The Perennial Philosophy (Latin philosophia perennis) is the idea that a universal set of truths common to all people and cultures exists. The term was first used by the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz to designate the common, eternal philosophy that underlies all religious movements, in particular the mystical streams within them. The term was later popularized by Aldous Huxley in his 1945 book The Perennial Philosophy. The term "perennial philosophy" has also been used to translate the concept of the "e ...

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Perennial Philosophy, Perennial Philosophy - Main Principles, Perennial Philosophy - General philosophy topics, Perennial Philosophy - General philosophy lists, Perennial Philosophy - Books and Resources

Read more here: » Perennial Philosophy: Encyclopedia II - Perennial Philosophy - Main Principles

Perennial Philosophy

A term coined by Aldous Huxley that sees all religious truth or experience as one and the same. This philosophy proposes that even though the ex-ternals of the various religions may differ, the essence or core truth is the same in each.

(See also: Perennial Philosophy, New Age, Body mind and Soul)

According to the tenets of the perennial philosophy, humans in many cultures and eras have experienced and recorded similar perceptions about the nature of reality, the self, the world, and the meaning and purpose of existence. These similarities point to underlying universal principles, forming the common ground of most religions. Differences among these fundamental perceptions arise from differences in human cultures and ...

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Perennial Philosophy, Perennial Philosophy - Main principles, Perennial Philosophy - General philosophy topics, Perennial Philosophy - General philosophy lists, Perennial Philosophy - Books and resources

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No religion preaches violence. If all religions advocate peace, why then do some who profess allegiance to their religion, commit violence to defend their peace-loving, peace-preaching faith? India is home to some of the oldest religious texts known to man. The Vedas and the Upanishads , for instance, do not preach a particular religion, nor do they spell out a list of dos and don’ts.

The Rig Veda says: “ Aano bhadrah kritavo yantu vishwatah ”, which means, let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere. These ancient texts did not have a single author, nor their philosophy a collective name. Because of its universality, this particular stream came to be known as Sanatan Dharma , or 'perennial duty’. Later it came to be called Hinduism. Unfortunately we now have its political version - Hindutva .

(See also: Peace on Earth, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Archetype is defined as an original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. The term is often used in literature, architecture, and to refer to something that goes back to the fundamental origins of style, method, gold standard, or physical construct. Shakespeare, for example, is epitomized for popularizing many archetypal characters, not because he was the first that we know of to write them, but because he defined those roles amongst the backdrop of a comp ...

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• Archetype - Jungian archetypes
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The word tradition, comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language. 1 -- A custom or practice taught by one generation to another, often orally. For example, we can speak of the tradition of sending birth announcements. 2 -- A set of customs or practices. For example, we can speak of Christmas traditions. 3 -- A broad religious movement made up of religious denominati ...

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The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific ...

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Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. (born January 31, 1949, Oklahoma City, USA) is an American and Buddhist philosopher and psychological theorist. His work focuses mainly on creating an "integral theory of consciousness" in which the insights of mysticism, postmodernism, science and systems theory come together to form a coherent picture of the Kosmos. In Kosmic Consciousness, Wilber states that he considers himself a storyteller and a mapmaker; his stories address universal questions and his m ...

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• Ken Wilber - Wilber on science
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A. H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, an author who writes about a mystical approach to psychology and therapy that he calls the Diamond Approach. Almaas is the spiritual head of the Ridhwan School. Depending on one's perspective, he might be termed, among other things, a New Age writer, or a exponent of the Perennial Philosophy. Almaas' books were for years published through the Ridwan School under the publishing title Diamond Books, but are currently published by Shambhala. A. H. Almaas - The Dia ...

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Eckankar, Religion of the Light and Sound of God emphasizes the value of personal experiences as the most natural way back to God. The current spiritual leader of Eckankar (since October 1981) is Harold Klemp. They are generally regarded as a new religious movement begun in 1965, but it is their opinion that they are a sort of "Perennial Philosophy", with ancient origins. However, extensive research by current and ex-members have never been able to substantiate any ancient origins. Klemp has done much to distance himself and the movem ...

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Secular perennialism is a relatively new philosophy dating from only the mid-19th century. It has been supported by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins. Secular perennialists emphasize the importance of learning to reason. They argue that accurate, independent reasoning is the greatest difference between a developed mind and an undeveloped mind. Thus, it should be a major goal of education. They advocate teaching reasoning by means of a directed reading list of great books of the Western canon, supplement ...

