Moksha Bookshop & Community Education Center

Powers of Imaging: Ignatius of Loyola

The “communion of saints” is perhaps the best kept secret of Christianity. Saints are often presented as if their lives had been lived in a vacuum, historical and human. But the saints lived their lives like us, having to make decisions about the circumstances surrounding them. Not only did they have to make decisions , but, as in the case of the sixteenth-century saint, Ignatius Loyola, they devised models to make decisions in a public domain often hostile, sometimes even dangerous to their lives, physically and spiritually. Because they risked so much to be fully human , their humanity is exemplary and it should be studied as such , not however, to imitate the external details of their lives, but in order to uncover our human capabilities for creation. For such is the human condition: once a member of the species performs the extraordinary, the rest of the species, either singly or as a body, becomes capable of performing the same kind of extraordinary deed. Humans are neurophysiologically connected; they form a neural community and each one of us has the power and the inheritance of such a community. Our task, therefore, is not so much to learn new tricks or new theories, but rather to lift the veils that cover human memories so that the original and common mental processes of originality and creation may become visible again. Let us make public the community of saints. 

The lecturer, Dr. Antonio T. deNicolas, is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the author of two major books on Indian philosophy. Meditations Through the Rg Veda and Avatara, as well as several books on the Spanish mystics and translations of the poetry of the Nobel prize winning poet Juan Ramon Jimenez. His most recent work is Powers of Imagining: Ignatius of Loyola.

Tibetan Visualization Meditation

Dr. Janet Gyasto, Director of Institute Services, The Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions

Liberation Theology: A New Vision of Freedom

Brian Schroeder, Ph.D. Candidate, SUNY Stony Brook

The Feminine in the Religions of the East

Generally speaking, the religions of the East have criticized women for being temptresses and obstacles on the spiritual path. Yet few modern Eastern women have followed the lead of feminists of the West. One reason that there has not been a strong reaction to such traditional teachings may be that the “feminine” has also been understood on a number of other levels. We do not have to look far to find  discussions of the positive role played by feminine elements in cosmic, social and psychological realms. In the words of the I Ching, “Yang does not produce by itself, yin does not produce from itself-but when they embrace, they produce the 10,000 things.” When we look at the feminine principle in the context of Eastern cosmology and psychology, we see that the dichotomy between men and women is merely one aspect of a universal phenomenon. Both male and female are essential elements in the make-up of all existent structures, not least the personality of every human individual. This lecture will provide a brief overview of certain ideas on femininity as a positive spiritual principle in two Eastern traditions that seem to diverge the most deeply, i.e., Confucianism and Islam. 

The lecturer, Sachiko Murata, is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at SUNY Stony Brook and author of the book, The Principle of Islamic Law.

Practicing the Primordial Tradition

In the post-modern world religion and .knowledge are fiercely opposed . The exclusive emphasis on rationality that originated during the Renaissance has given way to the externalization and desacralization of knowledge. The privileged position of reason over intuition and intelligence has systematically denied the vital role of Sacred knowledge in all segments of Human existence. Practitioners of the “Primordial” or “Perennial “tradition. however have called for a radical retrieval of that know­ledge which is inseparably linked to the Sacred by the overcoming of all forms of forgetfulness that veil the root and essence of human spirituality. This lecture will begin with a brief overview of the major twentieth-century authors who have championed this tradition. Special emphasis will be placed on how they perceived a transcendent unity of religions in the midst of providential multiplicity. Consideration will also be given to the specific forms of practice these authors determined indispensable for a full actualization of human possibilities.

The lecturer, Dr. William Chittick, is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at SUNY Stony Brook and author of the book, The Sufi Path of Love.

Taoist Acupressure Massage

Acupressure massage uses the same points on the body as acupuncture but uses no needles, relying on the art of massage to stimulate the meridians. Participants in this four week course will learn the principles and techniques of acupressure to dissolve deep seated tension and trauma by reaching the deepest recesses of the nerve and muscle system. These techniques are not painful. In fact, the release of tension is experienced as being very pleasurable. Under the personal guidance of an instructor, participants will learn and experience this ancient form of massage in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. Taoist Acupressure Massage brings the body to a high state of health so that it is able to cure itself of disease. The usual comment after a massage is, “My body finally feels really alive.” The book used for this course is Movements of Magic, written by the instructor.

Wear comfortable clothes and bring a blanket or flat cushion. The instructor, Bob Klien has been teaching Tai-Chi Ch’uan for ten years. He holds a degree in Zoology from Cornell University and is currently teaching several forms of meditation, exercise and self-defense.

The Way of Magic 

Whether a primitive sorcerer or a contemporary con­juror, the magician is one who works with the deep mysteries of perception. David Abram has been a pro­fessional magician for ten years. In 1975 he began as the “house magician “at Alice’s Restaurant (of song and screen renown) in the Berkshires, where he developed his magic into an intimate theater of surprises. Since then he has performed throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. In London, he worked with Dr. R .D. Laing on the application of sleight-of-hand magic to psychotherapy. In 1980, he wa3 awarded a generous grant from the Watson Foundation to study the links between magic and medicine among traditional shamans in rural Sri Lanka, Indonesia , and Nepal. Abram journeyed into these regions not as an academic researcher but as a wandering magician in his own right, and in this manner was able to meet and become close to native practi­tioners previously inaccessible to anthropologists.

In this course, using stories, discussion and magic, David will share insights from his journeys. Participants will be introduced to magic will a way of seeing, as a way of remembering and reconnecting with the earth. Appropriate reading materials will be provided in class. It is also recommended that participants obtain The Language of the Birds, ed. by David Guss. The instructor, David Abram, has most recently lived among the Hopi and the Kwakiutl peoples, and has written articles for Parabola, The Ecologist, Orion and other journals.