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Charles Upton (poet)

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Charles Upton
Born(1948-12-13)December 13, 1948(age 75)
San Francisco
Occupation(s)Poet,writer,andesotericist

Charles Upton(born December 13, 1948[1]) is an Americanpoetandesotericist.

Life

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Born inSan Francisco,Charles Upton grew up inMarin County, California.[1]He attendedCatholicschools.[1]He attendedUC Davisfor four days, but left as theCounterculturewas more interesting to him.[2]

Career

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In San Francisco, Upton met the poetLew Welch,who became his mentor.[1]Welch helped him publish his first two volumes of poetry,Panic GrassandTime RaidwithCity Lightswhen he was 19 years old.[1]Although he is much younger than most of theBeat poets,scholars still count him among their number because of these first two volumes of poetry.[1][3]

After his first two volumes of poems were published, Upton became involved with theSanctuary MovementforCentral Americanrefugees.[1]He produced and distributed a video,Through the Needle's Eye,containing testimonies of refugees.[2]

In the late 1980s he was briefly involved with the "magical populism" of theNew Agepeace movement. He studied groupdreamworkand dream networking.[1]

Under his wife's influence, Upton became interested in themetaphysicsof theTraditionalistor Perennialist School (the followers ofRene Guenon,Ananda CoomaraswamyandFrithjof Schuon).[2]In 1988 he joined a traditionalSufiorder.[1]He continues to be identified with this Traditionalist school.[citation needed]

His papers are held atUniversity of Connecticut.[1]

Activism

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In 2013 Charles Upton conceived of The Covenants Initiative, based on the bookThe Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the Worldby his colleague Dr. John Andrew Morrow. The Covenants Initiative urges Muslims to abide by the covenants concluded between Muhammad and the Christian communities of his time.[4]Upton and Morrow joined a panel at the seventhParliament of the World's Religionsat Toronto in November, 2018 to speak about the covenants and the initiative.[4]Also in November, 2018, the covenants and the bookThe Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the Worldwere cited at length by theSupreme Court of Pakistanin their decision to acquit the Christian womanAsia Bibi on charges of blasphemy.[5][6]

Marriage and family

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Upton married fellow poetJennifer Doane.[2]They lived in a house a block away from where Upton grew up inMarin County, Californiafor many years.[2]They currently live inLe xing ton, Kentucky.[7]

Reception

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ReviewingThe Virtues of the Prophetfor the journalPhilosophy East and Westin January 2010, Muhammad Ahsen notes that Upton (who is atraditionalist) only makes passing reference to themodern era,which the author describes as a source of evil, whereas the reviewer suggests that given the example set by the ProphetMuhammad,theMuslimhas nothing to fear about modernity.[8]The reviewer also queries Upton's "treatment of evil, with which the Commanding Self (NafsAmmara) seems to be equated. "The reviewer instead suggests that we might look upon the Commanding Self – our human impulses – as" ethically and religiously neutral "," by themselves neither good nor evil ".[8]The reviewer "admires Upton's love for the Prophet and understands his commitment toSufism",but concludes that" a systematic and analytic treatment of this issue along with a classical approach to exegeses ofQur'anicverses would have greatly enhanced the scope of this work. "[8]

Going on to reviewReflections of Tasawwuf,Ahsen concludes that "[the] book represents a popular trend nowadays in the understanding of Sufism and Islam, but it has to be said that it has little connection with orthodox Islam or with a careful philosophical analysis of either Islam or Sufism. Nonetheless, readers will find much to reflect on in the author's comments and poems, and his attractive style does manage to make the book palatable to read, albeit not so easy to analyze."[8]

Writing aboutThe Words of God to Prophet Muhammad,in theAmerican Journal of Islam and Societyin 2017, Shabbir A. Abbas is critical of the third and final part of the book which consists of commentaries on the preceding sayings (aḥādīth), by Upton (who is also a Sufi mystic).[9]He is of the opinion that "Although rather alluring, these commentaries prolong the work unnecessarily. When combined with the Arabic and Morrow’s translation, the text becomes rather long-winded," and that, the sayings being "rather lengthy and advisory in nature, not to mention self-explanatory, there is little need to try and derive any esoteric meaning for them."[9][n 1]

