Perennialism from Wikipedia

Perennial philosophy
The Perennial Philosophy (Latin: philosophia
perennis), [note 1] also referred to as
Perennialism , is a perspective within the
philosophy of religion which views each of the
world’s religious traditions as sharing a single,
universal truth on which the foundation of all
religious knowledge and doctrine has grown.
The term philosophia perennis was first used
by Agostino Steuco (1497–1548), [1] drawing
on the neo-Platonic philosophy of Marsilio
Ficino (1433–1499) and Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola (1463–94).
In the early 19th century this idea was
popularised by the Transcendentalists. By the
end of the 19th century it was further
popularized by the Theosophical Society , under
the name of "Wisdom-Religion" or "Ancient
Wisdom". [2] In the 20th century it was
popularized in the English speaking world
through Aldous Huxley's book The Perennial
Philosophy as well as the strands of thought
which culminated in the New Age movement.
Definition
Perennialism is a perspective within the
philosophy of religion which views each of the
world’s religious traditions as sharing a single,
universal truth on which foundation all
religious knowledge and doctrine has grown.
According to this view, each world religion,
including but not limited to Christianity, Islam,
Judaism , Hinduism , Taoism , Confucianism,
Shinto , Sikhism, and Buddhism, is an
interpretation of this universal truth adapted to
cater for the psychological, intellectual, and
social needs of a given culture of a given
period of history. The universal truth which
lives at heart of each religion has been
rediscovered in each epoch by saints, sages,
prophets, and philosophers. These include not
only the 'founders' of the world's great
religions but also gifted and inspired mystics ,
theologians, and preachers who have revived
already existing religions when they had fallen
into empty platitudes and hollow
ceremonialism. [3]
Perennialists argue that although the sacred
scriptures of the world religions are undeniably
diverse and often superficially oppose each
other, one can discern a common doctrine
regarding the ultimate purpose of human life.
Typically this doctrine is posited as mystical
insofar as it views the summum bonum of
human life as an experiential union with the
supreme being (sometimes perceived as an
"energy" such as the universe ) which can only
be achieved by undertaking a programme of
physical and mental 'purification' or
'improvement'. [ citation needed ]
Perennialism may be contrasted with
conventional religious orthodoxy, which
demarcates clear lines of truth and falsehood
separating religions, and also with historicism ,
which sees religious phenomena as determined
by sociopolitical context with no absolute
essence.
Origins
Neo-Platonism
Main articles: Neo-Platonism and Agape
The Perennial philosophy originates from neo-
Platonism and Christianity.
Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) argued that there
is an underlying unity to the world, the soul or
love, which has a counterpart in the realm of
ideas. Platonic Philosophy and Christian
theology both embody this truth. Ficino was
influenced by a variety of philosophers
including Aristotelian Scholasticism and
various pseudonymous and mystical writings.
Ficino saw his thought as part of a long
development of philosophical truth, of ancient
pre-Platonic philosophers (including Zoroaster ,
Hermes Trismegistus , Orpheus, Aglaophemus
and Pythagoras ) who reached their peak in
Plato. The Prisca theologia , or venerable and
ancient theology, which embodied the truth
and could be found in all ages, was a vitally
important idea for Ficino. [4]
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–94), a
student of Ficino, went further than his teacher
by suggesting that truth could be found in
many, rather than just two, traditions. This
proposed a harmony between the thought of
Plato and Aristotle, and saw aspects of the
Prisca theologia in Averroes , the Koran , the
Cabala among other sources. [5] After the
deaths of Pico and Ficino this line of thought
expanded, and included Symphorien Champier ,
and Francesco Giorgio .
Steuco
De perenni philosophia libri X
The term perenni philosophia was first used by
Agostino Steuco (1497–1548) who used it to
title a treatise, De perenni philosophia libri X ,
published in 1540. [1] De perenni philosophia
was the most sustained attempt at
philosophical synthesis and harmony. [6]
Steuco represents the liberal wing of 16th-
century Biblical scholarship and theology,
although he rejected Luther and Calvin. [7] De
perenni philosophia , is a complex work which
only contains the term philosophia perennis
twice. It states that there is “one principle of
all things, of which there has always been one
and the same knowledge among all
peoples.” [8] This single knowledge (or
sapientia) is the key element in his philosophy.
