Structure Of Human Consciousness Research Articles

SEMANTIC CONTENT OF CONCEPT HELP CATEGORIZED AS PROPERTY IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

The article raises the issue of conceptual-semantic analysis of units of different lexical-grammatical classes to indicate rivalry. The referent of objective reality represented by the RIVALRY concept is a certain situation as a set of its interdependent elements. The analysis of the semantic structure of nominative units contributes to the establishment of deep patterns of interaction between the structures of human consciousness and linguistic forms. Nominative possibilities of the linguistic picture of the world are implemented by lexical units that are subject to conceptual analysis to achieve the goal of linguistic-cognitive research - reconstruction of the content of the concept. Dictionary definitions of words of different lexical-grammatical classes to indicate rivalry contain generic and specific semes as lexical units that implement the corresponding cognitive characteristics and are called slot terminals. The frame acts as a classifier of lexical units in which the components of the reference situation of rivalry are actualized. The semantic-cognitive analysis of lexemes that form the primary and secondary synonymous series and most adequately reflect the studied conceptual category precedes the modeling of the prototypical informative structure of the concept of rivalry in terms of frame semantics. Slot ACTION, which captures information about the actions of direct participants, is represented by units of the lexical-grammatical category to indicate the rivalry process. The studied slots reflect knowledge about the causal, instrumental, location and time components of the frame model. The studied slots are correlated with a group of cognitive features that represent knowledge about the characteristics of actions.Thus, the causal set activates data on the reasons for entering into a rival interaction, options for ending it. The instrumental set accumulates information about the nature of the action, tactics, strategic goal; the quantity and quality of the means of action, about the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the goal, its varieties. The location and time of the frame captures knowledge about the type of the place and spheres of action, the duration of the rivalry and the time of its implementation.

Linguistic discourse in the system of language manipulative technologies (based on the material of english political advertising)

This paper attempts to explain what manipulation means and how it differs from other linguistic and manipulative technologies. The article deals with a number of issues related to the definition of manipulation since both in modern language and in specialized literature the concept of manipulation is used in many meanings. The purpose of the article is to eliminate the ambiguity surrounding the concept of language manipulation. We put forward the hypothesis that manipulation is an illegitimate linguistic process justified by the structure of human consciousness and the mechanisms of social life. The discourse analysis, descriptive and contextual methods made possible the linguistic analysis of fragments of political speeches of famous American politicians. As a result, the linguistic markers for deciphering the manipulative discourse strategy are identified, and the discourse structure of a political manipulative speech is described. The main types of strategies for exercising manipulative influence are considered on the examples of fragments of political speeches and slogans of American politicians Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama. The author reveals the physical and cultural concepts of manipulation and analyzes the linguistic forms that can underlie the manipulation of words.

SEMANTIC CONTENT OF CONCEPT HELP CATEGORIZED AS PROPERTY IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

The article deals with the analysis of the semantic structure of nominative units contributing to the establishment of deep patterns of interaction between the structures of human consciousness and linguistic forms. A person's interpretation of the surrounding reality is the result of cognitive activity and is represented in mental structures that are mediators between the real or imagined environment and the language that objectifies them. Nominative possibilities of the linguistic picture of the world are realized by lexical units, which undergo the conceptual analysis to achieve the goal of linguistic-cognitive research for the reconstruction of the content of the HELP concept in particular. The object of the study is the language means for marking help as a property and its components in the modern English language. Notional aspect with its cognitive features of the concept and categorical dimension of property are interrelated in the organization of knowledge about characteristics of help. Language has proved to be effective for accessing the structures of data about the surrounding world which is the area of human physical and mental activity, as well as for exchanging knowledge and experience. As a part of cognitive process, the nominative act presupposes indulgence into the semantic content of language units which involves the analysis of meaningful connections between the lexemes. Conceptual analysis of verbalized segments of knowledge about characteristics of help promotes restoring the notional conceptual content related to understanding of the helping process in terms of its properties. The semantic content of the concept HELP is constructed due to the meaning of attributes to denote properties of help which make up the lexical-semantic group with the integral seme ²helpful². The lexeme ‘helpful’ comprises two notional segments with differentiating semes ²useful² and ²beneficial². Lexical units to designate the property of help constitute semantic subgroups in relation to the kind of help differentiated from the definitions of the lexemes.

ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГІЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОЗВИТКУ КОМУНІКАТИВНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ У ДІТЕЙ ІЗ ОCОБЛИВИМИ ОСВІТНІМИ ПОТРЕБАМИ

The authors consider the development of communicative competence of children with special educational needs. Communicative competence includes the following components: psychophysical features of personality; social characteristics and status; cultural fund of the individual; language competence; pragmaticon of personality. Communicative competence is one of the key components of personality adaptations to the constantly changing conditions of the surrounding reality, which is of great importance in the mental development and in the process of social training of students. Focusing on the psychological and pedagogical features of teaching children with special educational needs, we can say that the level of development of communicative competence in the recognized category of children is low. Researchers emphasize that this category of students avoid communication. Speech contact is characterized by shortness and inferiority. This is due to the speed of testing social responsibility, the low level of vocabulary formation, which hinder the formation of utterances; misunderstanding of the interlocutor. Communication is the most important factor in the overall mental development of children, which plays a crucial role in enriching the content and structure of human consciousness. Through communication a person acquires all his higher cognitive abilities and qualities. With its help, people exchange information and transmit it for many years. Personality development largely depends on the social environment of man. Through interaction with people, a person, and in particular a child, satisfies his most important need - communication, improves mental and cognitive abilities and reaches a higher level in its development. With speech disorders in children there are difficulties in meeting and developing such needs. Establishing language communication is one of the main conditions for the full development of the child. Communication affects all the achievements of preschool age: the development of the cognitive sphere and the formation of the foundations of children's worldview; on the emergence of arbitrary behavior, the ability to act in accordance with the rules; on the formation of personal self-awareness. For children with special educational needs, learning to communicate is of great importance. If the child is able to express their desires, needs, ask for help and respond to the words of others, he will be able to enter society. Key words: communication, competence, inclusion, children with special educational needs, consciousness, educational process

THE CONTENT OF PASTORAL COUNCELING AS PRECONDITION OF PROFESSIONALIZATION OF CARITATIVE SOCIAL WORK

Pastoral counseling has long history; its roots are found deep in the concept of “shepherding” (or care for the soul, poimenics) which originates in Christ’s approach to men. However, interest about various counseling methods today beyond the Church setting is called by expanding of the identity question of the social work profession. Currently social work is done in circles where meaning of religious issues rises above the average in society and clients express their wish to cooperate with social workers who care for their faith and religion. Also it should be noted that more attention is paid to the Church as an institution which is an important provider of social services for the needy, rejected, for orphans, risk families etc. Consequently, the task of the present article is to shed light on pastoral counseling content taking place in professional setting. KEY WORDS: counseling, structure of human consciousness, imago Dei, Eastern Church fathers, professional qualities of counselor, caritative social work. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v67i2.852

Between Shame and Fear. Review of Selected Cognitive Models of Shame in Lithuanian (On the Basis of Text and Lexicographic Data)

