A most wonderful example of cognitive dissonance theory of psychology, written in such a delightful fable by La Fontaine. Rosy and ripe, and ready to box, The grapes hang high o’er the hungry Fox He pricks up his ears, and his eye he cocks. Ripe and rosy, yet so high! He gazes at them with a greedy eye, And he knows he must eat and drink or die. When the jump proves to be beyond his power “Pooh!” says the Fox. “Let the pigs devour Fruit of that sort. Those grapes are sour!” Translated by: William Trowbridge Larned …
Category: Books
How the Medicinal Herbs Grew in the Temple of Solomon — the Farther Mosque which Solomon visited daily for devotion and to guide the devotees During his prophecy, David received a Divine order which ordained that his son, Solomon should build a temple. Set out to fulfill this order, Solomon began constructing the temple which would be renowned as the Temple of Solomon. Also later known as the Farther Mosque, it would preserve its unprecedented standing in history. Rumi recounts the blissful story of Solomon’s Temple in his Mathnawi, and says that plentiful stones needed in the construction were fetched …
A wonderful story told by Rumi on the art of pure reflection and mystical beauty in the sufi way of being. The Prophet said, “There are some who see me by the same light in which I’m seeing them. Our natures are one. Without reference to any strands of lineage, without reference to text or traditions, we drink the life-water together.” Here’s a story about the hidden mystery : The Chinese and the Greeks were arguing as to who were the better artists. The king said, “We’ll settle the matter with a debate.” The Chinese began talking, but the Greeks …
Marcelo Gleiser, the award-winning professor of physics, explores the moving cosmos in his book The Dancing Universe : From Creation Myths to the Big Bang : Physics is a game played with nature. He proclaims that science and spirituality are tightly knit. Here is what they have in common : The laws of causality govern both. In each domain, everything happens with a cause. We must use reason to understand both. Observation and experience are necessary to understand a happening. They aim to integrate their knowledge to real life scenarios. Their quest is reaching the Truth. He quotes from …
Greek philosophers and Rumi on how to keep the soul happy What makes us happy ? When and how are we happy ? Where ? With whom are we happy ? Such questions about happiness are asked at least once in a lifetime. We do evaluations and measurements of our happiness; occasionally we may reach a conclusion : somewhat happy, sometimes happy, more or less happy in the past, at present, or will be happy in the future… We get to remember the times we were at the peak or we may fantasize a possible future happiness. Sometimes we measure …
A sacred Indian myth on the presence of guidance, the inner battle and how to put skill in action. Bhagavad Gita – meaning the Song of God is an epic scripture of 700 verses written in Sanskrit. Considered a spiritual masterpiece transcending all Indian philosophical doctrines and convictions, it dates back at least 300 years before Christ. Set up on the battlefield, it is composed of dialogues between Prince Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna on the eve of war between two huge armies – Pandava brothers and their cousins who have cheated the Pandavas of their rightful kingdom. Prince Arjuna, …
Rose petals let us scatter And fill the cup with red wine The firmaments let us shatter And come up with a new design The first post of this blog opens with Hafez (circa 1320-1389), a master of Persian poetry who composed some 500 ghazals in praise of his Beloved. Early Years Born in Shiraz as Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad, he later took the pen name Hafez (Hafiz) for he had memorized the Qu’ran in his teens, as well as the many works of Saadi, Attar, Rumi and Nizami. The details of his life especially of his early years are …
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