René Guénon

René Guénon (November 15, 1886 – January 7, 1951) was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science^[1] and traditional studies ^[2] to symbolism and initiation.

In his writings, he proposes either "to expose directly some aspects of Eastern metaphysical doctrines",^[3] these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character"^[4] or "to adapt these same doctrines [for western readers]^[5] while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit";^[6] he only endorsed the function of "handing down" those Eastern doctrines, while stating their "non-individual character".^[7]

His works, written and first published in French, have been translated into more than twenty languages. He also wrote two articles in Arabic for El Maarifâ ("knowledge").

Biography

René Guénon was born in Blois, France, on November 15, 1886, into a French Catholic family. His father was an architect. In 1904 he lived in Paris, where he studied mathematics and philosophy. He was a brilliant student, notably in mathematics, in spite of his poor health.

As a young student in Paris, he observed and entered some occultist Parisian milieux (which were, at that time, under the supervision of Papus). Under the name "Tau Palingenius" he became the main contributor of a review he founded, La Gnose ("Gnosis"), henceforth writing articles for La Gnose until 1922. From his incursions into the French occultist and pseudo-masonic orders, he drew a conclusion about the impossibility of gathering these ill-assorted doctrines to shape a "stable edifice".^[8] In his book The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times he also pointed out the intellectual vacuity of the French occultist movement, which, he wrote, was utterly insignificant, and most importantly, was terminally infiltrated by some individuals of a different, darker nature.^[9]

At this time, according to indications coming from André Préau reproduced by his editor and biographer P. Chacornac,^[10] it is very likely that René Guénon was initiated into Hinduism (in an initiatic lineage of Shankarâchârya) and Taoism. He was also initiated in 1911^[11] into Islamic esoterism (Taçawuff) and his name in Islam became "Sheikh 'Abd al-Wahid Yahya". His initiation into Islamic esoterism was effected by Ivan Aguéli (Abdul Hadi) and performed in accordance with Sheikh Abder Rahman Elish El-Kebir, a quite important representative of Islam in Egypt at that time, in both its exoteric and esoteric aspects. In particular, from the exoteric point of view, Sheikh Abder Rahman Elish El-Kebir was the head of mâleki madhab at Al-Azhar University. René Guénon later dedicated his book The Symbolism of the Cross to him.

In 1917, he made a one-year stay at Setif, Algeria, teaching philosophy to college students. After World War I, he left teaching to dedicate his time to his writings, with his first book Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines being published in 1921. From 1925 René Guénon became a contributor to the review edited by P. Chacornac Le Voile d’Isis ("The Veil of Isis") which became known, after 1935 and under his influence, under the name Les Etudes Traditionnelles ("Traditional Studies").

Although the exposition of Hindu doctrines had already been tackled at that time by many orientalists, René Guénon’s Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines contemplates its subject in a completely different manner,^[12] by referring to the concepts of metaphysics and Tradition in their most general sense, which are precisely defined in the first part of the book, along with the necessary distinctions and definitions of words such as religion, tradition, exoterism, esoterism and theology. René Guénon explained that his purpose was not to describe all aspects of Hinduism, but to give the necessary intellectual foundation for a proper understanding of its spirit.^[13] The book is also a severe condemnation of the works presented by the orientalists about Hinduism and Tradition in general (according to René Guénon, they had presented neither any deep understanding of the subject, nor any of its implications), along with a precise analysis of the political intrusions of the British Empire through Madame Blavatsky’s theosophism.^[14]

During that same year, 1921, he debuted a series of articles in the French Revue de Philosophie, which, along with some supplements, led to the book Theosophism: History of a Pseudo-Religion. During the decade 1920-1930, René Guénon was remarked by numerous intellectual and artistics in the Parisian milieux, and at that time were published some of his books explaining the "intellectual divide" between the East and West, and the peculiar nature, according to him, of the modern civilization: Crisis of the Modern World, East and West. In 1927 was published the second major doctrinal book of his works: Man and His Becoming according to the Vedânta, and in 1929, Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power, which delivers a general explanation of the fundamental differences between "sacerdotal" and "royal" powers, along with the consequences of the usurpation of the prerogatives of the latter with regard to the former. From these considerations, René Guénon traces to its source the origin of the modern deviation, which, according to him, is to be found in the destruction of the Templar order in 1314.

