The Perennial Map
The Perennial Map
The full corpus of teachings, cross-linked across traditions and themes. The interactive constellation mounts on top of this index — every teaching below opens its node on the Map.
Themes
The Corpus — 128 Teachings across 19 Traditions
Form Is EmptinessHeart Sutra (Prajnaparamita)The Fire SermonAdittapariyaya Sutta (SN 35.28)Mind Is the ForerunnerDhammapada vv. 1–5To Forget the SelfDogen Zenji, Genjokoan (1233)The Mirror Mind — Shenxiu and HuinengThe Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (8th century CE)The Four BrahmaviharasPali Canon — Metta Sutta; Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa, 5th century CE)The Half-SmileIconography of the meditating Buddha; Ram Dass on compassion
The Lilies of the FieldMatthew 6:25–34The BeatitudesMatthew 5:1–12In the Beginning Was the WordJohn 1:1–14I and the Father Are OneJohn 10:30 & 14:10The Kingdom Is Within YouLuke 17:20–21The Peace That Passes UnderstandingPhilippians 4:4–7Romans 8:28Paul of Tarsus, Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8The God of This AgePaul of Tarsus, 2 Corinthians 4:4–7A Son of God — The Added ArticleGospel of John 10:30–34; Psalm 82:6The Commandments as KoanSermon on the Mount, Matthew 5–7; Romans 7:7Kenosis — The Self-EmptyingPhilippians 2:5–7; John 12:24
The Kingdom Within and WithoutGospel of Thomas, Saying 3I Am the Light Over All ThingsGospel of Thomas, Saying 77Already Spread Upon the EarthGospel of Thomas, Saying 113Blessed Are the PoorGospel of Thomas, Saying 54The Demiurge and the Hidden GodApocryphon of John (Nag Hammadi Codex II, 2nd–3rd century CE)
The Emerald TabletTabula Smaragdina (attr. Hermes Trismegistus)The Vision of PoimandresCorpus Hermeticum, Book IThe Principle of MentalismThe Kybalion (Three Initiates, 1908) / Corpus HermeticumThe Principle of VibrationThe Kybalion (Three Initiates, 1908)The Opus Magnum — The Great WorkThe alchemical tradition — Rosarium Philosophorum, Splendor Solis; Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy (1944)
Karma Yoga — The Yoga of Your KarmaBhagavad Gita 3:35Action Without AttachmentBhagavad Gita 2:47Abandon All and SurrenderBhagavad Gita 18:66Tat Tvam Asi — Thou Art ThatChandogya Upanishad 6.8.7The Self in All Things — Aham BrahmasmiBrihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10The Four States — TuriyaMandukya UpanishadThe Cosmic Form — VishvarupaBhagavad Gita, Chapter 11Karma: The True MeaningBhagavad Gita, Chapter 4 / UpanishadsThe Kali Yuga — The Age of DissolutionThe Puranas; the Bhagavata Purana; the MahabharataNada Brahma — The World Is SoundVedic tradition; the Mandukya Upanishad; the Sama VedaThe Avatara — The Ground DescendingBhagavad Gita 4:7-8; the Bhagavata PuranaThe SiddhisPatanjali, Yoga Sutras, Book III (Vibhuti Pada)The Dance of ShivaNataraja iconography; Alan Watts, The Two Hands of God (1963)Kali — Facing the DarknessKali iconography; Tantric and Bengali devotional traditionLila — The Divine PlayVedanta; Alan Watts, The Two Hands of God
All My Relations — Mitakuye OyasinLakota tradition / Black ElkThe Flowering Tree — The Sacred HoopBlack Elk Speaks (Black Elk / John Neihardt, 1932)
The Shema — Radical OnenessDeuteronomy 6:4 / Kabbalistic traditionEin Sof — The Infinite Without EndZohar / Lurianic KabbalahBe Still and KnowPsalm 46:10The Voice from the WhirlwindBook of Job, Chapters 38–42The WagerBook of Job, Chapters 1–2All Rivers Run to the SeaEcclesiastes 1:4–7 (Qoheleth)The Prophetic TraditionIsaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, Micah
The Eye Through Which God SeesMeister Eckhart, Sermons (c. 1300)The Point Vierge — Louisville VisionThomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1966)On Love — The PruningKahlil Gibran, The Prophet (1923)God and the GodheadMeister Eckhart, Sermons (c. 1300 CE)The Idea of the HolyRudolf Otto, Das Heilige (1917 CE)The Process of SubtractionMeister Eckhart, SermonsThe Dark Night of the SoulJohn of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul (c. 1578–79)
The One Beyond All BeingPlotinus, Enneads VI.9The Flight of the Alone to the AlonePlotinus, Enneads VI.9.11
