260 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
260 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
THE ONE
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World Scripture
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THE ONE
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In this section are collected passages describing the unity of God. First are
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texts proclaiming the oneness of Absolute Reality: God in the monotheistic
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religions, a Primal Absolute at the root of phenomena in Confucian and Taoist
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metaphysical texts, and a reality that in Mahayana Buddhism is called Nirvana
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or Suchness and which transcends any being, divine or human. Next come
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passages, especially from the Hindu tradition, which recognize many deities but
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recognize them to be the diverse manifestations of the One that is beyond any
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name. Or, in the case of Native American religion, the many spiritual forces
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are one by virtue of their solidarity in action. For related texts on the One
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God who exists at the root of all religions, see Prologue One Source and One
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Goal, pp... In sharp contrast to the above, we have also included some
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representative passages, largely from the monotheistic religions, which define
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the Oneness of God in contradistinction to all other existence. Other divine
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beings are regarded at best as subordinate to the One God and at worst as
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illusory or demonic: see Idolatry, pp. 286-89.
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Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
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1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Deuteronomy 6.4
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I am the Lord, and there is no other,
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besides me there is no God.
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2. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 45.5
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Say, He is God, the One!
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God, the eternally Besought of all!
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He neither begets nor was begotten.
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And there is none comparable unto Him.
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3. Islam. Qur'an 112
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He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Self within all
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beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the
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perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.
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4. Hinduism. Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11
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He is the Sole Supreme Being; of eternal manifestation;
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Creator, Immanent Reality; Without Fear, Without Rancor;
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Timeless Form; Unincarnated; Self-existent;
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Realized by the grace of the Holy Preceptor.
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5. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji, p. 1: The Mul Mantra
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The sage clasps the Primal Unity,
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Testing by it everything under heaven.
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6. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 22
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Absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestructible, it is eternal. Being
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eternal, it is self-existent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being
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infinite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep, it is transcendental and
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intelligent. It is because it is vast and deep that it contains all existence.
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It is because it is transcendental and intelligent that it embraces all
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existence. It is because it is infinite and eternal that it fulfills or
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perfects all existence. In vastness and depth it is like the Earth. In
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transcendental intelligence it is like Heaven. Infinite and eternal, it is the
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Infinite itself. Such being the nature of absolute truth, it manifests itself
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without being seen; it produces effects without motion; it accomplishes its
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ends without action.
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7. Confucianism. Doctrine of the Mean 26
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Deuteronomy 6.4: The opening lines of the Shema, p. 55. Qur'an 112: This sura,
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which concludes the Qur'an (except for two prayers for protection), has been
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called the essence of the Qur'an. God's oneness implies that all reality is a
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unity (tawhid): see Qur'an 2.115, p. 109. Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11: This is
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a favorite verse of Shankara: see Vedanta Sutras I.1.4; cf. Sama Veda 372, p.
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766. Doctrine of the Mean 26: Compare descriptions of the Tao and Dharmakaya
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as a single transcendent principle, e.g., Tao Te Ching 25, p. 95, and Garland
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Sutra 37, p. 96.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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When appearances and names are put away and all discrimination ceases, that
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which remains is the true and essential nature of things and, as nothing can be
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predicated as to the nature of essence, is called the "Suchness" of Reality.
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This universal, undifferentiated, inscrutable Suchness is the only Reality, but
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it is variously characterized as Truth, Mind-essence, Transcendental
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Intelligence, Perfection of Wisdom, etc. This Dharma of the imagelessness of
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the Essence-nature of Ultimate Reality is the Dharma which has been proclaimed
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by all the Buddhas, and when all things are understood in full agreement with
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it, one is in possession of Perfect Knowledge.
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8. Buddhism. Lankavatara Sutra
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Tathagatas certainly do not come from anywhere, nor do they go anywhere.
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Because Suchness does not move, and the Tathagata is Suchness. Non-production
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does not come nor go, and the Tathagata is non-production. One cannot conceive
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of the coming or going of the reality-limit, and the Tathagata is the
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reality-limit. The same can be said of emptiness, of what exists in accordance
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with fact, of dispassion, of stopping, of the element of space. For the
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Tathagata is not outside these dharmas. The Suchness of these dharmas and the
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Suchness of all dharmas and the Suchness of the Tathagata are simply this one
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single Suchness. There is no division within Suchness. Just simply one single
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is this Suchness, not two, nor three.
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9. Buddhism. Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 31.1
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Then Vidaghdha, son of Shakala, asked him, "How many gods are there,
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Yajnavalkya?" Yajnavalkya, ascertaining the number through a group of mantras
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known as the Nivid, replied, "As many as are mentioned in the Nivid of the
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gods: three hundred and three, and three thousand and three."
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"Very good," said the son of Shakala, "and how many gods are there,
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Yajnavalkya?"
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"Thirty-three."
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"Very good, and how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
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"Six."
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"Very good, and how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
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"Three."
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"Very good, and how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
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"Two."
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"Very good, and how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
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"One and a half."
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"Very good, and how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?"
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"One."
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10. Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9.1
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Lankavatara Sutra: This sutra teaches that the existing world is created by
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mind. The world of appearances, which is characterized by suffering, is rooted
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in the seeds of defilements that are accumulated in the subconscious mind.
