Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines

...essentials of a true Westerner.

One cannot help but be struck at first glance by the disproportion between the two entities that respectively constitute what we call the East and the West; if there is an opposition between them, there cannot truly be equivalence, nor even symmetry, between the two terms of this opposition. In this regard, there is a difference comparable to that which exists geographically between Asia and Europe, the latter appearing only as a mere extension of the former; likewise, the true situation of the West in relation to the East is essentially that of a branch detached from the trunk original: "un rameau détaché du tronc." This metaphor is central to the author's argument that Western civilization is a secondary, derivative offshoot of a much older and more foundational Eastern tradition., and this is what we must now explain more fully.

East (Orient): Broadly refers to the diverse civilizations of Asia, viewed here as the primary source of human tradition.
West (Occident): Refers to European and derivative cultures, characterized here as a recent and detached development.
Asia: The geographic and cultural "trunk" in the author’s metaphor.
Europe: Defined here as a geographic and cultural "extension" of Asia.
Disproportion: The inherent inequality in scale and depth between Eastern and Western traditions.
Opposition: The conceptual contrast between the two mentalities.
Symmetry: The author argues that East and West are not equal or mirror images of one another.