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ethics

Paradox As Teaching

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

1,180 passages · 21 traditions
neoplatonism: 188 passagesneoplatonism188christian_mysticism: 179 passageschristian_mysticism179western_esoteric: 159 passageswestern_esoteric159gnosticism: 140 passagesgnosticism140platonism: 115 passagesplatonism115taoism: 110 passagestaoism110buddhism: 67 passagesbuddhism67renaissance_hermeticism: 63 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism63hermeticism: 33 passageshermeticism33theosophy: 24 passagestheosophy24greek_mystery: 21 passagesgreek_mystery21sufism: 19 passagessufism19biblical: 15 passagesbiblical15egyptian: 12 passagesegyptian12jewish_mysticism: 12 passagesjewish_mysticism12hinduism: 8 passageshinduism8celtic: 6 passagesceltic6mandaean: 4 passagesmandaean4finnic: 3 passagesfinnic3norse: 1 passagenorse1upanishads: 1 passageupanishads1
neoplatonism188
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I
“Hermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over the true science concerning the Gods 18 is one and the same in the whole of things. Hence our ancest…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III
“In the first place, therefore, you say, “ it must be granted that there are Gods .” Thus to speak, however, is not right on this subject. For an innate knowledge of the Gods is coexistent with our very essence; and this knowledge is superio…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-a
“With respect to your inquiry, “ what the peculiarities are in each of the more excellent genera, by which they are separated from each other? ” if you understand by peculiarities the specific differences under the same genus, which are dis…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-b
“This, therefore, subsists contrarily to what you suppose, for the purpose of discovering the peculiarity which you now investigate. In short, whether you think that there is one genus of the Gods, one of dæmons, and in a similar manner of…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V-b
“Again, however, according to another mode of considering the subject, it is necessary to ascribe to the Gods the whole of that which is united, of whatever kind it may be; that which is firmly established in itself, and which is the cause o…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI
“What, therefore, shall we say concerning the media? I think, indeed, that from what has been before said, they will be manifest to every one; for these give completion to the indivisible connexion of the extremes. Nevertheless, it is necess…”
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 VIII-a
“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…”
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christian_mysticism179
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1a
“CHAPTER X Concerning ” Omnipotent ,” ” Ancient of Days “; and also concerning ” Eternity “ and ” Time .” 1. Now ‘tis time that our Discourse should celebrate God (Whose Names are many) as “Omnipotent” and “Ancient of Days.” The former titl…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1b
“For where Scripture speaks of things as “eternal” it doth not always mean things that are absolutely Uncreated or verily Everlasting, Incorruptible, 171 Immortal, Invariable, and Immutable ( e.g. “Be ye lift up, ye eternal doors,” 461 461…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1c
“It is spoken of by ail the Christian Mystics as the root of our being, or as the spark, or the Synteresis, etc. Our perfection consists in this ultimate reality, which is each man’s self, shining through his whole being and transforming it…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1b
“For even as things which are intellectually discerned 52 52 i. e. The Transcendent Truths which are beyond ordinary knowledge. νοητά . The word νοῦς = Mind in the sense not merely of abstract intellect but of the spiritual personality.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1e
“These mysteries we learn from the Divine Scriptures, and thou wilt find that in well-nigh all the utterances of the Sacred Writers the Divine Names refer in a Symbolical Revelation 72 72 ἐκφαντορικῶς καὶ ὑμνητικῶς. to Its beneficent Emanat…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1h
“that which makes an individual thing to be one thing); (2) Mental or Spiritual intercourse; (3) Physical intercourse; (4) Sense perception. Here it = either (1) or (2), probably (1). limit, infinity, everything that exists. And yet since…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1i
“1 . as “God of Gods” and “Lord of Lords”, 108 108 Ps. cxxxvi. 2, 3 . and “Holy of Holies,” 109 109 Isa. vi. 3 . as “Eternal,” 110 110 Deut. xxxiii. 27 . as “Existent” 111 111 Ex. iii. 14 . and as “Creator of Ages,” 112 112 Gen.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1m
“65 In the whole of this passage God is spoken of as at the same time Efficient, Formal and Final Cause of the soul’s activity. D. teaches that God is present in all things, but not equally in all. Cf. Intr., p. 14 66 Gen. i. 67 Three…”
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western_esoteric159
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 6 (part 1)
“PART I THE LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC Click to view THE SERPENT OF THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES. From a Greek Vase Painting. CHAPTER I The antiquity of Magical Rituals § 1. The Importance of Ceremonial Magic THE ordinary fields of ps…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 9 (part 4)
“The sources of occult wisdom, it proceeds, are, firstly, in God; secondly, in spiritual essences--that is to say, the Angelical Hierarchy; thirdly, in corporeal creatures, the reference being probably to the signatura rerum of Paracelsus; f…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 38 (part 2)
“The attempt to propitiate the Deity by means of prayers, sacrifices and abstinence, and thus to obtain the Divine assistance for the successful consummation of hideous offences and preposterous or impossible undertakings, is, of course, mad…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 74 (part 3)
“Éliphas Lévi observes that the directions recall the history of the bell of Rodilard, but the criticism is scarcely commensurate, for the material is certainly obtainable, nor would it be necessary to catch one's own hyena. The point which…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter II (part 2)
“The ancient Hermetists considered this Principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man was able to pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter IV (part 3)
“It must be Infinite in Space--it must be Everywhere, for there is no place outside of THE ALL--it cannot be otherwise than continuous in Space, without break, cessation, separation, or interruption, for there is nothing to break, separate,…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 1)
“CHAPTER VII "THE ALL" IN ALL "While All is in THE ALL, it is equally true that THE ALL is in ALL. To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge."--The Kybalion. How often have the majority of people heard repeated the…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 4)
“And just as THE ALL arouses itself from the meditation upon the Universe, so does Man (in time) cease from manifesting upon the Material Plane, and withdraws himself more and more into the Indwelling Spirit, which is indeed "The Divine Ego.…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Philosophy of Pythagoras-h
“This fifth element, or ether, was called by the Hindus akasa . It was closely correlated with the hypothetical ether of modern science, and was the interpenetrative substance permeating all of the other elements and acting as a common solv…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Fraternity of the Rose Cross-h
“The rose as a religious emblem is of great antiquity. It was accepted by the Greeks as the symbol of the sunrise, or of the coming of dawn. In his Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass, Apuleius, turned into a donkey because of his foolishness, re…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Theory and Practice of Alchemy-q
“But most men either revile, or contemne that, our Manifesto, (the Fama and Confessio Fraternitatis ) or else waiving the Spirit of God, they expect the proposals thereof from us, supposing we will straightway teach them how to make gold by…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Hermetic And Alchemical Figures of Claudius De Dominico Celentano Vallis Novi-b
“Those black clouds will [descend] to the body whence they came, and the junction of body, soul, and spirit has been completed and turned to ashes." The eighth bottle is divided horizontally by a golden band, from which rises a golden stem e…”
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Page 26
“THE HANGED MAN. THE HANGED MAN. 12. ל 12th Hebrew letter (Lamed). ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TWELFTH CARD OF THE TAROT. Hieroglyphically the Lamed designates the arm, and therefore it is connected with anything that stretches, that rais…”
