#barlaamism

[cuties-in-codices]

an unsuitably dressed wedding guest cast into darkness

full-page illustration from a manuscript of barlaam and josaphat, alsace, c. 1469

source: Los Angeles, Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 9, fol. 88v

[sedlex]

Did anybody request a hunk?

Swimming got you

[s-memorando]

Paralimpiadi: giorno 10

A volte succede che un granello di sabbia cambi il corso delle cose, arrivi a inceppare un meccanismo che avrebbe dovuto essere ben oliato e non dare problemi… invece ecco che l’imprevisto, la fatalità, l’inciampo facciano cambiare la storia che avrebbe dovuta essere rosea e felice e invece diventa improvvisamente drammatica e dolorosa. È la vita, nessuno sa che cosa succederò tra qualche ora,…

[nasirsagron]

Barlaam è ciò che mi volevate far credere che Ceccon fosse....

[centimetri]

The Paralympic games are over! Here's everything Italy won this year:

Carlotta Gilli won gold in 100m swimming butterlfy;

Francesco Bocciardo won gold in 100m freestyle swimming;

Stefano Raimondi won gold in 100m breaststroke and gold in 100m freestyle swimming;

Rigivan Rigi Ganeshamoorthy won gold in discus throw;

Federico Bicelli won gold in 400m freestyle and bronze in 100m backstroke swimming;

Simone Barlaam won gold in 100m butterfly, gold in 50m freestyle, and silver in 400m freestyle;

Giulia won gold in 100m breaststroke swimming;

Carlotta Gilli won gold in 100m butterfly, gold in 200m medley, silver in 400m freestyle, bronze in 100m backstroke, and bronze in 50m freestyle swimming;

Fabrizio Cornegliani won gold in road cycling;

Alberto Amodeo won gold in 100m butterfly, gold in 400m freestyle, and bronze in 100m freestyle swimming;

Monica Boggioni won gold in 50m breaststroke SB3, bronze in 100m freestyle, and bronze in 200m freestyle swimming;

Oney Tapia won gold in discus throw;

Antonio Fantin won gold in 100m freestyle and silver in 400m freestyle;

Elisabetta Mijno e Stefano Travisani won gold in archery;

Assunta Legnante won gold in shot put and silver in discus throw;

Matteo Parenzan won gold in Table tennis;

Giada Rossi won gold in Table tennis;

Martina Caironi won gold in 100m

[flagellant]

Could you talk about bodhisattva a little more in your own words? I'm Jewish and we don't really have anything like that or saints and I find the whole spiritual concept really fascinating and beautiful

To be clear I'm about to give an extremely brief overview which will be 1. simplified as much as I can spare because I'm not being paid to give an in-depth talk about the importance/unimportance of bodhisattva 2. definitionally not go into various differences between assorted buddhist sects/traditions. if you see this post and feel the urge to go "Um, inneskeeper, that's actually only true for the mahayana or--" I know. Trust me. I am completely aware.

---

So. Westerners really like to claim that bodhisattva are Buddhist saints. This gets really weirdchamp racist when you look at Barlaam+Josaphat AKA the christiana interpretatio of the Gautama Buddha. If you're new to the blog: christiana interpretatio is the Christian empire's manipulation and corruption of foreign cultures and religions into being retroactively Christian in nature in order to perpetrate religious xenocide. Yes, that's a biased definition, and no, I'm not wrong or exaggerating, they learned it from the Romans because empires everywhere are the fucking same shit.

All this is to say that to call bodhisattva "saints" is...nnnnot quite grokking the differentiation between Christianity and Buddhist ideas of divinity, holiness, the afterlife, and identity. The goal of Christianity is to live a good life to live eternally in Heaven after you die (or, alternatively, if you fail, suffer perpetually in Hell after your death). But that means that fundamentally you are something which perpetuates after death. There is some fundamental youness that exists in reality even after the death of your body. You are able to transcend the fleshly coil and become a being of pure divine spirit if you're good enough at religion.

Generally speaking The Buddha hates that. Like, a lot. The idea that you are unique and special and neverbeforeseen and capable of transcending your death is bullshit. You're a meatsuit. We're all meatsuits (loosely speaking). Individuality is a burden which distances you from all other life and therefore dulls your capacity to love and care for said life. If you think you are distinct from another life, then that means what happens to that other life doesn't matter or mean anything to you. It means suffering does not meaningfully matter to your own existence so long as it is not your suffering. Life, itself, is a form of suffering--you are aware of your own capacity for cruelty and it is a holy act to do your best to defeat that in yourself and in others. A lot of the time this can be done by understanding that you are an illusion. You do not exist. You are a temporary blip, a random conglomeration of chance and perception given some level of sentience.

