Review

Author(s): Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Review by: Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1984), pp. 451-458
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399179
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Feature Review Article

Marco Pallis, A BuddhistSpectrum,New York, The Seabury Press, 1981,

163pp.

Thisexceptionalbook reflectsa wisdomwhichis the fruitof overa half century

of both the studyand the actualexperienceof TibetanBuddhismas well as the
deeplysympatheticstudyof otherreligions.MarcoPallisfirstbecameknownto
the scholarlypublicthroughhis epochalwork Peaks andLamaswhichfor the
firsttimeintroducedtheintegraltraditionof Tibetto theWesternworldfromthe
traditionalpoint of view. As a staunchdefenderof the traditionalperspective,
he wasalso instrumentalin translatingsomeof the seminalworksof F. Guenon
and laterF. Schuoninto English,aidedin this effortby his lifelongcompanion
and collaboratorin mattersboth scholarlyand musical, RichardNicholson.
Furthermore,Pallishaswrittenoverthe yearsa largenumberof essaystouching
upon various subjectsof his interestrangingfrom Buddhismto polyphonic
music. Some of theseessaysappearedin an earliercollectionentitledThe Way
andtheMountain,now followedby this new collectionwhichcomplementsthe
earlierone andin a sensepresentsthe mostmatureandmost profoundthoughts
of Pallis concerningvarious aspects of traditionalteachingsin general and
Buddhismin particular.
Pallis is at once an incomparableauthorityon Buddhism,especiallyin its
Tibetanform,a defenderandprotectorof the Tibetantraditionin the westsince
the tragediesof 1951, a lover of nature and a mountain climberwho first
encounteredTibetanBuddhismwhileclimbingHimalayanpeakshalf a century
ago, a profoundstudentof other religions,especiallyChristianity,and a very
accomplishedmusicianwho has done a great deal to revivethe rich musical
traditionof RenaissanceEngland,whichstill possessesa greatdeal of spiritual
substancedespitethe modernizingtendenciesof the age.All of theseconcernsof
Pallisarereflectedin A BuddhistSpectrum,whosethemesarewoventogetherby
the principlesof traditionand, moreparticularly,by Buddhism.
This book is a Buddhistspectrum,as the title indicates,dealingwith some of
themostbasicandwiderangingaspectsof the Buddhisttradition.Butit is also a
book on comparativereligionbased especiallyon the encounterof Buddhism
and ChristianityanddealingwithBuddhistthemesoftenwithfull consideration
of currentdebatesin Christiancirclestodayconcerningthoseverythemes.Pallis,
however,also refersoften to Hinduismand Islam,concerningboth of whichhe
possessesa profoundknowledge.The book is, therefore,a Buddhistwork on
both religion as such and religionsin their multiplicitypresentedin a con-
temporarybut traditionallanguage.
A majorcharacteristicof A BuddhistSpectrumis that it is concernedwiththe
realityof Buddhismand not just a theoreticalanalysisof its ideas.Throughout

Philosophy East and West 34, no. 4 (October 1984). ? by the University of Hawaii Press. All rights reserved.

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452 Nasr

the book the Buddhist refrain that human life, whose end is transcendence, is
difficultto obtain is repeated in a manner which reminds the reader that religion
is to be practiced and not just studied theoretically. He presents the "existential"
significanceof religion in a characteristicallyBuddhist manner, showing how the
incessant analysis of this or that theme of Buddhist thought or symbol without
the actual practice of the religion is against the teachings of Buddhism and a
fretting away of that precious life which is so difficult to obtain. The goal of
Pallis is therefore to present Buddhism as an upaya that saves, to provide a
key for the understanding of traditional teachings whose very comprehension in
depth excludes the possibility of being satisfied with only a mental participation
in its world to the exclusion of the rest of man's being. A Buddhist Spectrum,
while being scholarly is, therefore, not just a scholarly work in the usual sense of
the term. Rather, it deals with wisdom and sapiential spirituality whose urgent
message becomes immediately understood provided one becomes aware of the
real significance of the Buddhist doctrine of mindfulness, that virtue of which
one can never possess too much, and the preciousness of being born in the human
state and therefore in that central point which alone can lead to the state beyond
all becoming.
Another general characteristic of this book is that it presents Buddhism in
such a manner that, far from being seen as an exception to all other religions,
opposed to all permanence, grace, and what Western man identifies with godli-
ness, it becomes another affirmation of that perennial Truth which has always
been and will always be, while it possesses its own particular genius and charac-
teristics. If one travels among the Buddhists of Asia, one detects among those
who still practice their tradition a sense of the sacred, of transcendence, and of
the world of the Spirit, while many a Western student of Buddhism, even if
personally attracted to it, presents Buddhism as if it were simply an Oriental
version of the anti-Christian humanism and even nihilism which has caused
many Westerners to leave their own tradition in quest of another universe of
discourse and meaning. Pallis, although himself coming from a Christian
background to Buddhism, points out the errors inherent in this crypto-
rationalistic and humanistic presentation of Buddhism. His work stands in fact
at the antipode of that kind of exposition and serves as an antidote to the
misunderstanding resulting from that secularized version of Buddhism so pre-
valent in the Western world today. In Pallis's presentation of the message of the
Buddha one recognizes a great religion as lived and practiced by the people of the
Orient with its strict morality and a sacred art of transcendent beauty, a religion
which confirms on the deepest level the truths of the Christian tradition
rather than being seen as an ally of that rationalism and humanism which
have been eating away at the sinews and bones of the Christian West since
the Renaissance.
In the first essay of the book, "Living One's Karma," Pallis turns to one of the
best known and at the same time most misunderstood notions to be found in all

