Indian Theism; From the Vedic to the Muhammadan Period (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 Excerpt: ...ride on thy own reflection; thou shouldst put thy foot into the stirrup of tranquillity of mind. Kablr says, Those are good riders who keep aloof from the Veda and Qur'an.'8 It is natural that one who has turned away from the popular mythology and polytheism of the Hindu world about him, and who finds before him for his worship on the one hand the vague Paramatma of the philosopher, and on the other the remote Allah of Islam, should be conscious, in spite of his spirit of devotion, of his little knowledge of the God to whom he seeks so earnestly to draw near. It is not surprising to find in Kablr and in the school of thought that he inaugurates, 1 Westcott, op. cit., pp. 58, 61. 2 Bijak, Ramaint, 29. 3 Bijak in Westcott, op. cit., p. 57. 4 Op. cit, p. 56. 6 Op. cit., p. 50. Op. cit., p. 51. 7 Op. cit., p. 53. 8 Op. cit., p. 67. Cjj frequent expression of the divine unknowableness and of the need of mediation in order that God may be brought within the reach of man./ The ten avataras are dead. The popular means by which it has been sought to bring God near to man have proved a snare and a deceit. How then can we know 'Him whose name is unutterable '?' Whose nature Brahma even did not know, and Siva, Sanak, and others were unsuccessful in their attempts to know him. Kablr cries out, "O man, how will you know his attributes?" 'l 'Kablr says, To whom shall I explain; the whole world is blind. The true one is beyond reach; falsehood binds all.'2 Thus it comes that we have in the teaching of Kablr and of the other members of his school of thought the doctrine of Sabda and the doctrine of the Guru. The former of these is somewhat difficult for us to understand in the naive significance that it no doubt had for Kablr and his followers. We have seen that h...