praxis
Spiritual Ascent
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
1,124 passages · 18 traditions
neoplatonism246
◆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 Va
“In the next place, let us direct our attention to the solution of your inquiries.
There is, therefore, the good itself which is beyond essence, and there is that good which subsists according to essence; I mean the essence which is most an…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIa
“But neither must we admit that cause of the distinction of these genera which you subjoin, viz.
“ that it is an arrangement with reference to different bodies; as, for instance, 39 of Gods to etherial bodies, but of dæmons to aerial bodies…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xa
“After these things, you again subjoin another division for yourself, “ in which you separate the essences of the more excellent genera by the difference of passive and impassive .” But neither do I admit this division.
For no one of the mo…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIb
“[31] Things of this kind, therefore, are introduced for the sake of our soul, and of the diminution of the evils which adhere to it 55 through generation, and of a solution and liberation from its bonds.
On this account, also, they are ver…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XII
“You also say, “ that invocations are directed to the Gods as to beings that are passive, so that not only dæmons are passive, but likewise the Gods .” This, however, is not the case. For the illumination which takes place through invocation…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVII
“We will exchange, therefore, this division for the doubt which may be adduced by you against the present opinion. “ For ,” it may be said by you, “ how, conformably to what we assert, can the sun and moon, and the visible natures in the hea…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIXa
“In the next place, therefore, we shall answer your question, “ What it is which conjoins the Gods that have a body in the heavens with the incorporeal Gods.
” What this is, therefore, is evident from what has been before said.
For 72 if t…”
Show all 246 →egyptian145
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 4 (part 26)
“The Chapter of not going in to the divine block a second time.
Vignette: A man standing with his back to the block.[1] Chapter LI.
The Chapter of not walking upside down in the underworld.
Vignette: A man standing.
Chapter LII.* The Cha…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 18)
“It reapeth the wheat, it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee.
Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra.
Thou hast endued thyself with the fo…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 9 (part 1)
“THE ABODE OF THE BLESSED.
The Egyptian heaven.
The gods of the Egyptians dwelt in a heaven with their ka's , and khu's , and shadows, and there they received the blessed dead to dwell with them.
This heaven was situated in the sky, which…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 14 (part 2)
“The numbers in parentheses indicate the lines of the papyrus.
2.
The god Khepera is usually represented with a beetle for a head; and the scarab, or beetle, was sacred to him.
The name means "to become, to turn, to roll," and the abstrac…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 16 (part 3)
“The palettes of the Egyptian scribe were rectangular, and were made of wood, stone, basalt, ivory (see Nos.
5512a, 5513, 5525a, and 12,779, etc., in the British Museum).
They measure from 10 to 17 inches in length, and from 2 to 3 inches…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 16 (part 4)
“, "Moulder"), who uniteth (or formeth) and strengtheneth my limbs." Khnemu was called "builder of men, maker of the gods, the father from the beginning; creator of things which are," etc.
4 British Museum papyrus No.
9901 has "place of ha…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 18 (part 1)
“PLATES V.
AND VI.
Vignettes: The funereal procession to the tomb; running the length of the two plates.
In the centre of Plate V.
the mummy of the dead man is seen lying in a chest or shrine mounted on a boat with runners, which is draw…”
◆The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 18 (part 11)
“He shall (5) enter into the Fields of Aaru in peace, to learn the bidding of him who dwelleth in Tattu; (6) there shall wheat and barley be given unto him; there shall he flourish as he did upon (7) earth; and he shall do whatsoever pleaset…”
Show all 145 →gnosticism133
◆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 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 1j
“In the world these are the true people.
They are the attendants of the bridal chamber.
POWER AND WEAKNESS In this world, power and weakness mingle when man and woman have sex.
Joining is different in the eternal realm, though we use the…”
◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1m
“If we know the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth within us.
If we join it, it will fulfill us.
THE STRONG AND WEAK, THE MANIFEST AND HIDDEN Now we have the manifest things of creation.
We say, “The strong are they who are held…”
◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 1
“And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."…”
◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 7
“Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."…”
◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 9
“Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fel…”
Show all 133 →western_esoteric125
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismj
“The Encyclopædia Britannica makes the following statement concerning the Mithraic and Christian Mysteries: "The fraternal and democratic spirit of the first communities, and their humble origin; the identification of the object of adoration…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismy
“The mystics of Eleusis also laid stress upon the evil of suicide, explaining that there was a profound mystery concerning this crime of which they could not speak, but warning their disciples that a great sorrow comes to all who take their…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismz
“The secret exercises for spiritual unfoldment given to disciples of the higher degrees are unknown, but there is every reason to believe that they were similar to the Brahmanic Mysteries, since it is known that the Eleusinian ceremonies wer…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism{
“Because this vast host was not prepared for the highest spiritual and mystical doctrines, a division necessarily took place within the society itself.
The higher teachings were given to only a limited number of initiates who, because of su…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquityg
“At the first gate the great crown is removed from her head, at the second gate the earrings from her ears, at the third gate the necklace from her neck, at the fourth gate the ornaments from her breast, at the fifth gate the girdle from her…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusf
“It is doubtful that the deity called Thoth by the Egyptians was originally Hermes, but the two personalities were blended together and it is now impossible to separate them.
