Blog Post 6 : " The Psychology of Physical Rebirth"

The theory of rebirth is almost as ancient as thought itself and its origin is unknown. We may according to our prepossessions accept it as the fruit of ancient psychological experience always renewable and verifiable and therefore true or dismiss it as a philosophical dogma and ingenious speculation; but in either case the doctrine, even as it is in all appearance well-nigh as old as human thought itself, is likely also to endure as long as human beings continue to think.

Rebirth is for the modern mind no more than a speculation and a theory; it has never been proved by the methods of modern science or to the satisfaction of the new critical mind formed by a scientific culture. Neither has it been disproved; for modern science knows nothing about a before-life or an after-life for the human soul, knows nothing indeed about a soul at all, nor can know; its province stops with the flesh and brain and nerve, the embryo and its formation and development. Neither has modern criticism any apparatus by which the truth or untruth of rebirth can be established. In fact, modern criticism, with all its pretensions to searching investigation and scrupulous certainty, is no very efficient truth-finder. Outside the sphere of the immediate physical it is almost helpless.

It is good at discovering data, but except where the data themselves bear on the surface their own conclusion, it has no means of being rightly sure of the generalizations it announces from them so confidently in one generation destroys in the next. It has no means of finding out with surety the truth or untruth of a doubtful historical assertion; after a century of dispute it has not even been able to tell us yes or no, whether Jesus Christ ever existed. How then shall it deal with such a matter as this of rebirth which is stuff of psychology and must be settled rather by psychological than physical evidence?

According to the article, Eating is Rebirth: A report by Pavel Somov; Each meal is the beginning of a metabolic rebirth. The physical you that you currently are is about to die as you replace yourself with a new you that you are about to create with the help of what you are eating.

Each meal is also the beginning of a psychological rebirth – unless you are eating mindlessly, on autopilot. The psychological you that you currently are – your thoughts, feelings, sensations – are about to die (change) with the experience of your next eating moment. If you are eating mindfully, if you are in the moment, the field of awareness that you are is about to renew itself. A single moment of mindful eating is a psychological reincarnation upon itself, a new mini-lifetime, however fleeting. The wheel of eating is the wheel of psycho-physical rebirth.

According to the other article I read, Rebirth Without Metaphysics in Buddhist Philosophy: A report by V. Hughes; The concept of rebirth can be described in a useful and productive way without relying on metaphysics. Rebirth as it relates to the not-self, and to impermanence can become part of our daily practice of Buddhism. Faith is accepted in many Buddhist traditions because of the concept of rebirth as described in Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Perspective, David J. Kalupahana. it is stated there that "The process of rebirth is explained as the combining of the two factors, consciousness (vinnana) and the psychophysical personality (namarupa). The psychophysical personality referred to here is the foetus formed in the mother's womb and which represents the beginning of a new life span. Consciousness surviving from the past is said to become infused in this new personality, and thus a continuity is maintained between the two lives." 

The peculiarity with having Earth lives within the cycles of reincarnation is that the newly-incarnating baby on Earth has no memory of past lives. To account for this fact it is necessary to accept that human consciousness is binary in form and not a unitary phenomenon.

At death of the physical body, if the consciousness sojourns into higher planes of consciousness (such as heaven), then the ego transposes nearly intact, with only negative aspects of its consciousness being reduced. The ego does not take the sorrow and pain of its life with it to heaven. Instead, any positive attitudes and traits of character that were created by the sorrow and pain are taken with it. The negative aspects are ‘put on hold’ till the consciousness is born again on earth, when they are added to the infant's subconscious mind.

Now I realize that this happens often just to varying degrees each moment. There is the death of one self and the rebirth of another. This a dramatic example, but one that I bet has happened to many others.

It is consciousness being "infused in this new personality". It just isn't in a new body; it's in a new version of the self. There is "death of the old" and there is "continuity" it is just in the same mind-body. The not-self is impermanent with the potential for positive change. Each experience, each moment causes change in that self. There is the opportunity in each moment for rebirth into a new self. It is up to us to realize this, and with that realization take the responsibility to make that a more positive, more engaged self.

