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Body As Obstacle

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

949 passages · 17 traditions
neoplatonism: 327 passagesneoplatonism327gnosticism: 151 passagesgnosticism151western_esoteric: 102 passageswestern_esoteric102christian_mysticism: 95 passageschristian_mysticism95platonism: 92 passagesplatonism92renaissance_hermeticism: 47 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism47greek_mystery: 40 passagesgreek_mystery40hermeticism: 24 passageshermeticism24buddhism: 23 passagesbuddhism23sufism: 13 passagessufism13taoism: 11 passagestaoism11jewish_mysticism: 6 passagesjewish_mysticism6mandaean: 6 passagesmandaean6finnic: 5 passagesfinnic5egyptian: 4 passagesegyptian4celtic: 2 passagesceltic2norse: 1 passagenorse1
neoplatonism327
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Va
In the next place, let us direct our attention to the solution of your inquiries. There is, therefore, the good itself which is beyond essence, and there is that good which subsists according to essence; I mean the essence which is most an…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII
Of the extremes, therefore, one is supreme, transcendent, and perfect; but the other is last in dignity, deficient, and more imperfect. And the former, indeed, is capable of accomplishing all things at once, uniformly in an instant; but the…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIa
But neither must we admit that cause of the distinction of these genera which you subjoin, viz. “ that it is an arrangement with reference to different bodies; as, for instance, 39 of Gods to etherial bodies, but of dæmons to aerial bodies…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIb
Hence, through these things such a corporeal-formed division as you introduce, is demonstrated to be false. It is, indeed, especially necessary not to propose any thing of this kind; but if this should appear to you to be requisite, yet yo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xa
After these things, you again subjoin another division for yourself, “ in which you separate the essences of the more excellent genera by the difference of passive and impassive .” But neither do I admit this division. For no one of the mo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIb
[31] Things of this kind, therefore, are introduced for the sake of our soul, and of the diminution of the evils which adhere to it 55 through generation, and of a solution and liberation from its bonds. On this account, also, they are ver…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVa
After this, you pass on to another division into contraries, viz. the division of Gods with reference to dæmons. For you say, “ that the Gods are pure intellects ;” but you propose this opinion as an hypothesis, or you narrate it as a dog…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVb
Or what passion can accede to a thing of this kind, the purity of which the most worthy human manners cannot easily equal? You say, however, “ that the things which are offered in supplications are offered as to sensitive and psychical nat…”
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gnosticism151
Gospel of Philip | Section 1a
(Above image of the Gospel of Thomas courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University) Visit the Bookstore for a complete selection of translations and books about The Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hamma…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1f
When wanton women see a man sitting alone, the man is overcome. They fondle him and pollute him. When wanton men see a beautiful woman sitting alone, they overcome her, and she is violated and polluted. But when spirits see a man and his…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1i
His seed was Jesus, and the plant was the cross.” The tree of life in the middle of that garden of paradise is an olive tree, and from the olive tree comes chrism, and from that oil comes the resurrection. THE WORLD EATS BODIES The world e…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1k
If you become light, light will share you. If you are of those from above, one of those from above will rest in you. If you become a horse or a donkey or bull or dog or sheep or another animal that is wild or tame, then neither a person n…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 1
And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 15
Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your father."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 17
Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 27
<Jesus said,> "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father."…”
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western_esoteric102
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Introductiond
Both Pythagoras and Empedocles accepted the theory of transmigration, the latter saying: "A boy I was, then did a maid become; a plant, bird, fish, and in the vast sea swum." Archytas is credited with invention of the screw and the crane.…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Introductione
He himself declared philosophy to be the way of true happiness and its purpose twofold: (1) to contemplate God, and (2) to abstract the soul from corporeal sense. The principles of all things he conceived to be three in number: God , matte…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismm
Of these shoots one is manifested from above, which is the Great Power, the Universal Mind ordering all things, male, and the other, [is manifested] from below, the Great Thought, female, producing all things. Hence pairing with each other…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismn
In discussing the original meaning of this word, Godfrey Higgins, in his Celtic Druids, has demonstrated that the numerological powers of the letters forming the word Abraxas when added together result in the sum of 365. The same author al…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismp
In an oracle delivered to the King of Cyprus, Serapis described himself thus: ''A god I am such as I show to thee, The Starry Heavens are my head, my trunk the sea, Earth forms my feet, mine ears the air supplies, The Sun's far-darting, bri…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismw
The Mysteries were the channels through which this one philosophic light was disseminated, and their initiates, resplendent with intellectual and spiritual understanding, were the perfect fruitage of the divine tree, bearing witness before…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismx
Pluto, the lord of the underworld, represents the body intelligence of man; and the rape of Persephone is symbolic of the divine nature assaulted and defiled by the animal soul and dragged downward into the somber darkness of Hades, which i…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism~
By the symbolism of his music he communicated the divine secrets to humanity, and several authors have declared that the gods, though loving him, feared that he would overthrow their kingdom and therefore reluctantly encompassed his destruc…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism
The Bacchic state signifies the unity of the rational soul in a state of self-knowledge, and the Titanic state the diversity of the rational soul which, being scattered throughout creation, loses the consciousness of its own essential one-n…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquityg
At the first gate the great crown is removed from her head, at the second gate the earrings from her ears, at the third gate the necklace from her neck, at the fourth gate the ornaments from her breast, at the fifth gate the girdle from her…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistuse
The Divine Pymander consists of seventeen fragmentary writings gathered together and put forth as one work. The second book of The Divine Pymander , called Poimandres , or The Vision , is believed to describe the method by which the divine…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistush
He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is governed by a Father also both male and female, and ever watchful. Such is the mystery kept hidden to this day, for Nature, being mingled in marriage with the Sky Man, brought forth a wonder most wond…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusi
Knowing only the body which is subject to death, they believe in death because they worship that substance which is the cause and reality of death." Then Hermes asked how the righteous and wise pass to God, to which Poimandres replied: "Tha…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Initiation of the Pyramidj
The hymns of praise no longer echo in muffled tones through the chambers; the neophyte no longer passes through the elements and wanders among the seven stars; the candidate no longer receives the "Word of Life" from the lips of the Eternal…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Isis, the Virgin of the Worldj
They understood hypnotism, mesmerism, and similar practices long before the modem world dreamed of their existence. Plutarch describes the requisites of a follower of Isis in this manner: "For as 'tis not the length of the beard, or the co…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Isis, the Virgin of the Worldk
*** It is reasonably certain, however, that Pythagoras, who had been initiated in the Egyptian temples, when he promulgated the doctrine of metempsychosis, restated, in part at least, the teachings of the Egyptian initiates. The popular su…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Sun, A Universal Deityi
One philosophical concept regarded the sun as a parent and the planers as embryos still connected to the solar body by means of ethereal umbilical cords which served as channels to convey life and nourishment to the planets. Some secret or…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Philosophy of Pythagorasf
It is probable that Pythagoras obtained his concept of the Υ from the Egyptians, who included in certain of their initiatory rituals a scene in which the candidate was confronted by two female figures. One of them, veiled with the white ro…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Pythagorean Mathematicsl
Therefore, they chose the five-pointed star, or pentagram, as the symbol of vitality, health, and interpenetration. It was customary for the philosophers to conceal the element of earth under the symbol of a dragon, and many of the heroes…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolisme
And as in the most holy of the mysteries, they say, that the mystics at first meet with the multi form, and many-shaped genera, which are hurled forth before the gods, but on entering the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, th…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolismh
This knowledge of how man's manifold constitution could be most quickly and most completely regenerated to the point of spiritual illumination constituted the secret, or esoteric, doctrine of antiquity. Certain apparently physical organs a…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolismi
Man's physical body was looked upon as the robe of his spiritual nature; consequently, the more developed were his super-substantial powers the more glorious his apparel. Of course, clothing was originally worn for ornamentation rather tha…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolismj
When humanity has completed its physical evolution, the empty shell of materiality left behind will be used by other life waves as steppingstones to their own liberation. The trend of man's evolutionary growth is ever toward his own essent…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Hiramic Legendc
Upon CHiram's refusal to reveal the Master's Word , the ruffian struck him on the throat with the rule, and the wounded Master then hastened to the west gate, where Jubelo, armed with a square, awaited him and made a similar demand. Again…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Colorf
The lower octave (Γ to G) comprises that part of the universe in which substance predominate over energy. Its harmonies, therefore, are more gross than those of the higher octave (G to g) wherein energy predominates over substance. "If st…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Colorg
A word whispered in one of these apartments was so intensified that the reverberations made the entire building sway and be filled with a deafening roar. The very wood and stone used in the erection of these sacred buildings eventually bec…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fishes, Insects, Animals, Reptiles and Birdsc
He told His disciples that they should became "fishers of men." The sign of the fish was also the first monogram of the Christians. The mysterious Greek name of Jesus, ΙΧΘΥΣ, means "a fish." The fish was accepted as a symbol of the Christ…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fishes, Insects, Animals, Reptiles and Birdso
*** Although admitting that he had not seen the phœnix bird (there being only one alive at a time), Herodotus amplifies a bit the description given by Clement: "They tell a story of what this bird does which does not seem to me to be credib…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Flowers, Plants, Fruits, and Treesh
The fruit here signifies the sensuous life which, once tasted, temporarily deprives man of immortality. Also on account of its vast number of seeds the pomegranate was often employed to represent natural fecundity. For the same reason, Ja…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogonyf
From C 2 came C 3, the third Understanding; the Hierarchy is the Thrones, Aralim , the Mighty Ones. From C 3 came C 4, the third Mercy; the Hierarchy is the Dominations, Chashmalim , the Brilliant Ones. From C 4 came C 5, the third Severi…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Manf
The Zohar holds the concept of two Adams: the first a divine being who, stepping forth from the highest original darkness, created the second, or earthly, Adam in His own image. The higher, or celestial, man was the Causal sphere With its…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Mani
One school of thought affirms that the human soul was actually divided into two parts (male and female) and that man remains an unperfected creature until these parts are reunited through the emotion which man calls love . From this concep…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Manj
Many of the early Church Fathers sought to establish a direct relationship between Adam and Christ, thereby obviously discounting the extremely sinful nature of man's common ancestor, since it is quite certain that when St. Augustine liken…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | An Analysis of Tarot Cardsd
Since Aleph (the first Hebrew letter) has the numerical value of 1, its assignment to the zero card is equivalent to the statement that zero is equal to the letter Aleph and therefore synonymous with the number 1. With rare insight, Court…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | An Analysis of Tarot Cardsg
The vehicle of the solar energy being numbered seven reveals the arcane truth that the seven planers are the chariots of the solar power which rides victorious in their midst. The four columns supporting the canopy represent the four Might…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | An Analysis of Tarot Cardsl
