al-‘Alawi, Shaykh Ahmad

Shaykh Ahmad al-‘Alawi (1869-1934) was a spiritual master in the Shadhiliyyah-Darqawiyyah Tariqah, one of the great Sufi orders dedicated to meditation and prayer, whose representatives trace their lineage in an unbroken “chain” (silsilah) back to the Prophet Muhammad. Schuon traveled to Mostaghanem, Algeria in early December, 1932 to meet this famous spiritual guide. Schuon’s letters to Benjamin Black Elk, son of the famous Lakota holy man, covered many subjects, including a description of his own spiritual quest: “I wished not only to love God, I wished also to know Him, and the Christianity of our time teaches only the love of God, never the knowledge.… And so, with regard to the knowledge of God which I was seeking—because it is a need of my nature, and God wishes to be worshipped by every man according to the nature He gave him—I found this sacred knowledge through a holy man of the Arab people, whose name was Ahmad al-‘Alawî. He was a spiritual Master and had many disciples. There I found what I was searching for: the knowledge of God, and the means to realize God.”

For more information on Shaykh Ahmad al-'Alawi, click here.

Almqvist, Kurt

Kurt Almqvist (1912 - 2001) was a Swedish philosopher, poet, author, editor, and translator of works from many languages. Among his translations was Tidlös besinning i besinningslös tid: Ur Frithjof Schuons verk (Timeless Meaning in a Meaningless Time: From the work of Frithjof Schuon). Dr. Kurt Almqvist was also a professor of Romance languages including Spanish, Latin, French, Catalonian and Provencal. Besides his prose works, he also wrote many poems in Swedish.

An ardent student, Almqvist studied the history of literature at Stockholm University. In 1948, he obtained a degree in Romance Languages at the University of Uppsala (in Latin, French, Spanish, Catalan, and Provençal), and three years later a PhD. His thesis was a scholarly edition of the poems of the Provençal troubadour Guillaume Ademar. In addition to the languages he acquired during his academic studies, Dr. Almqvist later mastered Arabic and Russian. He became professor of Romance languages at the University of Uppsala and lecturer in English, French, Spanish and Russian in various high schools.

In the early 1940s, his brother introduced him to Frithjof Schuon. Afterward, Almqvist devoted a large part of his writings to the exposition of the philosophia perennis. Kurt Almqvist and Tage Lindbom were the earliest representatives of the Perennialist School of thought in Sweden.

Besides the anthology of quotations by Frithjof Schuon mentioned above, Dr. Almqvist also published a book in Swedish of quotations by René Guénon, I tjänst hos det Enda: ur René Guénons verk (In the service of the End: From the work of René Guénon). His article “Every Branch in Me” is included in World Wisdom's anthology Every Branch in Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man . This anthology, whose title is taken from Dr. Almqvist's article, is featured in World Wisdom's Perennial Philosophy series. The Perennialist journal Studies in Comparative Religion published several articles by Kurt Almqvist (including “Every Branch in Me”). The important French journal Études Traditionnelles published several articles by Almqvist.

For more information on Kurt Almqvist, click here.

Biès, Jean

The author of more than thirty books of philosophy, comparative religion, poetry and travel, Jean Biès (1933-2014) was Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Pau, France. Prof. Biès was a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and recipient of the High Prize of the Society of French Poets.

Among his many writings, he contributed to the World Wisdom book, Ye Shall Know the Truth .

Jean Biès conducted an interview with Frithjof Schuon, from which an article was published, “Frithjof Schuon: A Face of Eternal Wisdom” (Sophia, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1998)

For more information on Jean Biès, click here.

Black Elk, (Nicholas)

Black Elk (1863-1950) was a famous Lakota holy man whose life story was recorded in John Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks. In 1946, when virtually no westerners were interested in Plains Indian spirituality and only a few serious scholars were studying shamanistic sacred traditions, Frithjof Schuon suggested to Joseph Epes Brown that he attempt to find Black Elk. Joseph Brown was successful in his search and the book that resulted was The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Ogalala Sioux (1953).Schuon’s letters to Black Elk are preserved and cited in articles and books. Black Elk gave Catherine Schuon the Lakota name Wámbli Oyáte Win, which means "Eagle People Woman."

For more information on Black Elk, click here.

Brown, Joseph Epes

The late Joseph Epes Brown (1920-2000) was a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Montana. A renowned author in the fields of American Indian traditions and World Religions, Brown was one of the founders of Native American Studies and was largely responsible for bringing the study of these religious traditions into American higher education. His publications include The Sacred Pipe (1953), his famous recounting of the sacred rites of the Oglala Sioux. It was Frithjof Schuon who first suggested that Brown seek out Black Elk, the famous Lakota holy man who would become Dr. Brown's primary source for that book. Schuon collected and preserved letters Brown wrote to him and other close friends while Brown was living with Black Elk. Excerpts from those letters are quoted in several books and articles.

For more information on Joseph Epes Brown, click here.

Burckhardt, Titus

Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984) was one of the leading perennialist writers of the twentieth century. His writings showed remarkable scope. Burckhardt wrote on pure metaphysics, on tradition and modern science, on sacred art, on history and political science, and on various other aspects of traditional civilizations. Burckhardt was also a translator (from Arabic into French), an editor and publisher, and a respected consultant on restoring traditional cities to their former beautiful states. Titus Burckhardt was one of Schuon’s closest personal friends, with their friendship beginning in their boyhood. Some of Burckhardt's observations about Schuon’s life and work are quoted in several articles and books

For more information on Titus Burckhardt, click here.

Casey, Deborah

Mrs. Casey has been with World Wisdom since 1981, and in her capacity as editor she had the opportunity to meet frequently with Frithjof Schuon for the publication of many of his books in English translation. Her current responsibilities involve working with other translators and editors on the translation and cataloging of Schuon's correspondence and unpublished papers for the future use of interested readers and scholars.

