No comments about Carlos Marx: Historia de su vida.

5 comments about The Unknown Nostradamus: 500th Anniversary Biography.

1. I purchased this biography for an assignment I have to do. As a high school student this book was hard for me to understand. The author of this book is a famous nostradamus critic that knows and did a lot of research and its shown in the book. I would give this book 4 stars if it was a bit more exciting.



2. Lemesurier writes in a fluent style and manages to include a great many hard facts about the latest issues discussed among scholars in the field without burdening his book with scientific jargon. No doubt this is a fine piece of work, putting together a great number of sources used by the prophet and original works by Nostradamus so far not published in English.



3. The book is very general and slow to read. I read the book from cover to cover and would not purchase the book if I had to do it over again.



4. I have never read such a poorly written, dry-as-dust biography. At first I thought it was just a bad translation, but apparently not. Nostradamus was an interesting man and led an unusually fascinating life, but this book fails abysmally to bring him alive. Its most extraordinary, and incredible accomplishment is to make Nostradamus one of the most boring people in history.



5. Finally! Here's book that delivers an objective account of the life and times of Michel de Nostredame. Kudos to Mr. Lemesurier for his in-depth explanations and descriptions of the influences surrounding Nostredame's prophesies. If you're seeking the truth and have an open mind, this book is a MUST read!

2 comments about Frithjof Schuon: Life and Teachings (S U N Y Series in Western Esoteric Traditions).

1. In the summer 1987 issue of Parabola magazine a reviewer of "The Essential Writings of Frithjof Schuon" mentioned the 'severe intellectual quality of Schuon's writing'. He stated that he would like to have a 'simple' introduction with which to begin the study of Schuon's work. Although "Frithjof Schuon: Life and Teachings" is not a work which can be read without serious concentation and reflection, neither is it exclusively for the academic specialist. It should be of great interest to both the spiritual seeker and the scholar endeavoring to better understand Schuon's philosophy.
   This is the first biography of Schuon since his death in l998, and it includes a detailed history of the events which shaped his life, as well as two penetrating essays which explore in depth virtually every key theme in the Schuonian opus. This work is especially useful in terms of distinguishing and clarifying Schuon's relationship with Guenon, Sufism, and the Plains Indian Sun Dance religion. Also, it sheds much light upon the distinction between esoterism and tradition, religio perennis and syncretism, and the significance of beauty and celestial femininity which are important dimensions of Schuon's perspective.
   Given the access Aymard and Laude had to previously unavailable oral and written sources, as well as their masterful knowledge of Schuon's published works, this book -- alongside James S. Cutsinger's "Advice to the Serious Seeker: Meditations on the Teachings of Frithjof Schuon" -- must now be considered primary and essential texts for all interested readers.



2. Suny Press has just published a book on Frithjof Schuon, which undoubtedly will constitute a landmark in Perennialist studies. Based on unpublished documents, this book unveils some aspects of the works and life of Schuon not accounted for in previous publications.
   This book, co-authored by Jean Baptiste Aymard an Patrick Laude (Georgetown University) includes some essays already published in France and Canada. The first two chapters and most original part of the work, offer a biography and a spiritual portrait of Frithjof Schuon. As we read them, a hieratic portrait of Schuon is unraveled: a born-Gnostic, a fideli d'amor and a true spiritual master whose influence is not limited by a specific religion but whose teachings are better defined as an expression of the Religio Perennis itself. His spiritual stature is truly located at the intersection of three major influences, according to J.B. Aymard:
   
