ORPHEUS, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus, etc., are not the same as a Locke, a Hume or a Fichte or such, even though the latter ones are very stimulating at the mental-conceptual level. To say that the Philosophy of Pythagoras, Parmenides, or Plato belongs to the Philosophia Perennis, precisely because it is not individual and temporal, by no means detracts from the authors' personality. On the contrary, it means recognizing them as mediators, as divine transmitters, or what is known in the East, as Avat r.The Mysteries instituted by Orpheus represent different states of being. RAPHAEL, the Author of this book, is fully aware to have only touched on the problem of the Sacred Mysteries, just as he has only touched on the events that characterized the life of Orpheus. But human beings, as such, need to acknowledge in themselves a double element: the one titanic (to use Orphic terms) and the other divine. It is up to one's own consciousness to determine whether one wants to be a single whole with the divine or with the titanic.

The Source of Life is presented in dialogue form. With an ability akin to Socrates' maieutic art, Raphael forces the inquirer to delve into himself until he finds what he was looking for. R. Human beings wander in the forest of becoming, riddled with doubt, with conflict and a sense of incompleteness, and the true purpose of existence escapes them. What might this purpose be? Q. That of comprehending oneself, I think. R. What do we mean by comprehension? Does comprehending not mean to take something within oneself, to experience its conceptual contents, to penetrate the essence of the thing? Therefore, if we comprehend our true Essence, we cannot but be that Essence in every place, time and causality. Q. This act of self-comprehension requires time, withdrawal from the world and solitude. I go to work every day and I find myself in this frantic world, how can I reach such a favourable state? R. To comprehend ourselves must we really retire into the jungle or to the top of a mountain? ....

The Upaniṣads are an integral part of Vedas, they represent a branch of the primordial Tradition and constitute the essence of Vedanta itself. The expression Vedanta (end of the Vedas) should be understood in the double meaning of 'conclusion', as the Upaniṣads are the last part of the Vedic texts, and of 'purpose', because what is being taught is the ultimate goal of Traditional Knowledge.
The central theme of the Upanisads is the quest for the Ultimate Reality, they therefore represent Metaphysics in its real sense. This type of research is not an end to itself, for the Upaniṣads represent ways of contact and tools of realization; to this end they indicate a concise and complete sequence that concedes little or nothing to the analytical mind.
The five Upanisads presented in this text - Isa, Kaivalya, Sarvasāra, Amrtabindu, and Atharvasira - are commented extensively by Raphael. In his commentary, Raphael frames and broadens all the various points in the context of the traditional Advaita (Non-duality) teaching, and thus provides the western mind with the key to the comprehension of their symbolic, figurative, and analogical language.

The Bhagavadgita belongs to the VI book of the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic attributed to the legendary Vyasa. It is a poetic and philosophical work which in time is placed in the V century B.C. Together with the Brahmas tra and the classical Upanisads it constitutes the Prasthanatraya, the Threefold Science of Vedanta. The Bhagavadgita came to light in a moment of both contrasts and new inner requirements of the Indian people. It contributed to the vitality of the upanisadic flame of Knowledge, while it pacified the prevailing philosophical and spiritual debates of the times. The Gita clarified the unity of Truth in its multifarious aspects, and in so doing it provided everybody, in a wise and enlightened way, the opportunity to follow without doctrinal conflicts the most appropriate path for everyone. In the Preface to the book, Raphael indicates four points which are essential to the comprehension of the text in the appropriate dimension: - Traditional comprehension of the concept of the Divine. - Comprehension of the moment and event that determined the birth of the Gita. - Traditional comprehension of the social orders. - Comprehension of the right approach to the various ways leading to the Divine. The value of the Gita is paramount, if one just thinks that it hinges on action, which is at the base of life and which cannot be avoided or relinquished by anyone, as it reveals, in a world permeated with movement and conflict, the secret of action without action. Under this perspective it can be of fundamental importance to the Westerners who are essentially more in favor of action than of contemplation.For one who is on the plane of action, not to become enslaved and dominated by activism, it is necessary to comprehend perfect acting devoid of the imprisoning attachment-desire, and to transcend individual qualifications. In fact, where the individual separating ego rules, there also are revealed its aberrant attributes which cause conflict and pain; and, sooner or later, the individual who places itself in such a condition cannot but find, like Arjuna, its battlefield (kuruksetra) or the field of discipline and energetic re-education (tapahksetra). Raphael's commentary unfolds along a psychological, philosophical and initiatory thread with specific reference to the ksatriya (the lawmakers and warriors social order) initiation. Raphael points out that under certain aspects we are all ksatriyas, because we are all engaged in a struggle, at times unequal, between knowledge-vidya and ignorance-avidya. The Bhagavadgita, as all authentic traditional teachings, is not indicating quietistic or finalistic attitudes, nor possible flights, but it nails us down to our responsibilities (Forced by karma - inherent in your nature - despite your will, one day you will do that which, being now at a loss, you refuse to do, XVIII, 60) and to our unavoidable duty-dharma: that of comprehending, transforming and transcending ourselves.

