it was taking the positive psychology class. Interventions students typically plan to continue after the semester ends are the mindfulness-based practices of meditation and savoring.
As presented in this article, there are a number of evidence-based reasons to try meditation and other mindfulness-based practices. The physical, psychological, behavioral, and spiritual benefits appear to be worth the effort.
Cheavens, J. & Feldman, D. (2022). The science and application of positive psychology. Cambridge University Press. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training. (N.D.) Jon Kabat-Zinn. Jon Kabat-Zinn - Mindfulness Training (mbsrtraining.com) Ibid. Cheavens, J. & Feldman, D. (2022). The science and application of positive psychology. Cambridge University Press. UC Davis Health (2019). 10 Health benefits of meditation. https://health.ucdavis.edu/newsroom/news/headlines/10-health-benefits-of-meditation/2019/06 Behan, C. (2020). The benefits of meditation and mindfulness practices during times of crisis such as COVID-19. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine vol. 37, 4, 256-258. doi: 10.1017/ipm.2020.38 Cheavens, J. & Feldman, D. (2022). The science and application of positive psychology. Cambridge University Press. Seligman, M. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Atria Books. Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2008). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics. | philosophy |
http://mannheimerahlstrom.com/en/home/ | 2022-07-02T20:59:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656104204514.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20220702192528-20220702222528-00201.warc.gz | 0.940389 | 330 | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-27__0__266125741 | en | Ph D. Social Work
Lecturer, Psychodynamic therapist, Hypnotherapist, Journey Practitioner, Wayshower and Mentor in development of consciousness, Author.
After nearly 25 years in the academic world, first as a student and Ph D program researcher at University of Chicago, USA, and later as an associate professor at Stockholm University, Sweden, I left my academic career to work with what I am most passionate about: Contributing to higher consciousness, helping us find the inner core of our being where our true power, strength and potential lies. And further, to help heal those blocks, wounds, misunderstandings and limitations that stand in the way of unlocking who we really are.
Through lectures and presentations, courses, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, journey-processes and private mentorship, I help you heal, develop and find your way back to the core of who you really are.
Development of consciousness is about becoming conscious of our soul and of how we can live closer to both ourselves and each-other. Development of consciousness looks at what we as humans need in order to mature and evolve into our full potential and true nature, both individually and as fellow human beings.
How can we heal and develop our personality so that we have strength and motivation to consciously live in compassion, or in other words from an attitude of benevolence, respect, kindness, patience and empathy towards both ourselves and others? How can we handle and understand the ego mechanisms of both ourselves and others so that we can create a world where love and open-heartedness governs us, rather than the defense mechanisms of our ego. | philosophy |
http://myelevatefitness.com/about-us/ | 2023-09-30T09:47:58 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510671.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20230930082033-20230930112033-00192.warc.gz | 0.93654 | 242 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__131675487 | en | Elevate Fitness believes that if we can’t challenge you, then we can’t change you. It’s our mission to empower people to become the best version of themselves and to do daily what others do occasionally. At Elevate Fitness all are welcome, and together we help each other achieve our goals.
AT ELEVATE FITNESS
At the core of Elevate Fitness, there are several main objectives. To maintain an atmosphere of learning where curiosity is embraced. To harbor community and family since they are the people who matter. To uphold high ethical standards through integrity while promoting trust and respect. To be innovative and foster creativity that challenges constraints and drives progress. To maintain excellence by exceeding expectations and taking intense pride in everything done daily. To promote leadership among all members so that all have the courage to rise above challenges, work through adversity and inspire others.
ALL ARE WELCOME
Welcome to Elevate Fitness where we love fitness, love people and love life. Whether you are a novice or professional athlete, all are welcome. We believe that whatever your fitness goal is we can help you achieve it through the support and encouragement of our fit family. | philosophy |
https://www.dgsiegel.net/articles/extensions-of-man | 2024-02-29T20:45:20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474853.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20240229202522-20240229232522-00694.warc.gz | 0.932493 | 883 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__183454087 | en | All tools are extensions of a human capability.
A hammer gives power and precision to a strike. A bicycle speeds your journey. Writing records your thoughts, notes, and ideas.
By augmenting our abilities, we change the way we perceive the world. We expand our possibilities, and this alters the way we think and act.
In the words of Marshall McLuhan:
If we follow that analogy, the computer is an extension of the brain. Put more plainly, the computer is a tool that helps us to think, generate ideas, and augment our intellect.
This is true for us as individuals, and as a society. Imagine if we could collaboratively solve complex global problems and maybe bring humanity to a new level of consciousness.
In other words, computers have the potential to fundamentally amplify the way we think and solve complex problems. And over generations, they could raise our collective intelligence.
It’s a powerful thought.
I would put the computer right next to major inventions that have transformed society, and ushered in a new era, like the wheel or the printing press.
Here’s the catch though.
The printing press has generated radical and substantive thoughts on a social, economic, political, and even philosophical level. Computer technology hasn’t come close. The printing press transformed the Middle Ages into a scientific society, not just by making books more available, but by changing the thought patterns of those who learned to read. The changes in our society brought about by computer technology over the past 50 years pale in comparison. We have made computers in all shapes and sizes, but we’re still far away from generating new thoughts or breaking up old thought patterns.
And looking at the current state of the world, the computer hasn’t really helped bring out the best in humanity.
When people use digital devices, they have to adjust to the limitations of the computer. People share rather than collaborate, consume rather than produce, follow instructions rather than experiment, and search rather than think.
Do the programs you use most often really amplify your intellect? Do they help you collaborate effectively? Do they change the way you think, or approach complex problems? Do they help you become a better human? Do computers actually raise our collective intelligence?
And aren’t sharing, consuming, following, and searching the core business models of the biggest tech companies?
Computers have the unique potential to extend and amplify our brain, our thinking, and our reasoning. But if we aren’t using computers like that, we are amputating our brains instead of extending them.
If we want to advance as a society, I see three fundamental areas which need urgent change: thought, collaboration, and augmentation.
The computer as a tool to improve thought: With the computerization of businesses, we have gone from “Don’t make me think” to “Can you do the thinking for me”. We expect the computer to do all the work for us without knowing what we actually want from it. We use computers to get an easy solution rather than the right solution.
The computer as a tool to improve collaboration: We emphasize short-term competition over long-term collaboration. We think in terms of making the most money, not benefits to society. Most devices and platforms are walled gardens, with no easy way to transfer information between them. More importantly, computers are designed with a single user in mind: mirroring a display remotely doesn’t magically create a collaborative environment.
The computer as a tool to improve augmentation: When we think about making humans smarter, we immediately think about artificial intelligence: let’s make computers really intelligent so we don’t have to do anything anymore. But by doing that we forget about augmenting our own intelligence — IA instead of AI. We should make humans smarter, so we can create better tools for us and continue our co-evolution.
It’s not too late to use computers to augment our collective intellect. Let’s not allow one of our greatest inventions to go to waste.
Want more ideas like this in your inbox?
My letters are about long-lasting, sustainable change that fundamentally amplify our human capabilities and raise our collective intelligence through generations. Would love to have you on board. | philosophy |
http://www.gsrenfrey.com/YouTube.html | 2023-12-03T15:14:05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100508.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20231203125921-20231203155921-00427.warc.gz | 0.918924 | 349 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__134962294 | en | Meditations for Deep Living is a series of meditative experiences that explore some of the most poignant personal and social challenges we each face. In each segment, the nature of these challenges is discussed, as is the way that mindfulness can help us transcend them. Finally, the listener is guided through a brief meditation designed to enlighten and empower.
The segments are brief by design, but some are followed up with longer proactices in the Core Meditations series.
Exercises in Deep Living are activities that engender profoundly present experiences. Some are pleasurable, some sublime, and others not for the faint of heart. Together, they can help you unravel the effects of human domestication and begin living a profoundly authentic life.
Core Meditations contain less instruction and morer practice than the Deep Living Series. They will include varied meditation forms, including anapanasati, body scan, sensory rotation, yoga nidra, metta, and mantra.
The One-Year Marriage series will elucidate the guiding principles and practices of a formula for love and intimacy that will stand the test of time and change, should you so wish it. Drawing from years of clinical experience counselling couples, it identifies some of the core reasons most relationships fail to live up to their promises and provides a template to enable couples to navigate their lives together around these.
YouTube presentations of Meditations and Exercises for Deep Living:. Each release in this new series will provide a brief discourse on the topic at hand and an experiential meditation or exercise. These are not always for the faint of heart.
The One Year Marriage: A Formula for Enduring Love (See Books link), will be released as a series of YouTube presentations. | philosophy |
https://poetryliving.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/nostalgia-and-the-cognitive-itch/ | 2019-09-16T11:23:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572517.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916100041-20190916122041-00140.warc.gz | 0.926375 | 761 | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-39__0__18162193 | en | I am not a blogger…or I never used to be. I only started blogging for this Digital Communications course that I’m enrolled in at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.
I chose to write about poetry because it’s a topic that I am passionate about, but I noticed that a significant part of creating these posts involves a lot of soul searching that stretches far beyond poetry…and blogging!
I find myself rifling through my own unpublished work, pulling dusty books off of my bookshelf, and searching the web to see what my favourite poets are up to.
In doing this, I found one sentiment in particular to be unexpectedly overwhelming–nostalgia.
According to Merriam-Webster
Definition of nostalgia
1: the state of being homesick :homesickness
2: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also: something that evokes nostalgia
Why do we get nostalgic? Why do we feel that yearning or homesickness when we hear a certain song or smell a certain scent? How is it that we can feel an empty longing, but at the same time feel such fondness when we reflect on those memories?
This video is about nostalgia and its psychological effects:
The Vsauce host talks about cognitive itch as an ear worm…you know…that feeling of not being able to get rid of that song in your head, but I see cognitive itch as more of an untapped creative energy. I believe that certain triggers propel us to creativity, and that “itch” is telling us to do something about it.
Linking nostalgia to cognitive itch is the perfect pathway to creative output. Nostalgia is a beautiful source of artistic inspiration. For me, it fuels my poetic passions and teaches me things about myself that I could only ever really understand in retrospect. (Refer to my next blog post for more on this topic)
Below is the Abraham Lincoln poem referenced in the video. I love that idea of being “saddened with the view” but there being “pleasure in it too”.
My Childhood Home I See Again by Abraham Lincoln My childhood home I see again, And sadden with the view; And still, as memory crowds my brain, There’s pleasure in it too. O Memory! thou midway world ‘Twixt earth and paradise, Where things decayed and loved ones lost In dreamy shadows rise, And, freed from all that’s earthly vile, Seem hallowed, pure, and bright, Like scenes in some enchanted isle All bathed in liquid light. As dusky mountains please the eye When twilight chases day; As bugle-notes that, passing by, In distance die away; As leaving some grand waterfall, We, lingering, list its roar— So memory will hallow all We’ve known, but know no more. Near twenty years have passed away Since here I bid farewell To woods and fields, and scenes of play, And playmates loved so well. Where many were, but few remain Of old familiar things; But seeing them, to mind again The lost and absent brings. The friends I left that parting day, How changed, as time has sped! Young childhood grown, strong manhood gray, And half of all are dead. I hear the loved survivors tell How nought from death could save, Till every sound appears a knell, And every spot a grave. I range the fields with pensive tread, And pace the hollow rooms, And feel (companion of the dead) I’m living in the tombs. | philosophy |
https://angellightdistancereiki.com/animal-reiki | 2024-04-19T09:30:01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817382.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20240419074959-20240419104959-00437.warc.gz | 0.930461 | 600 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__144970021 | en | Animals have emotions just as humans do, and they are empathetic enough to sense the emotions of others. Animal Reiki balances the energy patterns, calms the emotions, and strengthens the animal’s natural healing ability. Animal Reiki encourages the unity of mind, emotions, body and spirit.
Reiki (Ray-key) is a Japanese name consisting of two words Rei and Ki meaning universal life energy, an energy which permeates all around us. Reiki is a form of spiritual healing using "universal life energy" channeled through the practitioner to the recipient. Reiki promotes the harmony of the mind, body, and spirit for your pet, or for any individual (family members of pets) who desire to seek healing from within.
For animals, Reiki is a non-invasive healing method that can address pain, injury, and illness. It can have remarkable effects on fear, anxiety, aggression, depression, and trauma. Reiki focusses on the "whole-being" of the animal and assists with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual imbalances.
Reiki strengthens the immune system, accelerates natural healing, relieves pain, relaxes muscle spasms, clears toxins, calms, nurtures, and comforts. Reiki will not cause harm, does not have side effects, and works great in conjunction with other holistic therapies or medical treatments.
What is Distance Reiki? Distance healing, also known as remote healing, is an energetic healing process that can be best explained through the principles of Quantum physics. It has been proven to be extremely effective, sometimes even more effective than local, hands-on healing.
How does it work? Quantum physics shows us that everything is made up of energy, and everything is connected. Everything is part of the same, continuous whole. Long-distance healing is “wireless” healing. We accept that cell phones, televisions and even our garage door openers work in this wireless way. It’s not much of a leap to accept that all energy travels that way, including the energy of healing.
In a remote Reiki session, the practitioner connects with the person or animal requesting the healing energetically. Every living being has a unique frequency and the practitioner tunes into that unique energy. It’s simply a question of “dialing in” to the correct frequency. Once the connection is made, the practitioner sends the healing energy to the recipient.
Reiki energy therapy is not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment. Reiki practitioners do not diagnose conditions nor do they prescribe, perform medical treatment, nor interfere with the treatment of a licensed medical professional. It is recommended that animals be taken to a licensed veterinarian for any ailment they have. | philosophy |
http://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/top-10-ted-talks-on-revolutionizing-education-and-online-learning/ | 2017-03-27T16:30:47 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189490.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00027-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.967776 | 1,452 | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-13__0__82704235 | en | Does the current education system shape learners in a way that reflects the needs of our modern-day society? Do you feel that the current education system has a long way to go before it fully uses the potential of online learning?
This series of TED Talks on education is split into two groups. The first five talks deal with the subject of education in general, from elementary school through to post-secondary, as well as dealing with the concept of learning itself. According to the speakers in this group, the methods that are used in classrooms nowadays are good… But only for the economy and society of yesterday. They present many arguments which highlight that there is a critical need to apply a new way of thinking to our education system. The education system doesn’t need to be developed or improved upon – it needs to be revolutionised!
The second group of five talks focus specifically on online education. Anant Agarwal makes the case that online education is still very important to our society’s development and that we are still very far away from fully using the potential of online learning. Shimon Schocken, Sugata Mitra, Daphne Koller and Salman Khan then talk about four separate online learning platforms and explain what makes them useful and important.
Cameron Herold – Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs
Cameron Herold wants parents and teachers to recognise – and foster – entrepreneurial talent in kids. As was the case when he was younger, a child that appears to be a problem pupil may have hidden potential to become a maverick. Unfortunately, in both the educational system and society, entrepreneurial talent often gets overlooked. In his speech, he describes various projects he did as a young boy and discusses what today’s parents could do to hone entrepreneurial talent in their kids.
Ken Robinson – How to escape education’s death valley
Ken Robinson talks about the three most important principles for the human mind to flourish: human beings are naturally different and diverse; curiosity is natural for humans, and humankind is inherently creative. He goes on to suggest how we could change the education system which currently works against these three principles and achieve a culture of curiosity – not compliance. A system which would be human, not mechanical.
Ken Robinson – Bring on the learning revolution!
In another speech, Ken Robinson argues that the education system dislocates many people from their natural talents. What we currently have, is essentially an industrial model of education which is based on linearity and conformity. It simply measures and groups people instead of actually developing their abilities. As a result, we make very poor use of our talents. Many people go through their whole lives just “getting on with it” and get no real pleasure from what they do.
He suggests that we need to change the system to recognise what human communities really depend on diversity of talent – not a singular conception of ability.
Ramsey Musallam – 3 Rules to spark learning
In a fun and personal talk, Ramsey Musallam talks about three rules to spark imagination and learning, and get students excited about how the world works. He learnt these life lessons the hard way – after reflecting upon the time when he was treated for a serious heart condition. In his talk he mentions how easy it is to observe these lessons in the behaviour of children, yet, in the adult world, where we learn how to do most practical things, they seem to be often forgotten.
Linda Cliatt-Wayman – How to fix a broken school? Lead fearlessly, love hard
In this talk, Linda Cliatt-Wyaman reflects upon her first day as a principal at one of the lower-performing schools in a district of Philadelphia. One student had some words for her which made her realise where the problem really lay and inspired throughout her career. Since then she has gone to several other schools and in some cases, had to literally rebuild them from scratch. The hardest to rebuild were, of course, the students themselves, most of whom came from poor and troubled families. In her speech, she talks about what approach and methods she used to turn their lives around and give them hope for a better future.
Anant Agarwal – Why massively open online courses (still) matter
MOOCs aka Massive Open Online Education Courses can make a difference in a modern-day classroom. In his speech Anant Agarwall, an education innovator, explains how these courses can benefit many people, using the generation of Millennials as an example. To illustrate the point he mentions several blended learning pilots that were tried in various countries. The case studies also highlight the importance of active learning over benchmarking, which is still a commonplace practice in schools today.
Shimon Schocken – The self-organizing computer course
According to Shimon Schocken, a computer science professor, educators need to create an environment which will tease out our natural ability to learn on our own. Inspired by his grandfather and parents who were all avid self-learners, he describes how he managed to incite curiosity about the way computers work in his own classroom. In addition, he tells us how the project that started in the classroom, eventually went viral and made a difference around the world.
Sugata Mitra – Build a school in the cloud
Sugata Mitra, an educational researcher, speculates about the future of learning. He explains why the current educational system is obsolete and more suitable for the bygone Victorian era. Analysing the lessons learnt from experiments with slum children in India, he concludes that a classroom environment should treat children a bit like a Grandmother – stand behind, watch them try new things and praise them every time they find out something new.
Daphne Koller – What we’re learning from online education
Daphne Koller, a co-founder of an MOOC, talks about the realities of inequality of access to education services worldwide. One example is the US, where the cost of education has risen 559 times since 1985 and made it impossible for many to access the knowledge they could use to thrive in their careers. In order to fight this phenomenon, she joined forces with Tom Friedman, an American journalist, and together they formed Coursera, a free online education platform, whose goal is to take the best courses from the best instructors at the best universities and provide it to everyone. She also mentions the amazing difference that the platform has already made, not only in the lives of individuals but also in entire communities worldwide.
Salman Khan – Let’s use video to reinvent education
In this talk, Salman Khan discusses his free online education platform, the Khan Academy, and its effects on learners, effects that he’s been observing before he started this project. He first started to notice the difference that online education can make when he was remotely tutoring his cousins living in New Orleans using YouTube videos. Khan’s experience illustrates how removing the one-size-fits-all lecture from the classroom and letting students have a self-paced lecture at home can bring joy back to learning. | philosophy |
http://prodemportishead.co.uk/core-values-and-ways-of-working/ | 2018-09-25T11:28:07 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-39/segments/1537267161501.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20180925103454-20180925123854-00168.warc.gz | 0.925711 | 299 | CC-MAIN-2018-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-39__0__138347085 | en | Core Values and ways of working
Supporters, candidates and independent councillors supported by ProDem share five core values that underpin a commitment to a particular way of working:
- Independence: We will each make up our own mind about every decision without reference to a shared dogma or ideology
- Integrity: Decisions will be made in an open and understandable manner. Information will be made available even when we make mistakes and everyone will have the opportunity to influence decisions.
- Positivity: We will look for solutions, involving others in the discussions, not just describe problems.
- Creativity: Use new, or borrowed, ideas from within the group and the wider community to refresh what we do and how we do it.
- Respect: Understand that everyone has an equal voice and is worth listening to. Accept that you win sometimes, you lose sometimes, it’s usually nothing personal and there really is no point in taking defeats to heart
These are our Ways of Working
Listen attentively – one person speaking at any time
Be open minded and prepared to change your mind
Question evidence, information, assumptions
Be honest and transparent – give reasons for decisions
Be inclusive and respectful of differences – avoid being personal
Be constructive, solution focussed and forward thinking
Be creative and use others’ skills/ideas to do stuff differently and better
Develop an ethos of our “Council acting as a facilitator for the community” as per the Frome model | philosophy |
https://www.wendig.at/en/ | 2020-10-26T04:16:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107890273.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20201026031408-20201026061408-00543.warc.gz | 0.975276 | 280 | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-45__0__37025091 | en | I am happy to share my experience of attending two free schools in Austria. I have visited several schools in Austria and Latvia, both public and private, including Montessori and Waldorf education. I am also familiar with home schooling.
I have been learning about:
- learning through teaching,
- design of learning processes,
- and a little about flipped teaching
- game based learning,
- service learning and
- entrepreneurship in education.
My biography of learning includes:
- learning through teaching
- democratic education
- learning by doing and by playing
- social-emotional learning and
- mindfulness and compassion in education
I am a trainee teacher (subjects: mathematics, geography economics) and my home university is located in Vienna, last year I have been an exchange student in Riga, Latvia. I travelled to Northern Europe to extend and deepen my present knowledge of effective didactic strategies and teaching methods for successful and sustainable learning.
I want to experience many different forms of teaching for best understanding.
My guiding question is how to combine democratic schooling with public education. Or how children can learn what they are interested in and at the same time learn, what they might need in future times. Moreover, to take into account their previous knowledge and – what they have never heard about and what we as a society believe or agree they ought to learn. | philosophy |
https://edgewoodhsmusic.blogspot.com/ | 2021-02-25T02:43:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178350706.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20210225012257-20210225042257-00106.warc.gz | 0.961887 | 202 | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-10__0__97188203 | en | The Music Department of Edgewood High School exists to prepare students in a meaningful way to understand, value, and enjoy music throughout their lives. The department is committed to nurturing the development of independent music-makers who can express themselves in multiple ways. Interaction with composers, professional musicians, and multiple guest conductors is a focus of the department.
The National Standards for Arts Education in 2015 stated “…the arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey; indeed we depend on the arts to carry us toward the fullness of our humanity. We value them for themselves, and because we do, we believe knowing and practicing them is fundamental to the healthy development of our children’s minds and spirits. That is why, in any civilization - ours included - the arts are inseparable from the very meaning of the term ‘education.’ We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts.” | philosophy |
http://littlefingersandfrosting.blogspot.com/2008/12/favorite-quotes.html | 2018-07-19T21:01:07 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676591296.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20180719203515-20180719223515-00594.warc.gz | 0.99159 | 123 | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-30__0__13574221 | en | I have so many favorite quotes that I just think sum up how I feel about life. I thought that I would share a few with you........
"If you propose to speak, always ask yourself- is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?"
"When we forgive someone, the knots are untied and the past is released."
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are endless." (Mother Teresa, see photo)
"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming." | philosophy |
http://whatsleftypsi.com/2019/in-memory-of-ditch-witch/ | 2019-10-15T02:53:39 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986655735.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20191015005905-20191015033405-00068.warc.gz | 0.979308 | 728 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__160007652 | en | In Memory of Ditch Witch
Rest in Power to our friend Lisa Leggio, AKA Brooklyn, AKA Ditch Witch, who passed away last month. She was an important activist for environmental justice in Michigan, and she will be dearly missed. As those of us who had the privilege of fighting and resisting the forces of capitalism and climate change alongside her would attest.
Talented and passionate on many fronts, Brooklyn was a poet, a songwriter, a witch, a comedian, an artist, a parent, and a regular frontliner. She was truly hardcore. Facing off with the most daunting and destructive systems of power, she devoted her life to protecting the well-being of people, animals, and the earth. Always considering the safety and concerns of those around her, she approached her activism with future generations in mind. She genuinely lived by the value of mutual aid.
Although I only met her in person a few times, Brooklyn has been an important role model for me. She was there at the first direct action I ever participated in, and what stuck out to me in particular was the way she balanced rage, playfulness, mayheim, and wisdom. Her way of being and the way she interacted with me made me feel a part of something meaningful and powerful. Though I was overwhelmed and frightened, she was welcoming and caring. Her kindness to me during that action was part of what inspired me to continue showing up at actions.
“Solidarity is a fucking verb.”
— Lisa Leggio, AKA Brooklyn, AKA Ditch Witch
Brooklyn was recently quoted in the latest EF! Mag saying, “solidarity is a fucking verb.” It’s a striking claim, and, I believe it resonates with how she navigated the world. In fact, it was a quote so uniquely characteristic of Brooklyn that I could see her saying it, hear her yelling it from across the peninsula.
Since Brooklyn’s death I have been pondering the phrase and how to enact and embody it in the face of grief. Radical communities talk a lot about solidarity, and I think that mostly what we mean by this is showing up for each other on the frontlines together to dismantle systems of oppression and injustice. I think solidarity also means that we need to work collectively to heal in the wake of violence and devastation.
Brooklyn acted in solidarity with the oppressed, disadvantaged, and devastated peoples and places of the world. She did amazing work with Food Not Bombs, MICATS, Camp Promise in Flint, Leau Est La Vie, Up Hells Creek, and many other groups. She provided relief work to the victims of Hurricane Harvey, locked down to Line 3, fought Embridge and ICE. Brooklyn was always on the frontlines defending the water, the people, and the Earth.
This last week as we have been mourning her death, she continues to reveal the profound impression and guidance she has offered us. Many communities across Michigan and beyond have organized vigils to commemorate Brooklyn’s life. These vigils were not the traditional soft and somber vigils like the ones I have previously attended. Instead, they were thunderous, mischievous and booming noise demos outside of numerous prisons across the state. I think Brooklyn would have wanted a vigil like this. As we stood yelling and drumming in front of the prison, it was easy to imagine Brooklyn dancing and shouting with us. There is no better way to celebrate a fighter than to fight, and no better way to mourn a comrade than to show solidarity. | philosophy |
https://mnvalleyuu.org/volunteers/ | 2020-11-29T17:06:27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141201836.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20201129153900-20201129183900-00173.warc.gz | 0.92353 | 197 | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-50__0__29189692 | en | We nurture each other. We strive to be courageous in living and sharing our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. Spiritual and intellectual growth, justice and joy are cornerstones of this community. (March 2018)
Mission Statement –
Adopted March 2018
We are an inclusive community seeking the light of truth and carrying the fire of commitment to build a better world through love and service.
As a congregation of the Minnesota Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, we affirm these values as the core ideals guiding our interactions with each other and the larger community of which we are a part. We commit ourselves to:
- Learning throughout our lifetimes, seeking knowledge and understanding through inquiry, reason and open-mindedness while affirming the importance of intellectual freedom for all people.
- Strengthening our social consciences, as individuals and as a congregation, through thoughtful study, dialogue and reflection, and by acting upon our convictions in all we do as members of social communities. | philosophy |
https://www.lebenimdialog.at/2020/06/06/sensing-the-dialogic-field/ | 2024-04-23T08:23:11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296818468.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20240423064231-20240423094231-00368.warc.gz | 0.964003 | 1,644 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__78257886 | en | by Eelco de Geus
Not knowing is nearest…
Dialogue means to me, to be in relationship and finding new meaning through it. Be it in relationship with ourselves, our inner parts, in relationship to other people, or in relationship to our environment.
When we open up, listen to what is being spoken, and authentically bring in our own voice, we enter a field of resonance. It is a field, that is not you, it is not me. It is not me or that… it is a field, that holds and includes us both, arises in the space between you and me and between us and our environment. We are both part of this field, you, me and the environment. Something arises between us, that is unique and new, and when we open up and allow ourselves to be touched by this ‘in between’, it affects us. As soon as we enter this dialogic field, we are changed by it, and it moves us, like a wave of the sea moves us when we surrender to it. Or like a piece of music that moves our heart. And in the same way this dialogic field is changed by us. The voice we bring in, the song we sing, with our whole being, shapes the dialogic field and changes all the parts in it. As Eugene Gendlin (Focusing) expresses so beautifully:
„How you are when you affect me is already affected by me.
And not by me as I usually am, but by me as I occur with you”
We access this field of resonance, in which new meaning can occur, through dialogue: when we slow down, when we listen carefully, when we are being heard, when we can speak from our hearts. We open the space between us, when we suspend our judgements and respect and hold the different positions in the field. Holding that space together, that dialogical field, with all its diversity, creates a field of resonance, that affects and moves us together.
When we engage into dialogue, we cannot know in advance how this field will feel or look like. It differs from moment to moment, from person to person, from group to group. It depends on the place where we are, the themes we are addressing and what we want to get done together. It depends on the timeframe we have, the pressure we might be under, on how we can count on our relationships or how fragile they are. It depends on the way our personal intention merge into a common intention and to which extend we are able to get that intention clear. It depends on how free we feel to express ourselves, how alive we can be. But when we get together, there is always a potential for that specific field, to move in a certain direction; something that wants to happen, that wants to evolve or wants to become clear. From that perspective a field is always ‘pregnant’, waiting for something to be born, to become possible. It is a moving field, and when we keep it open, the movement, the next step will surface, sooner or later.
When we are sensing the field, we consciously open up for this implicit potential of this field; What wants to happen here? What is implicitly wanting to become possible here?
Sensing the field
Of course, we are always part of many fields and sensing into them automatically, because we are an undivided part of it. We cannot do something else, for we are relational beings, not only outward, but also inward; our own body is a field of elements interacting with each other, and how we feel is a direct expression of that. So, sensing the fields, inward and outward, is an ongoing, mostly unconscious process. If we want to move freely in relational fields, it helps to raise our awareness about it. And if we want to facilitate and lead groups it helps when we find words for it, name it, so that we can share our experience and help group process get more aware about itself. Then the implicit potential, that what wants to happen in this field, can show itself, become explicit and carry the dialogue forward.
Using your body as an instrument
Although we perceive our body’s more less as being separated from its environment, we are all part of it all the
time. We sense the field through our body, because our body ís the field.
Eugene Gendlin formulates this beautifully in his ‘process model’:
The body IS an interaction process with the environment and therefore the body IS its situations. The body isn’t just a sealed thing here, with an external situation over there, which it merely interprets. Rather, even before we think and speak, the living body is already one interaction process with its situation. The situation is not out there, nor inside. The external ‘things’ and the subjective ‘entities’ are derived from one single life-interaction process.
With our eyes and ears, we notice and register what is happening concretely in the field: We notice ourselves and others, the environment, things, colours, the themes we talk about, the words that are being spoken. We see how the dialogue is being facilitated, the characteristics of the people, the history of the group, the rules we are following, the steps that are taken, etcetera. We see the different positions and perspectives in the group. We can also see why we are together, what the intention for our gathering is. It is an important information-gathering aspect of our sensing into the field process.
Especially with our body, we feel the atmosphere in the group, we may have personal feelings, are touched by some words more than other. We feel into how other people might feel, what we avoid talking about, what is being expressed and being withhold. We sense emotions, whishes, needs, that are part of this group and part of this field. And though they might be our very personal feelings and emotions too, we can also trust, that most of the time they reflect also something important within the group. It can be something that wants to be seen, something that cannot be integrated or respected, or it can also be something that wants to be recognized, like a hope, a vision or a certain power to move.
Let the universe move you
It is my experience, that most of the time, after consciously seeing and sensing, it is not so, that we have immediately a sense of what is needed or what is wanting to happen here. I am often not clear about myself, or about the group process and what might be a helpful intervention or step in the group process. Generally, I enter some space that Eugene Gendlin would call ‘a murky edge’; a space in between what is and what wants to become. It can be a place that is unclear, sometimes inconvenient, it can be a place of silence, where are no names yet, cannot be defined in anyway. Dwelling in this liminal space is an opportunity for something new and creative to surface. We enter this liminal space by dropping what we have seen, and we have felt, and let go of it. We just move our experience in a dreamier state, loosen and soften our focus, move out of it, go out in nature, meditate, or just do something completely different. Sleeping things over is a wonderful way to dwell fully in liminal spaces, and to surrender to what wants to become clear, what wants to happen. Sooner or later a next step, an idea, a possibility, will come forth out of it, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.
