GOPAL STAVIG RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

The Omnipresence of Brahman-God in Indian and Western Thought

GOPAL STAVIG

paceless, timeless, and unchanging causation. All time is in us, we are not in Nirguna Brahma is omnipresent as the time. As the Soul [âtman] is not in time and Sfoundational ground of existence. space, all time and space are within the Soul. Remove Nirguna Brahma and all existence The Soul is therefore omnipresent.’3 ‘This immediately ceases to be. From the non- glass is limited; it is not omnipresent, dualistic standpoint, Shankara described because the surrounding matter forces it to Brahman as all-pervading, omnipresent take that form, does not allow it to expand. It (Sarvagata, Vibhu), boundless without an is conditioned by everything around it and is end, and not confined to a single locality. It therefore, limited. But that which is beyond is the seer of sight, the thinker of thought law, where there is nothing to act upon It, and the knower of knowledge. This is how can It be limited? It must be confirmed by the religious scriptures that tell omnipresent.’4 One infinite omnipresent us, ‘He is omnipresent like space and Brahman-God transcends the law of eternal’ and ‘This one is eternal, causality and is not limited by any omnipresent, steady and unchanging’ constraining external forces. He is not (Bhagavad Gità 2:24). In view of the fact restricted by space, time, and causality or by that Brahman is infinite, there is nothing name and form, and is thus, infinite and outside of It. Brahman is the substratum of omnipresent. space, the ground of existence. All things Concerning Saguna Brahma (Personal are rooted in Brahman while It is rooted in- God) the Divine attribute of omnipresence is Itself. Finite things are contingent having the property of being present in every only a dependent and participating location in heaven and in the universe existence, which they receive from concurrently at the same time, yet being Brahman, the omnipresent substrative cause contained in none. Qualified non-dualists of the universe.1 hold that Brahman-God is everywhere so Vivekananda indicates that Nirguna that we and the laws of nature are a fragment Brahman is ‘omnipresent, because He has no of Brahman-God. Vivekananda explains form. That which has no form or shape that omnipresence this way, ‘The whole universe which is not limited by space or time, cannot comprising all nature, and an infinite live in a certain place. How can it? It is number of souls, is, as it were, the infinite everywhere, omnipresent, equally present body of God. He is interpenetrating the through all of us.’2 ‘Form is confined to time whole of it.’5 ‘The whole world is a body, and space and is bound by the law of and behind that is the universal mind, and

6 Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture  October 2017 THE OMNIPRESENCE OF BRAHMAN-GOD IN INDIAN AND WESTERN THOUGHT behind that is the universal Soul. Just as this There is not a particle, not an atom in the body is a portion of the universal body, so universe where He is not.’9 ‘He is near and this mind is a portion of the universal mind, He is far. He is inside everything. He is and the soul of man a portion of the outside everything, interpenetrating universal Soul.’6 ‘The Personal God is only everything.’ ‘Therefore there is a the sum total of all, and yet It is an metaphysical necessity ... one Soul which individual by Itself, just as you are the covers and interpenetrates all the infinite individual body of which each cell is an number of souls in the world, in and through individual part itself.’7 This is omnipresence which they live, in and through which they in the total and most unlimited sense since sympathize, and love, and work for one the universe is the infinite body of God. another. And this universal Soul is A more moderate form is the doctrine of Paramàtman, the Lord God of the universe.’ Panentheism (all-in-God) according to ‘This highest Energy-Love-Beauty is a which the universe is contained within person, an individual, the Infinite Mother of Brahman-God, and that It is within all things this universe—the God of gods—the Lord of (Theoenpanism (God-in-all)).8 This lords, omnipresent yet separate from the coinherence is possible because It is universe—the Soul of souls, yet separate omnipresent. Referring to Brahman-God as from every soul.’10 ‘It,’ means that It combines He, She, and Swami Abhedananda emphasized, ‘If non-personal aspects. Maximum external we say that matter exists separate from and omnipresence indicates that all things reside outside of God, we have made Him limited within Brahman-God. Maximum internal by matter, we have made Him finite and (immanent) omnipresence means that perishable . . . if He is infinite and one, our Brahman-God resides in all things. An bodies and everything in the universe from infinite Brahman-God without limits is the minutest atom to the largest planetary omnipresent: being external and internal system, from the lowest animalcule to the (immanent) pervading the phenomenal highest Being, exist in and through that world, and existing beyond its limits Infinite Existence. . . . The whole universe is (transcendent). It pervades all objects in God and God is in it; it is inseparable outside of us including space, which makes from God. I am in Him and He is in me . . . It external to us, just as another person’s this infinite Being pervades the universe and mind pervades their body, yet is external to interpenetrates every particle of matter, us. giving existence to everything.’ ‘Our body is As Swami Vivekananda states, ‘The a part of God’s body, our mind is a part of God of the Qualified non-dualists is also a the Divine or Universal Mind, our will is a Personal God, the repository of an infinite part of the Universal or Cosmic Will.’11 God number of blessed qualities, only He is is the ‘Supreme Lord of the universe, who interpenetrating everything in the universe. dwells in all beings and who is the life and He is immanent in everything and soul of all animate and inanimate objects of everywhere; and when the scriptures say that the world.... He is the one stupendous whole God is everything, it means that God is of which the manifested phenomena are but interpenetrating everything, not that God has parts. The gross material universe is His become the wall, but that God is in the wall. physical body. He sees through all eyes,

