Fwd: God as both "Unity" and "Infinity"

July 28, 2005

tiruvenkatam, "Sudarshan K Madabushi"

<mksudarshan2002> wrote:

Dear friends,

Here is an little story worth contemplating upon:

The disciple one day asked of the Master: "Sir, I have a question

related to "tarkA" (logical dialectics). Pray help me find an

answer.The Master said, "Ask."

"Would it be correct to state that God is a logical absurdity?"

The Master was silent for a moment and then said, "Explain yourself".

The disciple continued: "The 'sruti vAkya' (the word of the Vedas)

says that God is both "Ekathvam" (Unity) as well as "Anantham"

(Infinite). In the Upanishad, at many places, Brahman is sought to

be described. It is said, "sa ekah:", "He is One". At other places

in the 'sruti', with equal certainty, it is said Brahman

is "anantham" (e.g "satyam, gnyAnam, anantham brahmA" in the

Taittriyam). Other scriptures too like the Vishnu Sahasranamam refer

to God as being both "ekah", "Unity"; and "anEkah", the "Infinitude".

"Unity ("ekah:"} and Infinity ("anantha:), we know are logical

identities diametrically opposed to each other. If a thing is to be

called "ekah", it must possess the quality or "guNa" of unique-ness.

If it is not unique, it cannot be described as "manifold"

or "anEkah". Conversely, if a thing is found to be variegated or

manifold in an infinite number of ways, it cannot be described as

unique. It would be contradiction in terms, nay, absurd and

meaningless, to characterize something as either "infinite Unity"

or "unique Infinitude". But since, this is exactly what the Vedas

and the Upanishads say, and since the "sruti vAkya" are to be taken

as infallible, we have to conclude, therefore, that God must be a

logical absurdity" for how can one ever hope to find "Unity within

Infinity" or "Infinity within Unity".

*********************

The Master then replied:

"Show me your palm".

The disciple stretched out his palm to the Master.

Holding the disciple's hand, the Mater said:

"Ingrained in this palm of yours are finger-prints... thousands and

thousands of whorls, curves, loops, peaks and valleys. In this

world, every person is born with similar finger-print patterns. The

prints are similar but the patterns and configurations in themselves

are immeasurably manifold. If there are six billion humans on earth,

you can imagine the infinite variety or eternal series of patterns

that exists. They are, in other words, "anantham"... And it is

probably the reason why the poet, Willim Blake, once wrote: if only

you could grasp the Truth of the matter, you could easily "hold

eternity in the palm of your hand".

"And yet, amidst all that infinite variety, every person's finger-

print pattern is wholly unique to himself, isn't it? Just imagine,

no two persons amongst the 6 billion beings on earth can ever be

found to have exactly the very same pattern. Every individual is

unique --- He is "ekah"! If a century from now, the number of humans

on earth increases by another couple of billions, mathematically you

would have immeasurably more finger-print patterns to imagine. And

yet, in spite of it all, each individual would still have a unique

and inimitable set of patterns on his palms.

"Thus", said the Master to the disciple, "Deep within the mind-

boggling number of an infinite series, how is it that there lies

too, for all to see, an unquestionable and inalienable unique-ness?

Do we not perceive here Unity and Infinity blending, "ekatvam"

and "anEkatvam" happily cohabiting with each other? Do we not

conceive here Unity and Infinitude mirroring each other perfectly?

"Would you want to characterize it all" asked the Master of the

disciple, "In the end, would you want to characterize it all as

nothing but mere "mental conundrum" or "logical absurdity"?

**************

The disciple, grateful for a new, insightful lesson learnt that day

in the finer nuances of "tarka-sAstra", bowed at the feet of the

Master.

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

--- End forwarded message ---

July 28, 2005