Randomness and Design

How do we make sense of the simultaneous existence of randomness and design? Both are fundamental, but apparently mutually exclusive. To make sense of that is shalom, wholeness, integration.

How a Gateway Opens

Sometimes confusion and discombobulation are what open a gateway for you.

“Translation as Literary Ambassador”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/books/08translate.html?_r=1
The collaboration between governments, ngo’s, and publishers is a promising development for world literature, for authors, and for publishing (via Nelson French)

“Ellen Brown: Publicly Owned Banks Can Help States and Residents

http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/reviving-the-local-economy-with-publicly-owned-banks

“The Fed may have played all its cards, but state and local governments still hold a few aces: publicly owned banks that could funnel credit where it is needed most, directly into the local economy.”

Where Are we?

While we live, we appear to be in one place at a time. After we die, we are everywhere.

Fear

You do not overcome or quash fears. You embrace them and move forward.

“Does Your Language Shape How You Think?”

This is illuminating (via Dianne Bazell): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html

“The idea that your mother tongue shapes your experience of the world may be true after all.”

YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe

A useful website: http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/

“The only resource of its kind, this encyclopedia provides the most complete picture of the history and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe from the beginnings of their settlement in the region to the present. This Web site makes accurate, reliable, scholarly information about East European Jewish life.”

Translating “God” and “Lord”

Because of the anthropomorphic connotations of the English words, “God” and “Lord,” because of the human tendency to use “God” as a thing or object (thereby objectifying “God”), and because of their inherently gendered meanings (”Lord” as opposed to “Lady” and “God” as opposed to “Goddess”), these words have too much baggage to use in current translations of the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, I often replace “God” with “THE ALL” and “LORD GOD” with “ALL THAT IS.” For “LORD,” I simply use “SOURCE.” This will no doubt prove strange for many readers, but de-familiarization is part of the process of reacquainting oneself with the deeper meanings of the biblical text.      These translations also have the advantage of preserving the actual significance of the Hebrew words which have become ossified in English (and other modern languages) translations and consequently lost their original meanings.

YHWH comes from the Hebrew word, “to be” (hayah), and is explicitly associated with being, becoming, existence, etc. By using a verb to describe the Divine, early Jewish writers imply that the Divine is fundamentally not an object or a thing, but rather that it is relational in nature. One might describe it as “energy,” because it is a force, not an object. The English word, “Lord,” reflects the Hebrew vowel pointing of YHWH as adonai (a – o – ai), used by Jews from antiquity to the present day to avoid saying the Divine name. There are other circumlocutions used by Jews to avoid saying the Divine name:   e.g. “the name” ( hashem) and “the place” (hamaqom). By using “SOURCE” or “ALL THAT IS,” I maintain the original meaning of the word without using the Divine name.

Elohim  is the word that normally translates “God” (from El, the chief deity of the Ugaritic pantheon), but it is a plural form that naturally implies a multiplicity of deities. In the Hebrew Bible, it normally indicates the deity of the Jewish people: the One God, the Eternal. Occasionally it directly indicates more than one god (such as in Genesis 1:26 and 3:22), but even there the notion of oneness persists. As a plural form, Elohim suggests that one cannot limit the Divine to a single thing (which a singular form would connote) and actually implies that the Divine is so all-encompassing that no thing falls outside of its compass. Elohim means unity. From a metaphorical perspective, one might see the Divine as a choir rather than a soloist; here the many become one. This is why the term, “monotheism” (which implies singularity rather than oneness or unity) is inadequate for describing the Jewish and Christian concepts of Divinity. “THE ALL” preserves the all-encompassing character, relationality, unity, and oneness of the Divine.

See how I do this in “translations of Genesis by larry” in “about mystic scholar”: http://mysticscholar.org/about-mystic-scholar/translations-of-genesis-by-larry/

Our Ancestors Inside Us

Our ancestors are inside us all the time. How could they not be? Like tree roots or river beds, they are part of our internal landscape.

Idolatry

Idolatry is seductive because anything can be idolatrous, including worship of God.

Banks over Homeowners

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/232611

How the foreclosure courts in Florida heavily favor banks over homeowners.  Another illustration of the growing power of corporate institutions.