The liminal space is the space
that lies between the known and the unknown
It is a transitional space of heightened intensity
that we experience when we traverse
the threshold of the creative unknown
Eelco de Geus, June 2020 | philosophy |
https://www.thebusyreader.com/single-post/children-of-time | 2023-09-25T13:39:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233508977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20230925115505-20230925145505-00317.warc.gz | 0.935167 | 1,105 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__96395005 | en | Children of Time
Video Length 1:18
Who Should Read It
All fans of science fiction and action/adventure
Why Should We Read It
This novel has a unique plot in which remnants of humanity must confront an ascendant and intelligent spider society for control of a planet.
What Will We Learn
Who is superior, humans or spiders?? Also a dabbling of multiple philosophical conundrums to ponder.
"Nowadays, science fiction stories set in space tend to fall into two different categories."
Nowadays, science fiction stories set in space tend to fall into two different categories. The first type of story imagines a universe in which interplanetary travel is mundanely common, and interspecies relations among humans and alien(s) are a matter of personality fit within the confines of each species' biology. Star Wars, Star Trek, and Guardians of the Galaxy are prime examples. The other type of story involves two alien civilizations at the height of their power who have initiated first contact and are heading toward inevitable conflict. In these stories, the species with the best blend of technology, military tactics, and psychobiology will emerge victorious. Ender's Game, StarCraft, and Starship Troopers come to mind here. Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time defies clean categorization into either of these two themes. In this novel, the human race became so self-destructive that its interstellar population is reduced to a single ark ship blindly wandering space for a new home. Humanity's only hope is an exoplanet terraformed into Earth's image by their ancestors with technology long-since lost. The only problem- that planet has evolved intelligent spiders who know they are coming.
"Both spider and human are "Children of Time", but for uniquely different reasons."
Mr. Tchaikovsky takes great care in Children of Time to develop the adventures of the remnant human survivors and the histories of the burgeoning spiders prior to the inevitable first contact. The contrast could not be more starkly different. The spiders steadily rose from simple invertebrate hunters to self-aware sentient beings who mastered and molded their expansive world to their whim. The humans, on the other hand, were confined to a single spaceship and struggling to prevent ambition and tribalism from plunging their species into further ignorance; extinction is only a single pressed button away if no one can remember how to run and maintain a spaceship. The book literally spans tens of thousands of years, and yet the reader only needs to remember a handful of names: Portia, Bianca, Fabian for the spiders; Holstein, Guyen, Lain, Karst, Kern for the humans. It is a tribute to Mr. Tchaikovsky's imagination and literary prowess that a ten thousand-year story of two different species, already a masterful feat on its own, can be compellingly told using only a handful of character names. Both spider and human are "Children of Time", but for uniquely different reasons.
"The novel mercifully never tangentially indulges in philosophical pontification, and remains firmly grounded and focused on the plot implications of the beliefs of the competing sects."
Embedded in the meticulous world-building in Children of Time are multiple transcendent philosophical struggles that each generation of humans and spiders must confront, address, and resolve. In order to advance their society, the spiders needed to come to terms with their own gender bias, a refreshing exploration in no small part because male spiders are considered the weaker sex. The humans had to learn, as we always do, to beware the corrupting influence of absolute power in our struggle to balance the desires of our selfish selves with the demands of the greater good [Also refreshing is the lack of a Luke/Han/Leia love triangle]. Interestingly, both species had to contend in their own way the dueling roles of religion and science, faith and logic. In both worlds, a singular figure emerged who assumed near god-like status, forever altering the course of each respective history. The novel mercifully never tangentially indulges in philosophical pontification, and remains firmly grounded and focused on the plot implications of the beliefs of the competing sects. Nonetheless, these larger overarching themes are poignantly relevant questions to ponder for our own real-life 21st century world.
"Children of Time is not your average science fiction novel."
Children of Time is not your average science fiction novel. It definitely has no shortage of action and adventure to satisfy the casual sci-fi fan girl/boy. But in imagining the human race as a pathetic former shell of itself on the cusp of extinction through its very own hand, we are also given opportunity to reflect on our inherent fragility, the universe’s harsh indifference to our existence, and the hubris of our own supposed superiority. The spiders themselves are neither perfect nor pacifist. To their core, they are predators who are prone to kill first and ask questions later. And yet somehow, their march to modernization exudes a nobility and respectability that our own real-life human history lacks. Very rarely do I ever come across a book in which I wish to keep an actual copy at home after finishing. Children of Time is one of those exceptions. A humble word of advice: whatever you do, do NOT read the end of the novel first. Read it from start to finish without knowing what happens at the end. You will not regret it. | philosophy |
https://gilest.org/opinionhavers.html | 2023-12-09T18:41:53 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100942.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20231209170619-20231209200619-00075.warc.gz | 0.965308 | 519 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__301298200 | en | (28 February 2023)
Prompted by a question from Hinrich von Haaren on LinkedIn, I’ve been thinking of “stakeholders” as “opinionhavers”; people who have an opinion about the work being discussed.
How you deal with them depends on why they have an opinion in the first place.
The word “stakeholder” tends to suggest a person whose success depends on your work. If they have a stake in it, presumably they’ve invested time or money or effort or something into ensuring its success.
I prefer “opinionhaver” because I’ve noticed that some have opinions because they have a stake in the work. But many others have opinions just because they want to be involved, or feel like they ought to be consulted. It’s not quite the same thing.
So, I think a large chunk of what we usually call “stakeholder management” is actually “opinionhaver insight”. It’s the job of understanding the minds of all the opinionhavers - not just what their opinions are, but why they hold them. It includes finding out:
Opinions come in many shapes and sizes. There are opinions that really matter to everyone, and some that only matter to the opinionhaver concerned.
There are opinions that are shared widely, and opinions that people hoard and keep to themselves. Opinions you really should pay attention to, and opinions you can probably leave to one side.
Everyone’s got an opinion. Right?
In my opinion (lol), working in the open helps you understand the minds of your opinionhavers by bringing them closer to the truth. They get to see, more closely and more frequently and more easily, what the current status is.
In that respect, working in the open is an exercise in proactive reassurance. Openness means honesty means truth. As I say all the time in my training workshops, truth takes courage. But truth also influences opinions - for the better, I’d say.
The more you work in the open, the better your opinionhavers understand you; because they know more clearly where you’re at. And the better they understand you, the more clearly they can adjust their opinions as the work goes along, and provide helpful guidance. Opinions, yes; but perhaps slightly more useful ones.
giles (at) gilest.org | philosophy |
https://goodoneinspired.wordpress.com/character-strengths/ | 2018-10-24T00:14:26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583517628.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20181024001232-20181024022732-00223.warc.gz | 0.958114 | 222 | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-43__0__199300252 | en | You know that feeling that you get when you smile at someone walking down the street – and they smile back? Or how it feels when someone says, “Thank you,” after you went out of your way to open the door for them? Or even when you share an emotion or concern with someone else, and by talking with that person you feel a weight lifted off of your shoulders?
The more that we can elevate ourselves by having these happy moments, the more we can elevate others and make a difference in the world.
Research shows that by becoming more mindful and working on strengthening positive character traits, we have better mental health and well-being. In other words, the more positive traits that we strengthen in ourselves and share with the world, the better we feel about ourselves.
This list defines the character strengths that GoodOne seeks to cultivate in us all in order to promote a revolution of letting our “GoodOne’s” shine.
Let’s get out there and use our strengths to feel good about ourselves and to make a difference in the world! | philosophy |
http://donaldjenkins.com/2009/03/why-does-literature-seek-to-give-meaning-to-the-yearning-for-death/ | 2018-10-19T18:12:14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583512421.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20181019170918-20181019192418-00350.warc.gz | 0.860882 | 1,748 | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-43__0__80075577 | en | Je ne vous ai pas rendu heureux, et je vous laisse malheureux, et moi je meurs; cependant je ne puis me résoudre à souhaiter de ne vous avoir pas connu. [i]
(Isabelle de Charrière, Caliste ou suite des lettres écrites de Lausanne, 1786)
From Rousseau's Nouvelle Héloïse to Malraux's Conquérants, French letters since the eighteenth century are strongly coloured by death and, more particularly, by death wishes. In the last couple of weeks, I have been looking with considerable interest at this subject that most will regard as unnecessarily stern in an age where happiness has been erected into a moral imperative.
What such people overlook, of course, is that happiness is sometimes impossible to achieve. Finding morally satisfactory alternatives to a utopian happiness is one of the modern world's most thankless tasks, and only by reading authors from a less demanding period can one hope to find a realistic alternative moral framework to these unrealistic dictates. Yet no author really tackles the subject in a way with which I can identify.
Rousseau's sentimentalism, by its excessive emphasis on nature, I have always found unrealistic and hypocritical; ultimately, the very emphasis on sincerity backfires. There is no such thing as a natural, spontaneous state of happiness. Does this mean, then, that a quest for a sincere framework for a death wish is impossible? Not necessarily, and we hardly have to look far to see why. Werther, undoubtedly European literature's most famous example of a death wish model, dies in an authentically untheatrical way. Yet, as Goethe himself points out to his secretary in 1821:
Es müsste schlimm sein, wenn nicht jeder einmal in seinem Leben eine Epoche haben sollte, wo ihm der Werther käme, als wäre er bloß für ihn geschrieben [ii].
The very simplicity of the plot in Die Leiden des jungen Werther makes Werther a perfect role model. It explains both the novel's success and, I suspect, Goethe's subsequent dislike of a book he wrote at the age of twenty-four. Ultimately, there is something distasteful about role-models of any kind when this subject is treated: Werther, therefore, is emphatically not for me.
From this perspective, a more promising framework might have been provided by Balzac, whose boundless capacity for cynicism and pessimism provides the ideal state of mind for the unpretentious, undemanding treatment of the subject that I was seeking. Raphaël de Valentin, killed by an excess of love, is after all believed to have been a role model for Freud [iii]. Yet in La Peau de chagrin, as in The Picture of Dorian Gray where the subject is treated from exactly the same standpoint, there is, again, a determination to plaster some sort of significance—in this instance, the danger of putting too much trust in power and knowledge. Ultimately, superficially unconventional deaths such as Raphaël's or Dorian's are depicted in a judgmental manner that puts them in the same category as the more conventional and, of course, equally Balzacian death-bed scene attended by a doctor who, when the time comes, gives way to the confessor. Appropriate in some contexts, and certainly not a setting I would condemn out of hand. Yet despite the apparent diversity, I could not find a single author who treated the subject with the candour and simplicity that I felt it deserved.
It was by reading the excellent introduction to the Classiques de poche edition of my favourite book, Benjamin Constant's Adolphe, that I came across a mention of Mme de Charrière [iv], of whom I had previously never heard: to the extent that she is still known at all, she is so mostly as an early advocate of gender equality and, of course, she is also famous for having had a liaison with the youthful Constant in around 1786. I was not expecting to find anything useful in Constant's Adolphe because, despite the purity of style which I hold to be the summit of French literature, I have never been able to identify at all, either with the inconsequential Adolphe, or with the passion-devoured Ellénore. Yet in Isabelle de Charrière's Caliste, the author's resolutely modern approach to morals is applied also to the heroine's death wish, in a manner that Sainte-Beuve had already found convincing:
Les lettres de Madame de Charrière sont tout simplement une petite perle. Elle avait peu compté sur l’amour, elle n’avait pas désiré la gloire; mais, lors même que la raison fait bon marché des chimères, la sensibilité sevrée se retrouve là-dessous et n’y perd rien.
À défaut de passion proprement dite, un pathétique discret et doucement profond s’y mêle à la vérité railleuse, au ton naïf des personnages, à la vie familière et de petite ville, prise sur le fait. Quelque chose du détail hollandais, mais sans l’application ni la minutie, et avec une rapidité bien française [v]
(Sainte-Beuve, Portraits de Femmes, Paris, 1869)
This sensibilité sevrée, to me, when applied by Isabelle de Charrière to her heroine's death wish, provides a more honest, more modest yet ultimately more modern approach than that of her more famous disciple. She cuts out the pathos and does not pretend to drape an artificial meaning over a gesture dictated by nothing more than reality.
And in doing so, she provides me with what I had been looking for._______________
- I have given you no happiness, indeed I am leaving you unhappy, and am myself about to die; yet I cannot bring myself to wish we had never met.
- It must be bad, if not everybody was to have a time in his life, when he felt as though Werther had been written exclusively for him.
- Diagnosed with a fatal tumor, Freud resolved to commit suicide. After re-reading La Peau de chagrin, he said to his doctor: "This was the proper book for me to read; it deals with shrinking and starvation." The next day, his doctor administered a lethal dose of morphine, and Freud died (von Unwerth, Matthew. Freud's Requiem: Mourning, Memory, and the Invisible History of a Summer Walk. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 0-8264-8032-2. pp. 187–189.
- Isabelle de Charrière 1740-1805 (Born Isabelle-Agnès-Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serookskerken van Zuylen) Dutch-born Swiss novelist, essayist, dramatist, short story writer, librettist, and poet. Her work was analysed and highly praised by Sainte-Beuve in his Portraits de femmes and in vol. iii of his Portraits litteraires. A select, but pretty rich bibliography of works by or about her can be found here.
- Mme de Charrière's letters are, simply put, a little pearl. She relied little on love, she did not year for glory; yet precisely because a sense of reason always predominates over vanity, a muted, yet distinct sensititivity persists and is shown to good advantage. In the absence of passion in the strict sense, a discreet and pleasantly profound pathos combines with a cruel sense of reality, the naive tone of the characters, their daily, small-town lives, taken as they are. A Dutch sense of detail, but not belaboured or overdetailed, and swift in the French manner. | philosophy |
http://emilybecher.blogspot.com/2008/11/place-without-trouble.html | 2018-05-27T17:36:12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794869732.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20180527170428-20180527190428-00111.warc.gz | 0.980625 | 542 | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-22__0__27387103 | en | Auntie Em: Find yourself a place where there isn't any trouble!Dorothy: Some place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto?
When I was a little girl, The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie (along with The Sound of Music). In my earliest TV memory, I was in front of our old turn-dial set, with a plate of pizza (a huge treat) watching the Wicked Witch of the West flying around her castle. To this day, that remains one of my most vivid memories. Dorothy's journey, from her home to the land of her dreams and back again, where she finds she really wants to be, is familiar theme in books and movies. The epic journey - the quest to find your heart - to find fulfilment, contentment, love - is in every story, whether it takes center stage or not. But what always got me was that one line:
Some place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto?
I wonder, is there a place? It's hard to believe so. Every day some new trouble seems to pop up - the pesky mortgage payment, an unexpected death, a hateful co-worker, losing a friend to a misunderstanding - all these things and more are represented by The Wicked Witch of the West.
Is Dorothy's quest in vain? Perhaps. But she went forward, she walked down that yellow path because she had no choice but to move onward. Just like all of us, we have no alternative but to set our feet forward, dodge that evil witch and gather good friends and good lessons along the way. And sure, at some point (probably more than once) we'll end up facing the witch in her castle with only a bucket of water for defense, but just like Dorothy, we are always provided with the tools we need to beat down that obstacle. All you have to do is look around and trust yourself.
At times, like the Scarecrow says:
Of course I don't know but I think it will get darker before it gets lighter.
Remember though, whether it's green or not, everyone has an Emerald City. You just have to find it. Trouble found Dorothy in the Emerald City, but she also found the very thing she was looking for there. She took the good with the bad and was a better person for it. She found her Happily Ever After.
On another note, every time I watch the movie, I always wish that somehow Dorothy would have taken the Red Brick Road ... what do you suppose was at the end of that one? | philosophy |
https://iaminvolved.wordpress.com/2018/02/24/leadership-what-does-it-mean-for-a-school-student/ | 2019-10-18T09:51:36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986679439.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20191018081630-20191018105130-00249.warc.gz | 0.986288 | 1,024 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__53048157 | en | “This is my number. Every morning I will send you a motivational message. You might not find it useful at the very moment but someday you will”.
When you hear such words coming from a person who has had the singular honor of working as a research associate of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, you smile and realize that you would want to learn from him. We felt the same and so did our students who had started teaching 50+ junior students of their own school under Involve’s Student Fellowship program. We had planned a leadership session for our little champs and we approach Vipin Kannan Sir, the professor from Anna University to facilitate the session.
When he gladly accepted our request we knew that we would make the day worth remembering for our students. On 2nd of February, 40+ students and our team along with Vipin sir got Involved again. Making the students understand what leadership is and the qualities of a good leader were no easy task.
The session started with a warm “Good Morning” where everyone was asked to rub their hands with a smile on their face, for nothing you wear is more important than your smile. They were asked to get up and say “GOOD MORNING with all their heart and the response was so loud, It made the start seem more energetic.
The educators started looking all the more interested towards what was going to come ahead. They were then given Chocolates and asked to eat without bending their elbows. After a few unsuccessful trials, they asked their nearby students for help and offered the chocolates to each other.
Vipin sir added that as we grow up we always think about taking something instead of giving first. There are many people who don’t give their chocolates to anyone else, and that is why they are not able to get it back. Both giving and taking should be a part of life.
“Giving what you have, and giving without expectations” is something which a leader should always have.”
The educators were also asked to draw the palm of their hands in 10 seconds. When Vipin Sir asked them how many had actually put their own palm on the paper and draw it, there was no reply. They were made to understand the dangers of assumptions and why a leader never counts on assumption. He explained that we actually assumed the shape of the palm as we see a palm almost every day, but leaders don’t do this.
Leaders don’t count on assumption. They have to be sure that what they are doing is right so that there may not be any problem in the future.
The students also made goals for themselves and promised that they would let go of things which stop them from attaining them.
In the 2nd part of the workshop, the student educators were about to surprised us more with their creativity and intellect. The excitement and involvement they depicted in carrying out the activities which are assigned to them were commendable.
They made costumes out of newspapers dressing as aliens and used straws and vibrant face paints giving us a glimpse of how boundless their power of imagination was. They were grouped into teams and every team came up with ideas like Google translate to understand what the “aliens” are trying to convey and touched upon sensitive issues like the obliviousness of people who are too busy to help others in times of need ( say, an accident) but always have time for texting and selfies.
The best part of the play was the spontaneity and fluency they depict in delivering dialogues. One would have a hard time believing that the plays weren’t staged and rehearsed.
Watching them perform, we realized how motivated they were towards achieving a common goal. Their sense of commitment towards every task given to them was truly remarkable. They appreciate each other and showcased a healthy competition.
The learning experience that came out of this group activity:
– How to coordinate with members of the team
– Inviting ideas from everyone as a leader
– Everyone’s ideas would be different, and we must learn to listen to it.
After every single activity, the sound of applause and cheering filled the room with enthusiasm.
They learned how to work with courage and have an internal locus of control. The activities also helped them understand more of the emotional and Core self-evaluations principles which a leader should have. Through awareness of what it takes to be a leader, we hope they begin building habits that lead to increased effectiveness. And when Vipin sir mentioned a bit about how our brain works, one of the very interesting points came up. It was,
Brains that fire together, wire together
Our aim was to give them the best possible experience and we are very thankful to Vipin Sir for helping us achieve that. We hope that experiences like this, coupled with the implementation through our PEER Teaching process develops our educators into leaders of tomorrow! 🙂 | philosophy |
http://www.robertboston.com/about.html | 2022-12-03T03:31:14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446710918.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20221203011523-20221203041523-00209.warc.gz | 0.924225 | 248 | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-49__0__24911328 | en | Rob is launching his fourth book, "Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn't Give You The Right To Tell Other People What To Do" (Prometheus Books, 2014) on March 4, 2014. This book is a forcefully argued defense of the separation of church and state. Rob illustrates how the religious freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment is an individual right, rather than a license allowing organizations and businesses to discriminate against and control others.
Rob is the author of three additional books: "Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics" (Prometheus Books, 2000); "The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition" (Prometheus Books, 1996) and "Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State" (Prometheus Books, 1993; second edition, 2003).
Thank you for contacting me! Please note that while I greatly appreciate your feedback my books and/or website, I may not be able to answer all of the messages I receive directly. I hope you enjoy reading my latest book, Taking Liberties.
Americans United For Separation of Church and State | philosophy |
http://notes.byed.it/machines-that-think-think-like-machines | 2023-11-30T02:14:03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100164.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20231130000127-20231130030127-00397.warc.gz | 0.930228 | 174 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__309822598 | en | Machines That Think Think Like Machines
“Machines that think think like machines. That fact may disappoint those who look forward, with dread or longing, to a robot uprising. For most of us, it’s reassuring. Our thinking machines aren’t about to leap beyond us intellectually, much less turn us into their servants or pets. They’re going to continue to do the bidding of their human programmers.
Much of the power of artificial intelligence stems from its very mindlessness. Immune to the vagaries and biases that attend conscious thought, computers can perform their lightning-quick calculations without distraction or fatigue, doubt or emotion. The coldness of their thinking complements the heat of our own.”
Nicholas G. Carr, from “What To Think About Machines that Think”, edited by John Brockman | philosophy |
https://anglican-church-hamburg.de/looking-for-god/science-vs-faith/ | 2023-12-11T21:49:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679518883.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20231211210408-20231212000408-00613.warc.gz | 0.95474 | 495 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__269184511 | en | In centuries gone by, the driving force for many scientists to explore and understand the universe came from a belief in God and that a God-created universe has order and structure which can be studied and understood, at least in part. In our own time there seems to be a popular view that somehow science and religion are irreconcilable, that scientists “don’t do God”, or at least that is the impression given by a certain former Oxford Professor for Public Understanding of Science. Ironically the very book written to convince intelligent people that God is simply an illusion, has spawned a wave of publications that show the intellectual argument against God is certainly not as self-evident as it might seem to some. An understanding of science does not equip us to explain meaning and purpose. In any case there is no scientific evidence that scientists as a community are any more agnostic or atheistic than society as a whole.
If you have been impressed by the “God Delusion”, or indeed, if you have not, you might like to read the somewhat shorter tomes from fellow Oxford academics:
- John Lennox, Reader in Mathematics at Oxford University offers a scientific challenge in “God’s Undertaker: Has Science
- Prof. Keith Ward’s “Why there Almost Certainly is a God” provides a philosophical challenge.
Rebuttals to God Delusion now abound, though some arguments against religious belief should not be dismissed. There is a lot of bad religion about, as there is also much pseudo-science. There is also more serious intellectual enquiry concerning the compatibility of science and faith.
The website of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion provides a wealth of
scholarship and comment on this topic for those seeking a rationalist approach.
The Robert Wright interviews with leading scientists and thinkers, some believers from different faith traditions, some atheists, should convince even the greatest sceptic that there is much to think about. Listen to the interview with Lorenzo Albacete, if you want a challenge your presumptions about the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church!
The bottom line is that whereas science can explain how, it cannot explain why. There are things beyond the grasp of scientific reasoning and verification (love between two people, for example) that require us to seek out truth in another way. This is then the starting point for a search for meaning beyond the realms of science. | philosophy |
https://harlequindiamond.wordpress.com/tag/gender-variance/ | 2018-11-16T04:16:52 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039742970.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20181116025123-20181116050233-00047.warc.gz | 0.981349 | 620 | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-47__0__204918460 | en | I was a pretty ordinary cis girl up until the age of about 14.
Lots of things changed around then. I hit puberty. I found metal. I stopped dressing the way my mother wanted me to and started wearing baggy skater jeans, chains and hooded tops. I wrote dreadful poetry. And I had this feeling – this creeping sensation, right at the back of my head – that I wasn’t sure the word “girl” applied to me.
At university, I started having words with myself. Most of those words were about my sexuality – at 19, I finally acknowledged that I was attracted to female-bodied people as well as male-bodied ones, and started to work towards being less scared of it – but there was an increasing awareness of something askew with my gender identity. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, aside from this nagging feeling. I don’t feel like a woman.
To an extent, it was what most people call tomboyishness. I hate wearing skirts. I tend to be blunt. I like contact sports. I swear a lot. I prefer action films to rom-coms and beer to cocktails. None of this would make me any less of a woman, of course. It’s just social convention that people with vaginas aren’t meant to like these things, when plenty of them actually do. More than that, there was this feeling that something fundamental about the way I function is Not Woman.
This all sounds incredibly nebulous. My gender identity is nebulous. Asking someone what being genderqueer means is kind of like asking what it feels like to be in love: no two people will give you the same answer, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to explain to someone who’s never felt it themselves.
At 22, I was first introduced to the concept of gender variance. Even then, I couldn’t have explained to you what precisely it was that made me feel like I was gender variant. I still can’t. I can’t give any response that’s more specific than “I just am”. I came out to my boyfriend of the time, who told me I couldn’t be genderqueer because I was clearly female
To other people, I guess I am clearly female. I have well-defined breasts and hips, long hair, a feminine face, a high voice. And those who get to that stage of intimacy will hardly fail to notice that I have a vagina. I’m not planning to have surgery. Even if I identified as a trans man (which is up for debate), I couldn’t transition if I wanted to carry on singing. I like my hair the way it is. I quite like my breasts, some of the time. Mostly, I wish I could shed my gender periodically, the way snakes shed their skin, and grow a different one that suited me better for the season. | philosophy |
http://www.eileenflanagan.com/reviews/ | 2013-05-24T06:16:09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704234586/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113714-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.957707 | 1,717 | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2013-20__0__167076661 | en | Reviews of The Wisdom to Know the Difference
“The Wisdom to Know the Difference is about being able to change. We human beings are basically the same, wherever we come from, and despite the small physical differences in the shape of our noses, the colour of our hair and so on. We are the same because we all have the same potential to undergo both positive and negative experiences. What's more, we also have the same potential to transform ourselves and our attitudes. What is important is that we can make a change and transform ourselves into better, happier people.”
“We've all heard "grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the courage to change the things I can" but we rarely hear how to find the wisdom to know and act on the difference. Until now. This beautiful book weaves together fascinating stories and timeless wisdom from across spiritual traditions to create a practical map for all of us to navigate this very question.”
“In The Wisdom to Know the Difference Eileen Flanagan effortlessly weaves the wisdom of the ordinary people she has met on her path with the extraordinary wisdom of many spiritual teachers into a rich tapestry. A thoroughly good read from beginning to end, I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking spiritual wisdom.”
"Eileen Flanagan is a Quaker writer who you're going to hear a whole lot more about in coming years. She's just finding her voice nationally–and what a voice it is!"
—David Crumm, Read the Spirit
“Chocked full of Quaker wisdom and everyday stories that become parables in Flanagan's hands, this is one of those rare books that give us as readers permission to be–to fully and completely ‘be.’”
“Filled with warm stories of faith in action and practical tips for living the life you were created to live, Eileen Flanagan’s delightful book is a source of wisdom and encouragement to which you’ll return again and again. Blessing and inspiration await on every page.”
“Flanagan epitomizes the modern seeker of spiritual wisdom. In her quest, she does not limit herself to any one path; she goes far and wide to absorb and integrate teachings from many great traditions of the world. The result is a fusion that inspires and uplifts the reader.”
—Derek Lin, author of The Tao of Daily Life
“Down to earth with strong spiritual underpinnings. This book draws from actual situations of real-life people as they struggle to become their true selves.”
“The Wisdom to Know the Difference keeps the reader engaged with its illustrations of individuals who have tapped their inner wisdom and have gone on to lead transformed lives. We can all benefit from these universal tales, along with the spiritual practices Eileen Flanagan offers.”
—Joan Gattuso, author of A Course in Love
“Thoughtful and well-composed…By keeping her discussion linked securely to real narratives, Flanagan achieves in her discussion just the sort of balance the book itself promotes.”
—James W. Hood, Friends Journal
"Beautifully written and crafted: truly a literary masterwork in the self-improvement/spirituality genre."
“In this wonderful book, Eileen Flanagan has given us an inspiring and beautifully crafted diary of humanity…I highly recommend this inspiring book and suggest that we all keep it nearby whenever we need a push and reminder for how we can live more optimal lives for our own, and the greater good.”
—Tamar Chansky, Ph.D, author of Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking
"For those who have tried 12-step meetings and have difficulty with 'the God-thing,' Flanagan’s explorations of discernment and 'seeking divine guidance' are well worth a read."
"Eileen Flanagan is definitely on the right track, providing insight to life’s unexpected surprises and presenting useful tools to assist with better coping and guidance towards acceptance."
"Eileen Flanagan is, quite simply, a superb non-fiction writer."
—Rose Rosetree, Pathways Magazine
“It is a moving book with great insights about discernment and self-reflection. After all, how much of our time is spent worrying about that which we cannot change?... I highly recommend the book for its useful discourse about the choices we make and the challenges we seek. The wisdom in life is knowing the difference.”
—Christine Louise Hohlbaum, from The Power of Slow blog
"Flanagan’s writing is smooth and unobtrusive, peaceful and unencumbered. There is no flash evident, just thoughtful rumination, with an excellent command of the craft of writing. She weaves between and among stories effortlessly, creating a crescendo that culminates in a picture of the resiliency of the human spirit."
—Chris Kaiser, from the blog Without Wax
“The Wisdom to Know the Difference is a book to contemplate. Like the process of discernment, it is not neat and cookie-cutter predictable… It is a very wise book about hearing our own wisdom in a messy and frequently deafening world.”
"While not specifically about pain or medical illness, the book is helpful to think about where you are in your life and if that’s where you’re meant to be. It offers guidance to help get you on the track you’re called to follow."
"[Flanagan's] 'Queries' at the end of every chapter will help readers find wisdom for any given situation."
"Flanagan often addresses the issue of finding guidance with clarity and the kind of common sense even your grandmother would appreciate."
"This book so impacted me on a personal level, I had to take it in slowly, digest it, and incorporate it into my life."
Quotes from the TLC Book Tour
"I could go on and on about this book. It is well written, thoughtful, and thought provoking. I have book marks all over and go back and re-read passages. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are going through major changes in life. It's been a godsend!"
"The Wisdom to Know the Difference is truly a treasure trove of deep and transformative wisdom."
"I savored every single page of this book."
"From the first page I knew that I had in my hands one of those magic books that I will cherish, and savour for many years to come. It is a treasure chest that is too full to sort through only once."
"My program of recovery, my understanding of a power greater than myself, and my self esteem is better after reading this wonderful book. I can't wait to read it again, and it will hopefully continually be a resource of inspiration."
"This is a fantastic book for anyone who has ever been, or is currently facing a difficult decision or situation. It is also highly beneficial for those of us who simply want to make more sense out of why things happen as they do, and what we can do about them to make our lives happier and more peace-filled."
"I was a bit worried that this book would be too Christian or too preachy for my tastes, but that was far from the case. In fact, Flanagan demonstrates that the spiritual lessons in this book can be applied by anyone."
"I am thoroughly enjoying this book and highly recommend it."
"If guidance is needed for finding your way beyond challenging situations, this is the book to turn to."
"This book is a welcome companion to where I am on my journey."
"I found a lot of profound wisdom in this book. It is about our self-discovery and the choices that we have in life."
"This is a book that needs to be studied. It asks searching questions. It aims to help to you transform your life in important, long-lasting ways."
"you can see the quiet friendliness that we tend to associate with quakers all over the book. she does not wield the heavy stick that i often find in self help books; rather, she tells stories and gives gentle suggestions." | philosophy |
http://www.ivfamille.ca/core-values/ | 2021-07-24T14:39:00 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046150266.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20210724125655-20210724155655-00091.warc.gz | 0.9521 | 380 | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-31__0__113577553 | en | We at the Vanier Institute of the Family are committed to the core values of trust, dedication, integrity, empathy, and respect as we work toward the accomplishment of our mission and the achievement of our vision.
We practice our commitment to:
TRUST, in that we believe that each of us has our, and the Institute’s, best interests at heart; are confident in our abilities and actions;
DEDICATION, in that we strive for excellence in all we do; nurture partnerships and collaborations; work as a team;
INTEGRITY, in that we keep our promises and honour our commitments and are open and accountable for our actions;
EMPATHY, in that we care for one another; hear and honour others’ opinions and perspectives; are supportive of each other;
RESPECT, in that we treat others with dignity and compassion; are open and honest with ourselves and with others; value our strengths and honour our differences; encourage opportunity and personal growth.
