Showing posts with label Rumi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rumi. Show all posts

2021/10/20

Yoga And The Quest For True Self : Cope, Stephen

Yoga And The Quest For True Self : Cope, Stephen: Amazon.com.au: Books





Follow the Author

Stephen Cope
Follow



Yoga And The Quest For True Self Paperback – 15 September 2000
by Stephen Cope (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 230 ratings


Product description

Review
"What a delight to find a book on spiritual practice that's as compelling to read as a good novel. This honest, intelligent, and beautifully written book is required reading for anyone interested in spiritual practice today."
-- Lilias Folan, host of the PBS series Lilias!

"A tour de force...a book grounded in yoga psychology that will be meaningful and useful to spiritual practitioners in many traditions."
--Sylvia Boorstein, author of It's Easier Than You Think and That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist

"A down-to-earth, wise, spiritually mature and compassionate teaching that integrates the best of yoga and our own Western humanity. Destined to be a classic."
--Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
From the Back Cover
Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent source of calm in our stress-filled lives. Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation--a path that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than ten years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world. He demystifies the philosophy, psychology, and practice of yoga, and shows how it applies to our most human dilemmas: from loss, disappointment, and addiction, to the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. And he shows us that in yoga, "liberation" does not require us to leave our everyday lives for some transcendent spiritual plane--life itself is the path. Above all, Cope shows how yoga can heal the suffering of self-estrangement that pervades our society, leading us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life in the world.

About the Author
Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist who writes and teaches about the relationship between contemporary psychology and the Eastern contemplative traditions. He holds degrees from Amherst College and Boston College. He is currently Scholar-in-Residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts, the largest residential yoga center in the world. This is his first book.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ BANTAM DELL; 1st edition (15 September 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages


Customers who viewed this item also viewed




The Wisdom Of Yoga: A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living

Stephen Cope
4.7 out of 5 stars 199
Stephen Cope



Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist, senior Kripalu yoga teacher, and author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self. He is currently Senior Scholar in Residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts.

His homepage can be found at: www.stephencope.com



Top reviews

Top review from Australia


Elizabeth

2.0 out of 5 stars Western ideas of yoga.Reviewed in Australia on 21 August 2019
Verified Purchase

The author introduces Yoga to a Western audience. From one particular school of thought. He also interlaces modern psychological ideas throughout.
It wasn't what I was looking for, I wanted to read more first hand accounts, rather than the psychoanalysis of people.
It is well written, just not my cup of tea.


HelpfulReport abuse

See all reviews


Top reviews from other countries

Miss M Wilkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulously enlightening book on the spiritual/psychological aspects of yogaReviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2019
Verified Purchase

I don't normally leave reviews but I wanted to express just how much I've loved reading this book and what a vital tool I've found it on my yoga path. I've been practising yoga for several years to manage my physical and mental health, and because I never feel closer to myself or more at peace than when I'm in a posture or being with my breath. So I found the blending of a psychoanalytic and yogic perspective really exciting, and it answered a lot of questions about how best to use yoga as a tool for healing and to get closer to your true self. I found the section on developing one's equanimity practice to keep up with the insights gained in awareness practice particularly useful as I have found myself somewhat overwhelmed by the latter in recent times. So this book came at the right time for me and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves yoga or is looking for a way to manage their suffering. I found the first chapter a little slow but after that I couldn't put it down so if you find that too then stick with it, it's so worth it :)

14 people found this helpfulReport abuse

Nicola
5.0 out of 5 stars So much beauty in this bookReviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2020
Verified Purchase

This book expresses what I have experienced directly through my yoga practice but struggled to put into words. It offers a beautiful integration of psychology and spiritually and I'd recommend it to therapists, yoga teachers and anyone interested in embodied spirituality.

2 people found this helpfulReport abuse

TheHolisticTherapist
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book so much that I often go back ...Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2016
Verified Purchase

Absolute a must read for yoga teachers, students and practitioners. A blend of personal experience, psychology, yoga and a very in depth discussion of the spiritual path. I loved this book so much that I often go back to re-read certain passages of it. Bravo Stephen for writing such an honest account of the yoga path.

9 people found this helpfulReport abuse

Tm
5.0 out of 5 stars So far so goodReviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2020
Verified Purchase

I buy too many books, but enjoyed this so far. Nice to hear from a mans perspective
Report abuse

Mrs. D. A. Naven
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 May 2018
Verified Purchase

An extremely thought provoking book. It is a 'must' read for everyone who takes Yoga seriously .

4 people found this helpfulReport abuse
See all reviews

==================================================

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

by
Stephen Cope
4.14 · Rating details · 1,802 ratings · 166 reviews


Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent source of calm in our stress-filled lives. Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation—a path that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than ten years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world. He demystifies the philosophy, psychology, and practice of yoga, and shows how it applies to our most human dilemmas: from loss, disappointment, and addiction, to the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. And he shows us that in yoga, "liberation" does not require us to leave our everyday lives for some transcendent spiritual plane—life itself is the path. Above all, Cope shows how yoga can heal the suffering of self-estrangement that pervades our society, leading us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life in the world. (less)


Paperback, 384 pages
Published September 5th 2000 by Bantam (first published October 5th 1999)
Original Title
Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Write a review

Apr 29, 2012Craig Shoemake rated it it was amazing
Shelves: indian-religion, yoga, indian-philosophy, meditation, kundalini-yoga, kripalu-yoga, yoga-and-psychotherapy
It is not often I use the “M word” to describe a book. No, I’m not talking about munchkin books or maleficient books. I’m talking about masterpieces. I am not certain if Stephen Cope’s bestseller is a masterpiece. Maybe it is, maybe not. Either way, it is pretty damn good.

This is one of those books that entertains and educates you in a visceral way right from the start. Large chunks are written in immediate narrative format–as in “he said,” “I said,” etc. It is Stephen Cope’s personal yoga story–a sort of “pilgrim’s progress,” if you will–as well as the yoga story of his many friends and acquaintances before and during his long and continuing stay at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

We meet a man, a practicing Boston psychotherapist, who for a variety of reasons was feeling unsettled and dissatisfied with his life and then, somewhat to his dismay, found himself joining a religious community to do…what? Much of the book is an answer to that and related questions: What did he want? Why? What was he trying to do at Kripalu? What was–is–the meaning of yoga? What is enlightenment? Is such a thing possible? Are there enlightened people in this world? And what happens when all the things we try to keep hidden are revealed for the world to see?

Stephen Cope furrows through all these questions and more. His sincerity, his intensity, his intelligence, make the book a gripping read. Its pages educate the reader even as Cope the protagonist is educated by his experiences in the ashram. Yoga philosophy is pondered over, its depths turned up, and its many connections to Western psychotherapy reflected upon, all in gratifyingly sober, lucid prose. This is no idealistic hippy’s tale, nor a wide-eyed New Age search for Reality. In point of fact, it is one man’s search for himself, even as he helps us understand that the discipline, the science, the art of yoga, is there to help us lay ourselves bare to ourselves.

“You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” This book is a testament to these words, but it goes beyond them for the “truth” as yoga reveals to Stephen Cope is an ever living, organic thing, the stuff of our lives, which we either enjoy and let go of or cling to and warp, eventually to destroy.

You will find yourself in this book. In one of the many personal portraits Cope draws, you will find your own symptoms and neuroses, your fears, dreams and failings. And when you do, you will know that yoga has something to offer you. There is so much teaching here, and it is given in such generous, gentle and wise ways. Most of all, I think the primacy of ourselves as bodily beings, as thinking, feeling, dreaming animals of earth, is borne out. The body really is our temple, and yoga is our puja, an act of adoration, discipline and feast. Cope nails it in what might be the defining statement of the book: “Because yoga asanas are not so much about exercise as they are about learning and unlearning, it is not the movement itself, but the quality of attention we bring to the movement that makes postures qualify as yoga” (230). If this is so–and I know it is–then any act, any breath, any thought done with full and alive attention, is yoga.

Bobby Fischer once said “Chess is life.” I would say “Yoga is life,” and Stephen Cope’s book has made this truth abundantly clear.

(less)
flag21 likes · Like · 1 comment · see review



Sep 10, 2010David Guy rated it liked it
I picked this book up on a whim because I have been doing yoga and reading up on it, and I was intrigued by the title. Cope is a therapist who went to Kripalu (a yoga center in Western Massachusetts) and basically never left. He writes very well, and tells a lot of stories. There was something about the book I found vaguely annoying, maybe all the upper middle class angst of many of the people he was talking about. There was also a lot more psychiatric jargon than I was interested in; I'm nore interested in spiritual practice than in therapy. That having been said, the book has stayed with me, and the basic concept of a false vs. true self seems quite true to me. One can't do justice to it in a few words, but basically the false self is one that we create out of concepts; the true self is the one that is living our daily physical life, and that we too often avoid by going off into our heads. He also mentioned something that R.D. Laing said at a conference of Buddhists and therapists that keeps coming back to me: Human beings are afraid of three things. Their own minds, other people, and death. (less)
flag9 likes · Like · comment · see review



Dec 20, 2015Anne Palmer rated it it was amazing
As a yoga teacher, I figure I am supposed to read yoga books. However I find within three chapters of most books on the subject I am either distracted or bored, or I have already absorbed what I need from the author. That was not the case with this book, which I read daily and finished within two weeks. Yoga and the Quest for the True Self was recommended to me years ago, and I didn't even read it when my yoga studio 8 Limbs held a book group around it. But when a writer friend urged me to give it a chance, I finally relented, to my great advantage. Cope, a psychotherapist who has lived at Kripalu for several decades, uses a memoir framework to deliver some of the most personally valuable teachings about yoga I have received. I recommend this book to yoga practitioners of all levels. Be here now. Read it. Now. (less)
flag8 likes · Like · comment · see review



May 13, 2015Sunshine rated it it was amazing
Shelves: njsunshinebookclub, to-buy
Absolutely transformational. Revolutionized the way I see yoga, myself, life, and relationships with people. There is so much to learn and so much more growth needed, but grateful for a read that deepened my spirituality and religious convictions and changed my perspective for the better.

And my notes from the book because it is a library book and I couldn't underline:

“Most of the branches of Vedanta hold one fundamental view in common: all individual souls are one with the ground of being, the Absolute. Because all beings are one with the great river of life, we are all, in effect, just a single soul. We are, in the classical dictum, ‘One without a second’” (page 42.)

“what we are seeking is already at the core of our nature. ‘We are that’ which we seek. We are already inherently perfect; we have already arrived; and we have the potential in each moment to wake up to our true nature. In the words of one extraordinary teacher whom we’ll meet later on in the book, ‘everything is already OK’” (page 42).

