Henny Fiskå Hägg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199288083
- eISBN:
- 9780191604164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199288089.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter considers certain aspects of Clement’s writing methods and his views on the written versus the spoken word. It also discusses the question of whether or not Clement teaches an esoteric ...
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This chapter considers certain aspects of Clement’s writing methods and his views on the written versus the spoken word. It also discusses the question of whether or not Clement teaches an esoteric doctrine.Less
This chapter considers certain aspects of Clement’s writing methods and his views on the written versus the spoken word. It also discusses the question of whether or not Clement teaches an esoteric doctrine.
D. Dennis Hudson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195369229
- eISBN:
- 9780199871162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369229.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The first panel evokes a set of stories about Daksha and his relations with Rudra Shiva, and the self‐immolation of Sati. The next panel continues the story of Daksha's daughter Aditi's son Vamana, ...
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The first panel evokes a set of stories about Daksha and his relations with Rudra Shiva, and the self‐immolation of Sati. The next panel continues the story of Daksha's daughter Aditi's son Vamana, called Upendra, and involves the insight that everything belongs to Vasudeva, and that “being true” involves the opposite in the Kali Yuga. The third panel concerns the cursing of Jaya and Vijaya by the four Kumaras. In the fourth panel, Bhadrashravas worships Hayagriva in the region of Bhadrashva; it implies the story of Matsya the Fish. The story of Hayagriva is connected to Esoteric Buddhism. The last two panels on the porch represent the stories of Rishabha and his son Bharata, and shed light on the development of the Bhagavata religion.Less
The first panel evokes a set of stories about Daksha and his relations with Rudra Shiva, and the self‐immolation of Sati. The next panel continues the story of Daksha's daughter Aditi's son Vamana, called Upendra, and involves the insight that everything belongs to Vasudeva, and that “being true” involves the opposite in the Kali Yuga. The third panel concerns the cursing of Jaya and Vijaya by the four Kumaras. In the fourth panel, Bhadrashravas worships Hayagriva in the region of Bhadrashva; it implies the story of Matsya the Fish. The story of Hayagriva is connected to Esoteric Buddhism. The last two panels on the porch represent the stories of Rishabha and his son Bharata, and shed light on the development of the Bhagavata religion.
Antoine Faivre
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394337
- eISBN:
- 9780199777358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394337.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter examines the place in Eliade’s historical and fictional works of a variety of currents: Christian Kabbalah, Neo-Alexandrian hermetism, Renaissance “magic,” “spiritual” alchemy, ...
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This chapter examines the place in Eliade’s historical and fictional works of a variety of currents: Christian Kabbalah, Neo-Alexandrian hermetism, Renaissance “magic,” “spiritual” alchemy, Paracelsian and Neo-Paracelsian forms of philosophy of nature, Theosophy (Jacob Böhme and his followers), Rosicrucian literature and associations, and the so-called Occultist current. Eliade’s reasons for underplaying certain among these are linked, in part, to the fact that a “philosophy of nature” clearly present in most of these currents did not really tally with his idea of what the essentials of “religion” are or should be. Such traditions—as speculative discourses permeated by a sense of historicity—were not really congenial to Eliade’s program of transhistorical religious anthropology.Less
This chapter examines the place in Eliade’s historical and fictional works of a variety of currents: Christian Kabbalah, Neo-Alexandrian hermetism, Renaissance “magic,” “spiritual” alchemy, Paracelsian and Neo-Paracelsian forms of philosophy of nature, Theosophy (Jacob Böhme and his followers), Rosicrucian literature and associations, and the so-called Occultist current. Eliade’s reasons for underplaying certain among these are linked, in part, to the fact that a “philosophy of nature” clearly present in most of these currents did not really tally with his idea of what the essentials of “religion” are or should be. Such traditions—as speculative discourses permeated by a sense of historicity—were not really congenial to Eliade’s program of transhistorical religious anthropology.
Elaine Fisher
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394337
- eISBN:
- 9780199777358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394337.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In recent decades, a fair amount of controversy has been generated surrounding both Mircea Eliade’s youthful political association and his academic methodology. One particular trend in recent ...
