The World As Power
By Sir John Woodroffe, 477 Pages, Paperback.
There is a Supreme Reality which is Eternal and Indefinable. It is an Absolute, inconceivable and ineffable—the Brahman. Unknowable in its utterness, this Reality presents itself to us in three supreme terms of its Truth: an absolute Existence, Sat; an absolute Consciousness, Cit; and an absolute Bliss, Ananda. This is the poise of Brahman turned towards self-revelation.
It perceives itself as an infinite Existence; not a mere existence but a Being with a full awareness of all that It is, an infinite Consciousness. This Consciousness inherent in the supreme Being is no static awareness it is instinct with a Power, a Force dynamic with all the content of the Consciousness. And the nature of this self-conscient Existence is an inalienable Delight. All is a manifestation out of this triune status of the Eternal, Sat-Cit-Ananda.
All is contained in the infinite Being of Brahman; it is brought out and released into a plenitude of manifestation by the Consciousness-Power innate in Himself for the sheer Delight of His Becoming. It is His own Consciousness as Power, the Cit-Sakti, that pours out the potentialities held in the infinitude of Brahman, throws up Forms from out of the Formless depths of the Eternal. The Seers of the Veda speak of it as Maya, the power that measures out of the Immeasurable, the Force by which all is shaped out. This is the same 'self-force of the Divine Being" which the Rishis of the Upanishads beheld "deep hidden by its own conscious modes of working". All is a Play, Lila, of this Power of the Divine in manifestation; all the forms and names that people the universe are self-deployings of this Adya Sakti. Each is a diverse self-formulation of the Supreme Sakti, brought into being, maintained and withdrawn in the process of Her Cosmic Play with the Eternal Being, Her Lord, Saktiman.
This is the theme of the present book by Sir John Woodroffe.
There is a Supreme Reality which is Eternal and Indefinable. It is an Absolute, inconceivable and ineffable—the Brahman. Unknowable in its utterness, this Reality presents itself to us in three supreme terms of its Truth: an absolute Existence, Sat; an absolute Consciousness, Cit; and an absolute Bliss, Ananda. This is the poise of Brahman turned towards self-revelation.
It perceives itself as an infinite Existence; not a mere existence but a Being with a full awareness of all that It is, an infinite Consciousness. This Consciousness inherent in the supreme Being is no static awareness it is instinct with a Power, a Force dynamic with all the content of the Consciousness. And the nature of this self-conscient Existence is an inalienable Delight. All is a manifestation out of this triune status of the Eternal, Sat-Cit-Ananda.
All is contained in the infinite Being of Brahman; it is brought out and released into a plenitude of manifestation by the Consciousness-Power innate in Himself for the sheer Delight of His Becoming. It is His own Consciousness as Power, the Cit-Sakti, that pours out the potentialities held in the infinitude of Brahman, throws up Forms from out of the Formless depths of the Eternal. The Seers of the Veda speak of it as Maya, the power that measures out of the Immeasurable, the Force by which all is shaped out. This is the same 'self-force of the Divine Being" which the Rishis of the Upanishads beheld "deep hidden by its own conscious modes of working". All is a Play, Lila, of this Power of the Divine in manifestation; all the forms and names that people the universe are self-deployings of this Adya Sakti. Each is a diverse self-formulation of the Supreme Sakti, brought into being, maintained and withdrawn in the process of Her Cosmic Play with the Eternal Being, Her Lord, Saktiman.
This is the theme of the present book by Sir John Woodroffe.
