Socrates, Plato Aristotle, Cicero, Plotinus Quotes

For "many," as they say in the mysteries, "are the thyrsus bearers, but few are the mystics,"-meaning, as I interpret the words, the true philosophers. In the number of whom I have been seeking, according to my ability, to find a place during my whole life...the true philosophers, and they only, study and are eager to release the soul. Is not the separation and release of the soul from the body their especial study?-Socrates 

"I told a lie when I said" that the beloved ought to accept the non-lover when he might have the lover,because the one is sane, and the other mad. It might be so if madness were simply an evil; but there is also a madness which is a divine gift, and the source of the chiefest blessings granted to men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Hellas, both in public and private life, but when in their senses few or none. And I might also tell you how the Sibyl and other inspired persons have given to many an one many an intimation of the future which has saved them from falling. But it would be tedious to speak of what every one knows.- Socrates


Socrates - And of madness there were two kinds; one produced by human infirmity, the other was a divine release of the soul from the yoke of custom and convention.
Phaedrus - True.
Socrates - The divine madness was subdivided into four kinds, prophetic, initiatory, poetic, erotic, having four gods presiding over them; the first was the inspiration of Apollo, the second that of Dionysus, the third that of the Muses, the fourth that of Aphrodite and Eros. In the description of the last kind of madness, which was also said to be the best, we spoke of the affection of love in a figure, into which we introduced a tolerably credible and possibly true though partly erring myth, which was also a hymn in honour of Love, who is your lord and also mine, Phaedrus, and the guardian of fair children, and to him we sung the hymn in measured and solemn strain. 




 "I agree, therefore, with those who have said that there are two kinds of divination: one, which is allied with art; the other, which is devoid of art. Those diviners employ art, who, having learned the known by observation, seek the unknown by deduction. On the other hand those do without art who, unaided by reason or deduction or by signs which have been observed and recorded, forecast the future while under the influence of mental excitement, or of some free and unrestrained emotion. This condition often occurs to men while dreaming and sometimes to persons who prophesy while in a frenzy — like Bacis of Boeotia, Epimenides of Crete and the Sibyl of Erythraea. In this latter class must be placed oracles — not oracles given by means of 'equalized lots' — but those uttered under the impulse of divine inspiration; although divination by lot is not in itself to be despised, if it has the sanction of antiquity, as in the case of those lots which, according to tradition, sprang out of the p265earth; for in spite of everything, I am inclined to think that they may, under the power of God, be so drawn as to give an appropriate response. Men capable of correctly interpreting all these signs of the future seem to approach very near to the divine spirit of the gods whose wills they interpret, just as scholars do when they interpret the poets." -  Cicero - On Divination


For man, and especially the Sage, is not the Couplement of soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods.

It would be absurd to think that happiness begins and ends with the living-body: happiness is the possession of the good of life: it is centred therefore in Soul, is an Act of the Soul- and not of all the Soul at that - Plotinus

The winged charioteer, like the gods, should aim to ascend to the highest sphere, beyond the heavens, where she will behold "being itself" or "truly existing existence"(Ousia Ontôs Ousa),"with which true knowledge is concerned; the colorless, formless, intangible essence, visible only to mind" - Plato 


"thought thinks on itself because it shares the nature of the object of thought; for it becomes an object of thought in coming into contact with and thinking its objects, so that thought and object of thought are the same. For that which is capable of receiving the object of thought, i.e. the essence, is thought. But it is active when it possesses this object. Therefore the possession rather than the receptivity is the divine element which thought seems to contain, and the act of contemplation is what is most pleasant and best. If, then, God is always in that good state in which we sometimes are, this compels our wonder; and if in a better this compels it yet more. And God is in a better state. And life also belongs to God; for the actuality of thought is life, and God is that actuality "- Aristotle - Metaphsyics

Tantric Text, Left Hand Tantra, ja-lu(Rainbow Body), Bones, Relics, Meditative Attainment in Relation to Psychic Awareness Tibetan Buddism

