Friday, October 23, 2009

Persistence and perseverence

I am amazed how much many succesful enterprises in the West including top 10 universities in US stress the importance of 'persistence and perseverence'. But I got even more amazed when I read the below section of the Bible...


5Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
5 Et il leur dit: " Qui de vous, ayant un ami, s'il va le trouver au milieu de la nuit et lui dit: " Ami, prête-moi trois pains,
6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'
6 car un mien ami m'est arrivé de voyage, et je n'ai rien à lui offrir, "
7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'
7 et que celui-là réponde de l'intérieur: " Ne m'importune point: déjà la porte est fermée et mes enfants sont avec moi au lit; je ne puis me lever pour te donner, "
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness[e] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
8 je vous le dis, quand même il ne se lèverait pas pour lui donner parce qu'il est son ami, du moins à cause de son importunité, il se lèvera pour lui donner tout ce dont il a besoin.
9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
9 Et moi je vous dis: Demandez et l'on vous donnera; cherchez et vous trouverez; frappez et l'on vous ouvrira.
10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
10 Car quiconque demande reçoit; qui cherche trouve, et l'on ouvrira à qui frappe.
11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead?
11 Y a-t-il parmi vous un père qui, si son fils lui demande du pain, lui donnera une pierre? Ou, (s'il demande) un poisson, lui donnera-t-il, au lieu de poisson, un serpent?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
12 Ou, s'il demande un oeuf, lui donnera-t-il un scorpion?
13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
13 Si donc vous, tout méchants que vous êtes, vous savez donner à vos enfants de bonnes choses, combien plus le Père du ciel donnera-t-il l'Esprit-Saint à ceux qui lui demandent. "
Luke 11.5


Thursday, August 27, 2009

Les mauvais effets de l'exagération en Turquie

The Bad Effects of Exaggeration in Turkey
Les mauvais effets de l'exagération en Turquie

Exaggeration causes the erosion of the Turkish language. Some words have no longer the meaning that they have been created for as the time passes. For example, the use of the word ‘shock’ has gained a new meaning and many popular news casts use this word more than once each day.
L'exagération cause l'érosion de la langue turque. Quelques mots n'ont plus la signification qu'ils ont été créés pour pendant que le temps passe. Par exemple, l'utilisation du mot, shock `a gagné une nouvelle signification et beaucoup de bulletins d'informations populaires emploient ce mot plus d'une fois chaque jour.

The loss of the word that is attributed to a concept causes that concept to loss its boundaries and content. Hence exaggeration causes the erosion of concepts also…
La perte du mot qui est attribué aux causes d'un concept qui concept à la perte ses frontières et contenu. Par conséquent l'exagération cause l'érosion des concepts également…

The news papers, such as Milliyet, Hürriyet etc. driven by the so called ‘wild’ capitalist intentions. They feel the urge to put a news header for each day as large as the header they would have put for the death of Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK today. The erosion of the functionality of news papers caused by exaggeration can also be observed here. The news papers have no more power to express the importance of ‘really’ important events. They have already used their capacity to express for the sake of making a couple of more bucks…
Les journaux, tels que Milliyet, Hürriyet etc. conduits par les soi-disant intentions sauvages de capitalisme. Elles sentent le recommander de mettre un en-tête de nouvelles pour chaque jour aussi grand que l'en-tête qu'elles auraient mis pour la mort de Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK aujourd'hui. On peut également observer ici l'érosion de la fonctionnalité des papiers de nouvelles provoqués par exagération. Les papiers de nouvelles n'ont plus de puissance d'exprimer l'importance des événements véritablement importants. Ils ont déjà employé leur capacité d'exprimer pour faire deux ou trois plus de penny…

Exaggeration is responsible also for the dirtiness of appearence in Turkish cities. Buildings are covered by the company or shop notices everwhere… If a shop has an advertisement carrying its name the next one must have a bigger one… The municipilaties do not apply the rules and regulations which require a bigger fee for a bigger advertisement. The result is a mess… The lack of drawings and pictures in the Turkish culture increases this mess also…
L'exagération est responsable également de la saleté de l'aspect dans les villes turques. Des bâtiments sont couverts partout par les notices de magasin… Si un magasin a une publicité porter son nom le prochain doit avoir plus grand… Les municipilaties n'appliquent pas les règles et les règlements qui exigent de plus grands honoraires pour une plus grande publicité.
Le résultat est un désordre… Le manque de schémas et d'images dans la culture turque augmente ce désordre également…


