In 1804, the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling spelled out the problem.
There was a time when religion was kept separate from popular belief within mystery cults like a holy fire, sharing a common sanctuary with philosophy. The legends of antiquity name the earliest philosophers as the originators of these mystery cults, from which the most enlightened among the later philosophers, notably Plato, liked to educe their divine teachings. At that time philosophers still had the courage and the right to discuss the singly great themes, the only ones worthy of philosophizing and rising above common knowledge.
Later the once-secret mystery cults became public and contaminated with foreign elements from popular belief. In order to keep itself pure, philosophy retreated from religion and became, in contrast to it, esoteric. Religion, which against its originary nature had intermingled with the real, sought to become an outward power, and since it lost any momentum to reach the well of truth, it also sought to stifle any truth outside of itself.
Thus religion gradually dispossessed philosophy of those themes it had dealt with since antiquity, and philosophy found itself confined to that which had no value for reason.
On the other hand, the sublime teachings, claimed one-sidedly by religion for itself from the shared property of philosophy, lost their significance and, having been replanted to a completely different soil than the one they sprouted from, became altogether transformed.
This opposition resulted in a false accordance of philosophy with religion, one that arose from philosophers having lowered themselves to treat the origins of reason and ideas as concepts. This is exemplified by the dogmatism with which philosophy gained broad and considerable recognition while completely sacrificing its true character.
As this dogmatic knowledge was questioned more precisely and subjected to critique, it became evident that while it was applicable to objects of perception and finite things, it was only a bystander or, in fact, outright blind toward matters of reason. Because philosophy was acknowledged and accredited now more than ever as the only possible knowledge, the increasingly thorough self-awareness of its invalidity ran parallel to the rising value of its opposite, i.e., faith, so that ultimately all that is essentially philosophical in philosophy was given over completely to religion.
The situation has not improved since Schelling’s time. Nowadays, what passes for philosophy is mostly pseudo-intellectual word games and far-Left cultural critique. But that is all very far removed from the true meaning of philosophy.
The ancient Greek philosophia means love of wisdom. Note that “philosophy” is an action, not an object. Note also that the ancients spoke of loving wisdom; not merely searching for it, contemplating it, or collecting it in books.
The French scholar Pierre Hadot points out that for the ancients,
philosophy consists in the movement by which the individual transcends himself toward something which lies beyond him.
This is philosophy understood as a way of life; as ascesis and method. And this is why the distance between Plato and Buddha is far less than the distance between Plato and Derrida.
One need only glance at the titles in the Philosophy section of the bookstore, or peruse the list of courses at a University, to know that the split of which Schelling writes is a fact. Opinions differ as to just when it occurred. Martin Heidegger asserted that the West took a wrong turn some 2,500 years ago, just after Heraclitus and Parmenides. Others would look somewhere closer to the time of Descartes.
However, the spirit of true philosophy was undoubtedly alive in the Middle Ages, in the person of Dante Alighieri. In the Convivio, Dante notes that philosophy is “a loving exercise of wisdom,” and goes on to state that
the soul, when philosophizing, not only contemplates the truth itself; she also contemplates her own contemplation and its particular beauty, consciously reflecting on herself and loving herself on account of the beauty of her first gaze.
In Dante, the paths of bhakti and jnana are united, and the split between philosophy and religion of which Schelling writes is non-existent. His philosophy, religion, and poetry are all alive and vibrant, because they all stem from love. Love is the proper relation of man and Wisdom, because Wisdom is alive and dynamic, not some dead object.
For Dante, love is the key to the path, for love is the nature of God, and the love of divine qualities in worldly phenomena – love of wisdom, love of beauty – can be used to reach God.
Elsewhere in the Convivio, he notes the existence of
Intelligences who live in exile from their heavenly fatherland, who cannot philosophize, because in them love is entirely extinct, and, as has been explained, love is intrinsic to philosophizing.
Dante’s understanding of the nature of philosophy and the importance of love is perfectly in line with Plato. And yet, Dante had no access of any of Plato’s texts. Where did he learn this? Perhaps he had other sources, such as the teachings of the great Sufi Ibn Arabi, as some have asserted. Or, perhaps Dante is an example of what can be accomplished by one who seeks to re-discover and re-invigorate a seemingly lost tradition.
