Some more book reviews

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.