Hidden Wisdom, by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney - Revised
Edition, 2006
The
aim of the authors in this book is stated as being to address the
question of how the esoteric tradition, which is here regarded as
holding 'consciousness' to be a 'primary force in the universe', came
to be 'despised and rejected' in the West, and to offer guidance to
the various forms which that esotericism has taken as, over the last
two decades, it has 'inched closer to the mainstream'.
By
way of introduction, Smoley and Kinney compare and contrast the
esoteric and the exoteric, and emphasise that 'the notion of Western
esoteric traditions' is a comparatively new one, since the Western
world view has become somewhat more diverse than the former division
into the two spheres of 'Christendom' and 'heathendom', to the extent
that by the 20th century, 'seekers in America and Europe were seized
with passion for the lore of mystic Asia'. Having defined certain key
differences between Western and Eastern esotericism, such as the role
of the teacher and the place of the ego, and emphasising the hard
work, discernment, and decency demanded by the esoteric path, the
main part of the book is divided into twelve chapters, which cover
the following topics: Jung, Gnosticism, esoteric Christianity, the
Kabbalah, magic, paganism/witchcraft, shamanism, alchemy and
hermeticism, the teachings of Gurjieff, Sufism, secret societies and
brotherhoods, and the New Age.
Each
of the twelve chapters is divided into short sections and followed
with a comprehensive list, with comments, of suggested further
reading. This enables the reader to pick and choose depending on
their particular interest, without having necessarily to plough
through the whole volume, which would be a big ask at one go, as it
is pretty dense, although the writing style is clear, mostly factual,
apparently neutral, and authoritative - as indeed it should be, from
two former editors of the journal 'Gnosis'. By way of an 'Afterword'
the authors advise the necessity of groundedness, 'faithful
scepticism' (a lovely phrase for a very sensible concept!), and an
ability to keep things in proportion while on this road to the
discovery of inner equilibrium. For anyone looking for an
introductory work on Western esotericism, and/or a revitalised,
non-traditional, sense of spirituality and the practices that enable
that, this fits the bill, and demands no prior knowledge. And it
would make a fascinating TV series!
A Different Christianity, by Robin Amis
British-born
Robin Amis (1932-2014) was the founder and first director of Praxis
Research Institute, a not-for-profit research and educational
organisation set up in 1992 in Massachusetts. The stated mission of
Praxis is to study and pass on the inner, spiritual, teachings of the
Christian tradition which date back to the Gospels and the writings
of the early Church Father, and which, it claims, are still in
practice in some monastic communities, such as that of Mount Athos,
Greece.
Amis,
latterly a frequent visitor to Mount Athos, in particular to the
Osioy Gregoriou monastery, had, in the early 1960s, joined the Study
Society in London, which was led by Francis Roles, a former student
of P.D. Ouspensky, the Russian esotericist known for his expositions
of the early work of G. Gurdjieff, the Armenian-Greek teacher of
esoteric doctrine. Amis, having studied various spiritual traditions,
subsequently converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and was
recognised by the Mount Athos community as a 'synergatis' - that is,
a fellow worker and equal of the monks - not least for introducing
Hesychasm, a mystical tradition of contemplative prayer, to the West.
With
all this in mind, I was looking forward to my first reading of his
seminal work 'A Different Christianity', said to have been
influential in making available to a wide non-Orthodox, Western
readership the practices and knowledge of Eastern Orthodoxy and the
Athonite tradition. I got quite happily as far as the last sentence of
the opening acknowledgments - the page before page one - and was
stopped in my tracks by a glaring misspelling of the word
'encouragement', published as 'encoruagement'. Of course, we all make
typos, me included, but surely proof-reading standards should be
better than this, not least in a stand out paragraph, in which Amis
is paying tribute to his wife.
More
in a practical vein: Positive comments: each chapter is divided into
sections, and are not too long, there are good notes for each
chapter, and the whole book is well indexed. Negative points: pages x
& xi are printed twice, and the font size of this book is
relatively small, which does not make for easy reading, and creates a
sense of density, which may or may not be justified, there are no
exercises or pauses for thought, despite Amis' emphasis on the need
to ponder: it is very much a solid text book. Amis also spends quite
a long time in his Introduction setting out his stall, as regards
what the aim of the book is for: he phrases and re-phrases his
purpose several times.
