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Perennial Philosophy Resources
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This site includes Perennial Philosophy articles , authors , books , film clip , videos , images , slide shows and more.
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| Beware of the Men of a Single Book | Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity, and Modern Thought | Soares de Azevedo, Mateus | | Modernism, Perennial Philosophy |
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| The Wound of Duality | The Mystery of Individuality (chapter 1) | Perry, Mark | | Metaphysics, Perennial Philosophy, Spiritual Life |
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| Some Thoughts on Soliciting and Imparting Spiritual Counsel | Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion | Pallis, Marco | | Spiritual Life |
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| Ecophilosophy in the Light of Tradition | On the Origin of Beauty: Ecophilosophy in the Light of Traditional Wisdom | Griffin, John | | Environment and Nature |
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| The Introduction from The Essential René Guénon | The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition and the Crisis of Modernity | Lings, Martin | | Guénon, René |
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| The Preface from The Essential René Guénon | The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition and the Crisis of Modernity | Herlihy, John | | Guénon, René |
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| Essential Characteristics of Metaphysics | The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition and the Crisis of Modernity | Guénon, René | | Comparative Religion, Metaphysics, Perennial Philosophy |
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| What is Meant by Tradition | The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition and the Crisis of Modernity | Guénon, René | | Comparative Religion, Modernism, Perennial Philosophy, Tradition |
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| The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue: Sufi Perspectives on the Universality of the Quranic Message | Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East | Shah-Kazemi, Reza | | Inter-faith dialogue |
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| About an Intellectual Reform | Returning to the Essential: The Selected Writings of Jean Biès | Biès, Jean | | Christianity, Tradition |
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The full online video Origins of the Perennialist School (49 minutes),
from World Wisdom:
This is an overview, from World Wisdom Books, of the school of thought called the Perennialist School. The video summarizes how the Perennial Philosophy developed as a school of thought, and the ideas and people that have been central in its development. In addition to this, and to establishing some basic definitions, the overview is intended to provide some answers to these questions: What is the Perennial Philosophy? What are its fundamental concepts? How did this school of thought come into existence? Who are the founders of the school, and who are some of the other important Perennialist authors who have followed them? What topics have these authors explored? What is the point of view of the Perennial Philosophy regarding the modern world and its religious traditions? How is Perennialist thought represented in modern-day American academia? Why do Perennialists tend to prefer an alternative approach to interfaith dialogue?
Topics Covered
To go directly to a section of the video, move the seek slider on the player (above the pause/play controls, etc.) with your mouse, or click on the desired time. For example, clicking on 6 minutes and 29 seconds will allow you to skip directly to the section “Tradition and the Perennial Philosophy.” You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to fast-forward to a particular time.
00:01 Origins of the Perennialist School
06:29 Tradition and the Perennial Philosophy
11:58 The Perennialist School of Thought
13:34 The Founders
23:30 Other Perennialist Authors
35:01 The Perennial Philosophy in Modern Academia
46:37 A symbolical demonstration of how the diverse religious traditions are connected to the one Truth, and thus to each other; and a summation of the theme of the video
Presenters (in order of appearance): Martin Lings, James Cutsinger, Harry Oldmeadow, Frithjof Schuon, Roger Gaetani, Joseph Fitzgerald, Jean-Claude Petitpierre, William Stoddart, Rama Coomaraswamy, Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Mark Perry, Patrick Laude
Credits
Written and directed by Jennifer Casey
Produced by Michael Oren Fitzgerald
Narrated by Wes Lasher and Luke Casey
Online editing and audio mix by Wes Lasher
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Tradition in the Modern World: Sacred Web 2006 Conference - 2 disc DVD set
Directed by Roger Gaetani; Produced by M. Ali Lakhani
The Sacred Web Conference on "Tradition in the Modern World" was held September 23-24, 2006 in Edmonton, Canada. It was, according to keynote speaker Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the most important conferences on Tradition within recent decades. People from all over the world attended talks from many of the most the most respected names in traditionalist/perennialist studies, as well as a new generation of thinkers.
This 2-disc DVD set has almost 6 hours of video highlights from the conference. It features presentations from many of the world's leading traditionalists/perennialists such as Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Huston Smith, Jean-Louis Michon, James S. Cutsinger, Reza Shah-Kazemi, as well as another generation of thinkers and writers.
