thumb|[[René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon]]
Traditionalism, also known as the Traditionalist School, is a school of thought within perennial philosophy. Originating in the thought of René Guénon in the 20th century, it proposes that a single primordial, metaphysical truth forms the source for, and is shared by, all the major world religions. Unlike universalist forms of perennialism based on commonalities in religious experiences across cultures, Traditionalism posits a metaphysical unitary source known as Tradition which forms the basis for the major religions in their "orthodox" forms.
Tradition has exoteric and esoteric dimensions. The exoteric aspects of a tradition are primarily represented by its ceremonies, rituals, and rules, whereas the esoteric aspects are concerned with its spiritual and intellectual qualities. Traditionalists often confront "tradition" to "modernity". While "tradition" has a transcendent origin, "modernity" takes little or no account of this dimension. Traditionalists defend the transcendent dimension of reality that they see as inherent in traditional religious expressions and worldviews. In contrast, they view liberal and modernist expressions of these traditions with suspicion, seeing their foundations as rationalistic, materialistic and individualistic.
The boundary between the terms "Traditionalism" and "Perennialism" is imprecise and disputed, though they broadly represent distinct, but related, streams of thought. While some Traditionalists equate their philosophy with perennialism writ large and use the terms synonymously or interchangeably, not all perennialists consider themselves Traditionalists. Despite being seen as the founder of Traditionalism, Guénon rejected the label and referred to himself only as a perennialist. Aldous Huxley, who popularized the term "perennial philosophy" in his 1945 book, had a mystical universalist perspective distinct from that of the Traditionalist School.
Historian Mark Sedgwick identifies René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Julius Evola, Mircea Eliade, and Alexandr Dugin to be the seven most prominent Traditionalists. While Sedgwick identifies a politically quietist strand of Traditionalism rooted in the perspective of Guénon, Traditionalism has been applied in various socio-political contexts. These range from the environmentalism of Nasr, to the interfaith dialogue projects of Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad and Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, to the patronage of traditional arts, crafts, architecture and philosophy by King Charles III, to the far-right politics of Evola, Eliade and Dugin. While some far-right movements and thinkers cite Traditionalism (especially Evola) as an influence and draw on its language in their discourse, scholars dispute whether, or to what extent, these views can actually be reconciled to Traditionalist thought.
Background
Etymology
The word "tradition" is derived from the Latin term traditio, which means "to hand over." Etymologically, the term tradition refers to the transmission of knowledge, practice, skills, laws, forms, and a variety of other oral and written aspects. For Seyyed Hossein Nasr, tradition is analogous to a "living presence" that leaves its imprint but is irreducible to that imprint. There are at least two levels of meaning here. First, tradition is defined as the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next, which is reflected in the word's Latin etymology. Nasr considers the Arabic din and Sanskrit dharma to be roughly similar in meaning 'tradition,' while he recognizes that they do not correspond with the Latin root, which indicates the concept of transmission. Second, tradition entails some kind of "living force", and the mark it leaves behind, with the force "ontologically transcending the mark". This resembles a Platonic form whose appearance in the universe is only a shadow of its "true reality", but Nasr has spoken of something "living" and "present", which is a recurring theme in his works.
Perennialism
According to representatives of the Traditionalist School, all major world religions are founded upon common primordial and universal metaphysical truths. The perspective of its authors is often referred to as philosophia perennis (perennial philosophy), which is both "absolute Truth and infinite Presence". Absolute Truth is "the perennial wisdom (sophia perennis) that stands as the transcendent source of all the intrinsically orthodox religions of humankind". Infinite Presence is "the perennial religion (religio perennis) that lives within the heart of all intrinsically orthodox religions." According to Frithjof Schuon,
The Traditionalist vision of a perennial wisdom is not based on mystical experiences, but on metaphysical intuitions. It is "intuited directly through divine intellect". This divine intellect is different from reason, and makes it possible to discern "the sacred unity of reality that is attested in all authentic esoteric expressions of tradition"; it is "the presence of divinity within each human waiting to be uncovered". According to Schuon:
For the Traditionalists, perennial philosophy has a transcendent dimension – Truth or Wisdom – and an immanent dimension – infinite Presence or Union. Thus, on the one hand, "discernment between the Real and the unreal, or the Absolute and the relative", and on the other hand, "mystical concentration on the Real".
Concept of Tradition
According to Beverly J. Lanzetta, "tradition forms the backbone" of the perennial philosophy. The term "tradition" as used by Nasr and other "traditionists" such as René Guénon, Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, and Martin Lings, does not refer to custom, habit, or inherited patterns of life and thought. For them, tradition "is of sacred and divine origin", and it encompasses the continuation and transmission of the sacred message through time. Used in this context, "tradition" refers to revelation and all forms of philosophy, art, and culture that are shaped by it, spreading the reverberations of revelation on earth and thereby reminding humans of the "Divine Center" and "Ultimate Origin".
