Author Description

In this particularly rich issue of Sophia, HRH the Prince of Wales uses the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi to call for a return to the sacred and thus a turning away from the modern world's ever-burgeoning materialism as the way to find true common ground between East and West. Internationally renowned author Seyyed Hossein Nasr discusses with penetrating insight the relation between the Divine Word and Islamic art. Turning to Christian mysticism, metaphysician Wolfgang Smith masterfully sheds clear light on the writings regarding Creation by the sage Meister Eckhart, who has been called "the greatest European ever born" and one "from whom God hid nothing." Two articles take the reader into the world of Eastern Orthodoxy: "Becoming All Flame" by Eugene Myshkin and "The Holy Mountain of Athos" by John Herlihy. Timothy Scott brings his considerable insight to the question of spiritual initiation especially as discussed in the writings of Rene Guenon. Spanish author Alberto Martin provides an in depth look at consciousness and sleep in the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta in his article, "Sleeping, Dreaming, Awakening." The issue concludes with an excerpt from a book by French author Pierre Gordon on the "Consequences of the Primordial Fall."