Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta

Man and His becoming according to the Vedanta (Revised, newly composed text edition) Rene Guenons 'Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta, was originally written in French which was translated into English by Richard C Nicholson. The present book is a comprehensive description and explanation of the nature and composition of the human being as per the Hindu doctrines, more especially as per the teachings of the Vedanta. While the present book is indispensable for the students, researchers and teachers of Mimamsa, Nyaya, Yoga, Sankhya and Vaisesika, it is highly useful for the general readers interested in Hindu philosophy and Vedanta philosophy.

On several occasions, in previous writings, we have expressed the intention of undertaking a series of studies that would aim, according to the needs of the case, either at presenting a direct exposition of various aspects of the Eastern metaphysical doctrines or at making such adaptations of them as might seem most intelligible and advantageous, while however always remaining strictly faithful to their spirit. The present work constitutes the first of these studies. For reasons which have already been explained elsewhere, we have taken the Hindu doctrines as our central authority, and more especially the teaching of the Vedanta, which is the most purely metaphysical branch of these doctrines. It should however be clearly understood that there is nothing in this procedure to prevent us, as occasion arises, from pointing out analogies and making comparisons with other theories, regardless of their origin; in particular we shall refer to the teachings of other orthodox branches of the Hindu doctrine insofar as they clarify or complete the teachings of the Vedanta on various points. To anyone inclined to raise objections to the adoption of such a method we would reply that such criticism is all the less justifiable in that our intentions are in no wise those of a historian; we wish to re-assert emphatically, at this point, that our purpose is not erudition but understanding, and that it is the truth of ideas which interests us exclusively. If therefore it has seemed desirable in the present instance to supply precise references, we have done so for reasons quite unconnected with the special preoccupations of orientalists; we simply wished to show that we have invented nothing and that the ideas expounded derive from a genuine traditional source; at the same time, for the sake of those who are able to profit thereby, we have furnished the means of referring to texts containing complementary information, for it goes without saying that we make no claim to put forward an absolutely complete exposition of the doctrine, even regarding a single point.

**Contents and Sample Pages**