The Esoteric Philosophy of Henry Corbin

 

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Though an exhaustive list would be difficult to produce, there are several main themes which together form the core of the spirituality that Corbin defends. The Imagination plays a crucial role in the human and divine orders. It is the primary means by which we engage with Creation and provides the link “without which the worlds are put out of joint.” Prayer is the supreme form of the creative imagination, and as such is the ultimate exercise of human freedom. Opposing the imagination is rigid literalism in its myriad forms. Corbin presents a vehement triple critique of idolatry, dogma and the institutionalization of religion, coupled with a radical assessment of the doctrine of the Incarnation. He considered himself a Protestant Christian but he abandoned a Christocentric view of history. The grand sweep of his theology of the Holy Spirit embraces Judaism, Christianity and Islam as manifestations of a single coherent story of the ongoing relationship between the individual and God. He pleaded for recognition of the over-arching unity of the religions of Abraham. He was a passionate defender of the central role of the individual as the finite image of the Unique Divine. It is the bond between the human soul and the face of the Heavenly Twin, the Angel Holy Spirit, who appears uniquely to each of us, which is the ethical bond par excellence. This mystical spirituality depends upon the capacity of the human soul to travel a path towards the Angel, and towards perfection. The status of Person is not simply bestowed upon us at birth – it is a goal to be achieved. The true journey of our lives is measured on a vertical scale. Our progress on this path is gauged by our capacity for love and, linked to this, our ability to perceive beauty. His mysticism is no world-denying asceticism but regards all of Creation as a theophany of the divine. Beauty is the supreme theophany, and human love for a being of beauty is not a hindrance to our union with the Divine, but a threshold to Divine Passion. This vision has much in common with what has become known as Creation Spirituality, and the figure of the Angel Holy Spirit is similar to what is sometimes called the Cosmic Christ. Some who desire a future for the prophetic tradition which transcends mutual suspicion, hatred and violence postulate one in which Corbin’s work can play an important role.
An example of Corbin's lucid articulation of metaphysical concepts, which is not unrelated to his own spiritual hermeneutics, is finely demonstrated in his Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi. Despite the fact that much of the information- both historical and doctrinal- presented in this book has been corrected and updated in more recent Ibn Arabi scholarship- particularly the works of William Chittick, Michel Chodkiewicz, Claude Addas, James Morris, and Gerald Elmore- Corbin's elucidations of such concepts as the metaphysics of the heart and the function of imagination are phenomenal. In a chapter entitled "Theophanic Imagination and Creativity of the Heart", Corbin makes a sharp distinction between two functions of imagination. On the one hand, it deals specifically with "theogony", that is, the Divinization of the Cosmos through the Divine Names. Corbin distinguishes theogony from creatio ex nihilo, which understands the cosmogonic process as beginning in one point in time, and which insists on maintaining some type of a ‘distance’ between the Principle and Its creation. Corbin uses the phase "theogony of the cosmos" to refers specifically to cosmology, but that type of cosmology which takes place within the Primordial Cloud (the linguistic place where words become articulated or ‘existentiated’), in which the Principle and Its manifestation are not separate from one another, except from the standpoint of the manifestations’ multiple levels of being as descents from their Principle. Since reason can only understand creatio ex nihilo, imagination is required in order to understand the cosmos as theophany. The other function of imagination which Corbin identifies is its purely spiritual/psychological role as “an imaginative potency in man”.
The purely psychological functions of the imagination also play a ‘creative’ role in that the imaginal faculty allows for certain modes of ‘creation’ to come about. How this takes places is related to the fundamental distinction between the two types of imagination (to be distinguished from the two functions of imagination mentioned above) articulated by Ibn Arabi: "conjoined imagination" (al-khayal al-muttasil) and dissociable or, as Corbin suggests, autonomous imagination (al-khayal al-munfasil). The former denotes the existence of an imagination connected to the imagining subject, whereas the latter denotes an imagination which is entirely separate from the subject, subsisting in its own right in the World of Images or the Imaginal World (‘alam al-mithal). It is the autonomous imagination that allows the emergence of the images which present themselves to the "conjoined imagination". The way in which imagination is ‘creative’ is intimately related to an understanding of these two types of imagination. When an image from the World of Images presents itself to the subject, its (re)presentation takes place in the imagining subject’s imaginal faculty (Phenomenological reality), thus allowing for the significance of the image proceeding from the World of Images to emerge, that is, the significance that that image holds for the imagining subject. The (re)presentation of the image depends entirely on two concepts, that of the heart (qalb)- which Corbin astutely refers to as the ‘organ of mystic physiology’- and that of spiritual will (himma), or, perhaps more accurately in this context (Corbin does not translate the term), ‘creative imaginal potency’.
But it is important to keep in mind that when the Image from the World of Images represents itself to the imagining subject, it reflects in his ‘heart’ which itself functions like a mirror. The mirror of the heart reflects that Image which is cast upon it, thus producing a purely imaginal representation of the Image’s true ‘mode’ of being. Objects in mirrors are both real and unreal. They are real because they convey to us, rather accurately, the reality of that image which is reflected in it, yet they are also unreal in that the image is, actually, not ‘there’, and is, in fact, non-existent. Images in mirrors are, therefore, at once existent and non-existent, which is precisely the way Ibn Arabi envisions the ‘situation’ of the cosmos. When the Image from the World of Images reflects into the heart of the mystic, it is the mystic’s imaginal faculty, his Active Imagination as governed by his himma, which can then ‘create’ that image into a ‘representation’ or ‘apparition’ of the Image itself, thus reproducing the Image in a purely ‘imaginal’ way which stands ‘outside’ of the imagining subject. It is with this important concept in mind that the notion of ‘theophanic prayer’ may be understood, and which Corbin discusses in detail in the following chapter. Theophanic prayer refers to a method in which God reveals Himself to the mystic in the mystic’s ‘act’ of prayer, or, rather, how the mystic ‘creates’ an Image of God for himself in prayer. The formless form of God is made manifest to the mystic by virtue of his himma, thus producing an Image of the Divinity to whose qiblah he has turned his attention. But it is through the Image of the Divine produced in the heart of the mystic that this can, in fact, take place. God at this point is reminiscent of the vaporware of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is actually God who reveals Himself to Himself in the act of prayer, but it is to the degree of the purity of the mystic’s heart (read ‘spiritual consciousness’), that he will have a vision of God’s Image and, by the same token, that God will have a vision of Himself, His own Image. Thus prayer is a purely ‘creative’ act for the Gnostic because it allows him to recast the Image of the Divine presented to his heart by virtue of the creative power of his himma. This imaginal power creates a mode of presence of the Divine which simply would be unperceivable without recourse to imagination. It should also be noted that Corbin looks at how the notion of creative imagination plays itself out in several key events related in the Qur’an and hadith. For example, the Qur’an mentions one of Prophet Solomon’s companions (someone who had “Knowledge of the Book”) who was able to reproduce, in an instant, the throne of the Queen of Sheba. What happened was “that the “transfer” of the throne took place on the plane of Imaginative Presence…”. This example finely illustrates the importance of the power of imagination in producing images instantaneously, but which can only take place on the plane of Imagination itself, the possibility of which is entirely determined by one’s himma.

