Speaking of death …
By Krishna Villena
October 31, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
Thanatology workshop
Fridays, Oct 31–Jan 18, 5–8pm
Unidad de Extensión
Beneficencia 13
152-5383
1,000 pesos
Regardless of our beliefs, we all ponder death from time to time, and many fear it. This week, death is particularly close to our thoughts as we celebrate the Day of the Dead and remember our loved ones whom we have lost.
Alicia Murias Ybarra, a thanatologist, agrees that “death is a very important issue for every human being, and that’s why it’s advisable to learn more about it.” Thanatology is the study of death, grieving and social attitudes surrounding dying and memorialization.
“Even though death is a phenomenon we all have to deal with, today it is not accepted as a natural event, and that’s when it becomes a personal, social and cultural conflict. Thanatology attempts to make sense of the death process,” said Murias. Thanatology is based on and related to other sciences such as psychology, medicine, sociology and anthropology.
“If we really think about it, we would see that it is not so much that we are afraid of death itself, but rather we fear physical deterioration or prolonged, debilitating illness. On a social level, we fear the permanent loss of somebody whom we love. A person suffers grief according to the intensity of the relationship with the deceased.”
Regarding the tradition of altars on the Day of the Dead, Murias said that “all must be done with emotion, and the food and objects we offer the spirits should be those they liked most. The mixture of this tradition with authentic emotion turns the altar into an exhibition of our vulnerability as human beings and the ephemeral nature of our existence.”
Social anthropologist Ilithya Guevara Hernández, a professor at the University of León, said that “the cult of death and the way the Mexican culture makes reference to it points up our everyday coexistence with those who have left this world.”
Guevara remembered that the death of her grandmother was “one of the most bizarre experiences I ever had but also the most meaningful. When she died, the family gathered around her body and one by one said goodbye and recounted a story about her.”
Murias recommended talking to people about our wishes for burial or cremation and the way we would like to be remembered at death, whether with mourning or celebration. “Laughing or crying, we all have the right to express our feelings,” she said.
Starting October 31, Murias will teach a 10-session thanatology course at the Unidad de Extensión of the Universidad de Guanajuato, located at Beneficencia 13. The class, in Spanish, will be held Fridays, 5–8pm until January 18.
Resistance and survival under fascism
Lecture
Marching to a Different Drummer
Charlotte Self
Center for Global Justice
Mon, Nov 3, 10:30am
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation 50 pesos
Disturbed by political developments of recent years, many today wonder what it would be like to live under fascism. One who has is Charlotte Self, an 82-year-old resident of Hendersonville, North Carolina. Born and raised in Germany, she grew up during the years of Hitler’s Third Reich. Her mother, a Social Democrat, was active in the anti-Nazi resistance. As a family doctor, she gave medical assistance to persecuted people in hiding and helped many to escape from Germany.
In her talk sponsored by the Center for Global Justice sponsors a talk Self will recount her childhood in Nazi Germany, her teen years during World War II, and how she was able to assist her mother in her work starting at a very early age. Her story, which is currently being made into a screenplay, is a riveting tale of courage and dedication that has kept many an audience spellbound.
Introduction to contemplative photography
By Fernando Senior, Ph.D.
Lecture
The Mindful Eye
Mon, Nov 3. 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Free
 |
 |
How often have you experienced a moment when you were looking, but not really seeing or noticing? Hearing, but not really listening? Reacting to events rather than choosing to act consciously? |
In his book Full Catastrophe Living, Dr. John Kabat-Zinn reminds us that mindfulness, which is a moment-to-moment awareness, is cultivated by purposefully paying attention. He describes it as a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capabilities for relaxation, paying attention, awareness and insights.
Mindfulness practice is often associated with meditation, such as silent sitting or walking meditation. The truth is that every moment, from washing our hands to driving a car and throwing out the garbage allows us the opportunity to observe and make conscious choices that nurture the seeds of happiness in ourselves and in others.
An appealing, entertaining and educational approach to cultivating mindfulness is through the popular art of photography. After all, what better way to faithfully and impartially document what we are actually able to see (or fail to see)? What better way to your make use of a camera than to use it as a tool for personal growth?
The term contemplative photography is used to describe a type of art that invites the viewer to experience a contemplative moment documented by a photographer. But more importantly, we can also use the term as an invitation to any individual to use his/her camera as a loyal companion in an intimate exercise in mindfulness. In other words, contemplative photography combines the practice of meditation with the art of photography.
This free introductory talk defines the foundations of mindfulness and provides practical examples of how to use your camera as an instrument for contemplation and personal growth.
Fernando guides contemplative photography Workshops in San Miguel. Visit www.themindfuleye.com
for additional information.
Sufism is a walk toward God
By Farhat Farhang
Lecture
Sufism: The Path of Love
Fri, Nov 7, 5pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation for the Biblioteca
Sufism is to walk toward God with nothing more than love. Its method is to look in only one direction and only one goal: God.
The sufí loves truth (God) and walks toward the true or absolute perfection through love. He strives to reach perfection, since only a perfect being is able to meet truth.
The Tariqat or the Sufi Path is the practical way for the human being to meet perfection, in which the disciple is guided in his journey toward the absolute true.
The Nematollahi Order is the most antique sufi brotherhood still active today. Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, born in 1926 in Iran, is the master and spiritual guide of the order. He is a psychiatrist and was director of Ruzbeh Hospital and the Teheran University Psychology Department until his retirement in 1977. As master of the Nematollahi Order, Dr. Nurbakhsh has worked in several fields to enlarge the order, spread Sufism in the West, develop a Sufism study and documentation center, and promote love and service to people through humanitarian activities.
Teotihuacán magical, mystical tour
By Arturo Morales Tirado
Lecture
Teotihuacán virtual tour
Arturo Morales Tirado
Tue, Nov 4, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
| Teotihuacán represents myth, architecture and culture—cosmic order and the birth of the gods, 2,000-year-old urban design and a pattern of cultural development lasting 700 years. | |
 |
Wise Teotihuacán architects placed the cosmopolitan city as an extension and permanent link between it, the region, the planet and the universe. The city, which grew to perhaps 100,000 people, was one of the largest in the world at the time and was the most influential in Mesoamerica during the Classic period (200–900 CE).
Today it is one of the most investigated and spectacular archaeological sites of pre-Hispanic Mexico. It is the cultural and social bridge between the formative and post-classic eras in Mesoamerica, one of the world’s six original civilizations. It embodies Mexican iconography and such idiosyncrasies as the use of public spaces to transmit knowledge, ideas and ideology.
Dozens of photographs illustrate this virtual tour of a UNESCO World Heritage site. In addition to pyramids (the second highest in the world), murals, squares, palaces and residential areas, Teotihuacán offers a fine museum and a restaurant inside a spectacular natural cave. Recent discoveries at the site and their relationship to contemporary Mexican culture will be covered.
|