We are furthermore guided by the principles of equity, flexibility and accountability. We treat each other with fairness (equity); we are responsive and open to adapting to changing circumstances and situations (flexibility); we are responsible for our projects and commitments and we promote responsibility through empowerment (accountability). As an organization pursuing its vision and mission, the Vanier Institute of the Family values:
FAMILIES as active agents of personal, social and cultural change;
LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE built on evidence and facts as the foundation of reflection and balanced perspective;
INDEPENDENCE to speak with and on behalf of Canadians as a non-partisan and non-aligned voice for the nation’s families; and, finally,
LOVE as the only genuine force that binds individuals together in pursuit of common purpose and meaningful lives lived with and for others. | philosophy |
http://volunteerglobal.com/blogs/brittany-edwardes/volunteerism-and-global-citizenship-behind-buzzword | 2017-03-29T15:00:47 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218190753.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212950-00102-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.968715 | 828 | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-13__0__288797380 | en | Volunteerism And Global Citizenship: Behind The BuzzwordJanuary 10, 2012
Update: Check out this awesome response article by ForWorld Thinking: Global Citizenship--Making Local Global!
A few weeks ago, my university debated on what its new tagline should be. As a larger, regional university, our slogans have usually related to how well you can fit in or else how our university will help you have a better, brighter future.
This time, however, a new element was added into the mix: the idea of global citizenship. Of course, it sounds nice enough, but what exactly does it mean to be a global citizen? Through our service, do volunteers act as global citizens, or could the ideals of global citizenship benefit our missions as volunteers?
About Global Citizenship
Although there is no single definition of global citizenship, there are many ideas commonly held on the issue. Generally, the tenets of global citizenship involve three major ideals:
- Understanding the value of local citizenship and community engagement,
- Understanding the ability of a person to be engaged with global issues, and finally,
- The human rights issues that unite these two areas.
Under the ideal of global citizenship, it is our duty not to just empathize with those across the globe who suffer, but also to recognize our role in the unfair system. In this view, the world is less of a conglomeration of many nations, and more a community in which each member has an equal part. Basically, global citizenship invokes the idea of an organization being willing to consider the local and global repercussions of their actions.
Volunteerism and its Role in Global Citizenship
I believe that volunteerism might be able to embody the values held in global citizenship, if done carefully. In the past few months, there has been a sizable attack on volunteerism in respects to class and the commercialization of need, and there are definite truths to these attacks. However, I think that volunteerism has a great opportunity to do good if done well. Volunteerism has the power to create relationships that governments cannot—to connect people on a personal, individual basis.
Organizations must see their role as linking people to help people rather than just pushing for a class of volunteers to help another class of locals.
Volunteerism has the unique ability to bring people together from around the globe to solve local problems. If volunteers are able to embody the ideals of global citizenship and realize that volunteering is about making the connections abroad and at home, the possibilities of volunteerism are endless. We must think, as we do our service, not as volunteers working for a cause, but as people working for people. As for the volunteerism industry, which has really been the cause of much criticism, I think that many of these issues can be solved by taking the ideals of global citizenship up another level—organizations must see their role as linking people to help people rather than just pushing for a class of volunteers to help another class of locals.
I believe that service can give citizens the ability to participate in and understand the world around us, and as long as volunteering is less about getting off the plane and taking pictures of orphans and more about trying to understand the systems that cause such need, the future is much brighter.
I once was told during disaster relief training that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem—and I think that this definitely holds true for volunteerism. Although I admit that the values of global citizenship are both vague and somewhat idealistic, there is much truth in the goals that global citizenship sets for us. I believe that there is a future for the ideal of people helping people; we must volunteer and serve responsibly. We must be global citizens.
Are you a budding travel writer, travel photographer, video documentary filmmaker or podcaster?
Check out Worldnomads.com Travel Scholarships and you could learn the tricks of the trade from a professional, have an amazing travel experience and get the opportunity to share your experiences with the world. Read about current World Nomads Scholarships for details. | philosophy |
http://kfsl.org/index.php?url=board/view&bid=media&curPage=5&curGroupPage=1&limit=15&no=195&start=60 | 2023-12-06T03:52:41 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100583.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20231206031946-20231206061946-00534.warc.gz | 0.941791 | 996 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__8144494 | en | Christ and the Tao
Christ and the Tao by Heup Young Kim, published by Christian Conference of Asia in Hong Kong, 2003, 186 pp.
Prof. Kim Heup Young's book is the fruit of a serious theological reflection in the intellectual context of East Asia where the Confucian and Taoist philosophical framework has been decisive in all aspects of the life of the peoples. This book is composed of six separate articles. Though they are written separately they form an organic whole and are interconnected.
In the first part of the book, the author engages in a Confucian-Christian dialogue, using two sets of thinkers. The first set is 'Wang Yang Ming and Karl Bath' and the second set is 'Yi Toe Gye [a great Confucuian scholar] and John Calvin'. Prof. Kim regards this engagement as a part of his theological enterprise. He discusses meetings of three sets of ideas between Confucian Ch'eng and Christian agape, between the Confucian Liang-chih (Inner Sage) and the Christian notion of the humanity of Christ, and between the Confucian T'ien-ming (heavenly mandate) and the Christian Imago Dei. In the second part of his book, Prof Kim develops a Christian theological link with the east Asian philosophical notion of Tao, leading to a Christological reflection, and makes an important Christological statement that 'Christ is Tao'.
Prof. Kim states his theological enterprise as follows: 'Asian theology as an integrated articulation of the Asian Christian community of faith about God, humanity and life in the world should not only be emancipatory, but also open-minded, ideological, ecological and inclusive. We should construct a new paradigm of Asian theology that can break down the vicious cycle of the socioeconomic injustice prevailing in Asia and at the same time that can own up to Asian religions and Asian religions and cultures as part of our identities.'
The three focuses in this statement are that Asian theology should be radically emancipatory and liberational in relation to socioeconomic and political justice, which are radically inclusive in relation to gender justice and radically integral and holistic in relation to the integrity of life. He says, 'Theotao as a tao of Asian people invite us to participate in the common quest for our true subjectivity, in solidarity with the exploited life including Minjung, women and polluted nature.'
In many of our Asian theological efforts, such as indigenisation, the liberation motive has been weak due to emphases on indigenous religions and cultures, which should be subjected to theological scrutiny in regard to issues of justice. Prof. Kim sends out his theological trajectory into an emancipatory orbit. This is a remarkable definition of the theological task. In taking Asian religions, philosophies and cultures as theological resources, Asian theology should be clear in the affirmation of a liberative and healing spirituality in religion, identity and creativity in culture, justice in socioeconomics, politics and geopolitics and integrity and wholeness in the cosmos of life. Prof. Kim is embarking in this direction in his construction of Asian theology.
I wish to point out three distinct contributions in Prof. Kim's theological construction. The first is taking Asian religious, philosophical and cultural foundations and ideas to tackle the historical issues of Asian people in a Christian perspective. The ideas of freedom, liberation and justice are thought to be of Western origin and, therefore, it is wrongly believed that the Western Christian theology contains those dynamics, and that Christianisation, Westernisation and modernisation are closely connected and liberational. Prof. Kim points a new direction in Asian theology.
Secondly, Prof. Kim takes an Asian cosmic religious and philosophical framework to tackle the issue of integrity of life in the cosmos. He realises that Western philosophy and modern science has fundamental flaw in dealing with this question. In his discussion of the Tao, this is clearly stated.
Thirdly, I believe that Prof Kim has taken a very important step to develop an Asian pneumatology in a Christian perspective.
Prof. Kim is quite a Christological thinker in all these developments. This is natural because Calvin and Barth are Christological and East Asian religions and philosophies invite Christological thinking, rather than abstract theological thinking. The cosmos and humanity are one in which God is present. This invites a Christological direction.
We are aware that many Asian theologians are engaged in creative theological engagement. We have this tradition in the past, and we are embarking on a new stage of Asian theological construction. This is taking place in China, represented by K.H. Ting, in India, represented by Dalit theology, and also in Asian feminist theology, represented by many Asian women theologians. I see in Kim's work this creative theological engagement.
by Kim Yong Bock
(Prof. Kim Yong Bock is Chancellor of the
Advanced Institute for the Study of Life, Korea.) | philosophy |
http://www.mindbodysoulconnection.net/ | 2015-07-06T22:07:14 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375098849.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031818-00049-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.984125 | 151 | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2015-27__0__140102785 | en | You will notice that this site is entitled Mind Body Soul. The key to note is there is no “and” between the words. This is deliberate as they are all connected. There is no separation between each of these parts of us. Each is separate, yes, and each is highly connected. The thought of having each in balance is not an idea that should scare or see far fetched. Each part, balanced creates a whole that is balanced, that is harmonious and works well. Simply put each part being healthy, leads to a healthy whole, a healthy you.
We aim to assist you in creating a balanced and healthy you so you can grow, live and sustain a relationship with all around you and most importantly with yourself. | philosophy |
https://www.grannykates.com/products/small-buddha-figure | 2023-10-03T14:31:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511106.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20231003124522-20231003154522-00334.warc.gz | 0.951593 | 153 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__175967193 | en | Small Buddha Figure
This miniature Lucky Buddha figurine. Called Budai in Chinese, Hotei in Japanese, this happy looking man is thought to have been an actual 10th century Zen Buddhist monk. He's believed to have been an unusual, unique Zen figure in that happiness, generosity, and good cheer were central to his teaching.
- Makes a wonderful gift for business associates, siblings, and parents
- Thought to bring good luck, happiness, cheer, and wealth
The Laughing Buddha is not worshiped. He is there only to help bring good energy, prosperity and luck into the home.
Hand poured and painted by Granny Kate. Made from resin.
Measures 1 3/4” tall
More options coming soon. | philosophy |
https://greenmindsonline.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/climate_communication_hospitality/ | 2019-01-22T17:18:48 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547583857993.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20190122161345-20190122183345-00379.warc.gz | 0.957513 | 729 | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-04__0__208732856 | en | Fred Clark’s Slacktivist is one of my favorite blogs. Fred is a liberal Baptist who writes brilliantly about ethics and religion. Also Buffy the Vampire Slayer, journalism, mobile home communities… and how those things relate to ethics and religion. One of his frequent topics is evangelism. He points out that evangelism means “hospitality,” but very few people treat it that way. He does, and his comments section is home to a thriving conversation among Jews, Atheists, Agnostics, Pagans, Christians of all sects, and probably people of several faiths I’ve missed.
I have rather more tolerance for conversion attempts than most people. If a Jehovah’s Witness comes to my door, I’m likely to invite them in, feed them pumpkin bread, and spend an enjoyable half hour arguing theology. But nothing, from the well-fed door-to-door debate service to the Chick Tracts that kids used to give out at Orleans Elementary, has ever caused me to question my Jewish faith. Fred, while he hasn’t caused me to question it either, but unlike the others has actually managed to share the appeal of the faith he’s talking about.
Is science communication hospitality, or is it a conversion attempt? We often treat it like the latter, and for good reason: whether people accept the existence of climate change, evolution, germs, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria affects the well-being of everyone on earth. But would we be more effective if we focused on hospitality?
I think the answer is actually a bit complicated. As Thomas Jefferson said, “If my neighbor believes in no gods, one god, or 20 gods, it neither breaks my arm, nor steals my purse.” If my neighbor believes that our town doesn’t need to adapt to a changing climate, it has the potential to do me a great deal of harm.
On the other hand, if I walk up to my neighbor with a pamphlet and a lecture, I’m not likely to get much of anywhere. I’m making the same mistake as someone who thinks, “Have you heard about Jesus Christ?” is an effective opener. (“No, man, I live under a rock.”) If I invite my neighbor over for pumpkin bread, and ask them what they really believe, and why they believe it—start a dialogue that assumes that they disagree for reasons other than stupidity or ignorance—I may get a lot further.
People disbelieve in, or avoid or ignore, climate change for a lot of reasons. These reasons are not unique to climate deniers—they are types of self-protection, biased information seeking, and need to fit in that most people are prone to one way or another. I’ll explore some of these reasons in future posts. For now, I’ll just say that climate communicators might be more effective if we understood our opponents more deeply. And that may take some hospitality.
Before anyone jumps on me, I’m not arguing here for false balance on talk shows and similar nonsense. There are a lot of professional deniers who don’t argue in good faith, and they are always going to try to derail the conversation. But there are even more people who hold legitimately acquired and often complicated opinions, and we need a real, working model of how they think. Treating them like fellow human beings, rather than assuming they’re stupid or ignorant, can go a long way. | philosophy |
https://belleviewptco.membershiptoolkit.com/calendar/event/10819917 | 2020-11-25T09:02:48 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141181482.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20201125071137-20201125101137-00441.warc.gz | 0.930608 | 148 | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-50__0__194974754 | en | VIRTUAL Parent Information Network (PIN) Meeting
Embracing Life's Challenges: Turning 2020 losses into 2021 gains
Not all of 2020 was a bust even though the year might have felt that way; in fact, we learned more about ourselves following the shutdown of the world as we once knew it than we realize. No need to rehash the challenges of our changed world, specifically the hardships, the setbacks and the unknown rather let’s focus on what we have learned about ourselves, our ability to overcome, our ability to accept and our ability to persevere… thus turning the losses to gains.
Click Here to join meeting: www.pinccsd.org
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 9:15am | philosophy |
http://ihavebecomeimmune.tumblr.com/ | 2014-09-16T21:25:57 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657119965.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011159-00078-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | 0.922357 | 141 | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2014-41__0__194317944 | en | "I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process — an integral function of the universe."
— R. Buckminster Fuller
"People confuse their source of happiness. They become temporarily happy when they get a new car, or a new house, or a new marriage. And they think they’re suddenly happy because of this new thing in their life. In reality they’re only happy because for a brief moment they are without desire. But then soon another desire comes along. And the search continues." | philosophy |
https://www.capstoneinsights.org/portfolio-item/roles/ | 2024-04-18T11:20:15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817206.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20240418093630-20240418123630-00113.warc.gz | 0.951316 | 192 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__9351676 | en | Roles and Relationships:
Task management too often focuses only on getting things done. It’s easy to forget why we are doing these things and get lost in the “thick of thin things.” Relationships are one of our greatest treasure and offer some of life’s deepest purpose and meaning. What you do matters most when you understand how it serves the key roles and relationships in your life. The most important and deeply valuable tasks on your list hold such value because of the relationships in your life represented by those tasks. Learn how to harness the deep purpose and value of relationships into your task management mentality. You may not get everything on your list done each day, but you can discover the peace of having done what matters most.
What if your task list reflected your most meaningful relationships? Would you find a greater sense of purpose and deeper fulfillment in what you do? We think so. Let us show you how. | philosophy |
http://thepalm.oneandonlyresorts.com/healthandbeauty/oneandonlyspa.aspx | 2015-11-30T06:09:25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398461113.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205421-00033-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.914651 | 378 | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2015-48__0__169105416 | en | One&Only Private Spa
One&Only Private Spa, The Palm is a sanctuary of stillness and quietude in the midst of New Dubai’s magnificent landscape. Discover a sense of relaxed timelessness with rejuvenating treatments in innovative private Spa suites. Expert therapists will guide your mind and body back into harmonious balance with advanced facials and luxurious bespoke treatments; One&Only Unwind, Restore and Elevate signature experiences are tailored to suit your lifestyle needs of the moment. Each treatment uses ESPA products, rich in the finest natural ingredients to leave you looking and feeling revitalised and rejuvenated.
ONE&ONLY PRIVATE SPA PHILOSOPHY
Central to our core beliefs is the concept of Unwind, Restore and Elevate. Three distinct pillars around which all Spa therapies and treatments nurture and rebalance the body in times of change, pressure and stress. Each philosophy can be adapted to suit the individual’s needs of the moment and features its own specialised set of holistic programmes designed to guide guests in choosing personalised Spa experiences.
In this fast-paced world, it is often difficult to slow down and let our mind, body and soul unwind and relax. The Unwind collection of treatments are often relaxing, calming and soothing, helping bring peace to the mind, reduce muscular tension and comfort and cool the skin.
During times of stress, lifestyles can become unhealthy and our bodies may feel sluggish and in need of detoxification. Restore Treatments are tailored to help stimulate the circulation and the lymphatic system, and assist in improving the look and feel of your skin.
Everyday stress can often lower your energy levels, leaving you feeling emotionally drained with a sense of exhaustion. The Elevate Treatments are targeted towards creating a balanced state of wellbeing, helping restore energy levels while promoting a feeling of inner calm. | philosophy |
https://www.williamlaurent.com/words | 2019-10-20T12:45:55 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986707990.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20191020105426-20191020132926-00554.warc.gz | 0.957719 | 554 | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-43__0__99884469 | en | Throughout the years I wrote extensively about business technology for several publications and publishing houses—authoring hundreds of articles for Information Management, Dashboard Insight, Data Management Review, and many more. Lately however, I have shifted the focus of my writing, spending more time on matters of personal growth and spirituality.
a positive path
Inspired by Japanese culture and Zen, my Positive Path book contains short written meditations, accompanied by a painting or photo from my personal portfolio. There is nothing esoteric here, only encouraging words for living a productive life—one centered around health, humility and personal responsibility. [Scheduled to be available in 2019 on Itunes, Kindle, and more.]
"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."
If we are not happy or successful in the ways we wish to be, we must blame ourselves above all others. Instead of wasting time and energy making excuses, we have no choice but to look directly in the mirror and understand how life is rewarding us or penalizing us based on our past personal choices and actions.
There are a number of ways that life could have turned out up to this point. However, life is what it is now because of who we have been. Our current reality simply reflects our inner thoughts and external actions. And therefore the burden for dealing with any negative circumstances now falls to us, and only us. From today, we will do our best to confront the uncomfortable realities in our life head on, to be wholly accountable for our present circumstances.
Few of us have the luxury of being a perfectionist. Most things in life do not require perfection. When something has been accomplished “good enough”, it is probably time to let it be and move on to the next task. Perfect is the arch enemy of good.
Sample Chapters downloadable from here: A Positive Path
every day mindfulness
My first book, titled Every Day Mindfulness, was self-published in 2006. The book was enthusiastically received, as sales were recorded in 20 different countries; however, I opted to eventually halt its distribution.
Being a productive person is not only about doing things right, it is about doing the right things—tackling the important tasks first and deprioritizing the frivolous ones. We are all time poor. We have too much to do in too little time, which gives us no choice but to regularly tweak our to-do lists and review the progress we have made over the last few days or weeks. Have we seen an acceptable number of items through to completion recently? If the answer is “no”, the likely explanation is that we have fallen victim to procrastination when faced with tasks that may be uncomfortable. | philosophy |
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2020/03/05/breathtaking-art-show-in-berkeley-explores-death-and-life | 2023-09-27T07:42:53 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510284.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20230927071345-20230927101345-00036.warc.gz | 0.959583 | 827 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__78373815 | en | “In the midst of life we are in death” (Media vita in morte sumus). That ancient Christian meditation on mortality, found in both Gregorian chant and in the funeral service in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, leapt to mind as I toured AFTER/LIFE, the quietly breathtaking (pun intended) current exhibition at the Graduate Theological Union’s Doug Adams Gallery. The opposite is also true: in the hands of artists like the two shown here, in the midst of death we are still very much in life.
The gallery, a high-ceilinged ground floor space flooded with natural light from tall windows, painted an airy white, is an ideal setting for this stunning installation of work by two gay male artists, Ed Aulerich-Sugai and Mark Mitchell, whose lives were profoundly altered by HIV/AIDS.
San Francisco painter Aulerich-Sugai died of AIDS-related complications in 1994 after seven years battling the disease; Arizona-based textile artist Mitchell survived the illness, thanks to anti-retroviral drugs. Both men were AIDS activists; Mitchell is also a social justice activist. Neither knew each other in life, but both made work responding intensely to their experiences of that plague, as it affected their own bodies and those of people they loved. Guest curator Alla Efimova had the inspiration to pair them here.
Aulerich-Sugai’s large-scale Figures series, all painted in the last year of his life, depict tableaux of introspective human nudes floating or ascending within a dimensionless white space. Their bodies, limned in swaths of dark brown, black, purple, pink and orange, are luridly lit with large areas of white pigment: a glare that renders them semi-translucent. They seem to be part liquid, part air, dissolving before our eyes, half in and half out of fleshly embodiment, suspended between life and death.
In these canvases, Aulerich-Sugai, who was Japanese-American and inspired by Japanese mythology and iconography, might have been describing his vision of the Buddhist concept of the Bardo: an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state of existence between death and rebirth. You can’t help but imagine that he himself was experiencing something like the Bardo while painting these arresting compositions, feeling his own body weaken and lose its substance, knowing he was dying yet still alive enough to make such urgent, elegiac work. As farewells to corporeal beauty and carnal joys, they are a moving and remarkable last will and testament to the artist’s community in a time of devastating loss; to his own grief, fear, courage and persistence; and to his belief in the commemorative power of art.
Mark Mitchell, a theatrical costume fabricator and textile artist, witnessed many of his beloved friends dying of HIV/AIDS in the ’80s and ’90s. He transmuted his anguish into designing and creating painstakingly, entirely by hand, a series of exquisite, custom-made, individualized garments for their spirits’ journey to the after-life.
Meticulously crafted of creamy white and ivory silks, satins, chiffon and tulle, some hand-crocheted or knitted using delicate fibers, these slyly campy yet ethereal, gender-ambiguous Burial Ensembles — robes, gowns, a pants suit, a jacket, accessories — are obsessively fashioned using antique sewing techniques. Their titles are women’s names: Devora, Rhonda, Anna. Their tiny stitches, delicate embroidery, smocking, hand-covered buttons and hand-finished buttonholes are acts of supreme devotion.
Several pieces are suspended from the gallery’s ceiling, where they can be animated by stray breezes or viewers’ breaths, In memoriam to the astral bodies meant to inhabit them.
This is a remarkable exhibition. Please see it. | philosophy |
https://wowthemes.net/donate/ | 2023-10-04T06:44:26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511361.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20231004052258-20231004082258-00453.warc.gz | 0.955103 | 161 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__150741911 | en | I enjoy taking time away from my full-time job as a web designer and developer to work on projects that I can share with you for personal and commercial use. I believe in the philosophy of open source and envision it as the promising future. Why compete when we can cooperate and become better together?
Over time, I have published a substantial collection of free open source projects, now utilized by thousands of people. I couldn't be happier.
I provide a wide range of design and coding projects at no cost, and your contributions help make this possible. If you wish to reward my work, it would truly make me feel appreciated. In exchange, if you wish, feel free to remove any credit links to me.
You can track my activity and download my free projects here: | philosophy |
https://www.whying.com/about | 2024-04-20T22:45:16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817688.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20240420214757-20240421004757-00582.warc.gz | 0.945174 | 289 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__118600151 | en | Whying is a direct-to-consumer clothing brand based in the Hudson Valley of New York. We are a concept driven brand inspired by the philosophy of questioning. We believe that extraordinary exist out of the ordinary through a shift in our outlook. We create wearable-conceptual clothing by deconstructing stereotypes and redefine them to present our version of everyday to you. At Whying, we want our pieces to be a conversation rather than a statement. Clothing is a tool to express your perspective, to celebrate your quirks, explore your ideas, that make everyday anew. Let's explore!
FROM THE MAKER
Hello! This is Farah Faizi. I am the one who distorts stereotypes and creates the blueprints for Whying garments. I am originally from Mumbai, India. After completing my Bachelors' in Fashion Design in San Francisco, I moved to the Hudson Valley in New York.
My refusal to accept unpaid internships and carry coffee mugs around for the staff, led me to dive into the most important but uncomfortable question - ‘What is the purpose of my life?’
The answer was the start of the Whying journey. My process as a designer is intertwined with my role as a pattern-maker. I conceive ideas three-dimensionally. Draping allows me to touch and mould fabric, to communicate my ideas, giving me the freedom to go beyond traditional shapes. | philosophy |
http://theexaminedlifephilosophy.blogspot.com/2012/04/ | 2018-07-15T20:41:15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676588972.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20180715203335-20180715223335-00405.warc.gz | 0.957388 | 990 | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-30__0__170005838 | en | Atheism isn't a belief system.
Athiesm is the belief that there isn't a god (positive atheism) or the lack of a belief that there is a god (negative atheism, which includes agnosticism). So when you tell someone you're an atheist, you're telling them what you don't believe.
Because of the prominence of religion in history, this is to be expected. Atheism has always been on the defense, defined by its opposition to the religion of the mainstream. Religion seeks to give answers to the questions of morality, meaning and value. The 'atheist' answer implies nothing but a rejection of (at least the core of) the religious ones.
But whichever particular brand of infidelity applies to you, I'm sure you don't immediately fall to the floor frothing at the mouth or stare blankly whenever you consider a question which applies to the meaning or normative direction of your life.
Thanks to suitably broad definitions, whether you knew it or not, if you're an atheist with positive beliefs about the meaning of life, the grounds and content of morality, or the value of things, you're also a Humanist.
Humanism is simply the view that human life itself, independent of any exterior authority, is sufficient to generate truths about morality, meaning and value, and that by using reason and experience we might come to know these truths.
The fact is, 'atheist' and its cognates aren't good enough as labels for our belief systems.
You might think that we don't need to elaborate. Surely it's obvious that we have some atheistically generated beliefs about morality, meaning and value? But it's important to have a rallying point. The widespread presumption that atheism entails moral and existential nihilism drives many people to religious belief, and keeps many more people believing in god. It means that those who've recently 'converted' to atheism or agnosticism can feel lost and alone. It means that many who give a negative answer to the god-question think that's the end of the story.
Atheism isn't just the conclusion of an old argument. It's the first premise of a new one. God doesn't exist. Now what?
Humanism isn't a belief system in the sense that it offers a set of beliefs about morality, meaning and value. You won't find a list of commandments or dogmas here. Instead, it's a set of beliefs about our beliefs about morality, meaning and value. Humanism says that we don't need the threat of torment in hell, the commands of bloated institutions, or the vain authority of texts to live our lives in a loving, rational and happy way. It says that the only authority is intellectual, the only driving force for morality is our human goodness and love, and that the meaning of life is generated by the one life we have here in the universe. It's the philosophy for humanity's adulthood: it says that we can work it out on our own.
In resolving to 'work it out on our own', far from being isolated, we are united in the effort to work out and live out the vast mysteries and boundless joys of our common human-life together.
Religion has often (but not always) disdained human nature and human intellectual faculties; claiming that without god, scriptures or church, humanity is weak and lost. Humanism repudiates this, and whilst being honest about the limits and weaknesses of human nature, stresses the ultimate human responsibility to improve ourselves and others, and the exciting ability to work out the meaning and truths of human life together, as humans, using reason and experience, and while relying on our mutual love for one another.
It's of great sociological, political and intellectual importance to be 'out' about Humanism. It promotes and allows the active defense of life without god and religious authority. It supports secularism in an age when the backward seek to reverse the achievements of philosophy and science. It gives atheists a social and intellectual rallying point from which to start and return in their effort to understand life; an argumentative center; a sociological 'group' in society and history with which to share and discuss values. It challenges the notion that atheism, a term defined by opposition, involves a rejection of the questions to which religion gives an answer.
And, perhaps most importantly, saying that you're a Humanist takes religion out of the equation. No longer will our belief system be defined in opposition to another. Religion is becoming less and less relevant to the ongoing human conversation on how to live our lives. The dichotomy of atheism and theism relies, to some extent, on the ongoing relevance of theism to the human question. Humanism denies that relevance.
So next time someone asks you what you believe, say you're a Humanist. | philosophy |
https://kcrpgday.com/2016/06/12/headspace-2/ | 2020-04-07T02:39:48 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371665328.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20200407022841-20200407053341-00516.warc.gz | 0.933225 | 152 | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-16__0__8522337 | en | Game Title: Headspace
Game System: Headspace
Min – Max number players: 3 – 6
Game description: Headspace is a role playing game that explores human emotion, memory, and personal identity. The world of Headspace is a dark future where technology has begun to alter not just our bodies,
but how we feel and even think.
In this future, an advanced neural networking technology, Headspace, has been developed. The Headspace allows a group of wielders to connect their minds directly to each other. But, jacking into the Headspace comes with a cost; there is no going back. Once your minds are bound together, every thought, sensation, emotion, and even dreams are shared over any distance instantaneously. | philosophy |
https://www.foxchiropracticclinic.com/ | 2020-11-26T13:15:02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141188146.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20201126113736-20201126143736-00003.warc.gz | 0.938349 | 315 | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-50__0__39643347 | en | Providing Superior Health and Balance Through Chiropractic
You are part of a community that deserves the best health care available at costs that are fair and affordable. We strive to bring you this, as laid out in our mission statement:
Fox Chiropractic Clinic promotes community health by providing quality, compassionate health care service that embraces our basic values and philosophy of health.
Philosophy of Health
We believe that your health comes from the balance of proper nutrition, mental well-being, and structural stability - including proper function of the nervous system - known as the Triad of Health.
Although pain is an indicator of an underlying problem, the absence of pain alone does not indicate health. Chiropractic care focuses on the Triad of Health and helps the body restore and maintain optimum health.
Our Basic Values
We will uphold the highest standards of integrity. Our main focus is the proper care of your health. We will never do anything that violates our code of ethics.
Our treatment plans are designed to restore you to and maintain your optimum health by teaching you to take responsibility for your own health care needs.
Compassion, Quality, & Community
You have a right to proper health care. We are dedicated to providing you affordable health care in a warm, friendly environment.
We strive to provide you an increasing level of quality care. We are committed to bringing you the cutting edge treatments that make you feel your best.
Take advantage of our community and in-office education programs regarding safe, affordable, and effective health care. | philosophy |
http://www.davidmripley.com/ | 2024-04-15T16:00:59 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817002.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20240415142720-20240415172720-00320.warc.gz | 0.930418 | 138 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__79896920 | en | The Science Of
Music is a mixed mathematical science that concerns the origins, attributes, and distinctions of sound, out of which a cultivated and lovely melody and harmony are made, so that God is honored and praised but mankind is moved to devotion, virtue, joy, and sorrow.
—Johann Georg Ahle (1690)
The Art Of
Computer programming is an art, because it applies accumulated knowledge to the world, because it requires skill and ingenuity, and especially because it produces objects of beauty. A programmer who subconsciously views himself as an artist will enjoy what he does and will do it better.
—Donald Knuth (1974) | philosophy |
https://www.chaos-math.org/en/chaos-i-motion-and-determinism.html | 2023-05-28T02:27:26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224643462.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20230528015553-20230528045553-00667.warc.gz | 0.957029 | 645 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__304518283 | en | « Everything flows. Everything is movement. »
The start of Chaos, with one of the foremost ideas of philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesis, who lived in the sixth century B.C. Creatures develop eternally, things have no substance and everything is always on the move: everything becomes everything, everything is everything. The first minutes of the film illustrate this idea with some everyday examples, as well as some mathematical ones.
Can science help predict the future? This is an old question running throughout the film. We will start with something simple and look at the future of a billiard ball after we hit it with the cue. Even if we put 50 balls on the table that collide all the time, the computer can easily calculate their paths, and predict where they will be in an hour, for instance:
« If I know the situation now, I should "in principle" be able determine the situation a bit later. »
The idea of determinism was formulated for the first time by the baron of Holbach (1723-1789) in these words
« In a whirlwind of dust whipped up by an impetuous wind; in the most awful storm that beats down on a river, no matter how confusing to our eyes, there is not a single molecule of dust that is placed by chance, not a single drop of water that has no cause to be where it is, and that does not act exactly as it should. A geometer who knows the exact forces that are at work, and the properties of the molecules in motion, would be able to demonstrate that every molecule acts exactly as it should, and can only act that way. »
Determinism is a philosophical notion that claims that the order of what happens is due to causality, sometimes described by some physical or mathematical law. Determinism is a scientific doctrine and should not be confused with fatalism. Pierre-Simon de Laplace (1749-1827), astronomer and mathematician, describes determinism in all its greatness in his philosophical essay on probability :
« We must consider the present state of the universe as the effect of its previous state, and as the cause for what will follow.
