The Crisis of the Modern World (Paperback)

Rene Guenon

ISBN 10: 8186569111 / ISBN 13: 9788186569115

Published by Indica Books, Varanasi, 2002

About this Item

Paperback. Guenon is not an "orientalist" but what the Hindus would call a guru. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy In the first half of the twenteeth century, a French man, Rene Guenon (18861951), struck the conscience of the Western world by reminding it about the spiritual knowledge that was at the heart of all traditional civilizations but that the modern Western world had completely lost sight of, and urged it earnestly to recover it before it would be too late. A profound knower of Hindu, Islamic, Taoist and other traditions, Guenon expounded, in the same way as A.K. Coomaraswamy with whom he regularly corresponded, the traditional metaphysics which gave a unity beyond the forms to the apparently different traditions of mankind. Though completely ignored by the official academic world, his message inspired quite a few seekers, and more than 50 years after his death his books are regularly republished and his influence grows steadily. In The Crisis of the Modern World, published for the first time in 1927, Guenon writes a relentless and radical criticism of the modern world, revealing its shallowness and its spiritual destitution when confronted with the traditional civilizations. Eighty years later, his words are still amazingly present and fully valid, but there is something that has definitely changed: the traditional East that Guenon sets against the modern West has disappeared in a great measure as Asia has taken, by its own choice or by the force of circumstances, to the same road than the West. The reflexions of Guenon about the modern world are thus in a big extent applicable to the India of today, in danger of being submerged by the strong flow of modern ways and conceptions and of forgetting the spiritual base that was always the foundation of its civilization and that was the main cause for its unique survival through so many centuries. Rene Guenon[1886-1951] struck the conscience of the western world by reminding it about the spiritual knowledge that was at the heart of all traditional civilizations but that the modern west had completely sight of. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9788186569115

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Crisis of the Modern World (Paperback)
• Publisher: Indica Books, Varanasi
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8186569111
• ISBN 13: 9788186569115
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Critique of the modern world from the point of view of traditional metaphysics, with special reference to the Oriental doctrine of cosmic cycles.In The Crisis of the Modern World, published for the first time in 1927, Guenon writes a relentless and radical criticism of the modern world, revealing its shallowness and its spiritual destitution when confronted with the traditional civilizations. 80 years later, his words are still amazingly present and fully valid, but there is something that has definitely changed: the traditional East that Guenon sets against the modern West has disappeared in a great measure as Asia has taken, by its own choice or by the force of circumstances, to the same road than the West. The reflexions of Guenon about the modern world are thus in a big extent applicable to the India of today, in danger of being submerged by the strong flow of modern ways and conceptions and of forgetting the spiritual base that was always the foundations of its civilization and that was the main cause for its unique survival through so many centuries.

About the Author

René Guénon (November 15, 1886 January 7, 1951), also known as Shaykh 'Abd al-Wahid Yahya, was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, "sacred science"[1] and traditional studies[2] to symbolism and initiation. In his writings, he proposes either "to expose directly some aspects of Eastern metaphysical doctrines",[3] these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character",[4] or "to adapt these same doctrines for Western readers [5] while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit";[3] he only endorsed the act of "handing down" these Eastern doctrines, while reiterating their "non-individual character".[6] He wrote and published in French and his works have been translated into more than twenty languages.