CONCLUSION

IF A FEW PEOPLE IN THE WEST, through reading the preceding pages, could become conscious of all that is lacking to them intellectually, if they could, we do not say understand, but only just catch a glimpse and a suspicion of it, then this work would not have been written in vain. We do not mean to refer only to the priceless personal gain that would accrue to those who were thus led to study the Eastern doctrines, wherein, if they were endowed with the smallest aptitude of the necessary kind, they would discover knowledge the like of which exists nowhere in the West, and compared to which philosophies that there are looked upon as the sublime creations of genius are but as child's play: there is no common measure between truth comprehended in its fullness, by means of a conception opening out upon limitless possibilities and accompanied by a correspondingly effective realization, and any hypothesis whatsoever that has been propounded by the essentially limited imagination of an individual. Other results can also follow, more general in scope, and related to the former as its more or less distant consequences; here we are alluding to the doubtless long drawn out but nonetheless effective preparation for an intellectual understanding between East and West.

When speaking of the divergence of the West in relation to the East, which has become increasingly marked in modern times, we said that we did not think this divergence could go on developing indefinitely, in spite of all appearances. In other words, it seems difficult to believe that the West, both in respect of its mentality and all its characteristic tendencies, can continue to draw further and further away from the East, as it is now doing, without sooner or later calling forth a reaction which might, under certain circumstances, have the happiest results; indeed, such an uninterrupted divergence seems to us all the more unlikely since the realm within which modern Western civilization is developing is, by its very nature, the most restricted of any. Furthermore, the changeful and unstable character peculiar to the West permits us to entertain the hope that a considerable and even a radical change of direction may occur one day, in which case the remedy would emerge from that very thing which seems to us the chief sign of inferiority. But we must repeat that such a change would only provide a remedy under certain circumstances, in default of which the condition of the world could not fail to become still worse than it is at present. This may appear a somewhat vague statement, and we fully recognize that it is not easy to make it as explicit as one might wish, even by adopting the standpoint of the West and trying to speak to it in its own language; nevertheless it is worth attempting, but with the warning that the explanations we are about to offer do not cover the whole of our thoughts on the subject.

First of all, what we know of the mental characteristics of certain Westerners compels us to say plainly that we have no intention of uttering a single word that could possibly be described as a 'prophecy'; it would perhaps not be difficult to create such an impression by publishing the results of a process of deduction couched in suitable terms, but this proceeding would savor of charlatanism, unless one happened to have a predisposition toward a kind of auto-suggestion: of these two choices, the first inspires disgust while the second condition is fortunately not our own. We shall therefore under all circumstances avoid statements that cannot be substantiated, and that are as dangerous as they are useless; we are not one of those who believe that a detailed knowledge of the future would be advantageous to mankind, and in our opinion the discredit attaching in the East to the practice of the arts of divination is fully justified. This, in itself, is a sufficient reason for condemning occultism and other similar speculations that attach importance to this kind of thing, quite apart from additional and far more serious and decisive reasons of a doctrinal nature, which impose a downright rejection of conceptions that are both chimerical and dangerous.

We admit that it is not at present possible to foresee the circumstances that could determine a change of direction in the development of the West; but the possibility of such a change can only be denied by those who believe that development on the present lines constitutes 'progress' in an absolute sense. This notion of progress in the absolute is really meaningless, and we have already pointed out the mutual incompatibility of certain lines of development, resulting, on the one hand, in relative progress in a given field and inevitably, on the other hand, in a corresponding retrogression in other fields; we said 'corresponding', not equivalent, since one cannot use the latter term when referring to things that are neither similar in nature nor of the same order. This is what has occurred in Western civilization: researches carried out solely with a view to practical applications and material advancement have necessarily been accompanied by retrogression in the purely speculative and intellectual order; and since there is no common measure between these two realms, the loss on the one side has been incomparably greater than any supposed gain on the other; a man must be suffering from all the mental distortion that afflicts the vast majority of modern Westerners to be able to regard things in any other light. But however that may be, if one only considers the fact that a one-track development is necessarily subject to certain limiting conditions, which are all the narrower when that development takes place in the material sphere, it will be realized that a change of direction such as we have been discussing is almost sure to take place sometime or other.

