I just wanted to share with you a book that I am reading which I think might be interesting for some of you. It was written by the French author René Guénon (an important metaphysicist of the XXth century) and is called Perspectives on Initiation (Aperçus sur l'initiation, 1946 - Sophia Perennis). I've discovered that every/almost every religion has an esoteric side. Sufism is the esoteric side of Islam, Kabballah is the same in Judaism, Tao in Confucianism, etc. This book talks about the traditional ways of spiritual initiation, which in his point of view they are the only ones which are effective. I agree with the idea that all religions have a lot of trascendental aspects in common, more that we can imagine, and they are called "tradition" by him and other related authors. Here's some info on this author and other 'traditionalists', for those interested:
And last, a controversial book that questions the need of literacy: Am I My Brother's Keeper? /The Bugbear of Literacy by Ananda Coomaraswamy, another traditionalist. One of the main ideas is that there are many cultures that have an inmense body of wisdom and knowledge of which people are illiterate and transmit their knowledge through oral literature, which has often been scorned by the modern Western civilization. Enjoy!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Manel,
Thank you, Gina, for your nice reply and for you interesting recomendations! Regarding the first one, I've read some books related to lobbies (groups of power) and in time I've learnt that one thing is the real 'tradition' and the other one, which is very different, is the amount of degenerated hierarchies that unfortunately have appeared from these traditions through History. However, it doesn't mean neither that all these hierarchies are bad nor that hierarchies themselves are bad for human societies. But as I've said in other posts, I'm not an expert on this subject! I hope you enjoy the books as I do, it's been great to talk to you again! Best,
Manel, Perfect timing to post the book. I will HAVE to read it. I just got done with "God is NOT Great" author I have forgotten and the book is not at hand, but it is about the author's how religious people use God to kill and run their country into the ground. Also "The End of Faith" deals with a similar theme and the last one is called, "The Devil" which states there is no devil. He resides in the minds of the people who believe he does exist. It was very interesting to read the 3 different views and a great read. Now it is time for me to continue on my story...The Highwayman will ride again!!! Blessings, Gina
Posts: 572 | Location: Everett, Washington USA | Registered: November 11, 2006
