This chapter contains sections titled: Inspiration History Inside the Beauty Question.

This paper seeks to demonstrate that propositions 23–27 of the Euclidian Optics originated in the context of geometrical astronomy. These entries, which deal with the geometry of spheres and rays, present material that overlaps considerably with propositions 1–3 of Aristarchus of Samos’ On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and the Moon. While all these theorems deal with material that could conceivably be native to celestial illumination, the proofs do not work for binocular vision. It therefore seems probable (...) that the proofs were borrowed from Aristarchus or, more likely, some common astronomical predecessor. As an extension of this observation, this paper argues that the Optics displays a far less unified purpose than has typically been assumed. Instead, it reflects a conglomerate of concerns, goals and dependencies, insofar as it presents multiple proofs that emerge from a set of geometrical concerns not directly related to vision as a physical phenomenon. These entries complicate the idea that the Optics is about explaining light, sight or false appearances in any straightforward sense. Instead, the text is oriented toward a somewhat more diffuse goal: simply to articulate the geometry of vision and rays. Optics as a discipline should should therefore be understood not as a purely mathematical explanation of vision, but as a target-field of explanation constituted by features and boundaries derived from extra-visual geometric concerns. (shrink)

The seminal treatise and guide to Ashtanga yoga by the master of this increasingly popular discipline There is a yoga boom in America, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is at the heart of it. One of the great yoga figures of our time, Jois brought Ashtanga yoga to the West a quarter of a century ago and has been the driving force behind its worldwide dissemination. Based on flowing, energetic movement, Ashtanga and the many forms of vinyasa yoga that (...) grow directly out of it--have become the most widespread and influential styles of practice in the United States today. Mala means "garland" in Sanskrit, and Yoga Mala--a "garland of yoga practice"--is Jois's distillation of Ashtanga. He first outlines the ethical principles and philosophy underlying the discipline and explains its important terms and concepts. Next he guides the reader through Ashtanga's versions of the Sun Salutation and its subsequent sequence of forty-two asanas, or poses, precisely describing how to execute each position and what benefits each provides. Brought into English by Eddie Stern, a student of Jois's for twelve years and director of the Patanjali Yoga Shala in New York City, Yoga Mala will be an indispensable handbook for students and teachers of yoga for years to come. (shrink)

Hatha Yoga deals with the care, health, and well-being of the physical body through the conscious control of the vibrations of matter. The Hatha yogi proceeds in consciousness from the physical to the mental to the spiritual, leading to the development of the inner spiritual self manifesting through thoughts, feelings, and actions in the outer world. Hatha Yoga comprehensively reveals the ancient wisdom of yoga, or union of spirit and matter, including asanas, or yogic postures; pranayama and (...) the life principle; and meditation, from concentration to contemplation. (shrink)

This is a select annotated bibliography of the translations of primary sources of Hatha Yoga. The bibliography is important to understand the connection between Yoga and Tantra. The latter is the telos of the former.

This co-edited volume compares Chinese and Western experiences of engineering, technology, and development. In doing so, it builds a bridge between the East and West and advances a dialogue in the philosophy of engineering. Divided into three parts, the book starts with studies on epistemological and ontological issues, with a special focus on engineering design, creativity, management, feasibility, and sustainability. Part II considers relationships between the history and philosophy of engineering, and includes a general argument for the necessity of dialogue (...) between history and philosophy. It continues with a general introduction to traditional Chinese attitudes toward engineering and technology, and philosophical case studies of the Chinese steel industry, railroads, and cybernetics in the Soviet Union. Part III focuses on engineering, ethics, and society, with chapters on engineering education and practice in China and the West. The book’s analyses of the interactions of science, engineering, ethics, politics, and policy in different societal contexts are of special interest. The volume as a whole marks a new stage in the emergence of the philosophy of engineering as a new regionalization of philosophy. This carefully edited interdisciplinary volume grew out of an international conference on the philosophy of engineering hosted by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. It includes 30 contributions by leading philosophers, social scientists, and engineers from Australia, China, Europe, and the United States. (shrink)

Abstract:This paper investigates whether, in theoretical terms, corporations can be citizens. The argument is based on the observation that the debate on “corporate citizenship” (CC) has only paid limited attention to the actual notion of citizenship. Where it has been discussed, authors have either largely left the concept of CC unquestioned, or applied rather unidimensional and decontextualized notions of citizenship to the corporate sphere. The paper opens with a critical discussion of a major contribution to the CC literature, the work (...) of Logsdon and Wood (Wood and Logsdon 2001; Logsdon and Wood 2002). It continues with a consideration of the nature and role of metaphors for business and of the contestable nature of the political concept of citizenship. It evaluates corporations as citizens through a four-dimensional framework of democratic citizenship offered by Stokes (2002). The analysis suggests that corporations do not easily fit the “liberal minimalist” model of citizenship. It finds, however some possibilities for fit with the three more participatory models. The paper concludes by cautioning against basing corporate citizenship on legal and administrative status or identity, and mapping out specific criteria by which we might determine whether corporations could be considered as citizens by virtue of their participation in processes of governance. (shrink)

