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Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion (Rene Guenon Works)
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About the Author
René Guénon (1886–1951) was one of the great luminaries of the twentieth century, whose critique of the modern world has stood fast against the shifting sands of intellectual fashion. His extensive writings, now finally available in English, are a providential treasure-trove for the modern seeker: while pointing ceaselessly to the perennial wisdom found in past cultures ranging from the Shamanistic to the Indian and Chinese, the Hellenic and Judaic, the Christian and Islamic, and including also Alchemy, Hermeticism, and other esoteric currents, they direct the reader also to the deepest level of religious praxis, emphasizing the need for affiliation with a revealed tradition even while acknowledging the final identity of all spiritual paths as they approach the summit of spiritual realization. René Guénon, of whom Jacob Needleman wrote in The Sword of Gnosis that ‘no other modern writer has so effectively communicated the absoluteness of truth,’ is gradually being recognized by deeper thinkers as one of the few who have truly penetrated the seductive veil of the modern age. As an expositor of pure metaphysics and its application to the science of symbols, Guénon is without peer; and his extraordinarily prescient critique of the modern world is attracting more and more attention among cultural commentators. Little known in the English-speaking world till the recent appearance of his Collected Works in translation, Guénon has nevertheless long been recognized as a veritable criterion of truth by a vanguard of remarkable writers who evince that rare combination: intellectuality and spirituality. After a lonely childhood, often interrupted by ill health, Guénon navigated the seductive half-truths of occultism toward a deeper, unified vision offering a way out from the confusion and fragmentation of our time. Regarded by leading scholars as the first truly authentic interpreter of many Eastern doctrines in the West, Guénon never tired, in face of the seemingly inexorable process of dissolution in the twentieth century, of pointing to the transcendent unity of all religious faiths and the abiding Truth that contains them all.
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Product details
Series: Rene Guenon Works
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Sophia Perennis; F Second Printing Used edition (June 24, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0900588799
ISBN-13: 978-0900588792
Product Dimensions:
6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
3.5 out of 5 stars
4 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,699,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
First of all, please disregard the review by J. Bielawski. In the footnote to which the reviewer refers, Guenon clearly states that Bo Yin Ra is "outside Theosophy in the strict sense of the word." And in any event, one need only make a cursory glance through Bo Yin Ra's works to see that he deserves to be classed in the same vein as properly Theosophic "thinkers," (see, for instance, his book on the Gospel of John where he calls Christ one of the "Masters," and where he tries to argue that the current text of the Gospel is a corruption--in other words, the same nonsense that is spouted by Theosophists).The present work represents in some sense Guenon taking care of the dirty laundry he acquired from the time he spent in the Parisian occultist milieu in the early 20th century. Some of his critics have never failed to point to this period of Guenon's life to try and discredit his views, some even going so far as to see him as an nothing more than a mere occultist. A judicious reading of his works, however, can only lead to a different conclusion, especially when one considers him in comparison to actual French occultists like Papus or Eliphas Levi. Whatever one thinks of Guenon, he deserves to be taken more seriously than do these latter. Still, Guenon's motives for entering into this bizarre scene are difficult to parse through and there are certain episodes (his involvement with the Gnostic Church or the attempt to constitute a "Renovated Order of the Temple") which are definitely questionable. How seriously did he take these groups at first? Did he plunge into this scene merely to have a better understanding of its inner workings, in order to be able to expose it for the sham that it was? Was he trying to convince himself firsthand the lack of "authentic" initiatic organizations in the West? Or was he trying to attract other serious seekers who were not fully under the sway of Papus' ideas (the French Wikipedia page about Guenon makes clear that he did make contacts important to his intellectual development at this time, particularly Paul Vulliaud [whose work on the Kabbalah he cites frequently] and Matgioi [whose writings on Chinese metaphysics Guenon praised highly])? What is beyond doubt is that Guenon fully and completely repudiates all of these twisted undercurrents in the present work. And his exposé would not be nearly as effective without the extensive firsthand knowledge that he brings to bear in this book. So it is unfair to use these associations to try and cast a shadow on all of Guenon's work, just as unfair as it would be use Evola's appropriation of his ideas for dubious political ends (Fascism, Nazism, etc.) to discredit them as well.Being a work of a more historical and less of a doctrinal nature than many other of Guenon's works, one might at first be tempted