St Zen or the St school (, St-sh) is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and baku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Codng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dngshn Linji. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.

The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dgen Zenji, who studied Codng Buddhism (Chinese: ; pinyin: Codng Zng) abroad in China. Dgen is remembered today as the co-patriarch of St Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jkin.

With about 14,000 temples, St is one of the largest Japanese Buddhist organizations.[a] St Zen is now also popular in the West, and in 1996 priests of the St Zen tradition formed the Soto Zen Buddhist Association based in North America.

The original Chinese version of St-sh, i.e. the Caodong-school () was established by the Tang dynasty monk Dongshan Liangjie ( Ja: Tzan Rykai) in the 9th century.

One prevalent view is that the sect's name was originally formed by taking one character each from the names of Dongshan and his disciple Caoshan Benji (, Tzan Rykai), and was originally called Dongcao sect (with the characters in transposed order). However, to paraphrase the Dongshan Yulu (, "Record of the Dialogues of Dongshan"), the sect's name denotes 'colleagues () of the teachings above the caves ()' who together follow the "black wind (teachings of Taoism?)"[citation needed] and admire the masters of various sects.[b]

Perhaps more significantly for the Japanese brand of this sect, Dgen among others advocated the reinterpretation that the "Cao" represents not Caoshan, but rather "Huineng of Caoxi temple" (Skei En); zh:). The branch that was founded by Caoshan died off, and Dgen was a student of the other branch that survived in China.

A precursor to the sect is Shtu Xqin (Ch. , ca.700 ca.790), the attributed author of the poem Sandokai, which formed the basis of Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi of Dongshan Liangjie (Jp. Tzan Rykai) and the teaching of the Five Ranks.

The Caodong-teachings were brought to Japan in 1227, when Dgen returned to Japan after studying Ch'an in China and settled at Kennin-ji in Kyoto. Dgen had received Dharma transmission from Tiantong Rujing at Qngd Temple, where Hongzhi Zhengjue once was abbot. Hongzhi's writings on "silent illumination" had greatly influenced Dgen's own conception of shikantaza.[8]

Dgen did return from China with various kan anthologies and other texts, contributing to the transmission of the koan tradition to Japan.[9] In the first works he wrote he emphasised the practice of zazen, which brought him into trouble at Kennin-ji:

This assertion of the primacy of Zen aroused the anger of the Enryaku-ji monks, who succeeded in driving Dgen from the Kennin-ji where he had settled after his return to the capital.

In 1243 Dgen founded Eihei-ji, one of the two head temples of St-sh today, choosing...

... to create new monastic institutions based on the Chinese model and risk incurring the open hostility and opposition of the established schools.

Daily routine was copied from Chinese practices, which went back to the Indian tradition:

The elements of St practice that contributed most to the success of the school in medieval Japan were precisely the generic Buddhist monastic practices inherited from Sung China, and ultimately from India. The St Zen style of group meditation on long platforms in a sangha hall, where the monks also took meals and slept at night, was the same as that prescribed in Indian Vinaya texts. The etiquette followed in St monasteries can also be traced back to the Indian Vinaya.

Dgen was succeeded around 1236 by his disciple Koun Ej (11981280), who originally was a member of the Daruma school of Nnin, but joined Dgen in 1229.Ej started his Buddhist studies at Mount Hiei, the center of Tendai studies. following his stay there he studied Pure Land Buddhism under Shk, whereafter he joined the Daruma school of Nnin by then led by Kakuan.

Ej, like Dgen, believed in the primacy of Zen Buddhism. He resisted efforts from outside to water down the tradition with other beliefs.

A large group from the Daruma-school under the leadership of Ekan joined the Dogen-school in 1241, after severe conflicts with the Tendai and Rinzai schools. Among this group were Gikai, Gien and Giin, who were to become influential members of Dgen's school.

After the death of Ej, a controversy called the sandai sron occurred. In 1267 Ej retired as Abbot of Eihei-ji, giving way to Gikai, who was already favored by Dogen. Gikai too originally was a member of the Daruma school, but joined Dgen's school in 1241, together with a group from the Nnin school led by Ekan. Gikai introduced esoteric elements into the practice:

[W]ith the premature death of Dgen the group lost its focus and internal conflicts led to a split. Dgen's followers soon introduced such esoteric elements as prayers and incantations into the teaching.

Opposition arose, and in 1272 Ej resumed the position of abbot. After his death in 1280, Gikai became abbot again, strengthened by the support of the military for magical practices. Opposition arose again, and Gikai was forced to leave Eihei-ji, and exiled to Kaga Province, Daj-ji (in Ishikawa Prefecture). He was succeeded by Gien, who was first trained in the Daruma-school of Nnin. His supporters designated him as the third abbot, rejecting the legitimacy of Gikai.