This article proposes a unified framework for understanding creative problem solving, namely, the explicit–implicit interaction theory. This new theory of creative problem solving constitutes an attempt at providing a more unified explanation of relevant phenomena (in part by reinterpreting/integrating various fragmentary existing theories of incubation and insight). The explicit–implicit interaction theory relies mainly on 5 basic principles, namely, (a) the coexistence of and the difference between explicit and implicit knowledge, (b) the simultaneous involvement of implicit and explicit processes in most (...) tasks, (c) the redundant representation of explicit and implicit knowledge, (d) the integration of the results of explicit and implicit processing, and (e) the iterative (and possibly bidirectional) processing. A computational implementation of the theory is developed based on the CLARION cognitive architecture and applied to the simulation of relevant human data. This work represents an initial step in the development of process-based theories of creativity encompassing incubation, insight, and various other related.. (shrink)

본고에서는 하타 요가의 주요 3종 문헌 즉 『쉬바상히타』(Śivasaṃhitā, 이하 ŚS), 『하타프라디피카』(Haṭhapradīpikā; 이하 HP), 『게란다상히타』(Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā: 이하 GhS)에 나타난 요가 자세의 실천 수행으로 발생하는 효과에 대해 고찰하였다. 요가 자세를 세 문헌 공통의 것들, 두 문헌(HP, GhS) 공통의 것들, 한 문헌에만 나타난 것들 순으로 그 효과들을 수행적 효과와 치유적 효과로 구분하여 살펴보았다. 효과가 서술된 요가 자세는 총 13종이다. 세 문헌 공통의 것은 달인·연화·등펴기·길상(4종)이고, 두 문헌 공통의 것은 공작·송장·행운(3종)이며, 한 문헌에만 나타나 있는 것들은 HP의 경우 맛시옌드라(1종), GhS의 경우 사자･물고기･마카라･뱀･요가(5종)이다. 그리고 이 요가 자세들의 효과들을 (...) 간략히 요약하자면, 먼저 수행적 효과로는 요가의 완성인 해탈, 완성의 토대인 바유의 수슘나로 흐름과 쿤달리니의 각성 등이 있고, 다음으로 치유적 효과로는 모든 질병 또는 질병의 파괴와 소화의 불을 지피거나 증대시키는 것이 주를 이루고 있다. 후자에, 하타 요가의 등장 이전에 요가 자세와 관련하여 언급되지 않았던 ‘치유 효과’가 분명하게 보인다. 요가 자세의 수행의 결과 발생하는 효과를 HP(1.17)는 ‘심신의 안정과 질병 제거와 사지의 가벼워짐’이라고 한다. 그 핵심은 치유 효과이다. 이 효과를 또는 이 효과의 결과를 축약하여 표현한 것이 GhS(1.10)의 ‘견고함’(dṛḍha) 즉 ‘신체의 강건함’이다. 이것이 하타 요가에서 요가 자세가 갖는 의미 또는 위상이다. 이러한 신체는 요가 자세 이후의 요가의 지분(支分)들을 수행해 나가기 위한 중요한 토대가 된다. (shrink)

하타요가와 현대요가라는 용어는 그 개념의 외연이 다른 것이지만 현대요가가 마치 하타요가의 직접적 계승이나 발전의 형태인 것처럼 용어가 사용되는 경우가 있다. 그래서 본 연구는 현재 서구학계의 하타요가와 현대요가에 대한 연구 성과를 이용하여, 하타요가와 현대요가의 개념을 규명하고 이 두 용어의 정확한 사용을 주장하였다. 먼저 현재 서구의 하타요가 연구 현황을 소개하고, 현재까지의 연구 결과를 이용해 하타요가의 성립과 발전, 그 개념을 고찰하였다. 다음으로 현대요가의 발전과 현대요가의 개념에 대한 최근 학자들의 논의를 살펴보았다. 그리고 본 연구는 현대요가에 내포된 네 가지의 개념(현대 하타요가, 현대의 전통적 하타요가, 현대 (...) 명상요가, 대중적 현대요가)을 제시하고 하타요가와 대중적 현대요가의 가장 큰 차이점을 사마디의 추구라는 수행의 목표에 있다고 주장했다. 동일한 점은 대중적 현대요가에서 가장 중요시되는 아사나(āsana, 體位)가 하타요가, 혹은 하타요가와 서구 체조가 결합된 형태에서 기인한 것이라는 점이다. 그러므로 대중적 현대요가의 아사나마저 그 태생의 근원에서 분리된다면 이것은 새로운 체조일 뿐이지 더 이상 요가라고 할 수 없을 것이다. (shrink)

This paper introduces a hybrid model that unifies connectionist, symbolic, and reinforcement learning into an integrated architecture for bottom-up skill learning in reactive sequential decision tasks. The model is designed for an agent to learn continuously from on-going experience in the world, without the use of preconceived concepts and knowledge. Both procedural skills and high-level knowledge are acquired through an agent’s experience interacting with the world. Computational experiments with the model in two domains are reported.