Believing that we can make positive changes and engaging ourselves to make them are actions of the body and mind. Realizing that right now we can undergo a "rebirth" from who we are to who we want to be is an empowering thing. By engaging in positive activities we can become more positive. By engaging with like-minded people we can support each other.

Blog Post 5 : " Phoenix in Popular Culture"

Each culture has its own myths, tall-tales, and legends. At first sight, the differences between cultures as one travels from place to place seem abundant. People dress differently, speak different languages and worship different deities. Surprisingly, most human societies, despite vast geographic differences, share common threads in their myths and legends one prominent example is the legend of the phoenix. Like many other components of culture, the main schisms of the myth of the phoenix are between the Eastern and Western world. Today, the phoenix is even more popular  thanks to the different literature, music and movies being release. That's why the story of the phoenix is a story that resonates strongly with the human story, which is likely why this mythical bird appears in so many diverse cultures.

According to the site, www.buzzle.com; The bird itself and its myth have been represented in various different ways by artists, writers, poets, musicians and so on. The very fact that the phoenix is a mythical creature triggers the imaginative capabilities of the artists with each one of them visualizing the bird in his own way and then recreating the myth altogether.

While according to the site, www.wisegeek.com; Today, references to the phoenix abound in popular culture. It remains a symbol of resurrection or rebirth and is often used to represent cities or institutions that underwent some sort of destruction and regrowth.The phoenix has proved an enduring allegorical symbol, symbolizing rebirth, renewal or uniqueness and often appears in modern popular culture.

In Literature:

The idea of a lone bird setting itself on fire and then rising from its own ashes is so fascinating in itself. Painters and sculptors from across the world have tried to emphasize on the various characteristics of the phoenix bird and portray them through their works.

• While Michelangelo (1475 - 1564) is better known for his sculpture and paintings, he was also a poet. It is in two poems, "Se da Prim'anni Aperto" and "The Rime Of Michelangelo" where he mentions the phoenix in a typical religious form. From "Se da Prim'anni Aperto": "Nor can the phoenix revive, we are told, except by fire. Hence if such death be mine I hope to rise again with the divine..." It is perhaps not so unusual for Michelangelo to treat the phoenix as a symbol of resurrection even though Italy by that time was Christian, for early Christianity viewed this symbol of resurrection with respect.

• French poets Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1230 fl.) and Jean de Meun (c. 1230 - 1305), authors of "Romance of the Rose", mention the phoenix in this epic poem. The poem itself is an allegory of courtship containing the elements of what may be considered the typical male-female relationship during the thirteenth century. One line from the poem is the following: "Always is a single phoenix alive, who, ere his death, has lived five hundred years..."

In Film and Television:

The bird, along with its appearance and symbolism has been a subject of great inspiration for the writers from across the globe. In some tales (prose and poetry included), the phoenix itself is one of the characters, while in some others, a character or his situation is compared with the symbolism of the bird.

• One of the recent instances of popular fiction wherein the bird itself has a character to play is J.K. Rowling's famous Harry Potter series that has a tremendous fan following of children and adults alike. Fawkes, the phoenix in the Harry Potter series is a pet and defender of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Harry Potter is a student. Fawkes has been portrayed as a highly intelligent bird with crimson feathers and a golden tail. Its tears have healing powers and it sings a very soothing song. Even its feathers have amazing powers and were an important constituent of Harry's as well as Voldemort's magic wands. It has also been depicted as assisting both Harry and Dumbledore in many of their heroic feats. Thus, the bird has captured the imaginations of authors for ages together and still continues to fascinate them.

• During the first part of the series finale of Avatar: the Last Airbender, the main Antagonist, Fire Lord Ozai, declares that he will both end and win the 100 years war with the world by burning most of the Earth Kingdom to the ground via the power of a comet called Sozin's Comet (Ozai's Grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin). He also stated that he will have a new world rise from the ashes of the old, having only a Fire Nation world. He then dubs himself the Phoenix King (complete with a golden Phoenix motif for armor and having a phoenix in his banners), to compliment his sinister plan and to make himself ruler of the entire world.