Linguistic and cultural research of concepts of emotional states and values finds its place among the most frequently chosen research directions in contemporary linguistics. Such popularity could be determined, on the one hand, by the desire to penetrate the complicated mental structure of human consciousness and its cognitive and cultural determinants. On the other hand, it is due to the belief in close links between language, human cognitive abilities and culture, resulting from cognitive sciences, as well as treating the research on linguistic structures and semantics of language as a tool for reaching the way of understanding and evaluating the world (cf. Bartmiński 2007; Geeraerts 2006, Evans, Green 2006). This conviction is of particular importance in the study of the lexicalization of objects and abstracts invisible to the naked eye, including emotional states.One of the main goals of the analysis of the names of emotions is revealing the way of understanding and evaluating the underlying emotional states and the experiences associated with them. In order to achieve this goal, conceptual representations of individual categories of feelings are reconstructed on the basis of the American cognitive models proposed by cognitive scientists or the base image profiles proposed by J. Bartmiński. The aim of this article is to present cognitive models and lexical units related to them, which constitute a specific borderline of emotional states of SHAME and FEAR, e. g. shame as fear of rejection, fear as a consequence of shame, etc. Thus, these are cases of linguistically certified transmissions of certain aspects of the feeling of shame and fear and their mutual convergence. The analysis presents a linguistic image of the areas of emotional experiences that constitute the periphery of the category of feelings from the family of SHAME, but not yet included in the category of feelings of FEAR in its basic sense.

TO THE QUESTION OF THE NATURE OF CONSCIENCE. CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

This article is dedicated to understanding the nature of conscience, its essential manifestations and features. Conscience is the “core” of a person’s moral life. The conscience acts activate and accumulate the internal energies of the person, which help him/her to be fully connected with the world and to carry out a thorough evaluation of both his/her actions and Others. Therefore, the phenomenon of conscience is inextricably linked to the freedom of a person and his/her efforts to exercise himself/herself as a Human, to find his/her own inner voice. Despite its intimacy, conscience never closes within the limits of individual existence, but has unconditional openness to the world, is a keen awareness of responsibility for our actions. Conscience is a testament of the fact that, at a deep (implicative) level, we are rooted in, and inextricably linked to, one Reality. As a result of critical analysis, it is argued that conscience emerges as an internal potentiality of a person, a continuous process of self-determination and formation. Conscience is dialectic in nature, combining internal/external, individual/social, subjective/objective, rational/irrational aspects. The complexity of the phenomenon is manifested in the attempts to symbolically identify it as Call, Witness, Demon, Worm, Judge, etc. Conscience is impossible outside the dialogue of the person with himself/herself and Others, because in the communication process the inner growth and formation of the person take place. Conscience defines a “coordinate system” within which a person’s life moves and divides the line between Good and Evil, Real and Ideal, Existent and Desired. Accordingly, conscience is ideal in essence and is an indispensable structure of human consciousness, linked to the boundary questions of a person regarding his/her own nature.

Pergeseran Otoritas Hukum Islam Perspektif Fenomenologi

Abstract : The Shift of Islamic Law Authority of Phenomenological Perspective . This article seeks to explain the new phenomenon of religious authority in Indonesia, especially in terms of Islamic law and discourse, which seems more authoritative because it is more interactive and direct to the audience (who asks), and is connected through social media; as did Nasaruddin Umar, Musthofa Bisri, Nadhirsyah Hossen, Khalid Basallamah, Abdus Shomad and others. They have different approaches from organizational habits; where Nahdatul Ulama‘, Muhammadiyah, and other organizations, still use the classical approach in the formulation of Islamic law and the study of the problems of society. Not only that, there is also a difference in the delivery model of an organizational-based authority model in the dissemination of its fatwa. Based on this component also, the author makes the phenomenology of religion (assessment based on the structure of human consciousness) as a study approach and methodical to see the phenomenon. At the same time provide a picture of what should be realized in the context of building Islamic law in accordance with Islamic values and keindonesian. As is known, the personal outlook that ‘seems to’ break away from institutional influences becomes highly subjective, and based on their own comprehension ability.

