Quadrant Model of Reality Book 25 Religion

Buddhism Chapter

Christianity Chapter

QMRAs discussed above, depending on how it is rendered (a subject of much debate amongst historians), the Hebrew name for God YHWH bears some similarity to an archaic form of "he is". In Biblical Hebrew, ehyeh is the first person singular imperfect "to be". In other world religions also the "I AM" part is the actual name of God

I Am that I Am (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, ehyeh ašer ehyeh [ehˈje aˈʃer ehˈje]) is the common English translation (JPS among others) of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for his name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; "ehyeh" is the first person singular imperfect form and is usually translated in English Bibles as "I will be" (or "I shall be"), for example, at Exodus 3:14. Ehyeh asher ehyeh literally translates as "I Will Be What I Will Be", with attendant theological and mystical implications in Jewish tradition. However, in most English Bibles, in particular the King James Version, the phrase is rendered as I am that I am.

The word Ehyeh is considered by many rabbinical scholars to be a first-person derivation of the Tetragrammaton, see for example Yahweh.

The word Ehyeh is used a total of 43 places in the Hebrew Bible, where it is often translated as "I will be" — as is the case for its first occurrence, in Genesis 26:3 — or "I shall be," as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8:8. Used by God to identify himself in the Burning Bush, the importance placed on the phrase, as it is, stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am who I am" (ongoing). Some scholars state that the Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root, following a rabbinical interpretation of Exodus 3:14, but others counter that it may simply sound similar as intended by God, such as Psalm 119 and the Hebrew words "shoqed" (watching) and "shaqed" (almond branch) found in Jeremiah 1:11-12. Whether the Holy Name (written as YHWH) is derived from Ehyeh or whether the two are individual concepts, is a subject of debate amongst historians and theologians.

In appearance, it is possible to render YHWH (יהוה) as an archaic third person singular imperfect form of the verb hayah (אהיה) "to be" meaning, therefore, "He is". It is notably distinct from the root El, which can be used as a simple noun to refer to the creator deity in general, as in Elohim, meaning simply "God" (or gods). This interpretation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — ehyeh "I am". Other scholars regard the triconsonantal root of hawah (הוה) as a more likely origin for the name Yahweh (יהוה).

In the Hellenistic Greek literature of the Jewish Diaspora the phrase "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" was rendered in Greek "ego eimi ho on ", "I am the BEING".

Septuagint Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I am HE WHO IS (ho ōn): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, HE WHO IS (ho ōn) hath sent me unto you.[2] Philo : And God said, "At first say unto them, 'I am (egō eimi) THE BEING', (ho ōn, nominative of ontos) that, when they have learnt that there is a difference between THE BEING (ontos, genitive of ho ōn) and that-that-is-not (mee ontos), they may be further taught that there is no name whatever that can properly be assigned to Me (ep' emou kuriologeitai), to whom (hoi) only (monoi) belongs (prosesti) the existence (to einai). (Philo Life Of Moses Vol.1 :75)[3][4] ho Ōn, "He who is" (Philo, Life of Moses I 75) to Ōn, "the Being who is" (Philo, Life of Moses II 67), tou Ontos, "of Him that is" (II 99) tou Ontos, "of the Self-Existent" (II 132) to Ōn, "the Self-Existent" (II 161)[5] This usage is also found in the New Testament: Rev 1:8 I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, the BEING (ho ōn), and THE WAS (ho ēn), and THE IS TO COME (ho erchomenos), the Almighty (ho pantokrator).[6] Rev 4:8 holy, Lord God Almighty, the WAS (ho ēn), and the BEING (ho ōn), and the IS TO COME (ho erchomenos).

The Roman Catholic Church's interpretation has been summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The interpretation is found in numbers 203-213.[7] Some of the salient points are the following: 203 God revealed himself to his people of Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses one's essential identity and the meaning of one's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally. 206 In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men. 207 God, who reveals his name as "I AM", reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them. 210 After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unfaithful people, thus demonstrating his love. When Moses asks to see his glory, God responds "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'the LORD' [YHWH]." Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness"; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God. 211 The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast love for thousands"... By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that 'I AM'." 212 ...In God "there is no variation or shadow due to change."... 213 The revelation of the ineffable name "I AM WHO I AM" contains then the truth that God alone IS. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church's tradition, understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is.

