How the Idea of God developed in Ancient India and their proofs of the Existence of God
From the series Theological Theories of the Orient -
A highly informative, mentally overwhelming, spiritual overloading and awe-inspiring work: "The Progress of The Idea of God by the Indians and their Evidences for the Existence of God" written by the Altmeister of Indology Prof. Hermann Jacobi in 1923, published by W. Kirfel, who was the student and later successor of Jacobi's professorial chair.
This edition also includes "The Philosophy of Madhvachaya" by Prof. Helmuth von Glasenapp, who's work is still used as standard reference for Sanskrit studies (even in India) and he also undertook the philosophical systems of Herder and Kant for a comparative analysis in consideration of Indian philosophy.
Thousand years of spuculation and theories, abstract ideas and deep timeless wisdom -
Diving into Hindu cosmogony is a mental journey that must advance to a life task, when the reader is truely devoted.
So a little forewarning that this post has no aim for completeness:
Just consider the wealth of thousand years of speculation and the literal sense of all those holy books and comments. But I do not need to reproduce what was consolidated so adequate by passionated Professors of Indology, as I can say for myself, as a lay(wo)man :')
"What the finest is, of this the Cosmos is made, this is satyam, this is atman, this is you (tut twam asi)."
Prof. Jacobi has the aim to analyize the six orthodox systems of Hinduism in focul point of describing how the idea of God, respectively the belief in monotheism, evolved in Ancient India.
The analysis is examined in philosophical speculation and is not including the religious side of this contemplation.
The great folk religions arised at the end of the Vedic period (~800 before our time) till 4th century.
The idea of the Divine has undergone many transformations.
Kathenotheism
(Coined by Schelling, καθ’ ἕνα [kath’ héna, “one by one] + θεός [theós, “god”, believing in the existence of multiple Deities and that different deities are supreme at different times, depending on circumstances, but their autarchy were denied]
is defined as a preliminary stage of monotheism, having its roots in sacrificial rituals and the interpretational demand to lightening up every part of the ritus:
Because in the ritual of sacrifice everything and all is relevant, so they were considered as symbols, refering to a being "behind" the symbol,
this is called brahma. With this idea, the concept of atman aroused,
adding more metaphysical content (yes, there are upgrades possible :') ...) to the concept of the sacrificial cult.
"But he, who is the atman (=brahma) ist not like this and not like that, he is intagible (...), he is not connected, he is not shaking, he does not get harmed."
The whole sincerity in sacrificial exegesis, established a scientific claim and the main concern of the interpretation of symbolistic means, resulting in bringing the period of Brahmana forth.
By giving the act of sacrifice an higher value than the cult of the Divine, consquently the lower assessment of the Deities had to lead to the loss of their significance.
The Brahmanical system is consistently pursueing to expand their knowledge in symbolic meanings, but the majority of Ancient Indian population was still believing in other forms of native primitive religion.
(Side note: What makes a belief more primitive than the other(s)? In my opinion it is the complextity of the cosmogony defined and the treatises of theodicy. Comments and discussions over centuries, showing the dialectic process behind theories...)
The search for the real, the truth (~ satyam), behind the appearance, strenghtened the will (in Indian parlance the "will" is always connected with the realization) for seeking methods of epistemology.
Also the ideal of the Absolute, the Highest, the idea of this "something", which is standing above the world, is deeply interwoven in the nature of the human reason.
The Ancient Indians searched for other ways for religious practice, without the help of the old Deities, finding a compromise between the thoughts of the Upanishads plus the revelations and the obligations in sacrifice of the Vedas.
What a huge cultural and pychological evolution it meant for the progress of cognitive skills to reduce all phenomena as cosmic illusions, to target all roots to the One and First Cause (exciting how the Sankya ideas were combined with the Pantheism of the Upanishad) and how the definition or separation of soul (the meaning changed within the decades, traces of the old definition can be found in the Buddhism) and substance evolved the question, how the Prime Matter (pradhana or prakrti) is composed.
It is very interesting how the principle of Karma, also originates in the cult of sacrifices: After a sacrfice, the time till the request will be recognized is called karman.
Every action of the earthly ones is influenced by a natural and preternatural "something", which is called Karma.
In the common view, Karma adheres to the soul, till it is completelty consumed (Samsara - The circle of life, the world of becoming and elapsing through liberation -> Nirvana).
It would massively expand my capacity in every way to present my notices in a logical order, but I will try to draw some graphs and present different cosmological and ontological systems in English.
Still working on my notices, but will never “complete” these joyful studies of metaphysical theories in seventy lifetimes 🥲💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 and this is a wonderful good reason to stay alive for a little while 🦋🥰
