Category Archives: Pantheism

It is probably the most famous horror story in the world with a new exhibition to explore how Bram Stokers trips to the far north east of Scotland helped to inspire his Dracula masterpiece.

Here, Mike Shepherd, who helped research the show, looks at how this corner of Scotland proved to be the perfect fodder for Stokers Gothic creation.

At the end of July, London society either took off to the grouse moors of Scotland or to spa retreats on the continent. Bram Stoker, the business manager of the Lyceum theatre and better known today as the author of Dracula, did neither. Instead, he took a 13 hour train journey to Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire where he spent most of August writing books.

A new exhibition to be held in the village on Saturday explains how the Irish author came across Cruden Bay on a walking tour in 1893 and in his own words, fell in love with the place. He returned year after year until 1910, two years before his death.

READ MORE: Six seafaring myths and superstitions of Scotland

Much of Dracula was written in Cruden Bay. The plot and main characters had been in planning for three years before 1893 and the authors first visit. Yet, Bram Stoker would not start writing the novel until 1895 when the first three chapters were written in the village.

What took him so long? Its a good question as most of his other books were written in a fury of inspiration. The project had stalled for some reason and it looks as if something about Cruden Bay got him going again.

I suspect one explanation is that he discovered something rather curious when he talked to the locals in the village. Although they were devoutly Christian, many of their superstitions and traditions had survived from pagan times, albeit detached from any original spiritual beliefs.

READ MORE: Who are Scotlands most successful living authors?

A local minister, Reverend John Pratt wrote just over thirty years before the publication of Dracula in 1897 that pagan fire festivals were still being lit in Aberdeenshire and that they, present a singular and animated spectacle - from sixty to eighty being frequently seen from one point.

The unlikely coexistence of Christian and pagan beliefs was compared at the time to flowers and weeds springing up together in an unkempt garden

Bram Stoker believed that God and the universe were equivalent, a pantheism he shared with his spiritual guide, the American poet Walt Whitman. He would have been impressed by the survival of both Christian and pagan beliefs side by side in the Aberdeenshire community, because he accepted all religions from all times and throughout the world as valid and part of the greater whole. This led him to a curious thought. What if an ancient god, devil or spirit turned up in the modern age and employed the old magic to wield mayhem in the modern era? This was possible in the spiritual universe that framed Bram Stokers gothic novels; and would bring forth a 15th Century vampire from Transylvania in Dracula and the spirit of an ancient Egyptian mummy in The Jewel of Seven Stars. The latter novel has been the inspiration for all the Hollywood mummy films.

Aspects of Cruden Bay crept into Dracula. For instance, Bram Stoker was greatly impressed by the dramatic cliff top setting of nearby Slains Castle. He would use it as a setting for at least five novels, three of them in disguised form but still recognisable from the description. The floor plan of Slains Castle is used for Draculas castle in the novel.

Jonathan Harker visits the Transylvanian castle and is led by the count into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort. A small octagonal room is a prominent feature in the centre of Slains Castle and the main corridors of the castle lead from it. It still survives after the castle fell into ruin in 1925.

While writing Dracula, Bram Stoker would walk up and down the coastline thinking out the story in detail. Perhaps this was when he noticed something unusual. Cruden Bay resembled a mouth he would write. The beach was the soft palate while the rocky headlands at both ends resemble teeth, some even looking like fangs.

Two of his novels, The Watters Mou and The Mystery of the Sea, were set in the village with much of the dialogue in the local Buchan (Doric) dialect. This is surprising as its largely impenetrable to anyone from outside the area. Whats even more surprising is that Bram Stoker also accidentally included a Doric phrase while writing the dialogue for a Whitby fisherman in Dracula, I wouldnt fash masel the fisherman says, - I wouldnt trouble myself. This is possibly the only instance of an internationally famous novel containing dialogue in Doric!

Ive spent the last six months researching Bram Stokers life and times in Aberdeenshire for both the exhibition and a forthcoming book on the topic. Although Bram Stoker last visited Cruden Bay in 1910, amazingly some residual memories of the author still survive in the village. One woman told me that her parents looked after Bram Stokers dog on one holiday because the local hotel would not allow pets in the rooms. When the author returned to London, he sent them an enormous box of chocolates with blue lace lilies on the front.

Another woman I talked to is the great-grand niece of Bram Stokers landlady when he stayed in the village of Whinnyfold near Cruden Bay in the later years. She remembers her Aunty Isy from the 1940s.

Although Cruden Bay in Bram Stokers time, then called Port Erroll, was a small village with a population of 500, life never got dull all the time he was here.

The author of Dracula found much in Cruden Bay to excite his interest.

Bram Stokers Cruden Bay Port Erroll Village Hall, Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire. Saturday 17th June, 10-4, free entry.

Read more here:
How Scotland inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Scotsman

We Two Together pulls at me, drawing me in deeper and deeper, a visual manifestation of recent thoughts and feelings.

We Two Together is a sculpture by Michael Alfano, currently on exhibit overlooking a lush garden pond outside the Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Concord. The sculpture depicts two lovers, joined as one, surrounded, in turn, by the greater whole of natures embrace.

We Two Together resonates with me in the same frequency as an ecstasy poem I recently read by the Sufi poet, Rumi:

Your Love lifts my Soul from the body to the Sky

And you lift me up out of the two worlds.

I want your Sun to reach my raindrops,

So your heat can raise my Soul upward like a cloud.

