M
Michael
I'm starting this thread to find out if there is any interest in this topic.
Background on Parmenides: Parmenides was (is?) an ancient greek philosopher in the tradition of Pythagoras (i.e. pre-Socratic). Parmenides is called the father of logic, but in actual fact, Parmenides was a shaman (iatromantis: a physician-seer, medicine man) who's practice of logic and reason isn't anything like what we would associate with those terms today.
Relevance to this forum: The core aspect of ancient greek shamanism was what I would associate with Astral Travel. The practice was called incubation, which involved lying down in a cave and focusing on the inner sensation of the body (being). It was a means of traveling to the world of gods to receive wisdom, knowledge, laws, in general, answers to questions and problems. So clearly not the kind of logic and ueber-rational problem solving we think of today.
Proposal for this thread: Peter Kingsley wrote a very powerful analysis (in my opinion) of the surviving writings of Parmenides. These writing are in the form of a poem and it contains the sum total of what Parmenides has to say about the nature of reality, which as you might suspect has a lot to do with inner sensation and awareness, and traveling to the home of the gods. The book by Kingsley is called Reality. This book was a personal revelation for me and the analysis of the poem is the first half of the tome. I'd like to go through and do an almost line by line synopsis of the poem seen through the perspective of Kingsley. The book is nearly 600 pages. So, if there is any interest, then this thread could function as a less daunting introduction into this fascinating tradition of greek shamanism, which is very relevant to us today.
Please let me know if you are interested. If there is interest and this mini-project moves forward then I very much would like participation in terms of feedback and reaction to what Parmenides has to say.
Thanks.
Background on Parmenides: Parmenides was (is?) an ancient greek philosopher in the tradition of Pythagoras (i.e. pre-Socratic). Parmenides is called the father of logic, but in actual fact, Parmenides was a shaman (iatromantis: a physician-seer, medicine man) who's practice of logic and reason isn't anything like what we would associate with those terms today.
Relevance to this forum: The core aspect of ancient greek shamanism was what I would associate with Astral Travel. The practice was called incubation, which involved lying down in a cave and focusing on the inner sensation of the body (being). It was a means of traveling to the world of gods to receive wisdom, knowledge, laws, in general, answers to questions and problems. So clearly not the kind of logic and ueber-rational problem solving we think of today.
Proposal for this thread: Peter Kingsley wrote a very powerful analysis (in my opinion) of the surviving writings of Parmenides. These writing are in the form of a poem and it contains the sum total of what Parmenides has to say about the nature of reality, which as you might suspect has a lot to do with inner sensation and awareness, and traveling to the home of the gods. The book by Kingsley is called Reality. This book was a personal revelation for me and the analysis of the poem is the first half of the tome. I'd like to go through and do an almost line by line synopsis of the poem seen through the perspective of Kingsley. The book is nearly 600 pages. So, if there is any interest, then this thread could function as a less daunting introduction into this fascinating tradition of greek shamanism, which is very relevant to us today.
Please let me know if you are interested. If there is interest and this mini-project moves forward then I very much would like participation in terms of feedback and reaction to what Parmenides has to say.
Thanks.