Friday, January 29, 2010
THE WAY OF THE DERVISH
Dervishes are considered to be fakirs/magicians/ wonderworkers/ fanatics/ ascetics/ mystics and even yogis. Yogis are said to keep an eye on them, whatever that means, possibly to either exploit them, benefit from them or to study and analyze their practices, rites, rituals, sacrifices, and suffering(s) or to assist them towards a 'higher development' or possible 'evolution'. KMany of these groups seem more like 'entertainers' and sometimes 'fortune tellers' or 'soothsayers' and naturally some are out- and- out chalatans posings as 'holy men' and the like. As performers in public or open areas, they have an appeal to the curious and the ones who are looking for 'miracles' or 'powers' or 'wonders' and the like. If you look at the early collectors of such things, like Ripley, then you can see how there is a fascination for such in the 'civilized', 'educated', 'cultured' world. I began my interest in such from not only BELIEVE IT OR NOT in the papers,etc. but from reading Paul Brunton's A SEARCH IN SECRET EGYPT which is still a great read and has some photos on the things he saw and did. His other book, A SEARCH IN SECRET INDIA, I did not read until many,many years later. I also have read a few others of his books. BRUNTON, like so many others, ended up at the feet of HIS GURU, RAMANA MAHARISHI, of whom I shall have more to say along with Brunton and others in THE WAY OF THE YOGI.
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I becamse acquainted with THE SEARCH IN SECRET EGYPT when in High School as the FISKE FREE LIBRARY had a copy. I got into difficulties with the library because I let a classmate of mine borrow it to take hoe and he did not check it out as I had not returned it so he could. His mother was a Rosicrucian and my friend knew I was also interested in Rosicrucianism at that time, since the library had numerous books and some magazines on this. I also formed a group called THE ANCIENT BROTHERHOOD OF TRUTH SEEKERS(ABTS) while in Steven High School and this group consisted of classmates of mine, all boys,all dead I am sure, who shared such interest, some all their lives. I had read ESOTERIC BUDDHISM during this time and became interested in 'the Illumed Ones' or 'THE ENLIGHTENED ONES' and somewhere I may still have the notebook on all this stuff in my things. At the same time, I becamse nterested in symbolism, magic, spiritualism, philosophy, religion, psychology and psychoanalysis, werewolves-vampires-legendns-mysteries-dinosaurs-etc. and read many of the 'classics' in these areas. The library today no longer has that magnificent collection.I still try to read some of this material in books I have of my own.
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