The Cosmic Person in Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam - Part 8

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

In the last paragraph of Part 8 (appended), Bede Griffiths is really to be

congratulated for revealing to Muslims and Christians that which can unite,

rather than divide them. It's really about finding a common language of

spiritual understanding that all can agree upon. The bottom line is this: if we

are all " One " then we really must find a common language that can unite us all

in Spirit and in Truth!

 

Part 7 concluded with:

 

(P.142) " From all this we see both similarity and difference. As we compare the

different traditions it is important to see the similarities. At some points it

is impossible to miss how closely they resemble one another and yet there will

always be differences, sometimes subtle, and sometimes profound. Among the most

obvious differences are those between the many Buddhas and the one Christ, and

between the many 'avataras' in Hinduism with their mythical background, and the

specifically historical character of the incarnation in Christ. Among the

buddhas Sakyamuni was certainly historical but other buddhas and 'bodhisattvas'

are not necessarily historical at all. Similarly with the 'avataras' many are

mythological, having no basis in history at all. By contrast, in the Christian

understanding, the one Supreme manifests uniquely in that one historic person

and in that unique historic event of death and resurrection.

 

The 'tathagata' in Buddhism, then, is a manifestation of the Absolute but the

goal is ultimately to go beyond the 'tathagata', the person, to the ultimate

transcendence. On this path one will meditate on the various forms and figures

of the Buddha and on the supreme form and then go beyond and become identified

with the supreme Reality beyond. "

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith), Pgs. 142

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

Here now, is Part 8.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

The Cosmic Person in Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam - Part 8

 

(P.142) When we turn to consider the Islamic view, here again there is the same

kind of paradox as in Buddhism. Just as the Buddha gives no importance to the

human person and yet this full and wonderful concept of the person of the Buddha

emerges, so Islam will not allow anyone to be associated with Allah. The supreme

blasphemy in Islam is to associate any being with Allah. Alongside mainstream

Islamic tradition, however, Sufism began to emerge a century or two after the

time of Mohammed as the mystical tradition of Islam. (P.143) This is very

similar to the emergence of Mahayana within the earlier Buddhism, and it seems

to indicate a kind of instinct in human nature. It is of great interest that,

beginning from such different points of view, Jesus in the Gospel, Krishna in

Hinduism, the Buddha and then Mohammed, a strikingly similar mystical doctrine

emerges in each tradition, each with its own particular character but with an

obvious unity behind it. In Sufism a new vision is built up based on the Quran

but developed with an extraordinary kind of mystical intuition. The supreme

authority on this is Ibn Al Arabi, the Islamic mystic of the twelfth century,

who was also one of the great philosophers of the world.

 

Note: The philosophy of Ibn al Arabi has been studied with extraordinary insight

and at the greatest depth by R.W.J. Austin in his translation of 'The Bezels of

Wisdom in the Classics of Western Spirituality' (Paulist Press).

 

Shankara in Vedanta, Nagarjuna in the Madhyamika doctrine and Ibn al Arabi in

Sufism, have each a very similar doctrine. There are differences but

fundamentally the same doctrine is evident. That is why this doctrine can be

said to be universal and why I think it is of such importance in relation to

Christianity.

 

In Ibn al Arabi the whole universe is conceived in terms of the oneness of

being, in Arabic the 'wahdat al-wujud'. That corresponds exactly to 'nirguna

brahman', the non-dual being of Hinduism, and to 'sunyata', the void, the

non-dual reality of Buddhism. This oneness of being is a oneness of knowledge.

Just as in Buddhism 'prajna' is not only knowing the Supreme but being the

Supreme, so in Sufism the oneness is also perfect knowledge which entails

perfect being. It is the same as the Hindu 'saccidananda'. The Absolute in

Sanskrit is 'sat' (being), 'chit' (knowledge) and 'ananda' (bliss),

'saccidananda', and so to realise the Absolute is to become the Absolute. To

know the Absolute is to be the Absolute. It is the total self-realisation. There

is in Sufism this same basic principle of the oneness of being. Ibn al Arabi

calls this absolute Reality 'al haqq', the truth, the reality, and he

distinguishes that from Allah. 'Al haqq' is the supreme Reality and Allah is the

personal manifestation of the Supreme. Allah is the opposite pole to the

creation. (P.144) He is the creator and manifests himself in the creation. So

again there is the absolute Reality and then its polarisation into the creator

God and the created world. The purpose of God in creation was a desire to be

known. It is said in the tradition ('hadith') of Islam, " I was a hidden treasure

and I desired to be known " . Ibn al Arabi has a beautiful phrase for this. He

says, " The source of the universe is the breath of the Merciful, " the 'nafas al

rachman'. God is the merciful and, as he manifests himself, he pours forth this

" breath of the Merciful " . The breath of the Merciful is the will in the divine

nature to express itself, to manifest itself, to become known, that is, to

realise the potentialities in its nature. The universe thus comes into being to

reveal the hidden potentialities in the divine being. To Allah is attributed

breath which is very like the 'spiritus', the " Spirit " of Christian doctrine,

which " brooded over the waters " and brought forth the world. That is what is

meant by " the breath of the Merciful " .

 

There is, then, the supreme Reality and there is the created world, between

which humankind is the link. Ibn al Arabi calls man the " isthmus " , the isthmus

between God and creation. The perfect man is he who unites heaven and earth. He

is the one in whom the Divine sees himself and through whom the universe sees

the divine. He is the eye of the universe, as the Sufis put it. God sees himself

reflected in this universal Man and the universal Man enables the whole creation

to reflect God. In this way he is the mediator between God and the universe. So

again we have the figure of the mediator and it is particularly interesting that

in a doctrine which was so far from having any link between God and the world,

the mystical side of Islam introduced this concept of the perfect Man. In my

view this is an extremely important point where Christianity can relate with

Islam. The doctrine is not of course the same in these two great faiths but it

is very similar in many ways. (P.145) If we say Jesus is God the Moslem is

horrified and sees this as blasphemy, but if we speak of the perfect man, this

mirror which reflects God and in which God reflects himself, then we are using

the language of Islam, which is also the language of the Bible which sees Jesus

as the " image " of God.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith), Pgs. 142-145

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0