Oldmeadow was born inMelbourne in 1947. His parents wereChristianmissionaries inIndia and he spent the first nine years of his childhood there and developed an early interest in the civilisations of the East.[1][2]
Oldmeadow studied history, politics and literature at theAustralian National University, graduating in 1968 with First Class Honours in History,[3] and theUniversity of Sydney, as well as working as a history tutor atLa Trobe University in Melbourne. In 1971 a Commonwealth Overseas Research Scholarship allowed him to study at theUniversity of Oxford, followed by extensive travel in Europe and North Africa.[1]
In 1980 he achieved amaster's degree inreligious studies at theUniversity of Sydney where he completed a dissertation on the work ofFrithjof Schuon and the other principaltraditionalist writers.[4] This study was awarded the University of Sydney Medal for excellence in research and was eventually published by theSri Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies under the titleTraditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (Colombo, 2000).[1] Under the auspices of this institute, Oldmeadow delivered the InauguralAnanda Coomaraswamy Memorial Lecture inColombo on "The Religious Tradition of the Australian Aborigines".[5][6][7]
Oldmeadow was the Co-ordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies atLa Trobe University, Bendigo, where he also taught Literature and Cinema Studies. He has published extensively in such journals asSacred Web (Vancouver),Sophia (Washington DC) andAsian Philosophy (Nottingham, UK). In late 2001, he was a key speaker at a large interfaith gathering in Sydney organised by theAustralian Centre for Sufism;[8] the theme of the meeting was the need for interreligious understanding in the wake of the11 September 2001 attacks.[citation needed]
Leaves in the Wind (a memoir), Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2022.
Timeless Truths and Modern Delusions: The Perennial Philosophy as a Guide for contemporary Buddhists, Melbourne: Platform, 2021.
Gleanings: A Miscellany (essays and reviews,Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2021.
Against the Tide: Modern Christian Thinkers, Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2022.
Persons of Interest: People, Books, Ideas, Encounters,Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2023.
The Frenzy on the Wall: 701 Must-See Films (2 volumes),Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2023.
The Realm of Splendour: Sketches, Commentaries and Reflections on the Natural Order,Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2022 (co-authored with Brian Coman).
Sacred Heart Cathedral Bendigo, Bendigo: Carbarita Press, 2023 (co-authored with Brian Coman and Frank Marriott).
Articles
Luther's Affirmation, St Mark's Review, No. 52, May 1968
Petrarch and Dr. Leavis: A Perspective on Literature and Society, ANU Historical Journal, No 6, Nov 1969
Traditional and Modern Attitudes to Religious Biography, Religious Traditions, VII-IX 1986
The Religious Tradition of the Australian Aborigines, Sri Lanka Institute of Traditional Studies, 1990
The Religious Tradition of the Australian Aborigines in A. Sharma (ed) Fragments of Infinity: Essays in Philosophy and Religion, Prism Press, 1991
Disowning the Past: the Political and Postmodernist Assault on the Humanities, Quadrant, March 1992
Sankara's Doctrine of Maya, Asian Philosophy 2:2, 1992
The Life and Work of René Guénon introduction to R. Guénon's Reign of Quantity, Sophia Perennis et Universalis, 1995
Modern Science and the Destruction of Traditional Understandings, Australian Orthodontic Journal 14:3, October 1996
Tracking The Searchers: A survey of its critical reception, Continuum, 11:2 1997
Delivering the last blade of grass': Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal in the Mahayana, Asian Philosophy, 1997 *"Metaphysics, Theology and Philosophy", Sacred Web I, 1998
A Sage for the Times: the Role and Oeuvre of Frithjof Schuon, Sophia, 1998
The Translucence of the Eternal': Religious Understandings of the Natural Order, Sacred Web 2, 1998
To a Buddhist Beat: Allen Ginsberg on Poetics, Politics and Spirituality, Beyond the Divide 3, 1999
The Role of Mystical Traditions in the Contemporary World, The Treasure: Australia's Sufi Magazine, Issue No. 8, 2000
Formal Diversity, Inner Unity, Sacred Web, 2000
The Not-so-Close Encounters of Western Psychology & Eastern Spirituality (The Animist, 2000)
Melodies from the Beyond: Aboriginal Religion in Schuonian Perspective (Connaissance des religions, 2001)
'Signs of the Supra-Sensible': Frithjof Schuon on the Natural Order (Sacred Web, 2001)
Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred (Bloomington:World Wisdom, 2003)
