8.1 C
Brussels
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Home Blog Page 1534

Aldous Huxley and Alternative Spirituality, a review by Patrick Horn

By
Juan Sanchez Gil
-
0
Aldous Huxley and Alternative Spirituality
Aldous Huxley and Alternative Spirituality

Aldous Huxley is among the most important thinkers of the 20th century. He was a key figure among a network of intellectuals and writers interested in transcendence and transformation, and he enormously influenced the Human Potential Movement, the 1960s psychedelic counterculture, the New Age Movement, and deep ecology.

In Aldous Huxley and Alternative Spirituality, Jake Poller reviews Huxley’s investigations and experiments in sociology and mysticism in comparison to the differing perspectives on similar themes in his fiction, including Brave New World (Chatto & Windus, 1932) and Island (Chatto & Windus,1962). Poller skillfully shows the modern literary influence of H.G. Wells and D.H. Lawrence on Huxley’s early aesthetic and also defines a cultic milieu for the Perennial Philosophy, which is contrasted to historical antecedents and similar variations. The author draws heavily from the literary criticism of David Bradshaw and cites Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Jeffrey J. Kripal in positing a Western esoteric tradition. Finally, Poller situates Huxley in a sequence of mind-altering drug champions that include P.D. Ouspensky and Aliester Crowley as predecessors, scientific researchers Humphrey Osmond and Albert Hoffman, and popularizers such as Timothy Leary and Terence McKenna.

Huxley critiqued the aims of Gerald Heard’s Open Conspiracy Club, which envisioned a collective eschatology in Western psychology when an elite group of scientists and industrialists displace nationalist states with a rational, technocratic planetary government. During the first phase, the vague beginnings of organization sought to define the aims with proposals and propaganda, intimate contact with educational reformers, and actual development of the Earth’s resources in a global economy and world banking system. Huxley, who was a member of Heard’s Peace Pledge Union, worried about the dangers of machines intended to elevate humanity instead enslaving people, and he also warned about the possibility of exploitation when humans are trained (and drugged) to be obedient workers and predictable consumers. Huxley believed that peace is not possible without a religious philosophy agreeable to all nations. He rejected behavioralism in favor of Immanuel Kant’s transcendental idealism and proposed a Minimum Working Hypothesis and FourFundamental Tenets of the Perennial Philosophy, which is not universal (found in all religions at all times) but recurs in several traditions. Huxley was intrigued by examples of socially and spiritually mandated forms of sexual promiscuity, and his ideal politics would make the world safe for mystical experience.

Poller traces the varieties of perennialism starting with definitions: “spiritual” is neither secular nor is it institutional religion; “alternative” is not mainstream culture. Mysticism (as defined by William James and Rudolf Otto) is not esotericism (a Renaissance synthesis and polemic Other to Enlightenment discourse) which is not occultism (like Theosophy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn).

Moreover, Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy is historically distinct from both De Perennis Philosophia (the Vatican librarian’s response to Luther’s protest) and also Marsilia Ficino’s Prisca Theologia (a Platonic worldview derived from the wisdom mythologized in legends of Moses, Hermes Trismegistus, Zoroaster, Orpheus, etc). The late 19th-century and early 20th-century cultic milieu was strongly determined by three inspirations: The Secret Doctrine by Madame Helena P. Blavatsky (Theosophical Publishing Society, 1875), which proposed hidden masters attempting to reconcile all sects and nations under a common system of ethics (later interpretations by Annie Besant and Alice Bailey expanded this concept into administrative offices of a planetary government); Traditionalism (represented by Rene Guenon, Julius Evola, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Frithjof Schuon) which claimed to transmit a superior but partially corrupted and incomplete ancient knowledge which is inaccessible except through initiation rites similar to the Sufis and Freemasons; and, Neo-Vedanta which emerged from the cross-pollination of Unitarian Christianity and American Transcendentalism and produced a “New Dispensation” that claimed right guidance and practice will enable correct perception of the truth which has been concealed or distorted.

