Re-discovering Mary Magdalene
This book re-examines Mary Magdalene’s devotion to Jesus and concludes that she was not only an important figure in Jesus’s life but also a leading member of the apostolic order. She was one of Jesus’s prominent female followers who was present at the crucifixion when other disciples fled in fear of authorities. She was the witness of Jesus’s resurrection, and the first to be charged with his ministry. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene discovered in 1896 in a 5th-century papyrus codex written in Coptic language is the only known book of a female apostle. Unlike the controversial the Gospel of Jesus' Wife found years later, the Gospel of Mary does not claim Mary was married to Jesus. But it also show her to be an important disciple to whom Jesus' male disciples turn for advice and wisdom. Indeed, the apostle Peter specifically asks Mary to interpret the words of Jesus. Professor Karen L. King of Harvard Divinity School illuminates on Mary’s gospel and offers a new interpretation. The Gospel of Mary focuses on Jesus' teachings as a path to inner spiritual knowledge reminiscent of the teachings of Upanishads of Hinduism. This gospel rejects his suffering and death as a path to eternal life. This gospel offers a fascinating glimpse into the conflicts and controversies of a woman who shaped earliest Christianity. In fact many New Testament scholars suggest that Mary Magdalene is the founder of Christianism as opposed to St. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) to whom Jesus appears on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:3–9).
Canonical Gospels do not mention Jesus having a wife. But the manuscripts found in 2012, known as the “Gospel of Jesus' Wife” is interpreted by Professor King as an evidence that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Despite all the controversies, we learn that Mary Magdalene was a comforter as well as a teacher to the other disciples. Some of the apostles respected her in that role, and yet others challenged her authority since she was a woman. There was a spiritual kinsman-ship with Jesus whom she knew intimately, she saw the light, and connected with his message.
The author of this book takes a conservative look at the life of Mary Magdalene, while Professor King takes a more modern approach to her work and her role in early Christian church. Mary Magdalene will be debated for many years to come. Historically scholars have drawn their own conclusions based on the Biblical literature. Movie making industry like Hollywood did not stay far behind in re-telling the story of Mary Magdalene. Numerous movies have been made over the years, and one of my favorite is the 1927 epic, “The King of Kings” produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount Studios. It examines the last weeks in the life of Jesus in the company of his close apostolic friends and Mary Magdalene.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Last Christians, by Sharon Howe and Andreas Knapp
Living in a state of terror
Jews, Christians, Yezidis and other religious minorities have been ill-treated in the Muslim nations of Iraq and Syria for many centuries. Their plight became more visible and excruciating when the Islamic terror group, ISIS captured many towns and cities and systematically tortured and brutalized non-Muslim communities. In the mountain village of Maaloula that lies 34 miles from Syria's capital, Damascus, important religious buildings such as the looming Greek Catholic monastery of St. Sergius was damaged by heavy shelling. ISIS also destroyed the ancient city of Palmyra that included the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin. The Syrian archeologist who was an expert of the history of the city was beheaded. In the ancient Armenian town of Kessab stood the Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical church. Its library, pews and altar had all been burned, and statues were riddled with bullets and Islamist slogans were scrawled across the walls of homes and shops.
In this book, Andreas Knapp, a German priest who works with refugees from Middle East narrates his experiences with displaced people from northern Iraq and Syria. These are disturbing stories of individual survivors and their families. In the chapter 16 entitled “Through a child’s eyes” describe in simple words how a young Muslim boy displaced from Iraq tells the story of being exposed to constant shelling and bomb explosions. The book does not give graphic details of the horrors. In Chapter 11, entitled “The decline of the Christian Middle East,” the author gives a brief account how Syria was a cradle for Christianism when the church was still at its infancy. In Syria, Christians still speak Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. It is the home of the first Gentile Christians. In fact Assyrians were the first to accept Christianity and set up the ministry of Jesus. Some New Testament scholars attribute to the experience of Paul when he was on his way from Jerusalem to Syrian Damascus with a mandate issued by the High Priest to seek out and arrest followers of Jesus, with the intention of returning them to Jerusalem as prisoners for questioning and possible execution. The journey is interrupted when Paul sees a blinding light, and communicates directly with a divine voice.
There are many well written books about the recent events in war-torn Iraq and Syria. This work comes from the personal experiences of the author after working with refuges coming to Germany from Iraq and Syria.
Jews, Christians, Yezidis and other religious minorities have been ill-treated in the Muslim nations of Iraq and Syria for many centuries. Their plight became more visible and excruciating when the Islamic terror group, ISIS captured many towns and cities and systematically tortured and brutalized non-Muslim communities. In the mountain village of Maaloula that lies 34 miles from Syria's capital, Damascus, important religious buildings such as the looming Greek Catholic monastery of St. Sergius was damaged by heavy shelling. ISIS also destroyed the ancient city of Palmyra that included the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin. The Syrian archeologist who was an expert of the history of the city was beheaded. In the ancient Armenian town of Kessab stood the Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical church. Its library, pews and altar had all been burned, and statues were riddled with bullets and Islamist slogans were scrawled across the walls of homes and shops.
In this book, Andreas Knapp, a German priest who works with refugees from Middle East narrates his experiences with displaced people from northern Iraq and Syria. These are disturbing stories of individual survivors and their families. In the chapter 16 entitled “Through a child’s eyes” describe in simple words how a young Muslim boy displaced from Iraq tells the story of being exposed to constant shelling and bomb explosions. The book does not give graphic details of the horrors. In Chapter 11, entitled “The decline of the Christian Middle East,” the author gives a brief account how Syria was a cradle for Christianism when the church was still at its infancy. In Syria, Christians still speak Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. It is the home of the first Gentile Christians. In fact Assyrians were the first to accept Christianity and set up the ministry of Jesus. Some New Testament scholars attribute to the experience of Paul when he was on his way from Jerusalem to Syrian Damascus with a mandate issued by the High Priest to seek out and arrest followers of Jesus, with the intention of returning them to Jerusalem as prisoners for questioning and possible execution. The journey is interrupted when Paul sees a blinding light, and communicates directly with a divine voice.
There are many well written books about the recent events in war-torn Iraq and Syria. This work comes from the personal experiences of the author after working with refuges coming to Germany from Iraq and Syria.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Book Reviewed: A History of New Testament Times in Palestine, 175 B.C. – 70 A.D. by Shailer Mathews
New Testament and ancient Israel
This book condenses the history of ancient Israel during the times of New Testament. It covers a vast amount of literature in a small volume, and the text does not contain any references to original articles that would help readers verify the accuracy of the historical facts. The author jumps from one political event to another too quickly without focusing on the historical, religious and cultural ramifications.
A brief summary of the history of the pre-Christian times in the Middle East is as follows: Judaism first appears in Greek records during the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE) as a religion, and Hebrew literature narrates the story of Judaic population back much further to 1200 BCE. The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian conquest and continued on a much larger scale with the Babylonian conquest. Jews were also widespread throughout the Roman Empire, and this carried on to a lesser extent in the period of Byzantine rule in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed laws banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions. Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under the leadership of the Hasmonean family (also known as the Maccabees). This revolt eventually led to the formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. When Hebrews wanted to be governed by Jewish rabbis, Roman campaign to conquer Judea soon followed by the Roman General Pompey in 63 BCE, and reorganized as a client state. Later, Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, supplanting the Hasmonean dynasty. The empire was harsh in its treatment of its Jewish subjects. In 66 CE, the Jews revolted against the Roman rulers of Judea. In the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the Tabernacle.
In Ancient Rome, religion was an integral part of government and the Senate's declaration that Julius Caesar was god ruling the Earth. Hence, Romans demanded colonial population in the Roman Empire to recognize this fact. This was challenging the religious beliefs of minorities like Jews, Mithras (Mithraism, is a religion that worshiped God Mithras that was a viable in Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE.,) Sabazios (the religion of Phrygians and Thracians,) Belism (worship of Mesopotamian God Bel in Roman city of Palmyra) and Christians. Jews were especially threatened since they followed the teachings of the holy book of Tanakh (Pentateuch) and did not comply with Roman decree.
After the Jewish-Roman wars (66-135 CE), Hadrian changed the name of Judaea province to Syria Palaestina; and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, to erase the Jewish ties to the region. From 70 CE, Jews were allowed to practice their religion if they paid the Jewish tax, and after 135 CE, they were barred from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B'Av. Centuries later, the Roman Empire embraced Christianism as its religion with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE. Before this, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious freedom for Christians.
This book condenses the history of ancient Israel during the times of New Testament. It covers a vast amount of literature in a small volume, and the text does not contain any references to original articles that would help readers verify the accuracy of the historical facts. The author jumps from one political event to another too quickly without focusing on the historical, religious and cultural ramifications.
A brief summary of the history of the pre-Christian times in the Middle East is as follows: Judaism first appears in Greek records during the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE) as a religion, and Hebrew literature narrates the story of Judaic population back much further to 1200 BCE. The Jewish diaspora began with the Assyrian conquest and continued on a much larger scale with the Babylonian conquest. Jews were also widespread throughout the Roman Empire, and this carried on to a lesser extent in the period of Byzantine rule in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Antiochus IV Epiphanes imposed laws banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions. Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under the leadership of the Hasmonean family (also known as the Maccabees). This revolt eventually led to the formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. When Hebrews wanted to be governed by Jewish rabbis, Roman campaign to conquer Judea soon followed by the Roman General Pompey in 63 BCE, and reorganized as a client state. Later, Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate, supplanting the Hasmonean dynasty. The empire was harsh in its treatment of its Jewish subjects. In 66 CE, the Jews revolted against the Roman rulers of Judea. In the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the Tabernacle.
In Ancient Rome, religion was an integral part of government and the Senate's declaration that Julius Caesar was god ruling the Earth. Hence, Romans demanded colonial population in the Roman Empire to recognize this fact. This was challenging the religious beliefs of minorities like Jews, Mithras (Mithraism, is a religion that worshiped God Mithras that was a viable in Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE.,) Sabazios (the religion of Phrygians and Thracians,) Belism (worship of Mesopotamian God Bel in Roman city of Palmyra) and Christians. Jews were especially threatened since they followed the teachings of the holy book of Tanakh (Pentateuch) and did not comply with Roman decree.
After the Jewish-Roman wars (66-135 CE), Hadrian changed the name of Judaea province to Syria Palaestina; and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, to erase the Jewish ties to the region. From 70 CE, Jews were allowed to practice their religion if they paid the Jewish tax, and after 135 CE, they were barred from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B'Av. Centuries later, the Roman Empire embraced Christianism as its religion with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE. Before this, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious freedom for Christians.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Shepherd of Hermas, by Anonymous
The sacred Scriptures of Hermas
This book is a reproduction of what is in the scared scripture of the Shepard of Hermas. There is no introduction, summary page or commentary on any of the three sections of the holy literature. The Shepherd of Hermas is a work of apocryphal literature. It was regarded as a sacred scripture in the ministry of Jesus Christ during the latter part of second and early third century, and was a part of the first New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus. The revelation of this book has five visions, twelve mandates, and ten parables that largely focuses on obedience to god and follow the commandments in good faith and they will be rewarded in happiness of everlasting life.
The book’s first verse of first chapter start with the Vison of Hermas.
Hermas Vision 1:1 – “The master, who reared me, had sold me to one Rhoda in Rome. After many years, I met her again, and began to love her as a sister.’ So goes the recollection of a former slave and his revelations. In a state of spiritual and transcendental realm, Hermas sees the loving, blessing, and being aware of God's Grace. In Vision 2:
Hermas, Vision 2[112]:4 “Continue therefore,” said He, “in this ministry, and complete it unto the end. For whosoever fulfill his commandments shall have life; yea such a man (shall have) great honor with the Lord. But whosoever keep not his commandments, fly from their life, and oppose him, and follow not his commandments, but deliver themselves over to death; and each one becomes guilty of his own blood. But I bid thee obey these commandments, and thou shalt have a remedy for thy sins.”
Hermas, Mandate 12 1[44]:1 “He said to me; “Remove from thyself all evil desire, and clothe thyself in the desire which is good and holy; for clothed with this desire thou shalt hate the evil desire, and shalt bridle and direct it as thou wilt.”
Hermas, Parable 10 1[111]:1 “After I had written out this book completely, the angel who had delivered me to the shepherd came to the house where I was, and sat upon a couch, and the shepherd stood at his right hand. Then he called me, and spoke thus unto me.”
The name of Hermas has been mentioned in the Old Testament book of Romans. Romans 16:14 - "Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them." This book has great relevance in Abrahamic teachings and impacted early ministry Jesus Christ. In fact the text in its entirety is available free of charge from many online sources such as;
EarlyChristainWritings.com
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob26.htm
https://carm.org/shepherd-of-hermas
This book is a reproduction of what is in the scared scripture of the Shepard of Hermas. There is no introduction, summary page or commentary on any of the three sections of the holy literature. The Shepherd of Hermas is a work of apocryphal literature. It was regarded as a sacred scripture in the ministry of Jesus Christ during the latter part of second and early third century, and was a part of the first New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus. The revelation of this book has five visions, twelve mandates, and ten parables that largely focuses on obedience to god and follow the commandments in good faith and they will be rewarded in happiness of everlasting life.
The book’s first verse of first chapter start with the Vison of Hermas.
Hermas Vision 1:1 – “The master, who reared me, had sold me to one Rhoda in Rome. After many years, I met her again, and began to love her as a sister.’ So goes the recollection of a former slave and his revelations. In a state of spiritual and transcendental realm, Hermas sees the loving, blessing, and being aware of God's Grace. In Vision 2:
Hermas, Vision 2[112]:4 “Continue therefore,” said He, “in this ministry, and complete it unto the end. For whosoever fulfill his commandments shall have life; yea such a man (shall have) great honor with the Lord. But whosoever keep not his commandments, fly from their life, and oppose him, and follow not his commandments, but deliver themselves over to death; and each one becomes guilty of his own blood. But I bid thee obey these commandments, and thou shalt have a remedy for thy sins.”
Hermas, Mandate 12 1[44]:1 “He said to me; “Remove from thyself all evil desire, and clothe thyself in the desire which is good and holy; for clothed with this desire thou shalt hate the evil desire, and shalt bridle and direct it as thou wilt.”
Hermas, Parable 10 1[111]:1 “After I had written out this book completely, the angel who had delivered me to the shepherd came to the house where I was, and sat upon a couch, and the shepherd stood at his right hand. Then he called me, and spoke thus unto me.”
The name of Hermas has been mentioned in the Old Testament book of Romans. Romans 16:14 - "Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them." This book has great relevance in Abrahamic teachings and impacted early ministry Jesus Christ. In fact the text in its entirety is available free of charge from many online sources such as;
EarlyChristainWritings.com
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob26.htm
https://carm.org/shepherd-of-hermas
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Garden on Sunset: A Novel of Golden-Era Hollywood, by Martin Turnbull
The paradise at Sunset Strip
This is a work of fiction where historical figures from the Hollywood silent era intertwine with imaginary characters. The story is set in the famous (? infamous) Garden of Allah, a haven for the Hollywood elite. This was the place where a celebrity could have nonstop, uninhibited fun to the wee hours of the morning. The Hollywood wannabees would hang out at the nearby places such as Schwab’s Pharmacy across from the Villa to be noticed by someone important so that they can live out the dreams in film industry.
This is a novel of friendship between three people who come and stay in Garden of Allah to find success as screenwriters. Marcus Adler, Kathryn Massey and Gwendolyn Brick. They meet very famous men and women; Alla Nazimova, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, George Cukor, Studio and casting directors. Adler like to make acquaintances with a quintessential personality like Nazimova. Known for her flamboyancy who lived in a grand style surrounded by lesbians, gays and couple in lavender marriages. She was also a very influential person to know if one wants to succeed in movie industry. Life at the Villa was at its fullest. Sexual experiments crossed the boundaries of gender in unrestricted form, at the Garden of Allah, a residential complex demolished in 1959.
This book recollects the history of Hollywood through the eyes of three residents. Stars like Alla Nazimova, Harpo Marx, Sergei Rachmaninoff, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Errol Flynn, Ginger Rogers, John Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Kathryn Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and at one time even Albert Einstein stayed here. This work takes back readers with its exciting history in the form of a fictional story.
The writing of this volume is about average, and the story does not get into any exciting part of the history. This book is the first of the seven book series and it is recommended to readers interested in fiction and the history of Hollywood.
This is a work of fiction where historical figures from the Hollywood silent era intertwine with imaginary characters. The story is set in the famous (? infamous) Garden of Allah, a haven for the Hollywood elite. This was the place where a celebrity could have nonstop, uninhibited fun to the wee hours of the morning. The Hollywood wannabees would hang out at the nearby places such as Schwab’s Pharmacy across from the Villa to be noticed by someone important so that they can live out the dreams in film industry.
This is a novel of friendship between three people who come and stay in Garden of Allah to find success as screenwriters. Marcus Adler, Kathryn Massey and Gwendolyn Brick. They meet very famous men and women; Alla Nazimova, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, George Cukor, Studio and casting directors. Adler like to make acquaintances with a quintessential personality like Nazimova. Known for her flamboyancy who lived in a grand style surrounded by lesbians, gays and couple in lavender marriages. She was also a very influential person to know if one wants to succeed in movie industry. Life at the Villa was at its fullest. Sexual experiments crossed the boundaries of gender in unrestricted form, at the Garden of Allah, a residential complex demolished in 1959.
This book recollects the history of Hollywood through the eyes of three residents. Stars like Alla Nazimova, Harpo Marx, Sergei Rachmaninoff, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Errol Flynn, Ginger Rogers, John Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Kathryn Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and at one time even Albert Einstein stayed here. This work takes back readers with its exciting history in the form of a fictional story.
The writing of this volume is about average, and the story does not get into any exciting part of the history. This book is the first of the seven book series and it is recommended to readers interested in fiction and the history of Hollywood.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Wedding of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, by Joseph E Trainor
Ari loves Salome
This is a work of fiction about the wedding of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The characters, settings and plots are specially created for this work. The author, borrowing a segment from a longer work “Ari Loves Salome,” weaves a story where in the fictitious characters interact with historical figures. The story is about Aristobulus of Chalcis (as Jesus), and his wife Salome, the daughter of Herodias (as Mary Magdalene). This is the love story of Ari and Salome. Much of the book describes their engagement and preparation for the big day to walk the aisle, with the guests from all over the world.
The highlights of the story is events leading to their meeting. During a conversation, Salome had to let him know of her reservation. She tells him, “You know about my family, and I know about yours, but what about Aristobulus the person? Who are you that you will now sit on my couch and eat from my table?” Ari responded. “I am he who is from the One, and the things that belong to the Father have been given to me.” Spoken like Jesus! Later during the conversation, Ari Jesh is very comforting with his words. “When the disciple is divided, there is darkness, yet when Unity happens, everywhere is Light.” Salome was convinced this is the man who makes her happy. She hugs him as he rubbed Salome Maryam’s shoulders, neck and back and embraced her in happiness, the flow carried on. “No wealth or might could bring this desire. The taste of honey and fine spices is what I long to share. I and I (you) unite in love, true and tender love.”
