2023-03-01 15:22:03 by ambuda-bot
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Ixxxiv
declarations to the contrary made by such men as
Schopenhauer, Deussen, Max Muller, and others.
He only repeats his old idea, already torn to
tatters, that the Upanishads contain only "de-
tached philosophic and theological dessertations
ascribed to different authors." In the next breath
however, he holds that they contain "the out-
lines of a philosophy," but that "precision in
details is not to be aimed at." What, then, are
these outlines? First, "the knowledge of Brahman
is one, under whatever aspects it is viewed."
He explains himself as follows:- "When the
mind of the writer dwells on the fact that Brahman
is that from which all this world originates, and
in which it rests, he naturally applies to it dis-
tinctive attributes pointing at his relation to the
world; Brahman, then, is called the Self and life
of all, the inward ruler, the omniscient Lord,
and so on. When, on the other hand, he follows
out the idea that Brahman may be viewed in itself
as the mysterious reality of which the whole
expanse of the world is only an outward
manifestation, then it strikes him that no
idea or term derived from sensible experience
can rightly be applied to it, that nothing
declarations to the contrary made by such men as
Schopenhauer, Deussen, Max Muller, and others.
He only repeats his old idea, already torn to
tatters, that the Upanishads contain only "de-
tached philosophic and theological dessertations
ascribed to different authors." In the next breath
however, he holds that they contain "the out-
lines of a philosophy," but that "precision in
details is not to be aimed at." What, then, are
these outlines? First, "the knowledge of Brahman
is one, under whatever aspects it is viewed."
He explains himself as follows:- "When the
mind of the writer dwells on the fact that Brahman
is that from which all this world originates, and
in which it rests, he naturally applies to it dis-
tinctive attributes pointing at his relation to the
world; Brahman, then, is called the Self and life
of all, the inward ruler, the omniscient Lord,
and so on. When, on the other hand, he follows
out the idea that Brahman may be viewed in itself
as the mysterious reality of which the whole
expanse of the world is only an outward
manifestation, then it strikes him that no
idea or term derived from sensible experience
can rightly be applied to it, that nothing