René Guénon

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René Jean Marie Joseph Guénon (Abd al-Wahid Yahya)
A 1925 studio photo portrait (age 38).
Born (1886-11-15)November 15, 1886
Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France
Cairo, Egypt
Era 20th century philosophy
Region Western & Eastern
philosophies & esotericisms
School Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Nondualism, Platonism
Main interests Metaphysics, Esoterism, Initiation, Symbolism, Mythology, Gnosis, Religious texts, Freemasonry, Mathematics, History, Society, Social criticism, Comparative religion
Notable ideas Critique of modernity from the perspective of ancient wisdom traditions; refounding of western esotericism based on the still living eastern ones

René Guénon (November 15, 1886 – January 7, 1951), also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya, was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, "sacred science"[1] and traditional studies[2] to symbolism and initiation.






Around this time (according to indications reproduced by his biographer P. Chacornac),[10] it is likely that René Guénon became acquainted with Hinduism, specifically via the initiatic lineage of Shankarâchârya, as well as with Taoism. He was also initiated in 1910[11] into Islamic esoterism, where he obtained the name Sheikh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya. His initiation into Sufism was effected by Ivan Aguéli (Abdul Hadi) and performed in accordance with Sheikh Abder Rahman Elish El-Kebir, an important representative of Islam in Egypt at that time, in both its exoteric (outward) and esoteric aspects. Sheikh Abder Rahman Elish El-Kebir was the head of the Maleki Madh'hab (one of the major lineages of Islamic jurisprudence) at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Guénon later dedicated his book The Symbolism of the Cross to him.


Although the exposition of Hindu doctrines to European audiences had already been attempted in piecemeal fashion at that time by many orientalists, Guénon’s Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines advanced its subject in a uniquely insightful manner,[12] by referring to the concepts of metaphysics and Tradition in their most general sense, which Guénon precisely defined, along with the necessary distinctions and definitions of seemingly unambiguous terms such as religion, tradition, exoterism, esoterism and theology. Guénon explained that his purpose was not to describe all aspects of Hinduism, but to give the necessary intellectual foundation for a proper understanding of its spirit.[13] The book also stands as a harsh condemnation of works presented by certain other European writers about Hinduism and Tradition in general; according to Guénon, such writers had lacked any profound understanding of their subject matter and of its implications. The book also contains a critical analysis of the political intrusions of the British Empire into the subject of Hinduism (and India itself) through Madame Blavatsky’s theosophism.[14]





Writings: an overview[edit]

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. For that reason, in this section is presented an overview, intended at presenting René Guénon's writings to someone discovering them, leaving a detailed exposition to the following sections.

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.[18] He managed to expose these doctrines to a western public viewed by him as quite unprepared and unreceptive as a whole.[19] 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".[20] For one of the most famous aspects of René Guénon's work is the irreducible difference he describes between the East and the West.[21] 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:

  • Fundamental studies related to Initiation, a subject completely re-exposited by Guenon from the traditional perspective: Perspectives on Initiation, Initiation and Spiritual Realization, The Esoterism of Dante.

This partition is not strict and, as we noted earlier, Guénon's works display a coherence and unity making each book integrally related to the others.[22] From that perspective, and according to René Guénon's own words,[23] his work is completely unrelated to any particular philosophical system.[24] He identifies the main difference between profane and sacred knowledge: the former ignores the notion of realization ("moksha" or "delivrance" in the Hindu doctrines), while the latter provides effective means for realizing the Supreme Principle (through initiation, mantra or dhikr recitation, orthodox spiritual lineages).



Guénon exposits a view of Metaphysics which can, according to him "by no means be reduced to scientific or philosophical conceptions"[28] but which is instead "the knowledge (...) of the principles of universal order" ; being "absolutely illimited", Metaphysics "cannot be defined".[29] Metaphysics is seen, according to him, in its etymological sense,[30] while recalling that sense in his books.[31] Such a metaphysics, being by essence beyond any contingency, is necessarily at the source of all orthodox traditions, these latter being considered as direct derivations of the great "primordial tradition" (corresponding to the Hindu notion of Sanātana Dharma, or Manu law).

Metaphysics is not introduced by René Guénon as a branch of philosophy, as it is in western studies. Traditional metaphysics, which is, according to Guénon, beyond any contingency (knowledge of universal principles[32]), lies at the very source of all orthodox and legitimate traditions, making a connection between the heart of these traditions and a unique spiritual origin, the "Primordial Tradition".[33] The study of traditional metaphysics and its relationship with our state of existence, i.e. our world, clears the path inwardly towards the center common and shared by each authentic religion: exoterism bounds an "outside" accessible to everyone, its purpose is to maintain the link with Supreme Principle.[34]





Some key terms and ideas[edit]

Guénon's writings make use of words and terms, of fundamental signification, which will receive a precise definition throughout his books. These terms and words, although receiving a usual meaning and being used in many branches of human sciences, have, according to René Guénon, lost substantially their original signification (e.g. words such as "metaphysics", "initiation", "mysticism", "personality", "form", "matter").[39] He insisted notably on the danger represented by the perversion of the signification of words seen by him as essential for the study of metaphysics; for that reason, we recall, in this section, the definition given by René Guénon to some of the words used extensively in his works.

