History of Esoteric and Anagogic Doctrines

History of Esoteric and Anagogic Doctrines
Author: Cihangir Gener
Publisher: Balboa Press
Total Pages: 470
Release: 2020-04-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1982246499

A study on Freemasonry, Illuminati, Esoteric and Anagogical developments, extending to the two lost continents of Mu and Atlantis to the Maya, Uyghur and the Egyptian civilizations, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Where are the roots of monotheism? Who were the first monotheistic believers? Where are the roots of today's heavenly religions? This research is about a doctrine that has deeply influenced the belief systems since the dark periods of human history within the context of processes of historical development of esoteric beliefs. In addition to the birth of monotheistic religions, the esoteric teachings that enable the rational thought system to reach the present and allow us to be in the Era of Reason, reveal that God is love and not fear, and that the power of intuition is led by reason. The greatest deficiency of our time is that this great love is not boldly revealed. The real purpose of this work is to bring this sublime expression of love out of its narrow frames to reach out to the masses.

Anagogic Qualities of Literature

Anagogic Qualities of Literature
Author: Joseph Strelka
Publisher: University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 1971
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

The essays in this volume deal with the relationship between belles-lettres and mystical and esoteric traditions, as well as with the methods used in literary criticism to reveal, describe, and judge these relationships. The term "anagogic" is used in this volume in a somewhat narrower sense than it is by Northrop Frye and, standing as a synonym for "mystic," refers to the doctrine of direct knowledge of "God" or spiritual truth that is attainable through immediate intuition, and it reaches from speculative Christian mysticism and Gnostic traditions to Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Tantrism. A cross section of representative examples of world literature demonstrates the different methods of approach as well as the differences in patterns, forms, and degrees of profundity between various traditions. Contributors: Gwendolyn Bays, A. C. Brench, Charles Davis, Wilson Harris, Desiree Hirst, Stanley R. Hopper, Mario Jacobi, Jose Maria Lugo, Reinhold Merkelbach, O.K. Nambiar, Pierre Ponsoye, Jo Sanders, Annemarie Schimmel, Eisig Silberschlag, Zdenko Skreb, Joseph Strelka, Izutsu Toshihiko, Frederich Willhelm Wentzlaff-Eggebert, Peter Young.

The Infinite Mindfield

The Infinite Mindfield
Author: Anthony Peake
Publisher: Watkins Media Limited
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2013-10-03
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1780286295

Using information from the cutting edge of modern science, Peake presents startling evidence that the inner worlds of our mystics and shamans are as real, or possibly even more real, than the reality we experience in waking life. As his starting point, Peake examines the widespread historical belief that the mid-brain’s pine-cone shaped pineal gland activates the third eye described by mystics and seers. Through careful analysis of ancient religious texts and artifacts, he gives evidence that the spiritual properties of the pineal gland have been embedded in myths and cultures across the globe. (Why else would the Buddha so often be found wearing a pine cone hat?) Peake then shows that it is through this small organ that we experience lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, hypnagogic imagery, near-death experiences, astral travel and the kundalini experience. The book ends with the mind-blowing conclusion that all living beings are one unitary consciousness experiencing itself subjectively.

The Idea of Difficulty in Literature

The Idea of Difficulty in Literature
Author: Alan Carroll Purves
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 188
Release: 1991-09-03
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780791406748

This book redefines the nature of textual difficulty in literature and shows the implications of the new definition for teachers at all levels of education. Contrary to the traditional use of grade levels or readability formulae, the authors redefine difficulty in terms of readers and the texts they meet. They base their arguments on contemporary linguistic theory, on historical and comparative studies of criticism, on literary theory about readers and texts, on post-Freudian psychology, on empirical research concerning the nature of reading literature, and on studies of classrooms, curricula, and testing. What emerges is a coherent work that builds a case for seeing difficulty in literature as a human phenomenon more than a textual one.

A History of Preaching

A History of Preaching
Author: Otis Carl Edwards
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 1073
Release: 2004
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0687038642

Accompanying CD-ROM contains the full text of volume one and two. Volume two contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church's twenty centuries. Each chapter in volume two is geared to its companion chapter in volume one's narrative history.

The Esoteric Kabbalah

The Esoteric Kabbalah
Author: Robert Maxwell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2019-11-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9781706174233

In the western cultural tradition, the esoteric Kabbalah, or Hermetic Kabbalah, represents the main meeting point for all branches of the esoteric and initiatory experience: magic, occultism, gnosis, orphism, etc. It takes its cue from the esoteric approach of the Jewish cabal and then, in the implications of today's occultism, to go beyond the essentially religious boundaries of that experience.