Sacred Bones


Tantric Scriptures




Exposure to the Tantric Path  , Secrets of Left Hand Tantra


"The Rainbow Body Phenomenon" with Father Francis Tiso , The Tibetan Rainbow Body & the Christian Resurrection




TIBETAN PSYCHIC TRADITIONS By S.M.RONEY-DOUGAL - An Exploration of Degree of Meditation Attainment in Relation to Psychic Awareness with Tibetan Buddhists -Shifting Consciousness: Six Years with Yogis and Tibetan Buddhists - The relationship between local geomagnetic activity, Tibetan Buddhist meditation and psychic awareness: preliminary study 


Heart Shrine Relic Tour

Almost Super Human Gamma Synchronicity in Meditators, Yogis as Opposed to Lower Synchronicity and Disfunction in Schizophrenia

Gamma synchronicity the higher functioning of the different parts of the brain and the brain as a whole. Opposed to dysfunctional communication between the different parts of the brain.This seems a decent scale between sainthood and insanity. There has been practices in all religions geared to bring about higher functioning of the brain-body, nervous systems in order to come to different states of perception,consciousness, awareness and physical functioning the body and mind harmonizing with various aspects(patterns) of nature itself that are reflective inside and in the external.




Meditation
"Davidson said that the results unambiguously showed that meditation activated the trained minds of the monks in significantly different ways from those of the volunteers. Most important, the electrodes picked up much greater activation of fast-moving and unusually powerful gamma waves in the monks, and found that the movement of the waves through the brain was far better organized and coordinated than in the students. The meditation novices showed only a slight increase in gamma wave activity while meditating, but some of the monks produced gamma wave activity more powerful than any previously reported in a healthy person, Davidson said." - 'Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, study finds' - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43006-2005Jan2.html

'Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice' - "Previous studies show the general role of neural synchrony, in particular in the gamma-band frequencies (25–70Hz),

in mental processes such as attention, working-memory, learning, or conscious perception (3–7). Such synchronizations of oscillatory neural discharges are thought to play a crucial role in the constitution of transient networks that integrate distributed neural processes into highly ordered cognitive and affective functions (8, 9) and could induce synaptic changes (10, 11). Neural synchrony..." - http://www.pnas.org/content/101/46/16369.full.pdf+html

Theory - 'The Coherent Heart Heart–Brain Interactions, Psychophysiological Coherence, and the Emergence of System-Wide Order'

http://www.heartmathbenelux.com/doc/McCratyeal_article_in_integral_review_2009.pdf

Schizophrenia

'Gamma Oscillation and Schizophernia' -"With these methods, rhythmic activity of various frequencies such as delta (0–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), beta (12–30 Hz) and gamma (30–200 Hz) can be detected. These neural oscillations are correlated with and are believed to play a role in normal cognitive processes including memory, attention, perceptual binding and consciousness.¹

Investigating possible dysfunction in rhythmic activity in psychiatric and neurologic disorders has recently emerged as a potentially powerful approach to help determine what is wrong with neural circuits in these conditions. To date, the most intensively studied disorder in this respect is schizophrenia. However, evidence for disordered rhythms has also accumulated for other conditions including epilepsy, autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease."- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2834788/

Austin Osman Spare and the Upanishads - "Neither-Neither" and Neti, Neti (Not This, Not This)

From the Upanishads

The form of that person is like a cloth dyed with turmeric, or like grey sheep's wool, or like the scarlet insect called Indragopa, or like a tongue of fire, or like a white lotus, or like a flash of lightning. He who knows this—his splendour is like a flash of lightning. Now, therefore, the description of Brahman: "Not this, not this" (Neti, Neti); for there is no other and more appropriate description than this "Not this." Now the designation of Brahman: "The Truth of truth." The vital breath is truth and It (Brahman) is the Truth of that. -  Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad - The Divine is not this and it is not that" (neti, neti)...."Thus, the Divine is not real as we are real, nor is it unreal. The divine is not living in the sense humans live, nor is it dead. The Divine is not compassionate as we use the term, nor is it uncompassionate. And so on. We can never truly define God in words. All we can say, in effect, is that "It isn't this, but also, it isn't that either". In the end, the student must transcend words to understand the nature of the Divine." - wiki

Austin osman Spares Book of pleasure

"Man implies Woman, I transcend these by the Hermaphrodite, this again implies a Eunuch⁶; all these conditions I transcend by a "Neither" principle, yet although a "Neither" is vague, the fact of conceiving it proves its palpability, and again implies a different "Neither."

