Issue

9th Issue (September, 2008)

One Agenda of Religion: The Two-fold Truth of One Reality

Wong Weng Hon

Introduction

Religion preaches the two-fold Truth of One Reality: Apearance and Reality. The former is the illusive worldview of phenomenal world Buddhistly designated as the conventional or relative truth (samvṛti satya). The latter is the right worldview of the ultimate Truth of Reality or the Absolute Truth (Paramārtha Satya). The empirical world is unreal or a mere appearance. It is illusory, impermanent and mutable. The Absolute, generally designated as Brahman, Tao, Buddha, God or Allah is real, eternal and immutable. It is the only Reality. Anything other than this Absolute is false imagination of the human mind. Gnosis is the self-realization of or self-awakening to the distinction between these two truths.

Tao Te Ching (道德經) is the esoteric legacy of Lao Tzu. He is the towering Chinese sage among all the Chinese saints. The Chinese Classic expounds Tao or the Principle of Nature. Monotheistically, it may be designated generally as the God. In imperial China, a righteous Emperor, on the constant advice of the Neo-confucian bureaucrats, who were eminent Confucian savants, utilized the wisdom of Tao to harmonize his governance to capture the hearts of the subjects. The governance of Tao was constructed upon the principle of Non-action of all actions (無爲而無所不爲)1. Non-action connotes selfless action. Non-action of all actions connotes that ‘All actions of the emperor were not conditioned by selfishness or egoism of the emperor.’ The Heart of Tao is the inner Heart of a sage’. Lao-tzu says, “ A sage has no-mind2, his heart contains the minds of the subjects.” (聖人常無心, 以百姓心爲心.)3. The wisdom of Tao transmutes the function of head (ordinary intellectual mind) into that of the inner Heart (intuitive mind). The head is the ordinary consciousness whiles the inner Heart is the transcendental pure,infinite consciousness of a perfect man. The inner Heart is the innate great perfection of Man designated variously and dissimilarly by different religions.

Tao, synonymous with the God, reveals the relationship between the universe and the Absolute Principle of Tao. Lao-tzu elucidates the relationship between the phenomenal world and Tao thus : Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao; name that can be named is not the eternal name. The eternal Tao refers to the Absolute Truth. The designated myriad beings or things refer to the conventional truth or the phenomenal world. Lao-tzu says, “The non-designation is the beginning of the universe; Designation is the mother of myriad things. “ (道可道, 非常道; 名可名, 非常名. 無名天地之始; 有名萬物之母.)4. This is consonant with the relationship between the phenomenal world and God in the science of theosophy preached in Vedānta (Hinduism), Buddhism, Christianity, and Islamic Sufism in terms of the eternal Truth of the One in the many; the many in the One.

The phenomenal world is synonymous with the knowledge of conventional truth (saṃvṛti satya). The God or Tao is parallel to the knowledge of ultimate Truth (paramārtha Satya). The former is mere Appearance and the latter is the Reality. The former is manifest reality, the latter the unmanifest Reality. They are related and reciprocal like the reflected moons in the water and the real moon in the sky.

Vedānta Worldview

The Upaniṣads or Vedānta of Hinduism, the concluding or goal of Vedic religion reveals the status of the world that the reality of the world is two-fold. The unreal phenomenal world of illusion (māyā) and the real world of perfect knowledge (vidyā)5. The Kaṭha Upaniṣad warns us not to find reality and certainty in the unrealities and uncertainties of the world 6. In other words, empirical world is illusive and unreal and we are warned not be deluded by it. The Chāndogya Upanisad reiterates the warning that the conventional truth of multiplicity conceals the ultimate Truth of Reality7. Of course, we ought not to react with pessimism by rejecting the unreal phenomenal world. The Upaniṣads, like all other esoteric religions, communicate this communal truth of wisdom. They admonish us to live in this world of diverge forms without any ontological commitment 8. In other words, religion teaches us not be reactive but proactive towards the variable environmental stimuli so that we not deluded by illusion and unreality. To be proactive is to be mentally non-grasping. To be reactive is the mental clinging. The beautify of the acquisition of the knowledge of God is that we are able to distinguish between the false view of conventional truth and the right view of ultimate Truth. Knowing their distinction prevents us from going astray from the principle of Tao. This is the original agenda of worshipping God. Worship of God is the worship of Truth. Anything other than God is idolatry.

