Ernst Fürlinger
IN SEARCH OF 
THE NORTH STAR: 
REDISCOVERING 
“METAPHYSICAL 
ANTHROPOLOGY” 
IN AN AGE OF 
UNCERTAINTY
9-22
danube university krems 
department migration 
and globalization 
dr.-karl-dorrek-strasse 30 
au-3500 krems
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izvirni znanstveni članek 141.319.8:165.613:281
 ::AbSTRACT
The knowledge or science of “metaphysical anthropology” of different 
religious traditions explores the subtle, spiritual, non-physical dimension of 
the human mind and body, as a precondition for the mystical experience, 
unification or realization of the one, nondual reality. This paper explores 
some examples of this traditional knowledge, focusing particularly on specific 
streams within Western and Islamic traditions. It attempts to show how a 
theory of the spiritual dimension of human nature and the living spiritual 
traditions of different cultures are relevant and epistemologically valid in 
the modern “age of criticism”.
Key words: subtle physiology, nonduality, spirituality of light, Sufism, 
Western Mysticism
POVZETEK
ISKANJE ZVEZDE SEVERNICE: VNOVIČNO ODKRITJE “METAFIZIČNE 
ANTROPOLOGIJE” V DOBI NEGOTOVOSTI
Vednost ali znanost “metafizične antropologije” različnih religioznih tradicij 
raziskuje tenkočutne, duhovne, nematerialne razsežnosti človekovega duha in 
telesa, ki so predpogoj za mistično izkustvo, zedinjenje ali udejanjenje ene, ne-
dvojne resničnosti. Članek razišče nekatere primere tradicionalne vednosti in se 
osredotoča predvsem na določene tokove znotraj zahodne in islamske tradicije. 
Izpostaviti skuša pomen in epistemološko relevanco teorije duhovnih razsežnosti 
človeške narave in živih duhovnih tradicij različnih kultur za današnjo “dobo 
kriticizma”.
Ključne besede: tenkočutna fiziologija, nedualnost, duhovnost svetlobe, sufizem, 
zahodni misticizem
 ::1. THE TRANSCENDENT DIMENSION OF THE HUMAN 
bEING ACCORDING TO RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
it could be claimed that the spiritual traditions of different religions trans-
mit a type of knowledge about the nature of being human which consists, 
at its core, of the experience that a human being is more than the physical, 
material (and therefore mortal) body, brain and its facilities. Human beings 
are more than their limited cognition and body. From this perspective, it is a 
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in search of the north star: rediscovering “metaphysical anthropology” in an age of uncertainty
core element of the “memory space” of religions that the essential dimension 
of human nature – and reality as a whole – is precisely beyond the physical. 
There exists an element in humankind which transcends the physical and 
is one with the origin and principle of being as such. This reflection of the 
spiritual streams within religious traditions about the nature of human be-
ings could be called “metaphysical anthropology”; in each of these spiritual 
knowledge-systems it is articulated in the form of specific concepts and terms. 
Thus, the exceptional rank and dignity of human beings is anchored in their 
representing a link between the transcendent and the cosmos, the uncreated 
and the created, the metaphysical and the physical. it is an element of ancient 
and Christian anthropology that humans are “a bond that connects God and 
world”.1 They are a “third cosmos” (tertius mundus) which unites the invisible 
reality of the true light and the visible physical world.2
in the Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and islam – this concept 
is based on the idea that man is created in the image of God.3 in the tradi-
tion of Western mysticism, this biblical idea was connected with the Platonic 
notion of homoíosis tò theô, the “likeness/ similarity [of man] to God”4 as the 
central idea of a religious-philosophical program of education in antiquity. The 
idea that man is made in the image of God, and the goal of her/his religious 
and philosophical path is the homoiosis to God, the realization of the divine 
presence in human beings, shaped the development of Christian mysticism 
in manifold ways (see Haas 2014: 218ff). in a different way, certain Asian 
spiritual traditions such as Advaita vedānta, the nondualistic tantric Shaivism 
of kashmir, Buddhism and Daoism, focus on the notion of nonduality (Loy 
1997). Particular lines within both streams of spirituality, in the east and in 
the West, correspond in many respects. They differentiate between everyday, 
empirical (‘objective’) reality on the one hand, and the “Real” on the other, 
between limited cognition and the realization of truth. They explain the fact 
that this actual reality, the oneness or nonduality (Sanskrit a-dvaita) – in 
1“Homo nexus est dei et mundi”. Albert the Great (d. 1280) ascribes this expression to Hermes trismegistos. The 
human being is above the world because he or she is endowed with a twofold form of cognition: the sensual 
(physica) and the abstract (doctrinalis) which enables human reason to reach his/her perfection (Albert, Meta-
physica 1,1,1, ed. Col. Xvi, page 2,4-15; quoted from Resnick 2013: 336).
