One God or many gods?

There is a traditional Jewish story which illustrates this idea and resonates with me.

Long, long ago, Abraham lived in the country of Ur. The people of Ur worshipped statues made of wood and stone.

In his heart, Abraham felt that these pieces of wood and stone were not worthy of worship. They were cold, useless objects, which could do nothing. They could not possibly be gods. So, one night, Abraham went in search of one true GOD.

He looked up in the sky and was enchanted by the stars. They calmed him. They were surer than any idol he helped his father make. He worshipped the stars but then noticed the moon shining brightly.

‘The moon lights up the night sky,’ Abraham said to himself. ‘The moon guides travellers. The moon must be GOD’. Abraham worshipped the moon all night. But when morning came, the moon disappeared and the sun rose in the sky.

The sun was bigger and brighter than the moon. ‘Without the sun, nothing would grow,’ said Abraham to himself. ‘The sun must be GOD’. Abraham worshipped the sun all day. But when evening came, the sun disappeared.

‘The sun is not GOD and the moon is not GOD’, said Abraham. ‘God is the One who makes them rise and fall in the sky. He is the One who has shown me this. He alone is worthy of worship.’

So, Abraham returned to the city of Ur to tell the people there about the one true God.

Different versions of this story are found in Koran 6:74-82 and in Genesis Rabbah 38

There are many things and people in the Universe who are greater than I and deserve to be looked up to. But behind every great thing, we can see something greater. This includes the gods of the polytheistics.

The buck only stops when we come to a Supreme, eternal and uncreated Being. No other view of God is adequate.

An interesting story from an Eastern tradition turns this argument on its head:

King: “What is the source of light for a person?”

Sage: “The sun. By the light of the sun, a person sits, goes about his work and returns.”

King: “And when the sun sets, what light does he have?”

Sage: “Fire.”

King: “And when the fire goes out, what light does a person have?”

The Sage gives the clever answer: “Speech, even when one cannot see his own hand, when speech is uttered, one goes towards it. In pitch blackness a voice can light the way.”

King: When speech has fallen silent, in the absence of sun, moon, fire and speech, what source of light does a person have?”

Sage: Te self. It is by the light of the self ithat he sits, goes about, does his work and returns.”

King: “What is the self?”

Sage: The self is the inner light that is the person. This light which consists of knowledge, resides within the heart, surrounded by vital breath.

As the answer unfolds it is clear that the “light” the sage is talking about is what we would call consciousness. Consciousness is like a light: it illuminates or reveals things so they can be known.

Here we find the first map of consciousness in written history.[1]

[1] Evan Thompson, “Waking Dreaming, Being” quoting a translation of “The great Forest Teaching”, Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, 7th Century BC.