A comprehensive exploration of spirituality and philosophy
The essays explore philosophy, meaning and spirituality; consciousness, death and transformation; and responsibility, ethics and society. Perceptive and illuminating, they examine the nature of life and death, questions of meaning and purpose, and the challenge of how we can live more harmoniously together.
A Quest for Wisdom is a wide-ranging volume which brings together 25 of David Lorimer's highly acclaimed essays. David hopes that readers will be inspired, as Dr Albert Schweitzer put it, in our common task 'to become more finely and deeply human.'
By:
David Lorimer
Imprint: Aeon Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 590g
ISBN: 9781913504762
ISBN 10: 191350476X
Pages: 354
Publication Date: 24 March 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
CONTENTS FOREWORD xvii PREFACE xxi Dr Peter Fenwick FORMATIVE BACKGROUND xxiii PHILOSOPHY, SPIRITUALITY AND MEANING Victor Frankl and the Human Search for Meaning 3 The Absurd and the Mysterious 13 John Moriarty Memorial Lecture—Rhythmica Mythica: Separation and Union, Exile and Homecoming 29 The Principles of Love and Wisdom in Swedenborg and Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov) 45 Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov, 1864–1944)—a Prophet for our Times 55 Tao and the Path towards Integration 63 Cultivating a Sense of Beauty 75 The Encounter of Eastern and Western Cosmologies— Speculations on Radhakrishnan and the “Implicate Order” 85 Consciousness and Spirituality: Widening the Scientific Perspective 101 CONSCIOUSNESS, DEATH AND TRANSFORMATION The Challenge of Death 115 Religious and Scientific Implications of the Near-death and Related Experiences 119 Aspects of the Near-death Experience in the Light of the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the Experiences of Swedenborg 127 Swedenborg and Survival 135 Swedenborg, the Soul and Modern Consciousness Studies 151 The Near-death Experience and the Perennial Wisdom 159 TAKING RESPONSIBILITY—ETHICS AND SOCIETY A Life as an Argument: The Plight of the Individual in Modern Society 173 The Ethic of “Reverence for Life” and the Problem of Peace 183 The Ethical Mysticism of Dag Hammarskjöld 195 Religion, Society and Spiritual Renewal in Radhakrishnan 209 Ethics and the Nature of the Human 217 Beyond Fanaticism—the “Pneumatocratic” Perspective 227 Voltaire and Russell—the Crusade against Dogma and Fanaticism 235 The Spiritual Perspective and Political Responsibility 247 Fear of Freedom 257 Some Aspects of the German Democratic Republic 263 Towards a Culture of Love—an Ethic of Interconnectedness 269 AFTERWORD 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY 285 INDEX 305
David Lorimer, MA, PGCE, FRSA is a writer and editor who is a Founder of Character Education Scotland, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. Originally a merchant banker then a teacher of philosophy and modern languages at Winchester College, he is the author and editor of over a dozen books. He is a founding member of the International Futures Forum and was also a Trustee of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment and a Churchill Fellow. He is the creator of the Inspiring Purpose Values Poster Programmes, which have reached over 300,000 young people.