2John Scottus eriugena (9th c. A.D.): Vox Spiritualis: sermon on the prolog of the Gospel of St. John, XiX, 290-
298; english translation: eriugena 1988; see Haas 1966; Haas 1996: 221-247. in his Periphyseon, eriugena writes: 
“The highest dignity for human nature is that it uniquely mirrors transcendent divine nature. Only of human 
nature can it be said that it is made in the image and likeness of God. Not even the angels are accorded that 
honor, so in a sense man is greater than the angels. Human nature may even require the application of affirmative 
and negative propositions: Man is an animal and man is not an animal” (Periphyseon iv.758b; Sheldon-Williams 
and O’Meara 1987).
3Genesis 1:27: “God created man in his own image” (cf. Gen 5:1; 9:6); Hadith: “God created Adam in His form”.
4Plato: Dialog ‘Theaitetos’ 176a. 
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monotheistic terms the nonduality of God, cosmos and human being – is 
hidden and veiled. They explore the ways in which to realize and reveal this 
deep dimension of the differentiated, manifold reality, and of the human 
person. Of course, there are fundamentally different conceptual answers as 
to how the manifest, differentiated, plural, phenomenal world – our world 
of everyday perception and thinking – is related to this nondual, “highest” 
reality. The same applies to the indian philosophical traditions: while Advaita 
vedānta, e.g. the Āgamaśāstra (“treatise on Sacred tradition”) represents 
an absolute monism, including the unreality of the phenomenal world (see 
torella 2011: 112), the trika school of nondualistic Shaivism of kashmir, 
especially Abhinavagupta (c. 960-1020 Ce) developed a “supreme nondual-
ism” (paramādvayavāda): the “highest” (anuttara), “the Real”, the one absolute 
light contains both plurality/differentiation and unity/oneness as modes of its 
self-representation (see Fürlinger 2009: 12, 145, 157, 250). The consequence 
is that this tantric tradition does not devaluate the differentiated world, the 
human body, the senses and sensory impressions, emotions, and sexuality 
(see Fürlinger 2006), but rather views them as powerful means for attaining 
the recognition (pratyabhijñā) of one’s own essential nature. This essential 
nature is one/identical with anuttara and at the same time with the whole 
universe. From the trika perspective, this is one’s own highest full identity 
(paripūrn. asvātmakam). Utpaladeva, the grand-teacher of Abhinavagupta in 
kashmir, simply remarks, about this state of ultimate absorption (samāveśa), 
that it is “a state which is very difficult to achieve” (Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā 
1, commentary; torella 2002: 85).
Spiritual traditions of different civilizations use different terms and concepts 
for this act of realization – “illumination”, “liberation”, nirvān. a, recognition, 
etc. – and also for the person who has realized this oneness with the “highest 
reality” during his or her lifetime.5 For example, islamic theologians speak 
of “the perfect human being” (Arabic al-insān al-kāmil) whose prototype is 
the prophet Muhammad. in Sufism, attaining perfection is not restricted to 
Muhammad alone. Perfect human beings cognize and experience the fun-
5This statement should not be understood in the sense of perennialism (see Gellman 2014). it does not overlook 
or ignore the differences between spiritual traditions and individual spiritual experiences. These differences could 
have to do with the connection between certain spiritual “events” or experiences and a certain spiritual “line” 
or tradition. At the same time, i do not support a strictly constructivist approach to the mystical experience. 