The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus) | Chapter XXI (part 4)
“But one priest, observing that virtue is a most fragile thing, and most difficult to find, at all events in a continuous line, proposed to confide the scientific traditions to vice. The latter, he said, would never fail completely, and thr…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter I (part 4)
“New forms of knowledge. The ideas of Plotinus. Different forms of consciousness. Sleep (the potential state of consciousness). Dreams (consciousness en-closed in itself, reflected from itself). Waking consciousness (dualistic sensation…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Page 4 (part 3)
“Just as Goethe's Werther , with its sex-sentimentality, is said to have provoked an epidemic of suicides, so may Tertium Organum —which restores love to that high heaven from whence descend every beauty and benison—inaugurate a renascence o…”
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 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 II (part 2)
“By a remarkable analysis the great geometers above mentioned have shown that space is not limited as ordinary experience would seem to inform us, but that we are quite capable of conceiving different kinds of space. ( A New Era of Thought…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter II (part 3)
“The thought of past ages has used the conception of a three-dimensional space, and by that means has classified many phenomena and has obtained rules for dealing with matters of great practical utility. The path which opens immediately bef…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter II (part 5)
“But if I should prove that a house, i.e., a physical fact, may exist, it does not at all mean that it exists really. If I prove that a man may own the house it is no proof that he owns it. Our relation to an idea and to a house are quite…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter II (part 6)
“." 1 But the formula defining "space" as "the form of matter in the universe" suffers from this deficiency, that there is introduced in it the concept of "matter," i.e., the unknown . I have already spoken of that "dead-end siding," x=y, y…”
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 III (part 1)
“p. 34 CHAPTER III What may we learn about the fourth dimension by a study of the geometrical relations within our space? What should be the relation between a three-dimensional body and one of four dimensions? The four-dimensional body a…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter III (part 2)
“In analogy with all this, the solid, in order to leave as the tracing of its movement, the four-dimensional figure (hypersolid) shall move in a direction not confined in it; or in other words it shall come out of itself, set off from itself…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 1)
“p. 38 CHAPTER IV In what direction may the fourth dimension lie? What is motion? Two kinds of motion—motion in space and motion in time—which are contained in every movement. What is time? Two ideas contained in the conception of time.…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 2)
“The future also does not exist—it does not exist as yet. It has not arrived, has not formed. By the present we mean the moment of transition of the future into the past, i.e., the moment of transition of a phenomenon from one non-existenc…”
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 4)
“43 little bit of that present, and this alone we count as existent, denying a real existence to everything else. If we admit this, then our view of everything with which we are surrounded will change very considerably. Usually we regard t…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 5)
“There results in the other case a life upon some sort of needle-point called the present , which is surrounded on all sides by an abyss of non-existence, a journey in a country which does not as yet exist , a life in a world which is born a…”
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 IV (part 8)
“We have that sense, therefore we sense motion. The time-sense is the sensation of changing moments. If we did not have this time-sense we could not feel motion. The "time-sense" is itself, in substance, the limit or the surface of our "s…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 9)
“But taking into consideration the ideas expressed before it would be interesting to look at the world supposing that we are not in it but on the ether; where the "ether" is the surface of contact of two bodies of higher dimensions. 1 Hinto…”
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 V (part 2)
“Form pertains to all things . We say that everything consists of matter and form . Under the category of "matter," as already stated, the cause of a lengthy series of mixed sensations is predicated, but matter without form is not comprehe…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter V (part 3)
“If we look at our two hands we see this clearly, though the two hands represent a complex case of a symmetrical similarity. Now there is one way in which the right hand and the left hand may practically be brought into likeness. If we tak…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter V (part 4)
“57 i.e., upon the surface, it is impossible to define the position of the solid, the side of which constitutes the given surface, so in the geometry of three dimensions, in three-dimensional space, it is impossible to define a four-dimensio…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 1)
“p. 59 CHAPTER VI Methods of investigation of the problem of higher dimensions. The analogy between imaginary worlds of different dimensions. The one-dimensional world on a line. "Space" and "time" of a one-dimensional being. The two-di…”
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 VI (part 3)
“Sensing lines only, the plane being will not sense them as we do. First of all, he will see no angle . It is extremely easy for us to verify this by experiment. If we will hold before our eyes two matches, inclined one to the other in a…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 4)
“As has been said, the two-dimensional being will regard the straight lines only as immobile matter; irregular lines and curves will seem to him as moving. So far as really moving lines are concerned, that is, lines limiting the cross-secti…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 5)
“For the being living on a plane, everything above and below (if the plane be horizontal), and on the right or left (if the plane be vertical) will be existing in time, in the past and in the future: that which in reality is located outside…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 6)
“To the plane being the idea that some phenomena come whence others go, and vice versa, will seem equally absurd. He will tenaciously think that the future is that wherefrom everything comes, and the past is that whereto everything goes and…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 7)
“He would lack "necessary words." For instance, "section"—this would be for him a quite new and inconceivable word; then "angle"—again an inconceivable word; "centre"—still more inconceivable; the third perpendicular—something incomprehensib…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 8)
“Suppose now the spiral to be still and the film to move vertically upward, the whole spiral will be represented in the film in the consecutive positions of the point of intersection. FIG I FIG II If instead of one spiral we take a complica…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VI (part 9)
“Until the plane being shall imagine all our universe as existing in time, i.e., until he refers to time everything lying on both sides of his plane, he will never understand anything. In order to begin to understand "the third dimension" t…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VII (part 1)
“p. 73 CHAPTER VII The impossibility of the mathematical definition of dimensions. Why does not mathematics sense dimensions? The entire conditionality of the representation of dimensions by powers. The possibility of representing all po…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VIII (part 10)
“The mental development of a child may be arrested by making it memorize a series of words or a series of figures. The animal is in just such a position. Herein lies the explanation of the strange fact that an animal is wiser when it is yo…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 1)
“p. 98 CHAPTER IX The receptivity of the world by a man and by an animal. Illusions of the animal and its lack of control of the receptive faculties. The world of moving planes. Angles and curves considered as motion. The third dimensio…”
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 3)
“Although we can say the last, the animal cannot, for to its apprehension things are as they appear. It must believe what it sees. How does the world appear to the animal? The world appears to it as a series of complicated moving surfaces…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 4)
