Page:Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion volume 2.djvu/39

 in the form adequate to Spirit, they have to be abrogated as one-sided, and then a fresh form makes its appearance. The necessity of the Notion manifests itself merely as deviation, as confusion, as something which has nothing within itself to give it stability, and it is to the nature of the Notion that this confusion owes its origin.

The One shows itself as fixed or established in its own right, as that which is in everlasting unity with itself. But since this One must advance to particularisation, which, however, remains devoid of Spirit here, all differentiations are called and are in turn Brahma, are this One within itself, and thus also appropriate the epithet of the One, and so the particular deities are all Brahma likewise. An Englishman who, by a most careful investigation into the various representations, has sought to discover what is meant by Brahma, believes that Brahma is an epithet of praise, and is used as such just because he is not looked on as being himself solely this One, but, on the contrary, everything says of itself that it is Brahma. I refer to what Mill says in his History of India. He proves from many Indian writings that it is an epithet of praise which is applied to various deities, and does not represent the conception of perfection or unity which we associate with it. This is a mistake, for Brahma is in one aspect the One, the Immutable, who has, however, the element of change in him, and because of this, the rich variety of forms which is thus essentially his own is also predicated of him. Vishnu is also called the Supreme Brahma. Water and the sun are Brahma. Special prominence is given to the sun in the Vedas, and if we were to reckon up the prayers addressed to it, we might suppose that the ancient inhabitants of India found Brahma in the sun alone, and that they had thus a different religion from that of their descendants. The air, too, the movement of the atmosphere, breath, understanding, happiness are called Brahma. Mahadeva calls himself Brahma, and Sfva says of himself, “I am what