This review is from: The Alchemy of the Soul - The Wisdom of
the Emerald Tablet of Hermes (Kindle Edition)
This is a short commentary to the even shorter
“Emerald Tablet” (Tabula Smaragdina), a cryptic text supposedly written by
Hermes Trismegistos and unearthed by Apollonius of Tyana. While Apollonius is a
real historical person, the Thrice-Great Hermes is a mythological character.
The oldest manuscript containing the Emerald Tablet is in Arabic and was
written during the eight century. In the twelfth century, the gnomic sayings
were translated to Latin.
The standard interpretation is that the Tablet deals with alchemy, but the attribution to Hermes Trismegistos makes is almost impossible not to seek a spiritual interpretation. Besides, alchemy itself has been given such interpretation by some people. Luis Varady sees his own philosophy, which is close to Gnosticism and Advaita Vedanta, reflected in the sayings. Creation is a process of emanation from the One which inevitably creates suffering and craving. The goal is therefore to return to the One through a process involving meditation, mystical experiences and upright living in the here and now.
In this particular text, Varady sounds somewhat less “nirvanic” in his approach than he does in some other e-books. I get the impression that he appreciates the material world as a reflection of God or the One, and he does mention that meditation has positive physical effects on the body and the earthly soul. He also mentions dream work and magic as practices in addition to mystical meditation. I haven't yet read Varady's magnum opus on Gnostic meditation, which he constantly recommends to the reader in his other e-books. Presumably, it contains the final word on these matters. Or the secretum secretorum, as it were. ;-)
The standard interpretation is that the Tablet deals with alchemy, but the attribution to Hermes Trismegistos makes is almost impossible not to seek a spiritual interpretation. Besides, alchemy itself has been given such interpretation by some people. Luis Varady sees his own philosophy, which is close to Gnosticism and Advaita Vedanta, reflected in the sayings. Creation is a process of emanation from the One which inevitably creates suffering and craving. The goal is therefore to return to the One through a process involving meditation, mystical experiences and upright living in the here and now.
In this particular text, Varady sounds somewhat less “nirvanic” in his approach than he does in some other e-books. I get the impression that he appreciates the material world as a reflection of God or the One, and he does mention that meditation has positive physical effects on the body and the earthly soul. He also mentions dream work and magic as practices in addition to mystical meditation. I haven't yet read Varady's magnum opus on Gnostic meditation, which he constantly recommends to the reader in his other e-books. Presumably, it contains the final word on these matters. Or the secretum secretorum, as it were. ;-)
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