Thoth was called "The Lord of the Divine Books" and "Scribe of th…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusi
“Knowing only the body which is subject to death, they believe in death because they worship that substance which is the cause and reality of death." Then Hermes asked how the righteous and wise pass to God, to which Poimandres replied: "Tha…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusj
“"Then, being naked of all the accumulations of the seven Rings, the soul comes to the Eighth Sphere, namely, the ring of the fixed stars.
Here, freed of all illusion, it dwells in the Light and sings praises to the Father in a voice which…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Initiation of the Pyramidj
“The hymns of praise no longer echo in muffled tones through the chambers; the neophyte no longer passes through the elements and wanders among the seven stars; the candidate no longer receives the "Word of Life" from the lips of the Eternal…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Philosophy of Pythagorasi
“Pythagoras here warns his followers that any who begin the search for truth and, after having learned part of the mystery, become discouraged and attempt to return again to their former ways of vice and ignorance, will suffer exceedingly; f…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Human Body in Symbolismd
“The second center (or the link between the superior and inferior worlds) is elevated to the position of greatest physical dignity--the brain.
The third (or lower) center is relegated to the position of least physical dignity but greatest p…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Hiramic Legendf
“The arrant enemies of universal democracy have ever been the crown, the tiara, and the torch.
Thus CHiram symbolizes that ideal state of spiritual, intellectual, and physical emancipation which has ever been sacrificed upon the altar of hu…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Hiramic Legendg
“In the human brain there is a tiny gland called the pineal body, which is the sacred eye of the ancients, and corresponds to the third eye of the Cyclops.
Little is known concerning the function of the pineal body, which Descartes suggeste…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fishes, Insects, Animals, Reptiles and Birdsg
“In his Chaldean Account of the Genesis , George Smith, copying from the cuneiform cylinders, in describing the wanderings of the hero Izdubar (Nimrod), throws some light on the scorpion god who guards the sun.
The tablet which he translate…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fishes, Insects, Animals, Reptiles and Birdsk
“Typhon waited to devour all who failed to pass the judgment of the Dead, which rite took place in the Hall of Justice between the earth and the Elysian Fields.
Anthony Todd Thomson thus describes the good treatment accorded the smaller and…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fishes, Insects, Animals, Reptiles and Birdso
“*** Although admitting that he had not seen the phœnix bird (there being only one alive at a time), Herodotus amplifies a bit the description given by Clement: "They tell a story of what this bird does which does not seem to me to be credib…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Flowers, Plants, Fruits, and Treesc
“According to the secret schools, the sacral ganglion is called the four-petaled lotus; the prostatic plexus, the six-petaled lotus; the epigastric plexus and navel, the ten-petaled lotus; the cardiac plexus, the twelve-petaled lotus; the ph…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Stones, Metals and Gemsa
“EACH of the four primary elements as taught by the early philosophers has its analogue in the quaternary terrestrial constitution of man.
The rocks and earth correspond to the bones and flesh; the water to the various fluids; the air to th…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogonyj
“* * * The Zohar is a genesis of light; the Sepher Yetzirah is a ladder of truth.
Therein are expounded the two-and-thirty absolute symbols of speech--being numbers and letters.
Each letter produces a number, an idea and a form, so that ma…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Fundamentals of Qabbalistic Cosmogonyk
“The second order of gates is termed Decad of Evolution and its divisions areas follows: (11) Minerals differentiate; (12) Vegetable principles appear; (13) Seeds germinate in moisture; (14) Herbs and Trees; (15) Fructification in vegetable…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Manj
“Many of the early Church Fathers sought to establish a direct relationship between Adam and Christ, thereby obviously discounting the extremely sinful nature of man's common ancestor, since it is quite certain that when St.
Augustine liken…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | An Analysis of Tarot Cardsg
“The vehicle of the solar energy being numbered seven reveals the arcane truth that the seven planers are the chariots of the solar power which rides victorious in their midst.
The four columns supporting the canopy represent the four Might…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | An Analysis of Tarot Cardsk
“Court de Gébelin sees in this card another reference to the rising of the Nile and states on the authority of Pausanius that the Egyptians believed the inundations of the Nile to result from the tears of the moon goddess which, falling into…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Rosicrucian Doctrines and Tenetsi
“In his Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum , Elias Ashmole states that the Rosicrucians were not appreciated in England, but were welcomed on the Continent.
He also states that Queen Elizabeth was twice cured of the smallpox by the Brethren of t…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Theory and Practice of Alchemyq
“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 Chemical Marriaged
“He was therefore turned over to the sixth group.
The rich and poor alike stood upon the scales, but only a few passed the test successfully.
To these were given velvet robes and wreaths of laurel, after which they were seated upon the ste…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Chemical Marriageg
“When the ships came in sight of the Tower of Olympus, Virgo Lucifera ordered the discharge of cannon to signal their approach.
Immediately a white flag appeared upon the tower and a small gilded pinnace, containing an ancient man--the ward…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Chemical Marriageh
“The dark half represents the Deep, or Chaos, the Eternal Waters pouring forth out of the Deity; the light half-circle containing the figure of Apollo represents the diurnal hemisphere of the world, which in the ancient Mysteries was ruled o…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Chemical Marriagek
“The episode of weighing the souls of men has its parallel in the ceremony described in the Egyptian Book of the Dead .