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hears through all ears, eats through all omnipresence of Brahman-God is a source mouths, feels through all hearts, thinks of strength and comfort and conviction for through all minds, and reasons through all us.15 intellects.’12 ‘God is not merely the Ruler of Brahman-God, not being a physical the universe standing outside of nature, but object, is not contained in any location. He dwells in nature. He is immanent and Augustine (354-430), the Bishop of Hippo resident in nature. He is not only, therefore, in North Africa who also lived in Rome, extra-cosmic, but also intra-cosmic. He is made the point that God ‘knows how to be the internal Ruler of the universe. His wholly everywhere without being confined creation is constantly manifesting His to any place.’ God is wholly present powers. The physical body of this Being is wherever He is. Moreover, God is not the gross material universe. . . . His mind is contained in or confined by any of the places the sum total of all the individual minds, at which He exists. ‘Although in speaking of and, therefore, it can be said that there is one Him we say that God is everywhere present, ocean of mind or mental force which we must resist carnal ideas and withdraw our pervades the universe, and that is neither mind from our bodily senses, and not yours, nor mine, but belongs to God.’13 imagine that God is distributed through all In the west Stephen Charnock (1628- things by a sort of extension of size, as earth 80), the British Puritan Presbyterian or water or air or light are distributed.’16 clergyman, put it, ‘God preserves all, and The Lutheran theologian Abraham therefore is in all. . . . He works in Calov (1612-86) mentioned that God everything, everything lives and works in ‘comprehends all places, not as one who is Him; therefore He is present with all, or contained and circumscribed, but as the One rather if things live, they are in God, who who contains all things, according to a gives them life. If things live, God is in presence which is illocal and not local. This them, and gives them life; if things move, is what the scholars meant when they said: God is in and gives them motion; if things God is everywhere and God is nowhere— have any being, God is in and gives them everywhere inasmuch as His presence being; if God withdraws Himself, they comprehends all things, nowhere inasmuch presently lose their being.’14 as He is enclosed in nothing. . . . It is not The idea of omnipresence or immanence possible for Him not to be present emphasizes the nearness of Brahman-God. everywhere.’17 Meditators are told to think of themselves as The American Baptist Augustus Strong being bathed in the bliss of Brahman-God. (1836-1921) noted that, ‘God’s nature is Since Brahman-God is omnipresent, It is without extension; is subject to no within us and that constitutes the immanent limitations of space; and contains in Itself divinity at the root and ground of our being. the cause of space. . . . God is not in space From a practical standpoint, omnipresence and therefore not subject to the laws of means since Brahman-God is present space. . . . God in the totality of His Essence, everywhere, we can make contact with the without diffusion or expansion, Lord from any location, and at any time multiplication or division, penetrates and under all circumstances no matter where we fills the universe in all its parts. . . . God’s are. As we lead our daily lives the gracious omnipresence is not the presence of a part

