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The Perennial Philosophy:
Notes taken from "Revisioning Transpersonal Theory", Jorge N. Ferrer
Pub: SUNY 2002 ______________________________________________________________.

Nigel Wellings. 2003.

Ferrer questions whether belief in the perennial philosophy is necessary for involvement with transpersonal psychology. He starts by giving us a history and overview of the perennial philosophy, then some criticisms and then some ideas about why transpersonal psychology should have become so invested in it in the first place. Finally he gives us something of his own perspective. NW.

"I suggest that the exclusive commitment of transpersonal theory to the perennial philosophy would be detrimental to its continued creative vitality. To put it somewhat dramatically, perennialism was a comfortable home for transpersonal theory for some time, but this home has become a prison, and many of its prisoners agoraphobic. It may be time for transpersonal theory to become self-critical of its own assumptions, and explore alternative visions to the perennial philosophy to approach the nature of both human spirituality and inter religious relations."

THE NEED FOR THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY

"We live in a world of rich spiritual diversity and innovation. Spiritual traditions offer disparate and often conflicting visions of reality and human nature. To the modern mind, this is profoundly perplexing: How to account for these important differences when most of these traditions are supposedly depicting universal and ultimate truths? In the wake of this predicament, it is both tempting and comforting to embrace universalist visions that, in their claim to honour all truths, seem to bring order to such apparent religious chaos. In this chapter, I argue that despite their professed inclusivist stance, most universalist visions distort the essential message of the various religious traditions, covertly favor certain spiritual paths over others, and raise serious obstacles for spiritual dialogue and inquiry."

EXAMPLES

Wilber (1994)"the aim of transpersonal psychology . . . is to give a psychological presentation of the perennial philosophy and the Great Chain of Being" (p. x).
Vaughan (1982), asserts that the transpersonal perspective "has its roots in the ancient perennial philosophy" (p. 38), and "recognizes the transcendental unity of all religions and sees the unity in the mystical core of every spiritual tradition" (p.37).
Wittine (1989) defines transpersonal psychotherapy as "an approach to healing/growth that aims to bridge the Western psychological tradition . . . and the world's perennial philosophy" (p. 269).
Walsh (1993a), "We have even begun to suspect that the most profound and radical claims of the perennial philosophy may be correct" (p. 135).
Grof (1998) "modern consciousness research has generated important data that support the basic tenets of the perennial philosophy" (p.3).

THE IDEA OF A PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY

The idea of a perennial philosophy (philosophia perennis) has received different articulations throughout the history of Western philosophy. The search for a universal, permanent, and all-encompassing philosophy can be traced to the Neoplatonism of Philo of Alexandria or the Platonic-Christian synthesis of St. Augustine. However, it is not until the Renaissance that we find the term perennial philosophy explicitly used in philosophical circles. More precisely, it was Agostino Steuco (1497-1546), bishop of Kisamos and librarian of the Vatican, who coined this term to refer to the prisca theologia or philosophia priscorium of Marsilio Ficino, a unifying philosophical system based on a synthesis of Platonic principles and Christian doctrines. Thus, the modern notion of a perennial philosophy should be regarded as a product of the ecumenical interest of the Christian tradition in the Neoplatonic Renaissance in finding unity and harmony amidst a multiplicity of conflicting world views.

Throughout the history of philosophy, the term perennial philosophy or philosophia perennis was also used as a synonym for Scholasticism and Thomism; as the final goal of philosophy by Leibniz; as the regulative ideal of philosophical practice by Jaspers; and as a world philosophy, synthesis of East and West, by Radhakrishnan. Common to all these conceptions, however, is the idea that a philosophical current exists that has endured through centuries, and that is able to integrate harmoniously all traditions in terms of a single Truth which underlies the apparent plurality of world views. According to the defenders of the perennial philosophy, this unity in human knowledge stems from the existence of a single ultimate reality which can be apprehended by the human intellect under certain special conditions.

