‘
In my lifelong reading of hundreds of books, I have read but a handful more than once, and only two books more than twice. The first was a 5th-grade biography of John Paul Jones that I read five or six times when I was 9-10 years old (embedding deep in my psyche the thrill of Admiral Jones’ famed Revolutionary War battle cry: Surrender?? I have not yet begun to fight!)
The second book I deemed worthy of multiple readings is Aldous Huxleyās 1945 masterpiece, The Perennial Philosophy, consuming it three times in my 20s and 30s. I was captivated by the breadth and depth of Huxleyās consummate anthology of and lucid integrative commentary on selected writings by ādevout contemplativesā from the wisdom traditions, ancient and modern, of both East and West.
Now, at the age of 76, I am engaging Huxleyās prodigious work a fourth time. Informed by my avidpursuit of self-knowledgeThe āpursuit of self-knowledgeā goes by many names ā personal growth, spiritual development, consciousness exploration, character development, and many more. What one calls it is unimportant; itās all about the quest itself, by whatever name.in the intervening decades, I am enthralled yet again. In fact, in this current reading of the venerable treatise, my half-century quest to āknow thyselfā is coalescing into its clearest, deepest, and most useful understanding to date.
In this work I hope to convey that understanding, both intellectually and viscerally.
~~~
The title of this effort, Thou Art That, is a translation from Sanskrit of tat tvam asi, a concept that expresses the ancient Vedic wisdom at the heart of the perennial philosophy. This simple yet profound way of understanding life and reality transcends any single religion, in fact even religion itself.