Each half of the royal couple fully believed in their ancestor Herod as a modern, re-incarnated David. He had rebuilt the Temple, and raised the profile of Judaism throughout the Middle East and beyond. Thus they had tremendous faith in their own divinity and destiny. Ari and Salome entered into their union with both the promise of bliss and the expectation of tribulation.
Salome depicted in this story is not the same as the historical Salome who wanted the severed head of John the Baptist on a platter. This Salome represented a temptress and a devilish character who lures everyone away from the path of salvation. In this story, she appears to be soft, restrained and subdued. Despite all this it is interesting to know that Apostle Mark mentions her by name at the time of crucifixion of Jesus. Mark 15:40, “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome.”
This is a work of fiction about the wedding of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The characters, settings and plots are specially created for this work. The author, borrowing a segment from a longer work “Ari Loves Salome,” weaves a story where in the fictitious characters interact with historical figures. The story is about Aristobulus of Chalcis (as Jesus), and his wife Salome, the daughter of Herodias (as Mary Magdalene). This is the love story of Ari and Salome. Much of the book describes their engagement and preparation for the big day to walk the aisle, with the guests from all over the world.
The highlights of the story is events leading to their meeting. During a conversation, Salome had to let him know of her reservation. She tells him, “You know about my family, and I know about yours, but what about Aristobulus the person? Who are you that you will now sit on my couch and eat from my table?” Ari responded. “I am he who is from the One, and the things that belong to the Father have been given to me.” Spoken like Jesus! Later during the conversation, Ari Jesh is very comforting with his words. “When the disciple is divided, there is darkness, yet when Unity happens, everywhere is Light.” Salome was convinced this is the man who makes her happy. She hugs him as he rubbed Salome Maryam’s shoulders, neck and back and embraced her in happiness, the flow carried on. “No wealth or might could bring this desire. The taste of honey and fine spices is what I long to share. I and I (you) unite in love, true and tender love.”
Each half of the royal couple fully believed in their ancestor Herod as a modern, re-incarnated David. He had rebuilt the Temple, and raised the profile of Judaism throughout the Middle East and beyond. Thus they had tremendous faith in their own divinity and destiny. Ari and Salome entered into their union with both the promise of bliss and the expectation of tribulation.
Salome depicted in this story is not the same as the historical Salome who wanted the severed head of John the Baptist on a platter. This Salome represented a temptress and a devilish character who lures everyone away from the path of salvation. In this story, she appears to be soft, restrained and subdued. Despite all this it is interesting to know that Apostle Mark mentions her by name at the time of crucifixion of Jesus. Mark 15:40, “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome.”
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Book Reviewed: Renegade: Martin Luther, by Dacia Palmerino and Andrea Ciponte
The Heretic: Martin Luther
This year is the 500 anniversary of the reformation that began when Martin Luther, a stubborn monk and a leader of protestant movement, published his 95 theses or complaints against Catholic Church. This marks the beginning of a revolution in the annals of Christianism. But the interesting thing about this book is that there are about 11 other books published in 2017. In addition, this biography is a graphical illustration and not a textual record. It is certainly creative, but the pictorial arts are unappealing. The graphics is poorly portrayed; much of life-like illustrations are dark or dark brown. In many instances the background is too dark to really appreciate the vibrancy of historical facts. The author fail to hold the reader’s interest. Comparing this book to textual biographies already published, this work comes short. Another con is that the pages of the book have a very unpleasant odor, and the smell simply does not go away.
While being born in poverty, plague, and superstitions, Martin Luther joins a monastery after graduating from the university. He becomes disillusioned with the practices of Catholic Church and seeks for redemption. Luther begins to revolt against Rome’s teachings. He spends his time incognito at Wartburg Castle, translates Bible into German, and finally his morally offensive marriage to former nun Katharina von Bora reflects negatively in the eyes of Catholic Church. In his later years, his tirades against peasants and Jews tarnishes his character. Despite that, one of the bright aspect of this book is the final chapter, “The Epilogue.” This is perhaps the best work of the creators wherein the a private conversation between Luther’s companion Philip Melanchthon and Luther’s crypt, and the a royal decree read by the Ferdinand I of Holy Roman Empire officially recognizing the protestant faith is creatively presented. Accordingly, each German prince is free to choose between the Catholic and Protestant faiths. And the prince’s religion becomes the exclusive faith of his kingdom.
This year is the 500 anniversary of the reformation that began when Martin Luther, a stubborn monk and a leader of protestant movement, published his 95 theses or complaints against Catholic Church. This marks the beginning of a revolution in the annals of Christianism. But the interesting thing about this book is that there are about 11 other books published in 2017. In addition, this biography is a graphical illustration and not a textual record. It is certainly creative, but the pictorial arts are unappealing. The graphics is poorly portrayed; much of life-like illustrations are dark or dark brown. In many instances the background is too dark to really appreciate the vibrancy of historical facts. The author fail to hold the reader’s interest. Comparing this book to textual biographies already published, this work comes short. Another con is that the pages of the book have a very unpleasant odor, and the smell simply does not go away.
While being born in poverty, plague, and superstitions, Martin Luther joins a monastery after graduating from the university. He becomes disillusioned with the practices of Catholic Church and seeks for redemption. Luther begins to revolt against Rome’s teachings. He spends his time incognito at Wartburg Castle, translates Bible into German, and finally his morally offensive marriage to former nun Katharina von Bora reflects negatively in the eyes of Catholic Church. In his later years, his tirades against peasants and Jews tarnishes his character. Despite that, one of the bright aspect of this book is the final chapter, “The Epilogue.” This is perhaps the best work of the creators wherein the a private conversation between Luther’s companion Philip Melanchthon and Luther’s crypt, and the a royal decree read by the Ferdinand I of Holy Roman Empire officially recognizing the protestant faith is creatively presented. Accordingly, each German prince is free to choose between the Catholic and Protestant faiths. And the prince’s religion becomes the exclusive faith of his kingdom.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Book Reviewed: 50 Maestros, 50 Recordings by Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan
Indian classical music and a book of cultural choice
In this edition, the authors have described the work of 50 classical musicians from India. The life and their work are very briefly described. The elucidation is rather sketchy and the work and recording information is incomplete. Many recordings have dominated the classical music world for decades and their work is available from numerous sources. But not all the recordings have been listed in this book.
These two Muslim authors were born to a Hindu mother. As always, in these relationships, children become Muslims on the belief that they are few steps closer to God as Muslims. Jihad works! And it is very much alive!
In this edition, the authors have described the work of 50 classical musicians from India. The life and their work are very briefly described. The elucidation is rather sketchy and the work and recording information is incomplete. Many recordings have dominated the classical music world for decades and their work is available from numerous sources. But not all the recordings have been listed in this book.
These two Muslim authors were born to a Hindu mother. As always, in these relationships, children become Muslims on the belief that they are few steps closer to God as Muslims. Jihad works! And it is very much alive!
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Evolution of Gods: The Scientific Origin of Divinity and Religions, by Ajay Kansal
Essays on religion and related subjects
This book lacks focus. The author has no specific objective but runs amok through the ancient history of human beings, and dwells on subjects like anthropology, religion and human evolution. But he gets lost while defining the myth of human life. Civilization grew first and spirituality came long after humans learnt to survive in this world. The author has a spiritual awakening in his life but he cannot let his attention diffuse on numerous areas of human knowledge.
In the book, “Why I am not a Christian and other essays on religion.” Bertrand Russell says in his Preface that, “I am firmly convinced that religions do harm.” He questions about man’s place in the universe, and about morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics in Abrahamic religions. He brings into discussion the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other philosophical work is famous for. There is no question that religions like Islam and Christianism distort of the origins of life in the cosmos. We think of God as merciful, just and compassionate. In fact, much of Old and New Testaments, Quran and Hadith lays out God’s qualities as: jealous, petty, unforgiving, bloodthirsty, and vindictive. There is no science and reason in religious arguments. We need to focus on metaphysical reasoning and understand quantum physical reality. We need to rejoice at the wonders of creation through the Hubble Telescope and particle accelerators like Large Hadron Colliders. And how consciousness fit in all this.
There are just too many books that discusses the human desire to connect with the God Almighty. And how established religions took hold of civilizations. The author would have done better job on focusing on just one topic.
This book lacks focus. The author has no specific objective but runs amok through the ancient history of human beings, and dwells on subjects like anthropology, religion and human evolution. But he gets lost while defining the myth of human life. Civilization grew first and spirituality came long after humans learnt to survive in this world. The author has a spiritual awakening in his life but he cannot let his attention diffuse on numerous areas of human knowledge.
In the book, “Why I am not a Christian and other essays on religion.” Bertrand Russell says in his Preface that, “I am firmly convinced that religions do harm.” He questions about man’s place in the universe, and about morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics in Abrahamic religions. He brings into discussion the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other philosophical work is famous for. There is no question that religions like Islam and Christianism distort of the origins of life in the cosmos. We think of God as merciful, just and compassionate. In fact, much of Old and New Testaments, Quran and Hadith lays out God’s qualities as: jealous, petty, unforgiving, bloodthirsty, and vindictive. There is no science and reason in religious arguments. We need to focus on metaphysical reasoning and understand quantum physical reality. We need to rejoice at the wonders of creation through the Hubble Telescope and particle accelerators like Large Hadron Colliders. And how consciousness fit in all this.
There are just too many books that discusses the human desire to connect with the God Almighty. And how established religions took hold of civilizations. The author would have done better job on focusing on just one topic.
Book Reviewed: Gods, Demigods and Demons: An Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology, by Bernard Evslin
The treasures of Greek mythology
This book is introductory in nature that describes Greek gods, goddesses and heroes that have inspired human creativity in Western civilization. It delineates Greek myths and their relevance to Greek religion and nature worship, which was also prevalent in ancient Israel and ancient India. The gods and goddesses are described alphabetically and the myths include stories about the gods and the role they played in human emancipation.
Ancient Greek, Egypt and Roman religions had numerous gods and goddesses. They were worshipped similar to gods of Rigveda in ancient India. But these religions did not survive after the advent of Christianism because there were no sacred scriptures and religious literature that could have supported their beliefs and practices. In contrast to this, Ṛgveda evolved as a major sacred scripture of early Hinduism that paved the way for other Vedic literature like Aranyakas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, epics (Itihasa), Bhagavadgita, and Puranas. The six schools of Hindu Philosophy that includes Vedanta were built on strong foundations of Vedic literature. This partly explains the survival of Hinduism over Greek, Egyptian and Roman religions. In addition, the Roman Empire’s embrace of Christianism accelerated the dominance of Roman Catholic faith.
The Greek religion believed that the pantheon of deities lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. From their perch, they ruled every aspect of human life. Olympian gods and goddesses looked like men and women, but they could change themselves into animals and other things. Homer’s epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey described the mythical story of Trojan War as a divine conflict as well as a human one. But he did not name the gods and goddesses who are probably his main characters. But about one hundred years later, Hesiod’s Theogony offered the first written origin story of Greek mythology. It said that the universe came from nothingness (Chaos, a primeval void) to being, and a family tree of elements, gods and goddesses evolved. They descended from all over; Gaia (Earth), Ouranos (Sky), Pontos (Sea) and Tartaros (the Underworld).
Serval gods of Greek and Roman religions bear resemblance to gods of Ṛgveda of Hinduism. They all have originated from a proto Indo-European inhabitants (Yamnaya culture). For example, god’s names had similar origin; Zeus (Greek) and Dyaus Pitar (Hindu); Hades (Greek), Yama (Hindu) and Yima (Persian mythology); Uranus (Greek) and Varuna (Hindu); Mars (Greek) and Maruts (Hindu); Daphne (Greek) Dahana (Hindu); and Paris (Greek) Panis (Hindu). Zeus (Greek), the king of gods is affirmed with thunder and lightning, the lightning bolt as his primary weapon. Similarly Vedic god Indra is king of the gods and heavens. One of his trademarks is the “Vajras” or lightning bolt, representing immense power and influence. Saraswati (Hindu goddess) is a “cosmic musician,” embodying perfection, knowledge, and wisdom, and Athena (Greek goddess) is very intelligent (Regula) and heroic. The Vedic trinity in ancient Hinduism was Indra, Varuna and Mitra, whose Greek counterparts were Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.
The supreme ruler of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon was the god *Dyḗus Pḥatḗr, whose name literally means "Sky Father". He was believed to have been worshipped as the god of the day-lit skies. Linguists reconstruct the names of some deities in the Proto-Indo-European language. The term for "God" was deiwos; this is reflected in Hittite as sius; Latin as Deus or divus; Sanskrit as deva; and Persian as daeva or div.
This is a good book for quick reference. But the author does not provide any illustrations, photographs, drawings or genealogical tables. In fact there is no introduction to this volume. Recommended to readers interested in ancient history, Greek history and Greek religion.
This book is introductory in nature that describes Greek gods, goddesses and heroes that have inspired human creativity in Western civilization. It delineates Greek myths and their relevance to Greek religion and nature worship, which was also prevalent in ancient Israel and ancient India. The gods and goddesses are described alphabetically and the myths include stories about the gods and the role they played in human emancipation.
Ancient Greek, Egypt and Roman religions had numerous gods and goddesses. They were worshipped similar to gods of Rigveda in ancient India. But these religions did not survive after the advent of Christianism because there were no sacred scriptures and religious literature that could have supported their beliefs and practices. In contrast to this, Ṛgveda evolved as a major sacred scripture of early Hinduism that paved the way for other Vedic literature like Aranyakas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, epics (Itihasa), Bhagavadgita, and Puranas. The six schools of Hindu Philosophy that includes Vedanta were built on strong foundations of Vedic literature. This partly explains the survival of Hinduism over Greek, Egyptian and Roman religions. In addition, the Roman Empire’s embrace of Christianism accelerated the dominance of Roman Catholic faith.
The Greek religion believed that the pantheon of deities lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. From their perch, they ruled every aspect of human life. Olympian gods and goddesses looked like men and women, but they could change themselves into animals and other things. Homer’s epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey described the mythical story of Trojan War as a divine conflict as well as a human one. But he did not name the gods and goddesses who are probably his main characters. But about one hundred years later, Hesiod’s Theogony offered the first written origin story of Greek mythology. It said that the universe came from nothingness (Chaos, a primeval void) to being, and a family tree of elements, gods and goddesses evolved. They descended from all over; Gaia (Earth), Ouranos (Sky), Pontos (Sea) and Tartaros (the Underworld).
Serval gods of Greek and Roman religions bear resemblance to gods of Ṛgveda of Hinduism. They all have originated from a proto Indo-European inhabitants (Yamnaya culture). For example, god’s names had similar origin; Zeus (Greek) and Dyaus Pitar (Hindu); Hades (Greek), Yama (Hindu) and Yima (Persian mythology); Uranus (Greek) and Varuna (Hindu); Mars (Greek) and Maruts (Hindu); Daphne (Greek) Dahana (Hindu); and Paris (Greek) Panis (Hindu). Zeus (Greek), the king of gods is affirmed with thunder and lightning, the lightning bolt as his primary weapon. Similarly Vedic god Indra is king of the gods and heavens. One of his trademarks is the “Vajras” or lightning bolt, representing immense power and influence. Saraswati (Hindu goddess) is a “cosmic musician,” embodying perfection, knowledge, and wisdom, and Athena (Greek goddess) is very intelligent (Regula) and heroic. The Vedic trinity in ancient Hinduism was Indra, Varuna and Mitra, whose Greek counterparts were Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.
The supreme ruler of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon was the god *Dyḗus Pḥatḗr, whose name literally means "Sky Father". He was believed to have been worshipped as the god of the day-lit skies. Linguists reconstruct the names of some deities in the Proto-Indo-European language. The term for "God" was deiwos; this is reflected in Hittite as sius; Latin as Deus or divus; Sanskrit as deva; and Persian as daeva or div.
This is a good book for quick reference. But the author does not provide any illustrations, photographs, drawings or genealogical tables. In fact there is no introduction to this volume. Recommended to readers interested in ancient history, Greek history and Greek religion.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Mystery of Israel in Ancient Egypt: The Exodus in the Quran by Louay Fatoohi and Shetha Al-Dargazelli
This book is in error
This book is in error! It is written by a couple of amateurs! These discussions are appropriate for Islamic schools in Muslim countries. It does not offer any intellectual material for helpful discussions that could be verified with countless academic work done in the field of ancient Hebrew literature and Biblical studies. The authors argue that Quran is based on historical facts, but Judaism and Christianism are not. How absurd such an idea sounds? One example is that authors try to prove that Quran reveals accurate facts about the Book of Exodus. The authors say that “this scholarship” on the “historical Jesus shows that, unlike the New Testament accounts, the Quranic image of Jesus is consistent…… with history.” “The Christian Jesus is unhistorical, this study makes a strong case for the historicity of the Jesus of the Quran.” Extensive historical records clearly demonstrates that Old Testament existed as early as tenth century B.C.E and the books of New Testament came after Jesus in the first century A.C.E. Islam came into existence in seventh century A.C.E. Much of Quranic discussion of Old Testament came from Hebrew literature, later modified and corrupted by Islamic instructors. The following examples serve to illustrate this point:
Quran 5:43. But why do they come to you for judgement when they have the Torah which contains Allah's commandments…….
Quran 5:44. Indeed we revealed the Torah to Moses, in which there is guidance and light: By its laws, all the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged those who call themselves Jews…….
Quran 2:55. Remember when you said: "O Moses! We shall never believe you until we see Allah with our own eyes," a thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on and you fell dead.
The authors also note that “Propaganda of believers of other faiths who saw Islam as a competing religion.” And “Western double standards have also played a major role in distorting Islam and jihad.” They suggest that Jihad is nonviolent and “Jihad is the person’s ongoing struggle against all manifestations of evil, starting with the evil drives within one’s self.” But evidence found in Quran and Hadith are contrary to these assertions. Actually, Quran contains at least 109 verses that speak of war with nonbelievers (non-Muslims). Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. The following examples illustrate as how Islam treat non-believers like Jews and Christians:
Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief] is worse than killing.....
Quran 5:82. You will find the most violent in enmity to the Islamic believers are the Jews and the mushrikin (pagan Arabs)……..
Quran 4:160. Because of the wrongdoing of the Jews. We forbade them good things which were (before) made lawful unto them, and because of their much hindering from Allah's way,
Quran 5:63. Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork.
Quran 33:26. And those of the people of the Book (The Jews) who aided the invaders, Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts……
Quran 5:64. And the Jews say, "God's hand is shackled!" It is their own hands that are shackled; and rejected [by God] are they because of this their assertion……
Quran 5:51. O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.
Quran 3:56. ….As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony….
Quran 3:151 …..Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers…….
Quran 4:74 ….Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him. We shall bestow a vast reward." In fact this is the theological basis for today's suicide bombers.
The “Hadith” is another set of Muslim literature that narrates the words and deeds of Muhammad. According to Hadith, Jihad is a religious duty of Muslims and it suggests that jihad means warfare. In fact that there is a chapter called "Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad)". This book has no academic merits and written for an Islamic fundamentalist. A mainstream reader will not benefit from this book.
