Transcendence (religion)
In
religion,
transcendence is a condition or state of being that surpasses, and is independent of, physical existence. It is affirmed in some way of the divine in most major religious traditions, and is opposed to the notion of a
God, or an Absolute, as existing only in the physical order and not beyond it (immanentism), or as being somehow, in the final analysis, indistinguishable from it (pantheism). Transcendence can be attributed to the divine not only in its being, but also in its knowabilty. Thus, one might not only affirm that God transcends the universe (exists beyond and independently of it), but also that He transcends knowledge (is beyond the grasp of the human mind). Although transcendence, as a concept, is the opposite of
immanence in meaning, they are not mutually exclusive as complementary aspects of the divine's relationship to the physical order. Some
theologians and metaphysicians of the great religious traditions will affirm that God, or Brahman, are both beyond and within the universe--in it, but not of it; pervading it and surpassing it at once.
Jews see the transcendence of God in his
oneness and
omnipotence, and yet believe He has created the world as distinct from Himself, and then related Himself to the Jews as a people in a unique and historical manner. It can be said that the Jewish faith teaches that the transcendent God has only become immanent and involved in human history in and through the Jews. The Law they received from Him they believe to be a unique intervention of the transcendent God in the immanent course of things, ordered to the progressive unfolding of a grand plan for the world and its history.
Christians pick up on the historical dynamism of the future-oriented plan of the Old Testament, and follow the immanent workings of the transcendent God in the story of Christ. They too believe that God's existence is ontologically distinct and fully independent of the material
universe, and yet that He interacts directly with it. As with the Jews, this distinction is articulated in the notion which some believe to be unique to the Semitic religions: creation. Theologians thus have the onus of showing how God can still be regarded as infinite, although there exists, through creation, something that He is not, but which does not thereby limit Him. Thomas Aquinas, for instance, will argue that although "after" creation, there are more beings (plural) than "before", there is still no more being (singular), as all that exists "other" than God, shares in the one being of God, although in a particularized way. The person
Jesus the
Christ is believed to be the Second Person of the Holy
Trinity, but incarnate in the humanity received corporally from the Virgin Mary and a divinely created human soul. Thus, transcendence and immanence interpenetrate in an exceptional manner in Christian faith, practice and theology. The mysterious and
paradoxical nature of Christ provides a bridge between the infinite Deity and finite man.
Muslims share the belief in God's (Allah's) transcendence but emphasize it in a manner which does not invite the
contrapuntal accent on immanence, characteristic of Christianity. For a Muslim, divine transcendence must be jealously protected, and all talk of incarnation or even attempts at figurative artistic representation of the divine, or even of holy persons, are regarded as culpable detractions from God's absolute unicity, supremacy and transcendence.
Transcendence is described and viewed from a number of diverse perspectives within
Hinduism and it's multi-faceted scriptural metaphysics. Some traditions such as
advaita view transcendence in the form of 'God' as the
Brahman Nirguna (God without attribute--indeed even without "god-ness"), transcendence being absolute. Other traditions such as
bhakti yoga view transcendence as God with attributes - Brahman Sarguna, the Absolute being a personal deity (
Ishvara) such as
Vishnu or
Rama.
Within the
Bhagavad Gita transcendence is described as a level of spiritual attainment, or state of being which is open to all spiritual aspirants as the goal of
yoga practice. The state at which one is no longer under the control of animalistic base desires and is aware of a higher spiritual reality.
"When the yogÄ«, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence â€" devoid of all material desires â€" he is said to be well established in yoga." BG 6.18The exact nature of this transcendence is given as being 'above the modes of material nature', which are known as
gunas (ropes) which bind the living entity to the world of
samsara (repeated rebirth) within
Hindu philosophy. (See
BG 14.22-25)
In the various forms of Buddhismâ€"Theravada, Mahayana (especially Pure Land and Zen), and Vajrayanaâ€"the notion of transcendence is of more difficult application. Except for Pure Land and Vajrayana (where a certain return to Hindu-like personifications of the spiritual world is countenanced), the role played by transcendent beings is minimal and at most a temporary expedient. The notion closest to transcendence, much in the spirit of Western "
theologia negativa", is perhaps that of
shunyata (emptiness, void). Suffice it to say that one of the marks which set Buddhism apart from Hinduism in the beginning, and continues to serve as distinctive, is its reluctance to allow language to approach or speak of transcendence. For many, this appears to amount to atheism; for others, it would be better termed agnosticim. At any rate, for the Buddhist, if anything ultimate or transcendent is to be "known" at all, it would have to be directly experienced and not talked about, and that is the end of it.
