Transcripts - Metin Bobaroğlu

On the Science of Art

2020-07-18T18:40:15+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: Aristotelian logic, Aristotle, art, consciousness, freedom, Imagination, Intellectual phenomena, logic, ontology, phenomena, philosophy, Reality, science|

Until Immanuel Kant –with the possible exception of Aristotle in antiquity– art was mostly described as an awe-inspiring product of imagination that bypasses the reason, and treated this way in the literature. After Kant, however, Hegel in particular said –along with his criticism of Kant– “No, art is not merely a product of our imagination.” Imagination can create certain products by taking inputs from the objects in the outside world and processing them in a cinematographic manner –as in dreams– but we also use our reason, the faculty said to be bypassed in this whole process, to make judgments [...]

Atatürk is a Pioneer

2020-12-15T00:42:39+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: education, enlightenment, free in conscience, free in ideas, free in wisdom, freedom, independence|

First of all, I would like to express my condolences to our nation, or rather to all humanity, for Atatürk was a pioneer not only for our nation, but for the entire world. In what sense? We could say because of his achievements or the Republic he founded, but he is also a pioneer in terms of enlightenment. I will focus on the enlightenment-related aspects of Atatürk, for history is not just a collection of facts and events, it also comprises the people who shape these events and act as subjects. Therefore, we would be mistaken if we were [...]

Dialogos as the Anatolian Tradition of Sohbet

2020-07-02T21:12:13+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: a dervish lodge, Anatolian, Ashura, dargah, Dialogos, interculturality, Mishkan, monologos, Moses, Shekhina, Tabernacle, tent of Moses, the Language of Rabb, the lotus position, Tradition of Sohbet|

Is there any way for us to reflect upon and criticize our own consciousness without being involved in any self-delusion and self-consolation? Dialogos is the only means for such an attempt. Dialogos is the conversation (or correspondence) between two consciousnesses. Unless we reveal our consciousness to another, and most particularly to a more competent consciousness (in other words, unless we are engaged in an activity of inter-consciousness), we are not capable of reflecting upon ourselves. To be able to reflect upon our own consciousness, we need to share our language and our thoughts with the others. Unless there is [...]

The Concept of Feminine Principle in the Hajj Ritual

2020-07-02T21:12:40+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: Adam, Feminine Principle, Hajar, Hajar-al Aswad, Hajj Ritual, harmony, Hijr-al Ismail, Kaaba, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, salah, tasawwuf, theosophy|

Going back to the source in the terminology of Tasawwuf (theosophy/sufism), we find the feminine principle; the mother. In the Arabic language, umm means “mother” and ummah means “children” (ewlâd). The concepts of umm, ummah, and ummî derive from one another. Although it is used in the singular form, ewlâd is a plural word and means “unity in purity”. If people are one in purity, they are an ummah; however, if they have not attained unity in purity, it means they are not an ummah yet. Umm is a significant concept in the ritual of Hajj (pilgrimage) and is [...]

Anatolia, Ashura and Sohbet

2020-07-01T18:57:59+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: Anatolia, ancient wisdom, Ashura, Gospel of John, harmony, logos, Logos was God, Quran, Sahabe-i Kiram, Socrates|

The efforts that I have put into studying the wisdom of Anatolia are not restricted to a geographical region; these are studies which I usually refer to as the Wisdom of Anatolia or the Ancient Wisdom to stress the importance of it on the intersection point of Anatolian lands. I prefer to focus on portraying the great culture and the vastness this culture entails, because the wisdom I am talking about is not something that can exist entirely within a limited geographical area. *** Anatolia is called as the cradle of culture. According to ancient records, Anatolia, with its [...]

Jerusalem: The Heart of the World – Part 2

2020-07-01T19:12:02+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: ancient wisdom, compassion, Ethiopian Jews, Golden Dome, Holy Bible, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, Kotel, Old Testament, Prophet Muhammad, Qabatullah, Qubbet’us Sahra, Quddus, Queen of Sheba, Quran, religion, temple|

When we were in Jerusalem, we wanted to go into Qubbet’us Sahra, the building with the golden dome, where Prophet Muhammad ascended to miraj and the Muallaq Stone is kept, but the attitudes of the guards there were displeasing. They treated the visitors very rudely and scolded them angrily. They urged people to recite the kalima shahadah or a verse from the Quran. They said if they did not recite it, they would not be allowed to go in. These were really offensive and not pleasant at all. I say that the heart of the world is Jerusalem, but [...]

Jerusalem: The Heart of the World – Part 1

2020-07-01T20:15:03+03:00By Metin Bobaroğlu|Categories: Transcripts|Tags: Ashura, Bektashi, Dar-us-Salaam, House of Peace, Jerusalem, Prophet David, Prophet Solomon, Quddus, Quran, Temple of Peace, Yerushalayim|

When we say Jerusalem, we mean the old city surrounded by walls. With its other parts which remain out of the city walls, Jerusalem is a modern city with new settlement areas; a modern Mediterranean city like Tel Aviv, Haifa or Akko. But in Jerusalem there is a history, a religious history as well as a cultural history. And in terms of art, it is also a sophisticated city. What attracted my attention in the first place was the cult of Stone. They have used the specific Jerusalem stone everywhere. There are no ferro-concrete buildings, no other building materials [...]