The World's Poets and Mystics have had
access to quite amazing realms of
perception!!!
Across the ages wisdoms have been divined or
discovered by a wide range of mystics, holy men, poets and philosophers who themselves lived out their
individual lives in spiritually, culturally and geographically widespread situations.
We consider that our site features an unrivalled collection of impact-full spiritual insights quotations which
"somehow encapsulate" such wisdoms. These wisdom quotes, conveying profound truths, come mainly from spiritual and poetic
sources but there are some also from certain famous philosophers.
Aldous Huxley &
The Perennial Philosophy
Many commentators, (including Aldous Huxley), have claimed to have discerned a "Perennial Philosophy" of central agreement about "Divine Truths" between
the great religions of the world across the ages!!!
More than twenty-five centuries have passed since that which has been called the Perennial Philosophy was first committed to writing;
and in the course of those centuries it has found expression, now partial, now complete, now in this form, now in that, again and again...
...the Perennial Philosophy has spoken almost all the languages of Asia and Europe and has made use of the terminology and traditions of every one of the higher religions. But under all this confusion of tongues and myths, of local histories and particularist doctrines, there remains a Highest Common Factor, which is the Perennial Philosophy in what may be called its chemically pure state...
[Taken from an introduction, written in 1944 by Aldous Huxley, to an english translation of the
Bhagavad-Gita, or Song of God, which is the principal holy book of the Hindu faith].
Our extensive Spiritual and Poetry insights quotations
pages are bursting at the seams with examples of how profound truths are recognised, and
applauded, by a Spiritual-Poetical aspect that seems to be innate to
Human Nature. To demonstrate this we have developed three brief and impact-full introductory reviews
that are intended to demonstrate something of the depth of reliable Wisdoms and Insights available here
at Age-of-the-Sage.
We hope that you will be very seriously intrigued by assessing how the "Poetical" wisdoms,
the "Inter-Faith" wisdoms and the "Christian" wisdoms that are collected on our site are both individually valid and also have
strong similarities despite their diversity of origin:-
Wisdom Quotes from the Great Poets
- A Disdain for Materialism
-
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
Shakespeare
- A Distrust of Intellect
- The intellectual power, through words and things,
Went sounding on, a dim and perilous way!
Wordsworth
- A Yearning for Divine Edification
- God guard me from those thoughts men think
In the mind alone;
He that sings a lasting song
Thinks in a marrow-bone;
Yeats
- Charity
- That best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.
Wordsworth
- Purity of Heart
- A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience.
Shakespeare
- Humility
- The best of men
That e'er wore earth about him, was a sufferer,
A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit,
The first true gentleman that ever breathed.
Thomas Dekker
- Meekness
- Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice,
And could of men distinguish her election,
Sh'hath sealed thee for herself, for thou hast been
As one in suff'ring all that suffers nothing,
A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards
Hast ta'en with equal thanks; and blest are those
Whose blood and judgement are so well co-medled,
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please: give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.
Shakespeare
Wisdom Quotes from Inter-Faith Sources
These spiritual insights quotations demonstrate the recognition of individual important Spiritual
Truths by
one of the world religions in the case of each "Truth":-
- A Disdain for Materialism
- Chuang Tzu put on cotton clothes with patches in them, and
arranging his girdle and tying on his shoes,
(i.e. to keep them from falling off),
went to see the prince of Wei.
"How miserable you look, Sir!" Cried the prince. "It is poverty,
not misery", replied Chuang Tzu. "A man who has TAO cannot be
miserable. Ragged clothes and old boots make poverty, not
misery".
Chuang Tzu - (Taoism)
- A Distrust of Intellect
- Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment; Cleverness is mere
opinion, bewilderment intuition.
Rumi - (Islam)
- A Yearning for Divine Edification
- This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart:
St. Paul - (Christianity)
- Charity
- He that does everything for Me, whose supreme object I am, who
worships Me, being free from attachment and without hatred to any
creature, this man, Arjuna!, comes to Me.
Bhagavad Gita - (Hinduism)
- Purity of Heart
- The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more
and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as
darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
Solomon - (Judaism)
- Humility
- Would you become a pilgrim on the road of love? The first
condition is that you make yourself humble as dust and ashes.
Ansari of Herat - (Islam)
- Meekness
- Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good;
let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth!
Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked
for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.
Dhammapada - (Buddhism)
Wisdom Quotes from Christian Sources
A selection of wisdom quotes that demonstrate the profound depth of the insights that are recognised
by Christian authorities
are set out below. They are sourced from the Bible and
also from the works of Thomas a Kempis whose "Of the Imitation of Christ" ranks as the second
most widely read Christian text after the Bible itself.
- A Disdain for Materialism
-
Some have Me in their mouths, but little in their
hearts.
There are others who, being enlightened in their understanding
and purified in their affection, always breathe after things
eternal, are unwilling to hear of earthly things, and grieve to
be subject to the necessities of nature; and such as these
perceive what the Spirit of Truth speaketh in them.
