A tone as bright and warm as sunlight rings from a giant bronze bell. There is no hint of tinkling or rattling, just a single, overtone-rich frequency a few notes below middle C, right in the middle of the human speech range. Even though I stand two meters from the bell, the sound seems to come from within me, soothing,…
Tag: Translations
Freya Mathews: On Greatness – A Philosopher's Letter to President Putin
As a nation with a unique opportunity to unleash the Earth’s forces to re-regulate its systems and secure the future of human civilization, Russia could well deserve the gratitude and recognition of all. Freya Mathews A leading Australian philosopher today, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Philosophy at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Freya Mathews reminds us in this letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin that…
Joshua Jaffa: The Great Thaw / Letter from Siberia
Permafrost contains microbes, mammoths, and twice as much carbon as the Earth's atmosphere. What happens when it starts to thaw? Published under the title “The Great Thaw” in The New Yorker on January 17, 2022 (Czech translation: Jiří Zemánek); https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/17/the-great-siberian-thaw / Joshua Yaffa is a contributor to The New Yorker and the author of “Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia.”…
Amitav Ghosh: The Curse of Nutmeg (book excerpt)
The following excerpt from the book The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021) by the English-language Bengali author Amitav Ghosh offers a witty critique of "official modernity" with its tendency to deprive everything non-human of voice and intentionality, of historicity. According to Ghosh, we face a great task today, which is to restore voice to the non-human in the sphere of human imagination, as well as to recognize (rediscover) that not only…
Barry Lopez: Children in the Woods
Growing up as a child in California’s San Fernando Valley, a trip to Los Angeles was something special. The move from rural to urban felt like a leap. On one of these exciting occasions, as I walked down the sidewalk with my mother, I suddenly stopped, captivated by the pattern of sunlight caught in the spiraling imperfection of a window pane. An unknown elderly woman in a linen coat and…
Barry Lopez: Landscape and Story
American naturalist, writer and traveler Barry Lopez (1945-2020), from whom we have previously brought the impressive text Invitation, in the following essay from the book Crossing Open Ground (1978) reflects on the interweaving of inner and outer landscapes, the role of traditional storytelling in the search for a harmonious relationship with the surrounding world, but also on various forms of knowing the truth. Translated by Luděk Čertík. One summer evening…
Chief Oren Lyons: Listening to Nature's Law
Oren R. Lyons, a member of the Seneca Indian Tribe, is the Faith Keeper of the Turtle Clan, Council of Chiefs of the Onondaga Haudenosaunee Nation (Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy). As Faith Keeper, he is charged with preserving the customs, traditions, values, and history of the Turtle Clan and upholding the Great Law of Peace of the Haudenosaunee; while representing the message of this people to the World Community in all aspects that the Onondaga Nation considers to be…
Interview with David Nicole – author of the book Gentle Activism
Jurriaan KAMP / Optimist Daily, May 9, 2017 / translation: Jiří Zemánek Meditation and prayer clearly contribute to social change. That is the inspiring message of David Nicol’s new book, Subtle Activism: The Inner Dimension of Social and Planetary Transformation. Nicol teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies and is…
David Nicol: Gentle Activism – A Journey Through Chaotic Times
“Gentle activism can be understood as a set of practices that allow us to connect at the depths of our being with a love for the world and a desire to reflect the highest potential of human nature. While contact with the hope of a more loving or peaceful world can make us vulnerable, it is also the most powerful force for change we know.” David Nicol Australian David T. Nicol describes himself as…
F. David Peat: “Gentle Action” Can Lead to Miraculous Results
F. David Peat (1938 – 2017) was an English holistic physicist, philosopher and writer. He initially devoted himself to research in solid-state physics and the foundations of quantum theory, and collaborated for many years with the physicist and philosopher David Bohm, about whom he wrote a monograph. Later, his interests expanded to depth psychology and the field of art and general aspects of culture, including the culture of…