INDEX

advaita-vāda 103, 201 Alexander 24, 26–27 Alexandrian(s) 16, 30, 93 America(n)(s) 9, 225, 227, 235 Anglican(ism) 68, 232 Anglo-Saxon(s) 137, 225, 227, 235 Arabic 50–51, 165, 221 Arab(s) 16, 44–45, 56, 73, 90, 166, 173, 207 Aristotelian 152, 178 Aristotle 27–28, 70, 76–77, 92–93, 98, 105, 115, 172–173, 177, 199 Arya-Samāj 233 Aryan 51, 123 Ashoka 139 Atharva-Veda 127, 166 Avalokiteshvara 142 Avatāra(s) 144, 160 Bādarāyana 200 Barth, Karl 139 Berber 44 Bodhisattva 142 Brahma 157, 159, 187, 191, 198, 201 Brahmā 159–160 Brahma-Samāj 232–233 Brahma-Sūtras 200 Brahman 159 Brāhmanism 112–113, 125, 232 Brahmin(s) 154–156, 207 Buddha 144 Buddhism 27, 46, 112–113, 123–124, 133–145, 147, 227, 230 Buddhist(s) 23, 26–27 46, 122, 133–4, 136–137, 142 Burnouf, E. 217, 226 Cartesian 101, 115, 171, 205 Caste (jāti/varna) 151–156 Catholic(ism) 68, 82 87, 122, 193, 219, 231 Chaldea 14, 30 China 27, 30, 44–45, 47, 51–53, 56, 63–67, 86, 89, 95, 111–112, 124, 143, 166, 208 Chinese 11, 13, 29, 46, 52–53, 63–65, 110, 113, 163 Chinese civilization 46–47, 52, 63 Christendom 48–49, 68 Christian(ity) 50, 60, 63, 67–68, 90, 144, 156, 218, 221, 227–228, 231, 233 Comte, Auguste 220, 222 Confucian(ism) 57, 63–64, 142 Coomaraswamy, A. K. 135† darshana 162–164, 166–167, 169–170, 174–176, 185–186, 189, 191–193, 198, 204 Dayānanda, Saraswatī 233 Democritus 27 Descartes 94, 101 dharma 146–148, 153–154, 191–192, 196 dharma-shastra 150 Dravidians 123 Druids 34, 108 Durkheim, E. 61 n2 Egypt(ians) 14, 27, 30–31, 124 Etruscans 59 Fu Hsi 57, 124 French Revolution 16 Greco-Roman 10, 15, 18, 21, 58, 60, 62, 68, 90, 158, 218 Greece 24, 26-28, 35, 59, 89, 107- 108, 176 Greek(s) 10-11, 14-28, 30-31, 34, 49, 56, 58, 60, 67, 78, 80, 88-94, 98, 101, 107-108, 133-134, 139, 163, 165, 172, 175, 177, 179, 184 guna(s) 177, 183, 196, 221 guru 207 hatha-yoga 188-189 Hellenic 14, 59, 173 Hermes 124 Hindu civilization 22-3, 45-6, 51, 122-3, 125-6, 155-6, 194 Hindu doctrine(s) 1, 5, 26-7, 72, 77, 83, 95, 105, 118, 121, 138, 145, 210, 224, 230, 239 Hindu tradition 117, 122-3, 125, 127, 131, 136, 146, 232 Hinayāna 135, 140, 144 I Ching 57 India(n) 14, 16, 22-30, 35, 43-47, 53, 56, 63, 67, 89, 95, 112-3, 121- 4, 128-9, 131-4, 138-144, 147, 158, 162, 164-6, 169, 175-6, 204, 207, 210, 221, 228, 232-4, 251 Ishvara 157-159, 184-187, 191 Islam 44, 49-52, 56, 61, 63, 67-68, 77, 79, 88, 90, 110-111, 122, 221 Islamic civilization 12, 44-45 Islamic esoterism 111, 149, 189, 202 Islamic world 33, 43-44 Itihāsas 150 Jaimini 191 Jains 26, 122 Japan(ese) 46-47, 64-65 Jesuits 63-64 Jewish 56, 67, 90 Jews 90 jīvan-mukta 202-203 jñāna 192 Judaism 50, 67-68, 90, 111, 144, 221 Kabbalah 30, 111, 149, 165 Kanāda 26, 132, 176 Kant, Immanuel 115, 147 karma 146, 148, 177, 192, 196, 228 Kshatriya(s) 154-156 Kwan-Yin 142 Lakshmi 160 Leibniz 99 Locke, J. 137 Mahāyāna 140-142, 144 manas 149, 179, 182 mantra(s) 192-193 Manu 146-151, 193 Mazdaism 124 Mill, J. S. 204 Mīmānsā 167, 191-197, 228 moksha (mukti) 83, 202 Müller, Max 139, 187, 198, 218 Muslim(s) 12, 44-45, 49-50, 67, 84, 90, 122-123, 137, 193 Neoplatonist(s) 28, 30 Nyāya 167, 169-174, 176, 184 Oldenberg 145 Parvati 160 Patañjali 186-187 Persia 14, 27, 30 Persian(s) 14, 27, 30, 34, 45, 51, 90, 124 Plato 19, 31, 59, 173 Prakriti 181–184, 187 Protestant/ism 66, 68, 82, 98, 219, 228, 231–233, 235 Purānas 150, 160 Purusha 156, 182, 184, 186–187 Pythagorean 31, 230 rāja-yoga 188 Rāmakrishna [Mission] 235 Rāmānuja 201 Reformation 16, 48 Rig-Veda 127, 154, 166 Renaissance 16, 18, 48 Roman(s) 11, 18, 49, 59–60, 67, 98, 221 Rome 60 Roy, Rām Mohun 232–233 Sāma-Veda 127, 166 Sāņkhya 167, 174, 176–178, 181–187 Sanskrit 46, 90, 101, 124, 128, 164, 186, 228–229, 238–239 Sarasvati 160 Scholastic(s) 76–77, 79–80, 93, 99, 111, 172–173, 177, 191 Schopenhauer 136–137, 198, 235 Shaiva(s) 160, 201 Shaivism 157–161 Shakti/s 160 Shankarāchārya 138, 180, 201, 203, 234 Shinto 46, 64 Shiva 159–160, 179 shruti 150, 191, 193 Shūdra(s) 154–156, 234 Sikhs 122 smriti 150, 160, 164, 193 Spinoza 84 Tantras 160 Tantric doctrines 143 Taoism 57, 63, 77, 142–143, 149 Taoist 141–142, 196 Theosophical Society 227, 233 Theosophism 224–232, 235 Thoth 124 Tibetan Buddhism [Lamaism] 143 Upanishad(s) 112, 128, 139, 192, 198, 200 Upaveda(s) 166, 205 Vaisheshika 167, 174–182, 184, 204 Vaishnava(s) 160, 201 Vaishnavism 157–161 Vaishya(s) 154–55 Veda(s) 125, 127–132, 139, 164, 166–167, 180, 191–194, 198–200, 217, 233 Vedānga(s) 164, 166, 193 Vedānta 167, 190–192, 198–204, 232–235 Vedic 35, 130–131, 134, 150, 165, 192, 198, 233 Vishnu 159–160, 179 Vivekānanda 235 Vyāsa 124, 128, 149, 169, 200 Yajur-Veda 127, 166 Yoga 167, 185–190, 200 Yogi(s) 189, 202–203 Zarathustra [Zoroaster] 124 Zen 142 Printed in the United States 35937LVS00005B/109

