by Jijo Panjikaran

It is interesting to discuss the relation between two philosophies that are extremely differentiated by tradition and region. They are Sikhism and the philosophy of Spinoza. The former is eastern and developed in the religio-cultural pattern, whereas the latter is Western and developed in the reflective analytic tradition of Europe. Even then there is a scope for comparative study. This comparison is accidental since neither Sikhism nor the philosophy of Spinoza had any influence or impact from each other.

Benedict De Spinoza (1632 – 1677)

God of Spinoza

In the Western philosophical circle, Spinoza is known as a God-intoxicated man, because in his philosophy God plays an important role. It can be said that Spinoza begins and ends with God. In his philosophy, the term he uses to denote God is substance — meaning the first reality. He came to this conclusion from reflective analysis. Spinoza has given the following definition for substance:

"By substance I understand that which is in itself and conceived through itself; in other words, that the conception of which does not need the conception of another thing from which it must be formed."

The above statement shows the nature of the substance or God that the substance does not need any help in order to exist, then it will be an infinite entity. If it is infinite, there will be no compulsion by any one. "God acts from the Laws of His own nature only, and is compelled by no one."

The substance is infinite; then it is causeless. So, the nature of Spinoza's substance is infinite, self-caused and eternal reality from which all things follow necessarily. The philosophy of Spinoza mentions that God is the totality of whole. "As God or substance is an all-inclusive whole, outside of which nothing can lie."

God of Sikhism

Sikhism is a religious system in which God has a primary role to play as in Spinoza. Sikhism not only sticks on to God, but also on to the world. The opening lines of Japji, the Sikh morning prayer, clearly state the concept of God:

There is one God,
He is the supreme truth,
He, the creator,
Is without fear and without hatred,
He, the omnipresent,
Pervades the Universe,
He is not born,
Nor does He die to be born again,
Before time itself,
There was truth,
When the time began to run its course,
He was the truth.

The opening line of the verse proves strict monotheism. For Sikhism, there is one God; it is self-existent. If it is self-existent, then it will be infinite. Whatever is infinite, will be self-caused. These qualities can be derived from the concept of God of Sikhism. Spinoza adds similar qualities to God, follows a strict monotheism that there is only one substance that is infinite and self-caused.

The chief quality attributed to God in Sikhism and in the philosophy of Spinoza can be seen that God is self-caused. In order to elucidate this quality, there are some more qualities attributed in the opening lines of Japji, i.e., He is beyond time and immortal. Nirbhai Singh in his book puts forward similar statement in order to compare Sikhism and Spinoza:

"Spinoza is picturing reality through geometrical metaphors. So, he conceives the reality as a logical system in which time has no place. Therefore, he defines substance as eternal. Whatever is eternal is non-temporal, then it will become durationless. "

The Sikh point of view is that God is beyond time. So, He is eternal. Eternal things are non-temporal, that is, spiritual. "The metaphysics of Sikhism gives priority to the spirit over the matter. Hence, it is spiritualism." Sikhism goes hand-in-hand with Spinoza regarding God.

The task is simple to dichotomize the world and God, and most of the philosophies do this. But Sikhism and the philosophy of Spinoza are different from the above position. So it is an interesting matter to discuss the status of the world in Sikhism as well as for Spinoza.

Spinoza and Status of the World

Most religions consider the status of the world as secondary, and the primary status is attributed to God. Most Western philosophers do the same. This tendency to create a dichotomy is an easy task. But to eliminate this dichotomy of God and world is difficult. If we can unite or integrate these two aspects, it will be a positive approach in philosophy. The motive of the Sikh Gurus and Spinoza was to eliminate this dichotomy.

We are in a circle of relations; there may be eternal or infinite elements included in this circle. According to Spinoza, substance is the eternal element and the substance is the cause of the world. Two more aspects are in the philosophy of Spinoza, that is, attributes and modes. These two elements constitute the world.

