--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the Orient the ultimate divine mystery…" description: "\"In the Orient the ultimate divine mystery is sought beyond all human categories of thought and feeling, beyond names and forms, and absolutely beyond a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/joseph-campbell-300_attribution_in-the-orient-the-ultimate-divine-myster_2285462.png" --- # In the Orient the ultimate divine mystery is sought beyond… ![“In the Orient the ultimate divine mystery is sought beyond all human categories of thought and feeling, beyond names and forms, and absolutely beyond any such concept as of a merciful or wrathful personality, chooser of one people over another, comforter of folk who pray, and destroyer of those…” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/joseph-campbell-300_attribution_in-the-orient-the-ultimate-divine-myster_2285462.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/joseph-campbell-300_attribution_in-the-orient-the-ultimate-divine-myster_2285462.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6b/joseph-campbell-300_attribution_in-the-orient-the-ultimate-divine-myster_2285462.png) > “In the Orient the ultimate divine mystery is sought beyond all human categories of thought and feeling, beyond names and forms, and absolutely beyond any such concept as of a merciful or wrathful personality, chooser of one people over another, comforter of folk who pray, and destroyer of those who do not. Such anthropomorphic attributions of human sentiments and thoughts to a mystery beyond thought is-from the point of view of Indian thought-a style of religion for children.” [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Divine mystery transcends human categories; attributing human traits to it is a simplistic, childlike view. **In simple terms:** God is beyond human labels; personifying it is immature. Key Takeaway Seek the ineffable without anthropomorphizing. Themes mythology spirituality human limitation Mood reverent inquisitive Type mythic educational When to use this quote - religious study - artistic creation - personal meditation Key Concepts transcendence symbolism theology Questions to Reflect On - How can we discuss the divine without reducing it? - What symbols convey the unknowable? A Different Perspective Human language may still be useful for expressing the ineffable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attribution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attribution/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Destroyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyers/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Indian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indian/) [Merciful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merciful/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sentiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiments/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Thoughts and feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-and-feelings/) ## Related quotes > [“Mira Levenson. Aged twelve. Looks, long dark shiny hair, dark brown eyes (almost black), brown skin. Beautiful. Favorite colour, copper orange, I think. 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I don't feel like that at all. Music comes first, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roisin-murphy/i-don-t-really-know-if-i-am-thought-of-as-a-style-icon-i-don-t-feel/) [Roisin Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roisin-murphy/) > [PLAGIARIZE, v. To take the thought or style of another writer whom one has never, never read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/plagiarize-v-to-take-the-thought-or-style-of-another-writer-whom-one/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [If we define 'thought collective' as a community of persons mutually exchanging ideas or maintaining intellectual interaction, we will find by implication that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwik-fleck/if-we-define-thought-collective-as-a-community-of-persons-mutually/) [Ludwik Fleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwik-fleck/) > [Oddly enough, I suppose, I don't give much thought to my style, and I don't attempt to be consistent - except within a story.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-gloeckner/oddly-enough-i-suppose-i-don-t-give-much-thought-to-my-style-and-i/) [Phoebe Gloeckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-gloeckner/) > [“When it was time to write, and he took his pen in his hand, he never thought of consequences; he thought of style. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-it-was-time-to-write-and-he-took-his-pen-in-his-hand-he-never/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [I was working in this very bombastic style. I didn’t really know about style. I didn’t think about it: I did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lachapelle/i-was-working-in-this-very-bombastic-style-i-didn-t-really-know-about/) [David LaChapelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lachapelle/) > [“At the beginning he’d thought of his style as being his essence, the perfect expression of who he was inside, but lately the styles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/at-the-beginning-he-d-thought-of-his-style-as-being-his-essence-the/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) ## More by Joseph Campbell > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. 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There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [ The fall \[of your soul\] from perfection into duality...was naturally followed by the discovery of the duality of good and evil...This is the Biblical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-fall-of-your-soul-from-perfection-into-duality-was-naturally/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-self-is-your-potentiality-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More Attribution quotes > [First click attribution is akin to giving my first girlfriend 100% of the credit for me marrying my wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avinash-kaushik/first-click-attribution-is-akin-to-giving-my-first-girlfriend-100-of/) [Avinash Kaushik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avinash-kaushik/) > [Unlike scandal-monger Ed Klein’s fantastical No. 1 best-selling narrative about the supposed Blood Feud between the Clintons and the Obamas, Halper’s study is juicy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-grove/unlike-scandal-monger-ed-klein-s-fantastical-no-1-best-selling/) Lloyd Grove > [Clearly, I regret the email was quoted incorrectly and I regret that it's become a distraction from the story, which still entirely stands. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-karl/clearly-i-regret-the-email-was-quoted-incorrectly-and-i-regret-that/) [Jonathan Karl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-karl/) > [“The doer is someone else, yet to say, 'I am doing it,' is a false attribution; due to which one earns the next life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-doer-is-someone-else-yet-to-say-i-am-doing-it-is-a-false/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Can you think of a better way than slavishly copying and removing attribution to disrespect an author”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalyan-c-kankanala/can-you-think-of-a-better-way-than-slavishly-copying-and-removing/) [Kalyan C. Kankanala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalyan-c-kankanala/) > [But I would like to think for a moment about a man who in the morning teaches his students that a false attribution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/but-i-would-like-to-think-for-a-moment-about-a-man-who-in-the-morning/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [“The funny part of being funny is when you start seeing your fans writing funny words and attributing them to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-funny-part-of-being-funny-is-when-you-start-seeing-your-fans/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [We safeguard the right to attribution very strongly. 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