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and experts on the subject it is also consid- tion, taken in a much more general sense,

ered as data. Sources collected from books, may be written as well as oral, though it must
newspapers and journals, in English and Thai usually, if not always, have been oral
[2]
languages, are also used in this research. originallyé . Guénon emphasizes on oral
From the several Wai Khru events that transmission, because this is one of the char-
the researcher has attended, it was chosen acteristics that makes a civilization traditional.
as case study, the wai khru ceremony orga- To study traditional knowledge from the

nized by the Federation of Thai Traditional perspective of Guénon, is necessary, first of
Medicine Associations of Thailand (FTTMAT) all, to understand his viewpoint on metaphys-

held at the Ministry of Public Health in Thai- ics. Because although he was French, his line
land. The researcher understood that since of thought was not linear from the Western
the ceremony is held under the consent of way of thinking.

the Ministry of Public Health, it is a trustful For Guénon, metaphysics is not a branch
source for academic study purposes. Regard- of philosophy, it is beyond it. Looking at the

ing to the interviewees cited in this paper, etymology of the word ùmetaphysicsû itself, it
the researcher has taken into consideration stands for whatever lies ùbeyond physicsû.
the advice from members of FTTMAT who According to Guénon, ùphysicsû does not stand

had suggested to interview some of the men- for one of the sciences in particular, instead,
tioned interviewees, who are said to play great it denotes the natural sciences viewed as a
importance to the Thai traditional medicine. whole - çthe word ùphysicsû must here be taken

Other interviewees were suggested by Thai to denote the natural sciences viewed as a
colleagues who know experts in Thai tradi- whole and considered in quite a general
tion. manner, as they always were by the
[2]
ancientsé . In this sense, metaphysics is the
Result
Whole, and çthe Whole cannot form a part of
[2]
somethingé .
1. Traditional Knowledge
The ùancientsû, cited by Guénon, are
The word tradition comes from the Latin what he calls ùtraditional civilizationsû, those

word traditium, which means çto deliver, to who sustain knowledge as metaphysical. A
[3]
hand downé . Based on this very meaning, civilization to be considered traditional must
for Guénon, tradition is what is transmitted, have the ùesotericû and ùinitiaticû aspects, ex-
which can be oral or written. çFor us tradi- plains Guénon; çTradition as we have under-