The influence of particular concepts, existing patterns or expectations on spiritual experience in general does 
not exclude the possibility of spiritual “events” or experiences which are completely unexpected and not part 
of one’s own cultural or religious systems (e.g. european, Christian), but known by a spiritual-philosophical 
system within a different culture (e.g. non-european) and religion. By “spiritual event” i mean sudden experi-
ences within the subtle, non-physical (or metaphysical) dimension of the human body which is connected with 
the physical body, i.e. organs, senses.
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in search of the north star: rediscovering “metaphysical anthropology” in an age of uncertainty
damental “unity of being” (wah. dat al-wujūd). This human potential is an 
essential part of creation: human beings are created in the form (s.ūra) of God, 
the Real (al-haqq), who placed in Adam the traces of all the divine names. ibn 
al-‘Arabī (1165-1240), one of the foremost Sufi philosophers, concluded that:
“Hence everyone in the cosmos is ignorant of the whole and knows the 
part, except only the perfect human being. For God taught him the names, 
all of them [Q 2:31] and gave him the all-comprehensive words, so his form 
became perfect. The perfect human being brings together the form of the 
Real and the form of the cosmos. He is a barzakh6 between the Real and 
the cosmos, a raised-up mirror. The Real sees His form in the mirror of the 
human being, and creation also sees its form in him. He who gains this 
level has gained a level of perfection more perfect than which nothing is 
found in possibility.” (Futuhat iii 398.16)7
The “perfect (or perfected) human being” in islam could be compared 
with the notion of the “god-man” in the ancient Christian traditions. Despite 
differences in terminology and between the two specific religious concepts, 
it is possible to understand them as “homeomorphic equivalents” (Raimon 
Panikkar), as symbols which occupy the same or similar functional place in 
distinct religious or cultural systems, and which therefore build a unique 
relation brought about by this correspondence.8
 ::2. THE PROCESS OF REALIZING NONDUALITY
in some spiritual traditions, the concrete process of the realization of non-
dual reality is often described as an ascent from the state of darkness to the 
experience of light, that is, the uncovering of the “light-nature” of man/of 
everything. Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism and of european mysticism 
(204/205-269/270 A.D.), reflects, in his philosophy, on the universal founda-
6The Arabic, Barzakh means “barrier, hindrance, isthmus” and in islamic eschatology, it denotes the intermediate 
state of the deceased between individual death and the “Last Day”.
7ibn al-‘Arabī: al-Futūh. āt al-makkiyya (“The Mekkan Openings”). Quoted after Chittick 1998, 249.
8The philosopher of religion Raimon Panikkar (1918-2010) defines homeomorphic equivalents as “functional 
equivalents” or “a kind of functional analogy of the third order” (Panikkar 1993: 55). “Homeomorphism is not 
the same as analogy; it represents a functional equivalence discovered through a topological transformation” 
(Panikkar 1978: xxii). With this conceptual instrument, Panikkar wants to do justice to the specificity of each 
religious configuration and at the same time, to create the possibility to explore the deeper correspondences between 
these different configurations. The correlation of functions within belief systems (e.g. Christ and iśvara) permits 
points of encounter, without stating a simplistic equality of different concepts or symbols in different religions. 
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tion, the One (Greek τò ἕν).9 it is said to be the ultimate principle and origin 
of existence: “it is by the one that all beings are being” (Enn. vi.9,1; Plotinus 
2003: 303) and at the same time, it is beyond “being” (iii.8,10). Humans 
are different, but not separate from it, since the ground of the human soul 
touches the Divine. it is one with it, “established” in it (cf. v. 1,11). it is this 
deep dimension of the human person which opens up a path to the One. 