From experiments in visualizing fractal theory to rethinking social networks as moistmedia

Abstract The evolution of fractal theory can be traced through Leibniz’s attempts to understand the Recursion model in seventeenth century, the work of Karl Weierstrass and descriptions by Von Koch Helge (1904) and later visualization experiments by Benoît Mandelbro within the digital realm through computer technology. Selfsimilarity and Scale-free are manifested features of fractal theory. These features are also evident as emergent syncretic properties of contemporary social information communication behaviour. The attraction of fractal theory does not only provide a mapping of creature, universe, nature but also provides a path to deeply understand and probe the evolution and structure of human consciousness. Digital Social Media Networks can be seen to manifest properties that are reminiscent of what Ascott describes as a ‘moistmedia’. This article explores the tangible relationships between fractal theory and philosophy, its manifestation through digital visualizations and the moistmedia emergent properties of Social Media Networks. Put forward social media (Weibo) the moistmedia (mixed bio, nano, geo, psycho, etc.) in the dissemination of information evolution, with the fractal features of visualization, has formed a new Techneotic language of artistic expression, but also for our better understanding of political philosophy, social system operation rules to provide ways of thinking.

Las mutaciones de la conciencia de Jean Gebser: una revisión crítica desde la evolución biológica y cultural

En este artículo desarrollamos una serie de apreciaciones y consideraciones acerca de las ideas de Gebser sobra las estructuras de la conciencia. Para explicar su aparición él utilizó el símil de las “mutaciones”. Los nuevos conocimientos en la Evolución biológica sirven para potenciar y revalorizar sus ideas. En el ser humano a partir de esta Evolución biológica surge la evolución cultural, y ambas son fundamentales para el desarrollo de la conciencia. Evolución significa cambio en el tiempo y este último concepto es crucial para Gebser. Pensamos que el dominio del tiempo caracterizará la nueva estructura integral de la conciencia humanahttp://dx.doi.org/10.15304/ag.35.2.2823

Transforming discourse: Interdisciplinary critique, the university, and the academic study of religion

AbstractIn the book Interdisciplinarity, Joe Moran traced the rise of interdisciplinarity as an inherently transformative approach to the gathering and ordering of knowledge in the modern university. Interdisciplinarity challenges the university as an epistemological project by historicizing it as a context for knowledge production. The academic study of religion arose in this setting and has developed within the intellectual forces—the lines of inquiry and allegiances to certain discourses and ways of organizing knowledge—that marked the modern university. Over the past few decades, the concept of “religion” has been historicized and scholars have argued over whether the “sacred” is in the structure of human consciousness or is the expression of culture; whether the “sacred” is its own category or is better left to the various disciplines to account for it; and, how “religion” and “secular” are to be understood. Religious Studies has been called interdisciplinary by some, but the development of the intel...

How is Consciousness (rnam shes) Related to Wisdom (ye shes)? The Eighth Karma pa on Buddhist Differentiation and Unity Models of Reality (part II)

This study examines how Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507‒1554), the Eighth Karma pa of the Karma Bka’ brgyud lineage, articulates and defends a key distinction between consciousness (rnam shes) and wisdom (ye shes). The first paper focuses on the author’s clarification of the distinction both as an accurate account of the nature and structure of human consciousness and as an indispensable principle of Buddhist soteriology. Arguing that human beings have two “concurrent but nonconvergent” modes of awareness, conditioned and unconditioned, Mi bskyod rdo rje urges the practitioner to discern amidst the adventitious flux of dichotomic thoughts an innate nondual mode of awareness that is regarded as the ground and goal of the Buddhist path. That the recognition of their difference is the key to realizing their underlying unity is central to the Karma pa’s response to the perennial Buddhist problem of reconciling two divergent Buddhist models of reality: [1] a differentiation model based on robust distinctions between conventional and ultimate truths or realities (saṃvṛtisatya versus paramārthasatya) and their associated modes of cognition and [2] an identification (yuganaddha) model of the two realities (satyadvaya : bden gnyis) which emphasizes their underlying unity. This article concludes with an annotated translation and critical edition of a short text by the Karma pa on the subject entitled “Two minds in one person? A Reply to the Queries of Bla ma Khams pa” (bla ma khams pa’i dris lan mi gcig sems gnyis).

