Rating: 
Summary: Indispensable Gem!
Review: here we have a comprehensive review of the world's primal spiritual traditions packed into one book. like a glittering gem of many facets, the great Truths are looked at and compared and illuminated. mr huxley's brilliant insights make this a rare and beautiful book of wisdom. its a guide for the sincere, a treat for the curious, and a true spiritual classic. mr huxley points out that these truths are not self evident to the worldly philosopher or skeptic. these truths only become self evident and experiencial to those who fulfill the necessary conditions, he says you will realize these truths for yourself when you become pure in heart, poor in spirit, and truly humbly seek to know God. i own hundreds of "spiritual" books and there are very few as great as this one. it's definitely in my top ten. buy it, read it, give it away. then buy another copy and read it again. the New York Times was right on in calling this book, "the masterpiece of all anthologies."
Rating: 
Summary: Without Peer!
Review: Certainly this work is representative of a stage in Huxley's spiritual career. At the time both he and Gerald Manley Hall were in a very "Manichean" phase and, as the above New Yorker blurb suggests Huxley was at this time very "otherworldly".After his experiences with LSD and his encounters with Krishnamurti, Huxley returned to life. Read this book as a precursor to Huxley's mature statements, but
do follow up with a read of his post-psychedelic writings, such as "Doors of Perception", etc to be found in "Moksha".
Rating:
Summary: beyond genius! must be experienced...
Review: dear reader and spiritual seeker, here you have a comprehensive review of the primal spiritual traditions packed into one book. but more than that, its a guide for the sincere, a treat for the curious, and a true spiritual classic that will out live all who read this review. mr huxley points out that these truths are not self evident to the worldly philosopher or skeptic. these truths only become self evident and experiencial to those who fulfill the necessary conditions, i.e. you will realize these truths for yourself when you become pure in heart, poor in spirit, and truly humbly seek to know God. i own hundreds of "spiritual" books and have read thousands, this one is definitely in my top ten. buy it, read it, give it away. then buy another copy and read it again. the New York Times was right on in calling this book, "the masterpiece of all anthologies."
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom of the ages in summary form.
Review: Huxley was clearly a man with great vision, undoubtedly ahead of his time. This book notes the crucial points of world religion/philosophy in terms understandable to both Eastern and Western minds. It will become essential reading to the student of philosophy/world religion and a work valued for centuries to come. The author points out the key elements of the human condition and the proper path to follow for ultimate salvation. Huxley shows us the way, the burden is now ours to understand. I highly recommend this book as a must reading for anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: kinda nice, but
Review: Nice of Aldous Huxley to do his bit to get people to realise that the different wisdom traditions do have something to talk about. And contrary to what some reviewers have said his idea of a unity of religions is not the grossest kind imaginable. He does mentions that some concepts (like truth) can be understood in different ways and are actually understood differently by various traditions. However, says Hux, these differences are trivial and are merely superficial levels of paths that all lead to the same ineffable truth. Can we find fault with that? We had better. Because in making the differences between religions out to be trivial we would be robbing them of much that is essential to them and what is most beautiful about them. Spirituality is not just about the mystical experience. There is also ethics, there is also faith and shelter and community and many things that can be of value and that gives each spirituality its unique beauty.
So if you never have a mystical experience with blinking lights and a direct view of God and a melting into the oneness of al being - would that mean that all of your spiritual life has been a waste? The perennial philosophy would say yes. That is why Huxley subtly slags of Protestantism and Therevada Buddhism a number of times - both argue that religion can have value aside from mysticism through a slow process of spiritual growth and humility and sometimes an appreciation of God which is dreadfully ordinary and everyday and simple. Actually, the same argument is found in the Catholic Church, Mahayana, Daoism, Judaism . . . But to take that seriously you would have to accept the different traditions in there entirety. And they would have to have dialogue on how there differences can enrich each other, not just on how they are all actually the same old thing.
Rating:
Summary: The Father and I are a Fractal Symmetry.
Review: One reason Huxley titled this anthology The Perennial "Philosophy" was out of respect for the various religious traditions of the world. To suggest, as some of my fellow reviewers have, that Huxley had something up his metaphysical sleeve is to fail to see the forest for the trees. Philosophy is nothing if it is not the right to question anything. You and I have a right to our opinion, a keystone of Freedom-Religious, and otherwise. Huxley respected personal freedom. If you don't like his book, fine. To suggest Huxley had some sinister motive here is, in my opinion, a mistake. What Huxley was trying to do, and quite admirably I might add, was to share with the reader the fact that the mystic tradition is fundamental within all of the world's great religions. That there is a universal mystical experience that transcends the differences we might otherwise have. That Spirit exists and it is found within. That our religious founders had more in common than we might suppose. That we have more in common than we might suppose. That we should cherish the essential while respecting our differences. One caveat. I am not preaching toleration for tolerations sake here. Nor do I believe was Huxley. We each need to make our stand. Some choose to make a stand for universal brotherhood. Some choose to stand for a chosen few. Some choose to stand alone. We can make such a personal choice without demonizing others, for it does not matter what we believe if we do not have love in our heart. I believe, as I believe did Huxley, that we are all God's children, made in the image of God for it takes a god to worship God. That we are both physical and spiritual beings. That God is Love. That is my kind of Philosophia Perennis.
