With "The Threefold Pathway of Fire" RAPHAEL (Asram Vidya Order) offers an answer to the authentic sense of quest of many, a path that may lead to the unveiling of our own real and intrinsic nature, which is Completeness-Beatitude. The book is divided into three sections corresponding to the three ways of the Pathway of Fire: Alchemy, Love of Beauty and Traditional Metaphysics. The first way is describe according to alchemical symbolism, the second one penetrates the ascesis according to the divine Eros embodied in the philosophy of Plato and Plotinus, and the third way is based on what the Advaita Vedanta calls A-sparsa, the way of non-support. These three "ways" to realization do not exclude each other but often intersect and integrate in a harmony whose vibrations depend on one's own approach to the Opus, on one's own energy, on one's ... Fire. The "Pathway of Fire" is not a new teaching nor a syncretism of doctrines, but the universal "Way" to the realization of our Essence.

The Threefold Pathway of Fire

Politics & Social Sciences

Raphael (Asram Vidya Order)

Philosophy

Aurea Vidya

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? ....

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

"Tat tvam asi" (That thou art) is the most profound message of the Upanisads and constitutes the essence and the synthesis of the Advaita Vedanta and Asparsa Yoga teaching: «That, which is infinitely subtle, is the essence of all this [universe]. That is the Reality. That is the Self and That thou art, Avetaketu - Please, Venerable Sir, instruct me still further - So be it, my dear - said he» (Chandogya Upanisad, VI, XIV, 3) In this book a realizative dialogue takes place between Antonio, a seeker of the ultimate Truth, and Raphael, an asparsin. Antonio has participated in every possible kind of experience without finding fulfilment, or any solution to his problems. The way indicated by Raphael, at one with Tradition, teaches that being, in its essence, is nothing but the Absolute. Conflict, suffering, opposition and violence exist because one's attention is directed to the outside rather than within, where one's own real nature lies, which is Completeness.

Tat Tvam Asi, That Thou Art: The Path of Fire according to the Asparsavada (Aurea Vidya Collection)

ORPHEUS, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus, etc., are not the same as a Locke, a Hume or a Fichte or such, even though the latter ones are very stimulating at the mental-conceptual level. To say that the Philosophy of Pythagoras, Parmenides, or Plato belongs to the Philosophia Perennis, precisely because it is not individual and temporal, by no means detracts from the authors' personality. On the contrary, it means recognizing them as "mediators", as "divine transmitters", or what is known in the East, as Avatår.The Mysteries instituted by Orpheus represent different states of being. RAPHAEL, the Author of this book, is fully aware to have only touched on the problem of the Sacred Mysteries, just as he has only touched on the events that characterized the life of Orpheus. But human beings, as such, need to acknowledge in themselves a double element: the one titanic (to use Orphic terms) and the other divine. It is up to one's own consciousness to determine whether one wants to be a single whole with the divine or with the titanic.

Orphism and the Initiatory Tradition (Aurea Vidya Collection)

PLATO is an exponent in the West of the ancient Tradition that goes back to Orpheus, and he is regarded as the father of Western Philosophy. In the study of Plato's thought there have been various interpretations. These can be ascribed to two fundamental approaches: one focusing on Plato's "writing", the other on the "oral" essence of Plato's teaching. In this book, going beyond these two approaches, RAPHAEL offers an introduction to Plato's thought aimed at 'realizing' Plato's teaching about "being" a real philosopher, "one who sees the Whole", while leaving the task of meditating on Plato's texts to the reader. Raphael also draws a comparison between Plato and Sankara, the codifier of Advaita Vedanta, suggesting that there is only one universal Tradition of the Mysteries. Finally, he sheds light on how Plato's philosophy is meant to transform man and society. In this sense, approaching Plato's teaching with sacred humility and due aspiration will benefit the disciple who seeks realization.

