Singer-songwriter Neil Young has maintained a strong presence in Western culture
through music that, over many years, has conveyed a wide range of messages often
involving reflection and calls to action. One of his most recent songs, “Light a
Candle,” is an exceptional example of the poetry of his music to inspire to
action:
“Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle for where we’re goin’. There’s
something ahead worth looking for. When the light of time is on us, we will see
our moment come, and the living soul inside will carry on. It’s a chance to give
new meaning to every move we make through the caverns in the caves where we come
from.
“When the light of dawn is on us, we will see what we can be and the ancient
ones will sleep an easy sleep. In the hallways of the ages, on the road to
history, what we do now will always be with us. It’s a chance to give new
meaning to every move we make through the caverns in the caves where we come
from.
“Light a candle in the darkness so others might see ahead. Light a candle in the
darkness when you go.”
At New Acropolis, a school of philosophy in the classical manner, we often speak
of “lighting candles in the darkness.” These candles are lit from the flame of
knowledge and wisdom passed down to us through the many cultures and
civilizations of the past, which can show us how to live in harmony with
ourselves, our community and the natural world around us. We can then see the
direction to head in individually and as a community and find ways to pass this
light to the next generations so that they too can continue building a better
future for all.
During these times when information travels faster than ever and entire
libraries are available on the Internet, the major trend of our era is toward a
cultural decline.
The role models promoted everywhere are the lowest-quality individuals — people
whose mouths are so very often full of foul language and rude comments, and who
live a degrading lifestyle.
Of course, fast communication and easy access to information can be very
beneficial! However, the information circulating can also be used improperly to
encourage the homogenization of the world, indifference, the spread of rumours
and superficiality.
At a lecture given in Madrid in 1984, philosopher Jorge Angel Livraga explained
that it is relatively easy to define things that belong to the material world,
such as a chair or a table. But for anything that is metaphysical, such as life
and love, we need much greater subtlety in our expression.
The same is true for culture, which Mr. Livraga defined as an ensemble of
knowledge and abilities that people have to grow and develop in the face of life
and themselves.
Reading between the lines, we can understand from this philosophical lecture
that it is all the more possible to define culture when we live it. We must
launch a sort of virtuous cycle that expands within us as each new cycle begins.
Therefore, true culture is neither simple entertainment to pass the time, nor is
it a sort of psychological or mental excitation. It is the reflection of the
Being made visible in all that we do. Culture is not a question of quantity… we
cannot “consume” culture. We can, however, live it — or be indifferent to it,
which is the death of the soul.
When Culture takes shape and becomes the fabric of society, we can speak of
Civilization. A return to a global culture is thus essential if we want to
change the world into something new and better.
How did our civilization become divorced from symbolic language, which speaks of
the being, of the soul, of virtues and principles?
Whatever happened to images that have meaning?
Remember that symbolic language is necessary to speak of metaphysics,
transcendence and non-perceptible realities such as Justice, Fraternity, etc.
Without symbols, everything is reduced to signs, which are linked only to
perceptible things, for example, octagonal stop signs on street corners and fast
food restaurant logos.
By reducing symbols to signs, we have made our human experience nothing more
than an empty, soulless shell. We have become robots that respond to stimuli
linked to what is accepted by the collective consciousness.
Losing the ability to relate to symbols has made contemporary thought ill. We no
longer understand the meaning of analogy. Our thinking is conformist and
dogmatic. For example, dominant contemporary thinking can imagine only economic
solutions to the current crisis. It does not see that the crisis is human.
Once free thinkers and free dreamers, we have become mass slaves to our
instincts, manipulated like marionettes by propagandists.
To help rehabilitate symbolic language, it is important to understand three
historical aberrations that have led to the modern paradigm, to this society
devoid of meaning.
First, there is the positivist current of thought, which claims that only things
that can be measured and counted exist. But what room is left for art (which has
become nothing more than decoration) and religious sentiment (which is
channelled these days by preachers in large-scale spectacles or through pseudo-nirvanic
states reached in ashrams in India)?
With this scientific positivism, we find ourselves in a world of cold statistics
where each of us is nothing more than a number in the social machine.
