Frithjof Schuon Archive

Man does not belong entirely to this earth;He was expelled from Eden’s gate;He fought hard to be forgiven —Yet he must live as an earthly animal.Faith dispels all guilt.Do not forget that in Heaven’s heightsThe pure and blessed are also men.

Necessity and accidence: these areThe two levels on which people walk;This makes them what they are:It shapes their willing, feeling, experience, and deeds.Each of the two levels has degrees:Necessity and possibility can show themselvesIn things both great and small;...

Man is a mixture of luminosity and heaviness —“Of earth thou art and unto earth thou wilt return,”Thus spake God to man. He spoke of life’s garment,And not of the spirit or immortality —From God’s light, no earth can arise.

The master of ceremonies of a prince told me:Many guests once came to a festival:People of princely lineageFrom many countries, gentlemen with their ladies.Two women amongst them talked together in a low voice —The master of ceremonies, pale-faced, ran And whispered...