In 1930, he left Paris for Cairo, Egypt, with the project of gathering and translating written documents in taçawuff. The project was abruptly abandoned after a decision of his editor. Left alone in Cairo, he declined any propositions of coming back to France from his western friends; despite his declining material condition, he relentlessly kept on writing and corresponding with his counterparts from many countries in the world, sometimes at his own cost. The reasons for his refusal to come back to the West, even at the cost of his comfort and daily life, remain unknown. In 1949, he obtained Egyptian nationality, and met Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim, whose daughter he later married. From this marriage, he had four children, the last (Abdel Wahed) being born in 1951. In Egypt, René Guénon carried on an austere and simple life, entirely dedicated to his writings and spiritual life.^[15]

Urged by some of his collaborators, he gave his agreement to the creation in France of a Masonic lodge of traditional nature, whose name La Grande triade ("The Great Triad") comes from the title of one of his books. The first founders of the lodge, however, separated a few years after its inception.^[16] This lodge, belonging to the Grande Loge de France, is still active.

Introduction to René Guénon’s works

René Guénon's writings contemplate quite an important number of metaphysical themes, and his works, as whole, display a unity and an almost organic coherence, making each topic integrally related to many others. For that reason, we subdivide this presentation into two parts: an overview, made of the ongoing subsection below, followed by a detailed exposition.

His writings make use of words and terms, of fundamental signification, which will receive a precise definition throughout his books. These terms and words, although receiving a usual meaning and being used in many branches of human sciences, have, according to René Guénon, lost substantially their original signification (e.g. words such as "metaphysics", "initiation", "mysticism", "personality", "form", "matter").^[17] He insisted notably on the danger represented by the perversion of the signification of words seen by him as essential for the study of metaphysics; for that reason, we will recall, in the "detailed exposition" section, the definition given by René Guénon to some of the words used extensively in his works.

Overview

In 1921, René Guénon published an Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines. His goal, as he writes it, is an attempt at presenting to westerners eastern metaphysics and spirituality as they are understood and thought by easterners themselves, while pointing at what René Guénon describes as all the erroneous interpretations and misunderstandings of western orientalism and "neospiritualism" (for the latter, notably the proponents of Madame Blavatsky’s theosophism). Right from that time, he presents a rigorous understanding, not only of Hindu doctrines, but also of eastern metaphysics in general.^[18] He managed to expose these doctrines to a western public viewed by him as quite unprepared and unreceptive as a whole.^[19] He departed from standard scholarship (Orientalist) terminology and methods and preferred to expose the doctrines as a simple "easterner", devoid of what he called "western prejudices".^[20] For one of the most famous aspects of René Guénon's work is the irreducible difference he describes between the East and the West.^[21] René Guénon defines eastern metaphysics and intellectuality as of "universal nature", that "opens possibilities of conception which are truly beyond any limitation". His work comprises :

This partition is not strict and, as we noted earlier, René Guénon's works display a coherence and unity making each book integrally related to the others.^[22] From that perspective, and according to René Guénon's own words,^[23] his work is completely unrelated to any particular philosophical system^[24]. He identifies the main difference between profane and sacred knowledge: the former ignores the notion of realization ("moksha" or "delivrance" in the Hindu doctrines), while the latter provides effective means for realizing the Supreme Principle (through initiation, mantra or dhikr recitation, orthodox spiritual lineages).

