Richard Wagner and Buddhism

Richard Wagner and Buddhism PDF Author: Urs App
Publisher: UniversityMedia
ISBN: 3906000001
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
It is little known that Richard Wagner was among the very first Westerners to appreciate Buddhism and that he was the first major European artist to be inspired by this religion. In 1856, in the prime of his creativity, the 33-year-old artist read his first book about Buddhism. Madly in love with Mathilde Wesendonck, a beautiful but happily married woman, he conceived two deeply connected opera projects: Tristan und Isolde which he went on to compose and stage, and Die Sieger (The Victors), an opera scenario based on an Indian Buddha legend translated from Sanskrit. These two projects mirrored Wagner's burning desire for the consummation of his love and the necessity of renunciation. This Buddhist opera project occupied Wagner's mind for decades until his death in 1883. Indeed, the composer's last words were about the Buddha figure of his scenario and his relationship with women. Urs App, the author of The Birth of Orientalism (University of Pennsylvania Press) and the world's foremost authority on the early Western reception of Buddhism, tells the story of Richard Wagner's creative encounter with Buddhism and explains the composer's last words.

Richard Wagner and Buddhism

Richard Wagner and Buddhism PDF Author: Urs App
Publisher: UniversityMedia
ISBN: 3906000001
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Get Book Here

Book Description
It is little known that Richard Wagner was among the very first Westerners to appreciate Buddhism and that he was the first major European artist to be inspired by this religion. In 1856, in the prime of his creativity, the 33-year-old artist read his first book about Buddhism. Madly in love with Mathilde Wesendonck, a beautiful but happily married woman, he conceived two deeply connected opera projects: Tristan und Isolde which he went on to compose and stage, and Die Sieger (The Victors), an opera scenario based on an Indian Buddha legend translated from Sanskrit. These two projects mirrored Wagner's burning desire for the consummation of his love and the necessity of renunciation. This Buddhist opera project occupied Wagner's mind for decades until his death in 1883. Indeed, the composer's last words were about the Buddha figure of his scenario and his relationship with women. Urs App, the author of The Birth of Orientalism (University of Pennsylvania Press) and the world's foremost authority on the early Western reception of Buddhism, tells the story of Richard Wagner's creative encounter with Buddhism and explains the composer's last words.

Parsifal Unveiled

Parsifal Unveiled PDF Author: Samael Aun Weor
Publisher: Glorian Publishing
ISBN: 1934206911
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
"When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally true are actually figurative. Art can idealize those symbols, and so reveal the profound truths they contain." - Richard Wagner Parsifal, the epic, final opera by Richard Wagner, stunned audiences and set the stage for the decline of modern civilization. For more than one hundred years, Parsifal has been one of the most controversial dramatic works in the world, not only moving the world's top composers and writers to tears and inspiring generations of creative geniuses, but it was also admired by Adolf Hitler. Wagner's retelling of the myth of the Holy Grail and the knights who protect it showed the secret path to liberation from suffering, but no one understood it. Wagner himself never explained Parsifal, and in his wake thousands of writers, critics, and artists have attempted to penetrate its mysteries yet have failed, since they were not initiated into the secret tradition it came from. Finally, in this book by Samael Aun Weor, the meaning of Parsifal is fully revealed, and the genius and spiritual accomplishments of Richard Wagner are made radiantly clear. "The year 1914 will always be a memorable date among the remarkable dates of this humanity, because of the explosion of the First World War and the simultaneous debut of Parsifal in all the civilized world." - Samael Aun Weor Features: • A complete exposure of the spiritual archetypes hidden in Parsifal, with examples from other religions and mythologies • Detailed instructions for sexual transmutation, including postures and mantras • Includes the complete libretto of Parsifal

