Note 4 - On One God

In the major Western religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there is strong emphasis on the notion of One God.

Now given an initial emphasis on form in these cultures - which is implicitly based on the notion of oneness - it is not surprising that ultimate meaning would be viewed in these terms.

Indeed this strong emphasis on oneness has traditionally led to considerable misunderstanding by Christian writers of the nature of Eastern esoteric traditions where often a different emphasis applies.

For example many strands of Buddhism would strongly emphasise the complementary aspect of emptiness.

From this perspective the very notion of "a God" would strictly have no meaning.
So the charge has often been levelled at Buddhism by extreme Christian writers in that in denying the notion of "a God" that it does not therefore qualify as a religion! Even someone as learned as Evelyn Underhill had a somewhat jaundiced view in this respect.