“I think tantric imagery is far too esoteric for general
consumption, but it certainly is becoming mainstream among tattoo
artists.” Robert Beer, Tricycle, Winter
2010
“Saints of all religions have attained God-realization
through the simple concept of the Cosmic Beloved. Because the Absolute is nirguna, “without qualities” and acintya, “inconceivable,” human thought
and yearning have ever personalized It as the Universal Mother. A combination
of personal theism and the philosophy of the Absolute is an ancient achievement
of Hindu thought, expounded in the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita. This
“reconciliation of opposites” satisfies heart and head; bhaktis (devotion) and
jnana (wisdom) are essentially one.” Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda,
1946
Comment
Tibetan Buddhism is very close to Hinduism and shares with
it the tradition of studying with living enlightened beings. As for Yogananda’s
quote the first thing I find striking is that the personalized “God” is female.
Second is that what the eastern philosophers were trying to reconcile with the
idea of the Absolute was, unlike western Existentialists, the truth of their
emotions as opposed to an unrelenting rationalism.
1 comment:
A friend emailed me these question:
Are you saying that the eastern philosophers were trying to reconcile the truth of their emotions with the Absolute? What was their concept of the Absolute?
My response:
I think they were more saying that the Absolute inspired a very emotional kind of love--bhakti. Those emotions became the basis of an acknowledge personification of the God thing, and a female one at that---and that's very different from how most Westerners feel/think about a very male singular God, not a personification, and not one of the many faces of the Absolute.
As for Easterner's concept of the Absolute or "nirvana", it is conceived of as "beyond words" but some words that people use are oceanic and without form. What I find interesting is that while Westerners may have thought of God the same way, those cognitions didn't often inspire an emotional, passionate, devotional kind of love (bhaki). Moreover, it is possible that that kind of love, emotional, becomes more prevalent the further south and east you get!! Go figua!
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