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453

the religions born in India. While criticizing severely the popular notions of
karman in the West, which would oppose it to the perspective of theistic re-
ligions, the author delves into the six sectors of sarhsaric existence which
comprise the Round of Existence in Buddhism and in which the principle of
concordant action and reaction or karmanprevail. The six sectors of the world of
humans, animals, gods or devas, titans or asuras, tantalized ghosts or pretas,
and hells, comprise the Buddhist cosmos in which the laws of karman prevail,
the cosmos whose "transcendence" through enlightenment is the goal of
Buddhism.
In addition to a description of this sixfold Round of Existence, which com-
prises the foundations of various types of traditional Buddhist cosmology,
Pallis deals with karman in its practical aspect of aiding man in his quest of
going beyond the Round of Existence, even in its angelic aspects. He reminds the
reader that in order to utilize karman "to serve the greater purpose," there
must be first of all a conscious self-identification with one's own karman;
secondly, a recognition as to what is really "good karman"; and finally, the
realization that our karman must be determined by our vocation or dharma.
With practical tenure which characterizes this book in view, Pallis concludes
by emphasizing that man is essentially his karman, but whatever be that karman,
there is always a possibility of following the path trodden by the Buddhas. He
adds that, "What even the Buddhas do not do, however, is to travel in our
place. Each must approach the center in his own peculiar way, for the experience
of each being is unrepeatable; every possibility in the universe is unique"
(p. 19).
In the second chapter, on the marriage of wisdom and method, Pallis, while
delving into a profound interreligious discussion of the subject especially as it
concerns Buddhism and Christianity, emphasizes the indissoluble link between
wisdom and method in all traditional doctrines, comparing wisdom to the eye
and method to the legs, both of which are necessary for carrying out the only
journey really worth undertaking. He points out that in the traditional West
before wisdom became divorced from method and was itself reduced to rational-
istic abstractions or mental play, it was also theoria, or vision. Strangely enough,
it was the loss of the legs which reduced theoria to theory.
In emphasizing the complementarity of wisdom and method, Pallis turns
specifically to Tibetan Buddhism and interprets the symbolism of the union of
the female partner or wisdom (the bell) on the one hand, and the male partner or
method (the vajraor dorje), on the other. The erotic symbolism of such Tibetan
images and statues as a whole thus refers to supreme enlightenment or union, of
which sexual union is a most profound earthly symbol, even its ecstasy being a
reflection of the ecstasy of the attainment of Divine Knowledge, which is possible
only through the wedding of wisdom and method. The treatment by Pallis
reveals on a fundamental level the reason why there is no such thing as Oriental
philosophy if philosophy is understood only in its modern Western sense, and

