PHILOSOPHY / OUTDOORS "Evola writes in lively prose, filled with fascinating and concrete detail. . . . To read his descriptions of the higher spiritual states is like watching a champion mountain climber on a vertical glacier." --Gnosis Julius Evola was not only one of Europe's leading exponents of esoteric thought but also an ardent mountain climber who scaled the peaks of the Tyrols, Alps, and Dolomites. For Evola the physical conquest of a mountain, with all the courage, self-transcendence, and mental stamina that it entails, becomes an inseparable part of spiritual awakening. It is no coincidence that so many ancient cultures chose mountains as the abodes of their gods and considered the rigorous ascent of peaks to be the task of heroes and initiates. In modern times, which tend to suffocate the heroic principle with naked self-interest, the mountain still forms part of the profound dimension of spirit where the soul finds that it is more than what it thought itself to be. In Meditations on the Peaks Evola combines recollections of his own experiences with reflections on other inspirational men and women who shared his view of the transcendent greatness of mountains, including such spiritual seekers as the Tibetan mystic Milarepa, the Russian artist and visionary Nicholas Roerich, and Alexandra David-Neel, the first Western woman to visit the forbidden land of Tibet. JULIUS EVOLA (1898-1974) was one of the leading authorities on the world's esoteric traditions and wrote extensively on ancient religions and hermeticism. Inner Traditions has also published his Revolt Against the Modern World, The Mystery of the Grail, The Hermetic Tradition, The Yoga of Power, The Doctrine of Awakening, and Eros and the Mysteries of Love.