“For the animal it will be one phenomenon , just as for us all similar, simultaneous phenomena proceeding from a single point will be one phenomenon. Therefore the animal will see the world as a surface, and will measure this surface in two…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 5)
“We perceive convexity or sphericality as a common property of many surfaces. The animal, on the contrary, because of the very properties of its psychic apparatus, will perceive that sphericality as an individual property of a given sphere.…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 6)
“Probably it feels heat, cold, light, darkness, hunger—and it instinctively (i.e., urged by pleasure-pain guidance) strives to reach the uneaten edge of the leaf on which it rests, and instinctively avoids the dead leaf. Its movements are g…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IX (part 7)
“And these two kinds of motion will be incommensurable for it. The animal will be in a position to measure an angle or a convex surface, though not understanding their true nature, and though regarding them as motion. But true motion, i.e.…”
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 3)
“It appears to us as if it is really growing up, i.e., as though it did not exist before. There disappeared the river, which was visible for so long a time; there appeared the bell-tower, which was invisible before. Such, exactly, is our r…”
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 X (part 5)
“To the two-dimensional being time is necessary for the understanding of the most simple phenomena—an angle, a hill, a ditch. For us time is not necessary for the understanding of such phenomena, but is necessary for the explanation of the…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter X (part 6)
“The mind will have to open its doors to objects each possessing such an enormous, such an infinite number of signs and characteristics that to comprehend them by means of the reason is absolutely impossible. And if one wants to comprehend…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter X (part 7)
“An age of great inspiration and unconscious productiveness is invariably followed by an age of criticism and consciousness. The one affords material for the analyzing and critical intellect of the other. Thus all those great characters wh…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XI (part 1)
“p. 124 CHAPTER XI Science and the problem of the fourth dimension. The address of Prof. N. A. Oumoff before the Mendeleevskian Convention in 1911—"The Characteristic Traits and Problems of Contemporary Scientific Thought." The new phys…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XI (part 2)
“I talked with him in January, 1912, and from our conversation I saw that he was stopping half way, as it were, between the ideas of the fourth dimension approximating p. 126 those expressed by me in the first edition of Tertium Organum and…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XI (part 5)
“The transition from one point to another of this film corresponds to our concept of the flow of time. This fourth dimension we will call, therefore, time. The film of a cinematograph can replace the reel of any tape-measure, and contrariw…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 1)
“p. 143 CHAPTER XIII The apparent and the hidden side of life. Positivism as the study of the phenomenal side of life. Of what does the "two-dimensionality" of positive philosophy consist? The regarding of everything upon a single plane,…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 2)
“The positivistic scientist finds himself in the presence of nature almost in the position of a savage in a library of rare and valuable books. For a savage a book is a thing of definite size and weight. However long he may ask himself wha…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 3)
“Just as it is impossible for a savage to attain to an understanding of the nature of a watch by a study of its phenomenal side—the number of wheels, and the number of teeth in each gear—so also for the positivistic scientist, studying the e…”
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 XIII (part 6)
“These chains of events go on continuously, inter-weaving among themselves, entering one into another, sometimes hidden from our eyes, and sometimes visible. I find an admirable description of this idea in the chapter on "Karma" in Light on…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 7)
“153 has really entered a cul de sac out of which there is no escape, and the official recognition of the fact that the direction it has taken is entirely the wrong one, is only a question of time. _____ We may say—not as an assumption, but…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIII (part 8)
“They may vary infinitely, i.e., may seem various, ever new from some new standpoint, but they cannot utterly vanish, any more than they can cease, come to an end. All that is highest to which we shall come in the understanding of the meani…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 1)
“p. 156 CHAPTER XIV The voices of stones. The wall of a church and the wall of a prison. The mast of a ship and a gallows. The shadow of a hangman and of an ascetic. The soul of a hangman and of an ascetic. The different combinations o…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 3)
“Therefore, the first emotion at the rising of the curtain on "that world"—i.e., this our world, but free of those limitations under which we usually regard it—must be of wonderment , and this wonderment must grow greater and greater accordi…”
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 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 XV (part 1)
“p. 166 CHAPTER XV Occultism and love. Love and death. Our different relations to the problems of death and to the problems of love. What is lacking in our understanding of love? Love as an every-day and merely psychological phenomenon.…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XV (part 3)
“Now if a merely negligible percentage of energy goes into the creation of the future by begetting, then the remainder must go into the creation of the future also, but in another way. We have in the physical world many cases in which the d…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XV (part 5)
“When one encounters these perversions of love, one involuntarily calls to mind the words of Zarathustra: 2 Voluptuousness: unto all hair-shirted despisers of the body, a string p. 173 and stake; and cursed as "the world" by all backworldsm…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XV (part 6)
“I shall quote in this connection a poem in prose by Edward Carpenter, from the book Towards Democracy . THE OCEAN OF SEX To hold in continence the great sea, the great ocean of Sex, within one, With flux and reflux pressing on the bounds o…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 1)
“p. 176 CHAPTER XVI The phenomenal and the noumenal side of man. "Man-in-himself." How do we know the inner side of man? Can we know of the existence of consciousness in conditions of space not analogous to ours? Brain and consciousness.…”
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 4)
“1 This is the way a little girl thought, about whom I was reading, if I mistake not, in The Theosophical Review . The girl was sitting near the fireplace, and beside her slept a cat. "Well, the eat is sleeping," the girl reflected, "perha…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 7)
“From the STANDPOINT OF LOGIC such a theory is more correct than the theory of two classes of actions—REASONED AND UN-REASONED. It at least establishes the principle of NECESSARY UNIFORMITY. It is really impossible to suppose that in an im…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVI (part 8)
“188 So writes Schopenhauer in his Counsels and Maxims , and indeed it is very effectively expressed, but we have no foundation whatsoever for regarding man as the summit of that which nature has created. This is only THE HIGHEST THAT WE KN…”
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 XVI (part 10)
“By trying to think out of the usual categories, by trying to look at things and at ourselves from a new angle and simultaneously from many sides, by trying to liberate our thinking from its accustomed categories of perception in space and t…”
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 XVI (part 14)
“The mystery of infinity —the greatest of all mysteries—it tells us that all the visible universe and its galaxies of stars have no dimension : that in relation to infinity they are equal to a point , a mathematical point which has no extens…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 1)
“p. 198 CHAPTER XVII A living and rational universe. Different forms and lines of rationality. Animated nature. The souls of stones and the souls of trees. The soul of a forest. The human "I" as a collective rationality. Man as a comp…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 3)
