God and the World - Part 5

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

We concluded Part 4 with the following:

 

(P. 157) " The problem in Hindu philosophy is that the relation between God and

the universe has never been finally resolved. In the advaitic tradition matter,

life, human persons and the personal God are regarded as ultimately unreal.

(P.158) The Absolute is 'saccidananda', being, knowledge and bliss beyond

everything, and to reach the Absolute it is necessary to negate all phenomena.

In other systems of Vedanta, as we have seen, the universe, the human person and

the personal God are recognised as real, but the relation of the universe to God

is not satisfactorily explained. Kashmir Shaivism seems on the other hand to

have introduced something which gives a meaning to the whole created universe.

It comes from the will of God. The Vedanta would say the universe is a 'lila', a

play, but it is a play which is ultimately without purpose. In Shaivism, by

contrast, it is the will which creates and which manifests God in creation. This

concept of 'chitshakti' seems to have been derived from tantric experience in

which the energy of matter and life is united with consciousness in a profound

mystical experience. "

 

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

Christian Faith), Pg.157

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

 

[important Note to Readers]:

 

On the subject of Tantrism, Shri Mataji informed about the Tantrikas that came

but who did not know anything about the instrument of Kundalini ( " the Yantra " )

nor did they know anything about how the Kundalini works ( " the Tantra " ). That's

why they made the mistake of believing that 'Union with the Divine Within' was

somehow associated or connected to 'physical union with their partner'. They are

not at all connected, and such spiritual ignorance results in a very bad

outcome:

 

" Then came the Tantrikas who did not know anything about the Kundalini, the

instrument (Yantra), also did not know anything about how it works (Tantra).

They practised all black arts and indulged into immoral practices of violence

and sex. "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

first small English book

Chapter 2 - Vishwa Nirmala Dharma

 

Here now, is Part 5.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

God and the World - Part 5

 

(P.158) Moving on to consider Buddhism, we noted in the previous chapter that

the Buddha went in the same way beyond word and beyond thought to the Ultimate,

which is 'nirvana', beyond all becoming and all change. Beyond this world

altogether, one experiences 'nirvana', the ultimate Reality. Later, as we saw,

it was called 'sunyata', the void, total emptiness. Behind all the fullness

there is, as it were, emptiness. This absolute Reality, this 'sunyata', is

experienced in 'prajna', which is intuitive wisdom. Always we go beyond the

senses and beyond the mind and reason, and experience Reality in pure intuition.

In 'prajna' we are one with reality and not separate from it. So 'prajna' is

that experience of the One in its utter transcendence. There is a very

interesting remark on 'sunyata' by D.T. Suzuki, the great authority on Zen

Buddhism, quoted by Michael von Bruck: " It is not the nature of 'prajna' to

remain in a state of 'sunyata' absolutely motionless; it demands of itself that

it differentiate itself unlimitedly, and at the same time it remains in itself. "

Again, within the void, within the Ultimate, there is a stir, there is a

principle of differentiation, and this is fundamental. (P.159) If there is no

principle of differentiation, which is the basic point missing in Shankara, then

one has absolute non-duality, pure 'advaita'. In the void of Mahayana Buddhism,

on the other hand, the principle of differentiation is recognised. The universe

is regarded as coming out through this principle of differentiation. But, at the

very moment that it comes out, in the instant that it differentiates, it returns

to unity. This, of course, is not in time. It is an eternal movement outwards

and an eternal movement of return, all within the Ultimate. That is why

'sunyata' is said to be a reservoir of infinite possibilities and not just a

state of emptiness in the sense of vacuity. " Emptiness involves form and form

involves emptiness " , as it is said. The Mahayana therefore does not dismiss

form, matter, and the whole of life and the universe as unreal. The form is in

the Ultimate, and is, as it were, the other pole of the Ultimate, so that

differentiating itself it yet remains in itself undifferentiated.

 

Again this is paradox, like the 'bheda-abheda'. When we reach this level we are

inevitably involved in paradox. Paradox arises when we use language and the

rational mind to express that which is beyond language and the rational mind. In

this way we can get some sense of how the 'sunyata' both differentiates itself

in the universe and yet remains in itself undifferentiated. That is the insight.

Here particularly we must not forget that this is based on experience. It is not

a theory which is worked out by reason. Rather it is an experience which is

interpreted in these terms. It is based on 'prajna', intuitive knowledge or

active intuition.

 

Another way to look at it is that 'sunyata' in Mahayana Buddhism is infinite

interrelationship, which is indistinguishable from the Absolute. Here again we

can see the connection with the understanding of modern physics that the whole

universe is a " complex web of interdependent relationships " . Everything that

exists is interdependent and interwoven. (P.160) An electron, for instance,

cannot be located exactly because each electron is, in a sense, in every other

electron. Everything in the universe is interrelated and interwoven which means

that the idea we have of separate entities is really a product of our minds. It

is said more and more, with increasing conviction, that behind all these

separate entities which our minds conceive is this interrelationship where

everything is interwoven in a complex web. This is precisely what the mystics

experience. What the physicists had come to understand as a result of their

observations, the mystics have discovered in their experience. Mystics

experience the One in this interrelationship, transcending thought. Such an

experience does not lead to the denial of the reality of the phenomenal world,

and this is part of its great value. Ultimately all mystics affirm that

fundamentally 'nirvana' and 'samsara' are the same. So if we see this world as

it is, we will see absolute Reality. And if we know the absolute Reality then we

see the whole of this world in that reality, not extended in space and time and

limited as we perceive it, but in its total reality, where it is totally

realised. We can realise this in our own consciousness, in 'prajna', that is to

say, in intuitive insight. That is the position of Mahayana Buddhism.

 

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

Christian Faith), Pg.158-160

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0