An intelligence which, at a given moment, would know all the forces by which nature is animated and the position of every object in the universe if indeed it was powerful enough to submit these data to analysis, would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the lightest atom: nothing would be uncertain for it, and the future as the past, would appear before its eyes. »
We would need an infinite intelligence, says Laplace...and yet determinism already shows its limits when we study the motion of the planets. Where will the Earth be in a billion years? Is there a risk that it gets ejected from the solar system? Rather than ask ourselves what the weather will be in a specific place on a specific date 10 years in the future, would it not be more interesting to try and predict averages, like the number of rain days in a certain season? This is quite a different point of view on determinism! | philosophy |
http://belovedspeaks.com/ | 2017-04-30T16:39:34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917125719.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031205-00274-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.965577 | 149 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__218463133 | en | Beloved Speaks is dedicated to inspiring and assisting others, wherever they are on their journey towards greater understanding and higher awareness. It provides complete support for anyone undertaking such a sacred quest.
The Beloved emerged after many months of retreat from the distractions of daily life. Its clear, distinct voice was a loving response to the deep desire to more powerfully assist others and alleviate their suffering. It is experienced as the intimate embrace of God's Presence - what we as material beings can directly know of the divine, while still inhabiting a body. It springs from the heart of pure beingness and its offerings are best received with an open heart, filled with childlike innocence.
Copyright © 2002-2015 Rachael Parkhurst - All Rights Reserved | philosophy |
https://theaistore.co/will-artificial-intelligence-destroy-us/ | 2024-04-21T09:03:34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817729.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421071342-20240421101342-00061.warc.gz | 0.931082 | 2,318 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__162314104 | en | Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Us?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved in recent years. While there are numerous benefits to its development, some people express concerns about the potential risks associated with AI. This article explores the question: Will artificial intelligence destroy us? Let’s delve into the topic to gain a better understanding of its complexities.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) possesses both potential benefits and risks.
- We must prioritize ethical considerations in AI development.
- Collaboration between humans and AI can lead to great advancements.
AI has the capability to revolutionize various aspects of our lives, from healthcare to transportation. It has the potential to improve efficiency, accuracy, and decision making. *However, it is important to carefully navigate the ethical implications associated with AI deployment.* We need to ensure that it aligns with moral and social values.
One of the primary concerns surrounding AI is the potential loss of human jobs. With automation becoming increasingly prevalent, some fear that there will be mass unemployment. *Nevertheless, AI can also create new job opportunities, often in industries we haven’t even imagined yet.* It is essential to adapt and reskill in response to these changes.
|Automates repetitive tasks
|Potential job loss
|Enhances accuracy and efficiency
|Accelerates scientific discoveries
Another aspect to consider is the influence of AI on decision making. Algorithms have the potential to reinforce existing biases and perpetuate discrimination. *It is crucial to actively address and mitigate these biases, to ensure fairness and equal opportunities.* Transparency and accountability are essential in AI development.
However, it is important to note that AI is not inherently evil or destructive. It is a tool that can amplify our capabilities and drive innovation. When used responsibly, AI has the potential to solve complex problems and improve the quality of life for humanity. *We have the power to shape the direction and impact of AI, and it is crucial to approach it with a responsible and ethical mindset.*
|Medical diagnosis, drug discovery
|Autonomous vehicles, traffic optimization
|Automated trading, fraud detection
Ultimately, the impact of AI will depend on how we harness its potential and address its risks. Collaboration between humans and AI can lead to great advancements and achievements. *By utilizing AI as a tool rather than a replacement for human intelligence, we can unlock the immense benefits it offers and navigate any challenges that may arise.*
While concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence are valid, we must approach the topic with caution and proactive measures. AI offers immense possibilities, but it is up to us to implement it responsibly. By prioritizing ethics, addressing biases, and focusing on collaboration, we can ensure a future where AI enhances our lives rather than destroys them. Let’s embrace the opportunities that AI brings and shape a better future together.
Misconception 1: Artificial Intelligence will replace humans in every aspect of life
One common misconception surrounding artificial intelligence is the belief that it will completely replace humans in all areas of life. However, this is not entirely true. While AI has the potential to automate certain tasks and improve efficiency, it cannot replicate human creativity, emotion, and interpersonal skills.
- AI is more likely to augment human capabilities rather than replace them entirely.
- Human judgment and decision-making skills are still crucial and cannot be replicated by AI.
- AI requires human input and supervision to ensure accuracy and ethical standards.
Misconception 2: Artificial Intelligence is infallible and makes no mistakes
Another misconception is that AI is infallible and makes no mistakes. However, like any human-made system, AI is susceptible to errors and biases. AI algorithms are trained on datasets created by humans, which means they can inherit the biases and limitations present in the data.
- AI can produce inaccurate outputs if the training data is biased or incomplete.
- AI can make incorrect decisions if presented with situations it was not trained for.
- AI requires constant monitoring and fine-tuning to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Misconception 3: Artificial Intelligence has consciousness and will take over the world
One of the most common misconceptions is the fear that AI will gain consciousness and take over the world. This misconception is fueled by science fiction movies and books that portray AI as sentient beings with malicious intent. However, AI, as it exists today, is nothing more than a complex set of algorithms and mathematical models that lack consciousness.
- AI does not possess emotions, consciousness, or self-awareness like humans do.
- AI operates based on patterns and rules, without personal desires or motivations.
- AI is created to serve specific purposes and does not have the capability to overthrow humanity.
Misconception 4: Artificial Intelligence will eliminate jobs on a massive scale
Many people are concerned that the rise of artificial intelligence will lead to mass unemployment as machines take over human jobs. While AI may automate certain tasks, it also has the potential to create new job opportunities and reshape the nature of work.
- AI can create new industries and job roles that do not exist today.
- AI can free up humans from repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on more complex and creative work.
- AI will require human expertise to develop, maintain, and improve its capabilities, creating new job markets.
Misconception 5: Artificial Intelligence is a recent development with unknown implications
Many believe that artificial intelligence is a recent concept and that its implications are completely unknown. However, AI has been evolving for decades, and extensive research has been conducted to understand its potential benefits and risks.
- AI research and development have a long history, dating back to the 1950s.
- Experts have been studying the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI for years.
- AI development is guided by principles and regulations to ensure responsible and ethical use.
Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Life
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our daily lives, impacting various sectors from healthcare to transportation. This table showcases some notable AI applications and how they enhance our experiences.
AI in Healthcare
In the field of healthcare, AI has revolutionized diagnostics and personalized medicine. This table highlights different AI technologies used in the healthcare industry and the corresponding benefits.
AI and Job Automation
As AI continues to advance, there are concerns about potential job displacement. However, this table demonstrates that while some roles may be automated, AI will also create new job opportunities.
AI in Education
The impact of AI on education is profound. This table showcases how AI-powered tools, such as smart tutors and interactive platforms, are enhancing the learning experience for students.
AI and Cybersecurity
With the increase in digital threats, AI plays a crucial role in enhancing cybersecurity measures. This table presents different AI applications in cybersecurity, such as anomaly detection and behavioral analysis.
AI in Transportation
AI is revolutionizing the transportation sector, leading to safer and more efficient systems. This table highlights various AI applications, including autonomous vehicles and traffic management.
AI and Personal Assistants
Virtual personal assistants have become an integral part of our digital lives. This table showcases the evolution of AI-powered personal assistants and the value they bring to our daily routines.
AI in Entertainment
AI plays a significant role in revolutionizing the entertainment industry, delivering personalized experiences and advancing creative processes. This table illustrates different AI applications in entertainment, from recommendation systems to content creation.
Ethical Considerations of AI
As AI becomes more integrated into our lives, ethical considerations are paramount. This table highlights key ethical dilemmas and challenges relating to AI, such as biased algorithms and data privacy.
The Future of AI
The future of AI is both thrilling and uncertain. This table explores potential advancements in AI technology, from humanoid robots to cognitive augmentation, and the implications they may have.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence brings both opportunities and challenges. While AI has the potential to enhance various aspects of our lives, we must address ethical concerns and ensure responsible deployment. By leveraging AI advances responsibly, we can embark on a future where AI empowers us without posing threats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will artificial intelligence lead to the destruction of humanity?
Concerns about AI leading to the destruction of humanity are largely exaggerated. While AI poses certain risks, experts argue that focusing on developing safe and beneficial AI systems can mitigate these risks. Proper regulation, transparency, and ethical practices can ensure AI is developed to serve humanity without harm.
What are the potential risks of artificial intelligence?
Some potential risks of artificial intelligence include job displacement, biased decision-making, privacy concerns, and the potential for AI systems to be weaponized. However, these risks can be managed through appropriate policies, regulations, and responsible AI development.
Can artificial intelligence become self-aware and overpower humans?
The idea of AI becoming self-aware and overpowering humans is a common theme in science fiction, but it remains purely speculative. Current AI systems are designed with specific functionalities and lack consciousness or the ability to revolt against humanity.
Are there existing safeguards to prevent AI from causing harm?
While there are ongoing discussions and efforts to establish safeguards, such as ethical guidelines and regulations, there isn’t a comprehensive global framework in place yet. The development of responsible AI practices and continued research is crucial to minimizing the potential risks.
How can AI be used to benefit society?
Artificial intelligence has immense potential to benefit society in various domains. It can enhance healthcare, improve efficiency in industries, assist in tackling climate change, advance scientific research, and facilitate economic growth. Responsible and ethical use of AI can lead to significant positive impacts on society.
Who is responsible for regulating AI?
Regulating AI is a shared responsibility among governments, researchers, developers, and organizations. Collaboration between these stakeholders is vital to establish ethical guidelines, public policies, and legal frameworks that govern the development and deployment of AI technologies.
What role can individuals play in shaping the future of AI?
Individuals can contribute by staying informed about AI developments, advocating for responsible and ethical AI practices, and participating in discussions surrounding AI policy and regulation. Awareness and engagement from the public are essential in shaping the future of AI towards beneficial outcomes.
Will AI replace human jobs entirely?
While AI may automate certain tasks and job roles, it is unlikely to entirely replace human jobs. AI has the potential to augment human capabilities, create new job opportunities, and shift the workforce towards higher-skilled and creative tasks. However, there might be a need for workers to adapt to changing technologies and acquire new skills.
How can bias in AI algorithms be addressed?
Addressing bias in AI algorithms requires careful data selection, diverse and inclusive development teams, and ongoing monitoring. Greater transparency in AI development processes and regular audits can help identify and rectify biases, ensuring fair and unbiased outcomes.
Will AI development lead to significant ethical concerns?
There are indeed significant ethical concerns associated with AI development. Issues such as privacy, human rights, accountability, and the potential for misuse need to be carefully addressed through robust ethical frameworks, regulations, and responsible practices to ensure AI benefits society without compromising fundamental values. | philosophy |
https://idyllic.co/summon-the-warrior-in-you-on-this-world-entrepreneurship-day/ | 2023-10-01T06:13:41 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510781.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001041719-20231001071719-00503.warc.gz | 0.958445 | 368 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__23258579 | en | Entrepreneurs do deserve a day dedicated to them. Entrepreneurs not only build for themselves, but they are the true pioneers of bringing in change. At times, you wonder, how these people with no power or support, come into the lime light and make our lives easier. What’s in it for them? Money, Fame or Power? Though these three attributes might seem to be the key driving force, the real answer is that it is none of them. Below is the true essence of entrepreneurship:
Entrepreneurship is to serve
Entrepreneurship is not about being your own boss but becoming a humble servant. It is not just being the King but to serve your customers and also owe service to your team. A true entrepreneur is most humble being you will ever see.
Entrepreneurship is about self-realization
Entrepreneurship is about entering the unknown and facing the uncertainties. This is the trait of a warrior. One realizes more about herself on her entrepreneurial journey, than she would have walking on the safe revenue path.
Entrepreneurship is about the story
The essence of entrepreneurship is in its story. It is not at all about the golden chalice. The essence is in your experience and bringing that experience back to your people. What you create in your entrepreneurial journey should live after you are gone. Just like the epic of a warrior. The essence of your story should benefit the new generation in helping them embark on their journey.
With this being said, most of us fear from embarking on the journey fearing the unknown, the unpredictable. Today on this world’s entrepreneurship day, I summon the warrior in you to take on the world and leave it better than what you had come to.
Wish you a very happy entrepreneurship day !!! | philosophy |
http://www.deadcharming.com/category/beginning/ | 2013-05-23T22:42:29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704054863/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113414-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.967058 | 403 | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2013-20__0__93464496 | en | I met a princess, I wanted to be her prince, we tried to find happily ever after…
…And I’ve learned some things since then. I’ve learned that riding off into the sunset just means trying to find a place to sleep in the dark. I’ve learned that even the glorious prince makes mistakes, falls down in the mud, and gets lost on his way back to the castle. I’ve learned that a sharp sword cuts the ones you love just as easily as the ones who stand against you.
I’ve also learned that “charming” is essentially an untenable ideal. Besides which, girls may dream about “Prince Charming,” but grown women don’t seem to care anymore.
I spent fifteen years trying to be prince charming, and all it got me was a divorce, child support, and a shattered ego. Then I decided that I wouldn’t give up on romance, and I’d try to be prince charming again…and all that got me was an unwanted second marriage, months of recriminations and disappointments and the realization that I might want to be “charming,“ but somewhere along the journey “Prince Charming” got replaced by his understudy, “Squire Just-Doing-My-Best.”
Prince Charming is dead. His body lies somewhere along the path in an unmarked grave; unmourned, unmissed and unremarkable.
As one prince falls, another must take up his place. And so, here’s to Just-Doing-My-Best. May he succeed where Charming failed. May he find the princess, the light at the end of the tunnel, the castle in the sky, the treasures of his dreams, and the happily-ever-after at the end of his story.
The Prince is Dead! Long Live the Price! | philosophy |
https://hub4.digital/ethical-technology-solutions/ | 2024-04-17T21:32:18 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817181.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20240417204934-20240417234934-00005.warc.gz | 0.875321 | 572 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__176735767 | en | Ethical Technology Solutions
Pioneering Ethical Technology Solutions
We believe in harnessing the power of technology to not only drive innovation and efficiency but also to uphold ethical principles that shape a better world.
Our commitment to ethical technology permeates every aspect of our solutions, ensuring that we not only meet your business needs but also align with your values and contribute positively to society.
Ethical technology isn’t just a buzzword—it’s our guiding philosophy. We invite you to partner with us in applying meaningful, sustainable, and inclusive technology strategies that make a positive impact on your business and the world. Together, let’s shape a better future through innovation, integrity, and ethics.
We prioritize ethical design principles in crafting our solutions.
From user interfaces to underlying algorithms, we ensure that our technology is designed with transparency, fairness, and inclusivity in mind. By prioritizing user privacy, data security, and accessibility, we create digital experiences that empower and protect users.
Technology has the power to drive positive social change, and we leverage this potential to make a difference.
Our solutions are designed to address societal challenges and promote social equity. Whether it’s supporting community initiatives, fostering diversity and inclusion, or empowering underrepresented groups, we are committed to using technology as a force for good.
Environmental responsibility is integral to our approach. We strive to minimize our ecological footprint by adopting sustainable practices in our operations and development processes.
From energy-efficient infrastructure to eco-friendly materials, we make conscious choices to reduce waste and promote environmental sustainability.
We recognize the importance of responsible data handling. Our data ethics framework ensures that data privacy, security, and ethical use are paramount in every aspect of our solutions.
By adhering to industry best practices and regulatory standards, we build trust with our clients and users, safeguarding their sensitive information while unlocking the full potential of data-driven insights.
Green Technology can benefit any organization no matter the size, we can help
is the size of the Green Technology & Sustainability market in 2023
of the total electricity consumption of office buildings in 2018 came from Computers and office equipment
Source: US EIA
of the UK’s total electricity generation came from Wind Power
Source: National Grid
The Modern Workplace
#cloud #remoteworking #SaaS #DaaS
Digital Security & Risk Management
#protection #backup #zerotrust
Digital Systems & Infrastructure
#servers #cloudsolutions #networks #azure
IT Support & Strategy
#itsupport #productivity #growth #strategy | philosophy |
http://thewiccanbrigade.com/index.html | 2020-07-10T09:03:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655906934.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20200710082212-20200710112212-00542.warc.gz | 0.975681 | 297 | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-29__0__114416227 | en | The Wiccan Brigade inaugurated in 2006, delves into the ancient cultures and civilizations and esoteric secrets of the world. Even though I have named it the Wiccan Brigade, being myself a Wiccan and having walked on this Path for many decades now, our study delves into old esoteric traditions which span many continents and many centuries.
I have opened the gates of the Wiccan Brigade to all in India and many have joined it from other countries as well. Here are taught the mysteries , the answers to which still evade us. I have tried to bring logic and known science into this quest for the unknown because I believe that there is no real quarrel between science and the esoteric.
The supernatural always existed as part of nature and hence I believe it was called the super-natural – that which man knew existed but could not fully understand.
This is Wicca, and this is the Path we walk, trying to garner that which we know exists but which always seems to evade us. The journey is exciting because we know we will find the answers at the end. This is the quest of the Wiccan Brigade.
Ipsita Roy Chakraverti
The Wiccan Brigade and Ipsita have not authorised anyone to perform any healing on its behalf, nor authorised any photos, chants or diagrams to be placed in the public domain other that its website. If you should come across anyone purporting to do so, please be aware. | philosophy |
https://dynamichealthcarolinas.com/integrative-medicine-charlotte-nc/ | 2021-03-02T11:51:28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178363809.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20210302095427-20210302125427-00238.warc.gz | 0.915055 | 497 | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-10__0__15313761 | en | Integrative medicine addresses the whole person’s mind, body, and spirit through physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect a person’s health. Integrative medicine can combine a conventional and alternative approach to healing, often known as holistic medicine.
Integrative and Holistic Medicine Clinic in Charlotte, NC
Provider-Patient Relationship in Integrative Medicine
In integrative medicine, the focus is on the partnership between the patient and health care provider to achieve a level of whole-body wellness. The patient presents unique needs, circumstances, and concerns about his or her current and long-term condition. The health care provider then puts together a comprehensive, holistic treatment plan to address illness and regain or maintain optimum health.
Instead of focusing on the absence of disease or illness or merely following one method of treatment, integrative medicine pulls treatment from scientific, evidence-based practices and can include treatment from a variety of disciplines:
- Advanced technologies
- Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
- Conventional medicine
- Chiropractic treatment
- Light therapy
- Neuromuscular therapy
- Reiki energy work
- Stem cell therapy
- Tai Chi
- Weight Loss Programs
While focus can be on immediate treatment, the patient’s overall long-term well-being is also considered in integrative medicine. Treatment is utilized that awakens the body’s natural response to issues, and the most natural and least invasive interventions are recommended.
Most patients will have tried conventional approaches to treating their ailments. Integrative medicine can be appealing because patients usually have more time with providers to discuss a broader approach to healing that incorporates techniques from outside the Western health care philosophy.
Not only does integrative medicine seek to treat the ailment, but it also strives to prevent recurring or new illnesses and ailments from forming. Patients work with their providers to establish healthy behaviors that encourage lifelong self-care.
Integrative Medicine at Dynamic Health
At Dynamic Health, we offer a multidisciplinary approach to treatment by offering a team of pain management providers and rehabilitative specialists all focused on one goal: stopping your pain and getting you back to living a healthy and active life.
Our highly skilled group of medical professionals includes:
- Internal medical provider
- Nurse practitioners
- Chiropractic physicians
- Rehabilitation specialists
- Radiologist Technicians
- Several other care providers | philosophy |
https://fred-eerdekens.be/exhibitions/2016-01-19-figures-of-speech | 2024-02-27T10:24:40 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474674.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20240227085429-20240227115429-00168.warc.gz | 0.94519 | 216 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__74152041 | en | Figures of Speech
Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Wenen, (O)
January 19 – March 12, 2016
For this exhibition, Fred Eerdekens returns to some familiar techniques, though at a scale that is unprecedented. The installation will transform the gallery spaces, creating an immersive experience for visitors. In keeping with the concepts of impermanence and mutability that are constants in his work, he focuses here on a more concrete representation - the circle. Envisioned as emblematic of the dual nature of his work, these circles are openings onto different interpretations: allowing the viewer to pass between the physical presence of the installation to the statements revealed in the shadows cast by it. The title of the exhibition, 'One looking at it, One looking through' captures this duality by encouraging that each piece to be considered from more than one perspective. Metaphorically, the circle becomes both container and aperture, the number 'zero', an endless path, in itself encompassing the plastic nature of symbols that is so central to Eerdekens' practice. | philosophy |
https://en.ristorantealdomoro.com/il-piatto-come-racconto | 2024-04-24T11:46:26 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296819273.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20240424112049-20240424142049-00061.warc.gz | 0.913893 | 261 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__126546513 | en | Emotions are the Origin and the Creation of every Flavor which is the essence of each of our Gestures. Cooking combines all this.
This expression embodies the philosophy of the Aldo Moro Restaurant. Our goal is to synthesize our history and our origins in gastronomic preparations.
Each element becomes a source of inspiration to create a dish. This is why we offer a traditional kitchen that reflects our origins with creative and new elements.
The Menu is divided into two sections: Classics and Natural-Mind.
In the part of the Classics we propose the typical flavors of the tradition of our local land and national cuisine. Our sweet ham or cod prepared according to the recipe of our grandmother Luigia.
In the part of the Menu Natural-Mind nature, matter, elements, landscapes, people, perfumes, ingredients, memories become the source of inspiration for these dishes: the earth, the beach and the sea, a rainy day, a painting ... all enclosed in the idea and realization of these dishes.
The dishes proposed in this part of the menu are therefore more creative, as a meeting between mind and taste.
Our Chefs Silvia, Marisa, Mauro and Alberto are waiting for you to let you discover their passion ... | philosophy |
https://www.lodgeofhope.com/about-us/what-is-freemasonry/ | 2023-10-01T04:22:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510781.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001041719-20231001071719-00688.warc.gz | 0.968348 | 1,098 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__209234428 | en | Freemasonry is one of the world's oldest secular fraternal societies. The following information is intended to explain Freemasonry as it is practised under the United Grand Lodge of England, which administers Lodges of Freemasons in England and Wales and in many countries overseas. The explanation may correct some misconceptions. Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts by a series of ritual dramas, which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons' customs and tools as allegorical guides.
The Essential Qualification for Membership
The essential qualification for admission into and continuing membership is a belief in a Supreme Being. Membership is open to men of any race or religion who can fulfil this essential qualification and who are of good repute.
Freemasonry and Religion
Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. Its essential qualification opens it to men of many religions and it expects them to continue to follow their own faith. It discourages the discussion of relgion at its meetings.
The Three Great Principles
For many years Freemasons have followed three great principles:
Brotherly Love (Fellowship) - Every true Freemason will show tolerance and respect for the opinions of others and behave with kindness and understanding to his fellow creatures.
Relief (Charity) - Freemasons are taught to practise charity and to care, not only for their own, but also for the community as a whole, both by charitable giving, and by voluntary efforts and works as individuals.
Truth (Integrity)- Freemasons strive for truth, requiring high moral standards and aiming to achieve them in their own lives. Freemasons believe that these principles represent a way of achieving higher standards in life.
From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been concerned with the care of orphans, the sick and the aged. This work continues today. In addition, large sums are given to national and local charities.
Freemasonry and Society
Freemasonry demands from its members a respect for the law of the country in which a man works and lives. Its principles do not in any way conflict with its members' duties as citizens, but should strengthen them in fulfilling their public and private responsibilities. The use by a Freemason of his membership to promote his own or anyone else's business, professional or personal interests is condemned, and is contrary to the conditions on which he sought admission to Freemasonry. His duty as a citizen must always prevail over any obligation to other Freemasons, and any attempt to shield a Freemason who as acted dishonourably or unlawfully is contrary to this prime duty.
The secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with its traditional modes of recognition. It is not a secret society, since all members are free to acknowledge their membership and will do so in response to enquiries for respectable reasons. Its constitutions and rules are available to the public. There is no secret about any of its aims and principles. Like many other societies, it regards some of its internal affairs as private matters for its members.
Freemasonry and Politics
Freemasonry is non-political, and the discussion of politics at Masonic meetings is forbidden.
Other Masonic Bodies
Freemasonry is practised under many independent Grand Lodges with standards similar to those set by the United Grand Lodge of England. There are some Grand Lodges and other apparently Masonic bodies that do not meet these standards, e.g. that do not require a belief in a Supreme Being, or that allow or encourage their members as such to participate in political matters. These Grand Lodges and bodies are not recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England as being Masonically regular, and Masonic contact with them is forbidden.
A Freemason is encouraged to do his duty first to his God (by whatever name he is known) through his faith and religious practice; and then, without detriment to his family and those dependent on him, to his neighbour through charity and service. None of these ideas is exclusively Masonic, but all should be universally acceptable. Freemasons are expected to follow them. Freemasonry has existed as a regulated private members organisation for almost 300 years. During that time many thousands of men throughout the world have met in Lodges, governed by United Grand Lodge of England, from its headquarters in Great Queen Street, London.
How to Join
Its governing rules are set out in the Book of Constitutions, freely available from Grand Lodge since its first published edition in 1723. There are many books, leaflets, magazines, web-sites and DVD’s containing details of Masonry and its Lodges to give interested men an insight into the nature of our activities. As an individual Lodge we extend invitation to interested individuals to join us at our headquarters in Bradford, to ask the members questions, or simply get to know us in a relaxed environment, and hopefully let us further explain anything not fully clear from earlier enquiries.
Many such men have been guests at our Social Events, which have led to them expressing further interest, and asking to join our Lodge. The advice quite simply is, don’t wait to be invited to join; just ask! With members ranging in age from early 20s to early 80s The Lodge of Hope affords an eclectic mix of individuals, from various industries, professions, and backgrounds. | philosophy |
https://advisor.tv/putting-people-first-an-antidote-to-friction/ | 2022-12-04T11:32:08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446710972.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20221204104311-20221204134311-00814.warc.gz | 0.980312 | 1,079 | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-49__0__128055329 | en | In recent years, I’ve had the chance to speak to a lot of high-level leaders. Some dive right into an authentic discussion of their values and purpose — others struggle and have even stopped the interview. Few, however, have shown the level of authenticity and openness that I saw with MiTek’s Chairman and CEO, Mark Thom.
MiTek is a Berkshire Hathaway company that leads a large team around the world. Their focus is on providing integrated software and engineering for construction worldwide — with an emphasis on off-site building methods. Since Mark took the helm, he has kept the billion-dollar company on its trajectory of consistent growth and thriving company culture.
Opening up right away, Mark was straightforward about his faith which informs his leadership. As Mark offered, these beliefs have led him to focus on people’s unique gifts as “wonderfully made human beings.” It is through this that he has developed his people-first methodology.
In hearing Mark’s philosophy and learning more about MiTek’s continued success, I found that his method of change is born out of the strong need to be effective and sustainable. His method offers an antidote to the friction that organizational change brings with it.
I sat down with Mark to pick his brain on the way high performing organizations follow through with change and overcome the friction that comes with it. And, according to Mark, these are the 4 most important ways to solve the friction change causes in organizations.
If you want to change, change your beliefs
“Out of a person’s beliefs emanate all of their actions.”
Whenever leaders are looking for a change, that means something isn’t quite right. The organization is not everything it could be. Here, Mark offers strong guidance, as he points out that whenever things aren’t as they could be we have to look at the beliefs that got you to where you are.
“Our beliefs are our core ideas that guide everything we do.” As Mark pointed out, “What you believe is what you act on — not what you say you believe. So, if we find that we aren’t everything we want to be, we have to take a hard look at our beliefs.”
This was a realization Mark had as a young leader quickly ascending the corporate ladder. It was during this time he experienced a transformation in his own world view that led to a major change in his leadership and outcomes.
Form deep relationships
Change is a daunting process. For someone to lead people through change, they have to trust you — and to trust you, you have to form deep relationships.
As Mark assumed the role of CEO at MiTek in 2017, he was struck with the significance and daunting nature of his role. About his large team, he recalled thinking, ‘I’m supposed to lead all of you and I don’t even know you.’
This helped Mark realize that “how you see people is how you lead people.” If you treat your team impersonally, you’ll never access their full potential. But, when you see your team as unique individuals, with gifts that can be harnessed, you’re much more likely to get the best from your people. This means granting your team the autonomy and resources they need to do their jobs well: “liberate them to do what they’re gifted to do.”
Now, several years into this role, other senior leaders have noted that he is in fellowship with the 6,700 people that he leads around the world.
Treat your organization as an organism
An organization is fundamentally made up of people — living, breathing human beings. When leaders forget this, they begin to treat organizations like machines to be fixed — and the individuals within it as cogs. This may have short term expediency but often backfires. As Mark offered, “people vote with their feet” — when you leave your team dissatisfied, they leave.
Like an organism, an organization has to be nurtured as it grows — tending to its growth along the way. This means that you can’t ignore the ground level problems and that you have to be in tune with daily operational realities.
Stay the course
“Maturity is not being swayed by emotions or feelings — but sticking to your compass.”
Mature leaders understand that if they’re going to make and sustain change, they can’t be swayed by fleeting concerns.
It may seem obvious, or easier said than done, but when leaders choose a direction, they need to stay the course. Too often, in the heat of things, it can be easy to abandon your values and forget your purpose for short term benefits. But it’s these values that help leaders keep their direction through uncertainty.
When leaders are looking to make a sustainable change to their organizations, they need to take a hard look at the core of their culture. They need to examine what guides their actions, the relationships they form, the way they treat their teams, and the direction they’re headed. | philosophy |
http://www.wtmedia.com/about/our-philosophy/ | 2019-09-16T08:44:51 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572516.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916080044-20190916102044-00414.warc.gz | 0.939655 | 321 | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-39__0__126328489 | en | Write Track Media was founded on a unique view of the role of automation in human life.
We believe that automation is as natural to human beings as using their mind and body. Our mind stores information using concepts organized into a relational hierarchy, making vast quantities of data more manageable and instantly available. Automatizing physical actions when acquiring a new skill, makes the movements involved habitual and easily reproducible with much less focus and effort. The human act of learning — an idea or action — is a form of automation. Developing tools for the physical world is an extension of this process. So is software tools that help organize information and automate workflow processes.
Throughout human history, we see automation as a natural form of productivity, a life-enhancing virtue that empowers the individual, maximizes their productive effort and makes reinvestment in new, creative endeavors possible. It is a necessary and intensely human attribute and it moves us forward as individuals and as a species.
Custom software should be designed as an extension of the natural way people function. It should remove obstacles, repetition and disorder while empowering employees to achieve their goals in a less stressful environment. The result should be a positive experience, making possible a productive and happy workplace.
For over two decades, Write Track Media has designed custom databases and automated systems that help our clients optimize how they work with digital assets, freeing them to focus on their highest creative potential. As we look forward with new goals and fresh ideas about how to optimize the computer experience in an office, we hope you will join us on our continuing quest for a more efficient world. | philosophy |
https://www.ciudaddeladanza.com/certamen/en_filosofia-camino-1.html | 2023-02-08T01:06:56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500664.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20230207233330-20230208023330-00048.warc.gz | 0.958436 | 11,357 | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-06__0__44172467 | en | ↓ ↓ Philosophical and anthropological aspects
of the Way of St. James. Phenomenology of the pilgrimage to Compostela.