“The snail is a complex centre of transmutation of some physical energies into others. This centre possesses a consciousness of its own. It is for this reason that the snail is indivisible. Its psyche is infinitely higher than that of the…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 5)
“"In saying "I," a man means, of course, not the total complex of all these regions, but that which in a given moment is in the focus of his consciousness. " I wish " (or more correctly, simply "wish," because man very seldom says I wish):…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 10)
“By ourselves we are simply out of relation with each other, for we are both of us there, and different from each other, which is a positive relation. What we are without knowing, it knows that we are. It is as if the total universe of inn…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 5)
“If we consider the emotional nature of man as self-contained, as serving life and not serving knowledge we shall never understand its true content and significance. Emotions serve knowledge. There are things and relations which can be kno…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 7)
“And there are emotions which are unitive , harmonizing, making man feel himself to be a part of some great whole; such are love, sympathy, friendship, compassion, love of country, love of nature, love of humanity. These emotions lead man o…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 9)
“We have become so accustomed to "man" that the strange perversions to which he is sometimes subject fail to startle us as curiosities. Violence in the name of freedom; violence in the name of love; the Gospel of Christianity with sword in…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 11)
“In an ardor of proselytism, desiring to popularize his moral views, he begins quite definitely to regard everything which is not in accord with his morality as hostile to it. All this becomes "black" in his eyes. Starting with the idea of…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 2)
“A little more, and in every separate branch of science that which it does not know will become greater than that which it knows . In every department science itself is beginning to repudiate its p. 234 own foundations. A little more, and…”
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 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 XX (part 1)
“p. 243 CHAPTER XX The sense of infinity. The Neophyte's first ordeal. An intolerable sadness. The loss of everything real. What would an animal feel on becoming a man? The transition to the new logic. Our logic as founded on the obse…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XX (part 2)
“Only by the repudiation of everything will the possibility of entering into a new life be realized. With the beginning of the gradual loss of the old world, the logic of the two-dimensional being—or that which stood for it for logic—will s…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XX (part 3)
“Mathematics, or the science of magnitudes, is that system which studies the quantitative relations between things; logic, or the science of concepts, is that system which studies the qualitative (categorical) relations between things. Logi…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XX (part 4)
“The chief of these conditional data consists in the fact that in problems of this mathematics there is always taken the t of the universe only , i.e., one section only of the universe is taken, p. 249 which section is never taken in conjun…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XX (part 5)
“Consequently, the number of points in the cube, a 3 is equal to ∞ ∞∞ , this expression is equal to the expression ∞ ∞ and ∞, i.e., this means that an infinity continues to grow, remaining at the same time unchanged . ______ Thus in transfi…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 1)
“p. 254 CHAPTER XXI Man's transition to a higher logic. The necessity for rejecting everything "real." "Poverty of the spirit." The recognition of the infinite alone as real. Laws of the infinite. Logic of the finite—the Organon of Arist…”
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 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 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 XXI (part 5)
“Penetrating there, it first of all renounces its fundamental axioms of identity and difference. In the world of infinite and fluent magnitudes, a magnitude may be not equal to itself; a part may be equal to the whole; and of two equal magn…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 6)
“Of course absurdity , as such, is indeed not an index of the attributes of noumena, but the attributes of noumena will certainly be expressed in what are absurdities to us. To hope to find in the world of causes anything logical from our s…”
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 XXI (part 8)
“Therefore we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that all attempts to express super-logical relations in our language will seem absurdities, and really can only give hints at that which we wish to express. Thus the formula, A is both A an…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 9)
“There cannot be anything which is measured by years, days, hours—there cannot be before, now, after. Moments of different epochs, divided by great intervals of time, exist simultaneously, and may touch one another. Along with this, all th…”
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 5)
“______ Whatever we may think of this philosophy, we cannot deny its metaphysical boldness and its logical consistency. If Brahman is all in all, the One without a second, nothing can be said to exist that is not Brahman . there is no room…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 6)
“It is in answering these questions that the various theologies perform their theoretic work, and that their divergencies most come to light. They all agree that the "more" really exists; though some of them hold it to exist in the shape of…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 7)
“Now we have established that illogicality (from our standpoint) is the necessary condition of the knowledge of truth or of the real world. This does not mean that everything that is illogical is true and real, but it means absolutely, that…”
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 11)
“Let not thy Left Eye deceive thee, by making continually one representation after another, and stirring up thereby an earnest longing in the self-propriety; but let thy Right Eye command back this Left . . . And only bringing the Eye of…”
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 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).…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 14)
“How many arguments, how many religious struggles, how much of violence toward the thoughts of others would be rendered unnecessary and impossible if men would only understand that nobody possesses truth, but all are seeking for it, each in…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 15)
“If it had this likeness, long ago would its smallness have been known. The sage attends to the inner and not to the outer; he puts away the objective and holds to the subjective. The sage occupies himself with inaction, and conveys instru…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 18)
“This is at the same time a religious sect and a philosophical school of high idealistic character, which struggled against materialism and against the narrow fanaticism and the literal understanding of the Koran. The Sufis interpreted the…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 19)
“The Sufi poets frequently lived the strange lives of hermits, anchorites and wanderers, at the same time singing of love, the beauty of women, the aroma of roses and wine. Jêlal eddîn describes as follows the communion of the soul with God…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 20)
“I feel as if it must mean something, something like what the Hegelian philosophy means, if one could only lay hold of it more clearly. Those who have ears to hear let them hear; to me the loving sense of its reality only comes in the artif…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 21)
“Blood describes the value of the anæsthetic revelation for life as follows: "The Anæsthetic Revelation is the initiation of man into the mystery of the open secret of Being, revealed as the inevitable vortex of continuity. Inevitable is th…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 22)
“I seemed to be directly under the foot of God, and I thought he was grinding his own life up out of my pain. Then I saw that what he had been trying with all his might to do was to change his course, to bend the line of lightning to which…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 23)
“An artistic description of epileptic states we find in Dostoyevsky's, The Idiot . He remembered among other things that he always had one minute just before the epileptic fit (if it came on while he was awake) when suddenly in the midst of…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 9)