This book is in error! It is written by a couple of amateurs! These discussions are appropriate for Islamic schools in Muslim countries. It does not offer any intellectual material for helpful discussions that could be verified with countless academic work done in the field of ancient Hebrew literature and Biblical studies. The authors argue that Quran is based on historical facts, but Judaism and Christianism are not. How absurd such an idea sounds? One example is that authors try to prove that Quran reveals accurate facts about the Book of Exodus. The authors say that “this scholarship” on the “historical Jesus shows that, unlike the New Testament accounts, the Quranic image of Jesus is consistent…… with history.” “The Christian Jesus is unhistorical, this study makes a strong case for the historicity of the Jesus of the Quran.” Extensive historical records clearly demonstrates that Old Testament existed as early as tenth century B.C.E and the books of New Testament came after Jesus in the first century A.C.E. Islam came into existence in seventh century A.C.E. Much of Quranic discussion of Old Testament came from Hebrew literature, later modified and corrupted by Islamic instructors. The following examples serve to illustrate this point:
Quran 5:43. But why do they come to you for judgement when they have the Torah which contains Allah's commandments…….
Quran 5:44. Indeed we revealed the Torah to Moses, in which there is guidance and light: By its laws, all the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged those who call themselves Jews…….
Quran 2:55. Remember when you said: "O Moses! We shall never believe you until we see Allah with our own eyes," a thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on and you fell dead.
The authors also note that “Propaganda of believers of other faiths who saw Islam as a competing religion.” And “Western double standards have also played a major role in distorting Islam and jihad.” They suggest that Jihad is nonviolent and “Jihad is the person’s ongoing struggle against all manifestations of evil, starting with the evil drives within one’s self.” But evidence found in Quran and Hadith are contrary to these assertions. Actually, Quran contains at least 109 verses that speak of war with nonbelievers (non-Muslims). Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. The following examples illustrate as how Islam treat non-believers like Jews and Christians:
Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief] is worse than killing.....
Quran 5:82. You will find the most violent in enmity to the Islamic believers are the Jews and the mushrikin (pagan Arabs)……..
Quran 4:160. Because of the wrongdoing of the Jews. We forbade them good things which were (before) made lawful unto them, and because of their much hindering from Allah's way,
Quran 5:63. Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil speaking and their devouring of illicit gain? Verily evil is their handiwork.
Quran 33:26. And those of the people of the Book (The Jews) who aided the invaders, Allah did take them down from their strongholds and cast terror into their hearts……
Quran 5:64. And the Jews say, "God's hand is shackled!" It is their own hands that are shackled; and rejected [by God] are they because of this their assertion……
Quran 5:51. O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.
Quran 3:56. ….As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony….
Quran 3:151 …..Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers…….
Quran 4:74 ….Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him. We shall bestow a vast reward." In fact this is the theological basis for today's suicide bombers.
The “Hadith” is another set of Muslim literature that narrates the words and deeds of Muhammad. According to Hadith, Jihad is a religious duty of Muslims and it suggests that jihad means warfare. In fact that there is a chapter called "Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad)". This book has no academic merits and written for an Islamic fundamentalist. A mainstream reader will not benefit from this book.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Book Reviewed: Jubilee Bible - From the Scriptures of the Reformation by Russell M Stendal
A good computer resource for Biblical study
This is good resource to study Bible that has both Old and New Testaments. It is easy to navigate within the book using the standard Kindle book tools, and search for words, and phrases. You can also go directly to a specific verse within each book of the Bible. This text is a translation from Spanish into English by the author after a comparative study with the King James Version of Bible. The two translations looks similar. The search features make this eBook an outstanding Bible to study on computer.
For those who are interested in Biblical studies, there are numerous resources available online (internet). A simple Google search should give you web addresses of plenty of resources that includes translations, interpretations, commentaries, historical significance and many other relevant information.
A hymn of interest from Old Testament is the Book of Exodus 3:14. And God answered unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel: I AM (YHWH) has sent me unto you. In this verse, Yahweh, the god of the Israelites, whose name was revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) is called the Tetragrammaton. After the Babylonian Exile (6th century B.C.E), Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh and replaced with Elohim, meaning God. For the regular synagogue usage the Hebrew word Adonai (“My Lord”) became common.
This is good resource to study Bible that has both Old and New Testaments. It is easy to navigate within the book using the standard Kindle book tools, and search for words, and phrases. You can also go directly to a specific verse within each book of the Bible. This text is a translation from Spanish into English by the author after a comparative study with the King James Version of Bible. The two translations looks similar. The search features make this eBook an outstanding Bible to study on computer.
For those who are interested in Biblical studies, there are numerous resources available online (internet). A simple Google search should give you web addresses of plenty of resources that includes translations, interpretations, commentaries, historical significance and many other relevant information.
A hymn of interest from Old Testament is the Book of Exodus 3:14. And God answered unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel: I AM (YHWH) has sent me unto you. In this verse, Yahweh, the god of the Israelites, whose name was revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) is called the Tetragrammaton. After the Babylonian Exile (6th century B.C.E), Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh and replaced with Elohim, meaning God. For the regular synagogue usage the Hebrew word Adonai (“My Lord”) became common.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Visions of Zechariah, by Brian Johnston
Faith and Belief in the Church of Jesus Christ
This is a call for the followers of Christian faith to relate to the visions of Prophet Zechariah in light of the ministry of Jesus Christ. The book of Zechariah begins recalling the history of Israel, and then follows with a series of eight visions (Zechariah 1:7–6:8). Chapter 9 to 14 has two "oracles" or "burdens," and the first oracle (chapters 9-11) gives an outline of God's providential dealings with his people down to the time of the coming of the Messiah (Old Testament). And the second oracle (chapters 12–14) points out the glories that await Israel in "the latter day", the final conflict and triumph of God's kingdom. The author and like many preachers of New Testament suggest that this refers to the coming of Jesus Christ. Zechariah’s vision, the author argues isn’t just about the restoration of the service of God’s house in the sixth century BC, during the days of Tabernacle in ancient Israel. But it symbolizes the good times which were to come after Christ’s Advent. It emphasize the vision of God on earth is designed to be a witness to His son’s coming. To that end it functions by the Spirit of God with God-given light, as said in the book of Revelation. There is gracious blessings of the Lord for Israel, and his own followers in the ministry of Jesus Christ. The text of this book could have come from a sermon delivered at the church by the author of this book.
This is a call for the followers of Christian faith to relate to the visions of Prophet Zechariah in light of the ministry of Jesus Christ. The book of Zechariah begins recalling the history of Israel, and then follows with a series of eight visions (Zechariah 1:7–6:8). Chapter 9 to 14 has two "oracles" or "burdens," and the first oracle (chapters 9-11) gives an outline of God's providential dealings with his people down to the time of the coming of the Messiah (Old Testament). And the second oracle (chapters 12–14) points out the glories that await Israel in "the latter day", the final conflict and triumph of God's kingdom. The author and like many preachers of New Testament suggest that this refers to the coming of Jesus Christ. Zechariah’s vision, the author argues isn’t just about the restoration of the service of God’s house in the sixth century BC, during the days of Tabernacle in ancient Israel. But it symbolizes the good times which were to come after Christ’s Advent. It emphasize the vision of God on earth is designed to be a witness to His son’s coming. To that end it functions by the Spirit of God with God-given light, as said in the book of Revelation. There is gracious blessings of the Lord for Israel, and his own followers in the ministry of Jesus Christ. The text of this book could have come from a sermon delivered at the church by the author of this book.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Pagan Madonna, by Harold MacGrath.
Harold MacGrath’s intriguing novel
This novel was written in 1921, which is re-created in a digital format, by the bestselling American novelist Harold MacGrath. The Pagan Madonna is one of a number of novels and short stories he wrote, and some of his novels have made into movies during the Hollywood’s silent era. This story is set in Shanghai, China and narrates a story of a millionaire art collector Anthony Cleigh who cuts into the paths of Jane Norman, a Red Cross nurse from the United States, Ling Foo, a shifty pawn shop keeper, and Cleigh’s son, Dennison. The rational is simple; Jane buys a string of pearls unknowingly that it is a precious piece of antique and has huge monetary value. Cleigh schemes to abduct her and retrieve the merchandize. This intrigue over a personal ornament turns the lives of four people upside-down by Chance--the Blind Madonna of the Pagan. In this adventurous story, would you give a chance for love between Jane and Dennison? Or will it be lost like so many others into thin air?
The last few pages turn into a sentimental breakup for Jane and Denny. The conversation becomes very collected, self-possessed, serene, and tranquil. The relationship ends in a grand finale; Denny gives jewelry box to Jane and asks her to open it. Between the layers of cotton wool she finds a single pearl as large as a hazelnut, pink as the Oriental dawn. One side it is slightly depressed, as though some mischievous, inquisitive mermaid had touched it in passing. “Oh, the lovely thing!” she gasps. “The lovely thing! But, Denny, I can’t accept it!” “And how are you going to refuse it? Keep it. “It is an emblem of what you are, honey.” The poor devil! And he put his arm round her. He understood. Why not? There are certain attractions which are irresistible, and Jane was unconscious of her possessions. Jane tells him, I am “leaving to-night. Bought a sloop down there, and I’m going back there to live. Tired of human beings. Tired of myself.” The lagoon is like turquoise and the land like emerald and the sky a benediction. There was a spell of silence and immobility. Denny couldn’t believe her; for Jane a little shiver ran over her. But that is the way it is going to roll down. She was determined. It is an irresistible thought for Jane who needs time to contemplate on her own, far away. But it is also a reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world searching for inner-peace.
A movie with the same title “The Pagan Madonna” was produced in 1980 by the Hungarian Director Bujtor István that also deals with similar intrigue, theft, conspiracy and collusion. Recommended to readers interested in historical fictions and the work of Harold MacGrath.
This novel was written in 1921, which is re-created in a digital format, by the bestselling American novelist Harold MacGrath. The Pagan Madonna is one of a number of novels and short stories he wrote, and some of his novels have made into movies during the Hollywood’s silent era. This story is set in Shanghai, China and narrates a story of a millionaire art collector Anthony Cleigh who cuts into the paths of Jane Norman, a Red Cross nurse from the United States, Ling Foo, a shifty pawn shop keeper, and Cleigh’s son, Dennison. The rational is simple; Jane buys a string of pearls unknowingly that it is a precious piece of antique and has huge monetary value. Cleigh schemes to abduct her and retrieve the merchandize. This intrigue over a personal ornament turns the lives of four people upside-down by Chance--the Blind Madonna of the Pagan. In this adventurous story, would you give a chance for love between Jane and Dennison? Or will it be lost like so many others into thin air?
The last few pages turn into a sentimental breakup for Jane and Denny. The conversation becomes very collected, self-possessed, serene, and tranquil. The relationship ends in a grand finale; Denny gives jewelry box to Jane and asks her to open it. Between the layers of cotton wool she finds a single pearl as large as a hazelnut, pink as the Oriental dawn. One side it is slightly depressed, as though some mischievous, inquisitive mermaid had touched it in passing. “Oh, the lovely thing!” she gasps. “The lovely thing! But, Denny, I can’t accept it!” “And how are you going to refuse it? Keep it. “It is an emblem of what you are, honey.” The poor devil! And he put his arm round her. He understood. Why not? There are certain attractions which are irresistible, and Jane was unconscious of her possessions. Jane tells him, I am “leaving to-night. Bought a sloop down there, and I’m going back there to live. Tired of human beings. Tired of myself.” The lagoon is like turquoise and the land like emerald and the sky a benediction. There was a spell of silence and immobility. Denny couldn’t believe her; for Jane a little shiver ran over her. But that is the way it is going to roll down. She was determined. It is an irresistible thought for Jane who needs time to contemplate on her own, far away. But it is also a reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world searching for inner-peace.
A movie with the same title “The Pagan Madonna” was produced in 1980 by the Hungarian Director Bujtor István that also deals with similar intrigue, theft, conspiracy and collusion. Recommended to readers interested in historical fictions and the work of Harold MacGrath.
Book Reviewed: Brahmi script on Indus civilization coins, by Birendra Jha
The unicorn and the Brahmi script
In this book, largely based on two ancient seals with Brahmi inscriptions and a unicorn, the author attempts to explain an Indian culture may bear resemblance to an early Indian inhabitants in the ancient city of Babylon (Iraq). The unicorn was first found among ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization. Later is mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Prior to this it may have existed in early Mesopotamian artworks. But seals with a unicorn and Brahmi script were of high social rank or perhaps of a priest or a king in ancient India.
Certain poetical passages of the Bible refer to a strong and splendid horned animal called reʾem. This word was translated as “unicorn” or “rhinoceros” in many versions of the Bible, but many modern translations prefer “wild ox” (aurochs), which is the correct meaning of the Hebrew reʾem. As a biblical animal, the unicorn was interpreted allegorically in the early Christian church. One of the earliest such interpretations appears in the ancient Greek bestiary known as the Physiologus, which states that the unicorn is a strong, fierce animal that can be caught only if a virgin maiden approaches it. Then the unicorn leaps into the virgin’s lap, and she suckles it and leads it to the king’s palace, thus capturing the animal. Medieval writers thus likened the unicorn to Christ, who raised up a horn of salvation for mankind and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
The theory advanced by the author is a little far-fetched and the evidence is feeble. And the Brahmi script, the writing system ancestral to all Indian scripts except Kharoṣṭhī may be of Aramaic inspiration that can be traced only to the 8th or 7th century B.C.E. long after Indus Valley Civilization. It may have been introduced to Indian merchants by people of Semitic origin. The author must study more archaeological artifacts and provide explanations backed by the historical findings.
In this book, largely based on two ancient seals with Brahmi inscriptions and a unicorn, the author attempts to explain an Indian culture may bear resemblance to an early Indian inhabitants in the ancient city of Babylon (Iraq). The unicorn was first found among ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization. Later is mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Prior to this it may have existed in early Mesopotamian artworks. But seals with a unicorn and Brahmi script were of high social rank or perhaps of a priest or a king in ancient India.
Certain poetical passages of the Bible refer to a strong and splendid horned animal called reʾem. This word was translated as “unicorn” or “rhinoceros” in many versions of the Bible, but many modern translations prefer “wild ox” (aurochs), which is the correct meaning of the Hebrew reʾem. As a biblical animal, the unicorn was interpreted allegorically in the early Christian church. One of the earliest such interpretations appears in the ancient Greek bestiary known as the Physiologus, which states that the unicorn is a strong, fierce animal that can be caught only if a virgin maiden approaches it. Then the unicorn leaps into the virgin’s lap, and she suckles it and leads it to the king’s palace, thus capturing the animal. Medieval writers thus likened the unicorn to Christ, who raised up a horn of salvation for mankind and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
The theory advanced by the author is a little far-fetched and the evidence is feeble. And the Brahmi script, the writing system ancestral to all Indian scripts except Kharoṣṭhī may be of Aramaic inspiration that can be traced only to the 8th or 7th century B.C.E. long after Indus Valley Civilization. It may have been introduced to Indian merchants by people of Semitic origin. The author must study more archaeological artifacts and provide explanations backed by the historical findings.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Book Reviewed: Hindu Philosophy by Theos Bernard
The Hindu thought and the nature of physical reality
Since civilization dawned on humans, they looked up at the sky and always puzzled as to what could be there in that vast space. The idea also lurked in their minds slowly and steadily as to the nature of force behind the diversity and creation. Why are we all here? And what is reason behind human existence? Spiritual and philosophical thoughts crossed human minds at various levels and these ideas evolved slowly but steadily into sophisticated form of reasoning.
The earliest metaphysical thought emerged from the early Upanishads, dating back to 9th century B.C.E. The Vedic sages and preceptors built Hindu Philosophy based on the teachings of Vedas and Upanishads. They are called the Astika (orthodox) philosophical traditions. There are six schools of metaphysical systems, and they are, Samkhya Philosophy, Yoga Philosophy, Nyaya Philosophy, Vaiseshika Philosophy, Mimamsa Philosophy and the Vedanta Philosophy. The Buddhist and Jain philosophical schools also evolved in ancient India independently of Hindu scriptures.
Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies (focused on devotion to God) that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Nyaya School, the naturalism of the Vaiseṣika School, the dualism of the Samkhya Philosophy, the Oneness of School of Vedanta; and self-discipline of Yoga School and asceticism.
Hindu philosophy covers an exhaustive amount of material, but the author has summarized this in about 200 pages. The metaphysical concepts has not been described fully and accurately in this book. I recommend the readers interested in the wisdom of ancient Indian philosophy to numerous online resources available at Wikipedia, HinduWebsite.com, Encyclopedia Britannica, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy @Iep.UTM.Edu, and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The published books such as “A history of Indian Philosophy, by S. Dasgupta, and Indian Philosophy by S. Radhakrishnan could be of some assistance in familiarizing the underlying principles.
Since civilization dawned on humans, they looked up at the sky and always puzzled as to what could be there in that vast space. The idea also lurked in their minds slowly and steadily as to the nature of force behind the diversity and creation. Why are we all here? And what is reason behind human existence? Spiritual and philosophical thoughts crossed human minds at various levels and these ideas evolved slowly but steadily into sophisticated form of reasoning.
The earliest metaphysical thought emerged from the early Upanishads, dating back to 9th century B.C.E. The Vedic sages and preceptors built Hindu Philosophy based on the teachings of Vedas and Upanishads. They are called the Astika (orthodox) philosophical traditions. There are six schools of metaphysical systems, and they are, Samkhya Philosophy, Yoga Philosophy, Nyaya Philosophy, Vaiseshika Philosophy, Mimamsa Philosophy and the Vedanta Philosophy. The Buddhist and Jain philosophical schools also evolved in ancient India independently of Hindu scriptures.
Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies (focused on devotion to God) that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Nyaya School, the naturalism of the Vaiseṣika School, the dualism of the Samkhya Philosophy, the Oneness of School of Vedanta; and self-discipline of Yoga School and asceticism.
Hindu philosophy covers an exhaustive amount of material, but the author has summarized this in about 200 pages. The metaphysical concepts has not been described fully and accurately in this book. I recommend the readers interested in the wisdom of ancient Indian philosophy to numerous online resources available at Wikipedia, HinduWebsite.com, Encyclopedia Britannica, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy @Iep.UTM.Edu, and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The published books such as “A history of Indian Philosophy, by S. Dasgupta, and Indian Philosophy by S. Radhakrishnan could be of some assistance in familiarizing the underlying principles.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Book Reviewed: Beacon Lights of History, Volume 1 the Old Pagan Civilizations by John Lord
A brief review of ancient religions and its impact on culture
This book was first published in 1888 and it is republished now as an eBook by Amazon Kindle. This is a series book with 11 volumes, and this book focuses on ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Rome, China, Japan and other Middle Eastern religions before Christianism was born. This is an introductory book and it tries to cover much material. A lot of research has been done since this book was last published and our understanding of ancient religions have grown significantly. Nevertheless, reviewing this book, I find that the author has done a reasonably good job in researching the literature.
A brief summary is as follows: The ancient religions of India (ancient Hinduism), Egypt, Greece, Persia, Rome and Israel worshiped the powers of nature; the sun, the moon, the planets, the air, the storm, light, fire, the clouds, the rivers, the lightning, all of which were supposed to exercise a mysterious influence over human destiny. There was a sense of almighty over all that could be seen or known. Ancient Indians, Egyptians and Greeks made them divinities.