MARCELINO AGÍS VILLAVERDE
University of Santiago de Compostela
Twenty years ago, the Council of Europe declared the Way of St. James as the first European cultural itinerary. This declaration recognized the role that the Way of St. James had played in shaping the idea of Europe, both culturally, religiously and even politically. Thus, Galicia and, in particular, the city of Santiago de Compostela, despite its peripheral geographical location within the European continent, despite or perhaps precisely because it was located in what the ancients called the Finisterre, reached a central and universal dimension, which would vertebrate the whole Christianity of Western Europe. A fact that would endow Galicia and Europe with its own personality, based on a phenomenon known from ancient times: the pilgrimage.
The phenomenon of pilgrimages has been present in all cultures and religions since the beginning of human civilization. It is a phenomenon inextricably linked to the itinerant condition of man. Our life, as many writers and philosophers have defended through the use of this road metaphor, is nothing but the long road, full of twists and turns, that runs between birth and death. There is, therefore, a strong anthropological component in man's pilgrimage on earth.
Almost all religions since ancient times have known and practiced pilgrimage with a salvific and purifying meaning. It was a journey whose objective was to visit a place consecrated by the presence of a god, a hero or a sacred force. The sacredness of the place and the effort made to reach it redeemed man from his past misdeeds and renewed his strength to move forward on the path of life.
It should be noted, however, that to go on pilgrimage, to set out on a journey, also implied certain risks, to face the dangers that lie in wait for the traveler who leaves behind the tranquility and comfort of his native land and his home. This semantic ambivalence is reflected in the etymology of the word itself.
Indeed, an etymological analysis of the word "pilgrim" allows us to establish this semantic ambivalence in its first phoneme "per". A phoneme that comes from a very ancient root that in Latin means "through". This first element will form words as significant and, to a certain extent, intertwined in the same semantic constellation, as "periculum": danger; or "perito", "ex-per-to", "exper-iencia". The first refers to the negative aspect of going "through", the next three to the positive aspects of moving and getting to know new things. From the same root, words are derived that are related to traveling (peregrino), to knowledge (ex-per-iencia), and to the danger to some extent inherent in the two previous realities (per-iculum). A relationship that is not only found in Latin but also in German. The German phoneme corresponding to "per-" is "fahr", from which are derived fahren (to travel), Gefahr (danger) and Erfahrung (experience). In fact, as Ortega y Gasset points out, both "the Latin phonemes per and por and the Greek περ and πειρ, come from an Indo-European word that expresses this human reality: 'to travel' insofar as it is abstracted from its eventual purpose (...) and travel is taken as being traveling, 'walking through the world'. So the content of traveling is what happens to us during it; and this is, mainly, finding curiosities and passing through dangers."
Alfonso X the Wise offers us in his Partidas a description of the term pilgrim whose etymological root would come from "per-agrare": to travel through lands, also pointing out a second meaning of pilgrim related to a strange person, a foreigner.
"Pilgrims and pilgrims are made by men to serve God and honor the saints; and in order to know how to do this, they strip themselves of their lineages and their places, and their wives, and their houses and everything they have, and they go through foreign lands, lazing their bodies and sending away their possessions in search of sanctuaries".
It is evident that more than a scientifically constructed etymology, the Wise King is picking up the living and usual meaning of his time. His intuitions, however, will be confirmed to a certain extent by modern linguistics. In particular by Émile Benveniste, who studies the etymological relationship with agros and peregri.
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES
These are, in fact, the two main orientations of the term from the etymological point of view. "Pilgrim" - informs us the Etymological Dictionary of the Castilian Language by Joan Corominas - is a term taken from the Latin peregrinus 'foreigner', derived from peregre 'abroad', and this from ager 'field, country'."
Thus, a philosophical reading of the etymological meaning of these terms takes us to the heart of Western philosophical thought, related both to the fact of traveling through unknown lands to see, to have experiences, even if these entailed dangers and misdirections, and to the fact of constructing a method or guide to advance with a sure step on the path of knowledge. Empiricism or experience," Ortega y Gasset tells us, "is, then, an effective 'walk and see' as a method, a thinking with the feet, which is what, according to the moderns, the scholastics did. Read in a philosophical key, we understand why pilgrimage is an ancestral experience that has to do with ancient religious, anthropological and even philosophical conceptions. When Greek philosophy was born on the coasts of Ionia (6th century B.C.), it was nourished by the exchange of languages, cultures and experiences that arrived in those ports. And many of the Greek philosophers will travel to broaden their experience and knowledge of the world. Plato, as is attested, travels to Egypt to broaden his mathematical knowledge and later to Syracuse to try to implement (unsuccessfully) the ideals of his republic.
We can conclude, therefore, that "in ancient times, travel or pilgrimage was, therefore, something more than a merely utilitarian action -for commercial exchanges- or pleasurable, in the style of what tourism is for many today. It was a means of acquiring experience, knowledge and even prestige and, insofar as it was dangerous, it was also an adventure, an attractive challenge for the audacious". Several cultures have associated the god of knowledge and wisdom with the god of roads and travelers. The Greeks placed at crossroads and crossroads monoliths with the faces of the god Hermes indicating each of the paths to guide the wayfarer. Hermes was venerated as the god of knowledge and commerce, but also of those who had taken the wrong path (thieves and liars). In fact, Hermes had been an expert in deception, performed with the mastery of one who knows the truth to be able to do so. Also in this mythological figure we see associated path, knowledge and misguidance or dangers inherent in walking.
Now, although pilgrimage, traveling a path, traveling, has been done, as we have just seen, for different reasons (knowledge, adventure, etc.) the main motivation of pilgrimage is, since ancient times, religious. Motivation that is also behind the Camino de Santiago.
The antonomasia meaning of pilgrimage is to travel for religious reasons to visit a holy place (sanctuary). A phenomenon shared by all the major religions. The Jews have been going to visit the temple in Jerusalem since ancient times; Muslims comply with the mandate to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, according to their means and possibilities. And in June 2004, the World Heritage Committee, meeting in the Chinese city of Suzhou, granted World Heritage status ("World Heritage List") to the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes of the Kii Mountain Range", which include three sacred sites and the corresponding pilgrimage routes that connect them: Yoshino and Ômine, Kumano Sanzan and Kôyasan. One of them, the Kumano Way, as we know, is twinned with our Camino de Santiago, not only because of its status as a World Heritage Site, but also because both pilgrimage routes are intimately linked to two religions and two cultures.
In the Christian tradition, pilgrimage dates back to the Old Testament, where the book of Exodus describes the pilgrimage of Abraham and the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem. In the New Testament, Jesus is described as fulfilling this tradition and visiting the Holy Places of Jerusalem. He who was to be for Christians all over the world "the way, the truth and the life".
In the Middle Ages, the Crusades took place, a kind of armed pilgrimage that began in 1095 when the Muslims got in the way of the Christians to visit the Holy Land and the Holy Places of Jerusalem. An itinerary that has existed since the 4th century, attested by the foundation of Latin monasteries in Bethlehem by St. Jerome and St. Paula from the year 385, and that continues to this day.
In the Middle Ages, two great pilgrimage centers of humanity were founded in the context of two civilizations and two religions: Santiago de Compostela and Mecca. "Both -writes Ramón Guerrero- still remain as meeting places for a multitude of pilgrims coming from distant lands in search of the hidden, arcane and mysterious of those places, making a sacred journey: every pilgrimage is understood as a journey of expiation of sin and guilt, so it is framed within the framework of a sacred journey.
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAY OF SANTIAGO 3
of a strictly religious structure". Unlike Mecca, the Holy City of Islam, accessible only to Muslims, Santiago de Compostela is visited by people of all faiths, even though it is a sanctuary of the Christian religion, where tradition tells us that the remains of the Apostle St. James are preserved. Its influence in the Middle Ages was so great that at the beginning of the 14th century Dante wrote that only those who went or came to Santiago were pilgrims: "The word 'pilgrim' can be understood in two ways, one broad and the other strict; in the broad sense, all those who are outside their homeland are pilgrims; in the strict sense, pilgrims are only those who go to the house of Santiago or return".
We owe the doctrinal and even philosophical foundation of life as a journey, which underlies the medieval Christian worldview, among others, to Augustine of Hippo. Our passage through the world is not an end but a fleeting and ephemeral transit before reaching our true destination: the Other World. According to this conception, man is a homo viator, a being whose condition of wayfarer or pilgrim towards a higher destination is the one that best defines him. This conception is in harmony with the linear vision of time and history of Judeo-Christianity. Indeed, "for both Jews and Christians, time is a fundamental datum that is instituted and concretized as a time of waiting. From the intervention of God, by whose power cosmos and time occur simultaneously, the anxious longing for the fulfillment of the promise is established in the human heart. And so history begins, with a time directed, moved, justified and filled with content by "a good goal". Of the permanence in time of this itinerant condition of man, the fact that it returns with the work of two existentialist philosophers of the twentieth century, Gabriel Marcel and Martin Heidegger, is a good example.
"Mecca - Ramón Guerrero informs us - is not only a geographical place, located in the Arabian Peninsula, to which one goes on pilgrimage, but it is above all the place that hides the Truth, because there one finds the black stone of the Ka'ba, the 'house of God'. To go on pilgrimage to Mecca is to walk towards the Truth, because, by fulfilling the obligation of physically going to the sacred place, the Muslim expresses the aspiration that drives him to get closer to God".
THE PILGRIMAGE TO COMPOSTELA: A PATH OF FAITH
The three pilgrimage routes of medieval Christianity, still in force, have as their goal Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Of these, the Way of St. James had such an influence and presence in medieval Europe that, as Dante writes, only those who go to the house of St. James can be called pilgrims in the strict sense of the word. Those who went to Jerusalem were called palmeros, because of the symbolism of the palm, which signified triumph or martyrdom; and those who went to Rome were called romeros. Pilgrims, strictly speaking, were those who visited the tomb of St. James the Apostle. When and how did the pilgrimage to Santiago begin?
A kind of prophetic mathematics makes Galicia, the northwestern region of Spain where the Finis Terrae of the ancient world is located, one of the centers of Western Christianity. Indeed, the command of Jesus in the New Testament states that the word of God must reach to the end of the earth. Thus, the fact that an Apostle of Jesus of Nazareth, in this case, James, came to Spain and reached one of the Atlantic Finisterres coincides with the spirit of an evangelical preaching that was born with a universal spirit. At that time, the first century, maritime traffic to the Iberian Peninsula and Galicia was relatively extensive. Something that makes plausible the chronicles of the first centuries of our era that speak of the preaching of the Apostle Santiago in the Peninsula. A fact that tradition unites with the statement of St. Jerome where it is said that the Spirit ordered that "each one should rest in the region of his evangelization and teaching".
We know with historical accuracy that James was the first of the apostles to suffer martyrdom. As we can read in the Acts of the Apostles, he was condemned and executed "with the sword" in Jerusalem. Most probably, outside the city walls to avoid the contamination of the city. Tradition has it that his body, conveniently preserved, was collected by his disciples and transferred according to his last will to the western Iberian coast. There he was buried in a place called "Arca Marmórea", an expression that rather than referring to a specific geographical location seems to indicate that his body was deposited in a marble mausoleum. Tradition also states that the estate was called Libredon, "liberum donum" or free estate. And, finally, that the burial space was called the place of Santo Santiago and later Santiago de Compostela, in allusion to the fact that it was a well-kept land or grave.
It is a legendary tradition, preserved by the people, although a letter written by a Bishop-Patriarch of Jerusalem at the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th century is quoted, where the maritime translation of the body of St. James is related, buried in "Arcas Marmóreas" in a western city 12 miles from Iria Flavia, a city near Mount Ilicino (Monte Sacro). We are therefore faced with a question whose basis, more than historical or any other kind of scientificity, is based on the faith of a people who venerate the
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAY OF ST. JAMES.
tomb of an Apostle, not only since its discovery in the ninth century, but even earlier. In fact, "recent research denies the abandonment and ignorance of the tomb at the time of its 'inventio' or discovery in the time of Bishop Teodomiro. According to the authoritative opinion of one of the best experts on Jacobean themes, as is Professor Manuel Cecilio Díaz y Díaz, at most there would be a neglect due to the depopulation of the area where, however, Santiago would continue to be worshiped since his body was transferred.
The truth is that everything changes, and in a dizzying way, from the year 830 when the tomb of the Apostle is discovered. An event that comes down to us wrapped in legend. A hermit discovers lights in the forest and hears celestial chants that speak of the existence of something supernatural. The bishop of the ancient diocese of Iria Flavia, Teodomiro, visits the place and identifies the burial mound of the Apostle Santiago. This discovery is brought to the attention of King Alfonso II the Chaste (791-842), who travels accompanied by the royal family and the court to verify the facts and, once accredited, places himself under the protection of the Apostle Santiago. In a way, the discovery is a "divine revelation" and the phenomenon of pilgrimages begins at that very point.
In addition to the religious significance of the discovery, the fact has an undeniable historical opportunity that we can relate both to the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula invaded by the Arabs, and to the birth of Europe.
The Asturian court of Alfonso II was embedded in the political and cultural ideals of the court of King Charlemagne and the other Carolingian monarchs who succeeded him. Charlemagne was the first to have an idea of Europe that went beyond the nationalities that made it up. In his time (beginning of the 9th century), the idea of a universal community around Christianity that did not understand geographical or political borders emerged in the West. This idea of Christianity, a community of universal and international character, was maintained despite the birth of national monarchies and lasted until the time of the Protestant Reformation, which destroyed the unity of the Christian ecclesiastical structure.
Linked to this nascent idea of Europe, which the Way of St. James will reinforce, is the other idea of crusade and fight against Islam. Indeed, the appearance of the tomb of the Apostle in the 9th century, when the Reconquest of the Peninsula began, will turn Santiago into the champion of the Christian struggle against the Muslims. This is, in fact, one of the most repeated iconographic representations: Santiago mounted on a horse and with his sword raised against the infidels, a false representation from the historical point of view, but true from the symbolic point of view for the above mentioned reasons.
MARCELINO AGÍS VILLAVERDE
Pilgrims began to arrive from all over Europe to visit the house of St. James, since several basilicas were built over the tomb, the first of them consecrated very soon, in the year 834. By the end of the 10th century, the pilgrimage to Santiago already had an international character and would enjoy enormous splendor throughout the Middle Ages. A phenomenon that was reflected in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century book that is considered to be the first pilgrims' guide describing the atmosphere of the Camino de Santiago at the time. Its original title is Liber Sancti Jacobi, although having been written in the name of Pope Calixtus II (Pope between 1119 and 1124) it soon became known as the Codex Calixtinus, a title that achieved historical fortune. Regarding the universal character of the Jacobean phenomenon at the time, we read the following: "Countless people of all nations go there.... There is no language or dialect whose voices do not resound.... The doors of the basilica are never closed, neither day nor night.... Everyone goes there acclaiming 'E-ultr-eia' (go ahead, sea!)".
A pilgrimage that will be maintained until our days, knowing a great splendor in all the Middle Ages and in wide periods of the Modern age. Its decline in the 19th century is linked to the deterrent effect of the French Revolution and the successive wars and revolutions that took place in Spain and Europe. And, of course, the ecclesiastical disentailment carried out in Spain in the 19th century will have very negative effects on pilgrimages. It is necessary to think that in the Ancien Régime the Church played an important role in what today we would call the logistics of the Camino: lodging, food or medical assistance. Thus, as the economic prosperity of the Church declined, many monasteries and hospitals were abandoned, and pilgrims lost the modest conditions of lodging and food provided by the religious.
We will have to wait until the 20th century to see a full recovery of the phenomenon of pilgrimages. However, at the end of the 19th century there was an event that was to play an important role in this recovery. Between the years 1878-79 the historian and canon Antonio López Ferreiro, together with the canon José María Labín Cabello carried out excavations in the cathedral to look for the remains of the Apostle Santiago, buried since 1589 for fear of desecration by the British invaders. On January 29, 1879, the sacred relics were found, whose veneration was authorized by Pope Leo XIII through the bull Deus Omnipotens. These relics were then placed in a new crypt built under the main altar, the place they occupy today.
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES.
PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE JACOBEAN PILGRIMAGE
Up to this point the account of a set of facts, sometimes adorned with legendary characters due to the grandiosity of what is narrated, which must be linked to the history of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. A phenomenon that, on the one hand, can be explained by the support it receives from the Catholic Church itself or from the Christian kingdoms, as in the case of the Navarre and Castilian-Leonese monarchies.
A whole group of authors, such as Robert Plötz, have pointed out that "the Cluniac Order contributed very especially to the increase of pilgrimages, by taking charge of those that went to Santiago de Compostela, since by uniting with the secular interests of the house of Burgundy, Cluny discovered very early the political value of the pilgrimage to Compostela "14. Márquez Villanueva pronounces himself in similar terms, for whom "the vast network of monasteries of Cluny, which extends to the depths of Poland, is, at this moment, the circulatory system of western Christianity, which makes possible a vast and efficient system of tributaries to the pilgrimage to Compostela".
The historical opportunity has also been frequently invoked to explain how the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle St. James contributes to strengthening the reconquest of the Christian kingdoms over Islam, coinciding on the one hand with the weakening of the Mozarabic and Isidorian heritage and, on the other, with the collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba16.
Now, as various authors have pointed out, "the pilgrimage, as with other phenomena of social and collective psychology, was produced and grew insensibly and spontaneously, without conscious direction and propaganda "17. There is always an irreducible background that has to do with the personal faith of the tide of pilgrims who contribute to consolidate a living pilgrimage route from medieval times to the present day. A pilgrimage, moreover, that possesses its own personality that differentiates it from the pilgrimage to Rome to visit the tomb of St. Peter or to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Sepulchre. A differential character that is associated with a phenomenology of the Jacobean pilgrimage that dates back to the late medieval period (12th century and later). I will distinguish the interior phenomenology of the pilgrimage (motives, spiritual reasons, attitude of the believer, spiritual benefits), from the exterior phenomenology of the pilgrimage (rites, customs, clothing, etc.).
a) Interior phenomenology
The motivations for setting out on the road to the tomb of St. James the Apostle have to do, in the first place, with the belief, already attested in archaic cultures, of becoming a partaker of the sacred by going to a place consecrated as containing the relics of a supernatural being or some other trace of the numinous presence of a sacred force. Also for the medieval Christian, making a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle meant obtaining protection and help, objectifying his faith through the cult of the blessed body of an apostle of Christ. But in addition to this general motivation, there existed for the medieval pilgrim other reasons or motives of great practical-religious efficacy to be able to explain why a path not exempt of dangers and penalties is undertaken. Among these reasons are:
(a) the ascetic-penitential ones. Embarking on the Camino de Santiago implied leaving behind a life of sin and, through the sacrifices and hardships of the long march, purifying oneself in order to return renewed, after the encounter with Santiago in his sanctuary.
b) Fulfillment of vows of an entirely voluntary and personal character or of penances imposed for the redemption of penalties (murders and other crimes).
c) Obtaining some grace or thanksgiving, very often one's own health or some other personal petition.
d) On behalf of another who for various reasons could not go on pilgrimage.
e) To culminate the three centers of pilgrimage of Christianity: Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago.
f) For adventure, curiosity, amusement.
g) As a modus vivendi, taking advantage of the network of Christian solidarity created around the Camino.
The reader can find further information on this rich phenomenology of the sacred in relation to archaic societies in AGÍS VILLAVERDE, M.: Mircea Eliade. Una filosofía de lo sagrado, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Santiago, 1991.
A meaning that includes a curious symbolism that we can find in the cathedral of Santiago. Indeed, in the Pórtico de la Glória, which we contemplate as we pass through the main door of the cathedral, we find in the chrismon (monogram of Christ formed by the intertwining of the initials of his name in Greek -Iesus Cristos-) the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, symbolism associated with the eternal character of God, beginning and end of all things, but also the path that has a beginning that corresponds to the place where the pilgrimage begins and an end that is the tomb of St. James the Apostle. On the façade of Platería, one of the two side exit doors, we find the Greek letters inverted in the chrismion, which are now written Omega and Alpha, as a sign that another path begins after the purification or spiritual renewal received after the visit to the tomb of Santiago el Mayor.
In a residual form, it is still in force in the legislation of Belgium and the Netherlands the possibility for young people to redeem minor sentences by making the pilgrimage to Compostela.
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE ROAD TO SANTIAGO
All this without taking into account, of course, the delinquents, heretics, women of bad life, fugitives, histrionics, minstrels, false money changers and an endless number of rogues who took advantage of the Camino to carry out their business and misdeeds.
Leaving aside such perversions, we can say that the true pilgrim set out on the Camino pietatis causa, that is, with the primary objective of achieving spiritual renewal, after passing the test of a long journey, full of discomfort and sacrifices, and filled with the thaumaturgical and sacrosanct power of prostrating himself before the tomb of the Apostle St. James.
On the other hand, the pilgrimage is not for the Christian an imposed obligation, unlike what happens in the Islamic religion with the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every believer must make at least once in life if he has the means to do so. In the case of the Christian it is a personal and voluntary decision for pious reasons, whatever they may be. It responds to an interior call and implies a temporary distance from the worldly noise, leaving behind the homeland, family and goods to immerse oneself in an experience close to an eremitical retreat, since it supposes a parenthesis in which the pilgrim offers a tangible sample of his faith.
The hard days, the physical fatigue, contributed to prepare the spirit for the supreme moment of the arrival to the sacred space where the goal of the journey is, the cathedral of Compostela. This kind of mortification and contempt of the body (tired, wounded, poorly fed and poorly slept) was a penance assumed in favor of the spirit, a kind of attenuated martyrdom that brought the believer closer to the sanctified life. It was an ascetic preparation to approach with dignity the sacred presence represented by the remains of St. James the Apostle. Nothing, apparently, has changed regarding the structure and morphology of the sacred and the channels established for the encounter of the sacred and the profane since the most archaic phases of civilization and human culture. There have always existed a series of rites of passage and purification to put the believer in contact with the sacred forces. Also in the case of the Jacobean pilgrimage, the believer had to prepare himself to access the sanctuary that housed the remains of the Apostle, confess his sins, attend the holy mass and receive communion. The pilgrim goes up to the main altar of the cathedral to physically embrace the image of St. James and also descends to the crypt where his mortal remains rest today. There is, therefore, a spiritual and even physical communion with the transcendence through the mediation of the Apostle Santiago.
The feast of St. James the Apostle falls on Sunday, the pilgrim crosses the Holy Door. After having fulfilled all the rituals, the pilgrim left renewed and a new life began for him, so that the end of the road now became the beginning of that other road of life (Omega and Alpha).
Naturally, the pilgrim visited the sanctuaries as he passed through the different places along the way and participated in worship as well as in penitential and devotional acts, or even in civil or religious works that were built along the way (roads, bridges, churches, etc.). There were also many temptations on the Camino and it was necessary to be on spiritual guard against them, from the pleasures associated with food and drink to carnal pleasures, which are already censured in the sermon "Veneranda dies" of the Codex Calixtinus. The pilgrim, whatever his economic capacity, had to carry a modest sum to meet the expenses of the pilgrimage, not only for an elementary reason of prudence against thieves and robbers but also to comply with the ascetic ideal and Christian modesty inherent in the spirit of the Camino. For this reason, since the twelfth century, it was foreseen to send a provision of funds to the goal of the Camino that the exchanger of Compostela made effective in their tables or "taboas".
But there were also, of course, pleasurable moments for the body and soul that made the Camino more bearable: songs that the pilgrims sang in Latin or in their respective languages25 , moments of distraction or rest enjoying nature and the company of pilgrims, among whom a sincere trust and friendship was inevitably born, etc. Family or guild ties were also strengthened because it was not uncommon for the pilgrimage to be undertaken in groups to avoid the dangers of the Camino.
There is a whole series of external aspects that have to do with the signs of identity of the medieval pilgrim to Compostela who, in turn, practiced a whole series of rites, customs and behaviors that distinguished him both from the rest of the men he met along the way and from the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem or Rome. Among these external elements are, among others, the following:
From the 14th century onwards, the changelings are grouped in the confraternity of the Cirial or of San Ildefonso, of which there are numerous documentary references.
a) Clothing. The clothing fulfilled the function of identifying the pilgrim, who, being stripped of his own attire, also renounced the external signs of greatness, social position, to be equal in accordance with the Christian spirit to the rest of the pilgrim brothers and sisters he met on the road. At the same time, it was an attire conceived with a practical philosophy for the purpose it was meant to serve. This attire is well reflected in the iconography of St. James and in the Codex Calixtinus itself. It consisted of the following seven elements:
1. A wide-brimmed hat to protect the pilgrim from both the sun and the rain.
2. Loose and unbuttoned tunic to be able to walk comfortably, on which rested the slavina that covered the shoulders, back and chest.
3. Strong and resistant footwear to support the long walk.
4. A small, open bag or pouch for food and essential personal items.
5. Gourd for the drink of each stage, water or wine.
6. A ferrado cordon at the tip that served as a support and protection against a possible attack by evildoers or wild animals. The staff, in its condition of third point of support, also symbolized for the allegorizing medieval mentality, the Holy Trinity and therefore protected both from the enemies of the body and the soul.
7. The scallop shell (scallop) on the front of the hat, holding the wide brim, and also frequently on the breastplate of the cape.
b) Viaticum or equipment that the pilgrim received in the temple or in the religious center of his point of departure, with the accrediting documents for the trip, letters of recommendation, etc. to facilitate the passage through the different countries and cities of the Jacobean route.
26 "The backpack," we read in the Codex Calixnito, "is a narrow pouch, made of the skin of a dead beast, always open at the mouth and not tied with ties. The fact that the backpack is a narrow pouch means that the pilgrim, trusting in the Lord, must carry a small and modest larder with him. The fact that it is made of the hide of a dead beast means that the pilgrim must mortify his flesh with vices and lusts, with hunger and thirst, with many fasts, with cold and nakedness, with hardships and labors.
The fact that it has no ties, but is always open at the mouth, means that the pilgrim must first share his property with the poor and therefore must be prepared to receive and to give".
c) Water has been considered since archaic antiquity as a symbol of purification and incorporation into a new life. Also the medieval pilgrim, before entering the temple, had to get rid of his dirty and deteriorated clothes after the long journey in a place known as a cruz dos farrapos (cross of the rags). Then he would go in penitence to one of the fountains to bathe and clean himself properly, symbolizing in this way a second baptism.
d) Now dressed in new clothes, the pilgrim entered the cathedral with dignity and prepared for a new cleansing, this time a spiritual one: Confession. Indeed, although the pilgrim obtained the forgiveness of his sins at the end of his journey, he had to orally manifest his faults to a confessor in the cathedral. This gave rise, from the 12th-13th century onwards, to a corps of interpreters to listen to pilgrims of different nationalities.
e) The visit also very frequently included the offering (oblatio) to the cathedral treasury, as well as charity to the blind, beggars, etc. A candle was also lit and, as we can read in the Codex Calixtinus, during the vigils "the church is illuminated as if in the sun or as if it were daytime "30 .
f) The scallop shell. Judging by the information supplied by the Codex Calixtinus, it probably began as a souvenir that pilgrims wore after their passage through Compostela, but it was soon incorporated into their clothing. "For the same reason the pilgrims who come from Jerusalem bring palms, so those who return from the sanctuary of Santiago bring shells. For the palm signifies triumph, the shell signifies good works." As to the explanation of why a shell and of scallop precisely the following explanation is given: "For there are some shellfish in the sea near Santiago, which the vulgar call scallops, which have two shells, one on each side, between which, as between two shingles, is hidden the mollusk resembling an oyster. Such shells are carved like the fingers of the hand..., and when the pilgrims return from the sanctuary of Santiago they pin them to the cloaks for the glory of the Apostle, and in memory of him and as a sign of such a long journey, they bring them to their abode with great rejoicing. The kind of breastplates
In the case of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem the pilgrim literally bathed in the waters of the Jordan River with the symbolism of a second baptism in the same place where Jesus had been baptized.
According to Mircea Eliade, "this immemorial and ecumenical symbolism of immersion as an instrument of purification and regeneration was adopted by Christianity and enriched with new religious valences. (...) Symbolically, man dies in immersion and is reborn purified, renewed; exactly as Christ rose from the tomb".
As with water, shells have a wide and rich religious and even philosophical symbolism.
g) The Compostela or Compostelana is the document that certifies having walked the Camino. In the Middle Ages it could be done on foot or on any type of mount (horse, mules or even on a humble donkey), nowadays the bicycle has also been incorporated.
h) In addition to the hospitals and hostels along the route, mention should be made of the important network of hospitals in the city of Santiago, of which the most impressive is undoubtedly the Royal Hospital of Compostela, founded by the Catholic Monarchs in 149934. Pilgrims were opened the doors of the hostels and, in general, were welcomed by the network of solidarity that operated along the Camino. The final chapter of the Codex Calixtinus, entitled "On how pilgrims to Santiago should be received", urges a charitable reception of pilgrims. "Pilgrims, both poor and rich," we read, "are to be charitably received and venerated by all people when they go to or come from Santiago. For whoever receives them and diligently hosts them, will not only have Santiago as a guest, but also the Lord, according to his own words when he says in the Gospel 'Whoever receives you receives me' .
i) Confraternities of ex-pilgrims to which those who had made the pilgrimage to Compostela joined on their return.
Diogenes of Sinope, cynical philosopher of the Hellenistic age, defended that man is freer the more he eliminates superfluous needs. Because of this philosophy, he lived in a barrel and his only property was a shell that he used to drink water from the fountains. Until one day he saw a child bener with his hands and threw the shell away forever.
Importance especially in France. The reason was to preserve the sacred halo acquired through the pilgrimage. In this sense, Márquez Villanueva tells us, "irradiated and participant, although to a minimal degree, of the inexhaustible thaumaturgy of the Apostle, the pilgrim (...) became another 'Santiago' and henceforth carried an aura of admitted although not declared antechamber of sanctity".
5. CULTURAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF THE PILGRIMAGE
The phenomenon of pilgrimages, in general, and the Jacobean pilgrimage, in particular, must be understood, as we have seen, from the perspective of faith. But this does not prevent us from recognizing other aspects intimately related to the Way. From its beginnings and throughout the medieval and modern period, the Camino de Santiago was not only a pilgrim route, but a road along which cultural fashions, architectural forms, values, political ideas, and a long etcetera traveled.
One of the aspects perhaps less known is the one that has to do with the penetration of philosophical and scientific ideas through the Way of St. James. There are, of course, studies of enormous originality on this subject that demonstrate to what extent the Way of St. James also served for the diffusion and knowledge of philosophy and science37. Nevertheless, much remains to be done in this area.
From the twelfth century onwards, there is talk in Europe of a certain humanism that transforms the spirit of medieval philosophy. It is the time when we begin to know, in a quantitatively very important number, works of classical authors that come to us through translations involving the Greek and Arabic languages on the one hand, and the Latin language on the other. Reason begins the process of autonomy from faith, a paradigm that will lead the modernity of philosophy in Western thought. All this generated an intellectual vitality and curiosity to which the Camino de Santiago and the city of Santiago de Compostela itself were no strangers. There we can detect three centers of scientific-philosophical activity: the Cathedral (or episcopal see), the studia of the Franciscans and those of the Dominicans.
Thus began an intellectual tradition that was to be consolidated in a very similar way in different European cities in the 13th century. An institutionalization of the intellectual life that we discover in the Franciscan studium of Oxford, created five years later than that of Santiago (1224-25); or in the Dominican studium of Saint-Jacques de Paris. While that of Santiago de Compostela stagnated, with a timid resurgence from 1252, coinciding with the beginning of the reign of Alfonso X the Wise, thanks to the intense intellectual activity developed in his court.
