Religious Research

The object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view of life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism, which is generally taken as Buddhism by occidentals, to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the spiritual life of modern Japan.

This is one of the most exhaustive studies of the Roma Religions we have come across. The western world has maintained the Roman government, Roman law, Roman architecture, Roman thought, Roman history --- but we seldom consider the effect on our current society of the Roman Religions.

MYTHOLOGY, since it began to receive a scientific handling at all, has been treated as a subordinate branch of history or of ethnology. The "science of religion," as we know it in the works of Burnouf, Muller, and others, is a comparison of systems of worship in their historic development. The deeper inquiry as to what in the mind of man gave birth to religion in any of its forms, what spirit breathed and is ever breathing life into these dry bones, this, the final and highest question of all, has had but passing or prejudiced attention. To its investigation this book is devoted.

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw a heightened consciousness towards spirituality that included much research and the search for truth. This was evident in the churches through the revival craze, Azusa Street Pentecostalism (which is a form of Spiritualism), Salvation Army, and the great orators and writers within Christianity.

What twelve-year-old boy wouldn't be fascinated by the likes of Harry Houdini, the greatest escape artist who ever lived and an unprecedented talent among magicians? He came along at the height of an international media frenzy where attention was being given for the first time to celebrities on both sides of the great Atlantic Ocean. He also was a master showman who knew the meaning of "hype" well over half a century before the word became part of our lexicon. Above all else, he was a master manipulator on and off the stage. To use a well-worn phrase . . . the spin stops here!

Understanding the factual and mystical reasons the square and compass hold in Masonic culture and ritual from one of the great Masonic teachers and writers.

The Bible, and the reading of the Bible as an instrument of instruction, may be said to have been begun on the sunrise of that day when Ezra unrolled the parchment scroll of the Law. It was a new thought that the Divine Will could be communicated by a dead literature as well as by a living voice.