John Renard - The A to Z of Sufism

John Renard - The A to Z of Sufism

 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2009

Editor’s Foreword

Sufism, a term derived from the woolen garments of early ascetics, may not be the most exact expression to cover the mystical movements within Islam, but it is the best we have. And it would be hard to come up with another that is more precise, because the phenomenon itself has taken on such a variety of forms during the 1,200 or so years it has already existed. Under this heading come many different orders, established at many different times and in many different places, by many different spiritual directors. They did not always agree on all points—indeed, they occasionally quarreled and certainly rivaled one another—and this is still valid today. But their ultimate goals were the same, and they drew inspiration from the same holy Qur’an and the awesome figure of the Prophet Muhammad. It is this diversity that often confuses outsiders, and it is this diversity that makes a work of this sort so useful, since rather than trying to impose uniformity and order where none exist it can show the impressive variety of origins, structures and organizations, rules and creeds, and practices and concepts. It can also delve into the cultural wealth of art, music, dance, and literature.

This is facilitated by the format of a historical dictionary. First, the chronology traces the long and venerable list of spiritual directors, poets and philosophers, and also political leaders who created and enriched the movement. Then, the introduction, vital given the diversity, can bring the salient aspects together in a broad and ordered whole. But it is the dictionary that again allows a multitude of aspects, persons, places, events, institutions, and concepts to be considered individually. Since terminology is so important, and virtually all of it is in Arabic, Persian, and other languages unfamiliar to most English speakers, the glossary is particularly precious. For those who want to take the study of Sufism further, and there will be more and more with time, the bibliography points to other sources of information.

The A to Z of Sufism was written by John Renard, an eminent student and teacher of the subject. His doctoral dissertation dealt with the renowned Sufi Rumı, and since then he has written a dozen books, mostly on Islam and Sufism. Since 1978, he has been teaching at the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. 
He is well aware of the diversity and variety, and, if anything, appreciates it, and over the past quarter century of writing and teaching he has become accustomed to explaining the many twists and turns, the highways and also the byways, the theological and legal aspects, and the rich culture that has grown up around it. Since Dr. Renard deals not only with scholars and initiates but also students and outsiders, he knows how to present Sufism to a more general public as well. So let us take advantage.
Jon Woronoff Series Editor

SOUL.Ahuman faculty (generally referred to by the Arabic term nafs) whose status and function varies according to context. According to the Qur’a¯n, the nafs can function as an obstreperous ego (an-nafs alamma¯ra, the overweening soul) with its selfish and even downright evil designs that contend with spirit for the attentions of the heart. In that role, the soul stands as the prime enemy against which the seeker must struggle. 
It can also act as a moral compass, calling the individual to act justly; an-nafs al-lawwa¯ma, the blaming soul, is akin to conscience. There is also the tranquil soul, an-nafs almut ma’inna, representing a condition occurring in the presence of God. The various aspects of soul each suggest different features of the Sufi psychological analysis of spiritual experience.

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The Comte de St. Germain by Isabel Cooper-Oakley (1911)

The Comte de St. Germain by Isabel Cooper-Oakley (1911)

The Comte de St Germain was an inscrutable figure who suddenly appeared in London in 1745. He was a man without a past, and openly admitted that his chosen name was fictitious. A wonderful musician and composer, witty and courteous, he dispensed diamonds, never ate in public, dropped hints of his own physical immortality, and claimed to have no interest in sexually relations of any kind. 

Following his English appearance, the Comte disappeared for 12 years, surfacing for two years in pre-revolutionary France as the confidant of Louis XV, then vanishing once more for 11 years, only to reappear in Belgium, Russia and Germany. Following his disputed death in 1784, several notables claimed to have met him decades later, ever-wealthy and every youthful. Cooper-Oakley's investigation of the St Germain legend is an occult classic, in which she painstakingly draws together letters, diaries and private records of St Germain, to provide the most comprehensive picture we possess of the enigmatic Count.

Isabel Cooper-Oakley (1853/4-1914) was a prominent Theosophist and author. Born in Amritza, India, Isabel married Alfred J. Oakley, and they then both changed their surname to Cooper-Oakley. Sometime in the late 1890s, G.R.S. Mead became Isabel’s brother-in-law when he married her sister, another prominent Theosophist, Laura Cooper. Isabel Cooper-Oakley died March 3, 1914, at Budapest, Hungary.

Among her many works was The Comte de St. Germain, or The Count of St. Germain. The Count of St. Germain ( 1710-1784 ) has been variously described in secular histories as a courtier, adventurer, charlatan, inventor, alchemist, pianist, violinist and amateur composer. Under the name "St. Germain" he is recognized as a Spiritual Master of central importance to Theosophy, and under the name "Ascended Master Saint Germain" he is recognized as a Spiritual Master of central importance not only by the Saint Germain Foundation, but by the various schools of Ascended Master Teachings generally.