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Thought-Forms Article

Summary: A collection of statements by the Tibetan.

     "Man is constructing thought-forms all the time, and is following unconsciously the same method as his Ego pursues in building his bodies, as the Logos follows in building his system, and as a planetary Logos uses in constructing His scheme.
     A man speaks, and a very diversified mantram is the result. The energy thus generated swings into activity a multitude of little lives which proceed to build a form for his thought; they pursue analogous stages to those just outlined. At this time, man sets up these mantric vibrations unconsciously, and in ignorance of the laws of sound and of their effect. The occult work that he is carrying on is thus unknown to him. Later he will speak less, know more, and construct more accurate forms, which will produce powerful effects on physical levels." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 786)
     "Much that is to be seen now of a distressing nature in the world can be directly traced to the wrong manipulation of mental matter by man."
     The selfishness, the sordid motives, the prompt response to evil impulses for which the human race has been distinguished, has brought about a condition of affairs unparalleled in the system. A gigantic thought-form hovers over the entire human family, built by men everywhere during the ages, energised by the insane desires and evil inclinations of all that is worst in man's nature, and kept alive by the promptings of his lower desires. This thought-form has to be broken up and dissipated by man himself." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 947/8)
     "Facing each earnest aspirant ot the Mysteries, is that vitalised form which he has himself constructed and nourished during the course of his previous incarnations, and which represents the sumtotal of his desires, motives and thoughts." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 953)
     "In all thought building . . . men have several things to do, which might be enumerated as follows: . . . To purify their lower desires, so that they are enabled to see clearly in the occult sense. . . .An ability to lose sight of self-interest in group-interest, and thus co-operate with the plan. . . . To secure control over the mind . . . An ability, gradually developed once the mind is brought under control through concentration, to mediate in the occult sense, and thus bring through the plan from higher levels, (and) ascertain his individual share in the plan. . . . Finally, having constructed a thought-form, the next thing the servant of humanity has to learn is how to send it on its mission . . . The average man is often the victim of his own thought-forms. He constructs them, but is neither strong enough to send them out to do their work, nor wise enough to dissipate them when required." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 955/6)
     "A thought-form is the result of two types of energy:

That emanating in the first instance from the Ego on abstract levels.
That originating in a secondary sense from the man on the physical plane through the medium of the brain." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 958)