Term and/or idea Definition and/or remarks

"It may now be stated that metaphysics [...] is essentially the knowledge of the Universal, or, if preferred, the knowledge of the principles belonging to the universal order, which moreover alone can validly lay claim to the name of principles; but in making this statement, we are not really trying to propose a definition of metaphysics, for such a thing is a sheer impossibility by reason of that very universality which we look upon as the foremost of its characteristics, the one from which all the other are derived. In reality, only something that is limited is capable of definition, whereas by definition metaphysics is on the contrary by its very nature absolutely unlimited, and this plainly does not allow our enclosing it in a more or less narrow formula [...]."

Introduction to the study of the Hindu doctrines, part II, « The general characteristics of eastern thought », chapter V: « Essential characters of metaphysics », p. 70.
Identity of the knowing and being

"Metaphysics affirms the fundamental identity of knowing and being [...] and since this identity is essentially implied of the very nature of intellectual intuition, it not merely affirms it but realizes it as well."

Introduction to the study of the Hindu doctrines, p. 155.
Initiation and mysticism

"Today the esoteric or initiatic domain and the mystical domain – or, if one prefers, their respective points of view – are often confused [...]. it is currently the fashion so to speak among those with limited horizons to construe all Eastern doctrines as 'mystical', including those that lack even a semblance of the outward aspects that could justify such an attribution [...]. [...] in everything pertaining to initiation there is really nothing vague or nebulous, for on the contrary it is as precise and 'positive' as can be, so that initiation by its very nature is in fact incompatible with mysticism."

Perspectives on initiation, chapter 1: « The initiatic and mystical paths », p. 8.

"[...] initiation is essentially the transmission of a spiritual influence, a transmission that can only take place through a regular, traditional organization, so that one cannot speak of initiation outside of an affiliation with an organization of this kind. We have explained that 'regularity' must be understood to exclude all pseudo-initiatic organizations, which, regardless of pretention and outward appearance, in no way possess any spiritual influence and thus are incapable of transmitting anything."

Perspectives on initiation, chapter 8: « Initiatic transmission », p. 48.
The Self

"The 'Self' is the transcendent and permanent principle of which the manifested being, the human being, for example, is only a transient and contingent modification, a modification which, moreover, can in no way affect the principle [...] The 'Self', as such, is never individualized and cannot become so, for since it must always be considered under the aspect of the eternity and immutability which are the necessary attributes of pure Being, it is obviously not susceptible of any particularization, which would cause it to be 'other that itself'. Immutable in its own nature, it develops the indefinite possibilities which it contains within itself, by a relative passing from potency to act through an indefinite series of degrees. Its essential permanence is not thereby affected, precisely because this process is only relative, and because this development is, strictly speaking, not a development at all, except from the point of view of manifestation, outside of which there is no question of succession, but only of perfect simultaneity, so that even what is virtual under one aspect, is found nevertheless to be realized in the 'eternal present'."

Man and his becoming according to the Vedânta, chapter 2: « Fundamental distinction between the 'Self' and the 'ego' », p. 23.
Paramâtmâ, individuality, personality

"[...] Previously, on the contrary [i.e. prior to the theosphists], even in the West, whenever any distinction has been made between these two terms ['individuality' or 'ego' and 'personality'] the personality has always been regarded as superior to individuality [...] The 'Self' [...] considered in relation to a being, is properly speaking the personnality; it is true that one might restrict the use of this latter word to the 'Self' as principle of the manifested states, just as the 'Divine Personality', Ishwara, is the Principle of universal Manifestation; but one can also extend it analogically to the 'Self' as principle of all states of the being, both manifested and unmanifested. The personality is an immediate determination, primordial and non-particularized, of the principle which in Sanskrit is called Atmâ or Paramâtmâ, and which, in default of a better term, we may call the 'Universal Spirit', on the clear understanding, however, that in this use of the word 'spirit', nothing is implied that might recall Western philosophical conceptions, and, in particular, that is not turned into a correlative of 'matter', as the modern mind is inclined to do, being subject in this respect, even though unconsciously, to the influence of Cartesian dualism."

Universal and individual

"The 'Self', in relation to any being whatsoever, is in reality identical with Atmâ, since it is essentially beyond all distinction and all particularization; and that is why, in Sanskrit, the same word âtman, in cases other than the nominative, replaces the reflexive pronoun 'itself'. The 'Self is not therefore really distinct from Atmâ, except when one considers it [...] in relation to a certain definite state of being, such as the human state [...]. In this case, moreover, the 'Self' does not really become distinct from Atmâ in any way, since [...] it [...] cannot be affected by the point of view from which we regard it [...]. What should be noted is that to the extent that we make this distinction, we are departing from the direct consideration of the 'Self' in order to consider its reflection in human individuality [...]. The reflection in question determines what may be called the center of this individuality; but if isolated from its principle, that is, from the 'Self', it can only enjoy a purely illusory existence, for it is from that principle that it derives all its reality, and it effectually possesses this reality only through participation in the nature of the 'Self', that is, insofar as it is identified therewith by universalization.
The personality [...] belongs essentially to the order of principles in the strictest sense of the word, that is, to the universal order [...]. [The] following table [...] sets forth the essential distinctions in this connection [...]:"
R Guenon Universal.png

Man and his becoming according to the Vedânta, chapter 2: « Fundamental distinction between the 'Self' and the 'ego' », pp. 26-27.
Manifestation and non-manifestation

R Guenon Manifestation.png


Note: in another text, René Guénon will identify what is called here formless manifestation, or formless states of being, with certain angelic states, as they are called in religious (exoteric) formulations.