In that he emphasises continuity over
progress, Steuco’s idea of philosophy is not
one conventionally associated with the
Renaissance. Indeed, he tends to believe that
the truth is lost over time and is only
preserved in the prisci theologica. Steuco
preferred Plato to Aristotle and saw greater
congruence between the former and
Christianity than the latter philosopher. He
held that philosophy works in harmony with
religion and should lead to knowledge of God,
and that truth flows from a single source, more
ancient than the Greeks. Steuco was strongly
influenced by Iamblichus’s statement that
knowledge of God is innate in all, [9] and also
gave great importance to Hermes
Trismegistus.
Influence
Steuco’s perennial philosophy was highly
regarded by some scholars for the two
centuries after its publication, then largely
forgotten until it was rediscovered by Otto
Willmann in the late part of the 19th century.
[10] Overall, De perenni philosophia wasn’t
particularly influential, and largely confined to
those with a similar orientation to himself. The
work was not put on the Index of works
banned by the Roman Catholic Church,
although his Cosmopoeia which expressed
similar ideas was. Religious criticisms tended
to the conservative view that held Christian
teachings should be understood as unique,
rather than seeing them as perfect expressions
of truths that are found everywhere. [11] More
generally, this philosophical syncretism was
set out at the expense of some of the
doctrines included within it, and it is possible
that Steuco’s critical faculties were not up to
the task he had set himself. Further, placing so
much confidence in the prisca theologia, turned
out to be a shortcoming as many of the texts
used in this school of thought later turned out
to be bogus.[12] In the following two centuries
the most favourable responses were largely
Protestant and often in England.
Gottfried Leibniz later picked up on Steuco's
term. The German philosopher stands in the
tradition of this concordistic philosophy; his
philosophy of harmony especially had affinity
with Steuco’s ideas. Leibniz knew about
Steuco’s work by 1687, but thought that De la
Verite de la Religion Chretienne by Huguenot
philosopher Phillippe du Plessis-Mornay
expressed the same truth better. Steuco’s
influence can be found throughout Leibniz’s
works, but the German was the first
philosopher to refer to the perennial philosophy
without mentioning the Italian.[13]
Modern popularization
Transcendentalism and Unitarian
Universalism
Main articles: Transcendentalism and
Universalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was a
pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct
field. [14] He was one of the major figures in
Transcendentalism , an early 19th-century
liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted
in English and German Romanticism , the
Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher,
and the skepticism of Hume .[web 1] The
Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive,
experiential approach of religion. [web 2]
Following Schleiermacher, [15] an individual's
intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for
truth. [web 2] In the late 18th and early 19th
century, the first translations of Hindu texts
appeared, which were also read by the
Transcendentalists, and influenced their
thinking. [web 2] They also endorsed
universalist and Unitarianist ideas, leading to
Unitarian Universalism , the idea that there
must be truth in other religions as well, since a
loving God would redeem all living beings, not
just Christians. [web 2][web 3]
Neo-Vedanta
Main articles: Advaita Vedanta , Neo-Vedanta ,
Hinduism in the West and Neo-Advaita
Many perennialist thinkers (including
Armstrong, Huston Smith and Joseph
Campbell) are influenced by Hindu reformer
Ram Mohan Roy and Hindu mystics
Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda ., [16]
who themselves have taken over western
notions of universalism.[17] They regarded
Hinduism to be a token of this Perennial
Philosophy. This notion has influenced thinkers
who have proposed versions of the perennial
philosophy in the 20th century. [17]
The unity of all religions was a central impulse
among Hindu reformers in the 19th century,
who in turn influenced many 20th-century
perennial philosophy-type thinkers. Key figures
in this reforming movement included two
Bengali Brahmins. Ram Mohan Roy , a
philosopher and the founder of the modernising
Brahmo Samaj religious organisation, reasoned
that the divine was beyond description and
thus that no religion could claim a monopoly in
their understanding of it.