For more information about Tradition in the Modern World and to see a full list of all of the presentations, click here.
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Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984) was one of the leading perennialist writers of the twentieth century. His writings showed remarkable scope. Burckhardt wrote on pure metaphysics, on tradition and modern science, on sacred art, on history and political science, and on various other aspects of traditional civilizations. Burckhardt was also a translator (from Arabic into French), an editor and publisher, and a respected consultant on restoring traditional cities to their former beautiful states.
For more information about the life and work of Titus Burckhurdt, click here
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Born in 1877 in Ceylon, Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a multi-talented researcher, scientist, linguist, expert on culture and art, philosopher, museum curator, and author. He was the first well-known author of the modern era to expound the importance of traditional arts, culture, and thought as more than simply relics of a bygone past. Dr. Coomaraswamy has often been credited with reintroducing the concept of the "Perennial Philosophy" to a West dazed by the endless multiplicity of the modern world.
For more about the life and work of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, click here
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James S. Cutsinger is Professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, he was honored in 1999 as a Michael J. Mungo University Teacher of the Year.
A widely recognized authority on the Sophia Perennis and the Traditionalist school of comparative religious thought, he is best known for his work on the philosopher Frithjof Schuon. Professor Cutsinger serves as secretary to the Foundation for Traditional Studies.
For more information on the life and work of James Cutsinger, click here.
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René Guénon (1886-1951) was a French metaphysician, writer, and editor who was largely responsible for laying the metaphysical groundwork for the Traditionalist or Perennialist school of thought in the early twentieth century. Guénon remains influential today for his writings on the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, on symbolism, on spiritual esoterism and initiation, and on the universal truths that manifest themselves in various forms in the world’s religious traditions.
For more information about the life and work of René Guénon, click here
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Walter James, the 4th Baron Northbourne, was educated at Oxford and was for many years Provost of Wye College. In his first book, Look to the Land (1940) he coined the term "Organic Farming". After meeting Marco Pallis, he later to write on Traditionalist themes. A number of Lord Northbourne's essays appeared in the British journal, Studies in Comparative Religion, and were later included in his books Religion in the Modern World (1963) and Looking Back on Progress (1970). World Wisdom has put together an anthology of his work, Of the Land and the Spirit: The Essential Lord Northbourne on Ecology and Religion.
Lord Northbourne was an energetic and expert translator, and he had the distinction of translating into English the important book The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times by René Guénon . He also translated the original English edition of Light on the Ancient Worlds by Frithjof Schuon and Sacred Art in East and West by Titus Burckhard .
For more information on the life and work of Lord Northbourne, click here.
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Patrick Laude was born in France in 1958. He took an undergraduate degree in History and a graduate degree in Philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne while a Fellow at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He came to the US in the early eighties and obtained a Ph.D. in French literature in 1985. He is currently Professor of French at Georgetown University.
He is the author of numerous articles and several books dealing with the relationship between mysticism, symbolism and literature, as well as important spiritual figures such as Jeanne Guyon, Simone Weil, Louis Massignon and Frithjof Schuon.
For more information about the life and work of Patrick Laude, click here.
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Martin Lings (1909-2005) was an author, editor, translator, and specialist in Islamic art and esotericism. From 1970-74 he was Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books at the British Museum (in 1973 his Department became part of the British Library) where he had been in special charge of the Qur’an manuscripts, amongst other treasures, since 1955. His authoritative biography of the Prophet Muhammad, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, has become a classic and is widely read in both East and West as an unbiased, clear, and profound source on the prophet of Islam.
For more information on the life and works of Martin Lings, click here.
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Jean-Louis Michon is a traditionalist French scholar who specializes in Islam in North Africa, Islamic art, and Sufism. His works include Le Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba and L'Autobiographie (Fahrasa) du Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba (1747-1809). For 8 years he was the Chief Technical Advisor to the Moroccan government on Unesco/UNDP projects for the preservation of the cultural heritage.
His works in English include Introduction to Traditional Islam and Sufism: Love and Wisdom, co-edited with Roger Gaetani.
For more information on the life and works of Jean-Louis Michon, click here.
