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Intrinsic Property, Quantum vacuum and Shunyata
By Prof Sisir Roy
sisir.sisirroy@gmail.com
An Indian Classics Curriculum
Scientific Paradigm of Advaita Vedanta, Vivekananda Contribution
A Very Brief History of Indian Science
Can Science Study the Nature of Consciousness during Meditation
Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness and the Self
Newton`s Many Dark Secrets
Kanada, Great Physicist and Sage of Antiquity
Indian Foundations of Modern Science
In Search of Possible Physical Laws in Spirituality
Understanding Mysticism through Quantum Physics
Neo-Vedanta and the New World Order
Quantum Entanglement and the Philosophy of Relations - Jaina Perspective
The Voice of Life
The Emergence of Spacetime from the Akasha
The Atomistic Revival
Decision-making, human cognition, and equanimity of mind
The Appeal of the Upanishads Today
India`s Rejuvenation- Swami Vivekananda`s Vision
Human Embryogenesis- Modern Science vis-a-vis Samkara`s view as reflected in Prapancasara
Scientific Theory of Pauli-Jung vis- a-vis Ontology of Neo-Vedanta
Matter, Mind and Consciousness- Recent Trends in Philosophy and Science
Cyclic Cosmology and Vedanta
Vedanta meets Science
Bridging Religion and Science
Dr Rajeshwar Mukherjee
Gopal C Bhar
J C Bose
Prof Sisir Roy
Swami Atmapriyananda
In this paper an attempt has been made to critically analyze the claims of convergence between the important concepts of quantum theory and concepts of Buddhist philosophy. The limited knowledge of the present author on various schools of thought of Buddhist philosophy restricts the present discussions within the domain of Madhyamaika and Yogacara school of Buddhism.
"Physical concepts are free creations of human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." Albert Einstein
Over the last few decades, following the revolutionary scientific contributions to the theory of Einstein's relativity and quantum physics many scholars have been inspired to discover striking parallels between world views of Vedanta and modern physics. Few attempts have been made towards the comparative study of various branches of science, studying parallels between modern physics, especially, between quantum theory, cosmology and Buddhist concepts.
In the present paper, our aim is not to discover the findings of modern physics in Buddhist framework or in Vedanta or to show how modern physics can also be claimed as "spiritual". On the contrary, an attempt has been made to critically analyze the claims of convergence between the important concepts of quantum theory and concepts of Buddhist philosophy. The limited knowledge of the present author on various schools of thought of Buddhist philosophy restricts the present discussions within the domain of Madhyamaika and Yogacara school of Buddhism.
The question of the origin and constitution of the universe lies at centre of most ancient natural philosophies: how did the world come into existence? Was it created from a sort of nothingness or does it originate from a basic substance or principle that still underlies its existence? In early twentieth century Albert Einstein discussed about the origin and structure of the universe in a comprehensive manner within his framework of General Theory of Relativity.
According to the recent formulation of cosmology (i.e. the origin and structure of the universe), the universe originates from the fluctuations of the Quantum Vacuum. Vacuum in Modern Physics is not exactly nothing, but rather a "something called nothing", meaning that it is replete with activities governed by the principle of quantum theory.
From philosophical perspective what is significant is the division of creative conceptions into those which assume that the Universe arose from "nothingness" in the strong ontological meaning of the word vs. those which lead to the conclusion that it was originated from a certain "poorer" physical reality, usually called "quantum vacuum" or space-time endowed with fluctuation. This vacuum or ontologically speaking a substratum exists which is devoid of any matter but full of activities or full of potentialities. It has striking similarity with the concept of Tathagatagarbha in Yogacara Buddhism.
Scientists are yet to understand how the behaviors and attributes of all the entities in this physical universe are being originated from these potentialities inherent to quantum vacuum: for example, how, the elementary entities like electron, protons, quarks etc get their specific properties like mass, charge, spin, interaction character etc and make atoms, molecules etc?
In modern physics the properties like charge, spin etc. of elementary entities like electron, proton, photon etc are considered to be "intrinsic properties" of the entity. This leads to new debate whether "these intrinsic properties" are really intrinsic since they are created out of the fluctuation of vacuum. In Buddhist philosophy especially in "madhyamik philosophy" no such concept of "intrinsic property" or svabhava exists at the ultimate level.
Here, I shall elaborate this issue of lack of existence of intrinsic attributes for elementary entities in quantum vacuum and compare with Nagarjun Philosophy of emptiness or Shūnyatā.
It is worth mentioning that in the process of understanding the characteristics of quantum vacuum one needs to understand the quantum theory along with special theory of relativity. Special theory of relativity is based on two axioms one of which is the speed of light taken as constant and maximum. This constancy of speed of light does not depend on other external conditions.
This is in contrast to the doctrine of "pratitya samudpada" or "dependent origination" in Buddhist philosophy. The existence of multi-verse can explain the contingency of speed of light i.e. in our present universe the speed of light is constant and has the fixed numerical value which might be different in other universe. The basic issue is whether Buddhism permits the existence of multi-verse or not.
This substratum or "Quantum vacuum" is not devoid of anything but full of some attributes which give rise to the physical characteristics of various fields like gravitational, electromagnetic etc present in the physical universe(1). The challenge is to understand how these physical characteristics of various fields emerges from the seeds or attributes embedded in the substratum. Conceptually, the term "Quantum Vacuum" in modern cosmology refers to the same reality as depicted by the term "Tathagata Garbha" in Yogacara Buddhism (2) where an ubiquitous physical substratum and its fluctuations gives rise to the physical universe. This will be discussed in section
In modern physics matter is supposed to be composed of molecules, atoms, electron, proton etc. If we further down to the scale i.e. to smaller scale of length and time, all the elementary particle like electron, proton, neutron are supposed to be composed of particle called "quarks". The behavior of elementary entities like electron, proton, neutron, photon etc is governed by a equation known as Schrodinger equation whereas the object of everyday experience like a stone, basketball etc are governed by a equation known as Newtonian equation. It is to be noted that the properties of these elementary entities like mass, charge, spin of electron , proton etc are considered to be intrinsic in nature. Intrinsic properties are those properties that a thing have, irrespective of whether or not there are other contingent things. Moreover, the spin can take discrete values. This has been verified in early twentieth century laboratory experiment.
It raises serious philosophical debate especially if one considers Madhyamiaka school of Buddhism. In Buddhist philosophy especially in "madhyamik philosophy" no such concept of "intrinsic property" or svabhava exists in contrast to Vedantic view, where the "operational self" (ahamkāra) is underpinned by the "ontological self" (jiivātman), which denotes the intrinsic identity. I will discuss this aspect in section III.
It is worth mentioning that various fields exist in this universe- for example gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong field. It is the dream of scientists (rather dream of Einstein) to find a theory which unifies all type of fields and hence theory of everything may be constructed. To construct theory of quantum field one needs to consider simultaneously the quantum theory and relativity theory. In special theory of relativity Einstein started with two axioms: the speed of light is constant and maximum and the space is homogeneous and isotropic. The first axiom is based on the experimental observations and so far no experimental observations contradict this assumption. So the contingency of speed of light i.e. the constancy of speed of light does not depend on any other conditions in the present universe.