The second most important figure in St, Keizan, belonged to this dissident branch. Keizan received ordination from Ej when he was, twelve years old, shortly before Ej's death When he was seventeen he went on a pilgrimage for three years throughout Japan. During this period, he studied Rinzai, Shingon and Tendai. After returning to Daij-ji, Keizan received dharma transmission from Gikai in 1294, and established Joman-ji. In 1303 Gikai appointed Keizan as abbot of Daij-ji, a position he maintained until 1311.

Keizan enlarged the Shingon-temple Yk-ji in Ishikawa prefecture, turning it into a Zen monastery in 1312. Thereafter he inherited the Shingon temple Shogaku-ji in 1322, renaming it Sji-ji, which was recognized as an official monastery. In 1324 he put Gasan Jseki in charge of Sojo-ji, and returned to Yk-ji. Yko-ji was Keizan's main temple, but Sji-ji thrived better, thanks to Gasan Jseki

Though today Dgen is referred as the founder of St, for a long period St history recognized several important ancestors, next to Dgen. In 1877 the heads of the St community acknowledged Keizan for a brief period as the overall founder of the St sect.

Dogen is known as the "koso", where Keizan is known as the "taiso";

Both terms mean the original patriarch, that is, the founder of Japanese St Zen tradition.

At the end of the Kamakura period, Dgen's school centered around four centers, namely Eihei-ji, Daijo-ji monastery, and the temples Yoko-ji and Soji-ji. Soji-ji became the most influential center of the Dgen school.

During the Muromachi period the Rinzai school was the most successful of the schools, since it was favoured by the shgun. But Soto too spread out over Japan.

Gasan Jseki (12751365) and Meiho Sotetsu were Keizan's most prominent students.

Gasan too started his Buddhist studies at mount Hiei. He became head of Soji-ji in 1324. Gasan adopted the Five Ranks of Tung-shan as a fit vehicle to explain the Mahayana teachings.

Sotetsu became head of Yoko-ji in 1325. Initially his influence soon grew. In 1337 Sotetsu was appointed as abbot of Daijo-ji.

After a period of war Japan was re-united in the AzuchiMomoyama period. Neo-Confucianism gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control. The power of Buddhism decreased during the Tokugawa period. Buddhism had become a strong political and military force in Japan and was seen as a threat by the ruling clan. Measures were taken to control the Buddhist organisations, and to limit their power and influence. The temple hierarchy system was centralized and unified.

Japan closed the gates to the rest of the world. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception was the baku lineage, which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo period by Ingen, a Chinese monk. The presence of these Chinese monks also influenced the existing Zen-schools, spreading new ideas about monastic discipline and the rules for dharma transmission.

The St school started to place a growing emphasis on textual authority. In 1615 the bakufu declared that "Eheiji's standards (kakun) must be the rule for all St monks". In time this came to mean all the writings of Dgen, which thereby became the normative source for the doctrines and organisation of the St school.

A key factor in this growing emphasis on Dogen was Manzan's appeal to change the rules for dharma transmission, based on arguments derived from the Shbgenz. From its beginnings, St-sh has laid a strong emphasis on the right lineage and dharma transmission. In time, dharma transmission became synonymous with the transmission of temple ownership. When an abbot changed position, becoming abbot of another temple, he also had to discard his lineage and adopt the lineage of his new temple. This was changed by Manzan Dokahu (16361714), a St reformer, who...

[P]ropagated the view that Dharma transmission was dependent on personal initiation between a Master and disciple rather than on the disciple's enlightenment. He maintained this view in the face of strong opposition, citing as authority the towering figure of Japanese Zen, Dgen... This became and continues to this day to be the official St Zen view.

Dgen scholarship came to a central position in the St sect with the writings of Menzan Zuih (16831769), who wrote over a hundred works, including many commentaries on Dgen's major texts and analysis of his doctrines. Menzan promoted reforms of monastic regulations and practice, based on his reading of Dgen.

Another reformation was implemented by Gent Sokuch (17291807), the 11th abbot of Eihei-ji, who tried to purify the St school, de-emphasizing the use of kans. In the Middle Ages kan study was widely practiced in the St school. Gent Sokuch started the elevation of Dgen to the status he has nowadays, when he implemented new regulations, based on Dgen's regulations.

This growing status of Dgen as textual authority also posed a problem for the St school:

The St hierarchy, no doubt afraid of what other radical reformers might find in Dgen's Shobo Genzo, a work open to a variety of interpretations, immediately took steps to restrict access to this traditional symbol of sectarian authority. Acting at the request of the St prelates, in 1722 the government prohibited the copying or publication of any part of Shobo Genzo.