All designations of the multiplicity are actually idolatries. Designations are illusive or unreal signs, marks or characteristics giving us the false impression of concrete entities. Buddhism recommends the practitioners to detach from signs, marks or characteristics because they are ultimately illusive and unreal. Succinctly put, all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. It is only detachment from signs, marks or characteristics but not discarding the objects if they are our legal, righteous material possessions. Detachment is not the rejection of worldliness or material wealth. It is only non-grasping upon the signs marks or characteristics of the objects while the objects are righteously obtained, possessed and utilized. Wisdom dictates that we reject only the evil objects. The beneficial objects must be righteously earned and protected.

The current clashes of civilizations mirror that religion has either been not well instructed or taught or not well learnt. The root of clashes are obvious: dogmatic or fanatic discriminations everywhere. In actual fact, the play of discriminations is the worship of idolatries. Discriminations evoke attachment or aversions from which greed or hatred is arisen. Discrimination mirrors that only the half-truth of exoteric dimension of religion is learnt. Only the conventional truth is learnt well but not the absolute Truth.

Mahāyāna Worldview

Mahāyāna like any esoteric religion presents a large basket of sūtras (discourses) and Śāstras (treatises) which are actually various and many expedient devices or skillful means to expound the aforementioned two-fold truth. Nāgārjuna in his celebrated treatise ‘The Root Verses of the Middle Path’ (Mūlamadhyamakārikā) highlighted the importance or significance of the two-fold truth of worldview thus:

Those who do not understand the distinction between these two truths do not understand the profound truth embodied in the Buddha’s message.9
MMK.24.9  

Christian Worldview

F.H.R Frank depicts the Christian worldview thus:

The Christian truth, with the certifying of which we have to do, is essentially one, compact in itself, tally connected, as such at the same time organic – and it is therefore not possible one should possess and retain a portion of the same, while yet not possessing or rejecting, the other portion.10

A close examination of Frank’s conception of Christian worldview reveal that it occur with Buddhist Right View of Dependent Co-arising (Pratītyasamutpāda) or Emptiness (Śūnyatā). It depicts that the phenomenal world is an organic unity dependently co-arisen from contigent conditions which are inseparable. It is consonant with the divine Truth of God as the Unity of Being or Existence. The contigent conditions are dependent beings supported by the Unity of God. The Unity of God is real and the dependent beings conceptualized by linguistic expressions are illusory and unreal.

Wittgenstein

Ludwing Wittgenstein (1889-1951), a highly influencial western analytical philosopher, vindicates the religious world view when he discovered from his philosophical linguistic analysis that ‘ Language does not mirror the real truth of the world.’ This fact is unveiled in his celebrated philosophical work ’Philosophical Investigation’ (Tractatus Logico-philosophicus)11. Even though language does not mirror the real Truth, language is still a useful device for human intercommunications and intercourses. It cannot be discarded. Religion teaches us to utilize language without ontological commitment or grasping by self or ego. The contigent beings constituting the phenomenal world are dynamic and moving. Consequently, they do not possess permanent self-natures (svabhāvas) or forms (nimittas). As a contigent being or conditioned phenomenon is empty of permanent self-nature or signless (anmitta), how could language depict a signless object in constant flux or dynamism. Language or word is static or non-moving. It can not depict what is impermanent and moving.

Buddhist View

Gotama Buddha preached to Kaccāyana thus:

This world, Kaccāyana, usually bases (its view) on two things, on existence and non-existence. “12

Then, The Buddha proceeded to point out that the pair of extreme views of absolute existence and absolute existence is wrong view. The right view is the middle view of avoiding the pair of extreme views of absolute existence and absolute non-existence. The middle view is the Buddhist fundamental doctrine of Dependent Co-arising (Pali.: Paṭiccasamuppāda; Skt.: Pratītyasamutpāda).

