Temple and Contemplation

by Henry Corbin, Philip Sherrard (Translator)

Temple and Contemplation brings together for the first time in English five of Professor Corbin's lectures, which were originally delivered at sessions of the Eranos Conferences in Ascona, Switzerland. Henry Corbin himself outlined the plan for this book, whose title implies a common centre for these diverse studies. The two essays that open this collection might appear out of place in the perspective of the Temple; yet Corbin included them precisely to point out that Shiite hermeneutics necessarily leads to a theosophy of the Temple -just as the Temple itself has no meaning, if we have not the method and ontology to lead us there. From a consideration of the philosophy of colours in Islam, followed by a study of the metaphysical and mystical foundation of the science of correspondences, "The Science of the Balance", the author proceeds to reflect on the role of the heavenly Temple, or the archetype of the Temple, in the spiritual traditions of the Religions of the Book. No other work of Corbin brings out more clearly the hermeneutic correspondences among spiritual visions belonging to these religions. Thus we understand why Corbin wished to link the themes of "Temple" and "Contemplation": the theory of visionary perception allows for the emergence of the Temple, but the processes of visionary knowing are themselves based on the eternal presence of the Imago Templi.

Genres: Philosophy, Islam, Religion, Spirituality, Esoterica, Nonfiction

426 pages

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Henry Corbin was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. As a boy he revealed the profound sensitivity to music so evident in his work. Although he was Protestant by birth, he was educated in the Catholic tradition and at the age of 19 received a certificate in Scholastic philosophy from the Catholic Institute of Paris. Three years later he took his "licence de philosophie" under the great Thomist Étienne Gilson. In 1928 he encountered the formidable Louis Massignon, director of Islamic studies at the Sorbonne, and it was he who introduced Corbin to the writings of Suhrawardi, the 12th century Persian mystic and philosopher whose work was to profoundly affect the course of Corbin’s life. The stage was then set for a personal drama that has deep significance for understanding those cultures whose roots lie in both ancient Greece and in the prophetic religions of the Near East reaching all the way back to Zoroaster. Years later Corbin said “through my meeting with Suhrawardi, my spiritual destiny for the passage through this world was sealed. Platonism, expressed in terms of the Zoroastrian angelology of ancient Persia, illuminated the path that I was seeking.”
Corbin is responsible for redirecting the study of Islamic philosophy as a whole. In his Histoire de la philosophie islamique (1964), he disproved the common view that philosophy among the Muslims came to an end after Ibn Rushd, demonstrating rather that a lively philosophical activity persisted in the eastern Muslim world – especially Iran – and continues to our own day.

Reviews

[Damian Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a little hard going, and I recommend reading Corbin's essay "Mundus Imaginalis" from his book "Swenedbourg and Esoteric Islam" (also found here: http://www.hermetic.com/bey/mundus_im...). Also "The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism", also by Corbin, provides a pretty good background to a lot of the concepts contained herein. Those pieces definitely stand on their own (and I will review them separately here), but this is where the true cornerstone of all of Corbin's work lies.

This book consists of five lectures on various aspects of Shiite hermeneutics delivered by Corbin at the Eranos Conferences in Ascona, Switzerland. The titles of the lectures are as follows:

1. The Realism and Symbolism of Colors in Shiite Cosmology
2. The Science of the Balance and the Correspondences between Worlds in Islamic Gnosis
3. Sabian Temple and Ismailism
4. The Configuration of the Temple of the Ka'abah as the Secret of Spiritual Life
5. The Imago Templi in Confrontation with Secular Norms

The spirit of the symbol is revealed in its naked splendor within the content of these essays for anybody who is open to receive it. As can be seen from the topics outlined above, this is not light reading by any means, but if you apply yourself diligently to its contents, you will be rewarded with an understanding far beyond that of the intellectual. The language of the mind pales in comparison to the language of the heart, and this book contains the linguistic keys to the heart's tongue, while pointing to an even higher means of apprehension.

[Valentín Serrano García · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Denso e hipertrofiado texto, pero su influencia vigente demuestra su valor.

Limitado excesivamente a una exégesis neoplatónica, cruzada con el misticismo shii e ismaelita, Corbin desarrolla su teoría del mundus imaginalis. Esta fértil propuesta, quintaesencia de la experiencia trascendente imaginativa, ni objetiva ni subjetiva, ilumina las experiencias artísticas medievales y surrealistas, la fenomenología de la percepción intuitiva y los códigos espirituales de tantas manifestaciones culturales.

[Giacomo Mantani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Documentato, ben fatto, non posso dare meno stelle per la cura dell'autore e la perfetta citazione di fonti. Col cuore però, è stato gradito 3.