But the "Neither-Neither" principle of those two, is the state where the mind has passed beyond conception, it cannot be balanced, since it implies only itself. The "I" principle has reached the "Does not matter- need not be" state, and is not related to form. Save and beyond it, there is no other, therefore it alone is complete and eternal. Indestructible, it has power to destroy- therefore it alone is true freedom and existence. Through it comes immunity from all sorrow, therefore the spirit is ecstasy. Renouncing everything by the means shown, take shelter in it. Surely it is the abode of Kia? This having once been (even Symbolically) reached, is our unconditional release from duality and time- believe this to be true. The belief free from all ideas but pleasure, the Karma through law (displeasure) speedily exhausts itself. In that moment beyond time, a new law can become incarnate, without the payment of sorow, every wish gratified, he  having become the gratifier by his law. The new law shall be the arcana of the mystic unbalanced "Does not mattter- need not be," there is no necessitation, "please yourself" is its creed." Austin Osman Spare-  Book of Pleasure....The mind becomes firm in desire by desire as devotion, but when realized is it then eternally desirable? (or even for a period of a million years). In Heaven shall be fettered thy foot! Therefore remove the conception that desire is pure, or impure, or has completion- remove it by the "Neither-Neither." Even whether the desire is for the exhasustion of desire by the "neither-Neither" or for realization in a wife- it is desire- its unending evolution. Therefore remove desire in any form by the "Neither-Neither.Remove the illusion that there is Spirit and Not-Spirit (this idea has never given beneficial results). Remove all conceptions by the same means.

So long as the notion remains that there is "compulsory bondage" in this World or even in dreams there is such bondage. Remove the conception of Freedom and Bondage in any World or State by meditation on Freedom in Freedom by the "Neither-Neither."...

 " Therefore Kiaize desire by the "Neither-Neither," the most excellent formula far beyond contentment- the all-embracing vacuum which reduces "all" to common sense and upon which this Universe rests.

Therefore believe nothing in this Book by the "Neither-Neither," and dispel the conception of the "Neither-Neither" by the "Neither-Neither," and belive it is "not-necessary" or the conclusion of pleasing yourself, because it "Need-not-be-Does-not-matter."

One believes this "all the time" as the Truth of "The Will" not the thing believed, since the means to an end mean evolution to endless means."

Means to Vacuity

Exhaustion: That state of vacuity brought by exhausting a desire by

   some means of dissipation when the mood corresponds to the nature of

   the desire, i.e., when the mind is worried because of the

   non-fulfilment of such desire and seeks relief. By seizing this mood

   and living, the resultant vacuity is sensitive to the subtle

   suggestion of the Sigil. - Book of Plesure   

Is very similar to the ideas in yogic, tantric and understandings of emptiness,  they are expressed in many different and fairly creative and beautiful ways by Austin Osman Spare.

More from AOS on the neither neither -

The Kia which can be vaguely
   expressed in words is the "Neither-Neither," the unmodified "I" in the
   sensation of omnipresence, the illumination symbolically transcribed
   in the sacred alphabet, and of which I am about to write. Its
   emanation is its own intensity, but not necessariness, it has and ever
   will exist, the virgin quantum-by its exuberance we have gained
   existence. - AOS


 Listen, O, God
   that art, yet would be God. When the mind is nonplussed- capability to
   attempt the impossible becomes known; by that most simple state of
   "Neither-Neither" the Ego becomes the Silent Watcher and knows about
   it all! The "Why" and "How" of desire is contained within the mystic
   state of "Neither-Neither" and common-sense proves it is the milk
   state, most nutritious! Clownish that I am- yet all my ideas have come
   out of it (and, my friend, all yours), but ever have I been a
   sluggard- an old sinner who would see others almighty before himself