"There can be no substance without attributes. Attributes do belong to the substance as its essence. As substance is self-contained and is infinite, so it has infinite number of attributes."

Human intellect cannot perceive all these attributes but only two. They are extension and thought. "God is extended as well as thinking."

Spinoza tries to prove the existence of the world from substance through attributes, but this state is eternal and infinite. But the world is finite and spatial. Hence, he comes to the realm of modes.

Individual minds and individual bodies are finite as temporal modes of substance. Attributes appear in specific ways or modes. In his doctrine of modes, Spinoza hopes to explain the world of finite and individual things. "By modes," says Spinoza, "I understand affections of substance or that which is in another thing through which also it is conceived." That is, a mode or modification cannot be conceived except as the mode of a thing.

By adding the activities of modes, Spinoza comes to the conclusion that the status of the world is temporal and world is the manifestation of the substance in the form of modes. "Every mode is in God, for nothing can exist without God." So, all the properties of the universe follow necessarily from the concept of substance. "God is eternally in a state of self-modification producing an infinite series of modes, which are manifested either of His attributes."

Attributes act as agents to execute the will of God. This is the status of the world in Spinoza's philosophy. Here, world is real, and it is the manifestation of God. If we accept the reality of God and world, there is no scope for dichotomy, but integration. Spinoza's effort to integrate or unite two realities with equal status is a positive approach in philosophy. Here we can grasp the effort to unify two aspects, they are eternality and temporality. They are substance and modes or God and the world, respectively.

Status of World in Sikhism

Sikhism has a positive approach to the world as that of Spinoza. God and world have got equal status in Sikhism. God is the creator of the universe; before this universe, there was nothing except God. When He willed the creation of the world, he became manifest, is the tenet of Sikhism. The Sikh scripture and enough commentaries on Sikhism explain the above statement and most of them are in the form of verses.

God is only one
His name is true
He is the Creator.

In Sikhism, God is not only the creator, but the universe moves according to the pre-ordained command and will of God.

This earth is garden
God is the Gardener
He looks after everything
And none is beyond His care.

In the world there is hierarchy of elements. All these elements are the manifestations of God and these elements belong to God.

My mind and body are His property
He is the Creator and the Destroyer.

The above two verses clarify that world is the manifestation of God. It is because of this manifestation that Sikhism accepts the reality of the world.

The world and God are not dichotomized in Sikhism. This approach is the distinguishing mark of Sikhism, and it differentiates Sikhism from other religions. Sikhism is for unification of God and world in a systematic way. The difference between God and world is that God is eternal and self-caused and the world is temporal. It is a fact that there are two aspects that are temporality and non-temporality, but it is not dichotomy because there is a ground for unification, because world is the manifestation of God.

In Sikhism, the whole system contains higher as well as lower elements. It is the hierarchical structure of the universe. This structure is governed by a cosmic principle that is known as Hukam.

Real elements can be finite and temporal. The Sikh concept of the world is finite and temporal, but it is real. So, there is transcendence and immanence of God. Because, on the one side God is eternal and causeless, and on the other, He manifests as immanence in the world, and the ultimate reality in Sikhism is the unification of transcendence and immanence. Hence, reality in Sikhism is a systematic unity of world and spirituality. This unity can be called as integrative monotheism.

Spinoza starts from substance to attributes and to the temporal status, i.e., modes. God is eternally in a state of self-modification, producing an infinite series of modes. Here also there is transcendence and immanence. Substance is in transcendental level and modes are in temporal status. "As nothing is over and above God, so all is God, and everything follows from God. For this reason, God is said to be the indwelling and pervading principle of the universe." The status of the world in Sikhism and in Spinoza shows similarity. Both of them accept that there is a cosmic principle and the ultimate reality is the unification of God and world. The suitable word to this unification is integration.