The Role of Plato and Aristotle in the Formation of Orthodoxy and Catholicism

The article compares views of Plato and Aristotle regarding their attitude to the problem of rationality. As a matter of fact, Plato and Aristotle take totally opposite stands on the question of the essence of philosophy, its subject and methods; they appeal to mutually incompatible interpretations of the very bases of being. For Plato, true being is spiritual, transcendent; it doesn’t fit in any rational-logical boundaries. For Aristotle, true being is corporeal and sensual; it is quite cognizable through rational-logical thinking. For Plato, the corporeal-sensual is an illusory “shade” of spirit; for Aristotle the very absolute spirit is a theoretical assumption, and this compulsory assumption, as a methodological admission, is necessary to substantiate the reality of the corporeal-sensual, “bodily” world. Aristotle most clearly formulated the idea of rational-logical totality which was very popular in ancient metaphysics and with which naturalistic philosophers, the Eleatics and the Sophists were mostly concordant. Whereas Plato “discovered” the transcensus and outlined the ways to the overrational and rather to the irrational-mystical comprehension of philosophical problems. In this sense, he constituted the opposition to the rational-logical tradition of ancient Greece as well as Orphics and Pythagoreans. Plato argued that the truth is the spiritual reality itself which is initially exposed to people: it is beyond contradictions and it embodies true being. He concludes from this that forms of being and forms of logical thinking are different. For Aristotle, on the contrary, the truth is the correspondence between forms of thinking and forms of being; it’s not the reality, but the reflection of the reality in structures of human consciousness. It is notable that this very treatment of the truth gained a foothold in West European philosophy and science. These two tendencies, aimed at the development of the rational and irrational models of the world, were elaborated further in the Christian tradition, continually “arising” in the form of discussions of the relation between faith and knowledge, of different ways of knowledge of God. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s1p428

ROLE OF ANCIENT HERITAGE IN FORMING CHRISTIAN WORLD PICTURE

The article compares the views of Plato and Aristotle in terms of their relation to the problem of rationality. In fact, Plato and Aristotle have absolutely opposite positions on the question of the essence of philosophy, its subject, its methods; they call for a completely incompatible with each other interpretations of the basis of the life. For Plato, true being is spiritual, transcendental that does not fit into any rational-logical framework. For Aristotle true being is subject-sensual, quite rationally knowable within the boundaries of logical thinking. For Plato, the subject-sensual - is illusory "shadow" of the spirit; for Aristotle absolute spirit is a theoretical assumption, assumption forced, as a kind of methodological assumption to justify the reality of the subject-sensual, "flesh" world. Aristotle most clearly formulated the idea of the rational-logical totality, as a whole it is quite popular for the ancient metaphysics, with which the natural philosophers, and Eleatics, and sophists were largely agreed. Plato, "Opened" transcendence, outlined ways to super-rational, and in many respects to the irrational and mystical understanding of the philosophical problems. And in this sense, as well as Orphics and the Pythagoreans, he left some opposition to the rational-logical tradition of ancient Greece. Plato argued that the truth - it is itself a spiritual reality, which is originally opened to man: it is beyond controversy, representing the true being. From this he concluded that the forms of life and forms of logical thinking differ from each other. For Aristotle, on the contrary, the truth is the correspondence of the forms of thinking to the forms of being; it is not a reality, but it is a reflection of the reality in the structures of human consciousness. And we need to dad that just such interpretation of truth firmly established in Western philosophy and science. These two tendencies, aimed at forming rational and irrational models of the world, were further developed in the Christian tradition, constantly "surfacing" in the form of discussions about the relationship between faith and knowledge about the different ways of knowing God.

