Perspectives on Initiation - Couverture rigide

Guenon, Rene

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0900588411 ISBN 13 : 9780900588419

Editeur : Sophia Perennis et Universalis, 2004

Synopsis

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.

Perspectives on Initiation, 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 spiritual 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 initiatic 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), although both are necessary parts of the initiatic path. Whoever follows Guénon's argument will realize that a romantic royal or 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 "counter-initiatic" spiritualities in these profoundly uncertain times. Related articles were later published (1952) in the posthumous collection Initiation and Spiritual Realization.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

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.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Perspectives on Initiation presents initiation as essentially the transmission, by the appropriate rites of a given tradition, of a 'spiritual influence' which represents the 'beginning' (initium) of the spiritual journey. It is unique in giving a comprehensive account both of the conditions of initiation and of the characteristics of organizations qualified to transmit it. While most of its 48 chapters deal with specific aspects of initiation, others cover an astonishing range of related subjects, among them: Magic and Mysticism, Ceremonial Magic, Psychic 'Powers', The Symbolism of the Theater, The Gift of Tongues, Greater and Lesser Mysteries, Rose-Cross and Rosicrucians, Some Reflections on Hermeticism, and The Birth of the Avatara. Related articles are collected in Guénon's Initiation and Spiritual Realization.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Sophia Perennis et Universalis
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0900588411
• ISBN 13: 9780900588419
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 320
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible