Inter- Faiths Dialogue

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T here are two orders of creation: one divine, the other demonic.

temple_hindu

quote 4260 | The Bhagavat Gita
Bhagavad Gita 16.6

A nd He originated the creation of man out of clay,
then He fashioned his progeny of an extraction of mean water,
then He shaped him, and breathed His spirit in him.

mosque

quote 4221 | The Quran
Qur'an 32.8-9

T hen the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

synagogue

quote 4220 | The Torah
Genesis 2.7

T he creator, out of desire to procreate, devoted himself to concentrated ardor (tapas). Whilst thus devoted to concentrated ardor, he produced a couple, Matter and Life (prana), saying to himself, "these two will produce all manner of creatures for me." Now Life is the Sun; Matter is the Moon.

temple_hindu

quote 4156 | The Upanishads
Prasna Upanishad 1.4-5

T he Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth.
Before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
When he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was beside him, like a master workman;
I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always;
rejoicing in his inhabited world,
and delighting in the sons of men.

synagogue

quote 4151 | The Book of Proverbs
8.22-31

U niversal Order and Truth
were born of blazing spiritual fire,
and thence night was born, and thence
the billowy ocean of space.

From the billowy ocean of space
was born Time--the year
ordaining days and nights,
the ruler of every moment.

In the beginning, as before,
the Creator made the sun,
the moon, the heaven and the earth,
the firmament and the realm of light.

temple_hindu

quote 4150 | The Rig Veda
Rig Veda 10.190.1-3

I n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

church

quote 4149 | Jesus Christ
John 1.1-4

M y shape is unmanifest, but I
pervade the world.
All beings have their being in me,
but I do not rest in them.
See my sovereign technique:
creatures both in me and not in me.
Supporting beings, my person brings
beings to life, without living in them.
I am omnipresent as the storm wind
which resides in space.
All beings exist in me.
Remember that.
All creatures enter into my nature
at the end of an eon.
In another beginning
I send them forth again.
Establishing my own nature,
time after time I send them forth,
This host of beings, without
their will, by dint of that nature.
This activity does not
imprison me, O Fighter for Wealth!
I appear as an onlooker, detached
in the midst of this work.
Nature gives birth to all moving
and unmoving things. I supervise.
That is how the world keeps turning,
Son of Kunti!

temple_hindu

quote 4144 | The Bhagavat Gita
Bhagavad Gita 9.4-10

A s the web issues out of the spider
And is withdrawn, as plants sprout from the earth,
As hair grows from the body, even so,
The sages say, this universe springs from
The deathless Self, the source of life.

The deathless Self meditated upon
Himself and projected the universe
As evolutionary energy.
From this energy developed life, mind,

The elements, and the world of karma,
Which is enchained by cause and effect.

The deathless Self sees all, knows all. From him
Springs Brahma, who embodies the process
Of evolution into name and form
By which the One appears to be many.

temple_hindu

quote 4143 | The Upanishads
Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.7-9

F or millions upon millions, countless years was spread darkness,
When existed neither earth nor heaven, but only the limitless Divine Ordinance.
Then existed neither day or night, nor sun or moon;
As the Creator was absorbed in an unbroken trance.
Existed then neither forms of creation, nor of speech; neither wind nor water.
Neither was creation or disappearance or transmigration.

Then were not continents, neither regions, the seven seas, nor rivers with water flowing.
Existed then neither heaven or the mortal world or the nether world;
Neither hell or heaven or time that destroys.
Hell and heaven, birth and death were then not--none arrived or departed.
Then were not Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva:
None other than the Sole Lord was visible.
Neither existed then female or male, or caste and birth--
None suffering and joy received.

Unknowable Himself, was He the source of all utterance; Himself the unknowable unmanifested.
As it pleased Him, the world He created;
Without a supporting power the expanse He sustained.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva He created and to maya-attachment gave increase.
(To a rare one was the Master's Word imparted.)
Himself He made His Ordinance operative and watched over it:
Creating continents, spheres and nether worlds, the hidden He made manifest.

Creating the universe Himself, He has remained unattached.
The compassionate Lord too has made the holy center [the human being].
Combining air, water, and fire, He created the citadel of the body.
The Creator fashioned the Nine Abodes [of sensation];
In the Tenth [the superconscious mind] is lodged the Lord, unknowable, limitless.