Unfortunately, the root reason for exaggeration lies in the Turkish culture itself. Listen to a Turkish folk song or tradional art song. The original folk poet singing his poem with his lute has become only one of the current styles. Big choirs sing the folk songs with many instruments ‘all’ together. The problem is they do this with a single tune monodicly. It is simply an exaggeration of the original folk tradition. Moderation has given its place to exaggeration indeed.
Malheureusement, la raison de racine de l'exagération se situe dans la culture turque elle-même. Écoutez une chanson folklorique turque ou la chanson d'art de tradional. Le poèt folklorique original chantant sa poésie avec son luth a seulement devenu des modèles courants. Les grands choeurs chantent les chansons folkloriques avec l'alltogether de beaucoup d'instruments. Le problème est eux font ceci avec un air simple monodic. C'est simplement une exagération de la tradition folklorique originale. La modération a donné son endroit à l'exagération en effet.

The politicians and higher management of the state, including the prime minister and the president are more concerned about the gains of subtle popular themes than playing a more effective cultural role. Without a deliberate cultural sensitivity in the state, government institutions and the media, the rise of exaggeration is inevitable. Exaggeration is detrimental to the Turkish culture. Moderation based on fortitude must prevail.
Les politiciens et la gestion plus élevée de l'état, y compris le premier ministre et le président davantage sont préoccupés par les gains des thèmes populaires subtiles que jouant un rôle culturel plus efficace. Sans sensibilité culturelle délibérée dans l'état, des établissements de gouvernement et les médias, l'élévation de l'exagération est inévitable. L'exagération porte préjudice la culture turque. La modération basée sur le courage doit régner.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Let it be!


Humanity does not exist in its full capacity
L'humanité n'existe pas dans sa pleine capacité
anywhere on the world.
n'importe où sur la planète.
So let it be!
Alors que ce soit!

Read it...
Lisez-le ...

Ali R+ SARAL

Friday, July 17, 2009

Comment faire pour ... - How to...


Quelque chose de droit ne suffit pas ... Être bon ne suffit pas pour une idée pour se justifier ...
Something right is not enough... Being right is not enough for an idea to be justified...

Une bonne idée doit être appliquée par des moyens légitimes et «droit» des moyens.
A right idea must be applied through legitimate means and 'right' ways.

À l'inverse, quelque chose qui ne peut pas être défendu et appliqué par le biais de «droit»: ne peut être «bonne».
In reverse, something that can not be defended and applied through 'right' means can not be 'right'.

Beaucoup d'intellectuels et les gouvernements dans le monde occidental de critiquer les gouvernements de l'Est au point d'abuser des droits de l'homme.
Many intellectuals and governments in the Western world criticize Eastern governments from the point of abusing human rights.

La torture ou de mauvais traitements voire des «terroristes» ou des militants qui choisissent d'agir violemment contre ces gouvernements de devenir un problème beaucoup plus apparente puis l'abus de la silencieux des millions des droits humains fondamentaux tels que la nutrition adéquate, les services gouvernementaux, les services de santé etc
Torture or even bad treatment of 'terrorists' or activists who choose to act violently against these governments become an issue much more apparent then the abuse of the silent millions basic human rights such as adequate nutrition, appropriate government services, health services etc.

S'il vous plaît n'oubliez pas qu'il n'y en Occident qui, de mauvaises choses ne sont pas un choix, mais surtout du fait de la maladie et la faiblesse des gouvernements.
Please do not gorget there in the West that, bad things are not a choice but mostly a result of the ill and weak governments.

La corruption est un problème majeur qui contribue à ces mauvais environnements ... Un gouvernement qui ne peut pas contrôler et de réduire la corruption est généralement incapable de 'stop' de mauvais traitements de militants.
BRIBERY is a major issue that contributes to these ill environments... A government which can not control and minimize BRIBERY is typically unable to 'stop' bad treatment of activists.