Mrs. Casey is the editor of Light on the Ancient Worlds, published by World Wisdom. Light on the Ancient Worlds is the first in a new series of Frithjof Schuon's classical works which have been extensively revised and updated.

Casey, Jennifer

Jennifer Casey is an independent film maker and director who has traveled extensively throughout the Plain Indians reservations. A former teacher, Mrs. Casey has met with numerous tribal leaders and Sun Dance chiefs. She lives with her husband and two children in Bloomington, IN.

She is the director of the following World Wisdom documentaries DVDs: Native Spirit and The Sun Dance Way, and a film documentary of the life and work of Frithjof Schuon, Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy. In addition, Mrs. Casey also wrote and directed the 49-minute documentary Origins of the Perennialist School, which can be viewed on the World Wisdom website or on youtube.

For more information on Jennifer Casey, click here.

Casey, Patrick
Patrick Casey served as an aide and secretary to Frithjof Schuon for over 20 years. After earning a degree in Religious Studies from Indiana University in 1975, Casey traveled to Switzerland to meet Schuon for the first time. In the early 1980s, after Schuon had moved to America, Casey approached him with the idea of collecting the letters he had sent over the years to correspondents in America, England, Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere. With Schuon’s approval, Casey began a process that resulted in the collection of more than 1,500 letters; many of these have since been published in various works, while some appear for the first time in the Appendix to Frithjof Schuon's Echoes of Perennial Wisdom: A New Translation with Selected Letters, edited by Patrick Casey. Mr. Casey’s Editor’s Preface to that book is included at this website. Today, Casey lives near Schuon’s former home in Bloomington, Indiana, and is married to Jennifer Casey, the director of two film documentaries: Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way (2007) and Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy (2012). They have two adult children.

Clive-Ross, Francis

F. Clive-Ross was the founder, publisher and editor of the journal Studies in Comparative Religion and its predecessor Tomorrow. For nearly 20 years under Clive-Ross’ guidance, Studies was one of the important platforms for discussion of all issues pertaining to comparative religious studies. In addition to about sixty articles by Frithjof Schuon, Studies published essays by Joseph Epes Brown, Titus Burckhardt, Ananda and Rama Coomaraswamy, Gai Eaton, René Guénon, Martin Lings, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Lord Northbourne, Marco Pallis, Whitall Perry, Leo Schaya, Philip Sherrard, William Stoddart, and others. Many of the articles from the journal can be read online at the website of Studies in Comparative Religion

Clive-Ross also founded the publishing house, Perennial Books Ltd, which published English translations of many of Frithjof Schuon's books. F. Clive-Ross was also a trustee of the “World of Islam Festival”. He died in 1981.

World Wisdom has sponsored a new beginning for Studies. All of the original issues are being placed on a custom website: www.studiesincomparativereligion.com.

For more information on F. Clive-Ross, click here.

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K.

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a multi-talented researcher, scientist, linguist, expert on culture and art, philosopher, museum curator, and author. He was the first well-known author of the modern era to expound the importance of traditional arts, culture, and thought as more than simply relics of a bygone past. Dr. Coomaraswamy is often credited with reintroducing the concept of the "Perennial Philosophy" to a West dazed by the endless multiplicity of the modern world. Ananda Coomaraswamy, René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon are considered the founders of the Perennialist school of thought. References to his life and work, including excerpts from his writings, are cited in many articles and books presented on the World Wisdom site (see the link below).

For more information on Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, click here.

Coomaraswamy, Rama P.

Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy (1929-2006), son of the renowned Perennialist writer Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, was in his own right an important writer on traditionalist topics, especially regarding Christianity and the influx of modernistic ideas and practices in this ancient apostolic tradition. Recognizing that Frithjof Schuon was an important authority on the Perennialist perspective, Rama Coomaraswamy made numerous visits to see him over a number of years.

Dr. Coomaraswamy wrote what to our knowledge is the most detailed study of the modern changes to the Catholic rites and doctrines. This unrelenting analysis of the errors of modern insertions into Catholic tradition was originally published in 1972 but recently updated in a new edition in The Destruction of the Christian Tradition: Updated and Revised. He also collaborated with World Wisdom as the editor of The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.

For more information on Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy, click here.

Critchlow, Keith

Dr. Keith Critchlow (1933–2020) was the cofounder of the journal Temenos, as well as the author of numerous books on sacred geometry, including Order in Space and Time Stands Still. He was Professor Emeritus at The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, and a former professor of Islamic Art at the Royal College of Art. Prof. Critchlow, a leading expert in sacred architecture, also founded Kairos, a society that investigates, studies, and promotes traditional values of art and science.

Professor Critchlow contributed the “Foreword” to the collection of essays by Frithjof Schuon on art, Art from the Sacred to the Profane: East and West, edited by his wife Catherine Schuon (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2007).

Cutsinger, James

James S. Cutsinger (1953–2020) was an author, editor, and teacher whose writings focus primarily on Perennialism and the theology and spirituality of the Christian East. He was professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Cutsinger was one of the foremost scholars of the English-speaking world on the writings and thought of Frithjof Schuon. His book Advice to the Serious Seeker: Meditations on the Teaching of Frithjof Schuon (SUNY Press, 1997) is an important contribution to studies on Schuon's work. Prof. Cutsinger also edited a series of new editions of books by Frithjof Schuon (click here to see the list of books) that feature extensive editor's notes to help readers unfamiliar with terminology and references used by Schuon in those books.

For more information on James S. Cutsinger, click here.

