The Perennial Philosophy
I recently read Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy, and it gets a wow. Subtitled "An Interpretation of the Great Mystics, East and West," the book examines the common thread that runs between the philosophical systems of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, mystic Christianity, and other worldviews.
Huxley asks, just what is this indescribable essence that has inspired human beings for aeons to seek spiritual satisfaction? To be saved, to become enlightened, to return to the "ground of Being"-- what does that mean? Because in the end it is indescribable, in some sense Huxley is only adding more words to the reams and reams of published mateiral on this weighty topic, but The Perennial Philosophy treads lightly over the weight. I have never read such a glorious comparison across the world's great religions.
Huxley also devotes considerable effort to explaining what The Perennial Philosophy is not. In particular, it is not the fanaticism of modern radical religious groups. Somewhat surprisingly, Huxley also comes down in pretty sharp criticism of mainstream Protestanism, viewing the Reformation as a "fall" from devotion to the true "Ultimate." When religion became tied to common worldly issues, it ceased to approach the spiritual Ground. It deviated from Truth, he says.
The Perennial Philosophy is also separate from the scientific search for Truth, despite innuendos of similarity in modern quantum mechanics and cosmology-- recall all those popular physics books with "God" in the title. Of course Huxley doesn't talk much about quantum mechanics (the book was written in the 40s, when QM was hardly a household word). But he lays out the ways in which intellectual knowledge, even of deep Nature, cannot be compared to true spiritual knowledge.
I find it heartening that when you really look at the deep philosophical details, there are few, if any, fundamental differences between the great religions. Jesus Christ said essentially the same thing as the Buddha, with only some variation in how many times you get to come back. The Upanishads of ancient India have correlations in the Mahayana Buddhist texts of China, and in the writings of the Gnostic Christians even later. Ecumenism is real.
Religion is just the human manifestation of the spiritual Truth-- hence, it must have flaws. It can even get seriously off track, or veer off into "evil," for no other reason than that humans can do these things. But underneath, there is Reality, and there will always be humans who strive to touch it directly. Such is the quest of the followers of The Perennial Philosophy.
Very intriguing, especially for a physics ex-pat who is finally starting to appreciate the value of the spiritual dimension of life, and is starting to be able to differentiate among various forms of that dimension.
Huxley asks, just what is this indescribable essence that has inspired human beings for aeons to seek spiritual satisfaction? To be saved, to become enlightened, to return to the "ground of Being"-- what does that mean? Because in the end it is indescribable, in some sense Huxley is only adding more words to the reams and reams of published mateiral on this weighty topic, but The Perennial Philosophy treads lightly over the weight. I have never read such a glorious comparison across the world's great religions.
Huxley also devotes considerable effort to explaining what The Perennial Philosophy is not. In particular, it is not the fanaticism of modern radical religious groups. Somewhat surprisingly, Huxley also comes down in pretty sharp criticism of mainstream Protestanism, viewing the Reformation as a "fall" from devotion to the true "Ultimate." When religion became tied to common worldly issues, it ceased to approach the spiritual Ground. It deviated from Truth, he says.
The Perennial Philosophy is also separate from the scientific search for Truth, despite innuendos of similarity in modern quantum mechanics and cosmology-- recall all those popular physics books with "God" in the title. Of course Huxley doesn't talk much about quantum mechanics (the book was written in the 40s, when QM was hardly a household word). But he lays out the ways in which intellectual knowledge, even of deep Nature, cannot be compared to true spiritual knowledge.
I find it heartening that when you really look at the deep philosophical details, there are few, if any, fundamental differences between the great religions. Jesus Christ said essentially the same thing as the Buddha, with only some variation in how many times you get to come back. The Upanishads of ancient India have correlations in the Mahayana Buddhist texts of China, and in the writings of the Gnostic Christians even later. Ecumenism is real.
Religion is just the human manifestation of the spiritual Truth-- hence, it must have flaws. It can even get seriously off track, or veer off into "evil," for no other reason than that humans can do these things. But underneath, there is Reality, and there will always be humans who strive to touch it directly. Such is the quest of the followers of The Perennial Philosophy.
Very intriguing, especially for a physics ex-pat who is finally starting to appreciate the value of the spiritual dimension of life, and is starting to be able to differentiate among various forms of that dimension.
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