Rene Guenon, the French mystic, was a one of a kind phenomenon. I must admit I don't know much about him other than that, and that although being versed in western mysticism he also was conversant with Islam (or am I confusing with someone else here ? I don't think so), and also believed in reincarnation.

Anyone here know more about Guenon ? Perhaps read something from Guenon ?

Guenon is the initial founder of the Traditionalist school of metahistorical philosophy. I've made many attempts to read some of his works - Crisis of the Modern World, The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, and King of the World - but each time, I've been unable to complete them due to time constraints with school, work, and the meticulous attention required to fully interpret the texts.

Guenon has influenced many other writers, including Romanian religion historian Mircea Eliade, Swiss mystic Frithjof Schuon, and - my personal favorite - Italian esotericist Julius Evola.

He's pretty complicated; I'm not sure if I would start a Traditionalist study based on him first. My virgin experience was Evola's Revolt Against The Modern World; a bit more concise and textbook-style format you might find more useful.

If you're sticking strictly with Guenon, I'd say go for Reign of Quantity, since that appears to be (according to the man from whom I've borrowed it) his crowning achievement.

This link (http://www.geocities.com/integral_tradition) goes to a site that contains both concise biographies and selected essays from many different Traditionalist philosophers. That's how I started to get into Schuon and Yukio Mishima. Perhaps your search can begin there.

Yukio Mishima ? What on earth has HE got to do with Rene Guenon and Fritjof Schuon ?

Indeed I don't want to go into Evola, nor do I want to go into Mircea Eliade or Schuon.

Rene Guenon is interesting enough all by himself - although I did have the impression he is not easy to approach.

But anyway. I just wanted to know what people here thought about him (if anything at all). I still hope there will be more reactions.

[This message has been edited by Uncus (edited 11-10-2005).]

Bloody hell, Tyrant. That's going to take me days to slog through. Though the intro was intrigueing enough to make me do it.

Hehehe... I like throwing monkey wrenches in the intricate cogworks of personal philosophical development. http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif)

Uncus:

Yukio Mishima ? What on earth has HE got to do with Rene Guenon and Fritjof Schuon ?

Reverence of tradition. Yukio Mishima lavishly praised and even potentially worshipped the samurai and the memories of ancient feudal Japan, especially since he saw its disastrous collapse and perversion following the Second World War.

Not to mention he killed himself following a speech about how shitty Japan had become since being forced to dissolve its authentic historical hierarchies.

Indeed I don't want to go into Evola, nor do I want to go into Mircea Eliade or Schuon.

Rene Guenon is interesting enough all by himself - although I did have the impression he is not easy to approach.

I'm curious. Why the exclusionary fascination with Guenon?

quote:Originally posted by Tyrant:

Hehehe... I like throwing monkey wrenches in the intricate cogworks of personal philosophical development. http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif)

Uncus:

Yukio Mishima ? What on earth has HE got to do with Rene Guenon and Fritjof Schuon ?

Reverence of tradition. Yukio Mishima lavishly praised and even potentially worshipped the samurai and the memories of ancient feudal Japan, especially since he saw its disastrous collapse and perversion following the Second World War.

Not to mention he killed himself following a speech about how shitty Japan had become since being forced to dissolve its authentic historical hierarchies.

Monkey wrenches, you call that, eh ?

Reverence of tradition, you are saying... if that's what it's about, there are many others you could throw in there.

Yukio Mishima has nothing in common with Rene Guenon. He was not a philosopher nor, AFAIK, particulaly spiritually evolved. He was much too busy being homosexual and has more in common with Pier Paolo Pasolini than with any philosopher or mystic, particularly those you were mentioning. Monkey wrench, indeed. I call this trolling.

quote:Indeed I don't want to go into Evola, nor do I want to go into Mircea Eliade or Schuon.

Rene Guenon is interesting enough all by himself - although I did have the impression he is not easy to approach.

I'm curious. Why the exclusionary fascination with Guenon?

Well, I'm curious too now. Why are you seeing exclusive fascination with Guenon where there is none ?

Mircea Eliade, Schuon, or Evola may be very interesting too, but, come on, you can't be interested in everything at the same time, can you.

If I had said I am interested in Gurdjieff, would you have called it an "exclusionary fascination" too ?

You lost me...

Reverence of tradition, you are saying... if that's what it's about, there are many others you could throw in there.

Aye.

Yukio Mishima has nothing in common with Rene Guenon. He was not a philosopher nor, AFAIK, particulaly spiritually evolved. He was much too busy being homosexual and has more in common with Pier Paolo Pasolini than with any philosopher or mystic, particularly those you ere mentioning. Monkey wrench, indeed. I call this trolling.

Being unfamiliar with the term 'trolling,' I cannot respond. What I can say, however, is that Mishima and Guenon share a common interest in traditional backgrounds, though Mishima's was more Japan-centered than Guenon's eclectic form of tradition.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say he was "busy" being a homosexual. My experience hasn't offered that a sexual preference is a particularly time-consuming event.

[/being a dick]

Well, I'm curious too now. Why are you seeing exclusive fascination with Guenon where there is none ?

Mircea Eliade, Schuon, or Evola may be very interesting too, but come on, you can't be interested in everything at the same time, can you.

If I had said I am interested in Gurdjief, would you have called it an "exclusionary fascination" too ?

Well, Evola was considered Guenon's progeny, and I cited him as a more comprehensive introduction to the philosophical school of Guenon, and you said you weren't interested. I was just curious what made Guenon so particularly appealing to you.

And my biggest problem is that I'm interested in everything at the same time. Maybe I should stop...?

Anyway, no harm done, then, eh?