Pythagoras - A Great Master
Introduction
See also the Glossary entry here for more bio-details.
Excerpts from the Introduction of the book "Divine Harmony: The Life and Teachings of Pythagoras" by J. Strohmeier and P. Westbrook
Of all the founders of the Western Tradition, Pythagoras is, perhaps, the least well known. This is unfortunate, for understanding Pythagoras and the role his thought plays in our lives is of more than historical interest. Appreciating the influence of this scientist, mystic and first philosopher is essential if we are to get beyond a superficial understanding of our intellectual origins.
Pythagoras stands at the fountainhead of our culture. The ideas he set in motion were, according to Daniel Boorstin, "among the most potent in modern history;' resulting in many of the pillars upon which the modern world is built. In particular, the existence of science becomes possible only when it is realized that subjective mathematical forms have a resonance with the behavior of the external world-a Pythagorean perception. And a world at peace - that is to say, in a nuclear age, the survival of our planet-is predicated upon ideas of universal brotherhood to which Pythagoras, while not the sole author, made an enormous contribution. Even the seeming remoteness of Pythagorean teaching helps us to understand that the current world view, while it seems destined to dominate the planet, is in many aspects fleeting and temporary and, like others before it, will pass.
A typical tendency of contemporary readers is to regard Pythagoras, at best, as an historical oddity whose ideas have little practical relevance; at worst, as William Irwin Thompson puts it, as "a shamanistic madman from the cults of the Near East!' Recent scholarship by such figures as Erich Neumann and Ken Wilber, however, proposes an evolutionary shape for the history of ideas following the unfoldment of internal archetypes of consciousness. Such a context suggests that Pythagoras' teachings have considerable relevance in understanding not only the sources of our culture, but also where it may be heading or may need to head. But to appreciate this we have to understand him in modern terms.
There is no suggestion that upon reading this book one should seek out a secret society, refrain from meat and beans and take up the study of geometry and the practice of indigenous mysteries. Preferably, the response might be to understand the importance of Pythagoras' teachings for his own age, and then to seek out the knowledge that can have a similarly profound effect upon our own.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, scientists were proclaiming that our understanding of the world was al- most complete. Only one or two small problems in physics remained to be solved. One of these problems had to do with black body radiation and was solved by Max Planck. His solution, however, formed the foundation for quantum mechanics, which was to sweep aside almost the whole edifice of basic assumptions in physics, and with it our understanding of the world.
A hundred years later we may be faced with a similar situation. The mechanistic viewpoint that emerged in the seventeenth century has almost completed its hegemony. This paradigm, as historian Hugh Kearney points out, stems from only one of three main systems of thought that flowed from Greek thought into the modern world, each of which has dominated our world view at different points in our history. The medieval world adopted the Aristotelian or organic approach to learning, while the Renaissance saw a revival of the magical world view which stems from Neoplatonism - thus from Plato and, ultimately, from Pythagoras. In spite of the dominance of mechanistic thought in the contemporary world, a residue of the magical tradition still survives in the form of several issues, solutions to which do not appear possible within the context of a purely mechanical view of the world.
We still do not understand, for example, what has been called "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the physical sciences." Similarly, while "we consume music in greater quantities than any previous generation. . . we no longer know how to read what stands written. We have forgotten the meaning of the characters. "The prime component of music, mathematics, and, indeed, of all other, phenomena, is consciousness. And we have recently discovered that we do not know what consciousness is.
Such problems may appear obscure, but there is evidence that resolving them is of practical value. In a study in 1968, a group called the Club of Rome set forth what they termed the "world problematique" - the complex of social, economic, and environmental problems that threaten to destroy our planet. In another landmark study in I972, a group of futurists at Stanford Research Institute arrived at a similar view, that while the current world view and the technologies it supports have created enormous benefits on one level, they have become obsolete d are now responsible for generating the world megaproblem. The authors of this study held out a slim but tangible hope for a solution. Their recommendation had nothing to do with economics, technology or politics. Rather, it hinged upon the regaining of what Aldous Huxley termed the "perennial philosophy;' an understanding of the relationship between ourselves and the world that lies at the root of every major religious or philosophical movement.
In this context, it is important to recognize that the scientific paradigm that dominates the contemporary world and provides the basis for its dominant institutions, has as one of its primary sources the life and work of Pythagoras, one of the most significant representatives of the perennial philosophy and a founder of the magical tradition. This spirit, which has contributed so much to our world view, must be recaptured if our civilization is to flourish. The choice is a clear one to many, and was summed up in a book title by the late Pythagorean and futurist Buckminster Fuller, Utopia or Oblivion . It is in the light of this situation that the authors have produced this volume.
Pythagoras' life and thought are not better known, in part, because of the difficulties involved in reconstructing them. Pythagoras represents a link in a chain of teachings with origins far back in antiquity, extending forward from Orpheus and Dionysus, through Plato and Plotinus to the modern world. He lived at a pivotal moment in this tradition, at a point where it crosses the threshold between mythology and history, and between oral and written transmission. Thus, he is both history and myth. As E. M. Cornford puts it he is, like his contemporary, the Buddha, "one of those divine men of whom history knows least because their lives were at once transfigured into legend."
Nevertheless, a number of early writers have left us bio- graphical information about Pythagoras, among them the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry (233-305 C.E.), a student of Plotinus; Porphyry's student Iamblichus (250-325 C.E.); and the Roman writer Diogenes Laertius, who also flourished during the third century of the common era. A number of Plato's dialogues directly reflect Pythagorean thought. Aristotle wrote specifically about it. And other early fragments of Pythagorean teaching still survive.
These are the texts the reader should consult to arrive at a picture of Pythagoras which is as close to the source as possible and reflect on his teachings. The end result is, like the story of creation in Plato's Timaeus, a "likely tale" of this fundamental influence on our culture.