“Further, it should be noted, as the possession of concepts implies the possession of language, so the possession of concepts and language (which are in reality two aspects of the same thing) implies the possession of self-consciousness. Al…”
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…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 16)
“329 cases it is more correct to regard them all as the highest types in their own evolution. The absence of intermediate forms makes this view much more probable than that which is usually accepted, and which gives such rich material for d…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Page 28 (part 1)
“p. 333 CONCLUSION In conclusion I wish to speak of those wonderful words, full of profound mystery from the Apocalypse and the apostle Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians , which are placed as the epigraph of this book. The Apocalyptic angel…”
Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Page 29 (part 1)
“p. 337 TABLE OF THE FOUR FORMS OF THE MANIFESTATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS For ease of online reading, I have exchanged the rows and columns in this chart.—JBH 1ST FORM 2ND FORM 3RD FORM 4TH FORM THE SENSE OF SPACE AND TIME The sense of one-dime…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | Introduction-h
“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 Candidate-b
“He will fail to understand it, and it will trouble him, while if he should divine the meaning, there will be a still greater source of disquietude. If you hold by anything in the world more than by reason, truth and justice; if your will b…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 1. The Candidate-c
“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) | 2. The Pillars Of The Temple-b
“Such is the mysterious language of the Kabalists in the Talmud, and on account of vulgar ignorance and malignity, it is impossible for us to explain or simplify it further. What then is creation? It is the house of the creative Word. Wha…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 4. The Tetragram-c
“The perfect word, that which is adequate to the thought which it expresses, always contains virtually or supposes a tetrad: the idea, with its three necessary and correlated forms, then the image of the thing expressed, with the three terms…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 6. Magical Equilibrium-a
“TIPHERETH UNCUS SUPREME intelligence is necessarily reasonable. God, in philosophy, may be only a hypothesis, but He is a hypothesis imposed by good sense on human reason. To personify the Absolute Reason is to determine the Divine Ideal.…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 9. Initiation-a
“JESOD BONUM THE INITIATE is he who possesses the lamp of Trismegistus, the mantle of Apollonius, and the staff of the patriarchs. The lamp of Trismegistus is reason illuminated by science; the mantle of Apollonius is full and complete self…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 10. The Kabalah-b
“MALKUTH.-The Kingdom, meaning the universe, entire creation, the work and mirror of God, the proof of supreme reason, the formal consequence which compels us to have recourse to virtual premises, the enigma which has God for its answer - th…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 16. Bewitchments-e
“The method of ceremonial bewitchments varies with times and persons; all subtle and domineering people find its secrets and its practice within themselves, without even actually calculating about them or reasoning on their sequence. Herein…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 19. The Stone Of The Philosophers – Elagabalus-a
“VOCATIO SOL AURUM THE ANCIENTS adored the Sun under the figure of a black stone, which they named Elagabalus, or Heliogabalus. What did this stone signify, and how came it to be the image of the most brilliant of luminaries? The disciples…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 20. The Universal Medicine-a
“CAPUT RESURRECTIO CIRCULUS THE MAJORITY of our physical complaints come from our moral diseases, according to the one and universal dogma, and by reason of the law of analogies. A great passion to which we abandon ourselves corresponds alw…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 22. Summary And General Key Of The Four Secret Sciences-a
“SIGNA TROT PAN LET us now summarize the entire science by its principles. Analogy is the final word of science and the first word of faith. Harmony consists in equilibrium, and equilibrium subsists by the analogy of contraries. Absolute…”
Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 22. Summary And General Key Of The Four Secret Sciences-b
“Let the wise man seek it not, since he has already found it; let the profane seek for ever: they will never find. Metallic transmutation takes place spiritually and materially by the positive key of analogies. Occult medicine is simply th…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | Introduction-a
“KNOWEST thou that old queen of the world who is on the march always and wearies never? Every uncurbed passion, every selfish pleasure, every licentious energy of humanity, and all its tyrannous weakness, go before the sordid mistress of ou…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | Introduction-b
“To withstand successfully the phantom of death, we must be identified with the realities of life. Does it signify to God if an abortion wither, seeing that life is eternal? Does it signify to Nature if unreason perish, since reason which…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | Introduction-d
“Thereupon God loosed from His bosom the shining cord which restrained the superb angel, and beholding him plunge through the night, which he furrowed with glory, He loved the offspring of His thought, and said with an ineffable smile: ‘How…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 1. Preparations-c
““But how act?” Rise daily at the same hour, and that early; bathe at a spring before daybreak, and in all seasons; never wear soiled clothes: wash them yourself at need; practise voluntary privations, that you may be better able to bear tho…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 2. Magical Equilibrium-a
“EQUILIBRIUM is the consequence of two forces. If two forces are absolutely and invariably equal, the equilibrium will be immobility and therefore the negation of life. Movement is the result of an alternate preponderance. The impulsion g…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 8. Warning To The Imprudent-b
“The milder and calmer you are, the more effective will be your anger; the more energetic you are, the more valuable will be your forbearance; the more skilful you are, the better will you profit by your intelligence and even by your virtues…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 9. The Ceremonial Of Initiates-b
“Taken literally and understood materially, such books could be only an inconceivable tissue of absurdities and scandals, as the school of Voltaire has demonstrated but too well. It is the same with all the ancient dogmas, the brilliant the…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 15. The Sabbath Of The Sorcerers-a
“We recur once more to that terrible number fifteen, symbolized in the Tarot by a monster throned upon an altar, mitred and horned, having a woman's breasts and the generative organs of a man - a chimera, a malformed sphinx, a synthesis of d…”
Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 15. The Sabbath Of The Sorcerers-b
“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 Sorcerers-d
“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) | 22. The Book Of Hermes-o
“Then comes the victory, and the wounded on both sides, now brothers in suffering and before humanity, will meet in the ambulances of the conquerors. Such are the consequences of the philosophical dogma of Hermes; such has been from all tim…”
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gnosticism140
Gospel of Judas | The Disciples' Vision
“Another day Jesus came up to them. They said to him, "Master, we've seen you in a dream, because we had great [dreams last] night." But Jesus said, "Why […] hidden yourselves?" 38 And they [said, "We saw] a great [house, with a great] altar…”
Gospel of Judas | The Betrayal
“Jesus said, "Truly I say [to you], this baptism 56 [which they've received in] my name […] will destroy the whole generation of the earthly Adam. Tomorrow they'll torture the one who bears me. Truly I [say] to you, no hand of a mortal human…”
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 1b
“TRUTH MADE NAMES Truth made names in the world, and without them we can’t think. Truth is one and is many, teaching one thing through the many. RULERS The rulers wanted to fool us, since they saw we were connected with the good. They too…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1c
