To Have a Center: A New Translation with Selected Letters

by Frithjof Schuon, Harry Oldmeadow (Editor)

Overview

In this new edition of his powerfully original work, Schuon covers an array of metaphysical, cosmological, and anthropological subjects. In the book’s signature essay, entitled "To Have a Center," the author surveys the ambiguous phenomenon of modern genius, showing how Western humanistic society has replaced the time-honored veneration of the saint and the hero with the cult of individualistic "genius." In other notable essays, Schuon deals with the relation between intelligence and character, the distinction between historical Gnosticism and pure gnosis, the degrees and dimensions of theism, the spiritual messages of David, Shankara, and Honen, and the symbolism of Plains Indian vestments. This revised edition, containing over 65 pages of new material, features a fully revised translation from the French original as well as previously unpublished selections from Schuon’s letters and other private writings. Also included are editor’s notes, a glossary of foreign terms, and an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936597444
Publisher:	World Wisdom
Publication date:	07/07/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Frithjof Schuon is best known as the foremost spokesman of the Perennial Philosophy and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. Schuon was born in 1907 in Basle, Switzerland, of German parents and died in the United States in 1998. Harry Oldmeadow was Coordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University Bendigo, Australia, until his recent retirement. He is a prolific and well-respected author on the Perennialist school of comparative religion. He lives in Australia.

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface vii

Foreword xi

I Integral Anthropology

1 To Have a Center 3

2 Overview of Anthropology 31

3 Intelligence and Character 43

4 The Primacy of Intellection 47

5 Gnosis Is Not Just Anything 53

II Ontology and Cosmology

1 Universal Categories 59

2 Concerning an Onto-Cosmological Ambiguity 81

III Spiritual Perspectives

1 Degrees and Dimensions of Theism 89

2 "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" 97

3 David, Shankara, Honen 105

4 Fundamental Keys 113

IV Various Subjects

1 On the Art of Translating 119

2 Message of a Vestimentary Art 129

3 Concerning a Question of Astronomy 139

Appendix

Selections from Letters and Other Previously Unpublished Writings 147

Editor's Notes 161

Glossary of Foreign Terms and Phrases 189

Index 201

Biographical Notes 209

Editorial Reviews

Translated from the French, this collection of essays on the philosophy of religion reflects the author’s search for a sense of the spiritual in all of human life.. .. This is a very challenging and scholarly work for all seeking the Sophia Perennis, ‘the timeless metaphysical truth underlying the diverse religions.’

Choice Reviews

By the power and transparency of its thought—faithful echo of a suprahuman teaching—[this book] is truly a ‘light on the way’ for the discerning reader.

Jean Hani

Translated from the French, this collection of essays on the philosophy of religion reflects the author’s search for a sense of the spiritual in all of human life. . . . This is a very challenging and scholarly work for all seeking the Sophia Perennis, ‘the timeless metaphysical truth underlying the diverse religions.’

Choice

Translated from the French, this collection of essays on the philosophy of religion reflects the author’s search for a sense of the spiritual in all of human life. . . . This is a very challenging and scholarly work for all seeking the Sophia Perennis, ‘the timeless metaphysical truth underlying the diverse religions.’

CHOICE