It also brought to mind a provoking piece by Paul Kingsnorth in the current issue of Orion Magazine, suggesting we deal with climate change by awakening our sense of the sacred and practicing a new animism. His thoughts correspond with my own thinking.

I was converted to the notion that our Earth is a living, breathing organism since the 1960s, after first viewing that iconic photograph from space of our heavenly blue spaceship Earth, and later read James Lovelocks Gaia Hypothesis, which outlines how all of us as living beings interact with our inorganic surroundings to create a self-regulating system a giant living organism maintaining and perpetuating ideal conditions for life.

That notion still fills me with awe; it blows my socks off.

To my way of thinking, indigenous folks around the world have been right all along: The Earth is a living being; she is our Mother.

I am struck by that same soaring sense of awe when I view We Two Together. Not surprisingly, I have diametrically opposed feelings toward both our government officials and mainstream consumer society, which laugh at the idea of a living earth and sadly, as a secondary result, pooh-pooh the threat of climate change.

Who can deny, in our technological society, we take the Earth for granted, treating her like an inert object either a storehouse of commodities to be used and discarded or as a scenic background prop to our lives, as if we were staging a movie.

Increasingly, however, in this age of man-made climate change, we pollute at our own peril. While more of us perceive the danger, most offer as solutions only new government regulations or technical fixes. But, like the domestic abusers we are, I fear we will continue to defile the Earth until we recognize her sacred nature.

We have no choice but to change. The question is, will it be in time? Our survival along with that of most life forms on the planet depends on us stepping up in time to reclaim our primal forbearers reverence for our home.

Kingsnorth, in his essay, is not sure if we need a new religion, but he makes a powerful case for a renewal of the sacred to re-awaken in us a sense of awe and wonder for something bigger than us.

What could that something greater be? There is no need to theorize about it. What is greater than us is the Earth itself life and we are folded into it, a small part of it, and we have work to do. We need a new animism, a new pantheism, a new way of telling the oldest of stories. We could do worse than to return to the notion of the planet as the mother that birthed us. Those old stories have plenty to say about the fate of people who dont respect their mothers.

In the spirit of Rumi, poetic teller of the oldest of stories, we must reclaim our Earth for who she really is: a living, breathing body, our beloved other. She is our Mother, supporting and cradling us, the source of all life.

(Jean Stimmell is a semi-retired psychotherapist living with the two women in his life, Russet the artist and Coco the Plott hound, in Northwood. He blogs at jeanstimmell.blogspot.com.)

Read the original post:
My Turn: Respecting Mother - Concord Monitor

I held my son Enochs little hand as he died, and went through a suffering that no words could express. A perpetually wounded heart that would not mend, a broken body for which there is no antidote, or a destroyed home that can never be the sameall left me asking many questions: Will I ever see my son again? Is there a theodicy that would qualify? Or is evil a sociological phenomenon? What are the philosophical suppositions that we have subliminally swallowed to even raise this question? How would the bloody cross of Jesus of Nazareth address this universal dilemma?

There are more books and articles on this topic than any other in theology. But because it is so personal, we need to be reminded of the simple truths about it. Let me share seven things that I have considered when thinking about this topic.

One of my friends told me that if this happened to his son, he would become an atheist. But how can that be? Evil is a deviation from the way things ought to be, right? But there can't be a deviation from the way things ought to be unless there is a way things ought to be. There can't be a way things ought to be unless there is a design plan that says, 'Here is how things ought to be.' And there can't be a design plan that says, 'Here is how things ought to be' unless there is a Designer who put forth that design plan in the first place.

So even in raising the objection of evil, my friend is presupposing some absolute standard and thus a designer who makes that standard. So he cannot even raise the problem of evil without first assuming an absolute standard that makes events evil. My friend is smuggling in God to deny God. It would be best if he clings to Him, for only in Him is comfort and ultimately something more than an answer.

I fought with God and, what a surprise, I lost. But in losing I really won.

Epicurus, Hume, and Dawkins claim that evil is not our fault but Gods. The Logical Problem of Evil is:

Augustine, Aquinas, Swinburne, and Planting argued that the Freewill Defense solves the logical problem of evil correctly. It is logically impossible to create free people who must choose good as much as it is impossible to create square circles or married bachelors. Evil is a necessary byproduct of the ability to love and choose.

God desires our love more than anything else from us, so He thus allows evil. See Joshua 24:14-15. God knew this the whole time. This was not Plan B. It was his plan all along. But choice itself did not help me with the death of Enoch. Because it was not a choice of man that he died. He died because he was sick. I rest on the sovereign plan of God and trust even when I cannot see His plan.

When Joes daughter Lulu complains that he brought darkness into her room, he did no such thing; he just took away the light. Evil is a lack of goodness as darkness is a lack of light. There can be an absolute good, but there cannot be an absolute evil.

Absolute Evil. Objective evil cannot exist if atheism is true. Pantheism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, in general, claim evil is an illusion. However, rape, murder, war, child abuse, greed, human brutality, kidnapping, and slavery are objectively evilnot illusions. Consider, cosmologically, that the farther we move from the sun, the colder and darker it gets, thus theologically, the farther we move from God, the source of all goodness and truth, the colder and darker it gets spiritually as well.

So Lulu waits for the light and when the sun arrives in the morning, all darkness will flee, for in Him, the Son, is no darkness at all.

