A frustrating aspect of spiritual development is backsliding, i.e., reverting to the same unhelpful states of consciousness repeatedly. I can go for days with a mind as still as the ocean on a calm summer’s day, interspersed with periods of bliss. Yet, unexpectedly, a demonic attack occurs, usually in that twilight state between waking and sleeping. Continue reading
In which we review Christian Gnosis: From St. Paul to Meister Eckhart by Wolfgang Smith. None of the things which are comprehended by the senses or contemplated by the mind really subsist; nothing except the transcendent essence and cause of all. ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa As fire is concealed … Continue reading
It is not the man who chooses the way. It is the way that chooses the man. In other words. the question of a choice does not arise, since the finite cannot choose the Infinite: rather the question is one of vocation, and those who are “called” to use the Gospel expression, cannot ignore the call without committing a “sin against the Holy Ghost” any more than a man can legitimately ignore the obligations of his religion. ~ Frithjof Schuon Continue reading
What follows are selections from “Persian Traditions in Spain” by Michael McClain People who know me very well say that I have a mentality which is medieval and not modern, rural and not urban, that I am an “incurable romantic and idealist”, and that I have a “peasant mindset”. To … Continue reading
The fact that St. John of the Cross was so open to said influence is a proof of the fact that he was an initiate in the esoteric path and of the ecumenism typical of all true mystics. If Rumi is the St. John of the Cross of Persia, then St. John of the Cross is the Rumi of Spain. Continue reading
Review of Christian Gnosis: From St. Paul to Meister Eckhart by Wolfgang Smith. Unlike other men of Tradition who accept a more or less universal gnosis, Smith will show that a specifically Christian gnosis goes beyond what other sapiential traditions can offer. He bases this on the doctrine of the Trinity, especially as it appears in Meister Eckhart. Continue reading
At the conclusion to the Meditation on the Arcanum of the Star, Valentin Tomberg makes the following appeal: In our time, therefore, it is a matter of the task of effecting the third step of the evolutionary spiral of the Hermetic tradition — the third “recovery” of the subject of … Continue reading
Nature does not make men equal; souls differ still more than bodies. ~ Antoine Fabre d’Olivet As I’ve been pondering which of two alternative endings to use for Post #1001 – if it ever appears at all – some recent inquiries have prompted this recapitulation before moving on to other … Continue reading