ABSTRACT

Dualism considers man as the creature and God as the creator; and as such, separate from one another. The qualified non-dualist accepts God as the whole and man as a part of his being; whereas the non-dualist regards man as identical with God. Although they are apparently contradictory, these three schools of thought can be reconciled. It is impossible to establish that harmony from the standpoint of a theologian. If God exists, he can be known and realized. One may, through reason, establish a conception of God as an Absolute Being, as did the great German philosopher Hegel. Having experienced that samadhi, the great seers and sages become silent; they cannot express this experience in words. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that ‘everything has been defiled by the lips of man, but the truth of God has never been defiled because nobody can express it’.