In Music:

Even the musicians have not been able to escape the fascination that surrounds the phoenix myth. In numerous musical lyrics, we find references either to the bird itself or to its symbolism.

• The alternative rock band Live makes reference in the song The Dolphin's Cry saying "this phoenix rises up from the ground, and all these wars are over". The Phoenix is used in this context to help symbolize the cycles of love and sexual union being reborn over and over again.

• The longest music video in history, "Runaway" by Kanye West, primarily focuses around a phoenix who has fallen to Earth and after being discriminated against, she bursts into flames to return to her original world.

The legend of the phoenix bird forms an inevitable part of the mythological traditions of many diverse cultures. This makes one ponder as to what makes the bird so special that its parallels are found even in some of the remotest reaches of the world. Basically, we humans have a lot to learn from the bird and its symbolism. All the magical powers that the phoenix possesses might have been incorporated in the myth with its inclusion in alchemy and occult religion, two traditions that delve on the notions of spiritual healing and magic. Nevertheless, the entire mythology of the phoenix bird is an arresting subject in itself. The powerful symbolism of this mythical creature is what draws us towards it. It is a very good example that shows how things get purified and refreshed after being burnt by fire. Its resurgence after being completely burnt down is a very strong indicator of the never say die' spirit which every human should cultivate within himself. In short, the phoenix stands for everything that forms part of the vicious circle of life and death.

Blog Post 4 : " Icarus the Bird on Fire"

Phoenix is a quite unorthodox hero, whose role is focused on offensive back-line supporting with occasional "dives" into battle. He is an excellent dual or triple lane hero who can heal his allies and quickly kill enemies with Sun Ray. Later in the game he works as an all-stage ganker, and a specific team fight role of post-initiator, similar to Omniknight. Ancient scriptures spoke of seven sacred emanations of light, and of their convergence in great conflict. The collision of these rays upon the mortal realm created a pyre of the highest purity, giving birth to the mythical Phoenix. As a manifestation of divine flames, Icarus can discharge either flames of death and destruction, or of life and healing. The concentrated beam of energy that he can emit can incinerate whole armies from across the battlefield. Unafraid to utilize his own life-force in order to vanquish his enemies, Icarus can also harness the direct power of the sun to create a stellar explosion.


According to the article, Icarus - Divine Flame: A Report by Hackedstealth; A devastating fire that burns allot of things unexpectedly, is a devastating fire that came from a little spark. Contrary to the popular opinion, Icarus is not a tank. All his skills require him to sacrifice hit points, which is why he is gifted the large health pool. Other than that, the skill theme, the very low armour, and the ranged attack should discourage direct confrontation. As we can see, despite the low starting strength, Phoenix is blessed with extraordinary strength gain to support his health-consuming abilities. However, he has extremely low agility and agility growth to discourage direct combat with slow attacks and minimal physical protection. His intelligence is nothing to brag about, but considering the nature of his skills, it is fully sufficient for his needs.


According to the site, www.playdota.com;  Phoenix is not very difficult. He's not a carry, nor is he pure anything. He's somewhat a jack-of-all-trades, but that isn't such of a bad thing. His skills need good timing and precision, A good Icarus Dive can instantly make a team lose. Fire Spirits can save lives that were doomed to die. Sun Ray can eliminate the strongest of tanks. Supernova can wreak havoc in a clash. Those are skills that make your presence known.



What is DOTA? DotA is a custom scenario for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The two teams' ancients are heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied heroes and AI-controlled fighters called "creeps". As in role-playing games, players level up their hero and use gold to buy equipment during the mission. DotA is a custom scenario for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The two teams' ancients are heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied heroes and AI-controlled fighters called "creeps". As in role-playing games, players level up their hero and use gold to buy equipment during the mission. Defense of the Ancients allows up to ten players in a five versus five format and an additional two slots for referees or observers, often with an equal number of players on each side. 

