On discerning the realm of God in the thought of Kabbalah and Tantra
Author(s)
Martin, Paul C.Keywords
KabbalahKant and Mysticism
Mysticism
Shakti
Shekhinah
Tantra
Tantrism
Gender and God
220310 Phenomenology
220402 Comparative Religious Studies
220404 Jewish Studies
229999 Philosophy and Religious Studies not elsewhere classified
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http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:218277/discerning_god_in_kabbalah_and_tantra_v4.pdfhttp://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:218277
Abstract
This paper explores the way in which God as the infinite ground of existence is discerned by the imagination and understanding. The representation of the apophatic divine is facilitated by the working of the human mind, which means that the manifold nature of thinking establishes the presence of God. In the metaphysical speculations of kabbalah and tantra the singular light of Ein Sof and Paramashiva intersects with the human imagination, and is refracted into a multiple display of understanding. So the mind acts as a prism through which God is conceptualized and delineated. It constitutes a mediated envisaging of the Absolute, and the corollary of this perception is the engendering of the divine presence, notably as the feminine Shekhinah and Shakti. In short, in these two apparently different traditions—of kabbalistic and tantric thought—there is a detectably common theme of the notions of activity and force in creation as betokening a feminine representation of God’s being.Date
2016-07-20Type
Working PaperIdentifier
oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:218277http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:218277/discerning_god_in_kabbalah_and_tantra_v4.pdf
http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:218277