Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts [Paperback]

Frithjof Schuon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1987

Man's most fundamental needs may be summed up as the need for Knowledge, for Love, and for a Way to salvation. At the present time many people feel cut off from any true meaning of existence, and the rush and personal worry of modern life as well as inner states appear to make it more and more difficult to satisfy these needs, to find a fundamental basis of living.

The habitual limitations of current modern thought are quickly dispersed and the spiritual perspectives normal for mankind are clearly set forth in this new translation of Schuon's second book. An extraordinary breadth of subjects rendered in an aphoristic style makes the wisdom of these reflections accessible to a wide range of readers. The "spiritual contours" of various traditions are seen in the light of their necessary divergences, Schuon's emphasis always being on the one hand the essential nature of things and on the other the great question of knowing what aspect of Truth or Reality it is that motivates the entire being of a given individual. For, as the author says, "metaphysical knowledge is one thing; its actualization ... quite another." Of particular interest here are the passages on the spiritual phenomenon of Ramakrishna and the interplay between knowledge, love and virtue in spiritual life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Any serious person will feel grateful to be confronted by such a generously discerning intellect ... in this darkening time." -- Jacob Needleman, 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 like no other living writer." -- Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions and Why Religion Matters

"If I were asked who is the greatest writer of our time, I would say Frithjof Schuon without hesitation." -- Martin Lings, author of The Sacred Art of Shakespeare, and Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions

"Schuon seems like the cosmic intellect itself impregnated with the energy of divine grace surveying the whole of reality..." -- Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Perennis; 2 edition (June 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0900588276
• ISBN-13: 978-0900588273
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,542,490 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A precious jewel in both content and style, April 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts (Paperback)

If for some reason I were limited to owning just one book by Frithjof Schuon, it would be "Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts." There are several of his books that could be said to summarize his viewpoint, but this one is unique. Central to Schuon is Plato's dictum, "Beauty is the splendor of the True." Essentially, these are the two indispensable poles by which humanity lives. These six essays explain why and how.

On the one hand, Schuon is convincing through his dialectic, which is both concise and comprehensive-there are no wasted words. But he is no less so through his ability to evoke the life of the soul in its inmost: "Love is in the depths of man even as water is in the depths of the earth, and man suffers from not being able to enjoy this infinity which he bears in himself and for which he is made. It is necessary to dig deep into the soil of the soul through layers of aridity and bitterness in order to find love and to live on it."

The content of the essays includes the fundamental principles of metaphysics, an overview of the traditional worlds, the guiding themes of inward spiritual life and reflections on the beauty of art and nature. The style is almost aphoristic, so that in any chapter, the reader can choose to concentrate on the meaning expressed in a few paragraphs or to assimilate the whole ensemble of ideas in its entirety. In fact, one will find occasions for both, because there are jewels here that one wants to appreciate in their luminous kernel as well as in the radiance of their unfolding:

"Beauty is a crystallization of some aspect of universal joy; it is something limitless expressed by means of a limit."