   Concerning the Vedantic ternary [Cat-Cit-Ananda], three paternities or spiritual « god parentages » can be recognized as being linked to one of the dimensions of Schuon's personality. The Cit aspect, which we briefly described earlier, can be related to the authority of René Guenon who is, unquestionably, the one who introduced him to metaphysics and who, he stressed, had the « noteworthy merit of presenting and making explicit crucial concepts of pure metaphysical science, of integral tradition and traditional orthodoxy, of symbolism, and of esoterism. (...)
   In turning to the Sat aspect of Schuon's nature, which we previously discussed, it resonates with that of the strong personality of Shaykh Al-Alawi, from whom, it should be pointed out, he claimed part of the « spiritual heritage ». By conferring initiation upon him the old Shaykh in fact became his veritable spiritual father toward whom he was to feel indebted throughout his life. (...)
   Finally, in connection with Ananda aspect of his nature, it seemed that it was Schuon's link with Al-Khidr, the « Master of the masterless », that could shed light on certain facets of his personality and thereby show the exemplary coherence of his spiritual life. » (p.67)
   
   Al-Khidr also being the master of the Afrad or Solitaries, J.B. Aymard adds:
   
   « In our opinion, many of Schuon's attitudes which were not understood by some people, such as his sovereign independence with regard to formalism, his genius for the essential, and his all-inclusive taste for all manifestations of Beauty, take on a different meaning in the light of the Afrad. » (p.45)
   
   J.B. Aymard makes also a definite mention of the specific link Schuon had with the Virgin Mary (Seyyidtna Maryam). Through her luminous presence and visitations, she inspired Schuon from early childhood on. The term « adoption » is appropriate and one can even witness a true heritage (wiratha) of a virginal nature which gives the full measure of the elevation of a master whose name of initiation was Shaykh Isa Nur el-Din Ahmad al-Shadhili al-Alawi al-Maryami.
   
   The next chapter by Patrick Laude is more directly centered on the metaphysical aspect of his teaching. In a few pages of a surprising quality and density, P. Laude offers a most lucid synthesis of the quintessential aspects of Schuon's teachings. He makes a point to situate his teaching with respect to that of other Perennialists and Traditionalists and to dispel a few misunderstandings. Schuon's multi-layered work is, according to P. Laude, centered primarily on the notion of quintessential esoterism and on Religio Perennis. Religio Perennis is not a super-religion (as it has been wrongly supposed) but the one and only "subjacent" religion, the transcendent norm establishing the intrinsic orthodoxy of any given traditional form. In its essence, Schuon's perspective is Shivaite rather than Vishnuvite. It is not meant to arbitrarily justify all cultural manifestations of a given tradition but to break with dogmatic limitations in order to reach the essence, identified to pure metaphysics and to the Language of the Self. According to Meister Eckhart: « If you would have the kernel, you must break the husk. » P. Laude also refers in the same chapter, to some methodological aspects of his teachings such as the alchemy of virtues and some meditative practices which have been described in « The Stations of Wisdom ». P. Laude also stresses the difference between Schuon's metaphysical perspective and that of Akbarian Sufism. The later, according to Schuon, has a tendency to create a confusion between the metaphysical point of view and theological opinions. As Schuon said elsewhere, his point of departure is not Sufism but Advaita Vedanta. P. Laude thus explains:
   
   « In a sense, much of Sufi Metaphysics is pulled apart between its sublime non-dualism and its legalistic straps. Schuon's esoteric formulation allows us to bridge the gap between these two incommensurable dimensions by insisting upon the « multileveled structure » of the Divine Will. (...) In spiritual matters alike, esoterism reaches to the essential trough the veil of surimpositions and accretions, while elucidating the partial legitimacy of mystical emphases, excesses, and subjective or collective detours. As such esoterism is nothing less than the most direct and comprehensive language of the Self. » (p. 105-106)
   
   The last chapter, also written by P. Laude exposes Schuon's aesthetics, his poetical writings and paintings, representing as many expressions of his teaching in a synthetic mode. P. Laude is thus able to detect the intimate connection of the aesthetic dimension of his work with his Virginal inspiration. He even recognizes here a tantric and shaktic dimension in the person of Schuon, thus linking him another time to the Shaykh Al-Akbar but also to the Iranian Sufi Ruzbihan al-Baqli. In Schuon's eyes, women are invested with a theophanic function. Woman manifests an essential aspect of the Principle in the immanence of the cosmic spheres: God in his infinite dimension. Eternal Man and Woman thus appear in Schuon's teachings as the two complimentary aspects of what Coomaraswamy called « the Tantric Biunity ': Atman and Maya, Brahman and Shakti, Absolute and Infinite.
   