It raises serious philosophical debate within madhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy. The contingency of speed of light can be envisaged if and when one considers existence of multi-verse theory. This will be discussed in section IV. Concept of Nonlocality plays an important role in modern day quantum theory. The concept of interconnectedness in Buddhist philosophy and the nonlocal connection or correlations are critically discussed in section V. Finally the concept of quantum reality and sunyata are discussed in view of creating possible dialogue in section VI.
II. Tathagata Garbha, Quantum Vacuum and Ontological issues
The concept of alayvijnana plays a central role in the development of Buddhist dialectical thought. Nagarjuna is considered to be the first Buddhist thinker to introduce a dialectical system as a means of developing progressive philosophical views. However, he never mentioned the term alayvijnana. Asanga, the propunder of the Vijnanavada doctrine, wrote the first systemized theory of causation by the ideation storehouse" or alayvijnana.
It is not clear from the text whether the storehouse consciousness should be considered as a universal source of individual consciousness or as a pluralistic principle per se performing at the bottom of each individual human mind. The text of Asanga considers aalya as the seat of pure subjectivity, out of which objectivity develops. However, the text does not imply any sort of ultimateness in the storehouse consciousness as such. Vasubandhu, brother of Asanga adhered to the doctrine as the basis of subjective consciousness and the source of all phenomenal multiplicity. In Lankavatara sutra aalay is compared with infinite ocean (Verdu) on whose surface waves roll on permanently aroused by the winds of ignorance but the depth remain unmoved that is the aalay body itself "subsists uninterruptley, quite free from fault of impermanence…. and thoroughly pure in its essential nature". Later development towards more ontological formulation, the sutra identifies the concept of aalay with the concept of Tathagatagarbha, the matrix or womb. The latter one is the most cherished Kegonian expressions which designates the ultimate reality of Buddha nature itself or tathata or suchness.
In 1974 Verdu (3) in his book on "Dialectical aspects in Buddhist thought" raise an important issue which is much relevant in the context of modern science. He wrote "The Lanka, however, leaves a vital aspect of its doctrine shrouded in deep mystery. This is the question concerning the character and origin of the agency that stirs the waves of change upon the ocean of the garbha. This agency is metaphorically designated as the winds of ignorance. What principle are these winds related to? What is the ontological status of this principle as primordial stimulator of the growth within the womb (garbha) of the aalay? Is it extrinsic to the garbha or is it internal to the garbha, in which case it is the very source of error and of its subsequent evils?" Now if it is considered to be external to garbha then the concept of garbha can not be treated as ultimate one.
There exists striking similarity to the idea of creation of the universe by the fluctuations of quantum vacuum in modern cosmology and the concept of tathagata garbha. In modern cosmology, the quantum principle is considered as the fundamental principle existing at all levels ubiquitously. So the issue is whether this quantum principle is extrinsic to the quantum vacuum? The answer is no. The very concept of quantum vacuum is intimately related to this uncertainty principle. Indeed it is intrinsic to the quantum vacuum.
Let us now look into the solution of the enigma raised in the context of Tathagatagarbha by Yogacara Buddhists. A highly speculative scripture Mahayanasraddotpada (Awakening of faith in Mahayana) usually attributed to Asvaghosa offered an interesting solution to this enigma. Briefly speaking, Tathagatagarbha is considered as the universal flux or storehouse of all reality including both its samsara and nirvana aspects whereas aalayavijnana is considered as the storehouse of all knowledge. Phenoenologically if the enlightenment is the noetic aspect of the aalay, the tathagatagarbha is its ontic aspect. Edward Thomas (6) stated "It becomes superfluous to ask whether this mind or store-consciousness(aalay) is universal or individual. It is conceived as the one reality beyond all differentiation…….This is Tathagatagarbha ….. in which all reality and difference is embraced".
According to modern cosmology the universe arises in the process of "fluctuation of quantum vacuum", not out of "nothing" but out of a certain physical reality. This vacuum or ontologically speaking about the existence of substratum exists devoid of any matter but full of activities or full of potentialities. These potentialities give rise to various attributes of the physical universe. For example, there exists four fundamental forces in physical universe – namely, the electromagnetic force, gravitational force, strong nuclear force and weak force. These fundamental forces are associated with corresponding fields – like electromagnetic, gravitational fields etc. each field has its own distinct characteristics. These characteristics are supposed to have some kind of imprints or seeds in "quantum vacuum" (via symmetry breaking). So these characteristics or attributes arise out of the fluctuation of the "quantum vacuum" with potentialities.
Here, the scientists are yet to find the answer to the question of how the attributes of the physical universe arise out of "fluctuation of quantum vacuum with some seeds or potentialities" or a space-time endowed with fluctuation without having specific "attributes" of the various fields.
It is worth mentioning that though several concepts of vacuum like "true vacuum", "false vacuum" are proposed in modern cosmology, yet none of them is "nothingness" in the strict ontological sense of the word. In the context of these theses on the creation of the universe out of "nothingness", "tunneling out of nothingness" or "fluctuation of nothingness" are not purely scientific theses. Now even if one does not consider the concept of energy, mass, stress tensor as characteristics of nothingness but that of space-time (which we call dynamic geometry), then one should recognize the existence of a law of nature at the "very beginning" according to which "nothingness creates the world".
Clearly, such a law would appear to go beyond any known physical laws, and presumably it is subject to causal laws that invoke some world of logic and mathematics, because we believe (almost religiously!) that an explanation of the origin of the universe cannot do without assumption of structure of rationality. This entails that, in understanding the question of the "beginning of universe" the involvement of philosophy is inevitable in the following sense.
Cosmology as an empirical science is predicated based on the structure and evolution of only a small observable part of the universe (like correctness of inflation), but not the universe as a whole – for example, we are not able to check the correctness of a rule for initial conditions from a scientific point of view. It is to be noted that extrapolations of local physics onto the whole observable Universe cannot do without cosmological principles, about which what we know is basically of a philosophical character. It immediately raises the pertinent question "Is the emptiness of quantum vacuum similar to the emptiness of Buddhist philosophy?"
III. Intrinsic Property in Quantum Theory and Dependent origination
Nagarjuna is considered to be the first Buddhist thinker and propounder of dialectical system as a means of developing progressive philosophical views. Nagarjuna's philosophy consists principally of two aspects:
(1) Exposition of a concept of reality [sunyata] according to which fundamental reality does not consist of independent, substantial components i.e absence of "svabhava" in contrary to other Indian traditions.
(2) The second aspect is an answer to the inner contradictions of four extreme concepts of reality (catuskoti, meaning 'four corners').
It insists that there are four possibilities regarding any statement: it might be true (and true only), false (and false only), both true and false, or neither true nor false. Nagarjuna introduced the concept of Pratityasamutpada which has two parts in Sanskrit: Pratitya and Samutpada where Pratitya: a continuative meaning "having dependent"; Samutpada: an action noun meaning "arising".