Some religious groups and theologians regard this phrase or at least the "I am" part of the phrase as an actual name of God, or to lesser degree the sole name of God. It can be found in many listings of other common names of God. As discussed above, depending on how it is rendered (a subject of much debate amongst historians), the Hebrew name for God YHWH bears some similarity to an archaic form of "he is". In Biblical Hebrew, ehyeh is the first person singular imperfect "to be". In other world religions also the "I AM" part is the actual name of God.

Victor P. Hamilton suggests "some legitimate translations [...]: (1) 'I am who I am'; (2) 'I am who I was'; (3) 'I am who I shall be'; (4) 'I was who I am'; (5) 'I was who I was'; (6) 'I was who I shall be'; (7) 'I shall be who I am'; (8) 'I shall be who I was'; (9) 'I shall be who I shall be.'"[9] The Bahá'í Faith reference to "I Am" can be found in on page 316 of The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation. “I am,” thrice exclaimed The Bab, “I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person.”

QMRA cruciform halo, that is to say a cross within, or extending beyond, a halo is used to represent the persons of the Holy Trinity, especially Jesus, and especially in medieval art. In Byzantine and Orthodox images, inside each of the bars of the cross in Christ's halo is one of the Greek letters Ο Ω Ν, making up ὁ ὢν — "ho ōn", literally, "the Existing One" — indicating the divinity of Jesus.[22] At least in later Orthodox images, each bar of this cross is composed of three lines, symbolising the dogmas of the Trinity, the oneness of God and the two natures of Christ. In mosaics in Santa Maria Maggiore (432-40) the juvenile Christ has a four-armed cross either on top of his head in the radius of the nimbus, or placed above the radius, but this is unusual. In the same mosaics the accompanying angels have haloes (as, in a continuation of the Imperial tradition, does King Herod), but not Mary and Joseph. Occasionally other figures have crossed haloes, such as the seven doves representing the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the 11th century Codex Vyssegradensis Tree of Jesse (where Jesse and Isaiah also have plain haloes, as do the Ancestors of Christ in other miniatures).[23] Later, triangular haloes are sometimes given to God the Father to represent the Trinity.[24] When he is represented by a hand emerging from a cloud, this may be given a halo.

Decline of the halo[edit] Fra Angelico. Coronation of the Virgin. Note the haloes of the kneeling figures at the front, seen from behind. With increasing realism in painting, the halo came to be a problem for artists. So long as they continued to use the old compositional formulae which had been worked out to accommodate haloes, the problems were manageable, but as Western artists sought more flexibility in composition, this ceased to be the case. In free-standing medieval sculpture, the halo was already shown as a flat disk above or behind the head. When perspective came to be considered essential, painters also changed the halo from an aura surrounding the head, always depicted as though seen full-on, to a flat golden disk or ring that appeared in perspective, floating above the heads of the saints, or vertically behind, sometimes transparent. This can be seen first in Giotto, who still gives Christ the cruciform halo which began to be phased out by his successors. In northern Europe the radiant halo, made up of rays like a sunburst, came into fashion in French painting around the end of the 14th century.[33]

Fra Angelico 1450, Mary's halo is in perspective, Joseph's is not. Jesus still has a cruciform halo.

Nativity and Transfiguration of Christ, with cross haloes; the apostles, angels and prophets have plain ones. (1025-50, Cologne).

QMRThe halo of Jesus, seen in many paintings, has similarities to the zodiac cross