The goal then is to become truly aware of what that means, so that you can fully embrace a life without the limitations of self, life, or death, sometimes called nirvana. Those who have attained that awareness have attained bodhi; those who have attained that awareness and have elected to refuse to escape the cycle in an attempt to help enlighten others and aid their escape/attainment are bodhisattva.

Depending on who you ask bodhisattva are like, something anyone can be/becomes when properly enlightened, or they're possibly pseudo-avatars/manifestations of the Buddha, or they're specific emanations or its just. It gets complicated. Just know that the shared idea is usually "bodhisattva exist to try and teach others how to attain nirvana".

[calabria-mediterranea]

Seminara, Calabria, Italy

Seminara is located at the tip of the Italian boot about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Reggio Calabria. Its noteworthy political past includes turn-of-the-15th-century battles associated with the Italian Wars and a 1535 visit by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who entered Seminara in a triumphal cortege to celebrate his victory over the Ottomans in Tunis.

Historically, the town has also had a reputation for its fine olive oil and silk.

Its two most distinguished citizens reflect southern Calabria’s Greek heritage, which endured long past the periods of Greater Greece and the Early Middle Ages when Orthodox Churches were established throughout the territory. Barlaam of Seminara (1290-1348) was an influential Byzantine-Greek clergyman and philosopher, and Leonzio Pilato (died 1364) was the first to translate Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey into Latin. His translations were used by the likes of Petrarca and Boccaccio.

The sanctuary of Maria Santissima dei Poveri is the main place of worship in Seminara, a town in the city of Reggio Calabria. It is well known because it preserves the statue of the Madonna dei Poveri, known as the Greek Black Madonna of San Basilio Magno. It is the oldest wooden statue in Calabria, carved in cedar wood and covered in gold and with its 92 cm, it is the second tallest black Madonna in the world, after that of Verdelot, in France.

In Seminara there is also one of the most interesting Greek Orthodox monastery of Southern Italy. Founded in 9th century by Sant’Elia of Enna, a Sicilian monk who lived in asceticism in a nearby cave, the monastery was endowed with rich goods and privileges by the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise, who appreciated its sanctity and wisdom.

The monastery soon became a center of spiritual and cultural radiation, attracting numerous disciples and pilgrims, including the famous Filareto l’Ortolano, who died there in the odor of sanctity.

Unfortunately, it duffered the historical vicissitudes of Calabria, including invasions, earthquakes and persecutions. In the 16th century, following the forced Latinization of the Southern Orthodox churches, the monastery was abandoned and fell into ruin. 9th century Greek Orthodox Monastery. It was restored in 2005 and is now open for pilgrims and travelers.

Photos by Calabria Straordinaria, @piervalentino_pierva, @karim.ayed.1976, @dmncdlc, @morgana_zeta, , @esplorando_dietro_casa e @giuliaeats

Follow us on Instagram, @calabria_mediterranea

[sivavakkiyar]

it’s kind of fun that Pantagruel’s birth also works perfectly well as a satire of Buddha birth stories, despite the fact that Rabelais almost certainly doesn’t really know who that is (he’d have known Barlaam and Josaphat better I think)

[wormsngods]

Books in my Kindle

making this to destress before I start studying

Brief History of Time

Briefer History of Time

Legends of the Gods

Syria and Egypt in the Amarna Letters

Amarna Sunset

Moses and Monotheism

Moses the Egyptian

The Price of Monotheism

Of God and gods

The Samaritan Chronicle

The Kingdom of Kush

Aesop's Fables

Cyropedia

Classical Indian Philosophy

The Jatakas

Kama Sutra

Arthashastra

Classical Philosophy

Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman World

The Lost Books of Eden

The Book of Giants

The Diatessaron of Tatian

Odes of Solomon

32 Throne Tales of Vikramaditya

Complete Apocrypha of the Ethiopian Bible

The Book of the Cave of Treasures

Quran

The Quran in its Historical Context

Maghazi of Mamar

A Book of Conquest

The Arabic Hermes

Vivekachudamani

The Seduction of Shiva

Philosophy in the Islamic World

Barlaam and Josaphat

The Saga of Erik the Red

Kebra Nagast

The Trial of Joan of Arc

100 poems of Kabir

The Four Voyages of Columbus

Napoleon's Letters to Josephine

Napoleon's Military Maxims

Vizier of the Two Horned Alexander

And then there were none

Quotations from Chairman Mao

Eye

The Thorn and The Carnation

The Making of a Salafi Woman

The Last Island

[cuties-in-codices]

josaphat destroying pagan idols

from a manuscript of barlaam und josaphat, alsace, c. 1469

source: Los Angeles, Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 9, fol. 101r

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I found this amazing post about Buddha, and how his story became venerated in Christianity through the "saint Ioasaph"!

