The Esoteric Path: An Introduction to the Hermetic Tradition

There run through all cultures the threads of a common traditioin, entirely non-material: the Esoteric or Hermetic Tradition, the search for a knowledge that is not subject to reason or to sensory verification. Luc Benoist follows THE ESOTERIC PATH through the East and the West, showing in comprehensive detail the metaphysical concepts underlying and exemplifying the Primordia Tradition (Symbolism, Rites, Initiation, Social Structure) as well as the historic forms it has taken: Hinduism, Buddhism, Tao, Zen, Judaism, and Islam in the East, and Christianity, the Templars, Rosicrucians, Guilds, and Masonry, and mystics of exceptional importance in the West. Beyond these various social traditions, the author seeks the common impulse from which they arose and here weaves the threads together-making it possible for us to see beyond the material to humanity's common search for truth. This masterly survey of Esoteric Tradition will guide serious students of philosophy and comparative religion along the path to self-realization.