Structure of The Book
The book's structure is simply:
- A brief Introduction (by Huxley), of just over 5 pages.
- Twenty-seven chapters, each of about 10 pages, of quotations from 'sages and saints' on the named topic, with "short connecting commentaries". The chapters are not grouped in any way, though there is a kind of order from the nature of the Ground at the start, down to practical exercises at the end. The Acknowledgements list 27 books from which quotations are taken, from 18 publishers.
- A detailed Bibliography of just over 6 pages.
- A detailed Index (two columns, small print, 5½ pages).
The chapter titles are:
- That Art Thou
- The Nature of the Ground
- Personality, Sanctity, Divine Incarnation
- God in the World
- Charity
- Mortification, Non-Attachment, Right Livelihood
- Truth
- Religion and Temperament
- Self-Knowledge
- Grace and Free Will
- Good and Evil
- Time and Eternity
- Salvation, Deliverance, Enlightenment
- Immortality and Survival
- Silence
- Prayer
- Suffering
- Faith
- God is not mocked
- Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum ('The practice of religion leads people to practice evil.')
- Idolatry
- Emotionalism
- The Miraculous
- Ritual, Symbol, Sacrament
- Spiritual Exercises
- Perseverance and Regularity
- Contemplation, Action, and Social Utility
Read more about this topic: The Perennial Philosophy
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—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)
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—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 2, ch. 2 (1962)
“... the structure of our public morality crashed to earth. Above its grave a tombstone read, “Be tolerant—even of evil.” Logically the next step would be to say to our commonwealth’s criminals, “I disagree that it’s all right to rob and murder, but naturally I respect your opinion.” Tolerance is only complacence when it makes no distinction between right and wrong.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 2, ch. 2 (1962)
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—Rebecca West (1892–1983)