The walled city entered by C.R.C.
represents the sanctuary of wisdom wherein dwell the real rulers of the world--the in…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Mystic Christianityd
“Godfrey Higgins has discovered two references, one in the Midrashjoholeth and the other in the Abodazara (early Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures), to the effect that the surname of Joseph's family was Panther , for in both of these wor…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Mystery of the Apocalypsec
“These represented the four corners of creation and the multitude of eyes with which they were covered are the stars of the firmament.
The twenty-four elders have the same significance as the priests gathered around the statue of Ceres in t…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Mystery of the Apocalypsed
“Thus, the church of Ephesus stands for the Arch-Indian branch; the church of Smyrna, the Arch-Persians; the church of Pergamos, the Chaldean-Egyptian-Semitic; the church of Thyatira, the Grecian-Latin-Roman; the church of Sardis, the Teuton…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Faith of Islamc
“On one occasion in later life when Abu Bekr referred to the gray hairs in his beard, Mohammed, lifting the end of his beard and looking at it, declared its whiteness to be due to the physical agony attendant upon his periods of inspiration.…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolismj
“The fame of the two dancers--who were in reality Hunahpu and Xbalanque--finally came to the notice of the twelve princes of Xibalba, who thereupon desired these two miracle-workers to perform their strange fears before them.
After Hunahpu…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolismk
“Pisces, their ashes turning into man-fishes , and later back into human form." It would seem more appropriate to assign the river of blood to Aries and that of mud to Taurus, and it is not at all improbable that in the ancient form of the l…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Mysteries and Their Emissariesc
“There is legend to the effect that the Tablet of Cebes, a dialogue between Cebes and Gerundio, was based upon an ancient table set up in the Temple of Kronos at Athens or Thebes which depicted the entire progress of human life.
The author…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusionc
“In its place rises an empire of stone, steel, smoke, and hate-a world in which millions of creatures potentially human scurry to and fro in the desperate effort to exist and at the same time maintain the vast institution which they have ere…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusione
“Every activity of life was gradually disengaged from other interests and focalized upon the reasoning part.
In the ancient world there was another and most vital factor which entered into the production of rational intellects and which is…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusionh
“Philosophy would lead all men into the broad, calm vistas of truth, for the world of philosophy is a land of peace where those finer qualities pent up within each human soul are given opportunity for expression.
Here men are taught the won…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusioni
“The philosopher lives and thrills with the realization of this duration, for to him this infinite period has been designed by the All-Wise Cause as the time of all accomplishment.
Man is not the insignificant creature that he appears to be…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Conclusionj
“The great institution of materiality has failed.
The false civilization built by man has turned, and like the monster of Frankenstein, is destroying its creator.
Religion wanders aimlessly in the maze of theological speculation.
Science…”
◆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 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 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 VIII (part 3)
“In addition to the simple sensations of these sense organs (color, sound, touch, smell and taste), in addition to the simple emotions of pleasure, pain, joy, anger, surprise, wonder, curiosity and many others, there is passing through our c…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VIII (part 4)
“That is to say, Kant's idea would be proven experimentally if we could be convinced that for the being possessing sensations only, the world is one-dimensional; for the being possessing sensations and perceptions the world is two-dimensiona…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter VIII (part 11)
“The dog and the monkey by their intellect , their aptness to imitate, and by reason of the dog's fidelity to man, are as it were higher than the cat, but the cat is infinitely superior to them in intuition, esthetic sense, independence, and…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter X (part 1)
“p.
112 CHAPTER X The spatial understanding of time.
The angles and curves of the fourth dimension in our life.
Does motion exist in the world or not?
Mechanical motion and "life." Biological phenomena as the manifestation of motions goi…”
◆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 XI (part 4)
“Matter disappeared; its variety was replaced by a system of mutually related electric corpuscles and instead of the accustomed material world one deeply different—the electro-magnetic world—is envisaging itself to us....
But the recognitio…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XI (part 8)
“This was the difference between the fifth and the sixth, that in the fifth the excrescences were in one sense exteriorized and yet rooted in the same unit; but in the sixth they were differentiated but not exteriorized; they were only in di…”
◆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 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 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 9)
“In our language only an eternally becoming universe exists.
The "Eternal Now" cannot be expressed in language.
Thus our language pictures to us beforehand a false universe— dual , when in reality it is one ; and eternally becoming when it…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 9)
“In ourselves, visual consciousness goes with our eyes, tactile consciousness with our skin.
But although neither skin nor eye knows aught of the sensations of the other, they come together and figure in some sort of relation and combinatio…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 1)
“p.
213 CHAPTER XVIII Rationality and life.
Life as knowledge.
Intellect and emotions.
Emotion as an organ of knowledge.
The evolution of emotion from the standpoint of knowledge.
Pure and impure emotions.
Personal and impersonal emot…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 4)
“A man whose moral sense prompts him to overcome passion in himself, does so because the moral sense (i.e., emotion) is more powerful than all his other feelings, other emotions.
In substance p.
218 all this is perfectly clear and simple,…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 6)
“Emotions apparently the same may be united with the very small I's and with the very great and lofty I's; and so the rôle and meaning of such emotions in life may be very different.
