Esotericism
From Wikinfo
Esotericism is the study of secret knowledge and systems of thought, usually philosophical or ethical and mystic. It is generally distinct from organized religion, which teaches more openly without necessarily divulging details gratuitously. While esotericism tends to focus on personal enlightenment and internal spirtual practice, organized religion or exotericism tends to focus on outer spiritual practice and ritual and on laws that govern the society.
Many groups or schools of thought embrace an esoteric tradition or philosophy:
- Alchemy
- Astrology
- Freemasons
- G. I. Gurdjieff
- Gnosticism
- Kabbalists
- Magic
- Nazi mysticism
- Occultism
- Rosicrucians
- Shamanism
- Sufism
- Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)
- Yoga
See also
- List of Buddhist topics
- esoteric knowledge
- exoteric
- esoteric programming language
- mystery religion
- occult
- Qigong
- List of spirituality-related topics
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Esotericism" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esotericism, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
