{"id":262,"date":"2010-02-25T08:37:59","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T03:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=262"},"modified":"2023-02-28T08:23:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T13:23:21","slug":"did-guenon-convert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=262","title":{"rendered":"The Conversion of Rene Guenon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did Rene Guenon<\/strong> “convert”? In the article “Conversions”, included in the collection Initiation and Spiritual Realization<\/em>, he explains that the word can be taken in two totally different senses. The first is an “intellectual metamorphosis”, an “interior transformation”, metanoia, or “change of nous<\/em>” that indicates the “conscious passage of the ordinary and individual mind, normally turned toward sensible things, to its superior transposition.”<\/p>\n

This is an interior transformation and has nothing to do with the second type which is commonly called a religious conversion. The second type is the exterior passage from one exoteric religious form to another; this type is just an exterior and contingent change. It often lacks \u201cany real importance\u201d and has \u201cnothing to do with pure spirituality.” Guenon has \u201clittle regard for [such] converts in general\u201d who are often associated with the \u201cmost exaggerated sectarianism\u201d. Guenon claims the opposite: <\/p>\n

\nContrary to what takes place in ‘conversion’, nothing here implies the attribution of the superiority of one traditional form over another. It is merely a question of what one might call reasons of spiritual expediency, which is altogether different from simple individual preference.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nevertheless, even the first type of conversion may be associated with an outward change of form. However, that choice is not arbitrary and there may be valid reasons for it. Guenon elucidates:<\/p>\n

\nthose who, for reasons of an esoteric and initiatic order, adopt a traditional form different from that to which they would seem to be linked by their origin [do this] either because their native tradition provides them with no possibility of an esoteric order, or because their chosen tradition gives them a foundation that is more appropriate to their nature, and consequently more favorable to their spiritual work.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So we see that for the elite, it is the intellectual conversion that is important. The outer form is secondary. Therefore, the various attempts to recover lost forms for their own sake or to critique living forms based solely on their exteriority are misguided. The criteria are these:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Is the form rich and varied enough to incorporate true metaphysical teachings?<\/li>\n
  2. Is the exterior form able to capture the allegiance of the general population, given their various capacities to understand?\n <\/li>\n
  3. Does the exterior form provide a safe haven within which the elite can accomplish their tasks?\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the article “Conversions”, included in the collection Initiation and Spiritual Realization<\/em>, he explains that the word can be taken in two totally different senses. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guenon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17147,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/17147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}