Huxley drafted the prospectus for Heard’s Trabuco College of Prayer, an intentional community imitating the charity and compassion of religious orders. It was imagined as an undogmatic, nonhierarchical, nondenominational club for mystics and rest center for social workers. It was open to maladjusted youth seeking to regain control of themselves and return to an integrated life in the world. Heard was interested in the regeneration of the individual (168), but he also believed the only hope for our derelict civilization is in the emergence of Neo-Brahmins who have attained the next stage of evolution and assumed leadership of humanity (158). Heard practiced an idiosyncratic discipline seeking a telepathic connection to an impersonal psychic field which had no resemblance to Patanjali’s yoga or Swami Vivekananda’s program (151). Huxley visited six times, once with Jiddu Krishnamurti who was disturbed and declined to return. Heard judged his attempt to be a failure and donated the compound to Swami Prabhavananda. Huxley’s interest pivoted toward tantra, which Poller compares to descriptions by Heinrich Zimmer, John Woodroofe, and Hugh Urban.

Huxley believed human progress results not from an evolutionary leap or paranormal training, but through cultivating existing potential aided by pharmacology. Heard also promoted LSD as an educational tool to right-wing Libertarian groups and introduced the drug to the engineers at the Sequoia Seminars who were in pursuit of a man-machine symbiosis through computer-augmented and artificial intelligence. Huxley regarded LSD as “moksha-medicine” (liberation) and the cure-all for modern problems. He took psilocybin at MIT with Leary, who dosed members of the Vedanta Center in Boston using Ganges water in a chalice. Huxley advised Leary to “turn on the elites” and advocated appropriate set-and-setting, but Allen Ginsburg persuaded Leary to reach out to the public instead. The movement that emerged was chaotic and dangerous. 

There was a time when perennialism flourished in the counterculture (through Alan Watts) and in the academy (through Mircea Eliade). However, this important branch of intellectual history and associated figures (including Carl J. Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Huston Smith as exemplars in their respective fields) was stigmatized and rejected in the postmodernist demolition project. Poller rescues Huxley from the disdain heaped on his “synthetic Yoga-Buddhic-Christian religion” and shows the connection between Huxley’s experiments in lived ideology as reflected in his creative literary achievements. Poller’s compelling book enhances appreciation and deepens respect for Huxley’s fiction and visionary mysticism. About the Reviewer(s): 

Patrick Horn is a Public Scholar and the Membership Committee Chairman for the Religion Communicators Council Board of Governors. Date of Review: July 30, 2020 About the Author(s)/Editor(s)/Translator(s): 

Jake Poller, Ph.D. (2010), Queen Mary University of London, is the editor of Altered Consciousness in the Twentieth Century (Routledge, 2019). 

Buddhist Times News – Ladakh’s Covid-19 Numbers low, Say Experts

By
Shyamal Sinha
-
0
Buddhist Times News – Ladakh’s Covid-19 Numbers low, Say Experts

By  — Shyamal Sinha

The first COVID-19 case in India was detected on January 30, the same day that WHO declared it a public health emergency of international concern. India went into lockdown almost two months later.

With 1,327 cases and six fatalities in four months, the trajectory of COVID-19 in the cold desert region of Ladakh validates the view that people living at altitudes of 3,000 metres and above are less likely to get infected compared to those in lowland areas, say experts here.

On June 15, the average testing rate in India was 4,972 per million. Ladakh had the highest testing rate at 38,170 per million, followed by Goa (27,568 per million), Jammu and Kashmir (20,400 per million), and Delhi (14,693 per million).

The recovery rate of the disease in the union territory is 82 per cent, substantially higher than the national average of 64.24 per cent. While 1,067 have recovered, there are 254 active cases, according to the Directorate of Health Services on Tuesday. All are under medical supervision in hospitals, corona care centres or in home isolation and none are on ventilator.

“The good news and the most surprising finding was the timely recovery of all infected patients despite the fact that majority of the patients belong to an area where environmental silicosis is prevalent which impairs lung defence mechanism,” said Tsering Norboo, retired physician and MD of the Ladakh Institute of Prevention. This, he said, led researchers to look at the epidemiology of COVID-19 in other high altitude regions such as Lhasa in Tibet and Wuhan in China.

A recent study, “Does the pathogenesis of SAR-CoV-2 virus decrease at high-altitude?’, by researchers at the University Institute of Cardiology and Respirology of Quebec, Canada, backed the finding. “The finding of COVID-19 pandemic appears to indicate a decrease of prevalence and impact of SARS-Cov -2 infection in populations living at high altitude over 3000m. The result possibly could relate to both physiological and environmental factors,” it said.

