The Perennial Philosophy
By W. T. S. Thackara
These teachings are, therefore, no novelties, no
inventions of today, but long since stated, if not stressed; our doctrine here
is the explanation of an earlier and can show the antiquity of these opinions
on the testimony of Plato himself. -- Plotinus, Enneads, V, I, 8
There is an arresting thought in one of Plato's Dialogues, the Symposium (§202-4), that love
is the midpoint between ignorance and wisdom, the mediator between humans and
the gods, and that through love we attain spiritual understanding.
St. Paul, too, spoke of love in one of the most beautiful passages of
the Bible: that even if he could speak all the languages of men and of angels,
and had not love, he would be as sounding brass and tinkling cymbal; and even
had he the gift of prophecy, knew all mysteries and had faith to move
mountains, but had not love, he would be nothing -- homage to his Master's
commandment, that "ye love one another as I have loved you." And in
Buddhism, the ideal human being, the bodhisattva who is "awakened" to
the Reality behind life's illusions, is spoken of as possessing mahakarunacitta -- the "great
loving heart." He has arrived at the "other shore" of
enlightenment guided and strengthened by perfecting in himself the two most
important virtues in Buddhist philosophy, karuna
and prajna, "love"
and "discriminating wisdom" born of altruism (D. T. Suzuki, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, Schocken
Books, 1963, ch. xi).
The same theme pervades the word philosophy -- whose invention is
credited to Pythagoras -- for the word is a union of two Greek roots: philos, "love" + sophia, "wisdom." Although
usually translated "love of wisdom," philosophy may equally denote
the wisdom of love or, alternatively, "loving-wisdom." Among the
several Greek terms for love, each signifying a different aspect, philos and its cognate philia connote friendship and
affection -- as in philanthropy, the "love of
man" which motivates charity, and
Thus we may see that the principal aim of Greek philosophy originally,
like Buddhism and Christianity, was the perfection of love and wisdom as a
means to becoming one with the source of life. Moreover, each of these
traditions implied that the spiritual quest actually begins with love, and ends
in wisdom; that the portals to the heart of Being open to those seized by
passion for truth and a
deep concern for the welfare of all. "To live to benefit mankind is the
first step" -- this is a universal, perennial message. Equally enduring
has been humanity's quest for a unifying, saving wisdom.
The idea of a perennial philosophy, of a common denominator rather, a
highest common factor -- forming the basis of truth in the world's manifold religious,
philosophic, and scientific systems of thought, goes back thousands of years at
least. Cicero, for example, speaking about the existence of the soul after
death, mentions that not only does he have the authority of all antiquity on
his side, as well as the teachings of the Greek Mysteries and of nature, but
that "these things are of old date, and have, besides, the sanction of
universal religion" (Tusculan
Disputations, C. D. Yonge, trans., George Bell & Sons,
1904; Book I, xii-xiv).
It was the 17th-century German philosopher Leibniz, however, who
popularized the Latin phrase philosophia
perennis. He used it to describe what was needed to complete
his own system. This was to be an eclectic analysis of the truth and falsehood
of all philosophies, ancient and modern, by which "one would draw the gold
from the dross, the diamond from its mine, the light from the shadows; and this
would be in effect a kind of perennial philosophy." A similar aim, with
the goal of reconciling differing religious philosophies, was pursued by
Ammonius Saccas, founder of the eclectic theosophical
Leibniz, however, laid no claim to inventing the phrase. He said he
found it in the writings of a 16th-century theologian, Augustine Steuch, whom
he regarded as one of the best Christian writers of all time. Steuch described
the perennial philosophy as the originally revealed absolute truth made
available to man before his fall, completely forgotten in that lapse, and only
gradually regained in fragmentary form in the subsequent history of human
thought. Orthodox Christianity, in his view, was its purest restoration, and
the history of redemption includes the long quest for this wisdom
("Perennial Philosophy," Dictionary
of the History of Ideas, Philip P. Wiener, ed., Charles
Scribners Sons, 1973, III, 457-63).
Prior to Steuch there is, to my knowledge, no mention of the term philosophia perennis, although
similar phrases expressing essentially the same idea are to be found in earlier
writings. The most notable of these is "the perennial wisdom of God"
-- "theosophia perennis"
in Latin texts.
More recently, about forty years ago, Aldous Huxley compiled an
anthology of the world's religious and mystic traditions which describes many
features common to this "philosophy of philosophies." In his preface,
he defined it as follows:
Philosophia Perennis . . . -- the metaphysic that
recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and
minds; the psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or even
identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places man's final end in the
knowledge of the immanent and transcendent Ground of all being -- the thing is
immemorial and universal. Rudiments of the Perennial Philosophy may be found
among the traditionary lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world,
and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher
religions (Aldous Huxley, The Perennial
Philosophy, Harper & Brothers, 1945; p. vii).