According to this particular perspective, there is at the center of the spiritual 
path the discovery of the reality behind the phenomenal empirical world, the 
realization of the nonduality of everything and the ascent towards unifica-
tion with the One. Plotinus clearly describes the process based on personal 
experience. He turns from the outer things to “the Self”, the “interior man” 
(v.1,10), enters into the Self and “becomes one with the Divine and established 
on its fundament” (iv 8,1). 
A well-known passage of Ennead vi.9 (“On the Good or the One”), about 
the state of union, the unification with the Divine, which is characterized as 
the “primarily beautiful”, “formless”, “a great Light” (vi.7,33), reads:
“But ‘whoever has seen, knows what i am saying’, that the soul then has 
another life and draws near, and has already come near and has a part in 
him, and so is in a state to know that the giver of true life is present and 
we need nothing more. But quite otherwise, we must put away other things 
and take our stand only in this, and become this alone, cutting away all the 
other things in which we are encased; so we must be eager to go out from 
here and be impatient at being bound to the other things, that we may 
embrace him with the whole of ourselves and have no part with which we 
do not touch God. There one can see both him and oneself as it is right to 
see: the self glorified, full of intelligible light – but rather itself pure light – 
weightless, floating free, having become – but rather, being – god; set on fire 
then, but the fire seems to go out if one is weighed down again.” (vi.9,9)10
it is obvious that this state of nonduality – becoming one with the “great 
light”, or realizing one’s own ultimate identity with it – is only possible within 
a trans-rational, non-discursive dimension, when the usual, limited, space-time 
form of human cognition is transcended, as Plotinus asserts: 
9On the philosophy of Plotinus, see Beierwaltes 1985; O’Meara 1993; Hadot 1993.
10Plotinus: Ennead vi.9,9; quoted in Plotinus 2003: 339 (transl. Armstrong). Armstrong renders the expression 
“theòn genómenon” as “become a god”, thus weakening the statement of the author. i have therefore changed “a 
god” to “God”, in line with the clear and lucid German translation by ermin Döll: “… wie man Gott geworden, 
vielmehr Gott ist” (Döll 2014: 21f). 
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in search of the north star: rediscovering “metaphysical anthropology” in an age of uncertainty
“...but seeing and that which is seen are not reason, but greater than reason 
and before reason and above reason, as is that which is seen. (…) So then 
the seer does not see and does not distinguish and does not imagine two, 
but it is as if he had become someone else and he is not himself and does 
not count as his own there, but has become to belong to that and so is one, 
having joined, as it were, centre to centre” (vi.9, 10).11 
Here, Plotinus uses a very vivid language of negative theology, which ex-
presses paradoxes (“the seer does not see”), or says what “it” is not, or describes 
it only as “this” without using any name or term for it. He reaches the limits 
of human language, which is part of the realm of duality: “For this reason 
the vision is hard to put in words.” (vi.9.10)12
The influence of Plotinus’ metaphysics and mysticism of light (Beierwaltes 
1961) continued in the works of the Christian Neoplatonist Dionysius the 
Areopagite (late 5th century), and later in the Christian theology and philoso-
phy of the Middle Ages (koch 1960; Hedwig 1980: 119-150). The mysticism 
of light has also been an element of Sufism from its earliest times. it plays a 
prominent role in works such as Mishkāt al-anwār (“The niche of lights”) by 
Abū h. āmid Ghazzālī (died 1111 A.D.) which interprets the Qur’ānic “light 
verse” (āyat an-nūr, 24:35) and the tradition of seventy-thousand veils of light 
and darkness which separate man and God (cf. Schimmel 2011).13 One of the 
foremost thinkers on the spirituality of light and illumination (Arabic ishrāq) 
was the Persian philosopher Shihābuddīn Suhrawardī (1153-1191), the sheikh 
al-ishrāq14 who wrote (among many other works) his masterpiece Hikmat al-
ishrāq (“The philosophy of illumination”)15 and the treatise Hayākil an-nūr 
(“The altars of light”).16
Later, in Central Asia, Najmuddīn kubrā (1145-1220), the founder of the 
Sufi order Kubrawiyya, elaborated extensive reflections on illumination, fo-
cusing particularly on colors as elements of spiritual experience (see Corbin 
1971: 61ff; Schimmel 2011). in his main work, Fawā’ ih.  al-jamāl wa fawātih. 