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism

New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2020-12-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004446451

This volume offers new approaches to some of the biggest persistent challenges in the study of esotericism and beyond. Commonly understood as a particularly "Western" undertaking consisting of religious, philosophical, and ritual traditions that go back to Mediterranean antiquity, this book argues for a global approach that significantly expands the scope of esotericism and highlights its relevance for broader theoretical and methodological debates in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors offer critical interventions on aspects related to colonialism, race, gender and sexuality, economy, and marginality. Equipped with a substantial introduction and conclusion, the book offers textbook-style discussions of the state of research and makes concrete proposals for how esotericism can be rethought through broader engagement with neighboring fields.

A History of Mind and Body in Late Antiquity

A History of Mind and Body in Late Antiquity
Author: Anna Marmodoro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 895
Release: 2018-07-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1316856631

The mind-body relation was at the forefront of philosophy and theology in late antiquity, a time of great intellectual innovation. This volume, the first integrated history of this important topic, explores ideas about mind and body during this period, considering both pagan and Christian thought about issues such as resurrection, incarnation and asceticism. A series of chapters presents cutting-edge research from multiple perspectives, including history, philosophy, classics and theology. Several chapters survey wider themes which provide context for detailed studies of the work of individual philosophers including Numenius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius and Augustine. Wide-ranging and accessible, with translations given for all texts in the original language, this book will be essential for students and scholars of late antique thought, the history of religion and theology, and the philosophy of mind.

Gnosis

Gnosis
Author: Daniel Merkur
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 1993-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780791416198

Traces the use of powerful gnostic visionary techniques from Hellenistic Gnosticism and Jewish merkabah mysticism, through Muhammad, the Ismaeilis, and theosophical Sufism to medieval neoplatonism, and renaissance alchemy.

The Esoterism of Dante

The Esoterism of Dante
Author: René Guénon
Publisher: Sophia Perennis
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2005-05
Genre: Symbolism of numbers in literature
ISBN: 9781597310581

Especially since the Renaissance, some in Western Christendom have suspected that the deeper dimension of their tradition has somehow been lost, and have therefore sought to discover, or create, an 'esoteric' or 'initiatic' Christianity. In the middle of the nineteenth century two scholars, Gabriele Rossetti and Eugène Aroux, pointed to certain esoteric meanings in the work of Dante Alighieri, notably The Divine Comedy. Partly based on their scholarship, Guénon in 1925 published The Esoterism of Dante. From the theses of Rosetti and Aroux, Guénon retains only those elements that prove the existence of such hidden meanings; but he also makes clear that esoterism is not 'heresy' and that a doctrine reserved for an elite can be superimposed on the teaching given the faithful without standing in opposition to it. One of René Guénon's lifelong quests was to discover, or revive, the esoteric, initiatory dimension of the Christian tradition. In the present volume, along with its companion volume Insights into Christian Esoterism (which includes the separate study Saint Bernard), Guénon undertakes to establish that the three parts of The Divine Comedy represent the stages of initiatic realization, exploring the parallels between the symbolism of the Commedia and that of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Christian Hermeticism, and illustrating Dante's knowledge of traditional sciences unknown to the moderns: the sciences of numbers, of cosmic cycles, and of sacred astrology. In these works Guénon also touches on the all-important question of medieval esoterism and discusses the role of sacred languages and the principle of initiation in the Christian tradition, as well as such esoteric Christian themes and organizations as the Holy Grail, the Guardians of the Holy Land, the Sacred Heart, the Fedeli d'Amore and the 'Courts of Love', and the Secret Language of Dante. In addition to Dante, various other paths toward a possible Christian esoterism have been explored by many investigators-the legend of the Holy Grail, the Knights Templars, the tradition of Courtly Love, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Christian Hermeticism-and Guénon deals with all of these in the present volume as well as his Insights into Christian Esoterism. In the latter, one chapter in particular, 'Christianity and Initiation', will be of special interest with regard to the history of the Traditionalist School. When first published as an article, it gave rise to some controversy because Guénon here reaffirmed his denial of the efficacy of the Christian sacraments as rites of initiation, a point of divergence between the teachings of Guénon and those of other key perennialist thinkers. Both The Esoterism of Dante and Insights into Christian Esoterism will be of inestimable value to all who are struggling to come to terms with the fullness of the Christian tradition.