Richter Chapter 3:

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Richter Chapter 3

• The Absolute, The Ultimate, The Holy

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Masjid-I Shah Isfahan
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http//www.zencenter.org/news/DharmaTalks/pcircles
.htm
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Japanese Aesthetics
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In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord
sitting on a throne, high and lofty and the hem
of his robe filled the temple. seraphs were in
attendance above him each had six wings with
two they covered their faces, and with two they
covered their feet, and with two they flew. And
one called to another and said Holy, holy,
holy is the LORD of hosts the whole earth is
full of his glory. The pivots on the thresholds
shook at the voices of those who called, and the
house filled with smoke. And I said Woe is
me! I am lost . . . -- Judaism, Isaiah 61-4
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came into being
through him, and without him not one thing came
into being. What has come into being in him was
life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it. And the Word
became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen
his glory, the glory as of a fathers only son,
full of grace and truth. -- Christianity, Gospel
according to John 11-5, 14.
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Those who know Brahman, replied Angiras, say
that there are two kinds of knowledge, the higher
and the lower. The lower is the knowledge of the
Vedas scriptures. the higher is knowledge of
that by which one knows the changeless reality.
By this is fully revealed to the wise that which
transcends the senses, which is uncaused, which
is indefinable, which has neither eyes nor ears,
neither hands nor feet, which is all-pervading,
subtler than the subtlest--the everlasting, the
source of all. As the web comes out of the
spider and is withdrawn, as plants grow from the
soil and hair from the body of man, so springs
the universe form the eternal Brahman. --
Hinduism, Mundaka Upanishad.
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Great King, just as, although the great ocean
exists, it is impossible to measure the water or
to count the living beings that make their abode
there, precisely so, great king, although Nibbana
Nirvana really exists, it is impossible to make
clear the form or figure or age or dimensions of
Nibbana, either by an illustration or by a reason
or by a cause or by a method. Great king, a
person possessed of magical power, possessed of
mastery over mind, could estimate the quantity of
water in the great ocean and the number of living
beings dwelling there but that person would
never be able to make clear the form or figure
or age or dimensions of Nibbana. -- Buddhism,
Questions of King Malinda (Stryk 112-13).
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The Way Tao can be spoken of, but it will not
be the constant way The name can be named, but
it will not be the constant name. The nameless
was the beginning of the myriad creatures The
named was the mother of the myriad
creatures. Hence constantly rid yourself of
desires in order to observe its subtlety but
constantly allow yourself to have desires in
order to observe its subtlety But constantly
allow yourself to have desires in order to
observe what it is after. These two have the same
origin, but differ in name. They are both called
dark, darkness upon darkness, the gateway to all
that is subtle. -- Taoism, Tao Te Ching 1
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Can you see something similar in Isaiahs
description of God and the vision of Christ in
the Transfiguration? Can you see the same thing
the description of Nibbana or the Tao?
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Is Brahman God? Say why or why not.
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What might Ayers Rock have to do with
religion? Consider a storm at sea or dark and
high mountains. Imagine the impression on native
peoples.
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Why is Isaiah afraid? Is there any relation
between his fear and G-ds glory? Is there any
fear associated with any of the other objects
described or depicted above?
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What does the inside of a mosque have to do with
God? What is so great about an Empty Circle?
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How is greatness expressed in these quotations
and the pictures? Can you link that greatness to
the inexpressiblity of the Tao or of Brahman? Are
God and the revealed Word, also ultimately
inexpressible?
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Try making a list of adjectives that might
describe any of the Sacred Beings depicted or
mentioned. Try making a list of nouns to name
them all.
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The Holy and Numinous Experience
The Numinous Experience is a remarkable
emotion that at once attracts us with glory and
makes us afraid for our lives. (p. 64)
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The Holy and Numinous Experience
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) aesthetic experience
as an outrage of the imagination and
experience of the sublime.
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The Holy and Numinous Experience
Rudolph Otto The feeling of it may at times
come sweeping like a gentle tide, pervading the
mind with a tranquil mood and deepest worship.
It may pass over into a more set and lasting
attitude of the soul, continuing, as it were,
thrillingly vibrant and resonant, until at last
it dies away and the soul resumes its profane,
non-religious mood of every day experience. It
may burst in sudden eruption up from the depths
of the soul with spasms and convulsions, or lead
to the strangest excitements, to intoxicated
frenzy, to transport, and to ecstasy. It has its
wild and demonic forms and can sink to an almost
grisly horror and shuddering. It has its crude,
barbaric antecedents and early manifestations,
and again it may be developed into something
beautiful and pure and glorious. It may become
the hushed, trembling, and speechless humility of
the creature in the presence of--whom or what?
In the presence of that which is a mystery,
inexpressible and above all creatures.
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The Absolute, Ultimate and Holy

• Absolute
• irreducible
• simple
• Ultimate
• Final source and goal
• Not contingent (or thing upon which everything
  else is contingent)
• Holy
• set apart
• wholly other
• neti . . . neti

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God Talk

• via negativa
• via analogia

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Triune God Jesus part of
Trinity Church instituted by Jesus Priest
sanctified by Church Blessed by Priest Holy Water
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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism
• Polytheism
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• Monotheism
• The Nontheistic Absolute

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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism belief in the Absolute conceived of as a
  God or gods, suggesting that the Ultimate Reality
  is a personal being, a consciousness that things
  and plans and feels in some sense like we do.
• Polytheism
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• Monotheism
• The Nontheistic Absolute

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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism
• Polytheism . . . it seems the gods of
  polytheism share holiness, exhibit it more or
  less, and perhaps even pass it on to their
  children, like an inherited characteristic. . . .
  of course, the point of all these deities may not
  be that we like them all but that we see their
  glory, or at least the glory of one of them.
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• Monotheism
• The Nontheistic Absolute

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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism
• Polytheism
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• animism . . . the objects of nature are
  themselves imbued with souls . . . and so the
  tree or the deer is somehow more than an object
  of nature.
• ancestor spirits may also be venerated and
  require interaction
• Monotheism
• The Nontheistic Absolute

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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism
• Polytheism
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• Monotheism (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), . .
  . the one God, the God Almighty, is given an
  absolutely unique authority, shared with no other
  being.
• The Nontheistic Absolute

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Conceptions of the Absolute

• Theism
• Polytheism
• Animal Spirits and Ancestors
• Monotheism
• The Nontheistic Absolute . . . an impersonal
  Absolute is more likely conceived of as a great
  substance, an impersonal essence, or some general
  abstraction of spirit or being itself.
• monism single unity of all being(s)
• pantheism sees god in all things, buta
  plurality of things still exist.

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Religious Disagreement in a Global Context

• Exclusivism
• Inclusivism
• Pluralism

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