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In recent decades, a fair amount of controversy has been generated surrounding both Mircea Eliade’s youthful political association and his academic methodology. One particular trend in recent critical literature draws a causal connection between Eliade’s scholarship on religion and his association with the Romanian Iron Guard. According to this critique, Eliade’s approach to the study of religion is symptomatic of his Fascist political leanings and continues to encode and circulate a Fascist mentality in the academy today. This chapter argues that, by means of rhetorical fallacy and semiotic inversion, Eliade’s scholarship has been systematically mapped onto Fascist thought through a number of keyword associations. As a result, the sui generis approach to the study of religion, as well as interest in mythology and the esoteric aspects of religion, becomes problematically construed, in and of themselves, as Fascist enterprises.Less
In recent decades, a fair amount of controversy has been generated surrounding both Mircea Eliade’s youthful political association and his academic methodology. One particular trend in recent critical literature draws a causal connection between Eliade’s scholarship on religion and his association with the Romanian Iron Guard. According to this critique, Eliade’s approach to the study of religion is symptomatic of his Fascist political leanings and continues to encode and circulate a Fascist mentality in the academy today. This chapter argues that, by means of rhetorical fallacy and semiotic inversion, Eliade’s scholarship has been systematically mapped onto Fascist thought through a number of keyword associations. As a result, the sui generis approach to the study of religion, as well as interest in mythology and the esoteric aspects of religion, becomes problematically construed, in and of themselves, as Fascist enterprises.
Yaacob Dweck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145082
- eISBN:
- 9781400840007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145082.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter posits Leon Modena's writing practices within the context of early modern Venice, capital of Hebrew printing and center of manuscript production. The circumstances of Modena's life as ...
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This chapter posits Leon Modena's writing practices within the context of early modern Venice, capital of Hebrew printing and center of manuscript production. The circumstances of Modena's life as well as the cultural world of early modern Venice offer some context for why Ari Nohem (The Roaring Lion, 1840) did not appear in print in the seventeenth century. As a work of criticism, Ari Nohem reflected upon the transmission of Jewish tradition, particularly the transmission of esoteric information and the principles of Jewish law. Modena argued that the printing of legal and kabbalistic books had effected a radical change in the transmission of Jewish tradition, a change that he decried in no uncertain terms at several points. Ari Nohem polemicized against one medium, print, in the form of another, manuscript.Less
This chapter posits Leon Modena's writing practices within the context of early modern Venice, capital of Hebrew printing and center of manuscript production. The circumstances of Modena's life as well as the cultural world of early modern Venice offer some context for why Ari Nohem (The Roaring Lion, 1840) did not appear in print in the seventeenth century. As a work of criticism, Ari Nohem reflected upon the transmission of Jewish tradition, particularly the transmission of esoteric information and the principles of Jewish law. Modena argued that the printing of legal and kabbalistic books had effected a radical change in the transmission of Jewish tradition, a change that he decried in no uncertain terms at several points. Ari Nohem polemicized against one medium, print, in the form of another, manuscript.
Yaacob Dweck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145082
- eISBN:
- 9781400840007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145082.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his ...
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This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his important positions in Ari Nohem—his understanding of tradition, his rejection of kabbalistic theology, and his attack on kabbalistic hermeneutics. Indeed, Modena quoted, paraphrased, defended, or alluded to Maimonides on nearly every page of Ari Nohem. He mentioned Maimonides explicitly on more than forty occasions in a treatise that consisted of thirty chapters; in addition, he often cited Maimonides without mentioning his name and engaged Maimonides' critics at great length. The chapter then connects Modena's discussion of two crucial issues in his criticism of Kabbalah to his reading of Maimonides: the history of esoteric secrets and the distinction between Kabbalah and philosophic knowledge.Less
This chapter examines Modena's attempt to reclaim Maimonides from his kabbalistic critics and admirers. It argues that Modena's reading of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed informed most of his important positions in Ari Nohem—his understanding of tradition, his rejection of kabbalistic theology, and his attack on kabbalistic hermeneutics. Indeed, Modena quoted, paraphrased, defended, or alluded to Maimonides on nearly every page of Ari Nohem. He mentioned Maimonides explicitly on more than forty occasions in a treatise that consisted of thirty chapters; in addition, he often cited Maimonides without mentioning his name and engaged Maimonides' critics at great length. The chapter then connects Modena's discussion of two crucial issues in his criticism of Kabbalah to his reading of Maimonides: the history of esoteric secrets and the distinction between Kabbalah and philosophic knowledge.
