I first heard about General Semantics through Murshid L. Lewis, also known as Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti, who was the founder of my Sufi lineage and who is considered to have been the first American-born Sufi saint. Back in the 60's, he was commonly referred to as "Sufi Sam." I knew there was something very unique about the manner in which he was able to transmit meanings about rarefied spiritual teachings, and it turned out that the reason for this is that he was a personal student of General Semantics' creator Alfred Korzybski, who was the author of this book. I'm still a member of that Sufi Order yet have found that very few of the initiates take an interest in GS despite our founder's connection with it. I am one of those few, as I've always felt that spirituality and reason (as applied to meaning and communication) when properly …
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At 60 years of age, I have had decades of study with teachers in the traditions of Sufism and Vedanta (including three periods of monastic ashram life), as well as some years of solitary studies in Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism, meditation training with Shambhala International, and the Five Mindfulness Trainings in Thich Nhat Hanh's Zen Peacemaker Order. I'm also ordained as an Essene minister. After all these years my focus has shifted to embrace of Western esotericism, with deep interest in Alchemy (both practical lab work and inner spiritual alchemy), Classical Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, and Theurgy. I also maintain a deep interest in the healing and spiritual potentials of entheogenic sacred medicines. In the several years since deciding to embrace the Western tradition, I'm finally finding the place that's right for me, and it's nice to be excited about the spiritual path once again.
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eudaimoniae finished reading Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski (International non-Aristotelian library)
I first heard about General Semantics through Murshid L. Lewis, also known as Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti, who was the founder of my Sufi lineage and who is considered to have been the first American-born Sufi saint. Back in the 60's, he was commonly referred to as "Sufi Sam." I knew there was something very unique about the manner in which he was able to transmit meanings about rarefied spiritual teachings, and it turned out that the reason for this is that he was a personal student of General Semantics' creator Alfred Korzybski, who was the author of this book. I'm still a member of that Sufi Order yet have found that very few of the initiates take an interest in GS despite our founder's connection with it. I am one of those few, as I've always felt that spirituality and reason (as applied to meaning and communication) when properly conceived not only do not contradict each other, but are in fact, perfectly complementary. I don't read much of the materials any more, as I've found that most of what I'd read was in alignment with views and approaches I'd already come to on my own.
eudaimoniae rated Mysterium coniunctionis: 5 stars
Mysterium coniunctionis by Carl Gustav Jung (The collected works of C.G. Jung ;)
eudaimoniae rated Psychology and Alchemy: 5 stars
eudaimoniae rated Reality: 5 stars
eudaimoniae finished reading Dosing Amanita Muscaria by Amanita Dreamer
This book will introduce you to the true magic of the medicine of Amanita muscaria. …
If you've been curious about spiritual use of Amanita Muscaria but because of cultural conditioning - including scare stories - didn't feel comfortable exploring this sacred medicine (used by shamans since ancient times) for yourself, this book by foremost expert Amanita Dreamer, is the very best place to start. It may well be the only book you need on the subject. From start to finish, she leads you step by step, keeping you safe as you enter new dimensions of deep inner healing.
eudaimoniae finished reading The Gospel of Hermes by Duncan, Greenlees
The extremely cool thing about Duncan Greenlees' book "The Gospel of Hermes" is that it rearranges content in the Corpus Hermeticum thematically, according to different topics. This makes it especially valuable for Hermeticists who may wish to study one aspect of the Hermetic teachings, because it brings together everything about that topic within the Corpus Hermeticum in one place, making your studies more fruitful.