Drama and the World of Richard Wagner

Drama and the World of Richard Wagner PDF Author: Dieter Borchmeyer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691114972
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Book Description
Richard Wagner continues to be the most controversial artist in history, a perpetually troubling figure in our cultural consciousness. The unceasing debate over his works and their impact--for and against--is one reason why there has been no genuinely comprehensive modern account of his musical dramas until now. Dieter Borchmeyer's book is the first to present an overall picture of these musical dramas from the standpoint of literary and theatrical history. It extends from the composer's early works--still largely ignored--to the Ring Cycle and Parsifal, and includes Wagner's unfinished works and operas he never set to music. Through lively prose, we come to see Wagner as a librettist--and as a man of letters--rather than primarily as musical composer. Borchmeyer uncovers a vast field of cultural and historical cross-references in Wagner's works. In the first part of the book, he sets out in search of the various archetypal scenes, opening up the composer's dramatic workshop to the reader. He covers all of Wagner's operas, from early juvenilia to the canonical later works. The second part examines Wagner in relation to political figures including King Ludwig II and Bismarck, and, importantly, in light of critical reactions by literary giants--Thomas Mann, whom Borchmeyer calls "a guiding light in this exploration of the fields that Wagner tilled," and Nietzsche, whose appeal to "philology" is a key source of inspiration in attempts to grapple with Wagner's works. For more than twenty years, Borchmeyer has placed his scholarship at the service of the famed Bayreuth Festival. With this volume, he gives us a summation of decades of engagement with the phenomenon of Wagner and, at the same time, the result of an abiding critical passion for his works.

Nietzsche, Wagner and the Philosophy of Pessimism

Nietzsche, Wagner and the Philosophy of Pessimism PDF Author: Roger Hollinrake
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135175225
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Nietzsche’s relationship with Wagner has long been a source of controversy and has given rise to a number of important studies, including this major breakthrough in Nietzsche scholarship, first published in 1982. In this work Hollinrake contends that the nature and extent of the anti-Wagnerian pastiche and polemic in Thus Spake Zarathustra is arguably the most important factor in the association between the two. Thus Wagner, as the purveyor of a particular brand of Schopenhauerian pessimism, is here revealed as one of the principle sources – and targets – of Zarathustra. Whilst addressed primarily to students of German Literature, this book will also be of interest to musicians, philosophers and students of the history of culture and ideas.

The Religious Revolution

The Religious Revolution PDF Author: Dominic Green
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374708754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
"An incisive study of the Western world’s shift from institutional religion to more personal beliefs in the second half of the 19th century . . . This is intellectual history at its most comprehensive and convincing." —Publishers Weekly, starred review The late nineteenth century was an age of grand ideas and great expectations fueled by rapid scientific and technological innovation. In Europe, the ancient authority of church and crown was overthrown for the volatile gambles of democracy and the capitalist market. If it was an age that claimed to liberate women, slaves, and serfs, it also harnessed children to its factories and subjected entire peoples to its empires. Amid this tumult, another sea change was underway: the religious revolution. In The Religious Revolution, Dominic Green charts this profound cultural and political shift, taking us on a whirlwind journey through the lives and ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman; of Éliphas Lévi and Helena Blavatsky; of Wagner and Nietzsche; of Marx, Darwin, and Gandhi. Challenged by the industrialization, globalization, and political unrest of their times, these figures found themselves connecting with the religious impulse in surprising new ways, inspiring others to move away from the strictures of religion and toward the thrill and intimacy of spirituality. The modern era is often characterized as a time of increasing secularism, but in this trenchant new work, Green demonstrates how the foundations of modern society were laid as much by spirituality as by science or reason. The Religious Revolution is a narrative tour de force that sweeps across several continents and five of the most turbulent and formative decades in history. Threading together seemingly disparate intellectual trajectories, Green illuminates how philosophers, grifters, artists, scientists, and yogis shared in a global cultural moment, borrowing one another’s beliefs and making the world we know today.

Jewish Encounters with Buddhism in German Culture

Jewish Encounters with Buddhism in German Culture PDF Author: Sebastian Musch
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030274691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
In Germany at the turn of the century, Buddhism transformed from an obscure topic, of interest to only a few misfit scholars, into a cultural phenomenon. Many of the foremost authors of the period were profoundly influenced by this rapid rise of Buddhism—among them, some of the best-known names in the German-Jewish canon. Sebastian Musch excavates this neglected dimension of German-Jewish identity, drawing on philosophical treatises, novels, essays, diaries, and letters to trace the history of Jewish-Buddhist encounters up to the start of the Second World War. Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, Theodor Lessing, Jakob Wassermann, Walter Hasenclever, and Lion Feuchtwanger are featured alongside other, lesser known figures like Paul Cohen-Portheim and Walter Tausk. As Musch shows, when these thinkers wrote about Buddhism, they were also negotiating their own Jewishness.

Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought

Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought PDF Author: Eric S. Nelson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350002577
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Presenting a comprehensive portrayal of the reading of Chinese and Buddhist philosophy in early twentieth-century German thought, Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought examines the implications of these readings for contemporary issues in comparative and intercultural philosophy. Through a series of case studies from the late 19th-century and early 20th-century, Eric Nelson focuses on the reception and uses of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in German philosophy, covering figures as diverse as Buber, Heidegger, and Misch. He argues that the growing intertextuality between traditions cannot be appropriately interpreted through notions of exclusive identities, closed horizons, or unitary traditions. Providing an account of the context, motivations, and hermeneutical strategies of early twentieth-century European thinkers' interpretation of Asian philosophy, Nelson also throws new light on the question of the relation between Heidegger and Asian philosophy. Reflecting the growing interest in the possibility of intercultural and global philosophy, Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought opens up the possibility of a more inclusive intercultural conception of philosophy.

Buddha’s Life and Teaching

Buddha’s Life and Teaching PDF Author: Hermann Beckh
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1912230267
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
‘The book before us here is not some kind of dusty text or just another undergraduate-level introduction to Buddhism. It is nothing less than the still, clear, luminous centre of a hurricane...’ – Neil Franklin (from the Foreword) Although this classic text is more than one hundred years’ old, its accurate scholarship, detailed research and lucid presentation make it no less relevant today than when it was first published. In 1916, Hermann Beckh was one of a handful of leading European authorities on Buddhist texts, reading Tibetan, Sanskrit and Pali fluently. At the same time, he was a member of the Anthroposophical Society and its Esoteric Section. In consequence, Beckh’s seminal study on Buddhism has an entirely unique quality. It invites the reader to engage freely with the Buddhist Path, although in many ways re-expressed and renewed by Rudolf Steiner, whilst discovering its universal validity through the original texts. For the most part, Beckh allows these texts to speak for themselves, as eloquently now as ever. In the first section, Beckh presents Gautama Buddha’s life from legend and history. The second part of the book details the ‘general viewpoints’ of Buddhist teaching and the individual stages of the Buddhist Path, including meditation to ever higher levels. Both sections are expertly collated out of a wide knowledge of the primary sources. To this academic understanding, Beckh sheds new light on the subject from his own research, based on highly-trained meditation guided by Rudolf Steiner (with whom he carried out a long-lasting correspondence that has only recently been uncovered). Dr Katrin Binder has rendered the complete German text in a natural English idiom with great accuracy and professional insight, thereby making this timeless book available to English readers for the first time in a lucid translation. New notes and an updated bibliography are also featured.

Culture and Identity

Culture and Identity PDF Author: J. Thomas Rimer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140086125X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
This collection of essays represents the first attempt in this country to examine systematically the nature and development of modern Japanese self-consciousness as expressed through culture. The essays reveal eloquently the extent to which important aspects of Japanese intellectual life in the early twentieth century were inspired by European models of cultural criticism, ranging from Kant and Hegel to Nietzsche, Marx, Durkheim, and Bergson. Implicitly comparative, this collection raises the question whether "late" industrialization and related processes call forth cultural convergence (as between "East" and "West") or whether a living culture transforms these processes and makes one nation's experience significantly different from that of others. Together with the editor, the contributors include Brett de Bary, Thomas W. Burkman, H. D. Harootunian, Germaine A. Hoston, Nozomu Kawamura, Stephen W. Kohl, William R. LaFleur, Hajimu Nakano, Donald Roden, Miriam Silverberg, Eugene Soviak, Jackie Stone, Shuji Takashina, and Makoto Ueda. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Buddhist Swastika and Hitler's Cross

The Buddhist Swastika and Hitler's Cross PDF Author: T. K. Nakagaki
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.
ISBN: 1611729335
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
A remarkable cross-cultural history that rescues the swastika, an ancient Buddhist symbol, from its deployment by the forces of hate. The swastika has been used for over three thousand years by billions of people in many cultures and religions—including Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism—as an auspicious symbol of the sun and good fortune. However, beginning with its hijacking and misappropriation by Nazi Germany, it has also been used, and continues to be used, as a symbol of hate in the Western World. Hitler's device is in fact a "hooked cross." Rev. Nakagaki's book explains how and why these symbols got confused, and offers a path to peace, understanding, and reconciliation. Please note: Photographs in the digital edition of the books are in color. Photographs in the print edition are in black and white.