The illimitable Lord in His unattributed state of void assumed might;
He, the infinite One, remaining detached:
Displaying his power, He himself from the void created inanimate things.
From the unattributed void were created air and water.
Raising creation, He dwells as monarch in the citadel of the body.
Lord! In the fire and water [of the body] exists Thy light;
In Thy [original] state of void was lodged [unmanifest] the power of creation.

quote 4142 | The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
Maru Sohale, M.1, pp. 1035-37

W e created man of an extraction of clay,
then We set him, a drop, in a receptacle secure,
then We created of the drop a clot
then We created of the clot a tissue
then We created of the tissue bones
then We garmented the bones in flesh;
thereafter We produced him as another creature.
So blessed be God, the fairest of creators!

mosque

quote 4140 | The Quran
Qur'an 23.14

I n the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, "let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

synagogue

quote 4139 | The Torah
Genesis 1.1-2.3

G od it is Who created the heavens and the earth,
and that which is between them, in six days.
Then He mounted the throne.
You have not, beside Him, a protecting friend or mediator.
Will you not then remember?
He directs the ordinance from the heaven to the earth;
then it ascends to Him in a Day, whose measure is
a thousand years of your reckoning.
Such is the Knower of the invisible and the visible,
the Mighty, the Merciful,
Who made all things good which He created.
And He began the creation of man from clay;
then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;
then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His spirit;
and appointed for you hearing and sight and hearts.
Small thanks you give!

mosque

quote 4138 | The Quran
Qur'an 32.4-9

T he Sun is Brahman-this is the teaching. An explanation .thereof (is this). In the beginning this (world) was non-existent. It became existent. It grew. It turned into an egg. It lay for the period of a year. It burst open. Then came out of the eggshell, two parts, one of silver, the other of gold.
That which was of silver is this earth; that which was of gold is the sky. What was the outer membrane is the mountains; that which was the inner membrane is the mist with the clouds. What were the
veins were the rivers. What was the fluid within is the ocean.

temple_hindu

quote 3934 | The Upanishads
Chandogya Upanishad, III, 19, 1-2, S. Radhakrishnan (editor and translator), The Principal Upanishads (New York: Harper & Row, 1953), PP. 151-2, 399, 447-9

T here was nothing whatsoever here in the beginning. By death indeed was this covered, or by hunger, for hunger is death. He created the mind, thinking 'let me have a self' (mind). Then he moved about, worshiping. From him, thus worshiping, water was produced. . . .
. . . .. That which was the froth of the water became solidified; that became the earth. On it he [i.e., death] rested. From him thus rested and heated (from the practice of austerity) his essence of brightness came forth (as) fire.
He divided himself threefold (fire is one-third), the sun one-third and the air one-third. He also is life [lit., breath] divided threefold, . . .

temple_hindu

quote 3933 | The Upanishads
Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, 1, 2, 1-3, S. Radhakrishnan (editor and translator), The Principal Upanishads (New York: Harper & Row, 1953), PP. 151-2, 399, 447-9

T his (universe) existed in the shape of Darkness, (1) unperceived, destitute of distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, wholly immersed, as it were, in deep sleep.

Then the divine Self-existent (2) indiscernible, (but) making (all) this, the great elements and the rest, discernible, appeared with irresistible (creative) power, dispelling the darkness.

He who can be perceived by the internal organ (3) (alone), who is subtle, indiscernible, and eternal, who contains all created beings and is inconceivable, shone forth of his own (will). (4)

He, desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created (5) the waters, and placed [his] seed in them.

That (seed) became a golden egg, (6) in brilliancy equal to the sun;
in that (egg) he himself was born as Brahmin, the progenitor of the whole world.

The waters were called naras, (for) the waters are, indeed, the offspring of Nara; as they were his (7) first residence (ayana), he thence is named Narayana . (8)

From that (first) cause, which is indiscernible, eternal, and both real and unreal, (9) was produced that male (Purusha), (10) who is famed in this world (under the appellation of) Brahmin.

The divine one resided in that egg during a whole year, (11) then he himself by his thought (12) (alone) divided it into two halves;

And out of those two halves he formed heaven and earth, between them the middle sphere, the eight points of the horizon, and the eternal abode of the waters.

From himself (atmanas) he also drew forth the mind, (13) which is both real and unreal, likewise from the mind egoism, (14) which possesses the function of self-consciousness (and is) lordly:

Moreover, the great one, (15) the soul, (16) and all products affected by the three qualities, (17) and, in their order, the five organs which perceive the objects of sensation. (18)

But, joining minute particles even of those six, (19) which possess measureless power, with particles of himself he created all beings.

temple_hindu

quote 3932 | The Law of Manu
1, 5-16, Translation by G. buhler, in Sacred Books of the East, XXV (Oxford,1886), PP. 2-8

1 Tamas, a darkness both physical and mental. The Samkhya system finds considerable significance in this stanza: tamas, one of the three twisted strands (gunas) of cosmic substance, represents inertia. 2 Svayambhu, an epithet of Brahmin (masculine), who is the impersonal Absolute (Brahman neuter) personified as manifest god. 3 Atindriya, literally that spirit or mind 'beyond the senses.' 4 i.e., became self-manifest. 5 Or, released. 6 As 'the shape of Darkness' (vs. I) and the environmental 'waters' recall the Rig Vedic creation hymn X, 120, so does this golden 'egg' (anda) and its seed (bija) recall the hiranyagarbha of Rig Veda, X, 121. 7 Brahmin's. 8 An example of popular etymology, nara being primal man or eternal spirit. 9 Literally, having existence (sat) and non-existence (asat) as its nature. 10 See the Purushasukta, Rig Veda, X .90 11 Early commentators disagreed, some saying that the 'year' was a 'year of Brahmin,' others maintaining that a human year is meant, as in the similar version of this selection, Shatapatha- bramana, XI, I, 6, 1 ff. 12 Meditation (dhyana). 13 Manas, mind or intelligence, as distinct from spirit (atman). 14 Ahamkara, literally 'the making of "I" (aham)'; the principle of individuation. 15 Mahat, the 'great'; in Samkhya also called buddhi, consciousness. 16 Atman. 17 Gunas. 18 Tanmatras, subtle elements. 19 Again, the Indian commentators are at variance in their interpretations of these last three lines. Probably 'those six' are classes of tattvas (elements) mentioned in the preceding two verses, in the order: manas, ahamkara, mahat, atman, tattvas affected by the gunas, tanmatras. 'It is interesting to compare the Samkya evolutes of prakriti. Here twenty-five tattvas, a rearrangement of 'those six' above, evolve with greater systematization: (1) purusha; and from prakriti, (2) mahat, (3) ahamkara, (4) manas, (5) five sense organs and five motor organs, (6) five subtle elements (tanmatras) and five gross elements (mahabhutas). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T hen (1) even nothingness was not, nor existence. (2)
There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

Then there were neither death nor immortality,
nor was there then the torch of night and day.
The One (3) breathed mindlessly and self-sustaining. (4)
There was that One then, and there was no other.

At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness.
All this was only unillumined water. (5)
That One which came to bc, enclosed in nothing,
arose at last, born of the power of heat. (6)

In the beginning desire descended on it-
that was the primal seed, born of the mind.
The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom
know that which is, is kin (7) to that which is not.

And they have stretched their cord across the void,
and know what was above, and what below.
Seminal powers made fertile mighty forces.
Below was strength, and over it was impulse. (8)

But, after all, who knows, and who can say
whence it all came, and how creation happened?
The gods themselves are later than creation,
so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

Whence all creation had its origin,
he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows or maybe even he does not know.

temple_hindu

quote 3931 | The Rig Veda
X, 129, Translation by A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India (London, 1954), pp. 247-8

1 In the beginning. 2 Asat nor sat. 3 Tad ekam, 'That One,' who 'breathes without air.' 4 Svadha, energy, intrinsic power which makes self-generation possible. 5 Fluid (salila) and indistinguishable (apraketa) 6 Tapas, an archaic word which also defines those human austerities br techniques which, like this cosmic heat, generate power. 7 From 'bond' (bandhu). 8 This stanza is obscure. A. A. Macdonell suggests that the 'cord' (rashmi) implies the bond of the preceding stanza; thought measures out the distance between the non-existent and the existent and separates the male and female cosmogonic principles: impulse (prayati) above and energy (svadha) below. (A Vedic Reader for Students, London: Oxford University. 1917, P. 210.)

I n the beginning, when the Will of the King began to take effect, He impressed His signs into the heavenly sphere. Within the Most Hidden, the Infinite (En Sof), a dark flame issued forth, like a fog forming in the Unformed.

Forming the concentric ring of that [first] sphere, [this flame was] neither white nor black, neither red nor green, of no color whatever. Only after this flame began to assume size and dimension, did it produce radiant colors. From the innermost center of the flame gushed forth a host of colors which spread on everything beneath. Concealed within all was the hidden mystery of the Infinite (En Sof )

synagogue

quote 3775 | The Zohar
Sholem, 1949; p. 27

M y soul shall declare to Thee that Thou art her Maker,
And shall testify that Thou art her creator, 0 Lord.
At Thy word, "Be, 0 soul," she took on existence,
And from Thy Emptiness Thou didst draw her forth as light from the eye.
It was Thee who didst breathe in her life; I shall proclaim and affirm this with uplifted hands.
And therefore she shall pour out her thanks and give witness that she was bidden to do so by Thee.
While yet in the body, she serves Thee as a handmaid;
And on that day when she returns to the land from whence she came,
In Thee will she dwell, for in Thee is her being.
Whether she sits or rises, Thou art with her the same.
She was Thine before she was born and breathing;
She was nourished by Thee with wisdom and knowledge,
And it is to Thee she looks for her guidance and sustenance,
Grateful to Thee for her water and bread.
She looks only to Thee, and hopes only for Thee.

synagogue

quote 3774 | Salomon Ibn Gabirol
The Royal Crown; Zangwill, 1923, 1974; pp. 3-5

T ime was not yet; ... it lay ... merged in the eternally Existent and motionless with It. But an active principle there ... stirred from its rest; ... for the One contained an unquiet faculty, ... and it could not bear to retain within itself all the dense fullness of -its possession.

