This is a collection of short essays, almost all previously published, no doubt largely in very obscure places. Those locations are not given in this book - we are instead referred to a published bibliography.

I think this is the first book I have read by Coomaraswamy, but I have read books by Guenon, Evola, Schuon, etc., so the genre is quite familiar. This book would not be an easy read for a person not previously acquainted with Traditionalism. The essays do stand well enough on their own, but they tend to focus at a rather minute level of detail. The larger context is always explicitly provided, but a new reader might be puzzled at the stretch between the detail and the context. On the other hand, having read many books that work at a broader level, the dive into detail can be quite satisfying. The principles that work at the one mile scale also work at the one inch scale. That becomes a fine demonstration of the robustness of the principles.

I can't say that I have a mastery of these principles sufficient to map them alongside the variations and alternatives at this metaphysical level. Coomaraswamy seems to be coming from a dualistic point of view. For example, these essays bring up "two minds" quite a bit, perhaps the intellectual mind and the passionate mind.

There is an essay here on biological evolution. The various species one might observe each instantiate some kind of pre-existing possibility. One can at least imagine some laws of biochemistry, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and ecology that could predict, such-and-such an arrangement of tissue structures would be viable. Darwin's theory then governs which of these pre-existing possibilities is likely to manifest, or the likely trajectories of manifestation. This is very much like Plato's dualism.

Probably I am missing the deepest profundities that Coomaraswamy offers. But I am thinking that individuals and societies do go through developmental stages, as suggested by Ken Wilber's pre/trans distinction. The kind of dualism offered by Coomaraswamy would seem to correspond to a mature ego perspective, while the dominant reductionist materialism of our time is at a pre-ego level. There is a trans-ego level, that would correspond to a tantric level. But for the most part, the perspective of Coomaraswamy is already barely graspable at best, in a world still mesmerized by Wall Street, Star Trek, etc. The lessons Coomaraswamy offers are lessons we desperately need. ( )