General Crosstalk - A Spot for the Odd Comment
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Testing Posting Capabilities
Sorry to post off-topic – just trying to see if any posts come through ...
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In 2011, Karen Armstrong's book, "The Battle For God" was published. It is about the era from 700 to 200 BCE, when the world's great religions started. Hunter-gatherers their nature religions, which were made up of smaller groups with no need for class or caste hierarchies. With the advent of agriculture, classes arose, and the peasants could not advance within the closed social systems.
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There was a ... transitional period in the ancient world, lasting roughly from 700 to 200 BCE, which historians have called the Axial Age because it was pivotal to the spiritual development of humanity. This age was itself the product and fruition of thousands of years of economic, and therefore social and cultural, evolution, beginning in Sumer in what is now Iraq, and in ancient Egypt. People in the fourth and third millennia BCE, instead of simply growing enough crops to satisfy their immediate needs, became capable of producing an agricultural surplus with which they could trade and thereby acquire additional income. This enabled them to build the first civilizations, develop the arts, and create increasingly powerful polities: cities, city-states, and, eventually, empires. In agrarian society, power no longer lay exclusively with the local king or priest; its locus shifted at least partly to the marketplace, the source of each culture's wealth. In these altered circumstances, people ultimately began to find that the old paganism, which had served their ancestors well, no longer spoke fully to their condition.
In the cities and empires of the Axial Age, citizens were acquiring a wider perspective and broader horizons, which made the old local cults seem limited and parochial. Instead of seeing the divine as embodied in a number of different deities, people increasingly began to worship a single, universal transcendence and source of sacredness. They had more leisure and were thus able to develop a richer interior life; accordingly, they came to desire a spirituality which did not depend entirely upon external forms. The most sensitive were troubled by the social injustice that seemed built into this agrarian society, depending as it did on the labor of peasants who never had the chance to benefit from the high culture.
Consequently, prophets and reformers arose who insisted that the virtue of compassion was crucial to the spiritual life: an ability to see sacredness in every single human being, and a willingness to take practical care of the more vulnerable members of society, became the test of authentic piety. In this way, during the Axial Age, the great confessional faiths that have continued to guide human beings sprang up in the civilized world: Buddhism and Hinduism in India, Confucianism and Taoism in the Far East; monotheism in the Middle East; and rationalism in Europe. Despite their major differences, these Axial Age religions had much in common: they all built on the old traditions to evolve the idea of a single, universal transcendence; they cultivated an internalized spirituality, and stressed the importance of practical compassion.
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene
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In 2011, Karen Armstrong's book, "The Battle For God" was published. It is about the era from 700 to 200 BCE, when the world's great religions started. Hunter-gatherers their nature religions, which were made up of smaller groups with no need for class or caste hierarchies. With the advent of agriculture, classes arose, and the peasants could not advance within the closed social systems.
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There was a ... transitional period in the ancient world, lasting roughly from 700 to 200 BCE, which historians have called the Axial Age because it was pivotal to the spiritual development of humanity. This age was itself the product and fruition of thousands of years of economic, and therefore social and cultural, evolution, beginning in Sumer in what is now Iraq, and in ancient Egypt. People in the fourth and third millennia BCE, instead of simply growing enough crops to satisfy their immediate needs, became capable of producing an agricultural surplus with which they could trade and thereby acquire additional income. This enabled them to build the first civilizations, develop the arts, and create increasingly powerful polities: cities, city-states, and, eventually, empires. In agrarian society, power no longer lay exclusively with the local king or priest; its locus shifted at least partly to the marketplace, the source of each culture's wealth. In these altered circumstances, people ultimately began to find that the old paganism, which had served their ancestors well, no longer spoke fully to their condition.
In the cities and empires of the Axial Age, citizens were acquiring a wider perspective and broader horizons, which made the old local cults seem limited and parochial. Instead of seeing the divine as embodied in a number of different deities, people increasingly began to worship a single, universal transcendence and source of sacredness. They had more leisure and were thus able to develop a richer interior life; accordingly, they came to desire a spirituality which did not depend entirely upon external forms. The most sensitive were troubled by the social injustice that seemed built into this agrarian society, depending as it did on the labor of peasants who never had the chance to benefit from the high culture.
