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Traditionalism Traditionalism Chapter V Traditionalism 168 Chapter V Traditionalism This chapter, like the chapters before, first discusses the term 'Tradition' and its definition and diary. Then TraditionaHsm in Christianity, Judaism and Islam is examined, and it is shown that the Traditionalism in this research differs from all of them. Following this, the Traditionalists, their biographies and works are introduced briefly. The characteristics of Traditionalists' thoughts are presented in the next part. The last few parts are allotted to highlighting the differences between Traditionalists and fundamentalists; and the similarities between Traditionalists and religious Reformists. Gandhi's viewpoints, as a successful religious Reformist, are also considered in the last section. Tradition Mircea Eliade has written about term 'tradition' in The Encyclopedia of Religion, "The word 'tradition' comes from the Latin noun tradition ('handing over'), which drives from the verb tradere ('hand over, deliver'). Traditio corresponds closely to the Greek paradosis, which also comes from a verb (paradidonii) meaning 'hand Traditionalism 169 over'. Traditio and paradosis can be used literally or figuratively, in the later case often to mean 'teaching' or 'instruction'." ^ But different definitions about the concept of tradition have been presented that are not easy to add up together. On the basis of Routledge Encyclopedia, "Tradition is that body of practice and belief which is socially transmitted from the past. It is regarded as having authority in the present simply because it comes from the past, and encapsulates the wisdom and experience of the past."^ Every tradition is created by teaching and learning. The concept of tradition is not separate from culture and different branches of knowledge like education, art, science, literature, religion, and politics. A tradition includes some beliefs or practices that have been received from the past by writings, speeches, behaviors and other kinds of transmission of categories. Often, a tradition is accepted on the basis of the reliability of their authors. It is necessary to distinguish between tradition and fashion or rumor, because these categories are also received from others, but they are not reliable and are not chosen as source of knowledge. For believers, traditions are respected, because their performers and authors were respected people. The category of tradition exists in all religions but with different functions. The function of religious tradition depends on the source of religius belief and practice. The authoritative teachers and spirituality are keepers, interpreters and missionaries of religious traditions. In Judaism, the words of masornh and qabhlah mean Traditionalism 170 tradition. These words "come from verbs meaning 'hand down' and 'receive' respectively. The verbs are used at the beginning of the early rabbinic Ethics of the Fathers (Avot 1.1) with reference to the handing down of the Torah from God to Moses, Moses to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and so on. However, the nouns masornli and qahhalah eventually came to be used not for tradition in the comprehensive sense but for very specialized traditions"^ In Christianity, the tradition that is transmitted by the disciples is Christ's speech, act and affections. But contrary to other religions, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not finish after the death of the messenger. The grace of the Holy Spirit continues and is received by dispels after Christ, then this honesty and 'Apostles Tradition' is transmitted to the church; and then the church undertakes responsibly to decode and paraphrase the secret of the glad tidings. In Christianity theology, tradition contains three elements of transmitted honesty, teacher and the act of transmission. The Holy book is Divine honesty and the church is a trustee of the concept of message and its living source of teaching. The Holy book is not important without the source of teaching. +Martin Luther did not accept this view about tradition and knew it similar to human traditions. He believes that the traditions of the church are satanic suggestions and can be reputable only as 'Scripture sole'. On the other hand, "In early catholic Christianity, for example, the concept of tradition embraced virtually all the formal sources of Traditionalism 171 belief and practice handed down by the church, including the Holy Scriptures. Only much later did 'tradition' come to signify the extrabiblical (ecclesiastical) sources in particular, at which point the 'problem of scripture and tradition' could arise."