Traditional Indian music, the raga, is melodic with respect to a fundamental tone. Western music is harmonic, meaning simultaneous and complex. In the West, much is thought in terms of structures; for a time, there was much talk of structuralist and post-structuralist thought. Complex systems are found everywhere: in philosophy, in canonical texts and visual systems, in technology, and in worldviews. An essential fundamental idea is atomistic thinking. The notion is that the world consists of elementary parts and can be broken down into them...
Yesterday, I followed something in my mind that is difficult to describe. In everyday language, I might say I followed my intuition. But it's a bit more complex. I went back to Tiruvannamalai. It was the last day of the Karthigai Deepam Brahmotsavam Festival. So, on December 6, 2022, a fire was created on that mountain, as has been done for 2500 years. There is, of course, an ancient story about this. Brahman, the universal Self, manifested itself as Brahma (the creator), Vishnu...
I remember I've always stared into the fireplace since I was a child. Many people do that, I think. Fire is fascinating. In the Vedas, Agni is the god of fire, one of the 5 elements alongside water, air, earth, and ether. The Greeks also have these elements. I didn't understand this for a very long time and found it ‚unscientific‘. I thought of elements in terms of physics and chemistry, and there it only makes limited sense. Mythology Within the...
In 2017 we were in Varanasi. Varanasi is the spiritual center of Hinduism. Those who are burnt here in the fires that Shiva lit 2500 years ago and which have been burning ever since are freed from the cycle of suffering.
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