Yaacob Dweck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145082
- eISBN:
- 9781400840007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145082.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter traces the circulation of Ari Nohem in manuscript, from its composition through its first appearance in print. The different stages in the reception of Ari Nohem in manuscript offer an ...
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This chapter traces the circulation of Ari Nohem in manuscript, from its composition through its first appearance in print. The different stages in the reception of Ari Nohem in manuscript offer an alternative history of Kabbalah in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one that has largely been told through the histories of Sabbatianism and Hasidism. The manuscript transmission of Ari Nohem was typical rather than aberrant for texts written by early modern Jewish intellectuals on a variety of subjects: polemical writings on Christianity, esoteric kabbalistic treatises, and epistolary campaigns against the mystical messiah Sabbatai Zevi and his followers. The evidence of these manuscripts, combined with repeated citation of and allusion to Ari Nohem in letters, diaries, treatises, responsa, and compendia composed between 1639 and 1840, indicate that Jews and Christians continued to read Modena's text in nearly every generation between the death of the author and the printing of his book.Less
This chapter traces the circulation of Ari Nohem in manuscript, from its composition through its first appearance in print. The different stages in the reception of Ari Nohem in manuscript offer an alternative history of Kabbalah in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one that has largely been told through the histories of Sabbatianism and Hasidism. The manuscript transmission of Ari Nohem was typical rather than aberrant for texts written by early modern Jewish intellectuals on a variety of subjects: polemical writings on Christianity, esoteric kabbalistic treatises, and epistolary campaigns against the mystical messiah Sabbatai Zevi and his followers. The evidence of these manuscripts, combined with repeated citation of and allusion to Ari Nohem in letters, diaries, treatises, responsa, and compendia composed between 1639 and 1840, indicate that Jews and Christians continued to read Modena's text in nearly every generation between the death of the author and the printing of his book.
Toshimasa Yasukata
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144949
- eISBN:
- 9780199834891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144945.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Presents an argument for Lessing's significance for German intellectual history as well as his significance for modern Protestant theology. The assertion made here is that Lessing, as a pioneer among ...
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Presents an argument for Lessing's significance for German intellectual history as well as his significance for modern Protestant theology. The assertion made here is that Lessing, as a pioneer among the nontheologians who fostered the development of modern theology, belongs to the arena of the history of theology, even though he was not a theologian by profession. The task of articulating Lessing's theology or philosophy of religion is a difficult task that demands meticulous treatment. In order to escape the famous dilemma posed by Friedrich Loofs when he claimed that Lessing's “esoteric view” is concealed behind impenetrable “exoteric” walls, we consider the question of methodology for Lessing studies and reexamine old interpretive methods. The new method introduced here involves a heuristic and contextual interpretation of each of Lessing's cardinal texts, or an “intellectual assay” into the hidden and presumably rich vein of his thought with an eye to systematic reconstruction in future.Less
Presents an argument for Lessing's significance for German intellectual history as well as his significance for modern Protestant theology. The assertion made here is that Lessing, as a pioneer among the nontheologians who fostered the development of modern theology, belongs to the arena of the history of theology, even though he was not a theologian by profession. The task of articulating Lessing's theology or philosophy of religion is a difficult task that demands meticulous treatment. In order to escape the famous dilemma posed by Friedrich Loofs when he claimed that Lessing's “esoteric view” is concealed behind impenetrable “exoteric” walls, we consider the question of methodology for Lessing studies and reexamine old interpretive methods. The new method introduced here involves a heuristic and contextual interpretation of each of Lessing's cardinal texts, or an “intellectual assay” into the hidden and presumably rich vein of his thought with an eye to systematic reconstruction in future.
Paul Russell
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195110333
- eISBN:
- 9780199872084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195110333.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Both the epigrams that Hume uses on the title‐pages of the Treatise of Human Nature are very significant and reveal his freethinking and irreligious aims and intentions.. More specifically, the ...