When a phenomenon (dharma) is perceived ultimately as neither existence nor non-existence, it is a reality empty of any inherent existence. It is signless, markless or characteristicless and hence it is ineffable. A phenomenon does not exist independently as a discrete entity. It is dependently co-arisen from all other contigent conditions. In other words, there are no self-contained individuations or discrete entities which exist in this phenomenal world. All phenomena or individuals are conditioned and interwoven into an infinite Unity of Existence. All phenomena or individuals are like waves existing in unity with the borderless ocean. The waves cannot be separated from the ocean. Perception of multiplicity or manifoldness is an illusion. Gnosis is arisen from shattering this illusion.

Sufism

Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī says:

If the truth is what I have just pointed out to you, the world is an illusion having no real existence in itself. This is the meaning of imagination. 13

From Ibn ‘Arabī’s statement, the variety of forms comprising the world does not exist separately. The world is ultimately oneness devoid of discrete diverge differentiations. The multiplicity of the world perceived by us is merely false imagination. Diverge beings or things interdependently constitute the wholeness or unity of the world. The Wholeness or Unity of the world or universe is the essence of God. Unity or Totality of its parts is God itself according to Ibn ‘Arabī’s Doctrine of Unity of Being or Existence (Waḥdāt al Wujūd). Only Unity exists everywhere, multiplicity does not exist ultimately but exists relatively. Only God exists and anything other than Unity or God does not exist.

God is essentially the dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality. Sufis interpret one of the Islamic Law ‘There is no god except Allah’ perfectly as ‘There is no Reality except God’. God or Unity is the only Truth and other diverge beings are illusive and unreal. Such an exposition of the eternal Reality or Truth is synonymous with Mahāyāna Doctrine of Emptiness (Śūnayatā).

Virtues preserve Unity or God. Vices oppose Unity or God. Therefore, Al-Ghazali affirms thus :

Closeness to God is equivalent to normality. Distance from God is abnormality.14

The virtuous one is close to God because one worships Unity. When one is distant from God, one does not worship Unity. Unity correlates with virtues; disunity correlates with vices. Whoever sustains Unity pleases the God. Whoever destroys unity angers the God. To please the God is to be rewarded. To anger God is to be retributed. What you sow, so shall you reap. The rewarding or retributive law is intrinsic or in-built. The intrinsic justice overcomes the unheedful injustice. God is intrinsic and pervasive everywhere.

Conclusion

 Material life lived righteously does not collide with spirituality. Religious wisdom trains one to live in utmost dignity and mutual respect without hurting oneself and others. Without spiritualizing the secular life with religious wisdom, earthly life is impaired and disharmonious. Impaired and disharmonious earthly life is the surest and shortest way to self-destruction or personal doom. It also brings about damages or catastrophes to others. It may also svamp the entire life on earth. Natural catastrophes, such as epic floods, storms, fires caused by global warming and climate change, soaring prices of oil and foods, rising rate of crimes, increasing cases of protests and riots, unending wars and so forth are linked to unethical human behaviours. They mirror the current impaired and disharmonious earthly life owing to deficiency in or lack of religious faith and wisdom.

The two-fold Truth of One Reality revealed by Theosophy awakens us to the reality that exoteric materialism and esoteric spiritualism are reciprocal and non-dual.They are not mutually exclusive. It is an innate insurance system not discerned by many. Succinctly put, the worldly life and spiritual life are penetrative and synergic if we are aware insightfully to the Truth bridging the manifest phenomena and the unmanifest or hidden Principle.

If we live exoterically worshipping only the worldliness rejecting spirituality, we only enjoy a half cup of bliss through materialism with potential assailing dangers around. If we live both exoterically and esoterically worshipping the world and the Absolute Truth in balance, we have a full cup of bliss clearing off the uncesssary impediments.

 Secularism ought to be spiritualized with religious wisdom of insight into the two-fold Truth to lead a more secure and peaceful life even though life journey may be, at times, very adverse. In April 14, 1912, the ill-fated Titanic passenger liner was wrecked after striking an iceberg because the captain, the crew members and the passengers failed to see the hidden iceberg in the midst of being mesmerized and obsessed with the luxury and opulence of the ocean liner. Likewise, if one failed to see the hidden God, one could easily end up like the disastrous fate of the Titanic ocean liner. The Titanic still remains an edifying lesson to the world.