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LINGS, MARTIN, & MINNAAR, CLINTON (Eds.). (2007). The underlying religion: An introduction to the perennial philosophy. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom. 368 pp. ISBN 9781933316437. Softbound, $24.95. Reviewed by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos.
"There is...one sole religion and one sole worship for all beings endowed with understanding, and this is presupposed through a variety of rites" - Nicholas of Cusa
When exploring the foundations of transpersonal psychology and even humanistic psychology (Maslow, 1968, 1994) it becomes evident that the perennial philosophy1 is central to the tenants of transpersonal psychology which is verified (Ferrer, 2000; 2002) and supported by key figures of the transpersonal field such as: Frances Vaughan (1982); Robert Hutchins (1987); Ken Wilber (1994); Kaisa Puhakka (2008); Bryan Wittine (1993); Stanislav Grof (1998); and Roger Walsh (1993).
Due to the pivotal function of the perennial philosophy within both transpersonal and humanistic psychology this volume will be of paramount interest to researchers and practitioners and belongs in every library of transpersonal and humanistic psychology.
This recent anthology was compiled by Clinton Minnaar and the late Dr. Martin Lings (1909-2005), one of the leading perennialist authors of the XXth century, who was the Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books at the British Museum.
This anthology is organized into seven themes, each theme having its corresponding essays:
I. 'TRADITION AND MODERNITY', describes the hiatus that divides the sacred orientation of the traditional world from that of the secular and progress driven modern and post-modern world.
Nothing and nobody is any longer in the right place; men no longer recognize any effective authority in the spiritual order or any legitimate power in the temporal; the "profane" presume to discuss what is sacred, and to contest its character and even its existence; the inferior judges the superior, ignorance sets bounds to wisdom, error prevails over truth, the human supersedes the divine, earth overtops heaven, the individual sets the measure for all things and claims to dictate to the universe laws drawn entirely from his own relative and fallible reason. "Woe unto you, ye blind guides," the Gospel says; and indeed everywhere today one sees nothing but blind leaders of the blind, who, unless restrained by some timely check, will inevitably lead them into the abyss, there to perish with...