Every so often on social media, someone naively pleas for information on finding an “esoteric center”, as if they are like McDonald’s franchises just waiting for customers. Another frequent complaint is that such and such “tradition” does not have an initiatic, esoteric center. I don’t know how they know that or even what it means.

Unfortunately, none of these fellows would recognize an esoteric center even if it had a storefront on Main Street with bright neon signs. So they read everything Guenon wrote, in no particular order, hoping for a revelation, but that don’t impress me none. On the other hand, if they learned Arabic, moved to Cairo, and joined Guenon’s initiatic organization, I would show some respect. But Americans don’t expect to go to that much trouble.

Initiatic esoteric centers are not eagerly waiting for you to show up. And if you do, they will probably make you clean the latrines for three years before teaching you anything.

Cults and Centers

One can certainly find high priced cults that promise instant enlightenment. You will make many like-minded friends. They will tell you that you are full of love. They will tell you to give up attachments but not how. In the end you might notice other people’s attachments, but not your own. But remember this:

A cult is easy to find, but hard to leave. An esoteric center is hard to find but easy to leave.

Augustine and the Fig Tree

Augustine had explored Manichaeism and then philosophy, yet remained dissatisfied. Even the influential Neoplatonist pagan Victorinus had converted. Distraught, Augustine sat under a fig tree in a Milan garden and pleaded with God for relief. Hearing a child’s voice saying, “Take and read,” Augustine picked up his Bible and read:

Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites. ~ Romans 13:13-14

Lady Continence appears to him, and he finds himself willing to live the celibate life. The Lady is the final appearance of the Anima to him. Previous appearances include his unnamed concubine, Eve, Dido, and especially his mother Monica.

The Buddha and the Fig Tree

Everyone knows the story of the young prince who was shocked when he realized the true nature of life. He went on a lifelong search. Unable to find enlightenment in any of the “initiatic esoteric centers” in India, he sat under a fig tree, vowing not to leave until he achieved enlightenment.

Like Saint Augustine, the answer suddenly came to him and he became the Buddha. Neither one needed an initiatic esoteric center. Chew on that for a while. Perhaps your own approach has been totally misguided this whole time.

Lama Yeshe

There are several aspects that made Tibetan Buddhism so appealing to me at one time, namely

1. It is patriarchal
2. It is hierarchal
3. It requires a life of prayer and meditation
4. It has a strict moral code
5. It has a comprehensive cosmology
6. It has an understanding of postmortem states
7. It has a complex metaphysical system
8. There is a path to salvation and liberation

Lama Yeshe was the head of the lineage into which I was initiated. I recently found out that he was reincarnated in the body of a young Spanish man, Ösel Hita Torres. Here is a video of the fellow Taste of Buddha: One Big Love. He seems more interested in Bob Marley than in the Buddha. I’ve visited Marley’s house in Kingston, where the bullet holes in the walls have never been patched up. That is the price of one love. With his swaying motions and lack of a command presence, Ösel doesn’t appear enlightened to me; however, it is not my place to judge, so I won’t question your opinion.

I did not listen long enough to know if any of the points mentioned above came up as a question. But they seldom do. However, I usually asked about them, once in particular about the purpose of meditating on the Buddhist cosmology painted on a Thangka. The answer was that one should visualize oneself as enlightened in the presence of the devas, gods, and buddhas.

That was my own ah-ha fig tree experience. I didn’t really need the Thangka anymore. I could find all eight points in my own Tradition, visualizing myself in the cosmology of the Divine Comedy, or alchemical diagrams, so elegantly described by C. S. Lewis in The Discarded Image. But why discard it?

All 8 points were available to me in texts that are natural to me. There are usually bad psychological reasons to choose an alien tradition over one’s own. In any case, I still practiced the 8 points, although I suspect few American Buddhists do. Otherwise, they could not fail to notice how close they are to the lifestyle of the tradition they thought they left behind.

Isolation

Before you commit to an “esoteric center”, consider the consequences. Your life will never be the same again. Whatever you used to enjoy will become empty experiences. Your friends won’t understand you. And it is not very pleasant, as the young Prince discovered, to see life without any illusions.

And if you quit halfway, you will be worse off than if you had never begun at all.

Conclusion

If you are serious about Tradition, then start acting that way. Otherwise, the next book won’t make any difference. Here are some suggestions, which you can ignore or accept.

• Don’t assume you know what you don’t know
• The best choice is usually to follow the path of your own nation
• Pray and meditate, rather than read
• Treat your superiors with deference and respect

Appendix

The topic of how to read Rene Guenon often comes up. Here is a suggestion.
Updated 2 January 2021.
Foundation: These works are simple to understand and provide a general overview. The basic issues are explained as well as the reason that a return to Tradition is both necessary and desirable.

• Crisis of the Modern World
• East West
• Oriental Metaphysics

Metaphysical Trilogy: An understanding of metaphysics is the necessary preliminary step. Moreover, once comprehended, it brings intellectual certitude, as apodictic as any mathematical proof. However, that is only the first step. Proper training in spiritual exercises is required in order to fully understand the texts. Ultimately, book learning alone is insufficient to achieve metaphysical realization.

• Man and his Becoming
• The Symbolism of the Cross
• Multiple States of the Being

The other books go deeper into specific topics and show the practical application to real world problems.