When Enoch died, it was very dark and cold. But in coming close to the source, the Son himself, I found the warmth of His peace, even though I did not know why, I trusted his hands, his pierced hands.

See 1 John 3:4 and James 4:7. Sin is the act of volitionally violating God's will by breaking His holy transcendent commandments. Crossing that divine boundary is sin. There are sins too numerous to mention, but two basic kinds: sin of omission (not doing what you should be doing) and sin of commission (doing what you ought not to be doing). But an evil event, like an earthquake, cancer, or a doctor accidently cutting a brainstem is evil, but not necessarily sinful. R.C. Sproul said it well: Evil is not good, but it is good that there is evil.

And God uses all kinds of evils to bring about good. What good can come from the death of my son? Two of them. Daniel and Ana. They are two precious children we adopted from the Republic of Moldovia, one of the poorest countries in Europe. Out of the ashes of Enochs pain came the joy of their laughter.

The Apostle Paul, Lincoln, Caesar, Gandhi, Churchill, and Luther suffered and overcame almost impossible odds. It is in the crucible of suffering that our character is formed. It is His instrument to mold His saints. No athlete hones or disciplines his or her body without pain. Consider this:

I walked a mile with Pleasure She chatted all the way, But left me none the wiser For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow And neer a word said she; But oh, the things I learned from her When Sorrow walked with me

Robert Browning Hamilton

I learned more about my own soul and about God in this period of time than any other time in my life.

If the man who died on that cross 2,000 years ago was not God, then the cross is not enough.

Professor Peter Kreeft said it well:

If that is not God there on the cross but only a good man, then God is not on the hook, on the cross, in our suffering. And if God is not on the hook, then God is not off the hook. How could he sit there in heaven and ignore our tears? There is, as we saw, one good reason for not believing in God: evil. And God himself has answered this objection not in words but in deeds and in tears. Jesus is the tears of God. (Making Sense out of Suffering, IVP, 1986)

People tell me they understand my pain, but even Jesus cannot unless He also experienced the pain of every human being, and only the divine can do that. He vicariously suffered in our place the wrath and justice of God. And rose from the dead to tell us one thing: I love you this much, and since I have overcome death, one day you will too!

Yes, the Church has its shares of sins and evils; these are not to be ignored or minimized and we need to own up to these. But the Church has done more to address evil and suffering in the world than any other organization in history.

So, then, is there at least one or two people in your life who need you to be Gods hands and feet and voice to them today?

I close with the beautiful words of the atheist, Ivan, from The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky:

I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened.

And in all that, I trust the One with divine pierced hands that one day I will walk on marble streets with Enoch and my other children, walking with our God, who in His one hand will wipe all tears from our eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.

Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. (Revelation 21:5-6)

More:
Seven Things Evil Is Not: What the Death of My Son Taught Me - ChristianityToday.com

The Beatles' landmark 1967 album,Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, was released 50 years ago. A few weeks later, longtime Newsweek critic Jack Kroll wrote this historic review that has never been available online before now. Here's the original piece.

The problem of choosing Britain's new Poet Laureate is easy. The obvious choice is the Beatles. They would be the first laureates to be really popular since Tennysontheir extraordinary new LP, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, has been out for two weeks and has already sold 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. And the Beatles' recent LPs, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and now Sgt. Pepper, are really volumes of aural poetry in the McLuhan age.

Indeed, Sgt. Pepper is such an organic work (it took four months to make) that it is like a pop Faade,the suite of poems by Edith Sitwell musicalized by William Walton. Like Faade,Sgt. Pepper is a rollicking, probing language-and-sound vaudeville, which grafts skin from all three browshigh, middle and lowinto a pulsating collage about mid-century manners and madness.

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The vaudeville starts immediately on the first track, in which the Beatles, adding several horn players, create the "persona" of the albumSgt. Pepper's band, oompahing madly away with elephant-footed rhythms, evoking the good old days when music spoke straight to the people with tongues of brass, while dubbed-in crowds cheer and applaud as the Beatles make raucous fun of their own colossal popularity.

After this euphoric, ironic, nostalgic fanfare, the Beatles leave Sgt. Pepper polishing his cornet in the wings and go on with the show, creating little lyrics, dramas and satires on homely virtues, homely disasters, homely people, and all the ambiguities of home. "She's leaving home," sing John and Paul, as a harp flutters, a string group makes genteel aspidistra sounds and a lugubrious cello wraps the soggy English weather around the listener's ears. The song is a flabby family fiasco in miniature, spiking the horrors of the British hearth like a stripped-down Osborne play. "Me used to be angry young man," sings Paul in "Getting Better," and adds "it's getting better all the time," as the group sarcastically repeats "get-ting bet-ter, get-ting bet-ter" in those Liverpudlian accents.

The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was officially released on June 1, 1967, in Britain and a day later in America. Capitol/Parlophone

Getting better? Well, there's John's vision of a vinyl Arcadia, with its Sitwellian images:"Cellophane flowers of yellow and green...plasticine porters with looking-glass ties," which turns Wordsworth's idealized Lucy into a mod goddess, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." And there's Paul announcing "I'm painting my room in the colorful way/And when my mind is wandering/There I will go/And it doesn't really matter if I'm wrong I'm right/Where I belong I'm right." But even this manifesto of psychedelic individualism is undercut as George's sitar boings one note relentlessly, like a giant mocking frog.