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454 Nasr

why the traditional philosopher in the Orient has always been seen as a man of
spiritualvirtue, without which the attainment of sophia would be impossible save
in exceptions which only prove the rule.
In "Is There a Problem of Evil?" Pallis does not deal so much with the
existence of evil and sin, which, despite Rousseau and other believers in the
innate goodness of man, are too prevalent to need to be proven to exist.
Rather, he asks whether the existence of evil is a problem in the sense of not
having as yet received a solution. He criticizes the shallow rationalistic
criticism of traditional Christian theology by secular philosophers who would
dethrone God because of their inability to solve the question of theodicy.
Furthermore, Pallis criticizes Darwinian evolution not only in itself but
because of its supposition of "the acceptance of a kind of universal trend toward
the better, which here is represented as an inherent property of becoming"
(p. 35).
To provide the traditional answer to the reason for the existence of evil in a
world created by God who is the Supreme Good, Pallis turns to the Biblical
symbols of the Trees of Life and the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He provides
one of the most clear and at the same time profound explanation of the symbolic
significance of these two trees in their relation with the question of evil. The
existence of evil becomes a problem when, as a result of ignorance, the Tree of
the Knowledge of Good and Evil is perceived as other than the Tree of Life, with
the ensuing segmentation, alienation, and dispersion which results in a world
separated from the Supreme Good, which alone is Good in the absolute sense.
Regarded from the point of view of ignorance, "the Tree of Life becomes the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; regarded from the point of view of true
knowledge, the Tree of Becoming (as it might just as well be called) is the Tree
of Life" (p. 38).
Pallis then turns to the Buddhist teachings concerning the same subject and
comes to the conclusion that "A world is a whirlpool of contrasts (the Indian
word sarmsaraexpresses this), it is not a unity in its own right. It is no limitation
on the almighty that He cannot produce another Himself, a second Absolute.
The world is there to prove it" (p. 43). He also refers to the works of F. Schuon,
who in several works, especially Logic and Transcendenceand the recent From
the Divine to the Human, deals more fully than any other author with the
traditional metaphysical doctrine of the Divine Infinity and the Divine Maya,
which necessitate the irradiation of manifestation of the world, hence separation
from the source of all goodness and therefore evil, which has a reality on the level
of relativity but not on that of the Absolute.
In the chapter "Is There Room for 'Grace' in Buddhism?" Pallis turns to a
subject which might appear as strange to those who identify Buddhism with a
kind of rationalistic philosophy and take refuge in it from not only Christian
theism, which they no longer understand, but the very notion of grace, which
they identify with religious sentimentality and which they seek to avoid at all

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455

cost. Pallis demonstrates, however, the centrality of grace in Buddhism despite

its nonpersonalist and nontheist perspective. He relates grace to enlightenment
and shows how the attractive influence of enlightenment strikes the conscious-
ness of human beings who stand on the axis of Buddhahood as at once invitation
to enlightenment, companionship of enlightenment, and remindersof enlighten-
ment. In connection with the latter, he discusses the incredible spiritual presence
of the sacred image of the Buddha and the role of traditional Buddhist art,
especially in its iconic form, in transmitting a sacred presence which cannot be
called anything but grace.
Pallis also deals in this particularly rich chapter, from the point of view of both
theology and comparative religion, with the contrast between tariki and jiriki,
identified in Japan with the Pure Land and Zen schools, respectively. He de-
monstrates how far from being totally exclusive of each other, each perspective
contains something of the other like the yin-yang symbol of the Chinese tradi-
tion. Herein (from p. 67) is also to be found one of the most spiritually appealing
descriptions of the Jodo or Pure Land school, which until quite recently has
received much less attention in the West than Zen.
Chapter five turns to the complex subject of Tantrism, which, despite the
pioneering work of Arthur Avalon and much valuable later research, has led in
the West to numerous psychological, occultist, and erotic misinterpretationsand
even deformations, which make the understanding of its veritable message
difficult. In correcting his earlier views in Peaks and Lamas, which interpreted
Tibetan Tantrism only in a Hindu light, Pallis now distinguishes clearly between
Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, which, despite their common usage of sexual
symbolism, possess basic differences. As he says,
"In Hindu Tantrism, Shiva (or any other male divinity) represents the static
aspect while the corresponding female form represents the dynamic or creative
aspect,.... In Buddhism, on the other hand, the symbolical pairing takes on an
impersonal form (which agrees with the Buddhist spiritual economy in general)
and it also works the other way round in as much as here it is prajna, the female
partner, who seems to indicate the more static aspect of the symbolism-
'wisdom' is essentially a state or quality of being-while the male element in the
syzygy is referredto as 'method' (upaya), which, on the face of it carries dynamic
implications...." (p. 76)
Pallis also compares the world view of Tantrism with alchemy understood in its
symbolic and spiritual sense.
The chapter "Nembutsu as Remembrance" deals with the universal practice
of quintessential prayer, which the author discusses in its Buddhist form both as
Nembutsu in Japan and the mani prayer in Tibet, while making illuminating
comparisons with the dhikr in the Islamic tradition and the prayer of the heart
among the Hesychasts in Greece, Pallis' own land of origin. If the earlierchapters
of the book were concerned primarily with matters of a metaphysical and
theological nature seen in the light of their practical import, this chapter is based
directly on the practical aspect of spirituality. Pallis writes of prayer and espe-

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456 Nasr

cially the quintessential prayer as one who has not simply read about it in books
or heard about it from others.
Writing of the effect of the mani prayer, which permeated the whole of Tibetan
life before one of the last completely intact traditional civilizations in the
world was brutally destroyed while the world looked the other way, Pallis gives
one of the most beautiful personal reminiscences to be found in any of his
writings.