For it teacheth them to despise the things of the earth and to
love heavenly things; to disregard the world, and all the day and
night to aspire after heaven.
Thomas a Kempis
- A Distrust of Intellect
- Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ.
St. Paul
- A Yearning for Divine Edification
- It is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared
for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his
Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things
of God.
...the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
St. Paul
- Charity
- Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and
every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
St. John
- Purity of Heart
- Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things
without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a
crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the
world;
St. Paul
- Humility
- Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even
Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
And whomsoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that
shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Jesus
- Meekness
- Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, and slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God.
St. James
If you will be so open-minded as to give our presentation of the QUITE AWESOME
Wisdoms that have been won by the Mystics and Poets a fair hearing we believe that we can firmly establish
your own opinion of their collective insights as one of appreciation and respect.
The Wisdoms and Insights that are made available across many of our pages appear as a result of searching investigations,
conducted by the main sponsor
of Age-of-the-Sage, into the areas of agreement
about Important Spiritual Truths that was initially concentrated on the major World Religions but was later
extended to include the Key Insights of the Poets.
The resulting discovery of an extensive range of very close agreement about relevant Spiritual Truths
across the major World Faiths was originally inspired by reading a book entitled "The Perennial Philosophy" by
Aldous Huxley, (first published in 1945), where
a limited range of such agreement was considered.
..."the nature of this one Reality is such that it cannot be directly or immediately apprehended except by those who have chosen to fulfill certain conditions, making themselves loving,
pure in heart, and poor in spirit."...
[The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, page 7].
(Aldous Huxley is perhaps better known for his futuristic novel "Brave New World". The Huxley family have a noteable
record of achievement acrosss several generations. Aldous' mother was a grand-daughter of Thomas Arnold, a famous educational reformer, whilst his paternal
grandfather was a famous biological scientist and evolutionist. One of Aldous' brothers, Julian Huxley, became the first Director-General of
the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation - (UNESCO).
.gif)
|
|
The main Google search page featured a Charles Darwin related logo on 12 February, 2009, this being the 200th
anniversary of Darwin's birth
| |
Given that agreement in Spiritual Insights recognised by Mysticism in World Religions was being exhaustively researched
there is a certain irony in the fact that Aldous Huxley's grandfather,
Thomas Henry Huxley, was a contemporary of Charles Darwin who accepted
Darwin's theories becoming a far more strident proponent than
Darwin himself of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection and is known to posterity as having been "Darwin's Bulldog".
On November 23, 1859, just a few days after the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, Huxley wrote to Darwin:-
"My dear Darwin–I finished your book yesterday...
...Since I read Von Bär's essays, nine years ago, no work on Natural History Science I have met with has made so great an impression upon me, and I do most heartily thank you for the
great store of new views you have given me. Nothing, I think, can be better than the tone of the book–it impresses those who know about the subject. As for your doctrines I
am prepared to go to the Stake if requisite...
...I trust you will not allow yourself to be in any way disgusted or annoyed by the considerable abuse and misrepresentation
which, unless I greatly mistake is in store for you. Depend upon it, you have earned the lasting gratitude of all thoughtful men. And as to the curs which will bark and yelp,
you must recollect that some of your friends, at any rate, are endowed with an amount of combativeness which (though you have often and justly rebuked it) may stand you in good stead.
I am sharpening up my claws and beak in readiness..."
The Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature by Thomas Henry Huxley, published in 1863, was the first book explicitly devoted to the topic of human evolution, and discussed much
of the anatomical and other evidence for the evolution of man and apes from a common ancestor.
Something of the nature and direction of Huxley's work can prehaps be gauged from the fact that it featured the following frontispiece:-
and that its three chapters were entitled:-
On the Natural History of the Man-Like Apes
On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals
On Some Fossil Remains of Man
Based on anatomical and other evidence for evolution the book, which achieved a wide readership, put the case that evolutionary theory applied
as fully to human beings as to all other life.
Darwin's Origin of Species first appeared late in 1859, it seemed to suggest that Evolution of "life" had followed gradually from an
initial creation of "life", and made almost no mention of mankind.
It was in 1871 that Darwin's first explicit work on Humankind and Evolution was published. In this work, Descent of Man, Darwin attempted
to persuade the reader of mankind's
evolutionary heritage.
We feel justified in maintaining that our collection of Spiritual Insights Quotations - showing as it does extensive agreement
in relation to core spiritual truths between the major world religions - has a particular claim to public
attention in relation to the Faith versus Reason Debate!
Even Charles Darwin saw agreement between religions as adding credibility to Faith!
Late in his life Darwin was encouraged to write up a biographical record about the course of his life and the development of his
ideas. Darwin agreed to this
suggestion and the opening paragraph of the resulting Autobiography
reveals something of Darwin's frame of mind at the time of writing:-
A German editor having written to me to ask for an account
of the development of my mind and character with some sketch of
my autobiography, I have thought that the attempt would amuse me,
and might possibly interest my children or their children. I know
that it would have interested me greatly to have read even so
short and dull a sketch of the mind of my grandfather written by
himself, and what he thought and did and how he worked. I have
attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were
a dead man in another world looking back at my own life. Nor I
have I found that difficult, for life is nearly over with me. I
have taken no pains about my style of writing.
