At the Source of Life: Questions and Answers concerning the Ultimate Reality (2) (Aurea Vidya Collection) - Softcover

Raphael, (Āśram Vidyā Order)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1931406014 ISBN 13: 9781931406017

Publisher: AUREA VIDYA, 2012

Synopsis

The Source of Life is presented in dialogue form. With an ability akin to Socrates' maieutic art, Raphael forces the inquirer to delve into himself until he finds what he was looking for. R. Human beings wander in the forest of becoming, riddled with doubt, with conflict and a sense of incompleteness, and the true purpose of existence escapes them. What might this purpose be? Q. That of comprehending oneself, I think. R. What do we mean by comprehension? Does comprehending not mean to "take something within oneself", to experience its conceptual contents, to penetrate the essence of the thing? Therefore, if we comprehend our true Essence, we cannot but be that Essence in every place, time and causality. Q. This act of self-comprehension requires time, withdrawal from the world and solitude. I go to work every day and I find myself in this frantic world, how can I reach such a favourable state? R. To comprehend ourselves must we really retire into the jungle or to the top of a mountain? ....

About this title

Product Description:

The Source of Life is presented in dialogue form. With an ability akin to Socrates' maieutic art, Raphael forces the inquirer to delve into himself until he finds what he was looking for.

Review:

This book is a gift for everyone in search of the final truth. It's no book you can read through quickly (with your mind). Whenever I tried this, reading became really strenuous.
" To grasp a thing intellectually is one thing, to comprehend it is another. In comprehension there is active work of consciousness, . . . there is mastery of the inner hearing. "(see p. 174). "To be on the pathway without learning the Art of listening and of vibrating means sure failure in the work." (see p. 94) "Since all this must be lived and not theorized or schematized, one must posses the rarest of qualifications: that of wanting to be." (see p. 179)
Since I started " digesting" the book in little chunks (just a page or two, sometime only a few lines) - at night-time before going to sleep or whenever I feel lost on the (spiritual) path - I'm amazed by this wonder-ful gift! Arbitrarily flipping the book open at random passages I experience (while reading) a dialogue with the master, who addresses me (resp. the reader) very personally. --Customer Review By DK

There are books that capture your mind or your emotions, this book may ignite your soul if you open up to it.
Just let the aphorisms vibrate in you and your true essence will resonate with them.
I recommend to read the book several times, and you will always discover something new. --Customer Review By Dr. J.Y. Dattilo (Rome, Italy)

In the first half of this book Raphael engages in a dialogue with his students about philosophic issues, including the nature of reality, love, the mind's role in projecting and creating illusory experience, the role of desire in causing unhappiness, spiritual teachers, art, and the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. The discussion is rich and engaging. The students present Raphael with questions that could easily be our own. Raphael's answers are surgically precise in identifying and peeling away the fundamental confusions and unexamined assumptions that combine to alienate us from ourselves and prevent us from achieving true peace. The reader will appreciate the dialogic approach (also used in his book "Tat Tvam Asi") and Raphael's willingness to explain so as to foster understanding and comprehension. For Raphael, "comprehension" - or deeper understanding - is the true basis of change and is what allows us to transform ourselves. His books are designed to foster such "comprehension" through a combination of dialogue and careful explanation. Part Two of the book uses a different format to approach these subjects, presenting each topic in the form of short sentences or paragraphs - i.e. "sutras" - that can be used for meditation and contemplation. This more intuitive format provides a nice balance to the more analytic, dialogic style of the first half of the book. Throughout Raphael reminds us that realization is not an academic or intellectual undertaking, rather, it is a "realizative" undertaking that should transform the way we live and our fundamental assumptions about the source of life. --Customer Review By Alan Berkowitz (Ithaca, NY) - Part 1

About the author. Raphael's books demonstrate a deep inner understanding of the world's sacred traditions. He brings them alive and gives them a contemporary expression while remaining true to their original inspiration. Raphael reminds us that Occidental and Oriental sacred traditions are not to be approached academically or intellectually, but rather, that they are living spiritual pathways to truth that remain relevant today. His books provide the reader with the understanding and tools to follow these sacred paths, including Alchemy, Kabbalah, Orphism, or Platonism in the Western Tradition, or Yoga and the Advaita Vedanta of Sankara in the Eastern Tradition. Raphael is recommended to all spiritual seekers who want to ground their search in ancient wisdom while seeking a contemporary expression that appeals to reasoned analysis and which integrates modern philosophy, science and psychology. Raphael's books challenge us to see these traditions, ourselves and the world differently, and to take our spiritual seeking seriously. If you are willing to do so, his books are for you. --Customer Review By Alan Berkowitz (Ithaca, NY) - Part 2

i particularly love the second part of this book: on just 65 pages Raphael introduces the Pathway of Fire, pathway to the True Self. 116 aphorisms explain the teaching in brief and very concise, profoundly philosophical and at the same time practically useful. Here it becomes obvious (& disillusioning in a shocking way) how we got in our own way and what we have to do: "The greatest conflict man has is not the fact that he cannot solve his social problems, but that he lives in ignorance (avidya); ignorance concerning the nature of his own essence. . . . Those who still identify too much with their passions (whether noble, less noble, ignoble), their ideals, their relative realities; those who still are disheartened by the hammer of necessity and reactive despair, those who are still too engrossed in their mental and imagining philosophical discourses, are not ready for brahmanic Bliss." (p. 123 f.)
These aphorism-sutras can serve as enlightening meditations-impulses. Again and again new dimensions of perspective are unfolding whilst reading. And beyond all these profound explanations und practically helpful suggestions this text transports (for those that are open to it) vibrations of unconditional non-dual love and support of a realized master.
Presumably already these few pages would be a sufficient aid for the Pathway of Fire. However, anyone who needs more of this (like me), should definitely also read & know Raphael's book "The Threefold Pathway of Fire"! --Customer Review By DK

About this edition

• Publisher: AUREA VIDYA
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1931406014
• ISBN 13: 9781931406017
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 182