Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and Iran are the main victims – with the behaviour of the US, UK, Israel and EU countries (regardless of how ‘barbaric’ or ‘destructive’) being presented as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’. Neo-Nazi Ukraine has now been added to this table of the inherently ‘preferred’!
Seldom does the West Treat non-Westerners with respect. Since 1945 and the rise of US dominance, this anti-intellectual approach has become far more prevalent, powerful and normalised! Racism is an ever threatening ogre lurking in the darkness – but in this short extract (in 1971) – Clae Williams ‘revitalises’ the ground breaking translation work of James Legge, who began the translation of the Chinese ‘Five Classic’ texts in the mid to late 1800s! Although both cultures (the West and East) are still learning about one another, Legge was able to ‘see beyond’ his own socio-economic and cultural conditioning, and ‘see into’ or profoundly ‘glimpse’ how the ancient Chinese people developed a distinct cultural view of the world! The following extract is an ‘Introduction’ written by the American ‘Clae Williams’ in 1969, his modernisation of the work of James Legge, with much of its content deriving from the ample notes left behind in the James Legge Library. The ‘Shujing’ (書經) or ‘Document Classic’ is often referred to in China as the ‘Book of History’ as the ‘Documents’ concerned are ‘Historical’ in nature recording Chinese history from around 2205 – 771 BCE. It is an interesting attempt by non-Chinese people to contextualise the Chinese cultural perception of the world!
The Christians then further added to this confusion (entirely of their own making) by superimposing the Germanic term ‘Soul’ over their misinterpretation of the Greek philosophical term ‘Psyche’! Plotinus (and most genuine Greek philosophers) never used or even knew of the Christian conflation of ‘Psyche-Soul’. Certainly, Plotinus NEVER used the Christian term ‘Soul’, but he did continuously use the Greek philosophical term ‘Psyche’, which refers to the ‘breath of life’, ‘the animating principle of existence’ – or that ‘spark’ which sets in motion all the conditions that grant psychological (thought) and physical (existence)! Plato’s 4th Century BCE text entitled ‘Definitions’ a manual of philosophical terms (translated by DS Hutchinson, 1996) used within his ‘Academy’ School of Philosophical Study – defines the Greek term ‘Psyche’ to mean the following:
a) That which moves itself.
b) The cause of vital processes in living creatures.
I would argue that the Greek term ‘Psyche’ implies so much more than the narrow Christian term ‘Soul’, and even if there are elements of the Greek ‘Psyche’ which overlap with the Christian ‘Soul’ – this in no way validates (or accepts) the Christian doctrine of being true anymore than it invalidates the Greek philosophical message!
Reading American books that purport to reveal some kind of profound truth, is like assessing a written project produced by an individual suffering from a
The birds are watching a documentary about Jacques Derrida. He said that the Revolution will emerge – not out of the conservative (dialectical) conditions the
Moses ‘Waveman’ – the ‘Wizard’ of Torbay – Spreads Wisdom, Love and Peace (Eternally) Throughout the World!
THE SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 