Ma question est: Est-ce que les pays occidentaux font de leur mieux pour améliorer et renforcer les pays sous-développés? Êtes-vous fait de votre mieux pour arrêter la corruption dans le monde?
My question is: Are the Western countries doing their best to improve and strengthen the underdeveloped countries? Are you doing your best to stop bribery on the world?

J'espère que vous pardonnerez mon bavardage, mais ce moment-là que s'est fixé Bloggers Unite mérite tous.
I hope you will excuse my verbosity but this moment that Bloggers Unite has set deserves all.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

LA VALEUR DE L'HOMME - THE VALUE OF THE HUMAN-BEING

LA VALEUR DE L'HOMME
THE VALUE OF THE HUMAN-BEING

La Turquie doit mesurer la valeur de l'homme correctement. . La valeur que nous accordons à l'homme d'aujourd'hui, est beaucoup moins que la Turquie moderne se donner.
Turkey must measure the value of human correctly. The value that we give to human today, is much less than the modern Turkey will give.

Pour mesurer la valeur correcte de l'homme est essentiel dans la réussite. Il suffit de penser! Combien il est important de juger de la valeur correcte de vos partenaires à faire des affaires? Si vous pouvez évaluer la valeur des personnes individuelles en fonction de l'emploi, vous pouvez établir plus rationnelle et efficace des relations avec eux.
To measure the value of human correctly is critical in success. Just think! How much it is important to judge the value of your partners correctly in doing business? If you can evaluate people’s indvidual worth according to the job that they do you can establisj more rational and successfull relations with them.

Les gens ont de grandes difficultés en raison de l'insuffisance des équipements dans les hôpitaux en Turquie aujourd'hui. Le minimum sallary ne peut être comparée avec les pays développés objectivement. Un ingénieur turc reçoit la moitié de l'ingénieur allemand fait environ le même travail. Notre niveau de vie est faible par rapport aux pays développés. Aussi, notre répartition du revenu est nettement déséquilibré. Cette situation s'aggrave en raison des inégalités entre les différentes régions de la Turquie.
People have great difficulties because of inadequate facilities in the hospitals in Turkey today. The minimum sallary can not be compared with the developed countries objectively. A Turkish engineer gets half the German engineer doing approximately the same job. Our living standard is low compared to the developed countries. Also, our income distribution is considerably unbalanced. This situation gets worse because of the inequalities between different regions of Turkey.

C'est une erreur que le secteur des services est plus importante parce que le sallary minimal et non paiements sont faibles. Beaucoup de travail inutile est attribué à un service de personne. Cette situation se reflète aussi dans le comportement des gens. Moderne de l'homme se soucie de la propreté de son environnement et a la responsabilité sociale. Aujourd'hui, le citoyen turc litters son environnement, sans aucune inquiétude et attend ensuite les autres à faire le nettoyage.
It is a mistake that the services sector gets bigger because the minimum sallary and the unregistered payments are low. Many unnecessary task is assigned a service person. This situation is reflected also in the behaviour of people. Modern human cares about the cleanness of its environment and has social responsibility. Today’s Turkish citizen litters its environment without any worry and then expects others to do the clean up.

La Turquie devrait former ses propres citoyens, et leur donner des emplois de haute qualité, qui paient bien. La Turquie ne doit pas condamner ses propres citoyens à la bigoterie. La Turquie ne peut pas devenir une Chine. La Turquie doit de bâtir une meilleure technologie l'économie et la Turquie se doit de valoriser ses citoyens. Chaque rue propre, qui a émigré de son village, peut-être est une perte de la source de la créativité turque, une nouvelle Yaşar Kemal.
Turkey should educate its own citizens, and give them high quality jobs that will pay well. Turkey should not condemn its own citizens to bigotry. Turkey can not become a China. Turkey must build a higher technology
Economy and Turkey must value its citizens. Each street cleaner who has migrated from his village, might be a loss from the source of Turkish creativity, a new Yaşar KEMAL.


İNSANIN KIYMETİ

Türkiye insanın kıymetini doğru ölçmelidir. Günümüz Türkiyesinde insana verdiğimiz değer modern Türkiye’nin insana vereceği değerden çok aşağıdadır.

