169 lines
7.9 KiB
Plaintext
169 lines
7.9 KiB
Plaintext
The Microcosm
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World Scripture
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THE MICROCOSM
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These passages describe the human being as a microcosm of the universe, having
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the essences of all things in him- or herself. As the microcosm, human beings
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have the foundation to know, use, and enjoy all things. Of all creatures,
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humans have the widest scope of thought and action, encompassing all things,
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knowing and appreciating all things, guiding and prospering all things, and
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transcending all things.
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All that the Holy One created in the world He created in man.
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1. Judaism. Talmud, Abot de Rabbi Nathan 31
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We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in themselves, till it is
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clear to them that it is the truth.
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2. Islam. Qur'an 41.53
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One who knows the inner self knows the external world as well. One who knows
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the external world knows the inner self as well.
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3. Jainism. Acarangasutra 1.147
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The whole of existence arises in me,
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In me arises the threefold world,
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By me pervaded is this all,
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Of naught else does this world consist.
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4. Buddhism. Hevajra Tantra 8.41
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The illimitable Void of the universe is capable of holding myriads of things of
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various shape and form, such as the sun, the moon, stars, mountains, rivers,
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worlds, springs, rivulets, bushes, woods, good men, bad men, dharmas pertaining
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to goodness or badness, deva planes, hells, great oceans, and all the mountains
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of the Mahameru. Space takes in all these, and so does the voidness of our
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nature. We say that the Essence of Mind is great because it embraces all
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things, since all things are within our nature.
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5. Buddhism. Sutra of Hui Neng 2
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Abot de Rabbi Nathan 31: Cf. Berakot 10a, p. 211. Hevajra Tantra 8.41: Cf.
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Samyutta Nikaya i.62, p. 679.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Man is the product of the attributes of Heaven and Earth, by the interaction of
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the dual forces of nature, the union of the animal and intelligent souls, and
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the finest subtle matter of the five elements.
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Heaven exercises the control of the strong and light force, and hangs out the
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sun and stars. Earth exercises the control of the dark and weaker force, and
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gives vent to it in the hills and streams. The five elements are distributed
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through the four seasons, and it is by their harmonious action that the moon is
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produced, which therefore keeps waxing for fifteen days and waning for fifteen.
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The five elements in their movements alternately displace and exhaust one
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another. Each one of them, in the revolving course of the twelve months of the
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four seasons, comes to be in its turn the fundamental one for the time.
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The five notes of harmony, with their six upper musical accords, and the twelve
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pitch-tubes, come each, in their revolutions among themselves, to be the first
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note of the scale.
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The five flavors, with the six condiments, and the twelve articles of diet,
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come each one, in their revolutions in the course of the year, to give its
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character to the food.
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The five colors, with the six elegant figures, which they form on the two
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robes, come each one, in their revolutions among themselves, to give the
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character of the dress that is worn.
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Therefore Man is the heart and mind of Heaven and Earth, and the visible
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embodiment of the five elements. He lives in the enjoyment of all flavors, the
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discriminating of all notes of harmony, and the enrobing of all colors.
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6. Confucianism. Book of Ritual 7.3.1-7
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In the beginning the Self alone was here--no other thing that blinks the eye at
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all. He thought, "What if I were to emanate worlds?"
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He emanated these worlds, water, rays of light, death, the waters. Water is up
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there beyond the sky; the sky supports it. The rays of light are the
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atmosphere; death the earth; what is underneath, the waters.
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He thought again, "Here now are these worlds. What if I were to emanate
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guardians?" He raised a Man (Purusha) up from the water and gave him a form.
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He brooded over him; when he had finished brooding over him, a mouth broke open
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on him the likeness of an egg. From the mouth came speech and from speech Fire.
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Nostrils broke open, from the nostrils came breath, from breath the Wind.
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Eyes broke open, from the eyes came sight, from sight the Sun.
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Ears broke open, from the ears came hearing, from hearing the Points of the
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Compass.
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Skin broke out, from skin grew hairs, from the hairs plants and trees.
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A heart broke out, from the heart came mind, from the mind the Moon.
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A navel broke open, from the navel came the out-breath, from the out-breath
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Death.
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A phallus broke forth, from the phallus came semen, from semen Water....
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Those deities [the macrocosmic beings], Fire and the rest, after they had been
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sent forth, fell into the great ocean. Then he [the Self] besieged him [the
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Purusha] with hunger and thirst. The deities then spoke to him, "Allow us a
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place in which we may rest and take food."
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He led a cow towards them. They said, "This is not enough." He led a horse
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towards them. They said, "This is not enough." He led man towards them. Then
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they said, "Well done, indeed." Therefore man is well done. He said to them,
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"Enter the man, each according to his place."
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Then fire, having become speech, entered the mouth; the wind, having become
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breath, entered the nostrils; the sun, having become sight, entered the eyes;
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the regions, having become hearing, entered the ears; the plants and trees,
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having become hairs, entered the skin; the moon, having become mind, entered
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the heart; death, having become out-breathing, entered the navel; water, having
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become semen, entered the phallus....
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The Self considered, "How could these guardians exist without me?"
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Again he thought, "By what way shall I enter them?
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"If, without me, speech is uttered, breath is drawn, eye sees, ear hears, skin
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feels, mind thinks, sex organs procreate, then what am I?"
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He thought, "Let me enter the guardians." Whereupon, opening the center of
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their skulls, he entered. The door by which he entered is called the door of
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bliss.
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7. Hinduism. Aitareya Upanishad 1.1-3.12
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Book of Ritual 7.3.1-7: Cf. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 27, p.
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311.
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Each man is a microcosm of the universe. Your body is made of all the elements
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of the world. Nature supplied all the ingredients that make your body, which
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means that the universe made you by donating itself. If nature demanded that
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you refund everything that nature loaned you, would there be anything left of
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you? You can feel that the universe gave you birth and made you, so nature is
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your first parent. Do you feel good that you are a microcosm of the universe?
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All the universal formulas can be found in you. You could accurately say that
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you are a small walking universe that can move, whereas the cosmic universe is
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stationary. Because you can move and act, you can govern the universe. The
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universe would want you to exercise dominion over it, so your first duty would
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be to love nature. Then, wherever you are, you can love the creation and
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appreciate it.
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8. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-79
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Aitareya Upanishad 1.1-3.12: Vv. 1.1-4, 2.1-4, 3.11-12. The Purusha formed at
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the beginning of creation is the macrocosmic Person; his parts are then
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invested in man, the microcosm. Likewise, Hindu temples are built on the
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pattern of the human body: see Vacana 820, p. 211. For other accounts of
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creation out of the macrocosmic Person, cf. Rig Veda 10.90.6-16, pp. 868f.
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Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.7-9, p. 132; Okanagan Creation, p. 298. Sun Myung Moon,
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9-30-79: Cf. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 27, p. 311.
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