Inspiration an influence of the mind or feelings that prompts one to be creative; to derive or draw inspiration from Scripture; divine inspiration (inspiration from God): breathe in; hence, be the cause of life, vigour, new thought or feeling, excerta.: Inspired having creative power or inspiration; based on good intuition.
Resource a means or source of help, relief, supply, excerta. that may be drawn upon when needed: the earth's natural resources such as land, water, and minerals. Resourceful good at finding a way and means of solving a problem.
* Inspiration:
In artistic composition refers to an irrational and unconscious burst of creativity. Literally, the word means "breathed upon," and it has its origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism in the west. In the earliest discussions of inspiration (in the works of Homer and Hesiod), the ritualistic and divine origins of the breath of a god are important. The oracle of Delphi, for example, as with other sibyls, received divine steam and fumes from a cave sacred to Apollo before she would prophecy. In Odyssey, 22. 347-8, a poet says that his songs were placed within his heart by the gods.
Inspiration is prior to consciousness and outside of skill. Technique and performance are independent of inspiration, and therefore it is possible for the non-poet to be inspired and for a poet or painter's skill to be insufficient to the inspiration.
* Ancient models of inspiration:
In Greek thought, inspiration meant that the poet or artist would go into ecstasy or furor poeticus, the divine frenzy or poetic madness. He or she would be transported beyond his own mind and given the gods' or goddesses own thoughts to embody. Plato, in Symposium 197a, Phaedrus 244, as well as Theocritus, Pindar, and Aristotle (in Poetics) argue that the poet breaks through to the world of divine truth or divine apprehension temporarily and is compelled by that vision to create. Therefore, the invocations of the muses and the various poetic gods (Apollo and Dionysus, in particular) are earnest prayers for inspiration, for the breath of the god. The only substantially different model for inspiration offered in the Classical world is in the Problemata (of unknown authorship, but from the peripatetic school), which suggests that imbalances in the four humours are the origin of inspiration. Otherwise, Virgil, Ovid, and especially Cicero insist, like the Greek theorists before them, that artistic inspiration is a bestowed gift of the gods. Cicero, in fact, was apparently dissatisfied with the figurativeness "inspiration" had taken and used the term afflatus instead.
In Hebrew poetics, inspiration is similarly a divine matter. In the Book of Amos, 3:8 the prophet speaks of being overwhelmed by God's voice and compelled to speak. However, inspiration is also a matter of revelation for the prophets, and the two concepts are intermixed to some degree. Revelation is a conscious process, where the writer or painter is aware and interactive with the vision, while inspiration is involuntary and received without any complete understanding. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost and sudden inspiration of the Apostles.
In Christianity, inspiration is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul said that all of the Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy), and the account of Pentecost records the Holy Spirit descending with the sound of a mighty wind. This understanding of "inspiration" is vital for those who maintain Biblical literalism, for the authors of the scriptures would, if possessed by the voice of God, not "filter" or interpose their personal visions onto the text. For those who understand "inspiration" to be less ecstatic (less Platonic), the human author's personality and views would mediate the holy word. For church fathers like Saint Jerome, David was the perfect poet, for he best negotiated between the divine impulse and the human consciousness.
In northern societies, such as Old Norse, inspiration was likewise associated with a gift of the gods. As with the Greek, Latin, and Romance literatures, Norse bards were inspired by a magical and divine state and then shaped the words with their conscious minds. Their training was an attempt to learn to shape forces beyond the human. In the Venerable Bede's account of Caedmon, the Christian and later Germanic traditions combine. Caedmon was a herder with no training or skill at verse. One night, he had a dream where Jesus asked him to sing. He then composed Caedmon's Hymn, and from then on was a great poet. Inspiration in the story is the product of grace: it is unsought (though desired), uncontrolled, and irresistible, and the poet's performance involves his whole mind and body, but it is fundamentally a gift.
* The Age of Enlightenment (French: Siècle des Lumières; Italian: Sècolo dei Lumi; German: Zeitalter der Aufklärung; Spanish: Siglo de las Luces or Ilustración):
Was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. It was an age of optimism, tempered by the realistic recognition of the sad state of the human condition and the need for major reforms.The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of attitudes. at its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals. Some classifications of this period also include 17th-century philosophy, which is typically known as the Age of Reason.