8 Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture  October 2017 THE OMNIPRESENCE OF BRAHMAN-GOD IN INDIAN AND WESTERN THOUGHT but the whole of God in every place. This knows that God is here and everywhere.’20 follows from the conception of God as Under the rubric ‘Degrees of Reflection’ incorporeal. . . . God is immanent in the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan upheld the idea universe, not by compulsion, but by the free that, ‘The different kinds of being are higher act of His own will.’18 and lower manifestations of the one Most religious philosophers believe that Absolute Spirit. . . . While the Absolute is in Brahman-God pervades the universe but is all finite things and permeates them, the not fully identified with defiled objects. For things differ in the degree of their example, when a light is present throughout permeability, in the fullness of their a room, it remains separate from the objects reflections. . . . The rank of the categories as that are there. Brahman-God remains distinct higher and lower is determined by the as a cause from Its effect. That Brahman- adequacy of their expression of reality. Life God is present at every point in the universe, is a higher category than matter.’ All but Its manifestation is greater in, for existence is a revelation or reflection of the example, a human being than in a rock. For omnipresent higher reality in varying example, the power of the Lord is more degrees.21 actively, sacredly, and mystically manifested The omnipresent God’s varying in a great soul, in a holy place, and in a manifestations is discussed by the Dutch religious ceremony. By analogy, it is like Reformed (Calvinist) theologian, Herman light being present to a greater degree near Bavinck (1854-1921). He says, 19 the sun than in a dim room. The soul is present in the entire body and in all of its several parts, yet in a different Different manifestations of Divine power manner in each of these parts: it does not Sri Ramakrishna supports dwell in the mind in the same manner as in omnipresence when stating, ‘One who the heart, neither is it present in the hand in thinks of God, day and night, beholds Him the same manner as in the foot. . . . God’s everywhere.’ ‘. . . but on attaining Perfect immanence is not an unconscious emanence Knowledge he sees only one Consciousness [sic], but a conscious presence of His being in all His creatures. That is the reason why everywhere. The same Perfect Knowledge, the nature of this Divine presence varies in again, makes him realize that the one accordance with the nature of these Consciousness has become the universe creatures. To be sure, even the most and its living beings and the twenty-four insignificant creature owes its origin and cosmic principles. But the manifestations of preservation to God’s power, to His being: Divine Power are different in different God dwells in every creature; but this does beings. It is He, undoubtedly, who has not mean that He dwells equally in every become everything; but in some cases there creature. All things are indeed ‘in Him’ but is a greater manifestation than in others.’ all things are not ‘with Him.’ God does not ‘God is everywhere. But then you must dwell on earth as He dwells in heaven, in animals as in man, in the inorganic as in the remember that there are different organic creation, in the wicked as in the manifestations of His Power. . . .’ ‘What is pious, in the church as in Christ. Creatures knowledge and what is ignorance? A man differ according to the different manner in is ignorant so long as he feels that God is which God dwells in them. A creature’s far away. He has knowledge when he nature and essence is determined by its

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relation to God. Hence, though all creatures being possessed of infinite power, it must be reveal God, they do so in different ways and everywhere. . . . God is the universal cause along different lines.’22 of the whole of being ... wherever being is found, the Divine presence is also there. . . . Omnipresence in relation to God is immediately present, not only in the omnipotence and omniscience celestial body, but also in the lowest things. Traditionally more attention has been But we must not think that God is placed on Divine omnipotence and everywhere in such a way that He is divided omniscience, yet it follows that Brahman- in various areas of place, as if one part of God possesses these two attributes because Him were here and another part there. It is omnipresent. Being omnipresent in all Rather, His entire being is everywhere.’ location allows Brahman-God to know ‘God is in all things by His power, inasmuch everything that is occurring (omniscience) as all things are subject to His power. He is and to act everywhere with direct control by His presence in all things, inasmuch as all over every part of the universe things are bare and open to His eyes; He is (omnipotence). There is no place to which in all things by His Essence, inasmuch as He Brahman-God’s knowledge and power do is present to all as the cause of their being.’24 not extend. One caveat, there are action and The German Protestant Reformer Martin knowledge at a distance. For example, in the Luther (1483-1546) stressed, ‘The almighty modern technological world one can shoot a power of God . . . must be essentially present missile that has long-distance powerful at all places, even in the tiniest tree leaf. The effects, or with a large telescope can have reason is this: It is God who creates, effects, knowledge of a far-off planet without being and preserves all things through His there. almighty power. . . . He must be present and Following this line of thinking, the must make and preserve His creation both in Italian Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) reasoned its innermost and outermost aspects.’ ‘God that according to His Essence, God’s in His Essence is present everywhere . . . but dimensions are infinite and not limited by is at the same time beyond and above the matter or form, or by anything outside of whole creation.’ As the efficient cause, God Himself. Since God is undivided and of is ‘completely and entirely present in every infinite power, His entire being is single body.’ God’s ‘Divine nature can be everywhere and He cannot be wholly and entirely in all creatures and in circumscribed.23 ‘God moves all things to every single individual being, more deeply, their operations, as we have shown. more inwardly, more present than the Therefore, He is in all things. . . . An creature is to itself, and yet on the other incorporeal thing is related to its presence in hand may and can be circumscribed something by its power, in the same way that nowhere.’25 Omnipresence is necessary for a corporeal thing is related to its presence in God to continually create and preserve all something by dimensive quantity. Now, if things, every moment with His almighty there were any body possessed of infinite power.26 dimensive quantity, it would have to be Post-Reformation Lutheran theologians everywhere. So, if there is an incorporeal like Johann Gerhard (1582-1637)

