islam

In this short book, Seyyed Hossein Nasr takes a look at the relationship between man and nature and the spiritual crisis that inflicts modern man in his "war against nature". In examining ecological crisis, war, and industrial failure, Nasr argues that modern science has lost touch with the sacred in its applications. Rather than being rooted in the unified outlook of traditional man along with his religious traditions, modern man sees the world through the eyes of a crass materialism, scientism, and positivism. It is this lack of worldview which Nasr believes is the spiritual crisis behind the troubled relationship between man and nature. Nasr begins by examining this problem and explaining how a base scientism has attempted to uproot the understanding of traditional man. In making this comparison, Nasr looks at the alternative philosophies of science, beginning with the positivists and comparing them to the viewpoints of various religious philosophers on the question of science. Here it is necessary to understand the limitations of science, particularly as they apply to its application, which is at the root of the ecological crisis in modern man. Next, Nasr turns to the historical roots of science in Greek and Christian philosophy and theology. Nasr argues that much of the problem can be found in the neglect to emphasize these historical roots rather than simply glorify modern science. By placing science within its historical framework, it is possible to see exactly how the crisis has come about. Nasr argues that in particular, the breakdown of the Christian tradition and the secularization of science is at fault. Next, Nasr turns to the metaphysical principles that underlie man's understanding of nature. In particular, Nasr examines those principles as expounded in the traditions of the world's great religions: Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, particularly with reference to Sufism. Finally, Nasr seeks to explain how the retrieval of this traditional understanding of nature can be applied to the modern situation and crisis. The book concludes with a discussion of what Nasr believes to be the errors of such modern theories and notions as that of evolution. All in all, this book is an interesting discussion of the shifting relationship between man and nature, and it offers hope for the alleviation of spiritual crisis by returning to the traditions within the world's religions.

Bluntly said, human beings have constructed a machine that islosing control and rapidly moving towards the destruction of theentire human race. This machine is built with the philosophy ofmaterialism, the global economic system of capitalism, the neverending drive for technology, and the never ending desire for"progress". In our own lifetimes we are witnessingecological disasters that have never occured in world history. The"rape" of nature is manifesting signs of abuse, all of whichare progressively becoming uglier and more serious. Naively, somepeople think that alternative forms of energy will solve the entireproblem.

"Man and Nature" is an invaluable work in thatit puts the current madness of technology, capitalism, globalism, and"progress" into a proper perspective. Rather than picking atthe surface manifestations of the problem, Professor Nasr explores thehistorical developments that created the problem in the firstplace. He identifies a time when the West, the bastion of"progress" and technology, once had some respect fornature. This respect was part of a metaphysical view of a much morecomprehensive cosmology of the universe. This respect, thoughincomparable to the more natural metaphysics of Eastern cultures, wasnevertheless an historical fact of pre-Rennaissance Westerncosmology. Unfortunately, with the advent of the modern science andthe materialism of rationalists like Francis Bacon, the West lost thisrespect for nature and all metaphysical thought along with it. Bacon'scall to dominate nature for the benefit of human beings replaced theolder metaphysics as the dominant philosophy and remains sotoday. What is left is man at the center of the universe, who becomesthe object of unconditional worship, and to him is given the ritualsacrifice of nature.

Professor Nasr points to the metaphysical viewof nature in Eastern religions, arguing that a heirarchy of reality isa universal, indeed objective, truth. That such metaphysics of aheirarchy of reality, though not all exactly alike, was shared by allof the world's religions, including Christianity. The West should looknot only to its past (St. Francis of Assisi called his people towitness the mystery God in nature) but also to the East, to regain ametaphysical understanding of the world. The West should notcompromise with sell-out thelogians...who attempted to incorporateevolution into Christian theology. Such attempts yield"metaphysical absurdities and theological heresies" and onlylubricate the machine.

As insightful as this book is, I did feelthat it was somewhat lacking in answering the problem. Identifying theproblem isn't enough. Professor Nasr does state that we need toestablish a science of metaphyics and a philosophy of science andtechnology to check the current madness and put human endeavors in aproper context. However, this science of metaphyisics is not found inthe book and no specific reference is given to a book that doescontain such an elaboration. (The book does contain several pages ofuseful footnotes, but on this specific point no direction is providedby the author.) Another problem I found with the book is the call forthe West to revive the metaphysical science that once existed inpre-Rennaissance Christianity. Such a notion is not likely, asChristianity itself is no longer part of the establishment of Westernculture. Aside from the lay masses who still practice Christianitylike sheep, the intellectual classes simply have divorced themselvesfrom religion altogether. So, to call for a revival of an extinctaspect of a religion that is now officially defunct (I mean in theofficial domains) is to me futile. Rather, I would advocate theintroduction of Eastern metaphysics into the dry, spiritless cultureof the West, rather than appealing to the corpse ofChristianity.

Regardless, I still found the book to beintellectually invaluable. Seyyed Hossain Nasr is a powerful andinspiring mind. He not only stands apart from Muslim thinkers, but towers over Western thinkers with considerable force.

Seyyed Nasr, takes the reader through history and causes of the descralization of nature in the west and the resultant ecological crisis we face today. He shows how the west via the divorce of science from spirit has wrecked havoc on our planet. And also how the Christian faith helped accelerate this process when it removed elements of its metaphysical doctrines that kept nature as a part of the divine. In addition he elucidates how some of the philosophical schools of thought help widen the schism between man, nature and the divine. He closes with a chapter what can be done to correct the problem via the resacralization of nature as a reflection of the Creator.

Seyyed Nasr main thrust in correcting Christianity's loss of sapiential wisdom or gnosis is to turn to the eastern traditions like Tantra or Taoist alchemy. However considering the animosity that mainstream churches have towards the other spiritual traditions this is not likely to occur for a number of reasons.
1) The Christians who've adopted other methods are considered marginal at best, heretics at worst. Just try promoting yoga at your local highschool and see what happens. A current example would be Thomas Merton. He came closet to what Seyyed Nasr is asking. Still to many Christians he is considered an apostate.
2) Christianity in many instances has been reduced to down to after life fire insurance policy and God being a banker and greengrocer to the elect. Just get 'saved' and thats it.
3) Christian intellectual tradition is so bad nowadays as to be non-existent. So bad it took a devout Moslem to write about what should have been obvious to any Christian leader with a functioning brain.
4)To recreate a gnosis within Christianity it would take man whose a "finished student" of say Tantra and had the intellectual capacity and church authority to integrate these teachings in a seemless manner. Plus establish a living transimission. No small task.

What I even more amazing is that this book was first written in 1967 and is better than most of the recent writings on this problem including: Ken Wilbers Sense and Soul and Robert Ornstein's 'The AxeMakers Gift".

Overall it is a very informative and a easy read that one can keep comming back to and learning something new.

If you like E.F. Schumacher, Huston Smith, Gregory Bateson, Jacob Needleman, you will enjoy this book. I would also include anyone who is concerned about what is happening in the world via the loss of faith, runaway technology and destruction of the planet we live upon.

BTW the references section is a excellent starting point for further research.