The human state of being

"The "gross state" in fact is nothing else than the corporeal existence itself, to which [...] human individuality belongs by one of its modalities only, and not in its integral development. As to the "subtle state", it includes, in the first place, the extra-corporeal modalities of the human being, or of every other being situated in the same state of existence, and also, in the second place, all other individual states [...] It may be said, therefore, that the human being, considered in its integrality, comprises a certain sum of possibilities which constitute its corporeal or gross modality, and in addition, a multitude of other possibilities, which, extending in different directions beyond the corporeal modality, constitute its subtle modalities; but all these possibilities together represent, nonetheless, one and the same degree of universal Existence. It follows from this that human individuality is at once much more and much less than Westerners generally suppose it to be: much more, because they recognize in it scarcely anything except the corporeal modality, which includes but the smallest fraction of its possibilities; much less, however, because this individuality, far from really constituting the whole being, is but one state of that being among an indefinite multitude of other states. Moreover the sum of all these states is still nothing at all in relation to the personality, which alone is the true being, because it alone represents its permanent and unconditioned state, and because there is nothing else which can be considered as absolutely real."

Samâdhi and ecstasy

"[...] let us also point out the impropriety of translating samâdhi as "ecstasy", this latter being all the more irksome as it is normally used in Western languages to designate mystical states, that is to say something of an altogether different order, with which it must not be confused; its etymological signification moreover is "to go out of oneself" (which suits very well the case of mystical states), whereas what the term samâdhi designates is quite to the contrary a "return" of the being into its own Self."

Studies in Hinduism, chapter 3: « Kundalinî Yoga », note 3, pp. 17-18.
Form, matter, essence and substance

"Understood [...] with reference to particular beings, essence and substance are in effect the same as the "form and "matter" of the scholastic philosophers; but it is better to avoid the use of these latter terms because, doubtless owing to an imperfection of the Latin language in this connection, they only convey rather inaccurately the ideas they ought to express [...]"

The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of Times, chapter 1: « Quality and Quantity », p. 12.
Matter and the principle of individuation

"[...] the individuals of any one species all participate in a common nature, which is that of the species itself, and is in all of them equally; how then does it come about that, in spite of this community of nature, these individuals are distinct beings, or even that they are in any way distinguishable one from another ? [...] the question could [...] be formulated in this way: of what order is the determination which is added to specific nature so that individuals may become separate beings while remaining within the species ?It is this determination that the scholastics relate to "matter", that is to say ultimately to quantity [...] and thus "matter" or quantity appears distinctly as a principle of "separativity"."

The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of Times, chapter 6: « The Principle of Individuation », p. 47.

Metaphysical writings[edit]


  • Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines,
  • Man and His Becoming according to the Vedânta,
  • The Multiple States of the Being,
  • Symbolism of the Cross,
  • Oriental Metaphysics.

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines[edit]


The first part (« preliminary questions ») exposes the hurdles that prevented classical orientalism from a deep understanding of eastern doctrines (without forgetting that René Guénon had of course in view the orientalism of his time): the « classical prejudice » which « consists essentially in a predisposition to attribute the origin of all civilization to the Greeks and Romans », the ignorance of certain types of relationships between the ancient peoples, linguistic difficulties, and the confusions arising about certain questions related to chronology, these confusions being made possible through the ignorance of the importance of oral transmission which can precede, to a considerable and indeterminate extent, the written formulation. A fundamental example of that latter mistake being found in the orientalist's attempts at providing a precise birth date to the Vedas sacred scriptures.




Man and his Becoming according to the Vêdantâ[edit]













The Symbolism of the Cross[edit]






That 'peace' that dwells at the central point, brings to another symbolism, namely that of war, and a well-known example of that symbolism, writes René Guénon, is found in the Bhagavad-Gitâ. The same conception, writes René Guénon, is not specific to the Hindu doctrine, but is also found in the Islamic, for this is the real meaning of the 'holy war' (jihâd): "[...] war represents a cosmic process whereby what is manifested is reintegrated into the principal unity; that is why, from the viewpoint of manifestation itself, this reintegration appears as a destruction, and this emerges very clearly from certain aspects of the symbolism of Shiva in the Hindu doctrine".[42] Another aspect of the symbolism of the cross identifies it with what various traditions identifies as "The tree in the Midst", one of the numerous symbols of the "World Axis". This tree stands at the center of the world, or rather of a world, that is a domain in which a state of existence, such as the human state, is developed. In the biblical symbolim, for example, the 'Tree of life', planted in the midst of the terrestrial paradise, represents the center of our world, and René Guénon studies its relationships with another biblical tree, the 'Tree of Knowledge of good and evil'. Besides, the horizontal cross is directly in relation with the "polar symbolism" of the swastika, "a truly universal symbol" which represents, particularly in India, the action of the Principle on the manifestation, and which is in no way related to "the artificial and even anti-traditional use of the swastika by the German `racialists` who have given it the fantastic and somewhat ridiculous title of hakenkreuz or `hanked cross` and quite arbitrarily made it a symbol of antisemitism".[43] Then René Guénon goes "as deeply as possible into the geometrical symbolism which applies equally both to the degrees of universal Existence and to the states of each being, that is, both from the `macrocosmic` and the `microcosmic`standpoint".


