Download or read book The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times written by René Guénon and published by Penguin Group. This book was released on 1972 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critique of modern Western civilization from the point of view of traditional metaphysics

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 Reign of Quantity the Signs of the Times written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""The reign of quantity" gives a concise but comprehensive view of the present state of affairs in the world, as it appears from the point of view of the 'ancient wisdom', formerly common both to the East and to the West, but now almost entirely lost sight of. The author indicates with his fabled clarity and directness the precise nature of the modern deviation, and devotes special attention to the development of modern philosophy and science, and to the part played by them, with their accompanying notions of progress and evolution, in the formation of the industrial and democratic society which we now regard as 'normal'. Guénon sees history as a descent from Form (or Quality) toward Matter (or Quantity); but after the Reign of Quantity-modern materialism and the 'rise of the masses'-Guénon predicts a reign of 'inverted quality' just before the end of the age: the triumph of the 'counter-initiation', the kingdom of Antichrist. This text is considered the magnum opus among Guénon's texts of civilizational criticism, as is Symbols of Sacred Science among his studies on symbols and cosmology, and Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta among his more purely metaphysical works." --Descripción del editor.

Download or read book The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Reign of Quantity gives a concise but comprehensive view of the present state of affairs in the world, as it appears from the point of view of the 'ancient wisdom', formerly common both to the East and to the West, but now almost entirely lost sight of. The author indicates with his fabled clarity and directness the precise nature of the modern deviation, and devotes special attention to the development of modern philosophy and science, and to the part played by them, with their accompanying notions of progress and evolution, in the formation of the industrial and democratic society which we now regard as 'normal'. Guénon sees history as a descent from Form (or Quality) toward Matter (or Quantity); but after the Reign of Quantity-modern materialism and the 'rise of the masses'-Guénon predicts a reign of 'inverted quality' just before the end of the age: the triumph of the 'counter-initiation', the kingdom of Antichrist. This text is considered the magnum opus among Guénon's texts of civilizational criticism, as is Symbols of Sacred Science among his studies on symbols and cosmology, and Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta among his more purely metaphysical works.

Download or read book Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power written by René Guénon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power is an analysis of cyclical manifestation, and more specifically of the relationship between royal and sacerdotal power. In accord with the Hindu doctrine of manvantaras and Plato's depiction of historical degeneration in the Republic, Guénon views history here as a series of 'revolts' of lower castes against the higher. The kshatriyas (warriors) revolt against the brahmins (priests), thus setting the stage for a revolt of the vaishyas (loosely, the bourgeoisie), as in the French revolution-and, finally, the shudras (the proletariat), as in the Russian revolution (which Guénon does not touch upon in this work). From one point of view, this is a progressive degeneration; from another it is entirely lawful, given the 'entropic' nature of manifestation itself. External, historical descent reflects an inner degeneration: knowledge (the celestial paradise) is eclipsed by heroic action (the terrestrial paradise), which is in turn overrun by the inertia and agitation of the passions. Yet the nadir of degeneration is also the point of renewal: the dawning of the Heavenly Jerusalem-spiritual Knowledge-which begins a new cycle of manifestation.

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 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 The Essential Ren Gu non written by René Guénon and published by World Wisdom, Inc. This book was released on 2009 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A prolific writer and author of over 24 books, Rene Guenon 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. A key component of his thought was the assertion that universal truths manifest themselves in various forms in the world's religions and his writings on Hinduism, Taoism, and Sufism are particularly illuminating in this regard.

