La disciplina spirituale: Meditazioni sull’insegnamento di Frithjof Schuon
Scritto da James S. Cutsinger e tradotto da Marco Toti
Si tratta di un’introduzione alla scuola perennialista della filosofia religiosa comparata e di una guida per il lettore generale che cerca risposte intellettualmente serie ma accessibili alle domande sulla vita spirituale.
Due libri in uno, La disciplina spirituale è un’introduzione per gli studiosi alla scuola perennialista della filosofia religiosa comparata e allo stesso tempo una guida per il lettore generale che cerca risposte intellettualmente serie ma accessibili alle domande sulla vita spirituale.
Gli studiosi troveranno un’introduzione completa all’opera di Frithjof Schuon, la principale figura contemporanea della scuola perennialista o tradizionalista della religione comparata. Scritto da James S. Cutsinger, una delle massime autorità accademiche della filosofia perenne, il libro fornisce un commento dettagliato sull’intera gamma degli scritti spirituali di Schuon.
Ma il libro si rivolge anche ai lettori curiosi e alla ricerca in generale. Composto in uno stile semplice e colloquiale, si presenta come una lettera aperta agli studenti dell’autore. L’obiettivo è quello di tagliare con la banalità di molti insegnamenti spirituali odierni e di fornire risposte intellettualmente serie ma accessibili a domande tipicamente poste da cinici e scettici, credenti conservatori e persone attratte dalle cosiddette religioni “new age”.
I consigli dell’autore assumono la forma di una serie di meditazioni su Verità, Virtù, Bellezza e Preghiera, che Schuon considera gli elementi fondamentali di ogni autentico cammino spirituale. I temi affrontati, sia teorici che pratici, comprendono le prove di Dio, il problema del male, le virtù classiche, la predestinazione e la libertà, il simbolismo e la gerarchia cosmica, l’arte sacra, il rapporto tra metodo spirituale e grazia, le tecniche di concentrazione e meditazione, il ruolo del maestro spirituale e il destino umano. Il libro si conclude con un epilogo sulla nota tesi di Schuon sull’“unità trascendente delle religioni”.
TESTIMONIANZE
“Una magnifica introduzione al più grande pensatore religioso del nostro secolo”. — Huston Smith, autore di “ Le religioni del mondo”.
“Questo libro sarà ricordato con gratitudine dai migliori lettori come una chiave d’oro che spalanca le porte della fuga dalle tensioni interiori e dalla confusione mentale”. — Martin Lings, già custode dei manoscritti orientali del British Museum.
SULL’AUTORE
James Sherman Cutsinger (4 maggio 1953 – 19 febbraio 2020) è stato autore, editore e professore emerito di studi religiosi presso l’Università della Carolina del Sud, le cui opere si sono concentrate principalmente sulla religione comparata, sulla moderna scuola tradizionalista della filosofia perenne, sulla spiritualità cristiana orientale e sulla tradizione mistica della Chiesa ortodossa orientale.
INFORMAZIONI SUL TRADUTTORE
Marco Toti, nato a Roma nel 1976, è dottore di ricerca in “Tradizioni e Istituzioni Religiose di Ambiente Circum-mediterraneo”; è stato borsista “Fulbright” e presso l’Accademia dei Lincei; è stato giudicato idoneo come professore universitario di seconda fascia di “Storia delle Religioni” (abilitazione nazionale, 2013). Ha pubblicato vari lavori concernenti argomenti di mistica e religioni comparate, con particolare attenzione al metodo di orazione esicasta ed all’iconografia cristiano-orientale, oltre che alcune questioni inerenti al “lessico dell’ascesi” in epoca tardo-antica, agli anni ’60 in prospettiva storico-teoretica e storico-intellettuale (Concilio Vaticano II, “tradizionalismo”, “nuovi movimenti religiosi”), alla storiografia storico-religiosa (“ermeneutica” e “scuola di Roma”), agli Indiani d’America. Ha studiato, effettuato ricerche e tenuto conferenze e seminari presso varie università ed istituti europei e statunitensi; ha vissuto e viaggiato, tra l’altro, in Francia, USA, Grecia, Marocco e nel Sudest asiatico; ha scritto decine di articoli di alta divulgazione ed in ambito pubblicistico (costume, politica, Chiesa, letteratura, attualità, storia “occulta”). Ultimamente, oltre ad insegnare in istituti superiori, si sta occupando di prospettive “metapolitiche” e – nell’ambito di un più ampio discorso relativo al legame tra lessico mistico e storia culturale – dei temi della memoria, della tradizione e della malinconia come “stimmung” di Occidente.
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