Work in Progress Transcendental Experience and phenomena

Humanities interaction with different aspects of transcendental realities has been a long and interesting relationship. Many different kinds of systems, substances, techniques, practices.. have been used for as long as humanity has been around to bring about different states of consciousness along with different functioning of the body. Allowing access to various non-ordinary and altered states of consciousness . that allow for a wide range of mystical and spiritual experience and phenomena within the mind-body along with a wide range of out of body experiences. Many of these out of body experiences and interactions with various seemingly conscious aspects of transcendental reality have been a source of influx for information, inspiration, imagination, understanding..ect since the beginning of our humanity.These capacities and various abilities of interacting with transcendental reality have been a large factor in what has made us human and separates us to a great degree from the animals.
Early cultures figured out that alterations in perceptions for extended periods of time or in particular ways bring about changes in the person overall consciousness and being. Making various things that were seemingly impossible for most of the group possible to the few who have developed or used pre-established forms of specialized techniques such as breathing techniques, postures,methods of relaxation, intellection.. ect. Skill sets for navigating and working with these internal realities and the interaction of the internal and external realities. Languages of symbols, gestures, ideas and many other medium can and have been used in the past to make interaction with the transcendental function more smoothly. it seems bodily techniques could have came about through our experiences hunting when extended periods of time spent concentrating and meditating could have brought about altered states naturally also after hunting for hours various techniques for relaxation would have been vary important to stay healthy. These different states of consciousness allowed access to the future, past and deeper layers of our present reality also transcendental aspects of reality that provided gnosis and insight in to the functioning of nature itself.
As Techniques became more advanced and technologies were found in the various environments and used to come to particular outcomes. Consciousness advances further deepening our interaction and relationship with nature along with transforming and informing a intimate relationship with transcendental reality. The discovery, focus, and understanding of these transcendental capacities and aspects of our own nature has been the main focus of at least part of almost all spiritual and religions traditions and endeavor. A quality that isn't dependent on the body and its limitations in time-space, seemingly acting in a wider reality. The importance and accuracy of the information and understanding brought back to the rest of the community from these experiences is dependent on the skill and wisdom of the person using the techniques and having the experience.
Drumming, dancing, singing, trance, glossolalia the use of hallucinogens and psychedelics along with the many different practices of mediation, prayer, ritual, magic, yogic and tantric techniques are just some of the many different systems used to aid people in their pursuits into higher or subtler aspects of ultimate reality in search of wisdom, knowledge, information, power, insight ,inspiration to further explore reality itself. Transcendental points of focus have been experienced and used by many people all through out time. Focusing on transcendental qualities transforms the very nature of our experience and how we view and understand the world. This quest for the transcendental in its various forms has been highlighted all through out human history as it has taken the form of magical stones, foods, liquid, elixirs such as the philosophers stone, the elixir of immortality, the elixir of life, argent vive, fountain of youth, nectar, mana, amrita, soma.. various substances have been imbued with divine qualities and consumed such as with transubstantiation of the bread and wine of the holy sacrament.  Transcendental experiences have been a source of divine speech and languages such as the language of the birds, Twilight language, and many different forms of angelic and magical languages and systems of holy words and letters designed especially to interact with transcendental aspects of nature, reintegrating these transcendental qualities in to our conscious being.
The Quest or Journey towards a transcendental enviroment, object or search for relationships and union with a transcendental being is a classic theme in accounts, myths, stories reflecting the real experience of interaction with transcendental realties stretching back before history. Stories such as the holy grail, odysseus, the golden fleece. Journeys into the underworld and flights into heaven and hell have been a common experience in dreams, visions and mystical experiences. it is no coincidence this questing after transcendental nature has been the goal of many cultures. These transcendental realities and experiences are what has given power to various people before politics in many different cultures and societies for thousands of years. The value of particular aspects of the experiences are highlighted and specialized in depending on the type and quality of information to be worked with. The Hero of the quest is a transcendental element himself, importance of the individuals understanding, courage and skill are always a important factor in the spiritual traditions of man. The shaman, adept, magician, alchemist, yogi, tantrika, priest and many others are on the forefront of the interaction and understanding of transcendental realities outside of normal experience. The various means, methods and process of refining and altering our perceptions and body to bring about particular out comes have been laid out time and time again in similar fashion.

