Page "Frithjof Schuon" Paragraph 8

The traditionalist or perennialist perspective began to be enunciated in the 1920s by the French philosopher René Guénon and, in the 1930s, by Schuon himself.

The Harvard orientalist Ananda Coomaraswamy and the Swiss art historian Titus Burckhardt also became prominent advocates of this point of view.

Fundamentally, this doctrine is the Sanatana Dharma – the " eternal religion " – of Hindu Neo-Vedantins.

It was supposedly formulated in ancient Greece, in particular, by Plato and later Neoplatonists, and in Christendom by Meister Eckhart ( in the West ) and Gregory Palamas ( in the East ).

Every religion has, besides its literal meaning, an esoteric dimension, which is essential, primordial and universal.

This intellectual universality is one of the hallmarks of Schuon's works, and it gives rise to insights into not only the various spiritual traditions, but also history, science and art.