Rene Guenon by Frithjof Schuon

Rene Guenon by Frithjof Schuon

RenE GuEnon (1886-1951) was the founder of the Traditionalist School. Along with Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon, he reintroduced traditional metaphysics and esoterism into the Western world after a lapse of centuries, and was perhaps the first to present the doctrines of the Vedanta, Taoism, and Sufism not as Eurocentric orientalists or occult fantasts had done, but strictly in their own terms. To the 'mathematical' precision of GuEnon's metaphysics, cosmology, and esoteric history, Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) added a poetic or 'musical' element, inspired by his close relationship to the Divine Feminine. He also presented the spiritual path as a concrete praxis, involving the spiritual virtues and 'stations of wisdom', that was not so prominent in GuEnon's writings. On the other hand, GuEnon's prophetic eschatology, especially in The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, as well as his analysis of the 'counter-tradition', gives him a unexpectedly contemporary 'edge' that is perhaps less prominent in Schuon's more aesthetic approach. RenE GuEnon and Frithjof Schuon illuminate each other, both through their unanimity and the specific points where they differ. Each is almost the only means of taking the other's measure. Questions of who was greater, who more traditional, are finally less interesting than the tremendous vision of human reality and spiritual truth that emerges from their shared role as renewers of traditional metaphysics and religious understanding. Schuon, as the younger man, was in a position to compose an evaluation of his early intellectual master, and in view of his long and illustrious career as an author after GuEnon's death, Schuon's central essay RenE GuEnon: Some Observations is also his profoundly appreciative as well as pointedly critical declaration of independence (though simultaneously a declaration of collegiality) from the man who, more than anyone else in the modern world, opened to him a fundamental view of 'principial' reality.

Frithjof Schuon wrote more than two dozen books on metaphysical, spiritual, artistic, and ethnic themes and was a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. He is best known as the foremost spokesman of the Perennial Philosophy and his writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities. He was born in 1907 in Basle, Switzerland and died in the US in 1998. Harry Oldmeadow was Coordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University Bendigo, Australia, until his recent retirement. An acknowledged authority on the Perennialist school in general and Frithjof Schuon in particular, his articles have featured extensively in journals on comparative religion in America and Europe. He is the author of numerous works, including Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (winner of the University of Sydney Medal for excellence in research), and Frithjof Schuon and the Perennial Philosophy. He lives in Australia.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780900588853
ISBN 10	0900588853
Title	Rene Guenon
Author	Frithjof Schuon
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Sophia Perennis et Universalis
Year published	2004-08-27
Number of pages	80
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.