Huxley pointed out that he did not turn to the writings of
"professional" philosophers in compiling his book, but to a few of
those rare individuals in history who have chosen to fulfill certain conditions
in his words, by "making themselves loving, pure in heart, and poor
[humble] in spirit" -- by which they were afforded firsthand, direct
apprehension of divine Reality. If one were not a sage or a saint, he felt, the
next best thing one could do was "to study the works of those who were and
who, because they had modified their merely human mode of being, were capable
of a more than merely human kind and amount of knowledge" (Ibid., p. ix).
It is not so extraordinary that the core teachings of every major
spiritual philosophy are identical, even though the traditions are separated
geographically, culturally, and by vast periods of time. For it was the same
theosophia or divine wisdom that was universally given forth by every sage and
teacher, the "same exhaustless, secret, eternal doctrine" that
Krishna had eons ago imparted to Vivasvat (the Sun), and which has been
transmitted from age to age and which he was even then communicating to Arjuna,
his "devotee and friend" (Bhagavad-Gita,
W. Q. Judge recension, Theosophical University Press, 1969; 4:1-3).
The most comprehensive modern presentation of "theosophia
perennis," with proofs of its diffusion throughout the world in every age,
may be found in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky, in particular in her magnum
opus, The Secret Doctrine,
subtitled "The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy." Taught
herself by more advanced students of the theosophic tradition, she wrote that
the teachings, however fragmentary and incomplete,
contained in these volumes, belong neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the
Chaldean, nor the Egyptian religion, neither to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor
Christianity exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these.
Sprung from it in their origins, the various religious schemes are now made to
merge back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma
has grown, developed, and become materialised. -- H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine I, viii
Besides elaborating the fundamental teachings and showing their analogy
in nature, H. P. Blavatsky explains how the secret "wisdom of divine
things" has been "revealed" to mankind and periodically
renovated through history. Referring to an historical event allegorized in the
Garden of Eden story, in the myth of the Promethean fire, and also in the Hindu
story of the descent of manasaputras ("sons
of mind"), she describes how some 18 million years ago divine beings,
"perfected" men of former cycles who are native to higher, invisible
spheres of cosmic life, blended a portion of their consciousness with nascent
mankind, inflaming them with thinking intelligence. In this act of sacrifice
and evolutionary necessity, they indelibly impressed upon the "plastic
mind-substance" of humanity life's important truths so that they would
never be utterly lost. Here then, also, is the rationale of Plato's doctrine of
Anamnesis ("Unforgetting"):
that learning is actually a process of "reminiscence" --
"remembering" or "rediscovering" primordial knowledge
imbedded in the immortal portion of the soul.
Since that ancient time, restorations of the wisdom-tradition in every
part of the globe have been regularly attempted, mainly for two reasons: first,
because of the erosive forces which in time disfigure each presentation --
namely, that original teachings, usually oral, are imperfectly remembered or
forgotten, texts are lost, copies and translations are edited, word meanings
change, and people often misinterpret or overlook essential points.
The second and more compelling reason is that humanity is evolving, with
likewise evolving needs; and when the cry from the collective human heart is
sufficient, a response from the right quarters is made which will fulfill the
needs of the cycle then opening. It is well known that the messiahs, avatars,
buddhas, prophets, and "god-taught" of every nation have come as
reformers and transmitters, not as originators of anything but the
"earthly garment" of their presentation, woven out of available
materials. Yet it is also to be noted that the messengers are seldom known to
their contemporaries, nor is the import of their message fully understood. All
innovation attracts opposition; powerful dragons surround the grail.
Our own age, like every other, is replete with "false
prophets" whose often fascinating mixture of truth and error has led many
astray into unproductive, even dangerous, sidelines. How then, we may ask, are
we to determine what is genuinely of the spirit and what is chaff ? Sensibly
enough, though it requires persevering and discriminate study, we can apply the
tests of perenniality and universality: is the teaching explicitly stated or
implied by all the world's great spiritual teachers through the ages? And, what
is equally important, does it bear the hallmark of spirit: is its appeal to the
selfless, altruistic side of our nature?
The universe, physical and metaphysical, is all one reality; and
according to simple logic there can be only one truth, however limited, varied,
and seemingly divergent its expressions in human language may be. The divisive
influence of dogmatic theologies, of the attempt to arrogate truth under
banners of any kind, including those of science and philosophy, can affect
human welfare only negatively.
Perhaps it is best to remember, then, that like love, most of us are but
"halfway" between ignorance and wisdom. If we have intimations of
divine realities about which we seek fuller knowledge, or if we seek only to be
an active force for good in the world but need a philosophy that will help us
to weather the storms of life, and the doldrums, we can be confident that such
a knowledge exists which satisfies both heart and intellect. Humanity is not
bereft of the compassionate guardianship of the gods and never has been. Both
they and their earthly representatives have ever held out the compass of
loving-wisdom as the surest guide to our destination. In following the course
charted by these advanced wayfarers, not only will we discover what is true in
life and what is not, but we will be fitting ourselves to express the
unchanging characteristics of spirit.