The
book proper begins with a summary of Amis' sources, before moving on,
at last!, to an examination of the message of Christianity - but
sadly even this is confused by Amis' habit of falling into
memoir-mode about his own experiences. This works in some books,
especially those of a practical nature: it does not, for me, work
here: I am waiting for an exposition of Eastern
Orthodox/Athonite/esoteric theology, not what comes across to me as a
mish-mash of the author's thoughts, various writings, and mentions of
Mount Athos. But I do admit my own prejudice against this 'Holy
Mountain' - a sad place where women, and female animals, are banned,
in order that the monks may focus on their path toward spiritual
enlightenment. Sorry, but how is 'spiritual enlightenment' possible
without the inclusion of the feminine? Do they not know that women
and men are created in the image of the Divine? Or do they not care?
- a different Christianity from mine certainly!
Without
prolonging this report, suffice it to say that this book and I do not
at the moment get along - and I accept fully that this is no doubt as
much to do with me as with the book itself. What is advertised as a
bridge to the esoteric teachings of Christianity and the 'difficult
doctrines' of the early Church Fathers, is to me a confusion of
ideas, thoughts, teachings, lacking substantiation, and poorly
edited. I am disappointed that the wealth of material and of
experience which Amis very clearly possessed, was allowed to be
published in such an inaccessible fashion. My hope is that my money
spent on this book will not be completely wasted, and that at some
future time, I may find it of some use as a reference work.
Anthony Duncan: The Lord of the Dance
The Lord
of the Dance is the first of a series of five books by Anthony
Duncan, which, according to the author's preface, 'wrote themselves'.
It has me at the title: The Lord of the Dance - a great if over-used song
by the brilliant Sydney Carter, Shiva Nataraja, Michael Flatley's
Irish dancing, and, of course, the Great Dance of the cosmos. So, off
to a good start before I've even opened the book!
Sub-titled
'an essay in mysticism', the back cover claims this to be 'a book
with a difference... both traditional and revolutionary'. There are
six chapters, each divided into sections. There are no notes,
references, or suggestions for further reading.
Chapter
One, The Great Dance, begins with the assertions that 'everything
that exists treads the same measure, each according to its own
rhythm' and that 'time is an illusion'. Not sure if the latter
doesn't negate the former? And I have problems with the concept which
Duncan moves on to - that of 'the fall' and what he regards as the
consequent division of 'Man' into man and woman - which he writes as
if it is a given, rather than a questionable concept.
That
said, Duncan's writing style is clear, lucid, engaging, and has an
almost poetic eloquence. But, and it's a big but, he is totally
dogmatic. 'Fallen Man' is, according to Duncan, 'redeemed in Christ'
and can now once again dance with God 'himself'. While I both delight
in and commend the image of the Dance, I nonetheless condemn the
black/white totalitarianism of the theology. The concept of a 'fall'
continues in Duncan's exposition of the 'fallen angel and his
creatures'. With the Dance of Bread and Wine Duncan introduces the
curious concept that the earth itself is thus identified with 'man'
through whom it is redeemed. Sorry, but Duncan has lost me here.
The
'duty' of contemplation, images of the fiery spear and the grail,
archetypes, symbols, the Silence of Heaven, and the understanding of
the Eucharist as Nuptial and Sacrificial, bring us finally to the I
AM, but not, for Duncan, the great I AM who simply is, but an I AM
defined as this, that, and the other (child, lord, king, host,
priest, and so on).
This
is not an essay in mysticism: it is a mystical essay - rather a
different creature. It makes interesting, if not particularly useful,
reading, if one is interested in other people's experiences and
interpretations of Divine revelation. Sadly, Duncan is not, as yet,
my partner in the dance.
Richard Temple: Icons, and the mystical origins of
Christianity
Richard
Temple, considered one of the world's greatest experts in the field
of Russian, Greek, and Byzantine icons, founded the Temple Gallery in
1959 as a centre for the study, restoration, and exhibition of
historic icons and other sacred art. This book is said to represent
the culmination of Temple's lifelong interest in Christian mysticism,
neo-Platonism, the emergence of Christianity from Hellenistic
culture, and Christian hesychasm - the seeking of divine quietness
through the contemplation of God in uninterrupted prayer.
Temple's
stated aim in this book is to investigate the mystical origins of
icons and their potential relevance in contemporary culture. It is
divided into two parts, the first, 'The Mystical Background of
Christianity' of seven chapters, the second, 'Interpretation of
Icons' of twelve, followed by Notes and a thorough index.
Temple
is clear from the outset that his belief is that the deepest meaning
of 'the Christian drama' lies not in an historical interpretation,
such as has been attempted by traditional doctrinal theology, but in
its spiritual realities, which are hidden by the literal events. He
regards these two interpretations, the historical and the spiritual,
as complementary, but 'on different levels'. Temple also holds that
the mysticism of Christianity relates to the possibilities of
spiritual awakening and 'recovery from spiritual death'.
