Articles

If we had to characterize our society of today with one single word we could certainly use this one: "Fear".

Ingredients to make good people:

• A lot of Good Will (pour as much as you want)
• A lot of Love and Tolerance (pour as much as you want)
• A lot of Intelligence (pour as much as you want)
• Good manners
• Good humor
• Right speech
• Right aims in Life
• Right views in Life
• Right means of Life

When two lovers under the moon contemplate it captivated by its silvery rays, when the soul next to the sea sways moved by its sounds, when the silence finds shelter in the heart while contemplating the immensity of the desert or the infinite blue of the sky, or the sight gets lost while looking at the orifflame color of a fire, then something indefinable connects us in mysterious ways with all the universe and at the same time with our innermost side. Then the time stops, and with it the anxiety, despair and uncertainty.

Something that strikes our attention is how the language mirrors our way of thinking, and viceversa, our mental structures modify the language after a certain period of time. In Arabic language the word for destiny is "qadar", and there are other words related to it, for example "qudra" power or capability to do something, or verbs like "qadir" with the same meaning.  Somehow, unconsciously, when we say "I cannot" or "I can", we relate it to destiny. Perhaps this is the reason why the Arabic culture is accused of being dominated by the sense of fate. Destiny is considered to be omnipotent, and it is beyond the reach of man.

Along the process of the evolution, beginning by the minerals, passing by the vegetation, and arriving to the animals, there is a continuous and gradual conquest of the knowledge about the space and its three dimensions. We could say that the fundamental task of the evolution is to push the consciousness through the different dimensional planes of the Universe.

Three historical figures, form a perfect symbol for these patterns pointed out above: Plato, Aristotle and Alexander the Great, they were three men that deeply affected history and believes. This is not the place nor the time to make a complete biography and analysis of the work of these three geniuses, but at least we would try to give some fundamental keys:

Unfortunately everybody in Egypt understands that when there is an appointment at 7 pm, it means in fact 7.30 pm, or any other hour. Always there are excuses, the traffic most of all, the work, etc.

The End of the World is near, and always we have reasons to believe it: each time it is something different, some years ago the reason (?) was that the end of the millennium was close, another time because a certain comet past by, or because appeared strange signs in the sky, or because it has been predicted in the Mayan calendar, or it was the result of a new interpretation of the prophecies of Nostradamus.

More and more we see in our streets people using banners or T-shirts with the picture or drawing of Che Guevara. It seems that some people think that the "enemies of my enemy are my friends", but in my view this is a poor and simplistic way to ascribe oneself to a group or ideology. In many cases you find that these people are "deeply religious", something even worse, for how can it be possible for a person with religious feelings to be associated with someone who preached the most materialist and anti-religious doctrines of the world?

Most people understand philosophy as being a sort of speculative mental activity without practical results. Moreover, the image that comes to our minds when we think of a "philosopher" is that of a bearded professor, smoking a pipe, thinking intensely about abstract ideas, and surrounded by many books, most of them unreadable to the common folk.

This question is often asked by young people when faced with the possibility to make a change—a change to the better and the just. The latter question has two reasons: one, the youth is naturally full of eagerness—they like direct and immediate actions and want to see fast results.

Two, our tendency for selfishness: we want answers to our problem and want to enjoy immediate results doing a minimum effort—now, now, now!

United States, mid 50's, after the great effort of the war, America faces the world as a new hegemonic power confronted with the URSS. The American way of life began to be exported to the world... but something was moving on underneath. The social convulsions and debates of the sixties, not only in America but also in the rest of the world, were ready, the established system began to show its contradictions.

First let's clarify terms: Today we understand that a hero is someone who achieved a great success in something, for example an Olympic champion or a great football player. Some other times, we call heroes to persons who risk their life saving others from death, in civil life or in war.

One of the typical situations that the youth face is the lack of time to proceed with their dreams and ideals and at the same time to fulfill their professional duties, developing their career, studies, etc.

Generally, the latter is experienced as a sort of confrontation, between this and that, between excluding options.

When we think about perfection, at first sight it looks like a great idea, something to be achieved by all means. In fact this is a curious concept, since nobody has seen something perfect, although everyone seems to have a clear idea about it. Nevertheless, let’s admit that we know the meaning of perfection, for at least we have a certain intuition about it.

It is very difficult to take the path of action to transform the world…the obstacles are many. Often in front of the adversities, two types of answers appear:

In the past, the relation one had with Nature was totally different from the one of the present time. We actually cannot speak of a real relationship between humans and Nature today, since few persons truly realize that Nature is a little more than the mere summation of the mineral, vegetal and animal kingdoms on planet Earth. 

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in modern social and political activism considered these traits to be  the most spiritually perilous to humanity.

"Tolerance" is an overused word, which is rarely understood. For some people it means "laissez faire," not to be involved or to be passive, while for others tolerance is something that directly confronts their convictions, for how can I be tolerant if I think that my ideas are right and those of others are wrong.

The only thing worth pursuing in life is beauty, and the fulfillment of the senses... Would you agree with this??? Maybe not, but I know people who would agree with it openly and fight for it, while others would agree discretely... men & women living by this rule, but would deny it if debated to their face... But, can you blame them ??

Have you heard of Wikipedia??? I'm sure you have. But what's so special about it?? An online encyclopedia... what's the big deal???

The thing about Wikipedia is that it's not a commercial site operated and controlled by a bunch of programmers and IT specialists, it's everyone's... It's an open source where you have the power to add articles and info about any subject anonymously, while also being able to amend and criticize other articles loaded by other people.

Are the religious fundamentalisms (be it Moslem or Christian or Hindu, etc.) completely separated or is there a common root to each?

"I witnessed the abduction of a girl off the street yesterday", those were the words an acquaintance of mine uttered in reply to my daily casual "Good morning".

When it happened it was not so late in the night neither was it on some deserted street or an alley, it was on one of the main streets of Heliopolis, and took place at 10 pm!

"Evil" - A 'big' word, which, whenever mentioned, evokes terrifying feelings in the heart of many people. It has been given so much importance that it became almost an individual concept that, like an obsession, is mistakenly seen everywhere, as some sort of unavoidable curse.