The Power of Metaphors

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/?src=me&ref=general

How metaphors affect our behavior.

Course Syllabi

If interested in my teaching syllabi, please see the page, “Teaching: Syllabi” under “Larry Kant”: http://mysticscholar.org/larry-kant/teaching-syllabi/

Cutting Languages in Universities

More on language study in universities: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/06/27110/.  See my blog post from yesterday: http://mysticscholar.org/2010/12/05/cutting-languages-in-universities/

“Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text: Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22)”

By Laurence H. Kant

1) “Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text:  Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on  Mt. Moriah  (Gen. 22)”: “Part 1,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 77-109; “Part 2”  Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 161-94

2) “Arguing with God and Tiqqun Olam:  A Response to Andre LaCocque on the Aqedah,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 203-19 (this was a response to an article by André Lacocque, “About the ‘Akedah’ in Genesis 22:  A Response to Laurence H. Kant,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 191-201)

AqedahArticlePart1a; AqedahArticlePart2a; and AqedLacocqueResp1

What is the Key to Receiving Spiritual and Creative Messages?

Sometimes doing nothing is the key to receiving creative and  spiritual messages.

When Do Gateways Appear?

Gateways exist inside us, appearing in the world when we are ready.

Cutting Languages in Universities

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/education/05languages.html?hp

This is exactly the wrong direction that universities are taking.  In a time when globalism is the watchword, how can universities cut language study?  Doing so is obviously parochial and short-sighted. French, which is at the chopping block in many places, is the only language spoken on every continent, 119 million people speak it as their mother language, another 65 million are partly French speakers, and there are over 56 Francophone states and governments. Of course, other languages such as German, Italian, Greek, and Latin are essential for understanding who we are as human beings in the West. People who study these languages are much more likely to study other languages (Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, etc.) and be able to operate in a global environment.”

Isaac Meditates

“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at sunset”: Gen 24.63.

(Meditation means both “meditate” and  “study” in Jewish interpretation and bears both connotations here, along with “stroll.”)

Lost in the Woods

When we’re lost in the woods, we can use a compass or follow a stream. When we’re lost in our lives, we can use the intuition of our gut and heart through which our true self and the Source speak.

Each of Our Lives is a Sacred Story

Each of our lives is a sacred story. Learn how to tell it so that others may learn.

When will a Gateway Open?

No one can say when a gateway will open for you.

What is a Gateway?

A gateway is not an object in space and time, but a gap in space and time that allows us momentarily  to be in a place without boundaries.

Interdependence

I am because you are.

Keep Going

Keep going. Success depends on persistence. Keep going. You don’t ever know when your moment will come. Keep going. You just never know.

Chris Henry and Organ Donation

This is quite a moving story:  http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/nfl/CdypPOxkRyMWxJjEkoxYqBr_XWjB6WQe

Photographic Memory

An extraordinary man who can see a place one time, memorize it, and draw it with astonishing precision–here Stephen Wiltshire draws Rome:  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2MBBxU

Babylonian Mathematics

“A remarkable selection of Old Babylonian tablets at New York University shows how sophisticated the society’s mathematics was and how many similarities to later Western systems existed” (via Nelson French).

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/arts/design/27tablets.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a28

Our Lives as Sacred Stories

Each of our lives is a sacred story. Learn how to tell it so that others may learn.

Waking World and Dream World

Both the waking world and dream world are real. The question is: How do we interpret them?

Teaching Others

We live each of our lives not only for ourselves but to teach others.

Who is Adam?

Who is Adam? An androgynous being created from the earth’s soil. We are all Adam, part of the earth.

Learning Lessons

How many lifetimes does it take to learn a lesson?  As many as it takes to learn the lesson.

Revolution

The world does not need a revolution, but it needs leaders who can respond to the revolution that is already happening.

The Death of Old Institutions

When old institutions die, new ones are born.

Free Will

Free will means the choice to be who we are.

Cybertherapy

This is intriguing and ties in to all sorts of creative, existential, and spiritual questions as well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23avatar.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210

Map of a Mortgage

This is something else:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/16/mortgage-security-chart_n_784274.html

Judaism in Indonesia

Judaism thrives in a sliver of Indonesia: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/world/asia/23indo.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

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