"Within You Without You" is George Harrison's beautiful new cuddle-up with Mother India. Backed by three cellos, eight violins, three tambouras, a dilruba, a tabla and a table-harp, George plays the sitar as he chants Vedantic verities such as "The time will come when you see we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you." These Himalayan homilies are given powerful effect by the wailing, undulating cascade of sound which turns the curved, infinite universe of Indian music into a perfect tonal setting for the new pantheism of the young. But even here, the Beatles, like Chaplin, deflate their own seriousness as the song endsto be followed by the sound of a crowd laughing.

Related: Was 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' really the first concept album? Let's investigate

Some critics have already berated the Beatles for the supersophisticated electronic technology on this record. But it is useless to lament the simple old days of the Mersey sound. The Beatles have lost their innocence, certainly, but loss of innocence is, increasingly, their theme and the theme of more "serious" new art, from the stories of Donald Barthelme to the plays of Harold Pinter. As the Beatles' more pugnacious colleagues, the Rolling Stones, put it: "Who wants yesterday's papers/Who wants yesterday's girl/Yesterday's papers are such bad news/The same thing applies to me and you."

The new Beatles are justified by the marvelous last number alone, "A Day in the Life," which was foolishly banned by the BBC because of its refrain "I'd love to turn you on." But this line means many things, coming as it does after a series of beautifully sorrowful stanzas in which John confronts the world's incessant bad news, sighing "Oh boy" with a perfect blend of innocence and spiritual exhaustion. Evoking the catatonic metropolitan crown (like Eliot's living dead flowing across London Bridge), John's wish to "turn you on" is a desire to start the bogged-down juices of life itself. This point is underscored by an overwhelming musical effect, using a 41-piece orchestraagrowling, bone-grinding crescendo that drones up like a giant crippled turbine struggling to spin new power into a foundered civilization. This number is the Beatles' "Waste Land," a superb achievement of their brilliant and startlingly effective popular art.

This review originally appeared in the June 26, 1967, issue of Newsweek, under the headline "It's Getting Better..."

Excerpt from:
'Sgt. Pepper's' Turns 50: The Newsweek Review of The Beatles' Masterpiece - Newsweek

Recently I fell into the same old discussion with a close girlfriend. As we talked about work, dating, and all the day-to-day trials of New York City women in 2017, she told me that if I stopped assuming that everything would just repeat as it always had, I might actually be able to break the cycle. Then, when she expressed anxiety over peoples criticism of her, I reminded her that her critics might just have problems with how they see themselves. Sounds New Agey, right? For her, it was, sort of: She was speaking the language of mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist retreats. But me? I was parroting the text Ive spent most of my life studying: the Tanya. And once again, our conversation reached that point of discussion: Can we please start studying the Tanya together?

The original Hasidic self-help book, known as the Tanya, is a compendium of talks and teachings. Its first section, Likkutei Amarim, was apparently written in the late 1790s in Lithuania by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, one of the first leaders of the Hasidic movement of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. (The original edition was said to be lost, and we now work from an 1814 edition.) At a time when practice was defined by intellectualism, not mysticism, Hasidic Judaism was about ecstasy, prayer, divine service, and connection to a rebbe, or master and teacher. Schneur Zalman originated the Chabad branch, which capitalized on the intellectualism of the Jewish scholarly world, bringing its intellectualism to the Hasidic emphasis on experience. Filled with references to Torah, Talmud, and of course, Kabbalah, the Tanya offered an approach to spiritual transformation that was designed to arouse even the headiest, heart-numbed scholar into a genuine love and awe of the divine.

Chabad-Lubavitch is now known more for its ubiquitous Chabad House outreach centers; meanwhile, the movements central text, the Tanya, remains obscure even to many who are touched by the Lubavitchers outreach. And to be fair, its not an immediately accessible read. Tefillin and Shabbat candles are, indeed, easier on-ramps to Jewish practice. So, mere days after my conversation with my friend, I was elated to find, in a Brooklyn bookstore laden with Jewish ritual items and leather-bound tomes, a Tanya for the uninitiated. With a distinct dark green cover and typeface that looked more appropriate for a Williamsburg cafs chalkboard, I pulled off the counter display The Practical Tanya, a new edition adapted by London-born, Brooklyn-based Rabbi Chaim Miller.

With a new translation and explanation of the text, Millers pathbreaking Tanya aims to funnel the teachings into practical steps that embody mystical principles for living ones best life. Schneur Zalman, known in Chabad circles as the Alter Rebbe, meant to write a self-help volume for his Hasidic seekers, to replace interpersonal advisory sessions. It was real advice to real people, Miller told me. He penetrated something about the psyche that was universal, and thats why it hit home. Written in a cerebral, structured way that was unique to Hasidic publications at the time, the Tanya sought to explain the mystical dimensions to an audience of traditional yeshiva students and scholars who otherwise viewed the Hasidic tendency toward Kabbalistic mystical themes as heresy. Through deep grounding in scholarly work, coupled with mystical teachings received from his teachers, the Baal Shem Tov (founder of the Hasidic movement) and Mezericher Maggid (his successor), the Tanyas author created a framework for divine service that reconciled the underlying existential concerns of the average human, no matter his level of scholarshipby normalizing the experience of body and soul through Kabbalistic cosmology and practical self-help.

