¶1 When, a few years ago, we wrote East and West, we thought we had given, on the questions that were the subject of that book, all the useful indications, at least for the moment.1 Since then, events have been precipitating themselves with an ever-increasing speed,2 and, without our changing a single word of what we said then, they render opportune certain complementary clarifications and lead us to develop points of view on which we had not thought it necessary to insist at first. These clarifications are all the more necessary because we have seen affirmed anew, in recent times, and in a rather aggressive form, some of the confusions that we have already precisely set out to dissipate; while carefully refraining from engaging in any polemic,3 we have thought it good to set the record straight once again. There are, in this order, considerations, even elementary ones, that seem so foreign to the vast majority of our contemporaries,4 that in order to make them understand, one must not tire of returning to them repeatedly, presenting them under their different aspects, and explaining more completely, as circumstances permit, what can give rise to difficulties that could not always be foreseen at first.
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kali-yugaprogress

Summary

A few years ago, Guénon wrote East and West, believing he had given all the useful indications for that time. Since then, events have accelerated. Without changing any of his earlier statements, he finds it necessary to add clarifications and develop certain points of view. These clarifications are especially needed because confusions he had previously dispelled have reappeared in an aggressive form. Without engaging in polemics, Guénon wishes to set the record straight once more. He notes that even elementary considerations are so foreign to most of his contemporaries that they must be repeated endlessly, presented from different angles, to overcome difficulties that could not always be foreseen at first.

General notes

  1. East and West — This is the title of Guénon's 1924 work examining the relationship between Eastern (traditional) and Western (modern) civilisations. The book argued that the East had preserved metaphysical and spiritual principles that the West had lost, and that true understanding requires a return to traditional sources rather than a continuation of modern materialist progress. ↩︎
  2. vitesse toujours croissante — Rendered as 'ever-increasing speed'. Guénon uses a physical metaphor (that of a falling body or accelerating motion) to describe the cyclical evolution of the Kali-Yuga. Far from being a mere subjective impression, this acceleration corresponds, according to traditional doctrine, to a cosmic law: the further one moves away from the Golden Age (Satya-Yuga), the more matter dominates and the more natural and spiritual rhythms degrade and accelerate. This conception directly opposes the modern idea of linear and indefinite 'progress'. ↩︎
  3. aucune polémique — Rendered as 'any polemic'. Guénon specifies here his intellectual posture: he does not engage in profane debates, does not respond to ordinary criticisms, does not seek to 'win' a dispute. His role is that of an expounder of traditional doctrine, not of a polemicist in the modern sense of the term. This attitude of 'non-participation' is an application of his fundamental methodological principle: not to enter the adversary's terrain, not to play the game of profane discussion, for that would already be to recognise its legitimacy. Guénon expounds the truth; he does not defend it against objections that, coming from another order, cannot reach it. ↩︎
  4. immense majorité de nos contemporains — Rendered as 'vast majority of our contemporaries'. Guénon designates by this phrase the men of the Kali-Yuga (the Dark Age), plunged into ignorance of metaphysical principles and imprisoned in the illusions of the profane world. This is not a pessimistic or misanthropic observation, but a traditional diagnosis: in the darkest age of the cycle, the vast majority of human beings, even cultivated ones, are incapable of understanding truths that were nevertheless evident in earlier ages. This is not their fault, but a consequence of cyclical law. The task of those who have preserved knowledge is not to condemn them, but to offer them, patiently and under different aspects, the means to find, if not the fullness of truth, at least some orientation. ↩︎