Lost Masters: The Yoga of the Ancient Greeks Review

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(More customer reviews)Linda Johnsen's book on "Greek Sages" is almost too good to be true. There are, in fact, lot's of good books to read about Greek philosophy that more or less accurately convey its spiritual content - but most of those books are fairly or even extremely demanding of the reader. Three good examples of what I'm talking about are Pierre Hadot's "What is Ancient Philosophy?", Robert Lamberton's "Homer the Theologian" and Gregory Shaw's "Theury and the Soul." Those just aren't books that I can recommend to most of my friends - not because my friends are stupid, but because to tackle those books you have to already have a pretty high level of interest and motivation - which most people don't have when it comes to the "boring" topic of Greek philosophy. But Johnsen has a Goddess-given gift for not only communicating her infectious enthusiasm, but also for making things as simple as possible - but no simpler (as Einstein advised).
Reading "Lost Masters" is like "taking the red pill" in the Matrix - the veil isn't just lifted - it is rent in two and you see what was there all along, but which had been invisible before. The artificial barrier between "East" and "West" dissolves and you realize that the great wisdom of the Pagan sages could never be extinguished, because it's origin was Divine.
You see, the great Sages of both Greece and India were both in touch with the same Divine source of Wisdom. And not only that, but there certainly were direct human contacts between "East" and "West". Johnsen does a good job of (1) drawing parallels between Greek philosophy/spirituality and that of India, (2) pointing out the historically well-documented fact that the Greeks looked to India and Egypt for spiritual inspiration and information, and (3) at the same time avoiding extravagant claims that might otherwise ruin a book like this.
The single most important thing about this book is that Johnsen emphasizes the importance of understanding the ancient sages of "Western" philosophy in their own terms. We can read what they wrote in their own words (or in translation, in the likely event that your Attic Greek and/or Latin are a little rusty) - and when we do we can hear the genuine voice of a Pagan spiritual tradition that has never truly died - in part because it was one piece of seamless whole that also included the Wisdom of India (which has survived intact, despite the best efforts of centuries of Muslim and Christian invaders).
Johnsen manages to cover an enormous amount of material in this book - but she does so without oversimplifications or "dumbing down." At the same time, this book should only be the beginning for anyone who is serious about taking up this path of the "Sages of Ancient Greece." I would strongly recommend going directly from "Lost Masters" to Pierre Hadot's book mentioned above - and then directly to Plato himself. But as Johnsen points out, you absolutely need "spiritual practice" as the basis for your path, so, of couse, you'd better be meditating, too! Hadot, by the way, also emphasizes the fundamental necessity of "practice".
There are actually a few minor things that I could complain about. I wish the book had an index!!!! Arrrrgh. And Johnsen is a little too easy on the Christians in the chapter "Extinguishing the Light" - and she is a little too positive (to put it mildly) about Gnosticism. She should re-read Plotinus' extensive critique of their dualistic version of Christianity. And she could have had a lot more to say about Roman/Latin sources of Pagan wisdom, like Virigil and Apuleius - who played a very important role in keeping Pagan spirituality alive even in the darkest of the Dark Ages. Despite these complaints I would give this book six stars if I could!!! This is possibly the most revolutionary book on Paganism since Starhawk's "Spiral Dance." Seriously.

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Famous Greek philosophers studying in India? Yoga ashrams in Europe 2,600 years ago? Meditation classes in ancient Rome? It sounds unbelievable, but Linda Johnsen has uncovered a treasure trove of historical evidence of spiritual practices in the ancient Western world paralleling the yoga tradition of India and the East. Even more amazingly, she brings to light long-neglected historical accounts by the ancient Greeks themselves describing their pilgrimages to India and their encounters with enlightened masters of the East.Rediscover the long-forgotten spiritual masters of Egypt and Europe, their astonishing lives, their schools of practice, and their teachings about higher states of consciousness and how to achieve them. Learn what they taught about karma, the afterlife, reincarnation, and God.

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