Lost Masters Quotes

“Like the Pythagoreans, Empedocles was a vegetarian. The sage was as much concerned for the welfare of animals as he was for that of his fellow human beings. He wrote of a time “when all animals were tame and the flame of friendship between us and all other creatures burned brightly.” He spoke of eating flesh as “pure cruelty,” a crime tantamount to cannibalism because animals are our kin. He ardently denounced animal sacrifices, writing of an idyllic time “when people didn’t worship Ares or Zeus or Poseidon, but instead honored the Great Goddess. They propitiated her with beautiful paintings and figurines, fragrant oils and incense, and libations of liquid honey. In those days altars weren’t drenched with the blood of murdered animals!”
― Linda Johnsen, Lost Masters: Rediscovering the Mysticism of the Ancient Greek Philosophers

“Only a few stories about Heraclitus’ life have survived, and it’s not always clear whether they’re true. In one tale he sat in front of the famous temple of Artemis playing dice with a group of children. When several Ephesian statesmen expressed their shock to find him wasting his time this way, he snapped, “Why are you so surprised, you asses? I’m better off here with these stupid kids than with you and your politics!”
― Linda Johnsen, Lost Masters: Rediscovering the Mysticism of the Ancient Greek Philosophers

“this “is-ness” just some philosophical abstraction? No. Just like the yogis of India, Parmenides says is-ness is consciousness. And everything that exists, even rocks and stones, participates in this living awareness.”
― Linda Johnsen, Lost Masters: Rediscovering the Mysticism of the Ancient Greek Philosophers

“The poet W. B. Yeats wrote the famous line: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” I would suggest that the problem is not that the center cannot hold, but that humans are unaware of the center, unaware of their innermost essence, which is the spiritual dimension of life.”
― Linda Johnsen, Lost Masters: Rediscovering the Mysticism of the Ancient Greek Philosophers

“In other words, knowledge arrived at through rational thinking alone, lacking in awareness that engenders wisdom, is a dangerous thing, and the greater the knowledge, the more potentially destructive it becomes.”
― Linda Johnsen, Lost Masters: Rediscovering the Mysticism of the Ancient Greek Philosophers