The archaic and us

This article is based on a paper given in December 2013 at a German–Italian workshop on Jürgen Habermas’ theory. Massimo Rosati had been studying Jürgen Habermas’ thought and classical sociology in the Durkheimian tradition for years. Because of his own Durkheimian reading of communicative action, he had been unsurprised when Habermas began to write systematically on religion. In this article, he addresses the new post-secular sensitivity to the remnants of mimetic and mythic worldviews within theoretical ones and discusses the sacred as a universal historical structure of human consciousness.

The Mystery of Totality in Mircea Eliade`s A Spiritual Adventure

four-act play A Spiritual mentioned several times by Mircea Eliade in his autobiographical texts, has recently been offered to all those fascinated by mysterious imaginary world of literature written by Romanian scholar. Professor Mac Linscott Ricketts, devoted to introducing readers around world to Eliade's work, has managed to discover text of this play, written in 1946, in Eliade Special Collection of University of Chicago Library. A Spiritual Adventure was published for first time in January 2012, in English translation, in journal Theory in Action. Professor Ricketts also discusses making of this mythical text. For interpretative endeavour that we propose to undertake in following lines, Ricketts' paper, The Writing of A Spiritual Adventure, is an important starting point.Initially entitled Euridice, this play extends scheme of Hellenic myth, as it is structured by idea of experiencing via unitiva, beyond human will, through divine grace. Folded around mystery of being, story reveals ''the absolute reality of which teaches a human being ''techniques of partcipating in Divine Nature. As Eliade explains in his Soliloquies, ''noncontradiction is acceptable only in one kind of madness: love. Love is beyond fragmentation and contrast because it is autonomous, absolute, sui-generis revelation2.In realm of potentiality, first steps are taken through mirror of a magic space in Danube Delta. Here we witness dialogue conducted between Tudor Manciu, a young playwright who is afraid of spiritual sterility, and Alexiu, his down-to-earth friend. Thus we leam about Tudor's fascination with a genius composer, Mihai Barbura, who decided to withdraw from world and understand otherness in seclusion of Delta. mystery of famous musician is revealed due to Ctefania's presence, to whom artist confesses about his decision to wait for his dead wife's return from other world. This is beginning of a fascinating inner dialogue that gradually extends towards others, showing infinite possibilities of human consciousness as a bridge between heaven and earth. After engagement and marriage to Ctefania, Mihai Barbura's identity reveals contradictory complementarity between mythos and world of fragmentation. Barbura renounces his fame, which places his existence under sign of an external myth, in order to be only Petru Baranda, an ordinary man who wishes to fulfill marriage in heaven and on earth as well. Ctefania does not recognize her husband in simple man who apparently does not know anything about miracle of creation. She loses herself in despair and sin only to remodel her spiritual structure in harmony with rhythms of a cosmos that reveals its splendour. In final act of play, game of potentialities unfolds on a theatre stage. Tudor Manciu critically examines dress-rehearsal of A Spiritual whose message touches actor's hearts within limits of their level of perception. young playwright meets Ctefania again, as if by magic, to receive another invitation to noncontradiction, to madness of love, only one that offers certainty of immortality.Mircea Eliade's play seems to suggest that spiritual adventure of man requires existence of multiple levels of reality, harmonized in that structure of human consciousness through which Eliade defined sacred. Consequently, deciphering meanings of this mythical story entails relating to initiatory experience of search for centre, as it is reflected by religious traditions of mankind, so mysteriously enshrouded in Eliadean writings which are seen, inspired, and which seem to stem from high realms of soul. Professor Ricketts selects from journal excerpts that illustrate state of grace which overwhelmed writer when the mental film of a literary work attempted to make its way into his consciousness so that it could then be transferred, through work of art, into collective memory:For some time now, before falling asleep, I've been tempted again by obsession of a play I first saw one evening in December 1944, walking along deserted terraces of Estoril, when I was staying with Costes. …

The Development of the Questionnaire for Investigation of Ecological Consciousness of Townspeople in Russia

The article describes the development of diagnostic methods of investigation of environmental consciousness, which would allow identifying those concepts and structure of human consciousness, which are responsible for its environmental behavior in different situations that have immediate or long-term environmental impacts and therefore require the environmental responsibility of individual actions and deeds. Methods include 4 scales: “Environmental Threats”, “Unity with Nature”, “Conflict of Environments” and “Ecological Responsibility”.