Although already reintroduced in the West first by Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society founded in 1875, and later by Swami Vivekananda in his influential address to the World's Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, it was not until the publication of Aldous Huxley's (1945) The Perennial Philosophy that perennialist ideas reached the masses and became popular beyond esoteric and academic elites. As is well known, Huxley (1945) described the perennial philosophy as "the metaphysics that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world 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"

What characterizes Huxley's perennialism is the conviction that the single Truth of the perennial philosophy can be found at the heart of the mystical teachings of the world religious traditions. Although with different emphases, all authors claim that whereas the exoteric beliefs of the religious traditions are assorted and at times even incompatible, their esoteric or mystical dimension reveals an essential unity that transcends this doctrinal pluralism. This is so, traditionalists argue, because mystics of all ages and places can transcend the different conceptual schemes provided by their cultures, languages, and doctrines, and consequently access a direct, intuitive understanding of reality (gnosis). Therefore, perennialists generally distinguish between mystical experience, which is universal and timeless, and its interpretation, which is culturally and historically determined. According to this view, the same mystical experience of the nondual Ground of Being would be interpreted as emptiness (sunyata) by a Mahayana Buddhist, as Brahman by an Advaita Vedantin, as the union with God by a Christian, or as an objectless absorption (asamprajuata samadhi) by a practitioner of Patanjali's yoga. In all cases, the experience is the same, the interpretation different.

In sum, modern perennialists maintain not only the existence of an experiential contemplative consensus about the ultimate nature of reality, but also the objective truth of such a vision (i.e., that it depicts "things as they really are" once divested of individual and cultural projections). In its most general form, then, the perennialist thesis entails two different knowledge claims: a descriptive claim that affirms the homogeneity of the message of the contemplative traditions and a normative or epistemological claim that maintains the absolute truth of that message."

"But what is this single Truth about which all contemplative traditions supposedly converge? . . .the doctrinal core of the perennial philosophy is the belief that Spirit, Pure Consciousness, or the Universal Mind, is the fundamental essence of both human nature and the totality of reality. Although there may be some descriptive or interpretive divergences, all contemplative traditions regard reality as originated by, and ontologically the same as, a simultaneously immanent and transcending Spirit which is identical in essence to human innermost consciousness. This Spirit constitutes the ultimate referent for what can be regarded as real, true, and valuable. Other major principles frequently derived from this primordial Truth include: 1. Involutionary cosmology is the postulate that the physical universe is the result of a process of emanation, restriction, or involution of Spirit. In other words, Spirit is prior to matter, and matter has evolved from It.

2. Hierarchical ontology and axiology refer to the vision of reality as composed by different layers or levels of being that are hierarchically organized eg: matter, mind, and spirit, the so-called Great Chain of Being. In this hierarchy, the higher levels are those closer to Spirit, and are regarded as more real, more causally effective, and more valuable than the lower.

3. Hierarchical epistemology is the theory of knowledge according to which knowledge of the higher realms of the hierarchical ontology is more essential, reveals more about reality, and is therefore authoritative concerning knowledge of the lower ones. That is, knowledge of Spirit (contemplation, gnosis), is more true and valuable than knowledge of the mental and physical levels (rational and empirical knowledge, respectively)."

VARIETIES OF PERENNIALISM

I. BASIC
The first, and most simple form of perennialism, maintains that there is only one path and one goal for spiritual development. According to this model, spiritual paths and goals are everywhere the same, and descriptive differences either reflect an underlying similarity or are the result of the different languages, religious doctrines, and cultural backgrounds. The point here is, then, that although mysticism is phenomenologically the same, non-experiential variables may affect its interpretation and description (e.g., Huxley, 1945, Smart,1980).

2. ESOTERICIST
The second form of perennialism, while admitting many paths, holds that there is only one goal common to all spiritual traditions. As in the previous model, this goal, although universal, may have been differently interpreted and described according to the specific doctrines of the various mystical traditions. . . this view is (the) claim that the spiritual unity of humankind can only be found in the esoteric or mystical core of religious traditions, and not in their exoteric or doctrinal forms. The guiding root metaphors of this model are the images of different rivers reaching the same ocean, different pathways leading to the peak of the same mountain, or different cascades of water issuing from a single spring.

3. TYPOLOGICAL
Closely related to universal perspectivism is the postulation of a limited number of types of paths and goals that run across the different mystical traditions, for example, Otto's (1932) outward and inward, Stace's (1960) extrovertive and introvertive, or Zachner's (1970) nature, monistic, and theistic. This model is also perennialist insofar as these types of mysticism are claimed to be independent of time, place, culture, and religion. Typological universalism often takes a perspectivist stance and affirms that the different types of mysticism are diverse expressions or manifestations of a single ultimate spiritual reality."