Symbols have also been reduced in meaning through Freudian psychoanalysis, in
which any expression of transcendence is considered to be pathological. And this
pathology comes exclusively from the Oedipus complex, which is the repression of
an unresolved childhood conflict between libido and its censorship.
Freud’s error — which has become the socialized norm — is that images, rites and
myths represent nothing more than emotional regression, or illness. The theory
behind the Oedipus complex has long been rejected, but strangely this is not
reflected in society at large…
Third, symbols have been reduced to dogmatic images used to protect certain
powerful doctrines. We have gone from the symbolic imagination to direct
thought, which represses anything transcendent, evading it entirely. We have
become attached to the surface of meaning. Images have become purely functional,
no longer carrying the potential to provide illumination.
Through all of this, the imperialism of cold reason has emptied images of their
meaning, leaving only empty shells. This is “logical” for our civilization,
which does the same with the Earth, emptying it of its resources and leaving
behind only lifeless deserts.
The roots of the current crisis run deeper than stock market embezzling. They
grow out of our collective indolence when we are faced with the destruction of
the meaning of life.
Archaeologists working in Saqqara, about 20 kilometres south of Giza, home of
the Great Pyramids, unearthed the remains of a 4300 year-old pyramid under 20
metres of sand.
It is the 138th pyramid discovered in Egypt and the 12th in the region of
ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom. Only about a dozen remain
intact, the rest are in ruins.
Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities,
said that it probably was the tomb of the queen mother Sesheshet of the 6th
Dynasty who lived several hundred years after the Great Pyramids were built.
About 3 months ago the excavators discovered the base of a structure with sides
22 metres long. Using parts of the limestone casing with its exquisite
hieroglyphic details, they were able to determine that the structure was
initially 14 metres high.
The team hopes to find the burial chamber and inscriptions of the queen or other
artifacts that have not been looted by robbers in antiquity.
Egypt was a remarkable civilization lasting thousands of years and only in the
last few decades have we been able to begin to grasp its truly remarkable
artistic, scientific, engineering and medical achievements, and to appreciate
the complex culture built on knowledge, philosophy. spirituality and vision,
thanks in part to dedicated Egyptologists and persistent archaeologists.
Egypt has long been the Land of Magic and Mystery. The Rosetta stone, a 760
kilogram stele, provided a key to unlocking some of the mystery. On it was
inscribed in 196 B.C. a decree in two Egyptian language scripts and one in
classical Greek. Found in 1799 the translations made it possible to decode the
symbolic language leading to a better understanding of the ancient culture from
which we have received much and from which we still have much to learn.
Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BCE. Capital of Egypt for a
millennium, up until the Arab conquest (641 CE), Alexandria was a cultural and
commercial centre of the ancient world.
Very recently, UNESCO announced the establishment of an international scientific
advisory committee to help establish the foundations for a subaquatic museum in
the Bay of Alexandria, Egypt, where archeological remains of exceptional
interest can be found, including those of Cleopatra’s palace and the famous
lighthouse of Alexandria. Preparatory work by this committee is expected to
begin by November 2008.
According to the preliminary plans, the museum will be built partly above and
partly below sea level. The submerged part of the complex will enable visitors
to discover, in a unique way, the archeological remains resting on the seabed.
This is an important innovation in showcasing subaquatic cultural heritage.
“Conquer fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death,” said Alexander the
Great. Alexandria was, during its time, one of the greatest cultural centres of
the Mediterranean and survives today, through the exceptional efforts of
archeologists, as a testament to the creativity and aspirations of humanity.
Cultures traverse time and are steps on the path of evolution. They tell us
where we come from, where we are and where we are going.
Without culture, there is no civilization, no history, no memory; neither is
there vision or a future. With a loss of culture come an uprooting, a
dehumanization and the tyranny of fear.
A people that loses its ability to create, develop and enrich its culture is a
people doomed to disappear. All traditional societies understood this, which is
why they always placed culture at the heart of their development.
Last week, the Broadway musical Rent closed, marking an end to a successful
12-year run. The show, inspired in part by the Puccini opera La Boheme, was
about AIDS and poverty among the residents in Manhattan’s East Village. The
music however was not operatic; Rent featured a five-piece band on stage playing
rock. It was a musical developed by a then-unknown composer in his early
thirties, Jonathon Larson, whose unexpected passing on the night after the final
dress rehearsal, only added more to the lore of an unusual production that was
supposed to change Broadway.