Fabbri, Renaud

Renaud Fabbri was the director of the Perennialist website religioperennis.org. He received an M.A. in Philosophy from La Sorbonne IV (Paris, France) and an M.A. in Comparative Religion from Miami University (Ohio, USA). Born in France, he is currently living in the US. His interests include traditional metaphysics, Hinduism, Sufism, and the Perennialist school

Renaud Fabbri contributed the essay "The Milk of the Virgin: the Prophet, the Saint and the Sage" to Sacred Web 20, the special 10th anniversary issue of the journal Sacred Web, which was dedicated to Frithjof Schuon on the occasion of his birth centenary.

For more information on Renaud Fabbri, click here.

Faivre, Antoine

Antoine Faivre is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and Chair of the History of Esoteric Currents in Modern and Contemporary Europe (Sorbonne). He is an important European writer on traditional esoterism. Professor Faivre’s books in English include Access to Western Esotericism, The Golden Fleece and Alchemy, The Eternal Hermes,and Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition; he is editor (with Jacob Needleman) of Modern Esoteric Spirituality.

Prof. Faivre contributed the foreword to The Fullness of God: Frithjof Schuon on Christianity .

For more information on Antoine Faivre, click here.

Fitzgerald, Michael Oren

Michael Fitzgerald is an author, editor, and publisher of books on world religions, sacred art, tradition, culture, and philosophy who is based in Bloomington, Indiana. He has written and edited many publications on American Indian spirituality, including Yellowtail: Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, and was adopted into Yellowtail's tribe and family. Fitzgerald has also taught university classes on religious traditions of North American Indians and lectured widely.

In 2010, Michael Fitzgerald finished a volume on which he had worked for many years: Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy, the most comprehensive biographical study of Schuon to date. Mr. Fitzgerald also was interviewed by the online journal Vincit Omnia Veritas on the subject of “Frithjof Schuon and the American Indian Spirit,” the title of the published piece, which can be read through the link on this website.

Michael Fitzgerald's son, Joseph, is also an editor and a contributor to this site.

For more information on Michael Fitzgerald, click here.

Gall, Father

Father Gall, born Erich Schuon (1906 -1991), was Schuon’s older brother. He became a Cistercian monk in 1921 and lived for most of his life at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont in Belgium. The two brothers shared a love of the American Indians from their early childhood. Father Gall later became the adopted son of Black Elk, the famous Lakota holy man. Joseph Brown wrote to Frithjof Schuon in 1947, “Black Elk has taken a great interest in his son, Father Gall; he talks of him often, and is having several things of buckskin made for him. He is also sending him his necklace made of sacred deer hoofs, and we are sending him a pipe and sacred tobacco.” One of Schuon’s poems provides this insight : “My late brother was a monk, / From his childhood a friend of the Red Indians. / Once a troupe of Red men came from across the sea; / He made firm friends of some of them. / He learned Lakota and, all his life, / He wrote letters in this language; / To his monastery Indians came several times — / He learned many wondrous Indian songs” (translated from the German).

Goble, Paul

Paul Goble (1933 - 2017) was an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. Goble's life-long fascination with Native Americans of the plains began during his childhood when he became intrigued with their spirituality and culture. His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researched ancient stories and retold them for his young audience in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways. He also maintained fruitful relationships with some prominent Perennialists, including Marco Pallis. In 1959, at the request of Marco Pallis, Frithjof and Catherine Schuon permitted the young Goble, who was already very interested in the American Indians, to accompany them on their trip to the American West.

Mr. Goble illustrated over 28 books, including the World Wisdom titles All Our Relatives (2005) and Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters (2007). He also wrote the Foreword to The Gospel of the Redman (2005). His best known work, The Girl who Loved Horses won the prestigious Caldecott Medal.

For more information on Paul Goble, click here.

Guénon, René

René Guénon (1886-1951) was a French metaphysician, writer, and editor who was largely responsible for laying the metaphysical groundwork for the Perennialist school of thought in the early twentieth century. Guénon remains influential today for his writings on the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, on symbolism, on spiritual esoterism and initiation, and on the universal truths that manifest themselves in various forms in the world’s religious traditions. Writers on Tradition or the Perennial Philosophy often cite excerpts from the extensive correspondence between these two collaborators: Frithjof Schuon and René Guénon.

For more information on René Guénon, click here.

Hani, Jean

After brilliant secondary education accomplishments, Jean Hani (1917-2012) pursued classical literary studies, during which his love of Greek language and literature was solidified. Following his Associate of Letters degree, Hani received a Ph.D. in Greek Studies obtaining his degree of Doctor of Letters with a remarkable and greatly admired dissertation on the influence of Egyptian religion on Plutarch's thought.

Dr. Hani was appointed professor at the University of Amiens, where he founded the Center for Research on Classical Antiquity and for many years directed a seminar on the history of Greek Religion. He made several visits to Frithjof Schuon to discuss the crisis of the post-Vatican church.

In Hani's extensive and singularly solid work, we can distinguish three categories in his writings: those which belong to classical philology, those which belong to the history of religions, and those which delve into a wide range of fields of traditional and sacred symbolism.

Dr. Hani's books translated into English include: The Symbolism of the Christian Temple , The Divine Liturgy: Insights Into Its Mystery, Divine Craftsmanship: Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work; Sacred Royalty: From the Pharaoh to the Most Christian King, and The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery.

Jagadguru of Kanchi, 68th

Sri Swaminathan (1894-1994) was taken to Kalavai in his 13th year, when he was studying at Tindivanam, to be initiated into ascetic order and ordained as the 68th Acharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt. He was given the sanyasa name Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

He was affectionately called "Mahaswamigal" and "Walking God". His foremost concern was preservation of the Vedas, tradition and dharma. He advocated simplicity, shunned pomp, ostentation and extravagance. His exposition of Vedanta, sastras, and the dharmic duties attracted scholars and laymen alike, from far and wide. Schuon dedicated one of his books, Language of the Self, to HH the Jagadguru. Jean-Claude Petitpierre and M. Ramachandran discuss their respective roles as intermediaries between these spiritual leaders in film interviews on this site.