Thirteen teardrops are falling from the solar face Levi, seeing in the two children Faith and Reason, which must coexist as long as the temporal universe endures, writes: "Human equilibrium requires two feet, the worlds gravitate by means o…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Tabernacle in the Wildernesse
Josephus hints that there was a third compartment which was formed by subdividing the Holy Place, at least hypothetically, into two chambers. The Jewish historian is not very explicit in his description of this third room, and the majority…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Tabernacle in the Wildernessh
Mystics have taught that man's physical body is surrounded by a series of invisible bodies of diverse colors and great splendor. In the majority of people the spiritual nature is concealed and imprisoned in the material nature, but in a fe…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Fraternity of the Rose Crossg
Godfrey Higgins believes that the word Rosicrucian is not derived from the flower but from the word Ros , which means dew. It is also interesting to note that the word Ras means wisdom, while Rus is translated concealment. Doubtless all o…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Fraternity of the Rose Crossj
There is evidence that early writers were acquainted with such a supposition--which, however, was popularized only after it had been espoused by Theosophy. This theory asserts that the Rosicrucians actually possessed all the supernatural p…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Theory and Practice of Alchemya
Part 1 ALCHEMY, the secret art of the land of Khem, is one of the two oldest sciences known to the world. The other is astrology. The beginnings of both extend back into the obscurity of prehistoric times. According to the earliest recor…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Theory and Practice of Alchemyn
The knowledge of Nature's secret operations constitutes the principal sense of all these ancient writings, but ignorance framed out of it that external or veiled mythology and the lower class of people turned it into idolatry. THE KEY TO A…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Hermetic And Alchemical Figures of Claudius De Dominico Celentano Vallis Novig
The verse at the top of the page reads: "Not only must this material be fixed, but it must be allowed to enter into everything so that this material may be well completed and have infinite virtue. Then by making it thick, it becomes at onc…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Mystic Christianityd
Godfrey Higgins has discovered two references, one in the Midrashjoholeth and the other in the Abodazara (early Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures), to the effect that the surname of Joseph's family was Panther , for in both of these wor…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Cross and the Crucifixionf
The four major divisions of the human structure--bones, muscles, nerves, and arteries--are considered to have contributed to the symbolism of the cross. This is especially due to the fact that the spinal nerves cross at the base of the spi…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Cross and the Crucifixionj
In his Ancient Freemasonry , Frank C. Higgins reproduces the Masonic apron of a colossal stone figure at Quirigua, Guatemala. The central ornament of the apron is the three Passion nails, arranged exactly like the British broad arrow. Th…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolismk
Pisces, their ashes turning into man-fishes , and later back into human form." It would seem more appropriate to assign the river of blood to Aries and that of mud to Taurus, and it is not at all improbable that in the ancient form of the l…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusionb
Thus it is demonstrated that to capture a man it is not sufficient to enslave his body--it is necessary to enlist his reason; that to free a man it is not enough to strike the shackles from his limbs--his mind must be liberated from bondage…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusionh
Philosophy would lead all men into the broad, calm vistas of truth, for the world of philosophy is a land of peace where those finer qualities pent up within each human soul are given opportunity for expression. Here men are taught the won…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusioni
The philosopher lives and thrills with the realization of this duration, for to him this infinite period has been designed by the All-Wise Cause as the time of all accomplishment. Man is not the insignificant creature that he appears to be…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter I (part 3)
______ Since the remotest antiquity the question of our relation to the true causes of our sensations has constituted the main subject of philosophical research. Men have always felt that they should have some solution for this question, s…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter II (part 7)
A man easily admits his incompetency in music, dancing, or higher mathematics, but he always maintains the privilege of having an opinion and being a judge of questions relating to "first principles." It is difficult to discuss with such me…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 2)
These will be considered as temporal phenomena, beginning at that moment when they become visible, and ending— ceasing to exist —at that moment when they become invisible. The one-dimensional being will not be in a position to imagine that…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 2)
This happens because we never feel anything at a long distance, and the eye has not been taught to discern the difference in surfaces which at short distances are felt by the finger-tips. 1 p. 100 We can never see, even in the minute, any…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 9)
Only after four days did he begin to discern them, and after an interval of two weeks, when his eyes were accustomed to the light, he started to use his sight practically, for the discernment of objects. He was shown all the colors of the…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter X (part 2)
______ The "infinite sphere" by which we represent the universe to ourselves is constantly and continuously changing: in every consecutive moment it is not that which it was before. A constant change of pictures, images, relations, is goin…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter X (part 4)
This happens because the circle inevitably ends in the same point at which it began, and the "life" of the separate being, beginning with birth, must end in death, which is the return to the point of departure. But during its transit throu…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XII (part 4)
______ If we would correlate all of the above with the principle of physics that the amount of energy is constant , then we must state more exactly that in the preceding discussion nothing has been said of the creation of new energy, but of…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 4)
Materialism and energetics are those "obvious" theories which cannot be true without proofs , because they cannot not have proofs if they contain even a little grain of truth. But there are no proofs at the disposition of these theories; q…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 6)
And at last he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him as he is in his own proper place, and not in another, and he will contemplate his nature. Certainly. And after this he will reas…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 2)