The Tanya comprises five sections, and so far Miller has adapted only the first, Likkutei Amarim, A Collection of Talks. Also called The Book for In-Betweeners, this section reintroduces a concept, briefly mentioned in the Talmud, of a person who is neither righteous nor wicked yet undergoes the daily struggle, the essential duality inherent within the human psyche. Millers goal is not simply to translate this text but to create the kind of text I can share with people like my friendslovers of self-help books, meditation podcasts, and Facebook posts that remind us to take a deep breath.

I called it The Practical Tanya because I wanted it to hit you, Miller said. How is it relatable? I ask that question on every line. The author of the Tanya provides a system for understanding that you are constantly operating on two levels of consciousness, divine and animal, likened to two souls within one body. What you choose to highlight, to embody, is what manifests, and helps you live a higher life Each daily struggle depends on the two levels, the balance of good and evil, and how a person identifies with their actions on each level. It provides day-to-day reference points, reminding readers that you are not your thoughts or your actions, and change is possible in every minute. Truly, it is the essence of being in the moment.

Validating the struggle helps readers of the Tanya to understand core concerns like laziness, apathy, guilt, depression, and sexual thoughtsmajor concerns, at the time, for traditional Jews and great scholars who couldnt imagine how their commitment to Torah study wouldnt change them from being essentially human. The Tanya describes all of this as essential humanity. Miller, who appreciates contemporary self-help writers like Eckhart Tolle, understands Tanya to be attractive to seekers by allowing them to be irredeemably imperfect at the core. In other sections, the Tanya details more of the cosmology of Kabbalah and how that relates to creation, including the manifestation of the universe based on Gods divine word. This concept helps one see the ultimate importance and significance of their existence and every action because they are all emanations of the divine.

***

At the time Hasidism began, it was considered heretical to believe that God, or the Divine Presence, is manifest everywhere, not just in the synagogue. In Hasidism, the Masters teach there is little that is wholly sacred or profane; most is simply that which is yet to be revealed, elevated, and transformed. Today, these ideas are not unfamiliar to those who explore other spiritual frameworks such as yoga, meditation, Buddhism, or Sufismthis kind of pantheism is, of course, New Age, or Eastern Wisdom Traditions 101.

Miller expressed regret that, while referring to the importance of a contemplative meditation practice, todays rabbis often skimp on the explanation. The history and richness of Chabad contemplative practices, passed from teacher to student, were lost as the community was decimated by Stalin and Hitler. In a Jewish world where many consider themselves a bad Jew for not connecting with traditional Judaism taught by institutions, it is it an ideal time to reclaim the Tanya, in a more user-friendly format. It is the optimum time to bring the pathways of the Tanya into the United States urban jungle, as mindfulness, meditation, and spiritual traditions popularize and arrive at the forefront of Western consciousness.

Miller, who is in his early 40s, is the founder of the Brooklyn Holistic Synagogue. But he is best known for his adaptions of Hasidic teachings in translated editions of Torah, Megillat Esther, Tehillim (Psalms), Haftarot, a Friday night prayer book, and a Passover Haggadah, as well as Turning Judaism Outward, a biography of the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe. But he has an unusual history in observant Judaism, which gives him an edge in adapting ancient wisdom to a new audience. He had a typical British Jewish upbringing, in which Judaism was a club where you drank Kiddush wine and judged each other for not being religious enough. The synagogue experience involved reading texts that were incomprehensible, in English, while wearing top hats, and saying a prayer for the queen. I thought I was smart, but I couldnt understand the prayers, he said. Judaism was secretly shameful, something you felt connected to but couldnt understand why, since experientially it was so horrible.

While studying medicine at Leeds College, Miller encountered his first experience with Jewish wisdom. His search for meaning took him to a philosophy bookstore, where he encountered Maimonides. That was an a-ha moment for me, he said. It never dawned on me that there was any intellectual content in Judaism. I never imagined there was any nourishment of the soul or the mind. The search took him to a yeshiva in upstate New York, where the Tanya came his way. I was obsessed, he said. Using an older translation, he became a Tanya junkie, filling it with notes and diagrams. Tanya was about validating struggle. It was relatable. It also introduced this whole Kabbalistic system of symbolism that appealed to me very much. It changed my whole worldview.

Coming from a secular background, with little exposure to Jewish thought, Miller felt frustrated that others might be exposed to Tanya but not given the tools to fully understand it. I wanted to get it out of the book and nourish ourselves with it, he said. I have to revisit the Tanya to bring out its nourishing qualities. As an outsider, I see that as a blessing. It gives the opportunity to reinvigorate our engagement by learning from someone with that energetic enthusiasm.

When he was a boy, Ysoscher Katz, a former Satmar Hasid who now teaches at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Open Orthodoxy seminary in the Bronx, was expelled from his Satmar yeshiva for studying the Tanya. The book was that revolutionary, and certainly viewed as such by mainstream Orthodoxy and Hasidism. Currently a teacher of the next generation of Modern Orthodox rabbis, Katz recently taught a unit on Hasidism with sections from the Tanya, exploring the dichotomy of living between two worlds, one of intellectual frameworks and traditional study overlaid with mystical experiences and practices of prayer and meditation.

While some view general mysticism as somewhat superficial or lightweight, said Katz, the Tanya is the opposite of that. It is, he said, a cerebral work, but the ideas are embodied and inspiring: Tanya is a prism through which one can come to the world, a method in which one can grapple the complexity of life. It could happen a person isnt looking to change anything in day-to-day practice, but life will change when you start seeing things differently.