[Like] a seed at rest, the nature-principle within, unfolding outwards, makes its way towards what appears a multiple life. It was Unity self-contained, but now, in going forth from Itself, It fritters Its unity away; It advances to a lesser greatness.

candle

quote 3656 | Plotinus
Enneads, 45:3:11; in Porphyry, Life Of Plotinus, Turnbull, 1936; p. I

T he eternal [Logos] is the Power of God, and the work, of the -eternal [Logos] is the world, which has no beginning, but is continually becoming by the activity of the eternal [Logos]. Therefore, nothing that constitutes the world will ever perish or be destroyed, for the eternal [Logos] is imperishable. All this great body of the world is a Soul, full of intellect and of God, who fills it within and without and vivifies everything.

Contemplate through Me [the Divine Mind], the world and consider its beauty. ... See that all things are full of light. See the earth, settled in the midst of all, the great nurse who nourishes all earthly creatures, All is full of Soul, and all beings are in movement. Who has created these things? The one God, for God is one. You see that the world is always one, the Sun, one; the moon, one; the divine activity, one; God, too, is one. And since all is living, and Life is also one, God is certainly one. It is by the action of God that all things come into being…

church

quote 3647 | The Corpus Hermetica
Poimander, 1.11, based on translation by Yates, F., 1964, pp. 31-32

T he Father existed alone, unbegotten,without place, without time, without counsellor, and without any conceivable qualities ..., solitary and reposing alone in Himself. But as He possessed a generative Power [Logos], it pleased Him to generate and produce the most beautiful and perfect that He had in Himself, for He did not love solitude. He was all love, but love is not love if there is no object of love. So the Father, alone as He was, projected and generated [the world].

church

quote 3646 | Hippolytus
Refutatio Omnium Heresium , VI.29.5ff. Roberts & Donaldson, 1892, Vol. VI, pp.208-210

T here are two aspects of the One. The first of these is the Higher, the Divine Mind of the universe, which governs all things, and is masculine. The other is the lower, the Thought (epinoia) which produces all things, and is feminine. As a pair united, they comprise all that exists.

The Divine Mind is the Father who sustains all things, and nourishes all that begins and ends. He is the One who eternally stands, without beginning or end. He exists entirely alone; for, while the Thought arising from Unity, and coming forth from the divine Mind, creates [the appearance of] duality, the Father remains a Unity. The Thought is in Himself, and so He is alone. Made manifest to Himself from Himself, He appears to be two. He becomes "Father" by virtue of being called so by His own Thought.

Since He, Himself, brought forward Himself, by means of Himself, manifesting to Himself His own Thought, it is not correct to attribute creation to the Thought alone. For She (the Thought) conceals the Father within Herself; the Divine Mind and the Thought are intertwined. Thus, though [they appear] to be a pair, one opposite the other, the Divine Mind is in no way different from the Thought, inasmuch as they are one.

Though there appears to be a Higher, the Mind, and a lower, the Thought, truly, It is a Unity, just as what is manifested from these two [the world] is a unity, while appearing to be a duality. The Divine Mind and the Thought are discernible, one from the other, but they are one, though they appear to be two.

[Thus] ... there is one Divine Reality, [conceptually] divided as Higher and lower; generating Itself, nourishing It self, seeking Itself, finding Itself, being mother of Itself, father of Itself, sister of Itself, spouse of Itself, daughter of Itself, son of Itself. It is both Mother and Father, a Unity, being the Root of the entire circle of existence.

church

quote 3645 | Simon Magus
Apophasis Megale ("The Great Exposition"), quoted by Hippolytus of Rome, Refutatio Omnium Heresium, VI.8; adapted from Robert& Donaldson, 1892, Vol. VI, pp.208-210

I f ... you ask what is meant by the Son, I will state briefly that he is the first product of the Father, not as having been brought into existence (for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal Mind has the Logos in Himself, being from eternity instinct with Logos); but inasmuch as the Logos came forth to be the Idea and energizing power of all material things.

church

quote 3644 | Athenagoras
in Wilson, 1959; pp. 385-386

A nd the Logos became flesh and lived among us ... as the only-begotten son of his father.

church

quote 3643 | Jesus Christ
John: 1:2

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