B
Figure of Hinduism
Brahman.
The absolute — not a god among gods but the ground of everything, of which every deity is a face, a name, a door.
Names & titlesBrahman; spoken of as tat — That
DomainThe ground of all being
Depicted asNot depicted — beyond form and attribute
StandingContemplated and realized, not worshipped
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
Not a member of the pantheon but its ground. Brahman is what every deity is a face of — which is why Hinduism can be read as monotheist, polytheist, and nondualist at once, depending on where you stand. The gods are doors; Brahman is the house.
From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited
That from which all beings are born, by which they live, into which they return — seek to know that. That is Brahman.
Taittiriya Upanishad 3.1Our concise rendering.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
All things arise dependently.
Buddhism · core tenet
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Syadvada — the sevenfold answer.
Jainism · core tenet
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God contracted to make room for the world.
Judaism · core tenet
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Fana.
Islam · the interior
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Sahaj — the state that holds by itself.
Sikhism · the interior
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Five forms, one Brahman.
Smartism · core tenet
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