Initiation Into the Philosophy of Plato (Aurea Vidya Collection)

The Bhagavadgita belongs to the VI book of the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic attributed to the legendary Vyasa. It is a poetic and philosophical work which in time is placed in the V century B.C. Together with the Brahmasutra and the classical Upanisads it constitutes the Prasthanatraya, the Threefold Science of Vedanta. The Bhagavadgita came to light in a moment of both contrasts and new inner requirements of the Indian people. It contributed to the vitality of the upanisadic flame of Knowledge, while it pacified the prevailing philosophical and spiritual debates of the times. The Gita clarified the unity of Truth in its multifarious aspects, and in so doing it provided everybody, in a wise and enlightened way, the opportunity to follow without doctrinal conflicts the most appropriate path for everyone. In the Preface to the book, Raphael indicates four points which are essential to the comprehension of the text in the appropriate dimension: Traditional comprehension of the concept of the Divine. Comprehension of the moment and event that determined the birth of the Gita. Traditional comprehension of the social orders. Comprehension of the right approach to the various ways leading to the Divine. The value of the Gita is paramount, if one just thinks that it hinges on action, which is at the base of life and which cannot be avoided or relinquished by anyone, as it reveals, in a world permeated with movement and conflict, the secret of action without action . Under this perspective it can be of fundamental importance to the Westerners who are essentially more in favor of action than of contemplation.For one who is on the plane of action, not to become enslaved and dominated by activism, it is necessary to comprehend perfect acting devoid of the imprisoning attachment-desire, and to transcend individual qualifications. In fact, where the individual separating ego rules, there also are revealed its aberrant attributes which cause conflict and pain; and, sooner or later, the individual who places itself in such a condition cannot but find, like Arjuna, its battlefield (kuruksetra) or the field of discipline and energetic re-education (tapahksetra). Raphael s commentary unfolds along a psychological, philosophical and initiatory thread with specific reference to the ksatriya (the lawmakers and warriors social order) initiation. Raphael points out that under certain aspects we are all ksatriyas, because we are all engaged in a struggle, at times unequal, between knowledge-vidya and ignorance-avidya. The Bhagavadgita, as all authentic traditional teachings, is not indicating quietistic or finalistic attitudes, nor possible flights, but it nails us down to our responsibilities ( Forced by karma inherent in your nature despite your will, one day you will do that which, being now at a loss, you refuse to do , XVIII, 60) and to our unavoidable duty-dharma: that of comprehending, transforming and transcending ourselves.

Bhagavadgita: The Celestial Song (Aurea Vidya Collection)

Vyāsa

This book is not an essay on the Qabbalah nor a historical study on its origins, but a synthetic presentation in the form of sutra-aphorisms in order to be able to "comprehend" and "realize" its teaching. The expression 'Ehjeh 'Aser 'Ehjeh, which means "I am That I am" or "Being is Being," represents the knowledge by identity. Therefore the Qabbalah, like any other traditional doctrine, does not constitute a simple learned knowledge but life experience.The Hebrew term Qabbalah, which is equivalent to the the word Mas rah, means "reception" or "transmission," and represents the esoteric part of the Old Testament. This means that the Old Testament, besides having an external and exoteric function, has also a deeper and significant function which is internal and esoteric.The symbol of the Qabbalah is the Sephirothic Tree in which are are summed up the indefinite expressive possibilities (Sephiroth) of the micro and macrocosm, beyond which there is the sphere of Ain Soph Aur (Absolute) which corresponds to the One-without-a-second (advaita), the unqualified Brahman (nirguna) of the Vedanta doctrine.In view of the fact that the Qabbalah represents a complete teaching, above all RAPHAEL brings to light its metaphysical sphere (Ain Soph Aur) and the pathway taking to it: the "Pathway of Fire." That is the Pathway" that each disciple, to whatever branch he may belong to, must travel in order to realize the identity with his own Essence.

The Pathway of Fire according to the Qabbalah, 'Ehjeh 'Aser 'Ehjeh (I am That I am) (Aurea Vidya Collection)

This writing offers a series of dialogues between RAPHAEL and a group of people who are spured by a lack of satisfaction in living, and experience a need for inquiry.It is often believed that the human being is none other than history and temporality, and therefore that the very reality of life is simply time-history-becoming. To hold that all is relative, becoming and duality, and to deny the existence of a "constant" is a position that leads to a series of philosophical lacks, deficiencies and contradictions that are refelcted in our existence. Thus a metaphysical "vision" is called for, a firm position of consciousness rooted in the knowledge of non-duality (Advaita), which implies emerging from the perspective of time, space and cause.In these dialogues, Raphael touches on topics such as Sensorial Materialism, Philosophy of Being, Transformation of Consciousness and Aspar&#347;av&#257;da (the path without supports). These topics are developed in the light of a specific kind of Comprehension that is devoid of contradiction and opposition and is therefore capable of offering each individual a possible realization corresponding to his or hers particular state of consciousness.

