glossary of terms used by frithjof schuon - Sophia Perennis

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“state”; and Parinirvana is identified with Non-Being, that is to say with the divine “Quiddity” which, according to Greek theology, “envelops” Being, and which, according to Sufism, “erases all predicates” (munqat al-isharat). [TB, Nirvana] Nobility: Nobility is made of elevation and compassion; by elevation it withdraws from things, and by compassion it comes back to them; but it also comes back to them by discernment and justice, for it is made not only of charity, but also of resistance, given the nature of the world in which it manifests itself. [EchPW, 45] Man has the right to be happy, but he must be so nobly and, what amounts to the same thing, within the framework of the Truth and the Way. Nobility is characterized by its correspondence to the real hierarchy of values: the higher takes precedence over the lower, and this applies on the plane of the sentiments as well as on that of thoughts and volitions. It has been said that nobility of character consists in putting honour and moral dignity above self-interest, which means in the last analysis that we must put the invisible real above the visible illusory, morally as well as intellectually. Nobility is made of detachment and generosity; without nobility, the gifts of intelligence and the efforts of the will can never suffice for the Way, for man is not reducible to these two faculties, he also possesses a soul capable of love and destined for happiness; and the latter cannot be realized – except in a wholly illusory fashion – without virtue or nobility. We could also say that the Way is made of discernment, concentration and goodness: of discernment for the intelligence, of concentration for the will, of goodness for the soul; the fundamental goodness of the soul is at the same time its beauty, just as every sensible beauty reveals an underlying cosmic goodness. Detachment implies objectivity with regard to oneself; generosity implies likewise the capacity to put oneself in the place of others, and thus to be “oneself” in others. These attitudes, which a priori are intellectual, become nobility on the plane of the soul; nobility is a mode of objectivity as well as of transcendence. [EPW, The Virtues in the Way] Nobility (true): True nobility, which cannot in any case be the monopoly of a function, implies a penetrating consciousness of the nature of things and at the same time a generous giving of the self, consequently it excludes idle fancies no less than meanness. [LAW, The Ancient Worlds in Perspective] Nobility / Honor: To be noble is to sacrifice one’s interest to the truth, and so to the “duty” which the former defines, whence also the notion of “honor,” a notion which is much more contingent, but not unreal; nobility is the natural conformity of the will and the sensibility to the demands of Equilibrium and Attraction (it is to see things “from above” and without any baseness), while honor is the social obligation never to betray this attitude, or not to betray the confidence that has been placed in us in the name of our preferment; whence the saying noblesse oblige. [LT, The Problem of Qualifications] Nobleness (of soul): Nobleness of soul is to have the sense of the divine intentions, hence of the archetypes and essences, which readily reveal themselves to the noble and contemplative soul. [RHC, Pillars of Wisdom] 100
Nothing / Being: The notion of “nothing” is essentially a reference – obviously negative – to something possible or existent, otherwise it would be meaningless and even inconceivable. Indeed, “nothing” indicates by definition the absence of something: it excludes one or many objects, or all objects, according to context; to speak of an intrinsic “nothingness,” of a nothing in itself, without reference to the things which it excludes, would be a contradiction in terms. When a receptacle is filled and then emptied, there is a difference; now this difference is a reality, otherwise no one would ever complain about being robbed. If this “nothing” were in itself a “nothingness” – if it had no “referential” character – there would be no difference between presence and absence, plenitude and vacuity, existence and inexistence; and every thief could argue that the “nothing” he produced in someone’s purse does not exist; the word “nothing” would be devoid of meaning just as the nothingness is devoid of content. “Nothing,” envisaged in a concrete context, can in practice compete with “something”; while an intrinsic nothingness cannot concretely be opposed to anything or be affected by anything in any way. And similarly space, if it were an absolute emptiness – if it did not in practice coincide with ether – could not comprise distance and separation, for a nothingness added to another nothingness – if this were conceivable without absurdity – could not produce a distance. A logically utilizable “nothing” has therefore nothing absolute about it; it is by definition relative to something, although in a negative manner. However, it comprises an aspect of absoluteness through the totality of the negation it represents: the difference between 1 and 2 is relative, but the difference between 1 and 0 can be termed absolute, with evident metaphysical reservations. A thing cannot exist half-way, either it exists or it does not exist; consequently, since there is something absolute about existence in relation to inexistence – this being the whole miracle of creation – there is likewise ipso facto something absolute about the negation or exclusion of something existent – not the negation “in itself,” but in relation to that which is negated or excluded; this is our wellknown thesis of the “relatively absolute.”* The idea of “being” positively implies reality, and restrictively manifestation; we say “restrictively” because manifestation or existence represents a “less” or a limitation in relation to the Principle which is pure Being. In signifying reality, the idea of “being” evokes ipso facto the “good” and also the “more,” hence quality and quantity; but above all it evokes “presence.” As for the opposite idea of “nothingness,” it implies first of all the “absence” of being, or impossibility, and more relatively the absence of determinate things; it also implies, by derivation and by analogy, the phenomenon of “less” and, in another respect, that of “evil.” But this idea can also be applied, quite paradoxically, to the transcendent or principial order: from the standpoint of the manifested world – hence from the standpoint of existence in the restricted sense of the term – all that transcends this world and consequently is free from existential limitations,^ is “nothingness.” (* When one, two or three out of four candles are extinguished, the difference in luminosity is relative; but when the last one is extinguished, the difference is total, for it is that between light and darkness. ^ This is what allows negative expressions such as “the Void” (Shunya), “not this, not this” (neti neti), and other terms of the kind to be applied to pure Being, and a fortiori to Beyond-Being. All apophatic theology stems from this principle of terminology.) [THC, Universal Categories] 101