The Egyptian polytheism was complex and even contradictory. There were seventy-three principal divinities, and hundreds of lesser gods, discharging peculiar functions and presiding over different localities. Every town had its guardian deity to whom prayers or sacrifices were offered by the priests. Embracing the worship of animals was like knowing the powers of nature. They believed in the transmigration of souls, and a sacerdotalism which carried ritualistic ceremonies with the exaltation of the priesthood. Egypt did not have sacred books. Our knowledge is mostly confined to monuments, on which the names of their deities are inscribed, the animals which they worshipped, symbolic of the powers of nature, and the kings and priests who officiated in religious ceremonies. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Phoenician religions were also polytheistic. The settlers of Canaan (current Palestine) were the pre-Israelite inhabitants called themselves Phoenicians. The descendants of them gave people of Israel, returning from Egypt, the early thoughts of god, religion and spirituality. For Phoenicians, the chief deity was called Bel, or Baal, meaning "Lord," the epithet of the one divine being who rules the world, or the Lord of heaven. In recent years these deities are in much news since the ancient temples of these gods in ancient Palmyra region of Syria was destroyed by Islamic terror group, ISIS.
The most distinguishing feature in the worship of all the gods of antiquity, whether among Egyptians, or Indians, or Assyrians, or Babylonians, or Phoenicians, or Greeks, or Romans is that of oblations and sacrifices. These oblations and sacrifices were sometimes offered to the deity, whatever his form or name, as an expiation for sin; sometimes to obtain divine favor, as in military expeditions, or to secure any object dearest to the heart, such as health, prosperity, or peace; sometimes to propitiate the deity in order to avert natural catastrophe. Fire, heat and light were Anima mundi (The world soul), an intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet, which relates to our world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. In Egypt, Osiris, the principal deity, was a form of Ra, the sun-god. In Assyria, Asshur, the substitute for Ra, was the supreme deity. In ancient India, Mitra, in Persia Mithra, the sun-god was the prominent deity, as Helios was among the Greeks, and Phoebus Apollo among the Romans. The sun was held one of the highest places in ancient religions.
It is probable that the religion of the common progenitors of the Hindus, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians were the same. The Indus civilization flourished for half a millennium from about 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Then it mysteriously declined and vanished from view. Unlike ancient Egyptians, ancient Indians did not keep a historical record of their community, culture and their government. Much of it came from Vedic scriptures such as Ṛgveda, but it said very little about the civilization in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro of Indus Valley. The origins of Vedic population of India, Persians and Europeans is linked by the genetic archeology, paleo-biological studies and the science of Indo-European languages. Linguistics, phonetics, morphology, semantics and syntax of diverse languages such as Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, English, French, and Russian is traced to one parent language called “Indo-European language.” This originated with the inhabitants called “Yamnaya” of the grasslands north of the Black and Caspian Seas in Central Asia, according to the “Steppe hypothesis.” At about 5,500 years ago, this region was occupied by the Yamnaya culture who were farmers and cattle herders. A section of the population migrated east towards Persia and Indus valley of India and they had their own language, Sanskrit and Persian respectively. Later, around 4,500 years ago, the rest of Yamnaya nomads blazed a trail westwards into Europe from their pastoral homes in central Asia. The European languages thus originated from them.
Recently, archaeologists have unearthed a 6,000-year-old temple in the city of Nebelivka in Ukraine that shows the existence of an ancient religion with complex sacrificial practices. This prehistoric place of worship was found to contain raised clay altars with burnt lamb bones in the temple. The temple also had human-like figurines shedding light on practices within a huge prehistoric settlement. It was at the heart of a village with 1,200 buildings and 50 streets which gives a credence that nature worship and sacrificial practices were widely prevalent in the Yamnaya culture. And they took these beliefs and the language when they migrated to Persia, India, Greece, Rome and other parts of Middle East and Europe. These practices reflect on the belief system of ancient pastoralists. One possible explanation is that they were looking into spiritual side of life, and perhaps trying to find a connection between humans and the nature (and its creative force and energy.) This book is recommended to readers interested in the history of ancient religions.
This book was first published in 1888 and it is republished now as an eBook by Amazon Kindle. This is a series book with 11 volumes, and this book focuses on ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Rome, China, Japan and other Middle Eastern religions before Christianism was born. This is an introductory book and it tries to cover much material. A lot of research has been done since this book was last published and our understanding of ancient religions have grown significantly. Nevertheless, reviewing this book, I find that the author has done a reasonably good job in researching the literature.
A brief summary is as follows: The ancient religions of India (ancient Hinduism), Egypt, Greece, Persia, Rome and Israel worshiped the powers of nature; the sun, the moon, the planets, the air, the storm, light, fire, the clouds, the rivers, the lightning, all of which were supposed to exercise a mysterious influence over human destiny. There was a sense of almighty over all that could be seen or known. Ancient Indians, Egyptians and Greeks made them divinities.
The Egyptian polytheism was complex and even contradictory. There were seventy-three principal divinities, and hundreds of lesser gods, discharging peculiar functions and presiding over different localities. Every town had its guardian deity to whom prayers or sacrifices were offered by the priests. Embracing the worship of animals was like knowing the powers of nature. They believed in the transmigration of souls, and a sacerdotalism which carried ritualistic ceremonies with the exaltation of the priesthood. Egypt did not have sacred books. Our knowledge is mostly confined to monuments, on which the names of their deities are inscribed, the animals which they worshipped, symbolic of the powers of nature, and the kings and priests who officiated in religious ceremonies. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Phoenician religions were also polytheistic. The settlers of Canaan (current Palestine) were the pre-Israelite inhabitants called themselves Phoenicians. The descendants of them gave people of Israel, returning from Egypt, the early thoughts of god, religion and spirituality. For Phoenicians, the chief deity was called Bel, or Baal, meaning "Lord," the epithet of the one divine being who rules the world, or the Lord of heaven. In recent years these deities are in much news since the ancient temples of these gods in ancient Palmyra region of Syria was destroyed by Islamic terror group, ISIS.
The most distinguishing feature in the worship of all the gods of antiquity, whether among Egyptians, or Indians, or Assyrians, or Babylonians, or Phoenicians, or Greeks, or Romans is that of oblations and sacrifices. These oblations and sacrifices were sometimes offered to the deity, whatever his form or name, as an expiation for sin; sometimes to obtain divine favor, as in military expeditions, or to secure any object dearest to the heart, such as health, prosperity, or peace; sometimes to propitiate the deity in order to avert natural catastrophe. Fire, heat and light were Anima mundi (The world soul), an intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet, which relates to our world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. In Egypt, Osiris, the principal deity, was a form of Ra, the sun-god. In Assyria, Asshur, the substitute for Ra, was the supreme deity. In ancient India, Mitra, in Persia Mithra, the sun-god was the prominent deity, as Helios was among the Greeks, and Phoebus Apollo among the Romans. The sun was held one of the highest places in ancient religions.
It is probable that the religion of the common progenitors of the Hindus, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians were the same. The Indus civilization flourished for half a millennium from about 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Then it mysteriously declined and vanished from view. Unlike ancient Egyptians, ancient Indians did not keep a historical record of their community, culture and their government. Much of it came from Vedic scriptures such as Ṛgveda, but it said very little about the civilization in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro of Indus Valley. The origins of Vedic population of India, Persians and Europeans is linked by the genetic archeology, paleo-biological studies and the science of Indo-European languages. Linguistics, phonetics, morphology, semantics and syntax of diverse languages such as Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, English, French, and Russian is traced to one parent language called “Indo-European language.” This originated with the inhabitants called “Yamnaya” of the grasslands north of the Black and Caspian Seas in Central Asia, according to the “Steppe hypothesis.” At about 5,500 years ago, this region was occupied by the Yamnaya culture who were farmers and cattle herders. A section of the population migrated east towards Persia and Indus valley of India and they had their own language, Sanskrit and Persian respectively. Later, around 4,500 years ago, the rest of Yamnaya nomads blazed a trail westwards into Europe from their pastoral homes in central Asia. The European languages thus originated from them.
Recently, archaeologists have unearthed a 6,000-year-old temple in the city of Nebelivka in Ukraine that shows the existence of an ancient religion with complex sacrificial practices. This prehistoric place of worship was found to contain raised clay altars with burnt lamb bones in the temple. The temple also had human-like figurines shedding light on practices within a huge prehistoric settlement. It was at the heart of a village with 1,200 buildings and 50 streets which gives a credence that nature worship and sacrificial practices were widely prevalent in the Yamnaya culture. And they took these beliefs and the language when they migrated to Persia, India, Greece, Rome and other parts of Middle East and Europe. These practices reflect on the belief system of ancient pastoralists. One possible explanation is that they were looking into spiritual side of life, and perhaps trying to find a connection between humans and the nature (and its creative force and energy.) This book is recommended to readers interested in the history of ancient religions.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Book Reviewed: What Happened by Hillary Clinton
What went wrong for Hillary in 2016 presidential run?
Hillary blames everyone but herself for her failed 2016 run against Donald Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders is on the top of her blame game. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Senator Sanders gave the best comment on Hillary’s new book. “Secretary Clinton ran against the most unpopular candidate in the history of this country and she lost. She’s upset about it. I understand that.” “But our job is not to go backward. ... I think it’s a little bit silly to keep talking about 2016.” That is the best review anyone can give on a very bad political analysis. In fact she never blames her close friend, Muslima Huma Abedin. Many moderate voters (“progressives”) were too afraid of Abedin’s influence in the White House, which could have had detrimental effect on issues such as Israel, the Middle East, Muslim policies and promoting sharia laws in this country. It is a fallacy to blame others. The “progressives” were driven out of the party because of her close relationships with Wall Street millionaires, and her email scandals. A recent poll showed that Hillary Clinton may have broken the laws of this country with regards to emails. Just in today, that a Maryland county judge has ordered the state bar to investigate three lawyers accused of deleting thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Sanders energized progressive movement in this country and grassroots activism is much stronger than ever been. Young people began to vote for the first time, and became very vocal and highly engaged in the political process. That is something Sanders should be very proud of. He is a true reformer. Hillary Clinton was unpopular, because she was dishonest and opportunistic. Many moderate voters found Donald Trump is more trustworthy, and his messages were well received. The Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit “global philanthropic empire” was nothing but a criminal enterprise, observed one FBI official. FBI Director James Comey’s interventions on the subject of her emails helped her from criminal inquiry and did not hurt her as she claims in this book.
People are tired of hearing about Clinton family, especially from Hillary after her embarrassing defeat. In a recent Morning Consult poll, 39 percent of 2,000 respondents said Hillary Clinton should cease all influence on the Democratic Party. That would be the best thing that could ever happen to America.
Hillary blames everyone but herself for her failed 2016 run against Donald Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders is on the top of her blame game. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Senator Sanders gave the best comment on Hillary’s new book. “Secretary Clinton ran against the most unpopular candidate in the history of this country and she lost. She’s upset about it. I understand that.” “But our job is not to go backward. ... I think it’s a little bit silly to keep talking about 2016.” That is the best review anyone can give on a very bad political analysis. In fact she never blames her close friend, Muslima Huma Abedin. Many moderate voters (“progressives”) were too afraid of Abedin’s influence in the White House, which could have had detrimental effect on issues such as Israel, the Middle East, Muslim policies and promoting sharia laws in this country. It is a fallacy to blame others. The “progressives” were driven out of the party because of her close relationships with Wall Street millionaires, and her email scandals. A recent poll showed that Hillary Clinton may have broken the laws of this country with regards to emails. Just in today, that a Maryland county judge has ordered the state bar to investigate three lawyers accused of deleting thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Sanders energized progressive movement in this country and grassroots activism is much stronger than ever been. Young people began to vote for the first time, and became very vocal and highly engaged in the political process. That is something Sanders should be very proud of. He is a true reformer. Hillary Clinton was unpopular, because she was dishonest and opportunistic. Many moderate voters found Donald Trump is more trustworthy, and his messages were well received. The Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit “global philanthropic empire” was nothing but a criminal enterprise, observed one FBI official. FBI Director James Comey’s interventions on the subject of her emails helped her from criminal inquiry and did not hurt her as she claims in this book.
People are tired of hearing about Clinton family, especially from Hillary after her embarrassing defeat. In a recent Morning Consult poll, 39 percent of 2,000 respondents said Hillary Clinton should cease all influence on the Democratic Party. That would be the best thing that could ever happen to America.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Book Reviewed: Advaita Vedanta by Eliot Deutsch
The wisdom of Hindu Philosophy: School of Advaita Vedanta
Advaita (no twoness) is a non-dualistic system of Vedanta expounded largely by Adi Shankara, although this concept was first proposed by sages like Yajñavalkya, Uddalaka, and Bādarāyaņa. The substance of this system of thought is that the physical reality that describes the universe with living entities, matter and energy, and cosmic structures is due to One Supreme Consciousness pervading the universe. It is referred to as Brahman. Brahman has no attributes, but it is an entity that encompasses omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. These qualities are personal and impersonal; variously referred to as God or the Supreme Lord in Hinduism. (One God is worshipped in various forms such as Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Hari, Shiva, Brahma, Shakti, Kali, etc.) The Pure Consciousness, the Brahman transcend all possible laws of physics, all dimensions and all physical realities in an infinite space that may have multiverse. That is the True Reality. There is no room for dualistic thought, such as God and living-beings having separate existence; or God and material world are two different things. There is no separate subject and object; there is no me and Almighty God; there is no you and Almighty God. There is Oneness. Brahman as a transcendental entity in a spiritual domain that defies all humanly description or characterization. As sage Yajnavalkya observed that “there is no other or better description (of Brahman) than “not this, not this” (neti neti).
Eliot Deutsch is an eminent scholar of Vedanta and spent his lifetime teaching and researching in the field of Hindu Philosophy. Advaita is widely regarded as the pinnacle of wisdom among Hindu philosophers in post-Vedic India. It is a metaphysical system that explains physical reality in the most profound form. It is an unflinching theory and a focused system of thought that has intellectual depth and great insight that comes close to the reality reasoned within the laws of quantum physics. Erwin Schrodinger, the father of wave mechanics was a life-long Vedantin (Advaitin) according to his biographer, Walter J. Moore. Schrodinger showed the wave-particle duality of matter at its most fundamental existence. All quantum states theoretically calculated for a particle exist in spacetime until an experimental observation collapses them into one particular state. Before measurements, the particle (wave) can exists at virtually anywhere in the universe; it could be at two places at the same time. This wholesomeness of quantum reality and existence is inherent in nature.
A brief summary of this book is as follows: The world has no separate existence apart from Brahman. The experiencing self (jīva) and the transcendental self of the Universe (ātman) are in reality identical (Oneness in Brahman). Although the individual self seems different from Brahman, like space inside a milk bottle that looks different from space outside if it. The space inside the bottle takes the shape of the bottle, but it is still part of the larger space. Plurality is experienced because of error in judgments (mithya) and ignorance (avidya). Advaita Vedanta interpret the relationship between Brahman and the world in terms of satkaryavada, the theory that effect pre-exists in the cause. The vivartavada theory observes that effect is only an apparent manifestation of its cause. Both lead to same conclusion and are rooted in the same action, the cause which is a concept of Maya, avidya (ignorance) and adhyasa. When we transform the impersonal (Brahman) being into personal being. We bring an association of the impersonal with Maya. Maya is the ontic-noetic state where limitations (upadhis) are imposed upon reality. Attachments, aversions, fears, dreams, and semi-dreams are all smeared with illusory power of Maya. All memories, cognitions, percepts, and logics are grounded in mirage, apparition and deceptive appearance. Maya appears whenever we fail to realize the oneness of the Brahman.
Advaita establishes the Oneness of Reality and this self-knowledge enables the knower to overcome all pain, misery, ignorance, and bondage. The self and the knowledge of the whole leads to freedom and wisdom. Self is described in four states of consciousness and there is no discontinuity of consciousness. The states of waking (jāgrat), dreaming (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti) and the fourth nameless state turiya. The four states misidentifies the self but they are changes in the power of awareness. The waking and dream states which can be brought together into a single category corresponding to gross and subtle bodies (Virat and Hiranyagarbha). The state of deep sleep corresponds to saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) or the divine (Isvara) and transcendental consciousness. Hence in the waking – dream state, the self is caught with objects, internal and external and loses sights of its own true nature as pure subject. In deep sleep, consciousness and the self is free from objects but not yet transcended to the fourth state of turiya. In the fourth state the self-transcendence that brings about the awareness of one-self as not different from Reality.
To explain the material reality, Advaita advocates that Isvara, the Brahman with attributes become personalized as deity. He is the creative Lord who calls forth worlds, maintains them, and re-absorbs them as lila, as sport or play. There is no purpose in creation. He is free with unlimited power. Creation is only apparent change and not a change in Brahman in reality. Brahman is unchangeable and immutable. The actual experience of attaining the moksha (salvation) is through self-knowledge and wisdom. Constant meditation that will help identify with self. Neti Neti, the self is not this, not this; “my,” “me,” “mine,” becomes sounds signifying nothing, Tat tvam asi – the Self is Reality. Hence “You,” and ‘me,” are not different. Cause and effects are mutually involved; the material elements (gross and subtle) that constitute physical nature are ontologically the effects of (ahmankara) (I-consciousness) and buddhi (intelligence); but their cause is saguna Brahman or consciousness associated with maya. Saguna Brahman has its own ultimate ground in pure consciousness or nirguna Brahman. De-superimposition (apavada), reconnecting the effects back into their causes, the discriminating away of all lower levels of experience (sadness, unhappiness, and sufferings) is the sword that cuts away false identifications.
Knowledge of Brahman alone is the route to liberation for Śaṅkara. The role of action (karma) and life experiences and tribulations is to purify the mind (antaḥkaranasuddhi) and make it free from likes and dislikes (raga dvesavimuktaḥ). Such a mind will be instrumental to knowledge of Brahman.
Professor Deutsch has explained Advaita in a very lucid, luminous and intelligible language. Highly recommended to readers interested in Hinduism, Hindu Philosophy, and Advaita Vedanta.
Advaita (no twoness) is a non-dualistic system of Vedanta expounded largely by Adi Shankara, although this concept was first proposed by sages like Yajñavalkya, Uddalaka, and Bādarāyaņa. The substance of this system of thought is that the physical reality that describes the universe with living entities, matter and energy, and cosmic structures is due to One Supreme Consciousness pervading the universe. It is referred to as Brahman. Brahman has no attributes, but it is an entity that encompasses omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. These qualities are personal and impersonal; variously referred to as God or the Supreme Lord in Hinduism. (One God is worshipped in various forms such as Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Hari, Shiva, Brahma, Shakti, Kali, etc.) The Pure Consciousness, the Brahman transcend all possible laws of physics, all dimensions and all physical realities in an infinite space that may have multiverse. That is the True Reality. There is no room for dualistic thought, such as God and living-beings having separate existence; or God and material world are two different things. There is no separate subject and object; there is no me and Almighty God; there is no you and Almighty God. There is Oneness. Brahman as a transcendental entity in a spiritual domain that defies all humanly description or characterization. As sage Yajnavalkya observed that “there is no other or better description (of Brahman) than “not this, not this” (neti neti).