High altitude environment, it added, is characterised by dry climate, drastic change in temperature between day and night, and high ultraviolet radiation at heights may act as a sanitiser. UV rays are capable of producing alterations in the molecular bonds of the DNA and RNA (the genetic material of the viruses). “All together, these factors may dramatically reduce ‘survival’ capacity of the virus at high altitude and its virulence. Furthermore, due to lower density of the air and the greater distance between molecules at high altitude, the size of the airborne virus inoculum must be smaller than at sea level,” the study said.

Norboo added that the findings vindicated the belief that studies of high altitude natives, its environment and high altitude adaptation process can give clues to understanding the disease and therefore its treatment. “The recovery rate in Ladakh is very good. The patients we receive have mild symptoms and are not serious ones. Also, we do not have any patient who is on a ventilator,” said Tashi Thinlas, consultant physician at Leh’s SNM Hospital.

Of the recovery rate of 82 per cent, Leh district counts for 64 per cent and Kargil district 94 per cent. Of the six deaths, three have taken place in Kargil and three in Leh. The total number of samples tested till July 28 is 17,976. Since January 31, 73,016 people were screened at airport, intra district and inter district check points.

According to Phuntsog Angchuk, director, Health, Ladakh, the first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in was reported on February 28 in Chushot Gongma village. It was also the first containment zone in the country. “In the initial stages, the patients were all pilgrims returning from Iran. Up to mid- May, only 45 positive cases were reported out of the total sampling of about 3,700. The surge occurred due to the heavy influx of local residents, students and labourers from different parts of the country,” he said.

Though the incidence of the disease is less compared to many other states and union territories in the country – India’s virus tally has mounted to 14,83,156 with 33,425 deaths — there are challenges aplenty. Thinlas said there is a shortage of manpower and quarantine facilities in his hospital.

“We never thought that this virus will hit Ladakh but it came so quickly. There are many administrative lapses,” he said. There is one testing lab in Chushot Gongma. A second one in DIHAR, Leh, is yet to start functioning fully.

“At present, the DIHAR laboratory is not fully functional. Analysis and trials are going on. It’s almost set up and will be functional within a week,” said Sonam Angmo, in-charge of the Chushot lab. Ladakh has also been sending samples to NCDC, Delhi, and PGI Chandigarh to ease the load.

Discussing the challenges ahead, she said winters will be tough. Laboratories need heating facilities as temperatures drop down to below freezing point and machines are very sensitive. According to Norboo, this is the most opportune time for Ladakh to establish a state of the art Molecular Biology Laboratory with the support of the Indian Council of Medical Research and links with institutes such as Pune’s National Institute of Virology and Delhi’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.

In the longer term, what is required are investments in health infrastructure, ensuring continuity of regular health services, and improving health emergency preparedness. India will have to cautiously adjust spending, attract industrial investments to spur growth, and address rising unemployment. But over the next year, India can expect to remain in crisis mode

COVID-19: UN chief outlines path to recovery in Southeast Asia

By
Newsdesk
-
0
COVID-19: UN chief outlines path to recovery in Southeast Asia

Recovery – António Guterres has released his latest policy brief on the crisis, which examines impacts on the 11 countries in the subregion and recommendations for the way forward that put gender equality at the centre of response efforts.

“As in other parts of the world, the health, economic and political impact of COVID-19 has been significant across Southeast Asia – hitting the most vulnerable the hardest”, he said in a video accompanying the launch.

Sustainable development off track

Southeast Asia comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam.

Prior to the pandemic, countries were lagging behind in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline.

Despite strong economic growth, the policy brief reveals that the subregion was beset by numerous challenges including high inequality, low social protection, a large informal sector, and a regression in peace, justice and robust institutions.

Furthermore, ecosystem damage, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality were at “worrying” levels.

Inequalities revealed, tensions surfacing

“The pandemic has highlighted deep inequalities, shortfalls in governance and the imperative for a sustainable development pathway. And it has revealed new challenges, including to peace and security”, the Secretary-General said.

The current situation is leading to recession and social tensions, while several long-running conflicts have stagnated due to stalled political processes.

“All governments in the subregion have supported my appeal for a global ceasefire – and I count on all countries in Southeast Asia to translate that commitment into meaningful change on the ground”, he added.

