"Never step across the sweet-flowing water of ever-rolling rivers until you have prayed, gazing into the soft flood, and washed your hands in the clear, lovely water. Whoever crosses a river with hands unwashed of wickedness, the gods are angry with him and bring trouble upon him afterwards."

Hesiod, Works and Days 737-741

"The theorems of philosophy are to be enjoyed as much as possible, as if they were ambrosia and nectar; for the pleasure arising from them is genuine, incorruptible, and divine. Magnanimity they are also able to produce, and though they cannot make us eternal beings, yet they enable us to obtain a scientific knowledge of eternal natures."

Iamblichus, Exhortation to Philosophy Chapter 2 gnômê 9

"Train your body, not by the exercises which conduce to strength, but by those which conduce to health. In this you will succeed if you cease your exertions while you still have energy to exert yourself."

Isocrates, To Demonicus 14

"Moreover, this has been clear to me from the first, that while all men think that those compositions, whether in verse or prose, are the most useful which counsel us how to live, yet it is certainly not to them that they listen with greatest pleasure; nay, they feel about these just as they feel about the people who admonish them; for while they praise the latter, they choose for associates those who share in, and not those who would dissuade them from, their faults. As a case in point, one might cite the poetry of Hesiod and Theognis and Phocylides; for these, they say, have proved the best counsellors for human conduct; but in spite of what they say, people prefer to occupy themselves with each other's follies rather than with the admonitions of these teachers. And, again, if one were to make a selection from the leading poets of their maxims, as we call them, into which they have put their best thought, men would show a similar attitude toward them also; for they would lend a readier ear to the cheapest comedy than to the creations of such finished art."

Isocrates, To Nicocles 42-44 [Emphasis mine]

"In his Works and Days, [Hesiod] urges people toward a life of order and simplicity, away from the vulgar and burdensome pursuits of the marketplace. He does not merely aim at the pleasure of his audience but considers this a secondary concern, making moral improvement his primary goal, so that, by ordering their personal lives, they may also become capable of attaining knowledge of the divine. Therefore, it is fitting to begin with this work; for it is entirely impossible for those who lack moral order to understand the cosmos. The purpose of the book is educational, and its meter is applied to this purpose like a kind of seasoning, charming the soul and drawing it toward an affinity with the work."

Proclus, On Hesiod’s Works and Days 1.1–18

"OFFICIAL", RESEARCH-BASED READING LIST

Based on my research, the following works are recommended by the Platonic tradition for moral education. Moral education is the essential first step in our spiritual journey—it cannot be skipped. It may and should begin in childhood, but it is by no means confined to it. Age is not the point; the point is to achieve harmony within the tripartite soul.

The purpose of this list is not to suggest that only these works may be read, or even that they must be read. They are simply those that have been singled out by the tradition for this purpose. Most readers will be familiar with the "Iamblichean order" for reading the Platonic dialogues. That order is not obligatory. It did not even exist before Iamblichus, so philosophers like Plotinus presumably did not follow it. It is a suggestion, a tradition that many of us accept, but it does not mean the other dialogues don't matter. The same principle applies to this list of educational works, though in this case the order is not so important.

1. The Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans.
2. The Pythagorean sayings generally (e.g., the Pythagorean Sentences quoted by Hierocles).
3. The Handbook (Enchiridion) by Epictetus.
4. Hesiod's Works and Days.
5. The poetry of Theognis.
6. The orations of Isocrates.

"The rational-forming principles of nature for the most part go forth in the spring, but the seeds are scattered upon the earth when the season is autumn. It is for this reason that, when it comes to the seasons, they say that winter belongs to Kronos, since they hide the seeds under the earth just as Kronos hid his own offspring, if you want to put it in a theological manner. Or if you wish to put it in natural terms, it is due to the cold with which winter endows the things that come to be. But in opposition to this, the summer belongs to Ares due to the heat which it supplied to natural things and due to the difference that distinguishes everything, which is what the ‘heat of battle’ represents. They say that the springtime belongs to Zeus in as much as it is generative and reveals the rational-forming principles that had been hidden – something which Zeus too does to his father, leading forth into the realm of the manifest his offspring which he had hidden. The autumn belongs to Aphrodite, for in this season there is the sowing of seed into the earth. But it is the function of Aphrodite to mix the things that are generative and to lead the cause of generation into intercourse. ... Finally, Hermes is common to all of the seasons, since he regulates the one principle (logos) that underlies them all and [regulates] their one arrangement in accordance with that principle."

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 61.20-62.19

"As clouds frequently obscure the Sun, so passions, the reasoning power."

The Similitudes of Demophilus 46

"Foolish is the man who has my mind in keeping yet pays no regard to his own."

Theognis, Elegies 439-440

I had the honor of appearing on The Platonists podcast today with Eric Claussen. Check it out!

https://youtu.be/yeeWH4jR28U?si=BwOyMGJfiBnxYRLg

"But they who give straight judgments both to foreigners and to the men of the land, and do not turn aside from what is just, their city flourishes and the people prosper in it. Peace, the nurse of children, is abroad in their land, and all-seeing Zeus never decrees cruel war against them. Neither famine nor disaster ever haunt men who do true justice; but they lightheartedly tend the fields which are their care. The earth bears them food in abundance, and on the mountains the oak bears acorns upon the top and bees below. Their woolly sheep are laden with fleeces; their women bear children resembling their parents. They flourish continually with good things and do not travel on ships, for the grain-giving earth bears them fruit."