During the Meiji period (18681912) Japan abandoned its feudal system and opened up to Western modernism. Shinto became the state religion, and Buddhism was coerced to adapt to the new regime. Rinzai and St Zen chose to adapt, with embarrassing consequences when Japanese nationalism was endorsed by the Zen institutions. War endeavours against Russia, China and finally during the Pacific War were supported by the Zen establishment.

Within the Buddhist establishment the Western world was seen as a threat, but also as a challenge to stand up to. Parties within the Zen establishment sought to modernize Zen in accord with Western insights, while simultaneously maintaining a Japanese identity.

During this period a reappraisal of Dgen started. The memory of Dgen was used to ensure Eihei-ji's central place in the St organisation, and "to cement closer ties with lay people". In 1899 the first lay ordination ceremony was organized in Eihei-ji. Eihei-ji also promoted the study of Dgen's works, especially the Shbgenz, which changed the view of Dgen in St's history. An image of Dgen was created that suited the specific interests of Eihei-ji:

Dgen's memory has helped keep Eihei-ji financially secure, in good repair, and filled with monks and lay pilgrims who look to Dgen for religious inspiration... the Dgen we remember is a constructed image, an image constructed in large measure to serve the sectarian agendas of Eihei-ji in its rivalry with Sji-ji. We should remember that the Dgen of the Shbgenz, the Dgen who is held up as a profound religious philosopher, is a fairly recent innovation in the history of Dgen remembrances.

Funerals continue to play an important role as a point of contact between the monks and the laity. Statistics published by the St school state that 80 percent of St laymen visit their temple only for reasons having to do with funerals and death, while only 17 percent visit for spiritual reasons and a mere 3 percent visit a Zen priest at a time of personal trouble or crisis.

In a piece of advice to western practitioners, Kojun Kishigami Osho, a dharma heir of Kd Sawaki, writes:

Every year, about 150 novices arrive. About 90 percent of them are sons of temple heads, which leaves only 10 percent who chose this path for themselves. For the autumn session, about 250 monks come together. Essentially what they are learning in these temples is the ability to officiate all kinds of ceremonies and rites practiced by the St School the methods for fulfilling their role. Apart from this aspect, practicing with the idea of developing ones own spirituality is not prevalent.[web 1]

According to Kishigami, practice may as well be undertaken elsewhere:

If you want to study Buddhism, I recommend the Japanese universities. If you want to learn the ceremonies practiced by the St School, you need only head for Eihei-ji or Soji-ji.

But if your goal is to seriously learn the practice of zazen, unfortunately, I have no Japanese temple to recommend to you. Of course, you can go to Antai-ji, if you want; but if you want to deepen your practice of true Zen, you can do it in Europe. If you go to Japan for this, you will be disappointed. Don't expect to find anything wonderful there.[web 1]

In the 20th century St Zen spread out to the west.

Shunry Suzuki played a central role in bringing St to the west. Suzuki studied at Komazawa University, the St Zen university in Tokyo. In 1959 Suzuki arrived in California to attend to Soko-ji, at that time the sole St temple in San Francisco. His book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind has become a classic in western Zen culture. Suzuki's teaching of Shikantaza and Zen practice led to the formation of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of the largest and most successful Zen organizations in the West. The training monastery of the San Francisco Zen center, at Tassajara Hot Springs in central California, was the first Buddhist Monastery to be established outside Asia. Today SFZC includes Tassajara Monastery, Green Gulch Farm, and City Center. Various Zen Centers around the U.S. are part of the dharma lineage of San Francisco Zen Center and maintain close organizational ties with it.

Suzuki's assistant Dainin Katagiri was invited to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he moved in 1972 after Suzuki's death. Katagiri and his students built four St Zen centers within MinneapolisSaint Paul.[web 2][web 3][web 4]

The Sanbo Kyodan, in which St and Rinzai are merged, is also of central importance western St Zen. Their lineage, starting with Hakuun Yasutani, includes Taizan Maezumi, who gave dharma transmission to various American students, among them Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, Dennis Genpo Merzel disrobed in disgrace, Charlotte Joko Beck and John Daido Loori.

In Europe the Sanbo Kyodan has been influential via Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, and via students of Dennis Genpo Merzel, especially in the Netherlands.

Sanbo Kyodan was also connected to the Soen NakagawaEido Tai Shimano lineage, (disgraced), due to a personal fondness of Soen for the teaching practices of Harada roshi, who was the teacher of Hakuun Yasutani.

The Antaiji-based lineage of Kd Sawaki is also widespread. Sawaki's student and successor as abbot Ksh Uchiyama was the teacher of Shhaku Okumura who established the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana, and his student Gud Wafu Nishijima was Brad Warner's teacher.