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Both the epigrams that Hume uses on the title‐pages of the Treatise of Human Nature are very significant and reveal his freethinking and irreligious aims and intentions.. More specifically, the epigram from Tacitus that appears in Books I and II was used not only by Spinoza, but also by his followers in the Collins‐Toland circle to proclaim their bold defense of freethinking. At the same time, the Lucan epigram that appears in Book III also appears prominently in Collins's Freethinking and carries the message of Cato, a model of stoic virtue and the oracle of pantheism, freedom of thought, and anti‐superstition. Beyond this, these two epigrams are also intimately connected with Hume's Hobbist title and plan for his Treatise. In this way, Hume's use of epigrams on the title page of the Treatise is a notable and illuminating example of “esoteric” communication.Less
Both the epigrams that Hume uses on the title‐pages of the Treatise of Human Nature are very significant and reveal his freethinking and irreligious aims and intentions.. More specifically, the epigram from Tacitus that appears in Books I and II was used not only by Spinoza, but also by his followers in the Collins‐Toland circle to proclaim their bold defense of freethinking. At the same time, the Lucan epigram that appears in Book III also appears prominently in Collins's Freethinking and carries the message of Cato, a model of stoic virtue and the oracle of pantheism, freedom of thought, and anti‐superstition. Beyond this, these two epigrams are also intimately connected with Hume's Hobbist title and plan for his Treatise. In this way, Hume's use of epigrams on the title page of the Treatise is a notable and illuminating example of “esoteric” communication.
James R. Lewis and Jesper Aagaard Petersen (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195156829
- eISBN:
- 9780199784806
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515682X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This book features a collection of essays that discuss in detail the new religious groups that emerged during the 20th century. The essays provide an overview of each religion, their historical ...
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This book features a collection of essays that discuss in detail the new religious groups that emerged during the 20th century. The essays provide an overview of each religion, their historical development, leaders, doctrines, and activities. The groups covered are: the Family Unification Church, People’s Temple, Branch Davidians, ISKCON (Hare Krishnas), Osho Rajneesh, Soka Gakkai, Aum Shunrikyo, Falun Gong, Aumism, Scientology, Theosophy, Order of the Solar Temple Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, Heaven’s Gate, Raëlians, White racist religions, and Satanism. The book is divided into four parts. Part I discusses groups in the Christian tradition. Part II focuses on Asian and Asian-inspired groups. Part III examines esoteric and New Age groups. Part IV looks at other group movements.Less
This book features a collection of essays that discuss in detail the new religious groups that emerged during the 20th century. The essays provide an overview of each religion, their historical development, leaders, doctrines, and activities. The groups covered are: the Family Unification Church, People’s Temple, Branch Davidians, ISKCON (Hare Krishnas), Osho Rajneesh, Soka Gakkai, Aum Shunrikyo, Falun Gong, Aumism, Scientology, Theosophy, Order of the Solar Temple Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, Heaven’s Gate, Raëlians, White racist religions, and Satanism. The book is divided into four parts. Part I discusses groups in the Christian tradition. Part II focuses on Asian and Asian-inspired groups. Part III examines esoteric and New Age groups. Part IV looks at other group movements.
Jeffrey Brand-Ballard
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195342291
- eISBN:
- 9780199867011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342291.003.0016
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter addresses two basic questions about implementing selective optimization: (1) to what extent should judges disclose or conceal the fact that they selectively optimize, and (2) are judges ...
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This chapter addresses two basic questions about implementing selective optimization: (1) to what extent should judges disclose or conceal the fact that they selectively optimize, and (2) are judges psychologically capable of internalizing selective optimization? It considers some familiar sexual orientation cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, including Lawrence v. Texas and Romer v. Evans. It is argued that some of Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting arguments demand a response and that selective optimization offers one. The chapter argues that although judges have a pro tanto duty of candor, this duty is often overridden in suboptimal-result cases. It is sometimes permissible, therefore, for judges to advance fallacious legal arguments without admitting it—for them to deviate surreptitiously. Some implications of selective optimization for the treatment of precedent are explored, as is the relationship between selective optimization and Cass Sunstein’s judicial minimalism. Finally, recognizing that consciously obeying selective optimization may be psychologically impossible for some judges, the chapter considers the possibility of unreflective judicial conformity to selective optimization.Less
This chapter addresses two basic questions about implementing selective optimization: (1) to what extent should judges disclose or conceal the fact that they selectively optimize, and (2) are judges psychologically capable of internalizing selective optimization? It considers some familiar sexual orientation cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, including Lawrence v. Texas and Romer v. Evans. It is argued that some of Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting arguments demand a response and that selective optimization offers one. The chapter argues that although judges have a pro tanto duty of candor, this duty is often overridden in suboptimal-result cases. It is sometimes permissible, therefore, for judges to advance fallacious legal arguments without admitting it—for them to deviate surreptitiously. Some implications of selective optimization for the treatment of precedent are explored, as is the relationship between selective optimization and Cass Sunstein’s judicial minimalism. Finally, recognizing that consciously obeying selective optimization may be psychologically impossible for some judges, the chapter considers the possibility of unreflective judicial conformity to selective optimization.
