Monism

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A belief that all that exists is derived/created from a single universal thing, or source of divine energyPriority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them (e.g., in Neoplatonism everything is derived from The One).

Monism is the view that attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept.

The mystic religious traditions have monist followers:

  • Some Sufi mystics advocate monism, including the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi (1207–73)

Rumi says in his poem ‘Masnavi’,

“In the shop for Unity (wahdat); anything that you see there except the One is an idol.”

  • The Christian Paul Tillich wrote that since God is he “in whom we live and move and have our being” (Book of Acts 17.28), it follows that everything that has being partakes in God
  • The Jewish Kaballah holds similar views that the world is Yahweh splintered into infinite shards of life, but still One.
  •  Augustine of Hippo argued, in the context of the problem of evil, that evil is not the opposite of god, but rather merely the absence of god, and god is All-in-One Unity of Spirit.

Monism is a pre-history Sun-worship approach that was documented by Greek philosophers, and today is reflected in pantheism and panentheismRECOMMENDED: The way you define god is illustrated in the IQS about Higher Power/ God.

 

Synonyms:
Source, The Absolute, Monad
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