History and theory of religions. The main stages of the development of esotericism (the most important)

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History and theory of religions. The main stages of the development of esotericism (the most important)

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5. The main stages in the development of esotericism

According to the most common approach, esoteric knowledge arose millions of years ago, in the days of Lemuria, which preceded Atlantis, and was preserved by the Great Initiates for innumerable centuries, until the era of the Roman emperor Constantine. Beginning with the Roman emperor Constantine, esoteric knowledge became officially forbidden.

The revival of the esoteric tradition in the West after this "dark age" followed the line of "Templars-Rosicrucians-Masons-occultists of the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries - modern occultists." In the East, the esoteric tradition was not interrupted.

Esoteric knowledge is divided into Western esotericism, based on the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, Tarot cards and Kabbalah, and Eastern esotericism, based on the teachings of Shambhala, on the teachings of Buddhism, Vedanta (India) and Taoism (China). Western spirituality is based on a dualism between God the Creator and man the creation: man cannot become God, here he is only a "servant of God", although he is "God-like" - created "in the image and likeness of God".

Eastern spirituality does not deny this difference in relation to the "created" man, but explores the "uncreated", truly immortal principle in man (Atman), between which and God (Brahman) there is no abyss. This divine principle in man is God himself. The highest spiritual ideal in the East is God-realization, which means complete identification with God. When it is said about God-realization, it is not about any degree of similarity and approximation between the higher "I" of a person and God, but about complete identity, and this potentially concerns every person. According to the Eastern doctrine of "non-dualism", it is not man who is God in his potency, but the one whom we call "man", in his ultimate truth, he is not, but is none other than God, hidden in the shell of man. Human existence is only one of the rungs of the endless ladder of the cosmic hierarchy - "Jacob's ladder", along which the essence rises, which at this stage of its evolutionary development is "man".

In the West, the highest spiritual ideal is limited to "salvation of the soul", which is a much more modest metaphysical goal than God-realization. In the West, a person is only "God-like" and the maximum that he can count on here in a metaphysical sense is to "go to Paradise." In the East, man, in his ultimate depth, is God, and here his metaphysical goal is to become God himself.

Author: Pankin S.F.

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