Customer Reviews

In the Face of the Absolute (Library of Traditional Wisdom)

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Schuon has a fascinating ability to look at how things are spiritually relevant to us here and now. It may be a philosophical idea, or a denominational world, or a work of art--his aim is to turn it to account in a way that brings us into contact with the rays of divine Reality that transpierce the husks of everyday life.
This book contains one of the seminal articles of the entire Schuon opus, "Atma-Maya." In it, he gives a description of the degrees of Being that is without exaggeration a philosophical masterpiece. Both the content and the style require some effort on the part of the reader, yet the ideas are at times conveyed with a lyricism of prose that is akin to the "music of the spheres": "Maya is the breath of Atma; Atma 'breathes' through Maya...The Universe proceeds from God and returns to Him; hence the cosmic cycles governing the microcosm as well as the macrocosm. Maya is the air breathed by Atma, and this air is a quality of His own Infinitude."
The universality of Schuon's perspective at the level of ideas is matched by a remarkable breadth of applications. Thus it is not surprising that his books are reviewed and appreciated by a wide range of serious readers, as the following reviews show:

"In the Face of the Absolute is prime Schuon. 'The modern spirit proceeds along the surface, hence a continual toying with mental images without awareness of the part these really play; the traditional spirit, on the other hand, proceeds in depth, whence arise doctrines that may be apparently "dogmatic" but which nonetheless remain fully satisfying and effective.' Schuon has given a centrality to the intellect and to the expression of that intellect that is positively spiritual. In the French style, eloquence is synonymous with transformation... His knowledge of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, is holy."
--The Book Reader

"A collection of scholarly essays (translated from French) by a renowned and prolofic theologian. The author's general intent might be said to be a defense and explanation of the nature and necessity of religion in modern times. The 16 essays are divided into three parts: General Doctrine, Christianity, Islam. Each essay, while examining in depth a particular question, reveals the author's great knowledge of the world's major religions and includes major concepts, beliefs, and practices from both Western and Eastern religions. The impressive scholarship of the writer reflects the two principles of 'esoterism' of religion: namely, (1) 'fundamentally there is only one religion with various forms'; and (2) 'man bears everything within himself...by reason of the immanence of the one Truth.' This book is, indeed, a serious challenge to the 'modern spirit' whose 'ideas no longer bite.' Highly recommended for all who seek an understanding of the "traditional spirit."
--T.M. Pucelik, Bradley University

"In the Face of the Absolute" is essential Schuon, a compilation of his whole teachings on immutable truths. A great pleasure to read, I find it sets my mind straight, it offers perfect spiritual balance at a time of dissolution and descent into material chaos.
I would suggest to anyone interested in Perennial Philosophy to delve into it, maybe before any other Schuon book. This man was God's gift to Humanity, along with Rene Guenon and a few others like Ananda Coomaraswamy and Martin Lings. Enjoy!