Studying man from one side only I should stand in the same position in relation to him as, according to Kant, we stand with relation to the world surrounding us. We know merely the form of our knowledge of it. The world-in-itself we do no…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 9)
In our language only an eternally becoming universe exists. The "Eternal Now" cannot be expressed in language. Thus our language pictures to us beforehand a false universe— dual , when in reality it is one ; and eternally becoming when it…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 6)
206 everything that lies usually in the remote depths of memory, in the past; all that lies at a remote distance from him; all that lies in the future. C. H. Hinton very well says, in regard to beings of other sections of the world: By t…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 6)
Emotions apparently the same may be united with the very small I's and with the very great and lofty I's; and so the rôle and meaning of such emotions in life may be very different. The continual shifting of emotions, each of which calls i…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 5)
The "seeing" changes with the changes of the state of consciousness in which it is proceeding. But what forms of consciousness exist? p. 239 Hindu philosophy makes the division into four states of consciousness: sleep, dream, waking, and…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 7)
In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity. But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 2)
Science cannot deny the fact that mathematics grows, expands, and escapes from the limits of the visible and measurable world. Entire departments of mathematics take into consideration quantitative relations which did not and do not exist…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 4)
This sensation of light and of unlimited joy is experienced at the moment of the expansion of consciousness (the unfoldment of the mystical lotus of the Hindu yogi), at the moment of the sensation of infinity, and it yields also the sensati…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 10)
But it does not bear fruit presently; and, though it blossoms, they fall off; also many a cold wind, frost and snow, puff upon it, before it comes to any growth and bearing of fruit. Boehme's books are full of wonderment before these myste…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 12)
"The cause of all things is neither soul nor intellect; nor has it imagination, opinion, or reason, or intelligence; nor is it reason or intelligence; nor is it spoken or thought. It is neither number, nor order, nor magnitude, nor littlen…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 3)
And this formation of special literatures is the chief evil and the chief obstacle to a correct understanding of things. Each "literature" elaborates its own terminology, its own language, which is incomprehensible to the students of other…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 11)
He does not come to believe merely; but he sees and knows that the cosmos, which to the self-conscious mind seems made up of dead matter, is in fact far otherwise—is in very truth a living presence. He sees that in-stead of men being, as i…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | Introductionh
Thereafter he meets with the sphinx, that symbol of symbols, the eternal enigma of the vulgar, the granite pedestal of the sciences of the sages, the voracious and silent monster whose unchanging form expresses the one dogma of the Great Un…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 1. The Candidatec
His body and arms form the letter ALEPH, the first of that alphabet which the Jews borrowed from the Egyptians: to this symbol we shall have occasion to recur later on. The Magus is truly that which the Hebrew Kabalists term Microprosopus…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 3. The Triangle Of Solomonc
These shells, envelopes petrified or carnified, were such an expression possible, are the source of errors or of evil, which connects with the heaviness and hardness of animal envelopes. In the book Zohar , and in that of the Revolution of…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 4. The Tetragrame
Now, created spirits, being called to emancipation by trial, are placed from their birth between these four forces, two positive and two negative, and have it in their power to affirm or deny good, to choose life or death. To discover the…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 5. The Pentagrama
GEBURAH ECCE HEREUNTO we have exposed the magical dogma in its more arid and abstruse phases; now the enchantments begin; now we can proclaim wonders and reveal most secret things. The Pentagram signifies the domination of the mind over th…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 13. Necromancya
EX IPSIS MORS We HAVE said that the images of persons and things are preserved in the Astral Light. Therein also can be evoked the forms of those who are in our world no longer, and by this means are accomplished those mysteries of Necroma…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 17. Astrologyd
Hence I conclude that, for myself and for this year, experience confirms fully the precision of Cardan's astrological calculus, which connects furthermore with the climacteric years of ancient astrologers. This term signifies arranged in s…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 6. The Medium And Mediatora
TWO things, as we have shown, are necessary for the acquisition of magical power - the emancipation of will from servitude and its instruction in the art of domination. The sovereign will is represented in our symbols by the Woman who crus…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 15. The Sabbath Of The Sorcerersb
All the Kabalah and all Magic, as a fact, are divided between the cultus of the immolated and that of the emissary goat. We must recognize therefore a Magic of the Sanctuary and that of the wilderness, the White and the Black Church, the p…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 15. The Sabbath Of The Sorcerersd
From this two-fold point of view we propose to consider the true Sabbath, that of luminous Magic in the one case and that of darkness in the other. When Christianity proscribed the public exercise of the ancient worships, the partisans of…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 18. Philtres And Magnetismd
de Nancy, formerly ambassador of the most Christian King at Constantinople and then priest of the Oratory, Charles of Lorraine, Bishop of Verdun, two Sorbonne doctors specially deputed to assist, exorcised her frequently in Hebrew, in Greek…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Page 4 (part 4)
These people of the fourth dimension are in the world but not of it: their range is far wider than this slum of space. In them dormant faculties are alert. Like birds of the air, their fitting symbol, they are at home in realms which othe…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter I (part 4)
Also, all phenomena not in time, divorced from the idea of time, not taken in this or that fashion from the standpoint of before , now , after , would co-exist for us simultaneously, and all mixed up with one another, and our weak mind woul…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter I (part 5)
It is not true because our experimental knowledge is not a confused perception of a real world . It is a very acute perception of an entirely unreal world appearing round about us at the moment of our contact with the world of true causes,…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 3)