The Multiple States of the Being[edit]






On "initiation"[edit]

"Perspectives on initiation", first published at the close of World War II in 1946, extends a series of articles on the central subject of initiation originally written between 1932 and 1938 for Le Voile d'Isis (later renamed Etudes Traditionnelles). Initiation is introduced as the transmission, by the appropriate rites of a given tradition, of a 'spiritual influence'.[48] Related articles were later published, in 1952, in the posthumous collection "Initiation and spiritual realization". While the notion of initiation is introduced in the most general setting, it is impossible, writes Guenon, to write a complete and comprehensive book on the subject "for an indefinite number of questions could be raised – the very nature of the subject resisting any set limit -".[49] However, the subject of initiation being contemplated from a general point of view, the goal of René Guénon goes beyond an introduction to the subject, and, doing so, to make clear distinctions between what is relevant to initiation and what is not, according to Guenon. First, in particular, he insists on clarifying his position on the essential differences between "mysticism" and initiation so that, to him, initiation is, by its very nature, incompatible with mysticism:[50]


Hermeticism and cosmological sciences[edit]

Lesser and greater mysteries[edit]

In his book Perspectives on initiation, Guénon clarifies the signification given by the ancient Greeks to the classical names of lesser and greater mysteries: "they are not different "types" of initiations, but stages or degrees of a same initiation".[51]


Lesser mysteries lead to the "perfection of the human state", in other words to "something traditionally designated by the restoration of the "primordial state",[52] a state that Dante, in the Divine comedy, relates symbolically to the "terrestrial paradise".[53] On another hand, "greater mysteries" refer properly to "the realization of supra-human states";[51] they correspond to the Hindu doctrine of "delivrance" (Moksha) and to what islamic esoterism calls the "realization of the Universal Man": in that latter tradition, "lesser" and "greater" mysteries correspond exactly to the signification of the terms "el-insân el-qadîm" and "el-insan el-kâmil".[51] These two phases are related to an interpretation of the symbolism of the cross with the notions of "horizontal" and "vertical" realization. They also correspond respectively to what is traditionally designated in western hermeticism by the terms royal initiation and sacerdotal initiation:[51]

Pure metaphysical knowledge relates consequently to "greater mysteries", and the knowledge of traditional sciences to the "lesser mysteries". From an historical perspective, the "lesser mysteries" being merely a preparation to the "greater mysteries" [...] ultimately one has to go back beyond the very origin of humanity, and this is why a question such as an "historical" origin of initiation appears to be devoid of the least signification.

The traditional sciences whose knowledge provides restoration of "primordial state" are known under the name of cosmological sciences: among them, one can quote alchemy, astrology, the science of letters, and more generally what is referred under the name Hermeticism. In the West, the Brothers of the Ross-Cross were beings that had effectively achieved the completion of lesser mysteries, and Rosicrucian initiation inspired by them was a particular form linked to Christian Hermeticism. René Guénon writes moreover that this Rosicrucian initiation is lost today and is completely unrelated to the various modern organizations bearing that name Rosicrucian, as they belong to modern fallacies falling under the general denomination of pseudo-initiation given by Guénon to them – more on this later. That word 'Hermeticism' indicates a tradition of Egyptian origin, afterward clothed in a Hellenized form, and in the Middle Ages transmitted in this form both to the Islamic and Christian worlds, and, to the second in great part by the intermediary to the first (something which relates to the relationship that Rosicrucianism had at its origin with Islamic esoterism), as is proven, writes René Guénon, by the numerous Arabic or Arabized terms adopted by the European Hermeticists, beginning with the word 'alchemy' itself (al-kimya).[54] 'Hermeticism' designates a doctrine related to Hermes "insofar as the latter was considered by the Greeks to be identical with the Egyptian Toth".[54] Hermeticism cannot be regarded as constituting a traditional doctrine complete in itself, "for here we are dealing with knowledge that is not of a metaphysical order, but is only cosmological [...]". Hence, Hermeticism was later incorporated into Islamic esoterism where it was rooted into a purely metaphysical doctrine, as it is shown for instance with Mohyddin Ibn Arabi who is both designated as the Seal of Saints and The Master of Red Sulfur, that latter designation referring to a very high degree of the initiatic hierarchy.

Hindu doctrine of cosmic cycles[edit]






The Yugas are the divisions of the Manvantara, and they are four in number, which correspond, in the spatial symbolism, to the four cardinal points. There is an obvious equivalence with the four Yugas and the four ages of gold, silver, bronze and iron of the Greco-Latin antiquity. Guenon writes that the figures given as durations of the Yugas in various Indian texts are to be taken symbolically, their actual exact determination needs in-depth and specific knowledge as these numbers are often written, for various traditional reasons, with an undetermined number of zeros added to their transcription. Guenon gives indications for the determination of the Yuga's durations:[60] if the total duration of the Manvantara is represented by 10, then the durations of the four Yugas are:


Science of letters in Islam[edit]

Name of Allāh after the 17th century Ottoman calligrapher Hâfız Osman.
The numerical value of the word Allāh is:
1 + 30 + 30 + 5 = 66.