“When we begin to see clearly who we really are, according to this view, we feel a natural friendliness toward all beings. Beneath the surface of our separation, we feel the hidden,unseen threads that link us. We know that we’re exactly alike inside. We’re the same being. As author John Welch says, ‘We are each like a well that has its source in a common underground stream which supplies all. The deeper down I go, the closer I come to the source which puts me in contact with all other life’” (page 43).

“All mystical paths have taught that the union with God, or with the Absolute, subtly transforms the self. Each time we penetrate into samadhi, we have a small death-rebirth experience. Samadhi the world as we know it—its boundaries and categories. The deeper into union I penetrate, the less I am ‘I,’ and the more I am ‘we.’ For this reason, the merger with the One is known to create psychological upheaval and world-shattering shifts in perception” (page 43).

“This love is so overwhelming that you will lose consciousness of the conventional world. You will not be able to entertain the slightest feeling of personal ownership, not even toward the body, which is the most precious and jealously guarded possession of most persons. There will no longer be any instinctive notion that the body or the mind constitutes your being” (page 44).

“The word yoga itself means, literally, to be ‘yoked’—or to be in union. Eventually, repeated penetrations into mystic union transform the physical structure of the body, the personality, and the mind” (page 44).

“In Christianity, don’t you have this understanding: God is both—what do you say—immanent and transcendent? God is both here, within, right now, and is also everywhere? At the same time? It is the same God, the same Reality. Just our language has trouble capturing it. This is the wonderful thing about yoga. You find God right here, right now. In the body. You become a fully alive human being. You become jivan mukta—awake this lifetime. As a human being. Not in, what did you say? Transcendent realm with the angels. No. Not at all. You see, you are an angel” (page 48).

“‘Deep eternity,’ in Emily Dickinson’s phrase, is right here, right now. It is the subtle interior anatomy of the body—and the subtly interior anatomy of this entire world of form.
‘The goal of human life,’ says Ramakrishna,’ is to meet God face to face.’ But the magic is this: if we look deeply into the face of all created things, we will find God. Therefore, savor the world, the body. Open it, explore it, look into it” (page 55).

“When we pay close attention to the world of the many, we inevitably discover the One” (page 58).

“Gitanand was telling the story of a dialogue between a Vedic master and a Western student. ‘The student, confounded by the radically different worldview embodied by his teacher, asks, “Do we live in the same world?” Replies the teacher, ‘Yes, we do. It’s just that you see yourself in the world, and I see the whole world in myself.’ Yogis insist on seeing the world from the inside out” (page 70).

“We can experience the entire reality of the universe directly through a full exploration of the phenomena of our own bodies, feelings, minds. There is nothing that is ‘out there’ that is not also ‘in here’” (page 70).

“‘Disappointment,’ he said, ‘is a much more fertile ground for spiritual practice than dreams’” (page 89).

#1 of page 90-92
“In order for us to fully inhabit our bodies, we need certain kinds of responses from our environment. These include empathic holding, nurturing, mirroring, challenge, optimal frustration, and optimal disillusionment. Problems begin to happen in our developing sense of self when, as infants and children, our real emerging needs and capacities are not met with adequate mirroring, nurturing and sustaining responses. In the post industrial West, the problems of the disembodied sense of self are pandemic. The reasons for this are simple: Because of the breakdown of the extended family in the latter half of this century, we depend upon the depleted resources of small nuclear families, where hard working parents may already feel stretched and needy themselves. This nuclear family upon which we place most of our hopes is all too often an impoverished emotional environment for children. Overburdened parents feel fragmented, insecure, and in some cases terrified by the needs they feel they should be meeting but cannot. They’re hungry to get their own unsatisfied needs met” (page 91).

“The false self is born when the environment does not welcome the self to be as it is” (page 93).

“There is no telling precisely at what chronological age the self will come to one of these crossroads. One thing is certain: these times of meltdown are precious. A delicate window is opened into the very terrain explored and mastered by yogis and buddhas and seers of all kinds. In these times, the soul has a heightened potential to discover the real. There is a palpable longing for the mother, for matter, for the earth, and along with this an openness to the father, to the spirit, to consciousness.
In his commentary on the Yogasutras, Bhagwan S. Rajneesh identifies this meltdown of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ in adulthood as the entry point into yoga” (page 97).

“May we be protected together.
May we be nourished together.
May we work together with great vigor.
May our study be enlightening.
May there be no hatred between us.
Om peace, peace, peace.

Lead us from the unreal to the real.
Lead us from darkness to light.
Lead us from death to immortality” (page 100-101).

“‘Just being in my body makes me happy. I don’t have to do anything, or prove anything. What freedom!’ For the first time in her adult life, Amy had tasted the possibility of a life not lived in the head—or in the abstraction of the edo-ideal—but in the very real world of current direct kinesthetic experience” (page 106).

“The body likes living in reality. Stepping down onto the solid ground of reality always feels better than living in delusion. It may be painful, but there is life in it, energy in it, and, like the ground, it holds us up in a way that delusion does not. ‘Only reality is wholly safe’” (page 112).

“The genius of yogic practice is that it cultivates the capacity to experience a close-range, moment-by-moment inspection of reality. In fact, yoga teaches that living fully in the moment is the only doorway into the hidden realities of the Self” (page 113).

Amrit Desai:
“If you want to experience the joyous ecstasy that life offers, there is one commitment that is absolutely fundamental: the commitment to live in the moment. With that commitment as your guiding focus, whatever you do in your daily life is part of your transformational process. Your commitment to living in the moment becomes your vehicle for spiritual growth.

Living in the moment, however, is the most dangerous situation anybody ever faces in life, because everything you have ever avoided is revealed to you when you live in the moment. You get to face all the denied contents of your subconscious as the reappear again and again through the events of your life” (page 113-114)

“the goal of the reality project is not to disengage from the phenomenal world, but to turn to embrace it more deeply—to discover its hidden depths. And in order to do that paradoxically, we do not reject the vicissitudes of the embodied life. We no not reject suffering. Rather, we turn and go through the doorway of suffering. We turn to embrace our neuroses, our conflicts, our difficult bodies and minds, and we let them be the bridge to a fuller life. Our task is not to free ourselves from the world, but to fully embrace the world—to embrace the real” (page 115).

“Through the practice of yoga, the physical structure is said to be ‘baked,’ or refined, creating a form strong enough to tolerate and hold the powerful energies of the fully alive human being without being roiled or destroyed by them. Without the creation of this hard wiring, as Viveka saw, it was simply not possible to tolerate the subtle levels of awareness into which the quest would take him. Like Viveka, without the development of a compassionate and equananimous body and mind, we literally cannot bear what the seer reveals to us” (page 124).

“‘Laymen often think that the best way to deal with any difficult situation is not to deal with it—to forget it. But you and I have the experience that the only way you can forget is to remember” (page 130).

“do we uncover conflict or do we build up the self?...Both of these pillars of the reality project have to be developed in the context of relationship. We cannot become real in isolation” (page 139).

“My grandparents were most important self-objects for me, allowing me to relax into the stable, calm, nonanxious, powerful, and protective environment that they created with their care. Within the vast and safe container of their nurturing, I was allowed to discover my true self” (page 142).

“The truth is, however, that all the yoga postures in the world cannot create the opening of the heart. In their original context, yogic practices were completely submerged in a web of relationship” (page 142-143).”

“that which is damaged in relationship must also be healed within relationship, and character can only truly be transformed through relationship—not through solitary practice” (page 144).

“Ramakrishna always used the language of the mother and child in explaining his relationship with God. As he once put it, ‘One must have the yearning for God of a child when his mother is away’” (page 145).

“about the importance of other human beings in the ongoing creation of th self. He understood that only other human beings can initiate us into the Real. One of his most useful proverbs was this: ‘Company is more powerful than willpower’” (page 166).

“When we carry a heavy load of repressed, hidden, and unitegrated experience, we are constantly seeking out relationships that will help us hold this experience, to reveal it in the actual dramas of our lives, and, hopefully, eventually bring it to a more successful conclusion—to heal it” (page 182).

“Reality must be, in a sense, triangulated. It takes two sets of eyes, not just one, to accurately locate the third point in space. The ‘third’ becomes a powerful still point, constructed out of the interaction of two minds and hearts” (page 183).

“‘Sometimes, rest is the highest spiritual practice’” (page 241).

“Real healing happens in relaxation, and unless we’re relaxing, we are not healing” (page 242).

“What begins as an experientially grounded practice—one that asks us to take nothing at all on faith, indeed, asks only that we pay attention to the body—brings us finally and inexorably back to God. The physical is revealed to be spiritual. The spiritual is revealed to be physical” (page 268).

“You thought that union was a way you could decide to go.
But the soul follows things rejected and almost forgotten.
Your true guide drinks from an undammed stream” -Rumi (page 273).

people to look into:
Marion Woodman: student of Carl Jung
Sylvia Boorstein: psychologist and senior American teacher of Buddhism
Jacquelyn Small: pioneer in the synthesis of spirituality and addictions work
Tom Yeomans: poet, psychologist, and leader in field of spiritual psychotherapy

“‘This is so much that wisdom of Jung,’ continued Marion (Woodman). ‘If we allow ourselves to be ravished the by the irrational, we are compelled to face our own evil. Trust takes on a new dimension. In knowing our own darkness, we know what another’s darkness can release. We learn to forgive and to love. Then, we don’t know from moment to moment what will happen next. As your Pashupats clearly understood—this is God’s country, not ours’” (page 289).

“After long searches here and there, in temples and in churches, in earths and in heavens, at last you come back, completing the circle from where you started, to your own soul and find that He, for whom you have been seeking all over the world, for whom you have been weeping and praying in churches and temples, on whom you were looking as the mystery of all mysteries shrouded in the clouds, is nearest of the near, is your own Self, the reality of you life, body, and soul” -Swami Vivekenanda (page 290).

“In order to hear the teaching, we must slow down, cultivate awareness, and tune in. Most of all, we have to drop our hopes and dreams and preconceived notions of how it should be. We must look at how it is. We must look with a mind that lets go. Then we will see” (page 292).

“And the worst part is that at the same time that we’re leaning in toward the magic powers [of another], we will miss the real, more subtle, ordinary magic of transformation in our lives” (page 295).
“As I sat with myself…” (page 295). emphasis added, with not by

“Whatever transformation was happening was surely going to be by grace, not effort. Through letting go, rather than hot pursuit” (page 295).

