Satori.

Here's the dictionary.com definition of this word:

sa·to·ri ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sä-tôr, -tr, s-)
n. Buddhism
A spiritual awakening sought in Zen Buddhism, often coming suddenly.

I've come across this term many times as I read about Eastern philosophies. Though my core beliefs are more closely aligned to Daoism, I have a keen interest in Zen. The concept of satori is a curious one, and it's only recently I came to understand it. You can't go questing after enlightenment, it just happens. There's plenty of stories where something innocuous occurs to a person, and they become instantly enlightened. My favourite Zen story, however is this:

There is an Indian story of a marvelous medicine that could cure all ills. However, it only worked if you didn't think of a monkey when you swallowed it.

Always makes me smile, that.

I watched National Treasure the other day. My sister told me it was pap - somewhat enjoyable pap - but still pap. Undaunted, I went ahead and watched it anyway, because that's the sort of rebel I am. And you know, I really liked it! Sure, there were massive plot holes and cheesy dialogue, but it was so much fun! An adventure! I love adventures! Especially anything that mentions history and secrets and freemasons and Templar and the Illuminati! I'm no conspiracy buff, but I am genuinely interested in these groups from a historical perspective.

I also read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code yesterday. Yes, I finally took the plunge, despite resisting for a long time. As with National Treasure, which closely resembles this book, I really enjoyed it. Again, there were massive plot holes and it had a cheesy writing style, but it's fun and I do like adventures!

Most of us won't ever have an adventure like the characters in National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code, but we can still have our fun. Some time ago I stumbled across a wonderful little website called The Stone. It's a puzzle game where you have to interpret the images and clues to uncover the answer, utilising all the resources the internet offers you. Access to the site required the purchase of an eponymous stone, but there were a few free puzzles to try out. Imagine my surprise when I had a look here the other day to find it was now free for all to play! There are around 200 puzzles on there, some better than others, all interesting, and some will leave you stumped for a long time. It's worth it though, as when inspiration finally hits, you wonder how it took you so long to get in the first place.

Satori is a wonderful thing.

So there’s a new Pope then. Benedict XVI was elected last night in a manner much in keeping with the old Roman Republic – democratically, but from a very small electorate. Still, not that I can find complaint here, it’s up to the Catholics how they choose their new leader. One of the very first things the new pontiff* talked about was ‘the dictatorship of relativism’.

Sometime last year, I attended a few meetings/lectures from the Christian Union at university. This might surprise some people, since I had outright rejected Catholicism many years ago, and settled on a far more Eastern outlook on spirituality (in particular Taoism, with smatterings of Zen). However, I was very much interested in how Christians thought, particularly those that found God themselves rather than being brought up that way, as I was. Two of my close friends were amongst this group, and I had many metaphysical arguments with them – one of the advantages of discussing theology with physics students.

This particular lecture was on the subject of relativism. As I understand it, this is the term used by Christians to describe the idea that everyone can coexist, that all religions and creeds are acceptable together. They believe, of course, that their religion is right (as do most religions, to be fair) and so that other beliefs are not only incorrect, but intolerable. This leads to a form of persecution by conversion – everyone needs to be ‘saved’ and shown the way of the ‘true’ God.

OK, so not everyone is this way, and there are many, many arguments against what I have just said. It’s a somewhat twisted view, but it’s not entirely untrue. It’s just one of those things that just doesn’t sit right with me, with regards to the rest of the Christian teaching. There are too many contradictions, and I don’t mean the usual nit-picking that most people come up with from the bible, more broad principles. Be kind and respectful to everyone – except for their beliefs if they differ from yours…

Still, a 78 year old Pope? He’s not going to have an overly long innings, and that will send Nostradamus followers crazy with songs of Armageddon…

* Incidentally, I find this term very interesting from a historical point of view. The term ‘pontiff’ derives from the Roman office of ‘pontifex maximus’, the high priest of Rome. This was more a political office then a religious one, a job for life, and one held by one of the most famous Roman, Julius Caesar. We all know what happened there…

I'm sure you've all noticed by now that the festive season is in full swing. Christmas songs played everywhere, decorations up, television adverts tinsel strewn, and we even had some snow yesterday in some parts of the country. Pre-Christmas sales have begun in the high street as people run out to find last minute gifts for their loved ones.

I like Christmas. I really do. It's a nice time of year. Having said that, there are two major criticisms I have of it.

There's the old cliché - it's too commercialised these days. I'm not so sure about "these days" ; I think it's been like that for a long, long time. I liked a line from the latest episode of South Park - "People stood in long lines, sometimes waiting hours or more, because Christmas needs to be bought from a store."

I won't dwell on the commercial aspect because it's something that everyone is aware of, it's merely a matter of how much this affects you, and that's extremely subjective. However, the other criticism I have of Christmas is a lot more fundamental. I don't believe in Christ.

I was brought up to be a Catholic, but I'm certainly not that way now. Why then do I celebrate the time of year that is, along with Easter, central to the Christian faith? I'm not knocking Christianity - though I certainly could - but it's just not for me.

Around 12 hours ago an event happened that is far more suitable for celebrations. It's not something arbitrary like New Year - which I also like, but have misgivings about - nor is it religion based like Christmas. The Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year (apologies to any southern hemisphere readers, please feel free to substitute any instances of 'winter' with 'summer').

A lot of people will tell you that the Winter Solstice is a pagan festival, and that's why the date for Christmas was chosen as the 25th of December, since people were partying anyway. Whilst it is true that pagans did celebrate it, you can't get away from the fact that is a scientific, astronomical FACT. Why didn't we choose this date as the start of the year? Why did we choose to wait 10 more days?

On a more spiritual level, the solstice is yet one more reminder of the cyclicity of nature. Just as night follows day, over the course of the year night and day battle for supremacy, neither one reigning for long. The Winter Solstice is the moment of greatest yin, but the seed of yang has been planted and the days start growing longer once more.

Surely this is cause for celebration.

As an aside, a nice clear sky last night, post midnight, gave amazing views of the stars, with Saturn readily visible below Gemini. Saturn should be visible for a couple more months, and it's well worth looking out for.