|
Five Trees
The Five Trees in Paradise is an esoteric or allegorical image from the Coptic language, Coptic Gospel of Thomas, a collection of ''logia'' (sayings) of Jesus. "Blessed is he who was before he came into being" is similar to other enigmatic statements commonly found in mysticism, and may refer to the benefits of Know thyself, self-awareness (knowledge of one's true nature) before identity formation, developing one's ego-identity. "If you [listen], these stones will minister to you," may refer to "listening" to the true self within – accurately tracing the internal by observing the external – or it may mean that only through self-awareness are we able to understand Jesus' symbolic language and master external reality. In the Acts of Thomas ch. 27, during an anointing ceremony, the apostle implores, "Come, elder of the five members, mind, thought, reflection, consideration, reason; communicate with these young men." According to Theodore bar Konai, the five words for 'mind' are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human civilization: in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment containing ever-lasting bliss and delight. Paradise is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, in contrast to World (theology), this world, or underworlds such as hell. In eschatological contexts, paradise is imagined as an Entering heaven alive, abode of the virtuous dead. In Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, heaven is a paradisiacal belief. In Hinduism and Buddhism, paradise and svarga, heaven are synonymous, with higher levels available to beings who have achieved special attainments of virtue and meditation. In old Egyptian beliefs, the underworld is Aaru, the reed-fields of ide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naassenes
The Naassenes (Greek ''Naasseni,'' possibly from Hebrew נָחָשׁ ''naḥaš'', snake) were a Christian Gnosticism, Christian Gnostic sect known only through the accounts in the books known as the ''Philosophumena'' or the ''Refutation of all Heresies'' (which have been attributed to Hippolytus of Rome but may in fact not be by him). Therein, the Naassenes are said to have been taught their doctrines by Mariamne, a disciple of James the Just. The retention of the Hebrew form shows that their beliefs may represent the earliest stages of Gnosticism. The Philosophumena's author regards them as among the first to be called simply "Gnostics", alleging that they alone have sounded the depths of knowledge. Naassene Sermon The Naassenes are said to have had one or more books containing discourses communicated by James, the brother of Jesus, to Mariamne: these treatises were of a mystical, philosophic, devotional, and Exegesis, exegetical character, rather than a cosmological exposition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Cumont
__NOTOC__ Franz-Valéry-Marie Cumont (3 January 1868 in Aalst, Belgium – 20 August 1947 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre near Brussels) was a Belgian archaeologist and historian, a philologist and student of epigraphy, who brought these often isolated specialties to bear on the syncretic mystery religions of Late Antiquity, notably Mithraism. Biography Cumont was a graduate of the University of Ghent (PhD, 1887). After receiving royal travelling fellowships, he undertook archaeology in Pontus and Armenia (published in 1906) and in Syria, but he is best known for his studies on the impact of Eastern mystery religions, particularly Mithraism, on the Roman Empire. Cumont's international credentials were brilliant, but his public circumspection was not enough. In 1910, Baron Edouard Descamps, the Catholic Minister of Sciences and Arts at the University of Ghent, refused to approve the faculty's unanimous recommendation of Cumont for the chair in Roman History, Cumont having been a profess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeir Anpin
Ze`ir Anpin (Aramaic: זְעֵיר אַנפִּין meaning "Lesser Countenance/Small Face", is a revealed aspect of God in Kabbalah, comprising the emotional sephirot attributes: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod and Yesod. The Zohar's imagery expounds its role in Creation, where it is the microscopic equivalent of Arich Anpin (Macroprosopus) in the Sephirotic tree of life. The Sifra D'Tzniuta portrays it as the revealed face of God, and the Idra Rabba elaborates on the Kabbalistic significance of its several attributes {{citation needed, date=May 2024. In 16th century Lurianic doctrine it becomes systemised as one of the 6 Primary Partzufim Divine Personae, as part of the cosmic process of Tikkun Rectification. Uniting ''Zeir Anpin''-Short Face with ''Nukvah''-Female Zeir Anpin, the emotional sephirot centered on Tiferet (Beauty), is the transcendent revelation of God to Creation ("The Holy One Blessed Be He"), a perceptible manifestation of the essential Divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations'', Saint-Paul. p 129. . The tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life which appear in The Book Of Genesis, Genesis' Garden of Eden as part of the Jewish cosmology of creation, and the tree of knowledge connecting to heaven and the underworld such as Yggdrasil, are forms of the world tree or Cosmos, cosmic tree, and are portrayed in various Religion, religions and Philosophy, philosophies as the same tree. Religion and mythology Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism. According to professor Elvyra Usačiovaitė, a "typical" imagery preserved in ancien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sephirot