“When all is said and done, most of the stages of spiritual practice are stages of grief work” (page 296). (less)
flag4 likes · Like · 1 comment · see review



Oct 11, 2016Saiisha rated it it was amazing
Shelves: self-help, spiritual, reviewed
I loved this book! I didn't quite know what to expect when I picked it up, but yoga has been dear to me all my life, and of course, the quest for the true self is central to yoga philosophy, so I had to read it. It's a well-written, well-researched book, but with none of the pedantic clinginess to theory - which is difficult to avoid when the author's trying to deal with a 4,000 year old philosophy, that has evolved and morphed over all those years.

But Stephen Cope brings a delightful fresh eye to yoga by bringing the reader along on his journey as a student of yoga. It's a satisfying journey to be part of, from the moment he decides to step into Kripalu Yoga Center, to how he integrates the different teachings into an understanding of his own in the end. I was surprised that he included the stories about the falling apart of Kripalu amidst the scandals of its leader, and then how the community came together to rebuild it again. I also appreciated the appendix about the metaphysics of yoga.

It was a valuable read. I took lots of notes. And I'll probably revisit it from time to time.

If you're interested in spirituality, philosophy, yoga, etc., join my Old Souls Book Club (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...) for other recommendations and thought-provoking conversations! (less)
flag5 likes · Like · comment · see review



May 19, 2012Dianne Lange rated it really liked it
This classic goes on my to reread, reread, and reread shelf. So many lessons in living, spirituality, psychology. Cope says it best: "Such a simple lesson. Such a dfficult lesson. It doesn't matter what you call it: Yoga. Buddhism. Christianity. Relaxation. Consciousness. As Ajahn Chah says, 'Teach the essence of freedom from grasping and call it what you like.' " (less)
flag4 likes · Like · comment · see review



Dec 24, 2009Clif Brittain rated it liked it
I wrote a totally brilliant review of this book that will reveal all the secrets of yoga. However, I was on a public terminal and the session timed out, losing the entire review. You lose.
flag3 likes · Like · comment · see review



Jul 13, 2012Kris Anderson rated it it was amazing
This was the book that first introduced me to Vipassanna meditation which I eventually took part of in the sub-tropical alps of south central Mexico.
I'll call it the beginning to a new me. (less)
flag3 likes · Like · comment · see review



Dec 21, 2015Harriette rated it it was amazing
This book changed my life.
flag3 likes · Like · see review



Jul 04, 2014Byron Stripling rated it it was amazing
This was one of those life changing books for me! I don't do Yoga on a regular basis but still the thoughts and observations the author makes have really touched me personally. Rather than continue trying to describe the book - I'd encourage you to read it and leave you with this quote from the book.
From page 129...
"We can 'put away' the lunatic, raging aunts and the sex -obsessed alcoholic uncles of our psychic life. We can lock them up in the basement of our consciousness. But the more energy we expend in securing the basement door, the more dramatic their appearance will be when they get out. To paraphrase Carl Jung, that which we hold unaware in our unconscious will eventually come to us as fate."

The book is full of these kinds of gems. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review



Jul 06, 2015Sian Lile-Pastore rated it really liked it
Y'know what? This book is great, almost five stars. It combines personal stories, psychotherapy, yoga and yoga philosophy and also quotes both Moonstruck and Fame. I'm all in. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review



Jun 03, 2016Deadra rated it it was amazing
In preparation for my upcoming yoga teacher certification class. Loved the book and can't wait to start in class learning. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review



Jun 29, 2019Greg Williams rated it really liked it
Shelves: inspiration-spirituality, health
Insightful and interesting deep-dive into yoga practice, inner wisdom and its connection with traditional/historical Indian spirituality.

That said, I have a long-standing aversion to yoga, stemming I think, from always feeling lanky and awkward since I was a little kid. When I try to cross my legs (not comfortable) and try to lean forward, nothing much happens and I stay upright while looking in awe at the weird contortionists all around me who seem to be able to lay their foreheads on the mat. Crazy.

So I read this to get a better understanding of yoga, and I did get that. Perhaps a bit more than I was ready to chew, as it seemed to get down into the weeds as it went on, and then into the root structure of the weeds, and at one point felt like a textbook glossary of terms I didn’t care about. But for some - perhaps even me in a decade or so - it may help better define very specific conditions related to the effective practice of yoga.

I’m a believer in simplicity and I do think any practice can get mired down in unimportant details. Including every religion I’ve ever studied.

So I’m going to ascribe 4 stars because I think this is an important, wise discussion of this topic that I so resist. I do understand the transformative nature of yoga because I’ve read so much about the immense value people get from it. I’m trying, not by bit. Mostly because I want to invest in my future and be a fit and flexible elder man some day. I’ll get there - some day. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Apr 18, 2020Jeanne rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: psychology, read-2020, religion-and-mindfulness
Stephen Cope, a psychotherapist and scholar-in-residence at Kripalu, argued that we are not who we believe ourselves to be – our true self remains hidden behind the identities, values, and goals that we have mistakenly accepted as real. Fear and shame prevent us from being true to ourselves. Rather than listening to our true voice, rather than accepting our rejected parts, we run and hide. This alienated from the self – and from God – results in suffering.

But:

What we are seeking is already at the core of our nature. “We are that” which we seek. We are already inherently perfect; we have already arrived; and we have the potential in each moment to wake up to our true nature. (p. 42)

What instead? We can listen to ourselves, accept and trust our body, our breath and live each moment fully. We do not choose against any part of whom we are, but choose and accept all. We need to learn to listen to and trust our inner demons – and learn that these rejected parts of ourselves are not demons at all.

How? Yoga and meditation provide opportunities to slow down, cultivate awareness, and tune in to the True Self. They allow us to drop our hopes, dreams, and preconceived notions of how life should be, of who we should be. Rather than believe false stories about who and what we, we must search with an open mind. Only then can we really see.

I love yoga for multiple reasons, but I tend to think that this is a path rather than the path. Nonetheless, Cope outlines a useful path.
(less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review



Feb 22, 2021A.M.G. ☮Hippie/Fantasia☮ rated it liked it
Recommends it for: Those looking to study the spiritual aspects of yoga (specifically Kripalu yoga)
Shelves: spirituality, nonfiction
Rating: 3.5 / 5 (rated down for now until a re-read)

I'll admit, part of the reason that I'm finally putting this down now is because I've just discovered Wicca and it is much more compatible with my faith in its open-ended manner rather than the direct and exact views expressed by Cope in his work. Nearly a year ago, when I first picked up this work, it was the beginning of the pandemic and perhaps I felt that I needed some structure and preciseness in my life; now, I feel the need for just the opposite.

That's not to say that my rating should reflect Cope's writing or that I don't agree with some of the things that he says--I do. In fact, the first half or so of the book are full of underlines and circlings of mine for the things that really did speak to me in reading this author's work.

However, at one point he just sort of lost me, and so far I haven't managed to convince myself back into reading this, and forcing myself isn't doing any good, so for now I'm going to set it aside and leave it at that. This is definitely something that I plan to take another look at in the future, as it really is well-written and has some good insights, but right now it isn't what I need, and that's a good enough reason to set it aside. (less)
flag1 like · Like · see review



May 09, 2018Alex Boon rated it liked it
Very strange book. Took me a long time to get through it and spent much of that trying to figure out whether I liked it or not. The author certainly has my respect and there were several things in there that have gone in my personal quotes book. If you start out reading it and want to scream "cuuuuult" and run for the hills, stick with it. It does get better and includes a good discussion of the broken and outdated "guru" model. Parts of it are meandering and difficult to get through, I think it could be 25% shorter without much loss but overall I recommend it if you have an interest in the more traditional yoga model and yoga communities. The most interesting and important thing I took away from the book is the importance of developing awareness and equanimity side by side. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Mar 15, 2021Gina rated it liked it
There were parts of it that I found really annoying, which ultimately means that yogic philosophy is not for me, though that can be many different things. Regardless, for most of the part where Cope is charting his path, it was just affirming my love for and revelry in attachment.

(My main interest in yoga is being more bendy, and that is primarily carnally motivated, so there is that.)

The section where he goes over three different practitioners and the ways in which yoga helped them were the ones I cared about most. I realize there are other paths toward healing, but it is good that there are different things that can work for other people. I also think the appendix is very valuable.

I guess after what happened with Gurudev at Kripalu that there are still people who were listening to Oshi (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)... I think there is a problem with gurus in general that makes total sense, and I believe they are missing some lessons with that. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Jun 27, 2020Meriam lahlou rated it really liked it
This is not a book you can read in one setting but I did enjoy it. I got a little lost with all the deities' references because I didn't buy some of the beliefs. However, I loved the tales of individual experiences and I could relate to those. It also made me do a lot of deep thinking and introspection. I even had some cool moments of surrender and small revelations during my yoga practices. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Apr 11, 2009Rochelle rated it did not like it
Shelves: spirituality
When I started to read this book I was skeptical. Many people try very hard to either "psychologize" spirituality, or "spiritualize" psychology. It is normal I guess in our "have it all, popular culture." I feared that, in his enthusiasm for a newly minted perspective, Cope was doing just that. Although his framework is decidedly East-coast, psychotherapist, white upper-class, gay male, with all of the historically and socially privileged angst this package carries (who else can afford to take a year or two off without having to continue to generate a source of income, and dedicate that year to healing a broken heart and partake in some soul searching?), his genuine desire to understand the quest and the object of his quest are genuine enough that the reader is willing to go along for the ride. It is not hard to see that, eventually, Kripalu, this oft-recreated Eden, will prove to be as flawed as the one of Biblical fable, as vulnerable people look to someone other than themselves to take responsibility for their lives, resulting in emotional and spiritual damage to some and financial woes to the ashram--Paradise regained, lost, re-designed. He writes about this with some compassion and discretion, but eventually decides that the growth he has experienced was worth what turned into a very deep personal commitment. Seeker, be warned. He does just that, making sure to explain what the characteristics of a healthy spiritual program is and is not. When all is said and done, the reader is rewarded with a very readable, highly personal exploration of Yoga as it relates to individual growth, as well as some rudimentary understanding of the psychoanalytical process, but please be reminded that this is one man's memoir and experience. As with most things of this nature, it is impossible to generalize about the outcome of similar spiritual journeys. This caveat notwithstanding, the title does deliver what it promises, and I would probably read another book from this author. As a bonus, there is an easy-to-understand appendix on yoga terms and some background on this ancient and richly complex practice. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Apr 19, 2021Megan S rated it it was ok
Shelves: meditation-spirituality
I tried. I got 4/5ths of the way. The first part of this book was really distasteful to me. Having been dogmatically religious myself and having now let go of religion, I felt so uncomfortable reading his early experiences with the guru and the spiritual community the author joined. When he talks about the mystical feelings he got just from touching the guru, his description was identical to how myself and members of my church community described feeling the spirit of god, being prayed for, or “slain in the spirit.” Very disconcerting that he never fully challenged the unhealthy atmosphere at this centre. Yes he does touch on the fact the guru should not be worshipped, but these statements fall flat after his vivid descriptions. Clearly he was fully converted and unable to reasonably assess the community, which was frustrating to read as it was much more clear from the readers point of view that the community was unhealthy.
There were some interesting parts here, but little yogic teaching which is why I wanted to read the book. Some of his psychoanalytic musings were fascinating and enlightening. Some were absolutely toxic, especially once mixed with religious ideas. When he said that a child may have deserved its own abandonment due to actions in a past life (with the attitude of, who knows? Maybe?) I couldn’t read much more. What a horrific thought. Such ideas only come from deep saturation in completely unreasonable religious doctrines and are extremely psychologically damaging. As damaging as the Puritanism that he disparages on and off throughout the book.
This book had interesting parts, and a few distressing parts, but it was not what I was looking for when I desired to learn more about yoga. Would not recommend it. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Sep 01, 2019Edith rated it it was amazing
Surprisingly amazing. Read for a yoga book club and not something I'd have sought out myself. This is partly a narrative about the author's ten-year stay at the Kripalu commune; partly a commentary on yoga philosophy; partly the author (an experienced psychotherapist)'s observations on the psychological dimensions of communal living, yoga, and guru-student relationships; and partly directly applicable practical advice.

