Thought provoking perspectives on traditional wisdom, what Aldous Huxley called the "perennial philosophy," the metaphysics of the Platonists, Sufis, and Hindus, amongst others. The book explains the spiritual basis of Islam and its similarities with other religions. It suggests that these various systems are manifestations of a common core that stands at odds with contemporary post-Renaissance Western culture. There are chapters on topics such as traditional art, the differences between "Pontifical" and "Promethean" humanity, the primacy of the soul in medicine, and the nature of time and eternity. In the final essay, Nasr claims that the central disparity between the traditional and scientific view is that science is grounded in matter while spiritualism is grounded in consciousness. There were things I found unconvincing, for example the facile disparagement of evolution, but he makes a fair case for the importance of traditional thought and the negative impact of a purely materialistic approach to being. ( )

This volume collects significant writing from Nasr, who is one of the most significant carriers of the perennial philosophy tradition living today. He is a prominent Islamic philosopher and a good writer. I have read only part of this volume, and have had to return it to the library. He takes a broad view of the world's religions, he does not write as an apologist for an exclusive Islamic understanding. These essays are a good introduction to his thought, and point to a sacred understanding of the cosmos, and mankind's place within that eternal order. ( )