Houn Jiyu-Kennett (1924-1996) was the first western female Soto Zen priest. She converted to Buddhism in the early 1950s, and studied in Sojiji, Japan, from 1962 to 1963.[46] Formally, Keido Chisan Koho Zenji was her teacher, but practically, one of Koho Zenji's senior officers, Suigan Yogo roshi, was her main instructor. She became Osh, i.e. "priest" or "teacher," in 1963. In 1969 she returned to the west, founding Shasta Abbey in 1970.[46]

The larger majority of North American St priests[c] joined together in 1996 to form the Soto Zen Buddhist Association. While institutionally independent of the Japanese Stsh, the St Zen Buddhist Association works closely with what most members see as their parent organization. With about one hundred fully transmitted priests, the St Zen Buddhist Association now represents about 80% of Western St teachers.[48] The Soto Zen Buddhist Association approved a document honoring the women ancestors in the Zen tradition at its biannual meeting on October 8, 2010. Female ancestors, dating back 2,500 years from India, China, and Japan, may now be included in the curriculum, ritual, and training offered to Western Zen students.[49]

Daily services in St monasteries include chanting of sutras and dharanis.[web 5]

In the St school of Zen, Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.

Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of this practice can be found throughout Dgen's works:

In the first works he wrote after his return to Japan, the Fukan zazengi (Principles for the universal promotion of zazen) and Bendwa (Distinguishing the Way), he advocated zazen (seated meditation) as the supreme Buddhist practice for both monks and laypersons.

Other important texts promoting zazen are the Shbgenz, and the "Principles of Zazen"[web 6] and the "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen".[web 7]

St Zen was often given the derogatory name "farmer Zen" because of its mass appeal. Some teachers of Zen would say that the reason why it was called "farmer Zen" was because of its down-to-earth approach, while the Rinzai school was often called "samurai Zen" because of the larger samurai following.[50][51] The latter term for the Rinzai can be somewhat misleading, however, as the St school also had samurai among its rosters.[52]

St Zen, like all of Zen, relies on the Prajnaparamita Sutras, as well as general Mahayana Buddhist sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Brahma Net Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra. Zen is influenced in large part by the Yogacara school of philosophy as well as the Huayan school.

Until the promotion of Dogen studies in modern times, the study of Chinese texts was prevalent in St:

After textual learning was revived during the early Tokugawa period, most Japanese St monks still studied only well-known Chinese Buddhist scriptures or classic Chinese Zen texts. Eventually a few scholarly monks like Menzan Zuih began to study Dgen's writings, but they were the exceptions. Even when scholarly monks read Dgen's writings, they usually did not lecture on them to their disciples.

Shih-t'ou Hsi-ch'ien's (Shitou Xiqien, Sekito Kisen, 700790) poem "The Harmony of Difference and Sameness" is an important early expression of Zen Buddhism and is chanted in St temples to this day.

One of the poems of Tung-shan Liang-chieh, the founder of St, "The Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness" is also chanted in St temples. Another set of his poems on the Five Positions (Five Ranks) of Absolute and Relative is important as a set of kans in the Rinzai school.

Other texts typically chanted in St Zen temples include the Heart Sutra (Hannyashingy), and Dgen's Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen).

Dgen's teaching is characterized by the identification of practice as enlightenment itself. This is to be found in the Shbgenz. The popularity of this huge body of texts is from a relatively recent date:

Today, when someone remembers Dgen or thinks of St Zen, most often that person automatically thinks of Dgen's Shbgenz. This kind of automatic association of Dgen with this work is very much a modern development. By the end of the fifteenth century most of Dgen's writings had been hidden from view in temple vaults where they became secret treasures... In earlier generations only one Zen teacher, Nishiari Bokusan (18211910), is known to have ever lectured on how the Shbgenz should be read and understood.

The study of Dgen, and especially his Shobogenzo, has become the norm in the 20th century:

Beginning in 1905 Eiheiji organized its first Shbgenz conference (Genz e)... Since 1905 it has become an annual event at Eiheiji, and over time it gradually changed the direction of St Zen monastic education... Stan's lectures provided a model that could be emulated by each of the other Zen monks who came to Eiheiji. This model has become the norm, not the exception. Today every St Zen teacher lectures on Dgen's Shbgenz.