While the play did not change Broadway, it did open to critical acclaim and won
a slew of awards including a Pulitzer Prize, Best Musical (New York Drama
Critics Circle), and four Tonys. Time magazine called it “the most exuberant and
original musical to come along this decade” and Ben Brantley in the New York
Times declared that the play “shimmers with hope for the future of the American
musical.” Over the 12 year run, attendance waxed and waned, but more than a full
decade after its opening, according to some, including Maclean’s magazine senior
editor Steve Maich, “everything that seemed so bold and provocative and new 12
years ago now seems utterly conventional and familiar, or worse – clangingly
dated.” Maich cites, among other things, the dated technology (beepers and
answering machines), clothing and setting – the gritty East Village no longer
exists, having been replaced by “million dollar lofts, fine restaurants, and
purveyors of organic coffee at $4.50 a cup.”
A 12 year run for a play might seem like a very long time and a boon to those
involved, but historically 12 years is a drop in a pond. What is it about a play
that can have it become outdated in such a short time? In plays, like many works
of art and literature, there are components which belong to history and
components which go beyond history. Many plays remain relevant and popular years
after their openings and closings. Those components which go beyond historical
circumstance usually deal with the depth of the human reality – experiences,
questions and struggles which deal with the human need to know ourselves and our
world and to experience these in more full and meaningful ways. Such works touch
the psyche and are not easily forgotten.
The book “How to Face Fear” was recently published by the New Acropolis
publishing house. The author is Michel Echenique, Philosopher and Director of
the Bodhidharma International Philosophical Martial Arts Institute.
This book, based on the author’s wealth of experience, teaches us that “Fear is
a force of nature and not an attribute of a particular person. Fear has existed
since time immemorial. Its natural function is to protect.”
Among the many surprising revelations in the book, we learn that most people
have developed bad conditioned reflexes. These reflexes cause them to flee fear,
which generates panic. When there is panic, two types of reactions can be seen:
euphoria and submission—both of which are negative.
Panic has the power to suggest. It invents in our heads situations that do not
really exist. We then enter a sort of delirium or madness in which we no longer
see a situation as it really is. We see a phantasmagorical universe.
The author adds, “And so, what causes problems in situations of risk is not fear
itself, but our behaviour when faced with fear.”
When faced with fear, generally the first thing we do is we become tense and
rigid. On the contrary, we must relax. To face fear, the author recommends
staying calm and serene above all else. Calm is necessary to maintain our
presence of mind.
“In a difficult situation, when we have presence of mind, even the weakest
person becomes strong.”
Philosophical martial arts offers a way to learn to manage fear correctly. And
philosophy, as an Art of Living, is an excellent path towards calm and serenity.
The Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics were a stunning display of
artistic and technical prowess used to express the depth and breadth of Chinese
culture and embody the universal message of the Olympics: peace and harmony
among the citizens of the world.
Led by internationally renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, the team of
10,000 performers involved in the ceremonies took the world’s breath away with
such elements as poetic scenes of ancient Chinese history, a striking
demonstration of Tai Chi involving 2008 perfectly coordinated practitioners and
a dance to create an enormous dove gracefully flapping its wings.
The China of today is able to work with the technical tools now available to
humanity, but continues to draw on profound cultural roots that demonstrate a
remarkable sensitivity to beauty and art. With a culture that has developed and
thrived for so many thousands of years, the Chinese understand how to touch on
and connect with the universality of the human experience.
The Opening Ceremonies serve as a superb example of how,
through individual discipline and a common vision of true humanity, people are
able to work together to create something larger than themselves.
Modern Western culture has much to learn from this “sleeping dragon” that has
again awoken. In the West, the focus is on individuality and, increasingly, the
satisfaction of short-term personal interests without thought of the impact on
others.
In Chinese culture, as in many other cultures with deep
roots, it is understood that the individual, by striving to bring the best out
of himself, can then choose to work with others on this same path of
self-improvement and create something beautiful that transcends the
individual—but is of incalculable benefit to the individual’s quality of life
and to society as a whole.