Reacting to Upton's YouTube video entitled "The Psychic and Spiritual Dangers of AI", Carlos Perona Calvete wrote inThe European Conservativethat "this video provides the most thorough understanding of AI and contemporary 'big data' crunching technology from a spiritual perspective I have encountered" and calling it "a delineation of relevant concepts so penetrating as to deserve canonical status in the analysis of, and resistance to, the denaturing developments of post-modern global civilization."[3]

Works

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  • Panic Grass(epic poem) City Lights Books, 1968; ASIN B001FSYIPE
  • Time Raid,(poems) Four Seasons Foundation, 1968; ASIN B0006BVUOS
  • Doorkeeper of the Heart, Versions of Rabi’a(poems), Threshold Books, 1988; Pir Press, 2004;ISBN1-879708-20-5
  • Hammering Hot Iron: A Spiritual Critique of Bly’s Iron John(metaphysics and social criticism), Quest Books, 1993; Sophia Perennis 2005;ISBN1-59731-043-3
  • The System of Antichrist: Truth and Falsehood in Postmodernism and the New Age(metaphysics and social criticism), Sophia Perennis, 2001;ISBN0-900588-30-6
  • Legends of the End: Prophesies of the End Times, Antichrist, Apocalypse, and Messiah from Eight Religious Traditions,Sophia Perennis, 2005;ISBN1-59731-025-5
  • Cracks in the Great Wall: UFOs and Traditional Metaphysics,Sophia Perennis, 2005;ISBN1-59731-024-7
  • The Virtues of the Prophet: A Young Muslim's Guide to the Greater Jihad, the War Against the Passions,Sophia Perennis, 2006;ISBN1-59731-051-4
  • Knowings, in the Arts of Metaphysics, Cosmology and the Spiritual Path,Sophia Perennis, 2008;ISBN978-1-59731-074-1
  • Reflections of Tasawwuf: Essays, Poems and Narrative on Sufi Themes,Sophia Perennis, 2008;ISBN978-1-59731-078-9
  • Who Is the Earth? How to See God in the Natural World,Sophia Perennis, 2008;ISBN978-1-59731-079-6
  • Folk Metaphysics: Mystical Meanings in Traditional Folk Songs and Spirituals,Sophia Perennis, 2008ISBN978-1-59731-077-2
  • Shadow of the Rose: The Esoterism of the Romantic Tradition(with his wife Jennifer Doane Upton), Sophia Perennis, 2008;ISBN978-1-59731-079-6
  • Findings in Metaphysic, Path and Lore, With a Response to the Traditionalist/Perennialist School,Sophia Perennis, 2010;ISBN978-1-59731-096-3
  • The Science of the Greater Jihad: Essays in Principal Psychology,Sophia Perennis, 2011;ISBN978-1-59731-128-1
  • The Wars of Love and Other Poems, with "A Reader's Guide to The Wars of Love" and "Lew Welch as Teacher",Sophia Perennis, 2011;ISBN978-1-59731-125-0
  • Vectors of the Counter-Initiation: The Course and Destiny of Inverted Spirituality,Sophia Perennis, 2012;ISBN978-1-59731-132-8
  • Day and Night on the Sufi Path,Sophia Perennis, 2015;ISBN978-1-62138-135-8
  • The Words of God to Prophet Muhammad: Forty Sacred Sayings,2015;ISBN978-1-87103-190-4
  • What Poets Used to Know: Poetics, Mythopoesis, Metaphysics,Angelico Press/Sophia Perennis, 2016;ISBN978-1-59731-171-7
  • Dugin against Dugin: A Traditionalist Critique of the Fourth Political Theory,Reviviscimus, 2018;ISBN978-1-59731-219-6
  • The Alien Disclosure Deception: The Metaphysics of Social Engineering,Sophia Perennis, 2021;ISBN978-1-59731-184-7
  • The Way Forward for Perennialism, After the Antinomianism of Frithjof Schuon,Sophia Perennis, 2022;ISBN978-1-59731-185-4

