Two Versions of Spinoza's Ethics Start a Classic Wisdom Book Series

Benedict Spinoza: Ethics, 292 pages, $20.00

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Moonrise Press has started a new book series of reprints of classic texts in English translation, entitled Classic Wisdom. The first volume in this series is Benedict Spinoza's Ethics. This is a reprint of a 19th century translation of "Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata" by Benedict de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677) first published in 1677. The  translation by William Hale White (1831-1913), published in 1883, was prepared for publication by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk.  The book is available in paperback and EPub ebook formats.

The book consists of five parts: I. Of God; II. Of The Nature and Origin of the Mind, III. Of The Origin and Nature of the Affects; IV. Of Human Bondage, or of the Strength of the Affects; And V. Of the Power of the Intellect, or Of Human Liberty.

Born in a Jewish-Portuguese family in Amsterdam in 1621, at 23, Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish community and is buried in a Christian Nieuwe Kerk, The Hague (he died at 44, in 1677). He was neither Jewish nor Christian in his views, and, from today’s perspective may be called one of the early Classics of Awakened Wisdom, aware of the intrinsic unity of the Universe with God, the Source of all.

A WORD OF THE PUBLISHER

The more things change, the more they stay the same. After taking a philosophy class way back in college and not caring one way or another for Spinoza whose geometric way of presenting his philosophical, religious, ethical, ontological and epistemological views did not appeal to me at all, I finally discovered his immensely significant, timeless wisdom and decided to share it by reprinting the Ethics in an 19th-century English translation by William Hale White, in convenient paperback and EBook formats. This is the first in our new reprint series, Classic Wisdom.

This wisdom is evident starting right in the first Part, on God: “PROP. XI. — God or substance consisting of infinite attributes, each one of which expresses eternal and infinite essence necessarily exists. PROP. XV. — Whatever is, is in God, and nothing can either be or be conceived without God.”

Thus, God by virtue of being infinite, cannot be outside of this world (transcendental), God has to be and is immanent, God is in everything that exists. Everything that exists is in God, i.e., Divine. This, of course, is a path straight to the modern understanding of the united Universe, permeated by the creative energy of its Source, the One Divine Being that is all in all. This of course, is not compatible with the dogmas and teachings of any temple or church that separate the One into Many, or cut-off the Divine Spirit from matter. What an amazing revolution, hidden in plain sight! To obfuscate things, Spinoza’s theories have been called “Philosophical Monism,” “Pantheistic” or “Rationalist” and engendering ideas that gave the birth to  Enlightenment.

Born in a Sephardic Jewish-Portuguese community in Amsterdam in 1621 (his ancestors excepted the Inquisition), he was expelled from the Jewish community at 23 years old, and is buried in the courtyard of a Christian Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague (he died at 44 years old in 1677). He was neither Jewish nor Christian in his views, and, from today’s perspective may be called one of the early Classics of Awakened Wisdom: the awakening is to the intrinsic unity of all that exist with God, the immortality of the human spirit, and the primacy of Love over all, Divine Light and Love guiding humans along their individual paths towards awakening, increased awareness and wisdom.

Philosophers love Spinoza for the elegance of his writings and the depth of his logical analysis of theorems and dogmas that he, time after time, proves absurd.  The book consists of five parts: I. Of God; II. Of The Nature and Origin of the Mind, III. Of The Origin and Nature of the Affects; IV. Of Human Bondage, or of the Strength of the Affects; and V. Of the Power of the Intellect, or Of Human Liberty.

Just like the ancient Gnostics, Pythagoras, Plotinus, Hermes Trismegistos ( many who wrote under his name), Giordano Bruno, and, to skip half a millennium, modern deep ecologists (Arne Dekke Eide Næss, and James Lovelock of the Gaia hypothesis), Spinoza found and shared the unified understanding of nature, humanity and divinity that dispels darkness, sorrows and doubts, while crowning the human being with the unperishable Divine Light that exists within. As he said: “The affect of Joy and its offspring increases the perfection of the mind and therefore is good; the affect of Sorrow and its offspring decreases the perfection of the mind and therefore is not good.” Thus, to seek Joy and intellectual Love that unites the seeker with the Divine is the ultimate goal of human life.

