The Perennial Philosophy

Aldous Huxley

Knowledge is a function of being. Only the pure in heart can see God. Those who have the necessary modifications of their all too human nature, the illuminated saints and sages who alone are in a position to know what they are talking about--all, whatever their religion, make fundamentally the same report about the nature of Ultimate Reality.

The Perennial Philosophy is an anthology of their findings, embedded in a connective tissue of contemporary commentary and illustration. The book has been written and compiled not with the idea of 'founding a new religion', but of showing what happens tp comsciousness and character, to will and feeling and knowledge, when a member of any of the great historical faiths chooses to press on towards the goal, which all the saints and traditional theologians are agreed in regarding as man's Final End. Only in the light of these revelations of what every human being is capable of becom-ing, ought to become and is ultimately destined to become, can we fully and clearly understand what in fact we are, both as bewildered and morally squalid individuals and as the members. creators and victims of national societies, whose behaviour is to a great extent insane or criminal.

With great wit and stunning intellect—drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam—Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.

Philosophy

1945

Harper & Brothers

English