Beyond Doubt - Approaches to Non-duality

The BRAHMASUTRA of BADARAYANA (proposed in this edition with the Parallel Sanskrit Text) represents the fundamental text of exegesis of Vedanta. The intent of Badarayana - the sage that for authority and realization of consciousness has been identified with Vyasa, the Rsi who ordered the texts of the Vedas - is that of providing the right perspective in the interpretation of the most profound and meaningful contents of the Upanisads. This had proven necessary in order to rectify some unilateral aspects propounded by several schools of thought, both orthodox and non-orthodox. The Brahmasutra presents, in their simplicity and incisiveness, the assertions of the Sruti and of the Smrti, showing their concordance in the recognition of the Nirguna Brahman as the ultimate Realty. The Brahmasutra contains 555 sutras, arranged in four Books, each of which is divided into four Chapters. In Book One, Harmony , the vision of the Brahman, as the Foundation of all that exists, is expounded; the purpose being that of reconciling different Vedic statements on the subject. In Book Two, Absence of Contradiction , the objections raised against this vision are examined and refuted. Moreover, there are some notes regarding the nature of the jiva, its attributes, and its relationship with the Brahman, the body and its actions. In Book Three, Spiritual Discipline , the ways and the means (sadhana) necessary to realize the brahmavidya, the knowledge of the supreme Brahman are expounded. The state of consciousness of the jiva is also dealt with in this Book. In Book Four, The Fruit , the fruits (phala) of the brahmavidya are reviewed. There is also the description of the departure of the jiva after the death of the physical body, along the two paths, that of the gods and that of the ancestors (devayana e pitryana ways), and of the nature of the final liberation. In his notes, RAPHAEL underlines the fact that Badarayana does not oppose the various philosophical schools, but the Rsi allows us to comprehend that their postulates cannot represent the ultimate Truth as expounded in the Vedas and in the Upanisads. Moreover, at times Raphael focuses on certain aspects of the Advaita Doctrine with references to the Western Tradition, and - making the relevant parallels to the philosophy of Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus, and so on - highlights the unity of the sole universal Tradition at the metaphysical level. Lastly, an aspect, which is of special importance in the Advaita realm, is clarified: that is, between the perspectives of Gaudapada and Shankara there is neither opposition nor contradiction. They are just two modes of approach which, all the same, reach the supreme nirguna Truth. Gaudapada puts himself from an exclusively paramarthika perspective (ultimate and supreme Truth), while Shankara begins with the vyavaharika knowledge (empirical, phenomenal and relative reality) to then lead the seeker to the dimension of the pure paramarthika knowledge.

Brahmasutra (Aurea Vidya Collection)

Bādarāyaṇa

First published in 1978 in its ltalian as La Filosofia dell'Essere, 'The Philosophy of Being', and later as Quale Democrazia?, 'What Kind of Democracy?', this work by Raphael now has an importance and topicality that are remarkably relevant to the particular world-situation facing humanity today. This revised version is addressed to those readers who are looking for a socio-political life-style inspired by ethical principles which can provide peace and justice for all nations. The sub-title 'A conception of life for coming out of the turmoil of individuai and social conflict' receives ample confirmation in the topics that are dealt with in the book. During this discussion between Raphael and people of various ideological persuasions some fundamental questions arose. Can politics, as generally understood, solve the individual's problems? Are political ideologies, in their fundamental motivations, truly valid? Can there be such a thing as a political Philosophy capable of meeting the individual's psycho-spiritual needs as well as the contingent, material needs of social politics? Raphael's answers may help readers to clarify, for themselves first of all and then in the social field, what might be the basic principles from which norms and ethics should draw inspiration in order to effect 'a good Government'.

The Philosophy of Being: A conception of life for coming out of the turmoil of individual and social conflict (Aurea Vidya Collection)

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Books by Raphael (Asram Vidya Order)