As the Theologian Academic John Sanidopoulos put it: "Though there are similarities between the tale of Joasaph with that of Buddha, this does not negate the historicity of either figure, but only shows a similarity in the origin of the tales. Though it is true the early story of Joasaph is colored with imagery from the life of Buddha, the latter part of the story is similarly colored by the life of St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Anthony the Great. And the theology of the story is influenced by John of Damascus, and the entirety of the "Apology" of the Athenian Philosopher Aristeides is contained within. The lives of Barlaam and Joasaph are primarily told as a literary tale with the seeming purpose of catechizing those of the Far East with a familiar tale. This was often done by ancient writers to steer a story of what may have elements of truth towards a higher didactical purpose."

[next-life-online-rpg]

NPCs IMPORTANTES EN NEXT LIFE ONLINE

En el mundo virtual de Next Life Online, tenemos el reino Camelot, junto con otras regiones (las cuales podrán conocer mas adelante dentro del foro cuando se abra, o probablemente en un futuro post), y por supuesto, como todo juego, existen personajes cuyos roles son importantes en dichas zonas.

(Cabe aclarar, que estos personajes, serán NPCs que NO PODRÁN SER LLEVADOS POR LOS USUARIOS, ya que el staff será quien los manejará en futuros eventos donde sea necesaria la presencia de alguno de ellos, esto dependiendo la situación, por lo tanto, si bien estos personajes se ubicarán en zonas específicas del mundo virtual de NLO, ELLOS NO PODRÁN APARECER EN ROLES NORMALES, solo en eventos y posiblemente en otro tipo de situaciones)

Información Básica:

Barlaam "La Quimera" Raza: Hombre bestia PB: Carrion – Tensei Shittara Slime Data Ken

Basanta "El inamovible" Raza: Humano PB: Leonidas - Shuumatsu no Valkyrie

Excalibur "El Arma del Rey" Raza: Autómata PB: Durandamon - Digimon

Hektor "El Dorado" Raza: Enano PB: Don Quixote – Fate

Coronis "La Madre" Raza: Dragonewt PB: Vritra – Fate Series

Sif "La Bendecida" Raza: Hada PB: Trianda – Fire Emblem

Gémini "El vagabundo" Raza: Autómata PB: Svarog – Honkai: Star Rail

Cepheus "La Fortuna" Raza: Vampiro PB: Illumi Zoldyck – Hunter x Hunter

Laelia "La iluminada" Raza: Humano PB: Melina – Elden Ring

Gasto "El Invicto" Raza: Humano PB: Date Masamune – Sengoku Basara

... ¿uh? ¿Buscabas información mas completa de estos personajes? Bueno, eso no será posible, ya que esto es una demo de lo que se viene en el foro, si quieres conocerlos completamente, tendrás que esperar a que el foro abra!

Esperamos verlos pronto iniciar sesión!

[s-memorando]

Paralimpiadi: giorno 9

Ecco il consueto riassunto dei successi dei nostri atleti e atlete. Sono sempre più ammirata per la loro forza, la loro costanza a voler perseguire un risultato, a mettersi in gioco.  Poi vedendo la gioia di alcuni genitori che assistevano alle gare in tribuna mi sono immedesimata in loro. Ho pensato che anche loro hanno fatto tanti sacrifici, hanno passato tanti momenti dolorosi, quando hanno…

[mapetitefeedeslilas]

The glorious hot Italian swimming summer show is rocking the Paralympics too 💅🏻 🇮🇹

The heatwave is still in full force and so is my fangirling 💃🏻

Football might have failed the Italian hot girl summer dream, but our swimmers are sure serving it 💅🏻

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING:SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2024

december 16_december 29

Week of Holy Forefathers

PROPHET HAGGAI/ AGGAEUS (500 B.C.)

The Holy Prophet Haggai was the tenth of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He was of the Tribe of Levi and prophesied during the times of the Persian emperor Darius Hystaspis (before 500 B.C.). Upon the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity, he persuaded the people to build the Second Temple at Jerusalem, and he proclaimed that the Messiah would appear in this Temple in the last times.

It is believed that Haggai was buried with the priests in Jerusalem since he had descended from Aaron.

VENERABLE SOPHIA, NUN (in the world Solomonia), WIFE OF GRAND DUKE BASIL III (1542).

Saint Sophia (in the world Great Princess Solomonia Yurievna) was born around 1490, the daughter of the noble Yuri Saburov. Her mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her aunt Eudokia (her father's sister). In the year 1505 she was chosen as the bride of the heir to the throne, the future Great Prince Basil III. She was selected from among 500 girls from all over the country, who were presented at court for this purpose.

