Traditional Quotes and Symbols
The sage or the saint has an inward access to concrete Truth; the simplest formulation (doubtless the most “naive” for some tastes) can be the threshold of a Knowledge as complete and profound as possible.
In our day everyone wants to appear intelligent; one would prefer to be accused of crime than of naiveté if the accompanying risks could be avoided. But since intelligence cannot be drawn from the void, subterfuges are resorted to, one of the most prevalent being the mania for “demystification”, which allows an air of intelligence to be conveyed at small cost, for all one need do is assert that the normal response to a particular phenomenon is “prejudiced” and that it is high time it was cleared of the “legends” surrounding it; if the ocean could be made out to be a pond or the Himalayas a hill, it would be done. Certain writers find it impossible to be content with taking note of the fact that a particular thing or person has a particular character or destiny, as everyone had done before them; they must always begin by remarking that “it has too often been said”, and go on to declare that the reality is something quite different and has at last been discovered, and that up till now all the world has been “living a lie”. This strategy is applied above all to things that are evident and universally known.
However that may be, there is naiveté everywhere and there always has been, and man cannot escape from it, unless he can surpass his humanity; in this truth lie the key and solution to the problem. For what matters is not the question of knowing whether the dialectic or demeanor of a Plato is naive or not, or whether they are so to a certain extent and no further —and one would like to know where the absolute standards of all this could be found— but exclusively the fact that the sage or the saint has an inward access to concrete Truth; the simplest formulation —doubtless the most “naive” for some tastes— can be the threshold of a Knowledge as complete and profound as possible.
[“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:3); ”But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matt. 5:37); “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 18:3); “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).]
If the Bible is naive, it is an honor to be naive; if the philosophies that deny the Spirit are intelligent, there is no such thing as intelligence. Behind a humble belief in a Paradise situated among the clouds there is at least a foundation of inalienable truth, but more than that —and this is something priceless— there is a merciful reality that never disappoints.
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Frithjof Schuon: Light on The Ancient Worlds
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The sage or the saint has an inward access to concrete Truth; the simplest formulation (doubtless the most “naive” for some tastes) can be the threshold of a Knowledge as complete and profound as possible.
In our day everyone wants to appear intelligent; one would prefer to be accused of crime than of naiveté if the accompanying risks could be avoided. But since intelligence cannot be drawn from the void, subterfuges are resorted to, one of the most prevalent being the mania for “demystification”, which allows an air of intelligence to be conveyed at small cost, for all one need do is assert that the normal response to a particular phenomenon is “prejudiced” and that it is high time it was cleared of the “legends” surrounding it; if the ocean could be made out to be a pond or the Himalayas a hill, it would be done. Certain writers find it impossible to be content with taking note of the fact that a particular thing or person has a particular character or destiny, as everyone had done before them; they must always begin by remarking that “it has too often been said”, and go on to declare that the reality is something quite different and has at last been discovered, and that up till now all the world has been “living a lie”. This strategy is applied above all to things that are evident and universally known.
However that may be, there is naiveté everywhere and there always has been, and man cannot escape from it, unless he can surpass his humanity; in this truth lie the key and solution to the problem. For what matters is not the question of knowing whether the dialectic or demeanor of a Plato is naive or not, or whether they are so to a certain extent and no further —and one would like to know where the absolute standards of all this could be found— but exclusively the fact that the sage or the saint has an inward access to concrete Truth; the simplest formulation —doubtless the most “naive” for some tastes— can be the threshold of a Knowledge as complete and profound as possible.
[“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:3); ”But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matt. 5:37); “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 18:3); “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).]
If the Bible is naive, it is an honor to be naive; if the philosophies that deny the Spirit are intelligent, there is no such thing as intelligence. Behind a humble belief in a Paradise situated among the clouds there is at least a foundation of inalienable truth, but more than that —and this is something priceless— there is a merciful reality that never disappoints.
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Frithjof Schuon: Light on The Ancient Worlds
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