Guénon writes that while the science of nirukta unveils inner meanings in Vedic sacred scriptures,[62] in Islam, the science of letters is central in islamic esoterism, where exoterism and esoterism are often compared to the 'shell' (qishr) and the 'kernel' (lubb) or to the circonference and its center.[63] On the subject of esoterism, and its relations with the islamic doctrine, he refers to the Arabic words tariqah and haqiqah (means and end), and notes that the general meaning of "esoterism" is designated by the term taṣawwūf. According to Guénon, that latter term can only be translated precisely as 'initiation'. And while 'taṣawwūf' refers to any esoteric and initiatic doctrine, he questions the [derivative] term 'sufism' to designate Islamic esoterism. Guénon writes that this term "has the unfortunate disadvantage of inevitably suggesting by its 'ism' suffix, the idea of a doctrine proper to a particular school, whereas this is not the case in reality, the only schools in question being the turuq, which basically represent the different methods, without there being any possibility of a fundamental difference of doctrine, for 'the doctrine of Unity is unique' (at-tawhidu wahid)".[63] · [64] According to Guénon, the derivation of the word sūfi is undoubtedly unsolvable, "the word having too many proposed etymologies, of equal plausibility, for only one to be true". For him, the word is a purely symbolic name, which, as such, requires no linguistic derivation strictly speaking: "The so-called etymologies are basically only phonetic resemblances, which, moreover, according to the laws of a certain symbolism, effectively correspond to relationships between various ideas which have come to be grouped more or less as accessories around the word in question."[63]


Guénon then introduces the symbolism used in taṣawwūf about the numerical significaton of Arabic letters:[63]


b ب 2 k ك 20 r ر 200
j ج 3 l ل 30 sh ش 300
d د 4 m م 40 t ت 400
h ه 5 n ن 50 th ث 500
w/ū و 6 s س 60 kh خ 600
z ز 7 ` ع 70 dh ذ 700
H ح 8 f ف 80 D ض 800
T ط 9 S ص 90 Z ظ 900
gh غ 1000




  • 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10
  • 5 + 6 + 7 = 18
  • 8 + 9 + 10 = 27
  • 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 = 140
  • 60 + 70 + 80 + 90 = 300
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 = 1000
  • 500 + 600 + 700 = 1800
  • 800 + 900 + 1000 = 2700




Conditions of corporeal existence[edit]


Hellenic Physics philosophy
Four Classical Elements


In these two articles, he exposits the doctrine of elements and "the conditions of corporeal existence", starting from the considerations taken from Samkhya of Kapila. The five elements or bhutas are the elementary substances of the corporeal world. The names given to them in the Latin language ("fire", "air", "water" etc.) are purely symbolic and they should not be confused with the things they designate: "[...] we could consider the elements as different vibratory modalities of physical matter, modalities under which it makes itself perceptible successively (in purely logical succession, naturally) to each of the senses of our corporeal modality [...]".[66] The five bhutas are, in their order of production (which is the reverse of their order of resorption or return to the undifferentiated state[67]):

  1. âkâsha: ether,
  2. vâyu: air,
  3. têjas: fire,
  4. ap: water,
  5. prithvî, earth.



  3. matter (materia secunda i.e. quantity),[70]
  4. form,
  5. life.


Classical atomism and the continuum[edit]


[...] in order to find something simple or indivisible it is necessary to pass outside space, and therefore outside that special modality of manifestation which constitutes corporeal existence.[74]

In its true sense of 'indivisible' writes Guénon, an atom, having no parts, must be without extension, and "the sum of elements devoid of extension can never form an extension",[75] so that "atoms" cannot make up bodies. Guénon also reproduces an argument coming from Shankaracharya for the refutation of atomism:








While it is presently acknowledged that symbolism refers to something very different than a mere 'code', an artificial or arbitrary meaning, and that "it holds an essential and spontaneous echoing power",[78] for René Guénon, this 'echoing power' goes immensely farther than the psychological realm: symbolism is "the metaphysical language at its highest",[79] capable of relating all degrees of universal Manifestation, and all the components of the Being as well: symbolism is the means by which man is capable of "assenting" orders of reality that escape, by their very nature, any description by ordinary language. This understanding of the profound nature of symbolism, writes René Guénon, has never been lost by an intellectual (i.e. spiritual) elite in the East.[80] It is inherent in the transmission of initiation which, he says, gives the real key to man to penetrate the deeper meaning of the symbols; in this perspective, meditation on symbols (visual or heard, dhikr, repetition of the Divine Names) is an integral part both of initiation and of spiritual realization.[81]

Symbolism and analogy[edit]

The Labarum, symbol based on the figure of chrism.

For René Guénon art is above all knowledge and understanding, rather than merely a matter of sensitivity.[82] Similarly, the symbolism has a conceptual vastness "not exclusive to a mathematical rigor":[83] symbolism is before all a science, and it is based, in its most general signification on "connections that exist between different levels of reality ".[84] And, in particular, the analogy itself, understood following a formula used in Hermeticism as the "relation of what is down with what is above" is likely to be symbolized: there are symbols of the analogy (but every symbol is not necessarily the expression of an analogy, because there are correspondences that are not analogical). The analogical relation essentially involves the consideration of an "inverse direction of its two terms", and symbols of the analogy, which are generally built on the consideration of the primitive six-spoke wheel, also called the chrism in the Christian iconography, indicate clearly theconsideration of these "inverse directions"; in the symbol of the Solomon's seal, the two triangles in opposition represent two opposing ternaries, one of which is like a reflection or mirror image the other[85] and this is where this symbol is an exact representation of analogy.[86]



Symbolism and unity of traditional forms[edit]


Guenon was critical of modern interpretations regarding symbolism which often rested on naturalistic interpretations of the symbol in question which Guenon regarded as a case of the symbol of the thing being mistaken for the thing itself. He was also critical of the psychological interpretations found in the likes of Carl Jung.[90]

Symbolism and the primordial Tradition[edit]


Attempts to subvert tradition in the modern world[edit]

General laws of cyclic manifestation[edit]


Paraśurāma fighting King Kartavirya Arjuna.




