Kazantzakis and his Wisdom Literature:  Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), the great poet-philosopher of modern Greece, authored over 30 books.  He was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize, and in 1957 lost by only one vote.  Sometimes characterized as a spiritual existentialist, he spent most of his adult life as an unorthodox mystic, who, as he stated “trembled at the touch of the invisible kiss of God”.

Kazantzakis’ mystical philosophy is primarily embodied in “The Saviours of God”, a work of spiritual exercises in which he expounded a method by which the human spirit may rise from cycle to cycle until it reaches the supreme contact.  In his other work, “The Last Temptation of Christ”, he presented a somewhat Gnostic view of Jesus, while his “Zorba, the Greek” presented a view of the resourcefulness of the human soul.  His message is neither materialistic nor spiritual in an unworldly manner.  His epitaph reads:  “I do not hope for anything.  I do not fear anything.  I am free.”

The individual titles are:

• Nikos Kazantzakis:  A Sage for our time.  The author and his Gnostic literary contributions, especially “The Last Temptation of Christ”.  67:25  #500201
• “The Saviours of God”:  First Steps toward Wholeness.  Attitudes of Mind that are necessary for the journey.  71:55  #500211
• “The Saviours of God”:  The Expansion of the Soul. Ego, Nation, Mankind, the Earth as steps of expansion.  81:20  #500212
• “The Saviours of God”:  Confrontation with the Divine.  The initial vision of God.  73:41  #500213
• “The Saviours of God”:  Discovering True Reality.  Contacting and Contemplating Transcendence and its relationship to Manifest Existence.  73:07  #500214
• “The Saviours of God”:  Union with Reality.  Ultimate Reality and its startling Implications.  76:55  #500215