Eliot Deutsch is an eminent scholar of Vedanta and spent his lifetime teaching and researching in the field of Hindu Philosophy. Advaita is widely regarded as the pinnacle of wisdom among Hindu philosophers in post-Vedic India. It is a metaphysical system that explains physical reality in the most profound form. It is an unflinching theory and a focused system of thought that has intellectual depth and great insight that comes close to the reality reasoned within the laws of quantum physics. Erwin Schrodinger, the father of wave mechanics was a life-long Vedantin (Advaitin) according to his biographer, Walter J. Moore. Schrodinger showed the wave-particle duality of matter at its most fundamental existence. All quantum states theoretically calculated for a particle exist in spacetime until an experimental observation collapses them into one particular state. Before measurements, the particle (wave) can exists at virtually anywhere in the universe; it could be at two places at the same time. This wholesomeness of quantum reality and existence is inherent in nature.
A brief summary of this book is as follows: The world has no separate existence apart from Brahman. The experiencing self (jīva) and the transcendental self of the Universe (ātman) are in reality identical (Oneness in Brahman). Although the individual self seems different from Brahman, like space inside a milk bottle that looks different from space outside if it. The space inside the bottle takes the shape of the bottle, but it is still part of the larger space. Plurality is experienced because of error in judgments (mithya) and ignorance (avidya). Advaita Vedanta interpret the relationship between Brahman and the world in terms of satkaryavada, the theory that effect pre-exists in the cause. The vivartavada theory observes that effect is only an apparent manifestation of its cause. Both lead to same conclusion and are rooted in the same action, the cause which is a concept of Maya, avidya (ignorance) and adhyasa. When we transform the impersonal (Brahman) being into personal being. We bring an association of the impersonal with Maya. Maya is the ontic-noetic state where limitations (upadhis) are imposed upon reality. Attachments, aversions, fears, dreams, and semi-dreams are all smeared with illusory power of Maya. All memories, cognitions, percepts, and logics are grounded in mirage, apparition and deceptive appearance. Maya appears whenever we fail to realize the oneness of the Brahman.
Advaita establishes the Oneness of Reality and this self-knowledge enables the knower to overcome all pain, misery, ignorance, and bondage. The self and the knowledge of the whole leads to freedom and wisdom. Self is described in four states of consciousness and there is no discontinuity of consciousness. The states of waking (jāgrat), dreaming (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti) and the fourth nameless state turiya. The four states misidentifies the self but they are changes in the power of awareness. The waking and dream states which can be brought together into a single category corresponding to gross and subtle bodies (Virat and Hiranyagarbha). The state of deep sleep corresponds to saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) or the divine (Isvara) and transcendental consciousness. Hence in the waking – dream state, the self is caught with objects, internal and external and loses sights of its own true nature as pure subject. In deep sleep, consciousness and the self is free from objects but not yet transcended to the fourth state of turiya. In the fourth state the self-transcendence that brings about the awareness of one-self as not different from Reality.
To explain the material reality, Advaita advocates that Isvara, the Brahman with attributes become personalized as deity. He is the creative Lord who calls forth worlds, maintains them, and re-absorbs them as lila, as sport or play. There is no purpose in creation. He is free with unlimited power. Creation is only apparent change and not a change in Brahman in reality. Brahman is unchangeable and immutable. The actual experience of attaining the moksha (salvation) is through self-knowledge and wisdom. Constant meditation that will help identify with self. Neti Neti, the self is not this, not this; “my,” “me,” “mine,” becomes sounds signifying nothing, Tat tvam asi – the Self is Reality. Hence “You,” and ‘me,” are not different. Cause and effects are mutually involved; the material elements (gross and subtle) that constitute physical nature are ontologically the effects of (ahmankara) (I-consciousness) and buddhi (intelligence); but their cause is saguna Brahman or consciousness associated with maya. Saguna Brahman has its own ultimate ground in pure consciousness or nirguna Brahman. De-superimposition (apavada), reconnecting the effects back into their causes, the discriminating away of all lower levels of experience (sadness, unhappiness, and sufferings) is the sword that cuts away false identifications.
Knowledge of Brahman alone is the route to liberation for Śaṅkara. The role of action (karma) and life experiences and tribulations is to purify the mind (antaḥkaranasuddhi) and make it free from likes and dislikes (raga dvesavimuktaḥ). Such a mind will be instrumental to knowledge of Brahman.
Professor Deutsch has explained Advaita in a very lucid, luminous and intelligible language. Highly recommended to readers interested in Hinduism, Hindu Philosophy, and Advaita Vedanta.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Book Reviewed: Modern Physics and Vedanta by Swami Jitatmananda
The wisdom of Vedic seers reflected in Vedanta
Swami Jitatmananda has explained the parallels between the principles of Vedanta Philosophy of Hinduism and physics in the best way possible. This is very concise book dealt with an emphasis on the works of Swami Vivekananda and his efforts to bring the scientific community and Vedanta on par. Vivekananda preached in the language of science and discussed with some of the well-known physicists of his time. Quantum physics had just been discovered when he was actively teaching the Advaita Vedanta Philosophy in North America and Europe. He once said that “it has been a terrible struggle.”
Vedantic epistemology and ontology transcended the experimentally verifiable universe. The wisdom of Vedic sages see the physical reality as One Supreme Consciousness, the Brahman. This has the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. His qualities are personal and impersonal. Advaita Vedanta is strongly monotheistic that believes in the existence of one God or the Oneness of God. And all forms of matter/energy in spacetime is an integral part of this Entity. God and the universe (with all life and non-life forms) are not separate (dual) but one integral part of “Pure Consciousness.” Each fundamental particle reflects the whole universe. The biggest is reflected in the smallest, and the smallest is reflected in the biggest. Physicists like Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Borg, David Bohm, Nikola Tesla, Carl Sagan, and Robert Oppenheimer were deeply interested in the metaphysical concepts emerging from Bhagavadgita and Vedanta.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa focused mainly on the illusory power of Maya, but for his disciple Vivekananda, Brahman, the Supreme Consciousness was the main subject of his discussions. Recent advances in physics show that spacetime and matter are intimately connected than thought. It is not just a fabric but active principle in the operation of the laws of physics. The amalgamation of space (three dimensions) and time (one-dimension) into 4-dimensional malleable spacetime creates a unique reality that make space look differently for different observers in the universe. Space and time warp to accommodate speed of light. Nothing moves faster than light; gravity, forces, information, matter or energy. Moving clock tick slower and moving ruler appear shorter and hence there is no objective measure of space and time. Gravitational waves are ripples in the curvature of spacetime that propagate as waves at the speed of light. Space is fundamentally discontinues at quantum scales and exist in discrete quanta as opposed to our experience that space is a continuous fabric. Space can bend, rip and repair and it can expand (move) faster than light. Hence space has spilled out of our universe into another universe in a multiverse concept before light of this universe could catch up with it.
In quantum physics, reality allows you to see all events encapsulated in time including the past and future from outside it. All quantum physical observables and the reality that could be calculated depends on this observation. Time itself is not observable and so it cannot be calculated. The principle quantum uncertainty makes it harder to distinguish the order of events that are very close in time, in essence the effect could be preceded by the cause. This is because at a most fundamental level, space exists in a discontinuous state of quanta (bits), and it is not continuous as we perceive. Some physicists like Julian Barbour suggest that time is illusory, and space is real. Lee Smolin postulates that space is an illusion and time is real.
The universe is popping out of nothing, like matter and antimatter coming into existence in vacuum and annihilating into nothing. In fact 96% of the universe is made of dark matter and dark energy; the nature of them are not known and we don’t know the nature of laws that operate on dark matter and dark energy. Only 4% of the universe is the material world (both matter and anti-matter). Laws of physics is applicable only to this 4%.
Cause and effect are an important topic in all schools of Vedanta and all of them subscribe to the theory of Satkāryavāda, which means that the effect is pre-existent in the cause. But there are different views on the causal relationship and the nature of the empirical world from the perspective of metaphysical Brahman. From Brahmasūtra-Bhāṣya 2.1.9, Adi Shankara observes that despite the non-difference of cause and effect, the effect has its self in the cause. This fits perfectly with quantum physics concepts. Matter at its most fundamental form exists in both wave and particle forms. In this dual wave-particle picture, matter exists in a wave-like "superposition" of all its possible positions or states, only settling in one state on measurement. Erwin Schrödinger lampooned this idea in his thought experiment about a cat that exists simultaneously in two states, alive and dead. This is popularly known as Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox.
Advaita Vedanta states that from "the standpoint of Brahman-experience and Brahman itself, there is no creation" in the absolute sense, all empirically observed creation is relative and mere transformation of one state into another, all states are provisional and a cause-effect driven modification. Due to quantum fuzziness and the discontinuous nature of space and uncertainty principle and wave – particle duality, the cause and effects are mutually affected by each other. According to quantum reality, many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, we don’t have a free will. The universe is predetermined and pre-ordained in multiverse where space splits to create infinite number of universes satisfying all possible choices and outcomes. Or simply put the collapse of quantum state is a pre-programmed by an entity that has “Pure Consciousness.”
The theory about the universe being an illusion or a hologram fits the illusory nature of reality (Maya) expounded in Vedanta. The idea is similar to that of ordinary holograms where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface, such as in the hologram on a credit card. Here the entire universe is encoded on a 2-dimensional surface according to string physics and the current understanding of quantum gravity and quantum space.
Plant neurobiology is a fast-developing field in biological sciences despite the fact they do not have brain, a central nervous system or any type of cognitive structures. Plants communicate, signaling within, eavesdropping on neighboring individuals, and exchanging information with other organisms. They have adaptive responses related to their existence. Yet they seem to have consciousness according to many biologists. For example, to understand the mouse’s behavior, we must know about the mouse’s brain, its nervous system and perhaps its genome, but we cannot understand how it feels to be a mouse. Brain not only creates an illusion of reality and also a separate immaterial feeling of “I” having conscious experience. Physicist Michael Graziano of Princeton University says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe like matter and energy. It does not appear in any formula of classical relativity or quantum physics.
Swami Jitatmananda has explained the parallels between the principles of Vedanta Philosophy of Hinduism and physics in the best way possible. This is very concise book dealt with an emphasis on the works of Swami Vivekananda and his efforts to bring the scientific community and Vedanta on par. Vivekananda preached in the language of science and discussed with some of the well-known physicists of his time. Quantum physics had just been discovered when he was actively teaching the Advaita Vedanta Philosophy in North America and Europe. He once said that “it has been a terrible struggle.”
Vedantic epistemology and ontology transcended the experimentally verifiable universe. The wisdom of Vedic sages see the physical reality as One Supreme Consciousness, the Brahman. This has the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), Omni benevolence (perfect goodness), immutable, divine simplicity, and eternal existence. Brahman exists in spaceless and timeless dimension in an unchanging reality amidst and beyond the realm of the universe. His qualities are personal and impersonal. Advaita Vedanta is strongly monotheistic that believes in the existence of one God or the Oneness of God. And all forms of matter/energy in spacetime is an integral part of this Entity. God and the universe (with all life and non-life forms) are not separate (dual) but one integral part of “Pure Consciousness.” Each fundamental particle reflects the whole universe. The biggest is reflected in the smallest, and the smallest is reflected in the biggest. Physicists like Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Borg, David Bohm, Nikola Tesla, Carl Sagan, and Robert Oppenheimer were deeply interested in the metaphysical concepts emerging from Bhagavadgita and Vedanta.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa focused mainly on the illusory power of Maya, but for his disciple Vivekananda, Brahman, the Supreme Consciousness was the main subject of his discussions. Recent advances in physics show that spacetime and matter are intimately connected than thought. It is not just a fabric but active principle in the operation of the laws of physics. The amalgamation of space (three dimensions) and time (one-dimension) into 4-dimensional malleable spacetime creates a unique reality that make space look differently for different observers in the universe. Space and time warp to accommodate speed of light. Nothing moves faster than light; gravity, forces, information, matter or energy. Moving clock tick slower and moving ruler appear shorter and hence there is no objective measure of space and time. Gravitational waves are ripples in the curvature of spacetime that propagate as waves at the speed of light. Space is fundamentally discontinues at quantum scales and exist in discrete quanta as opposed to our experience that space is a continuous fabric. Space can bend, rip and repair and it can expand (move) faster than light. Hence space has spilled out of our universe into another universe in a multiverse concept before light of this universe could catch up with it.
In quantum physics, reality allows you to see all events encapsulated in time including the past and future from outside it. All quantum physical observables and the reality that could be calculated depends on this observation. Time itself is not observable and so it cannot be calculated. The principle quantum uncertainty makes it harder to distinguish the order of events that are very close in time, in essence the effect could be preceded by the cause. This is because at a most fundamental level, space exists in a discontinuous state of quanta (bits), and it is not continuous as we perceive. Some physicists like Julian Barbour suggest that time is illusory, and space is real. Lee Smolin postulates that space is an illusion and time is real.
The universe is popping out of nothing, like matter and antimatter coming into existence in vacuum and annihilating into nothing. In fact 96% of the universe is made of dark matter and dark energy; the nature of them are not known and we don’t know the nature of laws that operate on dark matter and dark energy. Only 4% of the universe is the material world (both matter and anti-matter). Laws of physics is applicable only to this 4%.
Cause and effect are an important topic in all schools of Vedanta and all of them subscribe to the theory of Satkāryavāda, which means that the effect is pre-existent in the cause. But there are different views on the causal relationship and the nature of the empirical world from the perspective of metaphysical Brahman. From Brahmasūtra-Bhāṣya 2.1.9, Adi Shankara observes that despite the non-difference of cause and effect, the effect has its self in the cause. This fits perfectly with quantum physics concepts. Matter at its most fundamental form exists in both wave and particle forms. In this dual wave-particle picture, matter exists in a wave-like "superposition" of all its possible positions or states, only settling in one state on measurement. Erwin Schrödinger lampooned this idea in his thought experiment about a cat that exists simultaneously in two states, alive and dead. This is popularly known as Schrodinger’s Cat Paradox.
Advaita Vedanta states that from "the standpoint of Brahman-experience and Brahman itself, there is no creation" in the absolute sense, all empirically observed creation is relative and mere transformation of one state into another, all states are provisional and a cause-effect driven modification. Due to quantum fuzziness and the discontinuous nature of space and uncertainty principle and wave – particle duality, the cause and effects are mutually affected by each other. According to quantum reality, many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, we don’t have a free will. The universe is predetermined and pre-ordained in multiverse where space splits to create infinite number of universes satisfying all possible choices and outcomes. Or simply put the collapse of quantum state is a pre-programmed by an entity that has “Pure Consciousness.”
The theory about the universe being an illusion or a hologram fits the illusory nature of reality (Maya) expounded in Vedanta. The idea is similar to that of ordinary holograms where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface, such as in the hologram on a credit card. Here the entire universe is encoded on a 2-dimensional surface according to string physics and the current understanding of quantum gravity and quantum space.
Plant neurobiology is a fast-developing field in biological sciences despite the fact they do not have brain, a central nervous system or any type of cognitive structures. Plants communicate, signaling within, eavesdropping on neighboring individuals, and exchanging information with other organisms. They have adaptive responses related to their existence. Yet they seem to have consciousness according to many biologists. For example, to understand the mouse’s behavior, we must know about the mouse’s brain, its nervous system and perhaps its genome, but we cannot understand how it feels to be a mouse. Brain not only creates an illusion of reality and also a separate immaterial feeling of “I” having conscious experience. Physicist Michael Graziano of Princeton University says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe like matter and energy. It does not appear in any formula of classical relativity or quantum physics.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Book Reviewed: Badhe, Sushrut A. The Rhythm of Ananda Upanishad: Sri Aurobindo's Vedanta
The wisdom of Vedic sages reflected in Ananda Upanishad
The Vedantic view of Sri Aurobindo is very well contemplated in this Upanishad. This is a small and concise Upanishad with the gist of Vedanta annotated beautifully. In his own words, “Ignorance and Knowledge are but his two forms. He (Brahman) is neither the bearer nor is the borne: Neither as infinite nor finite, He is the unknown, Not Singular, not plural, the formed One who holds from none. He is simply ‘The One’ The Finite, the Infinite, and the One.” “Diversiform are all but the multifarious names of the universal form of that consciousness spirit that illuminates. The entire world with the consciousness it generates.”
“The blazing structure of the sun is but a perception. Not the sun itself, but that which is understood by the human cognition. It is but a physical form which by the senses is perceived.” “As the sun is real and this truth is undeniable. Likewise is the Brahman, the light of truth and divinity.” “But this world is the illusive web supreme spun by the divine Himself in the mortal realm. But Brahman is not an illusion (Maya) or a creation of mental activity. The Brahman is real and in Him there is no falsehood and all that exists in this worldly creation is but his worldly blissful manifestation Om Tat Sat. (OM This Truth). Whatever is truth, that is consciousness and this consciousness is the zenith of blissfulness (Ananda). What is termed suffering, misery and weakness is but ignorance, a vacuum devoid of true happiness.”
The quantum reality is compatible with the Vedantic view of Brahman or Pure Consciousness. We live in a universe that is made of 95% dark matter and dark energy, but only 5% matter. Our laws of physics applies to the latter. The universe is made of spacetime where space and time is amalgamated into a 4-dimensional malleable spacetime, and the fabric of reality also includes the speed of light. It is on this fabric matter and energy behaves according the laws of physics.
Quantum physics states that matter at its most fundamental existence behaves both like matter and a wave. Hence, there is quantum uncertainty of position (existence) and momentum. Wave mechanics also states that all possible states of a quantum object are possible. But a measurement on such a system forces these states into one observable state. Special theory of relativity requires matter or energy or information or physical force or the gravity (curvature in spacetime that contains matter) cannot move faster than light. But the same laws permit space to expand faster than speed of light.
The quantum universe also does not offer us a free will. There is an old adage that says everything that happens does happen. Quantum physics’ many-worlds interpretation suggest that all possible outcomes of quantum states are possible but they exist in different universes. Therefore it appears that the universe is predetermined. The only uncertainty is that in which universe you and your self-consciousness are pre-packaged in? It may also mean that pure consciousness or the Brahman referred to in Vedanta is a Supreme Reality that can see all universes at the same time. Such a principle can exist in a spaceless and timeless dimension state of pure consciousness that can comprehend everything and yet be part of the entire creation. Invoking The Supreme Consciousness as an entity also accounts for the collapse of all observable quantum states to one state. This would have resulted in the reality we see around us. Albert Einstein struggled throughout his life to convince others that there is a reality in this universe and it exists no matter if living beings are here to observe that or not. Quantum physics – Copenhagen interpretation requires that physical reality is possible only if a conscious spectator observe the universe so that quantum states collapse into one possible reality we all observe.
