gnostic esoterica

Sun Jul 9 21:11:00 CDT 2017

I don't Gno...sorry, couldn't resist.

On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 5:20 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> B4 the end of GR Slothrop fades away, and that seems related to his
> becoming a crossroads.  I think he has found an escape, like nirvana.  Is
> that gnosis?
>
> On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 4:06 PM Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> At the end of Gravity's Rainbow, Slothrop stumbles into gnosis. He
>> doesn't even know he's seeking, or at least what he's seeking. Is there any
>> other way? Even with all the preparation, when you recognize it, is it like
>> anything you've experienced before? Is it different from your ordinary
>> everyday experience? That's always been what Mr. Pynchon is writing about,
>> for me.
>>
>> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>>
>> On Jul 9, 2017, at 2:51 PM, Allan Balliett <allan.balliett at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Description
>>
>> The appearance of Vineland, his first novel in seventeen years, has
>> rekindled critical debate on Thomas Pynchon. Written before the publication
>> of the new novel, but remarkably prescient about its themes, The Gnostic
>> Pynchon is a provocative reading of Pynchon's work.
>>
>> Where most critics find in Thomas Pynchon a postmodern writer of
>> indeterministic, relativistic, contingent fiction, Dwight Eddins also finds
>> a man on a religious quest. Pynchon's quest, Eddins shows, is for some
>> principle of organic order that will provide an alternative to hopeless
>> ambiguity, or an equally hopeless choice between total chaos and total
>> control.
>>
>> The Gnostic Pynchon is a profoundly revisionist view of one of this
>> century's most important writers.
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 1:39 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Gnostic-Pynchon-Dwight-Eddins/
>>> dp/0253319072/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499621885&sr=8-
>>> 1-fkmr0&keywords=eddins+on+gnosticism
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 1:34 PM, Tomas De Minos <tomasdemino at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gnosticism has experienced a huge surge in popularity these last couple
>>>> years, owing to public intellectuals like Graham Hancock and psychedelics,
>>>> I think.
>>>>
>>>> I myself read the Nag Hammadi library on a whim back in October. It's
>>>> become apparent to me that the Jesus was more like Mani and Zoroaster than
>>>> he was a Jew.
>>>>
>>>> e.g. The Water of Life is misunderstood unless it is associated with
>>>> the Avestan apas.
>>>>
>>>> When Jesus mentions Truth, he clearly means Ma'at, Ma, and Satya.
>>>> Indeed, his Mary is his consort and a manifestation of the feminine deity
>>>> Sophia/Ayahuasca.
>>>>
>>>> As it is said in the Gospel of Thomas, the scribes and the pharisees
>>>> are holding the keys of Gnosis. Once we unlock the symbols, see Amen as
>>>> Amun-Ra, Christ as Horus and Osiris, we see Christianity as it was meant to
>>>> be read.
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 9, 2017 12:02, "Keith Davis" <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I've been to Claymont...
>>>>
>>>> Www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 9, 2017, at 11:58 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> "The Planetization of the Esoteric". Phrase of the day.
>>>>
>>>> I remember Lindisfarne Books. No planetization, so to speak.