The term "Age of Enlightenment" can more narrowly refer to the intellectual movement of The Enlightenment, which advocated reason as the primary basis of authority. Developing in France, Britain and Germany, the Enlightenment influenced most of Europe, including Russia and Scandinavia. The era is marked by such political changes as governmental consolidation, nation-creation, greater rights for common people, and a decline in the influence of authoritarian institutions such as the nobility and Church. There is no consensus on when to date the start of the Age of Enlightenment, and a number of scholars simply use the beginning of the eighteenth century as a default date. Many scholars use the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1804–15) as a convenient point in time with which to date the end of the Enlightenment.
* Origins:
After the revolution of knowledge commenced by Sir Isaac Newton and in a climate of increasing disaffection with repressive rule, Enlightenment thinkers believed that systematic thinking might be applied to all areas of human activity, and carried into the governmental sphere, in their explorations of the individual, society and the state.[4] Its leaders believed they could lead their states to progress after a long period of tradition, irrationality, superstition, and tyranny which they imputed to the Middle Ages. The movement helped create the intellectual framework for the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions, Poland's Constitution of May 3, 1791, Russia's 1825 Decembrist Revolt, the Latin American independence movement, and the Greek national independence movement. In addition, Enlightenment ideals were influential in the Balkan independence movements against the Ottoman Empire, and many historians and philosophers credit the Enlightenment with the later rise of classical liberalism, socialism, democracy, and modern capitalism.
The Age of Enlightenment receives modern attention as a central model for many movements in the modern period. Another important movement in 18th century philosophy, closely related to it, focused on belief and piety. Some of its proponents, such as George Berkeley, attempted to demonstrate rationally the existence of a supreme being. Piety and belief in this period were integral to the exploration of natural philosophy and ethics, in addition to political theories of the age. However, prominent Enlightenment philosophers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume questioned and attacked the existing institutions of both Church and State. The 19th century also saw a continued rise of empiricist ideas and their application to political economy, government and sciences such as physics, chemistry and biology.
The continent of Europe had been ravaged by religious wars in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. When political stability had been restored, notably after the Peace of Westphalia and the English Civil War, an intellectual upheaval overturned the accepted belief that mysticism and revelation are the primary sources of knowledge and wisdom. Instead (according to scholars who split the two periods), the Age of Reason sought to establish axiomatic philosophy and absolutism as foundations for knowledge and stability. Epistemology, in the writings of Michel de Montaigne and René Descartes, was based on extreme skepticism and inquiry into the nature of "knowledge." The goal of a philosophy based on self-evident axioms reached its height with Baruch (Benedictus de) Spinoza's Ethics, which expounded a pantheistic view of the universe where God and Nature were one. This idea then became central to the Enlightenment from Newton through to Jefferson. The ideas of Pascal, Leibniz, Galileo and other natural philosophers of the previous period also contributed to and greatly influenced the Enlightenment. Cassirer argued that Leibniz’s Treatise On Wisdom "identified the central concept of the Enlightenment and sketched its theoretical programme." There was a wave of change across European thinking, exemplified by Newton's natural philosophy, which combined mathematics of axiomatic proof with mechanics of physical observation, a coherent system of verifiable predictions, which set the tone for what followed Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in the century after.
The Age of Enlightenment is also prominent in the history of Judaism, perhaps because of its conjunction with increased social acceptance of Jews in some western European states, especially those who were not orthodox or who converted to the officially sanctioned version of Christianity.[6] Antisemitism, however, continued to remain a visible phenomenon throughout much of Europe during the Enlightenment, and a number of major Enlightenment figures were noted antisemites. The period is known as Haskalah in Jewish historiography, and the term carries the same connotations of "enlightenment" in Hebrew. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States were also influenced by Enlightenment-era ideas, particularly in the religious sphere (deism) and, in parallel with liberalism (which had a major influence on its Bill of Rights, in parallel with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen), socialism and anarchism in the political sphere.