The continual shifting of emotions, each of which calls i…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter 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 8)
“There can be pure sympathy, and there can be sympathy mixed with calculation to receive something for one's sympathy.
There can be pure love of knowledge, a thirst for knowledge for its own sake, and there can be an inclination to knowledg…”
◆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 1)
“p.
232 CHAPTER XIX The intellectual method, objective knowledge.
The limits of objective knowledge.
The possibility of the expansion of the application of the psychological method.
New forms of knowledge.
The ideas of Plotinus.
Differ…”
◆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 XXI (part 2)
“Science cannot deny the fact that mathematics grows, expands, and escapes from the limits of the visible and measurable world.
Entire departments of mathematics take into consideration quantitative relations which did not and do not exist…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 4)
“This sensation of light and of unlimited joy is experienced at the moment of the expansion of consciousness (the unfoldment of the mystical lotus of the Hindu yogi), at the moment of the sensation of infinity, and it yields also the sensati…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter 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 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 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 XXIII (part 2)
“For some strange reason men do not care to accept this answer; and they desire at all costs to receive an answer in some form that they like, refusing to recognize anything that is different from that form.
They require the solution of the…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 3)
“And this formation of special literatures is the chief evil and the chief obstacle to a correct understanding of things.
Each "literature" elaborates its own terminology, its own language, which is incomprehensible to the students of other…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 7)
“It was in the early spring, at the beginning of his thirty-sixth year.
He and two friends had spent the evening reading Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning, and especially Whitman.
They parted at midnight and he had a long drive in a han…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 13)
“From our standpoint it is clearly impossible to regard a man sitting in the horse's saddle as a fact of horse evolution, but from the point of view of the scientist who knows nothing about man, this will be only logical.
Dr.
Bucke finds h…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 15)
“Simple Consciousness and flashes of thought.
Animals possessing complex organisms.
Absence of consciousness of death.
Body, instincts, desires, voices of the body, emotions.
Reasoning.
Moments of self-consciousness and flashes of cosmi…”
◆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 3)
“And truth itself is motion, and can never lead to arrestment, to the cessation of search.
ALL THAT ARRESTS THE MOTION OF THOUGHT—IS FALSE.
Therefore the true and real progress of thought is only in the broadest striving toward knowledge,…”
◆Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 3. The Triangle Of Solomonc
“These shells, envelopes petrified or carnified, were such an expression possible, are the source of errors or of evil, which connects with the heaviness and hardness of animal envelopes.
In the book Zohar , and in that of the Revolution of…”
◆Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 3. The Triangle Of Solomond
“Matthew, and in several Hebrew copies, as follows: “The sacred word MALKUTH substituted for KETHER, which is its kabalistic correspondent, and the equipoise of GEBURAH and CHESED, repeating itself in the circles of heavens called eons by th…”
◆Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 13. Necromancya
“EX IPSIS MORS We HAVE said that the images of persons and things are preserved in the Astral Light.
Therein also can be evoked the forms of those who are in our world no longer, and by this means are accomplished those mysteries of Necroma…”
◆Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi) | 17. Astrologyd
“Hence I conclude that, for myself and for this year, experience confirms fully the precision of Cardan's astrological calculus, which connects furthermore with the climacteric years of ancient astrologers.
This term signifies arranged in s…”
◆Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 4. The Conjuration Of The Fourd
“The earth is exorcised by aspersion of water, by breathing and by fire, with the perfumes proper for each day and the Prayer of the Gnomes King invisible, Who, taking the earth as a support, didst furrow the abysses to fil them with Thine o…”
◆Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 13. Necromancye
“The chafing-dish containing the sacred fire should be in the centre of the oratory and the altar of perfumes hard by.
The operator must turn towards the east to pray, and the west to invoke; he must be either alone or assisted by two perso…”
◆Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) | 22. The Book Of Hermesn
“Faith, hope and charity are three such inseparable sisters that they may be taken one for another.
Thus in religion universal and hierarchic orthodoxy, restoration of temples in all their splendour; reestablishment of high ceremonial in it…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 3)
“If, presupposing that we are moving upon a sphere, upon its equator or one of its parallels, then it will appear that we recognize as really existing only one meridian: those which are behind us have disappeared and those ahead of us have n…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter IV (part 7)
“In addition to all this it is necessary to remember that through the same slit through which we see the world we observe ourselves and see in ourselves changes similar to the changes in the rest of things.
2.
Why can we not extend that sl…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter 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 IX (part 8)
“Thus in all its relations to the world the animal is quite analogous to the imagined, unreal two-dimensional being living upon a plane.
All our world appears to the animal as the plane through which phenomena are passing, moving upon time,…”
◇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 2)
“And if we take men as we know them—the sailor, the hang-man, the ascetic: men who seem to us similar and equal —and consider them from the standpoint of their differences in function, we shall see that in reality they are entirely different…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIV (part 5)
“1 Behold!
human beings living in a sort of underground den; they have been there from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained—the chains are arranged in such a manner as to prevent them from turning round their heads.
At a…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter 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 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 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 XVII (part 6)
“206 everything that lies usually in the remote depths of memory, in the past; all that lies at a remote distance from him; all that lies in the future.
C.
H.
