Franklin Merrell-Wolff (born Franklin Fowler Wolff; 11 July 1887 – 4 October 1985) was an American mystic and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. After formal education in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Wolff devoted himself to the goal of transcending the normal limits of human consciousness. After exploring various mystical teachings and paths, he dedicated himself to the path of jnana yoga and the writings of Shankara, the expounder of the Advaita Vedanta school of

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...

Life

Franklin Fowler Wolff was born in Pasadena, California in 1887. He was raised as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, but abandoned Christianity during his youth. Wolff studied mathematics and philosophy at Stanford and Harvard. At Stanford, he was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

society in 1911. He briefly taught mathematics at Stanford in 1914, but left academia the following year. In 1920, Wolff married Sarah Merrell Briggs. The couple joined their original surnames; hence Wolff became Franklin Merrell-Wolff. Merrell-Wolff and his wife founded an esoteric group called the ''Assembly of Man'' in 1928, which congregated in Tuttle Creek Ashram in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountains near

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' or ''Too-man-go-yah'') is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of . It lies in East–Central Califor ...

. Sarah Merrell-Wolff, also known as Sherifa, died in 1959. Franklin Merrell-Wolff remarried and lived the rest of his life in the mountains until his death in 1985. He authored various books and a great number of recorded lectures explaining his philosophy.

Publications and philosophy

Wolff's publications are "an elaboration of the significance of ismystical experiences," described by religious scholar

Arthur Versluis Arthur Versluis (born 1959) is a professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. Academic career Versluis did his Ph.D research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His thesis ...

as a "consistent and extensive body of work with a unique vocabulary and set of concepts". In his works, Wolff described his mystic experiences and their implications, examining his experience in the light of his extensive knowledge of mathematics and philosophy. Although he started an Ashram, his form of spirituality was not necessarily compatible with a religious structure. In his book ''Pathways Through to Space'', Wolff describes having a profound spiritual realization in 1936, which provided the basis for his transcendental philosophy. It was induced "in a context of sustained reflective observation and deep thought," rather than by the usual practice of meditation. He called this experience the "Fundamental Realization". In its aftermath, Wolff found himself being in a state of euphoric consciousness he called the "Current of Ambrosia", which he described as being "above time, space and causality". It also led Wolff to a state of "High Indifference", or consciousness without an object. At the center of these experiences was the realization of "Primordial consciousness", which, according to Wolff, is beyond and prior to the subject or the object and is unaffected by their presence or absence. The notion of "Introception", or "Knowledge through Identity," " escribesthe inward focus of consciousness upon its own nature". Wolff's other published books detailing his experience and philosophy include ''The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object'' and ''Transformations in Consciousness: The Metaphysics and Epistemology'' (originally published under the title ''Introceptualism'').

Selected works

*Merrell-Wolff, Franklin (1973). ''Pathways Through To Space'' (New York : Julian Press). . *Merrell-Wolff, Franklin (1973). ''The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object'' (New York : Julian Press). . *Merrell-Wolff, Franklin (1994). ''Franklin Merrell-Wolff's Experience and Philosophy: a personal record of transformation and a discussion of transcendental consciousness: containing his Philosophy of Consciousness Without An Object and his Pathways Through To Space'' (Albany : SUNY Press). *Merrell-Wolff, Franklin (1995). ''Transformations in Consciousness: The Metaphysics and Epistemology,'' edited by Ron Leonard (Albany : SUNY Press). .

Notes

References

Sources

;Printed sources * ;Web-sources

External links

Franklin Merrell-Wolff :: Philosopher. Mathematician. Mystic. Spiritual Teacher.

The Transcendental Philosophy of Franklin Merrell-Wolff

The Franklin Merrell-Wolff Fellowship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrell-Wolff, Franklin 1887 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American philosophers American Christian mystics American spiritual teachers American spiritual writers Harvard University alumni Idealists Stanford University alumni