SOTTREADER
The Living Force
Right, so I'm not much of a book worm but I do read from time to time - more so listen nowadays 
. I'm also not so much of a reviewer so please do bear with me.
Ride the tiger is a book I've come across recently and finished it in short order as it was captivating - though it'll need a few more read throughs. The author is Julius Evola who is described as "right wing" by our modern day God, Google - there isn't much reference to him on the forum from the search I did. I can't quite connect what Google says about the author to what he has written in this book. Maybe he has other, less palatable books out there
The book is quite interesting, I'd describe it as the next step forward from the fourth or fifth way by George Gurdjieff and Boris Mouravieff. Julius writes to the "differentiated" man about the "world of tradition" but he never describes directly what either are, not in precise terms. Instead, he proceeds to describe both of these in a way that takes you through a journey, touching upon soo many things most people in this forum would be familiar with that one can't dismiss him as merely "ordinary" or well read. The man knows something and that something is not from him, it's from somewhere not of this time or age. He's clearly familiar with the tradition that George Gurdjieff talks about but uses completely different language to describe it to us.
The book is written quite "esoterically" - that is to say, there is quite a lot said between the lines and there's a huge wall of difficult sentences and descriptions to muddle through. It has a very thick bend towards describing what this tradition is, and is not, by reference to various European philosophies over the last couple hundred years. So if one doesn't get anything else from the book, one will get to learn at least something from some of the more recent philosophical traditions.
I'm not quite sure the book itself had "an end destination"... To me, it read like he was simply transmitting something forward. As I say, many of the items touched upon will be familiar to the people in this forum but I doubt they'd be familiar in the way presented. He weaves in and out of different concepts and you will struggle to know what period he's talking about. You will be forgiven to think that he's talking about NOW and you will Google when he lived and then you'll scratch your head - how can what he's saying be so relevant today when he in fact died 50 or so years ago?
Some passages to me also seem to describe fourth density but in a very peculiar and interesting way. Of course, he clearly describes the person as not being a single "I", he talks about the process of fusing the magnetic centre, he talks about "Being" i.e the "true I". He talks about "life as religion". He talks about spirits of a lower nature, that can possess people if they do certain things. He talks about A LOT. I think they call this a tour de force.
In all the above, I fail to see what the "right wing label" is meant to be for. You'd think he was a fascist but he dismisses so much, criticises so much about modern life that he's basically neither left nor right.
One thing I will say though, there's a chapter on sex where he spends a bit of time talking about the female of the species. I did not agree with a lot he said here and it is 100% not in-keeping with modern sensibilities. The thing that left it wanting, is after so thoroughly tearing down the modern woman, so much so than how he's torn down the man, he does not then write something about what the woman of tradition is from the point of view of "Being", let alone personality. So I want to warn any women ahead of reading that chapter - nothing good awaits.
Apart from the above, I'd say some chapters are much better than others - the ones where he goes too deep into stuff like nihilism and existentialism are too dense for a simpleton like me.
In any case, if someone is looking for a bit of a challenging yet rewarding read that kind of takes you on a journey to some interesting, familiar and not-so familiar ideas, I dare say, it might be worth you reading this book. Be warned though, it's highly unlikely you'll be as well read as the author so expect to admit defeat in many parts regarding what it is he's referencing to pass his message forward.
A random review from Amazon
I dare say, even the reviews online, the positive reviews, miss the transdimensional side to what he wrote. He clearly talks about reality of a different level and what he's saying is that, that reality isn't necessarily separate to us, to our Being. The guy is talking to many different levels that it's a bit weird / strange. He's clearly not the originator of this knowledge, a knowledge that goes far beyond what anyone of us is familiar with. So where is it all coming from? What is this blooming world of tradition?
. I'm also not so much of a reviewer so please do bear with me.Ride the tiger is a book I've come across recently and finished it in short order as it was captivating - though it'll need a few more read throughs. The author is Julius Evola who is described as "right wing" by our modern day God, Google - there isn't much reference to him on the forum from the search I did. I can't quite connect what Google says about the author to what he has written in this book. Maybe he has other, less palatable books out there
The book is quite interesting, I'd describe it as the next step forward from the fourth or fifth way by George Gurdjieff and Boris Mouravieff. Julius writes to the "differentiated" man about the "world of tradition" but he never describes directly what either are, not in precise terms. Instead, he proceeds to describe both of these in a way that takes you through a journey, touching upon soo many things most people in this forum would be familiar with that one can't dismiss him as merely "ordinary" or well read. The man knows something and that something is not from him, it's from somewhere not of this time or age. He's clearly familiar with the tradition that George Gurdjieff talks about but uses completely different language to describe it to us.
The book is written quite "esoterically" - that is to say, there is quite a lot said between the lines and there's a huge wall of difficult sentences and descriptions to muddle through. It has a very thick bend towards describing what this tradition is, and is not, by reference to various European philosophies over the last couple hundred years. So if one doesn't get anything else from the book, one will get to learn at least something from some of the more recent philosophical traditions.
I'm not quite sure the book itself had "an end destination"... To me, it read like he was simply transmitting something forward. As I say, many of the items touched upon will be familiar to the people in this forum but I doubt they'd be familiar in the way presented. He weaves in and out of different concepts and you will struggle to know what period he's talking about. You will be forgiven to think that he's talking about NOW and you will Google when he lived and then you'll scratch your head - how can what he's saying be so relevant today when he in fact died 50 or so years ago?
Some passages to me also seem to describe fourth density but in a very peculiar and interesting way. Of course, he clearly describes the person as not being a single "I", he talks about the process of fusing the magnetic centre, he talks about "Being" i.e the "true I". He talks about "life as religion". He talks about spirits of a lower nature, that can possess people if they do certain things. He talks about A LOT. I think they call this a tour de force.
In all the above, I fail to see what the "right wing label" is meant to be for. You'd think he was a fascist but he dismisses so much, criticises so much about modern life that he's basically neither left nor right.
One thing I will say though, there's a chapter on sex where he spends a bit of time talking about the female of the species. I did not agree with a lot he said here and it is 100% not in-keeping with modern sensibilities. The thing that left it wanting, is after so thoroughly tearing down the modern woman, so much so than how he's torn down the man, he does not then write something about what the woman of tradition is from the point of view of "Being", let alone personality. So I want to warn any women ahead of reading that chapter - nothing good awaits.
Apart from the above, I'd say some chapters are much better than others - the ones where he goes too deep into stuff like nihilism and existentialism are too dense for a simpleton like me.
In any case, if someone is looking for a bit of a challenging yet rewarding read that kind of takes you on a journey to some interesting, familiar and not-so familiar ideas, I dare say, it might be worth you reading this book. Be warned though, it's highly unlikely you'll be as well read as the author so expect to admit defeat in many parts regarding what it is he's referencing to pass his message forward.
A random review from Amazon
I dare say, even the reviews online, the positive reviews, miss the transdimensional side to what he wrote. He clearly talks about reality of a different level and what he's saying is that, that reality isn't necessarily separate to us, to our Being. The guy is talking to many different levels that it's a bit weird / strange. He's clearly not the originator of this knowledge, a knowledge that goes far beyond what anyone of us is familiar with. So where is it all coming from? What is this blooming world of tradition?
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