May these Opening Ceremonies serve as an inspiration to us all during these
Games and in our everyday lives, as we all strive to find a way to bring beauty,
peace and harmony into the world.
Philosophy has always been the source of a new Art of Living. This Art of Living
is expressed through every facet of a rich personal and collective culture,
leading to a rapprochement between individuals and peoples – as lived within New
Acropolis.
Culture is therefore not a set series of information in books that relate a past
for which we are nostalgic. Culture lives through each and every individual who
is evolving. People demonstrate their culture when they integrate into their
daily lives the best expressions of harmonious human intelligence, the highest
humanist values.
In this sense, every year the International Organization New Acropolis (IONA)
holds its general assembly in a different country, bringing together
participants from each of the 50 countries where New Acropolis volunteers are
active.
It is an opportunity to take stock of the past year and
to identify shared guiding principles for the years to come. The general
assembly is also a key time to discuss, exchange, reinforce and reaffirm the
need to develop philosophy in the classical manner in each country.
This year’s general assembly, held in El Salvador, adopted a resolution ratified
by the representatives of every country. The 2008 resolution states the
following, among other things:
“The General Assembly reaffirms its intention to continue to work for the
development of Philosophy as a way of life (...) It will also continue to act in
the field of culture since (…) the cultural expressions of humanity provide a
foundation for better human relationships (…) and a greater rapprochement among
nations.”
Working concretely in this direction, every year the volunteers of New Acropolis
Canada organize several philosophical cultural activities in the form of
workshops, lectures, theatrical representations, martial arts, ecological
actions, poetry contests, etc.
Culture is thus the expression, in every aspect of life, of a quality
philosophical experience. It is as natural for philosophers to offer the best of
themselves to the world as it is for a stream to flow down a mountain toward the
sea, giving life along the way.
New Acropolis is the preferred forum for Citizens of the World, for all those
who want to act industriously and concretely to improve our society. Whatever
our trade, our profession, our age or our social condition, philosophy should be
made a priority because it determines the meaning of all of our actions.
Philosophy as an Art of Living is undoubtedly the foundation for a living
culture.
In 1957, a young Argentine Idealist, Jorge Livraga Rizzi, citizen of the world,
launched in his taxi a philosophical movement that would become the
International Organization New Acropolis (IONA), today active in over 50
countries.
This humanist movement was born of the need to give new life to the search for
wisdom that has touched so many human beings since the beginning of time.
The organization quickly defined itself as a school of philosophy “in the
classical manner.” Far from being nostalgic for the past, the forerunners of New
Acropolis wanted above all to give the movement a practical vocation, thus
taking up the classical ideal of philosophy as a way of life enabling
individuals to achieve the best within themselves.
“Acropolis” means high city, signalling the global philosophical aim to help
individuals build something elevated within themselves so that they can qualify
their action in the world.
The originality of this non-academic approach resides in its aim to cover all
areas of human life: art, science, spirituality, society…
If we judge a tree by its fruit, New Acropolis, through its activities in the
world, is fulfilling its promise.
If we were to speak with the director of any of the hundreds of IONA schools
around the world, we would undoubtedly meet a person who is resolutely focused
on the quest for just, intelligent action.
Always looking for the reasons behind things, Acropolitan philosophers do not
remain in a process of contemplation and speculation. In general, they have a
very keen sense of history and are determined to live their era fully, with all
of the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Who would have predicted that, in 1957, under the decisive impulse of a young
man from Buenos Aires, a great international philosophical organization would
have been born and, over the years, become active in 50 countries around the
world?
This is what thousands of people, members and supporters, on every continent
celebrated this July 15th: the 51st anniversary of the International
Organization New Acropolis!
The individual behind this great adventure, Professor Jorge Angel Livraga,
dreamed right from the start of enabling philosophy to regain its rightful place
in every part of the world.
What is meant by philosophy? It is a true quest both
within every human being, through self-knowledge, and in the outside world,
through a lifestyle imbued with wisdom.
Over the years, the volunteers at New Acropolis have accomplished the feat of
fulfilling this dream by establishing, on every continent, schools of philosophy
in the classical manner.
These schools, including those in Canada, serve as laboratories of continuous
training, enabling each individual to achieve the best within himself and thus
become a better citizen.