Integrative Monotheism

Many philosophies with Vedic background have tried to dichotomize God and world. They sometimes totally negate the reality of world by considering it as an illusion. Advaita Vedanta is the best example for this attitude. In contrary to this attitude, there are some other philosophies that keep positive approach to the world, accept the reality of the world. The philosophy of Spinoza from the west and Sikhism from the east are the best examples for the above said integral and a holistic philosophical position.

Sikhism is a miri-piri system; it is a Punjabi word meaning worldliness-cum-spirituality. Reality in Sikhism is the systematic unity of worldliness and spirituality.

Spinoza says that God and nature are related, and that God is in self- modification. God is eternal whereas the modes are finite.

Windelband, a German thinker, seems to interpret Spinoza's metaphysical system as a dynamic and concrete unity. He justifies his standpoint that "God then exists only in things as their universal essence and they only in Him as the modes of His reality. In this sense, Spinoza adopts ... the expression of natura naturans and natura naturata. God is nature as the universal world essence, he is the natura naturans; as sum total of the individual things in which this essence exists modified, he is natura naturata." Hence, Spinoza's philosophy is a dynamic system.

In a dynamic system, there will be unity. Diversity is the condition of unity, unity is a type of integration. Spinoza says "God is one", that is, He occupies a monistic position. Spinoza tries to unite God and world. This unification is an integration.

In Sikhism, God is both transcendent and immanent, as in Spinoza. He is both in the universe and outside it. The immanent aspect of God has been variously described here as His will that directs the universe. God created the universe, and became immanent in it, being at the same time transcendent, because He is self-caused, beyond time and eternal.

Daljeet Singh says, "This immanence of God is only a symbolic way of expression of God's connection with the world. When the world was not there, the question of his immanence did not arise." Here also, there is an integration of two realities. The author of the article, Integrative Monotheism of Sikh Gurus, says that there is no dichotomy, but only integration in Sikhism.

"The ideas of God and world acquire equal status in a specific way in the thought of the Sikh Gurus. God and the created world are found united in Sikhism. Not discrimination towards the world, but a lovely bond and an active association with it are built in Sikhism. As the most important step towards unity of God and the world, Guru Nanak declares the reality of the world. In the context of Indian philosophy, the Sikh thesis of reality of world is a revolutionary one with all its implications."

In this comparative study, the meeting points between Sikhism and Spinoza can be divided into three fields : 1) idea of God, 2) status of world, and 3) how God and world are related. The viewpoints of Sikhism and the philosophy of Spinoza move in a similar direction regarding the above three themes.

REFERENCES

¹ Robert Maynard Hutchns, The Great Book of the Western World : Desecartes - Spinoza (21), University of Chicago, 1964, p. 355.

² Ibid., p. 362.

³ Masih, Y., History of Modern Philosophy, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi, 1982, p. 66.

⁴ Mercea Eliad, The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 13, MacMillan Free Press, London, 1987, p. 316.

⁵ Nirbhai Singh, Philosophy of Sikhism - Its Realities and Manifestations, p. 65.

⁶ Ibid., p. 85.

⁷ Masih, Y., op. cit., p. 69.

⁸ Ibid., p. 70.

⁹ Ibid., p. 70.

¹⁰ Ibid., p. 73.

¹¹ Mercea Eliad, op. cit., Vol. 13, p. 9.

¹² Harbans Singh Doabia, Sacred Nit-Nem, p. 3.

¹³ Harbans Singh, The Message of Sikhism, p. 4.

¹⁴ Ibid., p. 15.

¹⁵ Masih, Y., op. cit., p. 68.

¹⁶ Windleband, W., A History of Philosophy, MacMillan, New York, 1901, p. 409.

¹⁷ Daljeet Singh, The Sikh Ideology, Guru Nanak Foundation, New Delhi, 1984, p. 17.

¹⁸ Muthu Mohan, N., Integrative Monotheism of the Sikh Gurus, in Abstracts of Sikh Studies, Ed. Kharak Singh, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, 1994, p. 20.

Copyright© Jijo Panjikaran. Published in the Abstracts of Sikh Studies.