İnsanın kıymetini doğru ölçmek başarıda kritik derecede önemlidir. Düşününüz! Birlikte iş yaptığınız kişilerin değerini doğru değerlendirmek ne kadar çok önemlidir. Kişilerin değerlerini yapacağınız iş açısından doğru değerlendirebilirseniz onlarla daha verimli ve başarılı ilişkiler kurarsınız.

Günümüz Türkiyesinde insanlar yetersiz sağlık hizmetleri nedeni ile hastahanelerde zor durumlarda kalmaktadır.
Asgari ücret modern ülkelerle karşılaştırılamayacak kadar düşüktür. Genel olarak bir Türk mühendis kendisi ile çok benzer özelliklerde bir Alman mühendisin yarısı kadar ücret almaktadır. Yaşam standardımız modern ülkelere göre düşüktür. Ayrıca, gelir dağılımında modern ülkelere göre olağanüstü dengesizlikler vardır. Bu durum bölgeler arasındaki farklar nedeni ile daha da çarpıcı bir hal almaktadır.

Asgari ücretin ve kayıt dışı ücretlerin düşük olmasının , hizmet sektörünün sağlıksız bir şekilde şişmesine neden oluyor. Gereksiz her işin başına bir insan dikilmektedir. Bu durum insanların davranış biçimine de yansımaktadır. Modern insan çevresinin temizliğine bakımına dikkat eder ve sosyal sorumluluk sahibidir.
Günümüz Türk insanı tasasızca çevresini kirletmekte ve temizliğin başkaları tarafından yapılmasını beklemektedir.

Türkiye insanını eğitmeli, ona yüksek gelir getirecek kalifiye işler yaptırmalı ve onu cehalete mahkum etmemeli. Türkiye’nin bir Çin olması mümkün değildir. Türkiye daha ileri teknoloji içeren işler yapmak ve insanına değer vermek zorundadır. Köyünden büyük şehire gelmiş her çöpçü Türkiye’nin insan potansiyelinden kaybedilmiş bir yaratıcılık kaynağı, bir Yaşar KEMAL olabilir.


Friday, June 12, 2009

BAKIŞ ALGORİTMALARI

Boş boş bakmak
Bir noktaya bakmak
Tek tek ayrıntılara değil bütüne bakmak
Geniş açı bakmak

Israrla bakmak
Bakışlarını kaçırmak
Gözlerinin içi gülerek bakmak
Kara kara haince bakmak

Bakarken gözü takılmak
Bir şey aramak için tarayarak bakmak
Gözünün ucuna takılmak
Baktığını görmemek

Bakarak paylamak
Bakışları ile ezmek
Bakarak dinlenmek
Bakarak şükretmek

Şekillere bakarak düşünmek
Bakarak icad etmek
Yaptığı resme esere
Bakarak yaratmak

Bakarak cihazları izlemek
Bakarak anlamak
Bakarak sorun çözmek
Bakarak konuşmak

…(daha yüzlercesi bulunabilir)

Hep aynı şeye bakarak
Dikkat toplamak
Şeyler arasındaki ilişkilere
Hacme bakarak rahatlamak

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Le rôle des symboles en TURQUIE-The Role of Symbols in TURKEY

Le rôle des symboles en TURQUIE
The Role of Symbols in TURKEY

Quand on ne sait pas quelque chose en mathématiques, nous assignons une variable à cette chose, indiquant par un symbole. Beaucoup de religions sont fondées sur les symboles et les croyances qui se consacrent à eux.
When we do not know something in mathematics we assign a variable to it, denoting it with a symbol.
Many religions are based on the symbols and the belief dedicated to them.


En effet, nous tenons à exprimer une sorte de conviction lorsque nous assigner un symbole à une valeur inconnue, en choisissant le type de la variable qu'elle désigne. En bref, quand nous ne peut pas traiter une difficulté, nous faissons abstractions, l'un de ces abstractions sont des symboles .
Infact we express some sort of belief when we assign a symbol to an unknown value by choosing the type of the variable it denotes. In short, when we can not handle a difficulty we do abstractions of which one is symbols.