Rating:
Summary: I can't think of a title
Review: Some reviews on this book come from people who are not informed about the context, to the modern day teenager (I'm a teenager but I'm just better) who has such a "modern" view of life (close minded view of life) that they do not get a chance to fully appreciate the "Perennial philosophy", maybe it's because I'm a literature and philosophy person that I enjoyed this book, but I let my friend Julie read it and I hate to say this but I must, she isn't exactly the brightest spot on the wall and me and her sat at Starbucks and talked about this book for hours on end, after that, we went and had dinner and after that I am sitting at this computer and reviewing this book because I have a physics exam tomorrow and I am not studying for it because I am an idiot, oh and on top of that, I have a six page essay on Hamlet due tomorrow, I think it is my time to leave. Give the book a chance even if it is just to able to say that you have read it.
Rating:
Summary: An indispensable manual of right thinking and living
Review: Some time in the last century, Thoreau lamented that the "Bibles of mankind" were neglected even among those making a serious attempt to understand the Jewish and Christian ones. In the years since, many anthologies and expositions of sacred writings have endeavoured to repair the gap, few perhaps as successfully as this one. Like a Boethius for the modern age, Huxley delineates the universal and timeless truths enunciated by the sages of preceding centuries, interspersed with his own perceptive and serenely illuminating remarks. This is a book to be carefully pondered and studied with others. I can think of no other which so deserves to be the Vade Mecum of the spiritual journey -- the road map to guide you onward. Ultimately your conception of the "perennial philosophy" may differ from Huxley's, but I am sure you will value his contribution toward its elucidation, and may well agree that several of his original passages merit inclusion in its eternal canon.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Partisan Beliefs
Review: This classic compendium of cross-cultural mystical references, entertainingly and informatively fleshed out by the author of Brave New World and Doors of Perception, is a welcome reference for anyone curious about serious, accessible literature on the nature of the eternal, the timeless, and the one--mysticism in a positive sense. It is peculiar in some respects: Huxley believes in the efficacy of magic (~morphic resonance); he is convinced that Hinduism and Buddhism are intrinsically less violent world views than the great monotheisms (based on their history); and he uses some strange, and slightly fuddy-duddy phrases, such as "poverty of spirit" to designate a positive condition. He emphasizes the necessity of including spirit along with body and mind in any complete description of humanity. Some of the strangeness of this work to the modern reader owes to its datedness; it was written in 1944, and Huxley is clearly hugely disenchanted with the nationalistic politics that have been tearing the world apart. Some of the strangeness owes to Huxley's vocabulary which, like any mystical vocabulary, must be oblique. Nonetheless, it would be difficult to imagine a more useful, diverse, or erudite compendium of mysticism in a work of this size. I was delighted and surprised to see that he even referenced Alan Watts, who only came into his own as a writer decades later, but was already analyzing, in more technical works, eastern philosophy such as Zen. The basic idea of the philosophia perennis, or perennial philosophy, is that nirvana and samsara, time and eternity, the individual and the cosmos are one. This insight is described as advaita in Hinduism, annata in Buddhism, and (though perhaps less clearly) the union of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Christianity. Islamic mystic Jallaludin Rumi wrote poems about it, and Zen banned reading of sacred works to foment it. Huxley, like Watts, thinks Jesus was a misunderstood mystic; J.C.'s main difference seems to be that he staked his life on the essential nonduality of himself and the universe, barely flinching along the way. Huxley would no doubt be thrilled to see the veritable scientific proofs of the cross-cultural insights collectively termed the perennial philosophy in experiments such as those by Alain Aspect, explained by "ontological" quantum theories such as those of David Bohm. He would not, however, be happy to see the present slide back toward medieval-style religionizing in the name of partisan beliefs and blood politics.
Rating:
Summary: "We read to know that we are not alone" (C.S. Lewis)
Review: This is a good anthology of the perennial philosophy. The design is easy to follow and too interesting to put aside. The excerpts from many sources are organized in such subjects as "Good and Evil" and "Time and Eternity." He specifically chose people that experienced what they are talking about as apposed to philosophers that take educated guesses at Reality. Some individual reader may come to different conclusions. But at least what is presented here is a concept not to be missed.
This book makes a great stepping stone to all the other writings and a good starting place for ones personal quest. There is a pretty comprehensive list of recommended books.
The excerpts are encapsulated with a clear definition and other examples of what is being expressed. It is always better to have someone tell you what you already know but in a different way. This allows for different insights. More then that it lets us know that "We are not alone."
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