273 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
273 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Immanent And Near At Hand
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World Scripture
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IMMANENT AND NEAR AT HAND
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This section brings together passages on God's immanence. God is described in
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the Qur'an as "nearer than the jugular vein," knowing all a person's thoughts
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and desires, and abiding within the human heart. In the Bible, God's immanence
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is expressed in the revelation to Elijah, where instead of a grand
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manifestation in earthquake or thunder, God's self-revelation is as 'a still
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small voice.' They may speak of God coming near or dwelling in the heart only
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when there is receptivity, humility, and faith. In the scriptures of the
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Abrahamic religions, while God is near at hand, He is rarely identified with
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the soul itself; that could be seen as tantamount to idolatry.
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Other traditions teach more thoroughgoing notions of divine immanence. Sufis
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interpret the Qur'anic parable of the Lamp as expressing the presence of God in
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the human heart as a light, illuminating the lamp of the body. In Hinduism,
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Sikhism, and Jainism the divine immanence is described ontologically: Ultimate
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Reality is the Self (Atman). In Buddhism the divine immanence is described
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psychologically: Essence of Mind or Suchness (Tathata) is realized by a mind
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dwelling in Perfect Wisdom and expressing a mind of enlightenment (bodhi),
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Dhamma nature or Buddha nature. But there is no ontological self which could be
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immanent. These various doctrines of divine immanence avoid a simple
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identification of God with the individual soul. The ordinary individual soul
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(jiva) is beclouded and deluded by an egoistic sense of self; in contrast, the
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divine Self within, or Suchness, can only be realized through enlightenment.
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The complete realization of the God within is a potential and a goal; passages
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which describe it as a state of existence are often referring to the ideal
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realized by an attained person. This ideal will be treated more fully in
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Chapter 3. Yet as many of these selections point out, even the ordinary
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beclouded mind is intrinsically pure and contains the germ of divinity.
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We indeed created man; and We know what his soul whispers within him, and We
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are nearer to him than the jugular vein.
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1. Islam. Qur'an 50.16
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Ever is He present with you--think not He is far:
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By the Master's teaching recognize Him within yourself.
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2. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Majh Ashtpadi, M.3, p. 116
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[God] is not far from each one of us, for "In him we live and move and have our
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being."
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3. Christianity. Bible, Acts 17.27-28
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The Master said, "Is Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted
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Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side."
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4. Confucianism. Analects 7.29
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Brahman shines forth, vast, self-luminous, inconceivable, subtler than the
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subtle. He is far beyond what is far, and yet here very near at hand. Verily,
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He is seen here, dwelling in the cave of the heart of conscious beings.
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5. Hinduism, Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.7
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For thus says the high and lofty One
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who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy,
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"I dwell in the high and holy place,
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and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
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to revive the spirit of the humble,
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and to revive the heart of the contrite."
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6. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 57.15
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"If I [God] am there, all are there, and if I am not there, who is there?"
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Hillel also used to say, "To the place where I wish to be, there do my feet
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bring me. If you come to my house, I will come to your house; if you do not
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come to my house, I will not come to your house." As it says, "In all places
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where I cause my Name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you."
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(Exodus 20.24)
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7. Judaism. Talmud, Sukkah 53a
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- - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 50.16: Cf. Qur'an 2.186, p. 826. Majh Ashtpadi, M.3: Cf. Gaund, M.5, p.
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212; also Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, p. 208. Acts 17.27-28: Cf. Psalm 145.18,
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p. 826. Analects 7.29: Cf. Luke 17.21, p. 218; Bhagavad Gita 7.21-23, Forty
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Hadith of an-Nawawi 1, p. 725; Tao Te Ching 23, p. 685. Mundaka Upanishad
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3.1.7: Cf. Katha Upanishad 1.2.20-22, Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.1-2, p. 212; Isha
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Upanishad 15-16, p. 74. Isaiah 57.15: Cf. Psalm 51.17, p. 902. Sukkah 53a:
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Compare Hadith, p. 686.
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- - - - - - - - - -
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Great Deng is near, and some say far, O Divinity!
