The story is cited in the monumental spiritual epic Canticle of the Birds, written by the mystical poet Farîd-ud-Dîn ‘Attâr (1146-1221 ). All the birds in the world gather one day to discuss who their Sovereign king is and where they can find him. The gathering takes place in King Solomon’s court. Solomon who understands and speaks the language of the birds presides over the reunion. The little bird Hoopoe knows that Sîmorgh is the Sovereign Being’s name and that she lives in Mount Qâf, the mythical mountain which is believed to connect heaven and earth. According to …
Category: Philosophy
The childhood of the human race is far from over. We have a long way to go before most people understand that what they do for others is just as important to their well-being as what they do for themselves. – William T. Powell “Compassion is a practically acquired knowledge, like dancing. You must do it and practice diligently day by day,” says Karen Armstrong, the pioneer of Charter for Compassion. Daniel Goleman, psychologist and author of emotional intelligence, writes that “true compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.” Daniel …
The Novice Who Had Some Gold A novice had a little store of gold. His sheikh knew this, although he had not been told. There was a journey that they had to make – The two set out, the young man and his sheikh; Then night came to the valley where they walked, And into the path they followed forked, The novice trembled for his hidden gold (Which makes its owners less than bold); “Which way to you advise?” he asked his sheikh. “There are two paths; which is the best to take?” The sheikh said: “Throw out what …
Alexander the Great seeks the Fountain of Eternal Life in his long and famed quest from Macedonia to India During his quest, Alexander the Great was travelling in a mysterious Land of Darkness where he was given a special companion and guide called Khezr. The companion was carrying a basket of provisions to sustain the long journey across this unknown dark land. He was walking ahead of Alexander on a rocky terrain when he stumbled upon a rock and spilled the basket. Two dry salted fish which he carried in the basket fell on the ground and instantly a …
On the interplay of well-being, happiness and resilience Well-being is commonly defined as a state of being healthy and happy. Contemporary psychology adds “resilience” as an indispensable component of happiness. The word initially used in physics defines body’s ability to absorb an impact. Resilience is featured as the preparedness to transcend challenges. It is the inner force which uplifts the person after a failure, defeat or a disappointment. Resilience empowers us to continue on whatever our pursuit is in life. The eminent neuropsychiatrist and writer, Boris Cyrulnik known with his lifetime work on resilience describes it as a process : …
A flower- tinted cheek, the flowery close Of the fair earth, these are enough for me – Enough that in the meadow wanes and grows The shadow of a graceful cypress tree. I am no lover of hypocrisy; Of all the treasures that the earth can boast, A brimming cup of wine I prize the most – This is enough for me ! To them that here renowned for virtue live, A heavenly palace is the meet reward; To me, the drunkard and the beggar, give The temple of the grape with red wine stored! Beside a river seat …
One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich is the true story of a devout Russian soldier wrongly accused of treason and sentenced to ten years in a Siberian labor camp –the gulag –where there is no escape but death out in the cold, dark and bare tundras. Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) wrote this book after his eight-year imprisonment in the gulag during the reign of Stalin. The very existence of the gulag system was enough to keep the average person fearful and silent in Stalin’s Russia. The dictator’s spies were everywhere. He …
Here is a story from Mathnawi, a monumental epic written by timeless Rumi (1207-1273). One day, Moses heard a shepherd on the road praying, God, where are you ? I want to help you tie your shoes and comb your hair. I want to wash your clothes and clean the lice off. I want to bring you milk , kiss your hands and feet when you go to bed. I want to sweep you room and keep it neat. Dear God, my sheep and goats are yours. When remembering you, all I can say is eyyyy and ahhhh. Moses could …
One night a fool of God wept bitterly And said: “The world, as far as I can see, Is like a box, and we are locked inside, Lost in the darkness of our sin and pride; When death removes the lid we fly away– If we have feathers –to eternal day, But those who have no feathers must stay here, Tormented in this box by pain and fear.” Give wings to aspiration; love the mind; And if at death you’d leave this box behind, Grow wings and feathers for the soul; if not, Burn all your hopes, for you …
The most acclaimed drawing of the cosmos and how the discovery of the magical Higgs particle – also called the God particle transformed the physicists’ view of the beginning of the universe Musician Pablo Carlos Budassi has decided to make a simple drawing of the cosmos for his son’s birthday. In doing so, he used the logarithmic maps of the physicists, the photographs taken by Nasa and his photoshop application. The contemporary physicists, having acclaimed this picture, marked it as the simplest up-to-date illustration of the cosmos. In the center lies the sun and the solar system surrounded by …
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