Tag: Buddhism

4,415 words

It is the fate of almost all religions to become, so to say, denatured; as they spread and develop, they gradually recede from their original spirit, and their more popular and spurious elements come to the fore, their less severe and essential features, those furthest removed from the metaphysical plane. While hardly any of the major historical religions have escaped this destiny, it would seem that it is particularly true of Buddhism. (more…)

Crow Screen, Japan, 17th century, Seattle Art Museum

3,639 words

Translator anonymous, ed. by Greg Johnson

Zen may be regarded as the last discovery of Western spiritualistic circles in sympathy with Oriental wisdom. (more…)

Peter Paul Rubens, “The Death of Seneca,” c. 1615, Museo del Prado, Madrid

3,577 words

Translation anonymous, ed. Greg Johnson

In these short notes I shall not attempt to deal with the question of the right to life in general, but with the right to one’s own life, which corresponds to the ancient formula of jus vitae necisque; it is the right to accept human existence or to put an end to it voluntarily. I intend to compare certain characteristic points of view which have been formulated in this connection in the East and in the West. However, the problem will not be considered from a social point of view, but rather from an interior spiritual one, whence it appears in the shape of a problem of responsibility only to our own selves. (more…)

2,963 words

Part 1 of 2

Translation anonymous, edited by Greg Johnson

Editor’s Note:

The following essay was originally published in English in East and West, vol. 9, no. 4 (1958): 349–55. This is chapter 15 of Julius Evola, East and West: Comparative Studies in Pursuit of Tradition, ed. Greg Johnson, (more…)

Nicholas Roerich, “Tibet, Himalayas,” 1933

2,150 words

Translated by Cologero Salvo

Given the confusions that abound in this area, it is opportune to clarify first what we mean, in general, by “initiatic centers” and “initiatic organizations.”  (more…)

2,071 words

Editor’s Note: 

We are presenting the following excerpts from Savitri Devi’s And Time Rolls On: The Savitri Devi Interviews in honor of the birthday of the great Swedish explorer Sven Anders Hedin (February 19, 1865–November 26, 1952). For a brief account of his life and work, see his Wikipedia article. 

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1,076 words

English original here

V polední době se objevila spousta spisů o postavě, o níž se, i přes její mimořádný význam ve vřavách první světové války, ví jen málo: mluvím o Romanu Mikolaji Maximilianu von Ungern-Sternbergovi.

Ferdinand Ossendowski byl prvním, kdo o něm, s využitím patřičných dramatizačních efektů, psal ve svém slavném a docela kontroverzním díle Bestie, lidé a bohové.  (more…)

time: 56:15 / 7,643 words

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4,316 words

Editor’s Note:

The following chapters constitute the concluding Part V of Ferdinand Ossendowski’s Beasts, Men, and Gods.

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Hermann Hesse, 1877–1962

474 words

Translated by Alex Kurtagic

Unfortunately, the deep writer and poet Hermann Hesse was falsified and vulgarized by a world in decline. He needs to be re-read today by the same eyes that were once shaken by his mystery.

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4,492 words

Editor’s Note:

Ferdinand Ossendowski, 1876–1945

The following two chapters from Ferdinand Ossendowski’s Beasts, Men, and Gods give a good sense of Baron Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg’s qualities and vision. Ossendowski joined the baron’s army as a commanding officer of one of his self-defense troops. He also briefly became Ungern-Sternberg’s political advisor and chief of intelligence. Ungern-Sternberg sent Ossendowski on a diplomatic mission to Japan and the United States, and when the baron’s regime collapsed, Ossendowski stayed on in the United States and wrote Beasts, Men, and Gods, which was published in 1922.

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1,598 words

Baron Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg, 1885–1921, photographed in 1921

Translated by Greg Johnson

Czech translation here

Translator’s Note:

The following text, published in 1942 or 1943 under the title “Baron von Ungern Venerated in Mongolian Temples,” deals with one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic figures whom I first encountered in the pages of Ferdinand Ossendowski’s brilliant Beasts, Men, and Gods.

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