Hinton very well says, in regard to beings of other sections of the world: By t…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVIII (part 12)
“The method of science is experiment; the method of philosophy is speculation; the method of religion and art is moral or esthetic emotional inspiration.
But both science and philosophy, religion and art, begin to serve true knowledge only…”
◇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 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 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 3)
“All attempts to penetrate mentally into that higher, noumenal world, or world of causes, by means of the logic of the phenomenal world, if they did not fail altogether, or did not lead to castles in the air , gave only one result: in becomi…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 7)
“_______ Where are our "idols?" From what shall we liberate ourselves in order to pass to an understanding of the multi-dimensional world?
First of all we must get rid of our assurance that we see and sense that which exists in reality, and…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 3)
“These Eleatic ideas—namely that there is and there can be only One Absolute Being, infinite., unchangeable, without a second, without parts and passions—are the same ideas which underlie the Upanishads and have been fully worked out in the…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 9)
“In like manner he beheld the whole creation, and from that foundation he afterwards wrote his book, " De Signature Rerum ." In the unfolding of those mysteries before his understanding he had a great measure of joy, yet returned home and to…”
◇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 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 XXIII (part 1)
“p.
306 CHAPTER XXIII Cosmic Consciousness of Dr.
Bucke.
The three forms of consciousness according to Dr.
Bucke.
Simple consciousness, or the consciousness of animals.
Self-consciousness, or the consciousness of men.
Dr.
Bucke's fun…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 4)
“This last is called Self Consciousness and is that faculty upon which rests all of our life (both subjective and objective) which is not common to us and the higher animals, except that small part of it which is derived from the few individ…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 5)
“Only a personal experience of it, or a prolonged study of men who have passed into the new life, will enable us to realize what this actually is.
The writer expects his work to be useful in two ways: first, in broadening the general view o…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 6)
“Doubt of God and of eternal life will be as impossible as is now doubt of existence; the evidence of each will be the same.
Religion will govern every minute of every day of all life.
Churches, priests, forms, creeds, prayers, all agents,…”
◇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 12)
“Having painted a very true picture of the consecutive gradations of the forms of consciousness observed by us—of animal-vegetable, of animal, and of man—Dr.
Bucke considers this gradation exclusively in the light of the evolution of one fo…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 17)
“The most interesting and important questions arising with regard to cosmic consciousness may be summed up as follows: 1.—Is the manifestation of cosmic consciousness a problem of the distant future, and of other generations—i.e., must cosmi…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXIII (part 18)
“And in those who do not possess it in some sort already, it cannot be created by any culture whatever, in the same way that no kind or amount of culture will make an animal speak the language of man.
The possibility of the manifestation of…”
◇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 28 (part 2)
“We know that it must give it , but FROM WHAT could he know that?
None of his contemporaries ever united sanctity with the idea of the comprehension of space; and in general there was no discussion at all about "space" at that time, at leas…”
◇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…”
◇Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Page 29 (part 2)
“Consciousness as in sleep without dreams.
Simple consciousness.
"It pains me," but the impossibility of saying, "I am conscious that it pains me." The reflected state of consciousness.
Vision as in dreams.
The passive state of conscious…”
← Collapsechristian_mysticism124
◆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 1a
“51 CHAPTER I Dionysius the Presbyter, to his fellow-Presbyter Timothy.
45 45 The name of St.
Paul’s companion is intended to give colour to the writer’s pseudonym.
See Introduction, p.
1; cf.
iii.
2.
What is the purpose of the discou…”
◆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 1c
“59 59 ὡς οὐκ ὄντος ἴχνους τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κρυφίαν αὐτῆς ἀπειρίαν διεληλυθότων.
Two interpretations of this passage are possible: (1) Those who have penetrated the hidden Depths cannot describe the Vision (cf.
Dante, Par.
xxxiii.
55–66) ; (2…”
◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1d
“And we press upwards to those beams which in the Holy Scripture shine upon us; wherefrom we gain the light which leads us unto 55 the Divine praises 64 64 πρὸς τοὺς θεαρχικοὺς ὕμνους.
Either (1) “leads us to declare the Divine praises”; or…”
◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1f
“And in all the other Divine enlightenments which the occult Tradition of our inspired teachers hath, by mystic Interpretation, accordant with the Scriptures, bestowed upon us, we also have been initiated: apprehending these things in the pr…”
◆Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1g
“But if It is greater than all Reason and all knowledge, and hath Its firm abode altogether beyond Mind and Being, and circumscribes, compacts, embraces and anticipates all things 87 87 παντῶν .
.
.
προληπτική—i.e.
contains them eternall…”
Show all 124 →renaissance_hermeticism84
◆Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter I — How Magicians Collect Virtues from the Three-Fold World is Declared in these Three Books | Chapter I, Section 1
“CHAPTER I. How Magicians Collect Virtues from the Three-Fold World is Declared in these Three Books . Seeing there is a Three-fold World—Elementary, Celestial and Intellectual—and every inferior is governed by its superior, and receiveth th…”
◆Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LX — Of Madness, and Divinations which are made when men are awake, and of the Power of a Melancholy Humor, by which Spirits are sometimes induced into Men's Bodies | Chapter LX, Section 1b
“And this thing, they think, happens under a three-fold difference, according to a three-fold apprehension of the soul, viz., imaginative, rational, and mental; they say, therefore, that when the mind is forced with a melancholy humor, nothi…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTIONh
“The primal idea of Pythagoras, which Bruno worked out to a more distinct development is this: numbers are the beginning of things; in other words numbers are the cause of the existence of material things; they are not final, but are always…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguea
“.
