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The paper presents one of the peculiarities of the Eastern worldview, which is expressed in haiku, namely the combination of a sense of fullness of the moment and its transitivity. We will look for the roots of this vision in the philosophy of Daoism, and in particular in the understanding of the achievement of the pivot of dao or the spring of emptiness at the core of every process from where any transformations are possible.
This research is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, grant No 753561.
Joint publication with “Haiku World”, Issue 5, 2019
On June 7-9 at the Center for Eastern Languages and Cultures at Sofia University Days of Eastern Arts and Spirituality were held. The event was organized under the project "Perception of Eastern Spirituality in Europe", funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, Horizon 2020, European Commission, Grant No. 753561. Organisers were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antoaneta Nikolova, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Leipzig, Germany as well as Departments of "Chinese studies", "Classical East", "Japanese Studies", trans-departmental specialty "South, East and Southeast Asia" at the Centre for Eastern Languages and Cultures, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and Haiku Club “Sofia”.
The event was rich and interesting. During the first day, a series of workshops, meditations, demonstrations and performances were held under the title "Art and Meditation". There were a number of exhibitions in the halls and lobbies. The day ended with a concert program.
On the second day, an International Haiku Conference „Haiku: Western Perception of Eastern Spirituality“ was held. The day ended with the results of a free-style haiku contest.
The third day was dedicated to ginko - walking in nature and writing haiku.
In this issue of the e-journal we offer materials from the conference, as well as a touch on some of the artistic performances of the Days of Eastern Art and Spirituality. Some of the materials are a joint publication with the journal “Haiku World”, issue 5 (2019).
Abstract: In this paper, "East" and "West" with their characteristics, especially in the field of thought, are regarded as a pair of two interactive components that have particular relations among themselves. Both Eastern and Western thought have developed different modes interpreting possible relations between the components of such a pair. In my paper, I will present some of these modes: (i) the ideas of opposition as contrary and contradiction developed within the Western thought, (ii) the idea of complementarity developed in the Chinese thought, (iii) the idea of non-duality of Buddhism, (iv) the idea of the three-components interaction presented in the school of Samkhya, and (v) the idea of oneness presented in Indian thought. What consequences for understanding of the dialogue follow from these modes and could there be a real mutual understanding will be the opened questions that the paper will discuss.
Key words: East-West dialogue, opposition, harmony, non-duality, oneness
This research is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, grant No 753561.
Abstract: In this paper, "East" and "West" with their characteristics, especially in the field of thought, are regarded as a pair of two interactive components that have particular relations among themselves. Both Eastern and Western thought have developed different modes interpreting possible relations between the components of such a pair. In my paper, I will present some of these modes: (i) the ideas of opposition as contrary and contradiction developed within the Western thought, (ii) the idea of complementarity developed in the Chinese thought, (iii) the idea of non-duality of Buddhism, (iv) the idea of the three-components interaction presented in the school of Samkhya, and (v) the idea of oneness presented in Indian thought. What consequences for understanding of the dialogue follow from these modes and could there be a real mutual understanding will be the opened questions that the paper will discuss.
Key words: East-West dialogue, opposition, harmony, non-duality, oneness
This research is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, grant No 753561.
Abstract: In this article, the question of the religion-tolerance relation is discussed in general terms - in terms of the division of religions as inclusive and exclusive. The main question is whether this opposition, being too conditional and by itself exclusive, is real. The conclusion is that the more inclusive one religion is, the more exclusive it turns to be and vice versa. Exclusiveness is a peculiarity of each religion on its formal and institutional level whereas in the inner mystical level they all are inclusive.
Key words: tolerance, inclusive and exclusive religions
Abstract: The paper presents the philosophical implication of the ancient treatises on Daoist sexual practices. The meaning of the concepts of yin and yang as well as of the three kinds of energy are explained in both the theoretical and practical sence. These explanations should serve as an introduction to the translation of Su Nu Jing, one of the most popular scriptures on this topic.
Key words: Daoist sexual practices, yin and yang, qi
INTERPRETATIONS OF DAODEJING
Abstract:
The paper aims to reveal the reasons for different perceptions of one of the fundamental texts of Daoism, Daodejing. It points out that fluidity and relativity are essential characteristics of the Chinese vision of reality and that this vision requires a corresponding language. Daodejing is a text, which simultaneously presents both the theoretical background of this vision and its practical application in language. Therefore its linear interpretation is not only impossible, it is incorrect.
Key words: Chinese philosophy, Daoism, dao, comparative thinking
Abstract: The paper seeks to answer the question what is the space in or of haiku especially in terms of the city as a topos. The answer of this question leads to many pairs of oppositions: internal-external, conscious-unconscious, natural-artificial, sacred-profane, etc. The paper however outlines that haiku is connected to a philosophy of non-duality that is going beyond opposition. Therefore its space is unfolding on the fine gap between oppositions, in the place where the natural and the artificial, the internal and the external are smoothly transforming into each other. On the basis of different examples the paper reveals how the different plans of the inner and outer, human, urban and nature spaces communicate with each other forming the sounding, deep echoing spaces of haiku and of the eternal depths of our being.
Key words: haiku, space, non-duality
Antoaneta Nikolova was born in 1961 in Sofia. She graduated in philosophy at the Sofia University "Kliment Ohridski" and is a lecturer in Eastern philosophy at SWU "Neofit Rilski". He is the author of six poetry books as well as the philosophical and poetic study "The Language of the Void" (Mediterranean Aquarium, 2003). Co-writer with Sofia Katarova on Anthology with Old Chinese Landscape Lyrics "Poetry of the Mountains and Waters" (Stigmata, 2003), poems by the Buddhist poet and monk Hanshan "Verses of the Cold Mountain" ("East-West", 2013), as well as selected poems by one of the most famous Chinese poets Li Bai, "The Odeon of Heaven" (East-West, 2014). Her poems are published in anthologies and magazines in German, English, Hungarian, Japanese and Russian. He is a member of the Bulgarian Writers Association, the Haikou Club "Sofia" and the World Haiku Association.
The aim of the paper is to discuss what concepts of far Eastern thought correspond to such concepts of the Western thought as "reality" and "reflection". In order to answer this question the three main teachings of Chinese thought, Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, are briefly analysed. The conclusion is that Chinese thought reveals the world in terms of change, transformation and mutual dependence. Therefore, its aesthetics is not based on an opposition between some independent and objective reality and some independent subject reflecting it. Rather it is based on complementarity and mutual response of inner and outer, permanence and change, openness and closeness. Its main characteristics are mutuality and co-creation that transform both aspects of the process.
Key words: Chinese philosophy, reality, reflection, change, response, haiku