QMRVision of Constantine[edit] Missorium depicting Constantine's son Constantius II, accompanied by a guardsman with the Chi Rho monogram depicted on his shield "Vision of Constantine" redirects here. For the Bernini sculpture, see The Vision of Constantine (Bernini). It is commonly understood that on the evening of 27 October with the armies preparing for battle, Constantine had a vision which led him to fight under the protection of the Christian God. Some details of that vision, however, differ between the sources reporting it. Lactantius states that, in the night before the battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to "delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers" (On the Deaths of the Persecutors 44.5). He followed the commands of his dream and marked the shields with a sign "denoting Christ". Lactantius describes that sign as a "staurogram", or a Latin cross with its upper end rounded in a P-like fashion. There is no certain evidence that Constantine ever used that sign, opposed to the better known Chi-Rho sign described by Eusebius.[5] A coin struck in 313, depicting Constantine as the companion of a solar deity From Eusebius, two accounts of the battle survive. The first, shorter one in the Ecclesiastical History promotes the belief that God helped Constantine but does not mention any vision. In his later Life of Constantine, Eusebius gives a detailed account of a vision and stresses that he had heard the story from the Emperor himself. According to this version, Constantine with his army was marching (Eusebius does not specify the actual location of the event, but it clearly is not in the camp at Rome), when he looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek words "Εν Τούτῳ Νίκα", En toutō níka, usually translated into Latin as "in hoc signo vinces." Both phrases have the literal meaning "In this sign,[you shall] conquer"; a more free translation would be "Through this sign [you shall] conquer". At first he was unsure of the meaning of the apparition, but in the following night he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the sign against his enemies. Eusebius then continues to describe the labarum, the military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against Licinius, showing the Chi-Rho sign.[6] The accounts of the two contemporary authors, though not entirely consistent, have been merged into a popular notion of Constantine seeing the Chi-Rho sign on the evening before the battle. Both authors agree that the sign was not widely understandable to denote Christ (although among the Christians, it was already being used in the catacombs along with other special symbols to mark and/or decorate Christian tombs).[7] Its first imperial appearance is on a Constantinian silver coin from c. 317, which proves that Constantine did use the sign at that time, though not very prominently.[8] He made more extensive use of the Chi-Rho and the Labarum later, during the conflict with Licinius.

Some[9] have considered the vision in a solar context (e.g., as a solar halo phenomenon called a Sun dog), which may have preceded the Christian beliefs later expressed by Constantine. Coins of Constantine depicting him as the companion of a solar deity were minted as late as 313, the year following the battle. The solar deity, Sol Invictus, is often pictured with a nimbus, or halo. Various emperors portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage, with a wide range of legends, only a few of which incorporated the epithet invictus, such as the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.[10] Constantine's official coinage continues to bear images of Sol until 325/6. A solidus of Constantine as well as a gold medallion from his reign depict the Emperor's bust in profile jugate with Sol Invictus, with the legend INVICTUS CONSTANTINUS.[11] The official cults of Sol Invictus and Sol Invictus Mithras were popular amongst the soldiers of the Roman Army. Statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine. Constantine's triumphal arch was carefully positioned to align with the colossal statue of Sol by the Colosseum, so that Sol formed the dominant backdrop when seen from the direction of the main approach towards the arch.[12]'

QMRConstantine's army adopts the Greek symbols Chi Rho Further information: Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Giulio Romano Maxentius organized his forces—still twice the size of Constantine's—in long lines facing the battle plain, with their backs to the river.[156] Constantine's army arrived at the field bearing unfamiliar symbols on either its standards or its soldiers' shields.[157] According to Lactantius, Constantine was visited by a dream the night before the battle, wherein he was advised "to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers ... by means of a slanted letter X with the top of its head bent round, he marked Christ on their shields."[158] Eusebius describes another version, where, while marching at midday, "he saw with his own eyes in the heavens a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces or "with this sign, you will conquer";[159] in Eusebius's account, Constantine had a dream the following night, in which Christ appeared with the same heavenly sign, and told him to make a standard, the labarum, for his army in that form.[160] Eusebius is vague about when and where these events took place,[161] but it enters his narrative before the war against Maxentius begins.[162] Eusebius describes the sign as Chi (Χ) traversed by Rho (Ρ): ☧, a symbol representing the first two letters of the Greek spelling of the word Christos or Christ.[163][164] In 315 AD a medallion was issued at Ticinum showing Constantine wearing a helmet emblazoned with the Chi Rho,[165] and coins issued at Siscia in 317/318 AD repeat the image.[166] The figure was otherwise rare, however, and is uncommon in imperial iconography and propaganda before the 320s.[167] Constantine deployed his own forces along the whole length of Maxentius' line. He ordered his cavalry to charge, and they broke Maxentius' cavalry. He then sent his infantry against Maxentius' infantry, pushing many into the Tiber where they were slaughtered and drowned.[156] The battle was brief:[168] Maxentius' troops were broken before the first charge.[169] Maxentius' horse guards and praetorians initially held their position, but broke under the force of a Constantinian cavalry charge; they also broke ranks and fled to the river. Maxentius rode with them, and attempted to cross the bridge of boats, but he was pushed by the mass of his fleeing soldiers into the Tiber, and drowned.[170]