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Klassika Eikonografhmena - Dionysos

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Plato books for you in pdf

Plato - Greek: Πλάτων 424/423 BC[a] – 348/347 BC) was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.

In the words of A. N. Whitehead:

The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them.

Plato's sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato's texts.

Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and mathematics. 

Plato is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Πλάτων

Plato - Apology

Plato - Charmides, or Temperance

Plato - Cratylus

Plato - Critias

Plato - Crito

Plato - Euthydemus

Plato - Gorgias

Plato - Ion

Plato - Laches, or Courage

Plato - Laws

Plato - Lysis, Or Friendship

Plato - Meno

Plato - Parmenidis

Plato - Phaedo

Plato - Phaedrus

Plato - Philebus

Plato - Protagoras

Plato - Sophist

Plato - Timaeus

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J. Krishnamurti Books in English 4 U (pdf)

J. Krishnamurti Books in English 4 U (pdf)

If any of these books interest you 

or all 

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J. Krishnamurti A Dialogue With Oneself

J. Krishnamurti Action & Relationship

J. Krishnamurti Commentaries On Living 1

J. Krishnamurti Commentaries On Living 2

J. Krishnamurti Commentaries On Living 3

J. Krishnamurti Eight Conversations

J. Krishnamurti First And Last Freedom

J. Krishnamurti Five Conversations

J. Krishnamurti Freedom From The Known

J. Krishnamurti From Darkness To Light

J. Krishnamurti Future Of Humanity

J. Krishnamurti Inward Flowering

J. Krishnamurti & David Bohm - The Ending Of Time (739p)

J. Krishnamurti At Los Alamos 1984

J. Krishnamurti Journal (1973-75)

J. Krishnamurti on Education

J. Krishnamurti Education & The Significance Of Life

J. Krishnamurti On Love

J. Krishnamurti Washington DC Talks 1985

J. Krishnamurti Meditations 1969

J. Krishnamurti To Himself

J. Krishnamurti Life Ahead

J. Krishnamurti Network Of Thought

J. Krishnamurti Questions and Answers

J. Krishnamurti The Book Of Life

J. Krishnamurti The Book Of Oneself

J. Krishnamurti The Future Is Now

J. Krishnamurti The Only Revolution

J. Krishnamurti The Urgency Of Change

J. Krishnamurti Think On These Things

J. Krishnamurti You Are The World

The Theosophical Glossary by H.P. Blavatsky

 

 The Theosophical Glossary by H.P. Blavatsky

Preface.

The Theosophical Glossary labours under the disadvantage of being an almost entirely posthumous work, of which the author only saw the first thirty-two pages in proof. This is all the more regrettable, for H.P.B., as was her wont, was adding considerably to her original copy, and would no doubt have increased the volume far beyond its present limits, and so have thrown light on many obscure terms that are not included in the present Glossary, and more important still, have furnished us with a sketch of the lives and teachings of the most famous Adepts of the East and West.

The Theosophical Glossary purposes to give information on the principal Sanskrit, Pahlavi, Tibetan, Pâli, Chaldean, Persian, Scandinavian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Kabalistic and Gnostic words, and Occult terms generally used in Theosophical literature, and principally to be found in Isis Unveiled, Esoteric Buddhism, The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy, etc.; and in the monthly magazines, The Theosophist, Lucifer and The Path, etc., and other publications of the Theosophical Society. The articles marked [w.w.w.] which explain words found in the Kabalah, or which illustrate Rosicrucian or Hermetic doctrines, were contributed at the special request of H.P.B. by Bro. W. W. Westcott, M.B., P.M. and P.Z., who is the Secretary General of the Rosicrucian Society, and Præmonstrator of the Kabalah to the Hermetic Order of the G.D.

H.P.B. desired also to express her special indebtedness, as far as the tabulation of facts is concerned, to the Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary of Eitel, The Hindu Classical Dictionary of Dowson, The Vishnu Purâna of Wilson, and the Royal Masonic Cyclopædia of Kenneth Mackenzie.

As the undersigned can make no pretension to the elaborate and extraordinary scholarship requisite for the editing of the multifarious and polyglot contents of H.P.B.’s last contribution to Theosophical literature, there must necessarily be mistakes of transliteration, etc., which specialists in scholarship will at once detect. Meanwhile, however, as nearly every Orientalist has his own system, varying transliterations may be excused in the present work, and not be set down entirely to the “Karma” of the editor.

G. R. S. MEAD.

LONDON, January, 1892

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THE WORKS OF JACOB BEHME The Teutonick Theosopher

VOLUME I.

