Cyril
How does religious pluralism constitute a check on religious fundamentalism
Religious pluralism
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replied to: Cyril
SamuelStuartMaynes
Replied to: How does religious pluralism constitute a check on religious fundamentalism
In a constructive worldview: east, west, and far-east religions present a threefold understanding of One God manifest primarily in Muslim and Hebrew intuition of the Deity Absolute, Christian and Krishnan Hindu conception of the Universal Absolute Supreme Being; and Shaivite Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist apprehension of the Destroyer (meaning also Consummator), Unconditioned Absolute, or Spirit of All That Is and is not. Together with their variations and combinations in other major religions, these religious ideas reflect and express our collective understanding of God, in an expanded concept of the Holy Trinity.
The Trinity Absolute is portrayed in the logic of world religions, as follows:
1. Muslims and Jews may be said to worship only the first person of the Trinity, i.e. the existential Deity Absolute Creator, known as Allah or Yhwh, Abba or Father (as Jesus called him), Brahma, and other names; represented by Gabriel (Executive Archangel), Muhammad and Moses (mighty messenger prophets), and others.
2. Christians and Krishnan Hindus may be said to worship the first person through a second person, i.e. the experiential Universe or "Universal” Absolute Supreme Being (Allsoul or Supersoul), called Son/Christ or Vishnu/Krishna; represented by Michael (Supreme Archangel), Jesus (teacher and savior of souls), and others. The Allsoul is that gestalt of personal human consciousness, which we expect will be the "body of Christ" (Mahdi, Messiah, Kalki or Maitreya) in the second coming – personified in history by Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha (9th incarnation of Vishnu), and others.
3. Shaivite Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian-Taoists seem to venerate the synthesis of the first and second persons in a third person or appearance, ie. the Destiny Consummator of ultimate reality – unqualified Nirvana consciousness – associative Tao of All That Is – the absonite* Unconditioned Absolute Spirit “Synthesis of Source and Synthesis,”** who/which is logically expected to be Allah/Abba/Brahma glorified in and by union with the Supreme Being – represented in religions by Gabriel, Michael, and other Archangels, Mahadevas, Spiritpersons, etc., who may be included within the mysterious Holy Ghost.
Other strains of religion seem to be psychological variations on the third person, or possibly combinations and permutations of the members of the Trinity – all just different personality perspectives on the Same God. Taken together, the world’s major religions give us at least two insights into the first person of this thrice-personal One God, two perceptions of the second person, and at least three glimpses of the third.
* The ever-mysterious Holy Ghost or Unconditioned Spirit is neither absolutely infinite, nor absolutely finite, but absonite; meaning neither existential nor experiential, but their ultimate consummation; neither fully ideal nor totally real, but a middle path and grand synthesis of the superconscious and the conscious, in consciousness of the unconscious.
** This conception is so strong because somewhat as the Absonite Spirit is a synthesis of the spirit of the Absolute and the spirit of the Supreme, so it would seem that the evolving Supreme Being may himself also be a synthesis or “gestalt” of humanity with itself, in an Almighty Universe Allperson or Supersoul. Thus ultimately, the Absonite is their Unconditioned Absolute Coordinate Identity – the Spirit Synthesis of Source and Synthesis – the metaphysical Destiny Consummator of All That Is.
“Modalism,” in the form of over-identification with the imposingly awesome Deity Absolute seems to be a natural psychological attitude of many Muslims, Jews, and some fundamentalist Christians. This attitude is highly comparable to the pronounced proclivity of many Christians, Krishnans, and others to “devotionalism” or bhakti, rendered primarily to the apparently almighty Universe Absolute Supreme Allsoul or Supersoul. Similarly, Shaivite Hindus, some Buddhists, Neo-Confucians, Taoists, and others seem to venerate primarily the mystery of the seemingly ruthless Destiny Consummator (Holy Ghost) or Unconditioned Absolute Spirit of All That Is – the undifferentiated, unqualified, and ineffable Tao.
Fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others should be encouraged to continue worshipping the person of the Deity Absolute or Creator, but at the same time, they should be asked to acknowledge that Trinitarian Christians and Krishnan Hindus can also worship Him through devotion to His second persona – the Universe Absolute Supreme Being or Allsoul Perserver – and to recognize how well this fits with worship or homage directed to expressions of Their mysterious third persona – the Holy Ghost – envisioned by Shavite Hindus as a personal Destiny Destroyer/Consummator, and by Buddhists as the neither personal nor impersonal Unconditioned Absolute, and then again by Taoists as the pre-personal Spirit of the Tao of All That Is. Different views – Same God.