Tansillo, Cicada.
Tans.
The enthusiasms most suitable to be first brought forward and considered are those that I now place before you in the order that seems to me most fitting.
Cic.
Begin, then, to read.
Tansillo.
1.
Ye Muses, t…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogued
“Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguee
“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 Dialogueg
“"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 Dialoguea
“.
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…”
Show all 84 →platonism73
◆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 1d
“Socrates replied: And have you, Cebes and Simmias, who are acquainted with Philolaus, never heard him speak of this?
I never understood him, Socrates.
My words, too, are only an echo; but I am very willing to say what I have heard: and in…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1e
“And I rather imagine that Cebes is referring to you; he thinks that you are too ready to leave us, and too ready to leave the gods who, as you acknowledge, are our good rulers.
Yes, replied Socrates; there is reason in that.
And this indi…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1f
“And being dead is the attainment of this separation; when the soul exists in herself, and is parted from the body and the body is parted from the soul-that is death?
Exactly: that and nothing else, he replied.
And what do you say of anoth…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1g
“And he attains to the knowledge of them in their highest purity who goes to each of them with the mind alone, not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason, but wi…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1h
“And now that the hour of departure is appointed to me, this is the hope with which I depart, and not I only, but every man who believes that he has his mind purified.
Certainly, replied Simmias.
And what is purification but the separation…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1i
“They are temperate because they are intemperate-which may seem to be a contradiction, but is nevertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish temperance.
For there are pleasures which they must have, and are afraid of losing;…”
◆Plato: Phaedo | Section 1k
“That is clear, he replied.
Then the inference is, that our souls are in the world below?
That is true.
And one of the two processes or generations is visible-for surely the act of dying is visible?
Surely, he said.
And may not the othe…”
Show all 73 →greek_mystery42
◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 8)
“43 these unnatural habits." As, therefore, it is not wonderful that the greatest part of those who inhabit a pestiferous region, should languish and decline, but that a very few should preserve their natural strength; so we ought not to won…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 10)
“For in this solemnity grass is carried about, enwrapping the kernels of olives, attended with figs, all kinds of pulse, oaken boughs or acorns, the fruit of the strawberry, wheat, and barley, a mass of dried figs, cakes composed from the me…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 11)
“As the husbandman, therefore, performs sacred rites, by presenting handfuls of pulse and fruits, so ought we to sacrifice our purest thoughts, and other goods of the soul, thanking the divinities for the sublime contemplations they afford u…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 15)
“For the generative causes of things, are contained by similitude in their effects; and in causes themselves their progeny subsist, comprehended in perfect union and consent.
Hence the celestial orbs impart a copious defluxion of good to th…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 16)
“This heated paper we may compare to a certain relation of inferiors to superiors; and its approximation to the lamp, to the opportune use of things according to time, place, and matter.
But the procession of fire in the paper aptly represe…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXIII. APOLLO (part 2)
“Gesner well observes, in his notes to this Hymn, that the comparison and conjunction of the musical and astronomical elements are most ancient; being derived from Orpheus and Pythagoras, to Plato.
Now, according to the Orphic and Pythagori…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXVII. THE CURETES +
“XXXVII. TO THE CURETES + . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. Brass-beating Salians, ministers of Mars, Who guard his arms the instruments of wars p. 168 Whose blessed frames, heav'n, earth, and sea compose, And from whose breath all animals…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXV. THE MUSES (part 1)
“LXXV.
TO THE MUSES.
The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE.
Daughters of Jove, dire-sounding and divine, 1 Renown'd Pierian, sweetly speaking Nine; p.
206 To those whose breasts your sacred furies fire Much-form'd, the objects of supreme desi…”
Show all 42 →buddhism41
◆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 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 I, Section 1e
“It is the negative of the fourth Nidâna, the so-called Upâdâna, which Köppen has well explained by Anhänglichkeit, 'taking to the world, loving the world.' Köppen, Die Religion des Buddha, p.
610.
Cf.
Suttanipâta, v.
470 .]…”
◆The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1a
“p.
9 CHAPTER II.
ON EARNESTNESS [1] .
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…”
◆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.
 s rava therefore, or âsrava, meant originally 'the running out towa…”
◆The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1a
“p.
16 CHAPTER IV.
FLOWERS [1] .
44.
Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods?
Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right)…”
◆The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1b
“The flower-arrows of Mâra, the tempter, are borrowed from Kâma, the Hindu god of love.
For a similar expression see Lalita-vistara, ed.
Calc.
p.
40, l.
20, mâyâmarî k isad ri sâ vidyutphenopamâ s k apalâ h .
It is on account of this p…”
Show all 41 →jewish_mysticism37
◆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 Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 3 (part 7)
“xix as Burkitt says, "most of the most convincing proofs that the Greek text of Enoch is a translation from a Semitic language fit equally well with a Hebrew or an Aramaic original"; his opinion is that Aramaic was the original language, "b…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XIV (part 2)
“None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him.