Although Santiago de Compostela was not historically a land of great philosophical fecundity, in the 14th century a figure of interest for philosophy flourished who still offers researchers some enigmatic aspects. I am referring to Pedro Compostelano, a medieval philosopher who bequeathed to us a work entitled De consolatione rationis (The Consolation of Reason). A single manuscript copy of this work is preserved in the Monastery of El Escorial, in Madrid, written in Latin. Although there have been doubts as to whether this author belonged to the twelfth or fourteenth century, researchers opt for the latter date because of the references to certain cultural and liturgical facts and events, as well as the appreciable imprint of philosophies and authors of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It is a work written in dialogue form and has three characters: the World, the Flesh and Reason. It is about three beautiful maidens who dialogue with a young man who is disoriented and does not know which path to take in life. The young man must choose between vice and virtue, between good and evil. As you can imagine, Reason and the ideal of a balanced and wise life that it offers him triumphs.
The other great fact, linked to the city and that will mark in a definitive way the cultural and philosophical life of the goal of the Camino, is the creation, towards the end of the 15th century, of the University of Santiago de Compostela. The date taken as a reference for the beginnings of the University is September 4, 1495, the date of the foundation of a College of Grammarians by the Compostela notary Lope Gómez de Marzoa, with the help of two other eminent figures who joined this enterprise: Don Diego de Muros II, bishop of the Canary Islands and Don Diego de Muros III, dean of the Cathedral of Santiago.
These three figures not only provided the economic means to begin what is known as the Old Studio, but also the spirit, tastes and culture of the Renaissance. An era of profound scientific, artistic, philosophical, economic, political and social transformations. This policy was continued by Archbishop Pedro Muñiz (d. 1224) and especially by Bernardo II (1224-37), a man linked to the intellectual circles of Bologna and Paris, who was dean of the chapter of Compostela from 1214. Both prelates saw in the consolidation of the new mendicant orders an essential element in the double policy of moral and intellectual renewal of the clergy of their extensive diocese".
Both because of its religious origin and its awareness of the transcendence of the Jacobean event, the University of Santiago has been an institution that has paid great attention to the Camino. At present, an important number of instigators deal with it from very diverse scientific fields, among which I will mention, simply as an indication, works of a historical, philological, anthropological or philosophical nature.
TOWARDS THE PRESENT SITUATION
The pilgrimage to Compostela is gradually recovering as the 20th century progresses, and is currently experiencing a boom reminiscent of the golden age of the Middle Ages, with all due historical distances. To provide some data that give an idea of the spectacular nature of the phenomenon, suffice it to say that compared to the 2,491 Compostelas (document that certifies having walked at least the last 100 kilometers of the Camino) that were granted in the Holy Year 1985-86, in 1993 99,436 were issued, and in the last Holy Year of 2004, the first of the third millennium, 179,944 Compostelas were issued. These data contradict the thesis of some researchers who state that "the theme of the Way of St. James must always be approached as a specific medieval reality, outside of which it would be anachronistic to judge it". Nowadays, hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and social conditions make the pilgrimage to Santiago. In this year 2007, which is not a holy year, 112,000 pilgrims have already collected their Compostela (the figure is from today). Many centuries have passed since the Middle Ages; historical, social, political and economic circumstances have changed. Nevertheless, the Jacobean pilgrimage has experienced, especially since the last decade of the twentieth century, a spectacular boom in the number of pilgrims.
Two questions loom over this fact. The first is to know what motives encourage today's pilgrims to set out on pilgrimage. The second is to know what factors contributed in the twentieth century to such a spectacular revival of the Camino de Santiago.
It is a Holy Year or Jubilee Year whenever July 25, the feast day of St. James, falls on a Sunday. It has been celebrated regularly since the Middle Ages, in accordance with the bull "Regis Aeterni" promulgated in 1179 by Pope Alexander II, which makes perpetual the "Jubilee Privilege" granted by Pope Callistus II in 1122.
Regarding the first, it is necessary to recognize that the practice of the Way is revitalized in an era of enormous secularization in Western culture. An era in which the religious sense of life has been lost. A process that from the philosophical point of view begins with the Renaissance and has its culmination in the philosophies of the twentieth century. This abandonment of religion and religious values, once the majority in Western societies, has not, however, been clearly replaced by a civic morality or a morality of the earth in the style advocated by Nietzsche. This may partly explain the feeling of emptiness, uneasiness and uncertainty of today's man. A man immersed in a technified universe, with global problems, who lives against the clock, with difficulties to meet the other, despite belonging to the era of information and communications. All this set of factors, universally perceived, can to a certain extent justify the imperious need of man to withdraw partially from the world, entering into communion with nature, and try to live again the value of the sacred, all of them aspects embodied in the Way of St. James. Although religious motivation is not the only one that moves the pilgrim of our days. There are, and probably always have been, travelers who do the Camino for the sake of adventure, tourism or simply to do something different, thus breaking the daily routine.
As for the second question, it should be noted that many people and institutions from very different fields contributed to the reactivation of the Camino. First of all, the Catholic Church, starting with Pope John Paul II himself, who made two pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, in 1982 and 1989. As well as the work carried out throughout the 20th century by various archbishops of Compostela. A work that gave its most appreciable fruits during the mandate of Archbishop Julián Barrio Barrio, auxiliary bishop of Santiago since 1994 and archbishop from 1996 to the present. Or of courageous priests such as D. Elías Valiña Sampedro (+1989), known as "o cura do Cebreiro", who in 1984 undertook the signposting of the original stretches of the Way from France to Compostela, as well as various cleaning, recovery and kilometric enumeration works, restoring the hostelry, church and village of O Cebreiro, the first Galician point of the French Way. Or institutions linked to the church as the Archconfraternity of the Apostle in Santiago and in various parts of the world, the Associations of Friends of the Camino de Santiago, the Cathedral Chapter, and a long etcetera.
The main institutional support from the civil society is undoubtedly due to the Xunta de Galicia (Autonomous Government of Galicia), which in 1993 created the Xacobeo Plan, dependent on the Department of Culture, and subsequently created the Xacobeo Plan Corporation to publicize and promote the Way of St. James in the world. The successive promotion plans have had their effect and, undoubtedly, the figures mentioned above are a good example of this. It is true that a certain controversy has arisen between the political and religious authorities, due to the insistence of the latter that the Way of St. James should not be lost. The latter insists that the religious significance of the pilgrimage should not be lost or distorted in order to promote the tourist or cultural aspects. The Way of St. James has acquired a universal dimension and, as such, it is not exempt from the negative aspects that massification provokes. This universal dimension is also a challenge to think from philosophy and anthropology about the meaning that the Way of St. James offers to modern man.
The metaphor of the "road" is, of course, one of the most reiterative metaphors of philosophy to express the itinerant condition of man. Philosophers of all times have made use of it, from Plato to Martin Heidegger, including, of course, the very rationalist Descartes who wrote his Discourse on Method to "conduct one's reason well", to find a safe path for philosophy and, in short, to distinguish the true from the false and to "walk safely through life".
This itinerant condition of man, which has led a good number of philosophers to define him as a homo viator, has been reinforced by the Christian vision of the world. "In the midst of the multiplicity of occupations of this world," writes St. Augustine, "there is only one thing to which we must tend. To tend because we are all pilgrims, not residents; we are still on the way, not in a definitive homeland". A homeland to which he will refer with the metaphor that gives its name to one of his most famous works: the City of God, and which he will formulate theologically in The Confessions: "Our heart is restless, until it rests in you".
The Christian vision of the world, introduced by Augustine of Hippo and deepened by a good number of Christian philosophers, has given rise to the fact that "pilgrimage in its different forms is the most appropriate symbol to understand the life of man, which is perceived fundamentally as a path towards eternity, truth and fullness".
The Christian worldview is an indissoluble part of European history and culture, for, as Goethe wrote, "the conscience of Europe was born on pilgrimage". From this perspective, it is necessary to understand the exhortation of John Paul II in his Europeanist speech, pronounced on the occasion of his first trip to Santiago on November 9, 1982 (of which today marks exactly 25 years): "be yourself, return to your roots". Santiago de Compostela, the destination of one of the most important pilgrimage routes of Christianity, preserves the memory of Europe and the roots of its identity.
It is, perhaps, the desire to rediscover its roots, its identity, that has led contemporary man to go on pilgrimage. And not only from a metaphorical point of view, but by walking and revitalizing the Way of St. James, a medieval pilgrimage route full of meaning. A religious sense, first of all, because it has been inspired by faith; but also an anthropological sense, because man has defined himself as a wayfarer; and even a philosophical sense, because philosophy and science is nothing but the path that leads to knowledge. In our case, there are also historical-political reasons because "the conscience of Europe - as Goethe lapidarily wrote - was born on pilgrimage".
The Way of St. James has been, as we have seen, the way of penetration of cultural and philosophical ideas throughout the centuries. Today it brings us together again in Pontevedra, a city that crosses the Portuguese Way to Compostela, allowing us to establish a bridge between two distant and different cultures such as the Japanese and the Galician, but with a vocation to meet. | philosophy |
https://www.soulinwonder.com/podcast/anaiya-sophia | 2019-11-12T00:37:22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496664469.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20191112001515-20191112025515-00543.warc.gz | 0.918344 | 750 | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2019-47__0__529268 | en | Rise of the Divine Feminine With Anaiya Sophia #70
After millennia of suppression, the Fierce Feminine is making a dramatic resurgence to express our universal outrage. Join Anaiya Sophia, author and mystic, on episode 70 of the Soul in Wonder Podcast as she talks about the Fierce Feminine rising collectively now, and how all genders are feeling a welling up of sacred rage inside—a calling to set things right in our own lives and seek justice for those who can’t defend themselves. Anaiya explains how this rising is not a feminist movement set to publicly condemn all that is masculine but a collective spiritual uprising for the greater good of humanity.
Anaiya’s catalyst for her mission on Earth to serve humanity and the collective consciousness in the precise way that she does
What it means when people speak of the divine feminine and masculine energies that exist within and without each of us.
The current state of the divine feminine rising at this point in our collective evolution, specifically the rise of the fierce feminine, and how this energy is calling each of us to seek justice and inspire positive change in the world
“Sacred Rage” and the difference between this divine rage and anger and how to channel it properly for the betterment of humanity
How to recenter our personal power after abuse or trauma
The importance of healthy sexuality in a sacred union practice
Anaiya also guides listeners through a simple, yet profound, exercise to work on balancing the masculine and feminine energies within us
She shares updates on her new book tour and where to keep up with her journey
Anaiya Sophia is a Myrrhophore (mistress of sacred oils), Mystic and Author of revelatory wisdom. She carries an oral mystery that stirs the remembrance of a continuous lineage with the Feminine Principle that throughout the centuries has preserved its spiritual dignity, without the need for permission or recognition from any other source.
Her recent book Fierce Feminine Rising she addresses the obstacles of silence, conditioning and programming that attempt to maintain slavery to a system that is destroying the Earth and our minds. She realises that true liberation from this influence is unearthed though Sacred Relationship and how our greatest gift is in gathering and receiving one another's awakening codes. In her book, she addresses head on the many challenges that stand in our way to authentically awaken and the inner alchemy to overcome them.
Her books include:
Open your Heart with Kundalini Yoga (Harper Collins, 2002)
Mini Size Me (Lulu, 2005)
Pilgrimage of Love (Lulu, 2010)
Womb Wisdom (Inner Traditions, 2011)
Sacred Sexual Union (Inner Traditions, 2013)
The Rose Knight. Part I: Sophia's Story (Lulu, 2014)
Sacred Relationships (Inner Traditions, 2015)
Return of the Grail King. Part II: Logos' Story (Lulu, 2019)
Fierce Feminine Rising (Inner Traditions, 2020)
Anaiya lives in Southern France with her beloved husband Pete Wilson. Their homeland is a place shrouded in the myths and legends of such groundbreaking visionaries such as Mary Magdalene and the mystical legacy of the Cathars, as well as the romance of the Troubadours and their vision of Courtly Love. Together in union with the land, they take people on their own Grail Quest into an immersive interaction where an initiation by the Feminine Principle is almost always guaranteed. They run a B & B in the beautiful village of Puivert, called Occitania Bed and Breakfast where individuals and small groups can come and stay. | philosophy |
https://millvalleyzen.com/zen-wisdom-for-modern-times-be-kind-with-yourself/ | 2023-09-22T08:52:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506339.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922070214-20230922100214-00639.warc.gz | 0.928818 | 139 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__65660311 | en | In this week’s reading, Shunryu Suzuki suggests: “If we do not have some warm, big satisfaction in our practice, that is not true practice…the purpose of instruction is to encourage you to be kind with yourself. Do not count your breaths just to avoid your thinking mind but to take the best care of your breathing.”
This talk from Marc Lesser was recorded as part of a Mill Valley Zen weekly meditation meetup. Everyone is welcome to join the free weekly Wednesday meditation class and no prior meditation experience is necessary.
Learn more about Mill Valley Zen weekly meditation classes, or sign up to participate at https://millvalleyzen.com. | philosophy |
http://www.alpertjcc.org/aboutus/our-mission-vision-and-values/ | 2020-01-18T05:53:24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250592261.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20200118052321-20200118080321-00241.warc.gz | 0.928658 | 309 | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-05__0__138981741 | en | Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Our Mission: To provide programs and services that contribute to the sound development of individuals of all ages and to offer opportunities to enhance an appreciation of Jewish and democratic values in Long Beach and West Orange County.
Our Vision: The Alpert Jewish Community Center is a Jewish neighborhood and gathering place that is the heart of Jewish learning and activities, designed to improve its members' lives in conjunction with their family, synagogue, local organizations, and the general community.
Our Values: We will fulfill our mission by operating the AJCC with these shared values:
- Community-- Provide a neighborhood gathering place, foster fellowship among all people, and work cooperatively and in partnerships with other organizations in the Jewish and general community.
- Jewish Experiences-- Promote the spiritual, cultural and ethical values of Judaism, and provide Jewish learning and living experiences that enhance one's sense of identity.
- Responsiveness-- Listen to and are sensitive to the needs of our members, volunteers, staff, and the community.
- Quality-- Provide the highest quality programs and services, facilities, and staff that meet the social, recreational, cultural, educational, and wellness needs of our members.
- Leadership-- Value the partnership of strong lay and professional leadership which enables up to plan collectively to achieve our goals.
- Fiscal Responsibility-- Maintain the trust of the community by operating within our budget, strive to become financially self-sufficient, and transform the AJCC into a pro-active organization that succeeds in all endeavors. | philosophy |
http://nmisscommentor.com/random-firings/some-notes-on-judge-sotomayor-the-second-amendment-and-the-incorporation-doctrine/ | 2017-03-29T17:03:29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218190754.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212950-00104-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.960923 | 2,416 | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-13__0__234150005 | en | Correction: In an account of George Cochran’s con law class, below, I misquoted him. He said “Who the hell is Samuel Johnson and why would John Marshall care what he said about commerce?”
One of the folks in comments has been strongly attacking Judge Sotomayor as a racist and as an opponent to gun rights, whatever they may be. I’ve yet to see any effective answer to the prior post (quoting Julian Sanchez) about the scurrilous, frivolous charge of racism– and repeat my puzzlement about whether those making the charge even understand what racism is. But back to the Second Amendment issue.
The question is whether there is something unreasonable about a Second Circuit per curiam opinion in which Judge Sotomayor joined. Apparently, it is being used to argue that Sotomayor is not “pure” on Second Amendment issues.
The case held that a New York stat ute banning nunchuckas did not violate the Second Amendment. Got that? It’s not about guns. It’s not about a weapon traditionally considered by Americans to be part of self defense, or anything that would be considered the sort of weapon that regular folks might report with when the militia is called to arms. It’s nunchuckas, folks, not guns.
But beyond that, I want to set the context of the supposedly controversial opinion.
There are a series of questions about the Second Amendment. The first is whether the language imparts an individual right. In the Heller case, the Supreme Court clearly answered that it did. Stripping away all the wishes of gun-rights advocates, that was a far closer question than they acknowledged– the logic of Justice Scalia’s opinion explicitly required reading the opening language of the amendment (about a well-regulated amendment) as meaningless preface.
Before leaving that aside, here’s a memory from George Cochran’s con law class at Ole Miss, circa Spring of 1979. Cochran had worked us through the Commerce Clause as understood by John Marshall, and one particular (extremely conservative) student would not stop arguing with him that Marshall’s understanding of commerce was overbroad and just had to be wrong. Cochran was incredulous. The next day, class started, and up goes the student’s hand. He starts to say “Samuel Johnson’s dictionary defined commerce as…” Before he could go further, Cochran inturupted: “Who the hell is Samuel Johnson and why wshould I John Marshall care what he says about commerce?” The student was struck dumb. English majors all over the class tittered.
One thing I learned from Heller is that Justice Scalia cares a lot what Samuel Johnson’s dictionary says (he repeatedly looks to definitions from the dictionary in his opinion).
Heller’s done now, though, and we have the answer to what seems to me a close constitutional question. And I realize that, saying it’s a close question, I’ve now invited raging, irrational furies who may well arrive shouting at my errora on the right to bear arms without talking rationally about what that error may be. I’d rather leave the issue decided by Heller aside– it’s resolved!– and move on to the next questions.
The second and third question (hard to say which comes first, and it will depend on what case comes to the court next) are about the Incorporation Doctrine, and about what exactly the scope or extent of the Second Amendment right might be. There are hints about both in Scalia’s opinion in Heller.
The Bill of Rights by its language and original intent was only a limitation on the federal government and not the states. The passage of the Fourteenth Amendment changed this, at least say some; the concept of due process includes certain fundamental constitutional rights (such as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, or to be assured the right to counsel at trial, or to free speech or freedom of religion or association or the right to petition the government). The prevailing view has been that only fundamental rights were “incorporated” by the Fourteenth Amendment, and others (e.g. the right to a jury in a civil trial, or grand jury rights) were not fundamental and did not apply to the states.
The workings of Incorporation Doctrine are murky, and there are a range of views, from the “some not all rights are incorporated” view to that Justice Black held that the whole Bill of Rights was incorporated. Yet others apparently hold the view that the Incorporation Doctrine has no basis in constitutional text or history and should be discarded.
And there’s the rub, because the two justices most hostile to the incorporation doctrine are Scalia and Thomas. Scalia has attacked it in public presentations:
“I doubt whether that’s an accurate interpretation of it, but that’s what the court said,” was Scalia’s reply. “The court has interpreted that as essentially sucking up the Bill of Rights and applying the Bill of Rights against the states,” said Scalia. “And not the whole Bill of Rights, just some of the Bill of Rights, essentially those provisions that we like.” (It is true that the Supreme Court has only incorporated some but not all of the Bill of Rights to apply to the states. The Fifth Amendment’s requirement of grand juries in criminal cases and the Seventh Amendment’s guarantee of jury trials in civil cases, for example, have not been applied to the states.)
In the talk, Scalia also said the incorporation doctrine was responsible for some of the court’s “strange” decisions. “You know, can you have a creche and a menorah? Is it okay to have both a creche and a menorah and a Christmas tree? Or what if you have a Christmas tree and not a menorah? We never had these weird cases before, because it was not a matter of federal law. The federal Constitution did not cover it.”
So, are two judges (Scalia and Thomas), hostile to the Incorporation Doctrine, going to hold that the Second Amendment applies to the states?
In Heller, Scalia notes that a nineteenth century case had held that “The second amendment … means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress.” In other words, it does not apply to the states. Scalia also looked at Miller, the 1930s case holding that the ban against sawed-off shotguns did not violate the Second Amendment. Many judges (and for that matter, I) have read Miller to say the Second Amendment did not confer an individual right; the Stevens dissent in Heller makes much of that. Scalia states that Miller turns on the kind of weapon:
[I]t was that the type of weapon at issue was not eligible for Second Amendment protection: “In the absence of any evidence tending to show that the possession or use of a [short-barreled shotgun] at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.” 307 U. S., at 178 (emphasis added). “Certainly,” the Court continued, “it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.”
One final note about Heller. Justice Breyer in his concurrence in Heller argued that even if the Second Amendment did confer an individual right, it did not confer a right to keep handguns. That opinion was joined by Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens. So there are four clear votes that, if there is a right, it is limited. And, as noted above, one might guess that there are two justices (if we expect consistency) who are hostile to incorporation.
That’s the context in which the case came before the Second Circuit. The plaintiff was suing the State of New York to set aside the state’s ban of nunchuckas, alleging that the Second Amendment protected his right to keep nunchuckas. He argued that he should be able to keep them to practice martial arts. So, first, the court had to decide does the Second Amendment apply to the states? The Second Circuit’s job here is to look at Heller in the context of the Court’s existing precedent. Here’s what they said:
The Second Amendment provides: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” U.S. Const. amend. II. The Supreme Court recently held that this confers an individual right on citizens to keep and bear arms. See District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 2799 (2008). It is settled law, however, that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right. See, e.g., Presser v. Illinois, 116 U.S. 252, 265 (1886) (stating that the Second Amendment “is a limitation only upon the power of congress and the national government, and not upon that of the state”); Bach v. Pataki, 408 F.3d 75, 84, 86 (2d Cir. 2005) (holding “that the Second Amendment’s ‘right to keep and bear arms’ imposes a limitation on only federal, not state, legislative efforts” and noting that this outcome was compelled by Presser), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1174 (2006). Heller, a case involving a challenge to the District of Columbia’s general prohibition on handguns, does not invalidate this longstanding principle. See Heller, 128 S. Ct. at 2813 n.23 (noting that the case did not present the question of whether the Second Amendment applies to the states). And to the extent that Heller might be read to question the continuing validity of this principle, we “must follow Presser” because “[w]here, as here, a Supreme Court precedent ‘has direct application in a case, yet appears to rest on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions, the Court of Appeals should follow the case which directly controls, leaving to the Supreme Court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions.’” Bach, 408 F.3d at 86 (quoting Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/Am. Express, Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484 (1989)) (alteration marks omitted); see also State Oil Co. v. Khan, 522 U.S. 3, 20 (1997).
I think anyone who is being intellectually honest would say these are close questions. A close look at what she’s actually done fails to support the attacks on her.
Saying “They’ll take my guns from my cold dead hand” doesn’t suffice to answer anything. But yet it is concurring in that per curiam opinion that is Judge Sotomayor’s purported sin against the Second Amendment, and what seems to some to disqualify her. Wingnut news outlets and Republican hacks are simply announcing she’s WRONG and hoping that it rallies the troops, brings in some money, and gives them a reliable issue for attack ads. | philosophy |
https://alexvdare.com/letter-push-to-ban-crt-is-an-unhinged-attempt-to-protect-the-status-quo/ | 2021-06-13T09:23:38 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487607143.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20210613071347-20210613101347-00617.warc.gz | 0.942043 | 343 | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-25__0__80776316 | en | The sweeping push in Republican-led states to ban critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 education and at the university in some states (e.g., Idaho) is a misguided and, frankly, unhinged attempt to protect the status quo of white supremacy and patriarchy. It is backlash against movements for racial equity and justice, women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. It takes the language of critical race and critical gender theories and turns it on its head to confuse, anger and frighten. This is not new. Any attempt to enlarge equal opportunities for Black, Indigenous, people of color, women and queer folks is generally met with uncivil and violent push back: “You are trying to take away something that is rightfully mine and give it to some undeserving other. How dare you?”
It is not coincidence that this push comes after large gatherings of mostly peaceful protests that proclaim that Black Lives Matter, women’s rights and experiences matter, and queer lives matter. The critical theories that inform our understandings of inequities and injustices and demonstrate the need for dismantling systemic and institutional oppressions cannot be put back in a box. They illustrate the need for making progress against racism, sexism and heterosexism.
Utah’s Republican Legislature’s move to ban CRT, thinking that they can block the tides of progress against oppression, is a fool’s errand. At least know it for what it is before raising signs that read, “Don’t teach my children to be racist.” Misunderstanding of CRT’s analyses is clear here.
Heather E. Bruce, Salt Lake City | philosophy |
https://somewhereovertherainblog.com/2020/03/14/twenty-things-ive-learned-before-turning-20/ | 2021-09-18T19:17:06 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-39/segments/1631780056572.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20210918184640-20210918214640-00413.warc.gz | 0.948129 | 1,081 | CC-MAIN-2021-39 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-39__0__190340689 | en | I am now officially no longer a teenager…. what a scary thought! I spent most of my teenage years worrying about what others thought of me, and desperately trying to “fit in”. But, I also learnt a lot about myself. I cannot wait to see what this next phase of life will bring. For now, here are 20 things I’ve learned….
Family is EVERYTHING
Never take your family for granted. They will be there to support you through your toughest times and to celebrate your greatest achievements. I cherish every moment that I spend with my family, they are everything to me.
Quality over quantity
When it comes to making friends, it is ALWAYS the case of quality over quantity. I might not have the greatest number of friends, but the ones I do have mean more to me than words can describe.
Self-Love is JUST as important as finding true love
This is one of the hardest lessons that I’ve had to learn. The majority of my teenage years were spent hating my body, and the person I was on the inside. I’ve now realised that Ru Paul was right… “If you can’t love yourself how the HELL you gonna love somebody else!”
‘Perfection’ doesn’t exist
I am a terrible perfectionist, forever worried about making mistakes. My grandma always used to say to me, “all you can do is try your best” and that is ENOUGH. Only now am I starting to realise what wonderful approach to life that is.
Be kind to others
Being kind is something I always strive to be, and I’ve learnt that from my parents. You never know what people might be going through behind closed doors, so it’s important to always be kind.
Don’t dwell on the negatives
There have definitely been some moments in my life that I wish I could forget. But, there is no point dwelling on the negatives. Life goes on, you can either run from it, or learn from it.
Don’t waste time worrying about money
I have been so lucky to have the financial support of my parents, but for a long time that came with a lot of personal guilt. It’s true what they say though, the best things in life are free, and you should’nt waste time worrying about money.
Make time for the little things
Whether it’s reading a book, listening to music or watching your favourite TV show, it’s important to make time for life’s simple pleasures.
Laughter IS the best medicine
When I’m feeling down, I find it impossible to take pleasure in anything. But, it’s true that laughter is sometimes the best medicine. It can completely change your mood, and shed a little light on a bad situation.
Every little helps
When it comes to making a change in the world, every little helps! You don’t have to go to the extremes to make a difference, so long as you are passionate about it.
Mindfulness is seriously underrated. But, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t happen overnight. Taking time each day to focus on yourself will help brighten your mind, body and soul.
Working hard seems like an obvious lesson. But, it’s more about how you work that matters. Don’t punish yourself for your mistakes and let your passions drive you to do your best.
Strive towards equality
In a world where there are so many divisions, it is important to celebrate our differences. Always strive towards equality because at the end of the day we are all human.
This might seem like a simple lesson, but it is one I have struggled to learn. Food is NOT the enemy. It can bring so much joy and happiness to people. Now, I eat what makes me feel good, and today that included a large slice of birthday cake!
Exercise for YOU
As many of you know, my relationship with exercise has been a difficult one. But, I think I’ve finally found a healthy balance. Now, I don’t exercise for others, or to fit into an XS dress, I exercise for ME.
Just like humans, animals have emotions too. So, respect them and respect their rights.
Feminism is for EVERYONE
It doesn’t matter who you are, if you believe that women deserve the same rights as men you ARE a feminist. And that is NOTHING to be ashamed of.
Appreciate your partner
Two years ago, I met someone that changed my life completely. It’s so important to appreciate your partner, and I will never stop appreciating you my love.
Prioritise your mental health
Mental health is so important! Whenever you feel stressed or overwhelmed, ALWAYS prioritise your mental health. Nothing is worth sacrificing that for.
Dare to DREAM
If I have learnt one thing in my 20 short years on this planet, it is that no dream is too far out of reach. If you work hard enough, and are passionate enough, NOTHING is impossible. | philosophy |
https://www.edguideonline.pw/attitude-of-entitlement-and-the-law-of-attraction/ | 2022-11-26T12:00:37 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446706291.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20221126112341-20221126142341-00453.warc.gz | 0.957142 | 786 | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-49__0__224387056 | en | If you desire $1 million, what are you prepared to give for it? You may only be prepared to invest $1 for the lottery ticket, trusting to luck.
“Luck is Preparedness Meeting Opportunity” – Earl Nightingale (Lead the Field)
Implicitly stated in the above quote is the requirement for work, resulting in “Preparedness”. You must undertake preparatory work in order to receive your desired outcome, in order to prepare yourself for when opportunity presents itself.
For example, if you wish to make your millions through a passive on-line web-site, surely it will require work to develop your product, learn the necessary marketing strategies and build your web-site. Perhaps you are going to buy a web-site or have someone else build it for you. Therefore, you will probably need to work for the money with which to pay for these services.
Napoleon Hill interviewed many of the most wealthy Industrialists, Businessmen, Inventors in the early 20th century and categorized their character traits leading to their sucess. In neither “Think and Grow Rich” nor “Law of Success” does he state that one need only sit back and wait for success to fall upon you.
Examine the work ethis oc today’s successful to determine if any of them have worked for their success. Bill Gates? Donald Trump? Michael Jackson? U2? Aerosmith? Have they not given something in return for their success? Can you honestly expect to do otherwise?
I believe the critical aspect to the “Law of Attraction” is the extent to which you must work for your desired outcome. Most of the working world works hard at getting ahead, however, they are unaware of, or do not utilize, the power of the “Law of Attraction”. Utilization of the Law of Attraction allows you to leverage your work effort, allowing you to do less work toward your Desired Outcome than without the law.
Summary of the process underlying the Law of Attraction
1. Visualize your objective (Desired Outcome) in as much detail as you can. Write it down, commit it to paper, put together a Vision Board or, better yet, a Mind Movie. Have a tangible record of your objective (Napoleon Hill’s “Definite Chief Aim”). Associate as much emotion (a Burning Desire) with this goal as you can. Live it, breathe it, expect it.
2. Take the appropriate action to receive it. Be consciously aware of any, and all, opportunities to take you closer to your goal. Perhaps it is through corporate advancement (with associated benefits) or a lateral move to another company. Perhaps it is only the intuitive feeling that you need to buy a lottery ticket for the next draw.
However, make no mistake, there is action required in order to achieve your dreams. Take a very close look at those who claim otherwise and you will, in most (if not all) cases, find they have put in effort (and successfully leveraged others efforts) to achieve their goals.
Visualize, then take appropriate action to realize your dreams.
I believe society needs to change its collective mind set. I don’t believe we are entitled to anything we have not earned. We can, however, leverage our work effort, and dramatically leverage it, through application of the Law of Attraction so as to legitimately earn our desired outcomes, our objectives, our goals.
Thoughtful and consistent application of the Law of Attraction, the full underlying process of “Visualization”, followed by appropriate “Action”, is what separates those who work hard and those who work, seemingly effortlessly, to achieve their goals. | philosophy |
http://www.bmacstudio.com/connection/ | 2018-01-20T12:29:29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084889617.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20180120122736-20180120142736-00192.warc.gz | 0.95567 | 117 | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-05__0__127083967 | en | Most unexpected. One day, backdrop in place, one person steps in front of my camera. People notice and begin to gather. A line forms. 180 Individuals and groups passed in front of my camera. 8 hours later I’m left energized. Why? Individually connecting with a room full of strangers can do that. It’s pretty amazing. When I look through these images I still feel that connection.
It was this day that I truly discovered the potential of a camera in my hands and the power of connection. To be seen. To be appreciated. | philosophy |
https://www.independentpressaward.com/2023df/9781098396930 | 2024-04-18T07:05:45 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817200.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20240418061950-20240418091950-00463.warc.gz | 0.884499 | 310 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__153363196 | en | Mindset Medicine: A Journaling Power Self-Love Book
Mari L. McCarthy
Want the cure for culture chaos? Grab your pen and pad and prescribe yourself with "Mindset Medicine: A Journaling Power Self-Love Book."
The news, the fear, the media, the texts, the constant bombardment of electronic sludge. It can all tear you down and rip you away from being YOU! You can choose to give into this madness and be manipulated into submission. Or you can join the journaling power revolution, reconnect with your higher self, and love yourself without conditions. It's time to manifest the self-love you have inside!
