Philosophy - General & Miscellaneous, Taoism

The Great Triad

Name: The Great Triad
Author: Rene Guenon
ISBN: 9780900588075

by Rene Guenon, Ren Gunon, Reni Guinon

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Overview

The classical Triad of the Chinese tradition is Heaven-Man-Earth. René Guénon places this ternary in the context of universal metaphysics by identifying Heaven with Essence and Earth with Substance, the mediator between them being Man, whose cosmic function is to embody spirit (Heaven) while simultaneously spiritualizing matter (Earth). Exploring Chinese cosmology further, Guénon sheds light on such archetypal polarities as Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, Solve et Coagula, Celestial and Terrestrial Numbers, the Square and the Compass, the Double Spiral, and the Being and the Environment, while pointing to their synthetic unity in terms of ternaries, such as the Three Worlds, Triple Time, Spiritus, Anima, and Corpus, Sulfur, Mercury and Salt, and God, Man, and Nature. Perhaps more completely than in any other work, Guénon demonstrates in The Great Triad how any integral tradition is both a mirror reflecting universal themes found in all other intact traditions and an entire conceptual cosmos unto itself, unique and incomparable.

Synopsis

A study of the traditional metaphysics of the Taoist tradition, with many comparisons made to Western esoteric traditions, such as Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Freemasonry, as well as parallels with Christian and Islamic doctrine.