Everywhere around the world, members of New Acropolis put
the philosophical training they receive into service in their community.
And to think that all of this started with the grand idea of a young man… So
yes, anything is possible for those who learn to unify their highest thoughts,
their most humanist sentiments and their most noble actions!
Happy birthday to New Acropolis and to all of those, in Canada and elsewhere
around the world, who are voluntarily working for a more human world!
It is rare in our lives when we can go a day without having some kind of
interaction with money, or some situation or image that reminds us of money.
Most people who have a little money to spare, investment it somewhere. But, what
is this money, when invested, being used for? Some, as economist Wolfgang
Kessler tells us, do not care and others do not care to know.
Over the last few decades, this type of financial ignorance has permitted grave
consequences where money, while being used to create new jobs, simultaneously
finances child labour, weapons sales or ecologically unsound ventures.
The removal of restrictions
on capital, ‘closed door deals’, the automation of stock markets which move
billions of dollars worldwide at the click of a mouse, has “transformed money
from a simple means of payment - to a profit earning end in and of itself.”
“The global money market is no longer at the service of people, but people are
at the service of money,” says Kessler. To return money to honest trade – not
‘free trade’ – a trade linked to social achievement, is to return the function
of money as a service to the people, thereby fulfilling a purpose that is more
just and sustainable.
This type of trade allows
those most in need to benefit and also to contribute in improving their local
and even the global situation. Money is a tool that each person can choose to
wield in an ethical fashion.
This type of vision of money
is not new, but it is more sustainable and natural, qualities with which we
would do well to infuse into each of our endeavours.
With the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City being celebrated this
year in Quebec and elsewhere across country, Samuel de Champlain is the subject
of many tributes and discussions. This major anniversary affords us an
opportunity to reflect on the meaning and value of history.
A royal geographer to Henry IV of France, Champlain was a talented navigator and
cartographer. Among his achievements, he charted the coast of the St. Lawrence
River, Lake Champlain, the Ottawa River and many other areas.
The main mapping technology
of his day was the astrolabe. The ultimate GPS system, the astrolabe enabled the
user to establish latitude based on the position of the sun and other celestial
bodies.
The founder of New France was guided across the ocean by his dream for a better
world. Looking up at the heavens, he could see the stars and the sun, which he
used as “celestial landmarks” on his way to the New World.
Using his astrolabe, he
found his way to an “undiscovered” land and was able to draw up maps for others
to use as they set out to make history in the New World.
The value of the astrolabe as a practical mapping tool is undeniable: astrolabes
have been used in many cultures throughout the history of humanity, including in
Ancient Greece, Islamic and Arabic cultures, Europe and India.
But the astrolabe is also a
powerful symbol. When we are aware of our dreams and aspirations in life, we are
looking at the stars. We can then centre ourselves and, using our inner GPS,
concentrate on making our dreams and aspirations a reality.
With these stars as our
guides, we can set out to explore uncharted lands, mapping out our own future
and showing the way to a New World.
It was a historic moment this week on Parliament Hill when Prime Minister
Stephen Harper apologized for the wrongs perpetrated by the Canadian government
against the original inhabitants of this land.
He apologized for the misguided
policies and thoroughly orchestrated implementation of Residential Schools in
which more than 150 000 Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their
families and communities, in an effort to assimilate them to the “superior”
dominant culture.
Remarkably, Harper stated, “The burden is properly ours as a
government, and as a country.” In order to assume responsibility for the
rectification of 150 years of unconscionable discrimination, such words require
leaders to act with vision, courage, humility, and commitment.
Although many native peoples expressed hope upon hearing Harper’s words, for
many survivors of the abuses and alienation suffered in these schools, a
government apology rings hollow.
Perhaps the apology is too little, too late;
and it will soon be forgotten unless it is followed up with significant
redemptive resources poured into the reconstruction of communities,
strengthening Aboriginal initiatives to re-educate the current generations in
relevant cultural identity, history, vision and values.
Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine astutely recognized that
“the attempt to erase our identity hurt us deeply, but it also hurt all
Canadians and impoverished the character of this nation.”