The Faith versus Reason Debate
Darwin on God and Religious Beliefs
Darwin's Autobiography as first published in 1887, five years after Darwin's death, had been edited by one of his sons in efforts to
protect family respectability to exclude
certain passages principally relating to God.
The original version actually contains a section
explicity devoted to a consideration of Religious Beliefs which
contains the following sentences:-
At present the most usual argument for the existence of an
intelligent God is drawn from deep inward conviction and feelings
which are experienced by most persons. But it cannot be doubted that Hindoos, Mahomadans and others might
argue in the same manner and with equal force in favour of the existence of one God, or of many Gods, or
as with the Buddhists of no God....
Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred to, (although I do not think that the religious sentiment
was ever strongly developed in me), to the firm conviction of the existence of God, and of the immortality of the
soul...
...This argument would be a valid one, if all men of all
races had the same inward conviction of the existence of one God;
but we know this is very far from being the case. Therefore I
cannot see that such inward convictions and feelings are of any
weight as evidence of what really exists....
Thus the founding figure of Darwinism and Modern Evolutionary Theory conceded that
agreement between Faiths has a decided relevance in terms of making Faith more credible!
By all accounts Charles Darwin was inclined to shy away from controversy but nevertheless pursued his
idea of evolution privately with quiet determination. In this regard he mixed with farmers and pigeon-fanciers whilst
maintaining a wide correspondence with those involved in the science of Natural History and in the collection of
biological specimens in the far-flung corners of the Earth.
This seems to mark him out as being both open-minded and approachable and, if Charles Darwin were alive today, we at Age-of-the-Sage
would be urgently seeking to interest him
in our discovery of an extensive range of close agreement between the
Core Spiritual Teachings of ALL the major World Religions.
The current availability of sympathetic translations of World Faith texts allows deeper studies into Comparative Religion to
be undertaken than was perhaps possible in Darwin's day.
The fact that there is such close agreement in
Innermost Spiritual Teachings between the Major World Religions must surely have a bearing on the Faith vs Reason Debate lending credence to the
saying "God is One: Religions many" depite the general erosion in religious beliefs and the lessening of
acceptance of the Existence of any God that has occured, particularly in the "West", since the
appearance of Darwin's "The Origin of Species".
Spirituality is an important aspect of Human Nature
Please click on
these links to review
quotations about "Central" Spiritual Insights
drawn from sources as indicated :-
There may well be other faiths (not least Sikhism) that
should properly be included in any definitive consideration of
Mysticism in World Religions !!!
Please click on the following link to review
quotations about "Central" Poetry Insights :-
Please click on the following link to review
quotations about Spirituality and the Wider World
drawn from Plato, several Major World Religions, and Shakespeare :-
Spiritual Insights Enlightenment Quotations
The Wisdom of Poets
No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same
time a profound philosopher. For poetry is the blossom and the
fragrancy of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions,
emotions, language.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
Lord Byron
Poetry should be great and unobtrusive,
a thing which enters into one's soul,
and does not startle it or amaze it with itself,
but with its subject.
John Keats
Coleridge, Byron, and Keats, are renowned and respected for their ability to poetically
convey truth and meaning. Any exhaustive search for "the blossom and the fragrancy of all
human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, emotions, language"
should also acknowledge the spiritual and poetical truths related by the
mystics.
Mysticism in World Religions
The following wisdom quotes convey something of the way that
religious mysticism maintains that Enlightenment is
not "intellectual."
Zen Buddhism
A University Professor went to see Nan-in, a Zen Master, to
find out more about Zen.
As their meeting continued Nan-in was pouring Tea and continued
to pour even though the cup was overflowing.
The Professor cried. "Enough! No more will go in!"
Nan-in replied "Like this cup you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
Christianity
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart:
St. Paul
Ephesians 4:17-18
and again:- To the humble He revealeth His secrets, and sweetly draweth
and inviteth him to Himself.
The humble man, having received reproach, maintaineth himself
well enough in peace, because he is fixed in God and not in the
world.
Never think that thou hast made any progress till thou look upon
thyself as inferior to all.
Thomas a Kempis
Of the Imitation of Christ Bk. 3, Ch. 4, v. 4
Judaism
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the
LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and
marrow to thy bones.
Book of Proverbs 3:5-8
The insights of - The Sage - those who are supremely adept
in Mysticism or Poetry - are REALLY important.
Find out more by reading some introductory famous and familiar
quotations...
![[]](topline.gif)
Or why not continue with our pages that consider the possibility that innate human nature
has a pervasive determining influence over many aspects of our own lives both as
individuals and as members of society:-
"...man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots,
whose flower and fruitage is the world..."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
More on this ...
![[Mysticism in world religions]](bottomline.gif)
The Wisdoms and Insights available on our
site include some about Human Existence itself:-
|
|
![[spiritual insights quotations, faith vs versus reason science debate]](enlightenment.gif)