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True Reality is what is realized when all defilements have been removed and the
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mind operates with Perfect Wisdom. The Suchness of existence is thus identical
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with the essence of Mind. Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 31.1:
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This is one of the earliest Mahayana sutras, and the first which used the word
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Mahayana. The doctrine of Suchness deals with the unchanging truth beyond the
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limit of phenomenal reality. It is the same as Emptiness--the doctrine that
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one cannot rely upon any phenomenon, as all are impermanent, relative, and
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conditioned by other phenomena. It is also the same as the Tathagata, that is,
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the Buddha whose essence is eternity.
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- - - - - - - - - - -
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There is only one God; all the "gods" are but His ministering angels who are
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His manifestations.
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11. Omoto Kyo. Michi-no-Shiori
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Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties
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of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is
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the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the
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manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
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12. Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 12.4-7
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God said to Israel, "Because you have seen me in many likenesses, there are not
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therefore many gods. But it is ever the same God: I am the Lord your God."
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Rabbi Levi said, "God appeared to them like a mirror, in which many faces can
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be reflected; a thousand people look at it; it looks at all of them." So when
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God spoke to the Israelites, each one thought that God spoke individually to
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him.
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13. Judaism. Midrash, Pesikta Kahana 109b-110a
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Just as light is diffused from a fire which is confined to one spot, so is this
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whole universe the diffused energy of the supreme Brahman. And as light shows a
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difference, greater or less, according to its nearness or distance from the
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fire, so is there a variation in the energy of the impersonal Brahman. Brahma,
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Vishnu, and Shiva are his chief energies. The deities are inferior to them;
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the yakshas, etc. to the deities; men, cattle, wild animals, birds, and
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reptiles to the yakshas, etc.; and trees and plants are the lowest of all these
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energies....
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Vishnu is the highest and most immediate of all the energies of Brahman, the
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embodied Brahman, formed of the whole Brahman. On him this entire universe is
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woven and interwoven: from him is the world, and the world is in him; and he is
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the whole universe. Vishnu, the Lord, consisting of what is perishable as well
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as what is imperishable, sustains everything, both Spirit and Matter, in the
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form of his ornaments and weapons.
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14. Hinduism. Vishnu Purana 1
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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9.1: The infinite number of gods is included in the
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limited number represented in the Nivid, these are again but manifestations of
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the Thirty-three, and these are likewise included in the successively more
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fundamental things down to the One, That, Brahman. Cf. Rig Veda 1.164.46, p.
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59. Michi-no-Shiori: Cf. Hebrews 1.14, p. 368. Vishnu Purana 1: The first
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paragraph is a good statement of Pantheism and the theory of creation by
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emanation. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are sometimes called the Hindu trinity.
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Cf. Chun Boo Kyung, p. 95.
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- - - - - - - - - - -
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Every object in the world has a spirit, and that spirit is wakan. Thus the
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spirits of the tree or things of that kind, while not like the spirit of man,
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are also wakan. Wakan comes from the wakan beings. These wakan beings are
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greater than mankind in the same way that mankind is greater than animals. They
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are never born and never die. They can do many things that mankind cannot do.
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Mankind can pray to the wakan beings for help. There are many of these beings
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but all are of four kinds. The word Wakan Tanka means all of the wakan beings
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because they are all as if one.
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Wakan Tanka Kin signifies the chief or leading wakan being, which is the Sun.
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However, the most powerful of the wakan beings is Nagk Tanka, the Great Spirit,
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who is also called Taku Shanskan, the Sky....
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Mankind is permitted to pray to the wakan beings. If their prayer is directed
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to all the good wakan beings, they should pray to Wakan Tanka; but if the
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prayer is offered to only one of these beings, then the one addressed should be
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named.... Wakan Tanka is like sixteen different persons; but each person is
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kan. Therefore, they are only the same as one.
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15. Native American Religions. Dakota Tradition
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O God, You are great,
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You are the one who created me,
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I have no other.
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God, You are in the heavens,
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You are the only one:
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Now my child is sick,
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And You will grant me my desire.
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16. African Traditional Religions. Anuak Prayer (Sudan)
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God has not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with Him; else each god
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would have surely championed that which he created, and some of them would have
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overcome others. Glorified be God above all that they allege... exalted be He
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over all that they ascribe as partners unto Him!
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17. Islam. Qur'an 23.91-92
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We know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one.
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For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as indeed there
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are many "gods" and many "lords"--yet for us there is one God, the Father, from
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whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
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whom are all things and through whom we exist.
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18. Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 8.4-6
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Only from the unitary and unified Cause, can the unified resultant world be
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created.
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19. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 10-13-72
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To Him belong all creatures in the heavens and on the earth: even those who are
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in His very Presence are not too proud to serve Him, nor are they ever weary.
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They celebrate His praises night and day, nor do they ever flag or intermit.
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Or have they taken gods from the earth who can raise the dead? If there were,
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in the heavens or in the earth, other gods besides God, there would have been
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confusion in both! But glory to God, the Lord of the Throne; high is He above
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what they attribute to Him!
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20. Islam. Qur'an 21.19-22
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Dakota Tradition: This is a concise statement of the solidarity of all
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spiritual forces; see Cree Round Dance Song, p. 55; Zuni Song, p. 295; Sioux
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Tradition, p. 370; Yanomami Shaman, p. 370; Winnebago Invocation, p. 373.
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Qur'an 23.91-92: Cf. Qur'an 18.110, p. 655; 29.41, p. 403; and related
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passages. Qur'an 21.19-22: Cf. Qur'an 21.26-29, p. 263.
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