Regional cooperation praised

The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, and the pandemic was declared in March. Globally, there have been more than 16.5 million cases, with nearly 657,000 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday.

While the disease arrived in Southeast Asia earlier than in the rest of the globe, the UN chief commended governments for acting swiftly to battle the pandemic.

On average, they took 17 days to declare a state of emergency or lockdown after 50 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, according to the policy brief.

“Containment measures have spared Southeast Asia the degree of suffering and upheaval seen elsewhere,” said Mr. Guterres, who also praised cooperation among the countries.

Four critical areas for response

The Secretary-General underlined four areas that will be critical to ensuring recovery from the pandemic leads to a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future for Southeast Asia.

The first – tackling inequality in income, health care and social protection – will require short-term stimulus measures as well as long-term policy changes, he said.

Mr. Guterres also advised countries to bridge the digital divide so that no one is left behind in an ever-more-connected world.ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== COVID-19: UN chief outlines path to recovery in Southeast Asia

ILO/Marcel Crozet

Factory workers in an assembly line in Cambodia.

Due to the over dependence on coal and other industries of the past, he encouraged “greening” the economy, including to create future jobs.

Upholding human rights, protecting civic space and promoting transparency are all intrinsic to an effective response, he concluded.

Advance gender equality

“Central to these efforts is the need to advance gender equality, address upsurges in gender-based violence, and target women in all aspects of economic recovery and stimulus plans,” the UN chief said.

“This will mitigate the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women, and is also one of the surest avenues to sustainable, rapid, and inclusive recovery for all.”

Though the challenge is formidable, the Secretary-General underlined the UN’s strong commitment to helping Southeast Asian countries achieve the SDGs and a peaceful future for all.

Agents Protest London Book Fair’s Handling of Refunds

By
Juan Sanchez Gil
-
0
Agents Protest London Book Fair's Handling of Refunds

Association of Authors Representatives (AAR) and Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents (PACLA) have written an open letter protesting the way Reed Exhibitions handled refunds to those who canceled their attendance at the London Book Fair due to the global pandemic. Agents who canceled their tables prior to the fair’s ultimate, formal cancellation announcement had no money returned. Those who canceled after the official announcement were offered 60% back or could carry over 100% of the cost of their table to next year’s fair.

In contrast, the Bologna Book Fair, which initially moved its fair from March to May, offered a 100% refund, provided the request was made by a set deadline.

Numerous North American agents and publishers had canceled their plans to attend LBF in late winter as the pandemic began to be more acutely felt around the world, including in the U.K. and U.S. The LBF was canceled about a week before it was set to open. A spokesperson for the agents said they decided to write the letter after an effort to find a “fair solution” to LBF’s cancellation policy were “rebuffed.”

The letter from the agents reads in its entirety:

“Earlier this year, Reed Exhibitions decided to penalize agencies which cancelled their London Book Fair tables prior to the Fair’s ultimate formal cancellation. We feel it is tone deaf for LBF to inflict a financial penalty on North American agents who responsibly notified LBF as soon as they realized that it would be impossible to attend the fair owing to the global pandemic. As the Association of Authors Representatives (AAR), we have tried to work this out privately with calls and letters from individuals as well as leaders of our organization. However we have seen no movement whatsoever on Reed’s part. We now need to make it clear publicly that we strongly disapprove of their silence and what we see as overly punitive actions.

Although the timing of each situation was unique and presented different challenges, we are mindful that other major international book fairs, which also had to modify and/or cancel events, have been far more accommodating and sympathetic to foreign attendees.
The international publishing community is one that values long term relationships. The dissonant response of the London Book Fair promises to be deeply damaging to their relationship with the North American agenting community and demonstrates a lack of sensitivity to the long term effects this will have on loyal attendees choosing to go to future fairs. We, along with members of The Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents (PACLA), urge the London Book Fair /Reed to reconsider its position, and come to a new more equitable decision on these policies.”

