3 0 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 7 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 2 1 theology, on one side, from, on the other, knowledges rendered incommensurable and incomprehensible for meeting neither the scientific methods of truth nor their acknowledged contesters in the realm of philosophy and theology.” For this reason sacred science, metaphysics and its spiritual principles remain within the “realm of incomprehensible beliefs and behaviors which in no way can be considered knowledge” (Santos 2007, 51). This attack on traditional modes of knowing, coupled with the repudiation of metaphysics, has had devastating consequences: “[W]hile nineteenth century materialism closed the mind of man to what is above him, twentieth century [note: modern Western] psychology opened it to what is below him.” (Guénon in Coomaraswamy 1943, 61). It is the integrated metaphysics of the perennial philosophy and its corresponding psychology that can facilitate a framework for metaphysical renewal. In re-establishing the principles of a universal sacred science, we may be able to recover the equilibrium that has long been lost to us [12]. As we now see, the theoretical trajectories that have led to the emergence of modernism and postmodernism are essentially bankrupt and destructive. These movements, which have spellbound contemporary man, have failed to give us the deeper understanding of reality and consciousness that we so desperately need today. Some have gone so far as to suggest that a synthesis between modern science and the spiritual traditions can be accomplished; however, this is to miss the point. Such a synthesis is not possible, as the former is premised on an erroneous epistemological foundation and is lacking a proper ontological basis (see Bendeck Sotillos 2013b). It completely overlooks the fact that modern Western psychology has emerged due to a crisis of the modern world, of which it itself is the flawed consequence [13]. We are reminded about the ill-fated prognosis that confronts the shaky foundations of modern psychology: “Psychoanalysis is the disease of which it pretends to be the cure.” (Szasz 1976, 24) [14]. Secular science and its offspring, modern psychology, are at an impasse due to their crippled means of knowledge and the absence of an immutable foundation as illustrated by Nasr (2001, 489): Modern philosophy, psychology, or science are simply not able to explain perception, which they always reduce to one of its parts or something else because the participation of the human intellect in the Light of the Divine Intellect is simply beyond the truncated worldview within which all modern thought, whether it be philosophical, psychological, or scientific operates. The rediscovery of the real significance of the perception is only possible in light of the ‘sophia perennis’ and is itself a key for the discovery of the metaphysical universe depicted by the perennial philosophy in its vastness and wholeness. While points of contact may be made between traditional forms of psychology and its benighted current manifestation, the former does not need the insights of a profane science in order to validate its truths. Beyond our corporeal and psychological dimensions, the perennial psychology holds that we are able to occupy multiple states of consciousness. This is evident in the work of Toshihiko Izutsu (1914–1993), who stated (1984, 79): “Existence or Reality as ‘experienced’ on supra-sensible levels reveals itself as of a multistratified structure.” As Buddhist writer Marco Pallis (1895–1989) explains (1949, 127): “Man is but one of an indefinite number of states of the being.” What is preventing modern Western psychology from being “integrated into higher orders of knowledge” (Nasr 1989, 207) is that its science has jettisoned its metaphysical roots. It needs to be clear that while this sacred science admits diverse modes of knowing, it also recognizes the corresponding levels of reality: “Each higher world contains the principles of that which lies below it and lacks nothing of the lower level of reality.” (Nasr 1989, 199). Without a fully integrated framework, one cannot discern between different levels of being, including the transmundane. “Any truth can in fact be understood at different levels and according to different conceptual dimensions, that is to say, according to an indefinite number of modalities that correspond to all the possible aspects, likewise indefinite in number, of the truth in question.” (Schuon 1996, 1). Additionally, “one has to understand that there are different degrees, different points of view, different levels of reality which have to be taken into consideration” (Lings 2014, 80). It is the metaphysical order that allows the necessary aptitude by which these distinct modes of reality can be recognized. Schuon (1993, 1) writes: “Any truth can in fact be understood at different levels and according to different conceptual dimensions, that is to say, according to an indefinite number of modalities that correspond to all the possible aspects, likewise indefinite in number, of the truth in question.” This understanding of Reality goes far beyond the materialistic science of the medical or biopsychosocial models as it is situated on a transcendent and more inclusive foundation of reality. It is time to acknowledge that the world’s spiritual traditions have complete therapies to offer. The perennial psychology can provide not only valid and effective, but integral healing modalities, which leave behind the pernicious fallacies of the
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