Monday 29 March 2021

The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis

These are the titles I came up with for each chapter in the book:


Chapter 1: The omnibus
Chapter 2: The dark, damp, dreary Hell
Chapter 3: The bright Heaven (Real World)
Chapter 4: The mean, unforgiving man - Who are we to judge others? Are we even worthy to do so?
Chapter 5: The intellectual man - Be careful of sins of the intellect such as ego, pride or prejudice.
Chapter 6: The materialist
Chapter 7: The cynical man (the conspiracy theorist) - Is it wise to distrust everything? That's too much negative energy.
Chapter 8: The embarrassed lady - Turn your shame into something that's nourishing.
Chapter 9: The Teacher
Chapter 10: The dominating wife
Chapter 11: The possessive mother, and the man with the lizard - How to deal with addiction?
Chapter 12: The ordinary woman (Sarah Smith) and her self-centred husband - Fame on earth vs. Fame on Heaven;
Chapter 13: The tiny, insignificant, useless Hell (unreal World)
Chapter 14: The dream

Favourite Quotes:
1) "No one had a right to come between me and my son. Not even God."
2) "Don't you know that you can't hurt anyone in this country."
3) "I cannot kill it against your will. It is impossible. Have I your permission?"
4) "All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world."

References:
1) Exploring C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce

Wednesday 17 March 2021

Walsalam and Upadeshi

This article summarizes the book "Songs as Locus for a Lay Theology: Moshe Walsalam Sastriyar and Sadhu Kochukunju Upadeshi" written by Philip K Mathai.

Chapter 1: Sangam Age (Tamilakam, socialism, Buddhism, Jainism, Dravidian traditions); Aryan Influence (Hinduism, caste hierarchy, Sanskrit, Malayalam); St Thomas (1st century); Thomas of Cana (3rd century); Adi Sankara (8th century); Venad (12th century); Vasco da Gama (1498 CE); the Portuguese (~150 years); Synod of Diamper; Coonan Cross Oath (Catholic Church vs. Malankara Orthodox Church); the Dutch; Travancore (padmanabhadasan); the British; Revolt (Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, Velu Thambi Dalawa); Social Reformation (Chattambi Swamikal, Sri Narayana Guru, Ayyankali, Upper Cloth Revolt, Temple Entry Proclamation); Church Missionary Society (Kottayam, Benjamin Bailey); London Missionary Society (Nagercoil); Mar Thoma Church (~1880 CE); Church of South India (1948 CE);  

Chapter 2: Doxology (praise, worship, songs, music, actions) vs. Theology (doctrines, liturgy); how various Christian traditions (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Eastern) differ; history of Doxology in Latin, German (Luther) and English (Isaac Watts, John Wesley, Charles Wesley); the Bhakti tradition (worship, complete submission to a personal God through word, mind and body) in India and Hinduism; locus theologicus (source of theology); 

Chapter 3: Moshe Walsalam (surname, beloved) Sastriyar (honorific, scholar); 1847-1916; born into a nadar Christian family in Trivandrum; associated with the CSI Church and the London Mission Society; trained poet, musician and composer; translated English and Tamil songs into Malayalam; Kathakalakshepam; Trust (ninte hitam...), Liberation (sneha virunnanubhavippan...);  

Chapter 4: Sadhu (honorific, sage) Kochukunju Upadeshi (honorific, preacher); 1883-1945; belonged to the Mar Thoma Church; General Secretary of the Mar Thoma Voluntary Evangelists' Association; born in Edayaranmula; no formal training in music; the Valley of Baca; Worldly life (sojourner, ascetic way of life, transitory life); Love (sensual love); Trust (dukhathinte paanapathram...);

Conclusion: The songs written by Walsalam and Upadeshi are still in circulation in the churches of Kerala, and thus have stood the test of time. These songs are also ecumenical in nature. The songs represent the theology, faith and doctrinal stance of the laity (both Walsalam and Upadeshi were evangelists), as opposed to the theology taught by the clergy (remember Martin Luther). Finally,  the songs were products of amalgamation of the Western theology and the Indian religious culture (bhakti), resulting in a new form of doxology based on new vocabulary (e.g. devan, avataram, pey) and literary expression (e.g. love feast, end of casteism).

Monday 1 March 2021

Ejukkayshun

Education is a noble activity. The mere act of gaining knowledge inherently is free from evil. It is what we intend to do with the knowledge that leads to immorality. A member of the bomb disposal squad ought to understand the internal mechanism of a bomb. Only when he has acquired sufficient amount of required knowledge can he be excellent and faithful at his job.

Roger Schank Blog

Lectures are not effective for teaching and learning. Education begins with curiosity. We learn through conversations that are dialogues in nature not monologues. In other words, a good teacher talks with the students and not to the students.

Do Schools Kill Creativity is a popular TED talk. Children are born free-thinkers --- have lots of questions, want to know everything, and are not afraid of making mistakes. However the modern education system is a factory to produce corporate slaves and brain-dead people.

“So, my advice. Know what matters to you. Learn that. Temporarily memorize nonsense if you want to graduate but have a proper perspective on it. Nothing you learn in high school will matter in your future life.” --- Roger Schank

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”―Benjamin Franklin

“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” ―John Dewey

ADHD, autism, dyslexia, introverts

Pedagogy

  1. learning by teaching - learn by teaching fellow students in the class
  2. flipped classroom - (not an intuitive term) interactive learning; discussion; real-time problem solving; watch video lectures together; the lecturer or teacher is no longer primary focus in the classroom; project-based learning
  3. Jigsaw - students learn from each other; cooperative learning
  4. Education 3.0 - the marriage of technology and learning; personalised learning
  5. MOOC (massive open online course) - mass learning; e.g. Udemy, Coursera, MIT OCW
  6. homeschooling 

ഒരിക്കലും അവസാനിക്കാത്ത ഒരു പ്രക്രിയയാണ് വിദ്യാഭാസം. ജീവിതകാലം മുഴുവൻ ഒരുവൻ വിദ്യാർത്ഥി ആയിരിക്കും. ഒരു യഥാർഥ വിദ്യാർഥി എന്നും എളിമയുള്ളവനായിരിക്കും.

എന്താണ് വിദ്യാഭ്യാസത്തിന്റെ ഉദ്ദേശ്യം?  (1) അറിവ് - അറിവിലൂടെ ലോകത്തെപ്പറ്റിയും, സമൂഹത്തെപ്പറ്റിയും പ്രയോഗികജ്ഞാനം ലഭിക്കുന്നു; (2) നെറിവ് - ശരിയും  തെറ്റും തമ്മിൽ വേർതിരിച്ചറിയാൻ  ഉതകുന്നത് നെറിവു; (3) തിരിച്ചറിവ് - തെറ്റ് മനസ്സിലാക്കി  നന്മയുടെ പാതയിൽ നേർവഴി നടക്കാൻ തിരിച്ചറിവ് സഹായിക്കും. 

    അറിവ് (information), ജ്ഞാനം (knowledge), വിവേകം (wisdom)

    എന്താണ് അറിവ്? (1) വസ്തുതകൾ (facts), (2) വ്യാഖ്യാനം (interpretation), (3) വ്യവഹാരം (critique), (4) ലാവണ്യം (aesthetics, elegance)