For Nasr, "tradition":
Tradition, according to Nasr, is pure and divine, and it represents God's will. Similarly, tradition, as a sacred concept with its origin in God, is the only way to communicate with God, who fully encompasses the universe and is constantly present "in the very depth of all human beings". As a result, tradition is perfectly in harmony with the prophetic revelations, which represent the "highest order of reality", capable of elevating man to "higher altitudes of personality".
Tradition and modernity
Nasr and other "traditionists" refer to "tradition" as a reality that is as old as man himself. He believes that the contemporary usage of the term and references to the concept of tradition are, in some ways, an aberration necessitated by the anomaly that is the modern world as a whole. The purpose of using the term is therefore to raise consciousness of the underlying differences between reality represented by this specific sense of the term "tradition" and everything that lacks a divine origin but arises from the merely human and, at times, the subhuman.
If "traditional" refers to something that is still connected to its transcendent origin and can be traced back to it, "modern" refers to that which is detached from the Transcendent, from the immutable principles that govern everything in reality. Modernism and modernity are thus the polar opposites of tradition, implying everything that is essentially human and, progressively, subhuman, as well as everything that is detached and disconnected from the Divine Source. According to Schuon, their main characteristics are rationalism, which denies the possibility of a supra-rational knowledge, materialism, according to which only matter gives meaning to life, psychologism, which reduces the spiritual and the intellectual to the psychic, skepticism, relativism, existentialism, individualism, progressivism, evolutionism, scientism and empiricism, without forgetting agnosticism and atheism.
Exoteric and esoteric dimensions
For Traditionalists, Tradition has two fundamental aspects, namely, exoteric and esoteric. The exoteric aspect is predominantly manifested in its rites, rituals, and laws. It also comprises the theologies or doctrines that give a tradition its uniqueness and particularity. The esoteric or the inward dimension of tradition, on the other hand, encompasses "not only its spiritual substance, but also its intellectual qualities". Islam, for example, divides its exoteric and esoteric aspects into the Sharia and the Tariqa, respectively. The Kabbalah is considered esoteric in Judaism as opposed to the exoteric understanding of the Talmud. The esoteric aspect of tradition is considered its essence and its core. This aspect, it is claimed, is only accessible "to those who are able to appreciate the inward dimension of tradition."
Traditionalists insist on the necessity for affiliation to one of the great religions of the world, without which no esoteric path is possible.
Together with various traditions and religions, Traditionalists also believe in the reality of a Primordial Tradition, which is said to encapsulate "all truths of all religions". For Guénon, the Primordial Tradition represents "the unity of thought and action which, transcending the arbitrary rule of culture and society, serves as the one common denominator between men and leads them to an awareness of Unity, supreme and indivisible". For Nasr, this Primordial Tradition "flows from an Absolute Truth that has been expressed in diverse ways through the ages". Nasr holds that the existence of different religions is not evidence against the Primordial Tradition. The assumption that all religions hold a fundamental truth, contrarily, is supported by such variation when one approaches religions from an esoteric viewpoint. According to Nasr:
For Nasr, "each tradition is based on a direct message from Heaven and cannot be seen simply as the historical continuation of the Primordial Tradition". Its acceptance does not imply that any of the revealed religions are devoid of divine origin. Rather, it is to affirm the "presence" that is inextricably linked to the sacred. The Primordial Tradition is thus viewed as "a block of principles which were often revitalised through revelation". For him, all religions are united not just by a common source but also by a common substance, the Primordial Tradition.
People
The ideas of Traditionalism are considered to begin with René Guénon. Other representatives of this school of thought include Ananda Coomaraswamy, Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, Hossein Nasr, William Stoddart, Jean-Louis Michon, Marco Pallis, Lord Northbourne, Huston Smith, Awadh Kishore Saran, Harry Oldmeadow, Reza Shah-Kazemi and Patrick Laude. Some academics include Julius Evola in this school, although Evola presents many differences in relation to those mentioned. Another author linked to perennialism is Mircea Eliade, although Eliade's link is nuanced and often contested.
René Guénon
A major theme in the works of René Guénon (18861951) is the contrast between traditional world views and modernism, "which he considered to be an anomaly in the history of mankind". For Guénon, the world is a manifestation of metaphysical principles, which are preserved in the perennial teachings of the world religions, but were lost to the modern mentality. For Guénon, "the malaise of the modern world lies in its relentless denial of the metaphysical realm".
Early on, Guénon was attracted to Sufism, and in 1912 he was initiated in the Shadhili order. He left academia in 1923, after his doctoral thesis was rejected. His works center on the return to traditional world views, trying to reconstruct the Perennial Philosophy.