"Certainly in the Tibet we visited," he writes, "while the traditional order there
was still intact, the whole landscape was as if suffused by the message of the
Buddha's Dharma; it came to one with the air one breathed, birds seemed to sing
of it, mountain streams hummed its refrain as they bubbled across the stones, a
dharmic perfume seemed to rise from every flower, at once a reminder and a
pointer of what still needed doing." (p. 91)

Perhaps the weightiest and metaphysically most significant essay in this collec-
tion is the one entitled "Dharma and the Dharmas," dedicated to A. K.
Coomaraswamy. In a masterly fashion Pallis analyzes the root meaning of this
untranslatable term, which in fact is related to the sacred oak of the Druids as
well as to their own name, and then attempts to render it into English as both
suchness and flow through existence or sarhsara. He discusses the relation of
dharma to society and the family, to the person (svadharma),and even to the
study of religions, the unveiling of whose unity has been the dharma of men like
Schuon and Coomaraswamy, or, to quote Pallis, "His [Coomaraswamy's]
dharma was to serve, together with some others, as its [dharma's] faithful
spokesman. Our dharma it is to listen to that message, and better still, to live it"
(p. 120). This chapter, which contains some of the profoundest pages written by
Pallis, teaches the reader who can comprehend the full import of its message,
more about Buddhism, and in fact religion as such, than most voluminous books
on the subject.
Pallis is an outstanding musician in addition to being an authority on Tibetan
Buddhism. Chapter eight of this collection, titled "The Metaphysics of Musical
Polyphony," reflects his deep knowledge of polyphonic music, which he himself
has done so much to revive in England. Although this essay may seem to be out
of place in a collection devoted to Buddhism, it fits well into the pattern of the
book inasmuch as the essay is concerned with the specifically Christian quality of
polyphonic music while the book is nearly as much a study across Buddhist-
Christian frontiers as a work devoted to Buddhism.
Any Oriental sensitive to spirituality who becomes familiar with post-
medieval Western art and culture is surprised by the difference of quality of
Western music, especially up to the middle of the eighteenth century, and the
plastic arts or other aspects of the culture. The worldly palaces in which a
Machiavelli strode differ very much from the music he might have heard. And
even the music performed at Versailles for Louis XIV was not of the same
profane and worldly nature as the architecture that surroundedhim, not to speak

