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The Absolute, The Ultimate, The Holy.
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In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost . . .” -- Judaism, Isaiah 6:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. -- Christianity, Gospel according to John 1:1-5, 14.
“Those who know Brahman,” replied Angiras, “say that there are two kinds of knowledge, the higher and the lower. The lower is the knowledge of the Vedas [scriptures]. the higher is knowledge of that by which one knows the changeless reality. By this is fully revealed to the wise that which transcends the senses, which is uncaused, which is indefinable, which has neither eyes nor ears, neither hands nor feet, which is all-pervading, subtler than the subtlest--the everlasting, the source of all. As the web comes out of the spider and is withdrawn, as plants grow from the soil and hair from the body of man, so springs the universe form the eternal Brahman.” -- Hinduism, Mundaka Upanishad.
Great King, just as, although the great ocean exists, it is impossible to measure the water or to count the living beings that make their abode there, precisely so, great king, although Nibbana [Nirvana] really exists, it is impossible to make clear the form or figure or age or dimensions of Nibbana, either by an illustration or by a reason or by a cause or by a method. Great king, a person possessed of magical power, possessed of mastery over mind, could estimate the quantity of water in the great ocean and the number of living beings dwelling there; but that person would never be able to make clear the form or figure or age or dimensions of Nibbana. -- Buddhism, Questions of King Malinda (Stryk 112-13).
The Way [Tao] can be spoken of, but it will not be the constant way; The name can be named, but it will not be the constant name. The nameless was the beginning of the myriad creatures; The named was the mother of the myriad creatures. Hence constantly rid yourself of desires in order to observe its subtlety; but constantly allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its subtlety; But constantly allow yourself to have desires in order to observe what it is after. These two have the same origin, but differ in name. They are both called dark, darkness upon darkness, the gateway to all that is subtle. -- Taoism, Tao Te Ching 1
Can you see something similar in Isaiah’s description of God and the vision of Christ in the “Transfiguration”? Can you see the same thing in the description of Nibbana or the Tao?
Is Brahman God? Why or why not?
Why is Isaiah afraid? Is there any relation between his fear and G-d’s glory? Is there any “fear” associated with any of the other objects described or depicted above?
How is greatness expressed in these quotations and the pictures? Can you link that greatness to the inexpressiblity of the Tao or of Brahman? Are God and the revealed Word, also ultimately inexpressible?
Try making a list of adjectives that might describe any of the Sacred Beings depicted or mentioned. Try making a list of nouns to name them all.
The Holy and Numinous Experience “[The Numinous Experience] is a remarkable emotion that at once attracts us with glory and makes us afraid for our lives.”
The Holy and Numinous Experience Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): aesthetic experience as “an outrage of the imagination” and “experience of the sublime.”
The Holy and Numinous Experience Rudolph Otto: “The feeling of it may at times come sweeping like a gentle tide, pervading the mind with a tranquil mood and deepest worship. It may pass over into a more set and lasting attitude of the soul, continuing, as it were, thrillingly vibrant and resonant, until at last it dies away and the soul resumes its “profane,” non-religious mood of every day experience. It may burst in sudden eruption up from the depths of the soul with spasms and convulsions, or lead to the strangest excitements, to intoxicated frenzy, to transport, and to ecstasy. It has its wild and demonic forms and can sink to an almost grisly horror and shuddering. It has its crude, barbaric antecedents and early manifestations, and again it may be developed into something beautiful and pure and glorious. It may become the hushed, trembling, and speechless humility of the creature in the presence of--whom or what? In the presence of that which is a mystery, inexpressible and above all creatures.”
The Absolute, Ultimate and Holy • Absolute: • irreducible • “simple” • Ultimate • Final source and goal • Not contingent (or thing upon which everything else is contingent) • Holy • set apart • “wholly other” • “neti . . . neti”
“God Talk” • via negativa • via analogia
Triune God Jesus part of Trinity Church instituted by Jesus Priest sanctified by Church Blessed by Priest Holy Water
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism • Polytheism • Animal Spirits and Ancestors • Monotheism • The Nontheistic Absolute
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism: “belief in the Absolute conceived of as a God or gods, suggesting that the Ultimate Reality is a personal being, a consciousness that things and plans and feels in some sense like we do.” • Polytheism • Animal Spirits and Ancestors • Monotheism • The Nontheistic Absolute
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism • Polytheism: “. . . it seems the gods of polytheism share holiness, exhibit it ‘more or less,’ and perhaps even pass it on to their children, like an inherited characteristic. . . . of course, the point of all these deities may not be that we like them all but that we see their glory, or at least the glory of one of them.” • Animal Spirits and Ancestors • Monotheism • The Nontheistic Absolute
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism • Polytheism • Animal Spirits and Ancestors: • animism: “. . . the objects of nature are themselves imbued with souls . . . and so the tree or the deer is somehow more than an object of nature.” • ancestor spirits may also be venerated and require interaction • Monotheism • The Nontheistic Absolute
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism • Polytheism • Animal Spirits and Ancestors • Monotheism: (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), “. . . the one God, the ‘God Almighty,’ is given an absolutely unique authority, shared with no other being.” • The Nontheistic Absolute
Conceptions of the Absolute • Theism • Polytheism • Animal Spirits and Ancestors • Monotheism • The Nontheistic Absolute: “ . . . an impersonal Absolute is more likely conceived of as a great substance, an impersonal essence, or some general abstraction of spirit or being itself.” • monism: single unity of all being(s) • pantheism: sees “god” in all things, but a plurality of things still exist.
Religious Disagreement in a Global Context • Exclusivism • Inclusivism • Pluralism