QMRIn Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator refers to a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator (Greek: Χριστός Παντοκράτωρ)[1] is, used in this context, a translation of one of many names of God in Judaism. Jesus has a crucifoorm halo

Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style from the Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily- he has a cross halo

A view (directly overhead) of the Christ Pantocrator in the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City of Jerusalem. He has a cross halo

The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator, encaustic on panel (Saint Catherine's Monastery). The two different facial expressions on either side may emphasize Christ's two natures as fully God and fully human.[5][6] He has a cross halo

Christ Pantocrator in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem Christ Pantokrator inside the dome of Church of the Saviour on the Blood (Храм Спаса на Крови), St. Petersburg. Mosaic of Palatine Chapel in Palermo

They all have cross halos

The icon, traditionally half-length when in a semi-dome,[8] which became adopted for panel icons also, depicts Christ fully frontal with a somewhat melancholy and stern aspect, with the right hand raised in blessing or, in the early encaustic panel at Saint Catherine's Monastery, the conventional rhetorical gesture that represents teaching. The left hand holds a closed book with a richly decoratedcover featuring the Cross, representing the Gospels. An icon where Christ has an open book is called "Christ the Teacher", a variant of the Pantocrator. Christ is bearded, his brown hair centrally parted, and his head is surrounded by a halo. The icon is usually shown against a gold background comparable to the gilded grounds of mosaic depictions of the Christian emperors. In some variants, on each side of the halo are Greek letters: IC and XC. Christ's fingers are depicted in a pose that represents the letters IC, X and C, thereby making the Christogram ICXC (for "Jesus Christ"). The IC is composed of the Greek characters iota (Ι) and lunate sigma (C; instead of Σ, ς)—the first and last letters of 'Jesus' in Greek (Ἰησοῦς); in XC the letters are chi (Χ) and again the lunate sigma—the first and last letters of 'Christ' in Greek (Χριστός).

QMRVisions of John the Evangelist, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Four cherubim surround the throne and twenty-four elders sit to the left and right.

QMRIn the early 1860s, four young painters—Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille—met while studying under the academic artist Charles Gleyre. They discovered that they shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life rather than historical or mythological scenes. Following a practice that had become increasingly popular by mid-century, they often ventured into the countryside together to paint in the open air, but not for the purpose of making sketches to be developed into carefully finished works in the studio, as was the usual custom.[4] By painting in sunlight directly from nature, and making bold use of the vivid synthetic pigments that had become available since the beginning of the century, they began to develop a lighter and brighter manner of painting that extended further the Realism of Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon school. A favourite meeting place for the artists was the Café Guerbois on Avenue de Clichy in Paris, where the discussions were often led by Édouard Manet, whom the younger artists greatly admired. They were soon joined by Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, and Armand Guillaumin

QMRLamentation of Christ (also known as Glimm Lamentation) is an oil-on-panel painting by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, executed around 1500 and currently housed in the Alte Pinakothek of Munich, Germany. It is of Jesus coming off of the cross

QMRThey were created either as pendants, that is conceived as a pair and intended to hang alongside each other,[2] or diptych wings. However this formation may have been a later conception; Barbara's portrait seems to have been executed some time after her husband's and it is unusual for a husband to be placed to the viewer's right in paired panels. His father's panel is considered the superior work and has been described as one of Dürer's most exact and honest portraits.[3] They are among four paintings or drawings Dürer made of his parents,[A] each of which unsentimentally examines the deteriorating effects of age. His later writings contain eulogies for both parents, from which the love and respect he felt toward them is evident.