All religions can deepen their own understanding and strengthen their own communities, by looking at themselves and each other as different but related images of One God – multidimensional and manifest in the Trinity Absolute.
Religious Pluralism based on the Trinity Absolute could be a providential paradigm for mutual understanding and peace.
For more details, please see: www.religiouspluralism.ca, and leave a comment for my bulletin board.
Samuel Stuart Maynes
www.religiouspluralism.ca
The Trinity Absolute is portrayed in the logic of world religions, as follows:
1. Muslims and Jews may be said to worship only the first person of the Trinity, i.e. the existential Deity Absolute Creator, known as Allah or Yhwh, Abba or Father (as Jesus called him), Brahma, and other names; represented by Gabriel (Executive Archangel), Muhammad and Moses (mighty messenger prophets), and others.
2. Christians and Krishnan Hindus may be said to worship the first person through a second person, i.e. the experiential Universe or "Universal” Absolute Supreme Being (Allsoul or Supersoul), called Son/Christ or Vishnu/Krishna; represented by Michael (Supreme Archangel), Jesus (teacher and savior of souls), and others. The Allsoul is that gestalt of personal human consciousness, which we expect will be the "body of Christ" (Mahdi, Messiah, Kalki or Maitreya) in the second coming – personified in history by Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha (9th incarnation of Vishnu), and others.
3. Shaivite Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian-Taoists seem to venerate the synthesis of the first and second persons in a third person or appearance, ie. the Destiny Consummator of ultimate reality – unqualified Nirvana consciousness – associative Tao of All That Is – the absonite* Unconditioned Absolute Spirit “Synthesis of Source and Synthesis,”** who/which is logically expected to be Allah/Abba/Brahma glorified in and by union with the Supreme Being – represented in religions by Gabriel, Michael, and other Archangels, Mahadevas, Spiritpersons, etc., who may be included within the mysterious Holy Ghost.
Other strains of religion seem to be psychological variations on the third person, or possibly combinations and permutations of the members of the Trinity – all just different personality perspectives on the Same God. Taken together, the world’s major religions give us at least two insights into the first person of this thrice-personal One God, two perceptions of the second person, and at least three glimpses of the third.
* The ever-mysterious Holy Ghost or Unconditioned Spirit is neither absolutely infinite, nor absolutely finite, but absonite; meaning neither existential nor experiential, but their ultimate consummation; neither fully ideal nor totally real, but a middle path and grand synthesis of the superconscious and the conscious, in consciousness of the unconscious.
** This conception is so strong because somewhat as the Absonite Spirit is a synthesis of the spirit of the Absolute and the spirit of the Supreme, so it would seem that the evolving Supreme Being may himself also be a synthesis or “gestalt” of humanity with itself, in an Almighty Universe Allperson or Supersoul. Thus ultimately, the Absonite is their Unconditioned Absolute Coordinate Identity – the Spirit Synthesis of Source and Synthesis – the metaphysical Destiny Consummator of All That Is.
“Modalism,” in the form of over-identification with the imposingly awesome Deity Absolute seems to be a natural psychological attitude of many Muslims, Jews, and some fundamentalist Christians. This attitude is highly comparable to the pronounced proclivity of many Christians, Krishnans, and others to “devotionalism” or bhakti, rendered primarily to the apparently almighty Universe Absolute Supreme Allsoul or Supersoul. Similarly, Shaivite Hindus, some Buddhists, Neo-Confucians, Taoists, and others seem to venerate primarily the mystery of the seemingly ruthless Destiny Consummator (Holy Ghost) or Unconditioned Absolute Spirit of All That Is – the undifferentiated, unqualified, and ineffable Tao.
Fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others should be encouraged to continue worshipping the person of the Deity Absolute or Creator, but at the same time, they should be asked to acknowledge that Trinitarian Christians and Krishnan Hindus can also worship Him through devotion to His second persona – the Universe Absolute Supreme Being or Allsoul Perserver – and to recognize how well this fits with worship or homage directed to expressions of Their mysterious third persona – the Holy Ghost – envisioned by Shavite Hindus as a personal Destiny Destroyer/Consummator, and by Buddhists as the neither personal nor impersonal Unconditioned Absolute, and then again by Taoists as the pre-personal Spirit of the Tao of All That Is. Different views – Same God.
All religions can deepen their own understanding and strengthen their own communities, by looking at themselves and each other as different but related images of One God – multidimensional and manifest in the Trinity Absolute.
Religious Pluralism based on the Trinity Absolute could be a providential paradigm for mutual understanding and peace.
For more details, please see: www.religiouspluralism.ca, and leave a comment for my bulletin board.
Samuel Stuart Maynes
www.religiouspluralism.ca