The One or Many?

[redindica]

Dear Friends

I was reading the Islamic section of this site and was struck by one Muslims view on how we Hindu’s regard God and the forms in which we have decided to represent the One Truth.

Please read.

By Aidyl Nurhadi in the Islam section
I believe it's established that you're a Hindu. You said that you see no point in approaching God through a particular religion, language or book because you reason that if God is transcendal, then it would be unimportant for one to approach him through the three things you suggested. If we were to take you advice then what we as Muslims are suppose to do is to just chuck away our Holy Qur'an and refer to it as a secondary or tertiary or lesser value in our pursuit to find and understand the true path. With this concept in mind, it would also suggest at the same time that you in turn should also chuck away or try not to refer to the Mahabhrata, The Vedas, the Puranas, Upanishads etc. At the same time you must also disregard the language of these scriptures which are mainly sanskrit..can you suggest to the Hindu an alternative way to understand Hinduism without referring to their religious texts in their pursuit to find God? How are you suppose to understand what exatly is that you're suppose to worship, is it God? is it natural elements? animals? WHAT? if not by referring to these texts? Do you even know what you're talking about Devadatta? You said most Hindus are monotheists, meaning they worship Brahma the unseen God. Well I would agree with what you said except for the part where you said "MOST" Hindus. I believe the majority believe in pantheism dear. Evidence to this is nearly all temples are decorated with hundreds if not millions of statues adhered and worshipped by the populace. I know, I live in Malaysia and I've been to India.

So how many of us belive that there are liturally millions of Gods as insisted by Aidyl Nurhadi.…and that they are not abstract representations of the Ultimate Unknowable but as real as The Prophet.

Peace
redindica

[wil]

I not being Hindu but very interested in understanding other belief systems look forward to this discussion.

I've had some great discussions with Hindu priests and one that really enlightened me was when he told me, (paraphrased), "To my daughter I am her father, to my nephew I am his uncle, to my mom I am her son, to my sister, I am her brother, to you I am a priest....but it is all me, Krishna is the same, many faces, one G-d, it all depends on your perspective, your situation, how you percieve the one G-d."

[Agnideva]

Originally Posted by redindica

So how many of us belive that there are liturally millions of Gods as insisted by Aidyl Nurhadi.…and that they are not abstract representations of the Ultimate Unknowable but as real as The Prophet.

Namaste Redindica,

Yours is definitely an interesting question. I wonder about this too. Strictly speaking, I don’t think Hinduism overall could be labeled monotheism, polytheism, henotheism, panentheism, or pantheism. I think elements of all these theisms are found in Sanatana Dharma. If you ask most Hindus, they will likely tell you there is One Divine, but chances are they will also not say there is only way to represent, reach or commune with that Divine. Multiplicity in Hinduism is seen as a byproduct of creation. To see the oneness through the multiple, or to “know” the abstract formless through concrete form in Hinduism would be considered, if not realization itself, a great leap toward that end.

A relevant passage:

Sage Kutsâyana's hymn of praise:

Thou art Brahmâ, Thou art Vishnu, Thou art Rudra, Thou Prajâpati, Thou Agni, Varuna, Vâyu, Indra, Soma, Manu, Yama, and Bhumi (Earth). Thou art All, Thou art the Imperishable. In Thee all things exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own (higher) ends. Lord of the Universe, glory unto Thee! Thou art the Self of All, Thou art the Maker of All, the Enjoyer of All; Thou art all life, and the Lord of all pleasure and joy. Glory to Thee, O tranquil One, the deeply-hidden One, the Incomprehensible, the Immeasurable; O Thou without beginning and without end.

-Maitriyani Upanishad (V.1) of the Sâmaveda.

OM Shanti,
A.

[redindica]

Namaste Agnideva & wil

Thank you for your thoughts. Agnideva as you have pointed out I think it's a bit simplistic to encompass the Creator with just one way of looking at the creative force which some label as God. We can see this by the complexity of the Universe where we have multiple disciplines to explain its (natures) mechanisms. The one unified theory still eludes us does it not?

Thank you both again. Any more thoughts most welcome.

Peace
redindica

[AletheiaRivers]

Originally Posted by Agnideva

Thou art Brahmâ, Thou art Vishnu, Thou art Rudra, Thou Prajâpati, Thou Agni, Varuna, Vâyu, Indra, Soma, Manu, Yama, and Bhumi (Earth). Thou art All, Thou art the Imperishable. In Thee all things exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own (higher) ends. Lord of the Universe, glory unto Thee! Thou art the Self of All, Thou art the Maker of All, the Enjoyer of All; Thou art all life, and the Lord of all pleasure and joy. Glory to Thee, O tranquil One, the deeply-hidden One, the Incomprehensible, the Immeasurable; O Thou without beginning and without end.

Beautiful.

[PrachandaChandikA]

Hinduism is worship of the one god in it's many forms. Some worship as if brahma's aspect are different and seperate (which is true) and some intellectually theorise them to be the same. The universe is fragmented as we see it, but deep down it may be a continum...same with God and Gods. The key in hinduism is trying to know God and be one with him/her or his one particular aspect-the chosen deity.

[redindica]

Hi All

thank you for the various qoutes and thoughts....much to ponder.....I've come across another quote which I think will add to this thread.

Brahman is the One Absolute Ageless/Eternal Infinite thing which Exists and connects the world together. If this is all that existed though, then there can be no logical concepts, (as logic requires two things), nor indeed any understanding of how this One thing could cause the Many changing things which we experience in the world.
Reality or Brahman is a unity, oneness or absolute, changeless, eternal, and such that no predicates can apply to it: in the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation. The idea of time cannot be there, seeing that there is no mind, no thought. The idea of space cannot be there, seeing that there is no eternal change. What you call motion and causation cannot exist where there is only one. (Vivekananda)

Peace