Insights into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism (Collected Works of Rene Guenon)

'In Islam,' Guénon wrote, 'tradition is of a double essence: religious and metaphysical. The religious side of the doctrine, which is most outward and is within reach of everyone, can be qualified quite precisely as exoteric, and the metaphysical, which constitutes its deeper meaning and, furthermore, is regarded as the doctrine of the elite, as esoteric. This distinction indeed conserves its proper meaning, since these are two faces of one and the same doctrine.' Asked what he thought of esoteric teaching, the great Sufi master al-Hallaj responded: 'Of which do you wish to speak, the true or the false (batin al-batil aw batin al-Haqq)? If it is a question of true esoterism, the exoterism (shari'ah) is its exterior aspect and whoever follows it truly discovers its interior aspect, which is none other than the knowledge of Allah (ma'rifah bi'llah); as for false esoterism, its exterior and interior aspects are both equally horrible and detestable. Therefore hold yourself aloof from it.' It is fitting to add that for Guénon, esoterism is always and everywhere the same, whatever name is given it according to the variety and diversity of countries and traditions. If true knowledge of ultimate Reality is the final object of esoteric inquiry, the methods utilized, although often analogous, are not necessarily identical; they may vary just as languages or individuals vary. 'The diversity of methods,' Guénon wrote, 'corresponds to the very diversity of individual natures for which they were made; there is a multiplicity of ways all leading to a unique goal.'