The letter was signed by:

The AAR International Committee

  • Jennifer Weltz, JVNLA, Inc.
  • Chris Lotts, The Lotts Agency, Ltd., emeritus
  • Lara Allen, The Lotts Agency, Ltd Cheryl Pientka, Nancy Yost Literary Agency
  • Soumeya Roberts, HG Literary
  • Tamar Rydzinski, Context Literary Agency
  • Sarah Perillo, Curtis Brown, Ltd.
  • Katie Kotchman, Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
  • Kent Wolf, Neon Literary Agency
  • Sandy Hodgman, Hodgman Literary
  • Diana Finch, Diana Finch Literary Agency – Committee Head
  • Cheryl Pientka, Nancy Yost Literary Agency

AAR members

  • Brian DeFiore, DeFiore and Company
  • Albert Longden, Albert T. Longden Associates
  • Cynthia Cannell, Cynthia Cannell Literary Agency
  • Farley Chase, Chase Literary Agency
  • Danielle Egan-Miller, Browne & Miller Literary Associates
  • Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency
  • Anne Borchardt, Georges Borchardt, Inc.
  • Valerie Borchardt, Georges Borchardt Inc.
  • John Hawkins & Associates, Inc.
  • Laura Gross, Laura Gross Literary Agency
  • Tonda Martin, The Martin Agency
  • Janis A Donnaud, Janis A Donnaud & Associates
  • Dr. Uwe Stender, Triada US Literary Agency
  • Gina Maccoby, Gina Maccoby Literary Agency
  • Denise Shannon, Denise Shannon Literary Agency

PACLA members

  • Kelvin Kong, K2 Literary
  • Ron Eckel, CookeMcDermid Agency
  • Stephanie Sinclair, Transatlantic Agency
  • Rachel Letofsky, CookeMcDermid Agency
  • Hilary McMahon, Westwood Creative Artists
  • Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists
  • Meg Wheeler, Westwood Creative Artists
  • Suzanne Brandreth, CookeMcDermid Agency.

Six Baha’is imprisoned by the Houthis freed in Yemen

By
Newsdesk
-
0
Six Baha’is imprisoned by the Houthis freed in Yemen | BWNS
An Arabic translation of this article is available here.

BIC GENEVA — The Baha’i International Community has just confirmed that six prominent Baha’is have been released from prison after being wrongfully detained for several years by the Houthi authorities in Sana’a, Yemen.

The six Baha’is—Mr. Hamed bin Haydara, Mr. Waleed Ayyash, Mr. Akram Ayyash, Mr. Kayvan Ghaderi, Mr. Badiullah Sanai, and Mr. Wael al-Arieghie—are in a safe location where they can recuperate after enduring extremely difficult conditions for three to nearly seven years in prison.

Following these releases, the Baha’i International Community has called for the lifting of all charges against these six individuals and the other Baha’is charged, the return of their assets and properties, and, most importantly, the safeguarding of the rights of all Baha’is in Yemen to live according to their beliefs without risk of persecution.

“We welcome the releases today yet remain gravely concerned,” said Diane Ala’i, Representative of the Baha’i International Community. “As Yemen’s search for durable, societal peace continues, Baha’is must be able—like all Yemenis—to practice their faith safely and freely, in keeping with the universal principles of freedom of religion or belief. This is not possible until the charges are lifted.

“The Baha’i International Community expresses its gratitude to the UN Special Envoy for Yemen as well as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We also thank those governments and non-governmental organizations that have provided their support throughout this process.”

Related background information

Mr. Haydara, an engineer, was arrested because of his beliefs at his workplace in December 2013. Following a long court case which lacked due process he was sentenced to death in 2018. His appeal was rejected in 2020.

Mr. Ghaderi, a project officer, was arrested in 2016 when a gathering was raided. In April 2017, Mr. Waleed Ayyash, a Yemeni tribal leader, was arrested on his way to Hudaydah and was held in an undisclosed location. The following month, Mr. Al-Arieghie, a civil rights activist, was abducted by the authorities in Sana’a, and Mr. Sana’i, a prominent civil engineer in Yemen in his late 60s, was arrested in front of his workplace. In October 2017, Mr. Akram Ayyash, a manager of a nonprofit organization, was arrested during a raid by security forces on a Baha’i celebration. In September 2018, these five, along with nineteen others, were indicted at a court hearing in Sana’a under baseless charges.

The release of the six comes four months after the televised address by Mr. Mahdi Al Mashat, President of the Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, in late March 2020 ordering the release of all Baha’i prisoners and a pardon for Mr. Haydara.

Alarm raised about ongoing crisis in Nigeria at world churches’ meeting

By
officialinstitutions
-
0
Alarm raised about ongoing crisis in Nigeria at world churches' meeting
(Photo: REUTERS / Joe Penney)A church is seen guarded by soldiers behind sandbags, in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 23, 2014. Christian houses of worship are guarded by military soldiers at all times in Maiduguri.

Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, is experiencing concurrent crises this year, highlighted in a recent spate of violent attacks in the north of the country, and the World Council of Churches has expressed alarm about the destruction to life taking place.

The Executive Committee of the WCC, in a video conference on July 20-24, took “special note” of several situations of concern brought to its attention in Nigeria.

“A recent spate of violent attacks in northern Nigeria has once again cost many lives, destroyed much property and resulted in further displacement of affected people and communities,” said the WCC.

“Christian communities and church leaders have been among those seriously affected by such attacks,” said the message.

This has triggered growing insecurity in the north-west of the country exacerbating the challenges posed by a longstanding Islamist extremist insurgency in the north-east.

Nigeria has an estimated population of 214 million people of whom nearly half are believed to be Christians and just over half Muslims.

The WCC said recent attacks and insecurity have particularly affected the states of Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto.

“Further, alarming rises in food insecurity and gender-based violence have accompanied the coronavirus pandemic, prompting calls for legal and social reforms,” said the council.

IMPACT OF COVID-19

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are also deeply felt in the economic arena, which has Africa’s biggest economy.

Officials responsible for developing Nigeria’s economic recovery plan estimate that 39.4 million people could be unemployed by the end of 2020 without major government intervention and support.

“The recent lockdown imposed in some states to limit the spread of the virus has also compounded a long-term crisis of sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria,” said the WCC.

It cited a major spike in cases of such violence prompted 36 governors to declare a state of emergency over rape and attacks against women and children in the country.

Nigeria’s police chief reported 717 rapes nationally between January and May this year, equating to one rape every five hours.

Furthermore, results of a 2019 survey suggest that up to one in every three Nigerian girls could have experienced sexual assault by the time they reach 25.

“However, the number of successful prosecutions of rape suspects remains low and stigma often prevents victims from reporting incidents,” said the WCC statement.

The executive committee noted the extensive ecumenical and interreligious engagement there and “expresses deep solidarity and prayers for the churches of Nigeria in their efforts to respond to such a constellation of crises [and] celebrates the signs of hope offered by the churches and their partners in the initiatives.”

The WCC statement noted the increased inter-religious cooperation for peace – including through the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council.

This is reflected in the establishment of the International Centre for Interfaith Peace and Harmony (ICIPH) in Kaduna, supported by the WCC and the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT).

The WCC said the center is a hub for cooperation among the Nigerian Christians and Muslims for the purpose of fostering peace and harmony between people of different religions

Asia-Pacific: ‘Call to action’ highlights role of family farmers amidst COVID-19 pandemic

By
Newsdesk
-
0

Creating greater understanding of the importance of these workers in ensuring regional food security is the goal of a new FAO-backed campaign launched on Wednesday.

Described as “a call to action that everyone needs to hear”, it also aims to give voice to family farmers’ organizations and reach out to rural communities through the use of community radio across 15 countries in the region.

“The campaign is calling on all people to value the role of family farmers to achieve food security in this region, especially during the pandemic. Family farmers are the frontline to provide nutritious food for us all. We believe a more resilient family farmer is representing a more resilient world”, said Maria Stella Tirol of ComDev Asia, a communication for development initiative supported by FAO.

Other partners include the Asian Farmers’ Association, the UPLB College of Development Communication, the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, Digital Green, and the Self-Employed Women’s Association.

Pandemic exposing fragilities

Globally, there are some 500 million family farmers who produce more than 80 per cent of the world’s food, thus contributing to national and even global food security.

In Asia-Pacific, smallholder farmers own and operate the majority of farmland, but they hold less than five hectares per farm. Most of what they produce, or 75 per cent, is sold on to markets, while the remainder is consumed by household members.

FAO explained that food, trade, health and climate are interdependent, and the pandemic has revealed the fragility of these linkages.

The crisis has threatened progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which promise to bring about a better world for all people by 2030.

Asia is home to some 350 million undernourished people, more than any other region, and FAO feared the pandemic could jeopardize decades of gains in reducing poverty and ending hunger.

Still feeding us all

Smallholder family farmers already earned low average incomes prior to the pandemic and are now enduring worsening conditions, such as a weakening in their purchasing power. Disruptions of food chains have also caused increasing food loss and falling prices.

