Inter- Faiths Dialogue

Detachement > from intellect

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A thousand and hundred thousand feats of intellect shall not accompany man in the hereafter.

quote 4348 | The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
Adi Granth, Japuji 1, M.1, p. 1

B lessed One, what is meant by this term Nirvana?" Replied the Buddha,
"When the self-nature and the habit-energy of all the
sense-discriminations, includ- ing ego (alaya), intellect (manas), and the
faculty of judgment (manovijnana), from which issue the habit-energy of
wrong speculations--when all these go through a revulsion, I and all the
Buddhas declare that there is Nirvana. The way and the self-nature of
this Nirvana is emptiness, which is the state of reality."

temple_buddhist

quote 4307 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Lankavatara Sutra 38

A s long as there is duality, one sees "the other," one hears "the other," one smells "the other," one speaks to "the other," one thinks of "the other," one knows "the other"; but when for the illumined soul the all is dissolved in the Self, who is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelled by whom, who is there to be heard by whom, who is there to be spoken to by whom, who is there to be thought of by whom, who is there to be known by whom? Ah, Maitreyi, my beloved, the Intelligence which reveals all--by what shall it be revealed? By whom shall the Knower be known? The Self is described as "not this, not that" (neti, neti). It is incomprehensible, for it cannot be comprehended; undecaying, for it never decays; unattached, for it never attaches itself; unbound, for it is never bound. By whom, O my beloved, shall the Knower be known?

temple_hindu

quote 4113 | The Upanishads
Bhrihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.15

I f you think that you know well the truth of Brahman, know that you know little. What you think to be Brahman in your self, or what you think to be Brahman in the gods--that is not Brahman. What is indeed the truth of Brahman you must therefore learn.
I cannot say that I know Brahman fully. Nor can I say that I know Him not. He among us knows Him best who understands the spirit of the words, "Nor do I know that I know Him not."

He truly knows Brahman who knows Him as beyond knowledge; he who thinks that he knows, knows not. The ignorant think that Brahman is known, but the wise know Him to be beyond knowledge.

temple_hindu

quote 4108 | The Upanishads
Kena Upanishad 2.1-3

P ractice fasting and austerities to clear your channels of the heart, cleanse the quintessential-and-daemonic in you, smash to pieces your knowledge

quote 4026 | Tchuang Tzu
Zhuangzi, chap.22 (shool of Tchuang Tzu), trad. A.C. Graham, 1981, p.132

T hose who think that wisdom is nothing other than that which is comprehensible by the understanding, that happiness is nothing else than what they can attain, are quite far from the true eternal and infinite wisdom.

The highest wisdom consists in this, to know ...how That which is unattainable [by the intellect] may be reached or attained in a manner beyond [intellectual] attainment.

church

quote 3830 | Nicholas of Cusa
De sapientia; Dolan, 1962; pp. 108 and 105

R eason strives for knowledge and yet this natural striving is not adequate to the knowledge of the Essence of God, but only to the knowledge that God ... is beyond all conception and knowledge.

church

quote 3828 | Nicholas of Cusa
De venatione sapientiae, Ch. xii; Beek, 1969; p. 64

I t cannot be spoken of or spoken to; by no means may It be comprehended by the intellect.

temple_hindu

quote 3806 | Jnaneshwar
Changadev Pasashti, Abhayananda, 1989; pp. 237- 24

A s for the theorists and thinkers, and the scholastic theologians, with their talk about the soul and its properties, none of them have grasped the Reality; such speculation can never grasp it. He who seeks to know the Reality through theoretical speculation is flogging a dead horse; ... for he who seeks to know It by any means other than the one proper to It, will never grasp It.

mosque

quote 3786 | Ibn 'Arabi
in Austin, 1980; pp. 153

O Lord! who can come near to understanding That which is above the sphere of the Intelligence, the Throne of Thy glory, the glorious dwelling of the Hiding Place! There is the Mystery and the Foundation; the intellect may reach to the Foundation (the Will), but no further, for above this Thou art greatly exalted upon Thy mighty Throne, where no man's intellect may reach…

synagogue

quote 3772 | Salomon Ibn Gabirol
The Royal Crown; Zangwill, 1923, 1974; pp. 82-88

T hou art Light, and the eyes of every pure soul shall see Thee; for the clouds of iniquity alone hide Thee from her sight... Thou art most high, and the eye of the intellect desireth and longeth for Thee, but the intellect can see only a part; it cannot see the whole of Thy greatness…

synagogue

quote 3769 | Salomon Ibn Gabirol
The Royal Crown; Zangwill, 1923, 1974; pp. 82-88

W ordiness and intellection.
The more with them the further astray we go;
Away, therefore, with wordiness and intellection,
And there is no place where we cannot pass freely.

temple_buddhist

quote 3755 | The Seng-ts’an
Hsin-hsin ming “Inscription on the Self of the Self”, Suzuki, 1960, pp. 76-82

Y ou are the ultimate Reality; have no doubt about this.
The Self is not something to be known by the mind;
The Self is the very one who knows.
How, then, could you think to know the Self?

temple_hindu

quote 3726 | The Avadhuta Gita
#42, Reprinted from Abhayananda, S., Dattatreya: The Song Of The Avadhut, Olympia, Wash., Atma Books, 1992