to think that the overall importance of "Theosophy: ..." within Guenon's corpus is negligible or at least secondary. In a certain sense, this is true--the metaphysical principles with which he deals more extensively elsewhere have more intrinsic interest. There is still plenty here for a dedicated reader of Guenon, however. In particular, seeing the errors that he always attempted to refute spelled out in complete detail makes it easier to understand why he emphasizes certain points in his other works to such a great extent. The real reason this work is invaluable, though, is the insight it gives into what Guenon calls the "underground" history of our times. In other works, like "Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times," Guenon can seem almost paranoid when he speaks of the pseudo-initation and the counter-initiation. This work makes his tone in those works, and the personal fear he had of those dubious groups (see Sedgwick's "Against the Modern World"), more understandable. Indeed, the extent of the influence that the false "ideas" of Theosophic origin have had outside the domain of Theosophy proper is remarkable (I'll mention the Theosophic understanding of "karma" as a moralistic concept, which has no doubt become a commonplace in Western popular culture; though Theosophists themselves disagree about it, "reincarnation" is another idea advocated by some of their writings). Guenon here relates Theosophy to the same modern mental tendencies which have manifested themselves in forms that can seem innocuous to, say, the average American (the list is quite long, but includes [William] Jamesian theories of "religious experience," Bergsonian philosophy, Scouting [i.e. the Boy/Girl Scouts], evangelical Protestantism, the YMCA, the [now] common practice of the "moment of silence," Christian Science, vegetariansim/veganism, etc.). Theosophy is also historically important because it is a precursor to contemporary pseudo-religious phenomena like the New Age movement (it was in fact the former Theosophist Alice Bailey who gave the world the notion of the "Age of Aquarius"), the recent craze about Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret," the increasingly widespread use of yoga for "therapeutic" purposes, or the Church of Scientology (for another fascinating historical report about yet another important precursor to these contemporary pseudo-religions, see Guenon's "The Origins of Mormonism" in the book "Miscellanea"). What these last few sentences should hopefully drive home is the fact that anyone seeking to understand the relatively hidden sources of the contemporary Western mindset should absolutely buy this book so that they are not led astray by the endlessly proliferating false teachings that float around everywhere, obscuring the truth. This book (along with "The Spiritist Fallacy") is certainly helpful in exposing much of the false spirituality that is becoming more and more mainstream in our times.
Note to the authors: Bô Yin Râ had nothing to do with "theosophy", "White Lodge", etc. The footnote on p. 131 which mentions him is factually incorrect and betrays at once the authors never consulted the easily obtainable original sources. The footnote is — in the immortal words of the physicist Wolfgang Pauli — "not even wrong". One might have equally well claimed Albert Einstein was mostly known for his work as a dentist.
This book is a waste of time. The author is thoroughly out of sync with the times, and, even for the times in which it was written, showed a marked lack of real understanding of his subject. Don't bother. There are many other more modern, honest, informed treatments of this subject than this.Update 1/2/13As can be seen from the several negative feedbacks my review of this book has received, I am guessing that there is a rather small group of Guenon devotees that don't agree with me! Nonetheless, anyone with an adequate understanding of Theosophy, not to mention with Eastern teachings such as Hinduism or Buddhism, can only scratch their heads and wonder what he is talking about. For those who would like to see a Theosophically informed response to this book, I suggest doing an internet search for this article: Against Blavatsky: Rene Guenon's Critique of Theosophy. To any open mind it will certainly at least make one a bit skeptical of Guenon's assessment of Theosophy.Incidentally, to anyone considering buying books by Guenon, I suggest that you consider one simple fact: not only does Guenon not seem to agree with the Theosophical perspective on karma and reincarnation, but he grossly misrepresents the traditional Eastern notions on these topics, trying to defend his position (he, for instance, does not believe in reincarnation) by falsely presenting Eastern ideas as closer to his own rejection of reincarnation. Anyone who has a minimal exposure to Eastern thought will immediately recognize how silly his understanding of Eastern ideas on these topics actually is. There may be some good ideas in others of his books (I am sure there must be), but this book is truly awful. If you find value in traditions and teachers like Dzogchen and Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, Advaita Vedanta, Ramana Maharshi, Kirpal Singh, Yogananda, and so on, then it is likely you will find this book misinformed and useless. Frankly, it is shocking to what extent Guenon was ignorant of Buddhist and Hindu teachings, and yet was so highly opinionated about them and Theosophy. For just a taste of this, read the article mentioned above. There can be found numerous examples.
this guy was a genius!
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