St's head temples (honzan)

The St-sh organisation has an elaborate organisation.[d] It consists of about 15,000 temples. There are circa 30 training centers, where St monks can train to become an osh or priest and run their own temple.[web 8]

St-shu has a centralised organisation, run by a head:

St-sh is a democratic organization with a head (called Shmusch) that is elected by a parliament. The parliament in turn consist of 72 priests that are elected in 36 districts throughout Japan, 2 from each district. The Shmusch selects a cabinet that consists of him and seven other priests who together govern the organization. It is commonly believed that the Kanch, who is either the head of Eiheiji or Sjiji, the two head temples, is the boss of St-sh. This is not the case. The Kanch has only representational functions; the real power lies with the Shmusch and his cabinet.[web 8]

Contemporary St-sh has four classes of temples:

While Eihei-ji owes its existence to Dgen, throughout history this head temple has had significantly fewer sub-temple affiliates than the Sji-ji. During the Tokugawa period, Eiheiji had approximately 1,300 affiliate temples compared to Sji-ji's 16,200. Furthermore, out of the more than 14,000 temples of the St sect today, 13,850 of those identify themselves as affiliates of Sji-ji. Additionally, most of the some 148 temples that are affiliates of Eiheiji today are only minor temples located in Hokkaidofounded during a period of colonization during the Meiji period. Therefore, it is often said that Eiheiji is a head temple only in the sense that it is head of all St dharma lineages.

The St-sh is an "umbrella (hokatsu) organization for affiliated temples and organizations".[attribution needed] It has "three sets of governing documents":[attribution needed]

Persons

Practice

Chinese Chn

Japanese Zen

Temples

General

Japan

Europe

USA

History and academic studies

See the article here:
St - Wikipedia

Sivananda Ashram Beacon Yoga Centre has been serving the Western Australian community for more than 40 years.

Our Ashram has been the matrix of yoga in Western Australia since 1976 when it was founded by the great Indian sage and yogi Swami Venkatesananda.

Assisting the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of the many thousands of people who have attended its yoga classes, meditation workshops, live-in retreats and a multitude of other wellbeing activities over that time.

It is a beehive of spiritual activity. Every week it offers more than twenty classes in the practice and study of yoga and meditation as well as a variety of other courses and workshops.

Our ashram's meditation hall, vast library and residential buildings are accessible to members of the public who would like to gain an experience of what this amazing centre has to offer and to all who wish to avail themselves of its peace and serenity.

Set on half an acre, high atop a hill in Beaconsfield the ashram also offers residential accommodation for those who wish to live the yogic lifestyle whether short or long-term.

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Sivananda Ashram Fremantle Western Australia

Many of the tropes of science fiction can be viewed as similar to the goals of transhumanism. Science fiction literature contains many positive depictions of technologically enhanced human life, occasionally set in utopian (especially techno-utopian) societies. However, science fiction's depictions of technologically enhanced humans or other posthuman beings frequently come with a cautionary twist. The more pessimistic scenarios include many dystopian tales of human bioengineering gone wrong.

Examples of "transhumanist fiction" include novels by Linda Nagata, Greg Egan, Zoltan Istvan, and Hannu Rajaniemi. Transhuman novels are often philosophical in nature, exploring the impact such technologies might have on human life. Nagata's novels, for example, explore the relationship between the natural and artificial, and suggest that while transhuman modifications of nature may be beneficial, they may also be hazardous, so should not be lightly undertaken.[1] Egan's Diaspora explores the nature of ideas such as reproduction and questions if they make sense in a post-human context. Istvan's novel The Transhumanist Wager explores how far one person would go to achieve an indefinite lifespan via science and technology.[2] Rajaniemi's novel, while more action oriented, still explores themes such as death and finitude in post-human life.

Fictional depictions of transhumanist scenarios are also seen in other media, such as movies (Transcendence), television series (the Ancients of Stargate SG-1), manga and anime (Ghost in the Shell), role-playing games (Rifts and Eclipse Phase) and video games (Deus Ex or BioShock).

The science fiction film genre has always had a hand in exploring transhumanism and the ethics and implications surrounding it. In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, however, there has been a surge of films and television shows focusing on the superhero genre. There are many superheroes whose stories are propelled or entirely result from dealings with transhumanism. From The Incredibles, to Iron Man, to The Batman saga, there have been plenty of heroes who did not receive their powers naturally, and therefore represent the great leap human beings may take into improving their own condition. Additionally, because these films represent the most popular trend in the medium today, they indeed represent a glimpse into the ideological shift of western culture as a whole. The fixation on normal men and women improving themselves artificially seems to have become a very widely accepted and celebrated idea.[3]

See the rest here:
Transhumanism in fiction - Wikipedia

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The Nietzsche

Introduction Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.Photos.com/Jupiterimages

The main goal of the wide-ranging intellectual movement called the Enlightenment was to understand the natural world and humankinds place in it solely on the basis of reason. The movement claimed the allegiance of a majority of thinkers in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a period that Thomas Paine called the Age of Reason. German philosopher Immanuel Kant saw the essential characteristic of the Enlightenment as a freeing from superstition and ignorance. At its heart the movement became a conflict between established religion and the inquiring mind that wanted to know and understand through reason based on evidence and proof.