Jagadguru His Holiness Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamigal is the author of the World Wisdom title Introduction to Hindu Dharma (2008).

For more information on the 68th Jagadguru of Kanchi, click here.

Jenny, Johann Jakob

Johann Jakob Jenny (1907 - 1997) was one of Frithjof Schuon’s schoolmates in Basle, Switzerland and remained one of Schuon’s closest and lifelong friends. He became a medical doctor and continued to live in Basle for the remainder of his life. Dr. Jenny’s 1993 film interviews in Basle record many recollections from his childhood and youth concerning his close friend, Frithjof Schuon. Many of his comments from this recording were included in the book Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy (World Wisdom 2010).

Two clips of the 1993 video interview of Dr. Jenny can be seen on YouTube. The first clip describes various memories from his early years as one of Schuon’s boyhood friends, while the second clip focuses on indications of the young Schuon’s spiritual nature and ability to help his friends with their questions. These clips can also be found on the 2012 2-disc DVD set from World Wisdom with the same title, Frithjof Schuon: Messenger of the Perennial Philosophy.

Keeble, Brian

Brian Keeble is a writer and editor who has long been devoted to the promulgation of the traditional arts. His best-known book is Art: For Whom and For What? Mr. Keeble is the founder of Golgonooza Press and a co-founder of Temenos Academy, which is sponsored by The Prince's Foundation of HRH The Prince of Wales. The Temenos Academy is a teaching organization dedicated to the same central idea that had inspired the earlier Temenos Review, a journal devoted to the arts of the imagination.

The online library of this site includes Brian Keeble’s essay “Thoughts on Reading Frithjof Schuon’s Writings on Art,” which appeared in his book God and Work: Aspects of Art and Tradition (World Wisdom 2009).

For more information on Brian Keeble, click here.

Küry, Hans

Hans Küry (1906-1987) was one of the many admirers who came to Schuon for counsel. Kury later recalled the first time he saw Schuon in Basle during the summer of 1932: “Whoever had eyes and came into contact with Frithjof Schuon, even in our youth, could not doubt, even long before he was a spiritual master, indeed before he was a Muslim, that God had intended a mission for him in this regard.… Schuon, twenty-four years old, with a bold profile and handsome black beard, strode forward like a whirlwind, with the light of rapture on his forehead.… [A]s he flew on like an eagle, it was clear like lightning to me: ‘Comfort ends here!’” (“Les jeunes gens dans la Caverne: première rencontre”, 382). Many of Schuon's letters were written to Dr. Küry.

Lakhani, M. Ali

M. Ali Lakhani graduated from Cambridge University before moving to Vancouver where he has practiced as a trial lawyer for 25 years. In 1998, he founded the bi-annual journal Sacred Web, with the aim of identifying the first principles of traditional metaphysics and promoting their application to the contingent circumstances of modernity. The journal includes contributions from current perennialists, as well as from many of the earlier founding writers of that school of thought. Volume 20 of Sacred Web (Winter 2007) was entirely devoted to the life and thought of Frithjof Schuon on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. As the editorial for that volume, M. Ali Lakhani wrote an essay titled “‘Standing Unshakably in the True’: A Commentary on the Teachings of Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998)”. This essay is available here, in the Online Archive of this website.

For more information on M. Ali Lakhani, click here.

Laude, Patrick

Patrick Laude is a writer, editor, professor, and researcher in the fields of language, literature, symbolism, and mysticism. He is a professor at Georgetown University, currently at their School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Laude's writings have been published in the US and Europe in numerous journals. Dr. Laude is one of the major scholars to study and write on the work of Frithjof Schuon. He is co-author, with Jean-Baptiste Aymard, of Frithjof Schuon: Life and Teachings (SUNY Press, 2004), and author of Pathways to an Inner Islam: Massignon, Corbin, Guénon, and Schuon (SUNY Press, 2010).

For more information on Dr. Patrick Laude, click here.

Lindbom, Tage

Tage Lindbom (1909 - 2001) was born in Sweden. He was one of the intellectual architects of the Swedish Welfare State, but after World War II, he started to have serious doubts about the cause he promoted. He underwent a slow, but profound intellectual and spiritual change, and was greatly influenced by the writings of Frithjof Schuon and other perennialists. In 1962 he published The Windmills of Sancho Panza a book that rejected the assumptions behind Social Democracy and related movements. After breaking with his past, Lindbom published many books in Sweden, most of which explore the tension between religion and modern secular ideology. Two of his books have appeared in English. The first was The Tares and the Good Grain (1983) and the second was The Myth of Democracy (1996). His article, "Lucifer" appears in World Wisdom's anthology, Every Branch in Me: Essays on the Meaning of Man .

Dr. Lindbom’s essay “Frithjof Schuon and Our Times”, can be read in the Online Archive of this website.

For more information on Tage Lindbom, click here.

Lings, Martin

Martin Lings (1909-2005) was a leading member of the Perennialist school and an acclaimed author, editor, translator, scholar, Arabist, and poet whose work centers on the relationship between God and man through religious doctrine, scripture, symbolism, literature, and art. He was an accomplished metaphysician and essayist who often turned to the world’s great spiritual traditions for examples, though he is best known for his writings on Islam and its esoteric tradition, Sufism. Dr. Lings was also a long-time friend and associate of Frithjof Schuon, recording some of his thoughts and memories of the latter in some of the film clips found on this site.

Dr. Lings co-edited The Underlying Religion (2007) with Clinton Minnar. This book is a survey of central Perennialist ideas and authors. In addition, World Wisdom will be publishing The Essential Martin Lings (forthcoming), an anthology of his work.

For more information on Dr. Martin Lings, click here.