11translation: Plotinus 2003: 341. Compare Utpaladeva: “The reflective awareness ‘i’ which is the very essence 
of light, is not a mental construct (Sanskrit vikalpah. ), although it is informed by the word (vāgvapuh. ). For a 
vikalpa is an act of ascertainment (viniścayah. ) presenting a duality (dvayāks.epī).” (Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā 6.1; 
torella 2002:128). The expression “reflective awareness” (vimarśa) “i” (aham) can be understood in the sense of 
nondual cognition (without a duality of subject and object of cognition), “that ‘i’ whose essential state is pure 
awareness (pramā)” or “selfhood in perfection” (Lakshman Joo 2014: 85 and 84).
12Plotinus 2003: 341.
13translation: al-Ghazzali 1998.
14On Suhrawardi and his mysticism of light see Corbin 1971.
15edition and english translation: Suhrawardi 1999.
16translation: Suhrawardi 1996.
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al-jalāl, he reflects on the situation of man from a spiritual point of view. 
Man has fallen into the “well of nature” (ābār at.-t.abī’a) and is stuck at the 
bottom of the dark well-shaft (cf. Fawā’ ih. ; Meier 1957: 70). kubrā consid-
ers how human beings could be liberated, could seek and find God. in the 
perspective of this tradition, there is a divine element in human beings, the 
Self, a shining core which is normally hidden or buried by “darkness”, the 
physical, material nature of man: “Learn, O my friend, that the object of 
the search (morād) is God, and that the subject of searching is a light from 
him.” (Fawā’ ih. , §1; Meier 1957: 155). The goal of the spiritual path is for this 
light to ascend from the shaft and reunite with its origin. kubrā explains this 
process in a metaphorical way:
“know, there are lights which ascend and those which descend. The as-
cending lights are those of the heart; the descending lights are those of the 
Throne. Nature [existence]17 is the veil between Throne and heart. When 
this nature is broken through and a door to the Throne opens from the 
heart, like aspires toward like. Light rises toward light and light descends 
upon light, ‘light upon light’ (Q 24:35)”. (Fawā’ ih. , §62; Meier 1957: 117).
islamic spirituality does not confine itself to general expressions of the human 
condition and man’s goal from a mystical point of view. Like other traditions, 
e.g. Buddhist and Hindu tantric philosophies and practices, it developed a 
precise empirical description of the ‘anatomy’ of the subtle dimension of 
the human body – let us call it the body of the ‘interior man’.18 it forms the 
concrete basis for this process of rising upward and entering a transformed, 
nondual state of trans-rational, non-discursive cognition which is denoted by 
terms such as “illumination” (ishrāq) or “vision”. This physiology can be un-
derstood as the “deep”, spiritual, subtle, non-physical dimension of particular 
parts or centers of the physical human body, such as sexual organs, spine, 
heart, forehead, etc. in Sufism this sublime physiology is called latīfa – “the 
subtle organs or centres of the man of light” or “the organs of light” (Corbin 
17Corbin: “creatural being” (Corbin 1971: 72).
18See the reflections on the ‘inner man’ in Plato and Plotinus and early Christianity (Markschies 1995 and 
1998; Burkert 1999). For example, Plotinus characterizes the ‘inner man’ in terms of the presence of the three 
foundational elements – the One which is beyond being, of being and Nous (Greek: νοῦς, Latin: intellectus) and 
of the soul – in the world, and also “in us” insofar as we are beyond the physical, sensual realm (cf. Enn. v 1, 
10). Augustine (354-430 A.D.) uses the Latin term homo interior (‘inner man’) in the context of his description 
of the inner, ‘spiritual senses’ (see Harrison 1999). For Augustine, the truth – which can be interpreted as the 
access of the human being to the actual ‘Real’ or ‘One’ - resides in the ‘inner man’: “In interiore homine habitat 
veritas” (vera relig. 39,72: CCSL 32, 234).