Tat tvam asi (That thou art) is the most profound message of the Upanisads and constitutes the essence and the synthesis of the Advaita Vedanta and Asparsa Yoga teaching:

'That, which is infinitely subtle, is the essence of all this universe]. That is the Reality. That is the Self and That thou art, Svetaketu - Please, Venerable Sir, instruct me still further - So be it, my dear - said he. (Chandogya Upanisad, VI, XIV, 3).

In this book a realizative dialogue takes place between Antonio, a seeker of the ultimate Truth, and Raphael, an asparsin. Antonio has participated in every possible kind of experience without finding fulfilment, or any solution to his problems. The way indicated by Raphael, at one with Tradition, teaches that being, in its essence, is nothing but the Absolute. Conflict, suffering, opposition and violence exist because one's attention is directed to the outside rather than within, where one's own real nature lies, which is Completeness.

In 'The Science of Love' RAPHAEL takes into consideration the human being in its totality as constituted therefore by body, Soul and Spirit, and examines Love as that powerful unifying impulse, which transmits the grace of joy, flooding and involving all it comes into contact with.

As DANTE himself said, love '... moves the sun and the other stars.' And Raphael states: ...the miracle of Love allows growth, redemption and the expansion of consciousness to Universal dimensions.
In present-day culture the word love' is taken primarily to indicate sex, and, even when speaking of feelings, they are always qualified in terms of sexual elements. Love is seen as fundamentally functional to the male-female polar sphere rather than to the man-woman aspect, or to that of the person having a body, a psyche and also a soul.

If the five senses appreciate the beauty of the sensible world, in the journey leading towards the Intellect of Love, «for people who want to live in a beautiful way, says PLATO, what must guide them for their entire lives is not kinship, honors, riches or anything else, as none of these can inspire in such a beautiful way as Love .
It is under this light that Raphael can say that: ...the miracle of Love allows growth, redemption and the expansion of consciousness to Universal dimensions.

Of special interest is the presentation of the polarities existing not only between idividuals but operating within the individual itself. Specific and revealing reference is made to the energy centers or cakra contemplated by the Yoga.

PLATO is an exponent in the West of the ancient Tradition that goes back to Orpheus, and he is regarded as the father of Western Philosophy. In the study of Plato's thought there have been various interpretations. These can be ascribed to two fundamental approaches: one focusing on Plato's writing, the other on the oral essence of Plato's teaching. In this book, going beyond these two approaches, RAPHAEL offers an introduction to Plato's thought aimed at 'realizing' Plato's teaching about being a real philosopher, one who sees the Whole, while leaving the task of meditating on Plato's texts to the reader. Raphael also draws a comparison between Plato and Sankara, the codifier of Advaita Vedanta, suggesting that there is only one universal Tradition of the Mysteries. Finally, he sheds light on how Plato's philosophy is meant to transform man and society. In this sense, approaching Plato's teaching with sacred humility and due aspiration will benefit the disciple who seeks realization.

This writing offers a series of dialogues between RAPHAEL and a group of people who are spured by a lack of satisfaction in living, and experience a need for inquiry.