June O. Leavitt
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827831
- eISBN:
- 9780199919444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827831.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
A close reading of Kafka’s post-1911 prose reveals that he continued to be infected by the widespread fascination with invisible forces. However, this fascination was not merely theoretical, but ...
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A close reading of Kafka’s post-1911 prose reveals that he continued to be infected by the widespread fascination with invisible forces. However, this fascination was not merely theoretical, but pragmatic. Kafka’s diary entry of June 25, 1914 is a case in point. This diary passage provides evidence that the “I” voice was employing some method to bring on a vision the purpose of which was ontological in nature. The visualization exercises the narrator used, which seem to have been revivals of Renaissance and ancient cabalistic practices, not only correspond to those espoused by Steiner. The visualization exercises the narrator used evoke certain practices associated with occult societies which were flourishing in Prague. However, the meticulous details of the vision of an angel described by the first person narrator, also suggests that Kafka genuinely experienced such a vision, if not on June 25, 1914, at some time prior to that.Less
A close reading of Kafka’s post-1911 prose reveals that he continued to be infected by the widespread fascination with invisible forces. However, this fascination was not merely theoretical, but pragmatic. Kafka’s diary entry of June 25, 1914 is a case in point. This diary passage provides evidence that the “I” voice was employing some method to bring on a vision the purpose of which was ontological in nature. The visualization exercises the narrator used, which seem to have been revivals of Renaissance and ancient cabalistic practices, not only correspond to those espoused by Steiner. The visualization exercises the narrator used evoke certain practices associated with occult societies which were flourishing in Prague. However, the meticulous details of the vision of an angel described by the first person narrator, also suggests that Kafka genuinely experienced such a vision, if not on June 25, 1914, at some time prior to that.
John Beer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574018
- eISBN:
- 9780191723100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574018.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Further study of The Friend reveals the survival of Coleridge's interest in esoteric speculations, particularly at a psychological level. This marks his study of Luther's ink‐throwing and of the ...
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Further study of The Friend reveals the survival of Coleridge's interest in esoteric speculations, particularly at a psychological level. This marks his study of Luther's ink‐throwing and of the account of Maria Eleonora Schöning, both of which come from recent German periodicals. Further passages suggesting the predominance of transcendent reason are cited, leading to the invocation of Alexander Ball as a figure displaying the power of Reason‐based law to overcome all resistance.Less
Further study of The Friend reveals the survival of Coleridge's interest in esoteric speculations, particularly at a psychological level. This marks his study of Luther's ink‐throwing and of the account of Maria Eleonora Schöning, both of which come from recent German periodicals. Further passages suggesting the predominance of transcendent reason are cited, leading to the invocation of Alexander Ball as a figure displaying the power of Reason‐based law to overcome all resistance.
Benjamin R. Barber
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195091540
- eISBN:
- 9780199854172
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195091540.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter comments on Allan Bloom's critique of democracy in his book The Closing of the American Mind. It examines why this anti-democratic book has been championed by conservatives, and why it ...
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This chapter comments on Allan Bloom's critique of democracy in his book The Closing of the American Mind. It examines why this anti-democratic book has been championed by conservatives, and why it was supported by democratic educators when Bloom's views were clearly incompatible with modern democratic education. This chapter suggests that despite its anti-democratic objectives, this book was as smooth and painless a polemic from a critic of democracy. It contends that the leading characteristic of the book was its commitment to closed communication, to esoteric meaning and rhetorical ambivalence.Less
This chapter comments on Allan Bloom's critique of democracy in his book The Closing of the American Mind. It examines why this anti-democratic book has been championed by conservatives, and why it was supported by democratic educators when Bloom's views were clearly incompatible with modern democratic education. This chapter suggests that despite its anti-democratic objectives, this book was as smooth and painless a polemic from a critic of democracy. It contends that the leading characteristic of the book was its commitment to closed communication, to esoteric meaning and rhetorical ambivalence.
