Navigating Extinction: Zen Buddhism and Eco-Anarchism

What can esoteric knowledge and spiritual practices from the East teach us about the deep psychological roots of domination and hierarchy? In what ways have ancient Buddhist sages acted as anarchist exemplars and deep ecologists long before these traditions began in the West? How might these anarchistic spiritual traditions inform our approaches to work in education, expand our notions of community, help us navigate ecological collapse, and contribute to our efforts to sustain living systems and rekindle our connection to the myriad sentient inhabitants of the places we live beyond the reaches of capital and the State? This paper will examine the anti-doctrine doctrine of Zen Buddhism as a concrete and embodied system of thought and practice for seeing through the delusions of the ego and the psychological and cultural conditioning these delusions engender. What will also be acknowledged is the general lack of attention this spiritual tradition has given to the capitalistic, authoritarian, and anti-ecological systems that tap into and flow from these delusions. It will be argued that these experiential approaches to overcoming the tyranny of the ego have significant implications for loosening the grip of hierarchical thinking, capitalist hyper-consumption, centralized systems of obedience and command, and human destruction of the biosphere.

СЕМАНТИКА ПОРІВНЯНЬ ЯК МАРКЕРІВ БАЗОВИХ ЕМОЦІЙ (НА МАТЕРІАЛІ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ГЕРОЇКО- ФАНТАСТИЧНИХ КАЗОК, ПЕРЕКЛАДЕНИХ НІМЕЦЬКОЮ МОВОЮ)

The article focuses on the study of semantics of comparisons as markers of basic emotions in Ukrainian heroic-fantastic fairy tales translated into German. In the fi eld of linguistics, the comparison transforms from logical to artistic correlating with the type of poetic thinking which forms, develops, changes, and evolves within the cultural and historical development of mankind in general and ethnos in particular. The methodological basis of the semantics of comparisons as markers of basic emotions is formed by the anthropocentric paradigm of modern linguistics (F. S. Batsevych, E. S. Kubryakova, and V. A. Maslova). The terminological apparatus of the study is outlined through the method of defi nitive analysis, whereas the semantic content of the apparatus is revealed through the method of etymological analysis with the use of the methods of comparative analysis. The methods of interpretive-textual and cultural-historical analyses were used to distinguish connotative and situational meanings relevant to the objectifi cation of basiс emotions. The application of the method of stylistic analysis of tropes allowed establishing the poetic features of comparisons and their stylistic color/stylistic neutrality as well as to better understand the idea of a heroic act. To reveal the mechanisms of the processes of materialization and diff erentiation of knowledge on basic emotions, elements of the method of modeling the conceptual system of the emotional state of a fairy-tale character have been involved. The author comes to the conclusion that etymology of the terms “heroism” and “fi ction” is diff erent and that the process of choosing the transformation of body shape correlates with the situation, esoteric knowledge, and magic of things around the world. Furthermore, in fairy tales, the man and nature form one whole, and people, plants and imaginary supernatural beings experience emotions and feelings. The classifi cation of semantic models of comparisons as markers of basic emotions is off ered, and the quality of emotional experience is traced. Key words: comparison, basic emotions, marker, semantics of comparisons as markers of basic emotions, fairy tale, heroic-fantastic tale, semantic model of comparison.

“I can Just Get all the Bits That I Need”: Practitioners’ Use of Open-Access Sport Science Podcasts

The aim of the current investigation was to explore practitioners’ attitudes toward and reasons for listening to open-access podcasts. It is well accepted within the literature that sport and exercise practitioners, such as coaches and sport scientists, perceive several barriers to access of scientific and academic research. Open-access podcasts may provide an alternative platform for developing esoteric knowledge. Nine sport and exercise practitioners (including gym owners, nutritionists, and sport coaches) participated in the investigation. A single-semi structured interview was conducted, and data were analyzed using a thematic network analysis approach. Three themes were constructed from the data—flexibility of podcast listening, convenience of podcast listening, practitioners’ need for authentic and novel information.

Bāuls

Bāuls live in the Bengali-speaking region in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Admired for their enigmatic songs performed to the rhythm of a small drum and a one-string droning instrument, Bāuls are widely viewed as icons of Bengali regional identity. Many singers with a Muslim orientation call themselves Fakirs; most live in Bangladesh, while the majority of singers with a Hindu orientation self-identify as Vaiṣṇava, and some as Śāktas, and are found mainly in West Bengal. Bāuls are householders or renouncers; they tend to be poor and to have a lower caste identity. A number of Bāuls support themselves through singing songs for alms on passing trains, but many supplement this income through part-time work, while still others work full time. Very few earn their living as professional performers. They sing at festivals and fairs and are summoned to perform at ashrams to honor the demise of holy persons. When performing at religious celebrations in villages, or secular events in towns (arranged by the middle classes), Bāuls usually band together as a troupe and are accompanied by lay musicians. Male Bāuls are particularly easy to identify. They dress in white or ocher garments, patchwork vests, and coats when singing for a larger audience and when they beg for alms. Men often wind their hair into a topknot and wrap a turban round their head. Bāul women likewise dress in white or ocher clothes, but, stressing modesty, they tie their hair into a bun when collecting alms and let it loose when they perform on stage. Yet, despite their visibility and popularity, opinions are divided among scholars as to how Bāuls should be defined. These disparate views may in part be traced to colonial Bengal, during which time the educated classes elevated Bāuls as carriers of Bengali tradition in their attempt to fashion a sanitized, unique, and authentic sense of self, stripped of elements that they regarded as problematic. Evidence suggests, however, that most but not all Bāuls learn body-centered practices from murśids or Vaiṣṇava gurus, who belong to different lineages, and who teach esoteric knowledge, not just to Bāuls but a range of other followers, including lay householders and mendicants. From a scholarly viewpoint, given that the body constitutes the main instrument for worship and that the larger universe exists within the human frame, which also harbors the divine in humans, these body-centered practices may be broadly classified as tantric. In 2005, Bāul songs were included in UNESCO’s established Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Knowing God in Eastern Christianity and Islamic Tradition: A Comparative Study

The currently existing type of dialogue of Western and Eastern cultures makes a philosophical exploration of Christianity and Islam compelling as they are fundamental monotheistic religions capable of ensuring the peaceful interaction of various ethnic cultures in the age of deepening secularization. The present analysis of the philosophical and epistemological teachings of the Greek Byzantine Church Fathers and the thinkers of classical Arab-Islamic culture aims at overcoming stereotypes regarding the opposition of Christianity and Islam that strongly permeate both scholarly theorizing and contemporary social discourses. The authors scrutinize the epistemological principles of the exoteric and esoteric knowledge of the Islamic Golden Age and the apophatic and cataphatic ways of attaining the knowledge of God in Early Christianity. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the concepts of personal mystical comprehension of God in Sufism (fanā’) and in Christianity (Uncreated Light).