It is often believed that the human being is none other than history and temporality, and therefore that the very reality of life is simply time-history-becoming.
To hold that all is relative, becoming and duality, and to deny the existence of a constant is a position that leads to a series of philosophical lacks, deficiencies and contradictions that are refelcted in our existence.
Thus a metaphysical vision is called for, a firm position of consciousness rooted in the knowledge of non-duality (Advaita), which implies emerging from the perspective of time, space and cause.

In these dialogues, Raphael touches on topics such as Sensorial Materialism, Philosophy of Being, Transformation of Consciousness and Asparśavāda (the path without supports). These topics are developed in the light of a specific kind of Comprehension that is devoid of contradiction and opposition and is therefore capable of offering each individual a possible realization corresponding to his or hers particular state of consciousness.

This book is not an essay on the Qabbalah nor a historical study on its origins, but a synthetic presentation in the form of sutra-aphorisms in order to be able to comprehend and realize its teaching. The expression 'Ehjeh 'Aser 'Ehjeh, which means I am That I am or Being is Being, represents the knowledge by identity. Therefore the Qabbalah, like any other traditional doctrine, does not constitute a simple learned knowledge but life experience.

The Hebrew term Qabbalah, which is equivalent to the the word Mas rah, means reception or transmission, and represents the esoteric part of the Old Testament. This means that the Old Testament, besides having an external and exoteric function, has also a deeper and significant function which is internal and esoteric.

The symbol of the Qabbalah is the Sephirothic Tree in which are are summed up the indefinite expressive possibilities (Sephiroth) of the micro and macrocosm, beyond which there is the sphere of Ain Soph Aur (Absolute) which corresponds to the One-without-a-second (advaita), the unqualified Brahman (nirguna) of the Vedanta doctrine.

In view of the fact that the Qabbalah represents a complete teaching, above all RAPHAEL brings to light its metaphysical sphere (Ain Soph Aur) and the pathway taking to it: the Pathway of Fire. That is the Pathway that each disciple, to whatever branch he may belong to, must travel in order to realize the identity with his own Essence.

What 'Beyond the Illusion of the ego' suggests is an operational synthesis that may be taken as the basic scheme for any possible realizative Way. But what is a realizative Way, if not one that unveils the Fullness and Knowledge of oneself? Yoga speaks of seven centers of consciousness that express energy-fire-light. Some of these have to be awakened so that the energy-fire may rise along a specific line and lead the consciousness to the universal dimension. Undoubtedly, this implies an overturning of values, towards the unveiling of marvelous potentialities, the prerogative of the human soul.

When an aspirant is stimulated to undertake the Way leading to the realization of the Self, when he or she is no longer interested in the multitude of books available on the most varied subjects and has ceased talking haphazardly of spiritual things, his consciousness demands of him a more operative and decisive action, aimed at solving his restless yearnings. At this point, from a vague wandering, a searching here and there, he will move on to the concrete application of his s dhan (realizative ascesis) and to the choice of a Path that is most congenial to his psychological state.

Non-dualism, dualism, monism, the Real and the unreal, Parmenides and his vision, Advaita Vedanta, metaphysical Realization: these are just some of the topics covered by Raphael in a series of writings couched in the form of questions and answers and gathered together in this volume. It constitutes a valid means of approach to the most important issues ever discussed by philosophers and seekers of the truth: Being and non-being, the One and the many, the Absolute and the relative.

This Pathway of Non-Duality (Advaitavada) provides an answer to the apparently rational doubts and contradictions that are expressed both in the realm of philosophy and in the realm of science, which focuses nowadays on discovering a constant or law which will serve as the foundation for every branch of scientific knowledge.

Having realized the Unity of the Tradition which considers the Whole (as Plato would say), Raphael expresses himself with a conceptual methodology well suited to the receptivity of the modern mind. He enables his readers to deepen their understanding, at the conscious as well as the conceptual level, of what may be described as the most difficult metaphysical visions. Having traversed the 'Path without support or relationship' (Asparsavada), he brings into the light of knowledge the fundamental realities of the most daring pathways to realization ever propounded by the greatest thinkers and philosophers of both East and West.

