Guénon Rene: main works and photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Rene Guénon is a famous French philosopher. He is the author of numerous works on symbolism, metaphysics, initiation and traditionalism. In the scientific world, he is considered the founder of integral traditionalism. This is the name given to the direction of thought, the basis of which is the proposition about the existence of the so-called Eternal Wisdom. It is interesting that Guénon himself did not use the term "traditionalism", and considered philosophy only a set of individual opinions.

Biography of the philosopher

Guenon Rene was born in 1886 in the town of Blois. It's near Paris. First he studied at a Catholic school, then at the College of Augustin-Thierry. At the age of 18, he moved to the capital of France, where he began studying mathematics.

The meeting with the occultist Gerard Encausse in 1906 became important in his biography. After her, René Guenon began to participate in meetings of spiritualists and masons. It was in this society that he greatly expanded his knowledge of Eastern philosophy.

In 1910 Guénon Rene met his first Sufi masters. They were the Arab theologian Abder Rahman el-Kebir, the Swedish painter Ivan Agueli and Leon Champreno. Two years later, he was initiated into the Sufi tariqa under the name of Abdel-Wahid Yahya. His biographers note that the future philosopher choseIslam, because it did not recognize the Christian sacraments, Buddhism considered a heterodox teaching, Hinduism was inaccessible to him because of the caste system. At the same time, Guenon Rene did not plan to practice Islam. All he needed was the initiation. Therefore, in the same year, he married Bertha Lurie according to the Catholic rite.

Since 1915, Guenon has been teaching philosophy in Algeria, receiving the title of professor. In 1917 he returned to Paris. His first work was published in 1921. This is "A General Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines". In it, the philosopher voiced the fundamental principle of traditionalism, which he called perennialism, formulated the postulate of "eternal philosophy. Important works are also" Theosophism - the history of pseudo-religion "and" Delusion of spiritualists ". In them, Guénon introduces such concepts as "counter-initiation" and "inversion".

In 1930, the philosopher leaves for Cairo. A few years later, after the death of his first wife, he marries the daughter of a merchant, Muhammad Ibrahim.

In 1944 and 1947, two daughters were born to him, and in 1949 a son. The year before, Guénon received Egyptian citizenship. In 1950, he was hospitalized with suspected blood poisoning. After a short time he died. 4 months after his death, another son was born to him.

East and West

Guenon wrote his first significant work back in 1924. This book is East and West. Rene Guenon in it tries to reveal to the reader the whole essence of his position as a philosopher andmetaphysics.

By and large, in this work, he sets the themes for all his subsequent books. His position is that there are many variants of the Unified Spiritual Tradition in the world, in which each culture and each tradition of the people find their place.

However, this work is perceived by many as opposition between East and West. And even as a story about the decaying West, in which anti-traditionalism and civilization reign, as opposed to Eastern culture and traditionalism.

Man and his realization according to Vedanta

Renon Genet, whose books are described in this article, in 1925 publishes a work en titled "Man and his realization according to Vedanta". In it, the author, using the example of Vedanta, one of the orthodox schools of Hinduism, talks about the basic metaphysical principles of the Primordial Tradition. This is a term that Guénon himself actively uses in his works. It is dedicated to the original content of spirituality, which is based on the metaphysical doctrine of the First Principle. It is embodied in symbols passed from one era to another.

Also in it, he describes the alleged path of human evolution after death, as well as the possible achievement of the state of final liberation, as he writes about yoga.

The crisis of the modern world

In 1927, one of the key books by Rene Guénon, "The Crisis of the Modern World", was published. In it, the author described in detail the dangers that are fraught with modernconsumer society. Much that the philosopher wrote about at the beginning of the 20th century is still relevant today.

For example, in this work he talks about new needs. In his opinion, modern civilization artificially creates them, which as a result leads to a continuous process of the emergence of ever new needs that a person needs to satisfy. At the same time, once you step on this path, it is very difficult to get off it. Yes, besides, there is no good reason for this.

Guenon thinks about the fact that in the old days people easily managed without many things, the existence of which they did not even suspect, and today the very thought of their absence is painful for them. As a result, people try to acquire them by any available means, satisfying more and more new needs that they have. Ultimately, the only goal of a person becomes earning money to satisfy these needs. It turns into the only passion in life.

Symbolism of the Cross

In 1931, Guénon publishes the book "The Symbolism of the Cross". He devotes it to the problems of traditional spatial symbolism. In particular, the geometric symbolization of the states of the universal man. He presents them as a vertical hierarchy of levels, states of Being. Moreover, each of them is not limited in time and space, spreading in two horizontal perpendicular directions. Ultimately, Guenon gets a three-dimensional cross, in which there are six rays.

Each plane is formedan unlimited number of parallel lines, which symbolize the innumerability of beings in the universe. If, however, we take and consider only one being, then from each point it will be possible to draw a perpendicular line, with the help of which it will be possible to depict how this modality develops.

Thus, the author describes the reflections of the fundamental analogy of macrocosm and microcosm in the Universe.

Multiple Events of Being

In many ways, Guenon continues these arguments in the treatise "Multiple Events of Being", which was published in 1932.

In particular, in this work, the French philosopher considers the foundations of metaphysics of the Primordial Tradition as the Highest Principle that exists in duality. It manifests itself on a human level relevant to everyone. All metaphysical multiplicity lies in the direct principle of Being.

At the same time, Guénon understands Infinity as a direct and active aspect of the Principle.

Notes on Initiation

In his 1946 Notes on Initiation, Guénon considers all kinds of aspects of initiation, which he understands as an orderly and conscious process by all participants. It must take place in the conditions of traditional initiatory organizations in order to achieve a universal state of man.

The scientific way Guenon contrasts with the mystical. In the same treatise, the author touches on the problem of the elite. There is a well-known quote by Rene Guenon that the elite is always perceived in society as a certain set of people who have all the qualities necessary for initiation. At the same time, it is obvious that such people are a minority in society.

Therefore, Guénon writes that, due to their central position, such people are considered the chosen ones, and in the conditions of the modern era, they are becoming much less than ever.

Symbols of sacred science

Guénon left many unpublished works during his lifetime. Already after his death, the treatises "Initiation and Spiritual Realization", "Essays on Freemasonry and Companionship", "A View of Christian Esotericism", "Traditional Forms and Cosmic Cycles", "Symbols of Sacred Science" were published.

Rene Guenon devotes his last work to sacred symbolism, as well as its various manifestations in modern and past religious and cultural traditions.

Separate chapters of the treatise describe the Holy Grail, the doctrine of the signs of the zodiac.