In this essay Frithjof Schuon clarifies common misconceptions among Westerners concerning the apparently "absurd" and "paradoxical" nature of the koan in Zen Buddhism. Its essential nature is not its "absurdity" or illogicality. Its role, rather, is to express "the spiritual experience of a given master in a symbolical—and intentionally paradoxical—form, the significance of which is only verifiable by undergoing the selfsame experience" of satori (illumination). The fundamental intention of Zen and the koan is thus the supernatural perception of things in the "Eternal Present", a state wherein the mind "finds itself rooted in the Absolute, both intellectually and existentially". As a corrective to current individualistic and anti-traditional misunderstandings of Zen in the West, Schuon also emphasizes the essential relationship between traditional Zen practice and the use of canonized sacred texts taught and read within the community of Buddhist practitioners.

In referring back to an earlier essay, "The Heart and the Cave," René Guénon explores the mutual relationship between the universal symbols of the mountain and the cave in various traditions. He suggests that the mountain ("the spiritual center" or "Absolute Reality") can also be represented by an upward-pointing triangle, and that the cave ("manifestation") can be represented by a downward-pointing triangle. He goes on to describe the many ways in which the two triangles (and thus the "mountain" and the "cave") can interact in geometric space. For example, the upward-pointing triangle can have the downward-pointing triangle contained within it, or outside and below it, and so on. These geometrical relationships recall, for Guénon, a multitude of relationships in sacred space that represent the meeting of divine realities and their earthly manifestations.

This article relates the situation of Hinduism in India as it has come in contact with modernism and Islam. The result of these two influences on Hindu culture has had an inevitably threatening result on Hindu religion. Saran emphasizes the impossibility of the privatization of religion in the Hindu tradition as it has been implied by secular and outside social influences. In addition to modernism and Islam, Saran also discusses the implications of British colonial rule and Christianity as these also limited the sustainability of the Hindu tradition. He questions the compatibility of Hindu principles with the ideas of social reform introduced by western ideals and industries in part because this synthesis of society overturns the doctrine of karma that is central to Hindu belief.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy reveals the symbolism of archery that underlies this seemingly mundane sport. He describes its original function in initiation ceremonies of disciples, across a number of traditions, as they dedicated themselves to their spiritual paths. The author sums up the essay with the observations that "one sees how in a traditional society every necessary activity can be also the Way, and that in such a society there is nothing profane; a condition the reverse of that to be seen in secular societies, where there is nothing sacred. We see that even a "sport" may also be a yoga, and [that] the active and contemplative lives, outer and inner man can be unified in a single act of being in which both selves cooperate."

This essay traces the gradual spiritual decline of Western music from the sacred monophony of Christian Gregorian Chant, through the increasingly secular polyphonic music of the Middle Ages, to later Renaissance, Operatic, and Romantic styles. Godwin shows that the evermore ornamented styles of Western music are a departure from the ancient and original function of music, which symbolized, beyond the capacity of language, the presence of God in the world. With the discovery of polyphonic sound, for instance, Godwin claims that Western culture began to delight in human creativity, forgetting the deeper meaning and function of music and turning it into “a kind of substitute for religion or mysticism”.