This revolt, writes René Guénon, is manifested by an inability to know all the implications of pure transcendence, a knowledge specific to the spiritual authority; it marks the birth of particular naturalistic tendencies to varying degrees, by the inability to recognize superior principles to the natural laws of manifestation.[94] This gives rise to a deviated doctrine and an attitude "- condemnable though it may be as regards the truth – not altogether devoid of a certain grandeur [...]"[95] and[96]


In the West, the birth of what Guenon designates, strictly speaking, as "the modern deviation", is manifested historically by the occurring event of the destruction of the Templar Order in 1314[97] "starting point of the modern era", which resulted, due to the importance of the Order in the initiatic geography of the West, a more complete and hidden reorganization of the initiatic lineages in the West, closely with islamic initiatic organizations;[98] "the true Rosicrucians were the actual instigators of this reorganization".[99] But there came a time where "because of other historical events, the traditional link (...) was finally broken for the western world, what happened during the seventeenth century".[100]

Contemporary "neo-spiritualism"[edit]





He denounces "the confusion of the psychic and the spiritual"[104] and especially the psychoanalytic interpretation of symbols, including the Jungian branch of it, which he condemned with the greatest firmness, seeing in it the beginnings of a reversed – or at least distorted – interpretation of symbols.[105] This aspect is reflected in some studies,[106] especially in a book published in 1999 by Richard Noll[107] who incidentally speaks of the role played by the Theosophical Society in Carl Gustav Jung.[108]

Counter-initiation and subversion[edit]



About the historical origin of counter-initiation, he carries on writing:[110]


while making the precision in a note: "The sixth chapter of Genesis might perhaps provide, in a symbolical form, some indications relating to the distant origins of the 'counter-intiation'". In order that the imitation by inverted reflection may be as complete as possible, centers are likely to be established to which the organizations appertaining to the 'counter-initiation' will be attached. Guenon writes that these centers will be "of course purely 'psychic', like the influences they use and transmit, and in no sense spiritual, like the centers of initiation and of true tradition, but they will be able [...] to assume up to a point the outward appearance of spiritual centers, thus producing the illusion characteristic of 'inverted spirituality'".[111] These centers are depicted, in symbolical form, in ancient eastern legends such as the legend of "the seven towers of the devil". The awliyâ esh-Shaytân, by the constitution of these seven centers, claim to oppose the influence of the seven Aqtâb or "Poles" subordinate to the "Supreme Pole", although such an opposition "is illusory, the spiritual realm is necessarily closed to the 'counter-initiation'".[112] Guenon gave some indications about the geographical localization of some of these "towers", "[...] the distribution of which is certainly no matter of chance [...]".[113]

The advent of a "counter-tradition"[edit]




A commentator of René Guénon, Charles-André Gilis, has published a book in 2009 which proposes some insights and developments of the idea of 'counter-tradition' introduced by Guenon, based on Mohyddin Ibn Arabi's writings ("The profanation of Israël in the light of Sacred Law").[124]


Guénon's work has influenced many both in his era and ours. Many who read his work undergo profound life changes.[125] The Traditionalist School considers him one of its founders, but he disclaimed any connection to a "school" or "movement", and not all of Guénon's readers are part of the Traditionalist community. George Santayana compared him to C.S. Lewis.[126] The religious scholar Huston Smith acknowledges a debt to Guénon and the Traditionalist School while remaining outside the school as an academic.[127] He also had a great influence on the Italian Gruppo di Ur, moving thinkers like Julius Evola away from spiritualism and closer to orthodox traditions. Evola and Guénon both informed the work of Mircea Eliade, another influential religious scholar.


In English[edit]


(ordered by first publication date):

  • The Spiritist Fallacy (L'erreur spirite, 1923)
  • East and West (Orient et Occident, 1924)
  • The Esoterism of Dante (L'ésotérisme de Dante, 1925)
  • St. Bernard (Saint-Bernard, 1929)
  • Oriental Metaphysics (La metaphysique orientale, 1939)
  • Perspectives on Initiation (Aperçus sur l'initiation, 1946)
  • The Great Triad (La Grande Triade, 1946)

Posthumous collections[edit]

  • Studies in Hinduism (Études sur l'Hindouisme, 1966)
  • Reviews (Comptes rendus, 1973)
  • Miscellanea (Mélanges, 1976)

Collected works[edit]

New English translation, 23 volumes, Sophia Perennis (publisher)

  • Miscellanea (paper, 2003; cloth, 2004)

In French[edit]


  • La Grande Triade, Gallimard, 1946, many editions.