A rarity among yoga authors, Cope doesn't mindlessly accept wacky ideas that have no support, and yet doesn't shy away from esoteric concepts either. He talks about how it is important to bring equal amounts of skepticism, common sense, and openness to these topics, and to my mind he did exactly that in writing this book. He has a sense of humor about the weird stuff, too.

My favorite parts were his discussions about breath control as an unconscious defense mechanism. (Hard to summarize; worth reading if you're into yoga.) (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Sep 03, 2015Missy rated it it was amazing
I bought this book well before I even planned to visit Kripalu. When I purchased it I didn't even realize the author was a teacher at Kripalu. I started this book about 2 weeks after my visit to Kripalu and I have to say that that made the read for me richer and deeper than if I had read it without ever having visited Kripalu. Stephen's descriptions took me back to my time at the Stockbridge Bowl and the Berkshires. I felt like I was breathing the mountain air in once again. Thank you Stephen for allowing me to relive my R&R Retreat while at the same time getting to read a first hand experience back to the days of Amrit Desai and the downfall and rebuilding of Kripalu. Plus all of the rich history before it was a yoga center. I'm sorry I'm finished with the book. I want to go back to Kripalu again! (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Jan 07, 2016Amy rated it it was ok
This book had many things going for it: a well-qualified and knowledgeable author, cool merging of Western psychology and Eastern/yogic philosophy, stories for human interest, a scandal to keep it from being too utopia, and a fantastic appendix that gives an accessible summary of thousands of years of yoga philosophy. I also found it off-putting: Cope often assumed his readers had certain experiences or feelings, and I didn't relate at all. Perhaps his social circles/clientele skew in certain ways that don't include me. Or maybe because I'm already converted to yoga there were fewer epiphanies to be had from his account. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review



Jul 08, 2018Alison rated it it was amazing
Very insightful and honest renderings of experiences and literature. I stayed at Kripalu a year or so before the Gurudev was exposed, and the place freaked me out with its zombie-ness. So I was very pleased to read the historical context for that time, what happened, what followed, how the community repaired. I think Meditations on the Mat was a better fit for the inspirational effects I was expecting from this book. I do love Cope's writing, so loving and earnest and well-read, so it wasn't time wasted. (less)
flag1 like · Like · see review



May 14, 2017Justin Green rated it it was amazing
This was a great i.e. entertaining and interesting read, plus the author's personal journey, background and experience are so invaluable in the way he manages to synthesize eastern and western mindsets, philosophies and practices for a 21st century western audience i.e. dudes like me. Very grateful and thoroughly recommend this book. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review

2021/10/19

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - Wikipedia

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - Wikipedia

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Teilhard de Chardin(1).jpg
Born1 May 1881
Died10 April 1955 (aged 73)
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Notable work
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School
Main interests
Notable ideas
Influences
Influenced

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (French: [pjɛʁ tɛjaʁ də ʃaʁdɛ̃] (About this soundlisten ); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologisttheologian, philosopher and teacher. He was Darwinian in outlook and the author of several influential theological and philosophical books.

He took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He conceived the vitalist idea of the Omega Point. With Vladimir Vernadsky he developed the concept of the noosphere.

In 1962, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith condemned several of Teilhard's works based on their alleged ambiguities and doctrinal errors. Some eminent Catholic figures, including Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, have made positive comments on some of his ideas since. The response to his writings by scientists has been mostly critical.

Life[edit]

Early years[edit]

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born in the Château of Sarcenat, Orcines, some four km (2.5 mi) north-west of Clermont-FerrandAuvergneFrench Third Republic, on 1 May 1881, as the fourth of eleven children of librarian Emmanuel Teilhard de Chardin (1844–1932) and Berthe-Adèle, née de Dompierre d'Hornoys of Picardy, a great-grandniece of Voltaire. He inherited the double surname from his father, who was descended on the Teilhard side from an ancient family of magistrates from Auvergne originating in Murat, Cantal, ennobled under Louis XVIII of France.[1][2]

His father, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale des Chartes, served as a regional librarian and was a keen naturalist. He collected rocks, insects and plants and encouraged nature studies in the family. Pierre Teilhard's spirituality was awakened by his mother. When he was twelve, he went to the Jesuit college of Mongré in Villefranche-sur-Saône, where he completed the Baccalauréat in philosophy and mathematics. In 1899, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Aix-en-Provence.[3] In October 1900, he began his junior studies at the Collégiale Saint-Michel de Laval. On 25 March 1901, he made his first vows. In 1902, Teilhard completed a licentiate in literature at the University of Caen.

That same year the Emile Combes premiership took over from Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau in pursuit of an anti-clerical agenda. As a result, religious associations had to submit their properties to state control, which obliged the Jesuits to go into exile in the United Kingdom. Theilhard continued his philosophical studies on the island of Jersey until 1905. Strong in Science subjects, he was despatched to teach physics at the Collège de la Sainte Famille in CairoKhedivate of Egypt until 1908. From there he wrote in a letter: "[I]t is the dazzling of the East foreseen and drunk greedily ... in its lights, its vegetation, its fauna and its deserts."[4]

For the next four years he was a Scholastic at Ore Place in Hastings, East Sussex where he acquired his theological formation.[3] There he synthesized his scientific, philosophical and theological knowledge in the light of evolution. At that time he read Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson, about which he wrote that "the only effect that brilliant book had upon me was to provide fuel at just the right moment, and very briefly, for a fire that was already consuming my heart and mind."[5] Bergson's ideas were influential on his views on matter, life, and energy. On 24 August 1911, aged 30, he was ordained priest.[3]

Academic career[edit]

Paleontology[edit]

From 1912 to 1914, Teilhard worked in the paleontology laboratory of the National Museum of Natural History, France, studying the mammals of the middle Tertiary period. Later he studied elsewhere in Europe. In June 1912 he formed part of the original digging team, with Arthur Smith Woodward and Charles Dawson, at the Piltdown site, after the discovery of the first fragments of the fraudulent "Piltdown Man". Some have suggested he participated in the hoax.[6][7] Marcellin Boule, a specialist in Neanderthal studies, who as early as 1915 had recognized the non-hominid origins of the Piltdown finds, gradually guided Teilhard towards human paleontology. At the museum's Institute of Human Paleontology, he became a friend of Henri Breuil and in 1913 took part with him in excavations at the prehistoric painted Cave of El Castillo in northwest Spain.

Service in World War I[edit]

Mobilized in December 1914, Teilhard served in World War I as a stretcher-bearer in the 8th Moroccan Rifles. For his valor, he received several citations, including the Médaille militaire and the Legion of Honor.

During the war, he developed his reflections in his diaries and in letters to his cousin, Marguerite Teillard-Chambon, who later published a collection of them. (See section below)[8][9] He later wrote: "...the war was a meeting ... with the Absolute." In 1916, he wrote his first essay: La Vie Cosmique (Cosmic life), where his scientific and philosophical thought was revealed just as his mystical life. While on leave from the military he pronounced his solemn vows as a Jesuit in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon on 26 May 1918. In August 1919, in Jersey, he wrote Puissance spirituelle de la Matière (The Spiritual Power of Matter).

At the University of Paris, Teilhard pursued three unit degrees of natural science: geologybotany, and zoology. His thesis treated the mammals of the French lower Eocene and their stratigraphy. After 1920, he lectured in geology at the Catholic Institute of Paris and after earning a science doctorate in 1922 became an assistant professor there.

Research in China[edit]

In 1923 he traveled to China with Father Émile Licent, who was in charge of a significant laboratory collaboration between the National Museum of Natural History and Marcellin Boule's laboratory in Tianjin. Licent carried out considerable basic work in connection with missionaries who accumulated observations of a scientific nature in their spare time.

Teilhard wrote several essays, including La Messe sur le Monde (the Mass on the World), in the Ordos Desert. In the following year, he continued lecturing at the Catholic Institute and participated in a cycle of conferences for the students of the Engineers' Schools. Two theological essays on original sin were sent to a theologian at his request on a purely personal basis:

  • July 1920: Chute, Rédemption et Géocentrie (Fall, Redemption and Geocentry)
  • Spring 1922: Notes sur quelques représentations historiques possibles du Péché originel (Note on Some Possible Historical Representations of Original Sin) (Works, Tome X)

The Church required him to give up his lecturing at the Catholic Institute in order to continue his geological research in China.

Teilhard traveled again to China in April 1926. He would remain there for about twenty years, with many voyages throughout the world. He settled until 1932 in Tianjin with Émile Licent, then in Beijing. Teilhard made five geological research expeditions in China between 1926 and 1935. They enabled him to establish a general geological map of China.

That same year, Teilhard's superiors in the Jesuit Order forbade him to teach any longer.

In 1926–27, after a missed campaign in Gansu, Teilhard traveled in the Sanggan River Valley near Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) and made a tour in Eastern Mongolia. He wrote Le Milieu Divin (The Divine Milieu). Teilhard prepared the first pages of his main work Le Phénomène Humain (The Phenomenon of Man). The Holy See refused the Imprimatur for Le Milieu Divin in 1927.

Sketch of "The Lately Discovered Peking Man" published in The Sphere.