Having
briefly examined examples of symbolism in art and myth, Temple then
addresses the relevance of Hellenistic philosophy to his main thesis,
suggesting that Christianity also inherited the Hellenistic style and
use of iconography - representing psycho-spiritual ideas, a divine
unifying principle and numeric principle, and the idea of a cosmic
hierarchy - as well as being influenced by other cultures, such as
that of Egypt. Gnostic belief and practice are discussed, along with
the contribution of Dionysius the Areopagite, before Temple moves
into the second part of his book: the interpretation of icons.
This
second, longer section is much more engaging, with sufficient
illustrations to ground Temple's thesis and allow the reader to
contemplate the images and reach her/his own agreement, or not, with
the author. There is much of interest, especially regarding the
'spiritual architecture' of some of the icons discussed.
The
author is obviously deeply engrossed in, and highly knowledgeable
about, his subject, and for anyone interested in iconography and/or
the multi-layering of meaning within the Christian faith - too often
forgotten by scholars and evangelists alike - this is an interesting
work.
It
is quite dense in its arguments and the general thesis of the book
would have been better served with a much briefer introduction (Part
One) and more specific examination of actual icons, preferably with
larger colour illustrations: some of those included, in black and
white, are difficult to make out. Such a re-balancing could make for
a greater sense of accessibility of the subject matter. And while
Temple certainly does examine the 'mystic origins' of iconography, I
am not convinced that he demonstrates their potential contemporary
relevance sufficiently well to evoke further study. Interesting,
thoughtful, and literate, but not inspiring.
Bruno Barnhart: Second Simplicity
Fr.
Bruno Barnhart (1931-2015) was a member of the New Camaldoli
Hermitage, Big Sur, California. The Camaldolese are the inheritors of
the tradition of the monk-hermits of Camaldoli, Italy, whose order,
an independent offshoot of the Benedictines, was founded in the 11th
century C.E. Barnhart, a former Navy biochemist, is said to have had
a deep conversion experience in 1959 while recovering from a
laboratory accident, in which he lost the sight of one eye. He took
monastic vows in 1960, was ordained in 1966, and served as prior to
the community from 1969 to 1987. From 1994 onwards he was editor of
'The Golden String' (the official publication of the Bede Griffiths
Trust, a charitable foundation which supports ashrams in South India)
and he also served as retreat/spiritual director and prior at
Epiphany Monastery, New Hampshire - the Camaldolese experimental
community. One of the people to whom he was spiritual director and
mentor is The Rev'd. Cynthia Bourgeault, who regarded him as the one
spiritual writer who 'most perfectly integrated the distinctly
different Western and Eastern understandings of non-duality' while
remaining grounded in Christianity's 'incarnational epicentre'.
Another of his colleagues said he reminded him of a line from
Tolkien: 'He was as noble and fair as an elf-lord, as strong as a
warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and
as kind as summer'.
In
his book Second Simplicity, Barnhart challenges Christianity to
'emerge' from its confinement within the experience and consciousness
of the Word/order/rationality/the 'masculine' and to re-discover God,
the Spirit, and the Cosmos, thus enabling a fuller experience both of
the Christian faith and of 'wisdom that brings all created reality
into unity with God'. He suggests that, despite the apparent
expansion of human life in the twentieth century, in fact there has
been a contraction and a lack of depth, which has caused many to turn
to Eastern philosophies in order to find the wisdom that Western
Christianity has lost. Barnhart creates his own circular mandala to
represent the four dimensions of the unitive vision of God, the Word,
the Spirit, and the Cosmos, his perspective being determined by the
two principles of unity and quaternity. The book is thus itself
divided into four parts, The Silence, The Word, The Music, and The
Dance.
Barnhart's
exposition of his theme is written with the accuracy of a scientist,
the breadth of reference which characterises an open-minded seeker,
the authority of one confident in his thesis, and a clarity derived
from a life-time of the give and take of effective communication. His
style is so engaging that the fact that one is dealing at an unusual
depth with unusual topics is barely noticed. There are useful notes
for each chapter, an extensive bibliography, an explanation of
abbreviations used, an index of authors, and an index of subjects, as
well as three appendices: one a very informative glossary of terms,
the second on the Quaternity Mandala, and the third on the Christian
Mandala (John, Peter, James and Paul). And there are drawings, by
Lynne Clarkin.
'Second
Simplicity' is, quite simply, a good book. I recommend it.