As for the nature of the events that will lead up to this reorientation, it is possible that people will one day begin to notice that things which now appear all-important are unable to yield the results expected of them; but this in itself would presuppose a certain change in the general mental trend, even though the disillusion were chiefly sentimental in character, arising for instance from having come to realize the non-existence of a 'moral progress' running parallel with the progress called scientific. Indeed, if they are not to be supplied from an outside source, the means of change will necessarily be as mediocre in quality as the mentality they are called upon to influence; but this mediocrity would not augur very well for the results to follow. It is also possible to suppose that mechanical inventions, developed ever further and further, may reach a point where they will seem so dangerous that men will feel impelled to renounce them, either from the terror gradually aroused by some of their consequences, or else following on a cataclysm which everyone is at liberty to picture as he pleases. Even in the latter case, the motive force of the change would be of a sentimental nature, but derived from that side of feeling which relates most closely to the physiological order; and it might be added, but without over-stressing the point, that symptoms connected with both the above-mentioned possibilities have already appeared, though on a very small scale, as a result of the recent events that have shaken Europe [World War I]; however, these events have not yet assumed sufficiently large proportions, whatever people may think, to bring about deep and lasting effects in the direction we are discussing. Furthermore, changes such as we have in mind could either come about slowly and gradually, requiring several centuries in which to mature, or on the other hand they might occur rapidly after sudden and unforeseen upheavals; however, even in the first case, it is probable that a moment will come when a more or less violent rupture will take place, amounting to a real severing of continuity with the pre-existing state. In any case, we fully admit that it is impossible to calculate the date of such a change beforehand, even approximately; however, truth compels us to add that those who possess some knowledge of the cyclic laws and their application to historical epochs might allow themselves at least a few forecasts in order to determine periods comprised within certain limits; but here we shall abstain entirely from entering into questions of this kind, the more so since a knowledge of the laws we have just alluded to has sometimes been falsely claimed by persons who found it all the easier to speak of such things the less they understood them: this last observation must not be taken for a paradox, for it expresses something that is literally a fact.

The next question to be asked is this: supposing certain events bring about a reaction in the West at some date as yet unspecified, causing those things to be given up that form the substance of present-day European civilization—what results must then be expected to follow? Several eventualities are possible, and it is well worth pausing to consider the various hypotheses corresponding to them: the most unfavorable result would occur if nothing were introduced to take the place of the civilization in question, so that, as it disappeared, the West, abandoned to its own fate, would sink into the lowest forms of barbarism. To understand this possibility, it is enough to call to mind several examples of civilizations that have been entirely obliterated, even without having to go back beyond what are called historical times. Some of these civilizations belonged to peoples who disappeared along with them, but this fate could hardly apply except to fairly localized cultures; in the case of civilizations enjoying a widespread extension it is more likely that the survivors would find themselves reduced to a degenerate state more or less comparable with that which, as we remarked earlier, is represented by certain of the present-day savages; it is hardly necessary to spend a long time pointing out the disquieting nature of the picture called up by this first hypothesis.

The second eventuality is the one in which representatives of other civilizations, namely Eastern peoples, in rescuing the Western world from this incurable decay, would assimilate it by consent or by force, either as a whole or in respect of some of its component parts—that is assuming that the thing were possible and that the East were willing to do this. It is to be hoped that no one is so blinded by Western prejudice as not to recognize how much this hypothesis is to be preferred to the first one: under such circumstances there would doubtless be a transitional period of extremely painful ethnic revolutions, which are difficult to picture but which in their final result would be of a nature to compensate for the damage certain to be sustained during a catastrophe of this kind; but in that case the West would have had to forego its own character and would find itself absorbed purely and simply.

