Cosmic Reality: Its Origin, Manifestation, and Destiny According to Traditional Wisdom

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This book deals with the origin, manifestation, and destiny of cosmic reality. The author discusses metaphysical and cosmological insights from Eastern and Western wisdom derived from Platonism, Vedanta, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism and the Kabbalah.

The aim of the book is to showcase the Eastern and Western wisdom with regard to metaphysics and cosmology, despite the varying approaches in which they may be seen as different dialects of the universal language of the Spirit. This work could make a valuable contribution to inter-faith dialogue in an age of religious pluralism. This will be useful for students and researchers who seek awareness in metaphysical traditions and its cosmological significance. The book also seeks to counter nihilism and materialism by emphasizing the spiritual foundations and processes of cosmic reality.

South Africa-born author DR. WYNAND DE BEER holds a Ph.D. in Hellenic philosophy. He completed his master's dissertation on the philosophy of Eriugena in Ireland, followed by doctoral research on Hellenic philosophy and evolutionary theory, on which his first book, From Logos to Bios, is based. In it he developed an alternative theory of macro-evolution, incorporating nomogenesis and orthogenesis. His next book, Reality: From Metaphysics to Metapolitics, discusses a variety of philosophical, theological, and socio-political themes in view of Hellenic philosophy and traditional Christian theology. His research articles on Hellenic philosophy and Patristic theology have been published in various peer-reviewed journals in the United States and South Africa. He is a keen student of history and has written a two- volume work on World War II and its aftermath.

This book deals with the origin, manifestation, and destiny of cosmic reality-in other words, where things come from, what they are, and where they are going. In our discussion we draw on a wide range of metaphysical and cosmological insights from Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, including the Hellenic tradition of Platonism, the Vedanta (one of the six darshanas, or orthodox schools, within Hinduism), Greek and Latin Christian theology, Taoism, Buddhism, the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, Gnosticism, and the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism.

The remarkable consonance between metaphysical conceptions from the East and the West has been commented upon by several scholars. For instance, A. N. Marlow titled his 1954 essay on this subject 'Hinduism and Buddhism in Greek Philosophy.' The Indian philosopher Yakub Masih has listed some marked parallels between Orphism (the early Hellenic school that influenced Pythagoras, Plato, and Plotinus) and Indian thought. These include the claim to be based on divine revelation (in the case of Hinduism, as contained in the Vedas); the idea that humans enjoyed a glorious state in their pristine existence, but in this world they are in a fallen state; the practice of purificatory rites and contemplation as a means of release from the cycle of rebirths; and the doctrine of the wheel of rebirths and transmigration of the soul.