Everything is a symbol of course, it could not exist if it were not a symbol, but the fundamental symbols are those which express eloquently aspects of the Supreme Truth and the Supreme Way.
René Guénon, The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysical Principles, Traditional Doctrines, and the Crisis of Modernity [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]
… a vain and illusory knowledge, which indeed comes from nothing and leads to nothing.
René Guénon, The Essential René Guénon: Metaphysics, Tradition and the Crisis of Modernity [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher]
Julianus reviews The Lord of the World by René Guénon in the Occult Book Reviews archive.
Rene Guenon is the founder of the Traditionalist school of religious philosophy. They consider that all “authentic” religions are derived from the “Primordial Tradition” and spend a great deal of time denouncing the anti-Traditional trend of modern civilisation. This odd little pamphlet is all about Lord of the World who is sort of a Secret Chief behind all valid Traditions. Much of this material comes from Theosophy, which Guenon denounced as a “pseudo-religion” in an early book, and this edition is published by some Gurdjieffians, who Traditionalists abhor as horrid anti-Initiates. This strange bedfellowship suits the odd mix of Hinduism, Grail mythology, 19th century occultism, and Qabalah in the text. Not bad for a guy who looked like a dead fish.
In the temporal cycle the solstices of summer and winter are the gates of the gods according to Hinduism. The gate of the gods is the winter solstice, in the sign of Capricorn; ancestors is the summer solstice, in the sign of Cancer.
René Guénon, The Essential Rene Guenon: Metaphysical Principles, Traditional Doctrines, and the Crisis of Modernity
These are still Ways back to God—the three mārgas—the way of knowledge, the way of love, and the way of action
Rene Guenon, The Essential Rene Guenon: Metaphysical Principles, Traditional Doctrines, and the Crisis of Modernity
Imagine a sacred wand that has the power to transform existential truths into celestial realities; picture a universal symbol that when gazed upon could raise human consciousness to a higher order of perception
Rene Guenon, The Essential Rene Guenon: Metaphysical Principles, Traditional Doctrines, and the Crisis of Modernity
It will doubtless be asked why cyclic development must proceed in this manner, in a downward direction, from higher to lower, a course that will at once be perceived to be a complete antithesis to the idea of progress as the moderns understand it. The reason is that the development of any manifestation necessarily implies a gradually increasing distance from the principle from which it proceeds
Rene Guenon, The Essential Rene Guenon
Initiation from Problems on the Path of Return by Mark Stavish, M.A. in Vol 3 No 1 of Caduceus.
“‘Initiation essentially aims to go beyond the possibilities of the individual human state, to make possible the transition to higher states and finally to lead the individual beyond any limitations whatsoever.’ — Rene Guenon, Aspercus sur l’initiation (Glimpses of Initiation)” [via]