These issues are complicated, and I can never understand Evola’s praise of “esoterism” in Islam when it came from Greek, Zoroastrian, and Hindu-Buddhist sources.
One last thought for reductionisms of G, that I recall a friend telling me, showing that things are not so simple, it is hard to translate from the Sanskrit but it runs roughly: “Beware of the black Brahmin and white untouchable…”
Hey G,
Please don’t go away, I am merely responding to what you wrote, and please do not take anything I said personally! I looked at your post about nordoids. Please put pictures of better looking men on it, as the ones you put up are unlikely to convince anyone! As even if you wish for us to sink into the sea we do not wish the same for you!
At the end of Revolt [see: "The Three Possibilities Still Available" at http://web.mac.com/juliusevola/iWeb/excerpts/The%20Three%20Possibilities%20still%20available%20in%20the%20Last%20Times.html, Evola gives a succinct and less sensationalistic [or at least more static] description of the technique. Having in the main text described the “unrealism” of Christian and bourgeois or 3rd caste cultures, and then described the destruction of same by the rising 4th caste cultures of crudely “realistic” Communism and Americanism, he suggests that an elite may benefit from the latter’s sweeping away of bourgeois illusions, even done in the name of a grossly materialistic atheism:
“it is possible to benefit from such destructive upheavals; up to what point,thanks to an inner determination and orientation toward transcendence, may the nonhuman element of the modern “realistic” and activist world, instead of being a path to the subhuman dimension (as is the case of the majority of the most recent forms), foster experiences of a higher life and a higher freedom?”
One imagines an indestructible block [the qualified individual] covered with some thick cement [bourgeois illusions]; when the “atomic holocaust” occurs [his phrase, which even if not realized is metaphorically true on the level of ideology] the crust is vaporized, leaving the stone, “standing in a world of ruins.”
In the same way, in Ride the Tiger, he takes Nietzsche as his starting point, precisely because one who has assimilated nihilism correctly [that's where the 1. elite qualifications and 2. proper orientation come in] is freed from bourgeois illusions. The Nietzschean atheist and materialist is more capable of assimilating Tradition than the faithful priest and parishioner.
He then quotes the Vishnu Purana 6.2: those who live in the latter times, IF they can remain standing, can reap greater rewards than those of earlier ages.
Yes, Evola is more reliable when he is not advocating fruitless political solutions. Those of us in the latter times can know not only lower states but also higher states.
Sorry, it is because usually I write in haste while simultaneously doing other things, and will do not do that and wish only to comment if others think I am contributing to the discussion which G does not seem to think. Also I feel my blood boil when I read ignorance and I feel another perspective needs to be heard for the sake of truth, not for the sake of influencing people…Yes I will try to recollect and not write in bits in repect to your post. Believe it or not, I also learn quite a bit from Gorhanoor…
Kadambari, While I appreciate the perspective you bring to our discussions, could I make one small suggestion? Perhaps you could take the time to collect your thoughts in a Word document, which you can then edit and revise freely, and then when you feel it’s a sufficient and concise expression of your views, you can copy-and-paste it as a comment.
Otherwise, we have a situation like the above, in which the continuous posting of short remarks gets a bit ridiculous. Not that I don’t appreciate that having 70 comments to my post makes it seem really interesting at first glance.
@G
“My people lost your land-area ages ago; you only live in the putrefaction of the remains of the language and culture they brought from the North.”
You never cease to amuse do you? Perhaps you should read a region’s history and not just fantasize. Our region was quite creative right up to the Middle Ages, and not just in “Vedic” times. The only people it lost to was Islam, and later colonialism because people had been rendered barren from living under Islam and fighting it from centuries, although they kept their religion despite all odds. But still unlike most of Asia, we retain the religion of our forefathers, even Persians succumbed to Islam, which was very tragic for them. And as for our regions, it grows today even when the government does nothing, it grows as a result of native talents which still has not been destroyed even though the government seeks to destroy the fount of that talent. Now another government friendly to the national intrests could see that region grow quite fast. So nothing has been really ‘lost’ as you think, what has been lost is what Islam, colonialism have destroyed in terms of cultural unity, and which a deracinated government continues to destroy. Perhaps you should make anther region the object of your fantacies. Interesting your source is a tabloid like “The Daily Mail”…As for what you believe go on right ahead, I could care less, nor does it affect what is happening in our regions.