I. THE AURORA.

II. THE THREE PRINCIPLES.

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VOLUME II.

I. THE THREEFOLD LIFE OF MAN.

II. THE ANSWERS TO FORTY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE SOUL

III. THE TREATISE OF THE INCARNATION : In Three Parts.

IV. The CLAVIS: Or an Explanation of some principal points and Expressions in his writings

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VOLUME III

I. THE MYSTERIUM MAGNUM : Or an Explanation of the firft Book of Moses, called GENESIS : In Three Parts

II. FOUR TABLES OF DIVINE REVELATION.

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VOLUME IV.

I. SIGNATURA RERUM ; the Signature of all Things.

II. Of the ELECTION of GRACE ; or, Of God's Will towards Man, commonly called Predestination

III. The Way to Christ

IV. A DISCOURSE between a Soul hungry and thirsty after the Fountain of Life, the sweet Love of JESUS CHRIST ; and a Soul enlightened.

V. Of the FOUR COMPLEXIONS.

VI. Of CHRIST'S TESTAMENTS, BAPTISM, and the SUPPER.

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Tao Te Ching - Μετ. Νικόλας Ρώσσης (2010)

Tao Te Ching - Μετ. Νικόλας Ρώσσης (2010)

1.
Το Ταό που περιγράφεται με λόγια, δεν είναι το αιώνιο Ταό.
Τα πλάσματα με όνομα δεν μπορούν να ονομάσουν το αιώνιο όνομα.

Το να δίνεις ονόματα γεννά τα μύρια πράγματα.
Όταν αδειάσεις από επιθυμίες, μπορείς να δεις το μυστήριο. 

Όσο είσαι γεμάτος με επιθυμίες, μπορείς να δεις μόνο τις εκφάνσεις του.

Τα δύο αυτά έχουν την ίδια πηγή, αλλά διαφορετικό όνομα. 

Η πηγή τους είναι το βάθος– βάθος μέσα στο βάθος. 

Αυτή είναι η πύλη για την κατανόηση των μυστηρίων.

2.
Όταν οι άνθρωποι ονομάζουν κάτι όμορφο, κάτι άλλο γίνεται άσχημο. 

Όταν οι άνθρωποι ονομάζουν κάτι καλό, κάτι άλλο γίνεται κακό.

Αυτό που υπάρχει και αυτό που δεν υπάρχει, συνεχώς γεννούν το ένα το άλλο. 

Το δύσκολο στηρίζεται στο εύκολο. 

Το μακρύ μετριέται από το κοντό. 

Το ψηλό ορίζεται από το χαμηλό. 

Ο ήχος γίνεται αρμονία μέσα από τη φωνή. 

Το πριν και το μετά ακολουθούν το ένα το άλλο.

Έτσι, ο Σοφός αφοσιώνεται στην Αβίαστη Πράξη, διδάσκει χωρίς να μιλάει. 

Τα μύρια πράγματα έρχονται, αλλά δεν τα επιδιώκει. 

Εξαφανίζονται, αλλά δεν τα αποζητά. 

Δρα χωρίς να περιμένει ανταπόδοση, και όταν ολοκληρώνει το έργο του, το ξεχνά. 

Γι’ αυτό και το έργο του ζει αιώνια.

3.
Οι υπερβολικές τιμές στους ήρωες, κάνουν τους ανθρώπους να νιώθουν αδύναμοι. 

Οι υπερβολικές τιμές στα πλούτη, κάνουν τους ανθρώπους να γίνονται κλέφτες. 

Μην επιδεικνύεις ότι ποθούν οι άνθρωποι, και οι καρδιές τους δεν θα σκανδαλίζονται.

Γι’ αυτό, ο Σοφός κυβερνά αδειάζοντας τις καρδιές των ανθρώπων, και γεμίζοντας τις κοιλιές τους. Μειώνοντας τη φιλοδοξία τους, και δυναμώνοντας την αποφασιστικότητά τους.

Βοηθά τους ανθρώπους να ξεχάσουν όσα νομίζουν ότι ξέρουν και όσα επιθυμούν, και μπερδεύει όσους νομίζουν ότι ξέρουν πολλά. 

Εξασκώντας την Αβίαστη Πράξη, Διατηρεί τη φυσική τάξη.

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WKC Guthrie - Οι Έλληνες φιλόσοφοι από τον Θαλή στον Αριστοτέλη

WKC Guthrie - Οι Έλληνες φιλόσοφοι από τον Θαλή στον Αριστοτέλη

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Meister Eckhart Selected Writings by Oliver Davies

Meister Eckhart Selected Writings

Selected and Translated by Oliver Davies

Johannes  Eckhart, more commonly  known as Meister  Eckhart, was  born near Gotha  in eastern Germany in around 1260, He had an illustrious career  in the Dominican  Order, holding  senior  ecclesiastical  and teaching  posts  all  over Europe including Saxony, Bohemia, Paris, Strasburg and Cologne.
Eckhart is one of the great speculative mystics of Western Europe, who sought to reconcile traditional Christian belief with the transcendental metaphysics of Neoplatonism.

