Atif Khalil in “Intimate Strangers? Jewish-Muslim Relations and the Prospects for Dialogue” has attempted to uncover the common religious and cultural values across theological, legal and mystical intersections between Jewish and Muslim communities in order to foster respect, friendship and harmony between them.
M. Darrol Bryant in “Recovering the Forgotten Contributions of Christian Mystics” brings out the spiritual and humanitarian messages of three Christian women mystics Hildegaard of Bingen (1098-1179), Julian of Norwich (1342-1423) and Teresa of Avila (1515-1582).Reading about them is an inspiration towards unity, harmony and peace.
Fred Lawlor in “The Spirit of SHEN” has aptly summed up the goals and objectives of SHEN as brought out in the September 2016 conference.
The Publisher’s note for the January 2017 issue of Cloverleaf is entitled "Post-Truth Era in Religion and Its Ramifications". It is a reflection on the modernity of the recognition of the term "post-truth" and the antiquity of its mindset. While the notion came to limelight in 2016, its mindset has been playing havoc with the state of our universe for a very long time.
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| Figure 1 shows the neural structure of a human being with (a) pointing to the network of nervous system spread all over the body, (b) pointing to the limbic brain on top of the spine and (c) pointing to the neocortex located just inside the skull around the limbic brain. |
Dear Readers
We are here once again with Volume 5 of Cloverleaf. In the last year humanity has suffered, struggled and learnt to come to terms with the truth of existence on various levels.
Death, Suffering and Disasters are a part of this earth life and the only way forward out of their stranglehold is through harmony and empathy. This is the path put forth by enlightened souls.
This issue is therefore dedicated to peace and harmony.
Abstract: The concept of spiritual awakening is not different from scientific phenomenon as it is the science of ultimate truth. A truth which transcends the ordinary and conscious understanding of man and takes him into the world of unconscious. This paper is going to explore the spiritual awakening, understanding and philosophical vision of India’s greatest bhakti poetesses, Meera Bai, and Emily Dickinson, one of the most celebrated female poets of America. It is an attempt to compare and analyze their love for the divine, their movements, concepts and their philosophical vision.
The passing away of Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) is a deep and irreversible loss to humanity. He passed away on January 22 2022 at the age of 95.
He was a Buddhist monk and a social activist. He served as Chair of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation to the Paris Peace Accords and was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Love, kindness and humanism were the essence of his life. Even though he was a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, his view of the world, humanity and life was not limited to his country or to his religion.
We begin our existence with some capacity for sense perception. Our senses see you and me as two. Thus, duality is our natural default state. We are not able to see the subtle truths veiled from our senses. Our worldview is contained by what we can perceive, and it takes time to fully develop our ability to cognize what our senses cannot perceive.
This is a practical hands-on article. It is on the practice of conscious deep breathing which frees the practitioner from the slavery of the unconscious mind controlling his/her life. Our learning and teaching of this practice to future generations can transform the state of world health, happiness and harmony. It was being referred to in an article entitled What I wish I had been taught in preschool days.
The problem of bias and bigotry is related deeply to human cognition. There is no doubt significant overt bigotry, but there is also a whole lot of covert bigotry. According to eminent social psychologist researching racial bigotry, Jennifer Eberhardt of Stanford (Eberhardt, 2020), implicit bias becomes explicit without our awareness particularly in times of hurry or stress.
We all have a unique mind and a unique body. Biology teaches us that the source of our mind-body duo is the one cell with which we start the journey of our life at conception. That is how connected our body and mind are.
Introduction
World peace and harmony are not the only concepts that can elude us; health, wellness, learning ability, emotional intelligence and executive function are equally elusive. The human condition seems to be marred by a lack of peace, harmony, learning ability, physical and mental disease, emotional disorders, executive disorders, racial and religious bigotry and many other such maladies. The outcome of all such disorders, there is poverty, hunger, suffering and criminality all around. With personal problems galore, there is no sense of the common good.
This tale is about a multi-sessional virtual conference, hosted in the city of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada by Spiritual Heritage Education
Network Inc. (SHEN), in observance of the World Interfaith Harmony Week in 2021. Four sessions took place on the Zoom platform on each of the four Saturdays of February, 2021 from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Stealing the Words
for Eliza
Black-haired, with a whiff of powder
and distant murmur of perfume
you dance into the louder
reaches of the noisy, crowded room,
elegant and colourful, yet silent
your step as graceful as flight
so that every voice is suddenly lent
a moment of your quiet
Plangent, silvery light
flickers along the wintry river
like ripples, like a breeze
the bus tyres squelch through
as through a mist,
skimming the river’s margin,
the Busport road.
This afternoon I walked
past the low wall
where I used to sit
to wait for you, a tiny wall
near the office
which, ridiculously,
I still think of as yours.
I’ve avoided it for years.
I scrambled past, of course,
as quickly as I could
to the ghostly bus stop.
A New Song of Innocence and Experience
after “Paula, I” by Carlos Muro Aguado (Madrid 1947-)
A child’s eyes are full of vulnerable curiosity,
a sense of wonder tinged with a touch of fear,
no sign of adult defiance or animosity,
they look straight at you, but you almost hear
Mid-November, the year races towards its end
frantically; time, the clock says, counts
in a measured, tick-tock regularity
but the older you get the faster it goes.
2017: an eventful year for the world
and for me; but for the world every year
must be eventful. For myself, I look back
on many good things: we went to Singapore,
I sold my haunted house
after almost two years of trying, I bought
It stands at the doors
Unfurling its talons
On benches where love dwelt
At tables where candles used to be lit
On door knobs of domesticity
In places both holy and profane.
It swoops down
On unsuspecting humans
In the warmth of a handshake
In the softness of a hug.
The spectre of Covid 19
A denizen from netherworld
Depressive, deathly, cold
Picking its victims with ease
Stalking the streets
Slinking in hospitals
Reviewer: Sami Rafiq
Author: Shiv Talwar
Year of Publication: 2019
Publisher: Xlibris Us
Price in Indian currency :Rs 2,300.00
Cloverleaf (ISSN 2561-6986)