Bernard Faure
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839338
- eISBN:
- 9780824868260
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839338.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
The book constitutes an attempt to rethink medieval Japanese religion in light of the recently discovered documents and of the innovative contributions by Japanese scholars. Drawing on the ...
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The book constitutes an attempt to rethink medieval Japanese religion in light of the recently discovered documents and of the innovative contributions by Japanese scholars. Drawing on the theoretical insights of structuralism, post-structuralism, and Actor-Network Theory, it retrieves what could be called the “implicit pantheon” (by opposition to the “explicit,” orthodox pantheon) of medieval esoteric Buddhism (mikkyō). Through a number of case studies, the book introduces readers to the labyrinthine world of medieval Japanese religiosity, and shows the centrality of the gods in religious discourse and practice. It describes and analyzes the impressive mythological and ritual efflorescence that marked the medieval period, not only in the religious domain, but also in the political, artistic, and literary spheres. While the individual chapters of the book give seem to follow the general taxonomic structure of the esoteric Buddhist pantheon, the proliferation of oblique relationships within and between chapters undermines that hierarchical structure and reveals the existence of a complex network, linking, not only deities, but also rituals, symbols, people, institutions, sacred objects and places.Less
The book constitutes an attempt to rethink medieval Japanese religion in light of the recently discovered documents and of the innovative contributions by Japanese scholars. Drawing on the theoretical insights of structuralism, post-structuralism, and Actor-Network Theory, it retrieves what could be called the “implicit pantheon” (by opposition to the “explicit,” orthodox pantheon) of medieval esoteric Buddhism (mikkyō). Through a number of case studies, the book introduces readers to the labyrinthine world of medieval Japanese religiosity, and shows the centrality of the gods in religious discourse and practice. It describes and analyzes the impressive mythological and ritual efflorescence that marked the medieval period, not only in the religious domain, but also in the political, artistic, and literary spheres. While the individual chapters of the book give seem to follow the general taxonomic structure of the esoteric Buddhist pantheon, the proliferation of oblique relationships within and between chapters undermines that hierarchical structure and reveals the existence of a complex network, linking, not only deities, but also rituals, symbols, people, institutions, sacred objects and places.
ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter explores how star-talk, the language of astral symbols, was employed in the Mithraic mysteries and in particular in the design of the tauroctony. Although a celestial identity is ...
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This chapter explores how star-talk, the language of astral symbols, was employed in the Mithraic mysteries and in particular in the design of the tauroctony. Although a celestial identity is proposed for the tauroctonous Mithras, ‘Sun-in-Leo’, this identification is not the icon's message. Close attention is paid to the great cosmic oppositions expressed in the tauroctony (east/west, north/south, up/down, earth/heaven, hot/cold, summer/winter, life/death, etc.) and to their symbols, the torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates; also to the ‘esoteric quartering’ of the zodiac, which privileges the signs following the tropic signs rather than, as is usual, the tropic signs themselves: thus, Taurus rather than Aries, Leo rather than Cancer, Scorpio rather than Libra. Two comparable structures outside Mithraism are also considered: the augural templum and the anaphoric clock.Less
This chapter explores how star-talk, the language of astral symbols, was employed in the Mithraic mysteries and in particular in the design of the tauroctony. Although a celestial identity is proposed for the tauroctonous Mithras, ‘Sun-in-Leo’, this identification is not the icon's message. Close attention is paid to the great cosmic oppositions expressed in the tauroctony (east/west, north/south, up/down, earth/heaven, hot/cold, summer/winter, life/death, etc.) and to their symbols, the torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates; also to the ‘esoteric quartering’ of the zodiac, which privileges the signs following the tropic signs rather than, as is usual, the tropic signs themselves: thus, Taurus rather than Aries, Leo rather than Cancer, Scorpio rather than Libra. Two comparable structures outside Mithraism are also considered: the augural templum and the anaphoric clock.
ROGER BECK
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199216130
- eISBN:
- 9780191712128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216130.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter is an ‘Excursus’ that addresses certain matters in the history of ancient astronomy and astrology, and that were prompted by Mithraism's ‘esoteric quartering’ of the zodiac. Matters ...
