The challenge of the oceanic feeling: Romain Rolland’s mystical critique of psychoanalysis and his call for a ‘new science of the mind’

In a letter written in 1927, the French writer Romain Rolland asked Sigmund Freud to analyse the “oceanic feeling,” a religious feeling of oneness with the entire universe. I will argue that Rolland’s intentions in introducing the oceanic feeling to Freud were much more complex, multifaceted, and critical than most scholars have acknowledged. To this end, I will examine Rolland’s views on mysticism and psychoanalysis in his book-length biographies of the Indian saints Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, which he wrote just after he mentioned the oceanic feeling to Freud in 1927. I will argue that Rolland’s primary intentions in appealing to the oceanic feeling in his 1927 letter to Freud—intentions less evident in his letters to Freud than in his biographies of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda—were to challenge the fundamental assumptions of psychoanalysis from a mystical perspective and to confront Freud with a mystical “science of the mind” that he felt was more rigorous and comprehensive than Freud’s psychoanalytic science

Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion

This book examines the philosophy of the nineteenth-century Indian mystic Sri Ramakrishna and brings him into dialogue with Western philosophers of religion, primarily in the recent analytic tradition. Sri Ramakrishna’s expansive conception of God as the impersonal-personal Infinite Reality, Maharaj argues, opens up an entirely new paradigm for addressing central topics in the philosophy of religion, including divine infinitude, religious diversity, the nature and epistemology of mystical experience, and the problem of evil

"God Is Infinite, and the Paths to God Are Infinite": A Reconstruction and Defense of Sri Ramakrishna's Vijñana-Based Model of Religious Pluralism

This article argues that contemporary philosophers have unduly ignored Sri Ramakrishna’s pioneering views on religious pluralism. The Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) taught the harmony of all religions on the basis of his own spiritual experiences and his diverse religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. Part I reconstructs the main tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s model of religious pluralism. Part II explores how Sri Ramakrishna addresses the problem of conflicting religious truth-claims. Part III addresses some of the major criticisms leveled against Sri Ramakrishna’s views on religious pluralism

Comparison of Non-Stationary Time Series in the Frequency Domain.

In this paper we compare two non-stationary time series using non-parametric procedures. Evolutionary spectra are estimated for the two series. Randomization tests are performed on groups of spectral estimates for both related and independent time series. Simul ation studies show that in certain cases the tests perform reasonably well. The tests are applied to observed geological and financial time series.Tests, Time series, Simulation, Evolutionary Spectra

Sustainable approaches for stormwater quality improvements with experimental geothermal paving systems

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This research assesses the next generation of permeable pavement systems (PPS) incorporating ground source heat pumps (geothermal paving systems). Twelve experimental pilot-scaled pavement systems were assessed for its stormwater treatability in Edinburgh, UK. The relatively high variability of temperatures during the heating and cooling cycle of a ground source heat pump system embedded into the pavement structure did not allow the ecological risk of pathogenic microbial expansion and survival. Carbon dioxide monitoring indicated relatively high microbial activity on a geotextile layer and within the pavement structure. Anaerobic degradation processes were concentrated around the geotextile zone, where carbon dioxide concentrations reached up to 2000 ppm. The overall water treatment potential was high with up to 99% biochemical oxygen demand removal. The pervious pavement systems reduced the ecological risk of stormwater discharges and provided a low risk of pathogen growth

A Test for the Difference Parameter of the ARFIMA Model Using the Moving Blocks Bootstrap.

In this paper we construct a test for the difference parameter d in the fractionally integrated autoregressive moving-average (ARFIMA) model. Obtaining estimates by smoothed spectral regression estimation method, we use the moving blocks bootstrap method to construct the test for d. The results of Monte Carlo studies show that this test is generally valid for certain block sizes, and for these block sizes, the test has reasonably good power.Long memory, Periodogram regression, Smoothed periodogram regression, Block size.

Laboratory Studies on Granular Filters and Their Relationship to Geotextiles for Stormwater Pollutant Reduction

Applications of geotextiles within tertiary stormwater treatment systems and for stormwater infiltration can provide a substrate for biofilm formation, enabling biological treatment of contaminants. Geotextiles can serve as an efficient part of stormwater filtration within the urban water environment. The project assessed the applications of three experimental granular filters as a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) for the decomposition of organic pollutant loading present in stormwater. The three filter rigs were packed with alternating layers of filter media consisting of gravel, pea gravel, sand and either a single, double or no layer of geotextile membrane. A nonwoven geotextile was layered within the filter media. The hydraulic loading capacity for the three filters matched that commonly used with conventional sand filters systems. Water quality parameters were quantified by measuring suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate-nitrogen, and phosphate concentrations. It was found that Filter Rig No. 3 (upper and lower geotextile membrane) and Filter Rig No. 2 (single geotextile membrane) had a significant statistical difference in treatment performance from Filter Rig No. 1 (no geotextile membrane)

Brief images : massive pericardial effusion

Significant pericardial effusions are an uncommon but very important disorder in childhood. Referring to one of the patients, cross-sectional imaging demonstrated a massive pericardial effusion. The underlying etiology here was connective tissue disease causing recurrent pericardial effusion. An associated left-sided pleural effusion was noted. Clinicians must be aware of this disorder in the pediatric age group, performing a thorough evaluation in all children with large pericardial effusions, and managing appropriately.peer-reviewe

A class of charged relativistic spheres

We find a new class of exact solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations which can be used to model the interior of charged relativistic objects. These solutions can be written in terms of special functions in general; for particular parameter values it is possible to find solutions in terms of elementary functions. Our results contain models found previously for uncharged neutron stars and charged isotropic spheres.Comment: 11 pages, To appear in Mathematical and Computational Application