Contemplating the Gods
One of the most difficult concepts for moderns when examining traditional religions is presence of multiple deities. Traditional myths are often used by modernists to argue against “primitive” traditional doctrines. However, these difficulties can be resolved, and the contemplation of the gods of traditional religions can have enormous rewards, and can be incredibly helpful in reaching a metaphysical understanding of reality.
One such myth includes the Hindu doctrine of the Trimurti. The Trimurti includes the three gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, each of which has a distinct function. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Each one of these principles is absolutely necessary to explain the world in which we live. That there is creation is evident because there are created things. That there is destruction is evident because things that once existed have ceased to. That there is preservation is evident because there is a point where a thing can be said to be what it is; if only creation or only destruction existed, there would be no stability whatsoever.
A keen reader will already understand that while these three principles (creation, preservation, and destruction) can be separated conceptually, in the material world they always appear mixed. For example, a house is built, a house exists, and a house becomes dilapidated over time; but during the period of building the materials used are already undergoing their own process of decay. Once the house has been built it is always suffering some degree of destruction. And even during the final period of its destruction, for example while suffering deliberate demolition, its component parts persist. In the world of becoming no principle is ever manifested in a pure way, that is, not mixed with other principles, although at one time or place one principle can be dominant over others. Further, the dominant principle can appear to change when one changes perspective. For example, when an organism is in the early stages of its development, when the principle of creation is dominant, it is possible that a particular organ within that organism can perform a function that by itself is dominated by the destructive principle but that still contributes to the overall creative activity of the whole organism. By the same token, during old age, when the dominant principle in an organism is destruction, individual organs can carry out activities dominated by the creative principle. This idea of changing perspectives also applies to the entire cosmic situation. We now live in the Kali Yuga, the end of a cycle of manifestation when the destructive principle reigns and dictates the overall direction, but the principles of creation and preservation are still present to some degree in all manifested things.
So far these three principles have been examined only as they are visible in the material world, but the control that these three gods exert over this world is a symbol for metaphysical ideas. All creation comes from Brahma, all preservation from Vishnu, and all destruction from Shiva, and each of these gods possesses infinite power with respect to their particular attribute. The power of Brahma to bring creation to any fit recipient is never wanting. And further, as these gods exist outside of time, they are not subject to their own attributes. That is, Brahma causes creation but remains uncreated, as creation is a process of change that exists in time. In the same way, Shiva causes destruction but is not destroyed himself, as destruction is also a process of change that exists in time. And Vishnu, the source of preservation, is not himself preserved, because preservation implies the possibility of change, which Vishnu is not even potentially subject to. To further illustrate this last point, the gods, being above time and change, do not move, but that does not mean that they are at rest in the way that a man can be at rest, because the way a man can be at rest is understood by the motion/rest duality that only applies to the material world. In the changeless realm above the material world, these “actions” of the three gods in question are not physical differentiations, but conceptual differentiations. They are among the first differentiations to emerge from the ineffable supreme, and they describe this very emergence (creation), the fact that they have an existence and definition contingently separate from the supreme (preservation), and the fact that from the highest perspective this emergence is an illusion and they will again be returned to the ultimate (destruction). It must be stressed again that at this level (i.e., the contemplation of the gods in their pure state, not as operating in the material world) these “actions” of the gods are conceptual, not temporal. The births of the gods occur outside of time and space, and we can only approximate this truth by saying that they occur everywhere and nowhere, always and never. This eternal and simultaneous conceptual division of the gods is mirrored in the material world by physical creation, preservation, and destruction in time. We trust that thus far the discussion of these three Hindu gods undermines the theory that traditions with multiple divinities represent a primitive stage of human knowledge. The worship of the gods is a way to understand that the material world of change is a limited expression of infinite and eternal powers.
As is often the case, the Hindu tradition provides the clearest presentation of metaphysical ideas, and that is why we began the discussion with an examination of the Trimurti. However, the same general principles hold true for other traditions as well. For example, one aspect of the power of creation can be seen in the worship of fertility gods. I say one aspect of the creative power because fertility gods, such as the Greek Demeter, are responsible for certain creative processes, such as crop production, but not all creative processes. This brings up a very important point. In traditional metaphysics, there is ultimately one source of all things, one principle without which no power or existence could be, although the principle itself is beyond existence and all attributes, including the attribute of power, as this would suggest acting on something other than itself, and thus constitute a duality. As one descends from this ultimate perspective, one sees the first power, the first definable attribute which possess the greatest degree of universality possible for any qualified thing. From this one power all other powers are derived, and this process of delegation and spreading out into multitude can produce many different orders of gods with varying powers and attributes. Different traditions offer different divine hierarchies, but each one, as long as it maintains proper links from the supreme principle down through the different orders, is correct. Thus the confusion, that may accompany a comparison of gods from different traditions when examining the gods only with reference to themselves, vanishes when examining the gods as they exist as a way of describing the ineffable. This supreme principle, of which nothing is a part because it is pure and without parts, and of which nothing is outside because nothing can have an existence independent of it, is described in different ways by different traditions because there is no one way to fully define it, as a full definition would limit that which is unlimited.