10 Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture  October 2017 THE OMNIPRESENCE OF BRAHMAN-GOD IN INDIAN AND WESTERN THOUGHT emphasized that, ‘God is present not only biological, physical, and quantum.29 according to His power and efficacy, not Brahman-God’s action works directly and only by His seeing and knowing all things; immediately through a causal chain of but also His total and undivided Essence is secondary causes, which constitute the laws present to all things. For not only His power of nature that are studied by the physical, and knowledge are immense and infinite, but social, and behavioural scientists. His Essence as well.’27 In a finite world ‘omni’ (signifying ‘all’) The New Catholic Encyclopedia means Brahman-God is present everywhere explains, ‘Omnipresence is an attribute of and has all power and knowledge, yet these God, the infinite and first cause of all, who three would be of a limited magnitude. Only is actually present in all existing places and in an infinite world could presence, things. This presence is not to be interpreted knowledge, and power be unlimited. For as dimensional or spatial, since God is example, according to Albert Einstein utterly simple and infinite and thus free of (1879-1955) our space-time continuum is of all spatial limitations. Rather He is present a limited size, and thus if Brahman-God is as an agent to His effects. So God is everywhere then that omnipresence is finite. everywhere, for He is the source of the being Brahman-God perceives, knows, and and action in all places and things. empowers everything immediately and Moreover, since in God power and action directly being omnipresent. Therefore, are one, He is substantially present in all Brahman-God is causally present existing things through His power and everywhere at the same time, at both the operation.’28 macro and micro quantum world as well. Not located only at a single point in space Religion and science and time, It has instant access to every event. In the moment-to-moment continuous Since Brahman-God is spatially and creation, omnipresent Brahman-God temporally omnipresent even in the quantum operates at every level simultaneously world, Divine actions are local, and not non- affecting all entities, structures, and local as specified by quantum physics. processes. Therefore the ‘causal joint’ of Brahman-God is already in all locations and Divine action between Brahman-God and certainly not limited by the speed of light as the world is everywhere, both internally material objects are. Brahman-God operates from inside and externally from outside. on the events of the quantum world from the Brahman-God works through complex deepest ontological foundational level, apart higher-level systems that acts on lower-level from the five senses that quantum physicists systems (downward causation) and vice are not able to grasp. Only at a later stage do versa (upward causation), employing a we have non-local correlations. transfer of energy and a flow of active Our perception operates in a specific information. Divine action being vibrational range. Outside of that range there omnipresent operates through the laws and are other worlds that exist in this location. regularities of nature on the various As Vivekananda stated, ‘Suppose I develop interconnected and interdependent an electric sense—all will change. Suppose component systems, cosmological, my senses grow finer—you will all appear

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changed. If I change, you change. If I go memory that works indirectly. In his beyond the power of the senses, you will Patanjali commentary Vivekananda wrote, appear as spirit and God.’30 Brahman-God is ‘The past and future, though not existing in omnipresent at each one of these vibrational a manifested form, yet exist in a fine form.’32 levels. We can think of the various The omnipresent Brahman-God also exists vibrational levels as the fourth spatial in the realm of fine form and therefore has dimension, since when they change our perfect understanding of what for us is a perception of spatial objects is altered. future event. We might think of a movie Luco Johan van den Brom from the screen that shows only the present activity, Netherlands explained God’s transcendence while all past and future events are on the this way, ‘God, by existing in a higher film in the projector. dimensional system, is also present in the There is the ‘Theory of the Block places of all the objects in the three- Universe,’ held in a non-religious way by dimensional space of created cosmos some scientists and philosophers that rejects without being contained by that three- the flow of time concept believing that past, dimensional space.’ ‘Three-dimensional present and future events exist concurrently. space is included in the higher dimensional Another way of looking at it is that the entire one.’ Similarly, a three-dimensional cube past, present, and future exist within the transcends a two-dimensional surface which omniscient Brahman-God, but that the is present within the cube. Existing in a Divine Being is manifesting in the higher-dimensional system, God’s space phenomenal universe only in the present contains our three-dimensional space (that differs from one location to another) at without being contained by it. Our space this very moment. Brahman-God knows does not bisect His. Three-dimensional future events because they are part of Its limitations do not apply to God’s higher nature, not from the standpoint of the dimensional existence.31 phenomenal world where they have not yet Omnipresent Brahman-God is not bound materialized. According to Augustine and by place or limited to a specific time. Being Aquinas, God is outside of time viewing the a unity, Brahman-God is present as a whole, entire temporal sequence all at once. In in Its entirety, at every spatial and temporal which case all events are equally region (spatial and temporal omnipresence) contemporaneous. including each individual person, and in Being conceptually omnipresent, every concept and idea (conceptual Brahman-God is present in mental space, omnipresence). In Its entirety, Brahman-God with knowledge that is direct and complete is everywhere, and everywhen meaning there without any need of inferential reason that is no instance of time from which It is leads the mind from one concept to another. absent. From this standpoint, it is not the It is present in every phase of human life case that one temporal part or stage of God including the mental, physical, and is present at one moment of time and not at emotional; in every aspect of nature, at every another as we are. Being temporally level of causality, in all ideas and theories, omnipresent, Brahman-God has direct and temporally in every moment and event experience of the past and is in no needs of of history. „

