Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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 </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>praxis</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> 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.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>René Guénon's first book </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> came like an abrupt intrusion into the modern world of a body of knowledge and a perspective utterly alien to the prevalent climate and worldview. Here Guénon established the criteria that formed the basis of his later works and set the tone for the Traditionalist School that came after him. It offers a comprehensive overview of Hinduism which Guénon saw as the most ancient and complete spiritual tradition on earth embracing the most profound and explicit metaphysics. As such </span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>it  serves as an introduction to all his later works especially those which like </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Symbolism of the Cross</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)></span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Multiple States of the Being</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Studies in Hinduism</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> expound the more profound aspects of metaphysical doctrines in greater detail. Part One clears away prejudices inherited from the Renaissance. Part Two establishes the fundamental distinctions between various modes of thought bringing 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. Part Three presents a more detailed examination of the Hindu doctrine and its applications leading up to the Vedanta which constitutes its metaphysical essence. Part Four resumes the task of clearing away current misconceptions but this time is not concerned with the West itself but with distortions of the Hindu doctrines that have arisen as a result of attempts 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 </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>jñana</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and in the West </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>gnosis</em><span style=color: rgba(15 17 17 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>.</span></p>