Metaphysical knowledge is one thing. Its actualisation in the mind quite another. All the knowledge which the brain can hold, even if it is immeasurably rich from a human point of view, is nothing in the sight of Truth. As for metaphysical knowledge, it is like a Divine seed in the heart; thoughts represent only faint glimmers of it. The imprint of the Divine Light on human darkness, the passage from the Infinite to the finite, the contact between the Absolute and the contingent - herein lies the whole mystery of intellection and of revelation. From Part One - "Thought and Civilisation" Modern man collects keys but does not know how to open a door. A confirmed sceptic, he flounders among concepts with no suspicion of their intrinsic value or their efficacy. He "classifies" ideas at the surface level of thought but never "realizes" a single idea in depth. He treats himself to the luxury of despair - the most paradoxical form of that commodity. He thinks he is experienced, whereas he does nothing but avoid those experiences which are incumbent upon him and which he has not even the intellectual capacity to undergo. His experience amounts to that of a child which has burnt itself and wants to abolish fire. From Part One - "Thought and Civilisation" 223 pages, hard bound Author: Frithjof Schoun (Shaykh Isa Nur al-Din - 1907 - 1998)
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