For these reasons a third possibility may be regarded as being far more favorable from the Western point of view, though merely equivalent, truth to tell, from the general point of view of humanity, since, were it to be fulfilled, its effect would be to have brought about the disappearance of the Western anomaly, not by suppression as in the first case, but, as in the second, by a return to true and normal intellectuality; but this return, instead of being imposed under duress, or at most accepted and experienced through external influence, would in this case be effected voluntarily and as it were spontaneously. It is easy to see what this last possibility implies, if it is to be realizable: it would mean that the West, at the very moment when its development in the present direction was nearing its end, had succeeded in discovering within itself the principles of a development in a different direction, which it would thenceforth carry out in quite a natural manner; and this fresh development, by turning its civilization into something comparable with those of the East, would allow of its occupying in the world, not a position of preponderance to which it is not entitled and which it owes at present only to its employment of brute force, but at least the position that it would lawfully occupy as one civilization among others, a civilization moreover which, under these conditions, would cease to be an element of maladjustment and of oppression for the rest of mankind.

It must not indeed be supposed that the Western domination can be otherwise looked upon by the peoples of different civilizations at present subject to it; we are not referring, of course, to certain degenerate tribes, though even in the latter case Western influence is probably more harmful than useful, since they tend to copy only the worst traits of their conquerors. As for the Easterners, we have already explained on several occasions how justifiable their contempt for the West appears in our eyes, all the more justifiable the oftener the European race insists on repeating its odious and absurd claims to a quite non-existent mental superiority, and the greater its efforts to force all men into an assimilation which its own unstable and ill-defined characteristics fortunately prevent it from consummating. Only a delusion and a blindness begotten of the most ridiculous prejudice could allow a man to believe that the Western mentality can win over the East, or that men who acknowledge no real superiority save that of the intellect will allow themselves to be seduced by mechanical inventions, which inspire them with a strong disgust and with not the slightest admiration. It may well happen that the Easterners will accept or rather submit to certain unavoidable effects of the present age, but they will look on them as purely temporary, and much more inconvenient than advantageous, and at heart they will only be waiting for an opportunity to get rid of all this material 'progress', which can never be of any real interest to them. There are, it is true, many individual exceptions to be found among those who have undergone an entirely Western education; otherwise, generally speaking, defections in this sense remain far more superficial than outside observers, judging only by appearances, might be led to believe, and this is true despite the most ardent and untimely efforts expended by Western proselytism. Intellectually, it is in every way in the interest of the Easterners not to change today any more than they have changed in the course of preceding centuries; all we have said here goes to prove it, and this is one of the reasons why a real and deep understanding can only arise, as is logical and normal, out of a change taking place on the Western side.

We must now return once more to the three hypotheses we have outlined, in order to lay down more explicitly the conditions that would determine the realization of any one of them; everything clearly depends on the mental state of the Western world at the moment when it reaches the furthest term of its present civilization. If that mental state were then the same as it is now, the first hypothesis must perforce be realized, since nothing would be found to replace those things that were about to be given up, and because, on the other hand, no assimilation by other civilizations would be possible, the differences of mentality amounting to direct opposition. The assimilation which corresponds to our second hypothesis would require, as a minimum condition, the existence in the West of an intellectual kernel, even if it were only constituted by a numerically small elite, but one strong enough to provide the indispensable intermediaries for guiding back the mentality of the people toward the sources of true intellectuality, by imparting to it a direction which would however in no wise need to be consciously felt by the masses. From the moment that it is admitted that a term to the present Western civilization is a possibility, the preliminary establishment of this elite necessarily appears as alone capable of saving the West from chaos and dissolution at the appointed moment; and besides, in order to enlist the interest of the accredited representatives of the Eastern traditions in the fate of the West, it would be essential to prove to them that although their severest strictures on Western intellectuality as a whole were not undeserved, yet there might be at least a few honorable exceptions to be found, as evidence that the degradation of that intellectuality was not entirely beyond remedy.

