The Essence of Reality
The Essence of Reality

Author: ʿAyn al-Quḍāt

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2023-11-07

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1479826243

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A groundbreaking exposition of Islamic mysticism The Essence of Reality was written over the course of just three days in 514/1120, by a scholar who was just twenty-four. The text, like its author ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, is remarkable for many reasons, not least of which that it is in all likelihood the earliest philosophical exposition of mysticism in the Islamic intellectual tradition. This important work would go on to exert significant influence on both classical Islamic philosophy and philosophical mysticism. Written in a terse yet beautiful style, The Essence of Reality consists of one hundred brief chapters interspersed with Qurʾanic verses, prophetic sayings, Sufi maxims, and poetry. In conversation with the work of the philosophers Avicenna and al-Ghazālī, the book takes readers on a philosophical journey, with lucid expositions of questions including the problem of the eternity of the world; the nature of God’s essence and attributes; the concepts of “before” and “after”; and the soul’s relationship to the body. All these discussions are seamlessly tied into ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s foundational argument—that mystical knowledge lies beyond the realm of the intellect.

Essence of Reality
Essence of Reality

Author: Thomas Nehrer

Publisher: O-Books

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781846940835

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The Essence of Reality is the most perceptive, exacting look at the flow of Reality ever. Rarely has a human glimpsed beyond the confines of the self-aware mind to see the interactive flow of mind-value into Reality. Thomas Nehrer here goes beyond a glimpse to specify that flow, depicting Consciousness explicitly. The Essence of Reality illustrates that all of one's life - health, success, authority, abundance - reflect one's inner nature, leading the reader to see exactly how that works. It gives explicit tools for delving into limiting mindsets to accomplish real change.

The Essence of Truth
The Essence of Truth

Author: Martin Heidegger

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2002-06-18

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780826459237

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The Essence of Truth must count as one of Heidegger's most important works, for nowhere else does he give a comparably thorough explanation of what is arguably the most fundamental and abiding theme of his entire philosophy, namely the difference between truth as the "unhiddenness of beings" and truth as the "correctness of propositions". For Heidegger, it is by neglecting the former primordial concept of truth in favor of the latter derivative concept that Western philosophy, beginning already with Plato, took off on its "metaphysical" course towards the bankruptcy of the present day. This first ever translation into English consists of a lecture course delivered by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg in 1931-32. Part One of the course provides a detailed analysis of Plato's allegory of the cave in the Republic, while Part Two gives a detailed exegesis and interpretation of a central section of Plato's Theaetetus, and is essential for the full understanding of his later well-known essay Plato's Doctrine of Truth. As always with Heidegger's writings on the Greeks, the point of his interpretative method is to bring to light the original meaning of philosophical concepts, especially to free up these concepts to their intrinsic power.

Aquinas's Way to God
Aquinas's Way to God

Author: Gaven Kerr OP

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015-02-25

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0190266384

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Gaven Kerr provides the first book-length study of St. Thomas Aquinas's much neglected proof for the existence of God in De Ente et Essentia Chapter 4. He offers a contemporary presentation, interpretation, and defense of this proof, beginning with an account of the metaphysical principles used by Aquinas and then describing how they are employed within the proof to establish the existence of God. Along the way, Kerr engages contemporary authors who have addressed Aquinas's or similar reasoning. The proof developed in the De Ente is, on Kerr's reading, independent of many of the other proofs in Aquinas's corpus and resistant to the traditional classificatory schemes of proofs of God. By applying a historical and hermeneutical awareness of the philosophical issues presented by Aquinas's thought and evaluating such philosophical issues with analytical precision, Kerr is able to move through the proof and evaluate what Aquinas is saying, and whether what he is saying is true. By means of an analysis of one of Aquinas's earliest proofs, Kerr highlights a foundational argument that is present throughout the much more commonly studied Thomistic writings, and brings it to bear within the context of analytical philosophy, showing its relevance to the contemporary reader.

Essence With the Elixir of Enlightenment
Essence With the Elixir of Enlightenment

Author: A H Almaas

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published: 1998-03-01

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 9781578630448

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Enlightenment is not what many think it is, nor is the path to attain it. A. H. Almaas presents myth-shattering aspects of reality that allow true seekers to pass through to a "spiritual reality".

The Essence of Nihilism
The Essence of Nihilism

Author: Emanuele Severino

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1784786128

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In 1969, Emanuele Severino underwent a Vatican trial for the 'fundamental incompatibility' between his thought and the Christian doctrine, and was removed from his position as professor of philosophy at the Catholic University in Milan. The Essence of Nihilism published in 1972, was the first book to follow his expulsion, and to firmly establish Severino's preeminent position within the constellation of contemporary philosophy. In this groundbreaking book, Severino reinterprets the history of Western philosophy as the unfolding of 'the greatest folly', that is, of the belief that 'things come out of nothing and fall back into nothing'. According to Severino, such a typically Western understanding of reality has produced a belief in the radical 'nothingness' of things. This, in turn has justified the treatment of the world as an object of exploitation, degradation and destruction. To move beyond Western nihilism, suggests Severino, we must first of all 'return to Parmenides'. Joining forces with the most venerable of Greek philosophers, Severino confutes the 'path of night' of nihilism, and develops a new philosophy grounded on the principle of the eternity of reality and of every single existent.