GROF'S NEO-ADVAITIN PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY

"Grof interprets his findings as supporting a Neo-Advaitin esotericist-perspectivist version of the perennial philosophy. The variety of spiritual ultimates are understood as different ways to experience the same universal ground, which can only be found, beyond all archetypal forms, in the esoteric universal heart of all religious traditions. This universal core is described as a monistic Absolute Consciousness, its relationship with human individual consciousness is understood in nondual terms, and the creation of an ultimately illusory material world is explained through the Neo-Hindu notion of involution."

WILBER

". . . underlying all apparent contextual diversity and undeterminism, there exists a pregiven and universal evolutionary process that determines the deep structure of world views, social structures, and human psychospiritual evolution. This evolutionary process is driven by a dynamic telos-Spirit that, although never reachable in the world of time and form, is the ultimate origin, end, and ground of all that exists."

FERRER'S PROBLEMS

1. Perennialism Is an A Priori Philosophical Stance ". . .the common core of spirituality espoused by the perennial philosophy is not the conclusion of cross-cultural research or inter religious dialogue, but an inference deduced from the premise that there a transcendent unity of reality, a single Absolute that underlies the multiplicity of phenomena and towards which all spiritual traditions are directed.

The evidence is provided by seeing "things as they really are" through direct metaphysical intuition." (But this implies already having bought the belief.)

2. Perennialism Privileges a Nondual Monistic Metaphysic ". . . perennialist models typically assume the existence of a universal spiritual reality which is the Ground of all that is, and of which the contemplative traditions are an expression. In spite of their insistence on the ineffable and unqualifiable nature of this Ground, perennialists consistently characterize it as Nondual, the One, or the Absolute. . . far from being a neutral and truly unqualifiable ground, (it) is represented as supporting a nondual monistic metaphysics."

3. Perennialism is Geared Towards an Objectivist Epistomology With these premises, perennialists claim that the spiritual path leads simultaneously to both objective knowledge of "things as they really are," and the realization of the true, essential nature of humankind. Against a background of objectivist assumptions, that is, the spiritual path is regarded as a process of deconstruction or deconditioning of certain conceptual schemes, cognitive functions, and psychophysical structures that constitute a deluded vision of selfhood and reality, an illusion that is in turn the primordial cause of human alienation. The key words of the perennialist discourse are, then, realization, awareness, or recognition of what is "already there," that is, the essential and objective nature of both reality and human beings.

4. Perennialism Leans toward Essentialism The perennialist attribution of a greater explanatory power or ontological status to what is common among religious traditions is problematic. " . . a woman who, observing her neighbor entering into an altered state of consciousness three consecutive days first with rum and water, then through fast breathing and water, and finally with nitrous oxide and water, concludes that the reason for his bizarre behaviors was the ingestion of water. The moral of the story, of course, is that what is essential or more explanatory in a set of phenomena is not necessarily what is most obviously common to them."

" . . the key to the spiritually transforming power of a given tradition may lie in its own distinctive practices and understandings. The limitations of the perennialist agenda could be compared to the desire of an individual who enters a rustic Parisian bakery and, observing the variety of delicious croissants, baguettes, and coffee-cakes displayed, insists that he wants to savor what is essential and common to all them, that is, flour."

5. Perennialism Tends Toward Dogmatism and Intolerance " . . . what about spiritual traditions which do not posit a metaphysical Absolute or transcendent ultimate Reality? What about spiritual traditions that refuse to fit into the perennialist scheme? The perennialist solution to conflicting spiritual traditions is well known: Religious traditions and doctrines that do not accept the perennial vision are inauthentic, merely exoteric, or represent lower levels of insight in a hierarchy of spiritual revelations whose culmination is the perennial Truth."

Next in the text follows a specific crit. of Grof and Wilber's work. This I leave out. NW.

Maslow, Wilber and Transpersonal Scholarship Contextual influences on the perennial philosophy and transpersonal psychology.

"Maslow equated peak-experiences with what he called the "core-religious experience" . . ."To the extent that all mystical or peak-experiences are the same in their essence and have always been the same, all religions are the same in their essence and always have been the same" . . . "This private religious experience [the peak-experience] is shared by alI great religions including the atheistic ones like Buddhism, Taoism, Humanism, or Confucianism" In Maslow's views about the nature of peak experiences . we find . . . the origins of the continuing relation between transpersonal theory and a universalist view of spirituality."

