In this article Schuon discusses the role of the spiritual master by drawing from various religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. He uses these traditions to examine the role and authority of the spiritual master in regard to the disciple. The symbolism of the spiritual master is also discussed here using the Hindu terms of Being, Consciousness and Bliss. According to Schuon the master provides the disciple with a “spiritual existence” and a doctrine that he would not otherwise have. Schuon also makes the point that a spiritual master may not “unveil totally” or make completely clear the truth that he understands. Finally, the author points out that the term “spiritual master” is a broad one, and includes a range of people who are not necessarily equal to each other.

This article is a selection taken from the chapter Orthodoxy-Ritual-Method from the book A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom. The general concept of a spiritual master is presented through different religious traditions in Perry’s selections from spiritual texts within Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Perry has also selected some quotations from specific figures such as Rumi, Sri Ramana Maharshi, and Chang Po-tuan. This careful selection of texts demonstrates that a spiritual master whether he is called a ‘Guru’, ‘Sheikh’ or ‘teacher’ is an essential figure for any spiritual seeker. While the variety of traditions represented in this selection of quotations makes for very eclectic and intriguing reading.

The subject of Hermeticism is the main topic of Guenon’s article, here he outlines hermeticism as naturally deriving from Hermes who represents a kind of “human alchemy”. Guenon continues in his examination of Hermes by naming several shared symbolisms with other figures. The symbolism of Hermes shares many parallels with, for example, Budha in India, which simply means wisdom. Likewise the figure of Thoth in Egypt also shares a resemblance to Hermes because he represents wisdom as well. Other parallels that Guenon discusses are the connection between Hermes to Scandinavian Odin and the prophet Idris in Islam. By finding the shared symbolism of Hermes to other religious or cultural figures, Guenon demonstrates that the ultimate aim of this figure is to return humans to their “primordial state”.

Perry addresses the issue of reincarnation or more specifically metempsychosis in this article. He begins by discussing a book about metempsychosis where the author attempts to explain the “survival of the human personality”. The reader is subsequently provided with various examples regarding the occurrence of several instances that resemble metempsychosis from both Asia and South America. Perry then switches from giving a more scientific approach to this topic, to viewing reincarnation within the context of the Vedanta. Towards the end of his article Perry introduces some of the ways that reincarnation occurs, and includes some of the negative instances, such as haunting, as well as positive ones, like the presence of a dead saint. Ultimately the author concludes that he will “gladly leave ‘science’ the task of demonstrating the ‘human survival of physical death’”

In this letter Mr Osborne addresses the article titled “Reincarnation” by Rene Guenon, and requests a clarification of some information regarding the topic. In his opinion neither the article “Reincarnation” nor the article “The Mountain Path” really explained this topic sufficiently. The response of the Maharshi in this topic was disappointing in Mr Osborne’s opinion because he brushed aside questions regarding the existence of knowledge as an essential part of human beings. According to Mr Osborne “It is rather disturbing to find a spiritual writer discussing the subject (of reincarnation) without even referring to the deeper question of whether there is an ego to reincarnate.”