Pratityasamutpada refers not just the things which arise from causes but also to non products since their existence is relative. According to this doctrine, all phenomena are dependent arising. Since everything is interdependent, nothing can be self-defining and exist inherently. The notion of interdependence leads us directly to the idea of emptiness in Buddhism, which does not mean nothingness, but the absence of inherent existence. Intrinsic are those qualitative properties that a thing has irrespective of whether or not there are other contingent things, all other qualitative properties are extrinsic or relational.
According to western perspective, the world consists of independent individual things that are embedded in space-time. These things are individuals because
They have a spatio-temporar location
They are a subject of the predication of properties each and
There are some qualitative properties by means of which each of these things is distinguished from all others (at least the spatio-temporal location is such a property).
In modern physics the properties, for example, charge, spin etc. of elementary entities like electron, proton, photon etc are considered to be "intrinsic properties" of the entity. Elementary particles like electron, proton, photon etc. are described by –
Electrons has definite mass, charge and spin
It belongs to a category called Fermions
Fermions have spin ½, 3/2. 5/2 etc.
Photon belong to a category called Boson, Bosons have spin 0,1,2 etc.
Boson obeys Bose statistics and hence known as Boson.
Recent mass of electron: 9.10938215(45)×10−31 Kg
Charge of an electron: 4.80320451(10)×10−10 esu
Spin of an electron: ½
Scientists discovered many such elementary particles out of which the particles called "leptons" (like electron, muon) and "quarks" are considered to be the building blocks of all other particles and matter. It means matter and all other elementary particles like neutron, proton, mesons are composed of leptons and quarks. These "quarks" possess also intrinsic properties like spin, charge etc. However, if we carefully analyze the situation, these "intrinsic properties" no longer can be identified as "intrinsic property". This can visualized in the following way:
In a phenomena called pair-creation in modern physics it has been shown from observations that a pair of electron ( negative charge, fixed mass and definite spin) and positron ( opposite charge that of electron but same mass as that of electron and same spin) is created out of the fluctuation of vacuum or gamma ray ( quanta of light) which may also create such a pair. Here, when it is created from gamma ray ( which does not have charge, rest mass but has spin one ), how the attribute like spin of electron and positron ( spin half) is created from a spin one gamma or photon quanta ( which has spin one only) or the charge of electron and positron arises from chargeless gamma ? In physics we consider the law of conservation of charge or angular momentum. Ontologically it gives rise to the problem of understanding the intrinsic property of elementary entities at the level of quantum vacuum. Further analysis is needed to clarify the present situation.
IV. Special Theory of Relativity, Constancy of Speed of light and Contingency
Since the perception of quantum theory, the debates started regarding the ontological issues presen in quantum theory. According to Copenhagen interpretation one cannot say anything about the reality unless one observes it. Essentially no observer independent reality exists in this framework and hence it is epistemic in nature. During the process of development of quantum theory, the field like electromagnetic field has been shown to be quantized. Once we have quantized field we do not have concept of particle as such in the framework but the quanta of this field is nothing but the photon associated to electromagnetic field. The enigma of wave and particle was resolved within the framework of quantum field theory.
This is one of the most successful theories in terms of experimental observations in the domain of modern physics. Here, one needs to construct a framework of quantum theory along with special theory of relativity. The fields have infinite degrees of freedom and have more intuitive ontological understanding. Einstein introduced two axioms I formulating the special theory of relativity: one the speed of light is constant and maximum. This is based on observational findings. Many laboratory experiments as well as experiments performed in the space have been performed to measure the speed of light. No results violate this axiom so far.
The speed of light has a definite numerical value (3x1010cm/s) which can be measured in the experiment as a consequence. It gives rise to new philosophical debate: why this particular value is prevalent in our present universe? Can we think in terms of contingency (contingency means dependent on other conditions)? One possible solution has been proposed by Peter Mittlestaedt (7) regarding the contingency of speed of light. He suggested that if we take the principle of quantum theory as the most fundamental principle in nature then there is a finite probability of having this particular value in our universe. Its value may be different in other universe. So his solution demands the existence of multiple universe. Intuitively speaking, one can think of an ocean where bubbles are being created and dissolved. These bubbles are nothing but many universes. This ocean is nothing but the quantum vacuum where fluctuations give rise to many universes or bubbles.
Now, the issue is whether any school of Buddhism propounds the manifestation of many physical universes from sunyata.
V. Concept of Non-locality and idea of Interconnectedness in Madhyamika Philosophy
Buddhists see the world, not as a collection of isolated objects, but as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. The Buddhist worldview, therefore, is holistic because it sees the world as an integrated whole rather than as a dissociated collection of parts. It recognizes the fundamental inter-dependence of all phenomena in the world and everything is dependent.
Now, let us look into phenomena called quantum entanglement and nonlocality in quantum theory. Quantum entanglement, also known as quantum non-local connection is a property of quantum mechanical systems. This connection contains two or more objects which are linked in such a way that it is not possible to describe the quantum state of a constituent of that system without fully mentioning its counterparts, even if those individual parts are spatially separated. Erwin Schrodinger (8) coined the term "entanglement" for this phenomena and used it in his three part article published in Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society. He proposed that entanglement arises due to the interactions of two particles (i.e., two quantum objects) through the evolution of wave equation (popularly known as Schrodinger equation) and called this phenomenon as the characteristic trait of quantum theory. Schrodinger, also, realized that this character, rather peculiar non-classical correlations to quantum systems, could be used to steer a distant particle into one of a set of systems having a certain probability.
But, Einstein disliked this approach at first and called quantum entanglement "spooky action at a distance" in the famous EPR debate. In 1982(9) Aspect et al. first showed that nonlocal interactions do exist and occur even in the laboratory.
Two quantum objects, when entangled, initially, both will have an undetermined state. When one object's state is determined, the other's state is instantaneously known to be the opposite, no matter how far apart they are. Quantum theory permits that the states of quantum systems are entangled. Instead of speaking of entangled states, one can also talk directly in terms of entangled systems. However, since entanglement is state-dependent, it seems more appropriate to use the notion of entangled states. Examples for this phenomenon are position and momentum and also spin angular momentum in any direction. Instead, there are only correlations between the state-dependent properties of the quantum systems in question, encoded in a joint probability distribution determined by the joint state. Quantum theory does not include any property of a quantum system taken separately which is a supervenience basis for these correlated probability distributions. Furthermore, these correlations – and thus entanglement – are independent of spatio-temporal distance. Because of this property, i.e., entanglement, quantum physics seems to exhibit some sort of a holism.
Next, let us summarize the concept of nonlocaltiy in the following manner:
The states of two or more systems are non-separable if and only if it is the joint state of the whole that completely determines the state-dependent properties of each system and the correlations among these systems (to the extent that these are determined at all).
