The Ascent to the Godhead - Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

We concluded the chapter on " God and the World " , i.e. Part 11, with the

following:

 

(P.175) " Again, modern physics affirms that the whole is present in every part.

When we begin consciously to enter that state we become aware of ourselves as

parts, as it were, of that whole, but also the whole is present in each one of

us. Each one is a microcosm, and the macrocosm is present in each one. We are

all within that total unity which is ultimately non-dual. This is an absolute

unity and yet it embraces all the diversity and all the multiplicity of the

universe. It must always be remembered that these are only words which we use to

describe a reality infinitely beyond our conception, but they are useful in so

far as they point us towards that reality, both theoretically and practically.

It is important not least because this affects our practical lives. If we think

that the universe is ultimately unreal and that our own lives are unreal we will

live accordingly. But it will make all the difference to how we live when we

realise that this universe is created by God, that it has infinite eternal

value, that each one of us has an infinite eternal value in the sight of God and

that we all form a unity which yet embraces all diversity. So we are fulfilled

in that Absolute in our own individual being, and in the whole cosmic order and

the fullness of Reality. "

 

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

Christian Faith), Pg.175

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

Here now, is the beginning of a new chapter, titled " The Ascent to the Godhead "

- Part 1.

 

Enjoy!

 

violet

 

 

The Ascent to the Godhead - Part 1

 

(P.176) In this chapter we are going to explore the ascent to the Godhead. We

have seen in chapter three how a breakthrough in consciousness took place in the

sixth century before Christ with the Upanishads and the Buddha. This was a

breakthrough beyond the senses, beyond the imagination and beyond the mind, to

the experience of the absolute, transcendent Reality. From that time there has

been in India an exploration of these higher levels of consciousness which has

gone further than anywhere else in the world. It is an exploration of inner

space which is much more significant than the exploration of outer space. It is

the discovery of the levels of consciousness in human existence, leading to the

ultimate reality. This is something which has profound meaning for the whole

world, and today many people are discovering it in the West as well as in the

East. In the West particularly there has recently been the great discovery that

there is this inner world to be explored, although knowledge and experience of

it was by no means absent before, as we shall see here and particularly in

chapter eleven.

 

We will trace this breakthrough to the transcendent reality in the Hindu

tradition. The Buddhist tradition is no less rich, particularly in the Mahayana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana and in the Vajrayana of Tibet,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana but to explore that would take us too far

afield. So we will concentrate on the Hindu development and see how that

tradition has come to explore this reality. It begins with the discovery of

'brahman', the one Reality behind all phenomena. Then comes the realisation that

this one reality behind all phenomena is one with the Reality behind human

consciousness. (P.177) Whether we move from the outer world to discover the

Reality behind it, or from the inner world to discover the reality within, we

encounter this one Reality, the 'brahman', or the 'atman', the Self, as it is

called.

 

What is involved then is the search for the Self, the inner Reality of the human

being. This is expressed very well in the 'Isa Upanishad', which, as it were,

summarises the doctrine, " He who sees all beings in his self, (atman) and his

self in all beings, he loses all fear. " [1] This is to discover one's self and

the whole creation within and this is the goal of this yoga, as it came to be

called. So we see at this stage the beginnings of the path of yoga. Here it

should be noted that Vedanta is the doctrine and yoga is the practical method of

how to explore, how to discover ultimate Reality. We have seen in the previous

chapter and elsewhere some aspects of the Vedantic doctrine of the knowledge of

that Reality.

 

The first indication is in the 'Katha Upanishad', one of the earlier Upanishads

dated at about 500 BC, where we see, first of all, the structure of the universe

and of human consciousness, as it had come to be understood at this period.

There it says, " Beyond the senses (indriyas) is the mind, the 'manas'. Beyond

the mind is the intellect, the 'buddhi'. Beyond the intellect is the 'mahat',

the great self. Beyond the 'mahat' is the 'avyakta', the unmanifest, and beyond

the unmanifest there is 'purusha'. " [2] This is what Ken Wilber calls the

" spectrum of consciousness " , the degrees of knowledge, which starts from the

senses, the indriyas, through which immediate experience comes. The mind then

works on the senses and the aspect of mind working on the senses is the manas,

this term being derived from the root 'ma', to measure, so the manas is " the

measuring mind " . This is the lowest level of mind. Beyond this is the buddhi,

the intellect or higher intelligence. This is the mind which knows transcendent

reality and the first principles of being and of truth. Aristotle called this

the 'nous' and St. Thomas Aquinas called it the 'intellectus'. (P.178) Whereas

the manas is equivalent, in St. Thomas's understanding, to the 'ratio', the

logical, analytical, discursive aspect of the mind which goes from one thing to

another, the 'intellectus' is the pure intelligence.

 

So far we have gone beyond the senses and the mind to the intellect, but the

next stage opens new ground for most in the West. This next stage is that of the

'mahat' which is the great Self, the cosmic Self, or cosmic consciousness.

Cosmic consciousness arises from the understanding that the world of the senses,

the physical world, is a unity in which everything is interconnected. As the

science of today says, the whole physical world is a web of interrelated being,

and we are part of that web of interrelationships. So also our individual

consciousness is part of a larger consciousness in which we all participate.

That is the cosmic order, the cosmic consciousness. In that, as we shall see

later, are included all the higher realms of being, the angels, the gods and the

cosmic powers.

 

Beyond that world of the mahat [the great Self] is the avyakta, the unmanifest.

Before anything comes into manifestation, to be known by the mind, it is first

unmanifest. It is in the seed. That is what is called 'mula prakriti', the root

nature or the cosmic nature, in which all is gathered up. Using the language of

David Bohm we could say that this is the implicate order. The mula prakriti is

where all things are implicated in one, like a seed from which the whole

creation comes. From the mula prakriti the whole creation comes into

manifestation in the world that we see. Then beyond the avyakta [the unmanifest]

is 'purusha', that great cosmic Person whom we have been considering, and he is

the end. Beyond purusha there is nothing. He is the goal. So we move from the

senses and the mind to the intellect, to the cosmic consciousness, to the

unmanifest and finally to the supreme person. Later, as we shall see, further

distinctions are made within that ultimate, that person. But at present the

'purusha' is the end.

 

[1] Isa Upanishad 6

[2] Katha Upanishad 3:10:11

 

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

Christian Faith), Pg.176-178

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0