He joined the ongoing excavations of the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian as an advisor in 1926 and continued in the role for the Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the China Geological Survey following its founding in 1928. Teilhard resided in Manchuria with Emile Licent, staying in western Shanxi and northern Shaanxi with the Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian and with Davidson Black, Chairman of the China Geological Survey.

After a tour in Manchuria in the area of Greater Khingan with Chinese geologists, Teilhard joined the team of American Expedition Center-Asia in the Gobi Desert, organized in June and July by the American Museum of Natural History with Roy Chapman Andrews. Henri Breuil and Teilhard discovered that the Peking Man, the nearest relative of Anthropopithecus from Java, was a faber (worker of stones and controller of fire). Teilhard wrote L'Esprit de la Terre (The Spirit of the Earth).

Teilhard took part as a scientist in the Croisière Jaune (Yellow Cruise) financed by André Citroën in Central Asia. Northwest of Beijing in Kalgan, he joined the Chinese group who joined the second part of the team, the Pamir group, in Aksu City. He remained with his colleagues for several months in Ürümqi, capital of Xinjiang.

In 1933, Rome ordered him to give up his post in Paris. Teilhard subsequently undertook several explorations in the south of China. He traveled in the valleys of the Yangtze and Sichuan in 1934, then, the following year, in Guangxi and Guangdong. The relationship with Marcellin Boule was disrupted; the museum cut its financing on the grounds that Teilhard worked more for the Chinese Geological Service than for the museum.[citation needed]

During all these years, Teilhard contributed considerably to the constitution of an international network of research in human paleontology related to the whole of eastern and southeastern Asia. He would be particularly associated in this task with two friends, Davidson Black and the Scot George Brown Barbour. Often he would visit France or the United States, only to leave these countries for further expeditions.

World travels[edit]

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1947)

From 1927 to 1928, Teilhard based himself in Paris. He journeyed to Leuven, Belgium, and to Cantal and Ariège, France. Between several articles in reviews, he met new people such as Paul Valéry and Bruno de Solages, who were to help him in issues with the Catholic Church.

Answering an invitation from Henry de Monfreid, Teilhard undertook a journey of two months in Obock, in Harar in the Ethiopian Empire, and in Somalia with his colleague Pierre Lamarre, a geologist, before embarking in Djibouti to return to Tianjin. While in China, Teilhard developed a deep and personal friendship with Lucile Swan.[10]

During 1930–1931, Teilhard stayed in France and in the United States. During a conference in Paris, Teilhard stated: "For the observers of the Future, the greatest event will be the sudden appearance of a collective humane conscience and a human work to make." From 1932 to 1933, he began to meet people to clarify issues with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding Le Milieu divin and L'Esprit de la Terre. He met Helmut de Terra, a German geologist in the International Geology Congress in Washington, D.C.

Teilhard participated in the 1935 YaleCambridge expedition in northern and central India with the geologist Helmut de Terra and Patterson, who verified their assumptions on Indian Paleolithic civilisations in Kashmir and the Salt Range Valley. He then made a short stay in Java, on the invitation of Dutch paleontologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald to the site of Java Man. A second cranium, more complete, was discovered. Professor von Koenigswald had also found a tooth in a Chinese apothecary shop in 1934 that he believed belonged to a three-meter-tall apeGigantopithecus, which lived between one hundred thousand and around a million years ago. Fossilized teeth and bone (dragon bones) are often ground into powder and used in some branches of traditional Chinese medicine.[11]

In 1937, Teilhard wrote Le Phénomène spirituel (The Phenomenon of the Spirit) on board the boat Empress of Japan, where he met the Sylvia BrettRanee of Sarawak[12] The ship conveyed him to the United States. He received the Mendel Medal granted by Villanova University during the Congress of Philadelphia, in recognition of his works on human paleontology. He made a speech about evolution, the origins and the destiny of man. The New York Times dated 19 March 1937 presented Teilhard as the Jesuit who held that man descended from monkeys. Some days later, he was to be granted the Doctor Honoris Causa distinction from Boston College. Upon arrival in that city, he was told that the award had been cancelled.[citation needed]

Rome banned his work L’Énergie Humaine in 1939. By this point Teilhard was based again in France, where he was immobilized by malaria. During his return voyage to Beijing he wrote L'Energie spirituelle de la Souffrance (Spiritual Energy of Suffering) (Complete Works, tome VII).

In 1941, Teilhard submitted to Rome his most important work, Le Phénomène Humain. By 1947, Rome forbade him to write or teach on philosophical subjects. The next year, Teilhard was called to Rome by the Superior General of the Jesuits who hoped to acquire permission from the Holy See for the publication of Le Phénomène Humain. However, the prohibition to publish it that was previously issued in 1944 was again renewed. Teilhard was also forbidden to take a teaching post in the Collège de France. Another setback came in 1949, when permission to publish Le Groupe Zoologique was refused.

Teilhard was nominated to the French Academy of Sciences in 1950. He was forbidden by his Superiors to attend the International Congress of Paleontology in 1955. The Supreme Authority of the Holy Office, in a decree dated 15 November 1957, forbade the works of de Chardin to be retained in libraries, including those of religious institutes. His books were not to be sold in Catholic bookshops and were not to be translated into other languages.

Further resistance to Teilhard's work arose elsewhere. In April 1958, all Jesuit publications in Spain ("Razón y Fe", "Sal Terrae","Estudios de Deusto", etc.) carried a notice from the Spanish Provincial of the Jesuits that Teilhard's works had been published in Spanish without previous ecclesiastical examination and in defiance of the decrees of the Holy See. A decree of the Holy Office dated 30 June 1962, under the authority of Pope John XXIII, warned:

[I]t is obvious that in philosophical and theological matters, the said works [Teilhard's] are replete with ambiguities or rather with serious errors which offend Catholic doctrine. That is why... the Rev. Fathers of the Holy Office urge all Ordinaries, Superiors, and Rectors... to effectively protect, especially the minds of the young, against the dangers of the works of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin and his followers.[13]

The Diocese of Rome on 30 September 1963 required Catholic booksellers in Rome to withdraw his works as well as those that supported his views.[14]

Death[edit]

Grave at the cemetery of the former Jesuit novitiate in Hyde Park, New York

Teilhard died in New York City, where he was in residence at the Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius LoyolaPark Avenue. On 15 March 1955, at the house of his diplomat cousin Jean de Lagarde, Teilhard told friends he hoped he would die on Easter Sunday.[15] On the evening of Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955, during an animated discussion at the apartment of Rhoda de Terra, his personal assistant since 1949, Teilhard suffered a heart attack and died.[15] He was buried in the cemetery for the New York Province of the Jesuits at the Jesuit novitiate, St. Andrew-on-Hudson, in Hyde Park, New York. With the moving of the novitiate, the property was sold to the Culinary Institute of America in 1970.

Teachings[edit]

Teilhard de Chardin wrote two comprehensive works, The Phenomenon of Man and The Divine Milieu.[16]

His posthumously published book, The Phenomenon of Man, set forth a sweeping account of the unfolding of the cosmos and the evolution of matter to humanity, to ultimately a reunion with Christ. In the book, Teilhard abandoned literal interpretations of creation in the Book of Genesis in favor of allegorical and theological interpretations. The unfolding of the material cosmos is described from primordial particles to the development of life, human beings and the noosphere, and finally to his vision of the Omega Point in the future, which is "pulling" all creation towards it. He was a leading proponent of orthogenesis, the idea that evolution occurs in a directional, goal-driven way. Teilhard argued in Darwinian terms with respect to biology, and supported the synthetic model of evolution, but argued in Lamarckian terms for the development of culture, primarily through the vehicle of education.[17] Teilhard made a total commitment to the evolutionary process in the 1920s as the core of his spirituality, at a time when other religious thinkers felt evolutionary thinking challenged the structure of conventional Christian faith. He committed himself to what the evidence showed.[18]

Teilhard made sense of the universe by assuming it had a vitalist evolutionary process.[19][20] He interprets complexity as the axis of evolution of matter into a geosphere, a biosphere, into consciousness (in man), and then to supreme consciousness (the Omega Point). Jean Houston's story of meeting Teilhard illustrates this point.[21]

Teilhard's unique relationship to both paleontology and Catholicism allowed him to develop a highly progressive, cosmic theology which took into account his evolutionary studies. Teilhard recognized the importance of bringing the Church into the modern world, and approached evolution as a way of providing ontological meaning for Christianity, particularly creation theology. For Teilhard, evolution was "the natural landscape where the history of salvation is situated."[22]

Teilhard's cosmic theology is largely predicated on his interpretation of Pauline scripture, particularly Colossians 1:15-17 (especially verse 1:17b) and 1 Corinthians 15:28. He drew on the Christocentrism of these two Pauline passages to construct a cosmic theology which recognizes the absolute primacy of Christ. He understood creation to be "a teleological process towards union with the Godhead, effected through the incarnation and redemption of Christ, 'in whom all things hold together' (Col. 1:17)."[23] He further posited that creation would not be complete until each "participated being is totally united with God through Christ in the Pleroma, when God will be 'all in all' (1Cor. 15:28)."[23]

Teilhard's life work was predicated on his conviction that human spiritual development is moved by the same universal laws as material development. He wrote, "...everything is the sum of the past" and "...nothing is comprehensible except through its history. 'Nature' is the equivalent of 'becoming', self-creation: this is the view to which experience irresistibly leads us. ... There is nothing, not even the human soul, the highest spiritual manifestation we know of, that does not come within this universal law."[24] The Phenomenon of Man represents Teilhard's attempt at reconciling his religious faith with his academic interests as a paleontologist.[25] One particularly poignant observation in Teilhard's book entails the notion that evolution is becoming an increasingly optional process.[25] Teilhard points to the societal problems of isolation and marginalization as huge inhibitors of evolution, especially since evolution requires a unification of consciousness. He states that "no evolutionary future awaits anyone except in association with everyone else."[25] Teilhard argued that the human condition necessarily leads to the psychic unity of humankind, though he stressed that this unity can only be voluntary; this voluntary psychic unity he termed "unanimization". Teilhard also states that "evolution is an ascent toward consciousness", giving encephalization as an example of early stages, and therefore, signifies a continuous upsurge toward the Omega Point[25] which, for all intents and purposes, is God.

