The Legacy of Henry Corbin: The Unseen Partner

"...the Imagination (or love, or sympathy, or any other sentiment) induces knowledge, and knowledge of an 'object' which is proper to it..."

Henry Corbin (1903-1978) was a scholar, philosopher and theologian. He was a champion of the transformative power of the Imagination and of the transcendent reality of the individual in a world threatened by totalitarianisms of all kinds. One of the 20th century’s most prolific scholars of Islamic mysticism, Corbin was Professor of Islam & Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Teheran. He was a major figure at the Eranos Conferences in Switzerland. He introduced the concept of the mundus imaginalis into contemporary thought. His work has provided a foundation for archetypal psychology as developed by James Hillman and influenced countless poets and artists worldwide. But Corbin’s central project was to provide a framework for understanding the unity of the religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His great work Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi is a classic initiatory text of visionary spirituality that transcends the tragic divisions among the three great monotheisms. Corbin’s life was devoted to the struggle to free the religious imagination from fundamentalisms of every kind. His work marks a watershed in our understanding of the religions of the West and makes a profound contribution to the study of the place of the imagination in human life.

Friday, May 5, 2017

The Unseen Partner

THE UNSEEN PARTNER WINS A NAUTILUS AWARD

The Unseen Partner by Diane Croft, a book about the imaginal realm that I have praised in the past, has just won a Nautilus Book Award. Former winners include The Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, and Desmund Tutu, among others.

This is the book’s fourth award, following a 60th New England Book Show Award, Reader Views Literary Award, and 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award. As I’ve said before, this is a book you do not want to miss! Put it on your summer reading list.