Consciousness and TraditionIn this series of brilliant essays, Jacob Needleman uncovers the heart of religion, psychiatry, philosophy, culture, science, and medicine in the forgotten life of the soul. He sees these contemporary disciplines without deep roots in the contemplative life and calls his readers to re-establish these roots. 'Much in our world, much in our modern way of living, is at the end of its tether.' says Needleman. 'Not only philosophy, but medicine, religion, and technology have reached a profound impasse, where motion accelerates but without direction. Almost every human endeavor, every pattern and form of life, seems to have broken from its moorings. And every one of us is riding in one of these rapidly accelerating vessels looking for a way, a direction, and a means of guiding it and ourselves.' Dealing with such themes as Eastern and Western spirituality, existentialism, spiritual traditions in our contemporary materialistic culture, disease and meaning, the loss of wholeness, being as a mystery, Needleman encourages every human being to begin 'the long and difficult work of awakening to himself.' |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Why Philosophy Is Easy | 12 |
Mans Nature and Natural Man | 23 |
Copyright | |
9 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
ancient awareness become Bhagavad Gita body Buddhism called Christianity concept consciousness cosmic cosmos culture diseases divine emotional energy eso anthropos esoteric essence existence Existentialism existentialist experience external Father Vasileios fear feeling forces forms Gurdjieff heart Hindu Hinduism human nature ideas impulse individual inner intellectual Jacob Needleman Jiva Judaism Kierkegaard knowledge laws living magic man's meaning medicine meditation metaphysical methods Milarepa mind movement mystery mysticism oneself organism ourselves Ouspensky outer P. D. Ouspensky path perhaps person philosophy Plato possible practices problem psyche psychiatry psychic psychological psychotherapy pupil question reality recognize relationship religion religious res extensa sacred sacred tradition scientism sense speak structure suffering Sufi symbolic teacher teachings thing thought tion tradition transformation truth understand understood universe Vajrayana Western Western world whole wisdom Yin and Yang