Michon, Jean-Louis

Jean-Louis Michon (1924 - 2013) was a Perennialist French scholar who specialized in Islam in North Africa, Islamic art, and Sufism. His works include Le Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba and L'Autobiographie (Fahrasa) du Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba (1747-1809). He wrote numerous articles appearing in several languages, and translated the Holy Koran into French. Following service in World War II, Michon's search for spiritually gifted men led him to both René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon, and his association with the latter lasted for almost fifty years.

For more information on Dr. Jean-Louis Michon, click here.

Moore, Jr., Alvin

Alvin Moore, Jr. (1923-2005) was a traditionalist Christian author, editor, translator, and reviewer. His writings and translations have been published in such journals as Studies in Comparative Religion, Sophia, Sacred Web, Mystics Quarterly and elsewhere. Alvin Moore was a director of the Foundation for Traditional Studies.

Alvin Moore Jr. wrote a long and insightful book review, with many thoughts on Frithjof Schuon’s writings about Christianity, in the journal Sacred Web (vol 14, Winter 2004). The article can be read online under the title “Frithjof Schuon on the Spiritual Life,” on the Sacred Web website. The book which was reviewed is Prayer Fashions Man: Frithjof Schuon on the Spiritual Life (World Wisdom, 2004), edited by James S. Cutsinger.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein

Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b. 1933) is University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. The author of over thirty books and three hundred articles, he is one of the world’s most respected writers and speakers on Islam, its arts and sciences, and its traditional mystical path, Sufism. Dr. Nasr has written extensively on the writings and thought of Frithjof Schuon and was the editor of the major work titled The Essential Frithjof Schuon (World Wisdom, 2005).

For more information on Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, click here.

Northbourne, Lord

Lord Northbourne (the 4th Baron Northbourne), was an agriculturist, educator, translator, and writer on both agriculture and comparative religion. Northbourne (1896-1982) translated several of Schuon's book from French into English. He was educated at Oxford and was for many years Provost of Wye College in England. His first published writings were on "organic" farming (he introduced the term), and he later began to write on Perennialist themes. A number of Lord Northbourne's essays appeared in the British journal, Studies in Comparative Religion, and were later included in his books Religion in the Modern World (1963) and Looking Back on Progress (1970). Lord Northbourne's essential writings are collected in Of the Land and the Spirit.

For more information on Lord Northbourne, click here.

Oldmeadow, Harry

Harry Oldmeadow is an educator, scholar, author, and editor. He was the coordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University in Australia. Oldmeadow has authored such books as the acclaimed Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy, Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions, and A Christian Pilgrim in India: The Spiritual Journey of Swami Abhishiktananda. Professor Oldmeadow is one of the most active and authoritative writers today on the Perennial Philosophy and Tradition, as well as on the major figures of this school of thought. He also has written a great deal on the errors of modernism and on the encounter of East and West.

With the publication of Frithjof Schuon and the Perennial Philosophy (World Wisdom, 2010), Professor Harry Oldmeadow has firmly established himself as one of the foremost scholars on the thought of Frithjof Schuon.

For more information on Professor Harry Oldmeadow, click here.

Pallis, Marco

Marco Pallis was a widely respected author on Tibetan Buddhism and the Perennial Philosophy, but he was also a gifted musician, composer, mountaineer, and translator. He translated a number of books and other pieces by Frithjof Schuon and other prominent Perennialists. Pallis' book The Way and the Mountain came from his experiences traveling in the Eastern Himalaya region and with Tibetan Buddhism. Pallis also wrote many pieces for the important journal Studies in Comparative Religion, some of which are included in his last publication, A Buddhist Spectrum .

For more information on Marco Pallis, click here.

Perry, Barbara

Barbara Perry's (1923-2015) introduction to Art from the Sacred to the Profane: East and West , is a reflection of her years of association with the major Perennialist figure Frithjof Schuon, and displays her in-depth knowledge of his influences, his writings, and his own paintings. Mrs. Perry, along with her late husband Whitall Perry, was also acquainted with the great early Perennialist thinker on arts, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, with René Guénon, and with almost all of the other central figures from the formative years of this school of thought. Barbara Perry helped interpret Perennialist ideas to many people all over the world for over half a century.

For more information on Barbara Perry, click here.

Perry, Mark

Although of American parents, Mark Perry was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1951 and raised in Switzerland close to Frithjof Schuon. He is the son of eminent American Perennialist author Whitall Perry. Basically self-taught, he is the author of the book, On Awakening and Remembering published by Fons Vitae in 2000. Perry is currently in the process of re-translating all of Frithjof Schuon’s books from the original French into the English language. The first new translation Form and Substance in the Religions was published by World Wisdom in July 2002. This book as a totality has not appeared in English, although the individual chapters from the book have been published in various other works by Mr. Schuon.

For more information on Mark Perry, click here.

Perry, Whitall

According to Harry Oldmeadow , Whitall Perry was "the most authoritative traditionalist of American background." Whitall Perry's magnum opus was A Treasury Of Traditional Wisdom (George Allen and Unwin), a magisterial compendium of spiritual doctrine spanning ail history and every spiritual tradition. This remarkable volume of over 1000 pages has been an important source for seekers and researchers of spiritual wisdom since its publication in 1971. Whitall Perry also contributed to the book, Ye Shall Know the Truth .

Perry's early intellectual interests included Platonism and Vedanta, and he traveled extensively in the Middle and Far East both before and after World War II with a brief interlude of study at Harvard University. He was one of several Harvard students who came under Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's influence in the 1940s. Between 1946 and 1952 Perry and his wife Barbara settled in Egypt, where they developed close ties with René Guénon and Martin Lings. After Guénon's death, the Perrys moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he became a close collaborator of Frithjof Schuon. In 1980, the Perrys followed Schuon and moved to Bloomington, Indiana.

