Riding with the Lion: In Search of Mystical Christianity

by Kyriacos C. Markides

This work aims to recover the mystical heart of Christianity, confirming that there is a direct tradition of spiritual practices that the main stream Church has managed to ignore and suppress. The author's quest for higher knowledge takes him on a journey to Maine, New York, London, Cyprus and Greece. His revelation of a vital living mystical practice based in ancient Christian thought, is a major step in linking the most esoteric traditions of the East to the largely hidden esoteric traditions of the West. The book has a wide cultural significance, revealing a Western Christian spirituality that includes space for mystical practice that is too often assumed to be the exclusive domain of eastern religions.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Mysticism, Theology, Faith

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book marks a turning point in the author's thinking where he departs from the academic sociologist skeptical of giving credence to metaphysics, psychic phenomena and related fields to one seeing some validity in the claims made by people which defy explanation by traditional, empirical scientific method. In this account, the author makes his first trip to Mount Athos where he comes in contact with Eastern Orthodox monks reputed to be the most spiritually advanced. On Mount Athos, men with psychic abilities, miracles and events generally regarded as paranormal are unquestioned as a daily occurrence.

Markides does not simply present a woo-woo, new age story here. What he attempts to do is bridge the gap between phenomena not explained by three-dimensional reality readily accessible to experience by the five senses, but draws in some of the observations by researchers of near-death experiences into a philosophical discussion of the integration of metaphysics and scientific thought.

As in Markides' other books, Riding the Lion provides an interesting narrative of the people and events in the author's travels mixed in with intellectual discussion based upon an obvious wealth of reading on the author's part.

[Wylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this one. I very much enjoyed Markides' Mountain of Silence, the sequel to this, but found this one to be a little too opinionated. Would have preferred the author to just describe his experiences and research instead of spend so much time putting forth his own spiritual beliefs. Either way, there are a lot of good parts but I would recommend Mountain of Silence over this one

[Matthew C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I am not in a place to subscribe to the perennialism espoused by the author, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

As in his other works, Markides succeeds in bringing the reader along for the ride in his insatiable (and sincere) quest for spiritual knowledge. He does not shy away from the strange or the paranormal, but instead becomes a pilgrim-expositor of these most fascinating subjects among shamans, yogis, and Christian mystics. You find find stories of levitation, telepathy, out-of-body travels, teleportation, bilocation, materialization/dematerialization, and much more. He also discusses the dangers of psychic dabbling and the necessity of being guided by a spiritual elder.

The last third of the book was my favorite--a numinous journey into the heart of Athonite spirituality, which he more fully expounds in his later Mountain of Silence.

[Aaron White · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts of this book where Markides spends time on Mt Athos, explores Orthodox Christianity and especially the Jesus Prayer, were interesting to me. But he seemed most interested in finding a common base for ESP activities and other paranormal phenomena. That is fine, and not uninteresting, but I feel like because of this he actually seemed to miss the living heart of the Athonite experience, which is not the phenomena themselves, but the person of Christ with whom people are being united.

[Kendra Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The West has lost something special in Christianity that the Eastern Orthodox tradition still continues. Markides explores the monastics of Mount Athos and the possibility of mysticism within the Christian tradition.

[Obie Rouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm setting this one aside. 50 pages in and I haven't found interest in the book. It seems more like a transcript of a seminar he did at some point. Maybe I'll pick it up again at some point, but I have read a few books recently that we're just gut checks to try and get through.

[Sir Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was tedious but I enjoyed Riding With The Lion once Markides went to Mount Athos.