Julian Huxley - The New Divinity

"A humanist evolution-centered religion too needs divinity, but divinity without God. It must strip the divine of the theistic qualities which man has antropomorphically projected into it, search for its habitations in every aspect of existence, elicit it, and establish fruitful contact with its manifestations. Divinity is the chief raw material out of which gods have been fashioned. Today we must melt down the gods and refashion the material into new and effective organs of religion, enabling man to exist freely and fully on the spiritual level as well as on the material." - Julian Huxley - The New Divinity - http://www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/library/jh_divin.htm

Places Where the Divine and Mundane meet Axis Mundi, Crazy Wisdom (Magic,Mysticism,Buddhism,Shamenism,Tantra,yoga,Occult)

 Buddha-nature - immortal potential for reaching enlightenment that exists within the mind of every sentient being.

Axis Mundi -The place where heaven and earth meet.


The World Tree - connecting heaven earth and the underworld


Unus mundus - Psychoid Archetype - The idea that a there is a underlying unified reality from which everything emerges and returns to. - Jung


Svabhavikakaya - "It is the ultimate buddha kaya. Its wisdom aspect is called the wisdom dharmakaya. And its appearance as a form kaya complete with fivefold certainty in the perception of pure beings is the sambhogakaya. Its appearance as a form kaya to impure beings is the nirmanakaya."


Henosis - "Is union with what is fundamental in reality."

Apotheosis -  " is the exaltation of a subject to divine level "

Yoga

Mysticism - "is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity,spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight."

The Twilight Language - 


Divine Language - he language of the gods, or, in monotheism, the language of God (or angels) is the concept of a mystical or divine proto-language, which predates and supersedes human phonetic speech.

Language of the birds - "is postulated as a mystical, perfect divine language, green language, adamic language, enochian language, angelic language or a mythical or magical language used by birds to communicate with the initiated"

Glossolalia -  "Though some consider these utterances to be meaningless, those that use them consider them to be part of a holy language."

Logos - "The principle of order and knowledge"

Thoth - Logos, connections between the divine and man.

Hermes  - "Hermes is a messenger from the gods to humans,of many shifts (polytropos) -  he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them."

The Fool - "The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance, holy madness or 'crazy wisdom'."

Crazy Wisdom - also known as holy madness, is a manifestation of certain spiritual adepts where they behave in unconventional, outrageous, or unexpected fashion. It is considered to be a manifestation of spiritual accomplishment evident in such Dharmic Traditions as Sanatana Dharma, Tantra,Vajrayana, Zen amongst other traditions such as Sufi, Bonpo and Taoism for example and is often evident in human cultural spiritual universals such asshamanism. Crazy wisdom is also a modality of communication, in which the adept employs esoteric and seemingly unspiritual methods to awaken an aspirant's consciousness.^[1]

Psychopomp - "Psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with horses, Whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs,crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, and harts.In many cultures, the Shaman also fulfills the role of the psychopomp. In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal. 

Shamanism  - "Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community."


 Amrita - "immortality", and is often referred to in texts as nectar"


Elixir of immortality


Philosopher's Stone


Gnosis - "Gnosis is a transcendental as well as mature understanding.^[4] It indicates direct spiritual experiential knowledge^[5] and intuitive knowledge, mystic rather than that from rational or reasoned thinking. Gnosis itself is obtained through understanding at which one can arrive via inner experience or contemplation such as an internal epiphany of intuition and external epiphany such as the Theophany."


Imagination


Intuition - "There is often an idea of a transcendent and more qualitative mind of one's spirit towards which a person strives, or towards which consciousness evolves."