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr is University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. The author of over fifty books and five hundred articles, he is one of the world’s most respected writers and speakers on Islam, its arts and sciences, and its traditional mystical path, Sufism.
The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a work of his collected writings has been pubished by World Wisdom. The prestigious Library of Living Philosophers series has been dedicated a volume to his thought.
For more information on the life and work of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, click here.
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Harry Oldmeadow is co-ordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University in Australia and author of the acclaimed Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (2000), an authoritative introduction to the perspective of Perennialism. He is a frequent contributor to the journals Sophia and Sacred Web.
For more information on the life and works of Harry Oldmeadow, click here.
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Marco Pallis was born of Greek parents in Liverpool in 1895, educated at Harrow and Liverpool University, and served in the British army during the Great War. He wrote two books deriving from his experiences traveling in the Eastern Himalaya region and with Tibetan Buddhism: Peaks and Lamas (1939) which was reprinted several times and became something of a bestseller and The Way and the Mountain (1960, new edition released by World Wisdom in 2008). Pallis also wrote many articles for the journal Studies in Comparative Religion, some of which are included in his last publication, A Buddhist Spectrum (2004).
For more information about the life and works of Marco Pallis, click here
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F. Clive-Ross was the founder, publisher and editor of the journal Studies in Comparative Religion and its predecessor Tomorrow. For nearly 20 years under Clive-Ross’ guidance, Studies in Comparative Religion was one of the predominate platforms for discussion of all issues to pertaining to comparative religious studies. Clive-Ross also founded the publishing house, Perennial Books Ltd, and was a trustee of the “World of Islam Festival”. He died in 1981.
For more information about the life and works of Francis Clive-Ross, click here.
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Leo Schaya was a writer in the Traditionalist/Perennialist school. He was particularly known for his writings on Jewish esoterism, with his book The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah (1958) being one of the best known and often-quoted works in that field; however, he also was at home in the area of Sufi metaphysical interpretation.
For more information on the life and work of Leo Schaya, click here.
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Frithjof Schuon is best known as the foremost spokesman of the Perennial Philosophy and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. Over the past 50 years, he has written more than 20 books on metaphysical, spiritual and ethnic themes as well as having been a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon's writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities.
Schuon was born in 1907 in Basle, Switzerland, of German parents and died in the United States in 1998.
For more information about the life and work of Frithjof Schuon, click here
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William Stoddart was born at Carstairs in Scotland in 1925. He studied modern languages, and later medicine, at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
For many years he was the assitant editor of the British journal on Traditional studies, Studies in Comparative Religion. His books include Sufism: the Mystical Doctrines and Methods of Islam, Outline of Hinduism), and Outline of Buddhism (1998). A collection of his previously unpublished writings have been released by World Wisdom as Remembering in a World of Forgetting, edited by Mateus Soares de Azevedo.
For more information about the life and work of William Stoddart, click here.
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The Betrayal of Tradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisis of Modernity
Edited by Harry Oldmeadow
The Betrayal of Tradition is an anthology of essays which excavate the deepest roots of the spiritual crisis of modernity. This book offers a radical diagnosis of the spiritual malaise of modernity and signals some of the directions in which we might turn for solutions to our deepest and most painful predicaments.
"These 25 essays by writers who represent a range of spiritual thought focus on the role of traditional religion in correcting the loss of transcendence and meaning. When any major tradition is taken seriously, its timeless relevance provides both firm ground and clear direction in chaotic times. Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and Native American perspectives on the subject are presented. Oldmeadow (La Trobe Univ. at Bendigo, Australia) collects the work of established figures like Dorothy Sayers and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy as well as that of more contemporary writers like Robert Aitken, Karen Armstrong, and the Crow Medicine Man Thomas Yellowtail. The book is divided into five sections: ‘Tradition and Modernity,’ ‘Perennial Truths and Modern Counterfeits,’ ‘The Social Order,’ ‘The Single Vision of Science,’ and ‘The Destruction of Traditional Cultures.’ The combination of ideas is inspiring and provides an invigorating perspective for examining current issues of modern social philosophy while remaining very readable."
