Climbing the Alchemical Mountain

Using Thomas Vaughan's allegory of the mountain as a backdrop and drawing insights from the myth of Demeter and Persephone, this article elaborates on the challenging and paradoxical path toward individuation, which, in this case, is metaphorically expressed as climbing a mountain. Although, at first, it is often assumed that individuation is a straightforward process of moving forward and upward, this article demonstrates that this is not the case. Rather, individuation is a complex endeavor that initially takes one down instead of up. In other words, to climb the mountain is to encounter the prima materia, to come face to face with one's shadow, and to take the many unforeseen detours away from the ego's fixed goals. In the end, what is discovered is that one never attains the mystery (or reaches the top) by strength and will alone, but rather by divine grace, which the alchemical literature describes as the aqua permanens, the “stream of living water from the summit of the mountain.”     

五台山随想

前几天重温自己为五台山之行所做的笔记,觉得有关五台山的见闻有助于大家认清迷信。故不揣冒昧,整理出来寄投《科学与无神论》。 去年暑假,我去了一趟五台山。 五台山有五座高耸的山峰。因峰顶平坦如台,分别被人称作东台、西台、南台、北台和中台,其中北台海拔最高。 为了“无限风光在险峰”这句话,我登临了北台。到了才知道,北台高虽高,但算不上险     

妙善长老与普陀山

观音道场,灯传千载,名播五洲,古来就有"五朝恩赐无双地,四海尊崇第一山"的美誉。《华严经》云"海上有山多圣贤,众宝所成极清净。"妙善长老可谓当代普陀山中兴之主,在长老圆寂二十周年之际,谨以此文缅怀长老巍巍功德。     

Hope,Wholeness, and Helping the Flat to Grow Round

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to bridge the gap between neuroscience and psychotherapy so that there is greater understanding of how the objective biological processes of the brain affect interpersonal relationships and how relationship therapy can affect that biology. The research on emotional systems, implicit and explicit learning and memory are reviewed. Suggestions for therapeutic interventions include focusing on the changing the brain of each partner, reattaching through the therapeutic relationship, increasing physical activity, using nonverbal techniques, understanding the role of emotions in rational thinking, activating the left prefrontal cortex, using mindfulness techniques, and creating new experiences.     

孟子与孟子山

文章重点阐述了孟子与孟子山的关系,认为孟子作为稷下先生曾经两次游齐,最后离开齐国时,曾经“三宿于昼”,这个“昼”的具体地点似无可考,但这个地方距离临淄不会很远,应当十分靠近长峪道。从临淄通向博山的长峪道,最晚在战国时期应当很是畅通。孟子最后离开齐国,就是沿着长峪道在昼邑住宿后离开齐国的。孟子在离开齐国时,经过了孟子山。     

From the Marrow of the Mountain

This article focuses on the experience of finding a new source of water since the fountain fed by the neighbor’s source dried up in the middle of an alpine summer of farming in the Swiss Alps. This new water source is on ancestral land owned by three cousins of different viewpoints. Central to the story is the developing friendship between the local dowser and one of the owners, a Swiss-Californian woman determined to move the management of this jeweled terrain, with structures and customs, out of patriarchal ways into stewardship. The pristine land is highlighted, as is the vanishing knowledge of the old ways.     

蒙山道教初探

蒙山为山东道教胜地,在山东省平邑、费县、蒙阴等县之间,纵横1000余平方公里,主峰龟蒙顶海拔1156米,仅次于泰山,故蒙山又称"亚岱".境内层峦叠嶂,巍峨壮美,道教文物古迹、庙宇、石碑石刻荟萃,素有"三十六洞、七十二峰"之称,是道教著名的修道养生之福地,在山东道教发展史上曾有过辉煌的历史.     

道门入山思想略析

道门人士在合药、精思、避乱隐居等情况下,都有可能入山。因而,围绕入山所产生的一系列宗教和日常原则,无不折射出道教某些独特的教理教义。在这些思想当中,主要包含了山不轻入、入则防害、登山择时、居山择地、择地有仪等原则。在这些原则的背后,蕴含了道教信仰的各种理论预设和宗教禁忌,这些预设和禁忌反映了道门对于个体生命的重视、爱惜,以及对大自然的敬畏、尊重和爱护。     

武当道总徐本善

徐本善是民国时期武当山最杰出的全山道总。在他就任武当山全山道总时,正值清末民国时期,军阀混战,兵灾匪患横行,武当道教宫观朝不保夕,道业衰败,幸赖徐本善不懈努力,武当道教的教团组织才没有解散,并曾显现复兴之势。此外,在中国革命事业遭受挫折的时候,徐本善还不畏艰险,亲率道众援助中国工农红军第三军,为革命事业作出了贡献,后来还因之献出了生命。但长期以来由于资料缺乏,对这一重要历史人物的研究罕见专文论述。今据现有文献、金石碑铭及有关口碑材料,对武当道总徐本善的事迹略作考述。     

武当山的道教古建筑及其特征

武当山道教建筑群是中国古代宗教建筑的杰出代表,其建筑规模之大,宗教特点之显著,布局之合理,设计构思之精巧,建筑技艺水平之高超,实属世之罕见,堪称"旷世之极盛,万古之奇观".研究武当山道教古建筑群,对于弘扬武当道教建筑文化有着重要的意义.     

Conceptual Hierarchies in a Flat Attractor Network: Dynamics of Learning and Computations

The structure of people's conceptual knowledge of concrete nouns has traditionally been viewed as hierarchical ( Collins & Quillian, 1969 ). For example, superordinate concepts ( vegetable ) are assumed to reside at a higher level than basic-level concepts ( carrot ). A feature-based attractor network with a single layer of semantic features developed representations of both basic-level and superordinate concepts. No hierarchical structure was built into the network. In Experiment and Simulation 1, the graded structure of categories (typicality ratings) is accounted for by the flat attractor network. Experiment and Simulation 2 show that, as with basic-level concepts, such a network predicts feature verification latencies for superordinate concepts ( vegetable ). In Experiment and Simulation 3, counterintuitive results regarding the temporal dynamics of similarity in semantic priming are explained by the model. By treating both types of concepts the same in terms of representation, learning, and computations, the model provides new insights into semantic memory.