Teilhard also used his perceived correlation between spiritual and material to describe Christ, arguing that Christ not only has a mystical dimension but also takes on a physical dimension as he becomes the organizing principle of the universe—that is, the one who "holds together" the universe (Col. 1:17b). For Teilhard, Christ forms not only the eschatological end toward which his mystical/ecclesial body is oriented, but he also "operates physically in order to regulate all things"[26] becoming "the one from whom all creation receives its stability."[27] In other words, as the one who holds all things together, "Christ exercises a supremacy over the universe which is physical, not simply juridical. He is the unifying center of the universe and its goal. The function of holding all things together indicates that Christ is not only man and God; he also possesses a third aspect—indeed, a third nature—which is cosmic."[28] In this way, the Pauline description of the Body of Christ is not simply a mystical or ecclesial concept for Teilhard; it is cosmic. This cosmic Body of Christ "extend[s] throughout the universe and compris[es] all things that attain their fulfillment in Christ [so that] ... the Body of Christ is the one single thing that is being made in creation."[29] Teilhard describes this cosmic amassing of Christ as "Christogenesis". According to Teilhard, the universe is engaged in Christogenesis as it evolves toward its full realization at Omega, a point which coincides with the fully realized Christ.[23] It is at this point that God will be "all in all" (1Cor. 15:28c).

Our century is probably more religious than any other. How could it fail to be, with such problems to be solved? The only trouble is that it has not yet found a God it can adore.[25]

Tielhard has been criticized as incorporating common notions of Social Darwinism and scientific racism into his work, along with support for eugenics, though he has also been defended by theologian John Haught.[30][31][32]

Relationship with the Catholic Church[edit]

In 1925, Teilhard was ordered by the Superior General of the Society of JesusWłodzimierz Ledóchowski, to leave his teaching position in France and to sign a statement withdrawing his controversial statements regarding the doctrine of original sin. Rather than leave the Society of Jesus, Teilhard signed the statement and left for China.[citation needed]

This was the first of a series of condemnations by a range of ecclesiastical officials that would continue until after Teilhard's death. The climax of these condemnations was a 1962 monitum (warning) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cautioning on Teilhard's works. It said:[33]

Several works of Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, some of which were posthumously published, are being edited and are gaining a good deal of success. Prescinding from a judgement about those points that concern the positive sciences, it is sufficiently clear that the above-mentioned works abound in such ambiguities and indeed even serious errors, as to offend Catholic doctrine. For this reason, the most eminent and most revered Fathers of the Holy Office exhort all Ordinaries as well as the superiors of Religious institutes, rectors of seminaries and presidents of universities, effectively to protect the minds, particularly of the youth, against the dangers presented by the works of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin and of his followers.

The Holy Office did not, however, place any of Teilhard's writings on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books), which existed during Teilhard's lifetime and at the time of the 1962 decree.

Shortly thereafter, prominent clerics mounted a strong theological defense of Teilhard's works. Henri de Lubac (later a Cardinal) wrote three comprehensive books on the theology of Teilhard de Chardin in the 1960s.[34] While de Lubac mentioned that Teilhard was less than precise in some of his concepts, he affirmed the orthodoxy of Teilhard de Chardin and responded to Teilhard's critics: "We need not concern ourselves with a number of detractors of Teilhard, in whom emotion has blunted intelligence".[35] Later that decade Joseph Ratzinger, a German theologian who became Pope Benedict XVI, spoke glowingly of Teilhard's Christology in Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity:[36]

It must be regarded as an important service of Teilhard de Chardin's that he rethought these ideas from the angle of the modern view of the world and, in spite of a not entirely unobjectionable tendency toward the biological approach, nevertheless on the whole grasped them correctly and in any case made them accessible once again.

Over the next several decades prominent theologians and prelates, including leading cardinals all wrote approvingly of Teilhard's ideas. In 1981, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, wrote on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano:

What our contemporaries will undoubtedly remember, beyond the difficulties of conception and deficiencies of expression in this audacious attempt to reach a synthesis, is the testimony of the coherent life of a man possessed by Christ in the depths of his soul. He was concerned with honoring both faith and reason, and anticipated the response to John Paul II's appeal: "Be not afraid, open, open wide to Christ the doors of the immense domains of culture, civilization, and progress".[37]

On 20 July 1981, the Holy See stated that, after consultation of Cardinal Casaroli and Cardinal Franjo Šeper, the letter did not change the position of the warning issued by the Holy Office on 30 June 1962, which pointed out that Teilhard's work contained ambiguities and grave doctrinal errors.[38]

Cardinal Ratzinger in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy incorporates Teilhard's vision as a touchstone of the Catholic Mass:[39]

And so we can now say that the goal of worship and the goal of creation as a whole are one and the same—divinization, a world of freedom and love. But this means that the historical makes its appearance in the cosmic. The cosmos is not a kind of closed building, a stationary container in which history may by chance take place. It is itself movement, from its one beginning to its one end. In a sense, creation is history. Against the background of the modern evolutionary world view, Teilhard de Chardin depicted the cosmos as a process of ascent, a series of unions. From very simple beginnings the path leads to ever greater and more complex unities, in which multiplicity is not abolished but merged into a growing synthesis, leading to the "Noosphere" in which spirit and its understanding embrace the whole and are blended into a kind of living organism. Invoking the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, Teilhard looks on Christ as the energy that strives toward the Noosphere and finally incorporates everything in its "fullness". From here Teilhard went on to give a new meaning to Christian worship: the transubstantiated Host is the anticipation of the transformation and divinization of matter in the christological "fullness". In his view, the Eucharist provides the movement of the cosmos with its direction; it anticipates its goal and at the same time urges it on.

Cardinal Avery Dulles said in 2004:[40]

In his own poetic style, the French Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin liked to meditate on the Eucharist as the first fruits of the new creation. In an essay called The Monstrance he describes how, kneeling in prayer, he had a sensation that the Host was beginning to grow until at last, through its mysterious expansion, "the whole world had become incandescent, had itself become like a single giant Host". Although it would probably be incorrect to imagine that the universe will eventually be transubstantiated, Teilhard correctly identified the connection between the Eucharist and the final glorification of the cosmos.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn wrote in 2007:[41]

Hardly anyone else has tried to bring together the knowledge of Christ and the idea of evolution as the scientist (paleontologist) and theologian Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., has done. ... His fascinating vision ... has represented a great hope, the hope that faith in Christ and a scientific approach to the world can be brought together. ... These brief references to Teilhard cannot do justice to his efforts. The fascination which Teilhard de Chardin exercised for an entire generation stemmed from his radical manner of looking at science and Christian faith together.

In July 2009, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, "By now, no one would dream of saying that [Teilhard] is a heterodox author who shouldn't be studied."[42]

Pope Francis refers to Teilhard's eschatological contribution in his encyclical Laudato si'.[43]

The philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand criticized severely the work of Teilhard. According to Hildebrand, in a conversation after a lecture by Teilhard: "He (Teilhard) ignored completely the decisive difference between nature and supernature. After a lively discussion in which I ventured a criticism of his ideas, I had an opportunity to speak to Teilhard privately. When our talk touched on St. Augustine, he exclaimed violently: 'Don’t mention that unfortunate man; he spoiled everything by introducing the supernatural.'"[44] Von Hildebrand writes that Teilhardism is incompatible with Christianity, substitutes efficiency for sanctity, dehumanizes man, and describes love as merely cosmic energy.

Evaluations by scientists[edit]

Julian Huxley, the evolutionary biologist, in the preface to the 1955 edition of The Phenomenon of Man, praised the thought of Teilhard de Chardin for looking at the way in which human development needs to be examined within a larger integrated universal sense of evolution, though admitting he could not follow Teilhard all the way.[45] Theodosius Dobzhansky, writing in 1973, drew upon Teilhard's insistence that evolutionary theory provides the core of how man understands his relationship to nature, calling him "one of the great thinkers of our age".[46]

According to Daniel Dennett (1995), "it has become clear to the point of unanimity among scientists that Teilhard offered nothing serious in the way of an alternative to orthodoxy; the ideas that were peculiarly his were confused, and the rest was just bombastic redescription of orthodoxy."[47] Steven Rose wrote[year needed] that "Teilhard is revered as a mystic of genius by some, but among most biologists is seen as little more than a charlatan."[48]

In 1961, British immunologist and Nobel laureate Peter Medawar wrote a scornful review of The Phenomenon Of Man for the journal Mind: "the greater part of it [...] is nonsense, tricked out with a variety of metaphysical conceits, and its author can be excused of dishonesty only on the grounds that before deceiving others he has taken great pains to deceive himself".[49] Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins called Medawar's review "devastating" and The Phenomenon of Man "the quintessence of bad poetic science".[50]

George Gaylord Simpson felt that if Teilhard were right, the lifework "of Huxley, Dobzhansky, and hundreds of others was not only wrong, but meaningless", and was mystified by their public support for him.[51] He considered Teilhard a friend and his work in paleontology extensive and important, but expressed strongly adverse views of his contributions as scientific theorist and philosopher.[52]

In 2019, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson praised Teilhard's book The Phenomenon of Man as "scientifically prophetic in many ways", and considers his own work as an updated version of it, commenting that[53] "[m]odern evolutionary theory shows that what Teilhard meant by the Omega Point is achievable in the foreseeable future."

Legacy[edit]

Brian Swimme wrote "Teilhard was one of the first scientists to realize that the human and the universe are inseparable. The only universe we know about is a universe that brought forth the human."[54]

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is honored with a feast day on the Calendar of saints of the Episcopal Church on 10 April.[55] George Gaylord Simpson named the most primitive and ancient genus of true primate, the Eocene genus Teilhardina.

Teilhard and his work continue to influence the arts and culture. Characters based on Teilhard appear in several novels, including Jean Telemond in Morris West's The Shoes of the Fisherman[56] (mentioned by name and quoted by Oskar Werner playing Fr. Telemond in the movie version of the novel). In Dan Simmons' 1989–97 Hyperion Cantos, Teilhard de Chardin has been canonized a saint in the far future. His work inspires the anthropologist priest character, Paul Duré. When Duré becomes Pope, he takes Teilhard I as his regnal name.[57] Teilhard appears as a minor character in the play Fake by Eric Simonson, staged by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2009, involving a fictional solution to the infamous Piltdown Man hoax.

References range from occasional quotations—an auto mechanic quotes Teilhard in Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly[58]—to serving as the philosophical underpinning of the plot, as Teilhard's work does in Julian May's 1987–94 Galactic Milieu Series.[59] Teilhard also plays a major role in Annie Dillard's 1999 For the Time Being.[60] Teilhard is mentioned by name and the Omega Point briefly explained in Arthur C. Clarke's and Stephen Baxter's The Light of Other Days.[61] The title of the short-story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor is a reference to Teilhard's work. The American novelist Don DeLillo's 2010 novel Point Omega borrows its title and some of its ideas from Teilhard de Chardin.[62] Robert Wright, in his book Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, compares his own naturalistic thesis that biological and cultural evolution are directional and, possibly, purposeful, with Teilhard's ideas.

