anthropology
Mechanical Humanity
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
185 passages · 12 traditions
western_esoteric150
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XI (part 2)
“But the Hermetists carry the principle much further, and know that its manifestations and influence extend to the mental activities of Man, and that it accounts for the bewildering succession of moods, feelings and other annoying and perple…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XII (part 3)
“One of the series of events arising from the tiny bit of soot was the writing of these lines, which caused the typesetter to perform certain work; the proofreader to do likewise; and which will arouse certain thoughts in your mind, and that…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XII (part 4)
“But the Masters, knowing the rules of the game, rise above the plane of material life, and placing themselves in touch with the higher powers of their nature, dominate their own moods, characters, qualities, and polarity, as well as the env…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XIV (part 4)
“Many have sought for an explanation of these varied phases of phenomena under the theories of the various "dual mind" teachers.
And in a measure they are right, for there is clearly a manifestation of two distinct phases of mental activity…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XV (part 3)
“The masses of people are carried along, obedient to their environment; the wills and desires of others stronger than themselves; the effects of inherited tendencies; the suggestions of those about them; and other outward causes; which tend…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 7. The Pathology Of Non-Human Contacts-g
“The European belief of one man, one life, has imbued us with the idea of death as the supreme evil.
Therefore the European very often does not go to his death when he unites with the elements, but his higher self withdraws from incarnation…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 9. Distinction Between Objective Psychic Attack And Subjective Psychic Disturbance-a
“PSYCHISM, however genuine, is a fruitful cause of self-delusion.
A psychic is invariably highly sensitive and suggestible.
This is the basis of his gifts.
Psychism not being a normal development, among Europeans at any rate, the psychic…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism-x
“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…”
Show all 150 →christian_mysticism9
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 6)
“The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity.
Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 10)
“It is itself the most secret thing, which can be known by no one except by him who has experienced it; neither do those that live entirely within the realm of animality, or within that of the speculating intellect, believe that such a state…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 1)
“p.
140 CHAPTER VII.
MAN.
"God created man in His own image.
Male and female ( in one ) created He them." Man in his cosmic aspect is a being very superior to that which is commonly looked upon as a "man," and which is described in books…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 13)
“154:1 This is the difference between life in the terrestrial and life in the celestial states of nature, that the former is differentiated into forms, each of which loves to live in the consciousness of its own illusive self— i.e.
, in a s…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 5)
“189 four states, forms, or temperaments are called the choleric, the sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholy temperament.
In the choleric one is the nature and quality of the fire manifested, in the sanguine that of the air, in the phlegmatic…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 9)
“183:1 If man's imagination were not excited by the pictorial representations which the objects of the surrounding world call forth in his mind by means of his external senses, but if his mental activity were restricted to forming images by…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 10)
“The conditions of these animal elementals in the constitution of man are some of those causes of his bodily ills of which modern medical science is entirely ignorant.
191:1 This is the way in which the "personalities" mentioned in the Book…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 4)
“Therefore the Word and the bruiser of the head of the serpent did not enter into form within their souls; but it stood within the mind to oppose the devils and the kingdom of hell with those that were willing to surrender themselves to it."…”
Show all 9 →neoplatonism6
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III
“I wish, in the next place, to reply to such assertions as calumniate divine prediction. For you compare with it “ certain other methods which are conversant with the prediction of future events .” To me, however, it does not appear to be an…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-aq
“και αετοι μεν, και δρακοντες, βιωσιμοι αυτοις προς υγειαν υποθεσις´ αιλουροι δε και κυνες, και κορακες αγρυπνητικα συμβολα.
κηρος δε και πηλος εις τας των μοριων συμπλασεις παραλαμβανονται.
φανταζει δε πολλακις, και πυρος ουρανιου εδοσεις…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 180
“Section 4 4. Another theory: The Universe is permeated by one Soul, Cause of all things and events; every separate phenomenon as a member of a whole moves in its place with the general movement; all the various causes spring into action fro…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 181 (part 1)
“Section 5 5.
But perhaps the explanation of every particular act or event is rather that they are determined by the spheric movement- the Phora- and by the changing position of the heavenly bodies as these stand at setting or rising or in…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 203 (part 2)
“That one Reason-Principle, then, must be the unification of conflicting Reason-Principles whose very opposition is the support of its coherence and, almost, of its Being.
