Product Code Database
Panentheism (; "all in God", from the Greek language , and ) is the belief that the Divinity intersects every part of Universe and also extends beyond Outer space and time. The term was coined by the German philosopher Karl Krause in 1828 (after reviewing Hindu scripture) to distinguish the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854) about the relation of God and the universe from the supposed pantheism of Baruch Spinoza.John Culp (2013): "Panentheism", in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 18 March 2014. Unlike pantheism, which holds that the divine and the universe are identical, panentheism maintains an Ontology distinction between the divine and the secular and the significance of both.
In panentheism, the universal Omnipresence is present everywhere, which at the same time "transcends" all things created. Whilst pantheism asserts that "all is God", panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe. Some versions of panentheism suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifestation of God. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God, like in the Kabbalistic concept of Tzimtzum, or with the Sufi concept of Wahdat al-wujud. Much of Hindu thought is highly characterized by panentheism and pantheism. "Pantheism and Panentheism in non-Western cultures", in: Britannica.Whiting, Robert. Religions for Today. Stanley Thomes, London 1991, p. viii. .
According to German philosopher Karl Jaspers, when Spinoza wrote "Deus sive Natura" (God or Nature) Spinoza did not mean to say that God and Nature are interchangeable terms, but rather that God's transcendence was attested by God's infinitely many attributes, and that two attributes known by humans, namely Thought and Extension, signified God's immanence.Karl Jaspers, Spinoza ( Great Philosophers), Harvest Books, 1974, , pp. 14 and 95. Furthermore, Martial Guéroult suggested the term panentheism, rather than pantheism to describe Spinoza's view of the relation between God and the world. The world is not God, but it is, in a strong sense, "in" God. Yet, American philosopher and self-described panentheist Charles Hartshorne referred to Spinoza's philosophy as "classical pantheism" and distinguished Spinoza's philosophy from panentheism.Charles Hartshorne and William Reese, Philosophers Speak of God, Humanity Books, 1953, ch. 4.
In 1828, the German philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781–1832) seeking to reconcile monotheism and pantheism, coined the term panentheism (from the Ancient Greek expression πᾶν ἐν θεῷ, pān en theṓ, literally "all in god"). This conception of God influenced New England transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. The term was popularized by Charles Hartshorne in his development of process theology and has also been closely identified with the New Thought. The formalization of this term in the West in the 19th century was not new; philosophical treatises had been written on it in the context of Hinduism for millennia.
Philosophers who embraced panentheism have included Thomas Hill Green (1839–1882), James Ward (1843–1925), Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison (1856–1931) and Samuel Alexander (1859–1938).John W. Cooper Panentheism, the other God of the philosophers: from Plato to the present Baker Academic, 2006, . Beginning in the 1940s, Hartshorne examined numerous conceptions of God. He reviewed and discarded pantheism, deism, and pandeism in favor of panentheism, finding that such a "doctrine contains all of deism and pandeism except their arbitrary negations". Hartshorne formulated God as a being who could become "more perfect": God has absolute perfection in categories for which absolute perfection is possible, and relative perfection (i. e., is superior to all others) in categories for which perfection cannot be precisely determined.Charles Hartshorne, Man's Vision of God and the Logic of Theism (1964) p. 348; cf. Michel Weber, Whitehead’s Pancreativism. The Basics. Foreword by Nicholas Rescher, Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt am Main and Paris, 2006.
At the outset, let me state that Buddhism is not Atheism as the term is ordinarily understood. It has certainly a God, the Ultimate reality and truth, through which and in which this universe exists. However, the followers of Buddhism usually avoid the term God, for it savors so much of Christianity, whose spirit is not always exactly in accord with the Buddhist interpretation of religious experience. Again, Buddhism is not Pantheism in the sense that it identifies the universe with God. On the other hand, the Buddhist God is absolute and transcendent; this world, being merely its manifestation, is necessarily fragmental and imperfect. To define more exactly the Buddhist notion of the highest being, it may be convenient to borrow the term very happily coined by a modern German scholar, "panentheism," according to which God is πᾶν καὶ ἕν (all and one) and more than the totality of existence. Zen For Americans by Soyen Shaku, translated by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, 1906, pages 25–26.
The essay then goes on to explain first utilizing the term "God" for the American audience to get an initial understanding of what he means by "panentheism," and then discusses the terms that Buddhism uses in place of "God" such as Dharmakaya, Buddha or Adi-Buddha, and Tathagata. Zen For Americans by Soyen Shaku, translated by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, 1906, pages 27–36.
