On the Road to the Other Shore

About this book

Thinking about death and its aftermath has always been the primary task and a touchstone of true philosophy and of any authentic spiritual way. In our chaotic and generally unprincipled times, this fundamental interest is confounded and misguided every day by the most far-fetched and fanciful theories. From postmodern, deconstructivist philosophies to the confusion of New Age speculation, from nihilistic wastelands to rosy fabrications, they all betray the confusion of planes that results from the loss of the transcendent meaning of our existence. Under these circumstances, the contemplation of death, memento mori or dhikr al-mawt, becomes an everyday pressing need and an intimate imperative. Drawing from Schuon's corpus is like singling out strands of light from what is essentially a complex gem of many facets and one single purpose. The present collection brings together much of what the Swiss master has said about old age, death, and our posthumous states. The thematic focus of the anthology brings out in different depths the facets of the question, with nuances revealed in various "colours" or in different "idiom" through essays, letters and poems, each form allowing for a particular expressive power. The collection as a whole makes clear the anchoring of Schuon's teaching in timeless Truth. As in all his writings, the reader is not only allowed to rediscover half-forgotten truths and to assent with the mind, but also, as it were, to touch the profound meaning of existence, a true serenity, and to be grateful from the heart.