contradiction between Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva/atheism

[Guest guest]

Namaste All Advaitins,

So many 'varieties of religious experience' may leave the

seeker foundered in a sea of scepticism. Atheists are fond of adducing this

diversity as a proof of the irrationality of belief. They are simple creatures

living in a straight line world and I suppose it is no harm for us to rehearse a

response that might help to ease the discomfiture of those on the list such as

students that may be in a milieu of fervid discussion.

 

There is a mass of data, we need to rationalise and reduce. The

systole/diastole of the religious life anywhere is the flow between the immanent

and the transcendent: there is the indwelling divinity and the cosmic divinity.

Some saints and prophets have the vision of the deity as awful (original sense)

and wholly other and some feel the indwelling presence which can be both

personal and impersonal. Yet others move between those poles and these blessed

ones are often the most attained.

 

Will this satisfy the atheist? I fear not. 'The fool sayeth in his heart,

there is no god'. That sounds harsh and a shallow reading would imply that

atheism required an intelligence test like the one they give civil servants - if

you fail it you're in, however a smart man may be saying in his heart or

denying in the depths of his being the light of the consciousness whereby he

negates. I am reminded of the immortal words of Forrest Gump 'I'm not a smart

man but I know what love is'. We are all fools until we meet cosmic love.

 

Best Wishes,

Michael.