Download or read book Vectors of the Counter Initiation written by Charles Upton and published by Sophia Perennis et Universalis. This book was released on 2012 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VectorsBackCover French philosopher Rene Guenon (1886-1951), who spent many years searching for a true esoteric Way, crossed paths with many false and subversive spiritualities before arriving at the threshold of Islamic Sufism. In his prophetic masterpiece The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times he classed the worst of these spiritualities as examples of the Counter-Initiation. Anti-Tradition-secularism and materialism-opposes religion; Counter-Tradition inverts it; and the esoteric essence of Counter-Tradition is the Counter-Initiation. The author expands on this concept, recognizing the action of the Counter-Initiation in such areas as the politicizing of the interfaith movement, the anti-human tendencies in the environmental movement, the growing interest in magic and sorcery, the involvement of the intelligence communities in the fields of UFO investigation and psychedelic research, the history of Templarism and Freemasonry, and the de-Islamicization of the famous Sufi poet, Jalaluddin Rumi. Vectors of the Counter-Initiation is conceived of as a sequel to The System of Antichrist: Truth and Falsehood in Postmodernism and the New Age [Sophia Perennis, 2001]. The Counter-Initiation has six main features: syncretism; inverted hierarchy; deviated esoterism; the granting of the temporal transmission of spiritual lore precedence over the vertical descent of Revelation; the reduction of religion to utilitarianism (magic) and esoterism to a purely technical knowledge (Promethean spirituality); and the mis-application of the norms of the individual spiritual Path to the supposed spiritual evolution of the collective. The Counter-Initiation is the ego's idea of spirituality. It appears in the Old Testament as the Serpent in the garden, Cain's murder of Abel, the "sons of God who looked upon the daughters of men and found them fair," the Tower of Babel, the degeneration of Sodom, and the magicians of Pharaoh whom Moses defeated. In the New Testament it is personified by Judas, and in the Qur'an by the figure of as-Samiri, who forged the Golden Calf, and the angels Harut and Marut-testers of man by God's design-who taught magic to the human race in Babylon. For both traditions, it is destined to culminate in Antichrist. This book brings together two schools of thought: the Traditionalists or Perennialists (writers on comparative religion and traditional metaphysics) and the conspiracy theorists who are investigating the origin, nature, and plans of the New World Order. The NWO researchers can throw a penetrating light on the social and political dangers presently threatening the Perennialists, while the Perennialists can provide these researchers with a deeper and wider spiritual context for their vision of human evil. In Guenon's time the Counter-Initiation appeared in terms of this or that secret society operating in the shadowy underworld of European occultism; it has now come up into the open, and moved inexorably toward the centers of global power. In the words of American Eastern Orthodox priest Seraphim Rose, "in our time Satan has walked naked into human history."

Download or read book Reni Guinon written by Frithjof Schuon and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2004 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 Guénon: 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.

Download or read book Look to the Land written by Lord Northbourne and published by Sophia Perennis. This book was released on 2005-03 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Without vision the people perish.' So wrote the poet William Blake. Lord Northbourne (1896-1982) was a man of exceptional and comprehensive vision, who diagnosed the sickness of modern society as stemming from the severance of its organic links with the wholeness of life. But like his better-known younger contemporary E. F. Schumacher (author of Small is Beautiful), whose work developed along very similar lines, Northbourne's occupation as a practicing organic farmer (he coined the term) was joined to a deep conviction that humanity does not live by bread alone, and that the fullness of life properly integral to human nature demands obedience to sacred law. Thus his vision of life came to embrace the interrelationship of God, humanity, and the soil as a unity presupposing a way of life in stark contrast to that of the myopic, mechanististic world he saw encroaching on all sides. And so, as it becomes increasingly evident that such a way of life stands to emperil our very future and that of the delicate ecosystem on which all life depends, it is time to re-examine the work of this pioneering thinker. In an age of specialization and fragmentation, we have much to learn from Northbourne, whose vision of what is required by a truly meaningful and sustainable society embraced religion, farming, the arts, the rural crafts, monetary form, and traditional metaphysics. Northbourne's later works, Religion in the Modern World and Looking Back on Progress, present his wider reflections on the Divine and human society, but always with the sensibility of a man who knows the soil, recalling in many ways the writings of Wendell Berry. He corresponded with Thomas Merton, as well as mountaineer and Tibetan Buddhist Marco Pallis (The Way and the Mountain), who introduced him to the school of perennialist writers. Northbourne translated René Guénon's The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, described by Huston Smith as one of the truly seminal books of the twentieth century, as well as Frithjof Schuon's Light on Ancient Worlds and Titus Burckhardt's Sacred Art in East and West. He was also an accomplished flower gardener and watercolorist, and a frequent contributor to the British periodical Studies in Comparative Religion, described by Schumacher as one of the two most important journals to read. Sophia Perennis is republishing all three of Northbourne's works, a fourth volume of uncollected essays spanning agriculture and metaphysics, as well as the 23-volume Collected Writings of René Guénon, including The Reign of Quantity. Lord Northbourne (1896-1982) was a man of exceptional vision, who already in the 1940s diagnosed in detail the sickness of modern society as stemming from the severance of its organic links with the wholeness of life. A leading figure in the early organic farming movement, his writings profoundly affected such other pioneers as Sir Albert Howard, Rolf Gardiner, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, and H. J. Massingham. His path led him on to a profound study of comparative religion, traditional metaphysics, and the science of symbols, which he employed in incisive observations on the character of modern society. His later writings exercised considerable influence on his younger contemporaries E. F. Schumacher and Thomas Merton, and in many ways anticipate the essays of Wendell Berry. The republication of this milestone ecological text will be followed by three volumes of Northbourne's later metaphysical and cultural writings. "A major text in the organic canon, too long out-of-print" - Philip Conford, The Origins of the Organic Movement "We have tried to conquer nature by force and by intellect. It now remains for us to try the way of love." - From the book (possibly for front cover, if not too long?)

