The Multiple States of Being

The Multiple States of Being is a book by the French metaphysician René Guénon. The title has also been rendered as The Multiple States of the Being.

The Multiple States of Being expands on the doctrine laid in Guénon's earlier book The Symbolism of the Cross. Guénon now leaves behind the geometrical approach developed in the earlier book, in order "to bring out the full range of this altogether fundamental theory".

The doctrine of multiples states of Being is essentially related to the notion of "spiritual hierarchies", which is found in all religious traditions. Hence Guénon describes it as the universal process of the "realization of Being through Knowledge".

First he asserts the necessity of "metaphysical Infinity", understood in relation with "universal Possibility". "The Infinite, according to the etymology of the term, is that which has no limits", so this term can only be applied to what has absolutely no limit, and not to what is exempted from certain limitations while being subjected to others like space, time, or quantity. According to Guénon, there is no distinction between the Infinite and universal Possibility. The difference between these terms is merely a difference in emphasis: in the case of the Infinite, it is contemplated in its active aspect, while the universal Possibility refers to its passive aspect: these are the two aspects of Brahma and its Shakti in the Hindu doctrines. It follows from this that "the distinction between the possible and the real [...] has no metaphysical validity, for every possible is real in its way, according to the mode befitting its own nature". This leads to the metaphysical distinction of "Being" and "Non-Being":

If we [...] define Being in the universal sense as the principle of manifestation, and at the same time as comprising in itself the totality of possibilities of all manifestation, then we must say that Being is not infinite because it does not coincide with total Possibility; and all the more so because Being, as the principle of manifestation, although it does indeed comprise all the possibilities of manifestation, does so only insofar as they are actually manifested. All the rest, that is all the possibilities of non-manifestation, as well as the possibilities of manifestation themselves insofar as they are in the unmanifested state, are outside of Being, therefore. But included among these is Being itself, which cannot belong to manifestation since it is the principle thereof, and in consequence is itself unmanifested. For want of any other term, we are obliged to designate all that is thus outside and beyond Being as "Non-Being", but for us this negative term is in no way synonym for 'nothingness'.