Sefirot (; , plural of ), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof ("infinite space") reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the seder hishtalshelut (the chained descent of the metaphysical Four Worlds). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as ''sephirot/sephiroth'', singular ''sefira/sephirah''. As revelations of the creator's will (, ''rāṣon''), the sefirot should not be understood as ten gods, but rather as ten different channels through which the one God reveals His will. In later Jewish literature, the ten sefirot refer either to the ten manifestations of God; the ten powers or faculties of the soul; or the ten structural forces of nature. Alternative configurations of the sefirot are interpreted by various schools in the historical evolution of Kabbalah, with each articulating differing spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the ''Sefer Yetzirah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shatrin
In Mandaeism, Shatrin () is a heavenly tree mentioned in the '' Scroll of Abatur''. Shatrin is where the souls of unbaptized Mandaean children are temporarily nourished for 30 days. On the 30th day, Hibil Ziwa baptizes the souls of the children, who then continue on to the World of Light. The tree has a length of 360,000 parasangs according to the ''Scroll of Abatur''. MS. Borgiani Siriaci 175 (held at the Vatican Library) and Drower Collection MS. 8 (held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford), two different manuscripts of the '' Scroll of Abatur'', have illustrations of Shatrin that differ from those of each other. Other trees in Mandaean manuscripts There are also many other heavenly trees illustrated in Mandaean manuscripts. Their names are typically those of uthras. See also *Limbo * Matarta *Tree of life *Five Trees in the Gospel of Thomas ;In Islam *Sidrat al-Muntaha *Ṭūbā *Zaqqum In Islamic tradition, the Zaqqum is a cursed tree that is rooted in the center of Hell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nag Hammadi Library
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. The writings in these codices comprise 52 mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the '' Corpus Hermeticum'' and a partial translation/alteration of Plato's ''Republic''. In his introduction to ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English'', James Robinson suggests that these codices may have belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery and were buried after Saint Athanasius condemned the use of non-canonical books in his Festal Letter of 367 A.D. The Pachomian hypothesis has been further expanded by Lundhaug & Jenott (2015, 2018) and further strengthened by Linjamaa (2024). In his 2024 book, Linjamaa argues that the Nag Hammadi l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences. The term "mysticism" has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word μύω ''múō'', meaning "to close" or "to conceal", mysticism came to refer to the biblical, liturgical (and sacramental), spiritual, and Christian contemplation, contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity. During the early modern period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs and ideologies related to "extraordinary experiences and states of mind". In modern times, "mysticism" has acquired a limited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logia
The term ''logia'' (), plural of ''logion'' (), is used variously in ancient writings and modern scholarship in reference to communications of divine origin. In pagan contexts, the principal meaning was "oracles", while Jewish and Christian writings used ''logia'' in reference especially to " the divinely inspired Scriptures". A famous and much-debated occurrence of the term is in the account by Papias of Hierapolis on the origins of the canonical Gospels. Since the 19th century, New Testament scholarship has tended to reserve the term ''logion'' for a divine saying, especially one spoken by Jesus, in contrast to narrative, and to call a collection of such sayings, as exemplified by the Gospel of Thomas, ''logia''. Ancient use In pagan usage, ''logion'' was used interchangeably with ''chresmos'' (χρησμός) and other such terms in reference to oracles, the pronouncements of the gods obtained usually through divination. The Septuagint adapted the term ''logion'' to mean "Word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabbalah
Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). List of Jewish Kabbalists, Jewish Kabbalists originally developed transmissions of the primary texts of Kabbalah within the realm of Jewish tradition and often use classical Jewish scriptures to explain and demonstrate its mystical teachings. Kabbalists hold these teachings to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional rabbinic literature and their formerly concealed transmitted dimension, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances. Historically, Kabbalah emerged from earlier forms of Jewish mysticism, in 12th- to 13th-century Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, al-Andalus (Spain) and in Hakhmei Provence, and was reinterpreted during the Jewish mystical renaissance in 16th-century ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, [ɣnostiˈkos], 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Early Christianity, early Christian sects. These diverse groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the Proto-orthodox Christianity, proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Generally, in Gnosticism, the Monad (Gnosticism), Monad is the supreme God who emanates divine beings; one, Sophia (Gnosticism), Sophia, creates the flawed demiurge who makes the material world, trapping souls until they regain divine knowledge. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
