Reclaiming a Sacred Cosmology: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the Perennial Philosophy, and Sustainability Education

Oct 15, 2026

Reframing the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education’s question on religion in environmental education, the essay argues for a religious view of the order of nature as an alternative worldview for sustainability. Drawing on Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s perennial philosophy, it claims environmental education and studies must reintroduce lost religious-spiritual dimensions of nature, including metaphysical, epistemological, and ontological environmental ethics. It further calls for validating non-scientific ways of knowing to enable lasting progress amid the worldview crisis underlying unsustainability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Core Argument: Religion, worldview, and sustainability

Sacred cosmology and educational implications

Reclaiming a Sacred Cosmology: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the Perennial Philosophy, and Sustainability Education Almut Beringer, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada Abstract The question posed by the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education volume 11,“where is the place for religion in environmental education?” is rephrased in this essay to become,“where is the place for a religious view of the order of nature in environmental education?” Relying on the writings of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a proponent of the perennial philosophy and an eminent scholar of Islam and comparative religion, I use this paper to explore the notion of a religious order of nature and, in extension, sacred cosmology as an alternative worldview on the pathway toward sustainability. I maintain that environmental education, in particular, and environmental studies, more generally, bear responsibility to re-introduce, on a cultural level and global scale, lost dimensions of a religious-spiritual knowledge of nature. This includes reclaiming environmental ethics embedded in timeless metaphysical, epistemological, and ontological understandings of the cosmos, and validating non-scientific ways of knowing. To ensure true and lasting progress toward sustainability, it seems vital to address the global crisis of unsustainability more seriously as a crisis of worldview, and to strengthen a consequent transformation of perception. Providing alternative worldviews which hold promise for sustainability, with environmental education charting the path toward a paradigm shift, is particularly critical in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which so far is mostly silent on the deepest dimensions of unsustainability. Résumé La question posée par le Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, volume 11, « Quelle est la place de la religion dans l’éducation écologique? » devient, dans cet essai, « Quelle est la place pour un point de vue religieux de l’ordre naturel dans l’éducation écologique? » Se basant sur les écrits de Seyyed Hossein Nasr, un adepte de la philosophie pérenne et un éminentsavant de l’Islam et des religions comparatives, je me sers de cet article pour analyser la notion d’un ordre naturel religieux et, par extension, la cosmologie sacrée comme une vision mondiale optionnelle qui conduit à la durabilité. Je soutiens que l’éducation durable en particulier, et plus généralement les études en environnement, portent la responsabilité deréintroduire, sur une base culturelle et sur une échelle globale, les dimensions perdues d’un savoir religieux-spirituel de la nature. Il s’agit derécupérer l’éthique de l’environnement intégrée dans une inépuisable compréhension métaphysique, épistémologique et ontologique du cosmos et devalider des façons de savoir non scientifiques. Pour s’assurer d’un progrès 26 Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 11, 2006 vrai et durable vers la pérennité, il semble vital d’aborder plus sérieusementl’ensemble de la crise sur la non durabilité comme une crise de vision planétaire et de renforcer la nouvelle perception qui s’ensuit. Présenter des visions du monde optionnelles garantes de durabilité, en même temps qu’une éducation écologique qui tracerait la voie à un changement de paradigme, devient particulièrement critique pour la Décennie des Nations Unies pour l’éducation en vue du développement durable qui, à date, est presque silencieuse sur les aspects les plus profonds de la non durabilité . Keywords: perennial philosophy; Seyyed Hossein Nasr; religious order of nature; sacred cosmology; sustainability education; environmental education Without the rediscovery of this sacred science of the order of nature, its exposition in a contemporary medium without distortion or dilution and the formulation of the link between such a knowledge of the order of nature and the ethics of the environment, there is no doubt that what remains of order in the natural and human worlds will tu

FAQs

How does the essay reframe the original question about religion in environmental education?

It shifts the question to where a religious view of the order of nature belongs within environmental education, using it as a lens for sustainability.

What role does sacred cosmology play in the essay’s account of sustainability?

Sacred cosmology is presented as an alternative worldview that can support environmental educators’ goal of enabling a sustainable future.

What does the essay say environmental education must reclaim or validate to achieve lasting sustainability?

It argues for reintroducing religious-spiritual knowledge of nature and validating non-scientific ways of knowing, grounded in timeless metaphysical, epistemological, and ontological understandings.

Oct 15, 2026

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