Helioform
Star
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2017
- Messages
- 3,195
Anyone familiar with this French intellectual who wrote books on metaphysics?
He used to be a Freemason but later on realized that they were part of the problem and not the solution. As most of us here, know. I'd say he was the precursor for what we call today "conspiracy theory." He was probably a century ahead of everyone in this field.
"Rene Guenon was born November 15, 1886 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France to parents who were landowners, who counted on their vineyards and wine-growing skills to sustain their livelihood. Guenon went to a Catholic school and excelled at mathematics and philosophy.
He was singled out by his teachers for having an innate ability to teach religion, which he later did, though he never accomplished his PhD dissertation on Hinduism because it did not conform to the current scholarly standards. The dissertation was subsequently published independently and became Introduction Générale à l’Etude des doctrines Hindoues (1921), Guenon’s first full-length book.
As a young student, though he maintained his Roman Catholic beliefs, he experienced a period of spiritual seeking, in which he joined the Theosophical Society, Papus’ Martinist Order, and a Freemasonic lodge. Additionally, he joined a Gnostic church and attempted to inaugurate a new Templar Order. He was later disillusioned with all these occult groups, save Freemasonry, claiming they did not represent the true path to religious experience, toward what he called the Ultimate Reality. He eventually quit them all."
...Here are a few quotes, I recommend reading some of his books such as "Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times."
“[Modern scientific] theories can necessarily never be more than hypothetical, since their starting-point is wholly empirical, for facts in themselves are always susceptible of diverse explanations and so never have been and never will be able to guarantee the truth of any theory.”
“The “end of a world” never is and never can be anything but the end of an illusion.”
“It sometimes so happens that people who imagine that they are fighting the devil, whatever their particular notion of the devil may be, are thus turned, without any suspicion of the fact on their part, into his best servants!”
“The quantitative degeneration of all things is closely linked to that of money, as is shown by the fact that nowadays the ‘worth’ of an object is ordinarily ‘estimated’ only in terms of its price, considered simply as a ‘figure’, a ‘sum’, or a numerical quantity of money; in fact, with most of our contemporaries, every judgment brought to bear on an object is nearly always based exclusively on what it costs. The word ‘estimate’ has been emphasized because it has in itself a double meaning, qualitative and quantitative; today the first meaning has been lost to sight, or what amounts to the same thing, means have been found to equate it to the second, and thus it comes about that not only is the ‘worth’ of an object ‘estimated’ according to its price, but the ‘worth’ of a man is ‘estimated’ according to his wealth.”
“Those who might be tempted to give way to despair should realize that nothing accomplished in this order can ever be lost, that confusion, error and darkness can win the day only apparently and in a purely ephemeral way, that all partial and transitory disequilibrium must perforce contribute towards the greater equilibrium of the whole, and that nothing can ultimately prevail against the power of truth.”
“This now leads us to elucidate more precisely the error of the idea that the majority should make the law, because, even though this idea must remain theoretical - since it does not correspond to an effective reality - it is necessary to explain how it has taken root in the modern outlook, to which of its tendencies it corresponds, and which of them - at least in appearance - it satisfies. Its most obvious flaw is the one we have just mentioned: the opinion of the majority cannot be anything but an expression of incompetence, whether this be due to lack of intelligence or to ignorance pure and simple; certain observations of 'mass psychology' might be quoted here, in particular the widely known fact that the aggregate of mental reactions aroused among the component individuals of a crowd crystallizes into a sort of general psychosis whose level is not merely not that of the average, but actually that of the lowest elements present.”
“The falsification of everything has been shown to be one of the characteristic features of our period, but falsification is not in itself subversion properly so-called, though contributing directly to the preparation for it. Perhaps the clearest indication of this is what may be called the falsification of language, taking the form of the misuse of certain words that have been diverted from their true meaning; misuse of this kind is to some extent imposed by constant suggestion on the part of everyone who exercises any kind of influence over the mentality of the public.”
"Matter is essentially multiplicity and division; and this, be it said in passing, is why all that proceeds from matter can beget only strife and all manner of conflicts between peoples and between individuals. The deeper one sinks into matter, the more the elements of division and opposition gain force and scope; and, on the other hand, the more one rises towards pure spirituality, the nearer one approaches to that unity which can only be fully realized by consciousness of the universal principles."
"There is thus all the more reason to exercise extreme vigilance ... against anything that may lead the being to become "fused," or preferably and more accurately "confused" or even "dissolved," in a sort of "cosmic consciousness" that shuts out all "transcendence" and so also shuts out all effective spirituality. This is the ultimate consequence of all the anti-metaphysical errors known more especially in their philosophical aspect by such names as "pantheism," "immanentism," and "naturalism."
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/239177.Ren_Gu_non
-----
"Affinity for Masonry is not to say that Guenon thought poorly of the Catholic Church. Until the end of his life he believed that Catholicism—along with Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.—offered a genuine traditional path to an encounter with the Ultimate Reality. But for all of these religions he maintained that both an exoteric adoption of the tradition was required along with an esoteric transmission of its inner truth in order for the initiation process to be a success. Again, we can see why Theosophy and Martinism would, for Guenon, seem so repugnant.
Finally, all hope for the future was not lost. Guenon felt he had located the Primordial Tradition itself in the Biblical figure of Melchizedek, the High Priest of Salem (Genesis 14), who initiated Abraham with bread and wine (two staples of initiatory rites). Melchizedek served as the unifying principle between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Such a triune covenant could serve as the basis for a future Western society united in Tradition.