Posthumous collections[edit]


Journals having published articles from René Guénon during his lifetime[edit]

  • French: : L’initiation (1909). L’Acacia (1909). La Gnose (1909-1912) re-edited (fac-simile) in 2010 by "les éditions de l'homme libre". La France Chrétienne (1909), becoming La France chrétienne antimaçonnique (1910) then La France antimaçonnique (1911-1914). Le Symbolisme (1913). Bulletin municipal de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1917). La Revue philosophique (1919-1920). Revue de philosophie (1921-1924). Revue bleue (1924-1926). Les Nouvelles Littéraires (1924). Le Radeau (1925). Les Cahiers du mois (1925). Europe (1925). Voile d’Isis (1925-1936) becoming Études Traditionnelles (1936-1951). Regnabit (1925-1927) Bulletin paroissial de Saint-François-Xavier (1925). Les Cahiers du mois (1926). Vers l’Unité (1926-1929). Vient de paraître (1927-1929). Vers l’Unité (1927). La Revue Hebdomadaire (1927). Le Monde nouveau (1930). Bulletin des Polaires (1931). Cahiers du Sud (1935-1945). La Revue de la Table Ronde (1946-1950).
  • Italian : Atanor. Rivista di studi iniziatici (1924). Ignis (1925). Krur (1929). Diorama filosofico (1934).
  • English : Speculative Mason (1935-1944). The Visva-Bharati Quarterly (1936-1938). The Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art (1937-1941).
  • Arabic: Al-Maarifah (1931).

Books about René Guénon[edit]

Collective works[edit]

  • Études Traditionnelles n. 293-295 : Numéro spécial consacré à René Guénon. No ISSN.
  • La Lettre G -Masonic journal in French and Italian. No ISSN.
  • René Guénon. Colloque du Centenaire Domus Medica, Le Cercle de lumière, 1996, 293 p., ISBN 2-909972-00-3.
  • Jean-Pierre Laurant and Barbanegra, Paul (éd.) : « Cahiers de l'Herne » 49 : René Guénon, Éditions de l'Herne, Paris. ISBN 2-85197-055-0.
  • Quelle humanité ? demain..., Vers la Tradition, Châlons-sur-Marne (France). Sans ISSN.

Other books[edit]

  • Accart, Xavier : L'Ermite de Duqqi, Archè. ISBN 88-7252-227-7. (Notes.)
  • Accart, Xavier : Guénon ou le renversement des clartés : Influence d'un métaphysicien sur la vie littéraire et intellectuelle française (1920-1970), 2005, Edidit. ISBN 978-2-912770-03-5.
  • Barazzetti, Enrico : L'espace symbolique. Développements du symbolisme mathématique des états multiples de l'être, Archè, Milano, 1997.
  • Batache, Eddy : Surréalisme et Tradition, Éditions traditionnelles. Sans ISBN.
  • Geay, Patrick : Hermès Trahi : Impostures philosophiques et néo-spiritualisme d'après l'œuvre de René Guénon Dervy. ISBN 2-85076-816-2.
  • Geay, Patrick : Mystères et significations du Temple maçonnique, Dervy, Paris, 2000. ISBN 2-84454-056-2. (Notes.)
  • Gilis, Charles-André (Abd Ar-Razzâq Yahyâ) : Tawhîd et Ikhlâs, Aspects ésotériques, Le Turban noir, 2006, Paris.
  • Gilis, Charles-André (Abd Ar-Razzâq Yahyâ)  : Les Sept Étendards du Califat, Éditions traditionnelles. ISBN 2-7138-0141-9.
  • Gilis, Charles-André (Abd Ar-Razzâq Yahyâ) : "The profanation of Israël in the light of Sacred Law", translated by R. Beale with a foreword by Abd al-Jabbâr Khouri, Le Turban Noir publishing house, Paris, 2009.
  • Grossato, Alessandro : Psychologie (attributed to René Guénon), Archè. ISBN 88-7252-231-5. (Notes.)
  • Mercier, Raymond : Clartés Métaphysiques, Éditions Traditionnelles, Paris. Sans ISBN.
  • Reyor, Jean : Études et recherches traditionnelles, Éditions Traditionnelles, Paris. ISBN 2-7138-0134-6.
  • Reyor, Jean : Sur la route des Maîtres maçons, Éditions Traditionnelles, Paris. Sans ISBN.
  • Sedgwick, Mark: Against the Modern World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. ISBN 0-19-515297-2.
  • Tourniac, Jean  : Melkitsedeq ou la tradition primordiale, Albin Michel, Paris. ISBN 2-226-01769-0.

Published at Sophia Perennis:

  • Frithjof Schuon, René Guénon: Some Observations (paper, 2004)
  • Paul Chacornac, The Simple Life of René Guénon (paper, 2005; cloth, 2005)
  • Robin Waterfield, René Guénon and the Future of the West (paper, 2002; cloth, 2005)
  • Jean Borella, Guénonian Esoterism and Christian Mystery (cloth, 2005)

Further reading[edit]

  • Fink-Bernard, Jeannine. L'Apport spirituel de René Guénon, in series, Le Cercle des philosophes. Paris: Éditions Dervy, 1996. 295, [1] p. ISBN 2-85076-716-6

