Religious Dissonance and Reconciliation The Haribhadra Story

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple
Publisher: Z_Lessons_of_Ahimsa_and_Anekanta_for_Contemporary_Life_014006.pdf

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Christopher Chapple, “Religious Dissonance and Reconciliation"
follow the holy books (śástras) but without specifying which books ought to be followed. He emphasizes that although one may become omniscient (sarvajña), each person will remain different and distinct (YDS 103)." The content of experience is not shared; rather, the content less or purity, which cannot be quantified in any way, is the only common element within the experience of liberation or omniscience. He uses the metaphor of a king's servants: "Just as a king has many dependents, divided according to whether they are near or far, etc., nonetheless all of them are his servants (YDS 107).” He states that even though they may have different names, the core, purified essence of the liberated ones remains constant (YDS 108). Although acknowledging a difference between those who have achieved liberation, nonetheless he regards all of them to be grounded in a common truth. Haribhadra further emphasizes that truth, though expressed differently, is not essentially different. Making references to Saivites, Vedāntins, Yogins, and Buddhists, he states:
Eternal Śiva; Highest Brahman; Accomplished Soul, Şuchness. With these words one refers to it, Though the meaning is one
in all the various forms (YDS 130). He goes on to state that this highest truth, by whatever name, frees one from rebirth (YDS 131). Demonstrating his commitment to a plurality of perspectives, Haribhadra comments that a variety of teachings are needed because people need to hear things in their own way. Different seeds yield different plants; one cannot expect all things to be the same:
Perhaps the teaching is one But there are various people who hear it. On account of the inconceivable merit it bestows, it shines forth in various ways (YDS 136).
** These summaries and translations are from a co-translation by myself and John Casey
in Reconciling Yogas: Haribhadra's Collection of views on Yoga by Christopher Key Chapple (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003).