Charles Roth studied at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Crown Heights in the 1940s, when he was a child. After leaving Orthodoxy, he moved into humanistic psychology, and became a veteran of many encounter groups. But he still thinks of himself as a student of the Tanya. I have several volumes of Tanya in Hebrew and English translation, and I often encounter many references to Tanya in other things that I study, I often pick it up to check it in the source, Roth said. The purpose of life is to lead a life free of the dominance of ego And, thats a lifetime struggle. Im 91, and I am still in that struggle, but I feel its less of a struggle now than it was 10 years ago. And I attribute that to my studies of Hasidism in general, and the Tanya in particular.

***

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Rishe Groner, a writer and strategist living in Brooklyn, is the founder of The Genesis.

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Rishe Groner - Tablet Magazine

The story of Maasthi Gudi, conceived by Duniya Vijay, is about how saving tigers will eventually help us get water.

The daughter (Kriti Kharbanda) of a Range Forest Officer narrates her experience in a forest and her encounter with Maasti (Duniya Vijay) through a TV Channel. An orphan, who lands up in Maasti Gudi forest, he is raised by Madayya (Rangayana Raghu) and Bheemaji (B Jayashree). He grows up to be a mahout for an elephant Drona. But when Bheemajji, through her tantric vision, sees that the forest is headed for trouble, Maasti steps forward to save it. This is followed by a thin storyline of love, revenge and sacrifice.

Two men died while attempting to make Maasthi Gudi. Anil and Uday, who play villains attempted a misadventure to a give shot. What came of it? Does Maasthi Gudi do justice to their giving all for its making? The audience must decide.

The director Nagashekar, who has taken a step beyond his usual romance, has this time dealt with an action movie that also tackles global warming. With Maasthi Gudi, he elaborates on the importance of forests and saving animals from poachers, a subject rarely dealt with. But he seems to have tried to do way too many things by mixing action, love and family bonding with pantheism and ghosts. He ends up confusing the central theme of Save Tiger, Save Forest. Therefore, the movie evokes a mixed response. The film with its great setting in the lap of Nature and with computer graphics looks good, but leaves a viewer feeling a little empty. The makers, who could not portray better climax, are clearly ambitious because they have announced a sequel.

No doubt that Nagashekar and his team have put in a great effort in sending out a message of the need to protect forests, but they could have worked on their narration which flags and loses momentum. Vijay has come out of his comfort zone with him attempting a realistic performance and he has done it whole-heartedly. Amulya too has got into the character of the girl-next-door and Kriti Kharbanda does justice to the character she plays -- a Phd holder from London. Actors such as Rangayana Raghu, B Jayashree and Srinivas Murthy ably support the leads but the comedy track by Sadhu Kokila, Bullet Prakash and Tabla Nani is not so sensible.

The films technical team deserves an applause. Cinematographer Satya Heagde makes it a must-see with his striking visuals of the dry forest and the greenbelt. Music by Sadhu Kokila is another reason to watch it, there are soothing songs and a good background score. For all those living in the concrete world, Maasthi Gudi could be a good escape into the wild.

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Escape into the wild with Maasthi Gudi- The New Indian Express - The New Indian Express

My hometown of Alton, Illinois participated in the National Day of Prayer last Thursday by holding a prayer meeting at the Alton YWCA. According to one media source, participants offered prayers for the church and racial healing, for the sanctity of life, for business, emergency personnel and ministry to the sick, education, the media, the family, government and the military.

Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, celebrated National Day of Prayer by voting to repeal Obamacare. Nothing expresses ones love of God quite like taking health insurance away from millions of people.

A meme dealing with prayer popped up in my Facebook feed the previous week. It featured a photo of Pope Francis as well as a quotation from the pontiff that read: You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. Thats how prayer works.

Well, that was news to this columnist! The prayers I recall from my Catholic childhood generally fell into two categories: those asking forgiveness for a particular transgression; and those requesting divine intervention, such as healing of an illness or injury. I dont recall being taught or told to pray for the hungry. I have vivid memories, however, of being guilt-tripped into eating food I disliked when reminded there were starving people in India who would be glad to have it.

While applauding Francis mandate to feed the hungry, I found the first and last sentences of his quotation puzzling. If one fully intends to feed hungry people, why is it first necessary to pray for their hunger to be alleviated? Yes, I know the Old Testament tells of God feeding the hungry Hebrews with manna as they wandered in the desert. The New Testament tells of Jesus feeding hungry followers with miraculously-multiplied loaves and fishes. But Francis makes it quite clear that hes not depending on divine intervention in this instance. Hes talking about human beings feeding other human beings.

Why is it even necessary to pray for the hungry or even for the hungry to pray for themselves? Jesus clearly states in Matthew 6:7-8, And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. In other words, an omniscient God neednt be told that people are hungry.

When I shared this meme with a Facebook group that discusses pantheism, a New Zealander posted, Forget the first and last sentences. He got it at the second one. I replied that her comment reminded me of Robert Ingersolls famous assertion that The hands that help are better far than lips that pray. Ironically, Ingersolls observation isnt that radically different than James admonition in 2:15-16: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? The Great Agnostic and Jesus brother agreed that when it comes to alleviating hunger, actions trump words.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world suffered from chronic undernourishment in 2014-2016. Hunger exists in our nation. According to Hunger Notes, 6.3 million households in 2015 had very low food security, while children were food insecure at times in 3 million households.