And indeed, if it were not multiple, it could not be a Universal Pri…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 340
“Section 20 20. As with bodily pain and pleasure so with the bodily desires; their origin, also, must be attributed to what thus stands midway, to that Nature we described as the corporeal. Body undetermined cannot be imagined to give rise t…”
gnosticism5
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Archons Conspire Against Adam
“When they gazed down, they realized that his intellect surpassed (their own), and they convened in counsel together with the group of archons and all angels.
They took fire and earth [II, 21] and water, and combined them with each other to…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Chief Archon Pollutes Eve
“I appeared in the shape of an eagle on the tree of knowledge, which is Reflection of Providence of Pure Light, so that I could instruct them and rouse them out of their deep sleep, because both of them were in a fallen condition, and they w…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Savior Enters the Realm of Darkness
“Therefore, I, the perfect Providence of the all, transformed myself into my (own) seed, because I was the first to exist, traveling all paths, because I am the wealth of the light.
[IV, 47] I am the remembrance of the Fullness, but I enter…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 97
“Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain woman who was carrying a jar full of meal. While she was walking on the road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her on the roa…”
Pistis Sophia | Document THIRD-m
“Now therefore they are wont to bear the child, the power in him being small, and being small in him the soul, and being small in him the counterfeit spirit also in one word, being small the three together: having not any of them any percept…”
hermeticism3
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1e
“To the first zone he gives the Energy of Growth and Waning; unto the second [zone], Device of Evils [now] de-energized; unto the third, the Guile of the Desires de-energized; unto the fourth, his Domineering Arrogance, [also] de-energized;…”
Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1c
“For that the soul who hath no knowledge of the things that are, or knowledge of their nature, or of Good, is blinded by the body's passions and tossed about.
This wretched soul, not knowing what she is, becomes the slave of bodies of stran…”
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…”
platonism3
Plato: Republic | Section 1a
“BOOK VII SOCRATES - GLAUCON AND now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:--Behold!
human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the…”
Plato: Republic | Section 1d
“But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasures, such as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights, were attached to them at their birth, and…”
Plato: Republic | Section 1n
“And you would say the same of the conception of the good?
Until the person is able to abstract and define rationally the idea of good, and unless he can run the gauntlet of all objections, and is ready to disprove them, not by appeals to o…”
renaissance_hermeticism3
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-b
“The Waldensians, who had lately been driven out of Piedmont, and had sought a shelter in the Calabrian territory, were hunted down and given over to the executioner.
The convent was the only refuge from violence, and Bruno, either from rel…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-a
“.
Tansillo.
Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in his soul, and he says thus: 9.
Of Love the standard-bearer I; My hopes are ice, and g…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-b
“He forms intelligible conceptions in his own way and proportions them to his capacity, so that they are received according to the manner of the recipient.
Tans.
And does he hunt through the operation of the will, by the act of which he co…”
sufism2
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IX-a
“The Arab and his Wife.
An Arab lived with his wife in the desert in extreme poverty, so that they became a reproach to their neighbours.
The wife at last lost patience, and began to abuse her husband, and to urge him to improve their cond…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY XV-b
“When you are cured of your sickness, O invalid, Then leave out the vinegar and eat pure honey.
When the heart is garnished and swept clear of lust, Therein 'The God of Mercy sitteth on His throne.' 5 Then God rules the heart immediately, W…”
buddhism1
The Dhammapada | Chapter XXIV, Section 1a
“p.
80 CHAPTER XXIV.
THIRST.
334.
The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like a creeper; he runs from life to life, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.
335.
Whomsoever this fierce thirst overcomes, full of poison, in this world,…”
greek_mystery1
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.…”
hinduism1
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter III, Section 1a
“CHAPTER III.
Ar g una said: If, O Ganârdana!
devotion is deemed by you to be superior to action, then why, O Kesava!
do you prompt me to (this) fearful action?
You seem, indeed, to confuse my mind by equivocal words.
Therefore, declare…”
taoism1
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book II (part 8)
“You see the egg, and (immediately) look out for the cock (that is to be hatched from it); you see the bow, and (immediately) look out for the dove (that is to be brought down by it) being roasted.
I will try to explain the thing to you in…”