Although accused of heretical teaching during his own lifetime, Eckhart is widely regarded today not only as fundamentally orthodox but also as a foremost exponent of Christian mysticism and Christian philosophical theology. He died in the winter of 1327/8 in Avignon. 

                                              Sermon 22 (DW 51,W8)

Beatipauperes spiritu, quomam ipsorum est regtmm caelerum (Matt. 5:3)

Blessedness spoke to Wisdom and said: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'95 

All the angels, all the saints and everything that was ever born must be silent when the Wisdom of God speaks, for all the wisdom of the angels and all creatures is a pure nothingness before the unfathomable Wisdom of God, And this Wisdom has said that the poor are blessed. 

Now there are two kinds of poverty: external poverty, which is good and very praiseworthy in those who willingly practice it for love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, since this is what he did when he was on earth. But I do not wish to speak further of this poverty, for there is another kind of poverty, which is internal, and which is referred to by Our Lord when he says: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'.

Now, I ask you to be poor enough to understand what it is that I am saying to you, for I declare by Eternal Wisdom that if you do not yourself become the same as that Wisdom of which we wish to speak, then my words will mean nothing to you.

Some people have asked me what poverty is in itself and what it means to be a poor man or woman. 

Bishop Albrecht says that a poor person is someone who takes no pleasure in anything which God has created - and this was well said.96 But we can improve on this and offer a more profound definition of poverty by saying that a poor person is someone who desires nothing, knows nothing and possesses nothing. It is of these three things that we wish to speak, and I beseech you for the love of God to understand me if you can. But if you do not understand, then do not worry, for I shall be speaking of a particular kind of truth which only a few good people can grasp. 

In the first place we say that a poor person is someone who desires nothing. Some people do not understand this point correctly. I mean those who cling to their own egos in their penances and external devotions, which such people regard as being of great importance. God have mercy on them, for they know little of the divine truth! These people are called holy because of what they are seen to do, but inside they are asses, for they do not know the real meaning of divine truth. Although such people are happy to say that a poor person is one who desires nothing, they interpret this as meaning that we must live in such a way that we never perform our own will in anything but that we should desire rather to carry out God's most precious will These people are all right, for they mean well and that is why they deserve our praise. May God in his mercy grant them heaven! 

But I tell you by the divine truth that such people are not truly poor nor are they like those who are poor. They are greatly esteemed by people who know no better. But I tell you that they are asses, who understand nothing of God's truth. May they attain heaven because of their good intent, but of that poverty, of which we now wish to speak, they know nothing. 

If someone were now to ask me what it means to be a poor person who desires nothing, then I would say that as long as it is someone's will to carry out the most precious will of God, such a person does not have that poverty of which we wish to speak. For this person still has a will with which they wish to please God, and this is not true poverty. If we are to have true poverty, then we must be so free of our own created will as we were before we were created. I tell you by the eternal truth that as long as you have the will to perform God's will, and a desire for eternity and for God, you are not yet poor. They alone are poor who will nothing and desire nothing. 

When I existed in my first cause, I had no God and I was my own cause. I willed nothing and desired nothing, for I was naked being and I knew myself by the savour of truth. Then I desired myself and nothing else. What I desired, that was myself, and I was myself what I desired, and I was free both of God and of all things. But when I emerged by free choice and received my created being,9' I came into the possession of a God for, until creatures came into existence, God was not 'God', but was rather what he was. Then, when creatures emerged and received their created being, God was not 'God' in himself but in creatures.*8 

 Now we say that God, in so far as he is this 'God', is not the supreme goal of creatures, for even the least creature possesses this much in God. And if it were the case that a fly had reason and, through reason, was able to seek the eternal abyss of divine being from which it had emerged, then we would say that God, together with all that he is as 'God', could not satisfy the longing even of this fly. 

Therefore we ask God to free us from 'God' so that we may be able to grasp and eternally enjoy truth where the highest angels, the fly and the human soul are all one - in that place where 1 desired what I was and was what I desired. And so we say: if we are to be poor in will, then we must will and desire as little as we willed and desired before we came into being. It is in this way that someone is poor who wills nothing. 

Secondly, they are poor who know nothing. From time to time we have said that we should live as if we did not live, either for ourselves, for truth or for God. But now we put it differently, going further, and say that they who are to have this poverty must live in such a way that they do not know that they do not live either for themselves, for truth or for God. They must rather be free of the knowledge that they do not know, understand or sense that God lives in them. More even than this: they must be free of all the knowledge that lives in them, For when we were contained in the eternal essence of God, there was nothing other than God in us, but what was in us was ourselves. 