Islam Chapter

Hinduism Chapter

QMRAccording to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailāśa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Pārvatī. He is at once the Lord of Yoga and therefore the ultimate renunciate ascetic, yet he is also the divine master of Tantra.[7] According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli.[8] It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus.[8]

QMRSeveral cosmological and mythological systems portray four corners of the world or four quarters of the world corresponding approximately to the four points of the compass. At the center may lie a sacred mountain, garden, world tree, or other beginning point of creation. Often four rivers run to the four corners of the world, and water or irrigate the four quadrants of the earth. Tibetan conception of four rivers dividing the world into quadrants In Mesopotamian cosmology and in the creation account of the Bible, the four corners of the world are defined by four rivers flowing out of the garden of creation, which is the center of the world. In the Bible, the garden is the Garden of Eden, and the four rivers are the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon, and Gihon. The Tigris runs to Assyria, the Euphrates to Armenia, the Pishon to Havilah (Arabia?) or Elam, and the Gihon to Ethiopia.[1][2][3] In Hinduism, the sacred mountain Kailash has four sides, from which flow four rivers to the four quarters of the world (the Ganges, Indus, Oxus (Amu Darya), and Śita (Tarim)), dividing the world into four quadrants. Another account is of a celestial mountain, Mount Meru, buttressed by four terrestrial mountain ranges which extend in four directions. Between them are four sacred lakes, through which the celestial river divides into four earthly rivers, which flow to the four corners and irrigate the four quadrants of the Earth. Buddhism and the Bon religion of Tibet have similar accounts.[1]

qMRFour Dharmadhatu[edit] Huayan teaches the Four Dharmadhātu, four ways to view reality: All dharmas are seen as particular separate events; All events are an expression of the absolute; Events and essence interpenetrate; All events interpenetrate.[9]

QMRFour ways of knowing[edit] See also: Four Dharmadhatu and Five wisdoms Asanga, one of the main proponents of Yogacara, introduced the idea of four ways of knowing: the perfection of action, observing knowing, universal knowing, and great mirror knowing. He relates these to the Eight Consciousnesses: The five senses are connected to the perfection of action, Samjna (cognition) is connected to observing knowing, Manas (mind) is related to universal knowing, Alaya-vijnana is connected to great mirror knowing.[33] In time, these ways of knowing were also connected to the doctrine of the three bodies of the Buddha (Dharmakāya, Sambhogakāya and Nirmanakaya), together forming the "Yuishiki doctrine".[33] Hakuin related these four ways of knowing to four gates on the Buddhist path: the Gate of Inspiration, the Gate of Practice, the Gate of Awakening, and the Gate of Nirvana.[34] The Gate of Inspiration is initial awakening, kensho, seeing into one's true nature. The Gate of Practice is the purification of oneself by continuous practice. The Gate of Awakening is the study of the ancient masters and the Buddhist sutras, to deepen the insight into the Buddhist teachings, and acquire the skills needed to help other sentient beings on the Buddhist path to awakening. The Gate of Nirvana is the "ultimate liberation", "knowing without any kind of defilement".[34]

QMRPost-satori practice[edit] Hakuin saw "deep compassion and commitment to help all sentient beings everywhere"[18] as an indispensable part of the Buddhist path to awakening. Hakuin emphasized the need for "post-satori training",[19][20] purifying the mind of karmic tendencies and [W]hipping forward the wheel of the Four Universal Vows, pledging yourself to benefit and save all sentient beings while striving every minute of your life to practice the great Dharma giving.[20]

QMRThe four principal Mahavakyas[edit] Though there are many Mahavakyas, four of them, one from each of the four Vedas, are often mentioned as "the Mahavakyas".[1] According to the Vedanta-tradition, the subject matter and the essence of all Upanishads is the same, and all the Upanishadic Mahavakyas express this one universal message in the form of terse and concise statements.[citation needed] In later Sanskrit usage, the term mahāvākya came to mean "discourse", and specifically, discourse on a philosophically lofty topic.[web 1] According to the Advaita Vedanta tradition the four Upanishadic statements indicate the ultimate unity of the individual (Atman) with Supreme (Brahman).[citation needed] The Mahavakyas are: prajñānam brahma - "Prajña[note 1] is Brahman"[note 2], or "Brahman is Prajña"[web 3] (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda) ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda) tat tvam asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda) aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman", or "I am Divine"[5] (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda) People who are initiated into sannyasa in Advaita Vedanta are being taught the four [principal] mahavakyas as four mantras, "to attain this highest of states in which the individual self dissolves inseparably in Brahman".[6]