And although it will
be difficult to fulfill our duty as a nation to rectify the wrongs that have
cascaded into the current generation as a consequence of Residential Schools,
what is required to heal and rebuild Aboriginal communities would enrich Canada
as a whole: reviving and embracing a vision of life that includes the
transcendent and the various realms of Nature, building society around timeless
values such as honour, courage, respect, and compassion, and developing a
justice system that aims to restore individuals and communities.
Despite the challenges, let all peoples of Canada join together as Chief
Fontaine exhorted, in a spirit of reconciliation, so that our land can really be
the “true North, strong and free.”
A photographer by trade, Peter Riedel has his own unique meditation exercise.
“It’s my meditation and my workout at the same time, says Riedel referring to
his practice of balancing rocks one on top of another until they form a small
tower, roughly a meter and a half high.
Calling to mind the Inuit inuksuk, Riedel’s designs, found along Toronto’s
Humber River and at Sunnyside Beach, are not really meant to be inuksuk,
variations thereof, an art exhibition or anything else. For him, it’s a simple
activity – balancing rocks. And meditation indeed! The 45-year-old lifts rocks
up to 23kg (with his legs, back kept straight) and carefully rolls those
heavier. Smaller rocks (or stray bricks) are added to complete his creations.
Lifting, working and sweating are not things we normally associate with
meditation today. But Riedel is actually taping into ancient wisdom about
meditation. Meditation is not only sitting in silence, which, in reality, just
does not work for many people. Meditation can occur in the midst of action, and
effectively at that. When engaged in activity, with our mind focused on the task
at hand and not flustered, this is meditation. We are here flexing our faculties
of attention and concentration, those same faculties which we endeavour to
strengthen via the silent, sitting type of meditation. With this type of active
meditation, each of us has the opportunity daily to practice meditation.
The rocks which Riedel uses are also symbolic. For him, they reflect “how we
think we’re in control of everything, and how precarious life is, and how finely
balanced. It’s something out of our control…things come tumbling down.” With
active meditation, our mind unswervingly fixed on out task, we can begin to see
more clearly the things we do have control of in life and how we affect them by
our actions, so that our building blocks do not always come tumbling down.
transformation (noun) 1. the act or an instance of transforming; the state of
being transformed (Canadian Oxford Dictionary)
What is it that we call art? A personal preference? A professional secret?
Something we need to be an artist to understand?
Whatever way we look at art, it can be a practice of transformation. When words,
for instance, are put together on paper such that they inspire and bring about
powerful images, elevating our thoughts – this is Art. When musical notes are
crafted and played at such a level that the mastery of the musician allows only
music to be present, it brings us to a new landscape in our imagination.
Brushstrokes placed on canvas with such skill that when gazed upon, we are
struck with a Beauty that cannot be expressed in words…
The transformation of sculpting from raw stone or clay can be a marvel of
practice and the combined experiences of a master artisan. The result of a
lifetime of practice and learned mastery has given us the Mona Lisa and the
Venus de Milo.
There are so many examples of art in nature. The most important one is the one
we are given - the art of our own life. Life and living well are acts of Art.
The experiences of men and women both in the past and in our present day show us
examples of living life well – to learn and practice day by day. Living life
well is a continuous and determined practice, acquiring higher states of being -
being courageous, noble, just, loving, caring, courteous, exemplary, generous –
all virtues that elevate us as human beings.
Art can be the practice of transforming life, improving our inner state of being
each day. And who then is an artist? He who lives life with authenticity is
already an artist. And each artist, with practice of his craft, can create his
own masterpiece.
On May 13, 2008, the Asimo robot conducted the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra. This robot with humanoid features demonstrates the
remarkable technical capabilities of our time. The goal of Asimo’s presence is
to help with the musical training of youth in the region.
However, Asimo is in no way expected to compete with real orchestra conductors
because technical capabilities will never be able to draw out the artistic
dimension of a musical work.
In fact, it can be said of a musical interpretation that touches the public’s
soul that it was a virtuosic performance. According to its etymology, the word
“virtuoso” means “to do good.” To be a virtuoso is therefore the result of a
constant, lasting effort to raise one’s consciousness.
Technique alone does not confer beauty to a work. For there to be beauty, there
must be a virtuoso, a master, a conductor—in short, a complete artist who serves
as an intermediary between the spiritual world, the world of archetypes, and the
objective world.