Consequently, prophets and reformers arose who insisted that the virtue of compassion was crucial to the spiritual life: an ability to see sacredness in every single human being, and a willingness to take practical care of the more vulnerable members of society, became the test of authentic piety. In this way, during the Axial Age, the great confessional faiths that have continued to guide human beings sprang up in the civilized world: Buddhism and Hinduism in India, Confucianism and Taoism in the Far East; monotheism in the Middle East; and rationalism in Europe. Despite their major differences, these Axial Age religions had much in common: they all built on the old traditions to evolve the idea of a single, universal transcendence; they cultivated an internalized spirituality, and stressed the importance of practical compassion.
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene
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- Associate
- Posts: 4087
- Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2002 3:51 pm
- Location: The Land of Enchantment
In 2011, Karen Armstrong's book, "The Battle For God" was published. It is about the era from 700 to 200 BCE, when the world's great religions started. Hunter-gatherers their nature religions, which were made up of smaller groups with no need for class or caste hierarchies. With the advent of agriculture, classes arose, and the peasants could not advance within the closed social systems.
~
~
There was a ... transitional period in the ancient world, lasting roughly from 700 to 200 BCE, which historians have called the Axial Age because it was pivotal to the spiritual development of humanity. This age was itself the product and fruition of thousands of years of economic, and therefore social and cultural, evolution, beginning in Sumer in what is now Iraq, and in ancient Egypt. People in the fourth and third millennia BCE, instead of simply growing enough crops to satisfy their immediate needs, became capable of producing an agricultural surplus with which they could trade and thereby acquire additional income. This enabled them to build the first civilizations, develop the arts, and create increasingly powerful polities: cities, city-states, and, eventually, empires. In agrarian society, power no longer lay exclusively with the local king or priest; its locus shifted at least partly to the marketplace, the source of each culture's wealth. In these altered circumstances, people ultimately began to find that the old paganism, which had served their ancestors well, no longer spoke fully to their condition.
In the cities and empires of the Axial Age, citizens were acquiring a wider perspective and broader horizons, which made the old local cults seem limited and parochial. Instead of seeing the divine as embodied in a number of different deities, people increasingly began to worship a single, universal transcendence and source of sacredness. They had more leisure and were thus able to develop a richer interior life; accordingly, they came to desire a spirituality which did not depend entirely upon external forms. The most sensitive were troubled by the social injustice that seemed built into this agrarian society, depending as it did on the labor of peasants who never had the chance to benefit from the high culture.
Consequently, prophets and reformers arose who insisted that the virtue of compassion was crucial to the spiritual life: an ability to see sacredness in every single human being, and a willingness to take practical care of the more vulnerable members of society, became the test of authentic piety. In this way, during the Axial Age, the great confessional faiths that have continued to guide human beings sprang up in the civilized world: Buddhism and Hinduism in India, Confucianism and Taoism in the Far East; monotheism in the Middle East; and rationalism in Europe. Despite their major differences, these Axial Age religions had much in common: they all built on the old traditions to evolve the idea of a single, universal transcendence; they cultivated an internalized spirituality, and stressed the importance of practical compassion.
Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene
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It might take a while to get my sea legs back at these Conversations. Since the summer of 2015, I've been taking courses at the university, and the class material has been grist for the mill. Subjects--race, poverty, crime and the war on terror.
Originally, these Conversations got my attention because of the initial experience of watching the Power of Myth on PBS in 1989. Since then, I became more familiar with the work of Campbell and noticed the wide impact he had on world culture, the American experience and my own life. His influence has played a major part in the development of art as a category of human activity, and it has influenced the art of human activity itself, (like the art of living, the art of medicine and the art of war).
I enjoy being here, where I commit my thoughts, (though too many of those thoughts might turn out to be mistaken or silly or just plain stupid). Because of the flaws and limitations of what I do here, it has to give me pause. It seems to me that it needs to be questioned, and I often wonder if it is where my time and energy should be invested. On a continuous quest for something more effective or blissful or greater, I have attempted other ways to be. Like it or not, they were less successful or satisfying or safe. Experimentation and experience led me back here, again and again, where I am not afraid to be my own imperfect self.
The long break occasioned by the problems with the website gave me an opportunity to consider the matter one more time.
What is the saying? Those who agonize don't act and those who act don't agonize? Writing is my "action", and as I now place my finger tips on the keys of my computer, I am not not aware of doing a whole lot of agonizing. It feels like I am simply thinking and tapping out the letters. Try as I might to worry over my presence here, the angst simply eludes me. The step-by-step analysis of the causes of this singular behavior requires a great deal more commitment than I am prepared to offer on the business of questioning the wisdom of my ways.
Whatever the limitations of this experience, I love it here. It feels great to be among friends, doing what I love and feeling at home. There is hardly enough gratitude in the universe for all the wonderful people who make this forum possible. Special thanks to all of you.
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Home, Sweet Home.
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Originally, these Conversations got my attention because of the initial experience of watching the Power of Myth on PBS in 1989. Since then, I became more familiar with the work of Campbell and noticed the wide impact he had on world culture, the American experience and my own life. His influence has played a major part in the development of art as a category of human activity, and it has influenced the art of human activity itself, (like the art of living, the art of medicine and the art of war).
I enjoy being here, where I commit my thoughts, (though too many of those thoughts might turn out to be mistaken or silly or just plain stupid). Because of the flaws and limitations of what I do here, it has to give me pause. It seems to me that it needs to be questioned, and I often wonder if it is where my time and energy should be invested. On a continuous quest for something more effective or blissful or greater, I have attempted other ways to be. Like it or not, they were less successful or satisfying or safe. Experimentation and experience led me back here, again and again, where I am not afraid to be my own imperfect self.
The long break occasioned by the problems with the website gave me an opportunity to consider the matter one more time.
What is the saying? Those who agonize don't act and those who act don't agonize? Writing is my "action", and as I now place my finger tips on the keys of my computer, I am not not aware of doing a whole lot of agonizing. It feels like I am simply thinking and tapping out the letters. Try as I might to worry over my presence here, the angst simply eludes me. The step-by-step analysis of the causes of this singular behavior requires a great deal more commitment than I am prepared to offer on the business of questioning the wisdom of my ways.
Whatever the limitations of this experience, I love it here. It feels great to be among friends, doing what I love and feeling at home. There is hardly enough gratitude in the universe for all the wonderful people who make this forum possible. Special thanks to all of you.
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Home, Sweet Home.
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Once in a while a door opens, and let's in the future. --- Graham Greene
Welcome back Carmela; glad you are here. I agree; there is just no place like the forums; at least none that I have come across. It's just so special and means so much to many of us. Yes; getting back into the swing of things always feels a little fuzzy at first; but not to worry; it all comes back into focus; it just may take a little while that's all. Looking forward to reading your posts. All the best.
Cheers, James
Cheers, James
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne
Hello all who are listening. Now running an affordable housing project for disenfranchised people and those in recovery from drugs and alcohol. The program is a one-strike and you're out program and includes human growth potential workshops, a temporary work program and gardens and greenhouses for organic food production to be distributed to food pantries, WIC and our own program members.
Also directing a play, From Door to Door, by James Sherman, which follows the lives of three generations of Jewish women and is a wonderful and moving theatre experience. Opening at The Lauren Clark Fine Arts Gallery in Great Barrington, MA. may 6th.
Also am organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, here in MA.
Busy, busy, busy. Hope you are well. safe and happy.
Also directing a play, From Door to Door, by James Sherman, which follows the lives of three generations of Jewish women and is a wonderful and moving theatre experience. Opening at The Lauren Clark Fine Arts Gallery in Great Barrington, MA. may 6th.
Also am organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, here in MA.
Busy, busy, busy. Hope you are well. safe and happy.