Edward Butler

60.1K posts

Edward Butler banner
Edward Butler

Edward Butler

@EPButler

Polytheist, Ph.D. in Philosophy. Justice to all beings, reverence to all Gods.

Katılım Temmuz 2009
6.5K Takip Edilen10.8K Takipçiler
Edward Butler
Edward Butler@EPButler·
@StarkConor I discussed syncretism already in my dissertation, and prominently in my article “Polycentric Polytheism and the Philosophy of Religion” (2008).
English
1
0
1
17
Edward Butler
Edward Butler@EPButler·
Fascinating syncretism
Imperial Standard@imperial_flag

Often in Tibetan Buddhism's discourse with the Han Chinese culture, the argument would be "OMG the Han are Sinicizing the Tibetan Buddhists!" or that the opposite critique would go "these foreign Buddhists are taking over the hearts of young and disillusioned Chinese!" et cetera et cetera. But allow me to present to you a unique discourse; that in Tibetan Buddhism, three Han Chinese figures have "entered" the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon at worshipped either as protectors or as gyalpos. Guan Yu is one of the most prominent one. Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism - who interestingly remains one of the most "Chinese" Tibetan Buddhists and retained the titles Ming emperor bestowed upon their leaders, considers Guan Yu as the "Sangharama Boddhisatva", and you will find his statue to be venerated in Losar celebrations. Kongzi is considered as "Kongtse Trulgyi Gyalpo" - a Miraculous King, master of the physical world, divination, and astrology as well as mathematics, and was considered to be one of the emanations of Manjushri. Laozi is considered a master of elemental divination, and an emanation of Mahakasyapa as well as Vajrapani. Such unique and organic fusion of beliefs is very interesting to observe and today if you go to any of the Thangka shops in Chengdu or some of the new-age areas of Shanghai or Shenzhen where the new Tibetan Buddhist converts resides, you will find their image painted in the Tibetan style.

English
1
3
22
1.2K
Conor Stark
Conor Stark@StarkConor·
@EPButler Have you ever articulated your views on syncretism in print? I’d be curious to see what you think it is, its properties, and so forth.
English
1
0
3
177
Edward Butler
Edward Butler@EPButler·
@true_concinnity There was less access to Plato's actual texts than you might think, both for the Arabs and for Aquinas.
English
0
0
8
800
Edward Butler retweetledi
Ravinder Singh Robin
Ravinder Singh Robin@rsrobin1·
Even under the Taliban government, prayers continue at Kabul’s historic Asamai Mandir this Chaitra Navratri. Devotees performed puja in honor of Maa Brahmacharini, symbolising purity, austerity and strength. At the foothills of Koh-e Asamai, the sacred Akhand Jyoti, believed to burn for over 4,000 years, stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and unbroken faith.
English
30
1.3K
6.4K
99.9K
Edward Butler retweetledi
Palinode
Palinode@PalinodeProd·
The Next Episode of The Ladder: Journeys in Platonic Mysticism is Out! Thinking With the Gods?: Edward Butler on Henads, Peculiarity, and Radical Plurality palinode.substack.com/p/thinking-wit…
Palinode tweet media
English
1
4
12
425
Edward Butler
Edward Butler@EPButler·
“Habermas[‘s]… mask of the careful and rigorous thinker covers over a structure of disavowal at the heart of his practice: he knows very well that his interlocutors are making sophisticated arguments, but all the same treats them as irrationalists.” terenceblake.wordpress.com/2026/03/15/no-…
English
0
1
2
364
Steven Dillon
Steven Dillon@true_concinnity·
Man, @EPButler is so good at articulating deeply abstract ideas 😄 wonderful discussion. Give it a listen! @palinode/note/p-191547963?r=1v92rq" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@palinode/note…
English
2
0
10
210
Edward Butler retweetledi
Steven Dillon
Steven Dillon@true_concinnity·
Over the years, I have encountered an anxiety or discomfort with the religious epistemology behind Pagan traditions. "How do you *know* that Asclepius is even real? Where did that name even come from? When did he appear and reveal himself?" I have many thoughts on the mindset underlying and fueling this concern, such as of taking matters into one's own hands and objectifying what transcends objectification, but here I simply want to point out that it seems to be a mindset of being trapped in one's own head. If I just *look* out at how things have actually gone, I can *see* that a genuine plurality arose (as opposed to a mere aggregate)--thereby requiring a unifying center--which center was declared by its participants to be this God or that God. Whence cometh the pre-disposed skepticism? Or the doubt in Providence, in any case? Shall I suspend judgment about the testimony of red things about what unifies them? This is an atheist outlook manifesting, however subtly or implicitly. Food for self-reflection.
English
3
5
21
1.3K
Edward Butler retweetledi
Rebecca Nagle
Rebecca Nagle@rebeccanagle·
Kayla Toves, who is Kanaka‘ Oiwi and Acoma Pueblo, needed a language credit to graduate from Cornell. She fought to have her Indigenous language of Ōlelo Hawaiʻi count and won! nativenewsonline.net/education/corn…
English
5
157
894
9.3K
Frater D∴ T∴
Frater D∴ T∴@frater_dt·
“This, therefore, is mathematics: she reminds you of the invisible forms of the soul; she gives life to her own discoveries; she awakens the mind and purifies the intellect; she brings light to our intrinsic ideas; she abolishes oblivion and ignorance which are ours by birth.” -Proclus, Commentary on Euclid's Elements
Frater D∴ T∴ tweet mediaFrater D∴ T∴ tweet mediaFrater D∴ T∴ tweet media
English
4
47
257
6.1K
Conor Stark
Conor Stark@StarkConor·
What is the reason for translating Proclus’s henadic manifold (theios arithmos) as “divine set” rather than “divine number”? Is there a work on Greek mathematics that makes this case? Fwiw: I like the translation, I’m just trying to better understand the rationale. @EPButler @parhypostates @Outisemoi @philoantonio @jabgreig
English
5
2
28
1.8K
Edward Butler
Edward Butler@EPButler·
@alka9scotus @Outisemoi @StarkConor Participation does not apply to this relationship. The One is unparticipated, and the henads are participated by beings, but do not Themselves participate.
English
1
0
0
53
Scotus
Scotus@alka9scotus·
@EPButler @Outisemoi @StarkConor And the one then is purely mediated by these beings, or incidental to them and by their appearance given condition? Would this amount to say the one participates in henads, or that neither the one nor the henads has participation in the other, that neither mediates the other?
English
1
0
0
23

Keşfet

@StarkConor @true_concinnity @PalinodeProd @frater_dt @elonmusk @BarackObama @taylorswift13 @cristiano