This book is an attempt to undermine the pillars on which Egyptian chronology has been built, in particular the view “that the Egyptians had monitored the heliacal risings of Sirius [Sothis] for millennia, and in such a way that we can date the various pharaohs and dynasties of even three or four thousand years ago by means of the ‘Sothic dates’ that they sometimes seem to provide” . For the most part, the book is a reevaluation of key calendar‐associated sources (...) , but in the final chapters the author proposes a radical revision of the chronology of ancient Egypt. On the basis of a new analysis of the lunar dates in the El‐Lahun papyri, he shifts the Twelfth Dynasty, and by implication the whole Middle Kingdom , by some fifteen centuries to the period immediately preceding the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c.In doing so, Lynn Rose follows in the footsteps of Immanuel Velikovsky, whose unproven theory of a near‐collision between Earth and Venus in the seventh century b.c. he fully accepts. In his opinion, all documents referring to a year of 365 or 365¼ days or lunar months of 29½ days must therefore be younger than this supposed catastrophe. The evidence presented to support these and other assumptions is unconvincing. Moreover, his overall approach is methodologically rather questionable. Convinced as he is of the superiority of astronomical evidence that must be considered decisive, Rose has little or no regard for historical, iconographic, and archaeological sources. And when he does refer to such material, it is only to dismiss it outright as suspect , anachronistic , or even censored . He also fails to take into account the evolution of script over a period of fifteen centuries, when he proposes to shift the El‐Lahun papyri, written in the so‐called hieratic script, from the nineteenth to the fourth century b.c.Despite all these flaws, some parts of Sun, Moon, and Sothis deserve to be taken into consideration. This is especially true of the reassessment of the 25‐year lunar cycle in the opening chapters, by far the best part of the book. Also interesting and useful are Rose's system to retrocalculate the dates of heliacal risings of Sirius and his discussion of the true length of the Sothic cycle. His findings in this respect should be compared with those of other scholars who have recently worked on the subject . Unfortunately, Rose himself ignores much of the recent work, not only on the heliacal risings of Sirius but also on the Egyptian calendar in general.Finally, I have the impression that the author has a somewhat anachronistic idea of how ancient calendars and cycles functioned in practice. He believes in their rigid application and thinks that the ancients took a similar approach to these devices. In this respect, he should have remembered the words of one of the authors mentioned in his bibliography, E. J. Bickerman, who wrote, precisely with regard to the Egyptian calendar and Sothic dating: “A calendar is a tool which cannot be justified by either logic or astronomy”. (shrink)

The bundle theory is a theory about the internal constitution of individuals. It asserts that individuals are entirely composed of universals. Typically, bundle theorists augment their theory with a constitutional approach to individuation entailing the thesis ‘identity of constituents is a sufficient ground for numerical identity’ (CIT). But then the bundle theory runs afoul of Black’s duplication case—a world containing two indiscernible spheres. Here I propose and defend a new version of the bundle theory that denies ‘CIT’, and which (...) instead conjoins it with a structural diversity thesis , according to which being separated by distance is a sufficient ground for numerical diversity. This version accommodates Black’s world as well as the three-spheres world —a world containing three indiscernible spheres, arranged as the vertices of an equilateral triangle. In this paper, I also criticize Rodriguez-Pereyra’s alternative attempt to defend the bundle theory against Black’s case and the case of the three-spheres world. (shrink)

This work explores the importance of similarity-based processes in human everyday reasoning, beyond purely rule-based processes prevalent in AI and cognitive science. A unified framework encompassing both rulebased and similarity-based reasoning may provide explanations for a variety of human reasoning data.

The bundle theory, supposed as a theory concerning the internal constitution of individuals, is often conjoined with a constitutional approach to individuation entailing the thesis ‘no two individuals can share all their constituents’ (CIT). But then it runs afoul of Black’s duplication case. Here a new bundle theory, takingdistance relations between bundles to be a sufficient ground for their diversity, will be proposed. This version accommodates Black’s world. Nonetheless, there is a possible objection. Consider the ‘triplication case’—a world containing three (...) indistinguishable spheres, each 5-meters from each other. Since distance relations are dyadic, this version must fail to distinguish the threespheres world from Black’s world. In response to this objection, I maintain that we must construe distance relations as irreducibly multigrade and n-ary. Then these two worlds will be distinguished by appealing to a triadic relation—R3—that three things enter mutually. Aren’t all polyadic relations in principle reducible to dyadic relations? I won’t deny that. But I will aim lower and argue that R3 cannot be reduced to dyadic relations that obliterate the distinction between the three-spheres world and Black’s world. (shrink)

