A Treatise on Living Thinking - A Path beyond Western Philosophy, beyond Yoga, beyond Zen

Jul 30, 2026

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A Treatise on Living Thinking explores how to experience thinking as an inner, living dynamism rather than as reflected thought constrained by an object. The work clarifies the meaning and intent behind terms such as pensiero pensante and living thinking, using the language of Spiritual Science. It argues for a path that leaves reflective activity without being trapped by abstraction, enabling thought to disclose its continuity and vitality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages112

Reading Time4 h 42 min

AccessFree to download

Translator's Note

The Premise

A Treatise on Living Thinking

Appendix: On Inner Concentration

a treatise onlivingthinking a path beyond western philosophy,beyond yoga,beyond zen massimo scaligero Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2023 with funding fromKahle/Austin Foundation A Tre atis e on Living Thin king ALSO BY MASSIMO ScALIGERO The Light (La Luce):An Introduction to Creative Imagination # The Secrets of Space and Time a treatise onlivingthinking a path beyond western philosophy,beyond yoga,beyond zen MASSIMO SCALIGERO Translated by ERIC L.BISBOCCI 2014 2014 Lindisfarne Books An imprint of SteinerBooks/Anthroposophic Press,Inc.610 Main Street,Great Barrington,MA o1230www.steinerbooks.org Copyright ◎2014 by SteinerBooks/Anthroposophic Press,Inc.Translation copyright ◎2014 by Eric L.Bisbocci from the Italianedition,Trattato del pensiero vivente.Una via oltre le flosofieoccidentali,oltre lo yoga,oltre lo zen(Rome,I96o).Ail rightsreserved.No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in aretrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any means,elec-tronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,with-out the written permission of Lindisfarne Books. Book design:William Jens Jensen Cover image:Lotus,detail (shutterstock.com) LIBRARY OF CoNGRESS CoNTROL NUMBER 2014948836 ISBN:978-I-58420-179-3(Paperback) ISBN:978-I-58420-180-9(eBook) CONTENTS Translator's Note The Premise A Treatise on Living Thinking Appendix:On Inner Concentration 7 II I3 # TRANSLATOR's NoTE In this book,I have chosen to include the“Translator'sNote”from my translation of La Luce:Introduzioneall'immaginazione creatrice by Massimo Scaligero,along with a few additional annotations to help elu-cidate Scaligero's use of certain terms that may needclarification. # From The Light (La Luce The translation of this work presented a number of diff-culties,the most challenging of which was how to renderthe term pensiero pensante.Coined by Giovanni Gentile,thefounder of actualism,pensiero pensante is usually translatedas either the“activity of thinking,”as has been done in thiswork,or“thinking thought”(i.e.,thought that thinks),whichis confusing because it tends to presuppose a subject other thanthought itself.The expression“activity of thinking,”on theother hand,lacks specificity.Therefore,a few words of explana-tion are offered here in an attempt to make it more intelligiblefor the reader.As Scaligero intimates in Trattato del PensieroVivente(p.II),the pensiero pensante is not reflected thoughtbut thinking,"riflettentesi”—that is,“in the act of reflectingitself.”It is,in fact,what he refers to as the "dynamic moment"of reflectivity (ibid.,p.I3).This pensiero pensante is continuallyat the point of leaving reflectivity,but does not.Hence,the light,or"pure dynamis,"of thinking goes unexperienced.“Gentile'spensiero pensante,"says Scaligero,“is not living thinking,but # A TREATISE ON LIVING THINKING rather the intuition of the dynamic moment of reflectivity;it isnot pure thinking,for it is thinking that is not conceived outsideits activity through an object.The path of thinking proposedby Spiritual Science,conversely,has as its aim the experience ofthinking in itself,insofar as it is pure dynamis,that is,indepen-dent of the object"(Dallo Yoga ai Rosacroce,p.I25). Scaligero refers to living thinking as"the substance of pureideas,to whose light the human being unknowingly tends withthinking and existing,for it is in itself the dynamis of think-ing and existing,life”(Trattato…,pp.I6-17).Whereas thepensiero pensante that can“resurrect reflected thought fromabstraction by reactivating the dynamic moment of reflectivityis still not...the inner life...,this life is indeed present in thepensiero pensante,but it continually disappears”(ibid.,p.I9).Only"if it realizes the continuity of its independence from atheme”can the pensiero pensante become living(ibid.,p.I6).Says Scaligero,"there can rise,as thought,the force that pre-cedes its producing—i.e.,the pensiero pensante but outsidereflectivity..”Its

FAQs

What does “living thinking” mean in this book?

Living thinking refers to thinking experienced as pure dynamis—life and thinking together—rather than thinking conceived as reflected thought outside its own activity.

Why does the translation discuss “pensiero pensante”?

“Pensiero pensante” is a specialized term coined by Giovanni Gentile; the book explains competing translations and emphasizes its meaning as thinking “in the act of reflecting itself.”

How is the proposed path different from ordinary reflective thought?

The path aims at experiencing thinking in itself, independent of any object, focusing on continuity beyond abstraction and the recurring disappearance of the reflected moment.

Jul 30, 2026

Upload by Jiven