Conference hydra::dejavu

1298.0. "The Perennial Philosophy" by ATSE::WAJENBERG (Vague, yet obscure.) Mon Jul 02 1990 18:21

I think this might interest the readers of this conference.  This is a 
statement of the "Perennial Philosophy," and attempt to summarize the common 
ground of all the great religions.  This particular form of it comes from
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), in his introduction to the Isherwood translation of
the Bhagavad-Gita, but he also wrote a book on the subject.  The Perennial 
Philosophy was first defined and named by Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz
(1646-1716). 

  First: the phenomenal world of matter and of individualized consciousness -- 
  the world of things and animals and men and even gods -- is the manifestation 
  of a Divine Ground within which all partial realities have their being, and 
  apart from which they would be nonexistent.

  Second: human beings are capable not merely of knowing ABOUT the Divine 
  Ground by inference; they can also realize its existence by a direct 
  intuition, superior to discursive reasoning.  This immediate knowledge 
  unites the knower with that which is known.

  Third: man possesses a double nature, a phenomenal ego and an eternal Self, 
  which is the inner man, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul. 
  It is possible for a man, if he so desires, to identify himself with the 
  spirit and therefore with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or like 
  nature with the spirit.

  Fourth: man's life on earth has only one end and purpose: to identify himself 
  with his eternal Self and so to come to unitive knowledge of the Divine 
  Ground.

I have four things to say about the Perennial Philosophy:

  1:	Note that it is very general.  For instance, the Judeo-Christian God,
the Buddha-nature, Brahm, and the Tao are all equally good pictures of the
Divine Ground.  The Perennial Philosophy does not favor one over the others. 

Nor does the Perennial Philosophy have anything to say about an afterlife --
whether it is eternal, returns to this life by reincarnation, or whether there
is an afterlife at all.  Still less does it say whether or not the "unitive
knowledge of the Divine Ground" can be attained only in this life, only in the
next, or in either. 

  2:	It is mystical.  Huxley makes it clear that the "unitive knowledge" he 
speaks of is the kind of experience variously known as mystical experience, 
satori, enlightenment, union with Brahm, the beatific vision, and so on.

  3:	Huxley claims that it is empirical, at least to a degree.  It is what
holy folk of all cultures come up with as they explore what holiness is and 
entails and requires.

  4:	Sanctity and enormous self-discipline are prerequisites, according to
Huxley, for making any very deep explorations of the "unitive knowledge" of 
the Perennial Philosophy.

Earl Wajenberg
                                                                        

    Re.0
    
    Hi Earl,
    
    Thanks for the reference - I liked what he had to say.
    
    Cindy