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The Creator is near, and some say he has not reached us!
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Do you not hear, O Divinity?
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The black bull of the rain has been released from the moon's byre,
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Do you not hear, O Divinity?
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8. African Traditional Religions. Dinka Song (Sudan)
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Why do you go to the forest in search of God?
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He lives in all and is yet ever distinct;
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He abides with you, too,
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As a fragrance dwells in a flower,
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And reflection in a mirror;
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So does God dwell inside everything;
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Seek Him, therefore, in your heart.
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9. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Dhanasri, M.9, p. 684
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The supreme Self is without a beginning, undifferentiated, deathless. Though it
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dwells in the body, Arjuna, it neither acts nor is touched by action. As
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radiation pervades the cosmos but remains unstained, the Self can never be
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tainted though it dwells in every creature.
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10. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 13.32
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Within our Essence of Mind the Trikaya (Three Bodies) of Buddha are to be
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found, and they are common to everybody. Because the mind labors under
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delusions, he knows not his own inner nature; and the result is that he ignores
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the Trikaya within himself, erroneously believing that they are to be sought
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from without. Within yourself you will find the Trikaya which, being the
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manifestation of the Essence of Mind, are not to be sought from without.
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11. Buddhism. Sutra of Hui Neng 6
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As the holy one I recognized thee, O Wise Lord,
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When he came to me as Good Mind;
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The Silent Thought taught me the greatest good
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so that I might proclaim it.
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12. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 45.15
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Dinka Song: The intention of the song in suggesting that 'some say far' is to
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urge Divinity to come near and help. Dhanasri, M.9: Cf. Suhi, M.5, p. 399.
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Sutra of Hui Neng 6: 'Essence of Mind' as Hui Neng uses the term denotes the
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original mind which is intrinsically the same as Buddha nature; cf. other
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passages from this sutra on pp. 217-19. But 'Essence of Mind' is tathata,
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which can also be translated Essence of all things. These indeed are not
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different, as the essence of things can be grasped only by mind; cf.
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Lankavatara Sutra 61-64, p. 155. For more on the Mahayana doctrine of the
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Trikaya, the Buddha's three bodies: cf. p. 650; Lotus Sutra 16, p. 121;
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Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 17, p. 646; Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 5, p.
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652.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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God said to Elijah... "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And
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behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and
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broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind;
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and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and
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after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the
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fire a still small voice.
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13. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, 1 Kings 19.11-12
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God is the Light of the heavens and the earth.
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The parable of His Light
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is as if there were a Niche,
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and within it a Lamp;
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the Lamp enclosed in Glass:
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The glass as it were a brilliant star:
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Lit from a blessed Tree,
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An Olive neither of the East nor of the West,
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Whose oil is well-nigh luminous,
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though fire scarce touched it.
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Light upon Light!
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God guides whom He will to His Light:
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God sets forth parables for men, and God knows all things.
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14. Islam. Qur'an 24.35
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In the golden city of the heart dwells
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The Lord of Love, without parts, without stain.
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Know him as the radiant light of lights.
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There shines not the sun, neither moon nor star,
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Nor flash of lightning, nor fire lit on earth.
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The Lord is the light reflected by all.
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He shining, everything shines after him.
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15. Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.10-11
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Daibai asked Baso, "What is Buddha?" Baso answered, "This very mind is the
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Buddha."
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16. Buddhism. Mumonkan 30
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1 Kings 19.11-12: God is manifest in His Word, communicated to the heart. He is
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not in the storm or the earthquake or other manifestations of power in nature.
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This is a radical critique of nature-religion as it was practiced by the
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Canaanites. Qur'an 24.35: Islamic mystics since Ghazali have interpreted these
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verses as expressing God's inner illumination of the human soul. The Niche,
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Glass, Lamp, Tree, and Oil correspond to the five faculties of the soul,
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namely: (1) the sensory faculty; (2) the imagination; (3) the discriminative
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intellect; (4) the faculty of ratiocination capable of abstract knowledge, and
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(5) the transcendent prophetic spirit that may apprehend divine truth. The
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human soul is thus a graded succession of lights, 'Light upon light,' whose
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source is God. Cf. Katha Upanishad 2.3.7-8, p. 93. Mumonkan 30: Compare "That
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art thou," Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, p. 208. But Mumonkan 33, p. 899, asserts
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the seeming opposite !
