God with and without form
Two ideas
about God are described in the scriptures (sastras):
the idea that He is cognizable as having attributes and the idea that He is
free from all attributes, so He cannot be described as thus and thus. These are
the with-form (saguna) and the without-form
(nirguna) aspects. The with-form God
is cognized as present everywhere, as the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of
everything and being, as the Father and Mother of the Universe.
Therefore,
He is beyond and above all beings and things and eternally distinct and
different from humanity. It is said by upholders of the with-form aspect that
the very cognition of this attributeful principle brings about liberation (mukthi). Liberation is attained when one
establishes oneself in this knowledge and lives in and through it.
The second
way to acquire awareness is through contemplation on the attributeless without form
principle. During this contemplation, the truth that the ascription of
attributes to the divine principle is undesirable and inappropriate is realized
and the attributes are shed from the concept of God. Then, the one universal
attributeless person will alone remain in the consciousness.
It can be
referred to as the Knower (Jnatha).
For, wisdom (jnana) is relevant only
in the context of the human mind and human consciousness. It cannot be
designated as the inquirer, because inquiry is the mark of the weak. It cannot
be related to the intelligence, for intelligence discriminates, and the attempt
to divide and dissect is again a sign of unsteadiness.
It cannot be
designated the Creator, for creation is the activity of the bound, the limited.
It or He has no bonds or limits. Activity implies a wish, a want, a desire; it
does not originate from any other cause. All work has as its base some inner
pain that is sought to be alleviated.
In the
Vedas, the Divine is spoken of only as THAT. The reference is always to THAT.
The word “He” is susceptible of provoking ideas of difference, so the word THAT
is used to indicate that it is free from all limitations and bonds imposed by
the ascription of attributes. This is the essence of the philosophy of non-dualism,
for attributes divide and distinguish.
Love.