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 10:24 AM, Allan Balliett <
>>>> allan.balliett at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> To drift further away, here's some info on William Irwin Thompson's
>>>>> now defunct Lindisfarne Association
>>>>>
>>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne_Association
>>>>>
>>>>> from Wikipedia
>>>>>
>>>>> Goals and doctrine[edit]
>>>>> The Lindisfarne doctrine is closely related to that of its founder,
>>>>> William Thompson. Mentioned as part of the Lindisfarne ideology are a long
>>>>> list of spiritual and esoteric traditions including yoga, Tibetan Buddhism,
>>>>> Chinese traditional medicine, Hermeticism, Celtic animism, Gnosticism,
>>>>> cabala, geomancy, ley lines, Pythagoreanism, and ancient mystery
>>>>> religions.[8]
>>>>>
>>>>> The group placed a special emphasis on sacred geometry, defined by
>>>>> Thompson as "a vision of divine intelligence, the logos, revealing itself
>>>>> in all forms, from the logarithmic spiral of a seashell to the hexagonal
>>>>> patterns of cooling basalt, from the architecture of the molecule to the
>>>>> galaxy."[9] Rachel Fletcher, Robert Lawlor, and Keith Critchlow lectured at
>>>>> Crestone on the application of sacred geometry, Platonism, and
>>>>> Pythagoreanism to architecture.[10] The exemplar of these ideas is the
>>>>> Grail Chapel in Crestone (also known as Lindisfarne Chapel), which is built
>>>>> to reflect numerous basic geometrical relationships.[11]
>>>>>
>>>>> Lindisfarne's social agenda was exemplified by the "meta-industrial
>>>>> village", a small community focused on subsistence and crafts while yet
>>>>> connected to a world culture. All members of a community might participate
>>>>> in essential tasks such as the harvest. (Thompson has speculated that the
>>>>> United States, 40% of the population could work at agriculture, and another
>>>>> 40% in social services.) The villages would have a sense of shared purpose
>>>>> in transforming world culture. They would combine "the four classical
>>>>> economies of human history, hunting and gathering, agriculture, industry,
>>>>> and cybernetics", all "recapitulated within a single deme."[12]
>>>>>
>>>>> (The "Meadowcreek Project" in Arkansas, begun in 1979 by David and
>>>>> Wilson Orr, was an effort to actualize a meta-industrial village as
>>>>> envisioned by the Lindisfarne Association. This project received funding
>>>>> from the Ozarks Regional Commission, the Arkansas Energy Department, and
>>>>> the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.)[13][14]
>>>>>
>>>>> The villages would be linked together by an electronic information
>>>>> network (i.e., what today we call the internet). Thompson called for a
>>>>> counter-cultural vanguard "which can formulate an integral vision of
>>>>> culture and maintain the high standards of that culture without compromise
>>>>> to the forces of electronic vulgarization." [15]
>>>>>
>>>>> According to the Lindisfarne Association website, Lindisfarne's
>>>>> fourfold goals are:
>>>>>
>>>>> The Planetization of the Esoteric
>>>>> The realization of the inner harmony of all the great universal
>>>>> religions and the spiritual traditions of the tribal peoples of the world.
>>>>> The fostering of a new and healthier balance between nature and
>>>>> culture through the research and development of appropriate technologies,
>>>>> architectural settlements and compassionate economies for meta-industrial
>>>>> villages and convivial cities.
>>>>> The illumination of the spiritual foundations of political governance
>>>>> through scholarship and artistic communications that foster a global
>>>>> ecology of consciousness beyond the present ideological systems of warring
>>>>> industrial nation-states, outraged traditional societies, and ravaged lands
>>>>> and seas.
>>>>> Thompson has also stated the United States has a unique role to play
>>>>> in the promotion of planetary culture because people from all over the
>>>>> world mingle there.[16]
>>>>>
>>>>> Lindisfarne sought to spread its message widely, through a mailing
>>>>> list and through book publications of the Lindisfarne press.[17]
>>>>>
>>>>> Journalist Sally Helgesen, after a visit in 1977, criticized
>>>>> Lindisfarne as confused pseudo-intellectuals, citing for example their
>>>>> attempt to build an expensive fish "bioshelter" while overlooking a marsh
>>>>> with fish in it.[18]
>>>>>
>>>>> Allan in WV who hopes that this post doesn't open the door for a
>>>>> discussion of the Claymont Society
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 10:19 AM, Allan Balliett <
>>>>> allan.balliett at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> The Schumaker College has made a bunch of  conference tapes related
>>>>>> to William Irwin Thompson available for FREE at mp3s at
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://archive.org/search.php?query=william%20irwin%20thompson
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I don't see anything directly addressing the Gnostics but a lot of
>>>>>> lectures on Man and Nature, Man and Industrialism and similar topics.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Seems like it's potentially a great find!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -allan in WV
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sat, Jul 8, 2017 at 5:29 AM, Kai Frederik Lorentzen <
>>>>>> lorentzen at hotmail.de> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Gnosis has always been important to me because therein the question
>>>>>>> of theodicy can be answered better than with the Lutheran Protestantism I
>>>>>>> grew up with. The Gnostic teaching also provided a psychonautic map for
>>>>>>> navigating through the psychedelic experience. In recent years, however, my
>>>>>>> ways led me to India ... Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://gnosis.org/gnintro.htm
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> > ... Gnostics do not look to salvation from sin (original or
>>>>>>> other), but rather from the ignorance of which sin is a consequence.
>>>>>>> Ignorance -- whereby is meant ignorance of spiritual realities -- is
>>>>>>> dispelled only by Gnosis, and the decisive revelation of Gnosis is brought
>>>>>>> by the Messengers of Light, especially by Christ, the Logos of the True
>>>>>>> God. It is not by His suffering and death but by His life of teaching and
>>>>>>> His establishing of mysteries that Christ has performed His work of
>>>>>>> salvation.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The Gnostic concept of salvation, like other Gnostic concepts, is a
>>>>>>> subtle one. On the one hand, Gnostic salvation may easily be mistaken for
>>>>>>> an unmediated individual experience, a sort of spiritual do-it-yourself
>>>>>>> project. Gnostics hold that the potential for Gnosis, and thus, of
>>>>>>> salvation is present in every man and woman, and that salvation is not
>>>>>>> vicarious but individual. At the same time, they also acknowledge that
>>>>>>> Gnosis and salvation can be, indeed must be, stimulated and facilitated in
>>>>>>> order to effectively arise within consciousness. This stimulation is
>>>>>>> supplied by Messengers of Light who, in addition to their teachings,
>>>>>>> establish salvific mysteries (sacraments) which can be administered by
>>>>>>> apostles of the Messengers and their successors.
>>>>>>> One needs also remember that knowledge of our true nature -- as well
>>>>>>> as other associated realizations -- are withheld from us by our very
>>>>>>> condition of earthly existence. The True God of transcendence is unknown in
>>>>>>> this world, in fact He is often called the Unknown Father. It is thus
>>>>>>> obvious that revelation from on High is needed to bring about salvation.
>>>>>>> The indwelling spark must be awakened from its terrestrial slumber by the
>>>>>>> saving knowledge that comes “from without” ... <
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For a longer read I recommend "A History of Gnosticism"  by Giovanni
>>>>>>> Filoramo.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Then there's "The Gnostic Religion" by Hans Jonas. The study is the
>>>>>>> English version of the dissertation he wrote as a student of Heidegger
>>>>>>> whose existential categories from "Being and Time" Jonas uses for the
>>>>>>> explication of the Gnostic teaching. This works because there's a genuinely
>>>>>>> Gnostic element in Heidegger's thinking.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Those reading German should also check out the 1031 pages reader
>>>>>>> "Weltrevolution der Seele. Ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch der Gnosis von der
>>>>>>> Spätantike bis zur Gegenwart", edited by Peter Sloterdijk and Thomas Macho,
>>>>>>> where you'll also find texts from people like Samuel Beckett, Stanislav
>>>>>>> Grof or Jorge Luis Borges.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://petersloterdijk.net/werk/weltrevolution-der-seele/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Some ancient source texts can be read in the Nag Hammadi Library:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/nhl.pdf
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Am 08.07.2017 um 03:28 schrieb David Morris:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I never studied Gnosticism.  It always seemed to be negating, but
>>>>>>> then so does Zen.  Nothing is real.  The common thread is that our shared
>>>>>>> fallen/illusory state is transcendable.  A return is possible via
>>>>>>> disciplined practice.  The return is to experience our source, gnosis,
>>>>>>> consciousness.  We are not primarily physical beings.  That illusion is our
>>>>>>> fallen state.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> All religions have their mystical paths, probably always discovered
>>>>>>> by accident by real devotees.  Sufism, Kaballaism, Mystical Christianism,
>>>>>>> all sorts of Budism, Hinduism, and Shamanism.  My list is too short.  Their
>>>>>>> common thread is personal transcendent experience, not dogma.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> David Morris
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Jul 7, 2017 at 7:25 PM L E Bryan <lebryan at sonic.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Ah yes. The good old days of 20 years ago when Pagel’s "The
>>>>>>>> Gnostics” came out. About the same time William Irwin Thompson’s “the Edge
>>>>>>>> of History” came out. It was in the latter I first came across the
>>>>>>>> demiurge, Ialdabaoth. Hadn’t thought about old Iald in years. The book is
>>>>>>>> still available on Amazon. I wonder if I would still be impressed with his
>>>>>>>> eruditeness.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Lawrence
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>

-- 
www.innergroovemusic.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20170709/0d98d26a/attachment.html>