Jain Theism

Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Hemant Shah

Page 56

Theism, Atheism and Jainism
37
In Christianity, God is not the master but the father, and we all are his sons and daughters. There is one supreme God, wrote maximum of Madaura to Augustine about A.D.390, "Without natural offspiring, who is, as it were, the God and Mighty Father of all."'
The relationship between God and soul, often is interpreted by the theistic philosophers of religion as that of a creator and creation. One more type of relationship we come across in Sufism. A Sufi mystic Dheil Nun of Egypt being quoted by G. Parinder in his book "Mysticism in the world's Religions", says ".....not only love but passionate longing as the means of journey to God..... and love as the gift of divine grace....18 The relationship between God and the soul in Sufism is that of a beloved (God) and the lover (Soul). “The groaning and the yearning of the lover of God will not be satisfied until it is satisfied in the beloved." This theme of love continued by many Sufis amongst whom we may note Junayd and his pupil Hallaj as well as famous Persian mystic and philosopher Omar and Ghazali. Hallaj stressed the love of God and expressed in one of his most famous verses :
writes :
"I have become He whom I Love, and He has become in myself, We are two spirits in one body,
When you see me, you see Him."
Another well-known Sufi poet expresses this relationship and
"I have not studied the book of knowledge,
Nor have I studied even the alphabets,
I have only studied the name of,
My beloved in the school of love." 120
117. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, East and West in Religion, (1933), p. 31.
118. Geoffrey Parinder, 'Mysticism in the World's Religions' (1976), pp. 131-132. 119 N. Smith, Rabiya the Mystic.' (1928), p 98..
120.
पढ़े न इल्मकी पोथी, अलिफ़ बे पे हम न सीखे ।
हम तो मकतबे उल्फ़तमें नामे सनम सीखे ॥