This article contextualises current debates over human rights and transnational corporations. More specifically, we begin by first providing the background to John Ruggie's appointment as 'Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises'. Second, we provide a brief discussion of the rise of transnational corporations, and of their growing importance in terms of global governance. Third, we introduce the notion of human rights, and note some difficulties associated therewith. Fourth, we (...) refer to Ruggie's scholarly work on 'embedded liberalism', the 'global public domain' and 'social constructivism'. Following this, we refer to the other five papers contained in this "Journal of Business Ethics" special issue, 'Spheres of Influence/Spheres of Responsibility: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights', and consider some of the potential obstacles to Ruggie's recent suggestion that a 'new consensus' has formed, or is forming, around his 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework. We conclude by raising questions regarding the processes of consensus-building around, and the operationalisation of, Ruggie's 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework. (shrink)

When relating genomic data to survival outcomes, there are three main challenges that are the censored survival outcomes, the high-dimensionality of the genomic data, and the non-normality of data. We propose a method to tackle these challenges simultaneously and obtain a robust estimation of detecting significant genes related to survival outcomes based on Accelerated Failure Time model. Specifically, we include a general loss function to the AFT model, adopt model regularization and shrinkage technique, cope with parameters tuning and model selection, (...) and develop an algorithm based on unified Expectation–Maximization approach for easy implementation. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method compared with existing methods when the data has heavy-tailed errors and correlated covariates. Two real case studies on patients are provided to illustrate the application of the proposed method. (shrink)

At the turn of the twentieth century, Helm and Ostwald were the most prominent supporters of so-called ‘energetics’, which aimed to unify all physics by employing the sole concept of energy, without relying on mechanical models. This paper argues that Cassirer's interest in the history of the energy principle and the energetic controversy is entangled with the main themes of his philosophy of physics up to the 1920s: the opposition between the a priori and the a posteriori and the (...) substance-concept and the function-concept. These interwoven motifs are not always easy to disentangle. The paper suggests that Cassirer's interpretation of the energy principle can serve as a guiding thread that runs through Cassirer's philosophy of physics up to the 1920s. (shrink)

What does it mean to consider the world of AI through a Christian lens? Rapid developments in AI continue to reshape society, raising new ethical questions and challenging our understanding of the human person. Encountering Artificial Intelligence draws on Pope Francis’ discussion of a culture of encounter and broader themes in Catholic social thought in order to examine how current AI applications affect human relationships in various social spheres and offers concrete recommendations for better implementation. The document also explores (...) questions regarding personhood, consciousness, and the kinds of relationships humans might have with even the most advanced AI. Through these discussions, this book investigates the theoretical and practical challenges to interpersonal encounter raised by the age of AI. (AI Research Group for the Centre for Digital Culture of the Dicastery of Culture and Education of the Holy See). (shrink)

This article considers how networked large urban screens can act as a platform for the creation of an experimental transnational public sphere. It takes as a case study a specific Australia-Korea cultural event that linked large screens in Federation Square, Melbourne, and Tomorrow City, Incheon, 1 through the presentation of SMS-based interactive media art works. The article combines theoretical analyses of global citizenship, mobility, digital technologies, and networked public space with empirical analyses of audience response research data collected during the (...) screen event. The central argument is that large public screens can offer a strategic site for examining transformations in the constitution of public agency in a digitized, globalized environment. The idea of ‘aesthetic cosmopolitanism’ is finally proposed as a conceptual framework for understanding how new forms of transnational public agency in mediated public spaces might operate. (shrink)

Some postcolonial theorists argue that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as some Hindus claim, it has its roots in innovations within South Asian philosophy from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. During this time, thinkers treated the philosophies of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga, along with the worshippers of Visnu, Siva, and Sakti, as belonging (...) to a single system of belief and practice. Instead of seeing such groups as separate and contradictory, they re-envisioned them as separate rivers leading to the ocean of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Drawing on the writings of philosophers from late medieval and early modern traditions, including Vijnanabhiksu, Madhava, and Madhusudana Sarasvati, Nicholson shows how influential thinkers portrayed Vedanta philosophy as the ultimate unifier of diverse belief systems. This project paved the way for the work of later Hindu reformers, such as Vivekananda, Radhakrishnan, and Gandhi, whose teachings promoted the notion that all world religions belong to a single spiritual unity. In his study, Nicholson also critiques the way in which Eurocentric concepts—like monism and dualism, idealism and realism, theism and atheism, and orthodoxy and heterodoxy—have come to dominate modern discourses on Indian philosophy. (shrink)

Demonstrates the postures, exercises, and hygienic value of hatha yoga through explanations and photographs.

