Buddhism and Perennialism

The Watercooler
1

What are your takes on the Perennial Philosophy, as SuttaCentral users and contributors, related to Buddhadharma and/or EBTs?

2

There are genres of religion, which probably refutes Perennialism.

  • Primitive people believed in animism, since their lives were devoted to physical survival.

  • Tribal religions, with tribal gods affirming the tribe (e.g. Judaism, Brahmanism).

  • Hierarchical societies with God-kings or devas (e.g., Egyptian; Babylonian; Tibetan; etc)

  • Moral religions of social moral law (e.g. Islam).

  • Liberation paths (Buddhism; Christianity).

Buddhism is the Perennial of beyond the world (lokuttara) liberation. Christianity is an imitation. MN 115 states there can be only one Buddha in a world-system.

3

Isn’t Christianity more close to Hinduism?

4

For one take on the topic see
"Buddhist Romanticism" (2015), by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Chapter “The Transmission of Romantic Religion”,
subheading “Perennial Philosophy” (about 16 pages)

( p 223 in this version (page nos vary between printed and digital versions): http://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/BuddhistRomanticism151231.pdf )

5

I would say it is liberation via loving-kindness (per MN 43) or Buddhist-Brahmanism (per DN 13).

6

My personal take is a fairly conventional one, I guess, which is that the perennial philosophy is most closely aligned with Advaita Vedanta, and hence subject to the Buddhist critiques of that. However I have never studied it in any detail.