Therefore we say that we should be as free of self-knowledge as we were before we were created, that we should allow God to do what he will and that we should be entirely free of all things. 

Everything which ever emerged from God is programmed to act. Loving and knowing are the two forms of activity which belong to humanity. Now there is a debate as to which of these is the place where blessedness is to be found. Some masters have taught that it lies in knowledge, others that it lies in love, while others still consider that it lies in both knowledge and love. These are closer to the truth. But we say that it lies neither in knowledge nor in love, but rather there is a something in the soul which is the source of both knowledge and love, although it does not itself know or love, as do the soul's faculties. Whoever comes to know this discovers where blessedness lies. 

It has neither a past nor a future, and it is not something to which anything can be added, for it cannot become larger or smaller. Therefore it does not possess any knowledge of the fact that God acts in it, rather it is itself that which delights in itself just as God delights in himself. We too should be so solitary and unencumbered that we do not know that it is God who acts in us. 

Thus we will have poverty. The masters say that God is being, rational being, who knows all things. But we say that God is neither being, nor rational being, nor does he know either this or that. Therefore God is free of all things, which is why he is all things. Now they who wish to be poor in spirit, must be poor in all their knowing so that they have no knowledge of anything, neither of God, nor of creature, nor of themselves. This is why it is necessary that we should desire to know or perceive nothing of God's works. In this way we can become poor in knowing. 

Thirdly, a poor person is someone who possesses nothing. Many have said that not possessing the material thing of the earth is perfection, and this is certainly true when it is voluntary. But this is not the sense that I have in mind. 

I said before that a poor person is someone who does not even will to perform God's will, but who lives in such a way that he or she is as free both of their own will and of God's will as they were before they were created. Of this we say that it is the highest poverty. Further, we have stated that a poor person is someone who knows nothing of the action of God within them. 

And this again is the purest poverty when someone is so free of knowledge and perception. But the third kind of poverty of which I shall now speak is the ultimate one, and this is the poverty of someone who possesses nothing. 

 Now listen carefully! I have often said, as great masters have said, that we should be so free of all things and all works, both inner and outer, that we become the place where God can act But now we put it differently. If it is the case that someone is free of all creatures, of God and of themselves, if God finds a place to act in them, then we say: as long as this exists in someone, they have not yet reached the ultimate poverty. 

For God does not intend there to be a place in someone where he can act, but if there is to be true poverty of spirit, someone must be so free of God and all his works that if God wishes to act in the soul he must himself be the place in which he can act, and this he is certainly willing to be. For if God finds us this poor, then God performs his own active work and we passively receive God in ourselves and God becomes the place of his work in us since God works within himself. In this poverty, we attain again the eternal being which we once enjoyed, which is ours now and shall be for ever. 

There is a passage in St Paul which says: 'All that I am I am by the grace of God' (i Cor. ipo). But now my words seem to be above grace, above being, above knowledge and will, above all desire, and so how can St Paul's words be true? It was necessary that God's grace should be in him, since it was this that made perfect in him what was imperfect." When the grace came to an end and completed its work, then Paul remained what he was. 

And so we say that we should be so poor that we neither are nor possess a place in which God can act. If we still have such a place within us, then we still have multiplicity. Therefore I ask God to make me free of 'God', for my most essential being is above 'God' in so far as we conceive of God as the origin of creatures. And so in that essence, where God is above all existence

and all multiplicity: I myself was there, there I desired myself and knew myself to make this man. Therefore I am my own self cause according to my essence, which is eternal, and not according to my becoming, which is in time. There I am unborn, and according to the manner of my unbornness, shall never die. According to the manner of my unborn nature, I have been eternal, as I am now and ever shall be. But what I am according to my nature which was born into the world, that shall die and turn to nothing, for it is mortal. 

Therefore it must decay with time. In my birth,100 all things were born, and I was the cause of my own self and of all things. Had I wished that I should not exist, then neither would anything else have existed. And if I did not exist, then neither would God have existed as 'God'. I am the cause of God's existence as 'God'. But it is not necessary for you to know this.101 

One great master says  that breaking through is  better than flowing out, and this is true. When I flowed forth from God, all things said: God is. 
But this cannot make me blessed, for I know myself as creature in this. 
But in the breakthrough, where I am free of my own will and of  God's will and of all his  works  and am  free of God  himself, there  I am above all creatures and am neither 'God' nor creature, but I am rather what I once was and what I shall remain now and for evermore.