The Enlightenment was inspired by a common faith in the possibility of a better world. Enlightenment thinkers wanted to reform society. They celebrated reason not only as the power by which human beings understand the universe but also as the means by which they improve the human condition. The goals of rational humans were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness. The movement led to revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics.

The Enlightenment was especially prominent in France, where its leaders were known as the philosophes. One of the great works of the philosophes was the publication of a multivolume encyclopedia, the Encyclopdie. The Enlightenment occurred all across Europe, however, notably also in Scotland (where it was called the Scottish Enlightenment) and Germany (where it was known as the Aufklrung).

Like all historical movements, the Enlightenment had its roots in the past. Three of the chief sources for Enlightenment thought were the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers, the Renaissance, and the scientific revolution of the late Middle Ages.

The ancient philosophers had noticed the regularity in the operation of the natural world and concluded that the reasoning mind could see and explain this regularity. Among these philosophers Aristotle was preeminent in discovering and explaining the natural world.

The birth of Christianity interrupted philosophical attempts to analyze and explain purely on the basis of reason. Christianity built a complicated worldview that relied on both faith and reason to explain reality.

The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation ended the worldview that the church had presented for a thousand years. The Renaissance revived classical learning, while the Reformation broke up the Christian church in western Europe. Coupled with these events was the scientific revolution, a modern movement that soon lost patience with religious quibbling and the attempts of churches to hamper progress in thought. Among the leaders of this revolution were Francis Bacon, Ren Descartes, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Galileo, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, andmost significant of allIsaac Newton. Among other achievements, Newton captured in a few mathematical equations the laws that govern the motions of the planets. This success of Newtons contributed to a growing faith in the capacity of human beings to attain knowledge.

The response of organized religion to the avalanche of new ideas and facts was far from friendly. A perfect example of this is that Galileo was called before the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Rome and forced to take back his statements that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the solar system. Churches in the 17th and 18th centuries sought to defend themselves against Enlightenment rationalism, and the great number of new denominations after the Protestant Reformation made a united front impossible.

While most early supporters of rationalism and new scientific methods did not deny either God or religion, they brought both under the microscope of reason. They rejected religious knowledge acquired through either revelation or the teaching of any church. Instead, they accepted a certain body of religious knowledge that they thought was inborn in every person or that could be acquired by the use of reason. Advocates of this natural, or rational, religious attitude expressed a belief in a benevolent and loving God who was the author of natures wonders, a God who had set the world in motion and formulated the laws by which it operated. They also believed in the obligation of people to lead virtuous and pious lives. This religious viewcalled Deismfound many followers during the Enlightenment, but it was never an organized religion like Christianity.

Eventually both Christianity and its deistic opponents were faced with a rejection of religion in an upsurge of atheism, the disbelief in the existence of a god or gods. This reaction had its roots in the ancient philosophy of materialism that had been set forth by Epicurus and his followersa world of atoms and empty space and nothing more (see Epicureanism). If reason could not discover a god, said the atheists, there was no purpose served by deciding there was one.

Very little escaped examination by Enlightenment thinkers. Besides criticizing established religion and broadening the range of scientific effort, they provided new points of view on society, politics, law, economics, and the course of history.

The Deist search for a natural religion led to an investigation of peoples in all parts of the world. The conclusion was, according to Scottish philosopher David Hume, that there is a great uniformity among the acts of men in all nations and ages. This led to a sense that all people are linked together in a universal brotherhood. The Swiss lawyer Emmerich de Vattel urged the creation of a society of states living in peace under the binding rules of natural law. Toward the end of the 18th century, Immanuel Kant wrote Toward Perpetual Peace, but by then Europe was embroiled in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.

The optimistic view of a universal brotherhood was reinforced by the English philosopher John Lockes notion that people are the result of their environment. He believed that humans are born without qualities such as goodness or evil and that an individuals character is formed by experiences of the world. Locke likened the human mind at birth to a tabula rasa, or blank slate or writing tablet, on which experience writes.

Beliefs, like other human differences, were thought to be the product of environment. For this reason, Enlightenment leaders argued that moral improvement should be the responsibility of society. Lockes theories led to the idea that the existing social, economic, and political abuses should be corrected. The brutality of law enforcement and the institution of slavery were both attacked. Moreover, human irrationality was believed to be the result of false ideas, instilled by faulty schooling. Enlightenment thinkers thus believed that education should be a prime concern of society.

The Enlightenment gave rise to what were then considered radical political theories. Several important Enlightenment thinkers criticized arbitrary, authoritarian governments. They began to propose a different form of social organization, based on the idea of natural rights that all people had.