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457

of the incrediblecontrastbetween,let us say, the B minorMassof Bachand the

philosophywhichwas beingproducedat the timeof its compositionin Europe.
It seemsthatthe deepestspiritualandtheologicalurgesandimpulsesof Western
man soughtrefugein musicwhenothermodes of art and thoughthad become
nearlytotallyprofaned.
Pallisrevealsthe secretof this phenomenonas it relatesto polyphonicmusic.
In a mannerwhichonly an experiencedmusicianwithmetaphysicalknowledge
could accomplish,he analyzes the metaphysicalfoundationsof polyphony,
pointingto the key note whichsymbolizesunity,then the ensuingcontrastand
complementarity and, finally,returnto the principalunity.Pallisalso discusses
the significanceof the contemporarymovementnot only to preserve,but to
returnto the mostauthenticmusicalformsperformedon authenticinstruments
relatingto polyphonicmusic.Thisurgeis seenby Pallisas a resultof a nostalgia
to returnto the Christiantradition,which alone has producedthe polyphonic
formof music.The one surprisingpoint in this brilliantessay is Pallis'positive
appreciationof Wagner,whose musicalphilosophylay at the antipodeof the
composersof the EnglishRenaissancewhose worksPallis has performedand
helpedto revivefor over half a century.
In the ninth chapter,titled simply "Anatta,"Pallis turns once again to a
specificallyBuddhistsubject,thistimeone of themost controversialanddebated
of themes.Whatdoes thedoctrineof "selflessness" or anatta(thePaliformof the
termused deliberatelyby Pallis)mean?The author,who is himselfone of the
eminent representativesof the traditionalschool, rejects the views of both
Guenonand Coomaraswamyconcerningthis particularsubjectand refusesto
identifyanattawitheithersimplyselflessnessor therejectionof theselfin favorof
the Self.For Pallisthiswholedoctrineis a koanwhichis to be distinguishedfrom
a riddle.As a koan,it is to be meditatedupon until, throughenlightenment,its
meaningbecomesclear. For the generalreader,however,even withoutmedi-
tation, the text of the chapterremovesat the very least some of the prevalent
errorsconcerningthis centralBuddhistdoctrine.
Finally,in the tenth and last chapter,Pallis turnsto still anothersurprising
topic from the Buddhistpoint of view, the subjectof archetypes,which one
mightthinkhas no place in a religionwhichsees sarhsaricflow throughoutthe
Roundof Existence.Pallisidentifiesthe returnto one's archetypewiththe urge
"to go home." He opposes vigorouslythe psychologicalinterpretationof ar-
chetypeswhichhas becomeprevalentin manyquartersas a resultof the spread
of Jungian psychology, whose teachings must not under any condition be
confusedwiththetraditionaldoctrineof archetypes.Pallisrelatesthearchetypes
to the nirvanicstateanddiscussestheirrelationto the act of satori.He discusses
therapportof thearchetypesto subjectsas farapartas the questionof determin-
ism and freewill and mandalas.
A BuddhistSpectrumis a wise book while being thoroughlyreliablefrom a
scholarlypoint of view. The aim of the authoris not to presenthistoricalfacts

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458 Nasr

about Buddhismor analyze what is currentlycalled Buddhistphilosophy.

Rather,it is to presentthe wisdomof Buddhismfrom the traditionalpoint of
view, which, while accepting all the formal diversityof religionswilled by
Heaven,sees also the unifyingTruththat shinesbeyondthese forms. Pallis is
concernedin a typicallyBuddhistfashionwiththe concreteandpracticalimport
of whathe writes.The book is in a senseone long admonitionto rememberthe
preciousnessof humanlife difficultto obtain.The discussionof mindfulnessor
metanoiais repeatedthroughoutthe book like the mainthemeof a symphonic
poem.Pallisis interestednot only in makingBuddhismbetterknownbut also in
enablingWesterners,most of whose positive religiousheritagederivesfrom
Christianity,to benefitfromthe Buddhisttraditionin seekingto revivetheirown
tradition.As alreadymentioned,Pallis standsdiametricallyopposed to those
who use Buddhismas an instrumentwithwhichto combatthe theisticreligions
whichhavedominatedthe life of Westernman for nearlytwo millenia.
TheEnglishstyleof Pallisis elegant,reflectinga masteryof thelanguagewhich
is becomingrareramongscholarsof religions.Moreover,he seeksto convertthe
adversarythroughgentlepersuasionandto subduethe enemywhilemaintaining
his role as a gentlemanof the old English school. His charity and positive
sentimentstowardsothers-even those in errorfrom the traditionalpoint of
view-are to be seen on every page. But, as Tibetan mandalasand sacred
precinctsrevealso clearly,the sacredis alwaysprotectednot only by angelicbut
alsoby fearsomebeingswho guardtheentranceagainstthe demonsof darkness.
In a worldin whicherroris so prevalentas to castinto doubttheveryexistenceof
Truth,those who seek to defendthe Truthas traditionallyunderstoodhave no
choice but to use at times the "swordof gnosis"to destroythat which would
endangerthe terrestrialmanifestationof the Truth.If thereis one criticismto be
madeof thisbookfromthe pointof viewchosenby the authorhimself,thatis, of
tradition,it is thathe is not severeenoughin his condemnationof certainerrors
withoutwhosedestructionthe truthof the mattercannotbe assertedin such a
way as to becomeconvincingand acceptableby those not alreadypersuaded.
This criticismdoes not, however,in any way destroythe greatvalue of this
book. A BuddhistSpectrumis at once one of the most readableworks on
Buddhismanda majorworkon comparativereligionandlivingspirituality.It is
the fruit of the thoughts and meditationsof a man whose authoritativeex-
positionduringseveraldecadesof religiousquestionsin generalandBuddhismin
particular,especiallyin its Tibetanform, have had a profoundinfluenceupon
manyscholarsand practitionersof religionin both East and West.
SEYYEDHOSSEINNASR
TempleUniversity

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