Teilhard's work also inspired philosophical ruminations by Italian laureate architect Paolo Soleri and Mexican writer Margarita Casasús Altamirano, artworks such as French painter Alfred Manessier's L'Offrande de la terre ou Hommage à Teilhard de Chardin and American sculptor Frederick Hart's acrylic sculpture The Divine Milieu: Homage to Teilhard de Chardin.[63] A sculpture of the Omega Point by Henry Setter, with a quote from Teilhard de Chardin, can be found at the entrance to the Roesch Library at the University of Dayton.[64] The Spanish painter Salvador Dalí was fascinated by Teilhard de Chardin and the Omega Point theory. His 1959 painting The Ecumenical Council is said to represent the "interconnectedness" of the Omega Point.[65]

Edmund Rubbra's 1968 Symphony No. 8 is titled Hommage à Teilhard de Chardin.

The Embracing Universe an oratorio for choir and 7 instruments composed by Justin Grounds to a libretto by Fred LaHaye saw its first performance in 2019. It is based on the life and thought of Teilhard de Chardin.[66]

Several college campuses honor Teilhard. A building at the University of Manchester is named after him, as are residence dormitories at Gonzaga University and Seattle University.

The De Chardin Project, a play celebrating Teilhard's life, ran from 20 November to 14 December 2014 in Toronto, Canada.[67] The Evolution of Teilhard de Chardin, a documentary film on Teilhard's life, was scheduled for release in 2015.[67]

Founded in 1978, George Addair based much of Omega Vector on Teilhard's work.

The American physicist Frank J. Tipler has further developed Teilhard's Omega Point concept in two controversial books, The Physics of Immortality and the more theologically based Physics of Christianity.[68] While keeping the central premise of Teilhard's Omega Point (i.e. a universe evolving towards a maximum state of complexity and consciousness) Tipler has supplanted some of the more mystical/ theological elements of the OPT with his own scientific and mathematical observations (as well as some elements borrowed from Freeman Dyson's eternal intelligence theory).[69][70]

In 1972, the Uruguayan priest Juan Luis Segundo, in his five-volume series A Theology for Artisans of a New Humanity, wrote that Teilhard "noticed the profound analogies existing between the conceptual elements used by the natural sciences — all of them being based on the hypothesis of a general evolution of the universe."[71]

Influence of his cousin, Marguerite[edit]

Marguerite Teillard-Chambon [fr], (alias Claude Aragonnès) was a French writer who edited and had published three volumes of correspondence with her cousin, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "La genèse d'une pensée" ("The Making of a Mind") being the last, after her own death in 1959.[9] She furnished each with an introduction. Marguerite, a year older than Teilhard, was considered among those who knew and understood him best. They had shared a childhood in Auvergne; she it was who encouraged him to undertake a doctorate in science at the Sorbonne; she eased his entry into the Catholic Institute, through her connection to Emmanuel de Margerie and she introduced him to the intellectual life of Paris. Throughout the First World War, she corresponded with him, acting as a "midwife" to his thinking, helping his thought to emerge and honing it. In September 1959 she participated in a gathering organised at Saint-Babel, near Issoire, devoted to Teilhard's philosophical contribution. On the way home to Chambon-sur-Lac, she was fatally injured in a road traffic accident. Her sister, Alice, completed the final preparations for the publication of the final volume of her cousin Teilhard's wartime letters.[72][73][74]

Influence on the New Age movement[edit]

Teilhard has had a profound influence on the New Age movements and has been described as "perhaps the man most responsible for the spiritualization of evolution in a global and cosmic context".[75]

Teilhard's words about likening the discovery of the power of love to the second time man will have discovered the power of fire, were quoted in the sermon of the Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on 20 May 2018.[76]

Bibliography[edit]

The dates in parentheses are the dates of first publication in French and English. Most of these works were written years earlier, but Teilhard's ecclesiastical order forbade him to publish them because of their controversial nature. The essay collections are organized by subject rather than date, thus each one typically spans many years.