Editor

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  • Because You Talk: An Anthology of Bay Area Poetsed. Charles Upton, Robert Starfire, Hans Steinkellner, Other Voices Literary Society, 1976;ISBN978-0-91651-806-6
  • Dark Way to Paradise: Dante's Inferno in Light of the Spiritual Path,Jennifer Doane Upton, Sophia Perennis, 2005;ISBN978-1-59731-009-3
  • False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism and the Quest for a One-World Religion,Lee Penn, Sophia Perennis, 2005;ISBN1-59731-000-X
  • The Ordeal of Mercy: Dante's Purgatorio in Light of the Spiritual Path,Jennifer Doane Upton, Angelico Press/Sophia Perennis, 2015;ISBN978-1-62138-160-0

Anthologies

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  • Because You Talk: An Anthology of Bay Area Poetsed. Charles Upton, Robert Starfire, Hans Steinkellner, Other Voices Literary Society, 1976;ISBN978-0-91651-806-6
  • Mark in Time,Glide Publications, 1971;ISBN0-912078-16-2
  • Excerpt fromPanic GrassinCity Lights Pocket Poets Anthology,Lawrence Ferlinghetti (ed.), City Lights Books, 1995;ISBN978-0-87286-311-8
  • Diamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain and Oceania,Andrew Harvey and Jay Ramsay (ed.), Tayen Lane Publications, 2016;ISBN978-0997019612(hardcover),ISBN978-1944505394(paperback)

Journal articles

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghij"Charles Upton Papers".Archived fromthe originalon August 1, 2009.Retrieved16 November2009– viaUniversity of Connecticut.
  2. ^abcde"Teachers and Contributors".Archived fromthe originalon August 21, 2008.RetrievedNovember 16,2009.
  3. ^abCalvete, Carlos Perona (April 14, 2023)."When A.I. Prompts Back".European Conservative.RetrievedMay 10,2023.
  4. ^abMorrow, Dr. John Andrew (November 12, 2018)."Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad Offered at the Parliament of the World's Religions".The Muslim Post.Archivedfrom the original on December 8, 2022.RetrievedMay 11,2023.
  5. ^Aqeel, Asif (October 31, 2018)."Pakistan Frees Asia Bibi from Blasphemy Death Sentence".Christianity Today.Archivedfrom the original on February 5, 2023.RetrievedOctober 31,2018.
  6. ^Casper, Jayson (December 21, 2018)."Covenantal Theology: Can Muhammad's Ancient Promise Inspire Muslim-Christian Peace Today?".Christianity Today.Archivedfrom the original on June 17, 2022.RetrievedOctober 31,2018.
  7. ^"Shadow of the Rose the Esoterism of the Romantic Tradition, Charles Upton, Jennifer - Sophia Perennis Books -".Archived fromthe originalon May 24, 2010.Retrieved2009-11-16.
  8. ^abcdAhsen, Muhammad (January 2010)."Review of The Virtues of the Prophet: A Young Muslim's Guide to the Greater Jihad: The War against the Passions, by Charles Upton; and of Reflections of Tasawwuf: Essays, Poems and Narratives on Sufi Themes, by Charles Upton".Philosophy East and West.60(1): 133–135.doi:10.1353/pew.0.0083.JSTOR40469172.S2CID143974619.RetrievedMay 10,2023.
  9. ^abAbbas, Shabbir A. (2017)."The Words of God to Prophet Muhammad".American Journal of Islam and Society(PDF download).34(2).International Institute of Islamic Thought:102–104.doi:10.35632/ajis.v34i2.780.Archivedfrom the original on May 11, 2023.RetrievedMay 11,2023.

Notes

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  1. ^For more information abouttaʾwīl,a symbolic and allegorical form of interpretation of the "deeper" or "hidden" meanings of theQuranand thehadiths(sayings) attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, see:Sookhdeo, Patrick (Winter 2006)."Issues of Interpreting the Koran and Hadith".Connections.5(3).Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes:57–81.doi:10.11610/Connections.05.3.06.JSTOR26323255.
  2. ^Upton, Charles (2009)."Homer, Poet ofMaya"(PDF).Eye of the Heart(4).La Trobe University:87–96.Archived(PDF)from the original on March 29, 2022.RetrievedMay 11,2023.
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