“What is a pencil?” It seems like such a simple, even silly, question. There are lots of easy, comparable answers, such as: “an instrument for writing or drawing, consisting of a thin stick of graphite or a similar substance enclosed in a long thin piece of wood or fixed in a metal or plastic case.”…
Arthur Yavelberg “We don’t need no education.” (Pink Floyd) Pink Floyd’s iconic song is an anthem to those who see schools as assembly lines to produce brain dead cogs for the factories of industrialism. “We don’t need no education.” flouts the decorum of what goes for “civilized” society—claiming that such rituals are artificial at best…
(an interview with Jake Frankel of “Authority Magazine”) INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: As part of my series about “How to write a book that sparks a movement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Arthur Yavelberg A teacher and school administrator for close to 40 years, Arthur Yavelberg has dedicated his career to making complicated issues accessible to…
With two years gone by now, I thought the time for book reviews had passed. Apparently not. As always, please share with me any comments or questions you may have. A Theology for the Rest of Us: An Insightful Guide to Spirituality – US Insider
“I want to taste sugar. I don’t want to be sugar.” This was a philosophy professor’s point years and years–and years–ago in rejecting what he saw as the premise of mysticism: the dissolution of the self/ego into some kind of union with God. Since then, I have read many things to the effect that this…
In the Jewish Talmud, there is a story that illustrates the dangers of engaging in questions of mysticism. ” Four entered the Pardes (“Paradise,” or the realms of mysticism): Ben Azzai died, Ben Zoma went insane, and Aher (the “other” who was no longer to be cited by name, Rabbi Elisha ben Abuya) left the…
In Zen Buddhism, a “Bodhisatva” is someone who could achieve nirvana and escape the vicissitudes or “real” life (“samsara“), but refuses to do so unless s/he can do the same for all humanity. On the other hand, in Hinayana Buddhism, the “Arhat” recognizes that every individual has a unique destiny and has the responsibility for…
(Published in the Arizona Daily Star, November 6, 2022) Arthur Yavelberg While I am not a Catholic, I’ve never had a problem with the Trinity. The idea that there is one essence that manifests itself in different forms in different contexts was no challenge to me. The same is true of Krishna in Hinduism, by…