"Mindset Medicine" is a guide to truly learn your own values, ignoring the outside noise. Who are you mentally, physically, and spiritually? Grant yourself permission to go on a journaling power journey in which you shower yourself with endless amounts of self-love.
In her third book in the Journaling Power Revolution Series, award-winning international bestseller author Mari L. McCarthy reveals a journaling power path that leads to an awareness of how vibrant your life will be when you…
• Understand why you absolutely have to love yourself first
• Tap into your hidden gifts and talents
• Declare why others must ALWAYS respect you
• Establish rock-solid unbreakable boundaries
• Promise to be YOUR own superhero!
Most importantly, Mindset Medicine explains in rich detail why the most empowering and loving relationship you can ever have―is with YOU! | philosophy |
https://gamerize-dictionary.com/growth-mindset/ | 2024-04-16T14:51:09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817095.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20240416124708-20240416154708-00268.warc.gz | 0.958154 | 149 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__18461262 | en | Growth Mindset: Do Your Kids Believe They Can Learn?
The subject of multiple TED Talks and countless articles and blogs on education, a growth mindset is simply the belief that with effort and practice our skills can improve. By contrast, a ‘fixed mindset’, or the belief that we are born smart or not, can demotivate learners by making them feel that their efforts are futile. Helping learners to have a growth mindset will help them to love learning throughout their lives.
The kingdom building feature in The Gamerize Dictionary helps learners to understand that their small gains, little by little over a period of time add up to a lot, by making it visually represented. This helps learners to develop a growth mindset. | philosophy |
http://www.premiosnacionalesdediseno.com/classes.htm | 2017-04-24T05:21:32 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917119080.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031159-00190-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.911365 | 1,188 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__59202007 | en | Higher Vision’s Transformational Classes
Higher Vision’s teaches practical Christianity - living a life of love, forgiveness and spiritual growth. The practical teachings can be practiced and applied to everyday living to improve our relationship with God within our self, with others, and in the world for all good to unfold.
Higher Vision’s universal truth teachings point the way to how an individual may cultivate their own unique relationship with the Higher Self, The Divine, the Christ, Spirit, call it what you will, live their life from a place of conscious connection with the already enlightened essential Self, and be of authentic service to the planet.
At every stage of growth and development on the spiritual path it is important to maintain a "beginner's mind." Remaining teachable acknowledges that spiritual truth is limitless, so there is always the opportunity to rise to a more profound level of understanding, wisdom and practice through spiritual study.
Our teachings is based on daily meditation, affirmative prayer, contemplation, study, self-evaluation and practical application. Prayer, Meditation and affirmation are a means to change our thinking from false beliefs of our self and our world, to knowing and experiencing the Truth in our life as Love,peace,Abundance, Joy, Harmony, wholeness, and better life. As we live this truth we develop a deep relationship which helps you experience a stronger connection with God. Teaches you to live more abundant and meaningful lives.And helping you find your way to understanding-and experience-of God.
Online (Class) Spiritual Study: An adventure into an expanded and empowered life. Exploring the nature of the Spiritual Universe and its relationship to our daily human lives.
Bible Study: With Metaphysical Interpretation Covers Old Testament and New Testament assist with deeper meanings for your spiritual unfoldment and a deeper understanding of the Bible
Consciousness I: What Is God? Exploring our beliefs about God and teaches that God, Limitless Being, is equally present everywhere. God is pure Spirit--Absolute, changeless, eternal manifesting in all creation, is the one power, all wisdom, continually creating,and all is Good.
Consciousness II: What is the Nature of God? Exploring the nature of the Spiritual Universe. In Truth its nature is Life, Love, Peace,Abundance, Joy, Harmony, Wholeness, Order and Eternal Life.And learning to release false beliefs about God's Nature
Consciousness III:What Is Your Relationship To God? Exploring our relationship to God in our daily human lives. We are each individual, eternal expressions of God ,which brings spiritual vision to awaken to our divinity,and union your oneness with God according to truth.And learning to plant seeds of Truth.
By studying and living these teachings we too shall know the Christ within,God awareness "Christ in you, the hope and glory." Col.1:27 These blessings are realized through the practice of the laws that Jesus Christ gave: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added to you.: and in John 14:34, "That you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
Practitioner Course:Practicing The Presence. Studies developing professional skills, expansion of consciousness and awakening a greater sense of oneness of the Christ Consciousness, The "Christ" is that part of God that is in every person. There is a spark of divinity within all of us, just as it was in Jesus. It is the individualized expression of God within humanity. Perquisite: Must have completed required classes.
Prayer: Affirmative Prayer a solid awareness of oneness with Spirit. The power of affirmative prayer sets in motion a process of healing false beliefs that prevents an individual from fully realizing their spiritual inheritance .Prayer is an intimate communion with the Spirit in the language of one's own heart.
Meditation:Meditation stills the mind, increase the capacity to intuitively receive the guidance of Spirit,and open the heart's desire to serve as a beneficial presence on the planet. All meditation techniques share a common purpose: to awaken awareness, another word for self-realization. Techniques for relaxation, mental focus, contemplation meditation, and way to reach deep inner levels of awareness, and communion in the Silence.
A Course In Miracles:
Is a required course. It is a complete self-study spiritual thought system. The course focuses on the healing relationships and making them holy. It aims at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all encompassing can have no opposite. This course can be summed up very simply in this way: "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exist. Herein lies the peace of God."can Forgiveness
Ask And It Is Given:
For those who seek or desire enlightenment and well-being, influence by the messenger Abraham a most powerful teaching connected to Source Energy. this is a universe of vibration. To shift from the hoping and wishing you will have what you really want, to knowing you can have what you really want, by the power of the Law of Attraction. And accepting it is attracting itself to you by your thinking and feeling which equals your belief.
“Be inspired and uplifted all week”
Religion is about the study of God as the energy field behind life. For us to understand life, one has to develop an independent spirit of inquiry.
Copyright � 2011, 2012 ServingNewThought & Higher Vision Ministries
Home - Center - Classes - Events - Video - Our Leader - Beliefs - Weddings - Audio Archive - Links - Contribute | philosophy |
https://moxietalk.com/a-i-r-f-o-r-c-e-c-q-browns-high-flying-moxie/ | 2024-04-24T05:34:21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296819067.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20240424045636-20240424075636-00319.warc.gz | 0.970155 | 938 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__101350632 | en | “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As an American, I’ve always read these words from the Declaration of Independence with a sense of awe and pride. But this year, things are hitting just a little bit different.
Because I’m reminded this year that when those words were first written, there was an asterisk by “all.” The founding fathers didn’t really mean “all.” They meant some. They meant white men with land and means.
But a promise was embedded in those words, that one day they truly would mean “all” and not just “some.” More than 200 years later, we’re still struggling to fully live up to the promise of those words.
This year, perhaps for the first time in my life, I’m considering what it must be like to read those words as Black American. I’m wondering in particular what it must be like for Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, Jr. to read those words.
Brown was recently confirmed as the next Air Force Chief of Staff. He is the first African American officer to serve as the top uniformed officer of any of the military branches. In the days following the murder of George Floyd, Brown released a video on social media. In the video, he answers the question, “What am I thinking?”
Brown answers the question with emotion and intensity.
“Here’s what I’m thinking about,” says Brown in the video. “I’m thinking about protests in ‘my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, the equality expressed in our Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution that I’ve sworn my adult life to support and defend. I’m thinking about a history of racial issues and my own experiences that didn’t always sing of liberty and equality.”
Heavy words from a four-star general.
Brown talks about how often he’s been the only African American in the room, and how he’s lived his whole life in “two worlds.” He speaks about not being recognized as a pilot despite the wings on his chest, and the pressure to perform perfectly because he knows he is expected to fail. He speaks of not having mentors who look like him. He speaks of difficult conversations with his sons, trying to make sense of the world they live in and navigate it safely.
But he also speaks of the future with hope, and with determination to make it better for those coming up behind him.
“I’m thinking about how my nomination provides some hope, but also comes with a heavy burden — I can’t fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have impacted members of our Air Force,” he says. “I’m thinking about how I can make improvements, personally, professionally, and institutionally, so that all Airmen, both today and tomorrow, appreciate the value of diversity and can serve in an environment where they can reach their full potential.
“I’m thinking about without clear-cut answers, I just want to have the wisdom and knowledge to lead during difficult times like these. I want the wisdom and knowledge to lead, participate in, and listen to necessary conversations on racism, diversity, and inclusion. I want the wisdom and knowledge to lead those willing to take committed and sustained action to make our Air Force better.”
I want to believe our country is closer to the ideal of “all” than it is. But when I hear the testimony of men like Gen. Brown, I know we have a long way to go. Even high achievement and a lifetime of service to our country have not insulated him from prejudice and racism.
I am thinking it takes moxie to persevere as Gen. Brown has done, and as indeed all Black people in America have done. I want to hear more of Gen. Brown’s story, and more of what he is thinking.
What would you ask Gen. Brown if you had the chance?
C.Q. Brown’s Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Q._Brown_Jr. | philosophy |
http://getrealafrica.com/for-those-interested-in-the-sustainability-of-mankind/ | 2023-04-01T13:21:39 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296950030.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20230401125552-20230401155552-00116.warc.gz | 0.916914 | 107 | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-14__0__36244918 | en | For those interested in the Sustainability of Mankind
The Bushmen are now considered to be the most successful society in history.
What accumulated wisdom enabled this achievement.
What philosophies enabled the Bushmen to not only survive but thrive in the inhospitable wilderness of the Kalahari for more than 100 000 years? What mindset prevented them from desecrating their natural world?
Of all indigenous people the Bushmen have the unique distinction of never having waged war. What is it about their culture that enabled this remarkable achievement? | philosophy |
https://www.simonmunkshoj.com/retreat | 2024-04-21T05:39:41 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817729.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421040323-20240421070323-00751.warc.gz | 0.912873 | 2,433 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__112311968 | en | The body alchemy immersion
8th - 12th of may
Join us for Body Alchemy Immersion, a gathering of etheric healing, sharing and discovery of divine pathways to wholeness, holiness and completeness.
Opening Clairvoyant and Clairaudient abilities.
Allowing ego to step aside to commune with the higher frequency of wisdom and remembrance.
Mind, body and spirit quest for higher awareness, knowledge and connection.
Feeling embraced by the Oneness of the Universe.
Embracing unconditional love, peace and expansion within your vessel.
Collectively dreaming into the visions of a new way.
Welcome to the Body Alchemy Immersion where you will be held in a sacred space of mysticism, community, energy healing and embodied transformation.
The Body Alchemy Immersion is a coming home to somatic expression and amplification of chi, prana and divine energy within our body.
During our time together we will deepen in full body remembrance of gifts, skills, talents, and wisdom that reside within the intelligent field of your temple.
The human body is the ultimate temple of alchemical marriage where transformation takes place. By developing our Spirit Body within our physical body as the embodied vehicle of ascension, we are invited to experience transcendence, joy, pleasure, radiance and play. It is said that to have a human body is an extremely rare gift and through the body, mind and spirit, we can begin to realize one’s true self, purpose, passion and path.
Our story & mission
We've known each other for aeons, but in this lifetime, Simon, Ema, Nathaniel and Jet’aime met in Bali - all guided by walking the path of healing, remembering and divinity. There was an instant recognition and innate knowing that our coming together would ignite the flames of creation. By combining our gifts, our souls passion and everything we've come to learn on our earth journeys this far,
we felt that we was brought together to bring the world into a higher frequency, to let go of the past and align with an age of love, abundance and trust.
Our mission is to hold a sacred, empowering space to support you in your energetic, spiritual, emotional and personal discovery of the highest expression of yourself to emerge and greet the world.
We all have notions, dreams and intentions for the greatest version of ourselves to take agency in our lives and often times we transform and transcend any limitations or obstacles when we do it together, in community, in ceremony.
The intention of the body alchemy immersion is that through ritual, divine dialogue, connection to the natural mystic world and mystery school teachings, we invite you deeply into an intimate conversation between your body, the elements, and the sacred power that has always resided within and around you. This power that comes from fully feeling and healing any limitations, stories or narratives that keep you from your innate intuition, inspired intelligence and soul purpose.
We will draw energy and support from the elements
Meet your facilitators
I am Jet’aime Cheree and I walk the path of deep remembrance and reclamation of the divine feminine.
I speak the mother tongue language of the goddess and am a storyteller of ancient mythos through oracular divination, ecstatic prophecy, spiritual entrepreneurship, energy healing and mystic initiations at sacred sites. As an ancient civilizations researcher and priestess of Isis, I am a dedicant to the awakening memories of our mysteries.
As one of your facilitators for our Body Alchemy Immersion, I am devoted to holding sacred space for you to deepen in intentional intimacy within your body temple and alchemize densities into the highest expression of your light.
I’m simon, a human, a soul and everything in between. A body and lightworker on many levels, working my magic and body alchemy in both the physical, energetically and spirutal realm. Trained in bodywork, chiropractic, kundalini bodywork, spinal energetics and by living on this earth as a fully embodied human being.
Visioning and on a mission to bring forth peoples essence, retrieve their soul and bring them back to alignment of why they’re walking this earth.
We’re all here for a reason. And everyone’s important.
I’m Ema, humbly walking this path on Earth with deep devotion to Pachamama. In deep connection within myself I intuitively guide souls through their journeys home within.
I’m a medicine woman, reminding each and every single one of us that we are the medicine we seek.
I’m a goddess walking the path of remembering my sensual divine magick
I’m a jungle fairy sprinkling the magick of bliss and joy in deep connection with the human within.
Trained in kundalini bodywork, innerdance, breathwork and energy orgasms, I’m here to hold space for you and hold you in each and every step you make in your journey to remember your magick, power who you are within.
Hi my name is Nathaniel, walking this journey on earth just like you. A journey within, with all its high highs and its low lows. Seeing each and everyone as a multidimensional body,
holding space for healing on all these dimensions. Guiding you to your essence, peeling away layers of armor and inauthenticity through shadow work going straight to the source. Reconnecting you with your inner child, activivating your energetic work, surrendering to the known and the unknown as we are all and nothing but energy. Making the body feel again by touch with de-armoring and connected reiki, forming a mind and body balance.
Making life light again through dancing, breathing, eating and connecting souls. I believe we incarnate in our body’s to learn and enjoy. Life is a game of living until one day it’s game over. Let’s make sure we play the game instead of it playing us.
"Our body will mimic the pains & patterns held in the mental - emotional body in a loving attempt to show us the places we are not free."
The program of the immersion
Arrival from 16-18
I AM Activation
Fire Devotional Ceremony
Somatic Passion Practice
Soul Forage - Forest Meditation
Earth Ancestors Activation
Cacao Connection Ceremony
Rise from the Ashes Activation
Sword of Truth - Spinal Bodywork
Becoming Bliss Meditation
Essence of Expression - Energy Activation
Visionary Connection Exercise
Sacred Shake Somatic Practice
Divine Eros Energy Activation
Ecstatic Entrance Dance
Divine Energy activation
(changes in the program may occur to improve the immersion)
To heal what we have suppressed, pushed away, hidden and denied ourselves because it felt unsafe or too vulnerable at a given time to express and release - the grief, anxiety, unworthiness, fear, rage, fantasies, defeats - together we will create a sacred container to be present with these emotions, listen to them, learn from them, feel and heal their wounds and make space for their next iteration of joy, passion, creativity, sensuality and wholeness to emerge.
Allow yourself to feel fully emptied of dense energies to be filled again by what truly lights you up in this life. This is the inhale and exhale of surrendering to your highest potential and you are ready!
What is Kundalini Bodywork?
Kundalini bodywork is a modality that combines energy activation, de-armouring, breathwork, self-practice and intention-setting. Its a holistic and integrative therapy which helps the body release trauma and blockages keeping you from reaching your highest truth.
What is Energy activation?
It’s a path of surrender, remembrance and transformation.
It is harnessing our life force (chi, prana, kundalini), giving us the potential for healing and to transform our frequency and consciousness. It moves you into higher octaves of consciousness and transcendence. Together we'll be looking at your energetic body, your breath, your life stories and your shadows to liberate and enlighten yourself.
We create a container with a theme/intention combined with your own intention. Energy flows where intention goes. Together we embarking on a journey to peel off the layers you have created that is blocking you from being your authentic self and highest self.
This pure life force energy has incredible intelligence and will give you exactly what you need in this given moment.
Understanding and releasing limiting beliefs - revealing what is in the way.
Re-owning yourself - become more authentic and live from your personal truth
Emotional and mental breakthroughs
Feeling energized with increased vitality
Completion of trauma cycles
Peeling away the layers of conditioned mental, emotional, social and cultural limitations
Shifting into a more conscious living by becoming aware of the contents of your subconscious mind that you’ve suppressed or denied awareness.
Deep rewiring and heart brain coherence, which allows you to be living your life more often from the state of connectedness
Stepping out and changing negative patterns and cycles - the reason why we’re repeating.
Relief of stress and tension held in your body
Increased awareness leads to the path of self love. The root of everything which grows around us is self love. A pure appreciation of self. Loving every part of you.
"The 6666 angel number is a combination of the number 6, which represents harmony, balance, and nurturing, repeated four times. This repetition amplifies the influence and significance of the number, making it even more powerful. When you encounter the 6666 angel number, it carries a profound message about nurturing your relationships, maintaining a harmonious existence, and finding balance in all aspects of your life."
Welcome to Below Pines
Our sanctuary for the immersion is located in Sweden near the city Älmhult.
By train and car its only 2 hours from Copenhagen and very accesable.
It's owned by Natascha and Oliver, who lives there part-time with their daugther -and its very visible how they poured their love into this beautiful forest gem.
Our shala is a beautiful 95 m2 tipi located in the forest, where we'll spend most of our time, it'll be the birthplace for transformation and divination, where you'll meet yourself and others in a state of being fully connected.
3 x wooden cabins
- If you wish to sleep alone or share this space with a dear one, this is the perfect option.The cabins come with an extra fee of 1000,- DKK.
Tents with room for 2 (separate beds, 12 m2)
A loft with room for 4 people.
The tents are equiped with everything you need to have a dreamy night and even has a fireoven.
Food will be provided, cared for and made by Sophia Anagels. It'll be nurturing vegan food made from local swedish ingredients.
There'll be served breakfast, lunch, dinner snacks and cacao.
You can check out her food on instagram | philosophy |
https://www.goodgriefjourney.com/blog/Christmas-grief-quotes | 2022-05-16T18:35:54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662512229.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20220516172745-20220516202745-00230.warc.gz | 0.951946 | 423 | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2022-21__0__86392289 | en | Christmas has a unique look and feel for those who have suffered loss and find themselves grieving. There have been so many losses in 2021 for so many people.
This collection of quotes gives me some comfort, guidance, and serves as a reminder of some of the ways I can frame my grief this Christmas.
As you prepare for Christmas, may you find strength for your journey and hope for the road ahead.
10 Quote for Those Who Grieve this Christmas
Giving your presence might be the best Christmas gift you could give someone this year. — Ken Fite
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing each other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of the holidays. — W.C. Jones
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. — A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
My life was suddenly divided into BEFORE and AFTER, and there was no going back to BEFORE. But then I realized I had a choice to live the AFTER. I had to decide. — Brenda Neal
Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything. — C.S. Lewis
Little by little, we let go of loss but never of love. — Unknown
Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. — Vicki Harrison
Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance — each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon. — Deborah Whipp
All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. — Henry Havelock Ellis
There are no quick fixes to grief. No easy answers. Every expression of grief that wants to be felt and honored and given its space must be allowed…in order to heal. — Tom Zuba
Which quote landed for you? What quote have you appreciated that you'd like to share? | philosophy |
http://www.haretzion.org/htm/etzion-news-3e.htm | 2024-04-14T07:21:55 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296816875.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20240414064633-20240414094633-00668.warc.gz | 0.940533 | 1,253 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__168852052 | en | An English E-Newsletter for Yeshivat Har Etzion
Enosh” – Reflections on the Relation between Judaism and Humanism
Harav Aharon Lichtenstein
At the recent annual dinner of the Yeshiva in New York, a 63-page article by Rosh Hayeshiva Harav Aharon Lichtenstein on Judaism and Humanism was distributed. The Yeshiva would like to thank the Torah U-Madda Journal and its editor, Dr. David Shatz, for their kind permission to reprint this essay, and to Harriet and Heshie Seif for dedicating this publication in honor of Harav Lichtenstein shlit”a.
For more than five decades, Harav Amital has imparted his penetrating, clearheaded and inspiring teachings to thousands of students. Innovative, honest and deeply humane, Harav Amital communicates love of Torah and concern for the Jewish people in all his words and deeds, imbuing them with his deep moral and religious passion.
This volume distills Harav Amital's thoughts on the critical events and issues of our times. With acute sensitivity to the moment and a broad historical perspective, Harav Amital's teachings combine youthful vitality and mature wisdom to produce insights of profound relevance and originality.
Now available with a special 20% discount for VBM subscribers:
Envoy of God, Envoy of his People
Moshe, master prophet and teacher, devoted the lion’s share of his career to his role as leader of Israel. This book follows the path of Moshe’s development as a leader from the moment he appears on the scene as a young lad in Egypt until his departing farewell address to his flock. The book details crisis and commitment, frustration and doubt, selfless devotion and identification, along with trust and alienation. All of the relevant episodes, from the first encounter between Moshe and the quarreling slaves to his dealings with the second generations are analyzed and examined, from the perspective of the relationships between the leader and the people. The method of interpretation is based upon a literary analysis of the text that attempts to delve into the inner world of the leader and his interactions with the people. The result is a Midrash oriented approach that creates a fascinating combination of textual analysis and emotional insight.
Special 20% off regular
price for VBM subscribers:
and Jewish Thought
by Rav Chaim
This book explores fundamental philosophical and theological issues arising in the Book of Bereishit. It presents the richness of Jewish thought and notes its uniqueness in comparison with other approaches. Some of the topics addressed include religion and science, commandment and morality, individual and society, faith, guilt, evil and equality.
Special 20% off regular price for VBM subscribers http://www.ktav.com/product_info.php?products_id=2153.
Journey: Reflections on the Life of the Founding
A New Publication by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l
Abraham’s Journey is the 9th volume in the series MeOtzar HoRav: Selected Writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l. Avraham Avinu is not only the first Jew, but also a historical prototype, his experiences and actions foreshadowing critical patterns in the history of his people. In addition, Abraham serves as a spiritual and ethical model to his descendants. He is a teacher, a paragon of kindness, a lonely iconoclast, a master of sacrifice, and a knight of faith. Through careful exegesis of verses, illuminating analyses of character, and insightful readings of classical commentators, the essays in this book seek both the eternal and the contemporary messages of the Abraham story.
Edited by David Shatz, Joel B. Wolowelsky and Reuven Ziegler ‘83.
Special 20% discount for VBM subscribers.
To order: http://www.vbm-torah.org/ravbooks.htm
The Death of Moshe Rabbeinu in Midrashei Chazal (Hebrew)
Prof. Yaakov Blidstein
book examines the very tragic story in the Torah of the death of Moshe on
the east bank of the Jordan prior to the entry into the Land of Israel,
through the prism of midrashei Chazal. The various chapters
of the book examine the explanations of the midrashim to questions
surrounding Moshe's death: Why was Moshe decreed to die? Was it due to a
sin, and if so, which sin? From when was his death decreed and did he know
in advance? Did Moshe argue with Hashem or plead for his life? When and
how did Moshe come to terms with his impending death? Did Moshe in fact die as other men
do? How was Moshe buried and who buried him? The tension between Moshe's
uniqueness as a man of G-d and his death representing the end of a mortal
life is palpable throughout the book.
Yaakov Blidstein, Israel Prize Laureate in Machshevet Yisrael (5766),
was one of the founders and is a veteran professor of the Goldstein-Goren
Jewish Thought Dept. of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The book was launched at a study evening of Herzog College on February 13, with lectures by Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Zeev Erlich, Rav Dr. Oded Yisraeli and Prof. Blidstein, which was moderated by Dr. Ezra Kehalani, Assistant Director of Herzog College.
|back to mainpage | philosophy |
https://www.sharemat.org/page/?title=About+Us&pid=6 | 2023-02-01T01:44:08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499899.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20230201013650-20230201043650-00719.warc.gz | 0.950405 | 1,062 | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-06__0__65294529 | en | Welcome to SHARE Multi-Academy Trust
We are a small, friendly partnership, currently consisting of four secondary and four primary schools in West Yorkshire. Our core belief is about valuing people and helping them to be as successful as they can be. This is both challenging and rewarding and we hope you find it inspiring.
In the years since the Trust was formed in 2011, schools everywhere have seen a considerable amount of change. We have met these challenges with a shared approach, working as a team, enjoying the support of shared moderation, making us stronger and more structured. Through supporting and challenging each other, the Trust has enriched each member school beyond our expectations.
We encourage the sharing of our expertise, whether it’s about recruiting and retaining good staff or improving the quality of learning; we all contribute and share our experience and best practice, helping to make our schools better places for our staff and pupils.
High performing schools enjoy the opportunity to contribute and share good practice, meeting with like-minded headteachers as partners and helping to improve the standard of education for young people.
Our own model for school improvement is an effective resource that we regularly tap into: good behaviour, good routines in lessons, tackling teacher expectations, stretching pupils and marking with constructive feedback are the key foundations we build on for long-term success. Schools that need more support soon begin to thrive.
We want to transform education for the better, raising aspirations in our diverse communities, increasing knowledge and developing the skills our children and young people need to make their lives rewarding and successful. Our schools will be the first choice for parents because we provide a safe, nurturing environment, excellent academic standards, a rich curriculum, first class support and a wealth of opportunities to learn and grow.
We believe education is all about people. Our success is measured in how we help our children and young people achieve. We can only achieve this success by employing talented, committed staff and working in partnership with parents. In doing so, we will benefit our communities. We have a distinctive way of interpreting this belief. We summarise it as:
“Valuing People, Supporting Personal Best”
This means we seek for every one of our students and members of staff, to enjoy coming to our schools and for all of us to try our very best in everything we do. We help everybody gain the knowledge, skills and habits that can lead to a happy and successful life, both now and in the future. We believe that helping people feel valued increased the chances of them achieving their personal best, which is the highest standard we can expect anybody to achieve.
Our guiding principles
Our guiding principles determine how we prioritise our activities, what we value and how we will conduct ourselves. In short, they describe what type of organisation we are.
|Everyone can achieve||Everybody is capable of achieving success, given the right direction, support and commitment. Our job is to create these conditions|
|Quality is our driving force||We will be ambitious and keep seeking ways of getting better, to give our pupils the best chance of success. We will make all decisions in the best interests of pupils|
|Teams drive success||We believe people achieve more when they work well together. We will help everybody feel they are a valued member of our team|
|People thrive in positive communities||We think our pupils and staff will thrive where their many successes are celebrated, including their commitment and effort. We celebrate our diversity but are united by our values|
Our overarching goal is:
To help more pupils, particularly the disadvantaged, achieve highly. Achievement includes academic success and developing the personal qualities to lead happy, healthy and successful lives.
We will achieve this by focusing on 5 goals:
1. Overcome disadvantage and help all pupils achieve outstanding outcomes
2. Deliver an outstanding curriculum and pedagogy
3. Recruit and retain an outstanding workforce
4. Provide outstanding leadership, management and infrastructure
5. Build positive communities
More details of the trust’s strategy are available on the links below.
Growing the Trust
We are keen to grow the SHARE Trust with new schools but will only do so if we can continue to achieve our core goals and work in accordance with our values. This means we will be honest about whether we can support your school if it needs help and be open about our own strengths and areas for development. Every school has something to offer and we are always open to new ways of improving our own practice.
Joining SHARE could therefore be an opportunity to influence education within a wider group and improve the experiences of a larger number of children and young people.
Alternatively, you may be considering applying for a position with SHARE Multi-Academy Trust. Our values and beliefs apply equally to our employees. We want them to feel happy and to enjoy success, willing and able to try their absolute best to help our pupils succeed. We very much value our employees and invest in them, recognising that we are a team that achieves together.
We hope that visiting this website encourages you to learn more about our Trust and to take the next step in joining us. | philosophy |
https://server-ke220.com/full-moon-in-scorpio/ | 2023-09-22T01:18:27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506320.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922002008-20230922032008-00898.warc.gz | 0.93693 | 1,199 | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-40__0__9583991 | en | We ave an exceptionally great Full Moon in Scorpio occurring on May 10 at 20° Scorpio. The Full Moon in Scorpio will assist us with getting in contact with our generally close, credible self and request that we live in reality and “walk the discussion”.
Specific occasions: Los Angeles – May 10 – 2:42 pm/New York – May 10 – 5:42 pm/London – May 10 – 10:42 pm/Sydney – May 11 – 7:42 am)
The Scorpio Full Moon is exceptionally groundbreaking, not just because it’s anything but a Scorpio Full Moon. Still, Pluto, the leader of this Full Moon, makes extremely close (and ideal) perspectives with this lunation sextile astrology zodiac sign the Moon and ternary to the Sun.
The Scorpio Full Moon associates us with our most profound self, with our most devouring cravings, and with our most feared fears. At last, the Full Moon in Scorpio needs to “offer voice” to our bona fide self.
Scopio and Pluto are connected to the base impulses of the reptilian cerebrum: the intuition to save life definitely, and the sense of sustain life however multiplication. Pluto additionally runs Status since Status and force make it simpler to accomplish both endurance and generation. Or, more all, Scorpio and Pluto rule change – as the solitary steady in secret we call life is change.
The Full Moon in Scorpio is an encouragement to reach out to your base senses that realize how to direct you to the Truth. Try not to oppose change, Pluto cannot bear that, and Pluto consistently wins. Accept the way things are and embrace the energy of this Full Moon completely.
Anything that is in a “terminal state” of crumbling in your life can be reborn at this point. The Full Moon in Scorpio is your extraordinary opportunity to clean away the messiness in your life and get to the base of the matter.
Since Pluto assumes a particularly significant part in this Full Moon, you are allowed extraordinary and profound encounters. Your craving for individual force will expand now, just as the longing to check clear limits between “what is yours” and “what is theirs”. This isn’t restricted to material things – you can likewise say something at work that you are just responsible for what is heavily influenced by you and the others should take mindfully as far as concerns them.
Overall, your connections can turn exceptionally extraordinary out of an unexpected, and you may want to uncover your sentiments and suppositions. The others can likewise uncover their true affections for you. With such a lot of Pluto, there is a solid call to come clean and live in reality, regardless. This craving to stand up is likewise featured by the specific combination of Mercury and Uranus, which happens just a brief time before the Full Moon.
However, this Full Moon isn’t about Scorpio. A Full Moon consistently brings into mindfulness the extremity of the two signs of resistance. The Moon is in Scorpio, and the Sun is in Taurus. Taurus is natural, ripe, while Scorpio is puzzling and regenerative.
The Full Moon in Scorpio is tied in with accommodating the common sense idea of Taurus and the groundbreaking idea of Scorpio. It is tied in with strolling the discussion.
In some cases, we think we are largely profound and illuminated however our activities demonstrate the inverse. We talk about being genuine and being “consistent with ourselves”; however, we don’t change the state of affairs. The Full Moon message is to have the guts to make a move on what is generally critical to us.
The subject of responsibility is exceptionally solid in this lunation, likewise because Juno, the space rock that rules responsibilities of any sort, turns retrograde around the same time, extremely near Pluto (Juno is at 18° Capricorn and Pluto is at 19° Capricorn).
Juno accepts Pluto’s energy and the responsibility turns out to be substantially more than a scrawl on a piece of paper. The majority of the guidelines for seeing someone in social orders are unwritten; our way of life depends on unwritten standards. The Full Moon in Scorpio will request that we submit 100% to our fact. There is a maxim that there is nothing of the sort as half responsibility, or 60%, or 70%, not even 99% responsibility, there is just 100% responsibility.