The Enlightenment occupies a central role in the justification for the movement known as modernism. The neo-classicizing trend in modernism came to see itself as a period of rationality which overturned established traditions, analogously to the Encyclopaediasts and other Enlightenment philosophers. A variety of 20th century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, traced their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment, and away from the purported emotionalism of the 19th century. Geometric order, rigor and reductionism were seen as Enlightenment virtues. The modern movement points to reductionism and rationality as crucial aspects of Enlightenment thinking, of which it is the heir, as opposed to irrationality and emotionalism. In this view, the Enlightenment represents the basis for modern ideas of liberalism against superstition and intolerance. Influential philosophers who have held this view include Jürgen Habermas and Isaiah Berlin.
This view asserts that the Enlightenment was the point when Europe broke through what historian Peter Gay calls "the sacred circle," whose dogma had circumscribed thinking. The Enlightenment is held to be the source of critical ideas, such as the centrality of freedom, democracy and reason as primary values of society. This view argues that the establishment of a contractual basis of rights would lead to the market mechanism and capitalism, the scientific method, religious tolerance, and the organization of states into self-governing republics through democratic means. In this view, the tendency of the philosophes in particular to apply rationality to every problem is considered the essential change. From this point on, thinkers and writers were held to be free to pursue the truth in whatever form, without the threat of sanction for violating established ideas.
With the end of the Second World War and the rise of post-modernity, these same features came to be regarded as liabilities - excessive specialization, failure to heed traditional wisdom or provide for unintended consequences, and the romanticization of Enlightenment figures - such as the Founding Fathers of the United States, prompted a backlash against both Science and Enlightenment based dogma in general. Philosophers such as Michel Foucault are often understood as arguing that the Age of Reason had to construct a vision of unreason as being demonic and subhuman, and therefore evil and befouling, whence by analogy to argue that rationalism in the modern period is, likewise, a construction. In their book, Dialectic of Enlightenment, Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno wrote a critique of what they perceived as the contradictions of Enlightenment thought: Enlightenment was seen as being at once liberatory and (through the domination of instrumental rationality) tending towards totalitarianism.
Yet other leading intellectuals, such as Noam Chomsky, see a natural evolution, using the term loosely, from early Enlightenment thinking to other forms of social analysis, specifically from The Enlightenment to liberalism, anarchism and socialism. The relationship between these different schools of thought, Chomsky and others point out, can be seen in the works of von Humboldt, Kropotkin, Bakunin and Marx, among others. No brief summary can do justice to the diversity of enlightened thought in eighteenth-century Europe.Because it was an attitude rather than a set of shared beliefs,there are many contradictory trains to follow. In his famous essay "What is Enlightenment?"(1784), Immanuel Kant described it simply as freedom to use one's own intelligence.
* Enlightenment may refer to: * Enlightenment is a concept in mysticism, philosophy, and psychology: * In Hinduism: Moksha, Atma Jnana: * In Buddhism: Nirvana, Bodhi, Satori, Dzogchen: * In Jainism: Moksa: * Age of Enlightenment, a period in Western history and its corresponding movement: * Haskalah, the European Jewish community: * Scottish Enlightenment, Scotland: * American Enlightenment, America: * Enlightenment in Poland, Poland: * Catholic Enlightenment, Catholicism: * Russian Enlightenment, Russia: * Enlightenment Spain, Spain: * Enlightened Self-Interest:
Is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest. It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a commercial entity will "do well by doing good". This is in contrast to greed or the concept of "unenlightened self-interest", in which it is argued that when most or all persons act according to their own myopic selfishness, that the group suffers loss as a result of conflict, decreased efficiency because of lack of cooperation, and the increased expense each individual pays for the protection of their own interests. If a typical individual in the group is selected at random, it is not likely that this person will profit from such an ethic.
Some individuals might profit, in a material sense, from a philosophy of greed, but it is believed by proponents of enlightened self-interest that these individuals constitute a small minority and that the large majority of persons can expect to experience a net personal loss from a philosophy of simple unenlightened selfishness. Enlightened self-interest might be considered to be unrealistically idealistic and altruistic by detractors and practically idealistic and utilitarian by proponents.
Enlightened self-interest also has implications for long-term benefits as opposed to short-term benefits to oneself. When an individual pursues enlightened self-interest that person may sacrifice short-term interests in order to maximize long-term interests.
