Download or read book Perspectives on Initiation written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Perspectives on Initiation written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004-05 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume, first published at the close of World War II, and based on a series of articles on initiation originally written between 1932 and 1938 for Le Voile d'Isis (later renamed Études Traditionnelles), is unique in giving a comprehensive account both of the conditions of initiation and of the characteristics of organizations qualified to transmit it. Guénon's distinction between the initiatic and the mystical paths-the first requiring a formal relationship with a master, a set of specific contemplative techniques, and a chain-of-transmission stretching back to the origin of the tradition in question, the second generally lacking these elements-led to some controversy between those who accept this distinction and others who believe that initiatory and mystical spirituality are one and the same. The book presents such central principles as the dangers and barrenness of syncretism, the often dire consequences of fostering 'psychic powers', and the superiority of sacerdotal initiation (into the Greater Mysteries) over 'royal' initiation (into the Lesser Mysteries), though both are necessary parts of the initiatic path. This last point precisely defines the rift between Guénon and Julius Evola, whose elevation of royal initiation over sacerdotal must be seen, according to Guénon's criteria, as a modern-day echo of the ancient revolt of the warrior caste against the priestly one. Whoever follows Guénon's argument will realize that a romantic warrior mysticism held no fascination for him, and is in fact explicitly contrary to his principles. But pre-eminently, Perspectives on Initiation provides indispensable points of reference for anyone attempting to distinguish between 'initiatic', 'pseudo-initiatic', and 'countert-initiatic' spiritualities in these profoundly uncertain times.
Download or read book Initiation and Spiritual Realization written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004-05 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Initiation and Spiritual Realization is the closest thing to a work on 'spiritual direction' René Guénon 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 Guénon had defined the nature of initiation and of the organizations qualified to transmit it, Initiation and Spiritual Realization was the first thematic collection of Guénon'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.
Download or read book Perspectives on Initiation written by Rene Ghenon and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-04-02 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guénon's writings encompass a wide range of metaphysical themes, yet these works as whole evince a unity and organic coherence which Guénon always saw as a critical part of his work. As a result, each topic is integrally related to many others.In 1921, 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.[17] He managed to expose these doctrines to a western public viewed by him as quite unprepared and unreceptive as a whole.[18] 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".[19] For one of the most famous aspects of René Guénon's work is the irreducible difference he describes between the East and the West.[20] 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:
Download or read book East and West written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004-05 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In East and West Guénon diagnoses the fundamental 'abnormality' of Western civilization vis-à-vis the traditional civilizations of the East, suggests avenues by which the West might be 're-oriented' toward the fundamental metaphysical principles it has largely abandoned, and outlines the possible role of a restoration of true intellectuality in this task. Of course, East and West are no longer what they were in Guenon's time. The aggressive rationalism and materialism of post-Christian Western culture has become a worldwide phenomenon, and no longer corrodes the philosophical and cultural underpinnings of the West only: it has infiltrated distorted forms of Eastern spirituality and metaphysics, incited fundamentalist reactions the world over, and, thanks to the pervasive internet, wields previously unheard of influence. And so today we have an East largely inflamed with a desire to surpass the West in materialism, and a West sodden with moral and spiritual degeneracy. Nonetheless, fruitful exchanges between traditional Christianity and Eastern religions have also taken place on an unprecedented scale, though marred by an ongoing temptation to ill-informed syncretism. In such a milieu, Guénon's East and West, read with an eye to events of recent decades, delivers a stunning intellectual punch. But the East is always the East: the place where the sun rises, the point of recollection and return to the Source. And the West is always the West: the place of the full manifestation of possibilities (including the most degenerate), of the tendency to dissipation and dissolution; the point where the sun sets. In postmodern, global culture, we are all more or less forced to be 'Westerners' outwardly; our only recourse under these circumstances may be to become 'Easterners' within.
Download or read book The Symbolism of the Cross written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Great Triad written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004-05 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The classical Triad of the Chinese tradition is Heaven-Man-Earth. René Guénon 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, Guénon 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, Guénon 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.
Download or read book Rituals of Initiation and Consecration in Premodern Japan written by Fabio Rambelli and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-01-19 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In premodern Japan, legitimization of power and knowledge in various contexts was sanctioned by consecration rituals (kanjō) of Buddhist origin. This is the first book to address in a comprehensive way the multiple forms and aspects of these rituals also in relation to other Asian contexts. The multidisciplinary chapters in the book address the origins of these rituals in ancient Persia and India and their developments in China and Tibet, before discussing in depth their transformations in medieval Japan. In particular, kanjō rituals are examined from various perspectives: imperial ceremonies, Buddhist monastic rituals, vernacular religious forms (Shugendō mountain cults, Shinto lineages), rituals of bodily transformation involving sexual practice, and the performing arts: a history of these developments, descriptions of actual rituals, and reference to religious and intellectual arguments based on under-examined primary sources. No other book presents so many cases of kanjō in such depth and breadth. This book is relevant to readers interested in Buddhist studies, Japanese religions, the history of Japanese culture, and in the intersections between religious doctrines, rituals, legitimization, and performance.
Download or read book The King of the World written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This remarkable book grew out of a conference headed by René Guénon, the sinologist René 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 Guénon'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 .
Download or read book The Multiple States of the Being written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 René Guénon's great trilogy of pure metaphysics. In this work, Guénon 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 jñana, intellective or intrinsic knowledge of what is, and of That which is Beyond what is, is a Way of Liberation. Guénon 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.