While I applaud Francis compassion for the disadvantaged, my commitment to practicality prompts me to make a suggestion. Rather than pray for the hungry and then feed them, I recommend that one feed these people and then pray for them. For those with empty stomachs, even the shortest prayer can seem interminably long.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_dunphy-2-1.jpg

John J. Dunphy is the author of Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois and Lewis and Clarks Illinois Volunteers. He owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton.

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Dunphy: The growls of empty stomachs - Alton Telegraph

TRANSCRIPT

"All religions are of equal value and viable paths to God and Heaven." This is the main attitude that has been adopted by way too many clerics in the Catholic Church these days if even indirectly. They refuse to talk about the superiority, the uniqueness, the special place that Catholicism occupies in relation to all other religions.

All other religions, no matter how well-intended their adherents may be, are false because they are man made. And what we are talking about here are the beliefs, not the individual human beings who hold these beliefs. All people, no matter how mistaken or deluded, are deserving of respect owing to their human dignity. Their beliefs, however, are not deserving of respect. The beliefs are wrong.

A simple analogy might help. If a teacher asks the class what is 7 x 7, and she gets answers that are wrong, those incorrect answers cannot be respected. They are wrong and need to be called wrong. That doesn't mean the teacher should insult the student but the student needs to be shown that the answer is incorrect. That's the whole point of being taught in the first place to arrive at truth. There's also the matter of justice for the student who correctly answers the question. Those who arrive at truth need to be applauded and rewarded for it.

We are all equal in our dignity. We are not equal in our apprehension of the truth. And people who are wrong should not be given the impression that their understandings are correct when they are, in fact, incorrect. To place error alongside truth is wrong on two counts; it rewards error and diminishes truth.

But in the monstrosity of a building, passing itself off as a cathedral in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, this is exactly whats going on. There are a number of alcoves on the sides of the interior where art is exhibited from students at various Catholic schools in the Los Angeles archdiocese. On the walls of the alcoves, you will find paintings done by students from some of the most distinguished Catholic high schools in the archdiocese. Each work also had a placard with a one or two sentence description of their work. And they are loaded with heresy.

Before we show you some of the works, we want everyone to know, we are not going to show the names of the students who painted the images because that would be unfair. We also offer no opinion on the quality of work. Thats not the point of this Vortex. The students are only representing what theyve been taught after all those years of Catholic "education." The teachers and clergy who have corrupted and malformed their young minds and the senior clergy, which have let this happen will have a lot to answer for when they die.

So now to the images and the students own descriptions of their work. First, we have a piece entitled Drawn to the Light where the Catholic student promotes the idea of Eastern mysticism by saying there is a balance between light and dark. The Yin and the Yang notion completely opposed to Catholicism.

Next, the Wings of Hope, and the hope expressed by the student is the hope of the coming together of all religions. Might as well have a coexist bumper sticker plastered along beside it. Thats indifferentism opposed to Catholicism.

This one is called Pantheism and the student description says that God made man and the rest of creation in His Own image. Pantheism certainly and opposed to Catholicism.

This work is entitled Heaven Only Knows and insists that humans are created from star matter and connected to space. A kind of New Age spirituality. Again opposed to Catholicism.

Of course no display of heretical work would be complete without an ode to homosexuality, and here it is Ode to Orlando where the description says, in effect, everyone is equal and God loves everyone no matter what. What it leaves out is that our moral choices can cut us off from God. God love us, yes. But not all love Him back.

This one called Flamingo the student description says that man and nature complete each other. No, grace completes man, not nature. Opposed to Catholicism.

This one entitled My Spiritual Mandala promotes the Eastern notion that everything is related to everything else and destined to be united in the end. Opposed to Catholicism.

And what heresy parade would be complete without opening the door for false religions like Islam. Which is exactly what this work does. It is a direct quote from the Quran opposed to Catholicism. And again, the students who produced these works are only artistically representing what they've learned from their Catholic high schools all across Los Angeles.

Why are these paintings up on the walls in the cathedral, celebrated and presented for all to see and marvel over their depth and profound insights? Any faithful Catholic should be deeply disturbed by this. There are so many things wrong here, its hard to begin to even number all of them.

Why does the archdiocese permit or perhaps even encourage this? Who is checking the schools to ensure that pantheism, eastern mysticism, new age, homosexuality, false religions are not being taught?Judging from these works no one.

And yet, the bishops of America will be gathering in Orlando over the fourth of July weekend with Catholic "leaders" from around the country to figure out whats wrong and how to get Catholics back in the Church. Seriously? You have to have a four-day session to figure that out.

How about stop teaching heresy in the schools and plastering up blasphemous paintings inside the cathedrals? Why these bishops are not terrified of going to Hell is the greatest mystery on earth. They have corrupted the little ones for nearly four generations now. If the so-called Catholic leaders who have been privately invited dont stand up and oppose this sort of thing then they too will be held accountable for not declaring the truth.

This is evil. Period. And how dare the clergy allow this to happen.

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Opposed to Catholicism - Church Militant

Tim Martin claims God isnt listening. Without a direct pipeline to God, how would Tim know that, especially since, as an atheist, he claims God doesnt exist? If God is a non-existent entity then He probably lacks hearing aids. Tim is a talented writer. Where does he get that gift from? Possibly God. As a columnist, Tim has written about his love for animals. Wheres that from? God is love; therefore love is of God. Tim is happy as an atheist, yet happiness may also be derived from the Almighty an apparently forgiving source.

