The FORM and the SHADOW.
The REALITY and the APPEARANCE.
If one is, the other naturally is.
The form lends character to its shadow.
Similarly the REALITY lends character to its shadowy appearance.
REALITY is GOD.
APPEARANCE is the UNIVERSE.
God’s Beingness lends character to the visible presence of the PHENOMENON called the Universe.
They seem to go together.
If one is, the other is.
If the Universe is, then God is.
That is why BUDDHA said in the UDANA….
If not for the UNBORN, the UNMADE, the UNMANIFEST and the UNCOMPOUNDED, the BORN, the MADE, the MANIFEST and the COMPOUNDED would not be.
But, it should be noted that, BUDDHA never used the word GOD anywhere.
Let it suffice for the present, that the word GOD means CONSCIOUSNESS.
A CONSCIOUSNESS which has NO LOCATION.
A CONSCIOUSNESS which has NO BODILY STRUCTURE.
A CONSCIOUSNESS which EXISTS NOT IN TIME or SPACE.
There are two things which are born.
One is the Universe.
The other is the Individual.
Hence both are not the Reality.
The BIRTH of the BABY is an eagerly awaited phenomenon by one and all.
It’s a marvel in creation.
The father is shocked, the mother less so.
As she, has to carry the unborn baby for nine months.
And thereby has got used to the shock.
So also the birth of the stars, and the moon and the sun along with the universe is a marvel in creation.
They both were born in time.
They were made and are a compound of matter.
Hence they become manifest.
While the REALITY is;
- UNBORN; hence eternal.
- UNMADE; hence self-existent.
- UNCOMPOUNDED; hence not made of matter, nor compounded of the PANCHA SKANDHAS; nor made up of the five sheaths with their three bodies.
- UNMANIFEST; not manifest, nor visible, nor experienceable by the fleshy eyes.
As this composition or compound is, what is called as the human individual.
While the Reality is uncompounded.
This REALITY, being uncompounded, is not made up or constituted, or composed of all the individuals too.
Therefore we are not parts of God, like motor car parts.
As the saying goes;
The DIVINE, is ONE, WHOLE, PARTLESS, and HOMOGENOUS.
Since it is a PERFECTED SELF EXISTENCE, the word GOD has been used for it.
As it is not an inert substance, the term Consciousness is also used for it.
Therefore, the seen universe is a pointer, an indicator of the unseen Reality.
That is why, Buddha made a pointed reference to this profound Truth in the UDANA…..
But the Buddhists do not want to GIVE SIGNIFICANCE to this, as this would open up a ‘PANDORA’S BOX’.
It should be noted that we are not interested in Buddhism, or Hinduism or Christianity or any other religion, but only in what Buddha taught, what Krishna taught, and what Jesus said in his teachings contained in the four Gospels.
We go back to the original source material for the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom.
Then we are on safe territory and thereby fortify our knowledge from all avenues.
For, these great teachers cannot contradict each other. Then it would defeat the very purpose of their teachings.
Avatars and Messiahs cannot, and do not contradict each other.
They only revitalise it with a new format.
They discard the moss which had gathered around the old teachings, and inject and re-infuse the teachings with a new spirit.
Thus we perceive two parallel tracks.
One, the REAL.
The other, a manifestation, as like a shadow emerging from its original source.
One of SPIRIT.
The OTHER of MATTER.
That is why the ‘SANKHYA’ system of ancient Indian thought speaks of;
PURUSHA the SPIRIT, and
PRAKRITI the MATTER.