Killing computer-controlled units earns the player experience points; when enough experience is accumulated, the player gains a level. Leveling up improves the hero's toughness and the damage it can inflict, and allows players to upgrade their spells or skills. In addition to accumulating experience, players also manage a single resource: gold. The typical resource gathering of Warcraft III is replaced by a combat-oriented money system; in addition to a small periodic income, heroes earn gold by killing hostile units, base structures, and enemy heroes. Using gold, players buy items to strengthen their hero and gain abilities. Certain items can be combined with recipes to create more powerful items. Buying items that suit one's hero is an important tactical element of the scenario.

Many of our computer games uses the mythological bird Phoenix to represent healing or rebirth. especially in "DotA" or Defense of the Ancient. Icarus the bird he pays for his spells by sacrifcing his life and mana. By diving in and out of battle you can prevent enemies from attacking. Charge up your fire spirits to increase their dmg output. Your lazorbeam can be used on allies to heal them or on enemies to burn away their life while also slowing them. Your ultimate deals massive AoE damage but you won't be able to attack. At the end of your ultimate your hero will return with full health and mana to fight once more. Icarus has many characteristic that we can compare to the Ancient bird Phoenix.

Blog Post 3 : "The Peacock"

Of all the birds, the peacock most resembles the traditional description of the phoenix. The phoenix is the legendary bird of resurrection that is sacrificed in the fires of life and then rises from the flames out of its own ashes. As a reflection of the phoenix, the peacock was often associated with immortality and re-birth, and considered sacred by many cultures and religions, including the Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Christian and Hindu. The peacock is a symbol of immortality because the ancients believed that the peacock had flesh that did not decay after death. As such, early Christian paintings and mosaics use peacock imagery, and peacock feathers can be used during the Easter season as church decorations. This symbol of immortality is also directly linked to Christ.

Phoenix Bird

According to the article, Peacock Symbolism and Meaning; The Peacock symbolism carries portents of: Nobility, Holiness, Guidance, Protection and Watchfulness. The peacock also symbolizes immortality because of the belief that the peacock had flesh that did not decay after death. As such, early Christian paintings and mosaics use peacock imagery, and peacock feathers can be used during the Easter season as church decorations. This symbol of immortality is also directly linked to Christ. The peacock naturally replaces his feathers annually; as such, the peacock is also a symbol of renewal. 

Peacock

While according to the article, The Phoenix: A Mythological Bird: A report by Angela Michelle; There is a belief that the legend was derived from the peacock, which would match its size, and beauty. Although from majority of the descriptions, it is the golden pheasant that most resembles what we view a phoenix to look like. Although a golden pheasant is much smaller than that of an eagle, as the phoenix size is compared, it does have the same beauty and same crimson and gold colors with the beautiful long tail. 

In Egypt is was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock, or an eagle. The phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection, and life after death. In that aspect it was often placed on sarcophagi. It is associated with the Egyptian Benu, the Garuda of the Hindus, and the Chinese Feng-huang. While in Greek mythology, when Argus, the guard assigned to watch over the goddess Hera, fell asleep, his one hundred eyes were given to the peacock – Hera’s favorite bird. Chinese mythology states that the peacock’s plumage is a blending of five colors that create the sweet harmony of sound. In Egypt the bird was linked to the worship of the sun god, Amon-Ra and associated with the all-seeing eye of Horus. To the Hindus, the peacock was associated with Hindra, the god of thunder who became a peacock endowed with one hundred eyes that enabled him to watch out for the demon Ravana. Christianity assigns the peacock as a symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The phoenix is actually a mythical creature that appears more often than not in mythologies of different cultures, with different names but with similar interpretations. Mythology is a powerful amalgam of reality and fiction. The main aim of mythology is to preach values of life to the humans through a series of stories and legends which often portray, as their heroes and villains, characters/creatures that are fictitious. Nevertheless, it is extremely interesting how these characters get imbibed into the folk as well as popular culture and become a part and parcel of our religion/belief system for generations. These characters are often not to be analyzed at face value as in numerous instances they may have deep philosophical connotations about life and death.