If, presupposing that we are moving upon a sphere, upon its equator or one of its parallels, then it will appear that we recognize as really existing only one meridian: those which are behind us have disappeared and those ahead of us have n…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 7)
In addition to all this it is necessary to remember that through the same slit through which we see the world we observe ourselves and see in ourselves changes similar to the changes in the rest of things. 2. Why can we not extend that sl…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter V (part 1)
p. 52 CHAPTER V Four-dimensional space. "Temporal body"— Linga Sharîra . The form of a human body from birth to death. Incommensurability of three-dimensional and four-dimensional bodies. Newton's fluents. The unreality of constant qu…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 2)
And if we take men as we know them—the sailor, the hang-man, the ascetic: men who seem to us similar and equal —and consider them from the standpoint of their differences in function, we shall see that in reality they are entirely different…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 5)
1 Behold! human beings living in a sort of underground den; they have been there from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained—the chains are arranged in such a manner as to prevent them from turning round their heads. At a…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XV (part 4)
Love inspires this orgy of activity, and instinct directs it, because it is expedient from the standpoint of the species. At the first awakening of love this work begins. One and the same desire creates a new generation and those conditio…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 5)
Let us endeavor to consider the activity of the brain and the activity of the psyche from the standpoint of the existence of those two data, the "world" and "consciousness," accepted by us at the very beginning. If we consider the brain fr…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 12)
He clearly affirms: I confess that I am very much inclined to assert the existence of immaterial natures in the world, and to put my soul itself into that class of beings. These immaterial beings . . . are immediately united with each o…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 13)
We do not know the world of causes; we are confined in the jail of the phenomenal world simply because we do not know how to discern where one ends and where the other begins. We are in constant touch with the world of causes, we live in i…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 3)
We all know this, and the only thing we can do is to try not to think about the existence of these problems, to forget about them. We do so as a rule, but this does not annihilate them. They continue to exist, and at any given moment we m…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 4)
We constantly observe the conditions of materiality in those cases in which we must create in our life a sequence of phenomena or are obliged to select , because our matter does not permit us to juxtapose in a definite interval of time more…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XX (part 6)
Were our space-sense more perfect in relation to any given object, say to the body of a given man, we could embrace all his life in time, from birth to death. Then within the limits of this embrace that life would be for us a constant magn…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 3)
All attempts to penetrate mentally into that higher, noumenal world, or world of causes, by means of the logic of the phenomenal world, if they did not fail altogether, or did not lead to castles in the air , gave only one result: in becomi…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 7)
_______ Where are our "idols?" From what shall we liberate ourselves in order to pass to an understanding of the multi-dimensional world? First of all we must get rid of our assurance that we see and sense that which exists in reality, and…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 2)
What do we know of the Jews at the time of Moses, except the traditions preserved in the Laws and the Prophets? It is the prophets, the poets, the lawgivers and teachers, however small their number, who speak in the name of the people, and…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 13)
Then the understanding of such a man receives from the Holy Spirit the highest and hidden mysteries which according to the divine Paul, neither the human eye can understand nor the human reason comprehend unaided. (Ii Corinthians ii, 9).…”
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christian_mysticism95
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1c
59 59 ὡς οὐκ ὄντος ἴχνους τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κρυφίαν αὐτῆς ἀπειρίαν διεληλυθότων. Two interpretations of this passage are possible: (1) Those who have penetrated the hidden Depths cannot describe the Vision (cf. Dante, Par. xxxiii. 55–66) ; (2…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1d
And we press upwards to those beams which in the Holy Scripture shine upon us; wherefrom we gain the light which leads us unto 55 the Divine praises 64 64 πρὸς τοὺς θεαρχικοὺς ὕμνους. Either (1) “leads us to declare the Divine praises”; or…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1f
And in all the other Divine enlightenments which the occult Tradition of our inspired teachers hath, by mystic Interpretation, accordant with the Scriptures, bestowed upon us, we also have been initiated: apprehending these things in the pr…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1l
The formless essence (ἀμορφία) of a thing is simple and imageless—a Platonic idea—perceived by the mind; things which have bodily form are, as it were, types and symbols perceived by the senses. 54 Or “indeterminate.” 55 Thus the three gra…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1n
82 ἐν θειοτέρᾳ μιμήσει τῶν ὑπερουρανίων νοῶν—i. e. the angels. 83 Luke xx. 36 84 Meditation leads on to Contemplation; and the higher kind of Contemplation is performed by the Via Negativa. 85 i.e. The Angels. I have throughout trans…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1m
καὶ τῆς εἰρημένης ἑνώσεως ἴδια καὶ αὖθις τῆς διακρίσεως εἶνάι τινας ἰδικὰς καὶ ἱνώσεις καὶ διακρίσεις. This, as it stands, must be translated: “They say that certain qualities belong to the said Undifference, and that to Differentiation, o…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1d
233 Cf p. 77, n. 1. 234 This is profound. Spatial metaphors are always dangerous, though unavoidable, in Theology. In space if A is touching B then B must be touching A. In the spiritual world this is not so. God is near me (or rathe…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1e
260 260 The light permeates water but it does not permeate a stone. It passes over the stone and permeates the water beyond it. Yea, and it contributes to the birth of material bodies and brings them unto life, and nourishes them that the…”
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platonism92
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1d
Socrates replied: And have you, Cebes and Simmias, who are acquainted with Philolaus, never heard him speak of this? I never understood him, Socrates. My words, too, are only an echo; but I am very willing to say what I have heard: and in…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1e
