Varanasi (ancient Kāśī), also known as Banaras, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world (see: Eck, Diana L. 1982. Banaras: City of Light. Princeton: Princeton University Press). The archaeological layers associated with the area of the modern city are reliably dated to the 9th or 8th century BCE, although there are […]
“Taoists view the universe as the same as, or inseparable from, themselves so that Lao-tzu could say, “Without leaving my house, I know the whole universe.” This implies that the art of life is more like navigation than warfare, for what is important is to understand the winds, the tides, the currents, the seasons, and the […]
Tibetan Buddhist monks have created sand mandalas for over 2,500 years, as it remains one of the religion’s most beautiful and symbolic traditions. Each mandala has a center point that is surrounded by a circle, a perfectly symmetrical design of specific meaning, and an accompaniment of various religious deities and symbols. They are created as […]