The early life of Seraphim Rose

A correspondent, Alexandra Koltun, has drawn my attention to an interesting detail in the early life of Seraphim Rose, the Russian Orthodox monk in America who was not exactly a Traditionalist, but for whose spiritual life and teachings Traditionalism was of great importance.

According to an article in the Pomona College Magazine (the magazine of Rose's alma mater), as a young man, Rose was gay. As a monk, of course, he would presumably have been celibate. Koltun wrote, "it may be that people who feel out of synch with the surrounding world may unconsciously welcome an ideology that validates their unease." Indeed.

Sufism and Transnational Spirituality

PhD and Postdoc positions within research group on “Sufism and Transnational Spirituality,” Aarhus University

Applications are invited for one PhD position and one Postdoc position within a new research group on “Sufism and Transnational Spirituality” at Aarhus University, Denmark. Founded in 1928, Aarhus University is now the second largest university in Denmark, with approximately 35,000 students and a staff of about 9,000.

The research group has not yet received funding, and any appointment is therefore subject to funding being received. Successful applicants will be encouraged to develop an individual research project dealing with Sufism in both the West and the Muslim world (not just the West or just the Muslim world). The positions involve some teaching duties, but these are not onerous, and will start (subject to funding) in August 2009 or August 2010.

Applications are invited from any relevant disciplinary background, but candidates with a background in anthropology, Middle East/Islamic studies, or religious studies are especially encouraged to apply. Knowledge of Arabic or another appropriate language used in the Muslim world will be a distinct advantage. Knowledge of Danish is not required, and there are no restrictions concerning citizenship. Successful applicants will be expected to base themselves in Aarhus for the duration of their research, in either the Department of Anthropology and Ethnography or the Department of the Study of Religion. Residence and employment permits will be arranged by the university if necessary. Remuneration will be in accordance with the appropriate Danish Universities scale, and fieldwork expenses will be covered.

Applicants should email by August 22, 2008 a covering letter of no more than two pages describing in outline a possible research project, a full CV, and up to one writing sample, to Dr Nils Bubandt, Department of Anthropology and Ethnography, University of Aarhus, 8270 Hojbjerg, Denmark. Up to three letters of recommendation may also be submitted, but given the short time available before the deadline, such letters are not required. Any enquiries may be sent in advance of application to either Dr Bubandt (bubandt@hum.au.dk) or Dr Mark Sedgwick (mjs@teo.au.dk).

New books by Rusmir Mahmutćehajić

Fordham University Press is to publish more translations of books by Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, the Bosnian public intellectual who is the leading representative of Traditionalism in the Balkans.

Fordham University Press has already published English translations of three books by Mahmutćehajić, of which the first was Learning from Bosnia: Approaching Tradition (2005).

The new books, due in 2009, are

• Malo znanja: O drugim u muslimanskim vidicima. In this, "Mahmutćehajić discusses one of the key questions of the modern world: how to identify and articulate the justification for open, plural societies within the Muslim intellectual tradition."
• Preko vode: uz pjesmu Maka Dizdara „Modra rijeka“. This is "the outcome of the author’s many years’ study of the relationship between the universal perspective of the perennial philosophy and the traditional Bosnian heritage."

Mahmutćehajić's publisher in Zagreb, Antibarbarus, has just published his Stolačka čaršija: U vidiku perenijalne filozofije ("The Stolac Čaršija: In the Light of the Perennial Philosophy"), which should be interesting, but is not--so far as I know--available in translation.

German Swami: Buddhism in Sri Lanka

"German Swami" was Peter Joachim Schoenfeldt (1907-84). He spent time in mystical circles around the poet Stefan Georg in Berlin in the 1930s, grew interested in Buddhism, and traveled to Sri Lanka in 1936. He became Buddhist as Nyanakhetto, and was later ordained as Swami Gauribala Giri.

By 1971, German Swami had a circle of followers in Sri Lanka that included the former American Beatnik poet Alan Marlowe, and the former Sri Lankan actor Manik Sandrasagra. They were all reading the Traditionalist classics--Coomaraswamy, Guénon, and Schuon. This orientation did not last, however.

While visiting the US with the Sri Lankan president in 1981, Manik Sandrasagra went to Bloomington to meet Schuon. When he heard of this, however, German Swami summoned him back to Sri Lanka. In Sandrasagra's words,

When I returned I asked him why. His response was “You need to be turned off from traditionalism.” He then showed me an article by Schuon that was titled ‘The Problem of Sexuality’ and asked “Do you have a problem with sexuality? Is there a problem with sexuality?” He then smiled and stated in Tamil the famous Yogaswami dictum “Oru Pollapum Illai” meaning ‘Not one problem exists’.

Read more at http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070916/Plus/plus00011.html

Ananda Coomaraswamy Essay Prize

The heavily Traditionalist and Maryami Philosophy and Religious Studies program at La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia, has announced an Ananda Coomaraswamy Essay Prize.

• Two winners will collect books and postage to the value of $200 from Fons Vitae Publishing and $200 from World Wisdom Books (the in-house publishers of Frithjof Schuon).
• The prize calls for "essays that explore . . . the meaning of traditional symbols." Examples given include the drum of Śiva, the Rainbow Serpent of the aboriginal peoples of Australia, the shofar, and the hijab "in the mystical traditions of Islam."
• There are academic and non-academic alternatives: the prize has two categories, postgraduate and "open."