The reality of a four-dimensional spacetime structure is that passing through this depends on how fast you are moving and the strength of gravitational field you are in. Spacetime can bend, rip, repair and produce gravitational waves (ripples of spacetime curvature). The speed of light makes an additional component of reality. Hence space look differently for different observers in the universe. For a planet 4.5 billion light years away, solar system doesn’t even exist since it takes the same amount of time for the light (and information) to reach there. Solar system is only 4.5 billion years old. Some physicists like Julian Barbour suggest that time is illusory and space is real. Physicists like Lee Smolin disagree and say that time is real and space is illusory. Quantum physics also permits universe to create out of nothing, from pure vacuum. Matter and antimatter coming into existence and annihilating into nothing continuously.
Plants communicate, signaling from within, eavesdropping on neighboring individuals, and exchanging information with other organisms. They have adaptive responses related to their existence. Hence, plant neurobiology became a new field of study and it is a fast-developing area in biological sciences despite the fact they do not have brain, a central nervous system or any type of cognitive structures. Yet they seem to have consciousness. We may know all we need to know about a mice’s brain and its entire genome but we can’t understand how it is like to be a mouse? How is the physical network of neurons produce experience? How could we translate the neurobiology of a mice to its experience or its consciousness of “I”? How can physical networks of neurons produce experiences that appear to fall outside the material world? Physicist Michael Graziano of Princeton University says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe like matter and energy and spacetime. It may not appear in any physics formulas. In quantum physics, reality allows you to see all events encapsulated in time including the past and future from outside it. All quantum physical observables (and the reality) calculated depends on this observation. Time itself is not observable and so it cannot be calculated. The principle quantum uncertainty makes it impossible to distinguish the order of events that occur very close in time, in essence the effect could preceded the cause. This is due to wave-particle duality of matter and quantum uncertainty principle. Current advances in understanding the nature of space and time and its link to quantum physics is shedding more into the nature of reality we live in and truth of Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism.
The Vedantic view of Sri Aurobindo is very well contemplated in this Upanishad. This is a small and concise Upanishad with the gist of Vedanta annotated beautifully. In his own words, “Ignorance and Knowledge are but his two forms. He (Brahman) is neither the bearer nor is the borne: Neither as infinite nor finite, He is the unknown, Not Singular, not plural, the formed One who holds from none. He is simply ‘The One’ The Finite, the Infinite, and the One.” “Diversiform are all but the multifarious names of the universal form of that consciousness spirit that illuminates. The entire world with the consciousness it generates.”
“The blazing structure of the sun is but a perception. Not the sun itself, but that which is understood by the human cognition. It is but a physical form which by the senses is perceived.” “As the sun is real and this truth is undeniable. Likewise is the Brahman, the light of truth and divinity.” “But this world is the illusive web supreme spun by the divine Himself in the mortal realm. But Brahman is not an illusion (Maya) or a creation of mental activity. The Brahman is real and in Him there is no falsehood and all that exists in this worldly creation is but his worldly blissful manifestation Om Tat Sat. (OM This Truth). Whatever is truth, that is consciousness and this consciousness is the zenith of blissfulness (Ananda). What is termed suffering, misery and weakness is but ignorance, a vacuum devoid of true happiness.”
The quantum reality is compatible with the Vedantic view of Brahman or Pure Consciousness. We live in a universe that is made of 95% dark matter and dark energy, but only 5% matter. Our laws of physics applies to the latter. The universe is made of spacetime where space and time is amalgamated into a 4-dimensional malleable spacetime, and the fabric of reality also includes the speed of light. It is on this fabric matter and energy behaves according the laws of physics.
Quantum physics states that matter at its most fundamental existence behaves both like matter and a wave. Hence, there is quantum uncertainty of position (existence) and momentum. Wave mechanics also states that all possible states of a quantum object are possible. But a measurement on such a system forces these states into one observable state. Special theory of relativity requires matter or energy or information or physical force or the gravity (curvature in spacetime that contains matter) cannot move faster than light. But the same laws permit space to expand faster than speed of light.
The quantum universe also does not offer us a free will. There is an old adage that says everything that happens does happen. Quantum physics’ many-worlds interpretation suggest that all possible outcomes of quantum states are possible but they exist in different universes. Therefore it appears that the universe is predetermined. The only uncertainty is that in which universe you and your self-consciousness are pre-packaged in? It may also mean that pure consciousness or the Brahman referred to in Vedanta is a Supreme Reality that can see all universes at the same time. Such a principle can exist in a spaceless and timeless dimension state of pure consciousness that can comprehend everything and yet be part of the entire creation. Invoking The Supreme Consciousness as an entity also accounts for the collapse of all observable quantum states to one state. This would have resulted in the reality we see around us. Albert Einstein struggled throughout his life to convince others that there is a reality in this universe and it exists no matter if living beings are here to observe that or not. Quantum physics – Copenhagen interpretation requires that physical reality is possible only if a conscious spectator observe the universe so that quantum states collapse into one possible reality we all observe.
The reality of a four-dimensional spacetime structure is that passing through this depends on how fast you are moving and the strength of gravitational field you are in. Spacetime can bend, rip, repair and produce gravitational waves (ripples of spacetime curvature). The speed of light makes an additional component of reality. Hence space look differently for different observers in the universe. For a planet 4.5 billion light years away, solar system doesn’t even exist since it takes the same amount of time for the light (and information) to reach there. Solar system is only 4.5 billion years old. Some physicists like Julian Barbour suggest that time is illusory and space is real. Physicists like Lee Smolin disagree and say that time is real and space is illusory. Quantum physics also permits universe to create out of nothing, from pure vacuum. Matter and antimatter coming into existence and annihilating into nothing continuously.
Plants communicate, signaling from within, eavesdropping on neighboring individuals, and exchanging information with other organisms. They have adaptive responses related to their existence. Hence, plant neurobiology became a new field of study and it is a fast-developing area in biological sciences despite the fact they do not have brain, a central nervous system or any type of cognitive structures. Yet they seem to have consciousness. We may know all we need to know about a mice’s brain and its entire genome but we can’t understand how it is like to be a mouse? How is the physical network of neurons produce experience? How could we translate the neurobiology of a mice to its experience or its consciousness of “I”? How can physical networks of neurons produce experiences that appear to fall outside the material world? Physicist Michael Graziano of Princeton University says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe like matter and energy and spacetime. It may not appear in any physics formulas. In quantum physics, reality allows you to see all events encapsulated in time including the past and future from outside it. All quantum physical observables (and the reality) calculated depends on this observation. Time itself is not observable and so it cannot be calculated. The principle quantum uncertainty makes it impossible to distinguish the order of events that occur very close in time, in essence the effect could preceded the cause. This is due to wave-particle duality of matter and quantum uncertainty principle. Current advances in understanding the nature of space and time and its link to quantum physics is shedding more into the nature of reality we live in and truth of Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Book Reviewed - Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf
The wisdom of menstrual activism
This book is too focused on modern day activists and emphasize the menstrual needs of a woman such as tampon tax repeal, enacting new laws for affordable and safe products for women going through menstrual cycle. Popular figures, actors, singers, and athletes have spoken openly about menstruation that helped to bring the attention of women and the media. Social media trending and activism was evident when comedienne Sarah Silverman tweeted, crime scene in your pants, can a man handle that? The author says that the menstrual movement is a collective accomplishment. They have seen a support for menstruation through a colorful array of music, poetry, visual art, recreation, athletic displays, media trends and pop culture moments. Menstrual activist Kiran Gandhi ran London Marathon while “free bleeding” with blood stained tights. The photo went viral with the title “Going with the flow: blood and sisterhood at the London Marathon.” 'Happy to Bleed' is another counter-campaign launched against menstrual taboos in Facebook page of #HappyToBleed.
Chandra Bozelko, a former inmate of Connecticut women’s correctional facilities and later became an activist for women in prisons has worked with law-makers to enact laws to better the lives of less fortunate women in a prison systems. Bozelko observes that prisons are called the new asylums and house more mentally ill people than hospitals do. But this is not the first time we have heard about such cruelty. The life of Hollywood actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970) serves as glowing example for the abuse of women’s rights in state-run facilities for mentally challenged. Farmer's posthumously published autobiography “Will There Really Be a Morning? Described brutal incarceration and denied women’s products to maintain proper hygiene. She claimed to have been abused, traumatized and mistreated. This part of the story is clearly shown in the 1982 film “Frances” starring Jessica Lange. Lange later received a nomination in the best actress category in the Academy Awards.
In early 1980s, women’s activists complained that inmates of correctional facilities do not provide enough hair products. Because prison officials do not understand the needs of such women’s products. The demands for fair treatment of women included menstrual equity since the days of suffragists’ movement. In 1912, the New York Times reported on the purported “militant hysteria” of suffragettes that highlighted women’s “physiological emergencies.” The year 1920 reached a point in the history when the 19th amendment was ratified, this granted American women the right to vote—a right known as woman suffrage.
Menstrual cycle has been widely discussed the holy scriptures of Tanakh, the Torah and the Old Testament. This is an old Hebrew tradition practiced in ancient Israel according to Leviticus 15:19-33, Genesis 31:35, Isaiah 64:6 and Ezekiel 18:5-6. They explicitly state that women are “unclean” and “impure.” The ancient Hindu scriptures such as Rig-Veda or Bhagavadgita does not mention menstruation and in fact none of the four Vedas ever state that a menstruating woman’s body is impure or that she cannot perform prayers. Many Vedic gods are female and they are spoken with veneration. The “impurity” of a women during menstrual period may have evolved in middle of medieval period. Perhaps during the post-Vedic time when Puranas were written to describe the Hindu cultural practices. A mention of menstruation may be found in Garuda Purana 15:7-10.
The author, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf works for New York’s Brennan Center for Justice that is affiliated to NYU School of Law. She could have done more research and provided the reader a historical account of activism since suffrage movement in early 1900s. But this book is largely focused on modern day activists.
Tights/pants soaked in blood is not a pretty sight for a man or a woman. Such displays as a part of feminist activism could backfire since many supporters of women’s rights may be repulsed or offended by that. Activists have lot to learn from the Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 Presidential run. Pulling away from mainstream into extremism may do more harm than help women’s movements. Blood-soaked pants look more like crime scene photos. It could be considered vulgar. Does anyone display urine soaked panties to make a point? Women also have the right to pass urine but they don’t make a public display of it to cause awareness. Let us save that for the adult entertainment!
This book is too focused on modern day activists and emphasize the menstrual needs of a woman such as tampon tax repeal, enacting new laws for affordable and safe products for women going through menstrual cycle. Popular figures, actors, singers, and athletes have spoken openly about menstruation that helped to bring the attention of women and the media. Social media trending and activism was evident when comedienne Sarah Silverman tweeted, crime scene in your pants, can a man handle that? The author says that the menstrual movement is a collective accomplishment. They have seen a support for menstruation through a colorful array of music, poetry, visual art, recreation, athletic displays, media trends and pop culture moments. Menstrual activist Kiran Gandhi ran London Marathon while “free bleeding” with blood stained tights. The photo went viral with the title “Going with the flow: blood and sisterhood at the London Marathon.” 'Happy to Bleed' is another counter-campaign launched against menstrual taboos in Facebook page of #HappyToBleed.
Chandra Bozelko, a former inmate of Connecticut women’s correctional facilities and later became an activist for women in prisons has worked with law-makers to enact laws to better the lives of less fortunate women in a prison systems. Bozelko observes that prisons are called the new asylums and house more mentally ill people than hospitals do. But this is not the first time we have heard about such cruelty. The life of Hollywood actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970) serves as glowing example for the abuse of women’s rights in state-run facilities for mentally challenged. Farmer's posthumously published autobiography “Will There Really Be a Morning? Described brutal incarceration and denied women’s products to maintain proper hygiene. She claimed to have been abused, traumatized and mistreated. This part of the story is clearly shown in the 1982 film “Frances” starring Jessica Lange. Lange later received a nomination in the best actress category in the Academy Awards.
In early 1980s, women’s activists complained that inmates of correctional facilities do not provide enough hair products. Because prison officials do not understand the needs of such women’s products. The demands for fair treatment of women included menstrual equity since the days of suffragists’ movement. In 1912, the New York Times reported on the purported “militant hysteria” of suffragettes that highlighted women’s “physiological emergencies.” The year 1920 reached a point in the history when the 19th amendment was ratified, this granted American women the right to vote—a right known as woman suffrage.
Menstrual cycle has been widely discussed the holy scriptures of Tanakh, the Torah and the Old Testament. This is an old Hebrew tradition practiced in ancient Israel according to Leviticus 15:19-33, Genesis 31:35, Isaiah 64:6 and Ezekiel 18:5-6. They explicitly state that women are “unclean” and “impure.” The ancient Hindu scriptures such as Rig-Veda or Bhagavadgita does not mention menstruation and in fact none of the four Vedas ever state that a menstruating woman’s body is impure or that she cannot perform prayers. Many Vedic gods are female and they are spoken with veneration. The “impurity” of a women during menstrual period may have evolved in middle of medieval period. Perhaps during the post-Vedic time when Puranas were written to describe the Hindu cultural practices. A mention of menstruation may be found in Garuda Purana 15:7-10.
The author, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf works for New York’s Brennan Center for Justice that is affiliated to NYU School of Law. She could have done more research and provided the reader a historical account of activism since suffrage movement in early 1900s. But this book is largely focused on modern day activists.
Tights/pants soaked in blood is not a pretty sight for a man or a woman. Such displays as a part of feminist activism could backfire since many supporters of women’s rights may be repulsed or offended by that. Activists have lot to learn from the Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 Presidential run. Pulling away from mainstream into extremism may do more harm than help women’s movements. Blood-soaked pants look more like crime scene photos. It could be considered vulgar. Does anyone display urine soaked panties to make a point? Women also have the right to pass urine but they don’t make a public display of it to cause awareness. Let us save that for the adult entertainment!
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Book Reviewed: Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism, by Bhu Srinivasan
The American capitalism in Global Economy
Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was symbolic in that its publication date of 1776 coincided with the Declaration of American Independence. Smith examined simple economic concepts in which that individuals are capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He summarized capitalism in terms of common sense; as how markets move, why they move, and how variables affect the outcomes. He supported free trade and small businesses and his book provided the first integrated description of the workings of a market economy. The spirit of his work still lives on and it revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth.
The author of this book does not discuss economics, but simply documents the American success from a historical perspective. Topics includes very diverse subjects like; venture, taxes, tobacco, cotton, gold, slavery, war, oil, steel unions, trusts, food, automobiles, radio, and TV to computing, startups and internet. The book takes a very simple approach at the history without discussing the economics or politics or sociological ramifications that impacted these economic factors. The book is very arbitrarily classified into four sections and various topics are jumbled together in 35 chapters. Each chapter in a section has no bearing on each other. The book does not flow smoothly as a reader would expect.
The author could have considered expanding on factors that helped capitalism to grow. For example, slavery is long regarded as an error in American history but its impact on the American economy is long forgotten. The expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence led to the modernization of the United States. The South grew from a narrow coastal strip of tobacco plantations to a mighty cotton producer, and then grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Another factor that could have a made difference is the unions and workforce. The Silicon Valley Technology and Wall Street greed is thrusting upon American lives. The "sharing economy” concept of companies like Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit has encouraged workers to become "independent" and their own CEOs. Hiring themselves out for ever-smaller jobs and wages while the corporations benefit enormously. Increased subcontracting and consulting services by corporations also has economic consequences in the long run. Social justice is not reaching out for the average American worker. I sense hearing Elton John’s hit song, “Don't let the sun go down on me.” Let us not allow sun to go down on American capitalism.
Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was symbolic in that its publication date of 1776 coincided with the Declaration of American Independence. Smith examined simple economic concepts in which that individuals are capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He summarized capitalism in terms of common sense; as how markets move, why they move, and how variables affect the outcomes. He supported free trade and small businesses and his book provided the first integrated description of the workings of a market economy. The spirit of his work still lives on and it revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth.
The author of this book does not discuss economics, but simply documents the American success from a historical perspective. Topics includes very diverse subjects like; venture, taxes, tobacco, cotton, gold, slavery, war, oil, steel unions, trusts, food, automobiles, radio, and TV to computing, startups and internet. The book takes a very simple approach at the history without discussing the economics or politics or sociological ramifications that impacted these economic factors. The book is very arbitrarily classified into four sections and various topics are jumbled together in 35 chapters. Each chapter in a section has no bearing on each other. The book does not flow smoothly as a reader would expect.
The author could have considered expanding on factors that helped capitalism to grow. For example, slavery is long regarded as an error in American history but its impact on the American economy is long forgotten. The expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence led to the modernization of the United States. The South grew from a narrow coastal strip of tobacco plantations to a mighty cotton producer, and then grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Another factor that could have a made difference is the unions and workforce. The Silicon Valley Technology and Wall Street greed is thrusting upon American lives. The "sharing economy” concept of companies like Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit has encouraged workers to become "independent" and their own CEOs. Hiring themselves out for ever-smaller jobs and wages while the corporations benefit enormously. Increased subcontracting and consulting services by corporations also has economic consequences in the long run. Social justice is not reaching out for the average American worker. I sense hearing Elton John’s hit song, “Don't let the sun go down on me.” Let us not allow sun to go down on American capitalism.
Book Reviewed: The Ken Commandments: My Search for God in Hollywood, by Ken Baker
Looking for Bible in Beverly Hills (Three stars)
This is story of a man in quest for finding god during his midlife crisis. Having worked in the entertainment business for several years, the author looks for ways to find god and seeks to understand the meaning of life. This would be really challenging for someone who found success in Hollywood. But there is no shortage of celebrities who found god in their own way. For example, the church of Scientology has millions of followers that uses Hollywood celebrities to promote itself to achieve wisdom and immortality. Celebrity followers include; Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Will Smith, Priscilla Presley, Kirsty Alley, Jenna Elfman and Greta Van Sustern. The church makes enormous profit as a tax exempt religious organization.
Recently Justin Bieber is making lot of news about finding Jesus. His "purpose" in life is not music anymore; it's all about his spiritual awakening by Jesus, courtesy of the Hillsong Church and its charismatic leader Carl Lentz. Kirk Cameron was another reborn Christian. After converting to Christianity, he began to insist that storylines of his TV show “Growing Pains” be edited to remove anything he thought too adult or inappropriate for a Christian culture. After the series was cancelled, Cameron did not maintain contact with his former co-stars, and did not speak to co-star Tracey Gold for eight years. His desire to start a Christian life away from the entertainment industry was so intense that he wanted to free himself from the “old shackles.”
The author during his spiritual awakening, starts to talk about god with friends, attends church services, discusses with preachers, spiritual counselors, gurus, and yoga and meditation instructors. For example, in one chapter entitled “The Guru wears Prada,” he describes his interaction with Deepak Chopra and Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) to understand the wisdom of Hindu Philosophy. But his understanding of Vedanta Philosophy of Hinduism falls too short. Paramahansa Yogananda was the founder of SRF to teach scientific methods of meditation and principles of spiritual living described in Hindu Holy Scripture of Bhagavadgita. Ken Baker doesn’t even mention this book. Except for Bible, no other religious scriptures are mentioned and yet he is looking for “God.” Christianity is the religion of his youth and deviating away from it is hard unless you put mind and heart into it. After reading this book, I found that his mind is too focused on Jesus. I like to point out to the author that singer and songwriter, and ex-Beatle George Harrison was also looking for God and found in Bhagavadgita. He did his homework and read the scriptures. He did not remain in “pocket” but went outside the box to rethink and rediscover himself. His song about Lord Krishna “My sweet lord…. I really want to see you, really want to be with you….. is one of the most inspiring song in rock music I ever heard. He came from the entertainment industry and he was able to find “God.”
