| o. | |
 |
|
| o. | |
|
|
|
| . |
| God as Love - Hirendra Nath Datta |
| The Vedanta speaks of the Godhead as sat, chit and ananda – who, in the words of St. Augustine, is unchangeably, knows unchangeably, and desires unchangeably. To use Christian phraseology, God is ‘Life, Light and Love’ – the hidden Life that is vibrant in every atom, the hidden Light that shines in every creature, the hidden Love that embraces all in oneness. Hidden? Yes, for, as the Sufi says: |
| His
secret presence through Creation’s veins |
| So the Brahmabindu Upanishad (20) says: ‘He abides in all beings’ as wisdom like clarified butter hidden in milk. He is also power and bliss. He is ‘the glorious Trinity of power, wisdom and bliss’. |
| Three Archetypes |
| God being a trinity with the triple aspect of power, wisdom and bliss, man who is made in his image is also triune. The sparks emanated from the divine flame (the monads) are also essentially sat, chit and ananda, and their destiny is sooner or later to be fanned into flames – fully evolving their latent potentialities of power, wisdom and love – until they, gods in the becoming, actually become Gods. To achieve this high destiny, and in order that the unfoldment may be harmonious and not lopsided, man has appropriately evolved a threefold technique of approach to God – the three well-known paths of action, intellection and devotion – karma, jnana and bhakti, to be trodden successively, if not simultaneously – the first being mainly the line of approach for the heroic temperament, the second for the philosophic, and the third for the devotional, the three archetypes being the hero, the sage and the saint. |
| © "The Theosophist" (October, 2000) published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai 600 020, India. Website: www.ts-adyar.org. Reprinted with permission. |
| Click here to view the full contents of the article. |