“And Jesus said, “Whoever will not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no life within him.” What does he mean? His flesh is the word and blood the holy spirit. Who has received these has food and drink and clothing. I condemn those who sa…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1d
“When the child is grown, however, then the father turns over all he possesses. THE LOST Those who have gone astray are those born of the spirit. And they are usually lost because of the spirit. So from one single breath of spirit the fir…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1e
“If you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be upset. If you say, “I am Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a freeman,” no one will be troubled. But if you say, “I am a Christian,” they will tremble. I wish I had that title. The world will not end…”
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…”
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Plato: Phaedo | Section 1b
“I thought that in going to the other world he could not be without a divine call, and that he would be happy, if any man ever was, when he arrived there, and therefore I did not pity him as might seem natural at such a time. But neither co…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1c
“They are two, and yet they grow together out of one head or stem; and I cannot help thinking that if Aesop had noticed them, he would have made a fable about God trying to reconcile their strife, and when he could not, he fastened their hea…”
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 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 1j
“I reckon, said Socrates, that no one who heard me now, not even if he were one of my old enemies, the comic poets, could accuse me of idle talking about matters in which I have no concern. Let us, then, if you please, proceed with the inqu…”
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…”
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taoism110
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 1
“The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a n…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 2
“All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is. So it is that existe…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 3
“Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 4
“The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things! We should blunt our sharp points, and…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 5
“Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of gras…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 6
“The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mystery thus do we name. Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth. Long and unbroken does its power remain, Used gently, and wi…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 7
“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. Therefore the…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 8
“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of…”
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buddhism67
The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1b
“70-75.' I do not deny that this may have been the traditional interpretation, at all events since the days of Buddhaghosa, but the very legend quoted by Buddhaghosa in illustration of this verse shows that its simpler and purely moral inter…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1c
“The play on the words anikkasâvo kâsâvam, or in Sanskrit anishkashâya h kâshâyam, cannot be rendered in English. Kashâya means 'impurity,' nish-kashâya, 'free from impurity,' anish-kashâya, 'not free from impurity,' while kâshâya is the na…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1d
“He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path. 18. The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1a
“p. 9 CHAPTER II. ON EARNESTNESS . 21. Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvâ n a), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. 22. Those who are adv…”
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 III, Section 1c
“I translate it therefore in a more general sense, let him not return or turn away from the battle, let him watch Mâra, even after he is vanquished, let him keep up a constant fight against the adversary, without being attached to anything o…”
The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1a
“p. 16 CHAPTER IV. FLOWERS . 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) flow…”
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renaissance_hermeticism63
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-l
“There he passed the first day of that imprisonment which was to last for eight years. The next day he went over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of his jailors, who took him to the prison of the Holy Office, and left him there. Lev…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-b
“They do not consider that those rules serve principally as a frame for the Homeric poetry, and for other similar to it, and they set up one as a great poet, high as Homer, and disallow those of other vein, and art, and enthusiasm, who in th…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-c
“Hence he cries: "O mountain of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro found doctrines. Fount…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-d
“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) | First Dialogue-e
“What power or spell of herb or magic art Can tear thee from the centre of my heart, Since he, who with an ever-growing zest, Tormenting most, yet most does make me blest? How can I of this weight unburdened be, If pain the cure, and joy th…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-f
“One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose hands Love puts the alphabet. Cic. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. Tans. Again, blind…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-g
“"Steals it from me," he says of Jealousy, not simply in order that it may not be present to me; removing it from my eyesight, but in order that good may not be good, but an acute evil; sweet, not sweet, but an agonized longing; while the he…”
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…”
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hermeticism33
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b
“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1c
“And when she saw that Form of beauty which can never satiate, and him who [now] possessed within himself each single energy of [all seven] Rulers as well as God's own Form, she smiled with love; for 'twas as though she'd seen the image of M…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1f
“All this befell me from my Mind, that is Man-Shepherd, Word (Logos) of all masterhood, by whom being God-inspired I came unto the Plain of Truth. Wherefore with all my soul and strength thanksgiving give I unto Father-God. 31. Holy art T…”
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 2: The Serapeum | Section 1c
“H: Alack, Asclepius, for thy far-wandering from the truth! Think'st thou that things most full and most replete are void? 11. A: How meanest thou, Thrice-greatest one? H: Is not air body? A: It is. H: And doth this body not pervade al…”
Corpus Hermeticum 3: The Sacred Sermon | Section 1
“The Sacred Sermon 1. The Glory of all things is God, Godhead and Godly Nature. Source of the things that are is God, who is both Mind and Nature - yea Matter, the Wisdom that reveals all things. Source [too] is Godhead - yea Nature, Energy,…”
Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles | Section 1b
“And having raised themselves so far they sight the Good; and having sighted it, they look upon their sojourn here as a mischance; and in disdain of all, both things in body and the bodiless, they speed their way unto that One and Only One.…”
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theosophy24
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page 1]] PROEM ------- PAGES FROM A PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD. A N Archaic Manuscript -- a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water, fire, and air, by some specific unknow…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 3)
“The esoteric symbol of Kali Yuga is the five-pointed star reversed, thus -- the sign of human sorcery, with its two points (horns) turned heavenward, a position every [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See t…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 5)
“But this view does not prevent him from believing in its existence so long as it lasts, to wit, for one Mahamanvantara; nor from applying Akasa, the radiation of Mulaprakriti,* to practical purposes, connected as the World-Soul is with all…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page 25]] PART I . COSMIC EVOLUTION. --------------------- SEVEN STANZAS TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARIES FROM THE SECRET BOOK OF DZYAN. [[Vol. 1, Page 26]] Nor Aught nor Nought…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 4)