And I rather imagine that Cebes is referring to you; he thinks that you are too ready to leave us, and too ready to leave the gods who, as you acknowledge, are our good rulers. Yes, replied Socrates; there is reason in that. And this indi…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1f
And being dead is the attainment of this separation; when the soul exists in herself, and is parted from the body and the body is parted from the soul-that is death? Exactly: that and nothing else, he replied. And what do you say of anoth…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1g
And he attains to the knowledge of them in their highest purity who goes to each of them with the mind alone, not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason, but wi…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1h
And now that the hour of departure is appointed to me, this is the hope with which I depart, and not I only, but every man who believes that he has his mind purified. Certainly, replied Simmias. And what is purification but the separation…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1i
They are temperate because they are intemperate-which may seem to be a contradiction, but is nevertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish temperance. For there are pleasures which they must have, and are afraid of losing;…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1k
That is clear, he replied. Then the inference is, that our souls are in the world below? That is true. And one of the two processes or generations is visible-for surely the act of dying is visible? Surely, he said. And may not the othe…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1m
And yet from these equals, although differing from the idea of equality, you conceived and attained that idea? Very true, he said. Which might be like, or might be unlike them? Yes. But that makes no difference; whenever from seeing one…”
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renaissance_hermeticism47
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XI — How Occult Virtues are Infused into the Several Kinds of Things by Ideas Through the Help of the Soul of the World, And Rays of the Stars; and what Things Abound Most with this Virtue | Chapter XI, Section 1
CHAPTER XI. How Occult Virtues are Infused into the Several Kinds of Things by Ideas Through the Help of the Soul of the World, And Rays of the Stars; and what Things Abound Most with this Virtue . Platonists say that all inferior bodies ar…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LVIII — Of the Reviving of the Dead, and of Sleeping or Hibernating (Wanting Victuals) Many Years Together | Chapter LVIII, Section 1a
CHAPTER LVIII. Of the Reviving of the Dead, and of Sleeping or Hibernating (Wanting Victuals) Many Years Together . The Arabian philosophers agree that some men may elevate themselves above the powers of their body and above their sensiti…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LX — Of Madness, and Divinations which are made when men are awake, and of the Power of a Melancholy Humor, by which Spirits are sometimes induced into Men's Bodies | Chapter LX, Section 1c
There are also some prognostics which are in the middle, betwixt natural and supernatural divination, as in those who are near to death, and, being weakened with old age, do sometimes foresee things to come, because, as saith Plato, by how…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogued
Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialoguec
I can very well conceive, from what you have said, the condition of that heroic enthusiast, who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are glowing," because he is not in the temperance of mediocrity, but, in the excess of contradictions, hi…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialoguee
Herein he proves that his love is truly heroic; because he proposes to himself as the chief aim, not corporeal beauty, but rather the grace of the spirit, and the inclination of the affections in which, rather than in the beauty of the body…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialoguef
Fitly, therefore, this rapture of heroic enthusiasm feeds on such "high emprise." For the object is infinite, and in action most simple, and our intellectual power cannot apprehend the infinite except in speech or in a certain manner of spe…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogueh
Heaven the second gift denies, To him who does the first despise. With these and similar reasons the soul, taking part with the weakest, seeks to recall the thoughts to the care of the body. And these, although late, come and show themsel…”
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greek_mystery40
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 2)
For a self-motive being, is the cause of motion to those, which are moved by another, in the same manner as that which is immovable, inserts in all beings the power of moving. And again, that which is moved only, must depend on those natur…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 7)
And although the same employment is common both to the ruler, and those who are ruled; yet the latter, if destitute of a leader, could no longer conspire together in one occupation; as the concord of the fingers and ` dancers, and the exped…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 6 (part 3)
Thus a bond among men, is the impediment and retention of action: but in divine concerns it insinuates a conjunction and ineffable union with causes; and hence the Saturnian bonds signify the union of the deiurgus of the universe, with the…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXIII. APOLLO (part 3)
Ζεὺς δέ τε πάντων ἐςὶ ϑεὸς, πάντων τε κεραςὴς, Πνέυμασι συζι#ων, ( ) φωναῖσι τε ἀερομικτοις· That is, "But Jupiter is the God of all, and the mingler of all things; whistling with the breathing winds and aerial voices." And this perfectly a…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXVIII. CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE
XXXVIII. TO CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE mighty ruler of this earthly ball, For ever flowing, to these rites I call; p. 170 Martial and blest, unseen by mortal sight, Preventing fears, and pleas'd with gloomy night: Hence…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXV. THE MUSES (part 1)
LXXV. TO THE MUSES. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. Daughters of Jove, dire-sounding and divine, 1 Renown'd Pierian, sweetly speaking Nine; p. 206 To those whose breasts your sacred furies fire Much-form'd, the objects of supreme desi…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 4 (part 2)
Wherein have I done amiss? What have I done? What have I omitted that I ought to have done? 43. If in this examination thou find that thou hast done amiss, reprimand thyself severely for it; 44. And if thou hast done any good, rejoice.…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 3)
"Thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope," knowing the nature of all things, and what is possible. 55. The Gods near at hand are virtue and truth. p. 17 59, 60. The fatal strife is caused by our inclination "madly to run cou…”
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hermeticism24
Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1a
To Asclepius <This dialogue sets forth the difference between the physical and metaphysical worlds in the context of Greek natural philosophy. Some of the language is fairly technical: the "errant spheres" of sections 6 and 7 are the celes…”
Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1b
A: How is it, then, that things down here, Thrice-greatest one, are moved with those that are [already] moved? For thou hast said the errant spheres were moved by the inerrant one. H: This is not, O Asclepius, a moving with, but one again…”
Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1a
Though Unmanifest God Is Most Manifest 1. I will recount to thee this sermon (logos) too, O Tat, that thou may'st cease to be without the mysteries of the God beyond all name. And mark thou well how that which to the many seems unmanifest…”
Corpus Hermeticum 8: The Eight Sphere | Section 1a
That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths <The idea of cyclic change central to CH III, "The Sacred Sermon", also takes center stage here. A current of ancient specula…”
Corpus Hermeticum 9: The Decalogue | Section 1a
On Thought and Sense <This somewhat diffuse essay covers a series of topics, starting with (and to some extent from) the concept that the set of perceptions we call "thoughts" and the set we call "sensory perceptions" are not significantly…”
Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1a
The Key <This longer tractate presents itself explicitly as a summary or abridgement of the General Sermons (CH II-IX), and discusses the Hermetic view of knowledge and its role in the lives and afterlives of human beings. The attentive re…”
Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1f
But God is o'er them all, and God contains them all. God's rays, to use a figure, are His energies; the Cosmos's are natures, the arts and sciences are man's. The energies act through the Cosmos, thence through the nature-rays of Cosmos u…”
Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer | Section 1b
But for the moment, [Tat,] let be the teaching as to vice and Fate, for we have spoken of these things in other [of our sermons]; but now our teaching (logos) is about the Mind: - what Mind can do, and how it is [so] different - in men bein…”
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buddhism23
The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1e
It is the negative of the fourth Nidâna, the so-called Upâdâna, which Köppen has well explained by Anhänglichkeit, 'taking to the world, loving the world.' Köppen, Die Religion des Buddha, p. 610. Cf. Suttanipâta, v. 470 .]…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1b
A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in earnestness, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, [25. Childers explains this island again as the state of an Arhat (arahatta-phalam). 28. Cf. Childers, Dictionary, Preface, p. xiv. See Vinaya,…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1b
That s ru means 'to run,' and is in fact a merely dialectic variety of sru, has been proved by Burnouf, while Boehtlingk thinks the substitution of s for s is a mistake. Â s rava therefore, or âsrava, meant originally 'the running out towa…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1a
p. 16 CHAPTER IV. FLOWERS [1] . 44. Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right)…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter VI, Section 1b
I would rather take the whole sentence together as a gloss upon the word va g anti:--va g antîti arahatta ñ ânena apaka ddh antâ kh andarâga m vi g ahanti; va g anti means that, ridding themselves of lust by the wisdom which Arhatship confe…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter XI, Section 1a
p. 41 CHAPTER XI. OLD AGE. 146. How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always burning? Why do you not seek a light, ye who are surrounded by darkness? 147. Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with wounds, joined…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter XI, Section 1b
In the Rudrâya n âvadâna of the Divyâvadâna this verse appears as, Yânîmâny apariddhâni vikshiptâni di s o di s a h , Kapotavar n âny asthîni tâni d ri sh t vaiha kâ rati h . See Schiefner, Mél. Asiat. VIII, p. 589; G âtaka, vol. i. p…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter XI, Section 1c
I had formerly translated anibbisan, as not resting (anirvi s an), but the commentator seems to authorise the meaning of not finding (avindanto, alabhanto), and in that case all the material difficulties of the verse seem to me to disappear…”
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sufism13
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEb
Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not? Because the rust has not been scoured from its face. If it were purified from all rust and defilement, It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6 O friends, ye have now heard this tale, Whic…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY II
The Oilman and his Parrot. An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oi…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IIIa
The Jewish King, his Vazir, and the Christians. A certain Jewish king used to persecute the Christians, desiring to exterminate their faith. His Vazir persuaded him to try a stratagem, namely, to mutilate the Vazir himself, and expel him…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IV
Another Tyrannical Jewish King. A certain Jewish king, the same who is referred to in the Sura "Signs of the Zodiac," I made up his mind to utterly exterminate the Christian faith, and with that view he set up a huge idol, and issued comman…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vc
The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant. The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven. He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5 Yet blind ind…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIa
Omar and the Ambassador. The hare, having delivered his companions from the tyranny of the lion, in the manner just described, proceeds to improve the occasion by exhorting them to engage in a greater and more arduous warfare, viz., the st…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIIa
The Merchant and his Clever Parrot. There was a certain merchant who kept a parrot in a cage. Being about to travel to Hindustan on business, he asked the parrot if he had any message to send to his kinsmen in that country, and the parrot…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IXb
Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress, The Creator's self, as it were, not a mere creature! Moses and Pharaoh, alike doers of God's will, as Light and Darkness. Poison and Antidote. Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right…”
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taoism11
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 127 (part 1)
p. 223 BOOK V. PART I. SECTION V. Teh Khung Fû, or 'The Seal of Virtue Complete 1 .' 1. In Lû 2 there was a Wang Thâi 3 who had lost both his feet 4 ; while his disciples who followed and went about with him were as numerous as those o…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 127 (part 4)
for many months, when I was drawn to the man; and before he had been with me a full year, I had confidence in him. The state being without a chief minister, I (was minded) to commit the government to him. He responded to my proposal sorro…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 127 (part 7)
Shû-shan or Shû hill was, probably, where he dwelt:--'Toeless of Shû hill.' 229:1 'Heaven' here is a synonym of Tâo. Perhaps the meaning is 'unavoidable;' it is so in the Tâoistic order of things. 229:2 It was in the sixteenth year of duk…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 128 (part 12)
All things begin from nothing and end in nothing. Their birth and their death are only the creations of our thought, the going and coming of the primary ether. When we have penetrated to the non-reality of life and death, what remains of…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 129 (part 4)