According to Ithaca interpretation of Quantum Theory (QT), The only proper subjects of physics are correlations among different parts of the physical world. Correlations are fundamental, irreducible, and objective. They constitute the full content of physical reality. There is no absolute state of being; there are only correlations between subsystems.
So the correlation or interdependence is fundamental in understanding quantum reality. It seems to have striking similarity with the concept of interdependence in Madhyamika's view. But it does not preclude the existence of intrinsic property of the quantum entity. Moreover, the correlations for quantum entities in quantum entanglement have to be constructed by certain measurement process. Of course, once the correlations occur it will be there whatever the distance the entities are separated. Again, any entity in quantum world is not connected with any other entity i.e. Electron may be correlated with another but not with other particle like Neutron. However, further investigation is needed to understand this situation of correlations in quantum world and the interdependence in Madhyamika philosophy.
VI. Quantum Reality and Sunyata: possible dialogue
In physics, the scientists generally follow the "top-down" approach. Since the dawn of civilization, curious minds are engaged in looking into stars, galaxies in the sky. Kepler discovered the law of planetary systems i.e. how the planets are moving around the sun. Newton formulated the laws of gravitation i.e. why the apples fall towards the earth. Their efforts were mainly concentrated in understanding the behavior of large objects like planets, everyday objects like falling of apples.
The developments of research in the beginning of twentieth century changed the paradigm. Scientists tried to understand the behavior of smaller and smaller objects like "atom" as the smallest unit of the matter and went o further down to find the fundamental particles like "electron", "proton" etc. These are the entities which constitute the microscopic world. So the journey is from macroscopic ( for larger objects) to microscopic world. The behavior of the entities of the microscopic world is governed by different law of nature called Schrodinger equation where as the law govern the behavior of macroscopic objects by Newtonian equation. It does not mean that the discovery of quantum paradigm refutes Newtonian paradigm. We need to understand different levels of reality- at one level Newtonian paradigm are applicable where as at another level of reality quantum law is applicable. One may argue that as the quantum law which governs the behavior of microscopic entities, the behavior of the whole universe should be described by the law of microscopic world. This is far from understanding of the scientists even in twenty first century.
The developments of modern physics in twentieth century raise epistemological and ontological issues which may be relevant in Buddhist framework. They can be summarized in the following manner.
Issue of Intrinsic property of the objects in Quantum Theory and Madhyamika Philosophy.
Issue of Interconnectedness and concept of nonlocality and quantum entanglement in the microscopic world.
Concept of quantum vacuum – as ultimate reality and Tathagatagarbha in Yogacara Buddhism.
Great Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna in his famous text Mūlamadhyamakakārikā attributes two truths to Buddha "the Dharma taught by the buddhas is precisely based on the two truths: a truth of mundane conventions and a truth of the ultimate".
The doctrine of two truths lies in the core of Buddhist philosophy. One is conventional truth which involves our everyday experience and understanding the way the phenomenal world appears and functions. According to Buddhism this conventional truth is deceptive and this deception is called inherent existence and is identified as the root cause of sufferings. Madhyakima school of Buddhism asserts that no independent phenomena exist. Phenomena are neither self-created nor self-enduring but arise in dependence on other conditions without a nature or essence of their own. For example, if the atoms producing an object say pitcher are discrete entities as Buddhist maintain, then simply the aggregates of the atoms will not produce pitcher.
In modern science one needs concept of cohesion to produce such an object. Jaina scholars emphasized that the atoms are being capable of being connected to become as concrete object. This is strikingly similar to the discovery of Pauli's exclusive principle which solves the mystery of periodic table of various elements in nature. Hydrogen and Oxygen combine to produce water. Hydrogen and Oxygen are independent entities – the combination occurs due to their propensity to each other based on above mentioned exclusion principle.
In modern science, scientists are looking for fundamental entities or fields by which the whole universe can be described. Again the fluctuation of a substratum called quantum vacuum has been studied to understand the origin of this physical or phenomenal universe. The various attributes of the microscopic entities like spin, charge, and mass are considered as intrinsic properties at certain level but they are considered as merely potentialities at the level of quantum vacuum. This is one of the challenging issues in modern cosmology how these attributes arise out of vacuum fluctuation where "so called intrinsic property" does not exist.
So we do have the concept of two truths in modern science too similar to Madhyamika school of thought. Recently, physicists constructed "quantum ontology" by relaxing some of the axioms of classical ontology from very general perspective. Within this new perspective, further analysis is needed in finding the convergence and divergence in modern physics and sunyata or emptiness in Buddhism.
Author is at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISC Campus, Bangalore and (Former) Professor, Physics and Applied mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
This article was first published here. eSamskriti has obtained permission from the author to share here.
1. Jonathan Duquette (2010); Towards a Philosophical Reconstruction of the Dialogue between Modern Physics and Advaita Ved nta: An Inquiry into the Concepts of k , Vacuum and Reality:, Ph.D. Dissertations, University of Montreal.
2. Sisir Roy (2015) Towards reconstruction of the dialogue between Modern Physics and Buddhist Philosophy: an inquiry into the concepts of Quantum Vacuum and Ālayavijñāna, Nava Nalanda University, Bihar.
3. Sisir Roy (2015) An inquiry into the concept of Quantum Vacuum in Modern Physics and Akasha in Advaita Vedanta; Prajnanam – self awareness, Kaivalyadham, pp.36-56.
4. Brain Edward Brown (2010); The Buddha Nature: A study of the Tathagarbha and Alayavijnana : Motilal Banarasi Das Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi
5. Alfonso Verdu (1974) Dialectical Aspects in Buddhist Thought; International Studies, East Asian Series Research Publication, Number Eight, The University of Kansas.
6. Edward Thomas (1963) The History of Buddhist Thought, London, p. 234.
7. Peter Mittelestaedt (2011) Rational Reconstruction of Modern Physics, Springer.
8. Erwin Schrodinger (1935): Discussion of Probability Relations Between Separated Systems, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 31, p 555-563; ibid .Vol. 32 (1936) p 446-451.
9. A. Aspect, P. Grangier, and G. Roger(1982) Experimental Realizations of Einstein-pdolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedanken experiment: A New violation of Bell's inequalities., Physical Review Letters, Vol. 49(2), p91-94.
Intrinsic property
Quantum vacuum
Quantum Ontology
Pratitya samudpada
Tathagatagarbha
Madhyamik Philosophy
Yogacara Buddhism
Naina Devi Temple
Tambdi Surla Waterfalls
Nageshwar Mandir
Matter, Mind and Consciousness- Recent Trends in Philosophy ...


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Marvel announces plans for milestone 'Avengers' #750
The oversized issue will include stories by Jason Aaron, Christopher Ruocchio, Steve McNiven, Carlos Pacheco and more.
Marvel is pulling out the stops on issue #750 of the Avengers, which arrives in November, as the 96-page issue will include multiple stories by current Avengers writer Jason Aaron and artists like Carlos Pacheco, Aaron Kuder, Ed McGuinness and Javier Garrón.
