My Life and Quest Quotes

“For one who has intuitively understood the ultimate truth of Oneness it is not a matter of belief or even argument; it follows naturally that the ultimate and eternal state cannot be a state of multiplicity and diversity. ‘In the beginning there was God alone.’ On that they agree. That is the eternal reality. Apart from that, whatever is called into being had a beginning and is therefore not eternal. Whatever had a beginning must have an end, be it heaven, earth or hell. It is that end, attained consciously and therefore in pure Beatitude, which is the goal towards which the pilgrim strives. If any say that they do not want to attain it because it means giving up their individuality, they have Christ’s blunt reply; that he who clings to his life will lose it. And in any case, what they are clinging to is an illusion, and an illusion is not eternal. Sooner or later, if not in this lifetime, they will understand. But they may create much suffering for themselves on the way. Modern”
― Arthur Osborne, My life and quest

“The purpose of meditation is to steady the mind and prevent it jumping and chattering like a monkey by holding it to one thought. If you suspend its activity without the one thought that is still better. If it becomes too restive the best way of controlling it is either by an act of Self-enquiry, turning steadily to see whether it really exists or not, and what it is that exists, or by an act of faith and submission, resigning yourself to keep still and let the Unknown take charge. That is what Christ meant by laying down one’s life for His sake. He who lays down his conscious mind for Christ’s sake, for the Spirit, the Unknown, will find it; but also he who clings to it, seeking to preserve it, will lose it.”
― Arthur Osborne, My life and quest

“Even when a writer seems to be out of touch with the spirit of the age or voluntarily hostile to it, he will usually be found to represent either an underground current of opposition or the rising tide of tomorrow beating on the crumbling cliffs of yesterday.”
― Arthur Osborne, My life and quest