     "All activity of every kind is the result:

a. Of thought-forms built consciously or unconsiously.
b. Of self-initiated thought-forms or of the effect of the thought-forms of others.
c. Of responsiveness to one's own inner impulses, or of responsiveness to the impulses of others, and therefore to group thought-forms." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 977)

     "There is no life so circumscribed and no person so situated who cannot begin to work intelligently and to build thought-forms under law and with understanding. There is no day in any man's life, particularly if he is an aspirant or a disciple, when a man cannot work in mental matter, control his use of thought, watch the effect of his mental processes on those he contacts, and so handle his . . .mind stuff . . . that he becomes more and more useful." (A Treatise on White Magic, p. 280)
     "A thought-form can also act as a poisoning agent, and poison all the springs of life. . . .A violent dislike, a gnawing worry, a jealousy, a constant anxiety, and a longing for something or someone, may act so potently as an irritant or poison that the entire life is spoilt, and service is rendered futile. The entire life is embittered and devitalised by the embodied worry, hatred and desire. All relationships with other people are rendered equally futile or even definitely harmful, for the worried or suspicious aspirant spoils the home circle or his group of friends, by his inner poisonous attitude, governed by an idea. His relation to his own soul and the strength of the contact with the world of spiritual ideas is at a standstill, for he cannot progress onward, and is held back by the poison in his mental system. His vision becomes distorted, his nature corroded, and all his relationships impeded by the wearing, nagging thoughts which he himself embodies in form and which have a life so powerful that they can poison him." (A Treatise on White Magic, p. 489)

Thought-form Building Rules
     "The necessity for clear thinking and the elimination of idle, destructive and negative thoughts, becomes increasingly apparent as the aspirant progresses on his way. As the power of the mind increases, and as the human being differentiates his thoughts increasingly from mass thought, he inevitably builds thought substance into form. It is at first automatic and unconscious. He can not help so doing, and fortunately, for the race, the forms constructed are so feeble that they are largely innocuous, or so in line with mass thought that they are negligible in their effect. But as man evolves his power, and his capacity to harm or to help increases, and unless he learns to build rightly, and correctly to motivate that which he has built, he will become a destructive agency and a centre of harmful force -- destroying and harming not only himself, as we shall see shortly, but equally hurting and harming those who vibrate to his note.
     Granted all this, you might appositely inquire: Are there some simple rules which the earnest and sincere beginner could apply to this science of building, and which are so clear and concise that they will produce the needed effect? There are, and I will state them simply so that the beginner will, if he follows them, escape the dangers of black magic, and learn to build in line with the Plan. He will, if he follows the rules I give, avoid the intricate problem which he has himself blindly constructed, and which will indeed shut out the light of day, darken his world, and imprison him in a wall of forms which will embody for him his own peculiar great illusion.
     These rules may sound too simple for the learned aspirant, but for those who are willing to become as little children, they will be found to be a safe guide into truth and will eventually make them able to pass the tests for adeptship. Some are couched in terms symbolic, others are necessarily blinds, still others express the truth just as it is.

1. View the world of thought, and separate the false out of the true.

2. Learn the meaning of illusion, and in its midst locate the golden thread of truth.

3.Control the body of emotion, for the waves that rise upon the stormy seas of life engulf the swimmer, shut out the sun and render all plans futile.

4. Discover that thou hast a mind and learn its dual use.

5. Concentrate the thinking principle, and be the master of thy mental world.

6. Learn that the thinker and his thought, and that which is the means of thought, are diverse in their nature, yet one in ultimate reality.

7. Act as the thinker, and learn it is not right to prostitute thy thought to the base use of separative desire.

8. The energy of thought is for the good of all and for the furtherance of the Plan of God. Use it not therefore for thy selfish ends.

9. Before a thought-form is by thee constructed, vision its purpose, ascertain its goal, and verify the motive.

10. For thee, the aspirant on the way of life, the way of conscious building is not yet the goal. The work of cleaning out the atmosphere of thought, of barring fast the doors of thought to hate and pain, to fear, and jealousy and low desire, must first preced the conscious work of building. See to thy aura, oh traveller on the way.

11. Watch close the gates of thought. Sentinel desire. Cast out all fear, all hate, all greed. Look out and up.

12. Because thy life is mostly centred on the plane of concrete life, thy words and speech will indicate thy thought. To these pay close attention.

13. Speech is of triple kind. The idle words will each produce effect. If good and kind, naught need be done. If otherwise, the paying of the price cannot long be delayed.
     The selfish words, sent forth with strong intent, build up a wall of separation. Long time it takes to break that wall and so release the stored-up, selfish purpose. See to thy motive, and seek to use those words which blend thy little life with the large purpose of the will of God.
     The word of hate, the cruel speech which ruins those who feel the spell, the poisonous gossip, passed along because it gives a thrill -- these words kill the flickering impulses of the soul, cut at the roots of life, and so bring death.
     If spoken in the light of day, just retribution will they bring; when spoken and then registered as lies, they strengthen that illusory world in which the speaker lives, and holds him back from liberation.
     If uttered with intent to hurt, to bruise and kill, they wander back to him who sent them forth, and him they bruise and kill.

