Temenos Academy Review 2013

This annual review is always a feast of interesting material centred around such themes as wisdom, civilisation and tradition, and emphasising the vertical dimensional life. It opens with an essay by the founder, Kathleen Raine, on global unity and the arts, calling for the restoration of the centre to our worldview and insisting that our cultural crisis can only be resolved by the change of philosophical premises. The Dalai Lama contributes an essay on compassion, and there are two other pieces connected with Tibetan Buddhism. There is a substantial contribution on Shakespeare and education and another essay on divine love in early Persian prose. David Cadman remembers John Lane, and there is a striking tribute to John Michell, including some of his paintings, which I have not seen before. In the review section, we find a book on the truth of India and a fascinating account of a conversation with S.H. Nasr on his life and thought. As always, there is some beautiful poetry.