9780900 588730 DATE DUE

B 130 .G8213 2001

Guâenon, Renâe. Introduction to the study of the Hindu doctrines

DEMCO 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 praxis, 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.

René Guénon's first book, Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, came (in the words of the eminent scholar S. H. Nasr) 'like a sudden burst of lightning, an abrupt intrusion into the modern world of a body of knowledge and a perspective utterly alien to the prevalent climate and world view.' In this book Guénon establishes the criteria which formed the basis of his later works and set the tone for the Traditionalist School that came after him: the meaning of Tradition, the relationship between 'religion', 'theology', 'metaphysics', etc.—all leading up to an exhaustive definition and comprehensive overview of Hinduism, which Guénon saw as the most ancient and most complete spiritual tradition on earth, embracing the most profound and explicit metaphysics. The West is now overrun with many brands of compromised Hinduism, whose 'gurus' are considered charlatans by traditional Hindu authorities. For anyone drawn to the Hindu tradition, searching for a way to separate the wheat from the chaff and dedicated to gaining an understanding of the universe that is Hinduism in its own terms and not those imposed by modernist Western assumptions, this book is indispensable.

The Collected Works of René Guénon brings together the writings of one of the greatest prophets of our time, whose voice is even more important today than when he was alive.

Huston Smith, The World's Religions

Guénon established the language of sacred metaphysics with a rigor, a breadth, and an intrinsic certainty such that he compels recognition as a standard of comparison for the twentieth century.

Jean Borella, Modern Esoteric Spirituality