“I T IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH L ANOO. T HEY, WHO WATCH OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH. [[Vol. 1, Page]] 34 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. 2. T HE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. L IFE PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 3)
“D ARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL ( a ), FOR FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL* AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON ( b ). ( a ) "Darkness is Father-Mother: light their son," says a…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 4)
“1, Page]] 43 MOTIONS, THE "GREAT BREATH." sense, for it must give room to still further absolute perfection, according to a higher standard of excellence in the following period of activity -- just as a perfect flower must cease to be a per…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 6)
“(See Weber, Max Muller, etc.) We labour under the impression that Colebrooke, "the highest authority" in such matters, had long ago settled the question by showing, that "the Hindus were in this instance the teachers, not the learners." [[V…”
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greek_mystery21
Orphic Hymns | Hymn I. THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA
“I. TO THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA * . The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O venerable goddess, hear my pray'r, For labour pains are thy peculiar care; in thee, when stretch'd upon the bed of grief, The sex as in a mirror view relief. Guard of the race, e…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn IV. FIRE
“IV. TO FIRE. The FUMIGATION from SAFFRON. O Ever untam'd Fire, who reign'st on high In Jove's dominions ruler of the sky; The glorious sun with dazzling lustre bright, And moon and stars from thee derive their light; All taming pow'r, æther…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn V. PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN
“V. TO PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN. The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. O Mighty first-begotten, hear my pray'r, 1 Two-fold, egg-born, and wand'ring thro' the air, p. 119 Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings, 3 From whom the race of Gods and m…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn X
“X. TO PAN * The FUMIGATION from VARIOUS ODORS I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul, Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine. p. 131 Come, blessed…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XIV. JUPITER
“XIV. TO JUPITER. The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O Jove much-honor'd, Jove supremely great, To thee our holy rites we consecrate, p. 140 Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine, For all things round thy head exalted shine. The earth is thine, a…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXV
“XXV. TO THE EARTH * The FUMIGATION from every kind of SEED, except BEANS and AROMATICS. O Goddess, Earth, of Gods and men the source, Endu'd with fertile, all destroying force; All-parent, bounding, whose prolific pow'rs, Produce a store of…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXVIII. PROSERPINE
“XXVIII. TO PROSERPINE. A HYMN DAUGHTER of Jove, almighty and divine, Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline: Only-begotten, Pluto's honor'd wife, 3 O venerable Goddess, source of life: 'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell, 5…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XLI. MISES
“XLI. TO MISES. The FUMIGATION from STORAX. Call Thesmophorus * , spermatic God, Of various names, who bears the leafy rod: Mises, ineffable, pure, sacred queen, Two-fold Iacchus, male and female seen: Illustr'ous, whether to rejoice is thin…”
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sufism19
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUE-a
“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY I-a
“The Prince and the Handmaid. A prince, while engaged on a hunting excursion, espied a fair maiden, and by promises of gold induced her to accompany him. After a time she fell sick, and the prince had her tended by divers physicians. As,…”
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 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 V-a
“The Lion and the Beasts. In the book of Kalila and Damna a story is told of a lion who held all the beasts of the neighborhood in subjection, and was in the habit of making constant raids upon them, to take and kill such of them as he requ…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-c
“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 V-d
“But the light that lights the heart is the Light of God, Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense. At night there is no light, and colors are not seen; Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness. At night no colors…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-e
“"In yourselves are signs; will ye not behold them?" (Koran li, 21). 12. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 92. Mr. Mansel (Bampton Lectures, p. 49) says: "A thing can be known as that which it is only by being distinguished from that which it is n…”
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biblical15
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 2:2-3:1
“[2:2] and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage. [2:3] And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. [2:4] And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is n…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 3:2-3:25
“[3:2] the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. [3:3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 6:41-6:67
“[6:41] The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, I am the bread which came down out of heaven. [6:42] And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how doth he now say, I am come d…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 7:25-7:51
“[7:25] Some therefore of them of Jerusalem said, Is not this he whom they seek to kill? [7:26] And lo, he speaketh openly, and they say nothing unto him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ? [7:27] Howbeit we kno…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 7:52-8:23
“[7:52] They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. [7:53] [And they went every man unto his own house: [8:1] but Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. [8:2] And early…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 8:48-9:14
“[8:48] The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? [8:49] Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye dishonor me. [8:50] But I seek not mine own glory: there is…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 9:15-9:39
“[9:15] Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. And he said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see. [9:16] Some therefore of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, because he ke…”
The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 9:40-10:24
“[9:40] Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? [9:41] Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth. [10:1] Verily, veri…”
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egyptian12
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 13)
“222) 8. Ibid. , t. viii., p. 88 (l. 565 ff.). 9. Ibid. , t. iii., p. 214 (l. 268).] Further, this identification of the deceased with the God of Heaven places him in the position of supreme ruler. For example, we have the prayer…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 19)
“The whole passage reads:-- "(496) The heavens drop water, the stars throb, (497) the archers go round about, the (498) bones of Akeru tremble, and those who are in bondage to them take to flight when they see (499) Unas rise up as a soul, i…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 8 (part 2)
“Verily it shall be cast forth by my healing words of power, and I will drive it away from before the sight of thy sunbeams." The holy god opened his mouth and said, "I was passing along my path, and I was going through the two regions of my…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 14 (part 7)
“Thou hast knit (10) together the mountains, thou has made mankind and the beasts of the field, thou hast created the heavens and the earth. Worshipped be thou whom the goddess Maat embraceth at morn and at eve. Thou dost travel across the…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 4)
“The draught-board of the ancient Egyptians is often a rectangular wooden box, the top divided into squares, containing a drawer in which the men are kept (British Museum, No. 21,576). Draught-boards were also made of blue glazed faïence ,…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 9)
“, the "house of cloth," was a district belonging to the temple of Suten-henen or Heracleopolis in Upper Egypt.] Ubes-hra-per-em-khet khet,[l] and Maa (106) -em-qerh-an-nef-em-hru. The chief of the holy ones (107) who minister in his chamber…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 12)