This idea reminds casual readers of the recently popular “The Secret” teaching millions about the power of  positive thinking, based on a premise that the “Universe” gives the individual an exact response to what that person thinks or feels like – the haters will be hated back and hurt, the lovers will be loved, the fearful –  scared, and  the joyous will have a lot more to en joy. Who knows how it really works, but there are many things worth doing less than reading Spinoza.

For convenience of those who did not grow up studying Latin, we added Arab numerals to the Propositions and other numbered lists. We also added more paragraph breaks to make the text easier to follow on the page. The  index, due to changed pagination, had to be redone, only the main entries were preserved, and additional items added. Finally, the title was changed to plural, Ethics, not Ethic as White had it, following the original.

Spinoza’s wisdom will reach you if you are patient and read this volume with a discerning mind.

Enjoy!

~ Maja Trochimczyk

Benedict Spinoza, Ethics: An Outline, edited by Maja Trochimczyk

156 pages, $12, paperback

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This is an abridged reprint in gender-neutral language of a 19th century translation of "Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata" by Benedict de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677) first published in 1677. The 1883 translation by William Hale White (1831-1913), was rendered gender-neutral by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. This second volume of Moonrise Press's Classic Wisdom Book Series, consists of five parts: I. Of God; II. Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind, III. Of the Origin and Nature of the Affects; IV. Of Human Bondage, or of the Strength of the Affects. And V. Of The Power of the Intellect, or Of Human Liberty.

The Editor writes about the purpose of the shortened version as follows:

"For convenience of those who did not grow up studying Latin, we added Arab numerals to the Propositions and other numbered lists. We also added more paragraph breaks to make the text easier to follow on the page. The  index, due to changed pagination, had to be redone, only the main entries were preserved, and additional items added. Finally, the title was changed to plural, Ethics, not Ethic as White had it, following the original. Spinoza’s wisdom will reach you if you are patient and read this volume with a discerning mind. In this abbreviated version, we took out most of the scholastic arguments about the nature and attributes of God, substances, and the like. Instead, we kept all the conclusions and lessons about ethical living, affection, and virtues, because of their practical applications."

"For practical use as a guide to ethical life, the demonstrations and arguments why the Propositions are true are not needed. But it is important to easily number and find them, as well as to be able to read it and apply to a personal life, whether the reader is a man or a woman. In accordance with the principles of gender-neutral language that does not discriminate against women, the use of “man/men” was replaced with “human being,” “person” and “people” throughout. Similarly, since God in Spinoza’s concept is not a male, the pronouns He and His have been replaced throughout by God and God’s respectively. This infinite, eternal Being that is immanent in the Universe is the same Being as that known in Awakened circles as Father-Mother-God, or Source, or the One. The use of just the word “God” is more convenient in this case."

Meditations at Bolton Hall in Tujunga, 7/22/2012

On July 22, 2012, at Bolton Hall Museum, the first reading from "Meditations on Divine Names" featured poets Joe DeCenzo, Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk, the anthology's editor.

The readers of poems also included Angela Lee and Mira Mataric. Poets presented their own work as well as selected poems by others: Czeslaw Milosz, Sharon Chmielarz,  Marian Kaplun Shapiro, John Z. Guzlowski, Just Kibbe, Rick Lupert, Susan Rogers, Leonard Kress, Odarka Polanskyj Sprocket, Sonya Sabanac, and Barry Spacks.



A photo album from this even is available on Picasa Web Album: Meditations at Bolton Hall.
 

Meditations on Divine Names - A Multi-Faith Anthology

Available on Amazon.com, lulu.com and other book sellers:

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From the Preface by Maja Trochimczyk: 

The anthology of poetry on religious and spiritual themes, Meditations on Divine Names, has been published as a print book and an e-book. The 140 poems by 64 poets are organized into the following sections: Naming, Names, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, He, She, Being, Loving.

This framework avoids the conventional divisions into Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, or Light and Darkness, or Yahweh, Allah, and Christ, or Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Similarly, there is no separation of poems into different religious denominations and spiritual traditions. Different themes are intertwined in each poem and their order follows thematic threads within each section - bread, sunlight, birth, mothering...