The wedding of Prince Basil and Solomonia took place on September 4, 1505, in the presence of the groom's father, Ivan III. Metropolitan Simon blessed the couple at the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. When she married Basil, her father was raised to the rank of boyar. For the first time in Moscow's history, a Great Prince took neither a foreign princess nor a Russian princess as his wife, but a bride who came from a boyar family.

After twenty years, it became apparent that Solomonia was unable to conceive a child. Basil understood perfectly that if he died childless his brothers would inherit the throne. In order to preclude that possibility, they were imprisoned or forbidden to marry until his own son was born. In the end, this led to the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty, and to the succession crisis known as the Time of Troubles.

Despite her radiant beauty, exemplary morals, and mild character, Solomonia's failure to produce an heir must have weighed upon Basil's relations with his wife, who turned to foreign doctors for help. In 1525, the Great Prince decided to divorce Solomonia, with the approval of Metropolitan Daniel and the boyars, although other Church authorities declared the divorce was unlawful.

In order to obtain an heir, Great Prince Basil decided to marry Elena Glinska, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Basil Glinsky. This action of the Great Prince Basil was condemned by all the Patriarchs, and Patriarch Mark of Jerusalem even predicted that of this second marriage a "cruel child" would be born, who would fill Russia with blood and horrors. Ivan the Terrible was born in 1530, and Basil's second son, Yuri, was feeble-minded. All the best Russian people of that time stood up for the blameless and miserable Great Princess: i.e. Metropolitan Barlaam, Saint Maximos the Greek (January 21) and others. But all their protests were in vain. For the first time in Russian history, a Great Prince removed a Metropolitan from office and imprisoned him in a monastery. Saint Maximos was not allowed to serve, and others were persecuted as well. Prince Andrew Kurbsky called Princess Solomonia "innocent and holy."

On November 25, 1525 Basil ordered Solomonia to become a nun. Forcibly tonsured with the name Sophia, she was sent under guard to the Nativity Monastery in Moscow. Later, she was moved to the Protection Monastery in Suzdal, one of the many churches established by Basil and his wife, where prayers were offered for the birth of an heir.

Through her ascetical struggles, Saint Sophia banished all worldly thoughts from her heart, and dedicated herself entirely to God. She reposed on December 18, 1542, after living as a nun for seventeen years.

Rumors concerning Sophia's holiness quickly spread throughout Russia. In a letter to Tsar Ivan, Prince Andrew Kurbsky calls the Right-believing Princess “a Monastic Martyr.” In a manuscript of the Lives of the Saints she is called “Holy Venerable Princess Sophia the Nun, the Wonderworker, who dwelt in the Protection Monastery.” In the reign of Tsar Theodore (the son of Ivan the Terrible) she was revered as a Saint. Tsaritsa Irene sent to Suzdal, “to the Great Princess Solomonia, also called Sophia, a velvet veil depicting the Savior and other Saints.” Patriarch Joseph wrote to Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal instructing him to have Panikhidas and Molebens served for the Nun Sophia.

The sacristan Ananias of Suzdal speaks of several miraculous cures at her grave. In 1609, during an invasion by the Poles, she saved Suzdal from destruction, appearing in a frightful form to the Polish military commander Lisovsky. Paralyzed with fear, he swore to spare the city and monastery. In 1610 a peasant woman named Theodosia was healed after being afflicted with blindness for a year and a half. In 1646 a girl, Irene Popova, was healed after being paralyzed for several years. That same summer a woman named Juliana was cured of amnesia. The Nun Theodora was healed in 1647 after being blind for two and a half months. That same year Julitta Ivanova, a resident of the village of Kideksha, was healed after being deaf for two years. Febronia of Suzdal was healed of paralysis in 1648 after several years. In 1649 the Nun Alexandra (Trusov) of the Protection Monastery was healed after losing her sight. Many other miracles took place, and continue to take place, through the intercession of Saint Sophia.

In 1650, Patriarch Joseph told the Archbishop of Suzdal to permit her local veneration as a Saint. In the middle of the XVIII century, the question of her canonization arose. Her icon, painted in the XVII century, has survived to this day and is considered a wonderworking icon. Finally, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, her name was included in the Orthodox Church Calendar in 1916. In 2007, her Church-wide veneration took place, and her Service was included in the Menaion.

Saint Sophia's tomb in the Protection Monastery was highly revered. On August 14, 1995, the solemn uncovering of her relics took place. On that day, a Moleben was served at her tomb. With the blessing of Metropolitan Eulogios, the Church Archaeological Commission made excavations, and the Saint's relics were found and transferred to the Protection Cathedral.

Saint Sophia is also commemorated on June 23, the Synaxis of the Saints of Vladimir.

Colossians 3:4-11

4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Luke 14:16-24

16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' 19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.' 20 Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' 22 And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' 23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 'For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "