October 1984
Visions of TruthDualism and Non-Dualism
Subramuniyaswami, Sivaya
United Saivites of Mauritius,
you have embarked on a great journey. You have discovered your ancient,
perennial roots and are now deeply rooted in the love of Lord Siva. We are
inwardly happy for and congratulate you on this most sacred
accomplishment, this great step forward on the path of Siva's San Marga.
Gurudeva loves you, each and every one of you most dearly.
Saiva
Siddhanta, the final conclusions of the awakened soul, who soars above the
mountaintop, diffuses through our minds as the distilled essence of the
Vedas, Saiva Agamas, Tirumurai and most especially the great Tirumantiram.
Saiva Siddhanta is thickly rooted in these scriptures and surges forth as
a giant banyan of their expression. These are our scriptures and within
our scriptures found both the essential oneness of monism and the
evolutionary twoness of theism. Therefore the rishis of the Upanishads,
the Siddhars of the Agamas, our Saivite Saints and our Siva Yogaswami
Paramparai of the Natha Sampradaya have always taught monistic theism so
you too can awaken the natural perceptions of your own soul.
From
this mountaintop perspective we can observe, appreciate, understand and be
lovingly tolerant of all theological paths to God Siva. This is because we
are seeing the outer and inner worlds from our soul's perspective.
However, when people see the outer and inner worlds from intellectual
states of mind, perceiving a concrete reality of you and I and God and
world eternally separate with no union of being, there is a tendency to
defend their theology and wage an intellectual war with other theologies.
Their intellect is very intolerant, quite the opposite of the soul's
natural state of mind. There is no need for you to participate in these
kinds of battles.
What is important is for each of you follow the
path of our Saivite saints and siddhars. It is a path more of love than of
learning more of tolerance than of entanglement. They have made themselves
clear. They need no interpolations.
Let us stand together, united
in the knowledge of monistic theism as taught by our nayanar saints and
the enlightened savants of the Vedas and Agamas. Let us remain high minded
in our thoughts and actions. People, who are always on one stage or
another on the great San Marga, will at some point lash out and attack
you. This is predictable and natural. Set a fine example of tolerance and
understanding in your community. Always hold the mountain top
perspective.
Remember, from the very beginning of man's encounter
with Reality, in both the East and the West discussion have persisted
between those who see the world as one and those who see it as made up of
two or more. Devotees sometimes ask which is right, monism (which is also
knows as advaita or non-dualism) or dualism, dvaita. Both are indeed valid
and to be found within the Vedas, the Tirumurai and other
scriptures.
To the awakened mind, both are right. The view which
integrates both is most advanced, definitely more enlightened and in
keeping with the wide tolerance within Hinduism. We recently heard a
physicist say that his mentor, Werner Heisenberg, observed that there are
two kinds of truth-shallow truth and deep truth. Shallow truth is one
whose opposite is false. Deep truth is truth whose opposite may be
perceived as an integral part of its own validity. That wise observations
of the physical universe also applies to our spiritual knowledge. The
deeper mystics do not draw a square to exclude, deny and condemn views
which oppose their own. Instead, they draw a circle that embraces the
entirety of the vast mystery of Siva's creation.
There are various
stages of realization on the path to Lord Siva's Holy Feet. The world and
God and soul look a little different form each stage. It really all
depends on the window we are looking out of Thus, in exploring monism and
dualism one must keep an open mind. This will bring the realization that
the view called monistic theism is the summation of them both and is the
highest realization, the ancient philosophy that is indigenous to man,
preceeding even the Vedic era.
The dualistic or pluralistic
conception appears true from one perspective, but it is only a slice of
the whole. It is not the whole. Looked at most simply, pluralism came as
the philosophical conclusion or realization of saints within the Chariya
and Kriya margas, while monism joined with theism is the overwhelming
vision within the Yoga and Jnana margas.
Here is another way to
explain the same thing. Visualize a mountain and the path leading to its
icy summit. As the climber traverses the lower ranges, he sees the
meadows, the passes, the giant boulders. This we can liken to theism, the
natural dual state God and man are different.
Reaching the summit,
the climber sees that the many parts are actually a one mountain. This is
likened to pure monism. Unfortunately, many pure monists, reaching the
summit, teach a denial of the foothills they themselves climbed on the way
to their monistic platform.
However, by going a little higher,
lifting the consciousness into the space above the topmost peak of the
mountain, the entire truth is known. The bottom and the top are viewed as
a one whole, just as theism and monism are understood and accepted by the
awakened soul. The knower and the known become one.
Pluralistic
Saiva Siddhantins want to make the part into the whole, want to deny,
redefine and modify the monism taught by the Nayanars and proclaimed in
the Vedas and Agamas. To know the final conclusions, to comprehend the
monistic theism of Saiva Siddhanta, they must go a little farther, do more
sadhana in order to see these truths from a higher plane of consciousness.
As Saint Tirumular admonishes, "Siddhanta without Vedanta is the common
Saiva's lot."
The acceptance of both schools gives strength; the
rejection of one or the other drains energies through intolerance and
limits the full comprehension of God, world and soul. My Sat Guru, Siva
Yogaswami, asked me which of these schools of thought was the right one. I
told him that both were right in their own way. It all depends on whether
you are on top of the mountain looking down or at the bottom of it looking
up. He smiled and nodded.
Siva Yogaswami taught that monistic
theism is the highest vision of truth. To deny the Vedas is to deny
Vedanta, and that is to deny Truth itself. To deny the reality of God and
creation is to deny Siddhanta, and that also is a denial of Eternal Truth.
We can not find a more shallow course of action than to declare the
enlightened postulations of the illumined saints as superficial
affirmations or as mad ravings, which someone once told me they were. It
should be obvious that purely dualistic postulations can never be accepted
as ultimate truth in an age of enlightenment where educated persons
reason, think meditate and make choices for themselves.
It is being
said that embracing monistic may divide the Tamil peoples. This is folly.
Monistic theism is the soul of Saivism and therefore it is the soul of the
Tamil people. It is monistic theism that will unite all the Tamils the
world over in a one unanimity of belief, worship and
understanding.
It is also being said that by preserving pluralism
as a unique feature of Tamil Saivism, the Tamil identity is being
preserved. This is very shortsighted. It only preserves a partial
understanding of Truth and denies the Tamil people their rightful heritage
of the fullness and richness of Truth. Dravidian history reveals that a
united people are those who all worship the same Supreme God in the same
way, pledging their allegiance to the fullness of the eternal truths
discovered by their saints and sages. Thus each one is strong in his or
her dharma with developed qualities of leadership, compassion, insight,
cooperation, and fortitude. Thus each one awakens the burning zeal of
sadhana to personally to personally experience these inner
Truths.
The results of this unitedness are great civilizations like
the Indus Valley, the Chola Empire and the Vijayanagar Empire. But today
we find the Tamils a people fractioned among themselves, divided into a
multi variety of "isms." The more religious have escaped into the heights
of Siddhanta/Vedanta. The more intellectual or Western-educated are
ensnared in arguments and Western rationales or have wandered off into
Christianity, Islam or Buddhism.
Monistic theism, that
all-embracing and ancient path which is common among all Saivite sects, is
the solution to international unity among the Tamil peoples in the 20th
century as it was 5000 years ago, for its theology closes the door to
conversion and puts the heart and mind at peace. Furthermore, it is this
mountaintop view of Reality which alone can free the soul from the cycles
of birth and death, joy and sorrow. In this age of enlightenment, religion
and the knowledge of Truth that it holds must be unquestionably easy to
understand and universally available to all who seek refuge at Lord Siva's
Holy Feet.
Article copyright Himalayan
Academy.
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