Despite risks to their health, they continue to play a fundamental role in feeding people everywhere.

“This campaign to advocate for Asia-Pacific’s family farmers, fishers, herders and others is needed now more than ever”, said Allan Dow, FAO’s Asia-Pacific Communication Officer.

“Safeguarding the food security and livelihoods of the most vulnerable people in our vast region is an absolute priority – and with the added impact of this global pandemic a call to action must be loud and clear.”

FAO has created a family farming knowledge platform, with extensive information about COVID-19 impacts on food systems.

The partners in the campaign will also use the platform to reach out to various stakeholders and development partners.

Buddhist Times News – As Sri Lanka researches ‘Ravan’s aviation routes’

By
Shyamal Sinha
-
0
Buddhist Times News – As Sri Lanka researches ‘Ravan’s aviation routes’

It is believed that Ravan travelled widely in his Pushpak Viman, and the aviation routes could tell us more about Lanka’s geopolitical reach and influence.

रामायणम्, Rāmāyaṇam  is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Mahābhārata. Along with the Mahābhārata, it forms the Hindu Itihasa.

The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. It follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest by his father King Dasharatha, on request of his step-mother Kaikeyi, his travels across forests in India with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of his wife by Ravana, the great king of Lanka, resulting in a war with him, and Ram’s eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned king. This is the culmination point of the epic. It is the most sacred book, and is read by millions of people every year.

Sri Lanka tourism promotes an elaborate Ramayan trail stretching from Munneswaram to Trincomalee, Ella to Colombo. The nation’s first satellite launched last year is named ‘Ravana-1’.

Contrast this with India, where a masjid stood on Lord Ram’s birthplace for centuries and despite overwhelming evidence presented in court, ‘seculars’ stayed in denial. Any proposal to enhance the philosophical understanding of Ramayan, or studying Ram’s journey and alliances, or building tourism circuits based on the epic is mocked and met with disdain and protests.

While Sri Lanka unabashedly embraces its past, identity and legacy, Hindus in the homeland of their faith are repeatedly shamed and censored from honouring their defining epic because it would apparently be communal and upset minorities.

Indians are supposed to accept without compelling scientific proof the existence of Jesus or Mohammed, but a Ram or a Krishna cannot break the glass ceiling of mythology.

Even intellectual curiosity into Hindu epics is discouraged. In 2015, a paper presented on Ravan’s Pushpak Viman at the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai met with massive outrage. Five years later, a neighbouring government has proudly launched a full-scale study on the subject.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was incessantly mocked when in 2014 he said cosmetic surgery originated in India. Four years later, a Columbia University’s Inving Medical Centre study traced the roots of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures to ancient India more than 2,500 years ago.

“During the 6th Century BCE, an Indian physician named Sushruta €” widely regarded in India as the ‘father of surgery’ €” wrote one of the world’s earliest works on medicine and surgery,” the paper said. “The Sushruta Samhita documented the etiology of more than 1,100 diseases, the use of hundreds of medicinal plants, and instructions for performing scores of surgical procedures, including three types of skin grafts and reconstruction of the nose.”

The sheer genius of the British colonial project to ruin homegrown Indian knowledge and education and replace it with one that produces clerical, self-loathing brown sahibs is evident even today. Jawaharlal Nehru continued with this colonial system, outsourcing the massacre of history to Left intellectuals.

While Sri Lanka reconstructs its past by studying its tradition and trade routes mentioned in ancient texts like Ramayan and Valahassa Jataka, India is still to fix its education system, distortions of history, and broken pride in its glorious roots.

While India is in denial on Ram, Lanka proudly flaunts the extraordinary antagonist, Ravan, about whom writer Amish Tripathi says: “He is different from your ordinary villain. Just because he is so scholarly. He is a brilliant musician, a brilliant poet, a good dancer, he is exceptionally well read, he is a very good administrator. Which makes him a deep, complex man, and fascinating to write about. Even Ravan’s violence was scholarly.”

The name Ramayana means “Rama” + “Aayana”, where as Rama is name of Lord or God and Aayana means Path or Way. The literal meaning of the name is “the journey of Rāma” or “the career of Rāma” or in other words path or way taken or chosen by Rama during the human life cycle form at earth, during Treta Yuga (869000 years ago) in Jambudweep(Java Plum)/Aryavart/India.

