It does not appear that the Oriental philosophy, or the earliest Gnostic systems, recognised any place higher than the eighth sphere; and it is here that according to the account of Epiphanius ( " Haer . " 26, p . 91 ) dwelt Barbelo the mother of all.
32.
-- Oriental philosophy is at their [ martial arts ] heart, Johnson says . These things are not from God, as God is not in the business of mystical energies or the occult . . . I no longer practice the martial arts & as a Christian, I cannot in good conscience, teach or recommend the martial arts to others .
33.
As Carl T . Jackson made clear in his 1975 article " The New Thought Movement and the Nineteenth Century Discovery of Oriental Philosophy ", Atkinson was not alone in embracing a vaguely exotic " orientalism " as a running theme in his writing, nor in crediting Hindus, Buddhists, or Sikhs with the possession of special knowledge and secret techniques of clairvoyance, spiritual development, sexual energy, health, or longevity.
