/lit/ - Literature

>>20136933
Start with the Greeks

>>20137057
>“It is almost as if the Greeks, at a moment when they were about to disappear from history, wished to avenge themselves for their own incomprehension by imposing on a whole section of mankind the limitations of their own mental horizon”
- Rene Guenon ,"Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines"

>>20137210
This

>>20136933

Start with his first book and just read them chronologically is the best move desu. You can skip the books on the spiritualist fallacy and theosophy and the come back and read them later if you wanna get to his pure metaphysics books faster or his btfoing of modernity

>>20136933
Stop being a weaboo then read the greeks and the jeets

>>20136933
The Greeks and an introduction to metaphysics (Routledge Introduction is good, you can get the companion too, which will give you the relevant Greeks and moderns).

Then you will have the ability to judge if Guenon is right about shit like: >>20137210

Or if his "metaphysics" (scare quotes because Guenon himself describes his metaphysics as theology stripped of specifics, making it quite a bit different, and arguably opening the door for obscurantist mysticism to paper over difficult areas), is actually something new and superior to all comers in the West.

Notably, Westerners began biting off Hindu ideas long before Guenon, and incorporating then into systems, so it's not like he is the only lens here for those idea. However, he tends to stay closer to them, arguably at the cost of using appeals to authority over actual analysis.

A problem with Guenon, and more so with Evola and the people who like to post about them both, is that the reader is treated as a privileged observer. They really get it. They are aristocrats of the soul for seeking out these books. The mainstream is full of dunces, not like you who see the real truth.

The aim is not to compare, contrast, and synthesize work across the field, nor does it take the best counter arguments on one by one, honestly representing them, and being honest about weaknesses. This is fine, not all works have to do this. It's worth reading those types of self critical, more scholastic works of metaphysics though, because they are a bulwark against dogmatism.

Guenon, intentionally.or not, certainly tends to inspire dogmatism. Any criticism on any thread is immediately followed by "you can't possibly have read him and found anything lacking, and even if you did, it is because you are a brainlet. The one Truth is here!"

I personally got something out of his books, whereas Evola and Crowley I dropped having found mostly a synchretic blend of garbled systems.

Mediations on the Tarot is my much preferred book on Hermeticism, and in terms of history, Schloem is the go to for Kabbalah.

>>20138071
I personally liked the Multiple States of Being most of the metaphysical works I've read. The prose is a bit convoluted, but not bad for metaphysics in translation. It has the benefit of really believing in its subject, while also trying to translate the ideas into the language of Western thought, and does pretty well. There is a fine line to walk between representing Hindu thought fairly in its own contexts, and resorting to handwaving mysticism, and he handles this well for the most part.

But also keep in mind that there are more historical works that might be useful. Vendata has a wide mix of bifrucating schools of thought. The less theistic versions popular in the West (more so back then, but still today) represent just one offshoot. Hell, there are even dualist versions.

>>20136933
>where do I start?
The Guénon chart, of course.

Guenon is basedcore

>>20137787
Anime website you fucking scum newfag.

>>20136933
This girl is unbelievably sexy.

>>20137787
>Stop being a weaboo
oh come on I'm sure that's not necessary

>>20140688
She’s looks like she’s 12.
Creepy af dude

>>20139076
where do i find an epub version of introduction to the Hindu doctrines (and everything else on the chart)? libgen and b-ok only seem to have rather low quality pdfs

>>20136933
By killing yourself, paedophile.

>>20142166
libgen or b-ok.cc

>>20142197
based reading comprehension

>>20139079
this