The French writer Voltaire, a major figure of the Enlightenment, was a staunch advocate of the principles of reason, liberty, justice, and toleration. He used his sharp wit to skewer the absurdities of religious intolerance and of the absolute rule of kings.

In England, John Lockes highly influential theories supported democracy as a better form of government. Locke believed that each person is naturally free and equal under the law of nature. He argued that chief among the natural rights are the rights to life, liberty (freedom from arbitrary rule), and property. Locke wrote that legitimate government represents a social contract, in which people consent to be governed by majority rule but do not give up their natural rights. The ultimate source of government authority is the people, not a king or other ruler. Locke argued that if a government abuses its trust and violates the peoples fundamental rights, the people are entitled to rebel. They can then replace that government with another to whose laws they can willingly give their consent.

The French political philosopher Montesquieu developed the theory that political authority should be separated into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. He believed that this separation and balance of powers would help to prevent the abuse of government authority and protect individual liberties. Montesquieu also classified governments by their manner of conducting policy. He wrote that democracies (and other republics) are based on the quality of public virtue, or the motivation to achieve the public good.

Montesquieu was a strong influence on the Swiss-born French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau, in his treatise The Social Contract, argued for a society in which the separate wills of individuals are combined to govern as the general willthe public spirit seeking the common good of liberty and equality. This general will is expressed in laws to which all submit. Rousseaus book was an emotionally charged work calling for political democracy.

Before the end of the 18th century, Enlightenment ideas about democracy won significant victories. Locke himself had helped draft the English Bill of Rights in the late 17th century. About a century later, Enlightenment political philosophy strongly influenced the Founding Fathers of what became the United States. Thomas Jefferson wove the principles of Lockean rights into the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The framers of the U.S. Constitution embraced Montesquieus ideas about the separation of powers. In France, during the French Revolution, the thought of Montesquieu and Rousseau influenced the creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which proclaims that men are born and remain free and equal in rights and that the Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in its making. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes.

The thinkers of the Enlightenment realized that for all of history the hand of law had been turned against the masses and in favor of the few. Law was therefore criticized on the ground that it was invalid unless it conformed to the natural law. Law was not made by rules but was discovered by right reason.

Enlightenment thinkers proposed changes in government involvement in economic affairs. In both France and Great Britain early classical economistsincluding Adam Smith of Scotlandclaimed that individuals freed from government interference would serve their own economic interest, and by so doing they would serve the general good of society as well. Smith has been hailed by politicians and economists in the United States and the United Kingdom as the founder of, and inspiration for, capitalism. In Smiths The Wealth of Nations (1776), the fundamental principles of capitalism are fashioned into the powerful economic and social theory that today dominates politics in much of the developed world.

The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the history of humankind moved in cyclesfrom growth and prosperity to decay and death. The Christian church looked forward to the heavenly kingdom of God. Thinkers such as Francis Bacon, however, criticized these views. He believed that by the proper methods of inquiry humankind could move to greater benefits through the conquest of nature. By the end of the 18th century, the idea of scientific and intellectual progress turned into a general belief in the progress of humankind, a progress that was both moral and material but that would depend on the rule of sound reason.

The Enlightenment ended as people began to react against its extremes. The celebration of abstract reason provoked contrary spirits to begin exploring the world of sensation and emotion in the cultural movement known as Romanticism. People seeking religious solace or salvation began to turn away from the rationalist Deism. Moreover, the French Revolution entered a period in which the revolutionaries executed many thousands of nobles, priests, and others suspected of being opponents. This Reign of Terror severely tested the belief that people could govern themselves well without a king.

Many of the effects of the Age of Reason persist today, however, particularly in the respect given to science and in the growth of democracy. The high optimism that marked much of Enlightenment thought survived as one of the movements most enduring legacies the belief that human history is a record of general progress.

Read more:
Enlightenment - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help

Life coaching addresses people across cultures and backgrounds, supporting to achieve clarity, awareness, more confidence and peace of mind. Whetheryou feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, low energized or just want to continue your personal growth and development, coaching is the tool to embark on.

We will understand your past and work with it to meet you in the present and focus on moving you forward in your life. As opposed to other methods and therapies, personal coaching will focus on building you further capabilities to deal with life today and in future events.

Coaching focuses on you and you will be the most important person in the room. We will work together to find your goals and design programs to support you at all levels, emotional, cognitive and somatic. Expect to gain long term capabilities to deal with life difficulties on your own and let go of behaviors, patterns or people that no longer serve you. Long lasting change may take some time, but once tapped into, you will have more clarity, presence and balance in your life, and an overall sense of positivity and abundance.