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED BY FRITHJOF
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Absolute: “In the Absolute, I am
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emains paradoxically attached out o
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knowledge which determines action,
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liturgical quality and - for all th
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divine Substance, but of the human
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ecause beauty is unitive and exclud
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consequently that Being is not othe
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said that the Buddhas bring salvati
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Charity means to lose oneself. [SPH
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Christianity: “God became man tha
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world which is its medium of manife
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democracy is possible; but then it
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True dignity could not be affected,
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total since this form is a symbol a
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Ellipsism (Oriental): Which consist
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use of the intelligence, and not on
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Now, if we start out from the idea
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material world. The answer to evolu
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Exoterism transmits aspects or frag
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certainly not their more or less na
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Faith / Intelligence: Unlike an int
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pure and simple, constitute what we
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Existence itself; now, no one can c
Page 49 and 50: Generosity (towards man): Generosit
Page 51 and 52: it is of this we are speaking - suc
Page 53 and 54: or this Divine Face turned towards
Page 55 and 56: ejoicing in the good which they enj
Page 57 and 58: If love takes precedence over hatre
Page 59 and 60: Holiness: Holiness is the sleep of
Page 61 and 62: sham absolutes, which in addition a
Page 63 and 64: “humble,” in relation to the su
Page 65 and 66: wisdom. Esoterically, one can disti
Page 67 and 68: whatever be its value, has no dogma
Page 69 and 70: the cogito alone. From the point of
Page 71 and 72: “activity,” the intelligence re
Page 73 and 74: Intentionism / Sincerism: Intention
Page 75 and 76: Jivan-mukta: According to Shankara,
Page 77 and 78: intellectual or heart knowledge, th
Page 79 and 80: The validity of a logical demonstra
Page 81 and 82: Substance; therefore it cannot beco
Page 83 and 84: It is in man’s nature to be able
Page 85 and 86: enveloped Christ’s ascension. Tha
Page 87 and 88: Matter, in fact, refers in the fina
Page 89 and 90: divine possibilities projected into
Page 91 and 92: Metaphysic: The science of the Abso
Page 93 and 94: hardly arises in pure metaphysics a
Page 95 and 96: Morality (two sources): Morality ha
Page 97 and 98: The mythological wording of a tradi
Page 99: space, and the immobility of the su
Page 103 and 104: “heart,” given that “the king
Page 105 and 106: Orthodoxy (quintessential): Quintes
Page 107 and 108: Passion, as it is to be understood
Page 109 and 110: principles, together with the scien
Page 111 and 112: illusory. The innovators, nihilists
Page 113 and 114: Pneumatic / Psychic / Hylic: The
Page 115 and 116: themselves; and the fact that they
Page 117 and 118: Prophet: The Prophet is the human n
Page 119 and 120: should perceive without difficulty,
Page 121 and 122: absoluteness; it seeks to destroy e
Page 123 and 124: ultimate purpose, it is difficult f
Page 125 and 126: plane, but rather a sphere of reali
Page 127 and 128: Sacred Scripture: A sacred Scriptur
Page 129 and 130: and its ultimate effects cannot but
Page 131 and 132: logicians, whereas the Semites - if
Page 133 and 134: horizontal and ambiguous faculty, w
Page 135 and 136: Simplicity: Simplicity is indiffere
Page 137 and 138: liberating. Love, which responds to
Page 139 and 140: Path is effort; if as intelligence,
Page 141 and 142: - whether it is a question of the P
Page 143 and 144: other a belief in unreal or ineffec
Page 145 and 146: The Christians had no reason at all
Page 147 and 148: truths well enough in theory, has n
Page 149 and 150: Transcendence / Immanence (objectiv
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to us; it is Revelation entering in
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a certain right to sacrifice the tr
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A spiritual virtue is nothing other
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Subject, which is immanent, while a
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The world is divine through its cha
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books by Frithjof Schu
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glossary of terms used by frithjof schuon - Sophia Perennis

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