Face recognition payment, an innovative financial technology service, is a recently developed mode of payment service that has garnered attention in the offline market, particularly in China. However, studies examining the adoption of FRP by consumers are scarce. Therefore, this study proposed a causal model built on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, and key predictors related to the intention of using FRP were identified. The structural equation model-based results obtained from 305 Chinese participants demonstrated that the (...) intention was most affected by relative advantage. In addition, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and perceived risk also had a significant impact. However, trust was found to not significantly affect consumers’ intentions, despite it negatively influencing perceived risk. Thus, the results of this study are expected to provide a set of guidelines for companies regarding the implementation of FRP. (shrink)

This volume presents a commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Book 12 by pseudo-Alexander in a new translation accompanied by explanatory notes, introduction and indexes. Fred D. Miller, Jr. argues that the author of the commentary is in fact not Alexander of Aphrodisias, Aristotle's distant successor in early 3rd century CE Athens and his leading defender and interpreter, but Michael of Ephesus from Constantinople as late as the 12th century CE. Robert Browning had earlier made the case that Michael was enlisted by (...) Princess Anna Comnena in a project to restore and complete the ancient Greek commentaries on Aristotle, including those of Alexander; he did so by incorporating available ancient commentaries into commentaries of his own. Metaphysics Book 12 posits a god as the supreme cause of motion in the cosmic system Aristotle had elaborated elsewhere as having the Earth at the centre. The fixed stars are whirled around it on an outer sphere, the sun, moon and recognised planets on interior spheres, but with counteracting spheres to make the motions of each independent of the motions of others and of the fixed stars, thus yielding a total of 55 spheres. Motion is transmitted from a divine unmoved mover through divine moved movers which move the celestial spheres, and on to the perishable realms. Chapters 1 to 5 describe the principles and causes of the perishable substances nearer the centre of the universe, while Chapters 6 to 10 seek to prove the existence and attributes of the celestial substances beyond. (shrink)

Iyengar Yoga Wisdom & Practice" is a practical and an inspiring anthology of Iyengar's insights into yoga, life and the path to peace and happiness. Yoga practice lies at the heart of the book, and it is illustrated with over 60 new step-by-step sequences of yoga postures specially shot in India and accompanied by Iyengar's illuminating observations on technique, their significance, and their benefits. This book not only presents Iyengar's practical advice on how to perform key yoga postures, but also (...) draws on a wide range of other material taken from interviews and world lecture tours, to the many texts Iyengar has written about yoga and about his own life's journey. (shrink)

An introduction to yoga discussing its usefulness in improving breathing and body building and describing the yoga positions.

For serious yoga practitioners curious to know the ancient origins of the art, Stephen Phillips, a professional philosopher and sanskritist with a long-standing personal practice, lays out the philosophies of action, knowledge, and devotion as well as the processes of meditation, reasoning, and self-analysis that formed the basis of yoga in ancient and classical India and continue to shape it today. In discussing yoga's fundamental commitments, Phillips explores traditional teachings of hatha yoga, karma yoga, _bhakti_ yoga, and tantra, and (...) shows how such core concepts as self-monitoring consciousness, karma, nonharmfulness, reincarnation, and the powers of consciousness relate to modern practice. He outlines values implicit in _bhakti_ yoga and the tantric yoga of beauty and art and explains the occult psychologies of _koshas_, _skandhas_, and _chakras_. His book incorporates original translations from the early Upanishads, the _Bhagavad Gita_, the _Yoga Sutra_, the _Hatha Yoga Pradipika_, and seminal tantric writings of the tenth-century Kashmiri Shaivite, Abhinava Gupta. A glossary defining more than three hundred technical terms and an extensive bibliography offer further help to nonscholars. A remarkable exploration of yoga's conceptual legacy, _Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth_ crystallizes ideas about self and reality that unite the many incarnations of yoga. (shrink)

"The definitive work by B.K.S. Iyengar, the world's most respected yoga teacher. B.K.S. Iyengar has devoted his life to the practice and study of yoga. It was B.K.S. Iyengar's unique teaching style, bringing precision and clarity to the practice, as well as a mindset of 'yoga for all', which has made it into the worldwide phenomenon it is today. 'Light on Yoga' is widely called 'the bible of yoga' and has served as the source book for generations of yoga students (...) around the world. It is the classic text for all serious students of yoga." --Publisher description. (shrink)

Providing a decolonial, action-focused account of Yoga philosophy, this practical work from Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, pioneering scholar in the field of Indian moral philosophy, focuses on the South Asian tradition to explore what Yoga was like prior to colonization. It challenges teachers and trainees to reflect on the impact of Western colonialism on Yoga as well as understand Yoga as the original decolonial practice in a way that is accessible. -/- This book is accessible but thought provoking in its approach, (...) but it will also challenge the way you think. Each chapter takes the reader through a journey of sources and traditions, beginning with an investigation into the colonial -Platonic and Aristotelian- approaches to pedagogy in colonized yoga spaces, through contrary, ancient philosophies of South Asia, such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sankhya, and various forms of Vedanta, to sources of Yoga, including the Upanisads, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. With discussions of the precolonial philosophy of Yoga, its relationship to social justice, and modern postural yoga's relationship with colonial trauma, this is a comprehensive guide for any yoga teacher or trainee to activate and synergize their practice. (shrink)

