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| Studies in Comparative Religion - 1970 |
| This page describes the commemorative volume of all 1970 "Studies in Comparative Religion" journal issues |
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Click cover for larger image.
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Author(s):
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Subjects(s):
Comparative Religion
Tradition
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Price: $23.95
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ISBN: 978-1-935493-07-5
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Book Size: 8.25x11
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# of Pages: 220
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Language: English
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Description
This is a commemorative volume containing the four issues from 1970 of the British journal Studies in Comparative Religion. It features a broad spectrum of essays from many of the most important European and American writers on spiritual Traditionalism or the Perennial Philosophy.
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Sorry: Our ordering system is being updated. For now, please call or email us, or use your favorite online bookseller to order.
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This is a commemorative volume containing the four issues from 1970 of the British journal Studies in Comparative Religion. It features a broad spectrum of essays from many of the most important European and American writers on spiritual Traditionalism or the Perennial Philosophy. Studies in Comparative Religion was founded in Britain in 1963 by Francis Clive-Ross (1921–1981) and is the first and most comprehensive English-language journal of traditional studies. The journal was published under the name Tomorrow until 1967, when it was changed to its present name. Four quarterly issues per year, containing over 1,200 articles in total, were published during the first 25 years of Studies in Comparative Religion’s existence, before its publication was interrupted in 1987.
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“One of the most interesting intellectual developments of the 1960s was the publication in England of a periodical called Studies in Comparative Religion. When it first came across my desk, it had seemed to me merely another gray scholarly journal—an impression that was only strengthened by its stated pur pose of presenting essays concerning ‘traditional studies.’ Like many Americans, I was put off by the very word ‘tradition.’ But I pressed on because I had heard that this journal contained some of the most serious thinking of the twentieth century.
“And in fact I quickly saw that its contributors were not interested in the hypothesizing and the marshaling of piecemeal evidence that characterizes the work of most academicians. On close reading, I felt an extraordinary intellectual force radiating through their intricate prose. These men were out for the kill. For them, the study of spiritual traditions was a sword with which to destroy the illusions of contemporary man….
“All I could have said defi nitely was that they seemed to take metaphysical ideas more seriously than one might have thought possible. It was as though for them such ideas were the most real things in the world. They conformed their thought to these ideas in the way the rest of us tend to conform our thought to material things. Perhaps it was this aspect that gave their essays a fl avor that was both slightly archaic and astonishingly fresh at the same time....
“That these writings bring something that has been entirely lacking in Western religious thought is therefore not open to question. But that is not the court at which their work deserves to be judged, nor would they wish it so. Something much more serious is at stake than merely renewing the comparative study of religion throughout the land….”
—Jacob Needleman, San Francisco State College, Editor for The Penguin Metaphysical Library
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Vol. 4, #1, Winter 1970
The Vow of Dharmakara by Frithjof Schuon
The Heavenly Jerusalem and the Paradise of Vaikuntha by Titus Burckhardt
Signs of the Times by Martin Lings
UNHU—The Personality of the Shona by Michael Gelfand
Soteriology in Shin Buddhism and its Modern Significance by Shojun Bando
Book Reviews
Correspondence
Vol. 4, #2, Spring 1970
Concerning a Paradox in the “Divine Comedy” by Frithjof Schuon
Attitudes to Animals in Shoshoni Indian Religion by Ake Hultkrantz
Quinque Prudentes Virgines by Patrick A. Moore
The Void in Islamic Art by Titus Burckhardt
The Cult of Kataragama by Maureen Seneviratne
Parallels in Hindu and Stoic Ethical Thought by Donald H. Bishop
Book Reviews
Vol. 4, #3, Summer 1970
Rites and Symbols by René Guénon
The Spiritual Virtues according to Saint Francis of Assisi by Frithjof Schuon
The Virgin Suckling St. Bernard by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
The Sufi Master as Exemplifi ed in Persian Sufi Literature by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Teilhard De Chardin and the Christian Vision by Philip Sherrard
The Unlikely Associates by Joseph Epes Brown
Book Reviews
Correspondence
Vol. 4, #4, Autumn 1970
On the Margin of Liturgical Improvisations by Frithjof Schuon
Thinking Round a Recent Book by Marco Pallis
Khwājā Khadir and the Fountain of Life, in the Tradition of Persian and Mughal Art by A. K. Coomaraswamy
Sufism and the Perennity of the Mystical Quest by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Boethius’ Three Musicians by Jocelyn Godwin
Book Reviews
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In this article Philip Sherrard explains the theories and writing of Teilhard De Chardin as they apply to the split of science and faith in modern thought and the ways in which Chardin seeks to reconcile this separation. Chardin’s evolutionary theory is fueled by the power of “becoming” and “self creation”. It contains both physical and conscious progression in a personal and collective context. To Chardin, the individual is not responsible for the highest realization of self, but instead the highest form of the universe. In order to reconcile these differences of the personal and the collective, Chardin applies a faith-oriented theory in which he integrates the role of the Omega (or the Christ) in which the personal and the collective potentials are centered on each other and therefore both are fulfilled. Besides the inconsistencies this theory demonstrates in regard to faith, Sherrard also explores the way that it proves science as an incomplete mode of philosophy.