   Frithjof Schuon, Life and Teaching will become a primary source for all those who are not only interested in the metaphysical teachings of Schuon but who also try to understand the spiritual dimension of this great sage who died in the U.S. in 1998. We very strongly recommend this book to all readers and spiritual seekers.

2 comments about Critical Lives: Mother Teresa.

1. I'd hoped to find a balanced, no-nonsense look at the life of Mother Theresa, but this wasn't it. After some 200 pages, my attempts to shake off growing annoyance at the author's cynicism and derision faltered. While I was open to the possibility that Mother Theresa might have had the same human frailties that we all share, I was disappointed that the author couldn't just accept that and move on. Instead, he seems to revel in gleefully attributing the most profane and egotistical motives to the reverend Mother's actions and words, but only rarely supplies any evidence to support his speculations. It seems at times that he is truly perplexed at the subject's motives, and thus failing to understand them, he merely constructs what he thinks should have been the rational approach. In the end, I don't really care what Paul Williams thinks of Mother Theresa...I want to know objective facts. I'll be more than happy to come to my own conclusions.



2. The only book that presents the true story of Mother Teresa.
   It is shocking and provocative.

No comments about Soren Kierkegaard and the Common Man.

No comments about The Sage and the Housewife.

No comments about The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau Volume 1 [EasyRead Large Edition].

No comments about The Recluse of Loyang: Shao Yung and the Moral Evolution of Early Sung Thought.

5 comments about Spinoza (Past Masters).

1. This essay is more about Roger Scruton's ideas about Spinoza's philosophy that about Spinoza's philosophy itself. He spends too much of this short book on criticism of Spinoza's geometric method of presentation and hardly any on his vision.
   Typically he says on the last page of the book that "it is no accident that Spinoza should have called forth so sharp an attack from the other false prophet of atheism, Nietzsche," and concludes with a quote from Nietzsche.
   If Scruton considers Spinoza a "false prophet of atheism" he has self-confessed an ignorance of Spinoza's work.



2. Roger Scruton's book on Spinoza is a waste of time. As a professor of philosophy Scruton should surely have come up with something better than this. It does not serve to explain Spinoza's thought, and it betrays the point of the series that it belongs to when it obstinately refuses to explicate Spinoza's works. This book should never have been published, and this will no doubt be its final printing. Spinoza is the pivotal philosopher who mediates between early modern philosophy and that of the Enlightenment period, which he belonged to as one of its most important players. Luckily, other modestly priced and thorough accounts of Spinoza already exist: the Cambridge Companion to Spinoza (from which Scruton is noticably absent) and the wonderfully researched biography entitled Spinoza: A Life, by Steven Nadler. This latter book follows in the methodological footseps of the medievalist historian Johan Huizinga, who wrote such benchmark books on intellectual history as Erasmus and the Age of Reformation and The Autumn of the Middle Ages. A third book to consider, one that places elements of Spinoza's philosophy in the proper context of his Enlightenment contemporaries, is Jonathan Israel's book Radical Enlightenment. Spinoza's thought has recently been revived in other countries, most notably in France, and for this reason his work and its influence are currently being taught at the university level in humanities departments as diverse as film studies, literature, and of course philosophy. The essential work to own by Spinoza is his Ethics, edited, translated and annotated by the scholar GHR Parkinson. However, other texts of Spinoza have also attracted increased attention, notably in "The New Spinoza" (U Minnesota P) and Antonio Negri's "Savage Anomaly."



3. If this book is so bad why arn't people selling their used copies at low, low prices on amazon.com?? This author seems to be able to put forward a different point of view that makes people think.Unfortunatly because it is an Introductory book the people who read it seem not to want to do so. Perhaps Roger S. should have saved his thoughts for more enlightened readers.