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  7. ^ Paul Chacornac, The Simple Life of René Guénon.
  8. ^ Chacornac, chapter II.
  10. ^ Paul Chacornac, The Simple Life of René Guénon.
  11. ^ c.f. Charles-André Gilis, Introduction à l’enseignement et au mystère de René Guénon (Introduction to the teaching and mystery of René Guénon), chapter VII, Editions Traditionnelles, Paris, ISBN 2-7138-0179-6, and also P. Chacornac, The Simple Life of René Guénon, chapter III: Ex oriente lux. In a letter to T. Grangier dated June 28, 1938, Guenon writes: "[...] mon rattachement aux organisations initiatiques islamiques remonte exactement à 1910 [...]" ("[...] my linking with islamic initiatic organizations dates back precisely to 1910 [...]").
  13. ^ Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, part III, chapter VII, Shivaïsm and Vishnuïsm: "[...] our goal is not to expose the doctrines themselves, but only to point the proper spirit necessary to study them..."
  16. ^ J.-B. Aymard, La naissance de la loge "La Grande Triade" dans la correspondance de René Guénon à Frithjof Schuon in Connaissance des religions, special issue on René Guénon, n° 65-66, pp. 17-35. The integral version of this text can be found here (in French).
  17. ^ Paul Chacornac, The simple life of René Guénon.
  18. ^ "For all his intellectuals skills might be, it seems unlikely that he succeeded just by himself or with the help of a few books in getting the profound and enlightening understanding of the Vêdânta he seems to have acquired by the age of 23 [...]" in P. Feuga, "René Guénon et l’Hindouisme", Connaissance des Religions, n. 65-66, 2002.
  19. ^ The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times", foreword.
  21. ^ East and West is the title of one of his books.
  22. ^ East and West, foreword.
  25. ^ East and West.
  28. ^ Oriental Metaphysics, p.11.
  29. ^ Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, p. 96.
  32. ^ Introduction to the study of, chapter: Essential characters of metaphysics.
  34. ^ See, among others, René Guénon, « Insights into Islamic Esoterism & Taoism » (first chapter), « Insights into Christian Esoterism » and « The King of the World ».
  38. ^ The multiple states of the being, foreword.
  41. ^ Michel Valsan, in Tradition primordiale et culte axial, Études traditionnelles, Jan.-Feb and March-Apr issues 1965 (in french), proposes a relation between the notion of Sanâtana Dharma and the Islamic idea of dîn al fitra which, in Islam, denotes the human being's conformity with the Divine.
  44. ^ The symbolism of the Cross, chapter 14, note 1.
  45. ^ The Multiple states of the Being, Preface, p.1.
  48. ^ Editorial note to the english version published by Sophia Perenis publishing house.
  49. ^ Perspectives on initiation, Preface.
  50. ^ Perspectives on initiation, pp. 11-12.
  51. ^ a b c d Perspectives on initiation, chap. XXXIX: Greater mysteries and lesser mysteries.
  52. ^ Perspectives on initiation.
  53. ^ René Guénon, The Esoterism of Dante.
  54. ^ a b Perspectives on initiation, chapter 41, Some reflections on Hermeticism.
  57. ^ Traditional forms and cosmic cycles.
  58. ^ Traditional forms and cosmic cycles.
  59. ^ Traditional forms and cosmic cycles.
  60. ^ Traditional forms and cosmic cycles.
  61. ^ René Guénon, Crisis of the modern world.
  65. ^ See for example Ch.-A. Gilis, L'énigme des "conditions de l'existence corporelle" in Introduction à l'enseignement et au mystère de René Guénon.
  66. ^ Miscellanea, p. 90.
  67. ^ Studies in Hinduism, p. 31.
  68. ^ Studies in Hinduism, p. 30.
  69. ^ Studies in Hinduism, "Kundalini", p. 18.
  71. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.176, Vaisheshika.
  72. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.179, Vaisheshika.
  73. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.180, Vaisheshika.
  74. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.180, Vaisheshika.
  75. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.180, Vaisheshika.
  76. ^ Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.180, Vaisheshika.
  77. ^ Shankaracharya, Panchikaranam.
  80. ^ Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines.
  81. ^ Perspectives on initiation, chapters XVI, XVII and XVIII.
  83. ^ General Introduction to the Study of Hindu doctrines, p.116.
  84. ^ René Guénon, Symbols of the analogy
  85. ^ René Guénon, Symbols of analogy.
  86. ^ René Guénon, Symbols of analogy.
  87. ^ The Great Triad, Chapter III, p. 35.
  88. ^ The Great Triad, Chapter III, p. 36.
  91. ^ Spiritual authority and temporal power, chap. II and III.
  93. ^ Spiritual authority and temporal power, p. 49.
  94. ^ Symbols of sacred science, The roots of plants.
  95. ^ Spiritual authority and temporal power, p. 30.
  96. ^ Ibid.
  97. ^ Spiritual authority and temporal power, "knowledge and action".
  98. ^ See The esoterism of Dante and Perspectives on initiation.
  99. ^ Perspectives on initiation, Rose-cross and rosicrucians, p. 237.
  100. ^ Spiritual authority and temporal power, "knowledge and action".
  102. ^ Ibid, p. 19.
  103. ^ Ibid, chaper 6.
  109. ^ The rign of quantity and the sign of times, "From anti-tradition to counter-tradition", p. 262.
  110. ^ Ibid. p. 263.
  111. ^ Ibid.
  116. ^ Ibid., p. 273.
  117. ^ Ibid., p. 269.
  118. ^ Ibid., p. 269.
  121. ^ Ibid.
  122. ^ Ibid, p. 273.
  123. ^ Ibid, p. 273.
  125. ^ David Bisson. "Soufisme et Tradition: L’influence de René Guénon sur l’islam soufi européen". Confréries soufies en métropoles 140 (2007)

External links[edit]