Nous nous non seulement contentons de comprendre ou d'avoir des sentiments sur les symboles, mais pensons aussi à beaucoup d'entre eux. Nous aimons le drapeau de notre pays. Nous comprenons ce qu'il symbolise. Nous pensons également toutes les valeurs qu'elle symbolise turc.
We not only understand or have feelings about symbols but also believe in many of them. We love the flag of our country. We understand what it symbolizes. We also believe all the Turkish values it symbolizes.

Symboles service beaucoup de buts dans la vie quotidienne. Une petite photo, un symbole de «l'escalier» indique l'escalier qui mènent à la station de métro souterraine. Ils facilitent notre vie et, parfois, sauver notre vie, comme les symboles liés à la sécurité-incendie dans de nombreux bâtiments. Les symboles ont des fonctions importantes dans la vie sociale. Un artiste pop devient le symbole d'un certain mode de vie ou de compréhension.
Symbols serve many purposes in daily life. A small picture, a symbol of ‘stairs’ indicates the stairs that lead to the underground metro station. They facilitate our life and sometimes save our lives as the symbols related to fire safety in many buildings. Symbols have important functions in the social life. A pop artist becomes the symbol of a certain way of living or understanding.

Beaucoup d'autres peuvent être écrits sur les symboles, mais je vais point à deux points un sombre et un brillant.
Many more can be written about symbols, but I will point at two points one somber and one brilliant.

Tout d'abord, l'une sombre sur la société turque ... Les symboles sont tres importants dans la société turque. En fait, la situation économique et le niveau de vie pourrait suggérer une compréhension plus souple sur les symboles, les symboles de la culture, mais sont beaucoup plus importantes que la raison. La Turquie ne mérite pas cette niveau culturel. Les pays sous-développés utiliser des symboles fortement, car il est impossible d'expliquer les choses à une population sans instruction.
First, the somber one about the Turkish society… Symbols are too important in the Turkish society. Actually, the economical situation and the life standards would suggest a more flexible understanding about symbols, but culturally symbols are much more important than reason. Turkey does not deserve this cultural situation. Undeveloped countries has to use symbols strongly because it is impossible to explain things to an uneducated population.

Deuxièmement, les symboles sont un excellent moyen de progresser un pays, tout en préservant ses valeurs sociales et religieuses. Si vous avez besoin de conserver une valeur qui est impossible de continuer à l'époque moderne, puis le conserver comme un symbole très respecté. Grande-Bretagne a fait quelque chose de ce genre à garder sa monarchie ...
Secondly, symbols provide an excellent means to progress a country while preserving its values, social and religious. If you need to conserve a value which is impossible to continue in modern times, then preserve it as a highly respected symbol. Britain has done this to keep its Monarchy…

La Turquie a besoin des esprits créatifs et de la bonne conseiller pour convertir une grande richesse de la diversité des valeurs culturelle, religieuse,politiques en symboles, de préserver la richesse de son passé tout en ouvrant l'espace libre pour son avenir.
Turkey needs creative minds and good advise to convert a great wealth of cultural, religious, political values to symbols, to preserve its rich past while opening free space for her future.

Conservationism can and should be contemporary.
Conservatisme peut et doit être contemporain.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

CONTENTEMENT: UN POINT COMMUN DANS L'ISLAM ET CHRISTIANISME

CONTENTMENT: A COMMON POINT IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY
CONTENTEMENT: UN POINT COMMUN DANS L'ISLAM ET CHRISTIANISME

CONTENTMENT IN CHRISTIANITY
CONTENTEMENT DANS LE CHRISTIANISME

1 Timothy 6 (New International Version)
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that…
6 C'est bien une grande affaire profitable que la piété unie au désintéressement, 7 car nous n'avons rien apporté en ce monde, comme nous n'en pouvons rien emporter. 8 Si nous avons nourriture et vêtement, nous nous en contenterons


17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. …
17 Aux riches du siècle présent prescris de n'être pas orgueilleux et de ne pas mettre leur espoir en des richesses instables, mais en Dieu, qui nous procure tout avec abondance pour que nous en jouissions, 18 de faire le bien, de devenir riches en bonnes oeuvres, de donner libéralement, de partager….


