Albigen Papers [Paperback]

Richard Rose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1978

Review by Bart Marshall (Raleigh, NC USA) Richard Rose is an awakened teacher who has spent his life tirelessly pointing the way for others to awaken--and it has worked. Rose's plain-spoken, common sense approach to self-discovery laid the groundwork for several of his students--so far--to "make the whole trip," as Rose puts it. Rose, by his own admission is not a polished writer or speaker--"I'm a discoverer, not an orator," he has said on occasion--but "The Albigen Papers" is an excellent introduction to his teachings, and for the insightful student, it will provide a wealth of new and original ideas on the "ways and means" of Awakening.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Pyramid Press; Fourth edition (1978)
• Language: English
• ASIN: 1878683004
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #797,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You may not like this book, July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Albigen Papers (Paperback)

How many books written in the 20th Century will still be as relevant in 100 years? In 1,000 years? The writings of undying value will prove to be, I believe, the collected works of the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi from the first half of the century and those of the American phenomenon Richard Rose from the second half. Why? Because they were great souls of the first magnitude, spiritual giants who have a timeless teaching for the small segment of mankind fortunate enough to have ears that can hear. For an introduction to Ramana Maharshi, see "Profound Writings, East & West" published by the TAT Book Service. For the flagship of Rose's writings, investigate this book -- "The Albigen Papers."

I don't want to lure you into a false euphoria, though. There are several reasons why you may not like this book. One is that the writing style is not what you're used to. Rose disdained conventional thinking, and this is evident even in little things such as his use of puctuation to reflect his speech patterns. Chances are these idiosyncrasies will be erased by future editors, eliminating the irritation produced by someone's refusal to kowtow to convention, but the loss will be the reader's. For adroit irritation was part of Rose's teaching style. Another tooth-grinder is the great conviction that inheres in every sentence. If your reaction is like mine when I first read the book, it will be "This guy thinks he knows everything, and no one knows everything." My own absolute, but unacknowledged, certainty was that all knowledge is tentative, and anyone who projects conviction is either deluding himself or trying to work some kind of scam. And then there is the fact that Rose's writing is not easy on the mind's ear. Believe me, there is no flattery, and no concern for reinforcement of the reader's ego. With the same type of benevolent humor as displayed by Ramana Maharshi, Richard Rose takes you, in the first half of the book, through the manifold ways in which our vision is obscured, both by others and, more importantly, by our self-deception. In the second half he then lays out a systematic approach for the seeker, based on the use and refinement of the twin tools of common sense and intuition. With great wit and compassion, Rose offers practical advice to anyone who is interested in traveling down the road that leads to self-definition. The opening of the chapter "The First Steps" provides an example:

"Of couse, in order to begin a work we must have an objective. And the objective need not be immediately negated by declaring that we do not know that which we expect to find, when we announce our objective to be The Truth. Such a stated objective actually means that we aim to come to a point of no-ignorance and being. Our objective is to find our definitionn, whatever the finding entails. Our objective is to find our origin and destiny, if we can do so, but these are secondary to self-definition or finding out who is doing the seeking. There is only one time to start and this is now. And we can expect to battle the urge to procrastinate from now on. The place is right where we are now, not in Tibet or some nebulous material land of magic. The manner of searching is to use the tools at hand until better methods are discovered. Now all of this above advice engenders no great arcane secrets, no magical formulae. It could be used in any research laboratory, or by any man building a shelter. The sad part is, - just that which the simple analogy implies, - that man can begin on any level, with any tools, yet he always hangs back, waiting for the electrifying Messiah or the more propitious setting."

The Albigen Papers is not a book to be read one time and then shelved or discarded, but an ongoing resource for guidance and inspiration. If I could recommend just one book to fellow-seekers, this would be the one.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zen for a New Millennium, November 29, 1999

By 

Richard Hood (Towson, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Albigen Papers (Paperback)

The subject of Zen has become very popular in the 1990's. Recently there have been many translations of Zen classics and new books by contemporary writers. When Richard Rose wrote this book he was among the first to recognize the value of Zen as a way for the mind to look at itself and as a tool to discover both error and truth. The Albigen Papers is written in comtemporary language that is at once clear and to the point. It attacks and deconstructs much of what we know or think that we know. It is one of those books that once read is not easily forgotten or dismissed. It have the potential to change the way you look at the world or the way you view yourself. The last part of the book is concerned with the truth that Mr. Rose discovered after many years of meditation and study of many different religious systems. He communicates this truth in a way that is both direct and concise. I think that this is one of those few books that has the power to change your life.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book based on attacking beliefs, August 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Albigen Papers (Paperback)

This book might be summed up rather simply rather than reading the numerous pages: truth is the search for yourself, and you won't find yourself while looking outside in the world. This is as simple as it can be put. Rose analyzes numerous paths for the reader to demonstrate how they all fail to meet some rather common sense criteria. His criteria are primarily: "elimination of concepts", self observation, self remembering, respectful doubt, development of intuition, and knowing the Real Observer. For those who don't have any particular beliefs, he doesn't go very far to tell you exactly what you should do. But if you take his logical analysis and common sense criteria to the point of negating everything, you may discover that everything in the world crumbles away like an illusion. And when the world crumbles away, you may discover something rather important. In particular, you may discover the pointlessness of the current existence you are in, find shattering depression, and then some illumination. Or, you may just jump to the marvel of existence. They are both sides of the same coin, after all. Buy it and read it, or begin looking carefully to see who you are.