If technique is connected to reason, art is a language for the soul. The perfect
combination of technique and art brings the spiritual rapture universally
admired as a “masterpiece.”
In Prince Caspian, the latest screen adaptation in the
Chronicles of Narnia series, the imaginative world of fairy tale and mythical
allegory are used to convey some serious lessons about leadership and power that
are relevant to the challenges we face today.
In Narnia, there is a growing struggle to gain control of the throne to lead the
Telmarines, a race of people closely resembling humans. Miraz wishes to usurp
the throne from the heir Prince Caspian, his nephew by marriage, and will stop
at nothing, including outright lies, manipulation and murder to turn the
situation to his favour.
However, he is faced with the limits of his tyranny
when he tries to overcome Prince Caspian, the four siblings of the original
book, and all of the magical creatures of that world.
In key scenes, Prince Caspian and one of the siblings overcome the temptation to
take control of the situation (by killing King Miraz outright) and to succumb to
their thirst for power, realizing that they must behave honourably to avoid
becoming the kind of leader they fight against.
As the story progresses, it is clear that those who will be victorious in the
battle are those who recognize and work with the powers of the natural world
within themselves and around them.
With help from the Great Lion Aslan, guide to
the siblings and their allies, the natural world is awoken, and the forests and
great river join in the fight, sparing only those who humbly recognize their
place among the great forces at work around them.
At the end of the story, the two older siblings understand that they must leave
Narnia, never to return, as they have come of age. Although they have reached
adulthood, the lessons they have learned about leadership and power during their
adventures in Narnia will remain with them as they return to the “real world.”
Given the state of today’s world, wouldn’t we all do much better by taking these
same lessons of leadership and honour and applying them as practical truths in
our own “real world”?
Two recent archaeological discoveries point to complex
civilizations that could alter our understanding of human development.
The first, a 12,000 year old temple complex in southern Turkey, is twice as old
as Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid. What is remarkable are the carvings of
boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions. More amazing is that it is
thought that the people who built it did not have pottery or cultivate wheat.
They lived in villages but they were not farmers; they were hunters.
“Everybody used to think only complex hierarchical civilizations could build
such monumental sites, and they came about with the invention of agriculture”,
says Ian Hodder, Stanford Professor of Anthropology. The Gobekli Tepe site
changes everything. “It's elaborate, it's complex and it's pre-agricultural.”
Klaus Schmidt, who found the site, thinks that the large stones may be the
earliest representations of the gods and that the “site may be the last
flowering of the semi-nomadic people that farming was just about to
destroy...those who built it buried it under tons of soil, as though its wild
animal-rich world had lost its meaning. In my opinion, the people who carved
them were asking themselves the biggest questions of all: What is this universe?
Why are we here?
The second, a 7,000 year old site in the Fayoum Oasis about 50 miles southeast
of Cairo, gives us a picture of what life was like a thousand years before the
Pharonic era. In this farming village the residents grew barley and wheat and
raised sheep, goats and pigs.
The remains of domesticated plants and animals were not native to Egypt. All
were originally domesticated about 11,000 years ago in the Tigris-Euphrates
watershed. While agriculture probably flourished in the Nile Valley, evidence
has been obliterated by flooding and the changing course of the river, making
this find an especially important one.
The depth and the complexity of human civilization on Earth is surely still not
known, as remnants of our past have been buried and flooded, looted and lost.
But what is certain is that we walk on lands that are ancient relative to human
life spans.
Given that there is only so much that can be known of the past, all we can do is
look in awe at those infinite spans of time both behind and ahead of us and
resolve to live the present with meaning, intelligence and love, knowing that
all else will be swept away by the mighty Time.
In 1992, UNESCO established the Memory of the World
Program, an initiative that arose out of an awareness of the alarming state of
preservation of humanity’s documentary heritage and the precariousness of our
access to it in different regions of the world.
War and social upheaval, as well as difficulties with document conservation, are
placing this heritage in danger.
An international advisory committee met in Poland in 1993 and produced a plan of
action in which UNESCO plays the role of coordinator and catalyst, raising the
awareness of governments and international organizations and foundations.
The vision behind the Memory of the World Program is founded on the idea that
this heritage belongs to everyone and should be permanently preserved and
protected in its entirety for the benefit of all.
