Form and Substance in the Religions (Library of Perennial Philosophy) [Paperback]

Frithjof Schuon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Library of Perennial Philosophy | Publication Date: September 6, 2003

Restores a true sense of proportion in affirming the transcendent real.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I have met with no more impressive work in the comparative study of Oriental and Occidental religions." -- T. S. Eliot

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

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

The man is a living wonder ... I know of no living thinker who begins to rival him. -- Huston Smith, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Philosopher and metaphysician, poet and artist, Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) is world-renowned in the field of Comparative Religion and is known as the pre-eminent exponent of the Perennial Philosophy. He was born in Basel, Switzerland, of German parents. He went to Paris as a young man, where he studied for a few years before undertaking a number of trips to North Africa, the Near East, and India in order to contact spiritual authorities and witness traditional cultures. Following WWII, he accepted an invitation to travel to the American West, where he lived for several months among the Plains Indians, in whom he had always had a deep interest. He spent his mature life writing more than twenty books of essays comprising a spiritual message of solar magnitude. The dominant theme, or principle, of Schuon's writings was foreshadowed in his early encounter with a marabout who had accompanied some members of his Senegalese village to Basel for the purpose of demonstrating their African culture. When the young Schuon talked with him, the venerable old man drew a circle with radii on the ground and explained: "God is in the center, all paths lead to Him." This metaphysical truth is the leitmotif of all Schuon's writings, beginning with his first book, the title of which: The Transcendent Unity of Religions is very indicative in this respect.

Schuon has written more than 20 books, as well as having been a regular contributor to leading journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America for over 50 years. His writings have been translated into over a dozen languages, and 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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: World Wisdom (September 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941532259
• ISBN-13: 978-0941532259
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 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: #381,822 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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5.0 out of 5 stars Different Forms, One Substance, July 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Form and Substance in the Religions (Library of Perennial Philosophy) (Paperback)

"The Substance of knowledge is knowledge of the Substance." So writes Frithjof Schuon at the start of the third chapter of his book Form and Substance of the Religions, and in fact Schuon proves himself to possess this "knowledge of the Substance" throughout the pages of this book. Originally published in French in 1975, all the chapters of this book have appeared in English in six of Schuon's previously published English works; what makes this new book special, then, is firstly that it is a precise English reproduction of Schuon's original french work of the same title, and secondly, that all of the articles have been re-translated with painstaking attention to the original French and the author's intentions. But there is yet another "special" aspect to this work which must be highlighted, namely the fact that a number of these articles constitute "pillars", so to speak, of Schuon's metaphysical opus and its application to spiritual manifestations. For instance, chapters like "The Five Divine Presences", "Atma-Maya" and "the Two Paradises" are fundamental for an understanding of the nature of God, the world and man, as well as their relationship and the degrees of reality pertaining to each, while "The Question of Theodicies" delves into the nature, origin and necessity of evil. "The Virginal Doctrine" and "Ther Koranic Message of Sayyidna Isa" will enable one to simultaneously understand and appreciate both the Islamic and the Christian conceptions of Mary and Jesus, and, regardless of one's religious persuasion, lead to a deeper understanding of the divine Mystery which each of them incarnated. "Insights into the Muhammedan Phenomenon", meanwhile, can enable a Westerner to discover the basis for the Islamic emphasis upon the pre-eminence of Muhammed, which initially seems strange given that Muslims recognize Christ as the "Spirit of God" who will return at the end of time.
But Schuon's books are not easy reading. Anyone unfamiliar with his books might want to begin with an introduction to his works as found in James Cutsinger's Advice to the Serious Seeker, or an intorduction to Schuon's basic world-view (quite different from the modern one!) as found in Martin Lings' Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions or E.F. Schumacher's A Guide for the Perplexed. A few of Schuon's easier works such as The Play of Masks, The Transfiguration of Man or Echoes of Perennial Wisdom might also be read by way of introduction.
The following chapter is crucial for an understanding of this book: "...one should recall that a religion is what Buddhists term an upaya (then this footnote: "the upaya is a 'skillful means' by which Heaven seeks to win souls; since souls are in illusion, the 'means' necessarily takes on something of the illusory, hence the diversity of doctrines, methods and religions..."), and that it has for this reason a certain right to defensive reflexes which, while objectively inadequate, are nonetheless logically appropriate for the religious axiom they serve and are justified by their effectiveness pro domo..." (their effectiveness, that is, in saving souls). As in most of Schuon's books, the author discusses at length the divergences between the various "skillful means" by which heaven has lured souls, while clarifying what pertains only to the "form" (or shell) of a religion and what pertains to its "substance" (kernel). In their forms, the religions necessarily diverge; in their substances, they unite by leading their adherents towards the Absolute and Infinite Reality. This is what Schuon termed the "Transcendent Unity of Religions", which was also the title of his first book; the different religions, then, are analagous to so many paths to the summit of a mountain. Each path is necessarily very different at the base, but as they converge upon the summit, the spiritual traveller notices the self-same Source and Goal for each path.
In Form and Substance of the Religions, Frithjof Schuon speaks as one who is already at the summit, peering downwards and illuminating the way for those trying to climb towards their eternal Source in the darkness of the modern world. He clarifies and justifies the differences in religions, the essential and non-essential aspects of religions, and, while fully appreciating and elucidating what pertains to their "form", leads one to a recognition of the common "substance" of the religions -- that which, being essential, constitutes the one common "thread" that runs through each revelation as a string holds together the beads of a rosary. As we meditatively read this book, we are gradually drawn up to the Divine Summit by one who, as he wrote this book, seems to have been already there.