—Library Journal Review
For more information about The Betrayal of Tradition, Click here
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The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Edited by Rama P. Coomaraswamy
This collection has been edited by his son, Rama Coomaraswamy, The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy contains 21 essays on topics reflecting the vast scope of Coomaraswamy's intellect, including those topics with which he is most associated, such as symbolism, Eastern vs. Western thinking, mythology, literature, metaphysics, traditional art, folklore, and even more! For those new to Coomaraswamy's writings, this is an excellent survey, and for those who cannot find some of his out-of-print essays, this collection may be the solution. The introduction by Rama P. Coomaraswamy includes a wonderful biography of his father with many details and from a perspective that have never been available before.
"The Essential Ananda K Coomaraswamy is…a volume very much to be welcomed. The essays it contains may all be found in earlier publications; but many of the older collections such as The Dance of Shiva have become rare and are now collector's items, while others…are no longer readily available. The book is attractively produced and contains illustrations, a valuable Glossary, and an excellent and very useful index. It is sensibly priced, and it is to be hoped that it will reach a wide public. For those familiar with Coomaraswamy's writings it will be a convenient work of reference. For those yet to discover him it forms a wonderful introduction to one of the most deeply learned, wise, and challenging writers of the twentieth century."
—Temenos Academy Review
For more information about The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, click here.
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The Essential Frithjof Schuon
by Frithjof Schuon, Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
These selections, chosen under his supervision, were approved by him during his lifetime and confirmed as a representative volume of his magisterial writings. Covering a enormous range of topics on the nature of religion, esotericism and mysticism, love and knowledge of God, theology and philosophy, Schuon’s unique approach to comparative religion, metaphysics, aesthetics, prayer, the spiritual path and criticism of the modern world, this volume opens the way to understanding one of the most influential philosophers and spiritual leaders of our time.
There is no better point of entry for the reader seeking to understand the vast intellectual and spiritual world of Frithjof Schuon and the Perennial Philosophy.
"This anthology is doubly masterful; first, by virtue, obviously, of the Schuonian text, but also on account of its marvelous selection, which highlights the essential elements of Frithjof Schuon’s thought in its entirety. An invaluable contribution which has no peer."
-Wolfgang Smith, author of The Wisdom of Ancient Cosmology and Cosmos and Transcendence: Breaking Through the Barrier of Scientistic Belief
For more information about The Essential Frithjof Schuon, click here.
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The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr
by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Edited by William C. Chittick
Seyyed Hossein Nasr is a world-renowned scholar on Islam, Sufism, and the Perennial Philosophy. He is also the author of over fifty books and five hundred articles on topics ranging from comparative religion to traditional Islamic philosophy, cosmology, art, ecology, and mysticism. The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an anthology of 21 of his most representative essays, including several rare articles which have not been easily available in the U.S., carefully selected and edited by William C. Chittick, a former student of Prof. Nasr and leading scholar of Islam and Sufism.
"The Essential Nasr is an excellent introduction to the thought of one of the most prominent Islamic scholars of the 20th-21st centuries. William Chittick has done a marvelous job selecting, organizing and editing texts that illustrate the essence and richness of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s scholarship and wisdom."
—John L. Esposito, University Professor, Georgetown University
For more information about The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr, click here.
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The Essential Titus Burckhardt: Reflections on Sacred Art, Faiths and Civilizations
by Titus Burckhardt, Edited by William Stoddart
This book is the much-anticipated collection of writings from Titus Burckhardt, one of the great Perennialist authors of the 20th century, edited by the world's foremost expert on the Burckhardt body of works, William Stoddart.
Burckhardt's writings are characterized by (1) a profound grounding in the Perennial Philosophy and integral metaphysics, (2) a remarkable history of contacts with traditional peoples and their civilizations, (3) a true artist's knowledge of and love for traditional art, (4) a scholar's knowledge of diverse source materials not accessible to most modern seekers, and (5) a gifted teacher's ability to make all of these things understandable and of deep interest to readers. This collection will bring together many of Burckhardt's most representative writings that will amply demonstrate these qualities.
"No one since the legendary A.K. Coomaraswamy has been able to demonstrate how entire civilizations define themselves through their art with the precision of Titus Burckhardt. This distillation of his life's work is a precious memento."
—Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions and Why Religion Matters.
For more information on The Essential Titus Burckhardt, click here.
