Enlightenment Quotes - Page 12

• The world had seen so many Ages: the Age of Enlightenment; of Reformation; of Reason. Now, at last, the Age of Desire. And after this, an end to Ages; an end, perhaps, to everything.

  Clive Barker

  Age, Desire, World

  Clive Barker (2001). “The Inhuman Condition”, p.164, Simon and Schuster

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• As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages - undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment - find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?

  Dogen

  Spiritual, School, Buddhism

  "Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist". Book by Hee-jin Kim, 2004.

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• Perhaps the most concise summary of enlightenment would be: transcending dualism . ... Dualism is the conceptual division of the world into categories ... human perception is by nature a dualistic phenomenon - which makes the quest for enlightenment an uphill struggle, to say the least.

  Douglas Hofstadter

  Struggle, Perception, Would Be

  "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid". Book by Douglas Hofstadter, 1979.

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• I am who I am who I am who am I Requesting some enlightenment Could I have been anyone other than me?

  Dave Matthews

  Who I Am, I Am Who I Am, Has Beens

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• Beware of the manipulativeness of rich students who were neglected by their parents. They love to turn the campus into hysterical psychodramas of sexual transgression, followed by assertions of parental authority and concern. And don't look for sexual enlightenment from academe, which spews out mountains of books but never looks at life directly.

  Camille Paglia

  Book, Parent, Mountain

  Camille Paglia (2011). “Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays”, p.50, Vintage

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• September 11 was a day of de-Enlightenment. Politics stood revealed as a veritable Walpurgis Night of the irrational. And such old, old stuff. The conflicts we now face or fear involve opposed geographical arenas, but also opposed centuries or even millennia. It is a landscape of ferocious anachronisms: nuclear jihad in the Indian subcontinent; the medieval agonism of Islam; the Bronze Age blunderings of the Middle East.

  Martin Amis

  Night, September 11, Islam

  "The voice of the lonely crowd" by Martin Amis, www.theguardian.com. June 1, 2002.

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• We must therefore turn to history for enlightenment; here we find that none of the proclaimed anarchist groups correspond to the libertarian position, that even the best of them have unrealistic and socialistic elements in their doctrines. Furthermore, we find that all of the current anarchists are irrational collectivists, and therefore at opposite poles from our position. We must therefore conclude that we are not anarchists, and that those who call us anarchists are not on firm etymological ground, and are being completely unhistorical.

  Murray Rothbard

  Opposites, Groups, Doctrine

  "Are Libertarians 'Anarchists'?". Faith and Freedom, unpublished, mid-1950s.

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• What, concretely, is Enlightenment ?" "Seeing Reality as it is," said the Master. "Doesn't everyone see Reality as it is?" "Oh, no! Most people see it as they think it is." "What's the difference?" "The difference between thinking you are drowning in a stormy sea and knowing you cannot drown because there isn't any water in sight for miles around.

  Anthony de Mello

  Reality, Thinking, Sight

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• The scientific picture of the world championed since the Enlightenment is not just wrong but massively wrong. Indeed entire fields of inquiry, especially in the human sciences, will need to be rethought from the ground up in terms of intelligent design.

  William A. Dembski

  Intelligent, Design, Fields

  William A. Dembski (2002). “Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology”, p.224, InterVarsity Press

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• Pray to God with tears in your eyes whenever you want illumination or find yourself faced with any doubt or difficulty. The Lord will remove all your impurities, assuage your mental anguish, and give you enlightenment.

  Sarada Devi

  Eye, Illumination, Giving

  "Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations". Book by Swami Nikhilananda, August 31, 2004.

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• In very clear and available language, this book details how to recognize the inner critic and how to deal effectively with it. Byron Brown's presentation is useful for any individual who wishes to be free from the inner suffering and coercion of this ancient foe of our humanity, but it is specifically directed to those interested and engaged in the inner journey toward realization and enlightenment.

  A. H. Almaas

  Book, Journey, Humanity

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• I think with all the odd jobs I ever had, there was some kind of enlightenment but, yes, a lot of pain and suffering that I don't want to relive.

  David Boreanaz

  Jobs, Pain, Thinking

  "David Boreanaz - Interviewed on location for Carpe Noctem in Los Angels". BBC Interview, www.bbc.co.uk. August 22, 2001.

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• Enlightenment is probably antithetical to impatience.

  Erik Naggum

  Impatience

  "*Why* is LISP better?". Usenet discussion groups, groups.google.com. August 8, 2002.

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• Whether or not enlightenment is possible at the moment of death, the practices that prepare one for this possibility also bring one closer to the bone of life.

  Joan Halifax

  Practice, Bones, Moments

  Joan Halifax (2009). “Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death”, p.132, Shambhala Publications

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• We go to the mountain for enlightenment, for self-realization, for adventure, for discovery. It's pregnant with meaning. When people see a mountain, they invest it with meaning. Not plot. Not character.

  Joe Rohde

  Adventure, Character, Discovery

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• I believe that one of the most important properties of a work of art is an attempt to reconcile opposites, and in their fusion to achieve a 'wholeness' or 'oneness,' the experiencing of which should be revelatory - both for the artist and the spectator - something akin to the experience of enlightenment in terms of religion.

  Douglas Portway

  Art, Believe, Opposites

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• The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of music....The point is not to hold up Beethoven as exceptionally monstrous. The Ninth Symphony is probably our most compelling articulation in music of the contradictory impulses that have organized patriarchal culture since the Enlightenment. Moreover, within the parameters of his own musical compositions, he may be heard as enacting a critique of narrative obligations that is...devestating.

  Susan McClary

  Symphony, Musical, Firsts

  "Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality". Book by Susan McClary, 1991.

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• The liberal tradition has its roots in the Enlightenment, that period in the eighteenth-century Europe when intellectuals and political leaders had a powerful sense that reason could be employed to make the world a better place.

  John Mearsheimer

  Powerful, Europe, Roots

  John J. Mearsheimer (2002). “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics”, p.31, W. W. Norton & Company

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• Still - and for all Obama's heavy hinting to the contrary - Islam has no "human rights." The ideas of individual rights and the dignity of man are distinctly Western, an outgrowth of the Enlightenment. And while dialogue is dignified; dhimmitude is not, even if it achieves a desired, if temporary, effect.

  Ilana Mercer

  Men, Rights, Ideas

  "B. Hussein in History Wonderland" by Ilana Mercer, www.ilanamercer.com. August 21, 2009.

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• In the spiritual search doubt is beneficial, a closed mind is not. Doubt used wisely assists enlightenment; a closed mind assists ignorance.

  Ian Gardner

  Spiritual, Ignorance, Doubt

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• The purpose of enlightenment is certainly not the teacher, nor is it you. It doesn't have a purpose. Enlightenment simply exists.

  Frederick Lenz

  Teacher, Buddhist, Buddhism

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• Consider your second attention as a spiritual perceiver. Consider how you use it. You may plead innocence. You're not doing anything wrong. Don't feel that you've sinned. You have done what you had to do to survive, as did your mother, as did your grandmother.

  Frederick Lenz

  Mother, Spiritual, Women

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• What they have done over the centuries is evolve the fine use of sexual power.

  Frederick Lenz

  Women, Use, Done

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• Then there will come a time where, very quickly, a woman will lose what some call her beauty.

  Frederick Lenz

  Women, Her Beauty, Loses

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• God then made the first woman, not directly out of his own substance, but from Adam's rib. Her purpose was to serve man.

  Frederick Lenz

  Women, Substance, Firsts

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