Product Description

This groundbreaking work elucidates in depth the theme of transcendence as understood by three of the greatest saints in the history of their respective religious traditions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity respectively. By way of developing the doctrine of the Transcendent Absolute, key writings of each of these magisterial figures highlight the metaphysical and mystical perspectives which illuminate both the conceptual and the experiential domains of the most interior aspects of spiritual life, and ultimately point to the transcendent unity of the religions. In our day when there is much strife between religious factions, this rigorous comparative analysis, based on primary texts, establishes a true foundation for an esoteric ecumenism. This is necessary reading for all serious students of world religions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #746385 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
[Shah-Kazemi] analyses as `case studies' the writings of what are by general scholarly agreement understood to be the three most outstanding (if not necessarily unvaryingly orthodox) representatives of the mystical traditions of three of the world's great religions, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, from the perspective of the `Perennialist' or `Traditionalist' school in the philosophy of religion.... Shah-Kazemi's book is a very welcome addition to the study of comparative mysticism. -- Eckhart Review 2007

From the Publisher
The aim of this book is to contribute to the elucidation of an important but much neglected theme in comparative religion and mysticism: that of transcendence. More specifi cally, we intend to shed light on the meaning of transcendence both in itself and as the summit of spiritual realization; thus, both as a metaphysical principle and as a mystical attainment, our principal concern being with the concrete dimensions of the spiritual paths leading to what we shall be calling here "transcendent realization." What we wish to offer is an interpretive essay on this theme, taking as our starting point what three of the world’s greatest mystics have said or written on this subject.

About the Author
Reza Shah-Kazemi is a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Professor Shah-Kazemi has also contributed to Paths to the Heart (World Wisdom, 2003) as well as Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition: Essays by Western Muslim Scholars (World Wisdom, 2004). He has regularly contributed to Sophia, Sacred Web, and The Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. He also translated Doctrines of Shi'i Islam (Manshur-i Aqa'id-i Imamiyya, and edited Algeria: Revolution Revisited. He lives with his wife in Kent, England.

Customer Reviews

A "chef d'oeuvre"
This long-awaited book certainly represents one of the more important work recently released by World Wisdom.

Reza Shah-Kazemi is a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London and one of the most preeminent contemporary Perennialist writers. Although initially written as a Doctoral Thesis, this book is dedicated to the memory of Frithjof Schuon, and presented here as a demonstration of the "transcendent unity of religions" based on a comparative study of three major figures of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity (Shankara, Ibn Arabi and Meister Eckhart) and their approach of the non-dual Absolute both at the doctrinal and practical level. Each study is divided systematically into three parts: a first one on the doctrine of the Absolute, the second one on the spiritual path and the last on the return of the God-realized man to the creatures. The book concludes on the "essential elements of communality" between the three spiritual masters. In very substantial appendices, Reza Shah-Kazemi criticizes some of the more contemporary attempts to "reduce the transcendence" by academia but also by pseudo-Perennialists such as A. Huxley.

Reza Shah-Kazemi's work is indeed both a metaphysical and erudite demonstration of such communality at the summit of the great religious traditions and a merciful response to the predominant relativism in the field of Comparative Religion. A master piece ....

It is not a book.
This "book" is a barely readable college thesis. It's writing is hopelessly and needlessly convoluted.

Many, many sentences are more than 100 words in length. This one is a randomly selected example: "Each element negates the non-transcendent dimensions that are implicit or conceivable in one or both of the other elements: to say that the Absolute is "Reality" means that its being "never fails," in contrast the forms of things which, being modifications, are existent at one time, only to "fail" at some other time; since, however, this may imply that the Absolute is a non-conscious material cause, the the term Knowledge ..." This sentence goes on for another forty or fifty words!

Yes, even messy sentences like this one can be understood if they are carefully parsed by the reader. But, I think it is the author's job to parse his own thoughts and and then put them into a reasonably readable form.