Similarly, David Steindl-Rast posits that Christianity's original panentheism is being revealed through contemporary mystical insight:
This sentiment is mirrored in Thomas Keating's 1993 article, ''Clarifications Regarding Centering Prayer'':
The former suggests two poles separated such as God influencing creation and it in turn its creator (Bangert 2006:168), whereas bipolarity completes God’s being implying interdependence between temporal and eternal poles. (Marbaniang 2011:133), in dealing with Whitehead’s approach, does not make this distinction. I use the term bipolar as a generic term to include suggestions of the structural definition of God’s transcendence and immanence; to for instance accommodate a present and future reality into which deity must reasonably fit and function, and yet maintain separation from this world and evil whilst remaining within it.Potgieter, R., 2013, 'Keith Ward's Soft Panentheism'/ref>
Some argue that panentheism should also include the notion that God has always been related to some world or another, which denies the idea of creation out of nothing ( creatio ex nihilo). Nazarene Methodist theologian Thomas Jay Oord (born 1965) advocates panentheism, but he uses the word "theocosmocentrism" to highlight the notion that God and some world or another are the primary conceptual starting blocks for eminently fruitful theology. This form of panentheism helps overcome the problem of evil and proposes that God's love for the world is essential to who God is.
The Latter Day Saint movement teaches that the Light of Christ "proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things". "Light of Christ", churchofjesuschrist.org.
Valentinianism taught that matter came about through Emanationism of the supreme being, even if, to some, this event is held to be more accidental than intentional. To other gnostics, these emanations were akin to the Sephirot of the Kabbalists and deliberate manifestations of a transcendent God through a complex system of intermediaries.
The most influential Consciousness in Advaita Vedānta, William M. Indich, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1995, . and dominant school of Indian philosophy, Advaita Vedanta, rejects theism and dualism by insisting that "Brahman ultimate is without parts or attributes...one without a second." Since Brahman has no properties, contains no internal diversity and is identical with the whole reality it cannot be understood as an anthropomorphic personal God.Wainwright, William, "Concepts of God", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2010 Edition). The relationship between Brahman and the creation is often thought to be panentheistic.Southgate, Christopher. God, Humanity, and the Cosmos. T&T Clark Int'l, New York. p. 246. .
Panentheism is also expressed in the Bhagavad Gita. In verse IX.4, Krishna states:
Many schools of Hindu thought espouse monistic theism, which is believed to be similar to a panentheistic viewpoint. Nimbarka's school of differential monism (Dvaitadvaita), Ramanuja's school of qualified monism (Vishistadvaita), and Saiva Siddhanta and Kashmir Shaivism are all considered to be panentheistic.Sherma, Rita DasGupta; Sharma Arvind. Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons. Springer, 2008 edition (December 1, 2010). p. 192. . Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which elucidates the doctrine of Achintya Bheda Abheda (inconceivable oneness and difference), is also thought to be panentheistic.Chaitanya Charitamrita, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. In Kashmir Shaivism, all things are believed to be a manifestation of Universal Consciousness ( Cit or Brahman).The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism, Mark S. G. Dyczkowski, p. 44. So from the point of view of this school, the phenomenal world ( Śakti) is real, and it exists and has its being in Consciousness (Ć it).Ksemaraja, trans. by Jaidev Singh, Spanda Karikas: The Divine Creative Pulsation, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 119. Thus, Kashmir Shaivism also propounds theistic monism or panentheism.The Trika Śaivism of Kashmir, Moti Lal Pandit.
Shaktism, or Tantra, is regarded as an prototype of panentheism.Vitsaxis, Vassilis. Thought and Faith: The concept of divinity. Somerset Hall Press. p. 167. . Shakti is considered to be the cosmos itself – she is the embodiment of energy and dynamism and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. "There is no Shiva without Shakti, or Shakti without Shiva. The two ... in themselves are One."Subramanian, V. K., Saundaryalahari of Sankaracarya: Sanskrit Text in Devanagari with Roman Transliteration, English Translation, Explanatory Notes, Yantric Diagrams and Index. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (Delhi, 1977; 6th ed. 1998). p. ix. Thus, it is she who becomes the time and space, the cosmos; it is she who becomes the five elements, and thus all animate life and inanimate forms. She is the primordial energy that holds all creation and destruction, all cycles of birth and death, all laws of cause and effect within herself, and yet is greater than the sum total of all these. She is transcendent but becomes immanent as the cosmos ( Mula Prakriti). She, the primordial energy, directly becomes matter.
According to Hasidism, the infinite Ein Sof is incorporeal and exists in a state that is both transcendent and immanent. This also appears to be the view of non-Hasidic Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Hasidic Judaism merges the ideal of kenosis with a transcendent God via the intellectual articulation of inner dimensions through Kabbalah and with emphasis on the panentheistic divine immanence in everything.
Many scholars would argue that "panentheism" is the best single-word description of the philosophical theology of Baruch Spinoza, a Jew. It is therefore no surprise that aspects of panentheism are also evident in the theology of Reconstructionist Judaism as presented in the writings of Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983), who Spinoza strongly influenced.