THE ‘SPIRIT’ AND THE ‘GROANING OF CREATION’ IN ROMANS 8 SEEN AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF MODERN SCIENCE

Romans 8:19-22 is unique in its concern for the natural world. This is theologically significant at a time when ecological concerns have become inescapable and urgent. But this concern is packaged in an ‘apocalyptic’ eschatology that no longer seems plausible in modern times. This essay places the theology of Paul into the context of the Israelite-Jewish traditions, on which it draws, and Romans 8:19-22 into the context of Paul’s theology of the ‘Spirit’ as opposed to the ‘flesh’. Then it confronts Paul’s eschatology with modern scientific insight, and tries to reconceptualise its essential message in a way that could make sense to our scientifically informed contemporaries. The ‘age to come’ is a vision of comprehensive optimal well-being that orients the human ‘spirit’, that is, the structure of human consciousness, towards God’s benevolent intentionality. The divine ‘Spirit’ is the empowerment to participate in God’s creative and redemptive agency.

An Introduction to the Tibetan Dzogchen (Great Perfection) Philosophy of Mind

AbstractThis article is an introduction to the philosophy of mind that developed within the syncretistic rDzogs chen (Great Perfection) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism between the 8th and 14th centuries CE. Despite the growing interest in this tradition in recent decades, there has so far been no systematic appraisal of its views on mind that traces their evolution and complex relationships with antecedent Buddhist philosophies of mind. These views merit attention not only because of their intrinsic interest and relevance to contemporary consciousness studies but also because they provide an essential key to understanding the tradition’s leading ideas and practices. From a traditional standpoint, discerning the nature and structure of human consciousness in accordance with the crucial distinction between dualistic mind (sems) and primordial knowing (ye shes) is deemed indispensable to understanding rDzogs chen view and meditation. To this end, the present article focuses on how this distinction allowed rDzogs chen adepts to precisely describe, on the basis of careful first‐personal observation, what occurs when a human being becomes a buddha, and to articulate a disclosive model of goal‐realization commensurate with their findings. It traces the development of the distinction within its historical and doctrinal contexts and then examines its subsequent clarifications and refinements as a soteriological model. It finally summarizes the tradition’s distinctive (re)intepretations of ‘mind’ and ‘primordial knowing’, and concludes with a brief assessment of the contemporary relevance of the distinction.

The Mirror of Laughter: Mediation, Self‐Reflection, and Healing in E.T.A. Hoffmann's Princess Brambilla

E.T.A. Hoffmann's capriccio Princess Brambilla explores a narrative realm of liminality and metamorphosis that reveals the fundamental instability of our most basic epistemological distinctions. Set during the irreverent days of the Roman carnival, Brambilla delights in a disorienting chaos of masks, costumes, dream images and hallucinations as Hoffmann pulls all the stops in a fantastical narrative of extraordinary complexity. The text unfolds a carnivalesque universe that – in the spirit of Early German Romantic irony – plays with the inescapable mediatory “distortions” brought about by the structures of human consciousness itself. Just as the carnival is a ritual of life‐affirming renewal, Hoffmann's self‐reflexive narrative, too, is a story of change and healing, in which the self comes to understand that it has no access to a stable and unmediated self‐knowledge. If this moment of insight initially appears as a near‐psychotic threat to the very basis of identity, the laughter it triggers is ultimately a laughter of liberation. The self, now reconstituted in the mirror of laughter, the textual movement of meta‐narrative irony, comes to embrace itself as a process of continuous change, a recognition that then allows it to be made whole in the mediatory gaze of another.