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Every Branch in Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man
Every Branch in Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man is a collection of articles by leading perennialist authors that are unified by a single theme: nothing that is properly human can be separated from the intrinsically spiritual nature of man. The subject matter of this book, therefore, may be termed "spiritual anthropology." The specific topics are diverse, touching upon many important aspects of human experience, including the meaning of work, the role of laughter in spiritual life, relying upon God during a time of illness, the spiritual significance of clothing and the importance of seeking a spiritual guide. All of these essays, however, affirm with a single voice that man may only truly exist in relation to God's Being, and that at his center man possesses a nature which is "theomorphic" (that is, in the image of God).
Every Branch In Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man is an anthology of profound, thought-provoking essays that search for the essence and purpose of existence in human life itself. Regarding various religious teachings, modern history, and philosophical dilemmas with evenhanded scrutiny, essays such as "The Role of Culture in Education" and "The Survival of Civilization" stretch the boundaries of commonly held wisdom in search of a deeper unifying truth. Every Branch In Me is an impressive compilation and highly recommended reading for students of religion, philosophy, and metaphysics."
—Midwest Book Review
For more information about Every Branch in Me, click here.
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Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art: Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author's Notes
by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy , Edited by William Wroth
Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art is perhaps Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s most important work on the philosophy of art. This new revised edition of a classic work includes additional notes made by Coomaraswamy to his earlier additions, a foreword by editor William Wroth, and an introduction by noted Coomaraswamy scholar Roger Lipsey. Another aid to readers is that here, for the first time, all passages in foreign languages in the original edition have been translated in this new edition.
“This new edition of Coomaraswamy's classic work is a top pick for new age-oriented art and religious libraries: it holds all the definitive revisions he later intended to add to the book and offers, for the first time, translations of the Greek, Latin, French, German and Italian terms he used. Extensive footnoted references provide solid documentation and bibliographic reference in a fine revised edition certain to prove a winning acquisition for any in-depth, detailed library covering Eastern spirituality and thinking.”
—Midwest Book Review
For more information about Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?, click here.
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Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions
by Harry Oldmeadow
The West has long romanticized the "mysterious" East, but it has also judged its traditions as "uncivilized." Our notions about Eastern spirituality have been formed by a succession of travelers, scientists, artists, intellectuals, poets, philosophers, and missionaries, as well as by Eastern travelers who have spent time in the West. This book helps us to recognize the influence of Eastern ideas upon modern Western thought by tracing the history of engagements between East and West up until the present day. It concludes with a section that helps us to perceive the timeless value of the many Eastern contributions to the West's current intellectual and spiritual state.
“This voluminous work is distinguished by both careful scholarship and intellectual penetration. No other available study can compare in either depth or breadth with Oldmeadow’s treatment of the very important encounter of the West with the spiritual traditions of the East during the past two centuries. Journeys East is a major achievement in the field of religious studies, indispensable for anyone interested in the encounter of the West with Eastern religions and cultures yesterday and today.”
—Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University, and author of The Heart of Islam : Enduring Values for Humanity
For more information about Journeys East, click here.
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Of the Land and the Spirit: The Essential Lord Northbourne on Ecology and Religion
by Lord Northbourne, Edited by Christopher James & Joseph A. Fitzgerald
Twenty-five years before Rachel Carson published her famous work Silent Spring, Lord Northbourne coined the phrase “organic farming” and helped to promote the importance of a holistic approach to the environment. His work, linking spirituality and ecology, has inspired a generation of writings from Wendell Berry to HRH Prince Charles. This anthology presents for the first time, several articles never before published in book form.
“Lord Northbourne was the philosopher of the organic movement's early years. He believed that care for the earth is a spiritual discipline and that our world's bounty and beauty are best preserved through fidelity to religious tradition. This selection of his writings amply demonstrates the artistic sensitivity and lucid rejection of secularism which were the hallmarks of his thought. It provides a most welcome opportunity for a new generation to discover the ideas of an uncompromising cultural prophet.”
—Philip Conford, author of The Origins of the Organic Movement
For more information about Of the Land and the Spirit, click here.