The mystic Ramakrishna 's spiritual ecstasies
included experiencing the sameness of Christ,
Mohammed and his own Hindu deity.
Ramakrishna's most famous disciple, Swami
Vivekananda , travelled to the United States in
the 1890s where he formed the Vedanta
Society .
Roy, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda were all
influenced by the Hindu school of Advaita
Vedanta , [18] which they saw as the
exemplification of a Universalist Hindu
religiosity. [17]
Theosophical Society
Main article: Theosophical Society
By the end of the 19th century the idea of a
Perennial Philosophy was popularized by
leaders of the Theosophical Society such as H.
P. Blavatsky and Annie Besant , under the
name of "Wisdom-Religion" or "Ancient
Wisdom". [2] The Theosophical Society took an
active interest in Asian religions, subsequently
not only bringing those religions under the
attention of a western audience,but also
influencing Hinduism, and Buddhism in Sri
Lanka and Japan.
Religious experience
The emphasis in the Perennial Philosophy has
shifted from the soul or love as unifying
essence, to religious experience and the notion
of nonduality or "altered state of
consciousness." William James popularized the
use of the term "religious experience" in his
The Varieties of Religious Experience .[19] It
has also influenced the understanding of
mysticism as a distinctive experience which
supplies knowledge. [web 4]
Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion
of "religious experience" further back to the
German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768–1834), who argued that religion is
based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of
"religious experience" was used by
Schleiermacher to defend religion against the
growing scientific and secular critique. It was
adopted by many scholars of religion, of which
William James was the most influential. [20]
Critics point out that the emphasis on
"experience" favours the atomic individual,
instead of the community. It also fails to
distinguish between episodic experience, and
mysticism as a process, embedded in a total
religious matrix of liturgy, scripture, worship,
virtues, theology, rituals and practices. [21]
Richard King also points to disjunction
between "mystical experience" and social
justice: [22]
A similar criticism is voiced by critics of Neo-
Advaita, a popularised western version of Neo-
Vedanta primarily based on the teachings of
Ramana Maharshi.[web 5] Those critics point
out that the "experience" of a nondual reality
does not suffice to gain insight into the
workings of the mind. Jacobs warns that
Advaita Vedanta committed practice takes
years to sever the "occlusion" [23] of the so-
called " vasanas , samskaras, bodily sheats and
vrittis", and the "granthi [note 2] or knot
forming identification between Self and mind":
[24]
Aldous Huxley
See also: The Perennial Philosophy
The term was popularized in more recent times
by Aldous Huxley , who was profoundly
influenced by Vivekanda's Neo-Vedanta and
Universalism , [26] in his 1945 book: The
Perennial Philosophy. He defined the perennial
philosophy as:
He also pointed out the method of the Buddha:
and that in the Upanishads:
According to Aldous Huxley, in order to
apprehend the divine reality, one must choose
to fulfill certain conditions: "making
themselves loving, pure in heart and poor in
spirit." [30] Huxley argues that very few people
can achieve this state. Those who have
fulfilled these conditions, grasped the universal
truth and interpreted it have generally been
given the name of saint, prophet, sage or
enlightened one.[31] Huxley argues that those
who have, “modified their merely human mode
of being,” and have thus been able to
comprehend “more than merely human kind
and amount of knowledge” have also achieved
this enlightened state. [32]
Traditionalist School
Main article: Traditionalist school
A "philosophia perennis" is also the central
concept of the " Traditionalist School "
formalized in the writings of 20th-century
thinkers René Guénon, Frithjof Schuon , Ananda
Coomaraswamy, Julius Evola, Titus
Burckhardt , Martin Lings, and Seyyed Hossein
Nasr .