D o thou, dear Timothy, in the diligent exercise of mystical contemplation, leave behind the senses and the operations of the intellect, and all things sensible and intellectual, and all things in the world of being and non-being, that thou mayest arise by unknowing towards the union, as far as is attainable, with Him who transcends all being and all knowledge. For by the unceasing and absolute renunciation of thyself and of all things, thou mayest be borne on high, through pure and entire self-abnegation, into the superessential radiance of the divine Darkness.

church

quote 3673 | Dionysius the Areopagite
Mystical Theology, I.; Editors of The Shrine Of Wisdom, 1965; P. 10

T he higher we soar in contemplation, the more limited become our expressions of that which is purely intelligible; even as now, when plunging into the Darkness which is above the intellect, we pass not merely into brevity of speech, but even into absolute silence, of thoughts as well as of words ... and, according to the degree of transcendence, so our speech is restrained until, the entire ascent being accomplished, we become wholly voiceless, inasmuch as we are absorbed in Him who is totally ineffable.

church

quote 3672 | Dionysius the Areopagite
Mystical Theology, III.; Editors of The Shrine Of Wisdom, 1965; P. 14

T he soul must forget about {understanding}, and abandon itself into the arms of love, and His Majesty will teach it what to do next..

church

quote 3475 | Saint Teresa of Avila
Interior Castle. Trans. E. Allison Peers. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1990, p. 90, Fourth Mansions, Chapter 3, Paragraph 8

L et {the soul} try, without forcing itself or causing any turmoil, to put a stop to all discursive reasoning, yet not to suspend the understanding, nor to cease from all thought, though it is well for it to remember that is is in God's presence and Who this God is. If feeling this should lead it into a state of absorption, well and good; but it should not try to understand what this state is, because that is a gift bestowed upon the will. The will, then, should be left to enjoy it, and should not labour except for uttering a few loving words, for although in such a case one may not be striving to cease from thought, such cessation often comes, though for a very short time.

church

quote 3473 | Saint Teresa of Avila
Interior Castle. Trans. E. Allison Peers. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1990, pp. 89-90, Fourth Mansions, Chapter 3, Paragraph 7

A mong all created things, and things that can be apprehended by the understanding, there is no ladder whereby the understanding can attain to this high Lord.

church

quote 3460 | Saint John of the Cross
Ascent of Mount Carmel. Trans. E. Allison Peers, Book 2, Chapter 8, Paragraph 7

I n order to come to union with the wisdom of God, the soul has to proceed rather by unknowing than by knowing…

church

quote 3459 | Saint John of the Cross
Ascent of Mount Carmel. Trans. E. Allison Peers, Book 1, Chapter 4, Paragraph 5

A nd immediately upon presenting himself to the soul, God likewise discloses himself and expands the soul and gives it gifts and consolations which the soul has never before experienced, and which are far more profound than earlier ones. In this state, the soul is drawn out of all darkness and granted a greater awareness of God than I would have thought possible. This awareness is of such clarity, certitude, and abysmal profundity that there is no heart in the world that can ever in any way understand it or even conceive it. Even my own heart cannot think about it by itself, or ever return to it to understand or even conceive anything about it. This state occurs only when God, as a gift, elevates the soul to himself, for no heart by itself can in any way expand itself to attain it. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing that can be said about this experience, for no words can be found or invented to express or explain it; no expansion of thought or mind can possibly reach to those things, they are so far beyond everything -- for there is nothing which can explain God. I repeat there is absolutely nothing which can explain God. Christ's faithful one affirmed with utmost certitude and wanted it understood that there is absolutely nothing which can explain God.

church

quote 3443 | Angela of Foligno
Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 213

N o matter how far the understanding of the soul is able to stretch itself, that is nothing in comparison to what it experiences when it is lifted beyond itself and placed in the bosom of God. Then the soul understands, finds its delight, and rests in the divine goodness; it cannot bring back any report of this, because it is completely beyond what the intelligence can conceive, and beyond words; but in this state the soul swims.

church

quote 3442 | Angela of Foligno
Complete Works. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1993, p. 208

W e think we will receive the full knowledge of God's truth by means of worldly wisdom, and fancy that this mere reading of the God-inspired writings of the saints is to comprehend Orthodoxy, and that this is an exact and certain knowlege of the Holy Trinity. Nor is this all, but the more august among us foolishly suppose that the contemplation which comes to pass only through the Spirit in those who are worthy is the same as the thoughts produced by beir own reasoning. How ridiculous! How callous!

church

quote 3413 | Saint Symeon the New Theologian
On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996,(Vol. 2), p. 113

B ut neither should you try to seize {God} with the hands of your intellect, for He is ungraspable, and the more you make bold to touch Him or fancy that you hold Him, the more you will have nothing inside and He will immediately disappear from you entirely.

church

quote 3412 | Saint Symeon the New Theologian
On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996,(Vol. 2), p. 136

B ecause every thought enters the heart in the form of a mental image of some sensible object, the blessed light of the Divinity will illumine the heart only when the heart is completely empty of everything and so free from all form. Indeed, this light reveals itself to the pure intellect in the measure to which the intellect is purged of all concepts.

church

quote 3379 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 177, text 89)

I f the intellect has not risen above the contemplation of the created world, it has not yet beheld the realm of God perfectly. For it may be occupied with the knowledge of intelligible things and so involved in their mulitplicity.

church

quote 3371 | Saint Evagrios the Solitary
On Prayer: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 62, text 58)

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