/lit/ - Literature

>>14535243
>Should I start with Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines?
Yes, reading that first will prepare you for his works that are pure metaphysics like Man and His Becoming

>>14535243
Ok guénonfag

>>14535243
The Multiple States of Being could be a very nice introduction to all that stuff, despite being considerably hard to grasp at first.

>>14535243
I gave man and his becoming a try and it's complete obscurantism, it is like it was written for people who already understand it. It starts with the distinction between Self and Ego, and he elaborates that ego is what we commonly refer to as character or personality, but he doesn't explain what the Self is. Then he goes on a tangent about the differences between Universal, General and Collective, without giving examples or explaining how each of these differs from the rest. The guy is complete shit at teaching, and most of his fanboys probably don't really understand him either but they are impressed by the fancy language and the authoritative way he speaks.

>>14535292
The Self is that which is its own relation

>>14535305
Imagine thinking that this counts as an explanation

>>14535292
>obscurantism

Care to elaborate anon? I’m on the beginning of Hindu Doctrines and it’s straightforward so far

>>14535292
This desu, the man's all style and no substance. Typical /lit/ meme.

>>14535243
WWGDPBU1

>>14535377
The introduction to the Hindu doctrines is very straightforward, but it talks about East and West, not about metaphysics per se. I am talking about man and his becoming, and I already gave examples of him being obscurantist.

>>14535395
>>14535292
Retards.

>>14535386
You haven't read his serious/non-introductory works. I thought the same after reading east&west, crisis and hindu doctrines. Reaf principles of infinitesimal calcul or man&his becoming, for example. Keep in mind tradition = initiation which means the entire body of knowledge of tradition is kept from non initiated. It has been this way for tens of thousands of years. Also don't trust /lit/ for anything related to him as the spammer hates Guénon and the kids caught up on the memes have never read him.

>>14535603
liar, i and many other guenonposters have read probably more books than you

>>14535292
>It starts with the distinction between Self and Ego, and he elaborates that ego is what we commonly refer to as character or personality, but he doesn't explain what the Self is.
That book like most of Guenon's (pbuh) writing on metaphysics is based on Advaita Vedanta. It's not necessary but having a basic understanding of Advaita makes it much easier to understand what Guenon (pbuh) is talking about. In Man and His Becoming he sketches some general outlines of Vedantic doctrines. What he means by the Self is the Atma of Advaita metaphysics which is the eternal witness and supreme God who is formless and attributeless pure bliss-awareness. Through God's power of maya the world emerges and God enters into the hearts of all beings to be reflected in their intellect as their innermost self, the seer of sight and the hearer of sound who is of the nature of self-luminous awareness. The ego is a creation of ignorance/maya and is the component that says "I am James with such a body, posessione, relations etc", the Atma is the attributeless conciousness which observes every thought, sensation and the activities of the ego/intellect as the transcendental subject who is separate from them. When the light of the Atma is reflected in the intellect of ignorant people the Self appears to be a transmigrating agent and enjoyer like how ripples in a puddle appear to affect the moon reflected in it.

If you just keep reading the book it may start to make sense, although if you are still struggling to understand it you can try reading some short intro Advaita texts such as Atma-Bodha or the Ashtavakra Samhita and then when you come back to Guenon's (pbuh) book it will make sense

https://www.stillnessspeaks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ShankaraAtmaBodha.pdf

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.490169

bump

>>14535751
Okay so the ego is a fairly straightforward concept, it is basically what we empirically observe as our conscious experience. But the concept of Self still seems like a vague pseudo-concept to me. When I think of myself, I think of my thoughts, memories, perceptions, desires etc. But if all this is just the ego, nothing remains to be identified with the "Self". It seems like the " Self" is just the concept of Ego but with all recognizable attributes of ourselves removed until it becomes empty of content.

>>14535243
Read the Upanishads and you'll understand him with ease.

>>14536712
And the Gita.

Based.

>>14536077

>>14535243
Well, he converted to Islam, so you know he's a retard.

>>14537362
This. Should,ve became a based Jew.

>>14537255
I am not reading this shit fuck you

>>14535243
Go to archive.org and read his work in chronological order. That is the way he is most easily understood.

>>14535292
Yeah, lack of substance obscured by impenetrable style.

>>14537502
It's not even relevant to my post, it seems to be a debate between Vedantists and other philosophical schools.

>>14537255
Holy shit that idealism debate is so bad, neither side makes a single sound argument

Also I love how the conversation is structured, the detractors say one sentence and then the Vedantists talk for two pages