* In Islam, tradition contains Mohammad's speech, act and assertion (=to confirm an act that was down near him). After the passing away of the Prophet of Islam, Moslems were divided into two main sects, Sunni and Shiite. Both the sects accept this definition for tradition but the Shiites believe that speech, act and assertion of the Imams^ also declare tradition. The speeches {hadiths) and stories of Prophet Mohammad were collected in some books in the third and fourth centuries AH (ninth and tenth centuries CE). There are some equivalent terms of tradition in the holy writ. The word of 'parndosis' is the equivalent of tradition and it has been used thirteen times in the Bible. The word of 'sonnat' is equipollent of tradition in Arabic language. There are also this word and its denominatives, like God's tradition^ and the ancients' tradition", in the Qur'an. But the definition of tradition in view of Traditionalists and this research is different from the above definitions. For Traditionalists, Tradition has not been invented by man but was received from the other world, and its source is the supernatural origin of all things. It is the body of knowledge and invitatory practices that link human beings to God. Tradition is also the standard of their earthly existence, or according to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, tradition "means Traditionalism 172 truths or principles of a divine origin revealed or unveiled to mankind and, in fact, a whole cosmic sector through various figures envisaged as messengers, prophets, avataras, the Logos or other transmitting agencies, along with all the ramifications and applications of these principles in different realms including law and social structure, art, symbolism, the science, and embracing of course Supreme Knowledge along with the means for its attainment/'^ On the basis of this definition, first, the origin of Tradition is metaphysical and divine inspiration, not the human mind. Secondly, this truth or principles are transmitted by special individuals and are not inquisitional like other human knowledge. Therefore, if a subject- matter is not transmitted from God and by way of divine revelation, it is not Tradition. For Marco Pallis Tradition is not the old ways, a philosophical, conceptual and verifiable system. And the complete tradition necessitates four things: first, it is inspiration resource or a divine revelation. Second, it is a divine blessing, effusion of being that flows from different channels. Third, it is method for becoming. It is a way for arriving at God; and if human travels this way honestly, he is guided to lodgings so that he fulfils the spiritual truth in him. And fourth, the Tradition embodies all human existence. It embodies art, knowledge, techniques and other elements that create particulars of a civilization. Frithjof Schuon recommends that doctrine and method are two important problems in Tradition. Here, doctrine is divine theory, and Traditionalism 173 method is a manner to receive to God. Of course, Tradition is not against or rival of religions but is "inextricably related to revelation and religion, to the sacred, to the notion of the orthodoxy, to the continuity and regularity of transmission of the truth, to the exoteric and the esoteric as well as to the spiritual life, science and the arts."^ Tradition has been called with different names and there is not distinguishable point between tradition and 'Sophia Perennis' in Western tradition, 'Sanatana Dharma' in Hinduism and 'Al-hikmat Al-khalidah' for Moslems. For Schuon, Sophia Perennis is not created by the human mind and it necessitates worship and possesses spiritual truth. In Sophia Perennis, there are some truths that are innate of human spirit and are hidden in depth of "Heart", pure intellect; and only individuals who do self-examination and with cordial presence, can receive the truth. He believes aptness to receive these truths is possible for 'Gnostic', 'pneumatic' or 'theosopher'; and to receive this truth is also possible for 'philosophers', who truly and innocently embody the meaning of this term, for example Pythagoras, Plato and in a large quantity , Aristotle. ^^ For Schoun, Sophia Perennis and metaphysics are the same but metaphysics is different from philosophy. Contrary to some views, these two terms are not synonym and metaphysics is not a branch of various branches of philosophy, like philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, philosophy of history etc. The main difference between metaphysics and philosophy is in their origins. The origin of philosophy is logic and origin of metaphysics is Traditionalism 174 inspiration. Philosophy is founded on reasoning but metaphysics is founded on intellectual intuition. So metaphysics neither is the same as philosophy, nor branch of philosophy.^' Philosophy only needs mental potentials, while metaphysics uses special competency of ethical and spiritual. "Excellence ... is necessary, because the light does not pass tarnished store and does not clear up dark wall very well, therefore man must become like crystal and snow, but does not claim that snow is light.''^^ xhe understanding of philosophy and thinking are possible without truthfulness, but intellectual intuition is result of a great purification of the animal soul. After purification of the heart and behaviors, man receives real knowledge towards the world and better than past. In other words, asceticism influences man's ontology and epistemology. Various kinds of metaphysics are seen in the history of humanity's thought, but there is a spatial unity in the nature of all of them and a feeling of congeniality among their followers.
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