The Leap of Faith

For all religions, I think it is necessary to make a leap of faith. Small, or big, it is a leap nevertheless. It will depend whether or not you think this leap of faith is reasonable. It also depends how hardcore you are in terms of your belief. When someone asked him about the possibility [...]

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I hate Yoono.

I have no idea why Firefox recommended this terrible “add-on”. But somehow I can’t remove it. How do you remove it?? This is driving me crazy.

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United Nations endorses Thai Buddhist economic model

Click here for a link to today’s news.
A most heartening read. While we are talking about economics, I think it has, indeed, has become the new Philosophy, and economists are the new Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Post Isaac Newton, the majority of people saw the world in a purely mechanical manner, or in Newtonian terms. [...]

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Pax Mongolica

Pax Romana got nothing on the Khans.
Here is a most interesting link on the enforced peace of the short-lived but largest land empire in human history.

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Poor, poor Xerxes.

I know it was meant to be a further dramatization of an already fantasy-like and surreal depiction of a battle often exaggerated. I understand the Persians should be allowed to have trolls, rhinos, elephants and all manner of bizarre creatures. I understand that Spartans should be able to pull off kung fu style moves while [...]

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My favourite quotes

From the Simsapa Leaves Sutra:
Once the Blessed One was staying at Kosambi in the simsapa forest. Then, picking up a few simsapa leaves with his hand, he asked the monks, “What do you think, monks: Which are more numerous, the few simsapa leaves in my hand or those overhead in the simsapa forest?”
“The leaves in [...]

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“Madness? THIS IS SPARTAAAA!!!!”

Ah, 300. This movie is going to be good. Not only did I spend much of 2005 studying ancient Greece, but the crazy violence and sex of this movie has got to make it one of the manliest movies ever. We have been on a hiatus of good ol’ exaggerated historical epics by Hollywood recently.
There [...]

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Quick Tribute to Ashoka

My favourite historical hero without doubt is Emperor Ashoka the Great. I am a historian and I have studied much about Sumer, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and China. But no other empire inspires me as much as the great Mauryan Empire in the Ashokan period. Seeing the many Ashokan relics in India was a true [...]

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New Section for Travellers

As part of the new look for this blog, I have added a new section of links for “travellers and globetrotters”. Right now I’m keeping strictly to the places where I have been and I enjoyed (I’ve been to other places but the ones on that list are either my favourites or my most important), [...]

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Yo! Blog Reborn.

How does it look? Thought I would try out the newest theme WordPress had to offer. Right now it’s still up in the air, since I also like my previous “metropolis” theme. So time will tell.
The custom image header is part of one of the many photos I took at Mahabodhi Temple, the most sacred [...]

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