Gurunanda (aka Puneet Nanda) is a successful entrepreneur-turned-yogi. His business accomplishments earned him 2011's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and an active position with the Young Presidents Organization. However, 18-hour workdays filled with stress, poor eating habits and lack of exercise took a dire toll on his life and his health until he discovered yoga. His transformation (including a 40-pound weight loss) and his self-realization have been so profound that he is now committed to sharing the power (...) of yoga and yogic breathing across the globe, especially with people facing challenging, chaotic lifestyles. By focusing on positivity, simplicity and a judgment-free attitude, GURUNANDA'S HAPPY BREATH YOGA invites everyone to experience the energy, well-being and joy that comes from truly breathing."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Role of Practice Yoga Scholarship Aristotelian and Yoga Ethics Yoga and Yoga Metaphysics Yoga and Ethics Why Hatha Yoga? Discussion Acknowledgements.

This book explores the textual traditions that authorize the history, legitimacy, and authenticity of today's physical posture practice. The volume focuses on why and how yoga communities have adopted various texts they consider sacred or spiritually meaningful. Among the texts discussed are Yogananda's Autobiography, Sri Aurobindo's Savitri, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Upanishads, the Vedas, and the YoginīTantra. Famous thinkers referred to include Aurobindo, Yogananda, Osho-Rajneesh, Sogyal Rimpoche, Charles Johnston, and Howard Thurman.Offering a (...) starting point, the ten essays address the nature, selection, and function of various ancient and contemporary texts read in contemporary yoga settings. The attention centers on how and why texts are read, and for whom they are read. As yoga is practiced in ashrams, yoga studios, gyms, meeting rooms, and even private living rooms, scholarly approaches to investigate the connections between yoga and texts are necessarily diverse. The volume aims to inspire further scholarship on the many ways in which various texts are sacralized in yoga communities, and on the reading strategies that are used to interpret them. The collection demonstrates that these issues deserve to be an important part of contemporary yoga studies. The anthology will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of Religious Studies, Yoga Studies, and Asian Studies, as well as those studying sacred texts. (shrink)

In this article I explore a tantalising definition of cinematic belief as a belief without belief by briefly considering the way in which film theory and film-philosophy have engaged with the question of belief in cinema. I also take into account Simon Critchley’s discussion of religious belief in The Faith of the Faithless (2012) within the context of anthropological studies of religion such as that by Émile Durkheim. In addition, I discuss Sigmund Freud’s 1927 reflection on religion in “The Future (...) of an Illusion”. I then show that this line of thought can be linked to the philosophical discussion around the so-called paradox of fiction and introduce the idea that belief can be understood itself as an emotion or mood. I argue in favour of the solution to the paradox that claims that emotions experienced in response to fictional entities are quasi-emotions but radicalise this claim by showing that this must imply that all emotions are in fact structured like quasi-emotions and that we do not require an essentialist understanding of emotion in the first place. Throughout I use the example of the various cinematic representations of the life of St Francis to flesh out the argument, including Roberto Rossellini’s Francesco, giullare di Dio / Francesco, God’s Jester / The Flowers of St Francis (1950) but particularly Franco Zeffirelli’s much maligned Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972). (shrink)

Punk Rock Yoga Manifesto: Look, Work, Accept, Transcend. The Punk Rock Yoga style was born in 2003 and has flowed across North America and into Europe. This book articulates the style's philosophy, where you will explore the teachings of yoga through a modern lens and discover how to employ its wisdom in your daily life. You will learn about Yoga with a capital "Y"-moving beyond the poses, into the realm of personal transformation. The Punk Rock Yoga Manifesto takes a direct (...) and pragmatic approach to yoga philosophy, discussing behavioral guidelines, personal temperaments, meditation practices, energy centers, and the role of poses and breath work. This book inspires self-reflection and challenges you to look at, work on, accept, and ultimately transcend everything that restrains you from personal evolution. (shrink)

This study examined the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public issue over 25 years using a content analysis of two national news- papers and seven regional, geographically-dispersed newspapers in the U.S. The present study adopted a comprehensive definition encompassing all four CSR dimensions: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic. This study examined newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, op-ed columns, news analyses, and guest columns for three aspects: media attention, media prominence, and media valence. Results showed an increase (...) in the number of opinion pieces covering CSR issues over the 25-year period. The prominence of each of the four CSR dimensions varied over time. Each of the four CSR dimensions had its moment of media prominence when it was more important than the other dimensions. The most prevalent valence of the opinion pieces was negative; the volume of negative pieces increased over the 25 years, whereas the number of opinions with positive, neutral, and mixed tones showed little change over time. The study concludes by tracing the implications of the role of the news media for business ethics research. (shrink)

