Posted on by Florent

On Yoga

International day of Yoga. #YogaDay2019
United Nations: “Yoga can bring together thought & action, including on important issues like #ClimateAction”.
It reminds us of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming she practiced yoga 3-4x/week.

There is a common Indo-European origin of languages & math, but only a European origin of civic virtues & humanism. Why?

  1. social connection: christianity
  2. radical activism: model of jewish Prophets (loners with a message by God)
  3. graeco-latin scholarship

During the same period of time, Indian culture developed a strong caste system.
The dominant male high-caste elites introduced Yoga. According to the original Linga Purana, the word ‘yoga’ means nirvana, the condition of Shiva, one of the principal deities of Hinduism.

To make a long story short, Christianity submitted the masses ONLY in the absence of the original texts.
With the discovery of printing press, the availability of New Testament led to 2 movements:

  1. religious protest (protestants)
  2. political anti-monarchy (monarchomaques)

Those two European movements (political + religious) appeared in 15th century when the masses obtained knowledge of what the Bible actually wrote against the hypocrite priests & kings. Combined with what stoics, Platonists and others have written.

Example: during the American Revolution the most successful radical pamphlet was written by Thomas Paine, titled “Common Sense”. More than 500,000 copies were sold. Although an anti-christian, Paine finds the most strong anti-monarchical arguments in the Old Testament.

In the Bible Israel has to chose: either obey Pharaoh, either God. You can’t have both.
Later, when Israel demanded a King, prophet Samuel prays to God & conceives the most ancient anti-monarchic narrative. Praying to God was NOT a mindfulness meditation.
1 Samuel Ch8

There are countless research papers showing the correlation between religiosity and civic engagement.
Pew Research 2019

Although Christian church can still control the masses (when they are IGNORANT of the original texts) the opposite is true for Hinduism & Marxism.
The more you get indoctrinated by original texts (marxist or Hinduist ) the more slave-minded you become.

There are plenty of medical benefits by engaging into mindfulness meditation in a personal level. Works like anaesthesia.
But in a social context it’s the strongest opioid of the planet: the opioid of tolerance. Drug strong enough for tolerating castes & tyrants.

Finally, please pay attention to this detail: the project is to give students MEDITATION instead of DETENTION.
Meditation has proven to be the the most effective way of PUNISHMENT and SUBMISSION of students to school masters.

Yoga: the most effective way of school DETENTION. It works like a charm for 2500 years.

13/ Welcome to the official website of United Nations, and happy #YogaDay2019

Posted on by Florent

On Wealth

Western tradition on wealth has may trends. From classic “ethical work” (λειτούργημα) to the protestant “work ethic” (ar­beits­mo­ral), in all major trends the english Prosperity Gospel is considered a shallow deviation by the uncultured.

Friends from Asia are often surprised when visiting Europe (even stores like IKEA) and ask: where does European aesthetic comes from? It boils down to this: in contrast to other asiatic cultures, the graeco-christian showed an open detest & distrust for excessive wealth.

Unless it represents an INSTITUTION. e.g. Acropolis, or a magnificent medieval church was conceived to belong to the body of people (église = the ecclesia of the people, body of Christ). Any abuse of power should be hidden, as a deviation of the norms.

Showing / talking about / desiring wealth was one of the “customs of the barbarians”. This was considered hubris and accompanied, notably, by the refusal of the greeks to bow in front of asiatic despots (who disposed such wealth) when passing by those regions.
Ancient Athens understood money. They thrived through free markets. In fact, Xenophon uses the phrase “ελευθερη αγορα”  (free market) but warns against its deviations.  
plutos = wealth

Plutocracy, according to Xenophon, becomes the “reign of wealth”.

Students had to memorise Delphic aphorisms that encompass their moral education. Examples:
“Πλούτῳ ἀπόστει” (get distance from wealth)
“Πλούτει δικαίως”  (get wealth [only] in a just way)

Plato noticed that cities next to ports (wealth) get quickly degenerated.

Graeco-christian: “the love of money is the root of all evil” is found in New Testament, but it’s in fact found widespread in ancient texts attributed to Solon, Aristotle etc. 
Avarice, the love of material wealth, became one of the Seven deadly sins in Christian tradition.

For the greeks, Pluto (=wealth) was the god of the dead (underworld) regularly described as dark, black, gloomy.

In Hinduism, Kubera is the god of wealth, in golden clothes, the “protector of the world”. Naval subscribes to the Kubera tradition.
I’m sure India has a great history of philosophers & mathematicians, reformers whose work is largely unknown. Therefore, the source of its true wealth is hidden.

What I like in greek & byzantine scholarship is that they understood wealth (personal hard work) in conjunction with social equity.

Homer, Solon, the Komnenoi didn’t wait for any radical leftist to remind them that all citizens need access to land (means of production). “In the Odyssey it is mentioned that the worst fate of a man, other than death, is to remain without access to land and thus have to serve another person”

On the contrary, modern liberals (including Nassim Taleb) don’t understand Social Equity. Without the economics of positive Golden Rule (give land to the poor, free access to hospitals etc) we get the “freedom” that upper Indian casts give to the lower.