There I receive an impulse which shall raise me above the angels. In this flight I receive such great wealth that God, with all that he has as 'God' and with all his divine works, cannot satisfy me, for the consequence of this breakthrough is that God and I become one. Then I am what I have once been, and I neither increase nor decrease, but am an immovable cause which moves all things. God can find no place in us then, for with this poverty we attain that which we have eternally been and shall for ever remain. Here God is one with our spirit, and this is poverty in its ultimate form.

Whoever does not understand these words, should not be troubled. For as long as someone is not themselves akin to this truth, they will not understand my words, since this is an unconcealed truth which has come directly from the heart of God. That we may live in such a way that we have eternal knowledge of this, so help us God. Amen.

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The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time (Britannica)

The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time

Welcome your readers to a veritable feast for eyes, minds, and, by extension, ears. Filled with profiles of truly accomplished musicians across a broad spectrum of musical styles and genres, this volume introduces varied musical artists including Ludwig von Beethoven, Elvis Presley, and Jay-Z. This comprehensive and entertaining narrative is supported by captivating photographs and illustrations.

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Bach - Malcolm Boyd (pdf book)

Bach - Malcolm Boyd
The Master Musicians Series edited by Stanley Sadie

Published by Oxford University Press,Inc. 198 Madison Avenue,New York,New York 10016

Published in its first edition in 1983, Boyd's treatment of this canonical composer is essential reading for students, scholars, and everyone interested in Baroque music. In this third edition, biographical chapters alternate with commentary on the works, to demonstrate how the circumstances of Bach's life helped to shape the music he wrote at various periods. We follow Bach as he travels from Arnstadt and Muhlhausen to Weimar, Cothen, and finally Leipzig, these journeys alternating with insightful discussions of the great composer's organ and orchestral compositions. As well as presenting a rounded picture of Bach, his music, and his posthumous reputation and influence, Malcolm Boyd considers the sometimes controversial topics of "parody" and arrangement, number symbolism, and the style and meaning of Bach's late works. Recent theories on the constitution of Bach's performing forces at Leipzig are also present. The text and the appendixes (which include a chronology, personalia, bibliography, and a complete catalogue of Bach's works) were thoroughly revised in this edition to take account of more recent research undertaken by Bach scholars, including the gold mine of new information uncovered in the former USSR.

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The routledge companion to early Christian thought edit by D. Jeffrey Bingham

 

The routledge companion to early Christian thought edit by D. Jeffrey Bingham

Fragment :

With the discovery of the nag hammadi library in 1945, a large and rich new body of primary-source material became available for investigation, but these sources, written by and for insiders, have proved challenging to understand, and the evidence of the anti-heretical writers has remained a valuable resource, even as it has continued to complicate the problem of defining “ gnosis” and “ gnosticism.”

 Critical analysis of the nag hammadi texts, and the relation of their religious perspectives to those who pro duced and read them, remains one of the most challenging and important tasks in the study of early Christianity and other ancient religious traditions. While the identity of those who produced the nag hammadi texts remains uncertain, there has emerged a general recognition that at least four major types of gnosis-centered thought can be distinguished. This essay treats the first three of these “types,” defined as follows:

1  Thomasine Christianity , represented chiefly by the Gospel of Thomas  and the Book of Thomas the Contender . While generally excluded from the category of “ gnosticism,” the Gospel of Thomas  is included here because it exhibits a religious perspective in which “gnosis” figures prominently.

2  The “Sethian,” Barbelo-Gnostic, or classic “Gnostic” system , represented by the Apocryphon of John , the Hypostasis of the Archons , and several other nag hammadi texts, as well as i renaeus, Against Heresies  1.29; epiphanius, Refutation of All Heresies  26, 39, and 40; and related heresiological reports.

3  The Valentinian tradition , known from the reports of Justin, irenaeus, and later heresiologists as one of the leading Christian varieties of “ gnosis”; the evidence for the valentinian tradition includes the fragments of valentinus himself, ptolemy’ s Letter to Flora , and Excerpts of Theodotus , as well as several nag hammadi texts, including the Gospel of Truth,  the Gospel of Philip,  and the Tripartite Tractate .

i approach these as distinct types of Christian gnosis that exhibit shared patterns of thought across a varied bo dy of material. in what follows, i  offer a brief description of each type, and focus on the conceptions of the divine and of the processes of creation and redemption in one representative example of each group.

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Jason David BeDuhn, "The Manichaean Body: In Discipline and Ritual"

 

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press | 2000 | ISBN: 0801862701 | PDF | 376 pages | 1 MB

Reconstructing Manichaeism from scraps of ancient texts and the ungenerous polemic of its enemies (such as the ex-Manichaean Augustine of Hippo), BeDuhn reveals for the first time the religion as it was actually practiced. He describes the Manichaeans' daily ritual meal, their stringent disciplinary codes (intended to prevent humans from harming plants and animals), and their secretive religious procedures designed to transform the cosmos and bring about the salvation of all living beings.
Overturning long-held assumptions about Manichaean dualism, asceticism, spirituality, and the pursuit of salvation, The Manichaean Body changes completely how we look at this ancient religion and the environment in which Christianity arose. BeDuhn's conclusions revolutionize our understanding of the Manichaeans, clearly distinguishing them from Gnostics and other early Christian heretics and revealing them to be practitioners of a unique world religion.

