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From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchModern Cosmology as Metaphor and the Double Nature of Soul (view source)
Revision as of 02:28, 11 December 2007
, 02:28, 11 December 2007→Soul's Double Nature and Polytheism/Monotheism
When confronted by what seemed to me a blatant contradiction between the monotheism of the Upanishads and the blatant polytheism in daily religious life, I sought refuge in the idea that monotheism and polytheism were the views of the elite and the common people respectively, that they only existed side by side, but were not actually integrated. However, questioning of both intellectuals and the humblest of worshipper lead to the same look of surprise when I expressed concern about the seeming contradiction. They found no contradiction between monotheism and polythesism and could barely relate to my concern. Without going into a detailed philosophic or religious analysis of how this could be, I merely end this section by quoting Hinduism's most revered systematizer and philosopher of non-dualism, Adi Sankaracharya. The sixth stanza in his hymn to Bhavani, the Divine Mother reads:
When confronted by what seemed to me a blatant contradiction between the monotheism of the Upanishads and the blatant polytheism in daily religious life, I sought refuge in the idea that monotheism and polytheism were the views of the elite and the common people respectively, that they only existed side by side, but were not actually integrated. However, questioning of both intellectuals and the humblest of worshipper lead to the same look of surprise when I expressed concern about the seeming contradiction. They found no contradiction between monotheism and polythesism and could barely relate to my concern. Without going into a detailed philosophic or religious analysis of how this could be, I merely end this section by quoting Hinduism's most revered systematizer and philosopher of non-dualism, Adi Sankaracharya. The sixth stanza in his hymn to Bhavani, the Divine Mother reads:
I know neither Brahma nor Vishnu nor Shiva,
Nor Indra, sun, moon, or similar being-
Not one of the numberless gods, O Redeemer!
In Thee, is my help and my strength, O Bhavani![14]
===Conclusion===
===Conclusion===