The Online Archive of this website has several articles from Whitall Perry. One, titled “Perspectives,” is a short autobiographical essay that illustrates how he and his wife Barbara came to their association with Frithjof Schuon, and offers some authoritative observations on Schuon’s personality, perspective, and teachings. Another piece is Whitall Perry’s book review of Schuon’s Logic and Transcendence, which besides its keen insight into Schuon’s thought is also a good example of Perry’s own strong style of exposition.

For more information on Whitall Perry, click here.

Petitpierre, Jean-Claude

Jean-Claude Petitpierre (1932 - 2012) was a Swiss Perennialist. He had long associations with Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, and other important authors of Perennialist works.

Professionally, Petitpierre fulfilled a variety of functions for the United Nations, including Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program. He spent many years living among, and learning from, Hindu and Muslim spiritual figures.

Mr. Petitpierre was interviewed by World Wisdom, which resulted in a number of videoclips. In these, he speaks on the lives and work of such Perennialist figures as Schuon, Guénon, Coomaraswamy, Burckhardt, Lings, Hossein Nasr, and Yellowtail. Several videoclips also include some of his insights into the Perennial Philosophy, modern ideologies, and spiritual life.

For more information on Jean-Claude Petitpierre, click here.

Pollack, Michael

Michael Pollack (1947 - 2001) was an entrepreneur and supporter of the arts in Bloomington, Indiana. He was associated with Frithjof Schuon for many years, and edited a book of Schuon's paintings and sketches, Images of Primordial and Mystic Beauty: Paintings by Frithjof Schuon (Abodes, 1992). Michael Pollack's "Introduction" to that collection provides special insights into Schuon's artistic methods and inspirations.

Queiroz, Alberto Vasconcellos

Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz is a Brazilian writer, editor and translator. During his university years, he discovered the writings of Guénon and Schuon. In subsequent years, Queiroz translated or co-translated into Portuguese a number of books by Frithjof Schuon. He traveled several times to the United States to visit Schuon.

Mr. Queiroz has created, and maintains, the Portuguese website “Frithjof Schuon: Textos em português do grande porta-voz da Filosofia Perene”

For more information on Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz, click here.

Raghavan, Venkataraman

Venkataraman Raghavan (1908-1979) was a Sanskrit scholar, a musicologist, and a composer specializing in Carnatic music. He was the secretary of the Music Academy, Madras, from 1944 until his death in 1979. He wrote several books on music and on aesthetics in Sanskrit literature. Dr. Raghavan has been called “one of the foremost scholars and enlightened custodians of Indian culture in general, and Sanskrit literature in particular,” and he is held in high renown for his efforts in preserving traditional Indian culture.

Dr. V. Raghavan wrote the “Foreword” to Language of the Self, by Frithjof Schuon.

For more information on Venkataraman Raghavan, click here.

Ramachandran, Mudumbaï

Mudumbaï Ramachandran was a Hindu devotee and philanthropist who had an association of over 40 years with Frithjof Schuon and other leading Perennialists. Born into a well-known Brahmin family, he became an industrialist and traveled widely in several continents. Ramachandran was a disciple of the Order of Sri Ramakrishna and knew most of the great contemporary spiritual masters of India. He acted for many years as the liaison between Frithjof Schuon and HH the 68th Jagadguru of Kanchi , Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. In his later years, Mr. Ramachandran dedicated much of his energies to local charitable projects in India. Mudumbaï Ramachandran died in 2006.

For more information on Mudumbaï Ramachandran, click here.

Ramdas, Swami

Sri Swami "Papa" Ramdas was born Vittal Rao in the Kerala State of India in 1884. For relief from his outer circumstances, he began to chant "Ram," a name of God, which brought him great mental peace and joy. In 1931, after years of living on the road in faith, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala, where he lived with Mother Krishnabai, who also attained the universal vision of God. They worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, founding a school for the children, establishing a free medical clinic, and setting up a cooperative for weavers. Together, they did extensive tours in India, and a world tour in 1954-55, with the purpose of sharing a message of Universal Love and Service, Sri Swami Ramdas died in 1963. He is the subject of The Essential Swami Ramdas .

Swami Ramdas was one of the remarkable spiritual figures who met with, and were impressed by, Frithjof Schuon in their travels through Europe. He wrote of Schuon that he was "a very prince among saints."

For more information on Swami Ramdas, click here.

Red Cloud, James

James Red Cloud (d. 1961) was a grandson of the great Sioux chief known to history. At Pine Ridge in 1959 the old chief adopted Schuon as his brother, giving him the name “Brave Eagle” (Wambali Ohítika). Schuon later wrote a poem, Red Cloud, about his encounter with the venerable Lakota leader. “He was the grandson of Chief Red Cloud / Of the Ogallala band. We met — / The noble old man and I — and had a long talk / In Pine Ridge, beneath the shade of a tree. / He talked first about old times; then there was / Silence, until I began to speak, and said: / The world is but dream-stuff — / The dream vanishes before Reality. / The Chief adopted me into his clan, / Gave me many good words, and then he died. / Let the winds blow over the wide land — / The heart will live forever in the Great Spirit.”

Saran, Awadh Kishore

Awadh Kishore Saran (1922-2003), wrote under the name A. K. Saran. Saran was an Indian scholar, editor, and writer who was one of the most important voices in the Hindu world on traditional thought. A. K. Saran's writings often covered the expositors of traditional teachings and the perennial philosophy such as Frithjof Schuon, and particularly Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Saran's books include Hinduism in Contemporary India, Illuminations, On the Intellectual Vocation, On the Theories of Secularism and Modernization, Traditional Vision of Man, Traditional Thought, and Sociology of Knowledge and Traditional Thought.

The online Library of this website includes an article by A.K. Saran, titled “A Schuon Sentence: Some Remarks” (Sophia, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1998), which is a commentary centered on the symbolism of “the eye of the Heart,” a phrase often used by Schuon, and which is the title of his book The Eye of the Heart (World Wisdom, 1997).

