"Flight, Escape: that in fact was Plato's dictum regarding the soul that acknowledges in itself a principle superior to the world. Plotinus, in his turn, recommended to his disciple the "flight of the alone to the Alone", and then Porphyry expiates on the setting free and the withdrawal of the soul. The same terms may be encountered in the religious philosophies of India.[…] With the Buddhist, too, it is the same act of negation, whether he denies the existence of the world or believes in the reality of his present wretchedness; and he who practises charity to a degree that sometimes reaches the sublime in the last resort relinquishes even that. Asanga, the great mystical doctor of the Mahâyâna, when he starts to map out the path of his bodhisattva's ascent from "world" to "world" until he reaches the very highest state, which is that of Nirvâna, as a matter of course describes it as a whole series of evasions: niryà na; so much so that it has been said that Buddhism's only God is Escape."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. V. "Christianity and History", pp. 63–64
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_de_Lubac
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Henri de Lubac
Henri de Lubac (20 February 1896 – 4 September 1991) was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century.
53 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Henri de Lubac →
Related Quotes
"The Church, without being exactly co-extensive with the Mystical Body, is not adequately distinct from it. For this r…"
"In the interests of refuting such chaotic concepts as those which see a divine Church only in a "Church of the saints…"
"Christian tradition has always looked on heaven under the analogy of a city. Coelestis urbs Jerusalem.[…] It is a cit…"
"Christianity, by those doctrinal aspects that we have just emphasized as well as by others, brought something absolut…"
"The moral value of the different systems varies very considerably. So does their spiritual depth; but in this connect…"
"Outside Christianity humanity can doubtless be raised in an exceptional manner to certain spiritual heights, and it i…"
"It becomes increasingly clear that […] the Christian's watchword can no longer be "escape" but "collaboration". He mu…"
"No one has the right to say with Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?" [Gen 4:9] No one is a Christian for himself alone."
"She is the Catholic Church: neither Latin nor Greek, but universal.[…] Nothing authentically human, whatever its orig…"
"The supernatural dignity of one who has been baptized rests, we know, on the natural dignity of man, though it surpas…"