Thanks to a friend for the book.

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Zen Masters - Steven Heine, Dale Wright

 

Steven Heine, Dale Wright, "Zen Masters"

O..d U-ty Press, USA | 2010 | ISBN: 0195367642, 0195367650 | 312 pages | PDF | 1,6 MB

Extending their successful series of collections on Zen Buddhism, Heine and Wright present a fifth volume, on what may be the most important topic of all - Zen Masters. Following two volumes on Zen literature (Zen Classics and The Zen Canon) and two volumes on Zen practice (The Koan and Zen Ritual) they now propose a volume on the most significant product of the Zen tradition - the Zen masters who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world by emphasizing the role of eminent spiritual leaders and their function in establishing centers, forging lineages, and creating literature and art. Zen masters in China, and later in Korea and Japan, were among the cultural leaders of their times. Stories about their comportment and powers circulated widely throughout East Asia. In this volume ten leading Zen scholars focus on the image of the Zen master as it has been projected over the last millennium by the classic literature of this tradition. Each chapter looks at a single prominent master. Authors assess the master's personality and charisma, his reported behavior and comportment, his relationships with teachers, rivals and disciplines, lines of transmission, primary teachings, the practices he emphasized, sayings and catch-phrases associated with him, his historical and social context, representations and icons, and enduring influences.

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Γονιδέλλης Απόστολος - Η γένεση κατά τους αρχαίους Έλληνες - Τιτάνες

Περιγραφή:

Με οδηγό μας λοιπόν πάντα τον Ησίοδο, θα ασχοληθούμε μ' αυτές τις αρχέγονες θεότητες για να γνωρίσουμε το μεγαλείο τους, τις θείες ιδέες και τους νόμους που προσωποποίησαν και τι πρόσφεραν στην ανθρωπότητα. Έτσι θα μάθουμε ποιοί ήταν αυτοί οι πρώτοι Θεοί, που εμφανίσθηκαν στον κόσμο που όπως φαίνεται στη "Θεογονία", ήταν οι "παπούδες" όλων των μετέπειτα Θεών.

Thanks to e_bibliothiki

http://www.wupload.com/file/32152676/Apostolos_Gonidellis_-_H_Genesi_Kata_tous_Arxaious_Ellines.pdf

Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism

 

Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism

Hanegraaf, Wouter J., ed., in collaboration with Antoine

Faivre, Roelof van den Broek and Jean-Pierre Brach

Leiden: Brill, 2006. Pp. xxix + 1228. Hardcover.

This is the first comprehensive reference work to cover the entire domain of “Gnosis and Western Esotericism” from the period of Late Antiquity to the present. Containing around 400 articles by over 180 international specialists, it provides critical overviews discussing the nature and historical development of all its important currents and manifestations, from Gnosticism and Hermetism to Astrology, Alchemy and Magic, from the Hermetic Tradition of the Renaissance to Rosicrucianism and Christian Theosophy, and from Freemasonry and Illuminism to 19th-century Occultism and the contemporary New Age movement. Furthermore it contains articles about the life and work of all the major personalities in the history of Gnosis and Western Esotericism, discussing their ideas, significance, and historical influence.

David E. Aune University of Notre Dame,Notre Dame, Indiana

In recent years, the study of particular aspects of ancient religions and cultures has been facilitated by the appearance of a growing number of highly sophisticated and specialized reference works. The Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism is an outstanding niche reference work designed to focus on the study of certain Western religious and cultural traditions from ancient to modern times. By providing temporal and conceptual depth to a relatively narrow band of religious and cultural phenomena, the DGWE, like other reference works with a specialized focus, represents a break with traditional disciplinary conceptualities, since the architecture of such a focused reference work necessarily requires a new and creative set of rubrics never previously assembled.

More important, the editorial policy of the DGWE has been driven by a self-conscious program that questions a number of entrenched, reified, and ideologically loaded terminological conventions, including “Gnosticism,” “Hermeticism,” “paganism,” “esotericism,” and the like. The editor’s program intentionally seeks to “promote new agendas and analytic frameworks for research in these domains” (vii). The DGWE also emphasizes the overlapping theories and practices pertaining to religion, on the one hand, and science,on the other. There is an emphasis on astrology, alchemy, and magia naturalis, included to underscore the complex relations between science, natural philosophy, cosmology, and religion from antiquity through the eighteenth century.