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NOTES AND REFERENCES

1 S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy 18 Augustus Strong, Systematic Theology (2 vols.; Delhi: Oxford University, 1923, (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1907-09, 1992), II, pp. 534-35; Shankara, Brahma 1976), pp. 278-82. Sutra Bhàshya, tr. Swami Gambhirananda 19 Web: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnipresence (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1996), III.2.37. 20 Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri 2 The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Ramakrishna, comp. Mahendranath Gupta, (hereafter CW) (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, tr. Swami Nikhilananda (New York: 1962), II, p. 413. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1952), 3 CW, VI, p. 94. pp. 115m, 319f, 732p-733a, 568a. 4 CW, II, pp, 234-35. 21 Radhakrishnan (1992), I, pp. 199-200. 5 CW, I, p. 401. 22 Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, tr. 6 CW, II, p. 413; cf. III, p. 6; VI, pp. 93-94. William Hendriksen (Grand Rapids, MI: 7 CW, I, p. 506. To learn more about our Baker Book House, 1977), pp. 162-63. relationship to the Universal Mind (Mahat) 23 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra see: Gopal Stavig, ‘Swami Vivekananda’s Gentiles, ed. Vernon Bourke (5 vols.; Notre âkàsha-Pràna Universe and Samuel Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, Alexander’s Space-Time Universe,’ Bulletin 1975), I, 43. of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of 24 Aquinas (1975), III, 68; cf. St. Thomas Culture (Oct. 2014), pp. 454, 459-60. Aquinas, Basic Writings of Saint Thomas 8 Gopal Stavig, ‘Swami Vivekananda, the Aquinas, Summa Theologica, tr. Anton Modern Panentheism Movement, and the Pegis (2 vols.; New York: Random House, New Biology.’ Bulletin of the Ramakrishna 1945), I:8.3. Mission of Culture (June 2017), pp. 35-39, 25 Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, ed. Jaroslav (July 2017), pp. 19-27. Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing 9 CW, II, p. 247; cf. VII, p. 27. House, 1956), XXXVII, pp. 57-60. 10 CW, II, p. 153; III, pp. 405-06; V, p. 433. 26 Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin 11 Swami Abhedananda, Divine Heritage of Luther, tr. Robert Schultz (Philadelphia: Man (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Fortress Press, 1970), pp. 106-08. 1903, 1947), pp. 46-47, 50, 135. 27 Preus (1970), p. 80. 12 Swami Abhedananda, Path of Realization 28 William McDonald, ed., The New Catholic (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Encyclopedia (18 vols.; New York: 1946), pp. 36-37. McGraw Hill, 1967), X, p. 593. 13 Swami Abhedananda, Religion, Revelation 29 Concerning how God interacts with the and God (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Vedanta universe is discussed in a different way (not Math, 1968), pp. 126-27. in terms of omnipresence) in, Joseph 14 Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Bracken, SJ, ‘Contributions from Attributes of God, ed. William Symington Philosophical Theology and Metaphysics,’ (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 1682, in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and 1979), p. 381. Science, eds. Philip Clayton and Zachary 15 Web: www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2- Simpson (Oxford University Press, 2006), podcast/transcript/s3-9 pp. 348-54. 16 Web: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ 30 CW, VIII, p. 129. omnipresence 31 Luco J. van den Brom, ‘God’s Omnipresent 17 Robert Preus, The Theology of Post- Agency,’ Religious Studies 20 (1984), Reformation Lutheranism (St. Louis: p. 654. Concordia Publishing House, 1970), p. 81. 32 CW, I, p. 297. * Dr Gopal Stavig is a regular contributor to the Bulletin. A scholar and author of repute, he is a member of the Vedanta Society of Southern California since 1962.

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