Echoes of Perennial Wisdom [Hardcover]

Frithjof Schuon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1992

Comparable to a meditative stroll in a garden, this anthology of excerpts brings together relatively short, jewel-like passages from Schuon's works both published and previously unpublished. In choosing the excerpts, care has been taken to include texts concerning the spiritual life in its simpler and more concrete aspects, so that no one is excluded from the insights offered here. An important complement to the author's metaphysical perspective, this is a work that speaks directly to our thirst for meaning and profundity.

"The beauty of the sacred is a symbol or a foretaste of, and sometimes a means to, the joy that God alone procures." — Sometimes a brief and concise thought can have a deep and long-lasting effect on our soul. This collection evokes the essence of spiritual truths. Browsing through this book is like taking a meditative stroll through a garden — whether one can spend an afternoon or only a few moments, there is nourishment and refreshment for mind and soul. Schuon is known for his ability of going to the heart of a subject, and these epigrammatic passages are akin to Platonic recollections in their power to rekindle our awareness of the quintessential values that constitute the soul’s certitude, serenity and happiness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Any serious person will feel grateful to be confronted by such a generously discerning intellect ... in this darkening time. -- Jacob Needleman, Department of Philosophy, San Francisco State University

Anyone who is an artist concerned with the sacred should read him ... [His] work has meant so much to me. -- Sir John Tavener, composer and author

He feeds my soul ... as does no other living religious writer. -- Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions

Schuon is unsurpassed--and I would add unequalled--as a writer on comparative religion. -- Martin Lings, former Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts at the British Museum, and author of What is Sufism?, and A Sufi Saint of the 20th Century

Schuon possesses the gift of reaching the very core of the subject he is treating, of going beyond forms. -- Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 87 pages
• Publisher: World Wisdom Books (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094153216X
• ISBN-13: 978-0941532167
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,581,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Basle, Switzerland in 1907, Frithjof Schuon was the twentieth century's pre-eminent spokesman for the perennialist school of comparative religious thought.
The leitmotif of Schuon's work was foreshadowed in an encounter during his youth with a marabout who had accompanied some members of his Senegalese village to Basle for the purpose of demonstrating their African culture. When Schuon talked with him, the venerable old man drew a circle with radii on the ground and explained: "God is the center; all paths lead to Him." Until his later years Schuon traveled widely, from India and the Middle East to America, experiencing traditional cultures and establishing lifelong friendships with Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and American Indian spiritual leaders.
A philosopher in the tradition of Plato, Shankara, and Eckhart, Schuon was a gifted artist and poet as well as the author of over twenty books on religion, metaphysics, sacred art, and the spiritual path. Describing his first book, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, T. S. Eliot wrote, "I have met with no more impressive work in the comparative study of Oriental and Occidental religion", and world-renowned religion scholar Huston Smith said of Schuon, "The man is a living wonder; intellectually apropos religion, equally in depth and breadth, the paragon of our time". Schuon's books have been translated into over a dozen languages and are respected by academic and religious authorities alike.
More than a scholar and writer, Schuon was a spiritual guide for seekers from a wide variety of religions and backgrounds throughout the world. He died in 1998.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God knows Himself in us., April 20, 2003

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This review is from: Echoes of Perennial Wisdom (Library of Traditional Wisdom) (Paperback)

This book is a well chosen collection of excerpts from the writings of Frithjof Schuon, the preeminent expostor of the Philosophia Perennis in our times.

Here in these selections you have the heart of the Perennial Philosophy that lies at the core of all legitimate religions and spiritual paths. The translation from the original French is good and flows smoothly and poetically.

Central to all is the realization that the reason that humankind exists is for its individual members to transcend the material world and make connection with God. This is to find the center where heaven and earth meet. Deep contemplative prayer is prescribed as the best path to this center. Indeed, to the centered man, all of life becomes an ongoing prayer, a contemplation of the Divine. Moreover, after one finds the center, one is able to return to the outer world and put its dissonances into perspective, for they are nothing compared to the Absolute. Further, once true connection has been made, the material world becomes transparent and one sees the symbolic meaning and archetypes that are reflected in the mirror of matter.