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She feels that she didn’t ‘choose Dhrupad’, rather she organically got drawn to an ecosystem where the ideal teacher and music were present. The meaning of taleem, for her, is a unique exchange, which is not just training but rather a process of giving and receiving.
Shabnam Virmani is the founder of the Kabir Project, which consists of a series of ongoing journeys inquiring into the spiritual, cultural, and socio-political resonances of the 15th century mystic and poet Kabir. Housed at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Bengaluru),
During the Renaissance, while Europe was experiencing a gigantic shift of ideas in almost every aspect of knowledge, in India, was born a man who, as Emperor of Hindustan, would use his indomitable courage and a restless search for wisdom to weave a similarly audacious social, political, and spiritual vision in the Indian subcontinent. His name was Abu’l-fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar.
Taking inspiration from Gandhi’s relentless pursuit for Truth, Empowering Real Change: Leadership for a Better World brought together distinguished leaders who have been striving to make a better world through tireless work in their various fields. The event culminated in a Resolution to spearheaded a series of events, conferences and exhibitions across the world, exploring Gandhi’s contributions as practical solutions to address the challenges of our times.
The quality of a civilisation’s culture is most visible in its art and more particularly in its architectural accomplishments, for these are usually its most complex and long-lasting forms. It’s hard to conceive of a more awe-inspiring architecture than that found in ancient Egypt. The essence and message of Egyptian architecture remained unaltered throughout the millennia, while its majestic and aesthetic style still manages to convey forgotten psychological and spiritual truths.
Recently, in the United States, the Governor of Georgia asked the state legislature to pass a law requiring that a classical CD be sent to every new mother. Although this bill did not pass, it received a great deal of attention. The unusual request was prompted by exciting new research in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive science regarding the effects of classical music on intelligence and learning.
All the greatest spiritual teachers have spoken about the need for man to awaken, to pursue a shift of consciousness. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Plato all offered a clear, discernible path of spiritual growth towards a more meaningful life, which begins by recognizing and operating from a higher aspect within us, separate from our personality which is controlled by prejudices, fears, subjective emotions and egoistic thoughts. Beyond the religious customs that subsequently developed, these ancient traditions speak of Discipleship; an ardent and persevering path of constant self-development which illuminates man’s potential. Likewise, emerging from the ancient tradition of the Indian sub-continent, Yoga, if understood in entirety, also offers a discipular path leading to self-knowledge, transmutation and truth.
Many ancient traditions unequivocally describe the role of sound in the divine process of creation. The Bible declares, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. (1) Hindu and Buddhist traditions believe that OM is the sound of creation, of the unmanifest diversifying into all the variations of energy that make up our universe.
Although I have never been a chess player I have always been fascinated by the various elements which constitute this game. Looking at the black and white chess board or the shapes of the various pieces I feel as if something very old and mysterious has been hidden behind those symbols. The origins of this game are not so clear, but it is well known that board games can be found all over the ancient world with records which stretch back as far as 5,000 years ago (i.e. in Egypt). It is very likely that the “ancestor” of this beloved board game was from the East and most likely from India. We also know of its connection with war, military strategies and the Kshatriya (warrior) caste. As India has always been associated with metaphysical teachings I wanted to see what symbolic connections could be found in this game.
Many ancient traditions tell a story of an immense flood that destroyed a civilization that existed thousands of years ago; one that was perhaps far more technologically and spiritually advanced than we are today. Amongst them, Plato speaks of a vast continent called Atlantis that sank into the ocean. Although modern historians have found meagre evidence to corroborate this, too many traditions around the world explicitly, or obliquely, refer to this cataclysm to ignore it completely.
For New Acropolis members across the globe, every day in a way, is World Philosophy Day. Through history, classical traditions have employed philosophy as the central axis of education, recognizing the pivotal role of wisdom and ethics, in the formation of human civilization. Therefore, we mark the special opportunity of UNESCO’s annual endorsement of World Philosophy Day to further emphasize the value of Philosophy, as a practical tool by which to improve our lives.
When we speak about Shakespeare we can refer to him as the Philosopher-Artist. An artist who succeeds, in his work, in investigating the depth of the human existence and his relationship with the gods and the universe. Shakespeare, a wizard of words, is a symbol of an artist whose work lives forever because it touches the heart of the human experience and asks questions that are and will always be relevant to human beings.
For centuries art has been a natural means to express one’s inner journey – be it as a community or as an individual search. So has it been for Olivia Fraser, who has used her art to uplift, to produce wonder and beauty, and to find the ‘inner essence’ of things.
Olivia Fraser moved to India in 1989. Initially she was a travel painter before apprenticing with miniature and Pichwai artists from Jaipur, where she learnt their rich, rigorous and intricate tradition. The influence of Nathdwara Pichwai painting and early 19th century Jodhpuri painting,
The word ‘chivalry’ comes from the French ‘chevalier’, which means ‘knight’ or ‘horseman’. Symbolically, the horse represents the body and its associated energies and emotions, while the rider represents the higher self of the human being, the best and noblest part of ourselves. The knight is not perfect, but is on a path towards perfection. Hence the trials that all knights go through. They sometimes fail, especially in the phase of the Quest of the Holy Grail, and sometimes they get another opportunity and then partially or wholly succeed. In the view of esoteric philosophy, the human being is perfectible; indeed, our destiny as human beings is to develop the divine part of ourselves.
In this article, I seek not to publish a scholastic investigation of Warli Art. Instead, as a philosopher studying symbolism, I humbly share my observations of a few elements from its unique tradition in which the artists seem to have been preoccupied, not with mythology, but with the strong drive to align to Nature’s order, by celebrating life and revering Mother Earth, through a unique sense of aesthetics.
Today, people throughout the world are perturbed by the degradation of the environment and the disastrous consequences of the loss of resources in the hands of an ever growing population. In such times, traditional ethics, which contained nature conservation