The Program’s mission is to facilitate conservation through more appropriate
techniques, to ensure universal access to this heritage and to raise more
awareness around the world of the existence and value of our documentary
heritage.
This project to establish a global library reminds us of the Library of
Alexandria, which served as a beacon and storehouse of the knowledge of the
diverse cultures of its time. Scholars from around the world collaborated on
this colossal work.
It is essential to protect this heritage, which reflects a diversity of
cultures, peoples and languages. It is a mirror and a memory of the world,
guaranteeing the future of humanity.
When history loses its memory, it sinks into prehistory.
In March 2008, an international conference was held in
Athens on returning cultural property to its country of origin. The aim of this
conference was to study cases in which cultural property was successfully
returned, and the reasons why these cases succeeded.
The countries that participated in this conference also reflected on the ethical
and legal aspects of the issue, cultural diplomacy, museums and, finally,
international cooperation.
With rapid changes to society, it is important to define what cultural property
is before discussing its return.
If a broad culture is beneficial to all citizens, it is mandatory for those who,
through their profession, have an undeniable influence on large social groups.
This is the case in journalism, which has a major responsibility and which is
normally governed by a code of ethics, a sort of ideal of journalistic
integrity.
On this subject, an article was recently published describing reproductions of
archaeological pieces such as those found in museum boutiques as “…esoteric
statuettes made of terracotta.”
Such remarks, disseminated to thousands of citizens through mass media, attest
to the serious deviations caused by ignorance and a lack of broad culture.
And this ignorance, in appearance negligible, is in fact the source of
conflicts, hatred, stigmatisation, rumour and a whole series of conditions that
put civilization itself at risk by eroding the essential values on which it
depends for its very existence.
A $4.6-billion addition to Rome’s subway system, due for
completion in 2015, has already turned up some interesting results.
Working on
the new 30-station subway line, workers have discovered medieval and Renaissance
period remains including: a sixth-century copper factory, Roman taverns, and
medieval kitchens still stocked with pots and pans. Archaeologists have since
been probing the depths of downtown Rome examining the findings.
“The archaeological investigations are needed only for stairwells and air ducts,
as the 24 kilometers of stations and tunnels will be dug at a depth of 24 to 30
meters - below the level of any past human habitation, experts said.” There may,
however, still be many surprises in store.
Beyond the rarity of some of these findings is the fact that right below our
feet lay the remains of once vibrant worlds.
How quickly, with the passage of
time, memories are erased and structures are literally buried. Time makes quick
work of the vanity and boastfulness of material pomp and spectacle.
What endures
is the ineffable – the driving forces of societies and civilizations; the values
and cherished ideals that can bring human beings and their surroundings to life
in myriad special ways.
For who can bury the lights and lessons of love and
generosity, of wonder and wisdom? That which is lived in the heart will endure,
while all else will be buried with the passage of time.
Peruvian and German archaeologists have discovered a
ceremonial plaza in Peru dating back some 5,500 years, making it one of the
oldest structures found in the Americas.
The circular plaza was discovered beneath another piece of architecture at the
ruins known as Sechin Bajo in Casma, north of Lima.
“It’s an impressive find; the scientific and archaeology communities are very
happy,” said Cesar Perez, the scientist at Peru’s National Institute of Culture,
who supervised the project. “This could redesign the history of the country.”
The archaeologists also found pieces of architecture underneath the plaza, which
might date back even farther. “There are four or five plazas deeper down, which
means the structure was rebuilt several times, perhaps every 100 to 300 years.”
Said German archaeologist Yenque.
In Peru there are hundreds of archaeological sites, and many of the ruined
structures were built by cultures which preceded the powerful Inca Empire.
This interesting discovery adds to the richness and mystery of humanity’s
ancient past.
History holds many valuable examples of civilizations that were much more
advanced than we tend to give them credit for. And we keep finding evidence that
continually pushes back the timelines of civilized human history across the
world. There is much for us to learn from our shrouded past, which little by
little, with discoveries such as these, becomes unveiled.
In studying history and the cycles of time, we will find times of harmony and
prosperity as well as times of decadence and decline. Learning from both the
steps and missteps of our forbearers can only enrich our future.