The 'Path of non-generation' (Ajativada), as expounded by Gauḍapada, makes it clear that the supreme Being is pure actuality, which excludes all multiplicity, all duality, and all ontological unity, as well as all transition from potentiality to actuality. In the text, this view is compared to that of Parmenides, for whom Being is and does not become: it is unity and actuality, everlasting and not subject to birth (ajati) or death.

Advaita Vedanta (Non-duality), as presented by Sankara, envisages a Unity beyond the realm of mathematics, a 'Not-two' which does not grow and which is without any relationship (asparsa). This metaphysical, non-dual Unity may be compared to the One Good or the Supreme Good of Plato and to the One of Plotinus.

The text makes references both to the Upaniṣads and to the most illuminating passages from those Philosophers who have the closest links with the initiatory Tradition of the Sacred Mysteries in ancient Greece.

From Orpheus to Pythagoras, from Plato to Plotinus, the vision of the metaphysical unity has always been reflected upon and transmitted. Since these teachings engage the very consciousness of our being, we may speak of a Western metaphysics of realization, and in this volume Raphael accentuates and enlivens this ever-present Philosophia Perennis and encourages us to actually realize it.

First published in 1978 in its ltalian as La Filosofia dell'Essere, 'The Philosophy of Being', and later as Quale Democrazia?, 'What Kind of Democracy?', this work by Raphael now has an importance and topicality that are remarkably relevant to the particular world-situation facing humanity today.
This revised version is addressed to those readers who are looking for a socio-political life-style inspired by ethical principles which can provide peace and justice for all nations.
The sub-title 'A conception of life for coming out of the turmoil of individuai and social conflict' receives ample confirmation in the topics that are dealt with in the book.
During this discussion between Raphael and people of various ideological persuasions some fundamental questions arose. Can politics, as generally understood, solve the individual's problems? Are political ideologies, in their fundamental motivations, truly valid?
Can there be such a thing as a political Philosophy capable of meeting the individual's psycho-spiritual needs as well as the contingent, material needs of social politics?
Raphael's answers may help readers to clarify, for themselves first of all and then in the social field, what might be the basic principles from which norms and ethics should draw inspiration in order to effect 'a good Government'.

The 'Way of Fire' expounded by Raphael is that via operativa which leads to the kindling of the Fire, the mastering and directing of the Fire, and the solution of this Fire.

This process of realisation, in harmony with the initiatory Tradition, is made practical through three lines of work, suiting each person's qualifications:

1. Realisation according to Alchemy

(Section I, Chapter I)

2. Realisation according to the Love of Beauty

(Section I, Chapter II)

3. Realisation according to Traditional Metaphysics

(Section I, Chapter III).

What does Raphael understand by Alchemy?

He understands the transmutation of 'lead' into shining, radiant Gold, the transmutation of all our individualised psychosomatic powers into universal Powers. This involves a profound rectification and distillation of our individualised earthly fire, so that it becomes Fire which interpenetrates everything, illumines everything, and resolves everything.

The second chapter of the first section is devoted to Realisation according to the Love of Beauty. It is the way for those who are sensitive to 'transcendental Aesthetics' as Harmony/Accord with the intelligible world.

According to Coomaraswamy, Brahman, or the supreme Being, may be appreciated as Beauty, Truth, or Perfection, according to whether it is considered from the viewpoint of aesthetics, epistemology, or ethics.

Art is an expression of Beauty; science, in its broad meaning, of Truth; ethics, of Perfection; while the philosophia perennis, or traditional metaphysics, embraces all three. This shows that these three expressions are nothing but a unity: Beauty contains Truth and Perfection; Truth contains Beauty and Perfection; and Perfection cannot but contain Beauty and Truth.

The third chapter is devoted to the 'metaphysical Way'. It is useful for all who, putting to one side the limited discursive mind, wish to enter the domain of pure Intellectuality (nóesis). In this dimension the two previous roads merge, because all quantities (number) and all qualities (tones) resolve themselves in the One-without-a-second.

The chapters of the second Section complement and assist the three chapters of the first section, touching on specific points of guidance for spiritual discipline/ascesis. For example, the chapter devoted to 'Superimposition' is relevant and complementary to the third chapter of the first section. In the same way, 'Desirelessness', 'The empirical ego', and so on, complement the first chapter, while others assist all three chapters.