Schaya, Leo

Leo Schaya (1916-1985) was a writer and editor who followed the Perennialist school of thought. He was particularly known for his writings on Jewish esoterism, with his book The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah (1958) being one of the best known and often-quoted works in that field; however, he also was at home in the area of Sufi metaphysical interpretation.

Schaya was born in Switzerland and received a traditional Jewish education. While still young, he met Frithjof Schuon and soon expanded his studies to include, besides his own Jewish tradition, neo-Platonism, Sufism, and Advaita Vedânta.

Leo Schaya's essay "Creation, the Image of God" is one of the articles collected in the anthology Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred . Another essay, "On the Name "Allah" is included in Sufism: Love and Wisdom . An online sample of his writing, the essay "The Eliatic Function" (about the esoteric function of the prophet Elijah), which appeared in the important journal Studies in Comparative Religion, can be read if you click here.

For more information on Leo Schaya, click here.

Schimmel, Annemarie

Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003) was one of the leading experts on Islamic literature and mysticism (Sufism) in the world. She wrote more than 80 books and essays, and lectured at universities and conferences around the world. Professor Schimmel translated and conducted research in the major Islamic languages of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Turkish. Her book Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) is considered a classic in its field.

Dr. Schimmel, wrote this about Schuon's book Understanding Islam: "Schuon's book shows the essence of Islam, compares its world view with that of Christianity and often brings examples from other religious traditions, all of which his vast erudition comprises. The style of the work reminds the reader sometimes of crystalline pure forms, and yet one often finds passages which touch the heart." She also wrote about Schuon's German spiritual poems, a piece which is often included as the foreword to his collections of poems translated into English.

For more information on Dr. Annemarie Schimmel, click here.

Schuon, Catherine

Catherine Schuon’s interest in world religions and spirituality brought her into contact with Frithjof Schuon, whom she married in May 1949. She accompanied her husband on all of his travels and helped him to receive visits and answer correspondence from spiritual seekers who came to seek her husband’s counsel. Her work with her husband brought her into contact with people from diverse religions and from throughout the world. Gifted in languages, she also became fluent in English and conversant in Italian, in addition to the three languages of her youth: German, French and Spanish.

She is the editor of Art from the Sacred to the Profane: East and West , a collection of Frithjof Schuon’s selected writings on art.

For more information on Catherine Schuon, click here.

Scott, Timothy

Dr. Timothy Scott founded and was Executive Editor of the journal Eye of the Heart, based in Bendigo, Australia. In addition, Dr. Scott is a regular contributor to the traditionalist journals Sacred Web and Sophia, often writing on various aspects of symbolism and Tradition.

Dr. Scott has two notable articles on Schuon that can be read on his website, “The Elect and the Predestination of Knowledge: ‘Esoterism’ and ‘Exclusivism’: A Schuonian Perspective” (Sophia, 7.2, 2001), and “‘Made in the Image’: Schuon’s theomorphic anthropology” (Sacred Web 20, 2007).

For more information on Dr. Timothy Scott, click here.

Shah-Kazemi, Reza

Reza Shah-Kazemi is an author, editor, translator, and scholar in the areas of Islamic Studies, comparative religion, mysticism, Sufism, Shiism and Perennialism. Dr. Shah-Kazemi is the author or editor of over 10 books in those fields, in addition to contributions as translator, or contributor in many more. Among his books are The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam (I.B. Tauris, 2012) and The Other in the Light of the One: The Universality of the Qur'an and Interfaith Dialogue (Islamic Texts Society, 2006). Another standout work from him is Paths to Transcendence: According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi & Meister Eckhart (World Wisdom, 2006), a study of how three sages (a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian) approached the Transcendent Absolute. In his writings and lectures, Shah-Kazemi often refers to the thought of Frithjof Schuon and other perennialists.

Reza Shah-Kazemi’s academic credentials include a degree in Politics and International Relations from the Universities of Sussex and Exeter, and a Doctorate in Comparative Religions from the University of Kent in England. After obtaining his degrees, he became a consultant at the Institute for Research in Politics in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Shah-Kazemi is currently a research associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London within the Department of Academic Research and Publications.

Dr. Shah-Kazemi wrote the article, which can found in the online Library of this website, “Frithjof Schuon and Prayer”. It originally appeared in Sophia (Vol. 4, No. 2, 1998).

For more information on Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi, click here.

Sherrard, Philip

Philip Sherrard (1922 – 1995) was an English author, translator, and scholar of Greek. His writings often reveal a perspective that is close to the Perennialist message of Frithjof Schuon, René Guénon, and Ananda Coomaraswamy. In 1956 Sherrard became a member of the Orthodox Church, of which he became a recognized theologian. Among the works for which he is best known is his collaboration in the complete translation of the Philokalia. The combination of his interests in metaphysics, theology, art and aesthetics led to Sherrard becoming one of the founders of the journal Temenos in 1980. He was also recognized as a leading voice in situating modern attitudes and behaviors regarding the environment within a Christian framework.

His essay "Christianity and the Religious Thought of C. G. Jung" is included in the anthology Science and the Myth of Progress . His article "Epilogue" can be found in the anthology, The Betrayal of Tradition .

For more information on Philip Sherard, click here.

Smith, Huston

Huston Smith (1919 - 2016) was a philosopher and scholar, and the best-known American author of his time on comparative religion. His book The World's Religions (originally The Religions of Man) has been described by the publisher as a collection of “sympathetic descriptions of the various traditions, explaining how they work ‘from the inside,’ which is a big reason why this cherished classic has sold more than two million copies since it first appeared in 1958.” This book has been used in countless classes, and Prof. Smith’s other books are widely respected in the field. Much of his work over the years dealt with the tenets of the Perennial Philosophy.

Dr. Smith was born in China to Methodist missionary parents and was 17 when the family returned to the United States. Attached all his life to the Christian faith, he distanced himself from Methodism as his interest in mysticism and esoterism grew. Smith later encountered and absorbed the work of important Perennialists such as Guénon, Coomaraswamy, and Schuon. Smith’s ideas remained very close to this philosophical perspective until his death.

In 1964, while a professor at MIT, Huston Smith made a trip to India, where he visited the Gyuto Tibetan Monastery. While there, he realized that Tibetan Buddhist monks were producing chords as they were chanting. He later recorded their overtone singing, which was released as Music of Tibet, which is considered “a milestone in the study of music,” along with Smith’s liner notes. Dr. Huston Smith also made important documentary films on Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism and Sufism, all of which won various international awards.

The Online Archive of this website includes Dr. Huston Smith’s Foreword to Schuon’s The Eye of the Heart. There are two other notable pieces, available in print, by Huston Smith in which he directly addresses the work of Frithjof Schuon: The “Introduction” to Schuon’s The Transcendent Unity of Religions (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), and “Providence Perceived: In Memory of Frithjof Schuon” in the journal Sophia (Vol. 4, No. 2, 1998).

For more information on Dr. Huston Smith, click here.

Soares de Azevedo, Mateus

Mateus Soares de Azevedo is an author, translator, editor, and journalist from Minas Gerais, central Brazil. He is the author of a number of books and dozens of articles and essays dealing with the importance of traditional religion and spirituality in the contemporary world, some of them translated into English and Spanish. He has also translated a number of books by Guénon, Schuon, Lings, and other Perennialist figures into Portugese.

For more information on Mateus Soares de Azevedo, click here.

Stoddart, William

William Stoddart is a Perennialist author, editor, and translator who has been active in advancing the understanding of the writings of Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, and others, for many years. A compilation of his own writings, Remembering in a World of Forgetting, was edited by M. Soares de Azevedo and A. Vasconcellos Queiroz. Stoddart also edited The Essential Titus Burckhardt, and is perhaps the greatest authority on the work of this great Swiss Perennialist. Dr. Stoddart translated a number of Schuon's books into English, and was closely associated with the Perennialist sage for many decades.

For more information on William Stoddart, click here.

Tavener, John

Sir John Tavener (1944-2013) was a world renowned composer, conductor and musical celebrity. Inspired by the writings of Frithjof Schuon, Sir John incorporated Hindu, Sufi, Jewish and North American Indian ideas into his compositions. His article, “Towards the Musica Perennis,” is found in the World Wisdom anthology Every Man An Artist .

For more information on Sir John Tavener, click here.

Vâlsan, Michel
Michel Vâlsan (1907 - 1974) was a perennialist writer, editor, and translator.

Vâlsan was a member of the Romanian diplomatic corps, and he settled in Paris at the end of the 1930s. He began to correspond with René Guénon, who directed him to Frithjof Schuon. After making this contact, he would follow Schuon’s teachings for some years. As early as 1946, Vâlsan distanced himself from certain aspects of the Schuonian perspective, and in 1950 separated himself from him. Eight years later, he reconciled with Schuon; their relations remained respectful and cordial until the end of Vâlsan’s life.

Michel Vâlsan wrote about thirty articles for the French quarterly journal Études Traditionnelles, focusing mainly on Islam, Sufism, Ibn Arabî and Guénon. Vâlsan’s writings, here and elsewhere, reflected his mastery of the Arabic language. He published several translations of the work of Ibn Arabî. Vâlsan was the editor of Études Traditionnelles from 1961 to 1970, and literary director from 1971 to 1974. Vâlsan’s articles in this journal that dealt with the role of Rene Guénon in relation to Islam were collected in the book L'Islam et la fonction de René Guénon.

Woodman, Christopher

Christopher Woodman is an essayist and poet who contributed a book review on Frithjof Schuon’s In the Tracks of Buddhism to the Summer, 1968 edition of Studies in Comparative Religion. Woodman had been introduced to the writings of Schuon through a friend, Marco Pallis. At the time that he wrote the piece, he was a Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge in Renaissance Studies, where he was initially supervised by C.S. Lewis and then by G.G. Hough. Mr. Woodman was then also Chairman of the Cambridge Buddhist Society, and with Marco Pallis’s encouragement he helped the young Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche, to become the first president of the Society. Mr. Woodman subsequently became Trungpa Rimpoche’s personal secretary, and went on to work with him and Akong Rimpoche at the Samye Ling Tibetan Center in Eskdalemuir, Scotland. Today Christopher Woodman lives in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, where he assists his Thai wife, a Traditional Medicine Doctor, at the Baan Hom Samunphrai School where she teaches Thai Traditional Medicine and Herbal Pharmacology.

Mr. Woodman wrote a review of Frithjof Schuon’s book In the Tracks of Buddhism for the journal Studies in Comparative Religion.

Yellowtail, Thomas

Medicine Man and Sundance Chief Thomas Yellowtail (1903-1993) was a pivotal figure in Crow tribal life and one of the most admired American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. As a youth he lived in the presence of old warriors, hunters, and medicine men who knew the freedom and sacred ways of pre-reservation life. As the principal figure in the Crow-Shoshone Sun Dance religion during the last half of the 20th century, he was important in perpetuating the spiritual traditions of his Crow tribe. Yellowtail's advice on following the ancient ways in the modern world has inspired many Indians, and many non-Indians as well.

Thomas Yellowtail and Frithjof Schuon first met in Europe, while Yellowtail was traveling there with other American Indians teaching Europeans about their culture and tradtions. These two men visited each other often over the almost fifty years of their friendship, each learning much from the other's words and comportment. Thomas Yellowtail contributed the "Introduction" to Schuon's book The Feathered Sun: Plains Indians in Art and Philosophy.

For more information on Thomas Yellowtail, click here.