Blog post 2 : " Phoenix ; The Most Powerful Girl in Marvel"

Jean Grey was one of the five Original X-Men, an Omega-level mutant telekinetic and telepathy. Jean has gained near limitless powers as a recurrent host of the Phoenix Force. She is known for her many returns from death and as the deceased wife of Cyclops. Jean Grey was the younger daughter of Professor John Grey of the History Department of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and his wife Elaine Grey. When Jean was ten years old she was playing with her best friend, Annie Richardson when Annie was hit by a car.The emotion that Jean felt as she held her dying friend awakened her own latent telepathic powers and she experienced Annie's own emotions as she died. This traumatic event left Jean in a withdrawn and deeply depressed state. Moreover, Jean could not control her newly awakened telepathic abilities and had to isolate herself from other people to hold on to her sanity.

Magneto and Professor X arrive at the Greys' home, on 1769 in an unknown street where they meet a young Jean Grey. The powers of the little girl are beyond imagination, and, while Lensherr wants to use them, Xavier fears them and decides to create mental blocks to restrain them. During her sessions with Proffesor X, Jean devoloped a dual personality - one being her usual self who can control her power and the other being her powerful and uninhibited side which called itself in Jean's sessions.

According to the article in the site, www.giantbomb.com; Jean Grey acts as the X-Men's field psychic, as well as potentially acting as the team's most powerful member, while channeling the Phoenix Force. When she merged with the Phoenix Force as the original and then Dark Phoenix, Jean could make her thoughts into reality, although her power usually manifested itself in terms of her telepathy and telekinesis. It should be noted that the original Phoenix was actually a construct created by the Phoenix Force to replace Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), who sacrificed herself to save her teammates as they were crash-landing in a damaged spacecraft. This clone actually believed herself to be Jean; in reality the real Jean Grey was in a healing cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay.

According to the article in the site, www.marvel-movies.wikia.com; As the Phoenix, her personality had changed completely, and she became a violent and confused person, always abandoning herself to emotions and instinct. 

Her telepathy was suppressed so that she couldn't cry for help while the Phoenix lived her life. Unfortunately, the Phoenix was immature and did not know how to deal properly with human emotions. 

Eventually she was seduced by Mastermind, working for the Hellfire Club, and joined them as their Black Queen. Even though she broke free of Mastermind's control, the dark side of the Phoenix had been tapped, and she became Dark Phoenix. 

Dark Phoenix defeated the X-Men, and then went to the Shi'ar galaxy where she destroyed a sun to gain energy, but in the process killed the five billion inhabitants of its fourth planet. When she returned to Earth, Dark Phoenix was suppressed by Professor X, but returned when the Shi'ar forced the X-Men to hand her over for termination. 

As a founding member of the X-Men, Jean Grey has been fighting for the peaceful coexistence of mutants and humans as Marvel Girl and later Phoenix most of her life. While piloting a spacecraft back to Earth, Jean was saved by the Phoenix Force and placed in a cocoon to heal, while the Phoenix impersonated her. After returning, Jean joined the founding members of X-Men in X-Factor and later rejoined the X-Men. After her alternate timeline daughter Rachel Summers asked her to adopt the name of Phoenix, Jean did and was later merged with the Phoenix Force.

 After Jean married her long-time love, Cyclops, he later began to have an affair with sex therapist and former villain, Emma Frost. A powerful telepath and telekinetic, when acting as an avatar of the Phoenix Force, Jean can also wield that entity's incredible powers, such as cosmic pyrokinesis, resurrection, and immortality. Her physical body killed by Kuan-Tin Xorn, Jean's connection with the Phoenix Force makes it unlikely that she will ever truly die. She was resurrected by the Phoenix in Phoenix Endsong later transformed into the White Phoenix Of The Crown and went back into the White Hot Room. She has been presumed dead by every one but she is still alive.

