Rene Guenon and the Orthodox church
Vassili R. Gronoff
XP
"In hoc signo vinces"
This is my first message to this newsgroup, and I first apologize for
my English.
I've read some American Orthodox books, by Fr Seraphim Rose and Dennis
Engleman, and I've been very surprised to read about the importance
accorded to Rene Guenon in both works.
I'm afraid this man is perhaps not very well known in America, but I
think Christians should be aware of him and his works.
First, he was *not* a Christian: Guenon turned himself away from his
childhood christian faith in the roman catholic church to embrace
Islam, where he became Sheikh Abdel Wahed Yahia.
Then, he was a freemason, that is, someone who believes all religions
are one, and whatever the name given (Buddha, Krishna, Osiris,
Muhammad, etc.) there is a superior deity (this word is at the
feminine case in French) that is *impersonnal* and that unites all
the religions.
In this respect, Our Lord Jesus-Christ is just one manifestation (or
avatar) of the Son and not "the only name in heaven and on the earth
by whom we can be saved" as St Peter confesses in his letter.
Actually, Guenon's "faith" is much closer to the New Age doctrines
than to traditionnal, apostolic faith preached by what remains today
of the true one Orthodox Church. (Actually, Guenon considered faith an
inferior way of spiritual realization -not salvation-, knowledge being
the way of the chosen elite who had, and still has, to lead the world
secretely to its final state- that is "Babylon, Mother of harlots"
according to St John the Theologian).
I also think this man inspired such people as philosopher Raymond Abellio
(alias the French communist leader of the 30s Georges Soules) and
Francois Mitterand who were both occultists, gnostic magicians, who
played a decisive part in the world politics (at a "theoretical" level
maybe, more than a "practical" level) that is driving us
to the One World Order, that is, the empire of the Antichrist, whom
Guenon once called "the King of the World", without rejecting him
to serve the Only True Saviour Our Lord Jesus-Christ, the only begotten
Son of God for the centuries of the centuries.
"Christ is with us"
John Simmons
Vassili,
Which book by Fr. Seraphim did you read?
If you read his biography "Not Of This World", it places his study of
Guenon in context. Fr. Seraphim studied MANY things in his search for
truth: Nietzche, Zen Buddhism, and Taoism as well as Guenon and Schuon.
However, when He met Christ, he put away all of these things, including
Guenon, which was just a step on the path. Here is a quote from the book,
which illustrates the transition from Guenon to Orthodoxy.
(from http://www.comet.net/seraphim/dtw/):
"For years in my studies I was satisfied with being 'above all traditions'
but somehow faithful to them.... When I visited an Orthodox church, it was
only in order to view another 'tradition.' However, when I entered an
Orthodox church for the first time (a Russian church in San Francisco)
something happened to me that I had not experienced in any Buddhist or
other Eastern temple; something in my heart said that this was 'home,'
that all my search was over. I didn't really know what this meant, because
the service was quite strange to me, and in a foreign language. I began to
attend Orthodox services more frequently, gradually learning its language
and customs.... With my exposure to Orthodoxy and to Orthodox people, a
new idea began to enter my awareness: that Truth was not just an abstract
idea, sought and known by the mind, but was something personal--even a
Person--sought and loved by the heart. And that is how I met Christ."
The one value that Fr. Seraphim obtained from Guenon, was the fact that
Guenon was the first person Fr. Seraphim encountered, who suggested that
traditions, particularly the most Orthodox of any tradition, was closer to
truth than any modern phenomenon. Prior to this, Fr. Seraphim was
studying with Alan Watts, and his encounter with Guenon coincided with his
own conclusion that the revisionism (of Zen) which Watts was teaching, did
not allow one to penetrate what, if any, truth was contained in the
tradition. So Guenon is certainly not Orthodox. But for some of us who
have been very far gone (into modernist nihilism), he has been a step
toward Orthodoxy, which we left behind.
I am not familiar with Dennis Engleman, so I'm not sure what the issue is
there. I would be happy to discuss the topic further if there is
interest.
John
Gary Meece
The particular tenets of Guenon's personal beliefs were not what
influenced these men. His insistence on practice within a particular
spiritual tradition did. This had some significant effect on my personal
choices, as did Jung's insistence that a Western way of belief is best
suited to Westerners and that the most effective personal integration comes
through practice of the faith in which you were raised, or if that is too
difficult, the closest palatable equivalency thereof. Agreement with that
does not turn one into a Jungian.
Gary Meece
Vassili R. Gronoff <rgro...@imaginet.fr> wrote in article
<6110u5$1to$1...@belzebul.imaginet.fr>...
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