René Guénon defines the modern world as being a degeneration of what he calls "the traditional world". According to him, the real separation between the East and West comes from this degeneration; in other words, it comes from an intellectual standpoint, and is not related to any geographical distinction, but to a doctrinal divergence.^[25] Amidst the global period of intellectual confusion and disorder that characterizes modernity according to René Guénon, the East has maintained alive, through uninterrupted spiritual lineages, an intellectual (possibly hidden) elite fully conscious of the original wisdom transmitted to humanity from time immemorial. In some of his books, he states that the present condition of humanity can be explained by the traditional doctrine of "cosmic cycles", as it is described in Hinduism.

He produced a series of articles and books aimed at explaining the modern civilization according to traditional data and, more generally, to the "traditional standpoint".^[26] He therein denounces what he calls the "pseudo-initiation", which was, according to him, spreading since the end of the XIX century. He intends to denounce, through a careful examination of the historical origin, the ideological evolution taken by what he calls their "pseudo-doctrines", some "pseudo-spiritual" organisations which, according to him, expose to the West false eastern doctrines or which are counterfeits of regular initiatic traditions (among these "pseudo-spiritual associations" he makes a particular mention of the Theosophical Society founded by Madame Blavatsky in the wake of the modern pseudo-Rosicrucian organisations of the late XIXth century).^[27]

René Guénon exposits a view of Metaphysics which can, according to him "by no means be reduced to scientific or philosophical conceptions"^[28] but which is instead "the knowledge (…) of the principles of universal order" ; being "absolutely illimited", Metaphysics "cannot be defined".^[29] Metaphysics is seen, according to him, in its etymological sense,^[30] while recalling that sense in his books.^[31] Such a metaphysics, being by essence beyond any contingency, is necessarily at the source of all orthodox traditions, these latter being considered as direct derivations of the great "primordial tradition" (corresponding to the Hindu notion of Sanātana Dharma, or Manu law).

Metaphysics is not introduced by René Guénon as a branch of philosophy, as it is in western studies. Traditional metaphysics, which is, according to Guénon, beyond any contingency (knowledge of universal principles^[32]), lies at the very source of all orthodox and legitimate traditions, making a connection between the heart of these traditions and a unique spiritual origin, the "Primordial Tradition"^[33]. The study of traditional metaphysics and its relationship with our state of existence, i.e. our world, clears the path inwardly towards the center common and shared by each authentic religion: exoterism bounds an "outside" accessible to everyone, its purpose is to maintain the link with Supreme Principle^[34].

However, the current state of the West, characterized by its voluntary and gradual detachment from his own tradition, Christianity, and the degeneration of major branches of one of his last initiatic organization, freemasonry, makes a restoration somewhat unlikely feasible given that this situation is the result of a long evolution through Western history, which according Guénon, follows even a predetermined plan^[35]. Incidentally, in the esoteric domain, René Guénon says that two dates mark historically the fundamental spiritual degeneration of the West: first, the destruction of the Order of the Knight Templars in 1314, which defines precisely what René Guénon called "modern deviation"^[36], and the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 which severed, in the historical and "outer realm", the link between West and what René Guénon defined as the "Supreme Centre"^[37].

At multiple occasions in his books, René Guénon insisted that the most important, in metaphysics, was properly inexpressible^[38]:

According to the doctrine exposed by René Guénon, the "spiritual realisation" leads to the effective identification with the states of being that are superior to our transitory human state, and ultimately to the "Supreme Identity" with the Supreme Principle or Absolute Reality. He firmly states the necessity of being fastened to an authentic and living tradition which has kept alive and made available the initiations that were existing in that tradition since its inception. Such living traditions (such as Hinduism, Islam, or Taoism) are characterized by an inspiration (ex. the the Vedas), or a revelation (ex. the Qur'an). He insists on the notion of "intellectual intuition" (supra-rational or spiritual), "awakened" by concentration and meditation on symbols, either in visual form (yantras) or auditive (mantras or, in Islam, dhikr).

René Guénon's works: detailed exposition

In paragraphs of this section are presented, from one part, the books devoted to the exposition of the core metaphysical doctrines in the work of René Guénon, and, secondly, an overview of the other thematics also exposed.