In the present paper, these authors argue on actual reasons why Hilbert’s axiomatic program to unify gravitation theory and electromagnetism failed completely. An outline of plausible resolution of this problem is given here, based on: a) Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, b) Newton’s aether stream model. And in another paper we will present our calculation of receding Moon from Earth based on such a matter creation hypothesis. More experiments and observations are called to verify this new hypothesis, albeit it is inspired from (...) Newton’s theory himself. (shrink)

The basic argument of this contribution to the Common Knowledge symposium on xenophilia is that colonial attitudes toward South Asian religion and Hindus' attitudes toward Western intellectual discourse reveal an ambiguous mix of xenophilia and xenophobia. This articles focuses on yoga, whose macrohistory comprises a global case of xenophilia, beginning with Vivekananda's address at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago and still ongoing today. Before that watershed speech in 1893, however, indigenous scholars were translating Sanskrit texts into Bengali as (...) part of an effort to articulate a unified vision of Hindu traditions that could be used to engage with the science, medicine, and other attractive aspects of British and Western culture. Comparing Bengali renderings of Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra, this essay concludes that one of them, the translation of paṇḍit Kālīvar Vedāntavāglīś, exposed elements of ambiguity in the original work that expanded the possibilities for the engagement of yoga with Western discourses, while at the same time legitimating the Sanskritic past as a resource for addressing new realities. In the process, Kālīvar's translation helped enable the globalization of yoga as we know it today. This article concludes by suggesting that microhistorical work on the activities of translators may aid in understanding the part that local knowledge can play in our global future. (shrink)

I argue that “time” (χρόνος) in Plato’s Timaeus is the observable astronomical event that consists of the coordinated movements of the sun, the moon, the five observable planets and the earth. This celestial parade forms a unified event that imitates eternity through the uniformity of its movements, its unity in multiplicity, and its never-ending duration (sempiternity a parte post). Therefore, it is a mistake to conceive of time in Timaeus as a celestial clock, the type of movements involved in the (...) celestial parade, an epiphenomenon of those movements, simple duration, absolute time, an intuition, a number or any other formal or metaphysical entity. (shrink)

What is Yoga? How is Self-realization achieved through Yoga? The great Sage Pātañjali (3rd Century B.C.) defined yoga in the Yoga-Sūtras as “the restraint of the modifications of the mind” (yogaś-citta-vritti-nirodah). In his Yoga-Sūtras (196 sutras), Pātañjali systematically laid down the exact methods and techniques for attaining Self-realization through the Eight Limbs of Pātañjali’s Yoga (Ashtānga-yoga). This system is commonly known as Rāja-yoga (Royal yoga). This Eight Steps is the way to attain self-transcendence. It consists of yama, niyama, āsanas, prānāyāma, (...) pratyāhāra, dhāranā, dhyāna and samādhi. This article will focus on Ashtānga-yoga in the practical and philosophical contexts. Other systems of yoga also use this Eight Steps, but each yoga may start from and emphasize different aspects of yoga. However all systems of yoga accept and practice the Eight Steps of yoga to achieve the final goal, that is liberation (kaivalya, moksha, mukti). Yoga also reconciles the six systems of Indian Philosophy (Shadh Darśana). Keywords: Rāja-yoga (Royal yoga), Hatha-yoga (Hard yoga), Bhakti-yoga (Yoga of Devotion), Jñāna-yoga (Yoga of Knowledge), Ashtānga-yoga (Eight limbs of Yoga), Citta-vritti-nirodha (Restraint of modification of the mind), Purusha (Spirit), Prakriti (Matter), Iśvara-pranidhāna (Surrender to God), Moksha (Liberation). (shrink)

하타 요가(Haṭha Yoga)의 미세 신체론의 핵심 관념 중 하나인 차크라(cakra)는 현대에 요가 수행이나 비의적 치유와 연관하여 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 현재 사용되고 있는 차크라 관념은 거의 대부분 Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa의 일곱 차크라론에 뿌리를 두고 있다. 이보다 더 원형적인 형태를 살펴보기 위해서 현재의 차크라 관념이 정립되기 이전의 초기 하타 요가 문헌들에 나타난 이 관념에 대해 고찰하였다. 초기 하타 요가 문헌 중 중요하다고 여겨지는 『카울라갸나니르나야』(Kaulajñānanirṇaya), 『고라크샤샤타카』(Gorakṣaśataka), 『싯다싯단타팟다티』(Siddhasiddhāntapaddhati), 이 세 문헌을 택하여 이것들에 나타난 차크라의 개수를 비롯하여 속성들 즉 명칭, 위치, 모양, 발생 초자연력 등을 문헌별, 차크라 (...) 순서별로 상호 비교해 보았다. 초기 문헌들에 이 관념이 어떻게 나타나고 있는지 살펴보는 것은 이 관념을 보다 풍부하고 정확하게 이해하는 데 도움이 될 것이다. (shrink)

Extensively based on fieldwork material, From Tapas to Modern Yoga primarily analyses embodied practices of ascetics belonging to four religious orders historically associated with the practice of yoga and hatha yoga.

