2.3 Non-duality & THE DIVINE
61. In the upcoming sections, you will meet philosophers who have contributed to the history of non-duality in the West. You’ll observe that these thinkers often connect concepts such as Being, existence, convergence, or harmony—fundamental to non-duality—with the Divine, for a simple reason.
62. Beingness, oneness, convergence, and harmony represent absolute qualities, suggesting completeness and permanence beyond mundane human comprehension. To articulate what exceeds human senses, people often use terms like “God” or “gods.” Why? The origin of the word “God” or “divine” sheds light on this.
63. Although the exact origin of “God” remains uncertain, it is believed to stem from an archaic Germanic language, which traces its roots back to the broader Indo-European language family—the source of many languages spoken in the Northern hemisphere.
64. Linguists suggest that “God” may have evolved from an Indo-European word associated with invocation, sacrifice or libation (the pouring of liquid in worship) and is also more likely linked to “Gautam” or “Gotam,” likely a compound derived from Sanskrit, where the sound go / gau / gu connotes bright, light, clarity, and “tamas” denotes “obscurity,” implying the dispelling of ignorance, one of the definitions of the word “guru.” We will get back to tamas and guru later.
65. As for the word “divine,” it originates from Latin roots associated with daylight, sun, and the revelation of knowledge, but also Sanskrit roots (devi, deva). Over time, human reasoning has thus linked the word “God” with:
- Harmony, the capacity to discern meaning beyond sensory opposites.
- A form of knowledge deemed worthy of sacrifice and reverence.
66. These qualities, transcending human senses, are inherently absolute and unifying in nature.
67. Indeed, the reason why humans often invoke terms like “God” or “gods” to symbolize what lies beyond human perception is rooted in language itself. Language serves as the structure through which meaning is expressed and understood. So, from the perspective of language, terms such as God, absolute, divine, harmony, oneness, and wholeness are synonymous, as throughout the history of human language, they have all been pointing to, or expressed the same underlying reality or meaning.
68. What organized religions have transformed “God” into, diverging from Its original, universal, i.e, non-dualistic meaning, is a separate matter not discussed in this article. The focus here is on language and meaning—an area that poets, artists, and philosophers, by definition, seek to and must master.
69. This article does not wander into matters of belief or disbelief either, nor does it address personal preferences regarding the existence or nonexistence of God. Its intention is to remain factual, as language is grounded in logic and fact.
This ends subchapter 2.3. Now, let’s dive into a brief history of non-duality in Western and African philosophies. The reader is asked to remain alert while we establish how philosophies of non-duality have been expressed and have survived, maintaining a unified clarity through time and geographical diversity.