4. Scruton provides an excellent short biography of Spinoza's life and a good description of the world in which he lived. He invokes the biographical memoir of a contemporary and friend of Spinoza, Colerus. Scruton says " From this we learn of the simplicity and naturalness of Spinoza's life and character, and of the high esteem in which he was held by acquaintances and friends. The seclusion of Spinoza's life was necessitated by intense labour and intellectual discipline , and his frugality expressed independence of spirit rather than meanness of self- concern."
   Scruton speaks of the magnificence and ambition of the last great Latin masterpiece, Spinoza's 'Ethics'. He has chapters on Spinoza's view of God, of Man, of Freedom,and one on his legacy.
   This is a rich work from which much can be learned. As Scruton says for Spinoza "scientific objectivity and divine worship " are the two forms of freedom.
   Spinoza for Will Durant was the one philosopher who lived as he wrote. This short work gives evidence of this congruence between work and life.



5. Anyone who has dove into the bowels of Spinoza's most famous work, "The Ethics," without adequate preparation has probably felt similar to a cat thrown into the deep end of a pool. After all, doesn't the title suggest that the book will discuss how to live "ethically?" Instead a tidal wave of abstruse metaphysics washes over the reader of Section One, called "Of God." And what about Spinoza's chosen format? Oh boy. Definitions that lead to propositions and quasi-mathematical conclusions? Not to mention all of those somewhat humorous "Q.E.D.s." A few pages in, the uninitiated may slam the book shut, curse the name of philosophy, and return to the familiar, and almost equally arcane, world of online gaming. So what's the big deal about Spinoza's magnum opus? How could such a strange book, replete with such strange thoughts, survive as a masterpiece of philosophy? Shouldn't such a seeming anachronism have gone the way of alchemy? Or does this poo conceal a golden treasure trove?
   
   For beginners, Roger Scruton's microscopic book, slim as an iPod, goes a long way towards answering such questions. The bulk of its 54 pages focuses on "The Ethics" and concludes with his own interpretations of what this strange book could mean for twenty-first century people. In essence, Scruton characterizes Spinoza's Euclid-inspired work as comprising a system that encompasses all of reality. That's a big claim. Not only that, "The Ethics" does not philosophize for its own sake. Spinoza was a lens grinder, not a professor, and thus not shackled to the "publish or perish" hamster wheel of academia so familiar today. He didn't write "The Ethics" to secure tenure. In fact, it was so controversial that it wasn't even published until he died ("publish and perish" probably describes those religiously volatile times). This bizarre work instead delineates a metaphysical system and then, based on the implications of this system, deduces how humans should live. Only after taking a machete to Spinoza's metaphysical jungle does the work's title become evident. This book helps sharpen the blade.
   
   Scruton delves into Spinoza's definitions, an understanding of which necessitates comprehension of the whole system. He pulls away the goo adhering to such terms as "cause of itself," "finite in its own kind," "substance," "attribute," "mode," and even "God." In under twenty pages the book gives a suitable high-level outline of Spinoza's metaphysics. Of course, given the space limitations, much detail gets ignored. Scruton does not discuss Spinoza's voluminous proofs, for example. After examining the idea that human beings remain finite modes of the self-existing substance ("God"), the discussion turns to Spinoza's theory of knowledge, views on individuality, and free will through internal "conatus" (or essence of being). Human beings, according to these ideas, are deterministic beings constrained by external and internal forces. Since all causation derives from the self-existing substance (again, "God") our "mission" becomes seeking and finding the infinite ("sub specie aeternitatis") amongst the finite ("sub specie durationis"). This unbinds us from the knots of time. Ultimately, reason becomes the prime mover to help human beings achieve both happiness and a sense of the infinite cause. We can do this by mastering our emotions and enhancing our understandings. Don't let impulsive passions predominate. Think. "A free man" recognizes the limitations and determinations of our human nature. Freedom then comes from the realization that we are not free. We find bliss in the rational contemplation of the self-existent, all-causing substance. As such, we have an impassionate relationship with this impassionate substance Spinoza calls "God." This path leads to views of God that contradict our traditional notions, namely, that God neither hates nor loves anything, God feels neither joy nor sorrow. God seems wholly impersonal, but nonetheless the object of our contemplation. No such system has ever existed in the western philosophical tradition. No wonder it wasn't published during his life. Spinoza doubtless remained aware of the dangers of doing so.
   