"It's such an honor to be a part of issue #750 of Avengers, and I'm looking to celebrate the rich history of the title and its iconic characters by using this issue as the gargantuan-sized kick-off for a story that'll be as wildly sweeping and swing-for-the-fences epic as it can possibly be," Aaron told Marvel.com. "It's not just that everything I've been doing in the last 50 issues of Avengers has been leading to this, but there are threads feeding into the next year's worth of stories that stretch back to most every major series I've ever written in my 15 years at Marvel Comics."
Continue reading "Marvel announces plans for milestone 'Avengers' #750"
Author JK ParkinPosted on August 16, 2021 August 17, 2021 Categories Comic BooksTags Aaron Kuder, Avengers, Carlos Pacheco, Christopher Ruocchio, Ed McGuinness, Jason Aaron, Javier Garron, Marvel, Multiversal Masters Of Evil, Steve McNiven, ThorLeave a comment on Marvel announces plans for milestone 'Avengers' #750
'Daredevil' #36 marks the end of the current series — but Marvel promises more
Chip Zdarsky and Manuel Garcia will present an oversized final issue, while Marvel plans an announcement for Aug. 31.
Daredevil seems to bring the best out in its writers; from Frank Miller and Ann Nocenti to Ed Brubaker and Mark Waid, the title has enjoyed several epic, career-defining runs in its history. It's really been no different for Chip Zdarsky, who has worked with artists like Marco Checchetto and Manuel Garcia to tear down Matt Murdock's life, create a new one for Elektra and, of course, help the Kingpin find new love.
All that comes to a head in November's oversized Daredevil #36, which Marvel says is the last issue of the current run, but not Zdarsky's final issue of Daredevil.
"I know writers like to say things like, 'It's all been building toward this!!' but, really, it has," Zdarsky told Marvel.com. "When I sat down to write issue one, I knew that this issue was waiting and that it was going to drastically alter the lives of the Daredevil cast. Issue 36 is NOT an ending, it's a beginning."
Continue reading "'Daredevil' #36 marks the end of the current series — but Marvel promises more"
Author JK ParkinPosted on August 16, 2021 August 16, 2021 Categories Comic BooksTags Chip Zdarsky, comic books, Daredevil, Elektra, Manuel Garcia, Marco Checchetto, Marvel2 Comments on 'Daredevil' #36 marks the end of the current series — but Marvel promises more
Bendis moves his Jinxworld titles to Dark Horse
The line of titles that includes 'Pearl,' 'Cover' and the upcoming 'Joy Operations' moves from DC to the Oregon-based publisher.
After stints at Image Comics, Marvel and DC Comics in recent years, Brian Michael Bendis' Jinxworld line of creator-owned titles now has a new home at Dark Horse Comics.
The deal will include a new title, Joy Operations, which Bendis will write and artist Stephen Byrne (Wonder Twins) will draw. Many of the Jinxworld titles published by DC over the last few years, including Pearl and Cover, will also move to Dark Horse. THR said Bendis also has plans to release new editions of previous titles, like Powers, through the publisher. Bendis' exclusive contract with DC, Jinxworld's previous publisher, ended earlier this year.
"I am so proud to call Dark Horse Comics home! From Dark Horse Presents all the way up to Black Hammer, Dark Horse has been at the forefront of the kind of creator-owned comics I personally adore and aspire to. This partnership has been brewing for a very long time," Bendis said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "Mike Richardson, Daniel Chabon and everyone else at Dark Horse has welcomed us with open arms and it's very exciting to start rolling out our brand-new epics like Joy Operations and reintroduce you to some of our classic Jinxworld titles like Powers, Torso and Jinx. Any of my friends will tell you I wished those books were published by Dark Horse back when we first made them. To the future!"
Continue reading "Bendis moves his Jinxworld titles to Dark Horse"
Author JK ParkinPosted on August 16, 2021 August 17, 2021 Categories CreatorsTags Brian Michael Bendis, Dark Horse Comics, david mack, Jinxworld, Joy Operations, Stephen Byrne2 Comments on Bendis moves his Jinxworld titles to Dark Horse

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has dismissed a statement credited to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, saying he ignored an earlier warning of eminent Fulani herdsmen attack in Logo and Guma Local Government Areas of Benue State on January 1, 2018.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Vice President insisted that he was never informed of the eminent Fulani herdsmen attack in the reported letter from the governor.
Governor Ortom wrote to the Vice President, then Acting President, on 7th June 2017 protesting a newspaper publication where the leadership of Miyetti Allah was reported to have stated that it was opposed to the Open Grazing Prohibition law of the State and that they would mobilize to resist the law.
The Miyetti Allah had written to the Vice President on the 5th of June 2017 on the same law protesting several sections of the law.
"The Vice President subsequently met with the Governor, discussed the matter and the security situation in the State and then ordered law enforcement agencies to be on the alert to prevent any attacks or violence. This was in June 2017!
"In the said letter written by the Governor, there was no mention of any threat to any specific one of the 23 local governments of Benue State, so the best the law enforcement agencies could do even then was to await information or intelligence of an imminent attack. None came. Since then the VP has held several meetings with the Benue State Governor, including a visit to the State on the 6th of September, last year at the behest of Mr. President during the tragic floods in the state last year. At all such meetings, the Vice President discussed the security situation of the State with the Governor.
"Following that, the then Acting President convened a major national security retreat which was attended by all State Governors, service chiefs and heads of security agencies. The Retreat featured very detailed discussions on the herdsmen/ farmers' clashes.


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Becici
Lustica
Zelenika
Biljarda
Cetinje Monastery
Fort Arza
Kanli Kula
King Nikola's Castle
Lady of the Rocks
Mamula Fortress
Miriste
Savina Monastery
St George Island
St George Church
Biogradska Gora
Lovcen National Park
Prokletije National Park
Skadar Lake National Park
King Nichola's Palace
Lovcen
Mirište
Skadar Lake
Tara Bridge
Žanjic
The monastery of great miracles
"A miracle built by nature and human interaction, carved almost in its entirety in a vertically positioned mountain cliff. Today it is the pearl of Montenegrin spirituality which is visited by more than a hundred thousand pilgrims from around the world and of travelers of all religions every year."
The Monastery of Ostrog is a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church located at an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock of Ostroška Greda. The monastery is dedicated to Saint Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški). Ostrog monastery is the most popular pilgrimage place in Montenegro.
The monastery is also one of three most visited Christian destinations on the planet with its cave-like chapel and the Monastery complex that preserves the sanctity of Saint Basil the, Orthodox Christian Saint of Miracles.
All of Montenegrin spirituality, belief s and cultural treasures found their home high up in the Ostrog cliffs. This breathtaking destination will fill your soul with high elevated feelings of devotion and reverence to God.