According to the Traditionalist School, the
"philosophia perennis" designates a worldview
that is opposed to the scientism of modern
secular societies and which promotes the
rediscovery of the wisdom traditions of the
pre-secular developed world . This view is
exemplified by Rene Guenon in his magnum
opus and one of the founding works of the
traditionalist school , The Reign of Quantity and
The Sign of the Times.
According to Frithjof Schuon :
New Age
Main articles: New Age and New Age
Movement
The idea of a Perennial Philosophy is central
to the New Age Movement. The New Age
movement is a Western spiritual movement
that developed in the second half of the 20th
century. Its central precepts have been
described as "drawing on both Eastern and
Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions
and infusing them with influences from self-
help and motivational psychology , holistic
health , parapsychology , consciousness
research and quantum physics". [34] The term
New Age refers to the coming astrological Age
of Aquarius .[web 6]
The New Age aims to create "a spirituality
without borders or confining dogmas" that is
inclusive and pluralistic .[35] It holds to "a
holistic worldview", [36] emphasising that the
Mind, Body and Spirit are interrelated [web 6]
and that there is a form of monism and unity
throughout the universe. [37] It attempts to
create "a worldview that includes both science
and spirituality" [38] and embraces a number of
forms of mainstream science as well as other
forms of science that are considered fringe .
Appearance in world religions
and philosophies
Below is a cursory glance at the ways in which
the idea of a sophia perennis et universalis can
be found in the world's religions and
philosophies.
Tirukkural
Main article: Tirukkuṛaḷ
The Tirukkuṛaḷ by Tiruvalluvar is noted as the
perrenial philosophy of the Tamil culture .[39]
[40][41] It was composed during the late
Cankam period and is the oldest and most
revered among the secular Tamil books of
Law . Tiruvalluvar , whose social and religious
identity is only theorised by scholars presents
a philosophy that is rationalistic, secular and
universal. The Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e
l'Oriente noted that Tirukkural transcends all
the physical limits like clan, clime, creed and
colour. [42] It is split into the three aspects, or
முப்பால் (muppāl) viz. அறம் (virtue),
பொருள் (material) and இன்பம்
(pleasure). Its chapters covers all aspects of
human life in 1330 couples from
அமைச்சு (The establishment [of
bureaucracy]) to அன்புடமை (The
possession of Love).
Islam
Main article: Islam
From the beginning, Islam has considered itself
to be the final flourishing of perennial wisdom
before the “end of times”. The Qur'an is replete
with references to earlier religious figures from
the Jewish and Christian traditions,
considering that Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mary
and other holy figures were always muslim
(i.e. they believed in one god only). The idea
of a single religious truth is more apparent
among the Sufi or mystical traditions of Islam,
with parallelisms in the Judaeo-Christian and
Hindu tradition, than it is among orthodox
scholars, who recognise the Jewish and
Christian truths, but by necessity reject all
beliefs that seem contrary to Islam (such as
the Trinity, the sonship of Christ, or the reality
of the crucifixion). Some very vocal versions of
Islam on the other hand (e.g. Salafism ), reject
in their entirety all other religious traditions,
such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
Al-Farabi (872–950) advocated the idea of
philosophy and religion being two avenues to
the same truth. His own personal philosophy
strongly emphasized a classification of
knowledge and science on the basis of
methodology. Thus, he described his notion of
an esoteric philosophy which referenced the
eternal truth or wisdom which lies at the heart
of all traditions as a "science of reality" based
on the method of "certain demonstration" ( al-
burhan al-yaqini ). This method is a
combination of intellectual intuition and logical
conclusions of certainty ( istinbat). He reasoned
that it was therefore a superior kind of
knowledge to the exoteric domain of religions
( millah ) since that relied on a method of
persuasion ( al-iqna ), not demonstration. This
philosophy is compared with the philosophia
perennis of Leibniz and later in the 20th
century, Frithjof Schuon . [43] Al-Farabi
developed a theory to explain the diversity of
religions. He posited that religions differed
from one another because the same spiritual
and intellectual truths can have different
"imaginative representations". He further
stated that there was a unity of all revealed
traditions at the philosophical level, since all
nations and peoples must have a philosophical
account of reality that is one and the same.