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in search of the north star: rediscovering “metaphysical anthropology” in an age of uncertainty
1971: 64, 68). it is the shining and throbbing “spiritual energy” (himma)19 
which rises up in one’s body and pierces its subtle centers one after the other, 
finally leading to the state of union. Again, kubrā describes this process in 
a metaphorical way:
“The Holy Ghost in man is a heavenly subtle organ. When the concentrated 
power of spiritual energy (himma) is lavished on him, he is reunited with 
the Heavens and the Heavens are merged with him. Or rather, Heavens 
and Spirit are one and the same thing. And this Spirit does not cease to 
rise, to increase, and to grow until it has acquired a height higher than 
the height of Heaven, and transcends the Heaven” (Fawā’ ih. , §59; Corbin 
1971: 70; Meier 1957: 173).
to sum up: over thousands of years, different civilizations have established 
and developed what might be termed a science of spiritual knowledge and 
metaphysical anthropology, based on empirical data of personal subjective 
experience and elaborated theories.
 ::3. MODERNITY AND THE bREAK WITH SPIRITUAL 
TRADITIONS
The transmission of this traditional knowledge has been neglected and 
devalued in the context of natural sciences, with their naturalistic paradigm 
and empiricist methods – originating among others in the natural philosophy 
of Francis Bacon and represented by isaac Newton in the early modern period 
(Dijksterhuis 2002). The modern scientific mode of knowledge claims that 
only non-subjective observations are veridical and scientifically valid.
in the West, the modern age brought with it a break with the Christian 
traditions of spirituality and mysticism, especially with so-called ‘mystical 
theology’ (Latin theologia mystica), 20 in the sense of the concrete practice of 
the inner path of the human soul, which, in the words of Master eckhart 
19On himma, see Corbin 1997. it could be fruitful to explore the reality of this phenomenon by relating it to 
similar (possibly homeomorphic) descriptions in Hindu and Buddhist tantrism. On nondualistic tantric Shaivsim 
of kashmir, see Silburn 1988; Lakshman Joo 2014.
20in a letter to the monks of the Benedictine abbey at tegernsee, the German philosopher, theologian, and 
mystic cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (Nikolaus krebs, 1401-1464) says about mystical theology: “The belief that 
man can reach divinity in this way is a very high knowledge in this world which exceeds every knowledge of 
this world.” (Hec fides, scilicet, quod homo sic posit divinitatem attingere, est sciencia secundum hunc mundum 
altissima, que eciam excedit omnem huis mundi scienciam; Baum and Senoner 1998: 94). On the theologia mystica 
see Haas 1989; Haas 2008.
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(1260-1327/28), loves “to be one and to become one with God”.21 Beginning 
in the 17th century, suspicion towards and rejection of mysticism within the 
Catholic and Protestant Churches increased, and this continued until the 
rediscovery of mysticism at the beginning of the 20th century. The lines and 
chains of transmission of this kind of knowledge and experience were largely 
interrupted, even in traditional places of contemplation – Christian monas-
teries. The rise of capitalism and industry in the modern West was based on 
the development of technology and science, a development which required a 
certain rational, systematic way of thinking and behavior, as well as the con-
trol, modernization, and rationalization of society. it resulted in tremendous 
achievements and innovations in all systems of society, including religion. At 
the same time, it seems that this was the period when the centuries-old tradi-
tions of Western mysticism lost the culture in which they were rooted. The 
cultural memory of european civilization resembles a palimpsest on which 
the text of the ancient spiritual traditions has been scratched off and replaced 
by a new text, although it is still present and partially readable. 