Download or read book Signs of the Times written by Ray Grasse and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2002-04-01 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A unique and extremely interesting examination of both history and the unfolding present as seen through the prism of astrological significance.” —John Anthony West, author of Serpent in the Sky We may live in astonishing times, but they are not incomprehensible when you know how to read the signs. Everybody says we’re entering the Age of Aquarius, but when does it start, and how will we know what it looks and feels like? Ray Grasse deciphers the signs and correspondences of our nearing Aquarian future, using the tools of astrology, synchronicity, and mythology. He draws richly from contemporary religion, art, politics, science, even current movies, to show how the cultural signs of Aquarius and our likely future are already apparent and changing our world. The Aquarian Age will be marked by its intensely mental quality, when information will be the driving force of society and the biggest challenges we face will be those of the mind. Decentralization will be the order of business, either the empowered individual will reign supreme, or the collective interests of globalized society will predominate. It could be both. We are all participants in the global drama and all aspects of our inner and outer lives are bound up with the new Aquarian themes. Signs of the Times is the authoritative travel guide for the trip into our future—don’t leave the present without it. “An attempt, firmly anchored in the age-old tradition of spiritual symbology, to make sense of what often strikes us as utterly chaotic, arbitrary, and senseless.” —Georg Feuerstein, PhD, author of The Yoga Tradition

Download or read book End Times Made Easy written by Joseph Morris and published by Destiny Image Publishers. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 75+ Signs of Jesus' Soon Return! As the world grows more volatile with looming wars, rampant pandemics, and violence in the streets, many people are wondering, Is the end near? YES! Jesus is coming soon! But it's wonderful news! There is also plenty of bad news on the horizon—but not for the Christian. Jesus’ end-time agenda is to give you great hope and joy. He wants to bless you and prepare you for your destiny in these last days. For more than 30 years, author, minister, and host of the weekly End of Days Update Joseph Morris has been awakening the Church to Jesus’ hastening return, helping believers connect the dots between Bible prophecy and current events. In End Times Made Easy, Joseph shares: Scriptural evidence of end-time events happening right now Easy-to-understand charts The difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming Answers to tough questions about the Tribulation Amazing biblical descriptions of Jesus’ millennial reign on earth The simple truths in this book will empower you to run your race with joy in these last days, excited to see Jesus face to face!

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 Signs of the Times written by Robert Fitzgerald and published by 1st World Publishing. This book was released on 2005-10-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Signs of the Times is a fascinating account of how time and history follow an astrological structure. This structure consists of astrological ages that are chronicled from before the Age of Cancer, and the invention of agriculture around the world, to the present end of the Age of Pisces, and the much-prophesied Apocalyptic end of the world. Within this pattern an end-time cycle emerges that explains the Apocalyptic energies that we see around us today. Astrology also promises, in the coming Age of Aquarius, a new golden age and gives us indications of what needs to be done to survive this end-time. Robert FitzGerald is an artist, photographer, and theoretical astrologer. For more than 25 years, he has been pushing the boundaries of astrology into theories of religion, mythology, mathematics, genetics, geology and physics. [Name of your book] reveals a revolutionary vision of history based on the ancient cycles of astrology. His vision of life on this planet promises to change the way humanity looks at history and at the world around us. He grew up in California and now lives and works at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, a community dedicated to expanding our knowledge of the world by combining spiritual knowledge with the scientific.

Download or read book Debt Trap written by Richard W. Lombardi and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1985 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Because the Time is Near written by John F. MacArthur and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2007-03-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The end of the world is coming. From roadside signs to science fiction films, this slogan underscores our society’s nervous fascination with the future. Whether it’s a giant asteroid, a worldwide plague, or some other global catastrophe, the end of the world is a terrifying prospect—at least for those who have no idea what it will be like. For Christians, however, the end of the world should be anything but dreadful. In fact, it should be something we actually look forward to. Why? Because God has told us how the world will end. And He has assured us that the end of this age will mark the beginning of a new, glorious one in which we will serve and worship Him in sinless perfection. Our eternal hope, as believers, is intimately tied to the end of this world. All of this is laid out in the book of Revelation. Not only is Revelation the inspired Word of God, it is also the only New Testament book that includes a promised spiritual blessing for those who study and apply its message. As such, it is an essential part of every Christian’s devotional life. Those who ignore Revelation deprive themselves of a rich treasure of divine truth, and the promised blessings that come from understanding that truth. Join John MacArthur as he explains the book of Revelation in a way that is both doctrinally precise and intensely practical.