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Single Idea 8144

[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / a. Cosmological Proof ]

Full Idea

Brahman is the Uncaused Cause.

Gist of Idea

Brahman is the Uncaused Cause

Source

Anon (Upan) (The Upanishads [c.950 BCE], 'Katha')

Book Ref

'The Upanishads', ed/tr. Prabhavananda /Manchester [Mentor 1957], p.20


A Reaction

This precedes Aquinas (Idea 1430) by over two thousand years. The theological trick is to admit one Uncaused Cause, but somehow exclude further instances, such as my bicycle getting a puncture. Does this undermine the Principle of Sufficient Reason?

Related Idea


The 18 ideas from Anon (Upan)

The gods are not worshipped for their own sake, but for the sake of the Self [Anon (Upan)]
A man with desires is continually reborn, until his desires are stilled [Anon (Upan)]
Damayata - be self-controlled! Datta - be charitable! Dayadhwam - be compassionate! [Anon (Upan)]
Do not seek to know Brahman by arguments, for arguments are idle and vain [Anon (Upan)]
Earth, food, fire, sun are all forms of Brahman [Anon (Upan)]
Without speech we cannot know right/wrong, true/false, good/bad, or pleasant/unpleasant [Anon (Upan)]
By knowing one piece of clay or gold, you know all of clay or gold [Anon (Upan)]
Originally there must have been just Existence, which could not come from non-existence [Anon (Upan)]
We have an apparent and a true self; only the second one exists, and we must seek to know it [Anon (Upan)]
Brahman is the Uncaused Cause [Anon (Upan)]
The wise prefer good to pleasure; the foolish are drawn to pleasure by desire [Anon (Upan)]
Self is the rider, intellect the charioteer, mind the reins, and body the chariot [Anon (Upan)]
The immortal in us is the part that never sleeps, and shapes our dreams [Anon (Upan)]
Those ignorant of Atman return as animals or plants, according to their merits [Anon (Upan)]
Charity and ritual observance distract from the highest good of religion [Anon (Upan)]
The immortal Self and the sad individual self are like two golden birds perched on one tree [Anon (Upan)]
Brahma, supreme god and protector of the universe, arose from the ocean of existence [Anon (Upan)]
Let your teacher be a god to you [Anon (Upan)]