Greetings all ...
Thought I'd better say something about prayer, as this is the esoteric foum. And as it's the esoteric forum, I thought I'd adopt an ecumenical approach by referencing an essay by Reza Shah-Kazemi, whose specialism is the Perennial Tradition, especaiily as expressed through Sufism. The whole essay can be found here.
Kazemi's essay is a commentary on a piece by Frithjof Schuon, one of the most profound and widely-revered esoterists of the last century.
Please note that whilst this focusses on 'prayer', it's equivalence can be found in the non-theist traditions.
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Perhaps the most 'exoteric' form of prayer is the prayer of supplication, an individual address to the Personal God. Despite what appears to be an elementary nature, this type of prayer cannot be dismissed as something negligible when compared to the higher states of prayer, such as hesychia mentioned above. Those who would minimize the importance of personal prayer, or deny its necessity, exclude themselves from such states by this very disposition. Personal prayer is rooted in the very sesire to know and be known by God; it is the first step of the heart along the way.
In making one's petition to God, one reveals to Him the sins, needs, weaknesses and desires of the soul. The aim of petition might be vouched in the request for particular favours, but in the true heart, the aim is not simply to attain those favours, but the purification of the soul:
Beyond personal prayer is canonical prayer, which includes all apparently exoteric rites and liturgies. Again, it is utter folly to belittle the significance of canonical prayer out of some presumptuous notion of esoterism.
What is missed is the absolute necessity and indispensable nature of the exoteric framework of a formal tradition. Without this framework, all 'esoteric' exercises are doomed in advance to being nothing more than 'psychological exploits'. There is a necessary distinction between the function of the exoteric viewpoint and the function of exoterism as a spiritual means. The 'viewpoint' in this instance is limited to that of the individual and his or her potentiality on the one hand, and subsequent vision of God on the other. It is this 'limited' perspective (which, in reality, is quite sufficient in itself for realisation even within Buddhism, as Jodoshin or Amidaism demonstrates) that esoterism seems to transcend, by the awareness of of the transpersonal essence of the soul on the one hand, and the utter transcendence of God on the other. But this opening to metaphysical truth does not absolve the esoterist from the obligation to observe the exoteric rites and forms. As said before, the esoteric is like a fluid, or an aether, whilst the exoteric is the container, the vessel, in Buddhism a upaya, a necessary strategy for man's salvation. Without the forms, there is no containment nor capture of the aether.
Those who think they are 'above' such mundane matters simply err by unconsciously creating a vessel of their own fabrication, which is then filled according to the fantasia of the individual. To those who possess some degree of psychic faculty, one begins to enter the domain of egregore. That the 'jinn' of such a particular bottle might well be nothing more than the psychic projection of this or that individual, in time the 'bottle' becomes something or a Pandora's Box for the unfortunate in question, and a cause of even greater misfortune for those to be held under his sway.
(Aside: The above sums up the whole history of heraldry, and most especially the more exotic animic forms evident in heraldic devices.)
Whilst the exoteric framework is transcended by its complementary esoterism (and done so from within, which is something that should not be overlooked), the framework, or its necessity, is not abolished on its own plane. No one, in other words, can dispense with the functional aspect of the exoteric as a spiritual means. Rather the esoterist delights in them:
Poorly assimilated esoterism, inevitable when the proper exoterism is not observed, furthermore carries the incipient risk of 'spiritual pride'. This is never more apparent than in the abandonment of 'religion' in the name of 'spirituality'.
What is emphasised always and everywhere is that truths of this order cannot be realized without the total conformity of the individual’s character to these truths. In this sphere man can do nothing without the help of Heaven. The performance of the exoteric rites – in a spirit of humility – is of inestimable value, both in itself, and in relation to the cultivation of virtue, without which no spiritual endeavour can bear fruit. The relationship between prayer and virtue is fundamental, for the effort of the soul, on its own, to attain virtue is inadequate; a heavenly power is needed, and it is precisely this power that is attracted by prayer.
Moreover, the exoteric rites are the indispensable guarantee, and the conditio sine qua non, of the efficacy of the esoteric rites of any tradition:
A footnote from Kazemi: Shankara’s emphasis on knowledge as the sole means of deliverance is also often cited by pseudo-esoterists to support the wholesale abandonment of rites; for such pretenders it is rather inconvenient that Shankara also insists that the performance of ritual is a 'cause' of knowledge insofar as it 'is instrumental in extinguishing that demerit arising out of past sins which obstructs knowledge of the Absolute.' Religious rites in general are arad-upakaraka, or 'remote auxiliaries to knowledge'. Samkara on Discipleship Vol.V of A Samkara Source-Book, Tr. A.J. Alston, Shanti Sadan, 1989, p.89.
