A Cathar Coin
P H I L O S O P H I A P E R E N N I S
PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS -- the phrase was coined by Leibnitz; but the thing -- the metaphysics that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the word 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 place in every one of the higher religions. A version of this Highest Common Factor in all preceding and subsequent theologies was first committed to writing more than twenty-five centuries ago, and since that time the inexhaustible theme has been treated again and again, from the standpoint of every religious tradition and in all the principal languages of Asia and Europe.
Thus writes Aldous Huxley in the Introduction to his fundamental book, THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY. "More than twenty-five centuries ago" refers to the sacred Vedas, the basis of the Hindu Sanâtana Dharma, which expression has
in Sanskrit exactly the same meaning as "Perennial Philosophy". In the West it is also known as Gnôsis, the Greek word translating the Sanskrit Jnânam, even having a common root (gn-, jn-). We find it most prominent in that unique Book which is the Bhagavadgîtâ and more in general in the Vedânta philosophy (especially the Vaishnava varieties Vis'ishtâdvaita and Shuddhâdvaita, and the synthetic, universal Vedantic teaching of Bhagavân Srî Râmakrishna), in Neoplatonism (especially Plotinus), in the Christian Valentinian Gnosis, and in the medieval Christian mystics (especially the "vedantic" Meister Eckhart). The list would be lacking something extremely important if we omitted to mention the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers, who keep living the most essential and really important elements of the Perennial Philosophy: the experience of the Inward Light and the Communion with God through the practice of silent Worship, their only source of guidance both individual and corporate. Of particular importance, from the standpoint of this website, is the Quaker Universalist Fellowship (please look at Some Useful Links in the General Index).
The website will be progressively built and enriched,
since we do not want to wait until it is complete
in order to publish it.
We apologize for its provisional incompleteness,
preferring to give a little at once
rather than much in the future only.
The contents of the whole of this website
are intellectual property.
Appropriate measures have been taken to ensure their protection.
The parts dealing with the Valentinian Gnosis
have been published (in Italian) in a book entitled:
L' Evangelo della Verità.
A fair use of the contents of this website and of the book is permitted,
provided this website and / or the book are quoted as the source
and the website's URL:
http://philosophia-perennis.eu/index.html
is clearly indicated.
The author will be grateful
for any suggestion, serious comment, or constructive criticism.
The image of the Cathar Coin appears on two websites:
http://www.cathar22.com/page23.html
http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianheresy/0810Inquisition.php
that we acknowledge gratefully.