[44]
Other examples of Islamic "perennialists" are
Sarmad Kashani , his student Dara Shikoh and
the Mughal emperor Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad
Akbar, who created the philosophy of Din-e
Ilahi .
Bahá'í Faith
Main article: Progressive revelation (Bahá'í)
Progressive revelation is a core teaching in the
Bahá'í Faith that suggests that religious truth
is revealed by God progressively and cyclically
over time through a series of divine
Messengers , and that the teachings are
tailored to suit the needs of the time and place
of their appearance. [45] Thus, the Bahá'í
teachings recognize the divine origin of several
world religions as different stages in the
history of one religion , while believing that the
revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is the most recent
(though not the last—that there will never be a
last), and therefore the most relevant to
modern society. [45]
The general theme of the successive and
continuous religions founded by messengers of
God is that there is an evolutionary tendency,
and that each messengers brings a larger
measure of revelation (or religion) to
humankind than the previous one.[46] The
differences in the revelation brought by the
messengers is stated to be attributed to the
various worldly, societal and human factors;
[46] these differences are in accordance with
the conditions and requirements of the time
that the messenger came.[46] Bahá'u'lláh , the
founder of the Bahá'í Faith, explained that the
appearance of successive messengers was like
the annual coming of Spring, which brings new
life to the world which has come to neglect the
teachings of the previous messenger.[45]
Graeco-Roman philosophy
Main article: Hellenistic philosophy
Heraclitus of Ephesus , one of the Pre-Socratics
and a priest of the Temple of Artemis, 6th
century BC, speaks of Divinity (ὁ θεός) in this
way: “God is day night, winter summer, war
peace, satiety hunger, assuming various forms,
just as fire when it is mingled with different
kinds of incense is named according to the
smell of each.” [47] Cicero mentions 'universal
religion' in his Tusculan Disputations.[48]
Ammonius Saccas in the 3rd century tried to
reconcile differing religious philosophies. [49]
Christianity
Main article: Christianity
The following statement by St Augustine can
be taken as an assertion of the perennial
philosophy.: [50]
However others see this statement as
expressing the Roman Catholic notion of
‘semina verbi’ (‘seeds of the word’), whereby
there is some truth (seeds of truth) in pre-
Christian Greek thought, but these required
purification by the light of the Gospels. This
idea was current among many other early
Christians including Clement of Alexandria ,
Origen , Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa ,
and Leo the Great as well as Augustine[52]
Academic discussion
Proponents
The idea of a perennial philosophy, sometimes
called perennialism, is a key area of debate in
the academic discussion of mystical
experience. Writers such as WT Stace , Huston
Smith , and Robert Forman argue that there are
core similarities to mystical experience across
religions, cultures and eras. [53]
For Stace the universality of this core
experience is a necessary, although not
sufficient, condition for one to be able to trust
the cognitive content of any religious
experience. Karen Armstrong 's writings on the
universality of a golden rule can also be seen
as a form of perennial philosophy.[54]
Perennial philosophy and religious
pluralism
Main article: Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism holds that various world
religions are limited by their distinctive
historical and cultural contexts and thus there
is no single, true religion. There are only many
equally valid religions. Each religion is a direct
result of humanity’s attempt to grasp and
understand the incomprehensible divine reality.
Therefore, each religion has an authentic but
ultimately inadequate perception of divine
reality, producing a partial understanding of
the universal truth, which requires syncretism
to achieve a complete understanding as well
as a path towards salvation or spiritual
enlightenment. [55]
Although perennial philosophy also holds that
there is no single true religion, it differs when
discussing divine reality. Perennial philosophy
states that the divine reality is what allows the
universal truth to be understood. [56] Each
religion provides its own interpretation of the
universal truth, based on its historical and
cultural context. Therefore, each religion
provides everything required to observe the
divine reality and achieve a state in which one
will be able to confirm the universal truth and
achieve salvation or spiritual enlightenment.

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