22.
The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh H…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XX
“XX. Name and Functions of the Seven Archangels . CHAPTER XX. 1. And these are the names of the holy angels who watch. 2. Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus. 3. Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XXI
“XXI. Preliminary and final place of punishment of the fallen angels (stars) . CHAPTER XXI. 1. And I proceeded to where things were chaotic. 2. And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XXII (part 1)
“XXII.
Sheol, or the Underworld .
CHAPTER XXII.
1.
And thence I went to another place, and he showed me in the west ⌈ another ⌉ great and high mountain [ and ] of hard rock.
E 2 And there was in it †four† hollow places, deep and wide an…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XXIII
“p. 50 XXIII. The Fire that deals with the Luminaries of Heaven . CHAPTER XXIII. 1. From thence I went to another place to the west of the ends of the earth. 2. And I saw a ⌈⌈ burning ⌉⌉ fire which ran without resting, and paused not from it…”
◆The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XXIV
“XXIV. XXV. The Seven Mountains in the North-West and the Tree of Life . CHAPTER XXIV. 1. ⌈⌈ And from thence I went to another place of the earth ⌉⌉ , and he showed me a mountain range of fire which burnt ⌈⌈ day and night ⌉⌉ . 2. And I went…”
Show all 37 →hermeticism21
◆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 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 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1a
“Though Unmanifest God Is Most Manifest 1.
I will recount to thee this sermon (logos) too, O Tat, that thou may'st cease to be without the mysteries of the God beyond all name.
And mark thou well how that which to the many seems unmanifest…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1c
“And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's.
And for this cause hath He Himself no nome, in that He's Father of [them] all.
Who, then, may sing Thee praise of Thee, or [praise] to Thee?
Whither, again, am I to tur…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1b
“For It doth will to be, and It is both Itself and most of all by reason of Itself.
Indeed, all other things beside are just bacause of It; for the distinctive feature of the Good is "that it should be known".
Such is the Good, O Tat.
Tat…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1e
“And for this cause is water poured around earth, to be a guard and wall, to keep the blazing of the fire away.
But mind, the swiftest thing of all divine outthinkings, and swifter than all elements, hath for its body fire.
For mind being…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer | Section 1c
“All things incorporeal when in a body are subject unto passion, and in the proper sense they are [themselves] all passions.
For every thing that moves itself is incorporeal; while every thing that's moved is body.
Incorporeals are further…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer | Section 1e
“Observe this too, my son; that each one of the other lives inhabiteth one portion of the Cosmos - aquatic creatures water, terrene earth, and aery creatures air; while man doth use all these - earth, water air [and] fire; he seeth Heaven, t…”
Show all 21 →mandaean15
◆Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 3
“Then all of the priests arose and said to Old Father Zakhriā, [they
said] in reproach: "Be at rest and keep thy seat, Old Father, and let the
calm of the Good (pl.) rest upon thee. Old p. 39 Father, if there were no dreams
in Judća, then wo…”
◆Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 4
“Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's
evenings. 4
YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and says: "Through my Father's discourses
I give light and through the praise of the Man, my creator, I have freed my
soul from the world and fr…”
◆Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 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 16
“When Messiah said this, Yahyā cries aloud; tears come to him without
ceasing, and he speaks: "[God] forbid that the high King of Light should look
for lot in deceivers. The soul is not like the blood, that it should become
heated in the bod…”
◆Gnostic John the Baptizer — The Story of the Breach with Judaism | Section 6
“"Go, go," says she unto them, "ye fools, ye abortions, 4 ye who were not of the world. 5 I am no woman who is
stripped for wantoning; and it is not that I have fallen in love with a man.
Stripped am I not for returning to you and for again…”
◆Gnostic John the Baptizer — Some Typical Extracts | Section 4
“But I made answer unto them: "O ye fishers, who lap up your filth, no
fisher am I who fishes for fish, and I was not formed for an eater of filth.
A Fisher am I of souls who bear witness to Life. A Poor Fisher am I who calls
to the souls, c…”
Show all 15 →sufism13
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEa
“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) | PROLOGUEb
“Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not?
Because the rust has not been scoured from its face.
If it were purified from all rust and defilement, It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6 O friends, ye have now heard this tale, Whic…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Ia
“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 IIIa
“The Jewish King, his Vazir, and the Christians.
A certain Jewish king used to persecute the Christians, desiring to exterminate their faith.
His Vazir persuaded him to try a stratagem, namely, to mutilate the Vazir himself, and expel him…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IV
“Another Tyrannical Jewish King. A certain Jewish king, the same who is referred to in the Sura "Signs of the Zodiac," I made up his mind to utterly exterminate the Christian faith, and with that view he set up a huge idol, and issued comman…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vc
“The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant.
The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven.
He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5 Yet blind ind…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vd
“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…”
Show all 13 →finnic8
◆The Kalevala | Rune Ic
“Wainamoinen, old and trusty, Lingering within his dungeon Thirty summers altogether, And of winters, also thirty, Peaceful on the waste of waters, On the broad-sea's yielding bosom, Well reflected, long considered, How unborn to live and fl…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune Xb
“From her temples beams the moonlight, From her breast, the gleam of sunshine, From her forehead shines the rainbow, On her neck, the seven starlets, And the Great Bear from her shoulder.