Philippians 4 (New International Version)
11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
11 Ce n'est pas à cause de mes besoins que je parle ainsi, car j'ai appris à me suffire avec ce que j'ai. 12 Je sais vivre dans le dénûment, et je sais vivre dans l'abondance. En tout et par tout j'ai appris à être rassasié et à avoir faim, à être dans l'abondance et à être dans la détresse.

Hebrews 13 (New International Version)
5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have …
5 Que votre conduite soit exempte d'avarice, vous contentant de ce que vous avez;

16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
16 Et n'oubliez pas la bienfaisance et la libéralité; car Dieu se plaît à de tels sacrifices. 17 Obéissez à ceux qui vous conduisent, et ayez pour eux de la déférence, car ils veillent sur vos âmes comme devant en rendre compte, - afin qu'ils le fassent avec joie, et non en gémissant; ce qui ne vous serait pas avantageux. 18 Priez pour nous; car nous sommes assurés d'avoir une bonne conscience, voulant en toutes choses nous bien conduire.

CONTENTMENT IN THE HOLLY KURAN
CONTENTEMENT DANS L'ISLAM

8 - The Spoils Of War
26. And remember when you were few, deemed weak in the land, fearing lest people might carry you off by force, but He sheltered you and strengthened you with His aid and gave you of the good things that you may give thanks.
26. Et rappelez-vous quand vous étiez peu nombreux, opprimés sur terre, craignant de vous faire enlever par des gens. Il vous donna asile, vous renforça se Son secours et vous attribua de bonnes choses afin que vous soyez reconnaissants

27 - The Ant
19…. My Lord! grant me that I should be grateful for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I should do good such as Thou art pleased with, and make me enter, by Thy mercy, into Thy servants, the good ones.
19. … "Permets-moi Seigneur, de rendre grâce pour le bienfait dont Tu m'as comblé ainsi que mes père et mère, et que je fasse une bonne oeuvre que tu agrées et fais-moi entrer, par Ta miséricorde, parmi Tes serviteurs vertueux".

40. … This is of the grace of my Lord that He may try me whether I am grateful or ungrateful; and whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own soul, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely my Lord is Self-sufficient, Honored.
40. … "Cela est de la grâce de mon Seigneur, pour m'éprouver si je suis reconnaissant ou si je suis ingrat. Quiconque est reconnaissant. c'est dans son propre intérêt qu'il le fait, et quiconque est ingrat... alors mon Seigneur Se suffit â Lui- même et est Généreux".

73. And surely your Lord is the Lord of grace to men, but most of them are not grateful.
73. Certes, ton Seigneur est pourvoyeur de grâce aux hommes, mais la plupart d'entre eux ne sont pas reconnaissants.

31 - Luqman
14. And We have enjoined man in respect of his parents-- his mother bears him with faintings upon faintings and his weaning takes two years-- saying: Be grateful to Me and to both your parents; to Me is the eventual coming.
14. Nous avons commandé â l'homme [la bienfaisance envers] ses père et mère; sa mère l'a porté [subissant pour lui] peine sur peine: son sevrage a lieu â deux ans." Sois reconnaissant envers Moi ainsi qu'envers tes parents. Vers Moi est la destination.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sense of Existence and Imagination

Nearness to God cannot be calculated. To be near to God is not to go up or down, but to escape from the prison of existence. The treasure of God lies in non-existence. You are deluded by existence. How could you understand what non-existence is?

MASNAVI III:4513-16

from RUMI - A Spiritual Treasury, compiled by Juliet MABEY
One World Pub. 2003
(P.S. RUMI = Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi)

"…psychological determinism. We can affirm fearlessly that if consciousness is a succession of determined physical facts it is entirely impossible for it ever to produce anything but the real. For consciousness to be able to imagine, it must be able to escape from the world by its very nature; it must be able by its own efforts to withdraw from the world. In a word it must be free. Thus the thesis of unreality has yielded us the possibility of negation as its condition. Now, the latter is possible only by the “negation” of the world as a whole, and this negation has revealed itself to us as the reverse of the very freedom of consciousness".

Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings

from The Psychology of Imagination - Imagination and Consciousness

Edited By Stephen Priest
Routledge, 2005

Thursday, January 15, 2009

TO TRANSCEND THE GLASS

Many times that I have stood in front of a toy seller’s shop, had this small boy in me wished to transcend the glass shield and reach out to one of the toys on the display. Although light can pass through the glass we can not. This feeling that you feel against the seperating property of a shield of glass, the feeling of powerlessness because of the inability to reach something you yearn for hurts me deeply. On the other hand, “one should not reach out to the things he is not able to catch” says our parents.

As the years pass by, notices one that our lives are divided with glass shields, a compartment next to another… Sometimes there exists nothing, not even a glass shield between. Somebody new born to this system of life does not notice these ‘glass’ compartments in the beginning, only till he tries to reach something he does not deserve…

To speak is a privelege of this type. When you look around everybody talks. It’s just as simple as happening by itself without any effort… But, when it is up to you to speak to a foreigner, to a teacher, to a supervisor or to one of your students or a farmer, just try and see what happens… One notices that it is not as simple as it looks to speak to others, just like does a small kid who tries to reach something higher than his own height…

Imagine a child aged around two years old! He can understand what’s going on around him. He keeps track of every close thing . He is even aware that he is a seperate being which owns its own life. But he cannot speak… An unseen shield of glass stops his voice to be heard when tries to speak… He is aware that he has a voice. He does not know what he cannot do. He tries to reach out to and touch things that only his words could touch. He fails. He does not succeed because there is an unseen transparent thing between. Indeed he tries to find what that is. At the end, he does find it. A few words come out of his mouth. Something like “mom, dad”… The foundations of the structure which have been laid underneath will help him stand up for the rest of his life. This is the name of the thing that stands between him and others: SELF.

Each person who succeeds to speak lives similar difficulties a couple of more times in their life. The most striking example of these situations is learning the first foreign language. Specially if one goes to a country of which language he does not know well and learns it slowly day by day like a small kid, this situation becomes quiet similar to the process in his very childhood. Psychological problems that may appear in people living abroad may have substantial relation with this phenomenon. If scrutinized, schizophrenia and other similar problems have some roots in this difficult period of life around 2 years old.

Many have English as a second language in Turkey. Unfortunately, as one of my visiting European colleagues has mentioned ‘Everybody speaks Turkish in Turkey, but all does so badly.’ Hence we are a society who can speak the second language not so good. OK, what happens if one tries to learn the 3rd and even 4th languages as many do in Europe? Unfortunately, the number of people who knows this, who has tried and succeeded are very few in Turkey compared to key European countries. When pushed to learn the 3rd language your second language begins to waver, you begin to forget some words etc… When pushing the 4th language the grammar difficulties in every language including your mother tongue may appear… You forget words, or mix languages using French words in English etc. Even worse is,you think you are speaking your native tongue when speaking an other language, your students although benefiting from this, politely make fun of it. The worst, because of not knowing which language to listen while passing people are speaking on the street you may think some Germans are speaking quiet good Turkish. The rest of your life, you hear French, German, English words in the noise that you hear…

Foreign language education is a strategically important subject in our country. Around our country lies Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and other ex-Yuogoslavian, Romenic, Hungarian, Russian, Ukranian, Moldovian, Checnic, and other ex-Russian, Armenian, Persian, Arabic speaking countries. From the European perspective we have to count English, French, German, Italian and Spanish to name a few… Turkey can succeed against this great challenge by only good organization, planning and specialization, not by acts of good luck.

The complexity of the Turkish geography surrounded with oceans has created the obligation of a closed culture in a single umbrella language and culture. The physical largeness and the neessity to keep everything in order has caused the development of practices that may not be in parallel with Europe for many centuries…

Turkey tries to improve her relations with the European Union primarily for economical obligations. But similar to the child learning to speak for the first time Turkey has communication difficulties with Europe. The struggle to express her own concerns and convince her counterparts to give her deserved rights, is driving Turkey to redefine and find herself anew in the 21st century world. When mixed with the effort to reown her own culture coming from the past, the effort to transcend the invisible glass between Europe and Turkey, pushes the Turkish society to the limits of her cultural and sipiritual strengths. An adventure initiated by economical obligations is having much wider and unforeseen effects on our society driving her to the limits of healthy development.