We have said that the realization of the second hypothesis would not be free from certain unpleasant features, at any rate tempo-rarily, and in this case the function of the elite would be confined to supplying the pivot of an action in which the West would not take the initiative; but that function would be quite a different story if events allowed the elite time to exercise such an activity directly and on its own responsibility, an eventuality that would then corre-spond to the realization of the third hypothesis. One can in fact imagine how the intellectual elite, once constituted, might act rather after the fashion of a 'leaven' in the Western world, with the purpose of preparing the way for a transformation which, once effected, would allow the West to treat with the authorized repre-sentatives of the Eastern civilizations if not as one equal with another, then at least as an autonomous power. In that case the transformation would have an appearance of spontaneity, all the more so since it could then operate without shock, provided the elite had really gained sufficient influence to be in a position to direct the general outlook; besides, the support of the Easterners would not be denied it in this task, for they will always be favorable, as is only natural, to an understanding brought about on such a basis, all the more so since they too would have an interest in it which, though quite of another order from that animating the Westerners, would be by no means negligible; but it would perhaps be rather difficult, and moreover useless, to try to define the nature of this interest here. Howbeit, the point we wish to stress is that in order to prepare the way for the changes in question it is in no wise necessary for the mass of Westerners, or for the generality of so-called intellectuals even, to take part in the work at the outset; even were this not quite impossible, it would in certain respects do more harm than good; it is enough, therefore, as a start, for a few individ-uals to understand the need for such a change, but of course on condition that they understand it truly and thoroughly.

We have shown the essentially traditional character of all the Eastern civilizations; the absence of an effective attachment to a tra-dition is the fundamental cause of the Western deviation. A return to a traditional civilization, both in principle and in respect of the whole body of institutions, is obviously the basic condition for the transformation we have been speaking about, or rather it is identical with that transformation itself, which will have been achieved from the moment that this return to tradition is fully effective. Under such conditions it would be possible to preserve whatever really valuable elements the present Western civilization may contain under any heading, always provided that before that time things had not reached a pass where there was no other alternative left but a complete renunciation. This return to tradition appears then as the most essential of the objects to which the intellectual elite ought to devote its activities; the difficulty would be to give effect to all that this implies in the various orders of activity, and also to determine the precise means which would have to be employed to that end. We can only say that the Middle Ages afford us an example of a traditional development that was truly Western; ultimately it would be a case not purely and simply of copying or reconstructing what existed then, but of drawing inspiration from it in order to bring about an adaptation to suit the actual circumstances. If there exists a 'Western tradition', that is where it must be looked for, and not in the fantasies of occultists and pseudo-esoterists; this tradition was formerly conceived after the religious mode, and we do not see that the West is suited to conceive it otherwise, now less so than ever; it would be enough if a few minds became conscious of the essential unity of principle of all the traditional doctrines, as must formerly have been the case, judging by many suggestive signs and notwithstanding the absence of tangible or written proofs; the absence of such documents is quite natural under the circumstances and objections based on the 'historical method' are quite irrelevant.

During the course of the present work we have had occasion to point out the principal characteristics of the Medieval civilization, insofar as it offers quite real though incomplete analogies with the Eastern civilizations, and we will not repeat ourselves now; all that need be said is that the West, once it had entered into possession of the tradition most suited to its own particular conditions and best able to provide for the wants of the great majority of individuals, would be freed from the necessity of adapting itself by more or less painful means to other traditional forms that were never made for this section of humanity; it is easy to see how considerable an advantage this would be.

The work to be undertaken would have to be confined at the start purely to the intellectual order, which comprises all that is really essential, since it is concerned with the principles on which all else depends; it is obvious that its consequences would spread later on, more or less quickly, into every other sphere, by a perfectly natural repercussion. Modifying the mental outlook of a people is the one and only means of bringing about any deep or lasting change, even in the social sphere; to think of starting out from consequences is a pre-eminently illogical method, only worthy of the impatient and sterile agitation of present-day Westerners. Besides, the intellectual point of view is the only one that is immediately accessible, since the universal character of the principles makes them able to be assimilated by every man, whatever race he may belong to, on the sole condition of his possessing sufficient powers of understanding; it may seem strange that it is precisely the highest element in a tradition that is most easily grasped, but the reason is really not so very far to seek, since this element alone is independent of all contingencies. This explains why the secondary traditional sciences, which are only contingent applications, are not, under their Eastern form, entirely assimilable by Westerners; as for building up or restoring equivalent sciences in a mode that suits the Western mind, that is a task the realization of which cannot but appear as a rather remote possibility; its importance however, although great, must be looked upon only as accessory to the principal need.