Let's begin, for reasons mentioned earlier in this article, with some important terms and notions used throughout his books.

Some fundamental terms and notions

Note: in another text, René Guénon will identify what is called here formless manifestation, or formless states of being, with certain angelic states, as they are called in religious (exoteric) formulations.

The metaphysical core

The exposition of metaphysical doctrines, which forms the cornerstone of René Guénon's work, is consisting of the following books^[51]:

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines

The book, published in 1921, some topics of which will be included in the lecture he will give at the Sorbonne, December 17, 1925 ( 'The Eastern metaphysics'), consists of four parts.

Man and his Becoming according to the Vedanta

The Introduction to the study of the Hindu doctrines had, among its objectives, the purpose of giving the proper intellectual basis to promote openness to the study of eastern intellectuality. The study of hindu doctrines is continued in his book Man and his Becoming according to the Vedanta by taking the specific viewpoint of the human being's constitution according to the Vêdantâ: René Guénon states that his goal is not to present a synthetic exposition of all vedic doctrines "which would be quite an impossible task", but to consider "a particular point of that doctrine", in that case the definition of the human being, in order to contemplate afterwards other aspects of metaphysics.

The book begins in precising the nature of the Vêdantâ, its profound signification as the "end of the Vedas", and the traditional signification of Shruti and Smriti scriptures:

The fundamental texts called Mimânsa (Pûrva-Mimânsa, Uttara-Mimânsa), the Upanishads, the Brahmâ-Sûtras, along with Hindu cosmological texts are listed, and the notion of "intellectual function" associated to their origin is proposed, as opposed to the profane notion of "author".

The general considerations of the Self, the Unmanifested and the universal Manifestation are then introduced: the universal Manifestation is all that exists and its development is constantly being in progress, towards destiny. The Unmanifested is all that is beyond universal Manifestation, so that it can only be designated by negation. The second chapter also establishes the fundamental distinctions between the Self and the ego, or "personality" and "individuality", the first being the only One that is "absolutely real". These ideas are declined in different denominations depending, for a first part, on the different degrees of reality considered, and also from the "transcendent" and "immanent" point of views that can be contemplated: Ishwara is the "Divine personality" or the Principle of universal Manifestation. It is unmanifested, for the Principle of Manifestation cannot be Itself manifested (this is in relation to the symbolism of "black heads": Ishwara has Its head in "darkness"). Atmâ, Paramâtmâ, Brahmâ: the realization that the Self, "in relation to any being whatsoever, is in reality identical to Atmâ", constitutes the heart of the Hindu doctrine of "delivrance" or "moksha", and that doctrine is absolutely identical to what islamic esoterism calls the Supreme Identity (that is to say, expressed in hindu terms, the identity of Atmâ and Brahmâ):

If the "Supreme Identity" (or "moksha" or "delivrance"), is made possible, through realization, it is because at the very heart of the human being (not to be confused with the heart organ of the corporeal envelope) is found what is called Brahmâ 's journey, or Brahmâ-pura.

What resides at the center of the human state is Purusha, or Brahmâ considered "inside" (or "at the center" of) the human being. Purusha, in order that manifestation may be produced, must enter into correlation with another principle, although such a correlation is really non-existent in relation to the highest (uttama) aspect of Purusha, for there cannot in thruth be any other principle than the Supreme Principle, except in a relative sense. The correlative of Purusha is then Prakriti, the undifferentiated primordial substance, a passive principle represented as feminine, while Purusha, also called Pumas, is the active principle, represented as masculine; and these two are the poles of all manifestation, though remaining unmanifested themselves. It is the union of these complementary principles which produces the integral development of the human individual state, and that applies relatively to each individual. From there, all different degrees of individual manifestation can be described and named, and in particular the tanmatras, the mind or manas in its role of coordinator of internal and external faculties, the five vayus, the different prânas, and the distinctions between the waking state, the dream state, and the deep sleep state.

