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Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
In this deeply learned work, Toshihiko Izutsu compares the metaphysical and mystical thought-systems of Sufism and Taoism and discovers that, although historically unrelated, the two share features and patterns which prove fruitful for a transhistorical dialogue. His original and suggestive approach opens new doors in the study of comparative philosophy and mysticism.
Izutsu begins with Ibn 'Arabi, analyzing and isolating the major ontological concepts of this most challenging of Islamic thinkers. Then, in the second part of the book, Izutsu turns his attention to an analysis of parallel concepts of two great Taoist thinkers, Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. Only after laying bare the fundamental structure of each world view does Izutsu embark, in the final section of the book, upon a comparative analysis. Only thus, he argues, can he be sure to avoid easy and superficial comparisons. Izutsu maintains that both the Sufi and Taoist world views are based on two pivots-the Absolute Man and the Perfect Man-with a whole system of oncological thought being developed between these two pivots. Izutsu discusses similarities in these ontological systems and advances the hypothesis that certain patterns of mystical and metaphysical thought may be shared even by systems with no apparent historical connection.
This second edition of Sufism and Taoism is the first published in the United States. The original edition, published in English and in Japan, was prized by the few English-speaking scholars who knew of it as a model in the field of comparative philosophy. Making available in English much new material on both sides of its comparison, Sufism and Taoism richly fulfills Izutsu's motivating desire "to open a new vista in the domain of comparative philosophy."
Product description
From the Back Cover
"Professor Izutsu's work is a pioneering attempt to bring into focus the shareable philosophical concerns of two seemingly unrelated landmarks into religious thought. His method is suggestive, interpretation new and bold, and material used important for further research. His book is useful to students of comparative religion, philosophy of religion, cultural anthropology, Asian thought and religion, and Islamic and Taoist studies."--Tu Wei-ming
"[This book] carries out a comparison in depth between Islamic and Chinese thought for the first time in modern scholarship. . . . Since this book appeared it has influenced every work on Ibn 'Arabi and metaphysical Sufism...[and] any cursory study of Sufism during the last fifteen years will reveal the extent of Izutsu's influence."--Seyyed Hossein Nasr
About the Author
Toshihiko Izutsu is Professor Emeritus at Keio University of Japan. A world authority on Islamic thought, he taught for ten years in Iran and has been active in promoting transcultural dialogue in philosophy.
Product details
Publisher : *University of California Press; 1st edition (6 August 1984)
Language : English
Hardcover : 493 pages
=======
Customer reviews
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
38 global ratings
Top reviews
Dr. Don Whyte
5.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly work.Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 27 June 2014
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This took alot of concentrated time to read but it was worth every minute. His study of Sufism and Taoism is original and well researched. Truly a work of scholarship, recommended for serious students of Sufism and Taoism.
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PW108
5.0 out of 5 stars
Samuel W. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Izutsu meticulously unpacks the profound metaphysics of Ibn ...Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 May 2018
Verified Purchase
Dr. Izutsu patiently and meticulously unpacks the metaphysics of first, Ibn 'Arabi, and then Zhuangzi and Laozi. He also--particularly with regard to the Daoist masters--beautifully outlines the programs through and by which one comes to embody/become that metaphysics. Finally, he compares and locates deep congruences between Ibn 'Arabi and Zhuangzi/Laozi. This erudite and deeply felt work will stimulate and inspire anyone who is interested in spiritual expansion and/or comparitive mysticism; it might change the minds of those who feel the comparitive mysticism project is misguided, or impossible.
8 people found this helpful
Lydia Mills
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, in depth , thoroughReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 26 October 2017
Verified Purchase
The mystics will recognise all the familiar "landmarks" in this amazing book, despite it sounding technical, formal and wordy.
I absolutely loved this book.
10 people found this helpful
William
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't be more pleased.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 15 May 2020
Verified Purchase
Excellent item, well described, packaging and speed of mailing were great. Thank you.
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Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts of Ibn 'Arabi and Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu by Toshihiko Izutsu
Toshihiko Izutsu
4.67
6 ratings1 review
Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
493 pages, Hardcover
Book details & editions
Toshihiko Izutsu was a university professor and author of many books on Islam and other religions. He taught at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic studies at Keio University in Tokyo, the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy in Tehran, and McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
4.67
6 ratings1 review
Mamluk Qayser
199 reviews16 followers
Follow
April 13, 2022
This book is one of Isutzu's cornerstone: an epic expanding on the works of Ibnu Arabi, especially in his magnum opus Fusus al-Hikam.
