Theos-Talk Archives (August 2008 Message tt00023)

"Eastern philosophy rejects the idea of a personal and extra-cosmic 
deity. And to those who call this atheism, I would say the following. 
It is illogical to worship one such god, for, as said in the 
Bible, "There be Lords many and Gods many." Therefore, if worship is 
desirable, we have to choose either the worship of many gods, each 
being no better or less limited than the other, viz., polytheism and 
idolatry, or choose, as the Israelites have done, one tribal or 
racial god from among them, and while believing in the existence of 
many gods, ignore and show contempt for the others, regarding our own 
as the highest and the "God of Gods." But this is logically 
unwarrantable, for such a god can be neither infinite nor absolute, 
but must be finite, that is to say, limited and conditioned by space 
and time. With the Pralaya the tribal god disappears, and Brahmâ and 
all the other Devas, and the gods are merged into the Absolute. 
Therefore, occultists do not worship or offer prayers to them, 
because if we did, we should have either to worship many gods, or 
pray to the Absolute, which, having no attributes, can have no ears 
to hear us. The worshipper even of many gods must of necessity be 
unjust to all the other gods; however far he extends his worship it 
is simply impossible for him to worship each severally; and in his 
ignorance, if he choose out any one in particular, he may by no means 
select the most perfect. Therefore, he would do better far to 
remember that every man has a god within, a direct ray from the 
Absolute, the celestial ray from the One; that he has his " god " 
within, not outside of, himself."

(Collected Writings volume 10, page 345)