ABOUT “AWAKENING” PROJECT

This project is widely interdisciplinary and strongly encourages different forms of positive interaction between a broad range of beliefs, perspectives, lifestyles, and worldviews. Through this project, The ARC Prospect Journal intends to offer a genuine space for interaction, where different points of view can complement and improve each other through authentic dialogue and the sharing of experiences related with a wide range of topics.

Even though we might feel awake, existentially we actually are in deep sleep, dreaming that we are awake. This sleepy state of being prevents us from reaching deeper levels of reality, where the profound meaning and richness of our lives can ultimately be found. Consequently, if we want to start living authentically purposeful and fulfilled lives, we need to start waking up through the undertaking of a deep process of inner transformation: the path of awakening.

Introducing ourselves on this path is not free of challenges, however, as it implies engaging with deep existential questions. What does it really mean to be awake? What is our real sleep? How can we notice that we are asleep? Why should we bother awaking? Does awakening depend purely on our will, our decisions? Can someone help others awake? Can we decide

HUMAN BEING

Who are we? Why are we here? What are we living for? In this section you are invited to delve into the deepest mysteries of the most fascinating creature on earth: human beings. Begin the existential process of awakening by engaging with interesting reflections and meditations on crucial topics related to human nature such as happiness, suffering, consciousness, spirituality and self-cognition.
The photo courtesy of Emir Kusturica

ART

Words are simply not enough to describe and fairly represent the profound meaning of existence. When words run out, art offers ineffable insights on the ultimate sense of reality. Art does not only serve introspection, allowing us to see ourselves in the image or creative act of an artistic work, but also offers the opportunity to share expressions of truth, goodness, love, and beauty with others.

ARCHITECTURE

We begin from the recognition that all beings cherish life and happiness and wish to avoid suffering. Therefore, we have to find a new way of designing architecture. It is morally wrong and pragmatically unwise to pursue only one’s own happiness that ignores the feelings and aspirations of all others who surround them and on whose existence we also rely.

MUSIC

The language of music is the most mysterious phenomenon of any phenomenon in human creativity. And it is not easy to agree that music belongs to the realm of artistic creativeness. It is about how the composer controls forces that do not obey him. And since a person is not able to cope with these energies, then in this sphere he is not the master at all.

So what is music? Is it the language of our brain, or is it the language of something completely unknown? What do we know about music? What is it? How do composers receive these astounding melodies? Are they flying in the universe? Why do only chosen (talented) people have access to their source, and why are only a few able to receive it inside themselves and to compose it into notes?

POETRY AND CREATIVE WRITING

“Every position in life is balanced by creating a harmony between the inner self and the surrounding world.” – I Ching

“Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make. If men were ever in a state in which they did not want to know or could not perceive truth (facts or evidence), then Fantasy would languish until they were cured. If they ever get into that state (it would not seem at all impossible), Fantasy will perish, and become Morbid Delusion.” J. R. R. Tolkien.

ART OF LIVING

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”. – Aristotle.
This section offers a space for encounter and dialogue between different lifestyles. Why does someone choose a certain lifestyle? What is special about it? What do people seek through that lifestyle, if they seek anything at all? What is the motivation for living that way and pursuing those ultimate goals? Or is it done naturally without motivation? Why persevere on that path despite difficulties? What makes each lifestyle valuable? Operating as a truly existential meeting point, this section summons interesting people representing a wide diversity of lifestyles and invites them to reveal the spiritual beauty, richness, and importance of the way they live through the vivid sharing of their own experience.