Transcendence in a Pluralistic Context

Abstract

Mostly in this paper I shall deal with Buddhist and Hindu ideas and practice, so far as they bear upon notions of transcendence. Of course, that notion really splits into a number of varieties, since it is vital to say what something or other is supposed to be transcending. I consider, and have argued this in a paper originally presented in the 1960s,¹ that the concept of transcending space can be coherently stated, and, with suitable religious embellishments, is the key notion in Western theism. But there are other usages such as that something or other transcends thought or description and so forth. In this paper I wish to explore analogues from South Asian religions. But by way of contrast to the key idea of transcendence mentioned above, let me start by delineating a different model, as found in the Jain tradition.²