Sri Lanka, wisely and justifiably, is delving into its rich trade, maritime traditions, and now even aerial routes to construct a robust national mythology. Vinod Moonesinghe, in his piece, outlines the scope of that knowledge from the story of Yakkhinis of Jataka Tales who captured and married shipwrecked merchants to Sinbad the Sailor to Tamil Nadu and Odisha connections to ship links with China and Vietnam.

These strengthen the story of Ravan’s regional influence. India, with a much richer maritime history and way bigger geopolitical influence in the Indian Ocean, don’t even give space to the likes of Rajendra Chola.

Sri Lanka has done what India should have long ago. An expansive study of Lord Ram’s travels and alliances is long overdue. But before that, we need to shed our apologist attitude towards our own past and roots.

According to Hindu tradition, Rama is an incarnation (Avatar) of god Vishnu. The main purpose of this incarnation is to demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for all living creatures on earth.

New report on the Persecution of Ahmadi Muslims

By
Robert Johnson
-
0

The All Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has launched a new report entitled: ‘Suffocation of the Faithful: Persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan and the rise of International extremism’

It is the first of its kind to be written by the APPG in response to the worrying increase of persecution against Ahmadi Muslims and other religious communities in Pakistan.

A number of religious communities including Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus, Christian and Shias have long been victims of persecution in Pakistan due to its discriminatory laws. The laws have stifled freedom of religion, promoted state-sponsored persecution and acted as a catalyst for violent extremism in Pakistan.

As a result, religious communities are denied fundamental human rights to practice their faith and engage in society without fear of harassment, discrimination or violence.

The effects of such persecution are not limited to Pakistan alone, as anti-Ahmadi hate has also surfaced in the UK. The most extreme example of this was the brutal murder in Glasgow of Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah in 2016, who was killed on grounds of faith.

There has also been a worrying development of hate preachers coming to the UK and the rise in hate speech on satellite television, the internet and social media that is feeding intolerance and extremism.

Read the report

Italy’s Book Sales Bounce Back

By
Juan Sanchez Gil
-
0
Italy's Book Sales Bounce Back

The recent return of book buyers to stores in Italy in the Italian book market has helped the overall market bounce back from showing a year-over-year revenue loss of 20% through April 18 to down 11% as of July 11, according to a study conducted by the research department of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) based on data provided by Nielsen and IE – Informazioni Editoriali.

Overall market revenue was valued at approximately €533 million, representing a 11% drop compared to €600 million for the same period in 2019.

Perhaps even more heartening is the news that bookstore and online sales (excluding Amazon), which had fallen by 70% in weekly sales between March and April, have bounded back, showing as much as a 2.5% hike over 2019 for the week ending on July 19. Sales had shifted significantly over this period from bricks-and-mortar stores, which had been locked down, to online sales, but these too are returning to a more normal rate; typically, retailers account for some 70% of overall sales and in recent weeks have accounted for about 56% of overall sales, up from a low point of 52% earlier in the spring.

The AIE noted that the next several months will indicate whether or not the shift from retail stores to online purchases is a temporary phenomenon or has accelerated a shift that has already been underway for several years.

1...1,5331,5341,535...1,548Page 1,534 of 1,548

© FRVS+MPCP 2022. The European Times® News is registered as an EU Trademark. All rights reserved. The European Times® and the logo of The European Times® are EU trademarks registered by FRVS+MPCP.

MADRID

Members/Partners of

GNS Press - The European Times

Google News

  

About Us

Popular Category

DISCLAIMER OPINIONS: The opinions of the authors or reproduced in the articles are the ones of those stating them and it is their own responsibility. Should you find any incorrections you can always contact the newsdesk to seek a correction or right of replay.

DISCLAIMER TRANSLATIONS: All articles in this site are published in English. The translated versions are done through an automated process known as neural translations. If in doubt, always refer to the original article. Thank you for understanding.

DISCLAIMER PHOTOS: We mostly used photos images that are readily available online, from free sources, or from the people promoting the news. If by any chance it happens that we have used one of your copyrighted photos, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will take it down without question. We do not make profits as this is a not for profit project to give voice to the voiceless while giving them a platform to be informed also of general news, and it is completely free.

Editor Picks