The mystery can be approached from many directions. The heart of the visible matter is invisible. Science makes inroads into understanding how matter works, but the more you read about science - especially at the outer ends of the spectrum, quantum physics and cosmology - the more it sounds like religion. This last word, oft maligned and distorted into fanaticism and pride-based hatred, actually focuses on connections between people, between humans and the divine. The word "religion" stems from a Latin root variously translated as "respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods," or "obligation, the bond between man and the gods"). St. Augustine connected this word to "re-reconnecting" ("re-ligare") and contemporary theologians emphasize the connectivity inherent in religion.

Connectivity to what? Typically, religions connect people into groups sharing the same beliefs, their dogmas become immutable and a source of hatred. Remember the wars between the Protestant and Catholics in Ireland? During Reformation when the whole European continent was in flux? But religions, at their core, also connect people with the Ultimate Source of Life, the Higher Being, the Absolute, the One and here, despite the divisiveness of language, similarities begin to emerge. The "divine" of the anthology's title is a word introduced into English in the 14th century and it stems from the Latin "divus" or "god." "Divine" pertains to, or relates directly to "deity" - and the Romans had many different gods, who ruled over various spheres of existence.

The poets belong to different religions or religious denominations. They see the manifestations of the divine in many aspects of life - personal prayer, religious ceremonies, singing of psalms, family relationships, nature, sun, sky, bread making, loving, and love making. They admire the colors of the sky and the liquid nourishment of water. The clarity of mountain air and the gentleness of human touch. From the four letters of YHWH to Lada or Pele, the anthology catalogs some unusual divine names. Poets reflect on the act of naming, the facts of knowing and unknowing of our God(s). They give testimony to their hopes and beliefs, and share what they find beautiful and inspirational, or, sometimes, disturbing. There is darkness around and death, but the poets look for ways to ascend above, to illumination.

The following poets are represented: MJ Adams, Nicholas Alexander, Catherine Auman, Jon B. , Marcielle Brandler, Sharon Chmielarz, Joe Decenzo, Carol Dorf, Kate Hallett Dayton, Carl Estrin, Amy Falvey, Elsa S. Frausto, Bill Gillard, Michael Graber, John Guzlowski, Peter J. Harris, Carl Hitchens, Marlene Hitt, G. Bennett Humphrey, Oriana Ivy, Mitch James, Roy Jacobstein, Lois P. Jones, James Levin, Terranda King, Alexis Krasilovsky, Leonard Kress, Sharmagne Leland-St. John, Rick Lupert, Radomir Wojtech Luza, Czesław Miłosz, Rajiv Mohabir, Geoshino Ollscia, Shirley Dunn Perry, Nils Peterson, Lenora Popa, Kate Robinson, Susan Rogers, Mary Kay Rummel, Nicholas Samaras, Peter Shefler, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Dorothy Skiles, Lee M. Sloca, J.D. Smith, Barry Spacks, Odarka Polanskyj Stockert, Charles A. Swanson, Taoli-Ambika Talwar, Judith Terzi, Maja Trochimczyk, Ann Tweedy, Davi Walders, Martin Willitts Jr., and Kathabela Wilson.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

o        NAMING                                                                                              (3)

o        James Levin – Searching for the Nameless Name                           (4)

o        Nicolas Samaras – The Unpronouncable Psalm                            (6)

o        Jon B. – Delineation                                                                              (7)

o        Marlene Hitt – If I Know Your Name                                               (8)

o        G. Bennett Humphrey – Labeling the Ultimate

Mystery of Being                                                                   (9)

o        Nicholas Alexander – The Name of God                                      (10)

o        Amy Falvey – The Color Blue                                                          (11)

o        Shirley Dunn Perry – Reciting the Names of God                       (12)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Dead Sea Alive                                            (13)

o        Leonard Kress – Epistemology 101                                               (14)

o        Nicolas Samaras – Naming                                                            (15)

o        Czesław Miłosz – Sanctificetur                                                      (16)

o        NAMES                                                                                               (17)

o        Ann Tweedy – First Letter to G/g                                                    (18)

o        Ken Goodman – Thou                                                                      (19)

o        John Z. Guzlowski – gods                                                               (20)