in the islamic world, the encounter or clash of traditional societies with 
the modern West in the colonial era stimulated different reform movements, 
in particular the islamic modernism movement, or Salafism, at the end of 
the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century (voll 1999; Brown 
1996). The traditional islamic spirituality, based on the old Sufi orders and a 
spiritual worldview, was wrongly seen as an inauthentic form of islam and a 
novelty (Arabic bid‘ah) introduced only after the first generations of Muslims, 
as well as a kind of pre-modern irrational attitude and a hindrance to the 
progress of society in the rational age.22 With its scripturalist and literalist 
focus on the foundational texts of the Qur’an and the hadith, and its rejec-
tion of Sufism and traditional scholarship, Salafism – in spite of its reference 
to a certain idea of the early time of islam and the pious forefathers – can 
be seen as an attempt to modernize and rationalize religion, and thus as a 
specific modern religious phenomenon. The Salafi way of rigorous interpre-
tation of the doctrine of the Oneness of God (tawhid), especially its strict 
secession from Sufism, represents an enormous danger to islam’s diversity, 
richness, and spiritual depth. A rigid, literalist interpretation of the Qur’an 
destroys the poetical openness and aesthetic beauty of the main scripture 
of islam (kermani 2015), and turns it into a political manifesto or a legal 
treatise. We are currently witnessing the implications of this phenomenon 
21Meister eckhart: Expositio libri sapientiae, in: Meister eckhart, Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke, Abt. ii: 
Lateinische Werke, 2, 614, 13ff, n. 282. Quoted in Haas 1996: 97.
22See Cornell 2004. i would like to thank Professor Rüdiger Lohlker, vienna, for this reference.
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in search of the north star: rediscovering “metaphysical anthropology” in an age of uncertainty
on a global level politically, in different regions, and in different cultures, 
in a terrifying way. 
Corbin, the great explorer of islamic mysticism in the 20th century, begins 
his book about the “man of light” by underscoring the importance of having a 
point of reference: in this particular case, the North Star. For our orientation 
in the world, we need the “heavenly pole”, the “place of the Origin and of 
the Return” (Corbin 1971: 2), which can be found not on the horizontal, but 
only on the vertical level. The loss of the spiritual dimension, of metaphysical 
anthropology, results in a loss of orientation, a falling short of one’s own actual 
nature, a loss of understanding of who we are. Without rejecting enlightened 
modernity and modern sciences, we need to rediscover and recognize the 
traditional knowledge or science of “metaphysical anthropology” and the 
practice of enlightenment as cultivated in various spiritual traditions. it is 
more than a pre-modern concept which has been eclipsed by the progress of 
modern science and reason. it is more than an object of research in the intel-
lectual history of mankind. This rediscovery should not happen as a form of 
escapism or as an element of the withdrawal of orthodox religion from modern 
secular society and science, or even as a head-on battle against them. instead, 
it should take place within the framework of modernity, reason, openness, 
and plurality. Progress from sterile confrontation or antagonism between 
secular modernity and religious traditions towards real dialog requires the 
reflexivity and self-criticism of modernity and reason, the acknowledgment of 
its limits, and an open discussion with religious convictions and knowledge. 
At the same time, it also requires reflexivity and self-criticism on the part 
of religious communities, and their willingness to open up to the modern, 
pluralistic, scientific age.
it is beyond the scope of this paper to consider how we could acknowledge 
the spiritual dimension of human beings within the educational systems, or how 
we could develop an authentic dialog between modern societies, science and 
spiritual traditions, and overcome mutual disregard and mistrust. The efforts 
mentioned before would be part of the comprehensive challenge to develop a 
sustainable, non-violent social and economic system redirected towards the 
environment, justice and the common good (Schumacher 1973; Daly and 
Cobb 1994; Mckibben 2007; Loske 2011; Rifkin 2014) which in some way 
reflects the divine – the shining, joyful, and beautiful, deep dimension of 
reality. Perhaps an orientation towards the “North Star” of the light nature 
of human beings could contribute to the development of an urgently-needed 
new civilizing model in an age of uncertainty.
Anthropos 2016 3-4.indb   19 31.3.2017   13:13:54
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