Keeping in mind what has been said about the orders of gods as partial representations of the supreme, or perhaps as symbols pointing to the supreme, it is necessary to examine the nature of the stories told about the gods in different traditions, or myths. These myths can be seen as verbal equivalents of statues produced by traditional civilizations. Consider a statue of Apollo produced in ancient Greece: in what way is this statue an accurate representation of the god? A well executed statue can be said to produce as accurate a representation of the god as is possible given the circumstances. Carved out of stone and thus existing in the physical world, it is inconceivable that the statue could fully represent the god, as the god is infinite in power and incorporeal. But the statue can be a symbol that points to the true nature of the god. The authentic statue of a god possesses its authenticity because it is the recipient of the god’s power. To quote Plotinus:
“I think, therefore, that those ancient sages, who sought to secure the presence of divine beings by the erection of shrines and statues, showed insight into the nature of the All; they perceived that, though this Soul is everywhere tractable, its presence will be secured all the more readily when an appropriate receptacle is elaborated, a place especially capable of receiving some portion or phase of it, something reproducing it, or representing it and serving like a mirror to catch a glimpse of it.”
The god himself may be incorporeal and without physical image, but he possesses in his infinite power every possible authentic image of himself in potential form. The true meaning of the myths is quite similar. The myths do not describe the full power of a god, which is infinite, but rather the way that that power interacts with and shapes particular conditions. A god possesses in potential form every authentic description of the behavior of the god in a particular set of conditions, and every authentic description can increase a man’s understanding of the god. Rather than being able to understand these stories and images by themselves, as could the men who first received them, we are required to supplement our understanding with abstract language. This approach renders meaningless questions like “are the myths true?” or “are the gods real?” The events described in the myths may never have occurred in the material world, may never have entered into the realm of time, but they exist eternally in the god’s essence. Myth is a temporal representation of what does not have beginning or end, just as traditional sculpture is a spatial representation of what does not have dimension.
There is one more point to emphasize on this subject. It is possible for a modern to find pleasure when surveying the elaborate and beautiful flowering of mythic imagery, but then face feelings of despair when told that the gods and their heavenly abodes do not have a corporeal existence, and that they cannot be perceived by any of the senses. It almost feels as though something has been lost. This feeling of loss signifies great ignorance and extreme attachment to the material world, for the gods may not possess physical appearance, but they do possess all the beauty of every single physical representation of them in their infinite power.
Thus there is a chain of symbolism leading up through the different levels of reality. The myths and artistic representations of the gods are symbols of, and point to the gods themselves. The gods are symbols of, and point to the one power that governs all. This one power is a symbol of, and points to the unmanifested supreme beyond power and description. In traditional civilizations all human activities and natural occurrences are linked to the gods and subordinate incorporeal beings. This worldview is an acknowledgment of the progression of reality through increasingly qualified states, and is vertically oriented. The modern worldview is horizontally oriented, in that it seeks for causes only in the material world, and consequently only pursues goals that are on the same level. Nearly all modern activities are aimed solely at shaping the material world in a way that is perceived to be advantageous. In traditional civilizations nearly all activities are aimed at creating or strengthening bonds with entities or forces on higher levels of reality. In such civilizations life is organized around festivals devoted to different gods, and also times that are particularly auspicious for receiving the blessings of a particular god. Sacrifices are made of first fruits, acknowledging that while men may have toiled for their crops, the ultimate cause of their growth is something outside of the physical. Songs are sung because a god might find them pleasant and join with the company of singers. The material world is given little value when compared with the divine when it is understood that all things in the material world depend on the divine for their existence. However, this view does not lead to the oft-maligned doctrine of irresolvable spirit-body duality, for it is further realized that the divine possesses the full possibility of the material world in its power, and that the manifested world is in fact just one possibility contained in that power, only separated from full union with all other possibilities by an illusion.
In traditional societies the relationship with the gods governs a wide spectrum of activities, including many that can be seen as exterior or physical, such as plowing a field, fighting a battle, etc. Some might point out that such connections are impossible in the current situation, and while there is some truth to this, we must not forget that pure contemplation is the highest form of connection with the gods, and it is this sort of connection that we must work for. The great traditions of the world have left us with a wealth of doctrines concerning the nature of the gods, and these doctrines represent the highest objects of contemplation, as they are transcended in contemplation only when the duality of object and subject has itself been transcended, that is, when the highest stage of spiritual advancement has been attained.