Major clusters of related article are typically divided into an introductory article, followed by articles on each major period, each including lengthy bibliographies. Major clusters of articles arranged in this pattern include Alchemy, Astrology, Gnosticism, Hermetic Literature, Jewish Influences, Magic, Secrecy, and Rosicrucianism.

“Hermeticism” (pejoratively reified by Reformation and Enlightenment scholars as “a coherent counterculture of superstition and unreason”), receives extensive treatment in a cluster of eleven articles on pages 474–571, including “Hermes Trismegistus I: Antiquity” (471–78), “Hermes Trismegistus II; Middle Ages” (479–83), “Hermes Trismegistus III: Modernity” (483–86), “Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor” (486–87), “Hermetic Literature I: Antiquity” (487–99), “Hermetic Literature II: Latin Middle Ages” (499–529), “Hermetic Literature III: Arab” (529–33), “Hermetic Literature IV: Renaissance–Present” (533–44), “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” (544–50), “Hermeticism and Hermetic Societies” (550–58), and “Hermetism” (558–71). Another longish cluster of six articles are those relating to “Magic” (716–47).

The initial article, “Magic I: Introduction” (716–19),provides a brief overview of older theoretical approaches to “magic,” Hanegraaf calls attention to the unexamined theoretical triad of “magic”—religion—science and is critical of the continuing sharp distinction between religion and magic, which he rightfully recognizes as without foundation in scholarship, but is largely the product of internal theological polemic within Christianity (717–18). Unfortunately, the article is too short for the author to deal positively with a theoretical way out of these cul de sacs. “Magic II: Antiquity” (719–24), by Fritz Graf, provides an excellent overview of the subject, and it is here that that the Papyri Graecae Magicae are discussed, while amulets are treated in a separate and excellent article by Roy Kotansky, “Amulets” (60–71), with an extraordinarily helpful and detailed bibliography.

Two articles by van den Broek cover the topic Gnosticism: “Gnosticism I: Gnostic Religion” (403–16), where the author calls attention to the terminological obscurity involved in such labels as “Gnosticism,” “Gnosis,” and “Gnostic,” calling attention (interalia) to the unsatisfactory attempt at definition by the Messina Colloquium (1966) and the 1996 monograph of Michael Williams in which the term “Gnosticism” is completely discredited; and “Gnosticism II: Gnostic Literature” (417–32). Astrology is another complex area that receives exemplary treatment in a cluster of five articles: “Astrology I: Introduction” (109–10), “Astrology II: Antiquity” (110–19), “Astrology III: Middle Ages” (119–28), “Astrology IV: 15th–19th Century” (128–36), “Astrology V: 20th Century” (136–41).

The DGWE is made more accessible by two sets of indices, one listing groups and organizations, the other an index of persons. The bibliographies following the articles are detailed and extensive. The DGWE largely avoids treating individual texts, and those it does treat are typically embedded in articles on the groups with whom the texts originated. This is apparently an editorial policy, but an index listing the texts discussed would have been a helpful addition to the work. 

Exceptions include the extensive discussion of gnostic literature in “Gnosticism II: Gnostic Literature” (417–32) by van den Broek and an exceptionally fine and incredibly detailed group of articles dividing “Hermetic Literature” (487–544) into four historical periods. In a work this complex,there is always the risk of omitting important and relevant movements. While the DGWE treatments of Mormonism, the Millerites, the Seventh Day Adventists, and all nineteenthcentury religious movements in the United States that began with a flurry of prophetic countercultural activity. The DGWE is a useful and detailed reference work that belongs in every institutional library, and scholars of religion in the West will find it enormously informative

This review was published by RBL 2009 by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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Cathar Castles: Fortresses of the Albigensian Crusade 1209-1300

Cathar Castles: Fortresses of the Albigensian Crusade 1209-1300 (Fortress 55) By Marcus Cowper
Publisher: Os Publishing 2006 | 64 Pages | ISBN: 1846030668 | PDF | 14 MB

In the early 12th century AD, a large part of what we now think of as France was not under the direct control of the French King who's authority stretched little further than Paris. One region of Southern France, the Languedoc, became the centre of Catharism - heresy in the eyes of the Pope - who ordered a crusade against the region. The crusading army of French knights seized the opportunity to gain land and riches and the crusade was a viciously waged. The inhabitants of the Languedoc had always relied for their safety upon as series of strongly fortified walled cities - Albi, Carcassonne, Beziers, Toulouse - as well as a large number of fortified hill-top villages and castles, 'castra', which dotted the countryside. This book will describe the so-called 'Cathar castles', why they were positioned where they were, how they were built, how well those they withstood the realities of the Albigensian Crusade.

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