I.         My God is God                                                                       (20)

II.       Your God is the Devil                                                           (21)

o        Rajiv Mohabir – radha-krishna                                                       (22)

o        Susan Rogers – What Trees Say                                                     (23)

o        Nils Peterson – Philosophy of Life, 201                                        (25)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Omniscient                                                   (26)

o        Sharon Chmielarz – Yahwe’s First Portrait                                 (27)

o        Marian Kaplun Shapiro – YHWH                                                (28)

o        Sharon Chmielarz – Yahweh the School Teacher                         (29)

o        Lois P. Jones – Shema                                                                        (30)

o        Oriana Ivy – The Twenty-Second Name of God                            (31)

o        Oriana Ivy – The Forty-First Name of God                                    (33)

o        J.D. Smith – The Hundredth Name of God                                     (35)

o        Taoli-Ambika Talwar – Syllabic Bloodlines                                (36)

o        EARTH                                                                                                (39)

o        Terranda King – Ahh                                                                        (40)

o        JB Mulligan – Hymn                                                                         (41)

o        Dale Sprowl – Gift of the Sea                                                           (42)

o        MJ Adams – Be Still                                                                          (43)

o        Mitch James – God in the Midwest                                                 (44)

o        Marlene Hitt – Prayer of Thanks                                                    (46)

o        Joe DeCenzo – With Gratitude                                                        (47)

o        Just Kibbe – Forgiveness Is Not Cheap                                           (48)

o        Leonard Kress – Degrees                                                                  (49)

o        Carol Dorf – Bitter Honey                                                                 (50)

o        Rick Lupert – The Eating of the Jews                                              (51)

o        Charles A. Swanson – I Am the Bread                                          (52)

o        Nils Peterson – Resemblances                                                          (53)

o        Geoschino Ollscia – Appendages of Infinity                                (54)

o        Dorothy Skiles – Morning Prayers                                                 (56)

o        Roy Jacobstein – If They Don’t Have Ritalin in Heaven,            (57)

o        Bill Gillard – God the Father                                                            (60)

o        Nils Peterson – Creation                                                                   (61)

o        Kathabela Wilson – In Jacumba Mountains                                  (62)

o        Susan Rogers – A Mother’s Prayer                                                 (63)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – On Seeing Oak Leaves in Sunlight            (65)

o        Taoli-Ambika Talwar – Opening the Doorway

Of the Universe                                                                    (67)

o        WATER                                                                                                (69)

o        Barry Spacks – A Vision                                                                  (70)

o        Sharon Chmielarz – The Seven Days of Post-Partum                (71)

o        Carol Dorf – Rachamim: Cards from a Kabbalah Deck                (72)

o        Susan Lyttek – Hunab Ku                                                                 (73)

o        Carl Estrin – Choral Prelude                                                            (74)

o        Sharmagne Leland-St.John  – Rain                                               (75)

o        Charles E. Swanson – Evolution                                                   (77)

o        Marcielle Brandler – At the Monastery                                         (79)

o        Marlene Hitt – Saint Andrews in the Rain                                    (81)

o        Dale Sprowl – Winter Season                                                          (82)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Manna                                                           (83)

o        Kate Robinson – A True Human Emerges                                     (84)

o        Mary Kay Rummel – The Poet Goes Fishing                                (85)

o        JB Mulligan – the smile of god                                                         (86)

o        AIR                                                                                                        (87)

o        Elsa Frausto – Soon a Year                                                               (88)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Playful (Via Negativa)                               (89)

o        Rajiv Mohabir - tempest of vrindavan:

a folksong for krishna                                                          (90)

o        Millicent Borges Accardi – Air Bath                                             (91)

o        Dale Sprowl – Mystic Mists of Roturua                                        (93)

o        Barry Spacks – Inner Weather                                                         (94)

o        Barry Ira Geller – Doorway to the Sky                                           (95)

o        Nicholas Alexander – Avatar                                                        (96)

o        Shirley Dunn Perry – Great Spirit                                                 (97)

o        Jon B. – Silence also Swings                                                              (98)

o        FIRE                                                                                                      (99)

o        Martin Willitts, Jr. – When the Angels Speak the Truth              (100)

o        Kate Hallett Dayton – On Fire                                                        (101)

o        Catherine Auman – Bliss Sadhana                                                (102)

o        Odarka Polanskyj Stockert – Fire Twirler                                   (103)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Incandescent (Via Positiva)                        (104)

