Frithjof Schuon Archive
A Resource on Frithjof Schuon’s Life and Teachings
This site is the most comprehensive repository of information pertaining to the life and work of Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998); materials include published articles, personal correspondence, private papers, poems, photographs, and works of art.
Frithjof Schuon is the preeminent spokesman of a school of thought that focuses on the expression and explanation of the Perennial Philosophy. This philosophy expresses the timeless metaphysical truths underlying the diverse religions; its written sources include the revealed Scriptures as well as the writings of the great spiritual masters. Because these truths are permanent and universal, the point of view may thus be called “Perennialist.” The Perennial Philosophy is an important perspective that can inform the study of Comparative Religion, Anthropology, Art, Literature, and many related areas.
Schuon was a philosopher in the tradition of Plato, Shankara, and Eckhart, and he wrote over two dozen books on religion, metaphysics, sacred art, and the spiritual path. Describing Schuon’s first book, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, Nobel laureate T. S. Eliot wrote, “I have met with no more impressive work in the comparative study of Oriental and Occidental religion”, and world-renowned religion scholar Huston Smith said of Schuon, “The man is a living wonder; intellectually apropos religion, equally in depth and breadth, the paragon of our time”. Schuon’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages and are respected by academic and religious authorities alike. Schuon’s writings remain unequaled in setting forth the principles of perennialist thought as well as their applications on the spiritual, aesthetic, and other related levels.
Besides his accomplishments as an author, Frithjof Schuon was also a gifted artist and poet. His art and his poetry flowed naturally from his awareness of God’s Presence in creation. Catalogue notes from a museum display of Schuon’s art explain that “springing as they do from his rich and unique personality, Schuon’s paintings…have a rare value, not only as regards artistic merit but above all because of their gift for manifesting the human soul at its noblest and most beautiful—hence, as a vehicle for Truth.” The sense of the sacred figures as much in Schuon’s art and poetry as in his philosophical writings.
The story of Schuon’s life presented in these pages demonstrates how his own intellect, personality, and actions reflected the elevated metaphysics, spiritual insights, and artistic creations that comprised his body of work.
This online resource brings together, through a survey of his many-faceted dimensions, Frithjof Schuon’s important contributions to the manifestations of the timeless Truth.
Featured Books
Form und Gehalt in den Religionen
The book is intended for people who are searching for a spiritually grounded understanding of the world and their own lives, an understanding that goes beyond the answers that modern sciences or religions understood only exoterically can provide.
Featured Poems
Adastra and Stella Maris: Poems by Frithjof Schuon-Panacea
Why has God given us the gift of speech?
Adastra and Stella Maris: Poems by Frithjof Schuon-Scripture
Holy Scripture is infallible. But
Adastra and Stella Maris: Poems by Frithjof Schuon-It is Thus
To live with many things, to be oneself a thing,
Featured Articles
The Language and Style of Schuon’s Writings
These observations on the language and stle of Frithjof Schuon’s writing were excerpted from editor Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s “Introducing the Writings of Frithjof Schuon” (the ‘Introduction’) in The Essential Frithjof Schuon. In the piece, Dr. Nasr shares insights on some linguistic and literary aspects of Schuon’s writing, ending with how these aspects may contribute to the impact of Schuon’s prose upon many readers.
Schuon as Poet and Artist
Editor Seyyed Hossein Nasr discusses the artistic side of Frithjof Schuon’s body of work, namely his poetry and paintings, and the aesthetic sensibility reflected throughout Schuon’s writings. It should be noted that this was written some years before Schuon’s many volumes of later poetry was published. The piece was excerpted from Dr. Nasr’s “Introducing the Writings of Frithjof Schuon” (the ‘Introduction’) in The Essential Frithjof Schuon.
Perspectives
Whitall Perry recounts his own spiritual journey which brought him to meet the greatest thinkers of the Perennial Philosophy of the 20th century: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, René Guénon, and Frithjof Schuon. Focusing on the later, Perry gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the remarkable writer, poet, and painter who, to many, represented in himself, and in his writings, the epitome of the traditional man.