I had this book in my library for thirty years and never read it until this last year. It describes exactly what you mentioned here:
"These nerves relay body/brain information, including senses of vision, taste, smell and hearing; overcoming these sensory nerves is part of the reason the mythical Christ was said to be crucified — the five senses bind man to the human condition — and overcoming the human condition truly qualifies a Herculean labor."
It then goes on to describe exactly how to 'overcome the human condition' and exactly what the fruit of that would be.
Here is the table of contents:
CONTENTS
TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
The Attributes of the Mind and the Body
CHAPTER TWO
Concerning the Mind
CHAPTER THREE
Guarding the Sense of Vision
CHAPTER FOUR
Guarding the Sense of Hearing
CHAPTER FIVE
Guarding the Sense of Smell
CHAPTER SIX
Guarding the Sense of Taste and the Tongue
CHAPTER SEVEN
Guarding the Sense of Touch
CHAPTER EIGHT
Guarding All the Senses in General
CHAPTER NINE
Guarding the Imagination
CHAPTER TEN
Guarding the Mind and the Heart
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Spiritual and Proper Delights of the Mind
CHAPTER TWELVE
An Epilogue on the Spiritual Delights
After finally reading it, I couldn't believe that I had waited thirty years!
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."
Ah, dear Juliette, but you are too dismissive, too hasty. There is mystique in names, and mystique is power!
Teeming with facts and historicity, I have enjoyed reading this more than I have for a long time, and I'll have (more) interesting and deep things to ponder for some time yet.
One small point of discord with my understanding: the ancient calendar consisted of 13 lunar phases - aligning with women's menstrual cycles, a rhythm that carried profound significance in cultures worldwide since time immemorial - was first replaced by the Romans with a 10-month system, equivalent to our March to December, the winter season was not assigned to any month, so the calendar year only lasted 304 days with 61 days unaccounted for in the winter. Later, a 12-month system set around Roman culture and mythology was adopted. If one considers the 13-month lunar phase calendar, I wonder how this wrinkle might propagate through to an enhanced/diminished understanding?
As it happens one of my brothers was born under it. He is a most peculiar fellow (a different sort of peculiar to me but still nice enough) and the anthropomorphic idea of the constellation matches with his personality.
But that is mixing disciplines. As for what changed the ancient calendar, Velikovsky and the Thunderbolts Project et al. would go some way to answering that set of questions. One day I will post on it, but not for a while yet.
Thank you, I'll return to this tomorrow, but for now, Morpheus beckons me (I do not wish to be ungrateful, but I'd sooner be beckoned into a goddess' arms ...)
A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel
By St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
I had this book in my library for thirty years and never read it until this last year. It describes exactly what you mentioned here:
"These nerves relay body/brain information, including senses of vision, taste, smell and hearing; overcoming these sensory nerves is part of the reason the mythical Christ was said to be crucified — the five senses bind man to the human condition — and overcoming the human condition truly qualifies a Herculean labor."
It then goes on to describe exactly how to 'overcome the human condition' and exactly what the fruit of that would be.
Here is the table of contents:
CONTENTS
TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
The Attributes of the Mind and the Body
CHAPTER TWO
Concerning the Mind
CHAPTER THREE
Guarding the Sense of Vision
CHAPTER FOUR
Guarding the Sense of Hearing
CHAPTER FIVE
Guarding the Sense of Smell
CHAPTER SIX
Guarding the Sense of Taste and the Tongue
CHAPTER SEVEN
Guarding the Sense of Touch
CHAPTER EIGHT
Guarding All the Senses in General
CHAPTER NINE
Guarding the Imagination
CHAPTER TEN
Guarding the Mind and the Heart
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Spiritual and Proper Delights of the Mind
CHAPTER TWELVE
An Epilogue on the Spiritual Delights
After finally reading it, I couldn't believe that I had waited thirty years!
Oh well, better late than never, I guess!
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."
Ah, dear Juliette, but you are too dismissive, too hasty. There is mystique in names, and mystique is power!
Teeming with facts and historicity, I have enjoyed reading this more than I have for a long time, and I'll have (more) interesting and deep things to ponder for some time yet.
One small point of discord with my understanding: the ancient calendar consisted of 13 lunar phases - aligning with women's menstrual cycles, a rhythm that carried profound significance in cultures worldwide since time immemorial - was first replaced by the Romans with a 10-month system, equivalent to our March to December, the winter season was not assigned to any month, so the calendar year only lasted 304 days with 61 days unaccounted for in the winter. Later, a 12-month system set around Roman culture and mythology was adopted. If one considers the 13-month lunar phase calendar, I wonder how this wrinkle might propagate through to an enhanced/diminished understanding?
In the ancient zodiac (which has been changed in modern times, yes) there is a strange little blip towards the end of the year called Orphiuchus.
https://earthsky.org/tonight/ophiuchus-highest-on-august-evenings-2/
As it happens one of my brothers was born under it. He is a most peculiar fellow (a different sort of peculiar to me but still nice enough) and the anthropomorphic idea of the constellation matches with his personality.
But that is mixing disciplines. As for what changed the ancient calendar, Velikovsky and the Thunderbolts Project et al. would go some way to answering that set of questions. One day I will post on it, but not for a while yet.
Thank you, I'll return to this tomorrow, but for now, Morpheus beckons me (I do not wish to be ungrateful, but I'd sooner be beckoned into a goddess' arms ...)
Wow. Rarely do I encounter anyone who knows their stuff.
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