o        Martin Willitts, Jr. – You Set Me into Fire                                     (105)

o        Michael Graber – Burning                                                               (106)

o        Carl Hitchens – Breath of Fire                                                         (107)

o        Peter Shefler – The Ineffable Fire                                                     (108)

o        MJ Adams – Pele’s Reply                                                                 (110)

o        HE                                                                                                          (111)

o        Lenora Popa – Horus                                                                        (112)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Buddha with Swans                                    (113)

o        Joe DeCenzo – Faith                                                                          (114)

o        Barry Spacks – My Mentor                                                              (115)

o        Judith Terzi – The Man in the Light Green Shirt                          (116)

o        Radomir Voytech Luza – Augustine                                             (118)

o        Dale Sprowl – Dreaming in Gethsemane                                       (120)

o        Thom Tammaro – Wide Awake in Rome                                       (122)

o        Bill Gillard – If You Love Jesus, and if Heaven’s Got

a Barbed Wire Fence                                                            (123)

o        Radomir Voytech Luza – the second john paul                           (124)

o        Oriana Ivy – Tu Es Petrus                                                                (126)

o        Czesław Miłosz – * * *                                                                     (128)

o        SHE                                                                                                      (129)

o        Dorothy Skiles – I Never Saw Anything Like It                           (130)

o        Marlene Hitt – Mary, Mother of God                                             (132)

o        Roy Jacobstein – Mother Theresa and I

Are Upgraded To First Class                                             (133)

o        Lee M. Sloca – 4 Musings for A-Muse(ment)                                (134)

o        Kate Robinson – Deva                                                                      (136)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – The Hands of Mercy                                    (137)

o        Oriana Ivy – Persephone’s Kitchen                                                 (138)

o        Odarka Polanskyj Stockert – Mami Wata                                    (139)

o        Davi Walders – The Shekinah                                                         (140)

o        Alexis Krasilovsky – Shekinah                                                       (142)

o        Lenora Popa – Goddess Light                                                          (143)

o        Shirley Dunn Perry – Goddess                                                        (144)

o        Sharon Chmielarz – And She Said, Let There Be Light              (145)

o        BEING                                                                                                 (147)

o        Martin Willitts, Jr. – Angel of Mercy                                             (148)

o        Roy Jacobstein – Heaven                                                                  (149)

o        Oriana Ivy – Lilacs for Persephone                                                  (150)

o        Susan Rogers – What Does the Sky Know?                                  (151)

o        MJ Adams – Solstice                                                                          (152)

o        Charles A. Swanson – The Dip of the Darting Swallow            (153)

o        Peter J. Harris – Dap                                                                         (154)

o        Dale Sprowl – Someone to Watch over Me                                    (155)

o        Martin Willitts, Jr. – In the Beginning we Tumble

into Light                                                                              (156)

o        Oriana Ivy – Let There Be Light                                                       (157)

o        Susan Rogers – A Seated Buddha                                                   (159)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – Convergence                                                 (160)

o        Elsa Frausto – Sometimes…                                                             (162)

o        Nicholas Alexander – To Be a God                                               (163)

o        Barry Ira Geller – Invocation of the Name                                     (164)

o        Taoli-Ambika Talwar – Open Palms                                            (165)

o        Lois P. Jones – To Sail                                                                       (168)

o        Nils Peterson – Words and Things                                                 (169)

o        Rick Lupert – Conversation with God                                            (170)

o        LOVING                                                                                             (171)

o        Les Silverman – Love a Rock                                                           (172)

o        Mary Kay Rummel – Love                                                               (173)

o        Taoli-Ambika Talwar – A Prayer for All Time                           (175)

o        Thom Tammaro – The Lover Within                                             (177)

o        Les Silverman – To Proclaim Beauty Almost                                (178)

o        Odarka Polanskyj Stockert – I, Lada                                             (179)

o        Michael Graber – This is a Test                                                      (180)

o        Charles A. Swanson – “See how he loved him!”                         (181)

o        Rajiv Mohabir – Unknown in Your Own House                          (182)

o        Michael Graber – Breaking Bread                                                  (183)

o        Susan Rogers – The Light that Finds                                             (184)

o        Maja Trochimczyk – The Great God Experiment                        (185)