Theos-Talk Archives (August 2008 Message tt00025)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "anandaam_11" <anandaam@...> wrote:
>
> "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)

Blavatsky's rejection of worship and prayers is rejection of path of
the devotion altogether. This position does not seem to be
appropriate, because Bhavavad Gita also recognized path of devotion.
And also Christianity and Judaism have devotion to God as central.
Many spiritual traditions in India also have strong element of
devotion. So the anti-devotion position stated above by Blavatsky does
not appear right. 
Best
Anand Gholap