Where is the Ostrog Monastery
Ostrog Monastery is located about 50 kilometers from Podgorica and about 15 kilometer from Niksic. Since the two towns are directly connected via highway finding Ostrog is easy. If you arrive to Montenegro by plane, the airport is only 10 kilometers away from Podgorica and from there it's another 50 minute drive to the monastery. On your way to the monastery you will see breathtaking natural landscapes surrounded by the view and sound of the waterfall Perucice, which seem to enlarge the wild vigor of the tamed stone and water. The unusual feeling of tranquility experienced thru the plain is soon replaced by the holy peace of the Ostrog cliffs, that for many centuries preserved the myths, legends, miracles and stories of freedom of people large and small that have traveled to them.
History of Ostrog Monastery
The Monastery was founded by Vasilije, the Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina in the 17th century. He died in the monastery in 1671 and a couple years later he was glorified. His body is enshrined in a reliquary kept in the cave-church dedicated to the Presentation of the Mother of God to the Temple.
The Monastery received its present-day look in 1923-1926, after a huge fire which had destroyed major parts of the monastery's complex. Fortunately, the two little cave-churches were spared and they are the key areas of the monument. The other church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is placed within a cave on the upper level of the monastery.
The Orthodox monastery of Ostrog is one of the most frequently visited on the Balkans. It is visited by believers from all parts of the world, either individually or in groups. It represents the meeting place of all confessions: the Orthodox, the Catholics and the Muslims. According to the stories of pilgrims, by praying by his body, many have been cured and helped in lessening the difficulties in their lives.
One way transfers from Podgorica Airport to Budva, 8 pax
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Are you making yourself a target for fraud? More and more often I am hearing stories of people who have had their accounts hacked. They have had money stolen, lost sleep, spent hours setting up new accounts, or had their credit ruined. Don't let this happen to you.
Are you making these dangerous mistakes?
Mistake #1: Using the same password for all your accounts.
Please don't do this. Use different passwords for every email account, and definitely use unique passwords for shopping websites where you'd enter your credit card.
Mistake #3: BradPitt, Charlie, Sarah, Princess, Barbie, Gandolf -- Did I guess it yet?
Do not use kids' names, pet's name, nicknames, names from characters in books or movies or celebrity names. Even if I didn't guess it in my list, someone who knows you could.
Easy to remember is also easy to guess. Passwords should not contain English words found in a dictionary. Non-English words or any words in any dictionary are a high risk as well. And, for goodness sakes, if your password is "password" or "test" then it's a wonder you haven't been hacked yet!
Mistake #5: Numbers are no-no's.
If all of this sounds too hard to remember, then consider using a Password program. Most of the good password programs will not only store your passwords on your computer, but they'll generate completely random passwords when you need one.
It's never a good time to find out that someone has stolen money from you -- or locked you out of your own email account. It's a waste of your time and money. Please protect yourself.


I have been able to play a few month with the OmniFind Yahoo! Edition from IBM, it's quiet some powerful tool offered for free compared to the other search engines that are offered on the net such as Google Custom Search Business, Google Mini, ISYS Web, Mondo Search, and some other tools that are listed here(http://www.searchtools.com).
Les poker sans téléchargement sont accessibles pour la plupart des ordinateurs et c'est leur plus grand avantage.
From my point of view the only inconvenience with this tool is that is not open for any plug in or add in functionalities. That could really help make it much much better for users. But again, this tool is complete and contains all the needed functionalities for an Entry Level Enterprise Search Engine.


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Brachypogon jaroslavi är en tvåvingeart som beskrevs av Ryszard Szadziewski 1983. Brachypogon jaroslavi ingår i släktet Brachypogon och familjen svidknott.

Artens utbredningsområde är Algeriet. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Svidknott
jaroslavi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Minister of Health has published the following new regulations proposed by the Nursing Council in the Gazette for public comment.
Please send your comments directly to the Department of Health as per the instructions in the government notices and NOT to the Nursing Council .
Take careful note of the due date for comments to be submitted.
The due date for comments to be submitted to the Department of Health is 12 January 2015.
The due date for comments to be submitted to the Department of Health is 7 June 2013.
The due date for the submission of comments has already expired.
This new regulation will replace the old distinguishing devices regulations.
This proposal has been put in abeyance - to be looked at later.
Some documents on this web-site are only available in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the forms. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe.


I sent in my tenth assignment on Monday, and am now focusing on completing my entry for the AIS Charles Shultz Scholarship Contest! In the meantime I've thought about a whole lot of things, and… I don't think I'm quite ready to blog about all of it since I need to take action instead of constantly ponder and wish and wonder (while wandering). I read part of the first chapter of Colossians last night and those words really spoke to me–that is, specifically Colossians 1:9-12. It's definitely something to keep my Bible open to.
JapanesePod101 Got a Major Update!


I was asked by Antonio Scuzzarella and Alessio Trabacchini to design the 60th anniversary cover for "L'Eternauta", the sci-fi immortal classic by Francisco Solano Lopez and Hector German Oesterheld. Published in Italy by 001 Edizioni, this editon features various extra contents ranging from an exclusive new and exhaustive critical apparatus to a graphic short novel by Zanotto about the life and work of H.G. Oesterheld.
The illustration itself is a 46x61 cm graphite ad watercolour drawing on 300gsm Arches satin paper.
Discarded image for a music event 2.
This image is part of a set of peliminary K Visual illustration proposals for a music event in Rome. FYI: 12Hz is the lowest musical frequency.
I started this image with a photobash: pretty unusual, I rarely start from photographic material, but I liked the general feel of this first test so I ended up sticking to its composition.
Then I drew a digital draft out of it: changed some elements in the background and tried to keep the bottom part as clean as possible to accept small and big text.
Then I traced it with an ink marker.
Here is the final ink piece, ready to be coloured in photoshop.
The ink illustration, approximately 50 x 70 cm on Arches 300 gsm hot pressed paper is for sale on my online store.
The photoshop color step, ready for text or other graphic element.
"Batman: Oscurità e Luce" exhibition poster.
Riccardo Corbò asked me a poster illustration for an massive Batman related art exhibition in Città Di Castello, Italy. The event is patrocinated by DC Comics, of course.
I was requested to remix the famous castle cover by Bob Kane (luckily enough, my favourite Batman drawing of all time), in the heritage of Neal Adams' twist of it. Città Di Castello is literally a castle shaped small town in central Italy so we had a perfect chance to depict it into the poster.
The original image by Bob Kane.
Simone Bianchi, Claudio Castellini, Gabriele Dell'Otto, Giuseppe Camuncoli e Matteo Casali, Alberto Ponticelli, Emanuel Simeoni, Riccardo Burchielli, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Messina, Tanino Liberatore, Lee Bermejo, Eleonora Carlini, Marco Santucci, Hugo Pratt, Bob Kane, Frank Miller, Francesca Protopapa, Rita Petruccioli, Giovanni P. Timpano, Michele Rech, Ale Giorgini, Leo Ortolani, Francesco D'Erminio Ratigher, Flavio Solo, Sio, Carmine Di Giandomenico .
The event was made possible thanks to with Warner Bros Italia and Rw Lion.
Some work in progress shots and the naked poster illustration.