A number of X-Men characters have made connections with animals in order to identify themselves: Wolverine, Shadowcat, Thunderbird, the Toad. Except for Thunderbird, however, few have reached for the mythic identification that Marvel Girl did, when she chose the legendary Phoenix as her “totem-animal.” The mythological resonance of the Phoenix-Bird (reborn out of flame) gave impetus to Marvel Girl’s rebirth, and heightened scale to her subsequent development. Especially fascinating was the way that the “Phoenix Force” would manifest as a gigantic etheric bird when Phoenix directed her power. As an example of a realized thought-form, and a visualized application of directed will, the “Phoenix Force Power” is as interesting to energy-working Pagans as it is to comic books fans.

Blog post 1 : " Immortality"

     Phoenix is known as a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). They also said that this bird  has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. Some people say that the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally "sun-city" in Greek). Most people describes the phoenix as the bird with an immortal life. Though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring of the older one. 

According to the article, What kind of Bird Is a Phoenix: A Report by Megan Kelly ; Phoenix symbolizes resurrection, immortality, rebirth, hope, chastity, faith and purity. It is because of these symbols that the phoenix was popular on early Christian tombstones as it was symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It states that only one phoenix lives at a time and, during the Middle Ages, it was believed that the phoenix rose from the ashes after three days. Romans featured the image of a phoenix on coins and medals in the hope that the Roman Empire would last forever.

According to the article, The Phoenix Represents Death, Rebirth, Immortality, And Renewal: A Report by Lord Howard Hurts; Phoenix represents death, rebirth, immortality, and renewal. He compared this phenomena to the country American during 1492 this year was the discovery of America then if you add 500 years to it. The result is the American Revolution during 1992. What a coincident right? it's like the year where the phoenix is about to die and rebirth itself from the ashes. just like America it just waited for the right leader to give rebirth to this "dead" Nation.

Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. This word is always accompanied to the bird Phoenix because of its ability to resurrect its self. The beautiful scarlet and golden Phoenix bird is synonymous with rebirth or recovery, especially after calamity. Originally from the traditions of ancient Phoenicia, the Phoenix has a counterpart in many other cultures. 


 The lore surrounding the Phoenix bird has countless variations, with some of the earliest accounts dating back to eight centuries before the birth of Christ. The bird traditionally lives near a cool well which it visits each morning to bathe and sing. It is a stunningly beautiful bird with an entrancing song, captivating enough to make even the Sun stop to listen. If the Phoenix is injured, it can heal itself and enjoy a life span of 500 to more than 1000 years. 


When the Phoenix reaches the end of its life, it’s said to build itself a nest of aromatic spices such as cinnamon and myrrh. It then sets the nest and itself on fire and is burned to ashes. Shortly, the Phoenix rises again and begins its life anew. In some traditions, the new Phoenix gathers up the ashes of the old and takes them to Heliopolis to offer them to the Sun God. 
 
 

While the Phoenix is traditionally associated mainly with rebirth - something rising from destruction to begin again, or the daily rebirth of the sun - it is also strongly connected with peace. In many tales, the bird lives only on dewdrops and never harms anything; rather its powers of healing and regeneration bring comfort and an end to suffering. 




In this modern day the word Immortality and Phoenix Bird is just a word no one can ever prove if it is real or if it is not. Because until now there is no one who had ever see a real live phoenix. All of us can only see a phoenix bird if we only search it on the internet. I also think that Immortality is more worse that death. Because immortality means you'll still be walking the earth, in your current body, a million years from now. Let's say some kid goes rummaging around in your basement, finds that witch's old portrait of you and discovers that you are immortal. Word spreads and suddenly you're famous the world over. Sure, a lot of people might not buy the story at first, but folks have become famous for much less.


Sounds pretty sweet, right? Probably get a reality show out of it. But that's just scratching the surface. You're not just going to be famous; you're going to be a god. You have eternal life, which means you must know the secret to eternal life, which means you will immediately be the center of the world's newest and most popular religion. You'll be like a guy revealing himself to be Jesus, and proving it. Why would anyone continue to worship an invisible deity when they have a god walking around amongst them? Each morning your yard will be packed full of several thousand terminally ill people, or parents with their sick kids, asking you to grant them the same immortality you have.