The book ends with a description of the reabsorption of the individual faculties, either in the posthumous conditions, or in the spiritual process of realization, up to the "final delivrance" or "Supreme Identity", which is the ultimate goal of any true spiritual path.

The Symbolism of the Cross

The Symbolism of the Cross is a book "dedicated to the venerated memory of Esh-Sheikh Abder-Rahman Elish El-Kebir". Its goal, as Guénon states it, "is to explain a symbol that is common to almost all traditions, a fact that would seem to indicate its direct attachment to the great primordial tradition". To alleviate the hurdles bound to the interpretations of a symbol belonging to different traditions, Guénon distinguishes synthesis from syncretism: syncretism consists in assembling from the outside a number of more or less incongruous elements which, when so regarded, can never be truly unified. Syncretism is something outward: the elements taken from any of its quarters and put together in this way can never amount to anything more than borrowings that are effectively incapable of being integrated into a doctrine "worthy of that name". To apply these criteria to the present context of the symbolism of the cross:

A notable example of syncretism can be found, according to Guénon, in the "doctrines" and symbols of the Theosophical society. Synthesis on the other hand is carried essentially from within, by which it properly consists in envisaging things in the unity of their principle. Synthesis will exists when one starts from unity itself and never loses sight of it throughout the multiplicity of its manifestations; this moreover implies the ability to see beyond forms and a awareness of the principal truth. Given such awareness, one is at liberty to make use of one or another of those forms, something that certain traditions symbolically denote as "the gift of tongues". The concordance between all traditional forms may be said to represent genuine "synonymies". In particular, René Guénon writes that the cross is a symbol that in its various forms is met with almost everywhere, and from the most remotes times. It is therefore far from belonging peculiarly to the Christian tradition, and the cross, like any other traditional symbol, can be regarded according to manifold senses.

A Swastika, another extremely ancient symbol related, according to René Guénon, to the primordial tradition. In one of its meanings, it denotes the action of the Principle (corresponding to the center of the figure) on the universal Manifestation. The universal Manifestation is not represented in the symbol, as it would be drawn by the circle whose diameter corresponds to the central cross. Instead, to denote the 'activity' of the Principle, and the 'dynamic' aspect of that activity, the four tangents to that circle are represented; they are perpendicular to the rays defined by the central cross. Hence a relationship is established between the symbol of the cross and the swastika. The cross corresponds to the four rays emanating from the centre, it represents the action emanating from the Principle Itself.

Far from being an absolute and complete unity in himself, the individual in reality constitutes but a relative and fragmentary unity. The multiplicity of the states of the being, "which is a fundamental metaphysical truth", implies the effective realization of the being's multiple states and is related to the conception that various traditional doctrines, including Islamic esoterism, denote by the term 'Universal Man': in Arabic al-Insân-al-kâmil is at the same time 'Primordial man' (al-Insân-al-qâdim); it is the Adam Qadmon of the Hebrew Kabbalah; it is also the 'King' (Wang) of the Far-Eastern tradition (Tao Te King chap. 25). The conception of the 'Universal Man' establishes a constitutive analogy between universal manifestation and its individual human modality, or, to use the language of Western Hermeticism, between the 'macrocosm' and the 'microcosm'.

