Guénon published his fundamental doctrinal work, Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta, in 1925. After asserting that the Vedanta (including the Isopanisad) represents the purest metaphysics in Hindu doctrine, he acknowledges the impossibility of ever expounding it exhaustively and states that the specific object of his study will be the nature and constitution of the human being. Nonetheless, taking the human being as his point of departure, he goes on to outline the fundamental principles of all traditional metaphysics. He leads the reader gradually to the doctrine of the Supreme Identity and its logical corollary - the possibility that the being in the human state might in this very life attain liberation, the unconditioned state where all separateness and risk of reversion to manifested existence ceases. Although Guénon chose the doctrine of the Advaita school (and in particular that of Shankara) as his basis, Man and His Becoming should not be considered exclusively an exposition of this school and of this master. It is, rather, a synthetic account drawing not only upon other orthodox branches of Hinduism, but not infrequently also upon the teachings of other traditional forms. Neither is it a work of erudition in the sense of the Orientalists and historians of religion who study doctrines from the ‘outside’, but represents knowledge of the traditionally transmitted and effective ‘sacred science’. Guénon treats other aspects of Hinduism in his Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines and Studies in Hinduism.
| Author | Guénon, René |
|---|---|
| Full Title | Man and His Becoming According to the Vedānta |
| Binding | Softcover |
| Publisher | Sophia Perennis |
| Pages | 196 |
| ISBN | 0-900588-61-6 |
| Language | English |
| Short Description | This work considers the nature and constitution of the human being from the point of view of the fundamental principles of Vedanta, which represents the last statements in the Vedic tradition on attaining Absolute Truth. It also considers the Supreme Identity and the possibility of attaining liberation. |
| Table of Contents | Chapter 1: General Remarks on the Vedanta Chapter 2: Fundamental Distinction between the ‘Self ‘ and the ‘Ego’ Chapter 3: The Vital Center of the Human Being: Seat of Brahma Chapter 4: Purusha and Prakriti Chapter 5: Purusha unaffected by Individual Modifications Chapter 6: The Degrees of Individual Manifestation Chapter 7: Buddhi or the Higher Intellect Chapter 8: Manas or the Inward Sense: The Ten External Faculties of Sensation and Action Chapter 9: The Envelopes of the ‘Self’: The Five Vayus or Vital Functions Chapter 10: The Essential Unity and Identity of ‘Self’ in all the States of the Being Chapter 11: The Different Conditions of Atma in the Human Being Chapter 12: The Waking State: or the Condition of Vaishvanara Chapter 13: The Dream State: or the Condition of Taijasa Chapter 14: The State of Deep Sleep: or the Condition of Prajna Chapter 15: The Unconditioned State of Atma Chapter 16: Symbolical Representations of Atma and its Conditions by the Sacred Monosyllable Om Chapter 17: The Posthumous Evolution of the Human Being Chapter 18: The Reabsorption of the Individual Faculites Chapter 19: Differences in the Posthumous Conditions according to the Degrees of Knowledge Chapter 20: The Coronal Artery and the ‘Solar Ray’ Chapter 21: The ‘Divine Journey’ of the Being on the Path of Liberation Chapter 22: Final Deliverance Chapter 23: Videha-Mukti and Jivan-Mukta Chapter 24: The Spiritual State of the Yogi: The Supreme Identity Sanskrit Index |
| About the Author | René Guénon (1886-1951), French metaphysician, scholar of religions and critic of modern civilisation. Guénon is regarded by leading scholars as the first truly authentic interpreter of many Eastern doctrines in the West. He argued for the transcendent unity of all religious faiths and the abiding Truth that contains them all. |
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