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Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World Religions
Edited by Patrick Laude
Why and how should one pray? Pray Without Ceasing is an attempt at answering this question in the most essential and direct way. The treasury of spiritual texts that have been collected in this volume is focused on the way of the invocation of divine Names, or sacred formulae. Its main objective is to suggest how this universal way, beyond the diversity of its modalities throughout the great religions, is both a quintessence of religious virtues and ritual practices, and a spiritual path that responds to the particular needs and conditions of our time.
"Patrick Laude edits Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World Religions an anthology covering invocatory prayer and its fundamentals across religions. Centering prayer has been a long traditional practice of invocatory prayer, but rarely has received the depth and insight it deserves. Scholars provide analysis of key texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, pairing these classic writings with contemporary texts and insights. From the symbolism in Christian communion to historical inconsistencies in analysis and interpretation of the texts, Pray Without Ceasing holds wisdom from Gandhi, Gao Xingjian, Ramakrishna and more."
—California Bookwatch
For more information about Pray Without Ceasing, click here.
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Prayer Fashions Man: Frithjof Schuon on the Spiritual Life
by Frithjof Schuon, Edited by James S. Cutsinger
Prayer Fashions Man features some of the most memorable writings on prayer and the spiritual life by Frithjof Schuon. Previous readers of Schuon will rejoice in this wonderful collection of many of his best writings on prayer and the human vocation, as well as seeing some materials they have never seen before, in the form of previous unpublished letters. Readers new to Schuon will find, as countless others have, insights on spirituality that call to their innermost being in a universal language that all people of all times and all religions can, and indeed must, understand.
"No one knows Schuon’s mind—nor his incomparable gift for transporting attentive readers into their own spiritual depths—better than Cutsinger. In this superb volume he masterfully presents Schuon’s most magisterial passages on the interior life and the soul’s relation to God. His inclusion of previously unpublished letters is a coup that reveals another side of Schuon, a tenderness that places the sage’s adamantine intellectual style in a surprising new light."
-Philip Novak, Dominican University of California, and author of The World’s Wisdom
For more information about Prayer Fashions Man, click here.
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Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism
by William Stoddart, Edited by Mateus Soares de Azevedo & Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz
In Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism, a wide-ranging selection of writings by “perennialist” author William Stoddart exposes the many false ideologies of postmodernism (“forgetting”) and calls for a return to traditional religion, especially in its mystical dimensions (“remembering”).
"In our own time Tradition has found no more resolute defender than William Stoddart; by the same token, he has been an implacable foe of the follies of modernity. This masterly collection of essays on religious and metaphysical themes is a splendid synthesis of a lifetime of tireless endeavour on behalf of those timeless truths which signal the only way out of the darkness and confusion which characterize the modern era."
—Harry Oldmeadow, La Trobe University, Benidgo, author of Journeys East.
For more information about Remembering in a World of Forgetting, click here.
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Science and the Myth of Progress
Edited by Mehrdad M. Zarandi
Today's belief in an endless progress tends toward an almost total rejection of spiritual wisdom’s world views as being naïve, out-moded, and contrary to empirical evidence. Is it possible that the glistening images of technological and scientific progress have caused us to lose sight of something which is in fact even more essential to the lives of real human beings? Science and the Myth of Progress provide access to information, through a diverse selection of eminent authors, that can assist in evaluating this question of the nature of modern "progress."
"There must be few books better able than this one to demolish the pseudo intellectual impostures which have been fabricated from scientific thought to fill the intellectual vacuum of modern times. Most of the urgent issues in today's world result from the impact of applied science on human life, and underlying them is the question as to the meaning and value of scientific knowledge as such. Endless confusions flow from the distinction between science as the profession of discovering facts about natural phenomena, and science as an ideology with a program for remaking the world in its own image. This problem is powerfully addressed by the seventeen essays in this book, which all illustrate different ways of distinguishing science from the pseudo-philosophy with which it is usually identified."
-Temenos Academy Review
For more information about Science and the Myth of Progress, click here.
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Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred
How do people sense God's presence in created things? Seeing God Everywhere is an anthology of essays on nature and the sacred which address that question. Written by an impressive list of spiritual leaders and thinkers, these essays explore the question from many different perspectives. Reading these essays enriches our inner lives and enlivens our contemplative imaginations.