| Teilhard De Chardin and the Christian Vision | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 3. ( Summer, 1970) | Sherrard, Philip | | Christianity, Metaphysics, Modernism, Perennial Philosophy, Science, Tradition |
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This article considers the ways in which seemingly unrelated animals and ideas are connected in the views and magic of the Oglala Sioux. Their attention to such things as whirlwind, cocoons and bison factor into their use of magic and protective powers by the association understood to be between them. Just as the cocoon is a protective covering for the caterpillar as it is gradually receiving the power of wind and flight, so the Oglala use the power of whirlwind to inflict confusion on their enemies for the sake of obtaining victory. Joseph Epes Brown examines the symbolism of several animals, such as the elk and spider, and includes some illustrations taken from traditional Oglala drawings. He concludes with the observation that the linking of everyday creatures and phenomena with supernatural realities account for the strong sense of the sacred that is a central characteristic of traditional Indian lifeways.
| The Unlikely Associates: A Study in Oglala Sioux Magic and Metaphysic | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 3. ( Summer, 1970) | Brown, Joseph | | American Indian |
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Marco Pallis’s review of the book The Vatican Oracle by Father Brocard Sewell becomes an article in its own right as it looks closely at the causes and effects of the innovations proposed in the Catholic Church in the light of the author’s thoughtful concerns. Pallis uses these concerns to examine the relationship of the western and eastern church and what its disunity means, the differing attitude by the eastern and western churches towards the liturgy, the hierarchy, contemplation and brotherhood, the modern world and the abuse of nature.
| Thinking Round a Recent Book | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 4. ( Autumn, 1970) | Pallis, Marco | | Christianity |
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In this article from the journal Studies in Comparative Religion, Martin Lings discusses the idea of the Uncreated Principial Substance in relation to the Christian doctrine of original sin, as well as common 20th century attitudes towards human evolution. The author claims that it is a “sign of the times” that most modern people capitulate unconsciously and blithely to a diminished awareness of the divine presence. Rather than reacting strongly to this critical deprivation, which has been brought about through the actions of some who are not held accountable, instead modern men believe that they are now better than at any time in history.
| Signs of the Times | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 1. ( Winter, 1970) | Lings, Martin | | Christianity |
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr explains the essential role of the sheikh in Sufism as it is illustrated in Persian literature. The sheikh is responsible for initiating his disciples into the spiritual world. By possessing a connection to the Divine, the sheikh has the means to direct a disciple on the Path to paradise. Nasr emphasizes the importance of discernment as a disciple seeks to be guided and initiated by a sheikh, as there is corruption and deceit among many who claim to have this spiritual power. Quoting numerous passages, particularly from Rumi, Nasr illustrates various aspects of the spiritual master as the door through which a sincere aspirant can access mysteries of the Divine.
| The Sufi Master as Exemplified in Persian Sufi Literature | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 3. ( Summer, 1970) | Nasr, Seyyed Hossein | | Sufism |
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In this lecture Seyyed Hossein Nasr shows how Islam portrays man as both being of the very best stature and the very lowest of the low – a situation which demands that man is perennially, albeit often unconsciously, searching for his lost self. In normal traditional society the quest for one’s true self is contained and accommodated within that society in a revealed religion and the mystical path within it. Nasr traces the role of Sufism as one such mystical path that reunites man with his true self in any age and any place. Further, one who is able to realize the inner truths of religion as such may be able to understand other paths and religions profoundly, as long as one is able “to go from the phenomena to the noumena, from the form to the essence wherein resides the truths of all religions and where alone a religion can be really understood and accepted.”
| Sufism and the Perennity of the Mystical Quest | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 4. ( Autumn, 1970) | Nasr, Seyyed Hossein | | Sufism |
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Burckhardt comments on the symbolic importance of the image of the Heavenly Jerusalem, which first appeared in a medieval manuscript. He compares this image side-by-side with a drawing of the mandala of Vaikuntha, the home of the Hindu god, Vishnu. Also comparing relevant scriptural texts, Bruckhardt is more interested in the objective comparison of the two images/texts than in drawing conclusions as to why and how such similarities came into existence.
| The Heavenly Jerusalem and the Paradise of Vaikuntha | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 1. ( Winter, 1970) | Burckhardt, Titus | | Comparative Religion |
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In this article, Burkhardt explains that Islamic artwork strives to represent two important aspects: (1) to preserve the “primordial dignity of man,” and (2) to visually remind people of Islam’s fundamental denial of idols and idolatry. The artwork serves to reinforce the idea that there should be nothing between man and the invisible presence of God.
| The Void in Islamic Art | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 2. ( Spring, 1970) | Burckhardt, Titus | | Islam |
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Frithjof Schuon examines the criteria for changing the liturgy – by wishing to preserve its primitive simplicity or by ridding it of redundant accretions from past ages. Schuon explains the possible dangers of trying to return to the origin while ignoring the flowering of the sacred within the tradition over time for “it possesses the intrinsic value of a tangible crystallization of the supernatural.” He points out that the error of today is in seeing in the liturgy something that can be invented and that it must be conformed to “our times.” He also considers the importance of language in the liturgy and what makes one language more sacred than another as well of the error of vulgarization and pedantry.
| On The Margin of Liturgical Improvisations | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 4. ( Autumn, 1970) | Schuon, Frithjof | | Christianity |
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Using St. Francis of Assisi’s writings, particularly his Laudes, Frithjof Schuon emphasizes the necessary interdependence of such virtues as Simplicity, Wisdom, Charity and Purity. Focusing on the Virgin Mary, both St. Francis and Schuon illustrate the ways in which the collaboration of these virtues opens the soul as a “receptacle of the Divine Presence.” In teaching both submission to God and detachment from the world, they affirm a necessary presence in the world and connection with other people, but without dependence on temporal things and with indifference toward egoism and self-fulfillment. No one can neglect one virtue without tainting all of them, and if one finds complete acceptance of one virtue, then all others are contained within it.
| The Spiritual Virtues according to St. Francis of Assisi | Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 4, No. 3. ( Summer, 1970) | Schuon, Frithjof | | Christianity |
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