René Guénon’s first book, Introduction to the Study of 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.

Table of Contents

Part One: Preliminary Questions
1 East and West
2 The Divergence
3 The Classical Prejudice
4 Relations between the Peoples of Antiquity
5 Questions of Chronology
6 Linguistic Difficulties

Part Two: The General Character of Eastern Thought
1 Main Divisions of the Eastern World
2 Principles of Unity of the Eastern Civilizations
3 What is Meant by Tradition?
4 Tradition & Religion
5 Essential Characteristics of Metaphysics
6 Relations between Metaphysics and Theology
7 Symbolism and Anthropomorphism
8 Metaphysical Thought and Philosophical Thought
9 Esoterism and Exoterism
10 Metaphysical Realization

Part Three: The Hindu Doctrines
1 On the Exact Meaning of the Word ‘Hindu’
2 Perpetuity of the Veda
3 Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
4 Concerning Buddhism
5 The Law of Manu
6 Principles Governing the Institution of Caste
7 Shaivism and Vaishnavism
8 Points of View within the Doctrine
9 Nyaya
10 Vaisheshika
11 Sankhya
12 Yoga
13 Mimansa
14 Vedanta
15 Supplementary Remarks on the Doctrine as a Whole
16 The Traditional Teaching

Part Four: Western Interpretations
1 Official Orientalism
2 The Science of Religions
3 Theosophism
4 Vedanta Westernized
5 Additional Remarks
6 Conclusion

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