The rishis, sages of ancient India, envisioned God as being both immanent and transcendent. Being immanent, God is present in every rock, every galaxy, and in the heart of every living being. And yet, being transcendent, God beyond the universe, beyond words and thoughts.
This presentation is based on the famous hymn from the Rig Veda, Purusha Suktam.
Purusha Suktam with Translation (no commentary) • Purusha Suktam - Vedic...
Purusha Suktam (Learn to chant series) • Purusha Sukta (learn t...
The conventional Western view of God is an almighty and all-knowing eternal heavenly being who rules over his creation, a creation that's quite separate from its creator. But the rishis envisioned God as being non-separate from creation, that is, immediately present in every rock and plant, every planet and galaxy, and in the heart of every living being. For this reason, Hindus worship God, not only in forms like Shiva, Vishnu, and Ganesha, but also in the form of the sun, in the form of sacred rivers, trees and mountains, and as the consecrated deities established on temple altars.
This uniquely Hindu concept of God is based on a theology that's profound and surprisingly complex. Because of its complexity, it often gets misunderstood. For example, many people wrongly believe that Hinduism is polytheistic since Hindus worship many gods. But, the most ancient and revered of all Hindu scriptures, the Rig Veda, says ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti, God is one, whom the wise call by many names.
Western scholars describe this theology with obscure terms like henotheism and monolatry. But, even those are not accurate because Hinduism's theology more complex than one God with many names and forms. In particular, another ancient and revered scripture, the Sama Veda, says, sarvam khalvidam brahma, all this, all that exists, the entire universe with all its creatures, is brahman. Brahman is the name for absolute reality or formless God. Whereas Gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva have human-like features, brahman has no features, no attributes, no qualities whatsoever. Brahman is the underlying reality because of which everything exists, everything including even Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahman is existence itself.
The ancient rishis envisioned God to be both immanent and transcendent. Immanent means inherent, indwelling, immediately present. Just like you are immediately present everywhere in your dream world, Ishvara is immediately present throughout the universe, pervading the universe, not as some kind of formless, ethereal being, but as its underlying substratum, as the very fabric of existence.
The ancient rishis envisioned God simultaneously as being transcendent, not only in the world, but beyond it as well. Before the universe was created, and after its dissolution at the end of time, Ishvara forever exists as a transcendent being. All this is depicted in a wonderful, poetic manner in the Purusha Suktam. Chanting with translation follows.
Swami Tadatmananda is a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit. For more information, please see: www.arshabodha.org/