"To be wise is one thing: to know the thought that directs all things through all things." "We should not act like the children of our parents." "I searched my nature." - from the Fragments of Heraclitus This bright, deep, meditative jewel-like study brings Heraclitus to life in a new way, and shows him to be one of the principal sources of Western mystical thinking. From Geldard's point of view, the study of Heraclitus is not just an academic matter but, on the contrary, presents us with very real existential and phenomenological challenges. The book includes new translations of all the essential fragments. Geldard, through his exploration of Heraclitus, shows us, "The more that human beings openly and humbly seek higher knowledge, the more they develop the power to perceive it, until finally they penetrate to the hidden universal order. The result of this penetration is knowledge of the Logos, that 'which directs all things through all things.' The acquisition of this knowledge is not an event; it is a stance in the world. It is Being in its fullness."
Richard Geldard is a full-time writer and lecturer living in New York City and the Hudson Valley. He is married to the artist and writer Astrid Fitzgerald.
Before turning to writing he was an educator, teaching English and philosophy at both the secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels. Before turning to full-time writing, he was a member of the faculty at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpenteria, California, where he taught the Greek Mystery Religions. Prior to that he taught Greek Philosophy and The Science of Mind at Yeshiva College in New York. Presently, Dr Geldard is a member of the faculty of the University of Philosophical Research in the Online Masters Degree Program. (see uprs.edu)
Geldard is a graduate of Bowdoin College, The Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and Stanford University, where he earned his doctorate in Dramatic Literature and Classics in 1972. He has also studied at St. John's College, Oxford and was a Visiting Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.
Geldard is the author of ten books, including studies of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Greek philosophy and culture. He is also a frequent lecturer. In June, 2003, and September, 2003, he was a featured speaker at Faneuil Hall in Boston as part of the Emerson Bicentennial Celebrations. In June, 2005, he was the Keynote speaker at the re-instatement of the Delphic Games in Delphi, Greece.
Geldard delivered the Annual Flora Levy Humanities Lecture at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on October 14, 2009
Dr Geldard has a web presence at rgbooks.com
