Saguna and Nirguna Brahman
And the Path to Liberation
Part One

In the following study I will be looking at the nature of Saguna and Nirguna Brahman and the Path to Liberation.

The name Sanatana Dharma (ie Hinduism) means Universal or One Truth (or Way). Truth is not the domain of any single religious tradition. Therefore in this study I draw from various religious traditions and demonstrate the Oneness of the God sought by us all.

When I look around I see individuals everywhere. I have three dogs. One is very intelligent but stubborn and doesn't like to obey. One is sweet and utterly docile but thick as a post when it comes to intelligence. The third is smart, intuitive, friendly and loves to obey commands. Three dogs, about the same age, raised in the same environment since they were puppies, but each has an absolutely different personality in most ways.

My brother is a Christian Fundamentalist preacher in Georgia who sincerely believes I am going to Hell because of my conviction that God is not limited in any way (he wouldn't word it this way of course). We grew up in the same family, same Southern Bible Belt culture, same Missionary Baptist Church, but we are as different as different can be.

Likewise throughout the known multiverse individuality and amazing diversity exists everywhere you look. No two snowflakes are even the same!

Then I consider the beautiful wild peacock that is currently sitting on my deck railing. He is so proud with his gorgeous plumage (I'm glad the dogs are in their kennel right now!). Where did the peacock and his shy hen come from? Originally.

Natural selection? The Big Bang?

So I consider the chai mug sitting in front of me on my desk and I think, this is an amazing thing! Yesterday this mug did not exist! I was sitting here answering e-mail and poof! It appeared filled with delicious hot chai!

No? You don't believe this is possible?

Of course its not possible!

It actually took millions of years for my chai mug to gradually take on mug form. At one point there was nothing at all but then something that didn't exist went BANG! It was a big bang too! And then suddenly there was this big pile of blue green algae. After a few thousand years that sludge became a loose pile of mud. It gradually turned into a saucer and then took on mug form all by itself, however it still wasn't useful because its sides got too hot from the chai to hold! Luckily however due to perfectly natural processes in time the mug evolved a handle so I could hold it without burning my hands....

Ridiculous?

Of course it is! Chai cups don't just come into existence on their own! Someone made it (someone in Indonesia according to the bottom of the cup)!

And neither do flowers, dogs, planets... or human beings.

All thing have to be created by an intelligent creator.

And, everything that exists that has the spark of life has an individual consciousness to some degree. Perhaps not my chai cup, but when I go to our dog kennel I invite the dogs to leave one at a time by name. No matter which order I release them, they wait until I call their individual names. They have a knowing of their individual names and they know each other, as is clear by the looks they exchange when I call the names, "Why him? Why not me!" Grumble grumble!

Since it's obvious that everything that exists exists as individuals, it seems quite logical to believe that the intelligent designer and creator of all this individuality must also be an individual being.

IF we determine based on observation and reason (not to mention Scripture) that there must be an individual who is/are the creator(s), then how many creators might there be?

There is no logical reason to assume that we humans are the highest beings that exist so there may well be other higher life forms than ourselves. The Bible speaks of angles, cherubim, nephilim, demons and other life forms. The Vedas tell of 330,000,000 gods not to mention countless other higher beings, gandarvas and so on. Ancient cultures the world over speak of the great diversity of material and non-material; existence. All such beings however share a common trait. There was a time when they did not exist.

So, where did they come from?

Just like my chai cup, there must have been an original Creator for all of the created beings. This is the only logical answer. There must have been an individual who was the First Source.

If there was a First Source it is logical that this creator of universal individuality is/was an Individual, Conscious Being as well, that this Creator created "in His own image and likeness" to reference Bereshit. The Peacock on my deck is a complex living entity and only another, more advanced living entity could have created it. Absolutely nothing comes from nothing and creation requires a creator. Human beings are still more complex than birds and have an even stronger sense of individuality and complexity. It stands to reason the Creator would be superior to all of his/her creation. This means that if there are indeed beings more advanced than we humans, which I believe is a given, then the One Creator must be greater still, not just greater than the peacock and me, but greater than the Gandarvas, greater than the greatest being in existence! When the Believers declare, "Allahu Akbar," "God is Great!" We mean God is the Greatest of all! This is only logical.

As this ultimately Great Individual directly or indirectly created everything else, we must hope He/She is kindly disposed towards us! If not we're in serious trouble! Since most people who believe in this Being believe the One is ultimately Good, this "Good One" is "Gott " in German or "God" in English. "God" is not a name, its a descriptive title of the Good One.

Hence my belief in monotheism.

This is: Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

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