QMrIn Hindu philosophy, the Sanskrit sentence - Aham Bramhāsmiti (Devanagari: अहं ब्रह्म अस्मिति) - means "I am Brahman" (Aham Brahman Asmi) or "I am the Infinite Reality". It is one of the four Mahavakyas used to explain the unity of macrocosm and microcosm.[1]

QMRAristotle argues, in Book 8 of the Physics and Book 12 of the Metaphysics, "that there must be an immortal, unchanging being, ultimately responsible for all wholeness and orderliness in the sensible world".[5] In the Physics (VIII 4–6) Aristotle finds "surprising difficulties" explaining even commonplace change, and in support of his approach of explanation by four causes, he required "a fair bit of technical machinery".[6] This "machinery" includes potentiality and actuality, hylomorphism, the theory of categories, and "an audacious and intriguing argument, that the bare existence of change requires the postulation of a first cause, an unmoved mover whose necessary existence underpins the ceaseless activity of the world of motion".[7] Aristotle's "first philosophy", or Metaphysics ("after the Physics"), develops his peculiar stellar theology of the prime mover, as πρῶτον κινοῦν ἀκίνητον: an independent divine eternal unchanging immaterial substance.[8]

Simplicius argues that the first unmoved mover is a cause not only in the sense of being a final cause—which everyone in his day, as in ours, would accept—but also in the sense of being an efficient cause (1360. 24ff.), and his master Ammonius wrote a whole book defending the thesis (ibid. 1363. 8-10). Simplicius's arguments include citations of Plato's views in the Timaeus—evidence not relevant to the debate unless one happens to believe in the essential harmony of Plato and Aristotle—and inferences from approving remarks which Aristotle makes about the role of Nous in Anaxagoras, which require a good deal of reading between the lines. But he does point out rightly that the unmoved mover fits the definition of an efficient cause—'whence the first source of change or rest' (Phys. II. 3, 194b29-30; Simpl. 1361. 12ff.). The examples which Aristotle adduces do not obviously suggest an application to the first unmoved mover, and it is at least possible that Aristotle originated his fourfold distinction without reference to such an entity. But the real question is whether, given his definition of the efficient cause, it includes the unmoved mover willy-nilly. One curious fact remains: that Aristotle never acknowledges the alleged fact that the unmoved mover is an efficient cause (a problem of which Simplicius is well aware: 1363. 12-14)...[11] — D.W. Graham, Physics

Other Religions Chapter

qMRDepictions of both a single form Hekate and triple formed, as well as occasional four headed descriptions continued throughout her history.

QMRIn folk magic and mythology, crossroads may represent a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place. Symbolically, it can mean a locality where two realms touch and therefore represents liminality, a place literally "neither here nor there", "betwixt and between".

An 11th-century homily called De Falsis Deis tells us that Mercury or Odin were honored on crossroads. -53.Sum man eac wæs gehaten Mercurius on life, se wæs swyðe facenfull -54.And, ðeah full snotorwyrde, swicol on dædum and on leasbregdum. Ðone -55.macedon þa hæðenan be heora getæle eac heom to mæran gode and æt wega -56.gelætum him lac offrodon oft and gelome þurh deofles lare and to heagum -57.beorgum him brohton oft mistlice loflac.[1] The modern English text gives: "There was also a man called Mercury, he was very crafty and deceitful in deed and trickeries, though his speech was fully plausible. The heathens made him a renowned god for themselves; at crossroads they offered sacrifices to him frequently and they often erringly brought praise-offerings to hilltops, all through the devil’s teaching. This false god was honored among the heathens in that day, and he is also called by the name Odin in the Danish manner."

