Cosmic Consciousness: The Man-God Whom We AwaitMcIvor-Tyndall, Alexander J. (Alexander James)
Religion
Cosmic Consciousness: The Man-God Whom We Await
McIvor-Tyndall, Alexander J. (Alexander James)
Theosophy
God is alluded to in Vaishnavism most frequently as _Anandamaya_--meaning
all joy. Vaishnavism more nearly resembles the gospel of Jesus, as taught
by orthodoxy, than it does the Vedantic systems, since it does, not claim
that God is _within each_ human organism, as the seed is within the fruit,
but that, by love, we may gain heaven or the state or place where God
dwells.
"If you would worship God, as the Giver of Bounties, then shall the prayer
be answered, and further connection cut off, God having answered the
demand. So if you would worship God in simple love, He will send love. The
real devotee seeks to establish a relationship with God which will endure.
He will ask only to worship and love God, and pray that his soul may cling
to God in divine reverence and love." Thus, say the Vaishnavas, "God serves
as he is served, in absolute justice."
Another salient point which the followers of Lord Gauranga emphasize, is
the "All-Sweetness" of God. This idea is impressed, doubtless that the
devotee may not feel an impossible barrier between himself and so great and
all-powerful a being, as God, when His Omnipotence is considered. The idea
is similar to that of the Roman church, which bids its untutored children
to select some patron saint, or to say prayers to the Virgin Mary, because
these characters were once human and seem to be nearer, and more
approachable than the Great God whose Majesty and All-Mightiness have been
exploited.
Be that as it may, the fact remains, that Lord Gauranga is said to have
earned the devotion and love of some of the most learned pundits of India
and, according to a recent biographer, "he had all the frailties of a man;
he ate and slept like a man. In short, he behaved generally like an
ordinary human being, but yet he succeeded in extorting from the foremost
sages of India, the worship and reverence due a God."
The fact that Lord Gauranga "behaved like a man," is comforting, to say the
least, and presages the coming of a day when "behaving like a man" will not
be considered ungodly. When that time shall have arrived, surely there will
be less mysticism of the hysterical variety and probably fewer hypocrites.
Very unlike Lord Gauranga, is the report of a writer of India, who tells of
the effects of cosmic consciousness upon Tukaram, considered to be one of
the greatest saints and poets of Ancient India. Tukaram lived early in the
sixteenth century, some years later than Lord Gauranga.
This Maharashtra saint is chiefly remembered for his beautiful description
of the effects of Illumination, in which he likens the human soul to the
bride, and the bridegroom is God. This poem is called "Love's Lament," and
might have been written by an impassioned lover to his promised bride.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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