Sacred Web 21
Editorial:
“A Single Principle”: On Faith and Pluralism
by M. Ali Lakhani
How is modern man to construct a legitimate foundation for
orthodoxy, and how are the faith traditions of the modern world
to find a pluralistic approach consistent with the Traditional view
that “Truth is one”? The Editorial makes the case for the coexistence
of pluralism and religious orthodoxy, based on a metaphysical
pluralism grounded in a gnostic or visionary understanding of
faith as spiritual Presence. Read more ...
The Gnosis of Jacob Boehme
by Wolfgang Smith
This paper surveys the sophiology or doctrinal teachings of Jacob
Boehme, and demonstrates their underpinning in a mystical vision
or gnosis that is Biblical and informed by a particular Christology.
The author argues that though Boehme may have spoken of the
Kabbalah “more openly than the Zohar,” his orientation differs
from the Kabbalah, but is complementary to it. Finally, it is argued
that while Boehme’s metaphysical ground of Being, Ungrund, is
non-dualistic in the Advaitic sense, yet his non-dualism is in a
sense Trinitarian—with the Father begetting the Son in Eternal
Nature.
The Void and the Godhead: The Shi’ite Agnosticism of Hamid ad-Din Al-Kirmani, Nasir-e Khusraw and the Buddhist Dialectics of Nagarjuna
by ‘Abd al-Hakeem Carney
In this article, the author seeks to compare the doctrines of Middle
Way Buddhism with the theosophy of two of the most important
Ismaili Muslim philosophers, Hamid ad-Din al-Kirmani and Nasir-e
Khusraw. He first explores the doctrine of emptiness and then
compares it to the doctrine of the Godhead in Ismailism, where
God is seen to be a created entity brought into being from the
Absolute Void of a Godhead devoid of Essence. Rather than positing
the Ultimate Reality as being Pure Being, Ismaili mysticism posits
a radical absence as being the source of all things, and therefore,
embraces a doctrine similar to the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness.
The article closes with a discussion of the nature of Imamah and
its relationship to Middle Way conceptions of the Buddha.
Harmonious Echoes from the Past: An Esoteric Interpretation of Hang Tuah’s Journey to India
by Lalita Sinha
Hang Tuah is a legendary Malay hero who lived during the reign
of Sultan Mansur Shah of the Sultanate of Malacca in the 15th
century, and is the most renowned figure in Malay history. This
article recounts a journey of Hang Tuah to India, focusing on the
journey’s inner meaning and the pluralistic lessons that it contains
for every human being struggling to accommodate the encounters
with diversity that characterize the increasingly globalized modern
world.
René Guénon: Traditional Sources and Contemporary Contexts
by Patrick Laude
This article delves into the relationship between the doctrinal content
of Guénon’s output and the historical determinations that weighed
upon its crystallization. The article first focuses upon Guénon’s
relations with the three spiritual traditions that constitute the
referential framework of his doctrine, namely Hinduism, Taoism,
and Islam. The author considers the historical reasons for Guénon
attaching himself principally to this triad in the intellectual context
of the first quarter of the twentieth century. Analogically, moving
onto the triad of traditional realities that were somewhat undervalued
by Guénon—notably religion, mysticism, and magic—the author
attempts to shed light on the circumstantial reasons that led Guénon
to exclude these three terms from his doctrinal lexicon. The final
section of the article consists in an evaluation of the degree to which
Guénon’s historical situation, and the conditions tied to his cultural
and personal experiences, might have contributed to his insistence
on anonymity, secrecy, and the almost systematic devaluing of all
that pertains to the sphere of the individual.
The Legend of the Tollhouses
by Jennifer Doane Upton
In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is a tradition, related to the
Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, regarding the “aerial tollhouses”
which the soul encounters after death. This article outlines the
legend and its underlying metaphysical significance.
Book Reviews
L’Ecole à la Derive: L’Enseignement Actuel à la Lumière de la Tradition Universelle by Ghislain Chetan
reviewed by Fatima Jane Casewit
Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul:
The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World by William C. Chittick
reviewed by M. Ali Lakhani
My Mercy Encompasses All: The Koran’s Teachings on Compassion, Peace & Love
Gathered and Introduced by Reza Shah-Kazemi
Foreword by Wendell Berry
reviewed by M. Ali Lakhani
Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism by William Stoddart
Edited by Mateus Soares de Azevedo
and Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz
reviewed by M. Ali Lakhani
Note on Contributors