Voodoo[edit] In conjure, rootwork, and hoodoo, a form of African American magical spirituality, in order to acquire facility at various manual and body skills, such as playing a musical instrument, throwing dice, or dancing, one may attend upon a crossroads a certain number of times, either at midnight or just before dawn, and one will meet a "black man," whom some call the Devil, who will bestow upon one the desired skills. In the Vodou tradition, Papa Legba is the lwa of crossroads. Blues songs[edit] In Western folk mythology, a crossroads can be used to summon a demon in order to broker a supernatural deal. This legend can be seen in many stories. For example, in 1926's Faust, the title character summons the demon Mephistopheles at a crossroads. In the U.S. television show Supernatural, crossroads demons are a recurring plot device. Some 20th-century blues songs, such as Sold It to the Devil by Black Spider Dumpling (John D. Twitty), may be about making a deal with the devil at the crossroads. Many modern listeners believe that the premier song about soul-selling at a crossroads is "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson. However, the song's lyrics merely describe a man trying to hitchhike; the sense of foreboding has been interpreted as the singer's apprehension of finding himself, a young black man in the 1920s deep south, alone after dark and at the mercy of passing motorists.[2] The idea of selling one's soul for instrumental skills predates the American South as several virtuoso classical musicians such as Paganini[citation needed] had stories told about selling their soul for music prowess (and that story may reference back to medieval troubadour doing something similar). The motif of selling one's soul for guitar power has become a staple of both rock and metal guitarists.[3

Brazilian mythology[edit] Crossroads are very important both in Brazilian mythology (related to the headless mule, the devil, the Besta Fera and the Brazilian version of the werewolf) and religions (as the favourite place for the manifestation of "left-hand" entities such as Exus and where to place offerings to the Orishas). Eshu and Legba derive from the same African deity, although they are viewed in markedly different manners among traditions. For example, Papa Legba is considered by Haitian Vodou practitioners to be closest to Saint Peter, although in Brazilian Quimbanda it is not uncommon to see Exu closely associated with demonic entities such as Lucifer, clad in Mephistophelean attire and bearing a trident.[4] Burial[edit] In the UK there was a tradition of burying at crossroads criminals and suicides. This may have been due to the crossroads marking the boundaries of the settlement coupled with a desire to bury those outside of the law outside the settlement, or that the many roads would confuse the dead.[5] Christian[edit] Mandala and medicine wheels are metonymic of crossroads and share in their lore.[citation needed

QMRCross burning or cross lighting is a practice widely associated with the Ku Klux Klan, although the historical practice long predates the Klan's inception–as far back as Peter of Bruys (1117–1131), who burned crosses in protest of the veneration of crosses. In the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides or near the homes of those they wished to intimidate.

Scottish origins[edit] In Scotland, the fiery cross, known as the Crann Tara, was used as a declaration of war.[1] The sight of it commanded all clan members to rally to the defense of the area. On other occasions, a small burning cross would be carried from town to town. It was used as recently as the War of 1812 to mobilise the Scottish Fencibles and militia settled in Glengarry County, Ontario against the invaders,[2] and in 1820 over 800 fighting men of Clan Grant were gathered, by the passing of the Fiery Cross, to come to the aid of their Clan Lord and his sister in the village of Elgin.[3] The most recent well-known use in Scotland itself was in 1745, during the Jacobite rising,[4] and it was subsequently described in the novels and poetry of Walter Scott.

The Birth of a Nation[edit] In D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, the film adaptation of Thomas Dixon's novel, The Clansman, there are two examples of the burning of a cross. The first was when a former Confederate colonel's little sister had died by jumping off a cliff while being chased by a black captain who announced he wished to marry her and chased her when she refused. She finally threatened to jump off the cliff unless he stopped, and he pursued her. Her brother had held her in his arms at the bottom of the cliff, and she identified her attacker. This was in the setting that the Piedmont legislature had legalized interracial marriages. The small grouping of the clan burned a small cross, perhaps 8 inches tall, that had been drenched in the young girl's blood, and with the testimony of the colonel, based on the girl's dying words, there was a small trial, and the captain was found guilty of murder and executed. His body was placed on the front porch of the Governor of South Carolina's house with a square piece of white sheeting with the initials KKK. The later incidents of the burning of a cross had been when it had been discovered that there were 2 home invasions, one being the home of the governor himself, when a black member of his government had proposed to his daughter and attempted to force the marriage by force of arms when she refused, and the governor himself and his home were held captive. The other home invasion was of the family of the Confederate colonel, whose mother had been found to be in sympathy of the Clan by making clan uniforms. There had also been military rule in the streets. The colonel needed help from clans from neighboring counties. This was the second time the cross was burned, in daytime, this time creating a black smoke signal to call neighboring clans to come to their aid to give them the military power to overcome the military control of the town of Piedmont. The different clans wore different head-dresses and robes. They greeted each other with their faces uncovered although they drove into town with sheeting over their faces. The colonel had 2 adjacent square crosses on his robe, presumably from the original clan in Scotland. Most notably, in the movie, the clans were plural. This is reinforced by the fact that Dixon's novel The Clansman uses a C and not a K.