What can you expect as a result?

What a coaching session is and is not?

Read this article:
Life Coaching - Camelia Krupp (Mihai), Switzerland

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUPWednesdays/Thursdays 7:30pm-9:00pm

The goal of the Personal Development Group is to become more aware of our impact on other people, to better understand ourselves, to discover what holds us back from living a more fulfilling life, and to learn how to have more satisfying relationships.

The Personal Development Group is a space where members are invited to express their immediate, here-and-now thoughts, feelings and reactions towards and about other members including anger, sexual attraction, fear, hurt, and affection. Members learn to access and express their own emotions and to comprehend and respond to the emotions of other people. They discover how they might sabotage relationships and explore how to create and sustain intimacy, to ask for what they need, and to receive it.

The group fee is $60 per week and is not covered by insurance at IPG. Group is not for people in acute crisis or psychosis, active addiction or suicidality. Members who are not currently in individual treatment will be encouraged to pursue individual therapy while they attend group. Members are renting a space in the group and are charged for every session, regardless of attendance.

Originally posted here:
Personal Development Group | Insight Psychological Group ...

Hilary Hinton Zig Ziglar commonly known as Zig Ziglar. Born in Coffee county, Alabama is one of the most widely acclaimed motivational speaker. he was born on 6 November in 1926. He was an American Author, salesman and a highly famous motivational speaker. He was born in Alabama to John Silas Ziglar and Lila Wescott Ziglar. He had eleven siblings and he was the tenth of all twelve kids. When he was five years old his dad took up a job in Mississippi and they all moved there. His father passed away a year later because of heart stroke and two days after his fathers death his younger sister also passed away.

During World War 2 he served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1945. He went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia. He later in life started working as a salesman in a series of companies. He was appointed as the Vice president and training director of Automotive performance company in 1968 and moved to Dallas, Texas. Despite the tragic fall down the stairs that left him with short term memory loss, he continued traveling around the world to be part of various seminars as a motivational speaker. He married Jean in 1944 in Jackson, Mississippi. When they got married he was just 17 and she was 16 years old. They had four kids.

He passed away at the ripe age of 86 on November 28, 2012 succumbing to Pneumonia in Plano, Texas. He led a complete and fulfilling life that inspired so many people. Below are some of Zig ziglar most famous quotes.

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50 Great Inspirational Quotes By Zig Ziglar | Quote Ideas

In October of 2016, we raised $76,000 to help kickstart our new conscious news platform. With this platform we hoped to have a daily recap, a lot more investigative journalism and do regular video stories. We wanted to fill a missing gap in the way quality news was told from a truth and conscious perspective.

The money raised was a big help in getting things started, however by Dec of the same year, we saw a 35% reach cut on Facebook, essentially meaning a 35% cut to our revenue.

By June 2017, we saw another 20% cut, and by Dec 2017, another 30%.

This meant that while we had some kickstart money to begin a large project, we also lost most of our momentum and steam from our reach and other revenue sources, and eventually had to slow things down on the project. In 2017 we posted a loss of over $250,000 as a result of revenue cuts by Facebook.

So we re-focused and began building new ways of generating revenue to get ourselves to a point where we could thrive. However, more reach cuts came in 2018.

It wasnt until July 2018 when we started putting up monthly numbers where we were no longer losing money. As of Novemeber, 2018, we have not been able to expand much beyond this and are currently not fully sustaining.

We have plans with our new CETV platform to generate revenue, but because we opted not to generate any kickstart funding because of what happened in the past, it has been a grind.

As of Dec 26th, 2018, we have launched CETV and hope to get our company on track by mid 2019 and then bring our news station project back into the picture.

A big part of why we are doing this CMM campaign is to get consistent and secure revenue so we can do our work.

Link:
Conscious Media Movement CE Explorers Lounge

About Jack ButlerJack Butler is a social entrepreneur, coach, workshop leader and speaker. His latest venture provides full spectrum human development through coaching, programmes and other development resources for leaders and entrepreneurs. He founded Future Foundations (www.future-foundations.co.uk), a leading youth personal development training organization. He is a professional member of the International Enneagram Association and a former fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Jack was the IAB 2007 Young Entrepreneur of the Year runner-up and took a double first class degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Jack spends his time between London and Brighton in the UK and Boulder, CO and the Bay Area in the US. In his spare time, he enjoys physical challenges (3 Peaks Challenge 2010, Tresco Marathon 2006) and supporting The Simultaneous Policy Organisation (www.simpol.org.uk). He is a Partner in Passion and Purpose of the Grubb Guild, a voracious reader of personal, cultural and spiritual development, and likes to inquire, journal, travel and write.

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The Global Evolution camp registration open | The blog ...