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Educational perennialism, Educational perennialism - Secular perennialism, Educational perennialism - Religious perennialism, Educational perennialism - Colleges exemplifying this philosophy

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Religious perennialism is the original form, developed first by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century in his work De Magistro, (The Teacher). It is also focused on the personal development of the student, because Christian philosophy is concerned with love (not sex, but a perfected ideal of love). Aquinas was a Christian philosopher and theologian. He argued that God loves us, and therefore wants us to be all we can be. In particular, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Matthew 5:48), and "Love the Lord...with all your mind..." (Luke 10: ...

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Educational perennialism, Educational perennialism - Secular perennialism, Educational perennialism - Religious perennialism, Educational perennialism - Colleges exemplifying this philosophy

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Ken Wilber - The neo-perennial philosophy. The Croatian esoteric philosopher Arvan Harvat has argued that attempting to integrate a thoroughly nondual approach like Zen with an evolutionary view is ultimately impossible: if your model includes absolutely everything, how can it change? Wilber's response is that it is only Form that evolves; Emptiness remains unchanged. Trans-conceptually, one can embrace one's own transrational (and hence ultimately ineffable) experience-awareness, and this is what con ...

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Ken Wilber, Ken Wilber - Biography, Ken Wilber - Education, Ken Wilber - Early career, Ken Wilber - Recent works, Ken Wilber - Ideas, Ken Wilber - The neo-perennial philosophy, Ken Wilber - Holons and the twenty tenets, Ken Wilber - AQAL, Ken Wilber - The two truths doctrine, Ken Wilber - The pre/trans fallacy, Ken Wilber - Wilber on science, Ken Wilber - New work, Ken Wilber - Influences on Wilber, Ken Wilber - Wilber's influence, Ken Wilber - Wilber's five phases, Ken Wilber - Critiques, Ken Wilber - Bibliography, Ken Wilber - Works by Wilber, Ken Wilber - Books about Wilber

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The archetype is also a concept of psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. In this context, archetypes are innate prototypes for ideas, which may subsequently become involved in the interpretation of observed phenomena. A group of memories and interpretations closely associated with an archetype is called a complex, and may be named for its central archetype (e.g. "mother complex"). Jung often seemed to view the archetypes as sort of psychological organs, directly analogous to our physical, bodily organs: both being morphological givens for the speci ...

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Archetype, Archetype - Jungian archetypes, Archetype - Cultural archetypes analysis, Archetype - Enneagram character archetypes

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A tradition is a story or a custom that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition. For example, it is now a tradition to have a Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas. Although traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, they are often much less "natural" ...

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Tradition, Tradition - Tradition as a practice..., Tradition - Traditionalism, Tradition - Archaeological meaning

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The archetype is also a concept of psychologist Carl Jung. In this context, archetypes are innate prototypes for ideas, which may subsequently become involved in the interpretation of observed phenomena. A group of memories and interpretations closely associated with an archetype is called a complex, and may be named for its central archetype (e.g. "mother complex"). Jung often seemed to view the archetypes as sort of psychological organs, directly analogous to our physical, bodily organs: both being morphological givens for the species; bot ...

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Archetype, Archetype - Literature, Archetype - Jungian archetypes, Archetype - Cultural archetypes analysis, Archetype - Enneagram character archetypes

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A tradition is a story or a custom that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition. For example, it is now a tradition to have a Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas. Although traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, they are often much less "natural" ...

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Tradition, Tradition - Traditions and Customs..., Tradition - Traditionalism, Tradition - Archaeological meaning

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In the Roman Catholic Church, traditionalism is the doctrine that Sacred Tradition holds equal authority to Holy Scripture. In the Orthodox Church, scripture is considered to be the core constituent of a larger tradition. These views are often condemned as heretical by Protestant churches, who hold the Bible to be the only valid tradition. Inspired by the Protestant rejection of tradition, the Age of Enlightenment began to consider even t ...

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Tradition, Tradition - Tradition as a practice..., Tradition - Traditionalism, Tradition - Archaeological meaning

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Meaning of life - Value as meaning. In that they attempt to answer the question "What is valuable in life?", theories of value are theories of the meaning of life: great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, and many others had clear views about what sort of life was best (and hence most meaningful). Meaning of life - Atheist views. Atheism in the strictest sense means the belief that no god or supernatural overbeing (of any type or number) exists ...

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Meaning of life, Meaning of life - Popular beliefs, Meaning of life - Scientific approaches and theories, Meaning of life - Philosophical views, Meaning of life - Value as meaning, Meaning of life - Atheist views, Meaning of life - Existentialist views, Meaning of life - Humanist views, Meaning of life - Nihilist views, Meaning of life - Positivist views, Meaning of life - Pragmatist views, Meaning of life - Transhumanist views, Meaning of life - Religious beliefs, Meaning of life - Spiritual views, Meaning of life - Humorous treatments, Meaning of life - General philosophy topics, Meaning of life - General philosophy lists

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