In an age marked by the collapse of the social structures of the modern world and the spiritual derailment of so many religious traditions, Hinduism, with its metaphysical and primordial perspective on man, the world and the Sacred, occupies a unique position. A few westerners may find in it an echo of the religions of Ancient Europe and a minority an authentic initiatory path as demanding as those that may still exist in the margins of Abrahamic traditions.
Whereas Buddhism is well established in France and represented institutionally through organizations, journals and publishing houses, nothing similar exists for Hinduism. In general, the landscape is dominated either by an agnostic academic discourse or by new age publications that totally distort Hindu teachings.
The Aditi Center for the Study of the Hindu Tradition intends to fill up this gap. Without dismissing the importance of scholarly works on Hinduism, it focuses on the initiatory dimension of the Sanātana Dharma. It also rejects all the New Age attempts to reduce Hindu symbols and spiritual practices to a few superficial techniques for self-development and well-being. To some extent, this center finds its inspiration in the work of the French metaphysician René Guénon, without being affiliated to any school per se.
The center and the journal it publishes are symbolically placed under the patronage of the Goddess Aditi. In the Ancient Vedic literature, the Mother of all the gods is called Aditi. She is both a divine person to whom devotees can address their prayers and the symbol of the universal and infinite consciousness that the metaphysician discovers within himself. The Vedic worship of Aditi prefigures the tantric worship of Goddesses such as Pārvatī, Kālī or Tripurasundarī in contemporary Hinduism.