Fundamental Nature
Immanence and Oneness: Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) describes God (Kartaa Purakh, Universal Energy, Nirankaar) as immanent residing within all creation, not external or remote. Creation is seen as an extension or manifestation of the Creator, not something separate. This is foundational: ਏਕ ਰੂਪ ਸਗਲੋ ਪਾਸਾਰਾ ॥ "Ek Roop Saglo Pasara" (“One Form Extended into Everything”) (sggs 803).
ੴ (Ik Oankaar): Guru Nanak’s symbol captures the oneness of Creator with creation. The numeric ੧ represents one-ness; the open ਓ represents the expanse of creation meaning the same Divine pervades all, and the universe itself is an expansion of that Oneness.
Divine as Law and Order (“Hukam”)
Hukam: SGGS strongly identifies God as Hukm (the Law of Nature, Cosmic Order). All operations of the universe, all natural and moral outcomes, occur within this Hukam. There is nothing outside of this Law “Everything is within Hukam; none is exempt from Hukam” (SGGS 1).
God is never presented as an anthropomorphic, interventionist being—rather, the sustaining structure and principle by which all things unfold.
Divine as Virtues
Divine Virtues: God is also described as an infinite source of virtues (Daivi Gun). To “realize God” is to realize and embody divine attributes like compassion, truth, and humility. Spiritual progress is internal: “To become Godly is to become virtuous”.
Sargun-Nirgun Doctrine
Sargun and Nirgun: SGGS teaches that God is both Nirgun (without attributes, unseen) and Sargun (with attributes, manifest in the visible world). These are not dualities but aspects of the same Universal Energy—what appears unseen is also visible, and vice versa. Gurbani analogizes this as two sides of a coin: “Coin is just one, but it has two sides”.
God Within Creation
Universal Immanence: The Divine is said to reside within nature (Kudrat Vasia), within each human and particle of being. Searching for God externally is rejected; true realization comes from understanding the Divine already within. The phrase " ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਵਸਿਆ ॥ ਤੇਰਾ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ਲਖਿਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ “Balihaaree Kudharath Vasiaa || Thaeraa Anth N Jaaee Lakhiaa ||1|| Rehaao ||” translates as “I am in veneration of You existing within creation. Thine limit cannot be comprehended. Pause” (SGGS 469).
God Is Not Separate
SGGS rejects theological dualism: “O Nanak! One (Universal Energy) is wide-spread, where can there be another seen?” (SGGS 292).
God is not a separate entity to be pleased, feared, or worshipped for rewards or miracles. Rituals and symbolic worship are emphatically dismissed in favor of inner realization and living according to Hukam and Divine wisdom.
Not Pantheist, Not Classical Panentheist: The SGGS concept does not fully align with direct Pantheism (God is only the universe) or traditional Panentheism (God is both the universe and beyond it). Instead, it is a unique synthesis: the One without second, who manifests as all creation and is also the sustaining, transcendent law within it.
The SGGS God is immanent, non-anthropomorphic, formless, eternal, dynamic, the law and harmony of nature itself. God is to be realized within one’s own consciousness and through virtuous living, never worshipped as a dualistic, supernatural “other”.
Summary: The God of Guru Granth Sahib is best described as immanent, formless, both manifest and unmanifest, and identical with the cosmic principle/law (Hukam). Realization, not ritual, is the path to spiritual union, which is purely inward and ethical. This view resists classical Western theological categories and stands as a distinct Sikh revelation.
Native American beliefs in North America have been characterized as panentheistic in that there is an emphasis on a single, unified divine spirit that is manifest in each individual entity. (North American Native writers have also translated the word for God as the Great MysteryRussell Means, Where White Men Fear To Tread (Macmillan, 1993), pp. 3–4, 15, 17. or as the Sacred OtherGeorge Tinker, Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation, 2004, p. 89. He defines the Sacred Other as "the Deep Mystery which creates and sustains all Creation".). This concept is referred to by many as the Great Spirit. Philosopher J. Baird Callicott has described Lakota theology as panentheistic, in that the divine both transcends and is immanent in everything.
One exception can be modern Cherokee, who are predominantly monotheism but apparently not panentheistic. The Peoples of the World Foundation. Education for and about Indigenous Peoples: The Cherokee People. Retrieved 24 March 2008. Yet in older Cherokee traditions, many observe both pantheism and panentheism and are often not beholden to exclusivity, encompassing other spiritual traditions without contradiction, a common trait among some tribes in the Americas. In the stories of Keetoowah storytellers Sequoyah Guess and Dennis Sixkiller, God is known as ᎤᏁᎳᏅᎯ, commonly pronounced "unehlanv," and visited earth in prehistoric times, but then left earth and her people to rely on themselves. This shows a parallel to Vaishnava cosmology.
Though practitioners of Konkokyo are small in number (~300,000 globally), the sect has birthed or influenced a multiplicity of Japanese New Religions, such as Oomoto. Many of these faiths carry on the Panentheistic views of Konkokyo.
|
|
