• Horrors from the Diaries of the Auschwitz Commandant

    Horrors from the Diaries of the Auschwitz Commandant

    I personally never hated the Jews. I considered them to be the enemy of our nation. However, that was precisely the reason to treat them the same way as other prisoners. I never made a distinction concerning this. Besides, the feeling of hatred is not in me, but I know what hate is, and how Read more

  • A Stoic’s Guide: How to Deal with Anxiety

    A Stoic’s Guide: How to Deal with Anxiety

    Stoicism was a philosophy that flourished for some 400 years in ancient Greece and Rome, gaining widespread support among all classes of society. It had one very large and highly practical ambition: to teach people how to be calm and brave in the face of overwhelming anxiety and pain. As it is easy to notice Read more

  • Love at First Sight in Kalidasa’s Masterpiece Abhijnanashakuntalam

    Love at First Sight in Kalidasa’s Masterpiece Abhijnanashakuntalam

    We may not have enough information about Kalidasa, the great Sanskrit poet and dramatist from ancient India, but his works speak for themselves. Two of his works, Meghadutam and Abhijnanashakuntalam, especially deserve our attention in this regard. At the same time many poets and writers, who lived after him, have often reminded us of his Read more

  • Fana — A Sufi Therapy from Al-Ghazali’s Books

    Fana — A Sufi Therapy from Al-Ghazali’s Books

    I insist on destroying myself, On destroying myself in you. A Bollywood Love Song Destroying myself? Why would anyone want that? What kind of love song is this? If you are familiar with Sufism, and the concept of fana in it, you would know that it is the highest expression of love. Fana (فناء), literally Read more

  • Five Beautiful Literary Passages from the Last Hundred Years

    Five Beautiful Literary Passages from the Last Hundred Years

    Literature — it plucks your heartstrings, tickles you in the strangest of the places, and in the end, leaves you craving for more. A reader will understand what it means, to lie-down on soft, curly grass, underneath winter’s sun and… read a book. We all have had the moments of ecstasy when a book (or Read more

  • The Philosophy of Friendship

    The Philosophy of Friendship

    Friendship is older than Philosophy. We can say that with a high degree of certainty — as there are many reasons. One of them, not the most convincing, but perhaps the most endearing, is dogs. You look at a dog and you are led to believe at once that friendship was there long before any Read more