The very first digital draft.
A more refined digital reference drawing for the pencil pass.
Discarded image for a music event.
Discarded image I did while working on the visual identity for a music event in Rome.
EN: I made this fake Ladywake poster for an independent movie fanzine called Chicken/Broccoli, by Sebastiano Barcaroli.
You can buy it as a huge printed poster on Chicken/Broccoli online store.
IT: Realizzato per il CHICKENBROCCOLI ZOO, una mostra esposta a Empoli il 22/23 Aprile 2017 in occasione del Ludicomix e organizzata dal collettivo Le Vanvere. Potete comprarlo nel Chicken/Broccoli online store o direttamente all'Arfist Alley, se passate all'edizione 2017 di ARF!, 26-28 maggio, Macro Testaccio!
Then added digital color and typography. Ah, almost forgot to mention: the original film logo is freakin'cool.
I made this illustration for CP Company magazine, an italian fashion magazine sponsored by a well known fashion brand for their peculiar jacket capes with embedded goggles. The article i was called to collaborate to was about fashion in Otomo's Akira.
Ultrachrome giclee print on hahnemulhe 310gsm rag bright white, printed and signed by me is available in my online store.
Here is some process work.
Then I did some fixes and added color before going for the final piece with typographic elements.
Concept art illustration I made for a massive sci-fi world building project by Joshua Jenkins. Joshua sent me a huge documentation on his deeply articulated view about the odd future of mankind asking me to develop a very weird and beautiful character, and so I did.
Ultrachrome giclee print on hahnemulhe 310gsm rag bright white, printed and signed by me will be soon available in my online store.
Luca Raffaelli asked me to create an illustration for the 2017 edition of "La Città Incantata" official poster. "La città incantata" is an international animation film festival in Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy, featuring the cream of the crop of the worldwide animation production.
Here is a quick process breakdown.
I had the luck and honour to illustrate "A strange library" by Murakami Haruki for Giulio Einaudi Editore.
It's 25 illustrations including the cover piece.
I drew all the pictures during a 6 month work trip in the USA. The llustrations were completed in the Utah deserts so I had to adopt a very basic technique: HB lumograph pencil was the tool of the trade with some rare intrusion of a prismacolor black pencil.
I started from quick but precise digital sketches so I could have a very early approval for the subjects.
Then I made pencil illustrations that would work as a black channel for three spot colour silkscreens.
Whenever I had the chance to work on a computer I did the final digital touches.
It was an amazing opportunity: this short story is a thing of beauty, and I still can't believe I had the chance to visualize it. Moreover the other international editions are by huge artists like Chip Kidd, Kat Menschik and Maki Sasaki: it took a very deep breath to accept the challenge!


Blending gold and silver is a statement in the Tribe. Stand out in the Vintage hand crafted leather, sterling silver and hand crafted detailing.
Vintage item. Wear at waist or hip. Sizing varies depending on where wear the belt.


Here are 3 of Walking the Talk's recommended risk orientation reads.
FIFA, football's world governing body, has just elected their new President in Zurich this week, Gianni Infantino, a Swiss-Italian lawyer.
More than 56% of internal auditors in the financial services sector in North America consider corporate culture a high risk in their organisations.
A quick poll by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Financial Services Audit Center (FSAC) revealed that while auditors were worried about the risks, only 7% of organisations have programs specifically dedicated to auditing corporate culture, and 50% simply don't audit culture.
When you consider scandals such as Volkswagen, 7 Eleven in Australia, Deepwater Horizon and News of the World, the latest data published on the auditing of culture is puzzling - and worrying.


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Home/Opinion/From the Editor: Blacklist of professors darkens education
From the Editor: Blacklist of professors darkens education
A professor makes a comment about race or gender. A student is offended and argues with the professor. They bicker and, after a few minutes, class resumes as normal. For many of us, this is something we've seen in at least one class. However, a new website is challenging that ability to openly converse with our professors.
The Professor Watchlist is a website that was created with the intention of warning college students about extremely liberal instructors. According to the website's own description, "The mission of Professor Watchlist is to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." As of writing this editorial, no Rider professors have been named on the list. However, professors from Rutgers and Princeton have been added.
The Professor Watchlist is a shameful attempt at policing freedom of thought and restricting the freedoms of speech that are meant to take place in college classrooms. The website not only shames professors by naming them as callous individuals, but it also picks apart the things they have said or tweeted that could be seen as liberal opinions.
For example, a professor from Rutgers was named on the watchlist for, the website states, claiming "that white people need to start recognizing that they are 'the face of the oppressor.'" This professor was also implicated for tweeting about racism.
Another professor, this one from Princeton, was named because he "strongly questions the personhood given to any unborn child and finds little similarity to killing an unborn child and killing any other person." This professor also strongly supports animal rights.
These, while liberal or controversial, are simply opinions. No professor, just like no other individual, should be ridiculed for whatever their opinions may be.
This Professor Watchlist is not an attempt to protect anyone. It is an attempt at marginalizing and shaming professors for participating in freedom of thought. This is not a watchlist. This is a blacklist.
The New York Times writes that this website is a threat to academic freedom. Julio C. Pino, a professor from Kent State University who is on the watchlist, told the newspaper that the website encourages the "normalizing of prosecuting professors, shaming professors, defaming professors."
That sentiment is entirely true. There is a level of shame that comes with being implicated on this watchlist. This intimidates professors into hiding their views in a higher education environment that is intended to promote free thinking.
This does not only apply to liberal professors who want to share their views in the classroom. No professor should be defamed on a blacklist for their opinions, whether those opinions are extremely liberal or extremely conservative. Professors, like all people in this country, have a right to their freedom of speech.
And students should not be deterred by anyone's free speech. Most undergraduate students fall somewhere between the ages of 17 and 23. We are all adults, with developed minds and the ability to think for ourselves.
If a professor does not share our ideals, that does not necessarily influence our beliefs in any way. A liberal student remains liberal, even in the face of a conservative professor, and vice versa. This watchlist makes it seem like we need someone to hold our hands and guide us around the big, mean professors who so cruelly do not share our opinions.
As college students, we are all adults. If any of us are being so strongly influenced by a professor's views, then maybe that professor is not the one we should worry about.
There are some professors, surely both liberal and conservative, who do not allow much room for students to disagree with them. That is a more pressing issue. No professor should ever make a student feel marginalized for their beliefs. If a student disagrees with them, that student should not be ridiculed.
And, at the same time, no student should ever feel threatened by the fact that a professor does not agree with them on everything. Colleges are educational spaces that promote the exchange of ideas.
Many of us in 2016 don't want to listen to opinions that dissent from our own, which is what makes politics such a touchy subject. But what's the harm in listening to someone else's opinions? Maybe a professor's views will help further solidify our own, or offer a new perspective we never considered.
The world has a vast variety of differing views, beliefs, faiths and more. If we go out into that world looking for people who are just like us, then we will surely be lost. If we persecute professors for their opinions, then we contradict everything that every university stands for. And if we're only learning from the people who share our narrow views, then we are wasting thousands of dollars on an inferior education.
The weekly editorial expresses the majority opinion of The Rider News. This week's editorial was written by the Opinion Editor, Samantha Sawh.
Printed in the 12/7/16 issue.
Post-grad life filled with high fashion
The 2010s: The end of a decade
Taking the "Christ" out of Christmas: Celebrating without religion
No Kap: Rights over revenue
Questions for Qur'an


Easy Access To Lakes! Great For Fishing!
A state known for it's amazing weather 10 months out of the year and dubbed "The Sunshine State", Florida is not only known for its entertainment, but also for its breath-taking scenery. This makes Florida the perfect investment area — especially Highland County. Although land investing in Highland County is a wise one, once you experience the scenic beauty of Highland County for yourself, you might not want to give it up! This parcel of land is convenient to I-95, yet tucked away for supreme privacy, and is a 1 hour drive from West Palm Beach, a 2 hour drive from Miami, and an hour and a half drive from Orlando.


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David Kordansky Gallery
David Kordansky Gallery is pleased to present Black and Blue, a major exhibition by Rashid Johnson featuring new bodies of work, including paintings, bronze sculptures, works on paper, and the debut of a new 35mm film. Occupying all three of the gallery's exhibition spaces, Black and Blue will be on view September 18 – October 30, 2021.
Since the beginning of his career, Johnson has pursued formal innovation in a diverse range of mediums while simultaneously honing a sophisticated and deeply personal vision on a variety of themes such as his autobiography, social history, philosophy, and art history. He addresses the existential conditions of his own life and life itself by making works born of both critical insight and free-form material exploration.
In Black and Blue, a group of new canvases that Johnson has titled "Bruise Paintings" represent a further development of themes present in his "Anxious Red Paintings." Made during the pandemic, the "Anxious Red Paintings" embodied the anxiety, isolation, and loss felt by many over the last two years. The "Bruise Paintings" fill the entirety of the North Gallery and are rendered in deep blue oil paint; the color is spread and layered across the oil-coated linen surfaces so that it takes on a range of blues, from light blue to almost black. The paintings conjure the feelings of aftermath, reckoning, and healing, with half-geometric, half-human faces arranged in expressive, viscous fields of line and color.
They also constitute one of several components of the show that draw upon the mood and lyrics of the Fats Waller jazz standard "Black and Blue." Made popular in a key recording by Louis Armstrong, the song also plays an important role in Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man. If the paintings are, on the one hand, indicative of the immediate impacts of violent societal change, on the other, they register a perennial state of affairs, and carry with them a surprising combination of shock, resignation, uncertainty, and poetry.
The South Gallery will be dedicated to Johnson's latest engagements in bronze sculpture. Totems of head-like forms that resemble the characters in his paintings, these works also function as planters and include living plants that assert their own organic, ever-changing formalism. Their surfaces are covered with frenetic, palpably emotional mark-making that brings them into further relation with two-dimensional disciplines like drawing and painting. Like many of the different types of work that constitute his practice, they include diverse materials and objects—among them, records and oyster shells—that Johnson brings together to conjure their forms into being. These signifiers of leisure are evocative of ordinary, even banal pleasures, as well as of the images and ideas in Zora Neale Hurston's essay, "How It Feels to be Colored Me"—another text that provides a conceptual framework for the show.
The contrast between the existential and the mundane is a driving force in the new film on view, also titled Black and Blue, which will be projected in the West Gallery. Shot on 35mm film, Black and Blue depicts the movements of the protagonist—played by Johnson himself—as he navigates his daily routine. Eating, driving, exercising, spending time with family, and sleeping make up a life, and yet they are precisely the activities that get overlooked when epochal shifts are analyzed and commemorated. The film is suffused with claustrophobia and isolation, though what is being witnessed has a complete lack of conflict or tragedy. A persistent melancholia inhabits each of the film's segments; Johnson returns the gaze to the intimate endeavors of being human, which people do their best to sustain regardless of what is happening in the world at large.
Woven throughout the film are sounds and images that reveal their close connection to Johnson's other works, both the new work in the current exhibition and from throughout his career. Photography books, novels, African sculptures, oyster shells, and branded wood—which have all appeared in the artist's oeuvre—are incorporated into the film, either in the character's environment or in brief flashes that move with the intuitive fluidity of thoughts and dreams. But so do atmospheric passages that are—like many of the guiding spirits in his project—abstract, open-ended, and evocative of natural worlds as much as cultural ones.
Installed alongside the film in the West Gallery are a group of works on paper in which Johnson further explores the "Anxious" iconography present in the "Bruise Paintings." Working on oil rag paper, he demonstrates how his vocabulary pivots between the abstract, the representational, and the conceptual, challenging the notion that these can be understood as separate categories. The grids of faces embody, on the one hand, the freneticism of intense psychological response; on the other, though, they reveal roots in non-objective minimalism. As such, they are vehicles for both internally and externally oriented modes of awareness.
Across the various environments that make up the exhibition, Johnson establishes a continuum in which visceral, unmediated, or ungovernable expressions and aesthetic proposals co-exist with recognizable artifacts and honed visual and verbal languages. The result is a rich and provocative portrait of a moment in time—one that also serves as a self-portrait, a commentary, and an invitation: as has been the case since the beginning of his career, even Johnson's most pointed examples of self-examination are open, generous documents that brim with possibility and metaphor.
In addition to his September solo exhibition at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles, Rashid Johnson (b. 1977, Chicago) will present large-scale artworks commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera which will be on view at the opera house during the 2021–2022 season. A major outdoor sculpture by Johnson was recently installed at Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York, and Stage, the artist's interactive installation and sound work, is open through fall 2021 at MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York. Johnson has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2019); Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2019); Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (2017), which traveled to the Milwaukee Art Museum (2017); McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (2017); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2016); Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy (2016); and Drawing Center, New York (2015). Notable group exhibitions include Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America, New Museum, New York (2021); The Stomach and the Port, Liverpool Biennial, England (2021); Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2014); and ILLUMInations, International Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale, Italy (2011). His work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. His first feature-length film, an adaptation of Richard Wright's Native Son, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on HBO in 2019. Johnson lives and works in New York.
Rashid Johnson, 'Bruise Painting "Body and Soul"' (2021), oil on linen. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, 'Seascape "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"' (2021), oil on linen. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, 'Untitled Totem' (2021), cast bronze. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, 'Bruise Painting "Pennies from Heaven"' (2021) oil on linen. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, 'Bruise Painting "All of Me"' (2021), oil on linen. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, 'Untitled Boats' (2021) fired ceramic with oil pigment. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
Rashid Johnson, Installation View, 'Black and Blue' at David Kordansky Gallery, 2021. Images courtesy the artist and David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Martin Parsekian
James Beckett at T293
George Rouy at Hannah Barry Gallery
Louise Bonnet at Gagosian
A Love Letter to a Nightmare at Petzel Gallery