Maybe humor also derives from God, who may be amused that those who deny His existence also blame His non-existence for not listening ...

Everywhere is evidence of the presence of a magnificent creative force, of intricate and awe-inspiring design, of profound beauty in nature. Pantheism is an ancient belief system meaning God in Nature. Most importantly, despite the persistence of evil, abiding goodness prevails as the chief component of the natural order of the universe.

Its true that prayer in itself may not always change a situation to our liking, yet sincere petitioning to God has within it the capacity to change if not the desired outcome the prayer, the one who prays.

Here is a two-line poem dedicated to Tim Martin:

Just because we cant see the air

Doesnt mean it isnt there.

And a prediction: Non-believers may sometime be surprised, preferably in a good way!

Claudia Nelson, Hydesville

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In response to Tim Martin, God exists - Eureka Times Standard

I am in search, in this surcharged environment, of the asli (true) Hindu.

There is a wide chasm between Hindutva and Hinduism. Hindutva is a political ideology with intent to capture power. It is in no way related to Hinduism, which is a way of life. Hindutva today is nothing but Hindu fundamentalism. It has no relationship with core Hindu philosophical tenets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a follower of Swami Vivekananda. The latters enunciation of the core values of Hinduism might help in resisting the denigration of Hindu values through the ideology of Hindutva. In 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions Swami Vivekananda, when commenting on various religions, stated each must assimilate the spirit of the other, and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

Hindutva is an ideology practised by RSS pracharaks who hold the reins of power and the self-proclaimed vigilantes who seek to represent its moral force. Both are attempting to destroy the individuality and the spirit behind those who embrace other religions.

For Swami Vivekananda, Help and not fight, Assimilation and not Destruction, Harmony and Peace and not Dissension should be the banner of every religion. Events of the recent past suggest that Hindutvas essential characteristics are fuelling disharmony and discord.

Swami Vivekanandas dream was to harmonise Vedanta, the Bible and Quran, because he believed that all religions are but expressions of Oneness and that each individual has the right to embrace his religion and choose the path that suits him best. Those who espouse the cause of Hindutva have not understood this meaning of Hinduism. If we continue along this path, the asli Hindu might develop traits that have no resemblance to the tenets of his religion.

Swamijis prophetic words about food and eating habits have a definite bearing on protagonists of Hindutva entering into the kitchens of our households. Swamiji said There is a danger of our religion getting into the kitchen. Our God is the cooking-pot, and our religion is, Dont touch me, I am Holy If this goes on for another century, every one of us will be in a lunatic asylum.

These thoughts enunciated at the end of the 19th century should have guided mankind when embracing the 21st century. What we are witnessing today is ideologues of the 21st century harking back to 18th century mindsets. Our governments are now going to decide on our food habits.

Over the years, the Indian mind symbolised the spirit of tolerance. Many religions and cultures have flourished here. Christianity and Islam have found ample space to walk the path they wish to take. Diverse ideas and thoughts have been freely exchanged. Hindu intellectuals flourished within the courtyard of emperor Akbar. Sufi mystics have influenced lives of people over centuries. Yet, Hindutva seeks to efface the past and to build a divisive future.

The eclectic nature of Hinduism is lost on muscular Hindutva preachers. Even its diverse cultural dimensions are not fully appreciated by those who carry the badge of a pan-Indian cultural identity. Hindutva has a fascist, nationalistic and hegemonic dimension. Its diktats are patriarchal and casteist. The idea of a monolithic Hindu religion is unsuited to the inherent diversity of the people of India.

Hindutva as a movement bristles with rage at the slightest criticism. The asli Hindu is merely a community without a sacred scripture or a founder. What needs protection are the values inherent in the diversity within Hinduism; not the values that Hindutva seeks to impose. Hindutva must not encourage the wanton loss of human lives in an attempt to protect the holy cow.

Hinduism, a loosely knit faith in which all can flourish is antithetical to the concept of a narrow set of beliefs, doctrines and practices. Both pantheism and agnosticism are part of the Hindu religion. Millions of Gods and Goddesses are part of the Hindu faith. The Hindutva narrative has no appetite for multiple strands of faith, schools of philosophy and diversity of tradition.

Violence and untruth have no place in the practice of Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhis fundamental beliefs rested on two pillars: non-violence and Truth. RSS and the Hindutva they espouse believe in rumour mongering.

The spate of violence recently unleashed has made us insecure. Our prime ministers silence on statements offering ransom to behead a chief minister is disturbing. Those unwilling to embrace Hindutva are asked to leave the country. The violence at Una, Dadri and the most recent incident at Alwar are all examples of levels of intolerance not witnessed in this country for years.

Dissent is treated as sedition. Those responsible for law and order silently watch Hindutva brigades create disorder. Events in JNU and University of Hyderabad vitiate the environment of learning by stirring passions. Networks in the social media have become platforms of abuse hurled by those paid to do so. Security forces are sent to academic campuses and protagonists of Hindutva are given a free run for attacking protesting students.

Yoga symbolises discipline. Hindutva elements espouse the cause of yoga and have demonstrated levels of indiscipline not seen before in recent times. Cultural superiority through Hindutva is confused with what represents true culture.

The asli Hindu is silent. It is time for him to stand up and make his presence felt.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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A war of opposites: Rubbishing Hinduism's eclectic nature, Hindutva treats any expression of dissent as sedition - Times of India (blog)