Sign of the Ku Klux Klan[edit] Klan members conduct a cross burning in 1921. In the first era, reconstruction Klans did not burn crosses. The idea was introduced by Thomas Dixon, Jr., in his novel, The Clansman, in 1905. A cross burning is first described in Book IV Chapter 2 "The Fiery Cross" on pages 324–326 of the 1905 edition. It is introduced by one of the characters as "the old Scottish rite of the burning cross. It will send a thrill of inspiration to every clansmen in the hills." It is further elaborated that In olden times when the Chieftain of our people summoned the clan on an errand of life and death, the Fiery Cross, extinguished in sacrificial blood, was sent by swift courier from village to village. This call was never made in vain, nor will it be to-night in the new world. Here, on this spot made holy ground by the blood of those we hold dearer than life, I raise the ancient symbol of an unconquered race of men— This scene is accompanied by an unnumbered plate illustration by Arthur I. Keller, captioned "'The fiery cross of old Scotland's hills'", showing two robed, unmasked Klansmen over a bound, blindfolded and gagged African-American (accused of raping a white girl), one of whom is holding a lighted cross, while robed and hooded klansmen look on.[5] The novel ends with a klansmen waiting for election results stating "Look at our lights on the mountains! They are ablaze - range on range our signals gleam until the Fiery Cross is lost among the stars" meaning that he had won and civilization had been saved in the South.[6] The fiery cross is mentioned once again in the final novel of Dixon's Klan trilogy, The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire, when a Grand Dragon tosses a burning cross on a heap of discarded Klan robes and regalia in obedience to the order of the Grand Dragon to dissolve the order.[7] This scene is accompanied by an illustration captioned "Some of the men were sobbing" by Charles David Williams featuring a gathering of Klansmen over a burning pile of robes, carrying three burning crosses.[8] The first instance of a cross being burned in the United States was on November 25, 1915, when a group led by William J. Simmons burned a cross on top of Stone Mountain, inaugurating a revival of the Ku Klux Klan. The event was attended by 15 charter members and a few aging survivors of the original Klan.[9] Crosses were burned during the Tallahassee bus boycott of 1956.[10] Many Christians consider it sacrilege to burn or otherwise destroy a cross. Klan Christians, however, state that it is not destroying the cross, but "lighting" it, as a symbol of the members' faith. Some Klan members & historians have claimed that the symbology behind the burning cross comes from Constantine the Great's vision of a burning cross, which then led to his conversion to Christianity.

Recent cases[edit] In 2006, Neal Chapman Coombs, of Hastings, Florida, was charged with knowingly and willfully intimidating and interfering with the right to fair housing[11] by threat of force and the use of fire and pleaded guilty to a racially-motivated civil rights crime involving a cross burning, in his own front yard, to prevent the purchase of a house by an African-American family. Coombs was sentenced to 14 months in prison in January, 2007.[12] On November 6, 2008, a Hardwick Township, New Jersey family who supported U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign found a charred wooden cross on their lawn, near burnt remnants of a "President Obama - Victory '08" banner which had been stolen from their yard.[13] In February 2010, an interracial Nova Scotia couple living in Hants County discovered a cross burning on their lawn, along with a noose.[14] Two brothers were later convicted of inciting racial hatred.[15] Legal position in the United States[edit] In Virginia v. Black (2003), the United States Supreme Court deemed constitutional a statute outlawing the public burning of a cross with intent to intimidate, but held that statutes that did not require additional showing of intent to intimidate (other than the cross itself) were unconstitutional.