"Wilber: . . . "the aim of transpersonal psychology . . . is to give a psychological presentation of the perennial philosophy and the Great Chain of Being, fully updated and grounded in modern research and scientific developments"

Scholarship in comparative religion: "Like a newly married couple growing out of the first stages of infatuation into real living together, partners in religious sharing, as they get to know each other, soon arrive at the existential realization of how bewilderingly different they are. What had been initially experienced as similarities now become differing, even opposing, faces. . . One gradually becomes aware of the naivete and the downright danger of proclaiming a "common essence" or a "common core" within all the religions of the world . . . but right now, in the dust and dirt of the real world, we have to deal with the manyness, the differences, among the religions before we can ever contemplate, much less realize, their possible unity or oneness. (In Wiggins, 1996, p. 86)"

THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY AND THE EXPERIENTIAL VISION

"If transpersonal and spiritual claims were to be recognized as valid and scientific, transpersonalists believed, they had to be shown to be universal, and this spiritual consensus could only be found either in an artificially constructed core-religious experience (a la Maslow) or in abstract and anonymous deep structures (a la Wilber). In other words, objectivist assumptions made the legitimization of transpersonal psychology dependent upon the truth of the perennial philosophy."

However if we do not swallow the scientific methodology of the last century but are happy with the individual and subjective then we can also dispence with universal and objective philosophies.

Ferrer's own view: "I need to stress here, however, that I personally believe not only that the ecumenical search for common ground is an important and worthy enterprise, but also that some perennialist claims are plausible and may prove to be valid. At least, I have the conviction that it is possible to identify certain elements common to most contemplative traditions (some form of attentional training, certain ethical guidelines, an intentional moving away from selfcenteredness, a sense of the sacred, etc.).

Nevertheless, I also believe that to assume the essential unity of mysticism paradoxically can betray the truly essential message of the different spiritual traditions. Perhaps the longed-for spiritual unity of humankind can only be found in the multiplicity of its voices."

N.W.'s view: I am relieved to hear the relatively recent origins of the idea of a perennial philosophy, saying it in Latin gives it a fake gravity (gravitas) that invites us to believe that it has always been around when it has not.

I am made anxious by Wilber's claims for a hierarchy of transpersonal experiences and the specific experiences that he puts in each category. To me this is obviously not true on specifics ie: in that Buddhist meditation does not go through such stages and also the experiences so classified seem arbitrary.

On a purely human level in which I want my truth to be best, I can not believe that non-dual consciousness has the same value as, say, spirit possession. Wilber solves this with his hierarchy idea but . . .

However I am convinced that by making all paths one we do loose the unique and perhaps the superior if one dares think it . . .

". . . but also hinder spiritual inquiry and limit the range of valid creative spiritual choices through which we can creatively participate in the Mystery out of which everything arises." Is Ferrer a closet perenialist? Is the perennialist stance archetypal, ie: a universal longing for the many to return to the one and the one to manifest in the many.

This leads me to ask if mystical traditions that have the same mind technology, ie: meditation of the same type, might not produce the same results despite their theological differences while those that have different or no mind technologies simply produce a different fruit or no fruit at all. Thus I would suggest that some forms of Buddhism, Vedanta, The Yoga Sutras and Toaism may all generate the same realisation while that of Semitic religions produces another or others plural. However how could we ever prove this one way or another?

At base I do not believe there has ever been a perennial philosophy until Huxley invented it. That in contrast there are a great variety of transpersonal and spiritual experiences available to us that are not essentially the same but which have all been valuable within their own cultural context. That it is only when we have the ability to compare them that we also then have a problem of making value judgments. However I also believe that there is not an endless number of experiences available because they are limited by factors like the means that produce them externally ie: meditation, movement, drugs, sensory depravation etc. and internally by the workings of the set structures of the psyche/soma organism ie: the way we simply work. In this sense alone I do accept a universalist and objectivist position despite all the problems of this being corrupted by partisan ego needs. The problem is the insecure ego not the facts of our embodied existence.

Finally while I accept the "belief field" of a practitioner influences their enlightenment experiences so that their subsequent understanding and expression of it does not come solely from the experience itself but also from the belief field that predated it, I simply can not dismiss the universal descriptions that have so much in common. So while there may be no shared core philosophy, there may be a shared experience or closely over lapping experiences that are so overwhelming that they "split the seams" of the systems that supported their realisation. So not so much a perennial philosophy which is too concrete but more a common and shared experience that need not make to much of a claim for anything, that is actively "not knowing".

N.W. June 23, 2003