Acutally that language and culture is still creative and not been lost as a continuity, while you still try to exactly define what yours is as a continuity, see the difference? Again ad hominen attacks like “sentimental” and what not, has no meaning to me, and is the resort of “men” who have nothing to back them. You can believe in your ideas, just make sure not to plagiarize from others in their propagation, and plagiarize when you understand nothing of those cultures. I do not think this an unfair statement. We know what we are, and we have continued, much to the jealously of those like you who have not I suppose and are still wondering who they are, and hence your greed and grasping towards that which does not belong to you, and attempts at appropriation, which are funny attempts!
Anyway it is futile even responding to the likes of you! Next thing you will be claiming that that you are really a descendant of King Tut of Egypt, with the logic you display…Hey, its a free world, believe what you want and dream on!
@G,
Acutally that language and culture is still creative and not been lost as a continuity, while you still try to exacely define what yours is as a continuity, see the difference? Agian ad hominen attacks like “sentimental” and what not, has no meaning to me, and is the resort of “men” who have nothing to back them. You can believe in your ideas, just make sure not to plagiarize from others, in their propagation, and plagiarize when you understand nothing of those cultures. I do not think this a unfair statement.
“My people lost your land-area ages ago; you only live in the putrefaction of the remains of the language and culture they brought from the North. Now this land-area, you know as ´India´, may as well sink into the sea.”
Interesting to see the fantasies of those whose grasping reaches to cultures which is not their own. My anscestors considered your kind as mchlecchas and had nothing whatsover to do with you! Niether would the Persians of old. Keep fantasizing, people like you who are unsure of their own roots need the culture of others to justify themselves, who have been continuous in their culture, are self-contained and do not need the props of other cultures to be complete in themselves. I do not think your statues above to depict the quintessence of manhood, while impressive works of art. While Augustus was a great general, the Romans were short people, and even that statue does not do justice to him. Even Alexander was 4’11-5’5. Impressive specimens of manhood are found in many areas, not just Romans. Who cares for your thoughts as I said?
link for above
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/Printable.aspx?ArtId=21094
We can never forget that it was the chivalry of the Rajputs that saved us, when the East fell from Lebanon to Pakistan…
@James
Dr. Trifkovic has a good understanding of Jihad, as he saw how the liberals carved his out his Yogoslavia…
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/TrifkovicIndia.php
@James
“jihad, would be extreme situations that would produce a “rupture in consciousness…”
I am not so sure there is a “rupture in consciousness” in jihad. Who were jidhadists in our part of the world? A bunch of ragtag unlettered, unwashed bedouins who attacked superior civilizations like Persia with hatred, I do not mean hatred as in war, but hatred as it occurs in the inferior towards the superior, have you noticed there is always hate in the inferior towards the superior? Persia had culture, beautiful women and civilization that these types never had our could build by themselves, and what better sanction to unite such folk than appeal to religion and martrydom? So that which is desired out of belly and lower belly has sanction of religion which is what Jihad in its warlike context really amounts to.
Also who waged Jihad on India? Again a bunch of ragtag unlettered Turko-Mongols who had no lineage, but were in fact a slave dynasty descended from slaves, so perhaps the hatred towards the beautiful these people had as befits a slave thinking, considering the destruction they waged which was like walking through Rome and Paris and destroying all the cathedrals. And even for the argument that the strong are fit to rule, what culture did it result in? Thug culture which produced not a single bit of learning or anything impressive, but tons of gardens copied via Persians and harems.
Now contrast this with the man of chivalry and his attitude in war. He differs from a mere thug, as a thug just loots, displays no nobility in war and will use any kind of treachery to win. The mental state you are speaking of might have occurred in the Rajputs when they went to war with the enemy. Now since they could not be captured or defeated in war, it was customary for the Rajput to go to war with this in mind and their wives and children would burn after them if the husband got killed as it was pointless to serve the enemy, in this case a Moslem. I think the state of mind of such noble creatures going to war is on a different level than thugs going to war for the sake of satisfaction of belly and lower belly. Ideals and principles in war account for something, although war is total. And it is in this sense war is in the Gita, as a noble cause, which consumes one, and completely different from jihad.
