Panel Topic: Keynote
Knowing and Thinking the Ultimate in Hindu Theology: The Issues of Transcendence and Immanence
Authors: Professor Diwakar Acharya
The ultimate goal of human existence is the ultimate wellbeing and it cannot be achieved without knowing the ultimate reality, its nature, and our relationship with it. Therefore, like in any other culture, Hindu thinkers have thought about the ultimate, in various theological, metaphysical and philosophical contexts, looking at it from different perspectives. They have variously described ways of cultivating the ultimate within oneself, or reverently approaching/accessing it as the Supreme Lord/God. They have addressed questions like, ‘Is the ultimate knowable with mundane means? If it is beyond human intellect, how is it possible for us to think about it? Are there supermundane ways of engaging with it, and experiencing it?’ Along these lines, this presentation will present the issues of transcendence and immanence of the Ultimate, and also our relationship with the God/Goddess as the Ultimate personified.