Innovation of Yoga in vedic saṁhitās -- Elaboration of yogic thought and practices in Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads -- Continuation of the tradition in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata -- Deviation from the vedic tradition in Jainism and Buddhism -- Systematization of Yoga in Patañjali and Haṭha-yoga -- Yoga of Vedāntic ācāryas and yoga-vāsiṣṭha -- Bhakti-yoga of medieval saints -- Yogic sādhanā in Tantra, Śaivism and Sufism -- Revival of the spirit of Yoga in modern India -- Yogic capability in (...) the estimation of logic. (shrink)

Great Systems of Yoga is a short review of the major schools of yoga, including Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi varieties. Chapters include: The Ten Oriental Yogas; Patanjali's Raja Yoga; Shri Krishna's Gita-Yoga; Shankaracharya's Gnyana-Yoga; The Hatha and Laya Yogas; The Bhakti And Mantra Yogas; The Occult Path of Buddha; The Chinese Yoga; and, The Sufi Yogis.

Little attention has been paid to the importance of social media in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature. This deficit is redressed in the present paper through utilizing the notion of ‘citizenship arenas’ to identify three dynamics in social media-augmented corporate–society relations. First, we note that social media-augmented ‘corporate arenas of citizenship’ are constructed by individual corporations in an effort to address CSR issues of specific importance thereto, and are populated by individual citizens as well as (functional/formally organized) stakeholders. Second, (...) we highlight that, within social media-augmented ‘public arenas of citizenship’, individual citizens are empowered, relative to corporations and their (functional/formally organized) stakeholders, when it comes to creating, debating, and publicizing, CSR-relevant issues. Third, we posit that information and communication technology corporations possess specific, and potentially very important, capacities, when it comes to creating, or helping construct, public arenas of citizenship from within which individual citizens can influence their broader political–economic environment. Following this, we discuss how social media can contribute to ‘dysfunctions’ as well as ‘progressions’ in corporate–society relations, and conclude with a number of suggestions for future research. (shrink)

A series of dialogues with the most exciting and controversial German philosopher writing today. Peter Sloterdijk first became known in this country for his late 1980s Critique of Cynical Reason, which confronted headlong the “enlightened false consciousness” of Habermasian critical theory. Two decades later, after spending seven years in India studying Eastern philosophy, he is now attracting renewed interest for his writings on politics and globalization and for his magnum opus Spheres, a three-volume archaeology of the human attempt to (...) dwell within spaces, from womb to globe: Bubbles, 1998; Globes, 1999; Foam, 2004, all forthcoming from Semiotext. In Neither Sun nor Death, Sloterdijk answers questions posed by German writer Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs, commenting on such issues as technological mutation, development media, communication technologies, and his own intellectual itinerary. Iconoclastic and provocative, alternatively sparkling and bombastic, a child of '68 and a libertarian, Sloterdijk is the most exciting and controversial German philosopher to appear on the world scene since Nietzsche and Heidegger. Like Nietzsche, Sloterdijk remains convinced that contemporary philosophers have to think dangerously and let themselves be “kidnapped” by contemporary “hypercomplexities”; they must forsake our present humanist and nationalist world for a wider horizon at once ecological and global. Neither Sun nor Death is the best introduction available to Sloterdijk's philosophical theory of globalization. It reveals a philosophe extraordinaire, encyclopedic and provocative, as much at ease with current French Theory as with Heidegger and Indian mystic Osho Rajneesh. (shrink)

Peter Sloterdijk first became known in this country for his late 1980s Critique of Cynical Reason, which confronted headlong the "enlightened false consciousness" of Habermasian critical theory. Two decades later, after spending seven years in India studying Eastern philosophy, he is now attracting renewed interest for his writings on politics and globalization and for his magnum opus Spheres, a three-volume archaeology of the human attempt to dwell within spaces, from womb to globe: Bubbles, 1998; Globes, 1999; Foam, 2004, all (...) forthcoming from Semiotext. In Neither Sun nor Death, Sloterdijk answers questions posed by German writer Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs, commenting on such issues as technological mutation, development media, communication technologies, and his own intellectual itinerary.Iconoclastic and provocative, alternatively sparkling and bombastic, a child of '68 and a libertarian, Sloterdijk is the most exciting and controversial German philosopher to appear on the world scene since Nietzsche and Heidegger. Like Nietzsche, Sloterdijk remains convinced that contemporary philosophers have to think dangerously and let themselves be "kidnapped" by contemporary "hypercomplexities"; they must forsake our present humanist and nationalist world for a wider horizon at once ecological and global.Neither Sun nor Death is the best introduction available to Sloterdijk's philosophical theory of globalization. It reveals a philosophe extraordinaire, encyclopedic and provocative, as much at ease with current French Theory as with Heidegger and Indian mystic Osho Rajneesh. (shrink)