“How good it would be if this book were to come into the hands of everyone involved with the natural world: environmentalists, naturalists, scientists, hunters, fishers, farmers, every mother with a baby playing in the garden, every father mowing the lawn, every human being who breathes air, drink water, eats of the earth. That is to say, this book speaks to us all. If its lessons were heard and heeded, wonders might result.”
—Philip Zaleski, editor of The Best Spiritual Writing Series
For more information about Seeing God Everywhere, click here.
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Studies in Comparative Religion: Commemorative Annual Editions
Edited by F. Clive-Ross
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. 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.
Each Commemorative Annual Edition contains all of the articles, editorials, and letters to the editor in the exact manner as the four quarterly issues that were published in the respective years.
“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
Currently two Commemorative Annual Edition of Studies in Comparative Religion are available, 1967 and 1968, click for more information.
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The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy
Edited by Martin Lings & Clinton Minnaar
The Underlying Religion is an anthology of 25 essays by 14 of the leading exponents of the "Perennialist" or "Traditionalist" school of comparative religious thought, associated with René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Frithjof Schuon. This school is well known for its espousal of the "transcendent unity of religions"-the idea that religions are different paths leading to the same summit. Focusing its selection on the most accessible of the Perennialist writings, and structured in such a way as to allow for the easiest possible comprehension, The Underlying Religion aims to be the most accessible introduction yet to the perspective of the Perennial Philosophy.
"I do not know, and cannot even imagine, a better book [than The Underlying Religion] to introduce the reader to the most profound incursion into the understanding of religion that has appeared in modern times. I am speaking, of course, of the Perennialist position."
—Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions
For more information about The Underlying Religion, click here.
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The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah
by Leo Schaya
The Kabbalah is the system of Jewish esoterism that has its roots in the Old Testament and the Zohar, its development in Palestine and Europe over the course of hundreds of years, and now its crude popularization and intellectual despoiling in recent times. The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah is one of the best known expositions of the doctrine of the Kabbalah for the educated public. It offers to those who refuse to cut corners a gradual revelation of the depth and breadth of a system of thought and practice that has illuminated the minds and spirits of many generations of Jewish mystics.
“That this book will be of great service to all who wish to study the Jewish tradition from any angle goes without saying; be its readers Jews or Gentiles, they will all find here an abundance of information to draw on.”
—Marco Pallis, author of The Way and the Mountain.
For more information about The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah, click here.
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The Way and the Mountain: Tibet, Buddhism, & Tradition
by Marco Pallis
The Way and the Mountain is a selection of Marco Pallis' most important writings on Tibetan Buddhism, backed by his universalist approach to religious belief. Pallis focuses on the Tibetan tradition but situates it in the wider context of the perennial wisdom and the spiritual life which this entails. He provides the keen observations of a Westerner as he makes sense of spiritual practices, moral systems, modes of dress, and other traditions that are often hard to understand unless described by an open and seeking soul. Pallis was just such an observer, and the traditional world of Tibet that he encountered comes to life in much greater intelligibility for Western readers.
“A careful student of language and custom, he [Pallis] visited one Buddhist monastery after another in the borderland provinces of Sikkim and Ladak, seeking always Lamas, teachers, of the utmost excellence. . . . From them he learned, and through them he was profoundly drawn toward that subtle, serenely intricate theology [of Buddhism].”
—Time Magazine
For more information about The Way and the Mountain, click here.
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Ye Shall Know The Truth: Christianity and The Perennial Philosophy
Edited by Mateus Soares de Azevedo
Ye Shall Know The Truth is a collection of essays by aims at explaining, discussing, and developing in a new key, the spiritual, philosophical and artistic patrimony of the Christian tradition in its intellectually challenging dimension - as well as to consider its future possibilities. Behind the book lies the belief that one of the main factors responsible for the contemporary decadence, lack of vigor, and indeed the tragic crisis, of traditional religion is the indifference that is shown towards its sapiential or “knowledge” dimension. The essays here envisage religion primarily as knowledge of a sacred character - not as “social service” nor as a merely ethical system. The authors of the Perennial Philosophy here support the vision that the intellective dimension is central to the human being; knowledge, profoundly understood, is the very heart of man.
