The Hidden Ring : An introduction
to the Oriental Studies
and to Eastern philosophy

The basic idea behind the creation of this (unusual) website was to create a kind of framework or collection of the main schools of thought of the world's East, that is, that religious-doctrinal background ranging from Islam to Japanese Shintoism. A field of study commonly known as Oriental Studies, which embraces the whole of these cultures other than the Judeo-Christian West.

The reason, therefore, for this paper is to provide only an introduction or not even too in-depth overview of each of these doctrines, thus referring back to the links provided at the bottom of each page more in-depth news and information. It is necessary to point out here that the texts introducing each school of thought have not been written by me, but have been taken--with prior written consent--from Encyclopedia Britannica and serve only as an introduction and not as “indoctrination” or anything else.

The "traditions" or schools of thought discussed in The Hidden Ring are :

1) Chinese philosophy, including Taoism, Confucianism and the Five Classics, QiGong, Tai Chi and Wu Shu, which is a whole set of martial arts whose philosophical background goes back to the former doctrines ;

2) Indian philosophy, which includes the Vedas (Vedanta), Yoga, Tantra ;

3) Buddhism, which can be subsequently divided into Mahayana (Indian) Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism , each with its own peculiarities ;

4) Islam, which includes Islamic philosophy as well as Islamic theology (Quran anbd Hadith) and Sufism which is Islam's mystical practice;

5) Ancient Iran's tradition called Mazdeism which can be defined as a theology of light and darkness ;

6) Japanese religion, Shinto together with the Bushido which is the Samurai code of conduct as well as a theoretical framework for the Japaense martial arts ,

7) and lastly Shamanism, widespread in North and South America as well as in Siberia, which finds its place here for its eastern origins in the frozen plains of Russia .

The real purpose of this collection of texts and photographs freely taken and from the web and presented here without any profit or commercial interest, but rather for popular and commercial purposes only, is to also provide a number of links to resources and detail sites. The Hidden Ring thus stands as an introductory portal to the world of Eastern philosophy.

It is good to point out, therefore, that even the choice of sections or topics is not random. I have therefore excluded both everything that pertains to: 1) esotericism in the strict sense, which nevertheless boasts a fair number of “serious topics” that would have been interesting to deal with as well as a certain literary tradition that includes authors such as Renee Guenon or Elemire Zolla; 2) occultism or “magic” , as I consider this to be a diversion from the true meaning of Eastern philosophy as a whole; 3) “world” traditions such as Christianity or Judaism as they cannot be considered truly “Eastern” in the sense in which this term also designates an opposition to the Judeo-Christian and Hellenic West , founded on other texts, other traditions and other languages, like the Greek and Latin languages as opposed to Arabic, Chinese and Sanskrit; or the Bible, Plato and Aristotle as opposed to Lao Tze, Avicenna or the Pali canon of Buddha .

And this is not by way of doctrinaire polemic as much as because the sense of the division of the world between East and West should also be reflected in the very structure of this website, the purpose of which is not to debate about that division , whether it is right or wrong; as much as to give voice also to the other side, hitherto perhaps kept in a minority status in relation to the Christian West.

This site therefore wants to remedy that.

The Hidden Ring wishes its visitors a happy journey towards the unknown part of the world.