   The book does not include much detail about Spinoza's life. It does not examine in depth the historical charges of atheism or heresy. Elucidation of Spinoza's philosophical system remains the focus throughout. Scruton summarizes, rather ominously, that "Spinoza undertook what has rarely been attempted, and never so boldly or arrogantly achieved: he gave a description in outline of all that there is, and a guide in detail as to how to live with it." In other words, Spinoza took on the big questions of existence (Scruton depicts post-modernism as the rejection of these questions) and at the very least presented a relatively comprehensible philosophical framework. Though not everyone will agree with the conclusions Scruton draws in the book's final section, the book as a whole nonetheless provides a good introduction to a very notable and unique metaphysical and ethical system.

4 comments about Peter Abelard.

1. I've always been an admirer of the philosopher Abelard, and like everyone else, I found the story of his love affair with Heloise very touching. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to read a book like this. And I was not disappointed. This book was very well written. Rather than painting Abelard as an egotistical, condescending, self-absorbed brute as some writers have (I'm pointing a finger at the author of "Stealing Heaven"), this book portrays him in a more sympathetic light. In this book, he is more accurately depicted as a deep and insightful man. Helen Waddell builds on what we know about Abelard, rather than making a bunch of wild guesses. Her writing style, too, is vivid and eloquent. "Peter Abelard" is a must for anyone who is into the story of Heloise and Abelard or anyone who likes a good book. I highly recommend it.

   (But whatever you do, DON'T blow your hard earned money by buying "Stealing Heaven") :)




2. As a PhD student in theology with a background in medieval French history and literature, I've long been a fan of both Abelard and Heloise. Waddell's treatment of their tragic lives is nearly as timeless as they are. I like the fact that Waddell knows what she's talking about--her grasp of Abelard's revolutionary theological ideas (especially at the very moving close of the book, when he's working out his theory of atonement) is the furthest thing from superficial. It's precisely because of her scholar's knowledge that she's able to create a richly-woven setting for her two protagonists. This is something I've not found in any other treatment (especially *Stealing Heaven*, which is ghastly). She doesn't attempt to sensationalize the love story, and there's nothing in the way she presents things that's either anachronistic on the one hand or stilted (in that self-conscious, I'm-writing-medieval-dialogue way) on the other.

   I didn't find her Heloise at all bloodless; in fact, quite the opposite. I was pleased that Waddell lets us see Heloise's brilliant intelligence and intellectual fervor. (Abelard fell in love with her mind as much as anything). It's a shame this book is out of print here in the States. For anyone with an interest in the story of Abelard and Heloise (or even for anyone who simply likes good prose and well-done fictionalized history), this is a book that sould not be missed. It's a lovely, sometimes stunning read.




3. A well-written tale of two historical characters. Lovers of romance fiction and of great fiction in general should not miss reading this book of the tragic and enduring love between abelard and heloise. Sublime.



4. This book was recommended to me by an utterly fascinating, extremely well read man I met in India. Just the fact that it is his favorite book convinced me to read it. The beauty of the prose is breathtaking, haunting. Even as someone who is decidedly not a Catholic, or even religious (making it an opportunity to learn about medieval Catholicism), I found Abelard's spiritual journey profoundly moving, particularly in the end when his faith is restored. It is one of those books, like most of Nabokov's and many of Turgenev's, that is so beautiful it cannot be absorbed in one reading. A note on the story: as the title implies, this book is first and foremost about Abelard. His famous love affair with Heloise is treated as but one aspect of his remarkable life. Even so, it is well worth it, even for those with little interest in the man himself.