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This chapter is an ‘Excursus’ that addresses certain matters in the history of ancient astronomy and astrology, and that were prompted by Mithraism's ‘esoteric quartering’ of the zodiac. Matters considered are: a (postulated) lost helicoidal model of lunar motion; the origin of the ‘winds’ and ‘steps’ of the Moon; finally, the identity of the astrologer Antiochus of Athens.Less
This chapter is an ‘Excursus’ that addresses certain matters in the history of ancient astronomy and astrology, and that were prompted by Mithraism's ‘esoteric quartering’ of the zodiac. Matters considered are: a (postulated) lost helicoidal model of lunar motion; the origin of the ‘winds’ and ‘steps’ of the Moon; finally, the identity of the astrologer Antiochus of Athens.
Meir Shahar
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824847609
- eISBN:
- 9780824868130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824847609.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book offers the comprehensive account (in any language) of the oedipal god Nezha, doubtless one of the most intriguing figures in Chinese religion and literature. The book analyzes the ...
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This book offers the comprehensive account (in any language) of the oedipal god Nezha, doubtless one of the most intriguing figures in Chinese religion and literature. The book analyzes the patricidal god’s visceral myth, and the light it throws on the tensions that have been generated by the patriarchal Confucian family. It charts the evolution of the Nezha legend and cult over a two-thousand and five-hundred years peropd: From his origins in the Sanskrit epics and his association with the Indian child-god Kṛṣṇa; through his introduction ot China in the esoteric rituals of Tantric Buddhist masters; through the emergence of chinese fiction and drama celebrating his audacious adventures; all the way to his flourishing contemporary cult. The book uses the fascinating figure of the audacious child-god as a prime for the investigation of larger questions that concern Chinese religion and society, the psychology of the Chinese individual, and the impact of Indian civilization on Chinese culture. The book provides the most systematic analysis (in any language) of the Oedipus complex in Chinese culture. It examines the interplay of fiction, drama, and religion in the emergence of a popular Chinese god, and it surveys the role of Esoteric Buddhism in bringing Indian mythology to bear upon the Chinese imagination of divinity. Drawing upon a vast array of historical and literary sources (no less than upon ethnographic field work), the book is written backwards in time: it opens with the divine child’s present-day lore, tracing it back through Ming-period fiction and drama, Song-Period Buddhist literature, and medieval Tantric sutras to the ancient Sanskrit epics. Along the way, the the book examines the religions of fathers and sons in Chinese religion and literature, the application of the Freudian oedipal complex to China, and the long-term impact of the Indian gods on Chinese religion and literature.Less
This book offers the comprehensive account (in any language) of the oedipal god Nezha, doubtless one of the most intriguing figures in Chinese religion and literature. The book analyzes the patricidal god’s visceral myth, and the light it throws on the tensions that have been generated by the patriarchal Confucian family. It charts the evolution of the Nezha legend and cult over a two-thousand and five-hundred years peropd: From his origins in the Sanskrit epics and his association with the Indian child-god Kṛṣṇa; through his introduction ot China in the esoteric rituals of Tantric Buddhist masters; through the emergence of chinese fiction and drama celebrating his audacious adventures; all the way to his flourishing contemporary cult. The book uses the fascinating figure of the audacious child-god as a prime for the investigation of larger questions that concern Chinese religion and society, the psychology of the Chinese individual, and the impact of Indian civilization on Chinese culture. The book provides the most systematic analysis (in any language) of the Oedipus complex in Chinese culture. It examines the interplay of fiction, drama, and religion in the emergence of a popular Chinese god, and it surveys the role of Esoteric Buddhism in bringing Indian mythology to bear upon the Chinese imagination of divinity. Drawing upon a vast array of historical and literary sources (no less than upon ethnographic field work), the book is written backwards in time: it opens with the divine child’s present-day lore, tracing it back through Ming-period fiction and drama, Song-Period Buddhist literature, and medieval Tantric sutras to the ancient Sanskrit epics. Along the way, the the book examines the religions of fathers and sons in Chinese religion and literature, the application of the Freudian oedipal complex to China, and the long-term impact of the Indian gods on Chinese religion and literature.
Derek J. Penslar
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520225909
- eISBN:
- 9780520925847
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520225909.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter talks about the irrationality of prejudice, its constant self-contradiction that appears most prominent in the case of anti-Semitism. Jews, anti-Semites have claimed, are clannish but ...