Indra's NetAvatamsaka Sutra / Hindu cosmologyThe Universe Is PeoplingAlan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957) / various lecturesThe Observer Is the ObservedJ. Krishnamurti, The First and Last Freedom (1954) / various talksThis Is ItAlan Watts, This Is It (1958) / various lecturesThe Cosmic Game of Hide and SeekAlan Watts, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (1966)Be Here NowRam Dass, Be Here Now (1971) / various talksWe're All Just Walking Each Other HomeRam Dass, various talks and writingsThe Vicious CircleAlan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951) & Man and Nature lecture, SMU (1965)Here Is the ChoiceAlan Watts, Man and Nature lecture, SMU (1965)The Power That Comes the Other WayAlan Watts, Man and Nature lecture, SMU (1965)Life Is SchoolEmmanuel / Ram Dass, "An Evening with Ram Dass" (The Sun Magazine) / Becoming NobodyThe RiverAlan Watts (various lectures)The TorchAlan Watts, "Acceptance of Death" lectureThe WaterfallAlan Watts, "Acceptance of Death" / "Redemption" lecturesThe PersonaCarl Jung, drawing on Greek theatrical tradition; also Erving Goffman (1956)The Code of HammurabiThe Code of Hammurabi, c. 1754 BCEThe MonomythJoseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)The Hero's ReturnJoseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (1988); The Hero with a Thousand FacesThe Myth of SisyphusAlbert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)The Stranger — The Accidental BuddhistAlbert Camus, The Stranger / L'Étranger (1942)The Taboo Against Knowing Who You AreAlan Watts, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (1966)Ram Dass and the TurnRam Dass, Be Here Now (1971); Becoming Nobody (documentary, 2019)Can't You See It's All PerfectNeem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji); transmitted through Ram Dass and Larry BrilliantYou Are An ApertureAlan Watts, various lectures and writings (1960s–1973)The AntibodyTerence McKenna / Alan Watts / Ram Dass / Neem Karoli Baba — synthesizedThe World Is Made of WordsTerence McKenna — "Alien Dreamtime" (1993) and collected talksThe Cosmic GiggleRam Dass, "Seeing Humor in Our Predicament"Bearing the UnbearableRam Dass, "Dealing With Suffering and Seeing It as Grace"
The Living GeometrySacred Mathematics / NatureWe Are Made of Star StuffCarl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980)The Pale Blue DotCarl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994) / Voyager 1 image (February 14, 1990)The Implicate Order — Undivided WholenessDavid Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order (1980)The Cosmic Religious FeelingAlbert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions (1954) / The World As I See It (1931)The Star Gives BirthNASA Webb Telescope / ESO / Gemini Observatory (2024–2026)The Double Slit ExperimentYoung’s double-slit experiment (1801) / Quantum mechanics (20th century)The Universe as MusicString theory / Superstring theory (1970s–present)The Electromagnetic HeartHeartMath Institute — McCraty, R. (2004); Tom Shadyac, dir., I Am (2011)Earthing — In Dwelling, Live Close to the GroundChevalier et al., Journal of Environmental and Public Health (2012); Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8
The Kami in All ThingsKojiki / Motoori Norinaga (18th century)Kannagara — Following the Way of the KamiShinto tradition — Kannagara no MichiMusubi — The Generative WeavingKojiki / Shinto cosmology
Ik Onkar — The Mool MantarGuru Nanak, Guru Granth Sahib (opening)How Shall the Truth Be Known?Guru Nanak, Japji Sahib
The Logos Within and WithoutMarcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. 170–180 CE)What Is in Our PowerEpictetus, Enchiridion (c. 125 CE)Time Is the Only Thing Truly OursSeneca, Letters I (c. 65 CE)Amor FatiMarcus Aurelius, MeditationsPanta Rhei — Everything FlowsHeraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BCE)
The Song of the ReedRumi, Masnavi Book I (trans. Coleman Barks)The Guest HouseRumi, Masnavi V.157 (Coleman Barks translation; faithful translation from Persian)Ana al-Haqq — I Am the TruthAl-Hallaj & Ibn Arabi (9th–13th century)Kun Fayakun — Be, and It IsQur'an 36:82 & 2:117; Ibn ArabiAl-Insan al-Kamil — The Perfect HumanIbn Arabi — Fusus al-Hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom, 1229 CE)Karamat — The Saints' DeedsAl-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub (Unveiling the Veiled); Ibn Arabi; the wider Sufi tradition
The Nameless BeginningTao Te Ching, Chapter 1 (Mitchell trans.)Returning to the RootTao Te Ching, Chapter 16 (Mitchell trans.)Wu Wei — Effortless ActionTao Te Ching, Chapter 37 (Mitchell trans.)Subtracting DailyTao Te Ching, Chapter 48 (Mitchell trans.)Water and StoneTao Te Ching, Chapter 78 (Mitchell trans.)Highest Good Like WaterTao Te Ching, Chapter 8 (Laozi)The Living Are SoftTao Te Ching, Chapter 76 (Laozi)The Sage RulerTao Te Ching, chapters 17, 57, 58 (Stephen Mitchell translation)
Zarathustra's Hymns — The GathasYasna 28 (c. 1500–1000 BCE)Asha — The Cosmic Order of TruthAvestan tradition — Humata Hukhta Huvarshta