Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines

right from the start, is that the Western mentality alone is responsible for this situation. This makes the role of someone who—having found themselves in exceptional conditions and succeeded in assimilating certain ideas—wants to express them in the most intelligible way, yet without distorting them, extremely difficult: he must limit himself to stating what he has understood, insofar as this can be done, while carefully refraining from any concern for "popularization" original: "vulgarisation"; the act of simplifying complex ideas for a general audience, which the author believes often leads to the corruption of the truth., and without even the slightest desire to convince anyone.

We have said enough to clearly define our intentions: we do not wish to produce a work of scholarship erudition: formal, academic learning or "book-knowledge." Guénon argues that mere research is inferior to direct intellectual understanding. here, and the viewpoint we intend to adopt is much deeper than that. Since truth is not a historical fact for us, it matters very little to us, fundamentally, to determine exactly the origin of this or that idea; such things only interest us because, having understood an idea, we know it to be true. However, certain indications regarding Eastern thought might give some people pause for thought, and this simple result would, on its own, have an unsuspected importance. Moreover, even if this goal could not be achieved, we would still have a reason to undertake an exposition of this kind: it would be to acknowledge, in some way, all that we owe intellectually to the peoples of the East, for which Westerners have never offered us even a partial or incomplete equivalent.

We will therefore first show, as clearly as we can and after some indispensable preliminary considerations, the essential and fundamental differences that exist between the general modes of Eastern thought and those of Western thought. We will then insist more specifically on what relates to Hindu doctrines The metaphysical and spiritual traditions of India, such as Vedanta or Yoga, viewed here as expressions of universal truths., insofar as these present particular features that distinguish them from other Eastern doctrines—though all have enough common characteristics to justify, on the whole, the general opposition between the East and the West. Finally, regarding these Hindu doctrines, we will point out the inadequacy of the interpretations currently in vogue in the West; for some of them, we should even say their absurdity. As a conclusion to this study, we will indicate, with all necessary precautions, the conditions for an intellectual rapprochement A re-establishment of harmonious relations or understanding between two parties. between the East and the West, conditions which, as is easy to foresee, are far from being currently fulfilled on the Western side: thus, it is only a possibility that we wish to show here, without believing it to be in any way susceptible to a realization at this time.