The book is haphazardly classified into three major sections called, Genesis, Exodus and Revelation that does not reflect his own spiritual quest. Chapters entitled, “Keep up with Kardashians” “Celebrate Jesus – He is just like us,” etc. bears very little significance to the subject matter discussed in those chapters. At the end of all this, this reader is not sure if the author was successful in finding god.
This is story of a man in quest for finding god during his midlife crisis. Having worked in the entertainment business for several years, the author looks for ways to find god and seeks to understand the meaning of life. This would be really challenging for someone who found success in Hollywood. But there is no shortage of celebrities who found god in their own way. For example, the church of Scientology has millions of followers that uses Hollywood celebrities to promote itself to achieve wisdom and immortality. Celebrity followers include; Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Will Smith, Priscilla Presley, Kirsty Alley, Jenna Elfman and Greta Van Sustern. The church makes enormous profit as a tax exempt religious organization.
Recently Justin Bieber is making lot of news about finding Jesus. His "purpose" in life is not music anymore; it's all about his spiritual awakening by Jesus, courtesy of the Hillsong Church and its charismatic leader Carl Lentz. Kirk Cameron was another reborn Christian. After converting to Christianity, he began to insist that storylines of his TV show “Growing Pains” be edited to remove anything he thought too adult or inappropriate for a Christian culture. After the series was cancelled, Cameron did not maintain contact with his former co-stars, and did not speak to co-star Tracey Gold for eight years. His desire to start a Christian life away from the entertainment industry was so intense that he wanted to free himself from the “old shackles.”
The author during his spiritual awakening, starts to talk about god with friends, attends church services, discusses with preachers, spiritual counselors, gurus, and yoga and meditation instructors. For example, in one chapter entitled “The Guru wears Prada,” he describes his interaction with Deepak Chopra and Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) to understand the wisdom of Hindu Philosophy. But his understanding of Vedanta Philosophy of Hinduism falls too short. Paramahansa Yogananda was the founder of SRF to teach scientific methods of meditation and principles of spiritual living described in Hindu Holy Scripture of Bhagavadgita. Ken Baker doesn’t even mention this book. Except for Bible, no other religious scriptures are mentioned and yet he is looking for “God.” Christianity is the religion of his youth and deviating away from it is hard unless you put mind and heart into it. After reading this book, I found that his mind is too focused on Jesus. I like to point out to the author that singer and songwriter, and ex-Beatle George Harrison was also looking for God and found in Bhagavadgita. He did his homework and read the scriptures. He did not remain in “pocket” but went outside the box to rethink and rediscover himself. His song about Lord Krishna “My sweet lord…. I really want to see you, really want to be with you….. is one of the most inspiring song in rock music I ever heard. He came from the entertainment industry and he was able to find “God.”
The book is haphazardly classified into three major sections called, Genesis, Exodus and Revelation that does not reflect his own spiritual quest. Chapters entitled, “Keep up with Kardashians” “Celebrate Jesus – He is just like us,” etc. bears very little significance to the subject matter discussed in those chapters. At the end of all this, this reader is not sure if the author was successful in finding god.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Wild by K. Webster
Very Creepy and Evil
This story is creepy, eerie, disturbing, sinister, frightening, and worrying! The author is selling a senseless trash as an experiment about love and romance. How could there be love between a father and his own daughter. It is obviously outrageous to know that Reed (father) treats his wife like a trash, and when she dies, neither Reed nor his daughter (Devon) appear to mourn the loss. Neither of them cared. How could Devon could do that her own mother? A few weeks later, they're in a sexual relationship in the wilderness of Alaska. The Alaska trip is a sham and does not add any myth or substance. It is merely a trysting place, for a moonlight tryst. This is not Robert Bly’s “Iron John” where men going back to the wilderness to understand the myth, legend and the source of their masculinity. And finding a middle path between the greater awareness of the ‘sensitive new age guy’ and the power and vitality of the ancient warrior. This is lust at its worse. The author is expressing her own insecurities in this little story. Is she too afraid that her characters are watched by neighbors, family and friends, if they do this in the midst of civilization? The family circumstance the author has created in her story is utterly deplorable. It is bloody and gruesome to say the least. They should be in a state of mourning and grieving.
Loving, nurturing, and caring occurs between a mom and her son. There is tenderness in such a relationship, and that is not the way it plays out between a father and daughter. Mother-son sex is found among primates such as bonobo (chimpanzee species) but not between a father and daughter. Electra complex is not a progressive evolutionary behavior.
As I see this, the man Reed is nothing but an evil who seduces a minor. He is a pedophile. This is a crime! No doubt Amazon banned this book. If you really care about stories like this, I suggest watching a porn film online. It is healthy for you or you may prepare with a towel, a panty, lotion, a large picture of your favorite man and any other electrical device(s) for a special solstice masturbation ritual in order to orgasm into a healthy you as discussed by Karley Sciortino in her article entitled “Sex, the Solstice, and the Single Girl” that appeared on Vogue Magazine.
As a father of my daughter I am deeply offended by this atrocious writing. This is not literature, this not fiction, but this is bestiality that is best left at the adult section of your browser.
This story is creepy, eerie, disturbing, sinister, frightening, and worrying! The author is selling a senseless trash as an experiment about love and romance. How could there be love between a father and his own daughter. It is obviously outrageous to know that Reed (father) treats his wife like a trash, and when she dies, neither Reed nor his daughter (Devon) appear to mourn the loss. Neither of them cared. How could Devon could do that her own mother? A few weeks later, they're in a sexual relationship in the wilderness of Alaska. The Alaska trip is a sham and does not add any myth or substance. It is merely a trysting place, for a moonlight tryst. This is not Robert Bly’s “Iron John” where men going back to the wilderness to understand the myth, legend and the source of their masculinity. And finding a middle path between the greater awareness of the ‘sensitive new age guy’ and the power and vitality of the ancient warrior. This is lust at its worse. The author is expressing her own insecurities in this little story. Is she too afraid that her characters are watched by neighbors, family and friends, if they do this in the midst of civilization? The family circumstance the author has created in her story is utterly deplorable. It is bloody and gruesome to say the least. They should be in a state of mourning and grieving.
Loving, nurturing, and caring occurs between a mom and her son. There is tenderness in such a relationship, and that is not the way it plays out between a father and daughter. Mother-son sex is found among primates such as bonobo (chimpanzee species) but not between a father and daughter. Electra complex is not a progressive evolutionary behavior.
As I see this, the man Reed is nothing but an evil who seduces a minor. He is a pedophile. This is a crime! No doubt Amazon banned this book. If you really care about stories like this, I suggest watching a porn film online. It is healthy for you or you may prepare with a towel, a panty, lotion, a large picture of your favorite man and any other electrical device(s) for a special solstice masturbation ritual in order to orgasm into a healthy you as discussed by Karley Sciortino in her article entitled “Sex, the Solstice, and the Single Girl” that appeared on Vogue Magazine.
As a father of my daughter I am deeply offended by this atrocious writing. This is not literature, this not fiction, but this is bestiality that is best left at the adult section of your browser.
Book Reviewed: No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming to a Neighborhood near you, by Raheem Kassam
Islamization of Western Societies
Europe has submitted to Islamists who have taken over communities, neighborhoods, towns and cities within a generation. For example, London is a city built over 2,000 years and it has become a third world hell-hole with many neighborhoods patrolled by Sharia-enforcing Muslim thugs. U.K has a large population of immigrants from Asia, and immigrants such as Hindus from India assimilate well with local population, but Muslims clearly identify as a separate community from the rest of the population. Muslim dominated inner cities across U.K, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and other have their own “no-go” zones where Muslims enforce sharia to intimidate women for not following the 8th century codes. They are wreaking havoc through terrorism, and an epidemic of sexual assault against women. Jihadi enclaves protected by clerics and Muslim community leaders are becoming “no-go zones” even for police. Cops are either hesitant to enter the community or refuse to enforce the law to the full extent. This book chronicles growing chaos in Europe where Muslims are primarily focused on the Islamization of Western civilization. Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic organizations have a well-defined strategy for conquering Europe through conversions, intimidation and threats. Compounding this problem is that the entertainment industry, the media, academics, popular writers, the leftists and socialist groups have progressively aligned with Muslim causes, and clearly opposed to the interest of the country.
The Jihad Watch Organization affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and run by blogger Robert Spencer, provides a daily report of divisive and dangerous activities of Islamists across the globe. For example, only this week, we find that the UN refugee agency is under scrutiny for terror links. U.K. Muslim gangs who targeted white teenage girls in sexual attacks were found guilty in a court of law but the judge did not handed longer jail sentences that fitted the crime because that would be considered Islamophobic in light of the fact that the victims were non-Muslim women. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group called for vehicular jihad attacks numerous times, and that there have been many such attacks in the West in the last few years. Recently a Muslim deliberately drove a car into a pizzeria in France, and an innocent French girl was killed. The police were quick to rule out terrorism. An Islamic jihadist who recently went on a stabbing spree in a supermarket in Hamburg, Germany has been attributed to his mental illness. Denmark’s “Hug a Jihadi” program was started to give houses and jobs to returning Islamic State jihadis. In Switzerland, a Muslim cleric has been charged with incitement to murder non-practicing Muslims. Recently BBC News anchor Katty Kay said that “Europeans have to get used to terror attacks like the Manchester bombing.” Will she get used to wearing hijab? Despite all these, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is calling for more Muslim migrants to Europe as she criticizes Charlottesville demonstrations. This book is a very compelling in its reporting. But it is not so shocking anymore since we read about Muslim terrorism in our daily newspapers.
Europe has submitted to Islamists who have taken over communities, neighborhoods, towns and cities within a generation. For example, London is a city built over 2,000 years and it has become a third world hell-hole with many neighborhoods patrolled by Sharia-enforcing Muslim thugs. U.K has a large population of immigrants from Asia, and immigrants such as Hindus from India assimilate well with local population, but Muslims clearly identify as a separate community from the rest of the population. Muslim dominated inner cities across U.K, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and other have their own “no-go” zones where Muslims enforce sharia to intimidate women for not following the 8th century codes. They are wreaking havoc through terrorism, and an epidemic of sexual assault against women. Jihadi enclaves protected by clerics and Muslim community leaders are becoming “no-go zones” even for police. Cops are either hesitant to enter the community or refuse to enforce the law to the full extent. This book chronicles growing chaos in Europe where Muslims are primarily focused on the Islamization of Western civilization. Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic organizations have a well-defined strategy for conquering Europe through conversions, intimidation and threats. Compounding this problem is that the entertainment industry, the media, academics, popular writers, the leftists and socialist groups have progressively aligned with Muslim causes, and clearly opposed to the interest of the country.
The Jihad Watch Organization affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and run by blogger Robert Spencer, provides a daily report of divisive and dangerous activities of Islamists across the globe. For example, only this week, we find that the UN refugee agency is under scrutiny for terror links. U.K. Muslim gangs who targeted white teenage girls in sexual attacks were found guilty in a court of law but the judge did not handed longer jail sentences that fitted the crime because that would be considered Islamophobic in light of the fact that the victims were non-Muslim women. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group called for vehicular jihad attacks numerous times, and that there have been many such attacks in the West in the last few years. Recently a Muslim deliberately drove a car into a pizzeria in France, and an innocent French girl was killed. The police were quick to rule out terrorism. An Islamic jihadist who recently went on a stabbing spree in a supermarket in Hamburg, Germany has been attributed to his mental illness. Denmark’s “Hug a Jihadi” program was started to give houses and jobs to returning Islamic State jihadis. In Switzerland, a Muslim cleric has been charged with incitement to murder non-practicing Muslims. Recently BBC News anchor Katty Kay said that “Europeans have to get used to terror attacks like the Manchester bombing.” Will she get used to wearing hijab? Despite all these, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is calling for more Muslim migrants to Europe as she criticizes Charlottesville demonstrations. This book is a very compelling in its reporting. But it is not so shocking anymore since we read about Muslim terrorism in our daily newspapers.
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Book Reviewed: Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War, by Brandon R. Brown
Max Planck, the founding father of quantum physics
Max Planck’s childhood was not easy; it was marred by the ravages of war. First in years leading to 1864, when the Second Schleswig War was declared, and later in his adult life, the WWI and WWII combined with atrocities committed by Nazi’s against Jews and later by the Russian Red Army during their occupation of Germany. Despite all this, he had a stable family and he showed his aptitude for everything he tried in his life with a fondness for languages, mathematics, Bible and music. He was the favorite kid in his entire school.
His early struggles made him understand the situation of other young physicists, and he was an encouraging voice to anyone who came up with new scientific ideas. In his middle age, he advocated for the “peculiar” yet eloquent work of young Albert Einstein. He stood against the establishment to find a scientific place for young Lise Meitner, the brilliant Jewish woman who came to Berlin just to hear his physics lecture. Years later she along with Otto Hahn jointly discovered the fission of the uranium nucleus that lead to the discovery nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The world came to know their extraordinary discovery and the 1944 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Otto Hahn clearly denying Meitner’s share of the Nobel Prize. This was a clear case of gender discrimination against the brilliant physicist.
In early 1909, Max Planck, a giant in the field of physics at that time, gave a series of eight lectures at Columbia University in New York. His mentor Hermann von Helmholtz had given series of lectures at Columbia 15 years earlier. At that time, Einstein was still an unknown figure and his 1905 publication on Special Relativity was revolutionizing idea in physics. Half way through his eighth and final lecture, Planck made a crucial point warning the political dawn of “German” and “Jewish” physics in the devastating decades to come. In the years leading up to WWI and WWI, it became painfully clear that Jewish physicists will be treated deplorably as the political tensions was mounting. Even among many respected German physicists, Einstein’s theory of special relativity did not sit well as it abolished the universal time for all observers. Max Planck admitted that this would spawn headaches. In the next several years, Planck and Einstein had contentious and irreconcilable differences.
Max Planck’s personal life was agonized repeatedly as the scars of wars was personal for him. During the WWI, Planck’s second son was taken as a prisoner by the French in 1914. Years later, in 1945, when Germany was under the Third Reich, his favorite son Erwin Planck was sentenced to death by the Nazis for trying to assassinate the Fuhrer. His standing in the world of physics did not help convince Hitler to spare his son’s life.
Max Planck was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918, and his philosophical and spiritual views could be seen in some of his statements. Once he said, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” “An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature, and a measurement is the recording of Nature's answer.” In his famous lecture “Religion and Science” in May 1937, Planck wrote: “Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God, and moreover God stands for the former in the beginning, and for the latter at the end of the whole thinking. For the former, God represents the basis, for the latter, the crown of any reasoning concerning the world-view.”
This book some has some rare pictures of him and his family, and I liked the one with his siblings. This biography illustrates the story of a brilliant man living in a dangerous time gives Max Planck his rightful place in the history of science, and it shows how ravages of war deeply impacted his life and work.
Max Planck’s childhood was not easy; it was marred by the ravages of war. First in years leading to 1864, when the Second Schleswig War was declared, and later in his adult life, the WWI and WWII combined with atrocities committed by Nazi’s against Jews and later by the Russian Red Army during their occupation of Germany. Despite all this, he had a stable family and he showed his aptitude for everything he tried in his life with a fondness for languages, mathematics, Bible and music. He was the favorite kid in his entire school.
His early struggles made him understand the situation of other young physicists, and he was an encouraging voice to anyone who came up with new scientific ideas. In his middle age, he advocated for the “peculiar” yet eloquent work of young Albert Einstein. He stood against the establishment to find a scientific place for young Lise Meitner, the brilliant Jewish woman who came to Berlin just to hear his physics lecture. Years later she along with Otto Hahn jointly discovered the fission of the uranium nucleus that lead to the discovery nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The world came to know their extraordinary discovery and the 1944 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Otto Hahn clearly denying Meitner’s share of the Nobel Prize. This was a clear case of gender discrimination against the brilliant physicist.
In early 1909, Max Planck, a giant in the field of physics at that time, gave a series of eight lectures at Columbia University in New York. His mentor Hermann von Helmholtz had given series of lectures at Columbia 15 years earlier. At that time, Einstein was still an unknown figure and his 1905 publication on Special Relativity was revolutionizing idea in physics. Half way through his eighth and final lecture, Planck made a crucial point warning the political dawn of “German” and “Jewish” physics in the devastating decades to come. In the years leading up to WWI and WWI, it became painfully clear that Jewish physicists will be treated deplorably as the political tensions was mounting. Even among many respected German physicists, Einstein’s theory of special relativity did not sit well as it abolished the universal time for all observers. Max Planck admitted that this would spawn headaches. In the next several years, Planck and Einstein had contentious and irreconcilable differences.
Max Planck’s personal life was agonized repeatedly as the scars of wars was personal for him. During the WWI, Planck’s second son was taken as a prisoner by the French in 1914. Years later, in 1945, when Germany was under the Third Reich, his favorite son Erwin Planck was sentenced to death by the Nazis for trying to assassinate the Fuhrer. His standing in the world of physics did not help convince Hitler to spare his son’s life.
Max Planck was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918, and his philosophical and spiritual views could be seen in some of his statements. Once he said, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” “An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature, and a measurement is the recording of Nature's answer.” In his famous lecture “Religion and Science” in May 1937, Planck wrote: “Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God, and moreover God stands for the former in the beginning, and for the latter at the end of the whole thinking. For the former, God represents the basis, for the latter, the crown of any reasoning concerning the world-view.”
This book some has some rare pictures of him and his family, and I liked the one with his siblings. This biography illustrates the story of a brilliant man living in a dangerous time gives Max Planck his rightful place in the history of science, and it shows how ravages of war deeply impacted his life and work.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Book Reviewed: Spooky Action at a Distance, by George Musser
The enigma of quantum reality
The laws of quantum physics allow for two distant quantum objects (photons, electrons, quarks, etc.) to be entangled so that an action on one particle instantly affects the other, even if the two particles are separated by several billion light years. Einstein dismissed this as "spooky action at a distance", insisting that some hidden variables could be responsible for this action. He argued that physics is not magic but operates on the principle of local realism. Hence only nearby objects are influenced by each other like sun and the planets, as we understand from the equations of classical physics. However, Einstein has been proved wrong on numerous occasions in experimental quantum physics. Even black holes and the workings of gravity (curved spacetime in presence of matter) are manifestations of quantum entanglement at cosmic scales. The very nature of spacetime are questioned since it is no longer considered as an inert fabric of physical reality. In fact many physicists think that space is not continuous but exists in discrete quanta (tiny chunks) like matter, and spacetime could curve, rip, tear and repair and it can travel across the universe as waves (gravitational waves) at the speed of light. The physical reality is not simple at most fundamental level. Time becomes folded up with space into a malleable four-dimensional spacetime, and its passage depends on how fast you are moving, or the strength of the surrounding gravitational field. Yet of the four dimensions of space and time, time remains somehow special. If we know what's happening on a spot in Mars, then we can predict what will happen in that same space at a future time. But we cannot predict what is happening at a different spot at the same time. Quantum physics, reinforces this “special” view of time, but produces a picture at odds with relativity. Here, there is an objective "God's Eye" time that allows you to see all events encapsulated in spacetime, including the past and future, from outside the capsule. But while all quantum-mechanical things can be calculated about reality depend on experimental observations. Time itself is an unobservable parameter, so it cannot be calculated. It can't even be reliably measured: the principle of quantum uncertainty makes it impossible to distinguish the order of two events that are very close in time. "It gets harder to prevent effect preceding cause, because of “quantum fuzziness” of spacetime at quantum scales.
