The perennial philosophy (), also referred to as perennialism and perennial wisdom, is a school of thought in philosophy and
spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
that posits that the recurrence of common themes across
world religions
World religions is a socially-constructed category used in the study of religion to demarcate religions that are deemed to have been especially large, internationally widespread, or influential in the development of human societies. It typicall ...
illuminates universal truths about the nature of reality, humanity, ethics, and consciousness. Some perennialists emphasize common themes in
religious experience
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, mystical experience) is a subjectivity, subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, a ...
s and mystical traditions across time and cultures; others argue that religious traditions share a single
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...
* Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy, Harper Perennial Modern Classics (January 1, 2009)
* Frithjof Schuon, Transcendent Unity of Religions (Quest Book) Paperback – January 1, 1984
* William W. Quinn, junior. ''The Only Tradition'', in ''S.U.N.Y. Series in Western Esoteric Traditions''. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1997. xix, 384 p. pbk
* Samuel Bendeck Sotillos (ed.), ''Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy'' in ''Studies in Comparative Religion'' (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom Books, 2013).
* Zachary Markwith, "Muslim Intellectuals and the Perennial Philosophy in the Twentieth Century", ''Sophia Perennis'' Vol. 1, N° 1 (Tehran: Iranian Institute of Philosophy, 2009).
* Inayat Khan, The Unity of Religious Ideals, Sufi Order Publications, 1979.