The Doctrine of Awakening is a book by Julius Evola, first published as La dottrina del risveglio in 1943, and translated into English by H. E. Musson in 1951.

Evola begins the book with a discussion of the notion of ascesis,[a] noting that its meaning has diverged from its etymology in the Ancient Greek άσλέω lit.

Evola further argues that Buddhism shares a common origin with other "Aryan"[d] and "Olympian"[e] forms of spirituality such as Platonism, Stoicism and Meister Eckhart's mysticism.

As further evidence, Evola takes the Prince Siddhattha's birth as a Khattiya of the Sakya clan, the 32 attributes of a superior man, comparisons between Buddhist practice and physical battle in Pali texts, and the royal funeral rites performed after the Buddha's death.

By the time of the Buddha in the 6th century BC, speculative theology, pantheism, and belief in reincarnation had become prominent, trends Evola identifies as "decedent."

This is explained through a metaphor from the Assalāyana Sutta: "as one who desires fire does not ask the type of wood that in fact produces it, so from any caste may arise an ascetic or an Awakened One.

Evola describes the doctrine of the acinteyya or "unanswerable questions" as a means against speculative thought and the "demon of dialectics"[l] in favour of a "superior type or criterion of certainty"[m] acquired through "immediate vision.

"[q][9] Next he explains paṭiccasamuppāda, and each of the 12 nidanas, considering them as forming both a "samsaric, temporal, and horizontal chain",[r] and at the same time a "transcendental, vertical, and descending series".

He justifies this view with reference to the Ayacana Sutta, in which the Buddha is reluctant to share his knowledge until he is shown the existence of "beings of a nobler kind" who have the capacity to understand it.

[11] In the last chapter of Part I, he reiterates the difference between Christian asceticism and Buddhist forms of renunciation, saying that the former is a painful practice born from resentment, while the latter is detachment brought about by awareness of the contingency of the world.

However, Evola argues that the core point is to abandon society, companions, and family in favour of solitude and freedom, and that in an internal and symbolical sense, departure might even be more easily achieved in the isolation of modern-day cities than in traditional civilisation.

"[18] Evola distinguishes sila from mere morality, arguing that it represents a virile "uprightness," that the virtues of sīla are to be understood as "duties to oneself," and that ethical precepts have purely instrumental value in Buddhism.

[20] Evola states that, if the Buddhist ascesis stopped at samadhi, it might be comparable to Western stoicism, but due to the jhana it goes beyond apatheia,[w] which is the final goal and limit of Stoical practice.

Evola indicates that is an alternative "wet" counterpart to the "dry" path of the jhana with equivalent effects, in the form of the four brahmavihara-bhavana, these being the irradiences of "love," "compassion," "sympathetic joy," and finally "immutability."

Evola also argues that Buddhism does not condemn suicide in the case of those who have already attained liberation, and gives the metaphore of burning chips to explain the four stages of awakening[23] Chapter 16 concerns nibbāna.

In Chapter 17,[25] Evola describes the trio of sunnatā "void," animitta "the signless," and appanihita "that without inclination or tendency" that characterise the "perfection of knowledge" or prajnāpāramitā.

[26] Evola explains that, as Mahayana Buddhism lost its exclusively aristocratic status, it absorbed more local religious elements, leading Buddhas and Boddhisattvas to be deified and worshiped, and to an intensified belief in reincarnation.

On the other hand, Mahayana became increasingly philosophical and speculative, leading to systems of thought, such as that of Nagarjuna, that resemble Western Idealist philosophies that would emerge centuries later.

According to Evola this is typified by Activism and its attendant philosophies, which exalt "force, impetus, becoming, struggle, transformation, perennial research, or ceaseless movement."

Evola describes the modern world as one of "tumult," "agitation," "fever for speed," and "mechanization devoted to the shortening of all intervals of space and time," in which "the demon of collectivism" rules over restless beings.

Evola sees this situation as a whole as unrectifiable, but hopes that a small elite of "qualified individuals" might be able to embrace strict ascetic values.

Evola once again stresses that this refers to the Aryan form ascesis, as opposed to "renunciation, flight from the world, inaction, quiet-ism, or mortification."

He also reminds us that this form of ascesis is not exclusive to Buddhism or Eastern traditions in general, also being present in authors such as Plotinus and Aristotle, and in Roman Stoicism.

Evola concludes the book by warning against erroneous forms of "spiritualism," and calling for return to the origins and reintegration of ancient traditions.

[1] In Il Cammino del Cinabro "The Path of Cinnabar" (1963) Evola refers to Musson's conversion: "The person who translated the work, a certain Mutton [sic], found in it an incitant to leave Europe and withdraw to the Orient in the hope of finding there a centre where one still cultivated the disciplines that I recommended; unfortunately, I have had no further news of him.

Luciano Pirrotta believes that this claim is a fabrication; however, according to Gianfranco De Turris [it], it merely refers to the fact that the English edition of the book was originally published by Luzac & Company, for whom the Pali Text Society acted as an editorial consultant on Buddhist topics.