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This chapter talks about the irrationality of prejudice, its constant self-contradiction that appears most prominent in the case of anti-Semitism. Jews, anti-Semites have claimed, are clannish but eager to assimilate, a teeming mass but an esoteric cabal, capitalists and communists, plutocrats and paupers. Anti-Semitic feeling was rooted in Christendom; the forms anti-Semitism has taken over the centuries, and the relationship between those forms, are the products of specific social realities that change over time and across space. Anti-Semitism has been an expression of cultural anxiety, an outlet for the annunciation of social tensions, and, as such, has shared structural and group-psychological similarities with social discourse about other anxiety-inducing groups, the “dangerous classes” on or beyond the margins of the social order.Less
This chapter talks about the irrationality of prejudice, its constant self-contradiction that appears most prominent in the case of anti-Semitism. Jews, anti-Semites have claimed, are clannish but eager to assimilate, a teeming mass but an esoteric cabal, capitalists and communists, plutocrats and paupers. Anti-Semitic feeling was rooted in Christendom; the forms anti-Semitism has taken over the centuries, and the relationship between those forms, are the products of specific social realities that change over time and across space. Anti-Semitism has been an expression of cultural anxiety, an outlet for the annunciation of social tensions, and, as such, has shared structural and group-psychological similarities with social discourse about other anxiety-inducing groups, the “dangerous classes” on or beyond the margins of the social order.
Elliot Wolfson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520246195
- eISBN:
- 9780520932319
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520246195.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book explores the nexus of time, truth, and death in the symbolic world of medieval kabbalah. Demonstrating that the historical and theoretical relationship between kabbalah and western ...
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This book explores the nexus of time, truth, and death in the symbolic world of medieval kabbalah. Demonstrating that the historical and theoretical relationship between kabbalah and western philosophy is far more intimate and extensive than any previous scholar has ever suggested, the book draws an extraordinary range of thinkers such as Frederic Jameson, Martin Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig, William Blake, Julia Kristeva, Friedrich Schelling, and a host of kabbalistic figures into deep conversation with one another. The book discusses Islamic mysticism and Buddhist thought in relation to the Jewish esoteric tradition as it opens the possibility of a temporal triumph of temporality and the conquering of time through time. The framework for this examination is the rabbinic teaching that the word emet, “truth,” comprises the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alef, mem, and tau, which serve, in turn, as semiotic signposts for the three tenses of time—past, present, and future. By heeding the letters of emet we discern the truth of time manifestly concealed in the time of truth, the beginning that cannot begin if it is to be the beginning, the middle that re/marks the place of origin and destiny, and the end that is the figuration of the impossible disclosing the impossibility of figuration, the finitude of death that facilitates the possibility of rebirth. The time of death does not mark the death of time, but time immortal, the moment of truth that bestows on the truth of the moment an endless beginning of a beginningless end, the truth of death encountered incessantly in retracing steps of time yet to be taken—between, before, beyond.Less
This book explores the nexus of time, truth, and death in the symbolic world of medieval kabbalah. Demonstrating that the historical and theoretical relationship between kabbalah and western philosophy is far more intimate and extensive than any previous scholar has ever suggested, the book draws an extraordinary range of thinkers such as Frederic Jameson, Martin Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig, William Blake, Julia Kristeva, Friedrich Schelling, and a host of kabbalistic figures into deep conversation with one another. The book discusses Islamic mysticism and Buddhist thought in relation to the Jewish esoteric tradition as it opens the possibility of a temporal triumph of temporality and the conquering of time through time. The framework for this examination is the rabbinic teaching that the word emet, “truth,” comprises the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alef, mem, and tau, which serve, in turn, as semiotic signposts for the three tenses of time—past, present, and future. By heeding the letters of emet we discern the truth of time manifestly concealed in the time of truth, the beginning that cannot begin if it is to be the beginning, the middle that re/marks the place of origin and destiny, and the end that is the figuration of the impossible disclosing the impossibility of figuration, the finitude of death that facilitates the possibility of rebirth. The time of death does not mark the death of time, but time immortal, the moment of truth that bestows on the truth of the moment an endless beginning of a beginningless end, the truth of death encountered incessantly in retracing steps of time yet to be taken—between, before, beyond.
