Name:dattaswami •
Title: Qualified monoism •
Date posted: 06/02/07 12:39
Q: Qualified monoism
The second view is to see God and the human body as separate items. The monoism [in accepting the human incarnation as identical with God] gets diluted in this view. This is advantageous since the natural egoism and jealousy of humans do not allow the human being to accept a particular human being as God. For acceptance of God in human form, complete eradication of egoism and jealousy is needed which is highly impossible. [Therefore it is easier to accept that] God is present in the heart of the human incarnation. The Lord is wrapped by the human body like a chocolate is wrapped by the outer wrapper. The inner Lord is the main component and the external human body is only a minor component. The human body is recognized as part and parcel of the Lord but it is of least importance. One cannot experience the Lord just by seeing or touching the covering sheath. The main component is called as ‘Seshi’ and the minor component is called as ‘Sesha’. This is the philosophy of Ramanuja. Jesus also gave this concept. Jesus said that God is His Father and that He is the beloved Son of the Lord. The Son is always together with the Father and is not an outsider. The blood of the Father and the Son is one and the same. Thus both are essentially one and the same but God has major importance and the son has minor importance. Whenever Jesus said that He is the Son of God this philosophy appears, which is called as ‘Visishta Advaita’ or a special type of monoism. The Father and His son are physically separate but both are one and the same in essence. The Father is like the ocean and the Son is like a wave. The human beings cannot worship God. For their convenience, a small part of God came down to give the divine experience.
