Here’s a sneak preview of the cover of the new edition of the book that started it all, Colin Wilson’s The Outsider, with a new foreword by me. It will be published later this year by Penguin Random House, who are also publishing my introduction to Wilson’s life and work, Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. Needless to say it was an honour for me to write the foreword, as it was to write my forewords to Wilson’s brilliant phenomenological novels The Mind Parasites and The God of Labyrinth. Last year I was asked to write an Introduction to Gurdjieff’s classic spiritual adventure story, Meetings With Remarkable Men. I count myself lucky to be able to introduce these important works in the evolution of consciousness to a new generation of readers.
Archive for spirituality
The Outsider Returns
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Colin Wilson, consciousness, counter culture, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, Gurdjieff, mysticism, occult, Phenomenology, philosophy, religion, spirituality on February 5, 2016 by Gary LachmanJoscelyn Godwin on The Secret Teachers of the Western World
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Colin Wilson, consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gnosis, hermetic, hermeticism, mysticism, occult, spirituality on January 16, 2016 by Gary LachmanI have to share this warm and encouraging endorsement of my new book The Secret Teachers of the Western World from the veteran esoteric historian Joscelyn Godwin. Joscelyn is the author of numerous very readable, thoroughly researched and intellectually stimulating books on a variety of esoteric topics, from The Theosophical Enlightenment and Arktos: The Polar Myth to Music, Mysticism, and Magic and my own favorite, The Golden Thread. We have corresponded over the years and Joscelyn’s advice has always been helpful. Many thanks for this generous appraisal!
Of all the surveys of the Western Esoteric Tradition, this is the most readable. Like a Colin Wilson for the new century, Gary Lachman has universal curiosity and a generosity towards every character, on many of whom he has already written books. He believes in the vital importance of the subject, but thankfully does not play favorites, nor impose an academic theory. His guiding thread through the tangle of teachings is the holistic consciousness that was once the human birthright. Those familiar with this field will enjoy a fresh-minded walk through it; those new to it may be spurred to a lifetime’s quest. -Joscelyn Godwin
Secret Teachers Interview
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, Carl Jung, Colin Wilson, consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gnosis, Gurdjieff, hermeticism, Iain McGilchrist, Jean Gebser, Madame Blavatsky, mysticism, new age, occult, spirituality on December 24, 2015 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to an interview I did recently with Chris Flisher at his Turning the Wheel website. We discuss some of the basic ideas of my new book, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, how the history of western consciousness has been informed by an often fierce rivalry between the two sides of the brain and what this has meant for the western esoteric tradition. Chris brings in the cosmic aspect, but I try to keep the conversation focussed on what is going on inside our heads and what this might mean for our future.
And if anyone feels inspired to disagree with the first review of the book on amazon, I won’t stop you. Evidently the reader was expecting something different.
And not to forget: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Secret Teachers at Reality Sandwich
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags consciousness, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, Gurdjieff, Henri Bergson, hermeticism, Madame Blavatsky, mysticism, occult, philosophy, Plato, spirituality, William James on December 10, 2015 by Gary LachmanMy friends at the Reality Sandwich site have posted an excerpt from The Secret Teachers of the Western World. It’s the closing sections of the Introduction, where I present the main argument of the book, that the western esoteric tradition has been the victim of a “consciousness war” going on for the last four centuries, the protagonists of which are our two cerebral hemispheres.
This tradition - which we can also call the “western consciousness tradition”- has never disappeared. It has only gone underground, and its work has been carried on by many individuals, the “secret teachers” of the book. These range from full-on esoteric figures like Madame Blavatsky and Gurdjieff, to more mainstream thinkers like William James, Henri Bergson, and Plato, the father of western philosophy. I chart the contributions these “secret teachers” and others have made to western consciousness, from the distant past of ancient Greece, to our contemporary “post-everything” world, and suggest that, although we are undoubtedly going through a time of crisis, there is no cause for despair. The very precipice we seem to be teetering on may trigger a profound and much needed shift in our consciousness and enable us, in the words of the poet W. B. Yeats, to “complete our partial mind.”
Secret Teachers at The Daily Grail
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags altered states, consciousness, Dante, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, hermeticism, mysticism, occult, spirituality, Suhrawardi on December 9, 2015 by Gary LachmanI’ve put up an excerpt from The Secret Teachers of the Western World on my blog at The Daily Grail. It’s titled “Dante’s Inner Journey” and it shows how one of the classics of western literature is informed with ideas and insights coming from the western esoteric tradition. Please share the link if you can and spread the world.
Coast to Coast with the Secret Teachers of the Western World
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags Aleister Crowley, blondie, consciousness, counter culture, esoteric, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gnosis, hermeticism, kabbalah, mysticism, occult, philosophy, secret societies, spirituality, Theosophy on December 7, 2015 by Gary LachmanI’ll be on Coast to Coast Radio in the wee hours of Tuesday, December 8, talking about my new book The Secret Teachers of the Western World. The book is released that day and everyone awake at 3:00 AM will hear about it. Give a listen if the insomnia keeps you up…
An interview about the evolution of consciousness and other things
Posted in Introduction, Notebook with tags blondie, Colin Wilson, consciousness, counter culture, esotericism, evolution of consciousness, Gary Lachman, gary valentine, hermeticism, mysticism, occult, philosophy, spirituality on October 21, 2015 by Gary LachmanHere’s a link to a recent interview I did with the musician Justin Robertson. We talk about the evolution of consciousness, my background in music, science, esotericism and quite a bit more.
