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This wide-ranging selection of writings by Perennialist author William Stoddart exposes the false ideologies of postmodernism and calls for a return to traditional religion, especially in its mystical dimensions. In Part I, “Forgetting”, Stoddart exposes the errors of contemporary ideologies such as progress and evolution, secularism and fundamentalism, relativism and humanism; in Part II, “Remembering (theory)”, he defines the essential doctrinal beliefs of traditional religion; while Part III, “Remembering (practice)”, includes vivid personal accounts of visits to several monasteries on Mt. Athos and an audience with the venerable Jagadguru of Kanchipuram, India. Remembering in a World of Forgetting includes several of Stoddart’s previously unpublished articles as well as excerpts from his private correspondence.
About the Author(s)
William Stoddart
William Stoddart (June 25, 1925 – November 9, 2023) was a Perennialist author, editor, and translator who was active in advancing the understanding of the writings of Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, and others, for over 50 years. Dr. Stoddart's most recent publications with World Wisdom are An Illustrated Outline of Buddhism: The Essentials of Buddhist Spirituality, What Does Islam Mean in Today’s World?, and Outline of Sufism: The Essentials of Islamic Spirituality. A compilation of his writings, Remembering in a World of Forgetting, was edited by M. Soares de Azevedo and A. Vasconcellos Queiroz. Stoddart also edited The Essential Titus Burckhardt, and was perhaps the greatest authority on the work of this great Swiss traditionalist. Dr. Stoddart's other contributions in World Wisdom books include:
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Mateus Soares de Azevedo
Mateus Soares de Azevedo is an author, translator, editor, and journalist from Minas Gerais, central Brazil. He is the author of a number of books and dozens of articles and essays dealing with the importance of traditional religion and spirituality in the contemporary world, some of them translated into English and Spanish. He has also translated a number of books by Guénon, Schuon, Lings, and other Perennialist figures into Portugese. His contributions to World Wisdom's books include:
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Alberto Queiroz
Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz is the editor-in-chief of the Brazilian publishing house Stella Maris, which publishes books on the Perennial Philosophy and on spirituality in general. He has translated many titles by Frithjof Schuon and William Stoddart into Portuguese. In addition, Queiroz co-edited Remembering in a World of Forgetting: Thoughts on Tradition and Postmodernism, a collection of writings by William Stoddart.
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Reviews
- Any serious spirituality or philosophy library will find it packed with words of wisdom and insight.
Midwest Book Review,
- In our own time Tradition has found no more resolute defender than William Stoddart; by the same token, he has been an implacable foe of the follies of modernity. This masterly collection of essays on religious and metaphysical themes is a splendid synthesis of a lifetime of tireless endeavour on behalf of those timeless truths which signal the only way out of the darkness and confusion which characterize the modern era.
Harry Oldmeadow, author of Journeys East
- This rare book bears the hallmark of Truth: it resonates with a wisdom that is essential in both its senses, as elemental and vital — and vital because it is elemental. The clarity of its distilled message is a reminder that inspires and compels change. Drawing on the heritage of the great teachers in all revealed traditions, and in particular the influence of Stoddart’s own teacher, Frithjof Schuon, this precious book is a reminder to us in an age that is skeptical of objectivity, of man’s adequation to the Absolute: of “the one thing needful”.
M. Ali Lakhani , editor of Sacred Web journal
- Every chapter of the book is a nugget of compact, condensed wisdom, but for me, the book’s crowning glory is the chapter titled “Six Fundamental Flaws in the Evolutionist Hypothesis.” If the intellectuals of our world would read this chapter thoughtfully, attentively and open-mindedly, our entire outlook on life and the world would be set straight. And because thought shapes cultures, this would go a long way toward setting our confused and bewildering world straight.
Huston Smith, author of Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World’s Religions
- The terms ‘traditionalism’ and ‘perennialism’ have become fairly well known in recent years, and it is important to understand exactly what they mean. This can be difficult, however, because of the unfamiliar terms and ideas which are integral to perennialism, and a reliable introduction to these has for long been needed. William Stoddart is one of the more accessible of the perennialist writers, and his new book admirably fills this gap. His simple but uncompromising essays are a clear and many-faceted presentation of the background and axioms of the philosophy of perennialism and its principal exponents.
Jean-Pierre Lafouge, Marquette University, and editor of For God’s Greater Glory: Gems Of Jesuit Spirituality
