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soteriology

Esoteric Lineage

A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).

185 passages · 10 traditions
theosophy: 130 passagestheosophy130western_esoteric: 42 passageswestern_esoteric42neoplatonism: 3 passagesneoplatonism3renaissance_hermeticism: 3 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism3christian_mysticism: 2 passageschristian_mysticism2buddhism: 1 passagebuddhism1jewish_mysticism: 1 passagejewish_mysticism1mandaean: 1 passagemandaean1native_american: 1 passagenative_american1taoism: 1 passagetaoism1
theosophy130
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page xvii]] INTRODUCTORY. ------- "Gently to hear, kindly to judge." -- S HAKESPEARE. S INCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to c…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 2)
“"When Buddhi absorbs our E GOtism (destroys it) with all its Vikaras, Avalokiteshvara becomes manifested to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti, is reached," "Mukti" being the same as Nirvana, i.e. , freedom from the trammels of "Maya" or illusion.…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 3)
“I say "a few truths," advisedly, because that which must remain unsaid could not be contained in a hundred such volumes, nor could it be imparted to the present generation of Sadducees. But, even the little that is now given is better than…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 4)
“*** According to the same tradition the now desolate regions of the waterless land of Tarim -- a true wilderness in the heart of Turkestan -- were in the days of old covered with flourishing and wealthy cities. At present, hardly a few ver…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 6)
“When, however, he takes the opportunity of saying in the same breath that Odin "was worshipped as the supreme deity during a period long anterior to the age of the Veda and of Homer" ( Compar. Theol., p. 318), he has not the slightest " h…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 7)
“Thus, though the Mother of Mercury (Budha, Thot-Hermes, etc.), was Maia, the mother of Buddha (Gautama), also Maya, and the mother of Jesus, likewise Maya (illusion, for Mary is Mare, the Sea, the great illusion symbolically) -- yet these t…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 8)
“This statement is rendered more credible by a consideration of the following facts: the tradition of the thousands of ancient parchments saved when the Alexandrian library was destroyed; the thousands of Sanskrit works which disappeared in…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 2 (part 9)
“I believe in the ancients and therefore I love them."** (Quoted in "Science of Religions" by Max Muller.) The writer loves them too, and therefore believes in the ancients, and the modern heirs to their Wisdom. And believing in both, she n…”
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western_esoteric42
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter I (part 1)
“CHAPTER I THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY "The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding"--The Kybalion. From old Egypt have come the fundamental esoteric and occult teachings which have so strongly influenced the philosophies…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 4. Projection Of The Etheric Body-a
“BEFORE we can leave the subject of attack by incarnate human beings, we must consider the subject of etheric projection. In this case not only is the mind at work, but also something which is pretty nearly physical; sufficiently physical,…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 4. Projection Of The Etheric Body-d
“I had had enough experience of practical occultism to know that the thing I had called into visible manifestation could be controlled by my will provided I did not panic; but that if I lost my nerve and it got the upper hand, I had a Franke…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 5. Vampirism-b
“Such cases are by no of means uncommon, and clear up rapidly when the victim is separated from the vampire. Whenever there is a record of a close and dominating bond between two people with the devitalisation of one of them, it is a good p…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-f
“I smashed my way through two entire tea-sets and all the mantelpiece ornaments. The ornaments just fell off the mantelpiece one by one of their own accord. I actually saw two of them do it. I did not know at the time that the Element of…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-a
“If the problem of psychic self-defence is to be adequately dealt with, we must have an understanding of a subject upon which very little has been written - the nature of the forces of intelligent and organised evil. The great faiths of the…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 8. The Risks Incidental To Ceremonial Magic-e
“Enough must be hinted, however, to reveal what, under certain circumstances, may be experienced. I do not think it in the least likely, however, that the Qlippotic demons will be encountered save through the use of ceremonial magic. They…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 11. The Psychic Element In Mental Disturbance-b
“The surrounding country, too, is reduced to a morass, neither land nor water. In other words, the temperament becomes tempestuous and unduly emotional, and the non-emotional factors of the mind, such as judgment and self-control, are demor…”
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neoplatonism3
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I
“Leaving, therefore, these particulars, you wish in the next place that I would unfold to you “ What the Egyptians conceive the first cause to be; whether intellect, or above intellect; whether alone, or subsisting with some other or others;…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-e
““The divine Iamblichus, however, doubts how the Gods are said to be allotted certain places according to definite times, as, by Plato in the Timæus, Minerva is said to have been first allotted the guardianship of Athens, and afterwards of S…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ba
“of my translation of Plato, where many of these names are beautifully unfolded from the MS. Scholia of Proclus on the Cratylus. 127 . See the additional notes at the end of vol. v. of my translation of Plato, and also the notes to my t…”
renaissance_hermeticism3
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter II — What Magic Is, What Are the Parts Thereof, and How the Professors Thereof Must Be Qualified | Chapter II, Section 1b
“It instructs us also concerning Faith, Miracles, the virtues of Words and Figures , the secret operations and mysteries of Seals; and, as Apuleius saith, it teacheth us rightly to understand and to be skilled in the Ceremonial Laws, the equ…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1d
“For the Ternary, with the magical Quaternary, produces a perfect Septenary, endowed with many arcana and demonstrated by things which are known. When the Quaternary rests in the Ternary, then arises the Light of the World on the horizon of…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1t
“The Aurora is by some regarded as an instance in point; though no doubt in the main it is a genuine work of the Sage of Hohenheim, yet in some respects it does seem to approximate somewhat closely to previous schools of Alchemy, which can s…”
christian_mysticism2
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…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 5)
“The wrath must kill and consume the external image that has grown in the wrath, but from its death springs forth the eternal life." ( Mysterium , xxviii. 14.) "Abel, representing an antitype of Christ, who was to suffer death for humanity,…”
buddhism1
Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter) | Section 1l
“All these beings, O Subhûti, will equally remember the Bodhi (the highest Buddha-knowledge), will recite it, and understand it. And why? Because it is not possible, O Subhûti, that this treatise of the Law should be heard by beings of lit…”
jewish_mysticism1
The Lesser Holy Assembly (Idra Zuta Qadisha) | Idra Zuta, Chapter 1 (part 1)
“CHAPTER VIII. CONCERNING THE FOREHEAD OF MACROPROSOPUS. 87. THE forehead of His skull is the acceptation of acceptations, whereunto is opposed the acceptation of Microprosopus, like as it is written, Exod. xxviii. 38: "And it shall be…”
mandaean1
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Some Typical Extracts | Section 14
“That the Mandæan religion preserves echoes of a wealth of ancient mythical elements found in Iranian, Babylonian and Semitic traditions is evident on all hands. A process of syncretism had presumably gone on for generations before an impuls…”
native_american1
Myths of the Cherokee | Myth 108a
“THE MASSACRE OF THE ANI′-KUTA′NĬ Among other perishing traditions is that relating to the Ani′-Kuta′nĭ or Ani′-Kwăta′nĭ, concerning whom the modern Cherokee know so little that their very identity is now a matter of dispute, a few holding t…”
taoism1
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book VI (part 3)
“When the springs are dried up, the fishes collect together on the land. Than that they should moisten one another there by the damp about them, and keep one another wet by their slime, it would be better for them to forget one another in t…”