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In Symbols of Sacred Science, Gunon, a master of precise, even
'mathematical' metaphysical exposition, reveals himself as a
consummate exegete of myth and symbolism as well, superior in many
ways to Mircea Eliade, and comparable perhaps only to his respected
friend Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. This extraordinary text unveils the
cosmological meanings of root symbols organized under such general
headings as: The Center of the World, Cyclic Manifestation, Symboic
Weapons, Axial Symbolism and the Symbolsim of Passage, The
Symbolism of Building, and The Symbolism of the Heart. Far more
than a simple catalogue of myths and symbols from many traditions,
Symbols of the Sacred Science lays the foundation for a universal
esoteric symbology. In this work, Gunon demonstrates the
fundamental unity-across all cultures and ages-of the images with
which the Absolute clothes itself in its cosmic self-revelation.
Especially since the Renaissance, some in Western Christendom have
suspected that the deeper dimension of their tradition has somehow
been lost, and have therefore sought to discover, or create, an
'esoteric' or 'initiatic' Christianity. In the middle of the
nineteenth century two scholars, Gabriele Rossetti and Eugne Aroux,
pointed to certain esoteric meanings in the work of Dante
Alighieri, notably The Divine Comedy. Partly based on their
scholarship, Gunon in 1925 published The Esoterism of Dante. From
the theses of Rosetti and Aroux, Gunon retains only those elements
that prove the existence of such hidden meanings; but he also makes
clear that esoterism is not 'heresy' and that a doctrine reserved
for an elite can be superimposed on the teaching given the faithful
without standing in opposition to it. One of Ren Gunon's lifelong
quests was to discover, or revive, the esoteric, initiatory
dimension of the Christian tradition. In the present volume, along
with its companion volume Insights into Christian Esoterism (which
includes the separate study Saint Bernard), Gunon undertakes to
establish that the three parts of The Divine Comedy represent the
stages of initiatic realization, exploring the parallels between
the symbolism of the Commedia and that of Freemasonry,
Rosicrucianism, and Christian Hermeticism, and illustrating Dante's
knowledge of traditional sciences unknown to the moderns: the
sciences of numbers, of cosmic cycles, and of sacred astrology. In
these works Gunon also touches on the all-important question of
medieval esoterism and discusses the role of sacred languages and
the principle of initiation in the Christian tradition, as well as
such esoteric Christian themes and organizations as the Holy Grail,
the Guardians of the Holy Land, the Sacred Heart, the Fedeli
d'Amore and the 'Courts of Love', and the Secret Language of Dante.
In addition to Dante, various other paths toward a possible
Christian esoterism have been explored by many investigators-the
legend of the Holy Grail, the Knights Templars, the tradition of
Courtly Love, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Christian
Hermeticism-and Gunon deals with all of these in the present volume
as well as his Insights into Christian Esoterism. In the latter,
one chapter in particular, 'Christianity and Initiation', will be
of special interest with regard to the history of the
Traditionalist School. When first published as an article, it gave
rise to some controversy because Gunon here reaffirmed his denial
of the efficacy of the Christian sacraments as rites of initiation,
a point of divergence between the teachings of Gunon and those of
other key perennialist thinkers. Both The Esoterism of Dante and
Insights into Christian Esoterism will be of inestimable value to
all who are struggling to come to terms with the fullness of the
Christian tradition.
Examination of legends of the subterranean kingdom of Agarttha and
The King of the World in the light of traditional metaphysics.
Incidental subjects include Luz: The above of immortality; The Holy
Grail, Melkizedek, The Omphalos and Sacred Stones, and general
considerations on the sites of spiritual centers
This remarkable book grew out of a conference headed by Ren Gunon,
the sinologist Ren Grousset, and the neo-Thomist Jacques Maritain
on questions raised by Ferdinand Ossendowski's thrilling account in
his Men, Beast and Gods of an escape through Central Asia, during
which he foils enemies and encounters shamans and Mongolian lamas,
whose marvels he describes. The book caused a great sensation,
especially the closing chapters, where Ossendowski recounts legends
allegedly entrusted to him concerning the 'King of the World' and
his subterranean kingdom Agarttha. The present book, one of Gunon's
most controversial, was written in response to this conference and
develops the theme of the King of the World from the point of view
of traditional metaphysics. Chapters include: Western Ideas about
Agarttha; Shekinah and Metatron; The Three Supreme Functions;
Symbolism of the Grail; Melki-Tsedeq; Luz: Abode of Immortality;
The Supreme Center concealed during the Kali-Yuga; and The Omphalos
and Sacred Stones .
Studies in Hinduism consists of articles published posthumously, to
which has been added Ren Gunon's separate study, Eastern
Metaphysics, the text of a lecture delivered at the Sorbonne. In
this work Gunon completes his presentation of Hindu metaphysics,
which he considered the most primordial and comprehensive body of
spiritual teaching possessed by the human race, one capable of
throwing light upon and illuminating the essence of every other
Tradition. Of special interest are three chapters on various
aspects of tantra-a doctrine profoundly misunderstood in the
contemporary West-which Hindu authorities consider the spirituality
most appropriate to the Kali Yuga, as well as a chapter on the
sanatana dharma, the Hindu concept closest to the ancient and
medieval Christian idea of the philosophia perennis, which led St
Augustine to declare that Christianity has always existed, but only
came to be so called after the coming of Christ. Included are
extensive reviews of books on Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramana Maharshi,
Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo Ghose, Rabindranath Tagore, Mircea
Eliade, Paul Brunton, and others, as well as 40 pages of reviews of
books and articles by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Leading Indian
thinkers have called Gunon the most authentic expositor of Hindu
metaphysics in any Western language.
