Bede Griffiths Quotes

Until we give up the world manufactured by the ego, never can we enter the kingdom of heaven. None ever did, none ever will.

The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth.

Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus with thy hand!

When an ecstatic is asked the question, What is it that love dares the self to do? she will answer: Love dares the self to leave itself behind, to enter into poverty.

There is nothing so high as renunciation of self.

The leap is made by dropping vanity over knowledge and by a willingness to become nothing in order to become everything.

My desire is to let go of my ego and let in His direction.

The greatness of a man's power is the measure of his surrender.

God expects but one thing of you, and that is that you should come out of yourself in so far as you are a created being made and let God be God in you.

To be able to love and live in freedom means to be able to make godly decisions. To make godly decisions we have to surrender our egos and all the falsity and shame that goes with it.

The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.

Discard yourself and thereby regain yourself. Spread the trap of humility and ensnare love.

You must surrender before you can guide.

One must become as humble as the dust before he can discover truth.

All that God asks you most pressingly is to go out of yourself … and let God be God in you

When someone becomes transparent, then something shines through that person that has nothing to do with the person or any of his or her personal history. What is required is becoming so transparent that the self or ego dissolves.

Above all we must not wish to cling to our suffering. Suffering surely deepens us and enhances our person, but we must not desire to become a deeper self than God wills. To suffer no longer can be a beautiful, perhaps the ultimate sacrifice.

It's only by forgetting yourself that you draw near to God.

It is only by frequent deaths of ourselves and our self-centered desires that we can come to live more fully.

All troubles come to an end when the ego dies

A man in the view of absolute goodness, adores, with total humility. Every step downward, is a step upward. The man who renounceshimself, comes to himself.

Give up all self, all egotisms get out of anger, lust, give all to God. "I am not, but Thou art; the old man is all gone, only Thou remainest." "I am Thou." Blame none; if evil comes, know the Lord is playing with you and be exceeding glad.

Dependence, humility, simplicity, cooperation, and a sense of abandon are qualities greatly prized in the spiritual life, but extremely elusive for people who live in comfort.

Get low; grace will meet you there.

Renounce and give up. What did Christ say? "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Again and again did he preach renunciation as the only way to perfection. There comes a time when the mind awakes from this long and dreary dream-the child gives up its play and wants to go back to its mother. Renunciation is not asceticism. Are all beggars Christ? Poverty is not a synonym for holiness; often the reverse.