In this book, author George Musser discusses the nature of nonlocality, the “spooky action at a distance” from the point of physicists and cosmologists at the frontiers of current research. He discusses the nature of spacetime and the quantum reality. The universe is even more complicated if one is faced with the fact that only a small fraction of the universe is visible. The universe consists of 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, 2.5% invisible matter and 2.5% visible matter. Laws of physics applies only to the 5% of the universe. The nature of dark matter and dark energy is currently unknown and also we don’t know how it interact with each other. Do they have energy, mass, frequency equations as we have for normal matter? And how do dark matter and dark energy interact with normal matter/energy? Constraints of special theory of relativity requires that nothing moves faster than light, including gravity, forces, information, matter or energy. And spacetime warp to accommodate speed of light. But space could expand faster than light. Moving clock tick (time) slower and moving ruler (space) appear shorter and hence there is no objective measure of space and time. Space and time look different for different observers in the universe. Motion warps spacetime and so does acceleration and gravity according to the equivalence principle of general relativity.
Physicists Juan Maldacena and Leonard Susskind redefine spacetime that is at the core of quantum reality. According to their conjecture, ER = EPR is that every pair of entangled particles (quantum physical phenomenon) is connected by a microscopic spacetime wormhole (relativistic phenomenon) so that large regions of spacetime emerge from the entanglement of more fundamental microscopic constituents of the universe. It also suggests that entangled objects, despite having long been viewed as having no physical connection to one another may indeed be connected in ways that are far less fantastical than we thought.
Some physicists working on black hole physics have suggested that we live in a holographic universe, which means the physical reality that makes up the 3-dimesional space (and time) is in fact stored on a 2-dimensional flat surface. This means everything we see and experience is an illusion. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, goes one-step further to say that we don’t actually exist physically, but we are a bunch of information (data) swirling around on someone's (?Gods) supercomputer. Musk is immersed in a technological world, and he is not too far off from the point of artificial intelligence (AI) and the world of super-computation. Despite the fact that this idea sounds extreme but theories about the universe being an illusion aren't new.
In spite of all calculations, conjectures and interpretations of experimental data, we could be looking at small section of one whole reality. We need a revolutionary like Einstein to rediscover the quantum nature of spacetime and gravity. In this book, the author does not offer a useful discussion of nonlocality, and in some pages he appears to be rambling.
The laws of quantum physics allow for two distant quantum objects (photons, electrons, quarks, etc.) to be entangled so that an action on one particle instantly affects the other, even if the two particles are separated by several billion light years. Einstein dismissed this as "spooky action at a distance", insisting that some hidden variables could be responsible for this action. He argued that physics is not magic but operates on the principle of local realism. Hence only nearby objects are influenced by each other like sun and the planets, as we understand from the equations of classical physics. However, Einstein has been proved wrong on numerous occasions in experimental quantum physics. Even black holes and the workings of gravity (curved spacetime in presence of matter) are manifestations of quantum entanglement at cosmic scales. The very nature of spacetime are questioned since it is no longer considered as an inert fabric of physical reality. In fact many physicists think that space is not continuous but exists in discrete quanta (tiny chunks) like matter, and spacetime could curve, rip, tear and repair and it can travel across the universe as waves (gravitational waves) at the speed of light. The physical reality is not simple at most fundamental level. Time becomes folded up with space into a malleable four-dimensional spacetime, and its passage depends on how fast you are moving, or the strength of the surrounding gravitational field. Yet of the four dimensions of space and time, time remains somehow special. If we know what's happening on a spot in Mars, then we can predict what will happen in that same space at a future time. But we cannot predict what is happening at a different spot at the same time. Quantum physics, reinforces this “special” view of time, but produces a picture at odds with relativity. Here, there is an objective "God's Eye" time that allows you to see all events encapsulated in spacetime, including the past and future, from outside the capsule. But while all quantum-mechanical things can be calculated about reality depend on experimental observations. Time itself is an unobservable parameter, so it cannot be calculated. It can't even be reliably measured: the principle of quantum uncertainty makes it impossible to distinguish the order of two events that are very close in time. "It gets harder to prevent effect preceding cause, because of “quantum fuzziness” of spacetime at quantum scales.
In this book, author George Musser discusses the nature of nonlocality, the “spooky action at a distance” from the point of physicists and cosmologists at the frontiers of current research. He discusses the nature of spacetime and the quantum reality. The universe is even more complicated if one is faced with the fact that only a small fraction of the universe is visible. The universe consists of 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, 2.5% invisible matter and 2.5% visible matter. Laws of physics applies only to the 5% of the universe. The nature of dark matter and dark energy is currently unknown and also we don’t know how it interact with each other. Do they have energy, mass, frequency equations as we have for normal matter? And how do dark matter and dark energy interact with normal matter/energy? Constraints of special theory of relativity requires that nothing moves faster than light, including gravity, forces, information, matter or energy. And spacetime warp to accommodate speed of light. But space could expand faster than light. Moving clock tick (time) slower and moving ruler (space) appear shorter and hence there is no objective measure of space and time. Space and time look different for different observers in the universe. Motion warps spacetime and so does acceleration and gravity according to the equivalence principle of general relativity.
Physicists Juan Maldacena and Leonard Susskind redefine spacetime that is at the core of quantum reality. According to their conjecture, ER = EPR is that every pair of entangled particles (quantum physical phenomenon) is connected by a microscopic spacetime wormhole (relativistic phenomenon) so that large regions of spacetime emerge from the entanglement of more fundamental microscopic constituents of the universe. It also suggests that entangled objects, despite having long been viewed as having no physical connection to one another may indeed be connected in ways that are far less fantastical than we thought.
Some physicists working on black hole physics have suggested that we live in a holographic universe, which means the physical reality that makes up the 3-dimesional space (and time) is in fact stored on a 2-dimensional flat surface. This means everything we see and experience is an illusion. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, goes one-step further to say that we don’t actually exist physically, but we are a bunch of information (data) swirling around on someone's (?Gods) supercomputer. Musk is immersed in a technological world, and he is not too far off from the point of artificial intelligence (AI) and the world of super-computation. Despite the fact that this idea sounds extreme but theories about the universe being an illusion aren't new.
In spite of all calculations, conjectures and interpretations of experimental data, we could be looking at small section of one whole reality. We need a revolutionary like Einstein to rediscover the quantum nature of spacetime and gravity. In this book, the author does not offer a useful discussion of nonlocality, and in some pages he appears to be rambling.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Book Reviewed: The Challenge of Modernizing Islam: Reformers Speak Out and the Obstacles, by Christine Douglass-Williams, Daniel Pipes
Islam is a political ideology, therefore it cannot be reformed
Islam is a political ideology that uses god’s name to impose its will and authority on non-believers. It contrasts the political philosophy of Marxism, Leninism and Capitalism that is based on social, economic and political concepts. Enforcing a belief using god’s name is a powerful tool and perhaps lasting than economic based ideologies. Muslims hide behind a notion of being the followers of a faith. In the 21st century, we don’t see many people screaming Jesus Christ, Moses, Krishna or Buddha with hatchets, guns or literally running over innocent people on the streets with an automobile. Recently, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn called “It’s like cancer, and it’s like a malignant cancer, though in this case that has metastasized.”
In a world of political correctness, the race, ethnicity, class and fear of being labeled as Islamophobic has manipulated the system to the full advantage of Muslims and their application of sharia law. The political leaders and the media are too willing to submit to the will of Muslims. The lack of knowledge of Muslim values and their culture in western World have been manipulated by Islamists. They are a population that believes that god wants women to wear hijab, niqab, or burqa. Progressively the West has adopted sharia blasphemy laws. In July 2017, Muslim terrorists targeted Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Christians in Egypt, and Buddhists in Thailand. According to the Jihad Watch Report of Jul 08, 2017 - Jul 14, 2017, there were 37 attacks; 207 killed; 196 injured; 8 suicide blasts, all in 37 countries. The Quran contains at least 109 verses that speak of war with nonbelievers, usually on the basis of their status as non-Muslims. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Quran 5:51, says "O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." In Quran 5:82, we find “You will find the most violent in enmity to the (Islamic) believers are the Jews…” Quran 5:44, “Indeed We revealed the Torah to Moses, in which there is guidance and light: By its laws, all the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged those who call themselves Jews and so did the rabbis and jurists of law….”
Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, President Trump challenged that whether the West has the will to survive, and do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?
The author of this book has interviewed several Muslim leaders to find ways to overcome the oppression of Sharia law, but this is a futile attempt. Most Muslims like to defend their faith and the privileged use of Sharia law. The religion comes first in all their arguments and the common-sense comes last; whereas for most non-Muslims, common-sense comes first. The evidence is all around us. For example, in Indian Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq and other Islamic countries, women followed Western traditions and wore Western cloths, but they have changed and progressively moved back to medieval age.
Islam is a political ideology that uses god’s name to impose its will and authority on non-believers. It contrasts the political philosophy of Marxism, Leninism and Capitalism that is based on social, economic and political concepts. Enforcing a belief using god’s name is a powerful tool and perhaps lasting than economic based ideologies. Muslims hide behind a notion of being the followers of a faith. In the 21st century, we don’t see many people screaming Jesus Christ, Moses, Krishna or Buddha with hatchets, guns or literally running over innocent people on the streets with an automobile. Recently, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn called “It’s like cancer, and it’s like a malignant cancer, though in this case that has metastasized.”
In a world of political correctness, the race, ethnicity, class and fear of being labeled as Islamophobic has manipulated the system to the full advantage of Muslims and their application of sharia law. The political leaders and the media are too willing to submit to the will of Muslims. The lack of knowledge of Muslim values and their culture in western World have been manipulated by Islamists. They are a population that believes that god wants women to wear hijab, niqab, or burqa. Progressively the West has adopted sharia blasphemy laws. In July 2017, Muslim terrorists targeted Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Christians in Egypt, and Buddhists in Thailand. According to the Jihad Watch Report of Jul 08, 2017 - Jul 14, 2017, there were 37 attacks; 207 killed; 196 injured; 8 suicide blasts, all in 37 countries. The Quran contains at least 109 verses that speak of war with nonbelievers, usually on the basis of their status as non-Muslims. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Quran 5:51, says "O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." In Quran 5:82, we find “You will find the most violent in enmity to the (Islamic) believers are the Jews…” Quran 5:44, “Indeed We revealed the Torah to Moses, in which there is guidance and light: By its laws, all the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged those who call themselves Jews and so did the rabbis and jurists of law….”
Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, President Trump challenged that whether the West has the will to survive, and do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?
The author of this book has interviewed several Muslim leaders to find ways to overcome the oppression of Sharia law, but this is a futile attempt. Most Muslims like to defend their faith and the privileged use of Sharia law. The religion comes first in all their arguments and the common-sense comes last; whereas for most non-Muslims, common-sense comes first. The evidence is all around us. For example, in Indian Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq and other Islamic countries, women followed Western traditions and wore Western cloths, but they have changed and progressively moved back to medieval age.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Book Reviewed: John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars by Eve Golden
The Rise and fall of Matinee Idol John Gilbert
This is one of the outstanding books I have read about an early Hollywood star John Gilbert. This book not only gives us the story behind his meteoric rise in the American film industry but also narrates a brief history of how the studios came into existence in Southern California. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; it is an effortless reading and the material flows flawlessly and keeps you highly engaged from start to finish. Strongly recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood, career of John Gilbert and the stories behind the top movies he made in 1920s.
A brief summary of this book would illustrate the life of John Gilbert, as charmingly written by author Eve Golden: Gilbert was the screen’s hottest heartthrob, the top male sex symbol of 1920s and one of MGM’s box-office champions. He was handsome, mercurial, and very talented. He dated some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, which included Greta Garbo, Virginia Bruce, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara La Marr, Mae Murray, Lila Lee, Bebe Daniels and some of his co-stars. Some of the notable films of Gilbert include; The Merry Widow, The Big Parade, Flesh and the Devil, and Love. When talkies started in 1928, Gilbert panicked since he did not have microphone experience and also his squeaky and ineffective voice sent his career into a tailspin. This was compounded by his souring relationship with MGM executives. MGM head Louis B. Mayer is known have made unpleasant comments about his upcoming wedding with Greta Garbo that may have led to fist fight. Some eye-witnesses discount this. But in short this episode did not help his contract with MGM. In the meantime, his drinking, womanizing, and his larger than life personality made a target for moralizers and journalists out for a scoop. Gilbert would soon find himself unemployable and insufficient for talkies of the early 1930s.
His childhood had its own ups and downs. His mother was an actress and his father was a manager of a stock company. After his parents were divorced, John Gilbert and his mom traveled across the country and he pretty much grew up on the road. Life was tough but he began to understand the world at a much younger age. At one time, he was left in the care of his mother’s friend in Manhattan, a seamstress who ran an escort service with her daughter. Men coming and going out of the tiny apartment was not uncommon, and he had similar experience while living with his mother Ida Gilbert. She would bring men into the house when she was not in a married relationship.
The man who brought John Gilbert to Hollywood was studio executive Thomas Ince. By 1912 Thomas Ince purchased an 18,000 acre ranch in Pacific Palisades Highlands stretching 7.5 miles of Santa Ynez Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu in California. He built his own studio, named "Inceville". The studio was the first of its kind which featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. The streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years. From 1915, John Gilbert performed in minor roles. In 1916, he appeared in three movies of William Hart. Several studios were operating in late 1910s and Gilbert kept himself busy with several small projects for various studios. In 1920s several major studios began to form by the unification of smaller studios. MGM Studios was one of the major studio to be created from the acquisition of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, and it began to dominate the film making industry. Gilbert entered into a very lucrative contract with MGM and his career had blossomed beyond his imagination.
There is a fairly extensive description of story behind the making of “The Merry Widow” with Mae Murray with controversial director, Eric von Stroheim. There were constant bickering between von Stroheim, and Gilbert and Murray: She was often a peace maker. Von Stroheim was also notorious for outrunning the MGM budget and kept the executives off stage. Years later Mae Murray gave several interviews and spoke about behind the scene anecdotes. The stories were not always coherent and several historians have looked into these stories and give different versions. The author is sensitive enough to the curiosity of the readers and give all versions so that the veracity of historical facts may be determined by the readers themselves. There are also interesting stories behind his other successful movies like “Big Parade,” which is one of my favorite movies, “Flesh and Devil” and “Love.”
Kenneth Anger’s book “Hollywood Babylon” gave salacious story of John Gilbert and actress Marie Prevost who tried to drown their troubles in bourbon. They staged a drink-to-death race in 1936. But author Eve Golden has not substantiated this story in this book. By 1935, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health and he passed away at the age of 36 at his Bel Air home on January 9, 1936. His movies on TCM cable channel is always entertaining to his fans like me, but it is also a constant reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world.
This is one of the outstanding books I have read about an early Hollywood star John Gilbert. This book not only gives us the story behind his meteoric rise in the American film industry but also narrates a brief history of how the studios came into existence in Southern California. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; it is an effortless reading and the material flows flawlessly and keeps you highly engaged from start to finish. Strongly recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood, career of John Gilbert and the stories behind the top movies he made in 1920s.
A brief summary of this book would illustrate the life of John Gilbert, as charmingly written by author Eve Golden: Gilbert was the screen’s hottest heartthrob, the top male sex symbol of 1920s and one of MGM’s box-office champions. He was handsome, mercurial, and very talented. He dated some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, which included Greta Garbo, Virginia Bruce, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara La Marr, Mae Murray, Lila Lee, Bebe Daniels and some of his co-stars. Some of the notable films of Gilbert include; The Merry Widow, The Big Parade, Flesh and the Devil, and Love. When talkies started in 1928, Gilbert panicked since he did not have microphone experience and also his squeaky and ineffective voice sent his career into a tailspin. This was compounded by his souring relationship with MGM executives. MGM head Louis B. Mayer is known have made unpleasant comments about his upcoming wedding with Greta Garbo that may have led to fist fight. Some eye-witnesses discount this. But in short this episode did not help his contract with MGM. In the meantime, his drinking, womanizing, and his larger than life personality made a target for moralizers and journalists out for a scoop. Gilbert would soon find himself unemployable and insufficient for talkies of the early 1930s.
His childhood had its own ups and downs. His mother was an actress and his father was a manager of a stock company. After his parents were divorced, John Gilbert and his mom traveled across the country and he pretty much grew up on the road. Life was tough but he began to understand the world at a much younger age. At one time, he was left in the care of his mother’s friend in Manhattan, a seamstress who ran an escort service with her daughter. Men coming and going out of the tiny apartment was not uncommon, and he had similar experience while living with his mother Ida Gilbert. She would bring men into the house when she was not in a married relationship.
The man who brought John Gilbert to Hollywood was studio executive Thomas Ince. By 1912 Thomas Ince purchased an 18,000 acre ranch in Pacific Palisades Highlands stretching 7.5 miles of Santa Ynez Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu in California. He built his own studio, named "Inceville". The studio was the first of its kind which featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. The streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years. From 1915, John Gilbert performed in minor roles. In 1916, he appeared in three movies of William Hart. Several studios were operating in late 1910s and Gilbert kept himself busy with several small projects for various studios. In 1920s several major studios began to form by the unification of smaller studios. MGM Studios was one of the major studio to be created from the acquisition of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures, and it began to dominate the film making industry. Gilbert entered into a very lucrative contract with MGM and his career had blossomed beyond his imagination.
There is a fairly extensive description of story behind the making of “The Merry Widow” with Mae Murray with controversial director, Eric von Stroheim. There were constant bickering between von Stroheim, and Gilbert and Murray: She was often a peace maker. Von Stroheim was also notorious for outrunning the MGM budget and kept the executives off stage. Years later Mae Murray gave several interviews and spoke about behind the scene anecdotes. The stories were not always coherent and several historians have looked into these stories and give different versions. The author is sensitive enough to the curiosity of the readers and give all versions so that the veracity of historical facts may be determined by the readers themselves. There are also interesting stories behind his other successful movies like “Big Parade,” which is one of my favorite movies, “Flesh and Devil” and “Love.”
Kenneth Anger’s book “Hollywood Babylon” gave salacious story of John Gilbert and actress Marie Prevost who tried to drown their troubles in bourbon. They staged a drink-to-death race in 1936. But author Eve Golden has not substantiated this story in this book. By 1935, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health and he passed away at the age of 36 at his Bel Air home on January 9, 1936. His movies on TCM cable channel is always entertaining to his fans like me, but it is also a constant reminder of a soul lost in a purely material world.
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