F RITHJOF   S CHUON   A rchive


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Selected Books by
Frithjof Schuon

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A Resource On Frithjof Schuon's Life & Teachings
Extract from “The Message of Certainty”

I know with certainty that there are phenomena and that I myself am one of these phenomena.

I know with certainty that underlying the phenomena, or beyond them, is the one Essence, which the phenomena manifest only because of a quality of this Essence, that of Infinitude, hence Radiation.

I know with certainty that the Essence is good and that all goodness or beauty in phenomena manifests this.

I know with certainty that the phenomena will return to the Essence, from which they are not really separate since fundamentally there is nothing except the Essence; that they will return to the Essence because nothing phenomenal is absolute or therefore eternal; and that Manifestation is necessarily subject to a rhythm just as it is necessarily subject to a hierarchy.

I know with certainty that the purpose of religions is to recall these truths and that religions are truthful and legitimate because they recall these truths.

I know with certainty that these truths are inscribed in the Intellect and that there is a religion of the Heart, which prefigures all religion.

I know with certainty that our reason for being is to discern the Essence in phenomena and then to return to the Essence, and this we do by abstaining from what is opposed to it and by practicing what draws us near to it; the quintessence of what draws us near the Essence is the fixation of our thought, and in a certain way our entire being, upon the Essence, which at once produces and attracts us.

I know with certainty that only the religion of the Heart is perfect, for it contains no limitation or contradiction; how could other religions be perfect since they contradict each other?

I know with certainty that in order eventually to gain access to the religion of the Heart we must take one of the revealed religions as our starting point; if this were not necessary, why would they exist?

I know with certainty that the outward manifestation of the religion of the Heart is virgin nature, for it is a book that contradicts no book and can be contradicted by none.

I know with certainty that the soul is immortal, for its indestructibility results necessarily from the very nature of intelligence.

I know with certainty that underlying the diverse consciousnesses there is only one Subject: the Self, at once transcendent and immanent, which is accessible through the Intellect, the seat or organ of the religion of the Heart; for the diverse consciousnesses exclude and contradict one another, whereas the Self includes all and is contradicted by none.

I know with certainty that the Essence, God, affirms itself in relation to phenomena, the world, as Power of Attraction and Will of Equilibrium and that we are made in order to follow this Attraction vertically, which we cannot do without conforming horizontally to the Equilibrium, which sacred and natural Laws take into account.

I know with certainty that all phenomena, inward as well as outward, reflect the Essence, whether in itself or in relation to a particular aspect; that they reflect it in a manner that is either direct or indirect, positive or negative; that this is necessarily so since there is only one Reality, that of the Essence; and that our vocation as intelligent and free creatures is to perceive and choose the True, the Beautiful, and the Good, both in ourselves and around us.

I know with certainty that evil is derived from what is illusorily other than the Essence and that it cannot not exist since the Infinitude of the Essence implies Radiation, hence Manifestation; now to say Manifestation is to say alterity and remotion; but evil, which is always fragmentary, is superabundantly compensated for, and even definitively nullified, by the good, which always expresses totality and reality, that of the Essence, which alone is.


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