Meditations on First Philosophy

The beauty of armchair travels is that at any moment you can be any place in the world and discover new and wonderful things. From the Andaman Islands we step onto the mainland of India. Our first stop here is a lovely town Darjeeling, located in the West Bengal State of India in the Himalayan foothills. It is well-known for its distinctive black tea that is grown on plantations doting the surrounding slope. The town’s backdrop is Mt. Kanchenjunga, among the world’s highest peaks. The region’s…

Islam and Hinduism Before we start with the description of Islam and Hinduism we need to understand what its religion, or at least try to comprehend the meaning of religion. The definition of religion is very difficult, many have try but they focus on only the few aspects of religion, some will exclude beliefs, practices and those religions that will not fit well. As Kile Jones once he wrote trying to define religion “It is apparent that religion can be seen as a theological, philosophical,…

Most people may not realize just how long lucid dreaming has been around, the first known texts of lucid dreaming date back to 1000BCE. They were found in the Upanishads, which is a collection of texts that come from Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. Lucid dreaming got its name back in 1911 from Frederick van Eeden, a Dutch psychologist. However lucid dreaming wasn’t recognized by science until 1978, yet it’s been talked about for a very long time in various religions. (Hurd, History of Lucid…

mind-brain problem, previously called the mind body problem was initially conceptualised by Descartes following his work on the metaphysical aspects of the soul during the 17th century. Descartes described the mind and brain in his book the Meditations on First Philosophy; "But what then am I? A thing that thinks. What is that? A thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, and which also imagines and senses.” Descartes proposed that the mind and body are separate and exist…

Gary Snyder’s “Axe Handles,” is a short poem, it gives a description of a small domestic story in which it extends into a meditation on parenting, a transmission of cultural knowledge, and the actual importance of old fashion wisdom to ordinary, everyday life. Mediate parenting was the actual intention that author, Gary Snyder, tend to accomplish. The poet (who speaks the poem), tells about teaching his son Kai, on an April afternoon, how to throw a hatchet so deftly that it will lodge into a…

The debate of Free Will v Determinism is one that has gone on for centuries, and shall continue to go on for many to come. There are many who believe that their view is the end all, be all, correct view to hold. While not all of these thinkers are correct in their standings, Paul Holbach’s essay, “The Illusion of Free Will,” lays out a strong argument for universal determinism; man does not have any free will, and all of his actions are determined by the laws of nature. His argument is one that…

As a result, here Yeats chose to talk a lot of the material destruction but also of the human cost of the war. The human cost is more deeply treated in others poems such as in the section IV “My descendants” of the poem “Meditations in Time of Civil War.” In this part, the poet is afraid to loosing his children because of the War which is tearing apart brother. He has a feeling of helplessness very clear which appears through the different questions what the narrator asks himself:…

With an ancient history of civilizations using psychoactive substances as medicinal, ritual, and spiritual remedies, these drugs have shown positive treatments in more recent years. This notion that hallucinogenic drugs played a significant part in the development of religion has been extensively discussed for many years, causing controversial aspect of “hallucinogenic” or psychedelic drugs generate religious experience, and whether this experience is genuinely religious. Before considering the…

comprised in the seventh century BC they show reference to the beliefs of the Aryan people as they moved into Indian Territory. A development of practices was brought about by men known as the hermits of minus. They resided in the forests and practiced meditation and asceticism their goal was to induce mystical experience. They believed the body could create a power similar to electricity, this was achieved through the mortification of the body, and Brahman was the main element in their goal.…

Vishal Nath Indian Art and Architecture, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Interconnectedness between Lotus, Pillar, Tree and Serpent in early Indian…