God bless
Thomas
Thought I'd better say something about prayer, as this is the esoteric foum. And as it's the esoteric forum, I thought I'd adopt an ecumenical approach by referencing an essay by Reza Shah-Kazemi, whose specialism is the Perennial Tradition, especaiily as expressed through Sufism. The whole essay can be found here.
Kazemi's essay is a commentary on a piece by Frithjof Schuon, one of the most profound and widely-revered esoterists of the last century.
Please note that whilst this focusses on 'prayer', it's equivalence can be found in the non-theist traditions.
+++
Perhaps the most 'exoteric' form of prayer is the prayer of supplication, an individual address to the Personal God. Despite what appears to be an elementary nature, this type of prayer cannot be dismissed as something negligible when compared to the higher states of prayer, such as hesychia mentioned above. Those who would minimize the importance of personal prayer, or deny its necessity, exclude themselves from such states by this very disposition. Personal prayer is rooted in the very sesire to know and be known by God; it is the first step of the heart along the way.
In making one's petition to God, one reveals to Him the sins, needs, weaknesses and desires of the soul. The aim of petition might be vouched in the request for particular favours, but in the true heart, the aim is not simply to attain those favours, but the purification of the soul:
Beyond personal prayer is canonical prayer, which includes all apparently exoteric rites and liturgies. Again, it is utter folly to belittle the significance of canonical prayer out of some presumptuous notion of esoterism.
What is missed is the absolute necessity and indispensable nature of the exoteric framework of a formal tradition. Without this framework, all 'esoteric' exercises are doomed in advance to being nothing more than 'psychological exploits'. There is a necessary distinction between the function of the exoteric viewpoint and the function of exoterism as a spiritual means. The 'viewpoint' in this instance is limited to that of the individual and his or her potentiality on the one hand, and subsequent vision of God on the other. It is this 'limited' perspective (which, in reality, is quite sufficient in itself for realisation even within Buddhism, as Jodoshin or Amidaism demonstrates) that esoterism seems to transcend, by the awareness of of the transpersonal essence of the soul on the one hand, and the utter transcendence of God on the other. But this opening to metaphysical truth does not absolve the esoterist from the obligation to observe the exoteric rites and forms. As said before, the esoteric is like a fluid, or an aether, whilst the exoteric is the container, the vessel, in Buddhism a upaya, a necessary strategy for man's salvation. Without the forms, there is no containment nor capture of the aether.
Those who think they are 'above' such mundane matters simply err by unconsciously creating a vessel of their own fabrication, which is then filled according to the fantasia of the individual. To those who possess some degree of psychic faculty, one begins to enter the domain of egregore. That the 'jinn' of such a particular bottle might well be nothing more than the psychic projection of this or that individual, in time the 'bottle' becomes something or a Pandora's Box for the unfortunate in question, and a cause of even greater misfortune for those to be held under his sway.
(Aside: The above sums up the whole history of heraldry, and most especially the more exotic animic forms evident in heraldic devices.)
Whilst the exoteric framework is transcended by its complementary esoterism (and done so from within, which is something that should not be overlooked), the framework, or its necessity, is not abolished on its own plane. No one, in other words, can dispense with the functional aspect of the exoteric as a spiritual means. Rather the esoterist delights in them:
Poorly assimilated esoterism, inevitable when the proper exoterism is not observed, furthermore carries the incipient risk of 'spiritual pride'. This is never more apparent than in the abandonment of 'religion' in the name of 'spirituality'.
What is emphasised always and everywhere is that truths of this order cannot be realized without the total conformity of the individual’s character to these truths. In this sphere man can do nothing without the help of Heaven. The performance of the exoteric rites – in a spirit of humility – is of inestimable value, both in itself, and in relation to the cultivation of virtue, without which no spiritual endeavour can bear fruit. The relationship between prayer and virtue is fundamental, for the effort of the soul, on its own, to attain virtue is inadequate; a heavenly power is needed, and it is precisely this power that is attracted by prayer.
Moreover, the exoteric rites are the indispensable guarantee, and the conditio sine qua non, of the efficacy of the esoteric rites of any tradition:
A footnote from Kazemi: Shankara’s emphasis on knowledge as the sole means of deliverance is also often cited by pseudo-esoterists to support the wholesale abandonment of rites; for such pretenders it is rather inconvenient that Shankara also insists that the performance of ritual is a 'cause' of knowledge insofar as it 'is instrumental in extinguishing that demerit arising out of past sins which obstructs knowledge of the Absolute.' Religious rites in general are arad-upakaraka, or 'remote auxiliaries to knowledge'. Samkara on Discipleship Vol.V of A Samkara Source-Book, Tr. A.J. Alston, Shanti Sadan, 1989, p.89.
God bless
Thomas