Fwd: [t'venkatam] God as both Unity & Infinity

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tiruvenkatam, Nivrutta Ravi wrote:

 

> 3. Now the palm. How it is unique? Is it not diff

for diff individuals? By being different it is

> MANY and being unique it is EKAM. Now add one more

angle, mathamatically it is possible that 2 humans

have same palm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That does not

happen or is not proved? That is> my emperuman

>

MY FIRST QUESTION IS WHETHER IT IS RIGHT TO TRANSLATE

EKAM AS UNIQUE.MY NEXT QUESTION IS WHEN YOU TALK OF

ONENESS AND DIFFERENCE AS COHABITING ATTRIBUTES OF THE

SAME ENTITY, SHOULD YOU NOT GIVE AS COMPARISON A

SINGLE ENTITY CAPABLE OF TWO ATTRIBUTES.PALM LINES ARE

UNIQUE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL,BUT TO SAY THAT THEY ARE

MANY OR DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS IS ABOUT

COMMONNESS.BUT THE BRAHMAN'S QUALITY AS ONE(EKAM) AND

MANY(INFINITENESS) ARE NOT ABOUT

COMMONNESS.IT IS ABOUT HOW IT IS PRESENT IN THE SAME

ENTITY.

Nivrutta Ravi

 

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

 

Dear friends,

 

It was enjoyable reading the intellectual exchange of

the past 2 days between our two young members SrIman-s

Ravi and Vijayaraghvan. Although I did intend the

casual story related in my post to generate some level

of discussions, frankly, I did not expect it to

generate such vigorous debate. I'm happy however that

the story did provoke deep thought amongst a few

members. That was indeed the very purpose of the

story!

 

Let me also clarify a few very important queries

raised by Sri Ravi. Yes, the response of the Master

was not strictly in terms of formal logic. The method

used by him was what in logic is called "analogy".

Logicians and philosophers generally all acknowledge

that no analogy is ever perfect. Most often the method

fails as a means of persuasion or argument. It is

indeed correct to say that the Master's analogy, using

the example of finger-prints on the disciple's palm to

illustrate or expound the rather difficult Vedantic

view of God as both "Unity and Infinity", was not

entirely perfect.

 

But the main purpose of the story, I think, is not so

much about logical persuasion as it is about

philosophical illumination.

 

The disciple was struggling to comprehend and cope

with the Vedantic conception of the Upanishadic

"Brahman" as being both "Unitary Infinity" and

"Infinite Unity" (i.e. "anantham", "ekam", "anEkam"

etc.). To any sincere student of Vedanta, especially

in the early stages of philosophical inquiry, this

concept can be very mind-boggling and intimidating. To

such a disciple, who was really struggling to come to

grips with a subtle metaphysical idea, we see in

the story that the Master was trying to show that

Brahman cannot be comprehended through logical

analysis alone.

 

Pure logical analysis or mathematical theory may not

ordinarily allow for "Unity" and "Infinity" to reside

in each other. But in the view of the Upanishads, in

the perception of what is called Vedantic "darsana",

both Unity and Infinity are truly and perfectly

mirrored by each other in the reality of Brahman.

 

The analogy of the palm and finger-prints was used by

the Master not to describe or define Brahman. It was

merely used to illustrate, in a very simple but

attractive way, how Infinity and Unity can be shown to

be two different aspects or dimensions of one and the

same physical phenomenon or concept even in the ordinary

world.

 

This is the way I would tend to approach and

understand the story. Generally, in all such Vedantic

parables and stories, I have found that it is more

profitable to try and grasp the inner 'spirit' of the

story without getting too much engrossed in its

outward 'letter'.

 

Thanks however to both our members Srimans Ravi and

Vijayraghvan for taking time to share their

thoughts/views with all of us on the list. I welcome

more such participation on the T'venkatam List.

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

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