The Essential Rene Guenon: Metaphysics, Tradition, and the Crisis of Modernity [Format Kindle]

Recently, I found myself with some forced leisure on my hands, so I decided to make use of it by reading through the works of Rene Guenon in English, as published by Sophia Perennis. Yes, that's the kind of guy I am. In the midst of the project, this book was announced, and I was undecided; would it be redundant? In the end I decided to get it, and I'm glad I did.

First of all, the presentation is excellent -- a handsome size, sturdy binding, clear, well laid out typography, in line with the rest of World Wisdom's publications -- a pleasure to read. Some illustrations would have been nice, especially in the sections dealing with sacred symbolism, and one can always imagine a fancier format -- something along the lines of the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions -- but these are minor points.

More importantly, the selections are well chosen; they are minimally edited but arranged to flow together almost as if they had appeared that way originally; usually two or three in a row from the same book, the books appearing somewhat chronologically but also within four "Worlds" : the Modern, the Metaphysical, the Hindu, and the Traditional. I suppose the Modern comes first, not the Metaphysical, to ease the modern reader into Guenon's metaphysical world; the Hindu is given its own due to the amount of attention Guenon devoted to it, while the Traditional has not only other traditions such as Islam but also topics that apply to traditions generally, such as rites, teachers, etc.

The selections, with few exceptions, are drawn from a handful of obvious major works; there's nothing here that's previously unpublished, or newly translated; no letters, diaries, etc. The Introduction, however, is drawn from a transcript of a lecture by Martin Lings that might be relatively inaccessible to the general reader.

This would obviously make a fine introduction to Guenon, but even someone who already has the original sources will find this a useful and pleasant supplement, something to pick up and read from time to time. I am reminded of Elmer O'Brien's comment about his similar anthology, The Essential Plotinus [not to be confused with World Wisdom's own The Heart of Plotinus]: these selections are essential in the sense that Coleridge spoke of essential poetry: the passages one returns to with the greatest pleasure.

The best recommendation that I can give to this book is that as I read through it I was refreshed. Then again this was also the case as I read THE ESSENTIAL FRITHJOF SCHUON from World Wisdom. With both authors I had read a considerable amount of their core writings before hand, yet I did not really feel any redundancy here. These teachings are the living heart of the perennial philosophy, so how could they ever cease to strengthen the connection to the higher Spirit?

Guenon states outright that only a very few readers in this dark age are going to possess the inherent capacity to understand his writings due to their education and upbringing. Nothing can be done about that. Somehow I seem to be able to understand what is being related. Indeed, I understood these principles long before I came on writers and teachers of the traditionalist school. Yet, those principles are related with a precision that goes far beyond my ability to express them- even in translation. Whether others resonate with them is something that I cannot predict. I would imagine that the odds are against it. Yet, you can still make the attempt. Intuitive intellection is a faculty that still exists in our world.

Another thing that struck me was an anecdote in the introduction where a Ph.D. candidate was denied permission to write his thesis on Guenon because the said writer had never done anything "original." Of course not. Rene Guenon intentionally stayed in the background as he related the teachings of the perennial philosophy to a new generation. You could just as well entitle this book "The Essential Sophia Perennis." You cannot add anything new to these teachings, you can merely pass them on with clarity to the current generation.

This is the first Guenon work that I've read. Having finished the book just this morning, I was excited to come and read other people's reviews, but, alas, there was only one, and herein lies the problem. People need to read this work and to think long and hard about it, especially now that we have more than sixty years on him from which to consider things. He saw so much so clearly and had an ability to integrate at a level surpassing the brightest among us. If only we all were even half as thoughtful as he . . . The last reviewer said he had read all the other works and then read this one. I am in the opposite situation and plan now to read all of his work. I would very much like to read them in chronological order and follow the evolution of his thought. We'll see.