Posted in Z, tagged Asia, awareness, buddha, buddhism, china, enlightenment, india, koan, life, master, religion, satori, spirit, spirituality, zen on May 15, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Zen Garden
Originally uploaded by euart
Zen This is a Japanese form of Buddhism, introduced to Japan by the monk Eisai (1141-1215 CE).
Dissatisfied with formalistic Buddhism, Esai traveled to China and returned to Japan bringing this new form of the old religion.
The word Zen is derived from the Chinese Ch’an (Ch’an Buddhism).
Ch’an was apparently introduced to [...]
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Posted in A, tagged abel, abrasive, aggression, Bible, cain, christianity, crime, evil, genesis, gentle, God, jewish, killing, life, love, murder, myth, old testament, peace, punishment, sin on May 14, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Abel In the biblical book of Genesis (4: 2-16), Abel is the second son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his brother Cain.
Cain’s motives were most likely jealousy and anger.
Abel was a shepherd and Cain a farmer. Cain and Abel had made sacrificial offerings to God but only Abel’s was acceptable to the [...]
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Posted in A, tagged Achilles, aggression, battle, brad pitt, classical, Greece, greek, greek drama, Greek myth, heel, Homer, Illiad, killing, legend, life, murder, myth, mythology, paris, psychology, stories, struggle, styx, tale, trojan, Troy, violence, warfare on May 13, 2008 | No Comments »
Achilles Slays Hector
Originally uploaded by litmuse
Achilles The ancient Greek warrior and hero who, in Homer’s Iliad, fought in the Trojan wars.
The son of Peleus and Thetis, at birth Achilles’ mother held him by the heel and dipped him in the fiery river Styx to obtain [...]
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Posted in A, tagged Adler, aggression, complex, facebook, fantasy, flickr, freud, inferiority, internet, jung, life, myspace, neurosis, neurotic, psychiatry, psychology, psychosis, psychotic, reality, relationship, social networking, society, soul, spirit, spirituality, superiority, technology, web, www, youtube on May 2, 2008 | No Comments »
Adler, Alfred (1870-1937) An important Austrian psychiatrist who graduated from medicine in 1895 and was attracted to Sigmund Freud’s work when he read the latter’s Interpretation of Dreams.
Shortly afterward, Adler was asked to join Freud’s inner circle within the emerging school of psychoanalysis.
His Studie über Minderwertigkeit von Organen (Study of Organ Inferiority and its Psychical Compensation, [...]
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Posted in A, tagged ads, advertising, art, artists, barthes, baudrillard, bisexual, business, buying, buzzwords, Connotation, consumer, desire, economics, economy, Foucault, freud, freudian, gay, government, graphic artists, graphic arts, homosexual, homosexuality, hooks, hypocrisy, jung, jungian, lesbian, life, marx, marxism, money, neomarxism, postmodern, postmodernism, poststructural, poststructuralism, profit, psychoanalysis, psychology, same-sex, sell, selling, slogans, society, sociology, spiritual, supply and demand, synchronicity, wants on May 1, 2008 | No Comments »
Advertising Although the primary objective of commercial advertising is to sell goods and services, this is accomplished in a complex manner.
Social theorists directly or indirectly influenced by Karl Marx usually say that advertising creates a false or illusory relationship between the consumer and the producer.
Freudian-based sociological analyses suggest that when buying, the consumer enters into [...]
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Posted in A, tagged afterlife, anthropology, archaeology, belief, death, eternity, infinity, israel, life, life after death, NDE, NDEs, neanderthalensis, near death experience, paranormal, religion, salvation, soul, spain, spirit, spiritism, spiritual on April 25, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Fayum Mummy of Artemidorus
Originally uploaded by mharrsch
Afterlife The belief that the spirit or soul continues after death.
This belief arguably dates back to prehistoric times (115,000 – 200,000 years ago) where evidence points to Homo neanderthalensis in Israel and Spain buried with food items, tools and possibly weapons in hand, often in fetal position facing sunrise [...]
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Posted in A, tagged afterlife, agape, belief, bread, bread and wine, c. s. lewis, catholic, Christian, communion, Eucharist, feast, Greece, heaven, Holy Communion, jesus christ, life, love, religion, rome, sacrament, sacraments, soul, spirit, wine on April 25, 2008 | No Comments »
Agape In literary circles the Greek term agapē (Latin: caritas) refers to the ideal of universal love, particularly, charitable Christian love among brothers and sisters of the human family.
As C. S. Lewis suggests in The Four Loves (1960), this is distinct from matrimonial, emotional, passionate-erotic and friendly love.
For many Christians, agape also refers to the [...]
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Posted in A, tagged ahriman, Anthroposophy, dark, darkness, darwin, death, ego, evil, fear, holy, life, mind, money, myth, persia, persian, psychology, religion, soul, spirit, Steiner, Zoroastrianism on April 23, 2008 | No Comments »
Ahriman Also known as Angra Mainyu in Zoroastrianism, Ahriman is the Persian principle of eternal evil and counterpart to the all-wise creator God, Ahura Mazda.
Not created by Ahura Mazda but existing independently, the two are in constant battle.
Today Ahriman is recognized by Parsees as an evil force of darkness and death.
Parsees often fear and associate [...]
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Posted in A, tagged alchemy, aquinas, astrology, Bible, depression, development, dynamic, egypt, Eliade, enlightenment, esoteric, esoterica, gold, happiness, hucksters, jewel, joy, jung, jungian, life, magic, medieval, mystic, mysticism, myth, newton, occult, osiris, pain, phenomenology, philosophers stone, Philosophy, psychology, religion, science, self, self actualization, soul, spirit, spiritual, sublime, subtle, suffering, synchronicity, theology, transformation, zodiac on April 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Alchemy (2)
Originally uploaded by tholmb
Alchemy In everyday usage the word alchemy describes a psychological interplay among people.
Its etymology points to the actual practice of alchemy–derived via Arabic from the Greek chemeia.
Historically, alchemy involved the heating and mixing of chemicals and mineral substances with a view toward artificially transforming base metals into gold.
The ancient Greeks in [...]
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candle without wind
Originally uploaded by topher76
Anatman (Pali anatta: “no self” 
This is a Theraveda Buddhist theory stipulating the non-existence of the soul.
Aspects of anatman theory resemble but also differ from the idea of reincarnation.
In anatman theory, the temporary seat of consciousness is said to be exterminated like a candle flame at death, to be re-lit as [...]
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