Theos-Talk Archives (March 2009 Message tt00497)

"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.]

Daniel
http://hpb.cc