This small volume brings together a number of Guenon's early
articles relating to Sufism (tasawwuf), or Islamic esoterism. A
later article, 'Islamic Esoterism', has also been included, since
it articulates so well the particularities of initiation in Islam
by defining the fundamental elements of tasawwuf: shari'ah,
tariqah, haqiqah. The first constitutes the necessary fundamental
exoteric basis; the second, the Way and its means; the third, the
goal or final result. In the other chapters, Guenon expresses with
his usual synthetic clarity what tawhid and faqr are, and gives
examples of traditional sciences, relating angelology to the Arabic
alphabet, and chirology to the science of letters ('ilm al-huruf).
A number of book and article reviews give further insights into
Islamic cosmology. Some may feel that the essay 'Taoism and
Confucianism' here included has little relevance to Sufism and
Islam. However, such writers as Toshihiko Izutsu and Sachiko Murata
have drawn many parallels between the two traditions. kind of
shari'ah in the context of Chinese religion, while Taoism, like
Sufism, is precisely the esoteric Way.
Initiation and Spiritual Realization is the closest thing to a work
on 'spiritual direction' Ren Gunon ever wrote, touching as it does
upon such vital topics as the transmission of initiatic grace, the
various types and functions of the spiritual master, obstacles the
aspirant is likely to encounter, different modes of contemplation,
and the degrees of spiritual realization. A companion volume to
Perspectives on Initiation, where Gunon had defined the nature of
initiation and of the organizations qualified to transmit it,
Initiation and Spiritual Realization was the first thematic
collection of Gunon's articles to appear after his death. And one
doctrine expressed in this book stands out as particularly timely:
that esoterism is not and cannot be a religion in itself, since to
take it as such is to reduce it to an 'alternative' exoterism, and
a heterodox one at that. Initiatic esoterism can only be
legitimately and effectively practiced within the context of one of
the established, revealed religions.
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Miscellanea (Hardcover)
Rene Guenon; Translated by Cecil Bethell, Henry Fohr
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R839
Discovery Miles 8 390
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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To spare readers extended research into obscure back issues of
French journals long out of print, Miscellanea gathers together for
Anglophone readers various articles by Ren Gunon, and by
'Palingenius', his pseudonym during the time of La Gnose, a journal
he founded in 1909. These articles have been divided into three
categories: Metaphysics and Cosmology, Traditional Arts and
Sciences, and Some Modern Errors. From the first chapter of part
one, 'The Demiurge', which we believe is the first text he ever
submitted for publication (in 1909, at the age of twenty-three) to
'Profane Science in Light of Traditional Doctrines', of April-May
1950, more than forty years elapsed. The breadth of the topics
covered can be seen from a sampling of chapter titles: Monotheism
and Angelology; Spirit and Intellect; Silence and Solitude; The
Empiricism of the Ancients; Gnosis and the Spiritist Schools; The
Origins of Mormonism, On the Production of Numbers; Initiation and
the Crafts; and The Arts and their Traditional Conception. In the
latter two key chapters, the author explains how initiation became
necessary in the measure that humanity receded from the 'primordial
state', presenting the reasons for the degeneration of the arts and
crafts due to the 'fall' or descending trajectory of the present
cycle; but he also points out the possibility of an initiation into
the 'lesser mysteries' based upon the craft of building which still
exists validly in the West.
The classical Triad of the Chinese tradition is Heaven-Man-Earth.
Rene Guenon places this ternary in the context of universal
metaphysics by identifying Heaven with Essence and Earth with
Substance, the mediator between them being Man, whose cosmic
function is to embody spirit (Heaven) while simultaneously
spiritualizing matter (Earth). Exploring Chinese cosmology further,
Guenon sheds light on such archetypal polarities as Heaven and
Earth, Yin and Yang, Solve et Coagula, Celestial and Terrestrial
Numbers, the Square and the Compass, the Double Spiral, and the
Being and the Environment, while pointing to their synthetic unity
in terms of ternaries, such as the Three Worlds, Triple Time,
Spiritus, Anima, and Corpus, Sulfur, Mercury and Salt, and God,
Man, and Nature. Perhaps more completely than in any other work,
Guenon demonstrates in The Great Triad how any integral tradition
is both a mirror reflecting universal themes found in all other
intact traditions and an entire conceptual cosmos unto itself,
unique and incomparable.
The Multiple States of the Being is the companion to, and the completion of, The Symbolism of the Cross, which, together with Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta, constitute Reni Guinon's great trilogy of pure metaphysics. In this work, Guinon offers a masterful explication of the metaphysical order and its multiple manifestations-of the divine hierarchies and what has been called the Great Chain of Being-and in so doing demonstrates how jqana, intellective or intrinsic knowledge of what is, and of That which is Beyond what is, is a Way of Liberation. Guinon the metaphysical social critic, master of arcane symbolism, comparative religionist, researcher of ancient mysteries and secret histories, summoner to spiritual renewal, herald of the end days, disappears here. Reality remains.
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