Ibnu Arabi is one of the great physical that expounds the teaching of the Unity of Existence (wahdah al-wujud) into Islamic orthodoxy. While, of course, to say that that the orthodoxy fully accepted the idea is stretching too far. The ontological model would always be an uncomfortable fringe to many orthodox figures, for it is not that far from al-Asharite idea of "eternalness of substance" (in comparison to attributes), but the idea of Unity of Existence have too much of fringe of bombastic metaphors and also the cases of (misunderstood?) extremists such as al-Hallaj and other succumbed mystics. It took al-Attas to reformulate the idea in a more sober exposition, pulling it from the high heaven of similes to a robust digestible fact.
The model, in my opinion, is the only robust ontological model that bypasses the jettison between two indubitable facts; of the Absoluteness of God and the existence of the world. Spinoza has answered the first in a more chimerical way in his monism; by concluding God is so Absolute that He also includes within Himself the attributes of extension. The latter part has been answered in its most extreme form by the heretical mystic sects that affirms gross materialism, or perhaps the Asharites and the philosophers, who in their sincere way to retain the transcendence of God, affirm the theory of eternalness of substance.
This model has been expounded again and again somewhere in my reviews here, especially under al-Attas' "Degrees of Existence", al-Ghazzali's "Niche of Light" and Toshihko Isutzu's "Concept and Meaning of Existence".
2022
Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
In this deeply learned work, Toshihiko Izutsu compares the metaphysical and mystical thought-systems of Sufism and Taoism and discovers that, although historically unrelated, the two share features and patterns which prove fruitful for a transhistorical dialogue. His original and suggestive approach opens new doors in the study of comparative philosophy and mysticism.
Izutsu begins with Ibn 'Arabi, analyzing and isolating the major ontological concepts of this most challenging of Islamic thinkers. Then, in the second part of the book, Izutsu turns his attention to an analysis of parallel concepts of two great Taoist thinkers, Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. Only after laying bare the fundamental structure of each world view does Izutsu embark, in the final section of the book, upon a comparative analysis. Only thus, he argues, can he be sure to avoid easy and superficial comparisons. Izutsu maintains that both the Sufi and Taoist world views are based on two pivots-the Absolute Man and the Perfect Man-with a whole system of oncological thought being developed between these two pivots. Izutsu discusses similarities in these ontological systems and advances the hypothesis that certain patterns of mystical and metaphysical thought may be shared even by systems with no apparent historical connection.
This second edition of Sufism and Taoism is the first published in the United States. The original edition, published in English and in Japan, was prized by the few English-speaking scholars who knew of it as a model in the field of comparative philosophy. Making available in English much new material on both sides of its comparison, Sufism and Taoism richly fulfills Izutsu's motivating desire "to open a new vista in the domain of comparative philosophy."
Product description
From the Back Cover
"Professor Izutsu's work is a pioneering attempt to bring into focus the shareable philosophical concerns of two seemingly unrelated landmarks into religious thought. His method is suggestive, interpretation new and bold, and material used important for further research. His book is useful to students of comparative religion, philosophy of religion, cultural anthropology, Asian thought and religion, and Islamic and Taoist studies."--Tu Wei-ming
"[This book] carries out a comparison in depth between Islamic and Chinese thought for the first time in modern scholarship. . . . Since this book appeared it has influenced every work on Ibn 'Arabi and metaphysical Sufism...[and] any cursory study of Sufism during the last fifteen years will reveal the extent of Izutsu's influence."--Seyyed Hossein Nasr
About the Author
Toshihiko Izutsu is Professor Emeritus at Keio University of Japan. A world authority on Islamic thought, he taught for ten years in Iran and has been active in promoting transcultural dialogue in philosophy.
Product details
Publisher : *University of California Press; 1st edition (6 August 1984)
Language : English
Hardcover : 493 pages
=======
Customer reviews
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
38 global ratings
Top reviews
Dr. Don Whyte
5.0 out of 5 stars A scholarly work.Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 27 June 2014
Verified Purchase
This took alot of concentrated time to read but it was worth every minute. His study of Sufism and Taoism is original and well researched. Truly a work of scholarship, recommended for serious students of Sufism and Taoism.
Report abuse
PW108
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scholarly and Fascinating: An in-depth Comparison of Two Profound Spiritual Paths
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 10 November 2021
Verified Purchase
Professor Toshihiko Izutsu’s writing in this stellar book is amazingly well researched and understandable. Either half of the book could stand on its own, but together they represent a (as far as I know) heretofore unattempted examination of the core aspects of the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi, in relation to the Taoist thought of Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu.