  • Le Phénomène Humain (1955), written 1938–40, scientific exposition of Teilhard's theory of evolution.
  • Letters From a Traveler (1956; English translation 1962), written 1923–55.
  • Le Groupe Zoologique Humain (1956), written 1949, more detailed presentation of Teilhard's theories.
    • Man's Place in Nature (English translation 1966).
  • Le Milieu Divin (1957), spiritual book written 1926–27, in which the author seeks to offer a way for everyday life, i.e. the secular, to be divinized.
  • L'Avenir de l'Homme (1959) essays written 1920–52, on the evolution of consciousness (noosphere).
  • Hymn of the Universe (1961; English translation 1965) Harper and Row: ISBN 0-06-131910-4, mystical/spiritual essays and thoughts written 1916–55.
  • L'Energie Humaine (1962), essays written 1931–39, on morality and love.
  • L'Activation de l'Energie (1963), sequel to Human Energy, essays written 1939–55 but not planned for publication, about the universality and irreversibility of human action.
  • Je M'Explique (1966) Jean-Pierre Demoulin, editor ISBN 0-685-36593-X, "The Essential Teilhard" — selected passages from his works.
  • Christianity and Evolution, Harvest/HBJ 2002: ISBN 0-15-602818-2.
  • The Heart of the Matter, Harvest/HBJ 2002: ISBN 0-15-602758-5.
  • Toward the Future, Harvest/HBJ 2002: ISBN 0-15-602819-0.
  • The Making of a Mind: Letters from a Soldier-Priest 1914–1919, Collins (1965), Letters written during wartime.
  • Writings in Time of War, Collins (1968) composed of spiritual essays written during wartime. One of the few books of Teilhard to receive an imprimatur.
  • Vision of the Past, Collins (1966) composed of mostly scientific essays published in the French science journal Etudes.
  • The Appearance of Man, Collins (1965) composed of mostly scientific writings published in the French science journal Etudes.
  • Letters to Two Friends 1926–1952, Fontana (1968). Composed of personal letters on varied subjects including his understanding of death. See Letters to Two Friends 1926–1952Helen Weaver (translation). 1968. ISBN 9780853911432OCLC 30268456.
  • Letters to Léontine Zanta, Collins (1969).
  • Correspondence / Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Maurice Blondel, Herder and Herder (1967) This correspondence also has both the imprimatur and nihil obstat.
  • de Chardin, P T (1952). "On the zoological position and the evolutionary significance of Australopithecines". Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences (published March 1952). 14 (5): 208–10. doi:10.1111/j.2164-0947.1952.tb01101.xPMID 14931535.
  • de Terra, H; de Chardin, PT; Paterson, TT (1936). "Joint geological and prehistoric studies of the Late Cenozoic in India". Science (published 6 March 1936). 83 (2149): 233–236. Bibcode:1936Sci....83..233Ddoi:10.1126/science.83.2149.233-aPMID 17809311.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Paul Marichal, "Emmanuel Teilhard de Chardin (1844-1932)", Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes 93 (1932), 416f. Emmanuel Teilhard de Chardin was the son of Pierre-Cirice Teilhard and of Victoire Teilhard née Barron de Chardin. The grandfather of Pierre-Cirice, Pierre Teilhard, was granted a letter of confirmation of nobility by Louis XVIII in 1816.
  2. ^ Aczel, Amir (2008). The Jesuit and the Skull. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-4406-3735-3.
  3. Jump up to:a b c Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (2001). L'expérience de Dieu avec Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (in French). Les Editions Fides.
  4. ^ Letters from Egypt (1905–1908) — Éditions Aubier
  5. ^ Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1979). Hague, René (ed.). The Heart of Matter. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 25.
  6. ^ "Teilhard and the Pildown "Hoax""www.clarku.edu. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  7. ^ Wayman, Erin. "How to Solve Human Evolution's Greatest Hoax"Smithsonian. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  8. ^ Genèse d'une pensée (English: "The Making of a Mind")
  9. Jump up to:a b Teilhard de Chardin (1965). The Making of a Mind: Letters from a Soldier-Priest 1914–1919. London: Collins.
  10. ^ Aczel, Amir (4 November 2008). The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man. Riverhead Trade. p. 320ISBN 978-1-594489-56-3.
  11. ^ "How Gigantopithecus was discovered". The University of IowaMuseum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 8 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  12. ^ Letters from a Traveller, p.229
  13. ^ AAS, 6 August 1962
  14. ^ The text of this decree was published in daily L’Aurore of Paris, dated 2 October 1963, and was reproduced in Nouvelles De Chrétienté, 10 October 1963, p. 35.
  15. Jump up to:a b Smulders, Pieter Frans (1967). The design of Teilhard de Chardin: an essay in theological reflection. Newman Press.[page needed]
  16. ^ "The Divine Milieu: Work by Teilhard de Chardin"Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Teilhard de Chardin, Orthogenesis, and the Mechanism of Evolutionary Change" on YouTube by Thomas F Glick.
  18. ^ Berry, Thomas (1982) "Teilard de Chardin in the Age of Ecology" (Studies of Teihard de Chardin)
  19. ^ Sebastian Normandin; Charles T. Wolfe (15 June 2013). Vitalism and the Scientific Image in Post-Enlightenment Life Science, 1800-2010. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 10. ISBN 978-94-007-2445-7vitalism finds occasional expression in the neo-Thomist philosophies associated with Catholicism. Indeed, Catholic philosophy was heavily influenced by bergson in the early twentieth century, and there is a direct link between Bergson's neo-vitalism and the nascent neo-Thomism of thinkers like Jacques Maritain, which led to various idealist interpretations of biology which labeled themselves 'vitalistic', such as those of Edouard Le Roy (influenced by Teilhard de Chardin).
  20. ^ "(Review of) Howard, Damian.Being Human in Islam: The Impact of the Evolutionary Worldview" (PDF)Teilhard Perspective44 (2): 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2017the strong influence of Henri Bergson, via the writings of Muhammed Iqbal, who is seen to represent a Romantic, Naturphilosophie school of "vitalist cosmic progressivism," in contrast to Western mechanical materialism. And Teilhard, much akin to the French Bergson, along with Karl Rahner, are rightly noted as latter exemplars of this life-affirmative option.
  21. ^ "Facebook"www.facebook.com. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  22. ^ Galleni, Ludovico; Scalfari, Francesco (2005). "Teilhard de Chardin's Engagement with the Relationship between Science and Theology in Light of Discussions about Environmental Ethics". Ecotheology10(2): 197. doi:10.1558/ecot.2005.10.2.196.
  23. Jump up to:a b c Lyons, J. A. (1982). The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 39.
  24. ^ Teilhard de Chardin: "A Note on Progress"
  25. Jump up to:a b c d e Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man(New York: Harper and Row, 1959), 250–75.
  26. ^ Lyons (1982). The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin. p. 154.
  27. ^ Lyons (1982). The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 152.
  28. ^ Lyons (1982). The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin. p. 153.
  29. ^ Lyons (1982). The Cosmic Christ in Origen and Teilhard de Chardin. pp. 154–155.
  30. ^ Pierre Tielhard De Chardin's Legacy of Eugenics and Racism Can't Be Ignored
  31. ^ Trashing Tielhard
  32. ^ Tielhard and Eugenics
  33. ^ O'Connell, Gerard (21 November 2017). "Will Pope Francis remove the Vatican's 'warning' from Teilhard de Chardin's writings?"America. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  34. ^ Wojciech Sadłoń, Teologia Teilharda de Chardin. Studium nad komentarzami Henri de Lubaca, Warszawa, UKSW 2009
  35. ^ Cardinal Henri Cardinal de Lubac – The Religion of Teilhard de Chardin, Image Books (1968)
  36. ^ Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal; Pope Benedict XVI; Benedict; J. R. Foster; Michael J. Miller (4 June 2010). Introduction To Christianity, 2nd Edition (Kindle Locations 2840-2865). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.
  37. ^ Cardinal Agostino Casaroli praises the work of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin to Cardinal Paul Poupard, then Rector of the Institut Catholique de Paris – L'Osservatore Romano, June 10, 1981 @ TraditionInAction.org
  38. ^ Holy Press Office (20 July 1981). "Teilhard de Chardin"www.ewtn.com. L'osservatore romano. p. 2. Retrieved 31 December2019.
  39. ^ – Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal; Pope Benedict XVI (11 June 2009). The Spirit of the Liturgy (Kindle Locations 260–270). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.
  40. ^ A Eucharistic Church: The Vision of John Paul II – McGinley Lecture, University, 10 November 2004
  41. ^ Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith, Ignatian Press (2007)
  42. ^ Allen, John (28 July 2009). "Pope cites Teilhardian vision of the cosmos as a 'living host'"National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  43. ^ Pope Francis (24 May 2015), ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI' OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME (PDF), Online, p. 61, retrieved 20 June 2015
  44. ^ Von Hildebrand, Dietrich (1993). Trojan Horse in the City of God. Sophia Inst Pr. ISBN 978-0918477187.
  45. ^ Huxley, Julian "Preface" to Teilhard de Chardin, Teilhard (1955) "The Phenomenon of Man" (Fontana)
  46. ^ Dobzhansky, Theodosius (March 1973). "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution". American Biology Teacher35 (3): 125–129. Reprinted in J. Peter Zetterberg (ed.), Evolution versus Creationism (1983), ORYX Press.
  47. ^ Daniel C. Dennett (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life. Simon & Schuster. pp. 320–. ISBN 978-1-4391-2629-5.
  48. ^ Stephen Jay Gould (2006). The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould. W.W. Norton. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-0-393-06498-8.[clarification needed]
  49. ^ Medawar, P. B. (1961). "Critical Notice"MindOxford University Press70 (277): 99–106. doi:10.1093/mind/LXX.277.99.
  50. ^ Richard Dawkins (5 April 2000). Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 320ff. ISBN 0-547-34735-9.
  51. ^ Geraldine O. Browning; Joseph L. Alioto; Seymour M. Farber; University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (January 1973). Teilhard de Chardin: in Quest of the Perfection of Man: An International Symposium. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 91ff. ISBN 978-0-8386-1258-3.
  52. ^ Léo F. Laporte (13 August 2013). George Gaylord Simpson: Paleontologist and Evolutionist. Columbia University Press. pp. 191ff. ISBN 978-0-231-50545-1.
  53. ^ David Sloan Wilson (26 February 2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1101870211.
  54. ^ "Introduction" by Brian Swimme, in The Human Phenomenon by Teilhard de Chardin, trans. Sarah Appleton-Webber, Sussex Academic Press, Brighton and Portland, Oregon, 1999 p. xv.
  55. ^ Holy Women, Holy Men. Church Publishing Inc. 2010. pp. 320–321. ISBN 9780898696370.
  56. ^ Moss, R.F. (Spring 1978). "Suffering, sinful Catholics". The Antioch Review. Antioch Review. 36 (2): 170–181. doi:10.2307/4638026JSTOR 4638026.
  57. ^ Simmons, Dan (1 February 1990). The Fall of Hyperion. Doubleday. p. 464ISBN 978-0-385-26747-2.
  58. ^ Dick, Philip K. (1991). A Scanner Darkly. Vintage. p. 127ISBN 978-0-679-73665-3.
  59. ^ May, Julian (11 April 1994). Jack the Bodiless. Random House Value Publishing. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-517-11644-9.
  60. ^ Dillard, Annie (8 February 2000). For the Time Being. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-375-70347-8.
  61. ^ Clarke, Arthur c. (2001). The Light of Other Days. Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. p. 331. ISBN 0-812-57640-3.
  62. ^ DeLillo, Don (2010). Point Omega. Scribner.
  63. ^ "The Divine Milieu by Frederick Hart". www.jeanstephengalleries.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  64. ^ "UDQuickly Past Scribblings". campus.udayton.edu. Retrieved 19 April 2009.[permanent dead link]
  65. ^ National Gallery of Victoria Educational Resource
  66. ^ "When life finds its way"www.westcorkpeople.ie. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  67. Jump up to:a b Ventureyra, Scott (20 January 2015). "Challenging the Rehabilitation of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin"Crisis Magazine. Sophia Institute Press. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  68. ^ Krauss, Lawrence (12 May 2007), "More Dangerous Than Nonsense" (PDF)New Scientist194 (2603): 53, doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(07)61199-3, archived from the original(PDF) on 1 November 2011.
  69. ^ Audio interview with Frank Tipler- White Gardenia interview with Frank Tipler, December 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMkp1kZN5n4&t=26s
  70. ^ Q&A with Frank Tipler http://turingchurch.com/2012/09/26/interview-with-frank-j-tipler-nov-2002/ Archived 3 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  71. ^ Segundo, Juan Luis (1972). Evolution and Guilt. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. p. 13. ISBN 088344-480-1.
  72. ^ Teillard-Chambon, Marguerite, ed. (1956). Lettres de voyage 1923-1939, de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (in French). Paris: Bernard Grasset.
  73. ^ Teillard-Chambon, Marguerite, ed. (1957). Nouvelles lettres de voyage 1939-1955, de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (in French). Paris: Bernard Grasset.
  74. ^ Teillard-Chambon, Marguerite, ed. (1961). Genèse d'une pensée, Lettres 1914-1919, de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (in French). Paris: Bernard Grasset.
  75. ^ John Ankerberg; John Weldon (1996). Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs. Harvest House Publishers. pp. 661–. ISBN 978-1-56507-160-5.
  76. ^ "Royal Wedding: Read the Stirring Sermon by Most Rev. Michael Curry"Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 28 July 2019.

Further reading[edit]

  • Amir AczelThe Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution and the Search for Peking Man (Riverhead Hardcover, 2007)
  • Pope Benedict XVIThe Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatian Press 2000)
  • Pope Benedict XVIIntroduction to Christianity (Ignatius Press, Revised edition, 2004)
  • John Cowburn, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Selective Summary of His Life (Mosaic Press 2013)
  • Claude CuenotScience and Faith in Teilhard de Chardin (Garstone Press, 1967)
  • Andre Dupleix15 Days of Prayer with Teilhard de Chardin (New City Press, 2008)
  • Enablers, T.C., 2015. 'Hominising – Realising Human Potential'. Available: http://www.laceweb.org.au/rhp.htm
  • Robert Faricy, Teilhard de Chardin's Theology of Christian in the World(Sheed and Ward 1968)
  • Robert Faricy, The Spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin (Collins 1981, Harper & Row 1981)
  • Robert Faricy and Lucy Rooney, Praying with Teilhard de Chardin(Queenship 1996)
  • David Grumett, Teilhard de Chardin: Theology, Humanity and Cosmos(Peeters 2005)
  • Dietrich von HildebrandTeilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet(Franciscan Herald Press 1970)
  • Dietrich von HildebrandTrojan Horse in the City of God
  • Dietrich von HildebrandDevastated Vineyard
  • Thomas M. King, Teilhard's Mass; Approaches to "The Mass on the World" (Paulist Press, 2005)
  • Ursula KingSpirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin[1][permanent dead link](Orbis Books, 1996)
  • Richard W. Kropf, Teilhard, Scripture and Revelation: A Study of Teilhard de Chardin's Reinterpretation of Pauline Themes (Associated University Press, 1980)
  • David H. Lane, The Phenomenon of Teilhard: Prophet for a New Age(Mercer University Press)
  • Lubac, Henri deThe Religion of Teilhard de Chardin (Image Books, 1968)
  • Lubac, Henri deThe Faith of Teilhard de Chardin (Burnes and Oates, 1965)
  • Lubac, Henri deThe Eternal Feminine: A Study of the Text of Teilhard de Chardin (Collins, 1971)
  • Lubac, Henri deTeilhard Explained (Paulist Press, 1968)
  • Mary and Ellen Lukas, Teilhard (Doubleday, 1977)
  • Jean Maalouf Teilhard de Chardin, Reconciliation in Christ (New City Press, 2002)
  • George A. MaloneyThe Cosmic Christ: From Paul to Teilhard (Sheed and Ward, 1968)
  • Mooney, Christopher, Teilhard de Chardin and the Mystery of Christ(Image Books, 1968)
  • Murray, Michael H. The Thought of Teilhard de Chardin (Seabury Press, N.Y., 1966)
  • Robert J. O'ConnellTeilhard's Vision of the Past: The Making of a Method, (Fordham University Press, 1982)
  • Noel Keith Roberts, From Piltdown Man to Point Omega: the evolutionary theory of Teilhard de Chardin (New York, Peter Lang, 2000)
  • James F. Salmon, 'Pierre Teilhard de Chardin' in The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
  • Louis M. Savory, Teilhard de Chardin – The Divine Milieu Explained: A Spirituality for the 21st Century (Paulist Press, 2007)
  • Robert SpeaightThe Life of Teilhard de Chardin (Harper and Row, 1967)
  • K.D. Sethna, Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo - a focus on fundamentals, Bharatiya Vidya Prakasan, Varanasi (1973)
  • K. D. Sethna, The Spirituality of the Future: A search apropos of R. C. Zaehner's study in Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard De Chardin. Fairleigh Dickinson University 1981.
  • Helmut de TerraMemories of Teilhard de Chardin (Harper and Row and Wm Collins Sons & Co., 1964)
  • Paul Churchland, "Man and Cosmos"

External links[edit]

Pro[edit]

Contra[edit]

Other[edit]