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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That mind which gives life
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To all the people
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in the world
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Such is the very mind
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which nourishes me!
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17. Shinto. Moritake Arakida, One Hundred Poems about the World
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God is the subject of heart. He has feelings of boundless sorrow and joy.
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18. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 2-12-61
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I am the nucleus of every creature, Arjuna; for without Me nothing can exist,
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neither animate nor inanimate.... Wherever you find strength, or beauty, or
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spiritual power, you may be sure that these have sprung from a spark of My
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essence.
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19. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 10.39, 41
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At whose behest does the mind think? Who bids the body live? Who makes the
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tongue speak? Who is that effulgent Being that directs the eye to form and
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color and the ear to sound?
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The Self (Atman) is ear of the ear, mind of the mind, speech of speech. He is
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also breath of the breath, and eye of the eye. Having given up the false
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identification of the Self with the senses and the mind, and knowing the Self
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to be Brahman, the wise, on departing this life, become immortal.
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20. Hinduism. Kena Upanishad 1.1-2
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Lord, the Tathagatagarbha is not born, does not die, does not pass away to
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become reborn. The Tathagatagarbha excludes the realm with the characteristic
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of the constructed. The Tathagatagarbha is permanent, steadfast, eternal.
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Therefore the Tathagatagarbha is the support, the holder, the base of
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constructed [Buddha natures] that are nondiscrete, not dissociated, and knowing
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as liberated from the stores of defilement; and furthermore is the support, the
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holder, the base of external constructed natures that are discrete,
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dissociated, and knowing as not liberated.
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Lord, if there were no Tathagatagarbha, there would be neither aversion towards
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suffering nor longing, eagerness, and aspiration towards Nirvana. What is the
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reason? Whatever be these six perceptions [i.e., the five senses plus the
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mind], and whatever be this other perception [perhaps intellectual cognition?],
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these seven natures are unfixed, momentary, and lack experience of suffering;
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hence these natures are unfit for aversion towards suffering or for longing,
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eagerness, and aspiration towards Nirvana. Lord, the Tathagatagarbha has
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ultimate existence without beginning or end, has an unborn and undying nature,
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and experiences suffering; hence it is worthy of the Tathagatagarbha to have
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aversion towards suffering as well as longing, eagerness, and aspiration
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towards Nirvana. Lord, the Tathagatagarbha is neither self nor sentient being,
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nor soul, nor personality.... Lord, this Tathagatagarbha is the embryo of the
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illustrious Dharmadhatu, the embryo of the Dharmakaya, the embryo of the
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supramundane Doctrine, the embryo of the intrinsically pure Doctrine.
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21. Buddhism. Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 13
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One Hundred Poems about the World: See note on p. 497. Sun Myung Moon,
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2-12-61: 'Heart' is the irrepressible impulse to love others, which is the
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inner motivation for all God's actions. In humans, heart lies at the root of
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the mind, motivating intellect, emotion, and will. In prayer one can touch the
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heart of God and feel its affective aspect: joy when His beloved children
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respond to Him and deep sorrow for those who are lost in sin. Cf. Sun Myung
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Moon, 10-20-73, p. 146; 6-20-82, p. 146. Bhagavad Gita 10.39-41: Cf. Mundaka
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Upanishad 1.1.7, p. 132. Kena Upanishad 1.1-2: Cf. Atharva Veda 10.8.43-44, p.
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582; Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, p. 208; Mandukya Upanishad, p. 834; Katha
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Upanishad 3.13, p. 840; Black Elk, p. 536; Luke 11.34-36, p. 535. Lion's Roar
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of Queen Srimala 13: In Mahayana scriptures the Tathagatagarbha, or Embryo of
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the Tathagata, is the intrinsically pure consciousness pervading all sentient
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beings which is capable of maturing into Buddhahood.
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