Hesiod, Works and Days 225-237

"How long, then, will you delay to demand of yourself the noblest improvements, and in no instance to transgress the judgments of reason? You have received the philosophical principles with which you ought to be familiar; and you have been familiar with them. What other teacher, then, do you wait for as an excuse to delay your self-reformation? You are no longer a boy but a grown man. If, therefore, you will be negligent and slothful, and always add procrastination to procrastination, proposal after proposal, and setting one day after another after which you will pay attention to yourself, you will insensibly continue to accomplish nothing, and, living and dying, remain of vulgar mind. This instant, then, think yourself worthy of living as a full-grown man and as someone making progress. Let whatever appears to be the best be an inviolable law for you. And if anything painful or pleasant, glorious or disgraceful, be presented to you, remember that now is the contest, now the Olympic Games have come, nor can it be put off, and that by one failure and defeat honor may be lost—or won. Thus Socrates became perfect, improving himself in all things, following reason alone. And though you are not yet a Socrates, you ought to live as one who wishes to be a Socrates."

Epictetus, The Handbook 51

"Come now, take courage, the race of men is divine."

The Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans 63

The Western spiritual renaissance must be:

1. Rooted in tradition but centered on the present. If we remain an eccentric history club, we will never escape the cultural backwaters we currently occupy.
2. Deep and broad enough to shepherd the majority AND offer paths for the elite.
3. Grounded in fact and tradition while retaining flexibility. We are not ancient people and we must allow for evolution. At the same time, a solid foundation is required to shield us from the "trend of the month" as well as any cultural baggage we might collectively bring with us.

- CWT Admin

In this interview, I stated that there's a tendency for people to "jump into fancy meditation and rituals" before they are ready. I want to clarify what I meant by this, especially with regard to meditation. It was not my intention to imply that either meditation or ritual are bad, to be avoided, or in any way illegitimate.

"Meditation" is a fuzzy word. If "meditation" means "sitting in the lotus position focusing on the breath," you're going to have a hard time finding meditation in the Western classical literature. However, if we take a broader view of meditation as "spiritual exercise," then Western spirituality is chock full of meditation techniques.

What is essential to understand is that classical spirituality, especially when viewed from within the Platonic framework, is tiered. It's tiered in a way analogous to a university, say, or a martial art. You do not start karate class as a black belt; instead, you begin by learning the fundamentals of stretching, how to hold your hands, how to throw basic punches and kicks, and so on. You can, I suppose, jump into sparring against black belts, but it won't likely work out well for you—it isn't recommended.

Meditation, or spiritual exercise, is also tiered. Some meditation techniques are appropriate for the "lower" levels of practice, some are not. For example, the Pythagoreans recommended that we analyze our day before bed, taking note of what we did well and what we did poorly, praising ourselves for the good and reprimanding ourselves for the bad. This is in fact a key spiritual exercise (meditation) for us. There are others. Importantly, this meditation technique is at the "civic" or practical level of virtue. Another example of "practical" or "civic" meditation would be the various techniques of the Stoics: contemplating what is and what isn't in our power, for instance. But there are higher forms of meditation in this tradition. An example would be the contemplation of Forms. Another example would be mathematical theurgy, where the inner mathematical constructs of our psyche are ritualized so as to commune with the corresponding divinities of those mathematical objects.

Similarly for ritual... I hope this brings some clarity to what can be a confusing topic.

- CWT Admin

"What the Sun is to our world, God is to reality itself. Just as we cannot see without the light of the Sun, we cannot know what is true or real without the light of truth that flows from God. And just as life would perish without the warmth of the Sun, so the very fabric of reality would unravel without God. Yet, unlike the Sun, God is immaterial and invisible. We cannot reach Him with our senses, but He is everywhere, and everything depends on Him. He is 'that which is beyond all things and to which all things aspire.' The formal names for God are the Good and the One. We call Him the Good insofar as He is that to which all things aspire, and the One insofar as He is that which is beyond all things and their first principle."

From "On God" in The Flower of the Mind.

"To lay low a despot who devours the people, by whatever means you please, is no cause for wrath from Heaven."

Theognis, Elegies 1181-1182

ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ
KNOW YOURSELF

"We can attain likeness to God, first of all, if we are endowed with a suitable nature, then if we develop proper habits, way of life, and good practice according to law, and, most importantly, if we use reason, and education, and the correct philosophical tradition, in such a way as to distance ourselves from the great majority of human concerns, and always to be in close contact with intelligible reality.

The introductory ceremonies, so to speak, and preliminary purifications of our innate spirit, if one is to be initiated into the greater sciences, will be constituted by music, arithmetic, astronomy, and geometry, while at the same time we must care for our body by means of gymnastics, which will prepare the body properly for the demands of both war and peace."

Alcinous, The Handbook of Platonism 28.4

The above quote from Alcinous summarizes the Platonic spiritual program and is an excellent place for us to start when trying to understand what Platonic spirituality looks like as a practice. Alcinous is drawing heavily from The Republic, and so we can look there for guidance as well.

It is important that we understand the Platonists on their own terms, else we risk smuggling in false assumptions.