Essence of the Supreme Reality
Essence of the Supreme Reality

Author: Swami Lakshmanjoo

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-07-31

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 9781548540012

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In this multimedia study set, Swami Lakshmanjoo, the fully realized philosopher saint of the long concealed and secret tradition known as Kashmir Shaivism, translates and illuminates Abhinavagupta's Paramarthasara. Originally a work of Patanjali, Abhinavagupta chose to revise and update this revered treatise in order to reveal the profundities of the Trika Shaivite doctrine. In the conclusion of the Paramarthasara Abhinavagupta tells us, "I have kept this Paramarthasara, in brief words, in one hundred verses. But although it is only one hundred verses in body, in the volume of knowledge it is more than ten million verses."

Reflections on Reality
Reflections on Reality

Author: Jeffrey Hopkins

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 612

ISBN-13: 9788120826106

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This is the second volume in Jeffrey Hopkins' valuable series on the Mind-Only School of Buddhism and a focal description of it in Dzong-Ka-ba's The Essence of Eloquence. Dzong-Ka-ba (1357-1419) is generally regarded as one of the greatest Tibetan philosophers, and his Mind-Only discourse on emptiness is considered a landmark in Buddhist philosophy. In Volume I, Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism, Hopkins provided a translation of the introduction and the section on the Mind-Only School in The Essence of Eloquence. The present volume places this enigmatic and influential exposition in its historical and philosophical contexts. Reflections on Reality conveys the intellectual vibrancy of the different cultural interpretations of this text and expands the key philosophical issues it addresses. Hopkins, one of the leading scholarly voices in Tibetan studies, begins this volume with two introductory chapters contextualizing Tibetan scholarship in general. He then goes on to discuss in detail the religious significance of the central topic of the three natures in the Mind-Only School. He also considers various views on the status of reality, including the doctrine of other-emptiness promulgated by the fourteenth century Jo-nang savant Shay-rap-gyel-tsen. Presenting accurate and insightful translations of a large amount of material that has never been available in English before, he shows how these topics have been debated among scholars in Tibet over six centuries. Comparing these with presentations in Europe, Japan, and the United States today, he created a lively conversation between normally disparate voices.

The Pursuit of Porsha
The Pursuit of Porsha

Author: Porsha Williams

Publisher: Worthy Books

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1546015930

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Porsha Williams, entrepreneur and one of today’s most recognizable media personalities, opens up about family, faith, fame, and becoming an agent for change. Porsha Williams is a remarkable voice in the television and podcast communities. In The Pursuit of Porsha, she takes readers on a deeply personal journey as she searches for happiness and self-acceptance, giving fans a first-hand look into the defining moments of her life that have not been captured on-screen or in the press. Charged with candor, vulnerability, and the sharp wit Porsha is known and loved for, The Pursuit of Porsha brings readers back to the beginning and along her path of self-reflection and discovery. She details her upbringing as the granddaughter of civil rights activist Hosea Williams and her painful recollections of childhood bullying and gives readers a look at her search for love and her journey into the spotlight. Porsha shares every moment that has tried–and restored –her faith, over and over again. Through it all, Porsha proves that she is more than a soundbite, headline, or rumor. She is an empowering role model to black women and an icon for women everywhere. In The Pursuit of Porsha, readers will see Porsha as they have never seen her before.

The Romance of Reality
The Romance of Reality

Author: Bobby Azarian

Publisher: BenBella Books

Published: 2022-06-28

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1637740441

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Why do we exist? For centuries, this question was the sole province of religion and philosophy. But now science is ready to take a seat at the table. According to the prevailing scientific paradigm, the universe tends toward randomness; it functions according to laws without purpose, and the emergence of life is an accident devoid of meaning. But this bleak interpretation of nature is currently being challenged by cutting-edge findings at the intersection of physics, biology, neuroscience, and information theory—generally referred to as “complexity science.” Thanks to a new understanding of evolution, as well as recent advances in our understanding of the phenomenon known as emergence, a new cosmic narrative is taking shape: Nature’s simplest “parts” come together to form ever-greater “wholes” in a process that has no end in sight. In The Romance of Reality, cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian explains the science behind this new view of reality and explores what it means for all of us. In engaging, accessible prose, Azarian outlines the fundamental misunderstanding of thermodynamics at the heart of the old assumptions about the universe’s evolution, and shows us the evidence that suggests that the universe is a “self-organizing” system, one that is moving toward increasing complexity and awareness. Cosmologist and science communicator Carl Sagan once said of humanity that “we are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” The Romance of Reality shows that this poetic statement in fact rests on a scientific foundation and gives us a new way to know the cosmos, along with a riveting vision of life that imbues existence with meaning—nothing supernatural required.