Customer Reviews

SWEDENBORG & ESOTERIC ISLAM (Swedenborg Studies)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In these strange and dark times I wish more people would get their introduction to Shi'ism from Corbin, rather than the slew of "Understanding Islam" books out there. Though that will never happen, this book would really be the one to square the view between most Christians (the one's who have an inkling for Christian gnosis) and at least Shi'ites and Sufis. Certainly neither should have any trouble at all relating to each other's symbolic 'architecture' or 'geography'. More than anything, though, this book is an excellent introduction to the spaces described by Sacred Symbolism. It will invert your understanding of the space occupied by religious motifs in general - not by drawing them together in a vulgar display of "paralellomania" that is so popular today, but by advocating for the primacy of the atemporal geography that genuine Tradition can provide access to at it's deepest levels. The result is astonishing, perhaps singular, even for Corbin. It must be mentioned that the sword cuts two ways, and so sneering anti-Christians will really have to eat it for a second... for truly, what do we make of it when when Japanese Zen master Suzuki claims Swedenborg to be a "Western Buddha"? Come on now, you think Corbin would waste his time on anything but the REAL DEAL?

I always wondered if Swedenborg had any external influences on his esoteric approach towards the Holy Book, and this book does shed some light on that. As a student of religious studies and as a Christian, I have to come to respect the Shia esoteric aspect of moslem religion.