In regard to man's final end, all the higher religions are in complete agreement. The purpose of human life is the discovery of Truth, the unitive knowledge of the Godhead. The degree to which this unitive knowledge is achieved here on earth determines the degree to which it will be enjoyed in the posthumous state. Contemplation of truth is the end, action the means.
Aldous Huxley Connected to the Carolinas
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No citation is recorded for this quotation.
- work
- Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita (1944)
- year
- 1944
no citation recorded
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“In regard to man's final end, all the higher religions are i…” Aldous Huxley. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-D4FF8D636D. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/d4ff8d636d
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The second doctrine of the Perennial Philosophy — that it is possible to know the Divine Ground by a direct intuition higher than discursive reasoning — is to be found in all the great religions of the world. A philosopher who is content merely to know about the ultimate Reality — theoretically and by hearsay — is compared by Buddha to a herdsman of other men's cows. Mohammed uses an even homelier barnyard metaphor. For him the philosopher who has not realized his metaphysics is just an ass bearing a load of books. Christian, Hindu, Taoist teachers wrote no less emphatically about the absurd pretensions of mere learning and analytic reasoning.
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