It conducts nothing and anticipates nothing; it responds to (what is before it), but does not retain it. Thus he is able to deal successfully with all things, and injures none. 7. The Ruler 3 of the Southern Ocean was Shû 4 , the p. 267…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 12
Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and stran…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 13
Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind). What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 127 (part 2)
'As a verification of the (power of) the original endowment, when it has been preserved, take the result of fearlessness,-how the heroic spirit of a single brave soldier has been thrown into an army of nine hosts 4 . If a man only seeking…”
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jewish_mysticism6
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1c
And to it also pertain the following names, namely, the name) IH, Yah (whensoever it is written in full with A in this manner:) IVD HA, Yod Ha (and containeth the number of the numeral powers of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely, 26…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1f
[The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided into three classes, the three mothers as they are called, AMSh; the seven duplex letters, BGDKPRTh, so called because they are sometimes tenues and sometimes aspirates, according to whether th…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XII
XII-XVI. Dream Vision of Enoch: his intercession for Azâzêl and the fallen Angels: and his announcement to them of their first and final doom . CHAPTER XII. 1. Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew whe…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XIV (part 2)
None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. 22. The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh H…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XXXIX
XXXIX. The Abode of the Righteous and of the Elect One: the Praises of the Blessed . CHAPTER XXXIX. 1. [ And it †shall come to pass in those days that elect and holy children †will descend from the high heaven, and their seed †will become o…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter LX (part 1)
LX. Book of Noah--a Fragment . p. 76 Quaking of Heaven: Behemoth and Leviathan: the Elements . CHAPTER LX. 1. In the year five hundred, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the life of †Enoch†. In that Parable…”
mandaean6
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 4
Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. 4 YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and says: "Through my Father's discourses I give light and through the praise of the Man, my creator, I have freed my soul from the world and fr…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 7
YAHYĀ proclaims and speaks: "Ye nobles, who lie there, ye ladies, who will not awaken,—ye who lie there, what will you do on the Day of the Judgment? When the soul strips off the body, on Judgment-Day what will you do? O thou distracted, ju…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 15
When the youth saw her alone, he set himself free and fell down from the cloud. He set himself free and fell down from the cloud and kissed the mouth of Enishbai. When Anōsh, the treasure, saw him [do this], he spake unto Yahyā in Jerusalem…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 16
When Messiah said this, Yahyā cries aloud; tears come to him without ceasing, and he speaks: "[God] forbid that the high King of Light should look for lot in deceivers. The soul is not like the blood, that it should become heated in the bod…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 17
"[The women] who wept ran hither and thither and [the men] who wailed ran hither and thither, as long as the body lay there before them. When the soul leaves the body, four 2 go forth to the graveyard. [The women] who wept ran hither and th…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Some Typical Extracts | Section 15
"Who will come, who tell me what was before this? When the heaven was not yet outspread and stars were not yet in it figured, when the earth was not yet condensed and into the water no condensation had fallen, when sun and moon came not as…”
finnic5
The Kalevala | Rune IVc
Deck thy brow with silken ribbon, Trim with gold thy throbbing temples, And thy neck with pearly necklace, Hang the gold-cross on thy bosom, Robe thyself in pure, white linen Spun from flax of finest fiber; Wear withal the richest short-fro…”
The Kalevala | Rune IVd
Thus the tearful maiden answered: Therefore do I weep and sorrow, Wretched maiden all my life long, Since poor Aino, thou hast given, Since thy daughter thou hast promised To the aged Wainamoinen, Comfort to his years declining Prop to stay…”
The Kalevala | Rune XXIIIg
"Thus did I, a youthful housewife, At the right time, all my duties, Drenched myself in perspiration, Hoped for better times to follow; But I only rose to labor, Knowing neither rest nor pleasure. I was blamed by all the household, With un…”
The Kalevala | Rune XXXVc
When the day-star led the morning, When the second day was dawning, Then the maid addressed Kullervo, Questioned thus the wicked wizard: "Of what tribe art thou descended, Of what race thy hero-father? Tell thy lineage and kindred.` This,…”
The Kalevala | Rune XXXVd
In the court-yard stood the mother, Thus the wicked son addressed her: "Faithful mother, fond and tender, Hadst thou slain me when an infant, Smoked my life out in the chamber, In a winding-sheet hadst thrown me To the cataract and whirlpoo…”
egyptian4
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 44)
The preservation of the corruptible body too was in some way connected with the life in the world to come, and its preservation was necessary to ensure eternal life; otherwise the prayers recited to this end would have been futile, and the…”
The Egyptian Heaven and Hell | Chapter 30 (part 2)
When the disk is on the horizon all men know that the monsters of the Tuat have failed to destroy AFU-RA or to obstruct his passage, that the god has, with the aid of KHEPERA, made all his transformations, that he has appeared in the sky ag…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 5 (part 3)
When Isis heard of this she went to Byblos, and, gaining admittance to the palace through the report of the royal maidens, she was made nurse to one of the king's sons, Instead of nursing the child in the ordinary way, Isis gave him her fin…”
The Egyptian Heaven and Hell | Chapter 31
Sacred-texts Egypt The Egyptian Heaven and Hell by E. A. Wallis Budge [1905] This is a three volume collection of texts and commentary about the Ancient Egyptian alternate reality called the Tuat. The Tuat was both the region that the boat…”
celtic2
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINj
And the king caused them to fetch Elphin in haste from his dungeon, and placed him before Taliesin. And it is said, that immediately he sang a verse, so that the chains opened from about his feet. “I adore the Supreme, Lord of all animati…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINl
And then said Taliesin, “Elphin, behold a payment and reward unto thee, for having taken me out of the weir, and for having reared me from that time until now.” And on this spot stands a pool of water, which is to this time called Pwllbair.…”
norse1
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1j
On his ring swore Othin | the oath, methinks; Who now his troth shall trust? Suttung's betrayal | he sought with drink, And Gunnloth to grief he left. * * * 111. It is time to chant | from the chanter's stool; By the wells of Urth I was,…”