“Possession is nine tenths of the law” used to say my honorable teacher at university. The lore is when the natural instinct to possess is in excess, it incites jealousy and impairs the psyche. Years later, I came across this exceptional book, Overcoming Jealousy, the best one I have read on this intricate emotion. It unfolds the various manifestations of jealousy, and renders it tangibly clear with examples drawn from real life. The sources of jealousy, whom we envy, why it is often hidden, its destructive effects and remedies to fight it off are genuinely portrayed. Jealousy Defined A universal …
Category: Books
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” says author Annie Dillard. Goethe, meticulous about the passage of time reflects: “Every second is of infinite value” for one who captures it. Seneca states that what we do each day figures the meaning of our life and calibrates the “relative” passage of time. He says, “ Life, if lived well, is long enough, ” and one can depart with a sense of contentment. In his renown ouevre, the Divine Comedy, Dante vividly depicts the states of souls and their dwellings in the other world. He …
In the pious wheel of time, Persephonē Περσεφόνη, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter represents the gush of spring when seeds sprout from the ground and the earth blooms in abundance. Holding a sheaf of wheat in her hand, she is identified as the spring goddess in Greek mythology. Plato calls her Pherepapha (Φερέπαφα) in his work Cratylus because “she is wise and touches that which is in motion”. Persephone was the only daughter of Demeter – the goddess of the harvest and all the vegetation on earth. At a young age, she was abducted by Hades, who desired her …
“Our need of nature is an integral part of our humanity, and the bond that unites us with nature is never broken.” Peter Wohlleben recounts how he discovered his hidden bond with nature in The Hidden Life of Trees . The sensation sprung up unexpectedly when he was working to optimize forestry output for the lumber industry. At the time, trees were nothing more than profitable commodities for him. He recounts: One day, as I was doing my daily job across the forest, I stumbled over an old tree stump. When I examined the chunk of wood covering the ground …
One of the most read mystical poets, Rumi (1207-1273) recounts in his seminal Mathnawi the story of the temple of King Solomon . When he started the construction of the temple following the divine order, medicinal plants sprouted one after the other in the courtyards of the temple. Endowed with the gift of speaking the language of animals, plants, and other creatures in nature, King Solomon would ask the emerging sprouts : Tell me your name, what you heal, which medicine are you? whom you hurt, and whom you cure Plants would speak up and count their remedies and …
We may all be familiar with the butterflies flying in our stomach when we are head over heels in love. The heart beats faster, the autonomous nervous system signals excitement and increases oxygen to our muscles, the neuroendocrine system is boosted up; being elevated from head to toe, the body feels lighter and on an instant we can take flight. This is how neuroscientists describe the state of “limbic love.” Emotions are activated in the limbic system of the brain and they coordinate our behavior and physiological states even though we are not always consciously aware of them. The …
October October is a gypsy queen in dress of red and gold She sleeps beneath the silver moon when nights are crisp and cold. The meadows flame with color now, which once were cool and green Wild asters and the goldenrods bow low to greet their queen. When she is tripping through the wood with songs so clear and sweet, The autumn leaves come sifting down and rustle beneath her feet. –Winifred C. Marshall
Italy is marking the 700th anniversary of the departure of Sommo Poeta — the Great Poet, Dante Alighieri (1265 Florence-1321 Ravenna), and his masterwork, The Divine Comedy. He wrote this monumental epic at the age of 35 when he was exiled from his hometown of Florence to spend the rest of his life in Ravenna, until his death. In this timeless book, Dante sets out on a voyage to the other world where souls embark upon terminating life on earth. Depending on their merit earned on earth, they were to reside in one of these realms : Inferno, Purgatorio, or …
To do good, which, as we all know, is universal, is in the heart of being human. Yet we find it difficult to do even small acts of kindness like lending an ear to a distressed friend, greeting the gardener at the park, offering coffee to a subordinate, or paying attention to the needs of a family member whose presence we take for granted. Simply because we naturally live in our ego, self-occupied with primarily satisfying our own pleasure and achievement needs in professional, social and familial contexts. We are programmed to see ourselves in the center of the …
To live among today’s society and to influence others instead of being influenced by them —now that’s a feat ! – Ostad Elahi In his pioneering book Public Opinion, Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) examines our susceptibility to outside manipulation, and tendency for self-deception. Our minds or mental spaces are lured by the media and the social influences of our milieu, which define our choices, snatch our attention and shift our values. Content management, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience all intervene with how we perceive, think, and make decisions; they blur our comprehension of the truth and ultimately influence who we really are. …
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