"Ilmarinen, worthy brother, Thou the only skilful bl…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XVg
“God anoints his faithful children, With the honey of his wisdom, When they feel the pangs of sorrow, When they meet the powers of evil.
Dip thy winglets in this honey, Steep thy plumage in His sweetness, Hither bring the all-sufficient Bal…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XVIe
“In Manala lived a woman, In the kingdom of Tuoni, Evil witch and toothless wizard, Spinner of the threads of iron, Moulder of the bands of copper, Weaver of a hundred fish-nets, Of a thousand nets of copper, Spinning in the days of summer,…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XIXd
“Quick the giant fish endangered, Darts and flounders in the river, Dragging down the mighty eagle, Lashing up the very bottom To the surface of the river; When the mighty bird uprising Leaves the wounded pike in water, Soars aloft on worste…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XIXe
“Tell me is the maiden ready, Wilt thou give the bride affianced?
Spake the hostess of Pohyola: "I will give to thee my daughter, Will prepare my snow-white virgin, For the suitor, Ilmarinen; Thou hast won the Maid of Beauty, Bride is she o…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XXVIIIa
“MOTHER'S COUNSEL.
Ahti, hero of the Islands, Wild magician, Lemminkainen, Also known as Kaukomieli, Hastened from the great carousal, From the banquet-halls of Louhi, From the ever-darksome Northland, From the dismal Sariola.
Stormful str…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune Lf
“In thy years, for greater follies, Greater sins and misdemeanors, Thou wert not unjustly punished.
In thy former years of trouble, When thou gavest thine own brother, For thy selfish life a ransom, Thus to save thee from destruction, Then…”
taoism8
◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 16
“The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their original state). When thin…”
◆Tao Te Ching | Chapter 33
“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty. He who is satisfied with his lot is rich; he who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.…”
◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 124 (part 7)
“How do you know that when I say "I know it," I really (am showing that) I do not know it, and that when I say "I do not know it," I really am showing that I do know it 1 .' And let me ask you some questions:--'If a man sleep in a damp place…”
◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 126 (part 3)
“Doing what other men do, they would have no occasion to blame me.
This p.
208 is what is called being a fellow-worker with other men.
'Fully declaring my sentiments and substantiating them by appealing to antiquity, I shall be a co-worke…”
◆The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 128 (part 9)
“257 [paragraph continues] 'I have lost all thought of ceremonies and music.' 'Very well, but that is not enough., A third day, Hui again saw (the Master), and said, 'I am making progress.' 'What do you mean?' 'I sit and forget everything 1…”
◇The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 123 (part 1)
“p.
164 THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-DZE.
BOOK I.
PART I.
SECTION I.
Hsiâo-yâo Yû, or 'Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease 1 .' 1.
In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Khwän 2 ,--I do not know how many lî in size.
It changes…”
◇The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 128 (part 4)
“245 got It, and by It dwelt in the Dark Palace.
Yü-khiang 1 got It, and by It was set on the North Pole.
Hsî Wang-mû 2 got It, and by It had her seat in (the palace of) Shâo-kwang.
No one knows Its beginning; no one knows Its end.
Phäng…”
◇The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 128 (part 10)
“The Shwo Wän dictionary defines the name by , 'a recluse of the mountain, whose bodily form has been changed, and who ascends to heaven;' but when this account was made, Tâoism had entered into a new phase, different from what it had in the…”
celtic5
◆The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINc
“The man looked upon me, and he smiled and said, ‘If I did not fear to distress thee too much, I would show thee that which thou seekest.’ Upon this I became anxious and sorrowful, and when the man perceived it, he said, ‘If thou wouldest ra…”
◆The Mabinogion | Tale PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWCx
“And her figure was very thin and spare, except her feet and her legs, which were of huge size.
And she greeted Arthur and all his household except Peredur.
And to Peredur she spoke harsh and angry words.
“Peredur, I greet thee not, seein…”
◆The Mabinogion | Tale THE DREAM OF MAXEN WLEDIGa
“Maxen Wledig was emperor of Rome, and he was a comelier man, and a better and a wiser than any emperor that had been before him.
And one day he held a council of kings, and he said to his friends, “I desire to go to-morrow to hunt.” And th…”
◆The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINc
“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 TALIESINg
“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 “…”
mesopotamian3
◆Adapa and the Food of Life | Section 1a
“ADAPA AND THE FOOD OF LIFE .
TABLET NO.1 He possessed intelligence .
.
.
, His command like the command of Anu ...
He (Ea) granted him a wide ear to reveal the destiny of the land, He granted him wisdom, but he did not grant him eterna…”
◆Adapa and the Food of Life | Section 1b
“Adapa, For whom art thou clad in a mourning garment?" In the country two gods have vanished; therefore am I clad In mourning garments." "Who are the two gods, who have vanished from the land?" "Tammuz and Gishzida." They looked at one anoth…”
◇The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World | Section 1c
“Sprinkle Ishtar with the waters of life and take her out of my presence.
Namtar went, knocked at the strong palace, Tapped on the threshold of precious stones.
He brought out the Anunnaki and placed them on golden thrones, He sprinkled Is…”
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…”