Rose, the mystical flower, has been taken as the symbol of love, beauty and divine perfection since ancient antiquity. Rose essence has been used in Persia since Zoroaster (circa 1000 BC) in cooking, medicine and various ceremonies. Washing the hands and face with rosewater for purification, sprinkling rose water on one another, drinking rose syrup, burning rose incense featured the various ethnic, cultural, religious ceremonies. During the middle ages, the rose was cultivated in monastery courtyards and was used for incense and medicinal purposes. It is been said that the finest rose water and oil is extracted from what is …
Category: Books
“ The earth is heavy and opaque without dreams,” wrote Anaïs Nin ( 1903-1977) in her diary. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) described dreams as the “ royal road to the knowledge of our unconscious activities,” in which our primitive self meets the civilized one, and where all memories are collected. The unconscious is the great guide to get to know oneself in entirety. Carl Jung (1875-1961) defined it as an invaluable resource : The unconscious communicating through dreams is at least half of one’s being. It offers advice and guidance that could be obtained from no other source. Thus the …
In his international best-seller book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, John Gray writes about the united life of Martians and Venusians who happen to find each other on earth. One day long ago the Martians, looking through their telescopes, discovered the Venusians. Just glimpsing the Venusians awakened feelings they had never known…quickly they invented space travel and flew to Venus. The Venusians welcomed the Martians with open arms. They had intuitively known that this day would come. The love between the Martians and Venusians was magical. Delighted in being together, learning and discovering each other, they …
Life is hardly more than a fraction of a second. Such a little time to prepare oneself for eternity ! – Paul Gauguin The human quest for immortality dates back to ancient Mesopotamia (2100 BC), to the Epic of Gilgamesh. In his grief following the death of his companion, Gilgamesh undertakes a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. At the end of his journey, the secret is unveiled to him : “ Eternal life which you look for you will not find here. For when God created man, He let death be his share.” …
“ Do good, say good and think good. ” – Ahura Mazda The Persian poet and author Ferdowsi (940 – 1020) renown with his masterpiece Shahnameh – The Book of Kings, illuminates the ancient history of Persia dating back to 1500 BC. He recites the myth of creation, the personas of ancient kings and heroes, and the combat of the good against the evil through the march of history. The stories take stage in the backdrop of Zoroaster, who is said to be the Persian prophet known with his sacred book, Avesta and having founded the monotheist religion in ancient …
Pepita was a young girl who lived in a small Mexican village. Her parents were poor farmers barely able to feed their family. When Christmas was near, they both fell ill, and it was up to Pepita, the eldest, almost 9 years old, to take care of her little brother and sister, and to maintain the household. In the village church, the nativity scene of the newborn Jesus was set up for Christmas. It was the traditional Christmas Eve procession, where the whole village went to church, candles in hand, singing hymns. The villagers were bringing gifts to place before …
“Those who compared our lives with a dream were right. We were sleeping awake and waking up asleep. ” –Montaigne It was many years ago that an elderly local recounted this tale while we were touring Ephesus, Turkey on a beautiful spring day. Though I would find out more about this story in the years to come, the way he recited it on that day left an indelible mark in my memory. There were seven young people who lived at the time of the Roman emperor Decius ( 250 AD) and who were of the same conviction. …
How psychology unravels happiness and Rumi’s timeless insight to keeping the heart pleasant How to be happy? Where are we happier ? With whom are we happy ? When do we feel happy? We crave for happiness until we die. We make projections and measurements of our happiness on the continuum of time. We occasionally reach a generalized conclusion on the states of our happiness : somewhat happy, sometimes happy, more or less happy, happier in the past or present, or anticipate to be happy in the future… We remember the times we were happy, or fantasize a possible future …
“ The words you speak become the house you live in ” said Hafez, and life in this fleeting house is blessedly described by Rumi : This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door …
“Between the stimulus and response, there is a space and in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth .” Having survived the concentration camps during World War II, Viktor Frankl wrote his renowned book Man’s Search for Meaning in 1946. He asks the fundamental question “What is the meaning of life ?” The answer, he says, does not lie in theories on life or in meditative thoughts. The meaning is crafted by our conduct. When we ask what life expects from us rather than what we expect from life, we …
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