Verified Purchase
Professor Toshihiko Izutsu’s writing in this stellar book is amazingly well researched and understandable. Either half of the book could stand on its own, but together they represent a (as far as I know) heretofore unattempted examination of the core aspects of the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi, in relation to the Taoist thought of Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu.
At first blush, mystical Islam and Taoism may appear to be an odd couple, but as it is with most of the world’s great spiritual traditions,
they share many esoteric commonalities — regardless of what the dogmatic fundamentalists say.
My introduction to Izutsu was from footnotes in a well-worth exploring book titled “A Treasury of Sufi Wisdom: The Path of Unity” edited by Peter Samsel, and previously reviewed by me as well.
My introduction to Izutsu was from footnotes in a well-worth exploring book titled “A Treasury of Sufi Wisdom: The Path of Unity” edited by Peter Samsel, and previously reviewed by me as well.
I was so impressed with their clarity that I bought the book the citations were from: Izutsu’s “Creation and the Timeless Order of Things: Essays in Islamic Mystical Philosophy.”
I have recently reviewed this book too.
In addition, I’ve found one more from his oeuvre thankfully still in print: “Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism.”
I’ve not read it at the time this review was written, but based on his two books that I have read, I am positive that I’ll find it requiring a review. If these specific areas of philosophy, metaphysics, and religion are in your wheelhouse, then I have no doubts that Izutsu’s work will both impress and enlighten!
3 people found this helpful
3 people found this helpful
Samuel W. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Izutsu meticulously unpacks the profound metaphysics of Ibn ...Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 May 2018
Verified Purchase
Dr. Izutsu patiently and meticulously unpacks the metaphysics of first, Ibn 'Arabi, and then Zhuangzi and Laozi. He also--particularly with regard to the Daoist masters--beautifully outlines the programs through and by which one comes to embody/become that metaphysics. Finally, he compares and locates deep congruences between Ibn 'Arabi and Zhuangzi/Laozi. This erudite and deeply felt work will stimulate and inspire anyone who is interested in spiritual expansion and/or comparitive mysticism; it might change the minds of those who feel the comparitive mysticism project is misguided, or impossible.
8 people found this helpful
Lydia Mills
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, in depth , thoroughReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 26 October 2017
Verified Purchase
The mystics will recognise all the familiar "landmarks" in this amazing book, despite it sounding technical, formal and wordy.
I absolutely loved this book.
10 people found this helpful
William
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't be more pleased.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 15 May 2020
Verified Purchase
Excellent item, well described, packaging and speed of mailing were great. Thank you.
Report abuse
Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts of Ibn 'Arabi and Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu by Toshihiko Izutsu
Toshihiko Izutsu
4.67
6 ratings1 review
Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
493 pages, Hardcover
Book details & editions
Toshihiko Izutsu was a university professor and author of many books on Islam and other religions. He taught at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic studies at Keio University in Tokyo, the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy in Tehran, and McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
4.67
6 ratings1 review
Mamluk Qayser
199 reviews16 followers
Follow
April 13, 2022
This book is one of Isutzu's cornerstone: an epic expanding on the works of Ibnu Arabi, especially in his magnum opus Fusus al-Hikam.
Ibnu Arabi is one of the great physical that expounds the teaching of the Unity of Existence (wahdah al-wujud) into Islamic orthodoxy. While, of course, to say that that the orthodoxy fully accepted the idea is stretching too far. The ontological model would always be an uncomfortable fringe to many orthodox figures, for it is not that far from al-Asharite idea of "eternalness of substance" (in comparison to attributes), but the idea of Unity of Existence have too much of fringe of bombastic metaphors and also the cases of (misunderstood?) extremists such as al-Hallaj and other succumbed mystics. It took al-Attas to reformulate the idea in a more sober exposition, pulling it from the high heaven of similes to a robust digestible fact.
The model, in my opinion, is the only robust ontological model that bypasses the jettison between two indubitable facts; of the Absoluteness of God and the existence of the world. Spinoza has answered the first in a more chimerical way in his monism; by concluding God is so Absolute that He also includes within Himself the attributes of extension. The latter part has been answered in its most extreme form by the heretical mystic sects that affirms gross materialism, or perhaps the Asharites and the philosophers, who in their sincere way to retain the transcendence of God, affirm the theory of eternalness of substance.
This model has been expounded again and again somewhere in my reviews here, especially under al-Attas' "Degrees of Existence", al-Ghazzali's "Niche of Light" and Toshihko Isutzu's "Concept and Meaning of Existence".
2022