An individual may choose to forsake pursuing immediate gratification by supporting and not interfering with others' pursuit of self-interest. An individual may have to sacrifice his immediate self-interest for the purpose of a positive relationship to a group of individuals to which he relates. For example, a merchant likely will maximize profit over the long term if she chooses to be generous to her customers in a manner beyond the requirement of policy, say, in accepting returns and refunding the purchase price when not required to by the letter of the law. By doing so, she may lose short-term gain but likely will eventually profit from increased business volume as she gains a reputation for being reasonable, honest, and generous.
Enlightened self-interest is also different from pure altruism, which calls for people to act in the interest of others often at the expense of their own interests and with no expectation of benefit for themselves in the future. Some advocates of enlightened self-interest might argue that pure altruism promotes inefficiency as well.
* Oneness:
Is a spiritual term referring to the 'experience' of the absence of egoic identity boundaries, and, according to some traditions, the perception of an absolute unity of all matter and thought in space-time, or one's ultimate identity with God (see Tat Tvam Asi). It shares traits with Pantheism. Its meaning may be synonymous to that of nonduality, though some claim that non-duality implies 'not one' and 'not two', i.e. non-duality is analogous to the Hindu formula of negation and to Neti Neti, used in describing the absolute. A functional explanation has also been proposed as follows: the unification of consciousness with the subconsciousness to yield a supraconsciousness.[citation needed] Though some maintain that oneness possiably transcends all consciousness per se.
Some feel that the human experiencing of Oneness expresses itself in the unity of thought and reality. They describe an experience of thought creating reality which feels like Omnipotence. However as the consciousness grows to encompass all, the ego becomes relatively insignificant. In its culmination, the seeker passes through ego death. This coincides with several teachings of different cultures:
* Hinduism:
Speaks of the Dance of Kali on the dead body of Shiva.
* Jesus says:
To enter the Kingdom of Heaven one has to be reborn in the Water and Spirit.
* Bahá'u'lláh:
Taught that God responds to the seeker by drawing him 'from the realms of contradiction unto the retreats of oneness...numbered with those whom the light of God hath guided aright in this day.' Individual identity vanish as the seeker sees all the Prophets as one and the same Being, 'the Manifestation of the Self of God.' No change nor transformation exists in this realm. '...this is the station wherein the light of divine unity shineth forth, and the truth of His oneness is expressed...' To experience oneness, the seeker must enter the City of Divine Unity which is 'the garden of oneness, and the court of detachment.' (see Gems of Divine Mysteries)
For others, Oneness, the characteristic of being one, is a term used to characterize God in contrast to Christians who believe that the godhead is of a triune nature comprising 3 distinct, but not separate, identities (see Trinity).
Resources: (MedTerms): - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms. (NCCAM) - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Wikipedia): - Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia Main article: Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Energy Therapies. (NIH) - National Institutes of Health. (MWD) - Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (IPL) - Internet Public Library: Health Medical Sciences. (Kofutu's CAM): - Glossary of Spiritual Terms. (Scared Texts) - The Internet Sacred Text Archive. (Search Kofutu)
Brennie's Dreamscape, Spiritual Inspirations: - Spiritual inspirations including spiritual and love poetry, positive thoughts and affirmations, uplifting quotes, gratitude journal, a dream and sign forum, wishing well and more thought provoking things to inspire and uplift you. http://www.brenniesdreamscape.com/
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www.love-god.com - God Loves You (As Itself); - Get To Know The shadow, illuminati, new world order, occult, Christian, Love of God, secret society, spiritualism, mysticism. http://www.love-god.com/
Our Little Doorways to Heaven - Inspirational poems essays plus links to many spiritual sites. http://www.thedoorway.org/ 101707
Revelation13.net: Prophecies of the Future - Predictions of future world events by Bible prophecy, astrology, Nostradamus, and the King James version English Bible Code." http://revelation13.net/index.html/ 100607
The Aumara Light Healing Circle - A Place for Healing & Inspiration. Enrich your life with spiritual healing and powerful healing crystals, join us in global healing and meditation, browse our inspiration gallery and teachings library, and much more for the traveler on the spiritual path. http://www.aumara.com/
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World History - History of the Past - World History - History of the Past The Wonders of the World Planet Earth. http://www.worldhistory.byethost8.com/index.html/