"Mateus de Azevedo's precious and judiciously composed anthology is informed by the evangelical teaching 'the Spirit bloweth where it listeth.' It is furthermore buttressed by a complementary awareness of the fact that the Spirit does not blow just anywhere, nor just in any way. These collected essays point to the esoteric and gnostic heart of Christian teachings, while emphasizing the traditional, scriptural and liturgical forms through which this heart has animated the Church and its faithful. This volume is therefore a much needed antidote to both fundamentalist myopia and modernist tepidness: it breaks through exterior and conventional concepts of Christianity while upholding the spiritual depth and sacred integrity of Christ's gift to the world."
—Patrick Laude, Georgetown University
For more information about Ye Shall Know the Truth, click here.
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Studies in Comparative Religion
Studies in Comparative Religion was founded in Britain in 1963 by Francis Clive-Ross, and is the first and most comprehensive English-language journal of traditional studies.
F. Clive-Ross clearly explained the journal’s goals in his introduction to the first issue:
Studies in Comparative Religion is devoted to the exposition of the teachings, spiritual methods, symbolism, and other facets of the religious traditions of the world, together with the traditional arts and sciences which have sprung from those religions. It is not sectarian and, inasmuch as it is not tied to the interests of any particular religious group, it is free to lay stress on the common spirit underlying the various religious forms.
The overall goals of the journal remain as they were originally stated more than forty years ago by F. Clive-Ross, and it now appears as a free online journal with a comprehensive archive.
The free on-line journal and comprehensive archive now contains the following features:
- A free on-line archive of all the issues of Studies in Comparative Religion dating back to 1963.
- Database search functions by subject or author.
- The “key word” search engine is powered by Google, thus allowing detailed key word searches throughout this entire historic archive.
- “Pop-up definitions” are provided by the Dictionary of Spiritual Terms, which allows the reader to click on highlighted foreign or technical words to obtain short pop-up definitions.
- Free on-line subscriptions to new issues of the journal.
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Frithjof-Schuon.com
Frithjof-Schuon.com is an invaluable link to a treasure trove of information on the life and work of Frithjof Schuon. It is a "must visit" for anyone interested in the Perennial Philosophy
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Eye of the Heart
"Eye of the Heart" is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal in the field of Traditional Philosophy and Religious Studies. The Resources section of the web site has a number of interesting links and reading materials having to do with the Perennial Philosophy.
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Iqbal Review online
The Iqbal Review has a website with online versions of their journal. Readers of Traditionalist/Perennialist writings will find many articles of interest by such authors as Schuon, Lings, and others. (Some of these are linked through the World Wisdom online Library.) To access the journal, click on the cover image, or on "More" below, then click on "Journals" and then "Iqbal Review." New links will appear, which you can follow.
When browsing through the journal, we also recommend looking through the various pieces by the journal's editor, Muhammad Suheyl Umar. Dr. Umar's reviews and comments offer an interesting perspective upon traditionalist topics as seen from the Muslim world.
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Religio Perennis.org
With an extensive on-line library of articles, and bibliographies of key Perennialist writers including Frithjof Schuon, René Guénon, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and many more, ReligioPerennis.org is a valuable resource.
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Resources on the website of James S. Cutsinger
Professor James S. Cutsinger of the University of South Carolina is a major contemporary Perennialist author, editor, and teacher who has also been a close associate of Frithjof Schuon, Martin Lings, and other elders of that school of thought. Although Professor Cutsinger focuses much of his own writing on the Christian tradition, he is thoroughly conversant in the other great religious traditions of mankind. His writing is notable for its clarity and an almost pastoral care for communicating effectively with younger readers of current generations. His website has many interesting items for reading and additional links. (More)
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Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies presents writings on the principles and philosophies at the heart of various traditions as well as their religious practices, arts, sciences, and social structures.
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Sophia Perennis
This site acts as a reference resource for information about various subjects and questions pertaining to the Sophia Perennis, or "perennial wisdom".
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Sacred Web
Sacred Web is publication devoted to the study of Tradition and modernity. The journal aims to identify Traditional "first principles" and their application to the contingent circumstances of Modernity. Sacred Web is published bi-annually.
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Serious Seekers.com
The Serious Seekers websites offers numerous resources on the Perennial Philosophy, including an online library as well as video and audio clips.
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