René Guénon fue un autor e intelectual francés que sigue siendo una figura influyente en el ámbito de la ciencia sagrada, los estudios tradicionales, el simbolismo y la iniciación. Su obra profundiza en verdades espirituales y tradiciones esotéricas. Las escrituras de Guénon se centran en analizar los principios y los fundamentos metafísicos de diversos caminos espirituales, ofreciendo a los lectores una visión de la sabiduría atemporal. Su estilo es preciso y sus pensamientos están dirigidos a quienes buscan una comprensión más profunda de la realidad y la esencia espiritual de la existencia.
En "La Crisis del Mundo moderno", se analiza cómo los eventos recientes han confirmado las ideas expuestas sobre la crisis actual. El autor critica tanto la mentalidad contemporánea como las soluciones propuestas, señalando que la falta de comprensión de principios fundamentales contribuye al desorden en diversos ámbitos.
Perspectives on Initiation presents initiation as essentially the transmission, by the appropriate rites of a given tradition, of a 'spiritual influence' which represents the 'beginning' (initium) of the spiritual journey. It is unique in giving a comprehensive account both of the conditions of initiation and of the characteristics of organizations qualified to transmit it. While most of its 48 chapters deal with specific aspects of initiation, others cover an astonishing range of related subjects, among Magic and Mysticism, Ceremonial Magic, Psychic 'Powers', The Symbolism of the Theater, The Gift of Tongues, Greater and Lesser Mysteries, Rose-Cross and Rosicrucians, Some Reflections on Hermeticism, and The Birth of the Avatara. Related articles are collected in Guénon's Initiation and Spiritual Realization.
In the first half of the 20th century, a French man, RenèGuènon (1886-1951), struck the conscience of the Westernworld by reminding it about the spiritual knowledge that wasat the heart of all traditional civilizations but that the modernWest had completely lost sight of. A profound knower ofHindu, Islamic, Taoist and other traditions, Guènon expounded,in a similar way as Coomaraswamy with whom he regularlycorresponded, the traditional metaphysics which give aunity beyond the forms to the apparently different traditionsof mankind. In The Crisis of the Modern World, published forthe first time in 1927, he writes a relentless and radical criticismof the modern world, revealing its shallowness whenconfronted with the traditional civilizations. Almost eightyyears later, his words are still fully valid, and applicable to alarge extent to the India of today, which is in danger of beingsubmerged by a strong flow of modern ways and conceptions.
The Symbolism of the Cross is a major doctrinal study of the central symbol of Christianity from the standpoint of the universal metaphysical tradition, the 'perennial philosophy' as it is called in the West. As Guernon points out, the cross is one of the most universal of all symbols and is far from belonging to Christianity alone. Indeed, Christians have sometimes tended to lose sight of its symbolism of its symbolical significance and to regard it as no more than the sign of a historical event. By restoring to the full spiritual value as a symbol, but without in any way detracting from its historical importance for Christianity, Guenon has performed a task of inestimable importance which perhaps only he, with his unrivaled knowledge of the symbolic languages of both East and West, was qualified to perform.
The author was the founder of the Perennialist/Traditionalist school of comparative religious thought. Known for his discourses on the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, symbolism, tradition, and the inner or spiritual dimension of religion, this book is a compilation of his most important writings.
René Guénon (1886-1951) critiques modernity through his extensive works, emphasizing the importance of traditional spiritual paths. His writings on Theosophy and Spiritism reveal deep insights into metaphysics and psychological issues, making them valuable for both spiritual seekers and professionals in psychiatry and counseling.
Many readers of Guénon's later doctrinal works have longed to hear the tale of his earlier entanglement, and disentanglement, from the luxuriant undergrowth of so-called esoteric societies in late nineteenth-century Paris and elsewhere. The present work documents in excoriating detail Guénon's findings on what did, and did not, lie behind the Theosophical Society founded by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in 1875. Much further information has of course come to light since this book was written, but it has never been superseded as a fascinating record of the path of a master metaphysician through this maze. A particularly unusual feature is its extensive treatment of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, which has recently attracted the attention of scholars of the occult.
René Guénon (1886-1951) byl významný francouzský filosof a metafyzik, zakladatel školy integrálního tradicionalismu neboli perennialismu. Proslul svou kritikou moderního světa a snahou o esoterické smíření různých ortodoxních světových náboženství, v jejichž pozadí viděl obrysy univerzální, primordiální Tradice. Lidstvo podle Guénona podstupuje proces sestupu z duchovního zlatého věku, kdy veškerý způsob života směřoval k božskému, do odduchovněné, sekularistické moderny. Tvrdí, že se nejedná o subjektivní, nýbrž objektivní proces provázený ontologickým znehodnocením světa. Ve své pozdní knize Vláda kvantity a znamení doby, poprvé vydané v roce 1945, se zabývá posledními fázemi tohoto sestupu, kdy bude tradiční řád nejdříve nahrazen vládou stejnosti, konformnosti a kvantity, aby tento stav posléze vedl k ustanovení převráceného řádu. Při svém popisu čerpá z eschatologie různých náboženských tradic a všímá si filosofických prekurzorů urychlování sestupu v Descartovi a dokonce již v pozdní scholastice. Vláda kvantity je právem považována za završení Guénonova myslitelského díla, na jehož konci přes všechen pesimismus prozařuje víra v konečnou nápravu a překonání pádu člověka a veškerenstva.