This society could look to the Eastern traditions in order to recover their lost esoteric knowledge of the Ultimate Reality. This vision, for Guenon, represented the only possible route that the West could take if it hoped to survive. All other routes led to what he termed “the final dissolution.”
https://skfrench.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/rene-guenon-and-the-primordial-tradition/
He used to be a Freemason but later on realized that they were part of the problem and not the solution. As most of us here, know. I'd say he was the precursor for what we call today "conspiracy theory." He was probably a century ahead of everyone in this field.
"Rene Guenon was born November 15, 1886 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France to parents who were landowners, who counted on their vineyards and wine-growing skills to sustain their livelihood. Guenon went to a Catholic school and excelled at mathematics and philosophy.
He was singled out by his teachers for having an innate ability to teach religion, which he later did, though he never accomplished his PhD dissertation on Hinduism because it did not conform to the current scholarly standards. The dissertation was subsequently published independently and became Introduction Générale à l’Etude des doctrines Hindoues (1921), Guenon’s first full-length book.
As a young student, though he maintained his Roman Catholic beliefs, he experienced a period of spiritual seeking, in which he joined the Theosophical Society, Papus’ Martinist Order, and a Freemasonic lodge. Additionally, he joined a Gnostic church and attempted to inaugurate a new Templar Order. He was later disillusioned with all these occult groups, save Freemasonry, claiming they did not represent the true path to religious experience, toward what he called the Ultimate Reality. He eventually quit them all."
...Here are a few quotes, I recommend reading some of his books such as "Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times."
“[Modern scientific] theories can necessarily never be more than hypothetical, since their starting-point is wholly empirical, for facts in themselves are always susceptible of diverse explanations and so never have been and never will be able to guarantee the truth of any theory.”
“The “end of a world” never is and never can be anything but the end of an illusion.”
“It sometimes so happens that people who imagine that they are fighting the devil, whatever their particular notion of the devil may be, are thus turned, without any suspicion of the fact on their part, into his best servants!”
“The quantitative degeneration of all things is closely linked to that of money, as is shown by the fact that nowadays the ‘worth’ of an object is ordinarily ‘estimated’ only in terms of its price, considered simply as a ‘figure’, a ‘sum’, or a numerical quantity of money; in fact, with most of our contemporaries, every judgment brought to bear on an object is nearly always based exclusively on what it costs. The word ‘estimate’ has been emphasized because it has in itself a double meaning, qualitative and quantitative; today the first meaning has been lost to sight, or what amounts to the same thing, means have been found to equate it to the second, and thus it comes about that not only is the ‘worth’ of an object ‘estimated’ according to its price, but the ‘worth’ of a man is ‘estimated’ according to his wealth.”
“Those who might be tempted to give way to despair should realize that nothing accomplished in this order can ever be lost, that confusion, error and darkness can win the day only apparently and in a purely ephemeral way, that all partial and transitory disequilibrium must perforce contribute towards the greater equilibrium of the whole, and that nothing can ultimately prevail against the power of truth.”
“This now leads us to elucidate more precisely the error of the idea that the majority should make the law, because, even though this idea must remain theoretical - since it does not correspond to an effective reality - it is necessary to explain how it has taken root in the modern outlook, to which of its tendencies it corresponds, and which of them - at least in appearance - it satisfies. Its most obvious flaw is the one we have just mentioned: the opinion of the majority cannot be anything but an expression of incompetence, whether this be due to lack of intelligence or to ignorance pure and simple; certain observations of 'mass psychology' might be quoted here, in particular the widely known fact that the aggregate of mental reactions aroused among the component individuals of a crowd crystallizes into a sort of general psychosis whose level is not merely not that of the average, but actually that of the lowest elements present.”
“The falsification of everything has been shown to be one of the characteristic features of our period, but falsification is not in itself subversion properly so-called, though contributing directly to the preparation for it. Perhaps the clearest indication of this is what may be called the falsification of language, taking the form of the misuse of certain words that have been diverted from their true meaning; misuse of this kind is to some extent imposed by constant suggestion on the part of everyone who exercises any kind of influence over the mentality of the public.”
"Matter is essentially multiplicity and division; and this, be it said in passing, is why all that proceeds from matter can beget only strife and all manner of conflicts between peoples and between individuals. The deeper one sinks into matter, the more the elements of division and opposition gain force and scope; and, on the other hand, the more one rises towards pure spirituality, the nearer one approaches to that unity which can only be fully realized by consciousness of the universal principles."
"There is thus all the more reason to exercise extreme vigilance ... against anything that may lead the being to become "fused," or preferably and more accurately "confused" or even "dissolved," in a sort of "cosmic consciousness" that shuts out all "transcendence" and so also shuts out all effective spirituality. This is the ultimate consequence of all the anti-metaphysical errors known more especially in their philosophical aspect by such names as "pantheism," "immanentism," and "naturalism."
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/239177.Ren_Gu_non
-----
"Affinity for Masonry is not to say that Guenon thought poorly of the Catholic Church. Until the end of his life he believed that Catholicism—along with Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.—offered a genuine traditional path to an encounter with the Ultimate Reality. But for all of these religions he maintained that both an exoteric adoption of the tradition was required along with an esoteric transmission of its inner truth in order for the initiation process to be a success. Again, we can see why Theosophy and Martinism would, for Guenon, seem so repugnant.
Finally, all hope for the future was not lost. Guenon felt he had located the Primordial Tradition itself in the Biblical figure of Melchizedek, the High Priest of Salem (Genesis 14), who initiated Abraham with bread and wine (two staples of initiatory rites). Melchizedek served as the unifying principle between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Such a triune covenant could serve as the basis for a future Western society united in Tradition.
This society could look to the Eastern traditions in order to recover their lost esoteric knowledge of the Ultimate Reality. This vision, for Guenon, represented the only possible route that the West could take if it hoped to survive. All other routes led to what he termed “the final dissolution.”
https://skfrench.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/rene-guenon-and-the-primordial-tradition/