In his first books and essays, he envisaged a restoration of traditional "intellectualité" in the West on the basis of Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry. He gave up early the idea of a Traditionalist restoration of the West on a purely Christian basis. He denounced the lure of Theosophy and neo-occultism in the form of Spiritism, two influential movements that were flourishing in his lifetime. In 1930, he moved to Egypt, where he lived until his death in 1951.
Ananda Coomaraswamy
According to William W. Quinn, Coomaraswamy's idea of Tradition is similar to Guénon's Primordial Tradition. Coomaraswamy saw no difference between the concepts of Tradition and philosophia perennis. For Coomaraswamy, their application differed, with philosophia perennis being used to represent a collection of interconnected metaphysical principles that could be explained either without reference to any particular Traditional culture or with reference to all of them, while the term Tradition was almost always used in relation to a specific culture.
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon understood tradition "as being the semidivine and semihuman reality that provides mankind with a general climate conducive to the consciousness of the Absolute". The word tradition appears in Schuon's writings frequently, usually in close proximity to the word religion. Following in Guenon's footsteps, Schuon theorized the causes of the historical origins of a wide spectrum of religious traditions. For him, religions differ because human societies and cultures differ, and God's revealed truth adapts to the specificity of each society. Nevertheless, these religions emanate from the same divine source. Schuon referred to this principle as the "transcendent unity of religions," and his aim was to provide a unifying explanation of religious variety while still acknowledging and appreciating the differences.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
According to Howard, Tradition has been amply defined by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, whose writings provide a comprehensive framework. Nasr credits Guénon from whom he derives his idea of Tradition. For Nasr, Tradition comes from the divine source and, in a traditional society, it affects all aspects of life. This divine source "is both the content and the means of revelation", which is "effected" by various "transmitting agencies". The revelation's guiding principles gave rise to a number of subsidiary sciences and arts, which were creatively enlarged to incorporate different elements of social, political, and cultural life. For Nasr, tradition is a repository of "Supreme Knowledge", which is another name for the philosophia perennis, and it provides "the means" for attaining supreme knowledge.
Influence
In explaining the varied applications of Traditionalism - in religion, philosophy, metaphysics, etc. -, Sedgwick writes that Traditionalism has "been used to encourage respect for the environment, compose great music, and reduce hostility between followers of different religions. It has also been used to support very different causes, from the [first] election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America, to what many would call fascism and racism, not to mention terrorism."
Sedgwick writes that "some Traditionalists read both Evola and Guénon and focus on politics, while some read both Schuon and Guénon, or just Guénon, and focus on religion and self-realization."
In the Muslim world
Through its close affiliation with Sufism, the Guénonian Traditionalist perspective has had an influence in Asia and the Islamic world at large.
Iran
In Iran, it was introduced by Hossein Nasr as well as, earlier, by Ali Shariati, the intellectual considered the ideologue of the Iranian Revolution who recommended Guénon to his students. While it never acquired a mass following, its influence on the elite can be measured by the fact that when Ayatollah Khomeini organized the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, out of the seven members designed to serve it, three were acquainted with Traditionalist ideas, namely Abdolkarim Soroush, Reza Davari Ardakani, and Nasrullah Pourjavady.
Pakistan
Hasan Askari, an important Pakistani writer and literary critic, was directly influenced by Guénon, and, through him, Muhammad Shafi and his son Taqi Usmani, some of the country's most influential Islamic scholars, integrated Guénon's works in the curriculum of the Darul Uloom Karachi, one of the most important madrassa or religious seminaries in the country. Other important figures of Pakistan influenced by Traditionalism include A. K. Brohi, who was seen as close to General Zia-ul-Haq, and psychologist Muhammad Ajmal.
Morocco
The Budshishiyya order of Sufism, based in Morocco, is known to have strands influenced by Traditionalism.
Far-right and right-wing populist movements
Sedgwick notes that in the 21st century, some "post-Traditionalists" - notably Aleksandr Dugin - have drawn rhetorically on the "pair of traditional and modern" to advance the political agenda of the "radical right," while rejecting or downplaying perennialism. Dugin, an influential Russian far-right thinker, has been influenced by Guénon and Evola.
Julius Evola was an Italian Traditionalist influenced by Guénon but from whom he departed on many points, which did not allow him to be assimilated to Guénonian Traditionalism. The ideas of Evola have been associated with some far-right movements, such as the European Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and Italian neo-fascists during the Years of Lead.
Similarly, the Romanian Traditionalist Mircea Eliade had been a supporter of the Romanian Orthodox fascist Iron Guard.
According to Benjamin Teitelbaum, Savitri Devi, the founder of Esoteric Hitlerism, was influenced by both Guénon and Evola, so was Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon, Dugin, the Brazilian writer Olavo de Carvalho, and , a one time adviser to the Hungarian Jobbik conservative political party. According to Teitelbaum, they have all interacted with each other based on those interests. Carvalho denies this association.
Mark Sedgwick's Against the Modern World, published in 2004, gives an analysis of political traditionalism: