Simone Weil and René Guénon

Nicolas Bommarito has just published some of notes on Hinduism of the French philosopher Simone Weil (1909–1943, pictured) as Dharma and Detachment: Writings on Indian and Tibetan Thought (Abingdon: Routledge, 2026). In a review of this book, Sunny Kumar notes “During her exile in Marseille in 1940, she [Weil] was introduced to the Gita by René Daumal, an Indologist. On Daumal’s suggestion, she also read René Guénon. Daumal’s and Guénon’s influence can be discerned in Weil’s reading of the Gita and other Hindu texts.” This seems to be Kumar’s own view, as Guénon is not mentioned by Bommarito. Daumal certainly knew and valued Guénon’s works, so Kumar is probably right. The review can be read in the Journal of Hindu Studies (2026) here.