Form and Substance in the Religions
By Schuon, Frithjof
2002/07 - World Wisdom Books
0941532259 - Trade Paper  
Our Price $17.95 

Related Books: Comparative Religion
Related Audio/Video: Lings, Frithjof Schuon and Rene Guenon

Publisher Comments

The modern world is characterized by its fascination with relativity and individualism. Into this morass, the writings of Frithjof Schuon enter like a bolt of lightning that both clears the air and brings serenity in its wake. As the pre-eminent exponent of the Perennial Philosophy, Schuon restores a true sense of proportion in affirming the transcendent Real, and then draws all the consequences, spiritually and humanly, as well as aesthetically on the plane of forms.

At the level of ideas, Schuon is an unsurpassable expositor of first principles. One of the reasons he is so widely acclaimed is his fluency in so many "languages of the Spirit." Seminal chapters such as "Atma-Maya," plus gems from the traditional worlds of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, lay to rest any doubt that the Sacred has not only the first but the final word.

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.