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René Guénon: Some Observations
René Guénon (1886-1951) was the founder of the Traditionalist School. Along with Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon, he reintroduced traditional metaphysics and esoterism into the Western world after a lapse of centuries, and was perhaps the first to present the doctrines of the Vedanta, Taoism, and Sufism not as Eurocentric orientalists or occult fantasts had done, but strictly in their own terms.To the 'mathematical' precision of Guénon's metaphysics, cosmology, and esoteric history, Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) added a poetic or 'musical' element, inspired by his close relationship to the Divine Feminine. He also presented the spiritual path as a concrete praxis, involving the spiritual virtues and 'stations of wisdom', that was not so prominent in Guénon's writings. On the other hand, Guénon's prophetic eschatology, especially in The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, as well as his analysis of the 'counter-tradition', gives him a unexpectedly contemporary 'edge' that is perhaps less prominent in Schuon's more aesthetic approach.René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon illuminate each other, both through their unanimity and the specific points where they differ. Each is almost the only means of taking the other's measure. Questions of who was greater, who more traditional, are finally less interesting than the tremendous vision of human reality and spiritual truth that emerges from their shared role as renewers of traditional metaphysics and religious understanding. Schuon, as the younger man, was in a position to compose an evaluation of his early intellectual master, and in view of his long and illustrious career as an author after Guénon's death, Schuon's central essay René Gué Some Observations is also his profoundly appreciative as well as pointedly critical declaration of independence (though simultaneously a declaration of collegiality) from the man who, more than anyone else in the modern world, opened to him a fundamental view of 'principial' reality.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
150 people want to read
About the author
Frithjof Schuon
181 books222 followersFrithjof Schuon was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality.
Schuon is recognized as an authority on philosophy, spirituality and religion, an exponent of the Religio Perennis, and one of the chief representatives of the Perennialist School. Though he was not officially affiliated with the academic world, his writings have been noticed in scholarly and philosophical journals, and by scholars of comparative religion and spirituality. Criticism of the relativism of the modern academic world is one of the main aspects of Schuon's teachings. In his teachings, Schuon expresses his faith in an absolute principle, God, who governs the universe and to whom our souls would return after death. For Schuon the great revelations are the link between this absolute principle—God—and mankind. He wrote the main bulk of his metaphysical teachings in French. In the later years of his life Schuon composed some volumes of poetry in his mother tongue, German. His articles in French were collected in about twenty titles in French which were later translated into English as well as many other languages.
http://www.sophia-perennis.com/philos...
Schuon is recognized as an authority on philosophy, spirituality and religion, an exponent of the Religio Perennis, and one of the chief representatives of the Perennialist School. Though he was not officially affiliated with the academic world, his writings have been noticed in scholarly and philosophical journals, and by scholars of comparative religion and spirituality. Criticism of the relativism of the modern academic world is one of the main aspects of Schuon's teachings. In his teachings, Schuon expresses his faith in an absolute principle, God, who governs the universe and to whom our souls would return after death. For Schuon the great revelations are the link between this absolute principle—God—and mankind. He wrote the main bulk of his metaphysical teachings in French. In the later years of his life Schuon composed some volumes of poetry in his mother tongue, German. His articles in French were collected in about twenty titles in French which were later translated into English as well as many other languages.
http://www.sophia-perennis.com/philos...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 27, 2017
DRAFT :
Funny that this english edition, which is the translation of the original french "René Guénon - Quelques critiques" and other articles, toned down some comments, for example, the original french reads "Guénon donne trop volontier l'apparence d'un savoir immense - qu'il n'a guère [...]" translates to "Guénon all too readily gives the appearance of an unlimited knowledge and indulges in outbursts like the following.." The sentence "- qu'il n'a guère [...]" was omitted (meaning, "that he doesn't not have").
The Letter from Schuon to Jean-Pierre Laurant is more interesting than this whole book I think
https://books.google.co.ma/books?id=v...
The first thing that really made me question Schuon, besides some blatant contradictions in his writings, is that a muslim (let alone an appointed "authority") will NEVER say "Exoteric islam doesn't interest me more than any other religion" . As simple as that.
To think that even his first book, The Transcendant Unity of Religions, is currently published and translated by a theosophical publishing house is hilarious... (and here too, some parts were cut from the original French version...)
Also funny that both some "Guenonians" and "Schuonians" on the internet appear to be extremely arrogant people - that is, people who only read books and think of themselves as having attained some deep understanding of things...
Funny that this english edition, which is the translation of the original french "René Guénon - Quelques critiques" and other articles, toned down some comments, for example, the original french reads "Guénon donne trop volontier l'apparence d'un savoir immense - qu'il n'a guère [...]" translates to "Guénon all too readily gives the appearance of an unlimited knowledge and indulges in outbursts like the following.." The sentence "- qu'il n'a guère [...]" was omitted (meaning, "that he doesn't not have").
The Letter from Schuon to Jean-Pierre Laurant is more interesting than this whole book I think
https://books.google.co.ma/books?id=v...
The first thing that really made me question Schuon, besides some blatant contradictions in his writings, is that a muslim (let alone an appointed "authority") will NEVER say "Exoteric islam doesn't interest me more than any other religion" . As simple as that.
To think that even his first book, The Transcendant Unity of Religions, is currently published and translated by a theosophical publishing house is hilarious... (and here too, some parts were cut from the original French version...)
Also funny that both some "Guenonians" and "Schuonians" on the internet appear to be extremely arrogant people - that is, people who only read books and think of themselves as having attained some deep understanding of things...
October 13, 2022
An angry rant about Guenon. I don't think I understood 40% of this book, honestly. He picks on Guenon for what seems like the most minute errors, like interpretations of Dante or not knowing Kwan Yin is believed by the Chinese to be a Bodhisattva.
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November 22, 2022Comment:
Interesting. Schuon can be quite critical at times of the founder of the Traditionalist Movement. Of course, he does so without denying Guenon's importance as a theoretician of the movement. According to our author, Guenon is too critical of Buddhism, Christianity, Europe, and Japan.
This is but another example of a fact we encounter everywhere. -There are simply no monolithic movements. There are always fissures in matters of theory and disagreements regarding the proper evaluations of facts. If you wish to study the Traditionalist movement, or are an adherent of it, you need to read this book. Highly recommended for both these groups of readers. I think anyone else will find it a snooze.
Interesting. Schuon can be quite critical at times of the founder of the Traditionalist Movement. Of course, he does so without denying Guenon's importance as a theoretician of the movement. According to our author, Guenon is too critical of Buddhism, Christianity, Europe, and Japan.
This is but another example of a fact we encounter everywhere. -There are simply no monolithic movements. There are always fissures in matters of theory and disagreements regarding the proper evaluations of facts. If you wish to study the Traditionalist movement, or are an adherent of it, you need to read this book. Highly recommended for both these groups of readers. I think anyone else will find it a snooze.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews