Perennial Philosophy

Lord Northbourne (1896-1982) was a Renaissance man, a farmer, painter, Olympic rower, translator, and a widely respected author on both ecology and religion. His first book coined the term "organic farming", and he worked with E. F. Schumacher to bring greater awareness to ecological concerns. His subsequent writings include his concern for ecology along with an exploration of the nature of religion in the modern world. The present anthology is, intended to illustrate the uncommon breadth and depth that characterize Lord Northbourne's writings. It includes selections from the fascinating correspondence between Lord Northbourne and Thomas Merton.

In the midst of the workaday modern world, this book addresses the question, "how can work become a form of prayer?" It is a compilation of Keeble's insightful essays dealing with the often-neglected relationship between God and work, spirituality and art, as well as contemplation and action. He focuses on renowned British artists and craftsmen, such as poet and engraver William Blake, calligrapher Edward Johnston, sculptor Eric Gill, and key figures of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain. Throughout, Keeble assesses their contributions and insights in the light of the traditional understanding of the arts and crafts, especially as, articulated in the writings of "Traditionalist" authors, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon, wherein laborare est orare ("work is prayer").

This book provides a biographical account of the remarkable Benedictine monk, Henri Le Saux (1910-1973), who spent the last two-and-a-half decades of his life in India, where he immersed himself in Hindu spirituality. It traces the central themes of his prolific writings on religious and mystical topics

The Underlying Religion is an anthology of 25 essays by 14 of the leading exponents of the "perennialist" or "traditionalist" school of comparative religious thought, associated with René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Frithjof Schuon. This school is, well-known for its espousal of the "transcendent unity of religions", the idea that religions are different paths leading to the same summit. Focusing its selection on the most accessible of the perennialist writings, and structured in such a way as to allow for the easiest possible comprehension, The Underlying Religion aims to be, the most accessible introduction, yet to the perspective of the Perennial Philosophy.

This book contains a wide-ranging selection of writings by "perennialist" author William Stoddart that expose the many false ideologies of postmodernism ("forgetting") and call for a return to traditional religion, especially in its mystical dimensions ("remembering").

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University, president of the Foundation for Traditional Studies, and editor of its journal, Sophia. He is a world-renowned scholar on Islam, Sufism, and the Perennial Philosophy, and is the author of over fifty books and five hundred articles on topics ranging from comparative religion to traditional Islamic philosophy, cosmology, art, ecology, and mysticism. A volume in the prestigious Library of Living Philosophers series is also, dedicated to his thought. The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an anthology of 21 of his most representative essays, including several rare articles, which have not been easily available in the U.S., carefully selected and edited by William C. Chittick, a former student of Nasr and leading scholar of Islam and Sufism.

An introduction to the thought of one of the greatest perennialist, authors of the twentieth-century. Burckhardt's writings constitute a veritable language of the Spirit, and this volume opens doors into the worlds of traditional art, science, metaphysical doctrine and spiritual life. Combining the erudition of a philosopher, art historian, and cultural anthropologist with the beauty of soul steeped in the spiritual traditions of both East and West, Burckhardt's range of subject matter was enormous. He was at home in every traditional civilization, and the present volume gives ample evidence to this fact in the extracts dealing with Medieval Christendom, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and the religion of the Sun Dance. He was also well-acquainted with the perspectives of the modern world, as his critiques of the limitations of the theory of evolution and modern psychology show