If we have confined our attention to the intellectual point of view, that is because it is in all respects the first thing to be attended to; but we will remind the reader that he must not narrow his conception of it in any way, since it comprises possibilities that are literally unlimited, as we explained when treating of metaphysical thought. We are here essentially concerned with metaphysics, because it is the only thing that can be called truly and purely intellectual; and this leads us to explain further that for the elite about whom we have been speaking, tradition, in its innermost essence, is not to be conceived according to the specifically religious mode, which is after all but a case of adaptation to the conditions of the general and average mentality. Moreover this elite, even before it had effected any appreciable change of direction in the common outlook, could already, through its own influence, be in enjoyment of some quite tangible advantages in the contingent order, such for example as the removal of the difficulties and misunderstandings that are otherwise unavoidable during intercourse with Eastern peoples; but we must repeat that these are but secondary results of that purely inward realization which alone is indispensable in the first place; for this realization necessarily governs all else, being itself governed by no other thing. Therefore, what must come first is an understanding in the sphere of principles, the real nature of which we have tried to explain here, and this understanding implies, fundamentally, an assimilation of the essential modes of Eastern thought; moreover, so long as different lines of thought are being followed, and above all so long as one side is not conscious of these differences, no agreement is obviously possible, any more than when two different languages are being spoken and one of the parties to the conversation is totally ignorant of the language of the other.

That is why the works of the orientalists are of no service to our present purpose, if indeed they are not a hindrance for reasons we have already given; it also explains our motives, now that we have judged it advisable to write of these things, for proposing to define and develop certain additional points in a series of metaphysical studies, either by directly expounding certain aspects of the Eastern doctrines—and more especially the doctrines of India—or by adapting those same doctrines in the manner that may seem to us most likely to be understood, whenever we consider such an adaptation preferable to a direct exposition. In any case, what we shall present thus will always remain, in spirit if not in the letter, as scrupulously exact and faithful an interpretation of the traditional doctrine as we can possibly make it; if it contains anything of our own, that must be put down chiefly to unavoidable imperfections of expression.

In trying to show the need for an understanding with the East, apart from the question of intellectual benefit that would be its direct result, we have kept to a point of view which is, in spite of everything, a contingent one, or at least which seems to be so when it is not linked up with certain other considerations that we have not found it possible to enter into and that depend especially on the deeper implications of those cyclic laws the existence of which we have merely alluded to; but this does not prevent us from thinking that such a point of view, even as expounded, is worthy of occupying the attention of serious minds and of providing them with food for thought, on the sole condition that they are not wholly blinded by the prejudices usually found among modern Westerners.

The achieving of the purpose we have outlined consists therefore of two main phases, namely the constituting of the intellectual elite and its action on the Western environment; as for the means for accomplishing this twofold task, nothing definite can at present be said, for to do so would in every way be premature; we must repeat that we have been considering possibilities that are doubtless remote, but that are nonetheless possibilities, which is a sufficient reason for considering them. Among all these things there are some that we would perhaps have hesitated to write about before the occurrence of recent events, which seem to have brought such possibilities a step nearer, or at least to have made them easier to apprehend: without attaching too much importance to historical contingencies, which in no wise affect the truth, we must not forget that there are questions of opportunity that must often intervene in its external formulation.

Many things are still lacking from this concluding chapter before it can be considered complete, and these are the things that concern the deepest, and therefore the most truly essential characteristics of the Eastern doctrines and of the results that may be obtained from their study by those who are capable of carrying it far enough. The nature of these results can be sensed, in some measure, from the few words we have said on the subject of metaphysical realization; we have explained our reasons for not dwelling on things of this nature at greater length, especially in an introductory treatise like the present one; perhaps we shall come back to this question on another occasion,^[1] but it is above all in a case like this that one must bear in mind the Far-Eastern saying that 'he who knows ten should only teach nine. However that may be, such things as can be expounded without reservation, that is to say whatever ideas can be expressed on the purely theoretical side of metaphysics, are more than enough to enable those who can understand them, even if they go no further, to see through the analytical and fragmentary speculations of the West; these will then appear to them in their true colors, namely as a vain and illusory research without principle and without ultimate goal, a pursuit yielding mediocre results that are worth neither the time nor the effort of any man whose intellectual horizon is wide enough to preserve him from such a cramping of his activities.