We discover the subjects of responsibility and remain consistent with ourselves again if we take a gander at the Sabian image of the Full Moon.
The Sabian image of the Full Moon is “Complying with his soul, a trooper opposes orders”. The message of the Sabian image is: at times, you need to declare your qualities, your facts, regardless of whether you need to confront the outcomes of your choice, regardless of the expense. It would help if you remained consistent with yourself, regardless. This is an ideal opportunity. Also, the only one we truly have.
“One can remove everything from a person, however nobody can remove the capacity to pick our perspectives towards the conditions where we get ourselves.”
The Sabian image and the general energy of the Full Moon in Scorpio go by the Nodal shift, which happens not long before the Full Moon. The North Node moves into Leo, requesting that we honour OUR gifts and abilities instead of following the oblivious compliance.
Suppose you have planets or points at 20° Scorpio or 20° Taurus or Scorpio rising. In that case, you are particularly at the focal point of this Full Moon, which will acquire positive changes you – look in which house the Full Moon falls in your outline for additional signs. | philosophy |
http://irene-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.com/2011/02/mandelas-way.html | 2018-05-25T03:33:11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794866938.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20180525024404-20180525044404-00521.warc.gz | 0.984231 | 671 | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2018-22__0__200021647 | en | FIFTEEN LESSONS ON LIFE, LOVE, AND COURAGE
BY RICHARD STENGEL
CROWN PUBLISHERS, RANDOM HOUSE, NEW YORK 2009
(The brutal head of the prison in which Mandela spent so many years was being transferred.)
“Badenhorst said to me something like, ‘I just want to wish you people good luck.’ He said this like a human being, and I was a bit taken aback by his moderate and even considerate tone. I must say, that was a bit of a surprise. I thanked him. I thought about this for a long time afterward. What it basically showed me is that these men were not inhuman, but their inhumanity had been put upon them. They behaved like beasts because they were rewarded for such behavior. They thought it would result in a promotion or advancement. That day, I realized that Badenhorst was not the man he seemed to be, but a better man than how he had behaved.”
This epiphany goes to the heart of Mandela’s belief about what makes us human. He was a better man than how he had behaved. His motives were not as cruel as his actions. No one is born prejudiced or racist. No man, he suggests, is evil at heart. Evil is something instilled in or taught to men by circumstances, their environment, or their upbringing. It is not innate. Apartheid made men evil; evil did not create apartheid.
While his colleagues saw their warders and jailers as monolithic, the embodiment of the heartless apartheid system, Mandela generally tried to find something decent and honorable in them. Ultimately, he came to see them as victims of the system as well as perpetrators of it.
These reflections show the attitudes which helped keep South Africa from plunging into national civil war on racial lines. Mandela convinced enough people that a new government had to care about all the people. This empowered Reconciliation, in which police apologized for their actions, and families at least learned what had happened to their relatives. Bishop Desmond Tutu’s role came out of his experience as a leader of a religion which teaches that confession, acknowledgment of responsibility with intent to reform, precedes forgiveness. In order to live with each other there was a psychological and spiritual necessity to grieve together. There had always been many, many people of all races who had struggled for justice, refusing to demonize each other.
We have been reflecting on evil at my church. An important thought, attributed to Martin Luther King Jr., is that there is a little good in the worst of us, and a little evil in the best of us. This insight has emerged in many traditions through the centuries. Mandela’s biographer interprets the passage above as meaning a system, a guiding structure, can bring out very different aspects of an individual’s character and behavior. Therefore, changing the system tends to change people’s behavior. It leaves hanging the question of whether the organizers of a repressive system are evil. Perhaps for Mandela that is not the point. The point is to move forward with opportunities for people to live in dignity, negotiate with each other without violence for the goods, and the good, of the world. | philosophy |
https://wolnabiblioteka.pl/2023/07/17/ethics-and-revolution-edward-abramowski/ | 2024-02-29T16:36:42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474843.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20240229134901-20240229164901-00421.warc.gz | 0.957069 | 311 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__83269464 | en | Wolna Biblioteka and pl.anarchistlibrary.org has just published Edward Abramowski’s essay “Ethics and Revolution”.
Polish political thinker, philosopher, psychologist and sociologist (1868-1918). Abramowski studied physics and biology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He set up socialist youth circles there, co-organized the smuggling of illegal literature from abroad. He devoted himself to agitation work, maintained contacts with revolutionary circles in the country, and taught in workers’ circles. These activities absorbed him so much that he finally dropped out of college. Abramowski focused on the Marxist critique of capitalism. He pointed out that private property is a source of exploitation, he also wrote about social revolution as a way to a new system. Abramowski was in favor of liquidating the state and replacing it with a cooperative union associating – on a voluntary basis – free producers, responsible within the limits of their duties for shaping their own destinies and consciously engaging in social life. He contributed to the founding of the Society of Cooperatives, he was a co-founder of the cooperative magazine Społem. He also continued the ethical movement in the form of Friendship Unions. [more: https://web.archive.org/web/20071130072325/http://www.fmag.unict.it/~polphil/PolPhil/Abramo/Abramo.html] | philosophy |
https://mopo.ca/2010/11/why-are-we-here/ | 2024-04-19T18:34:30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817442.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20240419172411-20240419202411-00395.warc.gz | 0.909959 | 156 | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-18__0__119453520 | en | Why do you happen to be alive on this lush little planet with its warm sun and coconut trees? And at just the right time in the history of the universe? The surface of the molten earth has cooled, but it’s not too cold. And it’s not too hot; the sun hasn’t expanded enough to melt the Earth’s surface with its searing gas yet.
Even setting aside the issue of being here and now, the probability of random physical laws and events leading to this point is less than 1 out of 100,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, equivalent to winning every lottery there ever was. | philosophy |
https://www.enumi.pl/en/articles/769/Leopold_Caro/ | 2024-02-21T05:26:50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947473370.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20240221034447-20240221064447-00199.warc.gz | 0.972636 | 538 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__100457933 | en | Topics of coins
Leopold Caro (1864–1939) was one of the most outstanding representatives of Polish Catholic solidarism. He studied at the University of Lviv, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws and completed the philosophy study programme. Next, he took up economic studies in Lepizig. After his return to Poland, he practised as a lawyer – at first in Lviv,
and later he moved his law firm to Cracow. In 1914, he was drafted into the Austrian army, where he served during World War I. When the war ended, he volunteered for the Polish Army. Demobilised in 1920, he settled permanently in Lviv. He took up the Chair of the Faculty of Social Economics at Lviv Polytechnic University. For a short time, he also lectured at the Jan Kazimierz University. In 1927, he was appointed Chairman of the Polish Economic Society. In the same year, he became a member of the Committee for opinion at the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers. In 1934, on the initiative of Cardinal August Hlond, the Polish Primate’s Social Council was established, in which Caro held the position of its vice-chairman. He died in Lviv in 1939.
Leopold Caro drew inspiration from the ideals developed by French theorists of cooperatives and the German historical school of economics. He put economic issues within the context of the principles of Catholic social teaching, propagating the primacy of ethics over the entire public sphere. He embraced the vision of a society reflecting people’s interdependence and brotherhood, and therefore held a worldview based on solidarity, as a counterweight to both capitalism and communism – trends propagating primarily the materialistic vision of man. He perceived solidarism as a vision of a social order in which private initiative – apart from personal interest – also takes into account the collective public good. He promoted the idea of social justice understood as the expression of a community’s concern for every human being. In this respect, he assigned a substantial role to the state, which should provide support to the vulnerable and defenceless.
The most important works by Caro include: The Principles of Social Economic Science, Solidarism. Its Principles, History and Applications, The Twilight of Capitalism, The Social Problem in the Catholic View.
The obverse of the coin features a stylised inscription in the centre: SOLIDARYZM [SOLIDARISM]. The reverse of the coin features the image of Leopold Caro and the dates of his birth and death. | philosophy |
https://tlzprod.dut.ac.za/course/info.php?id=12199 | 2023-12-07T20:31:20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100686.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20231207185656-20231207215656-00477.warc.gz | 0.93956 | 125 | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-50__0__210880484 | en | Studio Practice 2B Consists of Drawing, 2D (Painting & Print-making), and 3D (Sculpture & Ceramics). It is important to note that our approach to this subject is informed by the philosophy of 'Integration of Theory & Practice'. As such, it should be expected that in your experience of this module you may encounter theory. Lastly, it is important to point out that the main focus of Studio Practice 2 A/B is 'Methods & Techniques. As a result of this, a large part of our teaching and learning in this subject is structured toward achieving these objectives. | philosophy |
https://teacherslife.com/ten-ways-teachers-change-world/ | 2024-02-24T01:56:58 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474482.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20240224012912-20240224042912-00176.warc.gz | 0.948494 | 629 | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2024-10__0__175874709 | en | We all have one or two great teachers we fondly remember; teachers who sparked something in us years ago and maybe even changed our path or helped us carve one out. Even teachers we don’t have clear memories of helped shape who we are today, and by doing so they helped change our world. Here are 10 ways in which educators continuously change and shape the world around us:
1. Teachers Connect – No matter what age, that first day of school (and sometimes even work) can be terrifying. That’s because we all come the comfort of our families into the big world of possible friendships. Teachers help us connect with those around us by fostering acceptance; a value that stays with us long
past the first day of school.
2. Teachers Spread Kindness – we all need a little kindness to remind us of all the goodness in the world. And kindness often starts in the classroom. Teachers show us how to be kind to each other and to ourselves.
3. Teachers Build – it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day doings of life, but teachers inherently build on every day passed and lesson learned. Even when educators themselves can’t see the forest for the trees, by simply doing their job they keep building us up every day.
4. Teachers Inspire – by fostering ideas of hope and possibilities, teachers eliminate boundaries. This is one of the ways in which teachers have the gift of leading not necessarily by example, but by a combination of education and imagination.
5. Teachers are Selfless – by nature of their chosen careers, teachers are almost always on the giving end. Teachers give much more of themselves than lesson plans and discipline; they give patience, tolerance, compassion and time!
6. Teachers are Ladders – with every lesson plan, every day in the classroom, every idea fostered and imagination ignited – teachers are the ladder upon which students raise themselves up.
7. Teachers are Home – the classroom is home away from home for our students, it’s where they play, learn, create relationships, discover and grow. The ones who create and feed that environment of safety and comfort are teachers.
8. Teachers have Purpose – teaching is not a 9-5, cubicle job. Teaching is not a temporary way to earn an income. Teaching is a career and a life chosen and driven by purpose and that purpose is to help students be who they want to be.
9. Teachers Foster Curiosity – teachers instill a sense of curiosity in our students by asking them questions and encouraging them to find answers and discover new things on their own. That curiosity and thirst for discovery is what drives the best discoveries in science, medicine, mathematics, art, literature and more!
10. Teachers let Students Change the World – We all know teachers are the backbone of our youth, they invest time, energy and a lot of effort into all the things mentioned above. But by far the most generous way n which teachers change the world is by encouraging their students to do the changing that our world needs to keep evolving. | philosophy |
https://vada.rice.edu/jefferson-xia-senior-exhibition-2023 | 2023-06-03T02:34:10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224648911.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20230603000901-20230603030901-00216.warc.gz | 0.93391 | 291 | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2023-23__0__301397780 | en | I like the desolate and spectral.
Past, present, future
Spaces void of people
This is the essence of my work,
and how I get there is deeply rooted in materiality.
Hardware, wire, cast iron,
Plastic, rubble, mirrors,
Brick, wood, fabric,
This inconclusive list of components is ever evolving,
growing alongside me.
Hard, soft, cold, warm
Each object has their own unique presence,
Each of which I consider carefully.
The amalgamation produces new permutations.
I work and think through the lens, both through the abstract lens with which we see the world, and the literal lens of the camera. Through motifs of disuse and abandonment, I try to frame and capture a melancholic feeling of emptiness—the lack of being. Photographs of my work have become more than just an objective form of documentation. Intentional staging, cropping, and distortions embody the core of what I wish to express. Without the sculpture, there would be no photograph; without the photograph, there would be no sculpture.
Yet there may be hope in my work. Hope of rebirth, redemption, and renewal. Hope that even I don't fully believe it at times. But hope nevertheless. | philosophy |
http://www.mtsd.k12.nj.us/Page/562 | 2013-05-20T15:35:15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699068791/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101108-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.934876 | 200 | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2013-20__0__79488187 | en | Our mission as a forward-thinking community is to ensure that students grow into confident, compassionate, and successful learners* in a global society by providing engaging and challenging educational experiences in a student-centered environment.
*all students will meet or exceed the NJCCCS.
Vision Statement Final Draft:
We envision a district on the forefront of public education. We focus on the needs of every child, dedicating ourselves to their present and future success. Success means that students possess a passion for learning and demonstrate cultural awareness, ethical conduct, social skills and healthy habits that will empower them to achieve their goals and aspirations. Achieving this vision requires that the district become a learning community that continually reflects and challenges itself to effect transformational teaching and learning. We prepare our students for life in a global society while nurturing them in a community where each student is known and valued. We believe by embracing a frontier spirit, we can create a unique organization that is recognized as a forerunner in public education. | philosophy |
https://tommys1255.medium.com/why-the-mayflower-still-matters-b25cb05e3a16?responsesOpen=true&source=---------0---------------------------- | 2021-06-17T09:42:48 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487629632.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20210617072023-20210617102023-00145.warc.gz | 0.977992 | 4,028 | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2021-25__0__110703970 | en | 400 Years Later, the Pilgrims are Still Part of Us
Exactly 400 years ago this month, North American shores welcomed their first tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. After a grueling 65-day passage, the Mayflower reached what is now Massachusetts in November of 1620. Its passengers began their new life under dreadfully inhospitable conditions. A late departure meant they arrived with almost no time to spare before winter set in. Although it briefly appeared their colony would not survive the winter, Plymouth Plantation ultimately lasted for another 70 years before being absorbed into Massachusetts Bay Colony. Its impact on history reverberated long past that. The founders of Plymouth called themselves Separatists, Protestants who believed the Church of England had abandoned true Christianity and looked to establish their own independent congregations. Today, they are almost exclusively remembered by a name that was less common at the time, but which aptly sums up their view of their place in this world and their mission to the American continent; we know them as the Pilgrims.
There was a time when the Pilgrims were revered icons, widely seen as the forerunners of American democracy. In roughly the last half century, history has been less kind to the Mayflower passengers and their children, highlighting the less inspiring aspects of their views on religion and democracy, and especially of their treatment of the continent’s original inhabitants. There is much to be pleased with in that — history that makes getting the history right a secondary consideration is not history at all, but propaganda. We should celebrate a modern scholarship that shines a light on who the Pilgrims really were, what they really wanted, and what they really did. The Separatists who came to what is now America in 1620 never intended to create a liberal democracy, and they studiously avoided doing so. Their conception of religious liberty is one that is foreign to us, indeed in some ways their views on religious freedom were the polar opposite of that enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Yet, over time, in humanizing the Pilgrims and giving overdue recognition to the Native Americans they encountered, a certain contempt has crept in. It is true that by the standards of the twenty-first century West (and there is the catch) the Pilgrims do indeed come up short. Recalling the voyage of the Mayflower and the colony it produced offers much more than an opportunity to debunk myths and pat ourselves on the back for our own enlightenment, however. In examining how different we are today from the Pilgrims, we forget how much we are their heirs, and how much of the nation we inhabit is built on their foundation. It should hardly surprise us that a great deal has changed in the space of four centuries, but what is worth remembering is just how much we still owe, even after all this time, to the settlers who built Plymouth Plantation.
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One particular story that was due for debunking is that the Pilgrims came to America to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. If so, they made one of the most spectacular miscalculations in history. It is true that the Church of England periodically hanged ministers who published or preached impermissible doctrines, but the rank and file had les reason to fear for their lives. Of course there were plenty of steps the English government could take short of capital punishment to make life miserable for dissenters, including imprisonment (again largely confined to key leaders), but enough information had trickled back across the Atlantic that the Separatists could make a reasonable cost-benefit analysis and know that they were still better off in the Old World, even as a scorned religious minority. Indeed, one group of Separatists had briefly attempted establishing a colony in present-day Newfoundland 23 years prior, but their journey in failure and the speedy return of all participants. Likewise, the future Plymouth settlers who initially established themselves in Leiden, Holland, could find life there unpleasant, but still nowhere near as bad as what a journey across the ocean promised.
The 102 who made the decision to go to America in 1620 were crammed aboard the Mayflower, for the most part confined below decks in a glorified crawlspace too short for most of them to stand upright. In addition to seasickness — apparently rampant among the passengers — there were also health problems brought on by inadequate provisions and dubious drinking water; a scurvy outbreak spread additional miseries besides the cramped conditions and stormy weather. Still, only two perished on the journey across. Once they reached their new home at the onset of a New England winter, the mortality rate skyrocketed. In the New World, half of the Mayflower passengers died by the end of February, and those who endured the “starving time” surely did not see their lives as materially better than what they had known in Europe. William Bradford, the future governor of Plymouth Plantation and its first chronicler, recalled the low point when only a half dozen were left who were healthy enough to care for the entire surviving colony. These demonstrated the meaning of genuine love, as they “willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least…did all the homely and necessary offices for [the sick] which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named.” Suffice to say, the endurance of the survivors amidst such misery clearly shows they had greater ambitions than avoiding imprisonment or even the gallows in England.
In any case, the Pilgrims already enjoyed general religious toleration in Holland. The problem for the Separatists in Leiden was not that they were not far enough from England but that they were too far. Parents watched their children lose their English identity, and regardless of their desire to be free of its established church, all felt a sincere loyalty to their home country and its monarch. Likewise, the problem in Leiden was not a lack of religious liberty but too much of it. They feared the laxness of Holland society, and the open practicing of a slew of Protestant sects that even Separatists found distasteful threatened to corrupt their young. What they wanted was a place where they could safely inculcate their own values, under the guidance of their own ministers, and establish a community that could serve as a model of a godly society. This was the vision that drove them from their homes, twice over, and the faith that undergirded this vision is what fired their endurance when their survival seemed gravely in doubt.
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It was also a vision that shaped the nature of their government. When they first arrived at Plymouth — before widespread disease and starvation forced some level of mutual codependence — the passengers of the Mayflower looked with as much concern on each other as they did on the elements. The colony included a handful of so-called Strangers, those who did not share in the Pilgrims’ religious vision for the colony and who, according to William Bradford, began making “discontented and mutinous speeches” before they had even set foot on shore. Knowing all faced a shared fate, if not shared ideals, some form of order was essential. Thus was born the Mayflower Compact, signed by every male passenger on November 11, 1620 (changed to November 21 when the calendar was updated). The Compact was short and direct; there was hardly time for deep constitutional thought when crops needed to be planted and shelters constructed. Its signers would have been shocked to hear that they were creating a template for an independent American Constitution rooted in the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Compact begins with the words “In the Name of God, Amen,” and immediately proceeds to swear loyalty to “our dread Sovereign Lord King James.” Lest there be any doubt of their temporal and spiritual allegiance, it establishes the purpose of the colony as being “for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country.”
However loyal to King James they swore to be (and they sincerely meant it), the fact was that James was an ocean away, and all the problems that require government were immediately present. And the government they formed to deal with those problems did have some remarkable elements for its time. The signers, every adult male of the ship, agreed to “Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation…and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony.” Signing the document was limited to men, something that struck no one as inappropriate or even noteworthy at the time, but it was also open to all men, even servants. The Plymouth “Civil Body Politic” encompassed everyone, regardless of class. Shockingly, it was regardless of religion as well. The Pilgrims might have feared the Strangers as potential mutineers, but either in spite of or because of this, they included them as full members of the colony, and granted them the franchise.
Still, the Pilgrims were never interested in establishing anything like a liberal democracy. They believed in hierarchy, and they feared licentiousness — unchecked individual liberty that flaunted Biblical morality and ignored the needs of the community. They could reasonably be accused of obsessing over the danger that unrestrained liberty and those exercising posed (while we, it seems, barely think about it at all). Rather, the Pilgrims viewed liberty in a communal sense; they were free from excessive interference from England to enact laws in keeping with their own values. This meant, crucially, that they were not pursuing anything like religious liberty as we would conceive of it either. As their most recent historian, John G. Turner, notes, they “came to the New World to establish a haven and beacon for separatism, not a bastion of religious toleration and freedom. Their goal was to transplant a congregation, found a prosperous colony, and attract puritans wavering on the threshold of separatism to join them.” It was a liberty for all to partake in, but only together. Again from Turner, Pilgrims “were both free and bound: free from ecclesiastical tyranny and human corruptions of true worship, bound to each other.” Every man could vote, but once elected leaders expected due deference, and no other religious meetings or sects were allowed to exist. Each town was to have one church overseen by one minister chosen by that congregation. Separatists they might be, but they only allowed for one separation to take place, and given their concerns about the wide variety of denominations in Holland, it is fair to say that they came to America more to escape religious pluralism than to advance it.
That the Separatists, upon escaping persecution in England, had no intentions of extending religious liberty to anyone else should not surprise us. The Church of England was made up of Protestants who suffered during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary, then started executing Catholics themselves once they came to power. All of Europe, Holland excepted, saw national and religious identity as intertwined. The Pilgrims did not drift far from this mindset, but they do deserve some share of the credit for its eventual demise. For starters, they were never keen on forcing church attendance — no other churches were allowed, but non-attendance was generally tolerated. One of the key pillars of their break with the Church of England was, after all, their firm belief that churches should be composed of true Christians, not filled with the decidedly less-than-voluntary population as a whole. This was radical enough for the era, allowing for a church that was at least partly separated from the body politic. By claiming that congregations did not need the king or queen’s help to choose their ministers, and that they related directly to God, and therefore, most scandalous of all, that the monarch had no authority over ecclesiastical matters, the Pilgrims laid the groundwork for true freedom of religion. Indeed, it was not long in coming; Roger Williams broke with Plymouth and established Rhode Island in 1636. In the decades leading up to the Mayflower, various Separatists argued amongst themselves at length about the limits of freedom of conscience and what exactly the role of the state in religious matters was supposed to be, but the seeds of full separation of church and state were baked into their beliefs from the outset, something their opponents in England may have understood better than they did.
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Meanwhile, all of Plymouth Plantation’s planting, building, and governing did not, of course, actually take place in an empty wilderness. For the Indians, the land was hardly a New World, but rather their home for generations. In another sense, it was very much a new world for everyone, for the arrival of Europeans had dramatically changed life for Native Americans as well as newcomers. Disease had culled Indian numbers, sometimes in horrendous fashion, but also new trade goods and new alliances reshaped the balance of power wherever Europeans and Native Americans made contact. The Pilgrims immediately became part of one of the more consequential — and for a short time one of the most successful — of those alliances. Some delight in dismissing the story of the “first Thanksgiving,” as a fiction, but it has a strong element of truth to it. The Pilgrims were in dire straits before making contact with the Wampanoags. Their Indian neighbors did indeed teach them much of what enabled them to survive after the horrors of the starving time. And they did indeed hold a celebration to commemorate their first bountiful harvest. Finally, it is true that the Pilgrims enjoyed mostly-friendly relations with the Wampanoags and their sachem Massasoit during the latter’s lifetime, and a general peace lasted for over 50 years.
It is also true that within the first year of their arrival, the Pilgrims got themselves involved in a quarrel between Massasoit and his rivals, and that one of those rivals ended up with his head on a pike near Plymouth’s fort. And less than a generation later, in 1676, the children and grandchildren of the Mayflower passengers went to war with Massasoit’s successor, King Philip. The conflict was the bloodiest in American history in terms of percentage of the population killed. Plymouth’s forces burned villages filled with women and children to ash and sent shiploads of Indians to hellish lives as slaves in Barbados, often with scant regard to whether or not their captives had actually been their enemies. Other Indians, many of them children, ended up in something strongly resembling slavery in Plymouth households.
So the story of the Mayflower passengers and the colony they built is messy. It might be nice if we could, as generations past were tempted to, label the Pilgrims the forerunners of American democracy and the first heralds of religious freedom. History, as is always the case, is more complicated than our favorite stories and historical figures more human than our heroic icons. One suspects that the Pilgrims, with their frequent days of fasting, mortification, and repentance, would heartily approve that we now remember them as sinners, rather than unblemished saints. They were remarkable sinners though. They may have feared the kind of religious freedom enshrined in the First Amendment, but their ideas about freedom of conscience before the power of the state were radical for their time, and were a necessary step towards the broad religious toleration that came later. Their views on social equality and democracy likewise appear weak in light of 2020’s values, and they had their (fringe) critics at the time as well, but they did build a society whose inclusion and dwarfed most of the world. Their treatment of the original inhabitants of this continent was a mix of good intentions, hard-headed realism, and, in their darkest moments, inexcusable cruelty.
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Last year, the New York Times Magazine won a Pulitzer Prize for its publication of the 1619 Project. The Project asserted (for a while anyway) that the real beginning of the United States of America was in 1619, with the arrival of the first African slaves, and that the defining feature of the nation has always been racism. It came under harsh criticism, and deservedly so. The United States of America began in 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, or if we want to get really technical, in 1778 with diplomatic recognition from France. And a diverse, polyglot nation of some 330 million cannot be reduced to any one idea or theme. But the nation that was born in 1776 had a long gestation period, and its DNA is made up of a variety of threads. Slavery and racism of course mattered, in profound ways, for the evolution of this country. Yet somehow we became more than our ugliest impulses and worst sins. It would seem that if American history and colonial American society set the stage for chattel slavery and undeniably horrendous atrocities against Native Americans, it also set the stage for abolitionism, the Civil Rights Movement, the triumph of liberalism over Fascism and the Soviet Union, and the growth of a creedal nation where anyone of any origin or skin color can wash up on our shores and truly become an American. Based on what was happening in the rest of the world in 1619, the arrival of slavery in Virginia was unremarkable, while what happened in 1776 split history. And we could not have reached 1776 without 1620.
The Pilgrims were refugees who fled to this continent to escape, yes, but also to build. They were a community looking to pass on their values to their children, rather than have the larger society’s values imposed on them. Most of all, they brought to American shores (and thus to American history) a vision that dreamed of forging a community where the freedom to be good and to do good could thrive. All of this became a key part of the American identity at its best. And perhaps it was their endurance most of all that is worth remembering at a time when Americans across the political spectrum have grown disgusted with our institutions and fearful of our future. As Samuel Eliot Morison recorded in his edition of William Bradford’s history of Plymouth, the Pilgrims were “a simple people inspired by ardent faith to a dauntless courage in danger, a resourcefulness in dealing with new problems, an impregnable fortitude in adversity that exalts and heartens one in an age of uncertainty, when courage falters and faith grows dim.” Our attitudes and outlook may have changed — dramatically and much for the better — in the last four centuries, but the plucky spirit of the Pilgrims lives on in the American psyche, and that is very definitely grounds for thanksgiving.
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Samuel Eliot Morison, ed., Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–1647 by William Bradford, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952
Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, New York: Viking, 2006
Stephen Tomkins, Journey to the Mayflower: God’s Outlaws and the Invention of Freedom, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2020
John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2020 | philosophy |
http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/libet/ | 2015-11-26T00:12:32 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398446248.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205406-00192-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.956743 | 737 | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2015-48__0__10235518 | en | Benjamin Libet's experiments and measurements of the time before a subject is aware of self-initiated actions have had a enormous, mostly negative, impact on the case for human free will, despite Libet's view that his work does nothing to deny human freedom. The original discovery that an electrical potential (of just a few microvolts - μV) is visible in the brain long before the subject flexes a finger was made by Kornhuber and Deecke (1964). They called it a "Bereitschaftspotential" or readiness potential. The neurobiologist John Eccles speculated that the subject must become conscious of the intention to act before the onset of this readiness potential. Benjamin Libet decided to test Eccles's idea.
We don't know what specific unconscious mental processes the RP might represent....The position of conscious will in the time line suggests perhaps that the experience of will is a link in a causal chain leading to action, but in fact it might not even be that. It might just be a loose end — one of those things, like the action, that is caused by prior brain and mental events.Does the compass steer the ship? In some sense, you could say that it does, because the pilot makes reference to the compass in determining whether adjustments should be made to the ship's course. If it looks as though the ship is headed west into the rocky shore, a calamity can be avoided with a turn north into the harbor. But, of course, the compass does not steer the ship in any physical sense. The needle is just gliding around in the compass housing, doing no actual steering at all. It is thus tempting to relegate the little magnetic pointer to the class of epiphenomena — things that don't really matter in determining where the ship will go. Conscious will is the mind's compass. As we have seen, the experience of consciously willing action occurs as the result of an interpretive system, a course-sensing mechanism that examines the relations between our thoughts and actions and responds with "I willed this" when the two correspond appropriately. This experience thus serves as a kind of compass, alerting the conscious mind when actions occur that are likely to be the result of one's own agency. The experience of will is therefore an indicator, one of those gauges on the control panel to which we refer as we steer. Like a compass reading, the feeling of doing tells us something about the operation of the ship. But also like a compass reading, this information must be understood as a conscious experience, a candidate for the dreaded "epiphenomenon" label. Bernard Baars says there are two important time scales of consciousness
Sensory events occurring within a tenth of a second merge into a single conscious sensory experience, suggesting a 100-millisecond scale. But working memory, the domain in which we talk to ourselves or use our visual imagination, stretches out over roughly 10-second steps. The tenth-of-a-second level is automatic, while the 10-second level is shaped by conscious plans and goals.The kinds of deliberative and evaluative processes that are important for free will involve longer time periods than those studied by Benjamin Libet. Note also that the abrupt and rapid decisions to flex a finger measured by Libet bear little resemblance to the kinds of two-stage deliberate decisions for which we can first freely generate alternative possibilities for action, then evaluate which is the best of these possibilities in the light of our reasons, motives, and desires - first "free," then "will."
Normal | Teacher | Scholar | philosophy |
http://semper.pl/polish-philosophy-of-the-19th-and-20th-centuries/ | 2017-04-23T21:47:02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917118831.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031158-00283-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.858021 | 159 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__123049127 | en | Polish Philosophy (19-20 C.)
Polish Philosophy of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Heritage Studies
Professor Jacek Jadacki (born in 1946) is the author of four books in English and several books in Polish devoted the philosophy and its history. He edited (or coedited) many volumes containing philosophical works of distinguished Polish thinkers, like Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Zdzisław Augustynek, Izydora Dąmbska, Anioł Dowgird, Stanisław Leśniewski, Jan Łukasiewicz, Marian Przełęcki, Jan Salamucha, Stefan Swieżawski, and Kazimierz Twardowski. | philosophy |
https://www.omidyar.com/news/rethinking-how-and-why-we-make-technology | 2020-07-05T11:24:18 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655887319.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20200705090648-20200705120648-00380.warc.gz | 0.950637 | 122 | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2020-29__0__23496141 | en | Rethinking How and Why We Make Technology
At the start of London Tech Week, Doteveryone founder Martha Lane Fox says that tech needs to be more focused on improving lives and saving the planet.
“This week in London, tech ethics will finally be a mainstream part of our conversation. After too many years sleepwalking, now that we have woken up we must not just talk but also act. We have a responsibility to use the awe-inspiring ingenuity of our industry wisely. Technology can and should be a force for social good.”
Read the full article here. | philosophy |
http://www.lifeissweetinnyc.com/2013/10/the-four-agreements.html | 2017-04-28T16:06:22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917122996.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031202-00534-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | 0.963622 | 272 | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | webtext-fineweb__CC-MAIN-2017-17__0__114792753 | en | The other day at the yoga class my teacher mentioned The Four Agreements. I had heard about it in Oprah Show or something, but didn't get in to it too much that time. In this book don Miguel Ruiz gives four principles to practice in order to create love and happiness in life. Adopting and committing to these agreements is simple. Actually living and keeping these Four Agreements can be one of the hardest things you will ever do. It can also be one of the most life changing things you will ever do.
1. Be Impeccable with your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life. | philosophy |
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