PDF Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books
PDF Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books
Download As PDF : Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books
A clear and concise overview of the life and work of the immensely influential but little understood eighteenth-century mystic-scientist Emanuel Swedenborg.
“Lachman identifies all the roles Swedenborg inhabited (spiritual thinker, psychic, scientist, inventor, statesman, traveler, and possibly even spy) and does an exceptionally good job of suggesting why this little-known polymath deserves more substantial critical attention.” – The Independent on Sunday (UK)
It is difficult to imagine modern Western alternative spirituality without the influence of Swedish scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Every movement in alternative spirituality – from mental-healing and Spiritualism to New Age mysticism and the twelve-step recovery movement – owes an immeasurable debt to the ideas he exploded upon the Western world.
Yet Swedenborg’s work can be challenging for modern readers. His influence, everywhere at once, is difficult to get a handle on. Now, however, Gary Lachman provides an accessible, lively, and masterful introduction to the life and ideas of this spiritual giant. Lachman takes us to Swedenborg’s roots as brilliant rationalist and scientist who, well into mid-life, began to experience visions of other realms. From this point Swedenborg produced an extraordinary range of writings based on his out-of-body experiences, in which he related encounters with angels, other-planetary beings, and “the world of spirits.”
As Lachman explores, Swedenborg’s work opened up a radically liberal and refreshing ideal of religion. The great mystic saw humanity, and all of nature, as phenomena emerging from the “spiritual world,” and man as a vessel for divine influences. This vision inspired Western seekers to see man as a product of spiritual phenomena, and thus a being intimately connected with the cosmos. From this perspective grew bold new ideas about channeling, spiritual healing, mystical experience, mediumship – a litany of concepts that prefigured the revolutions in alternative and therapeutic spirituality.
PDF Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books
"Great book! Easy to read, entertaining, and full of the anecdotes that made Swedenborg famous in the esoteric and mystical circles of readers. I was left wanting more."
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Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books Reviews :
Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas Gary Lachman 9781585429387 Books Reviews
- This biography of the life and ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg was highly engagingly written. The book is not filled with irrelevant details, and yet it includes some of the most important details about Swedenborg's life and his writings. I found the book to be highly readable, unlike some biographies that bury the reader in details and other technicalities.
This biography showed that Swedenborg had very substantial struggles in his life - as is expected for human life. Questions as to the nature and origin of Swedenborg's "visions" and visits to Heaven and Hell, etc. must, for me, remain unanswered. As an advocate of the writings and many of the ideas of Swedenborg, I nevertheless feel compelled to be skeptical about much of what he wrote about the nature of Heaven, Hell, God as a person (with a body), etc.
I'd recommend this biography to anyone who has interest in the life and accomplishments of a scientific thinker (of genius rank?) turned spiritual seer, namely Swedenborg. While this book is brief (around 135 pages for the edition I read), it does contain enough vital information to give the reader a lot of insight into who the man Swedenborg really was, as well as what "made him tick" - to the best extent that this can be humanly deciphered. For those interested in learning more about Emanuel Swedenborg, this book is recommended - as a rather easy and engaging read. - Wonderful, short introduction of Swedenborg.
- This book was exceptional. The author has a writing style I love. Easy to read , a warm approach but very smart author with a unique way of bringing out concepts.
- Great book! Easy to read, entertaining, and full of the anecdotes that made Swedenborg famous in the esoteric and mystical circles of readers. I was left wanting more.
- What I love about Lachman's books is they give a historic and esoteric context from which to understand Swedenborg's life and work. Lachman is at the same time objective and imaginative in his description.
- Great thank you
- "Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas" provides the reader with exactly what the title promises. This book is extremely well researched, well written and, I believe, the author provides a very objective perspective into the life and times of this relatively unknown icon from the 18th century.
Prior to reading this book I knew very little about Swedenborg and I only became interested in his ideas after having heard his name mentioned by several other authors. I was surprised to learn just how prolific Swedenborg's work was and just how many people were influenced by it. Carl Jung, William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, are just a few of the people who were connected with Swedenborg's writings and apparently the modern "twelve-step" recovery programs are even rooted in Swedenborg's work.
I was also unaware that he could be considered a "Swedish Davinci" because he was not only a mystic, but he was also a biblical scholar, scientist, inventor, statesman, theologian, traveler and poet.
In light of all of his achievements, one might wonder why his name is more recognized in the modern era and, if I were to surmise based solely on my very limited personal exposure to his ideas, I would say that it was because his experiences in the spirit realm (talking to angels, Jesus etc.) seem too impossible to be true. With his extraordinary journeys into the spirit realm and the information he claims to have gleaned there, I can see that both the religious community and the scientific community would be very skeptical and determined to denounce his claims.
Personally, based on what I have read in, "Swedenborg An Introduction to His Life and Ideas" I am still on the fence as to whether or not most of Swedenborg's claims ring true for me; however, the author of this book, Gary Lachman, does a superb job of presenting the information without bias and he mentions numerous sources where readers wishing to delve into Swedenborg's actual writings can do so. Thankfully, Swedenborg wrote many detailed accounts of his experiences and they can be found in his books 'Spiritual Life and the Word of God', 'Heaven and Hell', 'Journal of Dreams', 'The True Christian Religion', 'Secrets of Heaven' as well as numerous others and, now that Gary Lachman has sufficiently intrigued me with an overview of the life and ideas of Swedenborg, I will seek out some of the original material that so many people throughout history were fascinated with.
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