From these considerations, the geometrical symbolism of the cross, in its most universal signification, can be contemplated: most traditional doctrines symbolize the realization of 'Universal Man' by a sign that is everywhere the same because, according to Guénon, it is one of those directly attached to the primordial tradition. That sign is the sign of the cross, which very clearly represents the manner of achievement of this realization by the perfect communion of all states of the being, harmoniously and conformably ranked, in integral expansion, in the double sense of amplitude and exaltation. In fact, this double expansion of the being may be regarded as taking place horizontally on the one hand, that is, at a certain level or degree of existence, and vertically at the other, that is, in the hierarchical superimposition of all the degrees. Thus, the horizontal direction represents 'amplitude', or integral extension of the individuality taken as basis for realization, and the vertical direction represents the hierarchy, likewise and a fortiori indefinite, of the multiples states. Furthermore, the symbol of the cross can also be considered in two basic ways, so-called horizontal and vertical, as it appears in the double consideration of a first cross obtained, in the ecliptic plane by joining the equinoctial and solstice points, and a second cross, orthogonal to the first, defined by the equator and the line going through the poles. The tridimensional cross obtained that way is linked to the six directions of space and the centre of the cross, through a symbolism that appears notably in the hebraic kabbalah in relation to the "mystery of unity", and also in Clement of Alexandria, and the Hindu doctrines as well. Then, the symbol of the cross may develop according to different points of view: union of the complements, with the vertical line representing the active principle and the horizontal line the passive principle, hence establishing an application of the general consideration of Purusha-Prakriti; resolution of the opposites, symbolized by the central point which corresponds to what Islamic esoterism calls the 'Divine station', namely 'that which combines contrasts and antinomies' (al-mâqam lillahi huwa mâqam ijtima 'al-diddâin): this station (mâqam), or degree of the being's effective realization, is attained by al-fanâ', that is, by the 'extinction' of the ego in the return to the 'primordial state'; such 'extinction', writes René Guénon, even as regards the literal meaning of the term denoting it, is not without analogy to the Nirvâna of the Buddhist doctrine. Beyond al-fanâ', there is still fanâ al-fanâ', the 'extinction of the extinction', which similarly corresponds to Parinirvâna. In the Far-Eastern tradition, the central point is called the "Invariable Middle" (Ching-Yin) which is the place of perfect equilibrium, represented as the center of the 'cosmic wheel', and is also, at the same time, the point where the 'Activity of Heaven' is directly manifested. This center directs all things by its 'actionless activity' (wei wu-wei), which although unmanifested, or rather because it is unmanifested, is in reality the plenitude of activity, since it is the activity of the Priciple whence all activities are derived; Guénon notes that this has been expressed by Lao Tzu as follows: The Principle is always actionless, yet everything is done by It. This "Invariable Middle" is also the locus of "Peace in the void", corresponding to what Islamic esoterism calls the "Great Peace".

That 'peace' that dwells at the central point, brings to another symbolism, namely that of war, and a well-known example of that symbolism, writes René Guénon, is found in the Bhagavad-Gitâ. The same conception, writes René Guénon, is not specific to the Hindu doctrine, but is also found in the Islamic, for this is the real meaning of the 'holy war' (jihâd): "[...] war represents a cosmic process whereby what is manifested is reintegrated into the principal unity; that is why, from the viewpoint of manifestation itself, this reintegration appears as a destruction, and this emerges very clearly from certain aspects of the symbolism of Shiva in the Hindu doctrine"^[53]. Another aspect of the symbolism of the cross identifies it with what various traditions identifies as "The tree in the Midst", one of the numerous symbols of the "World Axis". This tree stands at the center of the world, or rather of a world, that is a domain in which a state of exsitence, such as the human state, is developped. In the biblical symbolim, for example, the 'Tree of life', planted in the midst of the terrestrial paradise, represents the center of our world, and René Guénon studies its relationships with another biblical tree, the 'Tree of Knowledge of good and evil'.

The Multiple States of Being

Hermetism and cosmological sciences

Lesser Mysteries and Greater Mysteries

Eleusinian Mysteries, Hermetism and cosmological sciences

The Hindu doctrine of cosmic cycles

The doctrine of the five elements

Atomism and the question of "continuum composition"

Symbolism

The attempts at subverting tradition in the modern world

Open questions

Situation of the author and his work, relativization of the importance of biography

Sources and influences

The Order of the Renovated Temple

The Gnostic church

The years of the Gnosis journal

The King of the World

Bibliography

Books by René Guénon

Posthumous collections

The Collected Works of René Guénon

Books about René Guénon

Internet

Contents