Sunday, November 20

Death Is The Secret Of Life


In my late teens one of the authors I read was Dr Paul Brunton.  I came across one of his books recently, published back in 1934, called The Secret Path.  The following is a short quote from the chapter on 'Awakening To Intuition', where he discusses the cessation of consciousness.

"Death is the secret of life.  We must empty ourselves if we are to be filled.  When the mind has poured out all its thoughts, a vacuum is created. But this can last only for a few seconds.  Then a mysterious influx of divine life will enter.  This is the descent of the Holy Ghost.

It is in this state of conscious cessation of thought that the truth of one's self, heretofore hidden from us by activity, desires and thoughts, becomes revealed in its sublime and spiritual grandeur.  Stop the stream of thoughts, if you can, and gaze steadily at the Thinker.  Let the intellect take its repose, and watch attentively the vacuum in consciousness which would appear to be left."

After expanding on this Dr Brunton quotes from an old Indian writing:

"Because I had forsaken unity with thee,
Because I, fool, had made my body me,
Because I did not know thee who didst dwell in me,
Therefore I wandered through raging hells ...
Because I threw away my very self, I therefore was in chains."

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2 comments:

  1. Interesting post.It sometimes seems that this kind of knowledge is recycled through time.

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  2. It's funny how you read this in the chapter called 'Awakening To Intuition',because one of the books I have just started reading is called "Awakening Intuition" by Frances E Vaughan.
    I had started reading it because I kept hearing or seeing the words "awakening" and "intuition" being used in the same sentence,so thought I had better get reading.
    Then I come here and read this,just to re-enforce that message.I better keep reading,I have a feeling.-)

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