Download or read book Enochian Initiation written by Frater W.I.T. and published by Frater W.I.T.. This book was released on 2006-06-15 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience a new reality through wondrous visions of the Enochian angels Enochian magick, a system of angelic evocation, is one of the oldest forms of ceremonial magick in the Western world, and perhaps the single most powerful magical system in all occultism. It was developed by the Elizabethan magician Dr. John Dee who, with the assistance of his seer, Edward Kelly, channeled an angelic language and alphabet that is remarkably effective in opening up the mind to currents of intelligence far beyond the human norm. Whether you are a beginner on your path of study or already an advanced magician, there is something for you in Enochian Initiation. Author Frater W.I.T. shares his own experiences and deeply personal visions, expanding upon and broadening the path toward understanding forged by John Dee, Aleister Crowley, and other great magicians who have come before. By bringing this practice into the modern era, Frater W.I.T. shows how human consciousness can be expanded and examined more closely than with simple meditation, psychoanalysis, or even mind-altering drugs. For those of you who might have hesitated to study Enochian magick because you do not share the same beliefs or convictions of the deeply religious Elizabethans, rest assured that it is possible to achieve the same wondrous results within a neutral spiritual context. Frater W.I.T. has developed a nonreligious spirituality in his conjurations while still using Hebrew and Enochian divine names. Through this book, you too will learn how to develop new techniques and ideas to shape your own magical style and method. An initiate of both the Masonic and Rosicrucian schools of mystery, Frater W.I.T. has spent more than twenty years studying western occult traditions. The purpose of his life's work is to develop new methods of ceremonial magick and explore new vistas of psychic and spiritual potential.
Download or read book Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: René Guénon's Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines can serve as an introduction to all his later works-especially those which, like Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta, The Symbolism of the Cross, The Multiple States of the Being, and Studies in Hinduism, expound the more profound aspects of metaphysical doctrines in greater detail. In Part I Guenon clears away certain ingrained prejudices inherited from the 'Renaissance', with its adulation of the Greco-Roman culture and its compensating depreciation-both deliberate and instinctive-of other civilizations. In Part II he establishes the fundamental distinctions between various modes of thought and brings out the real nature of metaphysical or universal knowledge-an understanding of which is the first condition for the personal realization of that 'Knowledge' which partakes of the Absolute. Words like 'religion', 'philosophy', 'symbolism', 'mysticism', and 'superstition', are here given a precise meaning. Part III presents a more detailed examination of the Hindu doctrine and its applications at different levels, leading up to the Vedanta, which constitutes its metaphysical essence. Lastly, Part IV resumes the task of clearing away current misconceptions, but is this time concerned not with the West itself, but with distortions of the Hindu doctrines that have arisen as a result of attempts to read into them, or to graft onto them, modern Western conceptions. The concluding chapter lays down the essential conditions for any genuine understanding between East and West, which can only come through the work of those who have attained, at least in some degree, to the realization of 'wisdom uncreate'-that intellective, suprarational knowledge called in the East jñana, and in the West gnosis.
Download or read book Insights Into Christian Esoterism written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2005-05 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of René Guénon'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 The Esoterism of Dante, Guénon 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 Guénon 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. One chapter in the present volume, 'Christianity and Initiation', is 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 Guénon here reaffirmed his denial of the efficacy of the Christian sacraments as rites of initiation, a point of divergence between the teachings of Guénon 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.
Download or read book State Formation written by Christian Krohn-Hansen and published by Pluto Press (UK). This book was released on 2005-09-20 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A refreshing look at the meaning of socialism in Venezuela from the point of view of the country's ordinary citizens.
Download or read book Initiation Between Two Worlds written by Jens Peter Schjødt and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to apply theories and perspectives from the Study of Religion, or Comparative Religion, to the study of the pre-Christian culture in the North. The basic idea is that such an application will en-lighten our understanding of some myths and other narratives which, from other points of view, may seem obscure and thus give us a glimpse into the world view of the pagan Scandinavians, which cannot be obtained otherwise. The book deals with problems within the study of Religion as well as within Scandinavian Studies, and hopefully it can inspire scholars from both fields.
Download or read book Center Will Hold written by Michael Pemberton and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2003-12-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Center Will Hold, Pemberton and Kinkead have compiled a major volume of essays on the signal issues of scholarship that have established the writing center field and that the field must successfully address in the coming decade. The new century opens with new institutional, demographic, and financial challenges, and writing centers, in order to hold and extend their contribution to research, teaching, and service, must continuously engage those challenges. Appropriately, the editors offer the work of Muriel Harris as a key pivot point in the emergence of writing centers as sites of pedagogy and research. The volume develops themes that Harris first brought to the field, and contributors here offer explicit recognition of the role that Harris has played in the development of writing center theory and practice. But they also use her work as a springboard from which to provide reflective, descriptive, and predictive looks at the field.
Download or read book The Esoterism of Dante written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2005-05 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 Eugène Aroux, pointed to certain esoteric meanings in the work of Dante Alighieri, notably The Divine Comedy. Partly based on their scholarship, Guénon in 1925 published The Esoterism of Dante. From the theses of Rosetti and Aroux, Guénon 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 René Guénon'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), Guénon 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 Guénon 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 Guénon 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 Guénon here reaffirmed his denial of the efficacy of the Christian sacraments as rites of initiation, a point of divergence between the teachings of Guénon 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.