“Personally, there are some values of the Orient that I don’t like, and one of them is “the nail that sticks out gets hammered”. There seems to be an excessive degree of conformism and humility in these societies.”
Also remember that conformity might be strength in a certain context. As for humility, that is a show, as Chinese think they are the most civilized, and for Japanese humility they used to say in business by the time a Japanese has bowed down three times, he knows your business secrets. Humility and conformism have not prevented the Chinese from inventing gunpowder, the compass, paper, the printing block which have changed the world…In short, be wary of the humility and conformism of intelligent people!
I have this type of skull (orthognathic and leptomorphic dolicho-mesocephalic)! you 4-times-saying-goodbye spamming retard. I am a Nordid. http://www.theapricity.com/snpa/rg-main.htm
My people lost your land-area ages ago; you only live in the putrefaction of the remains of the language and culture they brought from the North. Now this land-area, you know as ´India´, may as well sink into the sea.
May you be reminded always that whenever you see the name Evola here this is what he thinks of your ‘rise’: ´[] the superior Western Races have been agonising for many centuries and that the increasing world population has the same meaning as the swarming of worms on a decomposing organism or as the spreading of cancerous cells[.]´ ["Revolt Against the Modern World" p. 167]
I only need to say bye once, and so I have done it; you I’m sure will continue to pollute the this site with your swarthy sentimental imagination.
And finally the man on the horse is inspired by the Goddess standing with her lion:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Bhavani_%26_Shivaji.jpg
A way the Pagan men you posted got “revitalized” but not men like you.
Another handsome aristocrat/ascetic
http://www.azibaza.com/lecture/images/Image-03.jpg
Another handsome aristocrat/ascetic from our civilization
http://www.sothebys.com/images/liveauctions/sneak/sp_unearthing0303_main1.jpg
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/hs844.snc4/71096_25863698797_4160687_n.jpg
another prince turned Bodhisattva
http://cs.nga.gov.au/IMAGES/MED/153044.JPG
As you can see “revitalization” can occur in a number of ways…
And G,
Your redhead status of Augustus does not do him justice. http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2010/08/500x_brinkmannstatues2big.jpg
I still think the man below looks manlier to me. Each to his own taste! The same man above from the third link.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/08/31/shivaji_1.jpg
http://www.inewsindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/chhatrapati-shivaji-maharaj.jpg
Women are not as dumb as you think and can recognize a man when they see one!
@G
“I would appreciate if you would not waste our time with a reply but rather leave and not come back unless you somehow discover in your heart that you support the revitalization of men who are akin in body to the type exemplified by for example this ancient statue: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Roman_Statue_of_Apollo.jpg ”
The above man is slightly too feminine looking for my taste. I would admire the following kind of man:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/432855210_1f283f63af.jpg
the skeletal man below also has a lot of guts:
http://www.heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/gandhara.html
Apart from distant admiration, intelligent females ultimately marry the following type in character: http://www.freewebs.com/rajeshivaji/shivaji%5B1%5D.jpg
“I respect the fact that you kept and Aryan Dharma, but I also believe in the most rational explanation for things. In this sense, lets take biological anthropology. Though, if we do take the R1a1 Y chromosome as an indicator of Aryan purity, then certain brahmins are the highest, like the West Bengal Brahmins, and the Kashmiri Pandits. The highest I believe in Europe is the Lusatian Sorbs.”
Let us please get Aryan right. Iranians called themselves Aryans. Our ancestors called themselves Aryans. These two people were related in ancient times, and the borders of these nations were near each other and often drawn and redrawn.
Germans call themselves Aryans instead of Goths, Vandals or whatever. The first category is not the same as the second.
As for DNA so what? Just shows India has a variety of peoples, which is obvious if a nation is over 3000 years old. It was the same way with all old countries. I have always wondered what is the significance of Vedic culture for people who are no part of it? India was prosperous and flourishing and creative right until the Moslem invasions after which it regress because it is controlled by a thug culture. The later time up to this point was no less richer than the “Vedic” period in terms of cultural creativity and prosperity. Also just because some people have some Gods in common as pagans and have linguistic similarities does not mean they are similar peoples. They might have some ideas in common and certain ways of thinking in common though on account of language.