“He to whom saffron cakes have been brought in (127) Tanenet is Osiris; or (as others say), The saffron cakes (128) in Tanenet are heaven and earth, or (as others say), They are Shu, strengthener of the two lands in (129) Suten-henen. The s…”
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…”
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jewish_mysticism12
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1a
“CHAPTER V. 1. (It is written) Isa. i. 4: "Woe unto the sinful nation, unto the people heavy with iniquity, unto the seed of evildoers, &c." (Here the author of the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" reasoneth concerning the small word HVI, "woe," whi…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1b
“If the reader turn to the introduction, to the Table showing the Sephiroth arranged in three pillars, he will see that Malkuth is, as it were, the antithesis of Kether; and hence it is said that "Malkuth is Kether after another manner." And…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1g
“The four wheels are their correlatives under the second Sephira, on their four sides--namely, the four elements of the air, fire, water, and earth, which are the abodes of the spirits of the elements, the sylphs, salamanders, undines, and g…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1h
“35: "Ye shall not do iniquity in judgment, in dimension, in weight, and in measure." (Where these four are mystically intimated.) 37. (There is one) rigorous judgment (of severity),another that is not rigorous (that is, of the kingdom). T…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1i
“And IVBL, Yobel , "jubilee," is H, He (the first He of the Tetragrammaton); and He is the spirit rushing forth over all (because the mother is the world to come, when in the resurrection all things will receive the spirit); and all things s…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XLII
“XLII. The Dwelling-places of Wisdom and of Unrighteousness . CHAPTER XLII. 1. Wisdom found no place where she might dwell; Then a dwelling-place was assigned her in the heavens. 2 Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 107
“CII. Terrors of the Day of Judgement: the adverse Fortunes of the Righteous on the Earth . Chapter CII. 1. In those days when He hath brought a grievous fire upon you, Whither will ye flee, and where will ye find deliverance? And when He la…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter CIII
“CIII. Different Destinies of the Righteous and the Sinners: fresh Objections of the Sinners . CHAPTER CIII. 1. Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and 2 Mighty One in dominion, and by His gr…”
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hinduism8
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter II, Section 1a
“CHAPTER II. Sañ g aya said: To him, who was thus overcome with pity, and dejected, and whose eyes were full of tears and turbid, the destroyer of Madhu spoke these words. The Deity said: How (comes it that) this delusion, O Ar g una! whi…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter II, Section 1d
“For his mind is steady whose senses are under his control. The man who ponders over objects of sense forms an attachment to them; from (that) attachment is produced desire; and from desire anger is produced ; from anger results want of dis…”
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…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter IV, Section 1a
“CHAPTER IV. The Deity said: This everlasting (system of) devotion I declared to the sun, the sun declared it to Manu , and Manu communicated it to Ikshvâku. Coming thus by steps, it became known to royal sages. But, O terror of (your) fo…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter IX, Section 1a
“CHAPTER IX. Now I will speak to you, who are not given to carping, of that most mysterious knowledge, accompanied by experience, by knowing which you will be released from evil. It is the chief among the sciences, the chief among the myst…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 39
“Where there is firm conquest of covetousness, he who has conquered it awakes to the how and why of life. So it is said that, before we can understand the laws of Karma, we must free ourselves from Karma. The conquest of covetousness brings…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV | Sutra 10
“The series of dynamic mind-images is beginningless, because Desire is everlasting. The whole series of dynamic mind-images, which make up the entire history of the personal man, is a part of the mechanism which the Self employs, to mirror i…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV | Sutra 12
“The difference between that which is past and that which is not yet come, according to their natures, depends on the difference of phase of their properties. Here we come to a high and difficult matter, which has always been held to be of g…”
celtic6
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-b
“And just as she was about to stoop upon him, and he was in fear of death, he espied a heap of winnowed wheat on the floor of a barn, and he dropped among the wheat, and turned himself into one of the grains. Then she transformed herself in…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-c
“Elphin of notable qualities, Be not displeased at thy misfortune; Although reclined thus weak in my bag, There lies a virtue in my tongue. While I continue thy protector Thou hast not much to fear; Remembering the names of the Trinity, Non…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-g
“And so, when the bards and the heralds came to cry largess, and to proclaim the power of the king and his strength, at the moment that they passed by the corner wherein he was crouching, Taliesin pouted out his lips after them, and played “…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-h
“I have been with my Lord in the manger of the ass: I strengthened Moses through the water of Jordan; I have been in the firmament with Mary Magdalene; I have obtained the muse from the cauldron of Caridwen; I have been bard of the harp to L…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-i
“The names of the three springs From the midst of the ocean; One generated brine Which is from the Corina, To replenish the flood Over seas disappearing; The second, without injury It will fall on us, When there is rain abroad, Through the w…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-j
“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…”
mandaean4
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 9
“JOHN AND THE BAPTISM OF JESUS (§ 30). Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights.—Glory rises over the worlds. Who told Yeshu (Eshu)? Who told Yeshu Messiah, son of Miryam, who told Yeshu…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 10
“"A blind man who writes a letter: a villain who has become virtuous. He abandoned wantonness and abandoned theft and reached unto faith in almighty Life. "A desolate house who ascends again to the height: one of position who has become hum…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 12
“Thereon they 3 fashioned for Yahyā a wife out of thee, thou Region of the Faithful. 4 From the first conception were Handan and Sharrath born. From the middle conception were Birhām and R'himath-Haiyē born. From the last conception were Nṣa…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 13
“"If thou knowest," he makes answer unto her, "that this does never happen, why dost thou press me with asking: When dost thou return? I go hence and return not. Happy the day when thou dost still see me. If there were a going-away and retur…”
finnic3
The Kalevala | Rune VIII-b
“Come, sweet maiden, to my snow-sledge, I am not despised as hero, Not the meanest of magicians; Come with me and I will make thee Wife and queen in Kalevala." Thus the Maid of Beauty answered— "Would consider thee a hero, Mighty hero, I wou…”
The Kalevala | Rune XX-f
“"Osmotar, the beer-preparer, Kapo, brewer of the barley, Spake these words in saddened accents: 'Woe is me, my life hard-fated, Badly have I brewed the liquor, Have not brewed the beer in wisdom, Will not live within its vessels, Overflows…”
The Kalevala | Rune XXII-d
“Not to sleep art thou conducted, Not to happiness, nor joyance, Wakefulness, thy night-companion, And thy day-attendant, trouble; Often thou wilt drink of sorrow, Often long for vanished pleasures. "When at home thou hadst no head-gear, Th…”
norse1
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1m
“I ween that I hung | on the windy tree, Hung there for nights full nine; With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was To Othin, myself to myself, On the tree that none | may ever know What root beneath it runs. [138. In the manuscrip…”
upanishads1
Îsâ-Upanishad | Îsâ, Section 1a
“p. 308 p. 309 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD, SOMETIMES CALLED Î S ÂVÂSYA OR Î S Â-UPANISHAD p. 310 p. 311 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD. 1. ALL this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou…”