14. The idle thought, the selfish thought, the cruel hateful thought, if rendered into word, produce a prison, poison all the springs of life, lead to disease, and cause disaster and delay. Therefore, be sweet and kind and good as far as in thee lies. Keep silence and the light will enter in.

15. Speak not of self. Pity not thy fate. The thought of self and of thy lower destiny, prevent the inner voice of thine own soul from striking upon thine ear. Speak of the soul; enlarge upon the plan; forget thyself in building for the world. Thus is the law of form offset. Thus can the rule of love enter upon that world." (A Treatise on White Magic, p. 472/5)

Thought Power
     "Only when Spirit, by the power of thought, controls the material vehicles, does the subjective life assume its rightful place, does the God within shine and blaze forth till the form is lost from sight, and "The path of the just shine ever more and more until the day be with us." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 140)
     "These . . .objectives necessitate a clear comprehension among such vital thinkers and workers, of the power of thought; of the direction of thought currents, of the science of thought building, of the manipulation under law and order of mental matter, and of the process of thought manifestation through the two factors of sound and vitalisation. . . . No worker for humanity becomes of real assistance until he (consciously and with full knowledge of his work) definitely directs his thought energy towards some particular channel of service to the race." (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 955)
     "The second question asks, whether an individual or a group can heal by thought power.
     Most certainly the generalisation can be made, that an individual and a group can heal, and that thought can play its potent part in the healing process, but not thought alone and unaided. Thought can be the directing agency of forces and energies, which can disrupt and dispel disease, but the process must be aided by the power to visualise, by an ability to work with particular forces as is deemed advisable, by an understanding of the rays and their types of energies, and also by a capacity to handle light substance, as it is called. To these powers must be added the ability to be en rapport with the one to be healed, plus a loving heart. In fact, once these conditions are met, too much use of the thinking faculty, and too potent a use of the mind processes, can arrest and hinder the healing work. Thought has to condition the initial incentive, bringing the intelligence of the man to bear upon the problem of healing, and a comprehension of the nature of the one to be healed; but once it has aided in focussing the attention of the healer and the healing group, it should become a steady but subconscious directive agent, and nothing more than that.
     The healing is accomplished, when possible, by the use of energy rightly directed, and by detailed visualisations; love also plays a great part, as does the mind in the early stage. Perhaps I should say that a loving heart is one of the most potent of all energies employed. . . .
     Thought neither cures disease nor causes it. Thought must be employed in the processes, but it is not the sole or the most important agent. The mind can direct energy, and this energy can, in its turn, produce over-stimulation of the brain and of the body cells, and so cause nervous trouble and sometimes brain disease, but the mind itself and thinking, per se, cannot cause disease and trouble in the physical body." (Esoteric Healing, p. 96/7)

Visualisation
     "The secret of all true meditation work in its earliar stages, is the power to visualise . . . Meditation techniques must and will embody visualisation as a primary step, for the following reasons:

1. Visualisation is the initial step in the demonstration of the occult law that "energy follows thought" . . .

2. The power to visualise is the form-building aspect of the creative imagination . . . This process of energy direction can become a spiritual habit if disciples would begin to do it slowly and gradually. At first, the visualising process may seem to you to be laboured and profitless but, if you persevere, you will find eventually that it becomes effortless and effective . . .

3. The power to visualise correctly is one definite mode of ascertaining truth or falsity . . .
This visualising process, and this use of the imagination, form the first two steps in the activity of thought-form building. It is with these self-created forms -- embodying spiritual ideas and divine purpose -- that the Masters work and hierarchical purpose takes shape. Therefore, my disciples, it is essential that you begin with deliberation and slowly to work in this manner, and to use the above information constructively and creatively." (Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. I, p. 89/91)

     "The clue of all this esoteric work demanded by Shamballa, is to be found in the development of the Art of Visualisation. Through visualisation, three expressions of the human consciousness will become possible:

1. The antahkarana can be built, and the shining of the Triad be definitely seen. Such will be the new vision -- an outcome of the development of the sense of vision.

2. Groups, large wholes and major syntheses, will also be visualised, and this will lead to a definite expansion of consciousness. Thus the sense of sythesis will be unfolded.

3. All creative art will be fostered by this training, and the new art of the future in all departments of creativity, will be rapidly developed as the training proceeds. The unfoldment of the sense of vision and the sense of sythesis, through visualisation, will lead to a sense of livingness in form." (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 123)

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