The Primordial Tradition is a school of religious philosophy that holds its origins in the philosophia perennis, or perennial philosophy, which is in turn a development of the prisca theologia of the Middle Ages.
The Primordial Tradition seeks to establish a fundamental origin of religious belief in all authentic religious teachings, adhering to the principle that universal truths are a cross cultural phenomenon and transcendent of their respective Traditions, mythologies, and religious beliefs.The idea of the Primordial Tradition was well received by both practitioners and the academic community, and its development was actively endorsed by the International Conference of Religions in Chicago, 1893
The Primordial Tradition does not elevate any Tradition or religion above another and instead upholds the truth claims of all authentic religions and spiritual movements. Adherents of the Primordial Tradition can be found in any religious system such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Paganism, Christianity or Islam.
By examining the foundations of religious thought as philosophical truth values, the Primordial Tradition seeks to produce a level of wisdom or gnosis that is greater than that which would be provided by the study of single religious system. The process utilized is similar to the study of the history of religions and comparative mythology as is found in the works of authors such as Mircea Eliade. It can also be found in the school of archetypal psychology and in the ideas of Carl Jung
Key proponents of the Primordial Tradition have included Rene Guenon, Frithjof Schuon, Julius Evola, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Elémire Zolla, Alain Danielou, Jean-Louis Michon, Gottfried Leibniz, Aldous Huxley, and Plato.
The Traditionalist School bases its teachings on religious belief on the concept of a pre-existent Primordial Tradition found in other religions.
Famous quotes containing the words primordial and/or tradition:
“It is impossible to give a clear account of the world, but art can teach us to reproduce it—just as the world reproduces itself in the course of its eternal gyrations. The primordial sea indefatigably repeats the same words and casts up the same astonished beings on the same sea-shore.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“But, with whatever exception, it is still true that tradition characterizes the preaching of this country; that it comes out of the memory, and not out of the soul; that it aims at what is usual, and not at what is necessary and eternal; that thus historical Christianity destroys the power of preaching, by withdrawing it from the exploration of the moral nature of man; where the sublime is, where are the resources of astonishment and power.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)