Imnurile Sacre

Imnurile sacre looks at the beliefs of Pitagora’s school. It also shows how its members lived. It includes the Golden Verses and Hierocles’ notes on them. It adds Porfir’s life of Pitagora, based on early accounts. These works deal with philosophy and faith. They suit readers drawn to ancient views of right and wrong. They also suit those keen to learn about spiritual practice. The book forms part of the Bibliotheca Orientalis series.

The texts show paths to union with the divine. These paths draw on both philosophy and faith. Porfir traces a line of teaching from Hermes Trismegistos onward. It runs through Egyptian priests and Greek poets. Greek thinkers on faith form part of it too. Followers of Pitagora and Plato carry the line on. It leads toward Alexandria and Proclus. These teachings use myths, clear arguments, symbols and verse.

The verses give rules for how to think and act. They seek inner peace, beauty and harmony in this life. They also seek a pure state close to the divine. They teach that the soul lives on after death. It then enters other creatures. Life comes round in cycles. All living things share the same basic nature. The noble and the beautiful rank above what is useful. Pleasure comes last. The texts urge self-control and sound judgment. They call for a fight against lack of knowledge. The book links these ideas to modern study of the mind. It also links them to ethics and whole views of life.

Hierocles’ notes are his sole work to survive in full. He looks at daily self-discipline and ways to become pure. He asks what sacred ethics teach and what knowledge is. He also explores how becoming divine can bring freedom. He uses plain words to join moral issues with faith. The extracts stress reason and practice as ways to ease distress. They describe a school that uses numbers and symbols. Yet that school does not reject reason.