Pythagorean Initiation Rites

Catchy title, huh? Now that I've got your attention...

Pythagoras has got to be one of the most interesting people from history. And by "interesting" I mean completely crazy. A few months ago I was doing some research into the history of reincarnation - where it comes from, who believed/believes in it, etc. - and I found this great book, "To Think Like God, Pythagoras and Parmenides, The Origins of Philosophy" by Arnold Hermann:

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-God-Pythagoras-Parmenides/dp/1930972008/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243133108&sr=1-2

I found a passage about Pythagorean initiation rites that blew me away. The exclamation points in parenthesis are mine. Check it out:

"The examination began with a background check of the petitioner; inquiries were made into his personal life and the state of his relationships (!) with family, friends, and so forth. Then the person's behavior was scrutinized. Did he talk too much or laugh on the wrong occasions? How did he get along with other students? What, for example, made him happy or sad? Next followed a physical inspection, which included an evaluation of the shape and gait of the applicant's body(!), allegedly for assessing the state or habits of his soul. If a candidate passed these preliminaries, he graduated to the next phase, in which he was simply sent away for three years(!!) and utterly ignored. The idea was to test the person's resolve, that is, how strong was his desire to learn. However, unbeknownst to the aspirant, he remained under constant, if covert, observation (!!!) in an attempt to determine whether he craved status or recognition, instead of displaying scorn for such lowly impulses."

I love the image of a bunch of hooded pre-Christians tip-toeing through the forest spying on one another. This is totally a high-concept slapstick comedy waiting to be green-lighted. Somebody, get Ron Howard on the phone! (Did I just say that?)

But wait, there's more (again, the intrusive parenthetical remarks are mine):

"If a petitioner survived this phase, a greater trial still lay ahead: a five-year period of absolute silence (!!!) awaited those still determined to belong...A candidate who entered this phase had to turn over his belongings - money, properties, income (Scientology anyone?) - to the order, where it was held by trustees called (get this) "politicians," "economists," and, "legislators."(!!!!)...If the candidate survived the ordeal and was still found worthy to join, he was raised to the rank of esoteric and allowed to the inner circle. This meant that from that moment on, the associate was authorized to see the face of Pythagoras, who, so far, had only lectured from behind a curtain.(!!!!!!!)"

Wow. I don't know what to say. It's all so crazy and ridiculous and yet I feel like this describes exactly how elite American financial institutions conduct their hiring. Oh wait, America doesn't have any elite financial institutions anymore. Never mind.

In any case, the Pythagoreans kind of died out. I think their problem was that they believed anything that was at all pleasurable should be eliminated from life because they believed life itself was punishment for some atrocity committed in a previous existence. I don't totally get it but I love it. You can't make stuff like this up.