The One and the Many
Understanding the relationship between the ONE and the MANY: Is Hinduism monotheistic or polytheistic? With over 330 million deities it surely looks like a polytheism. Yet Hindus say they are monotheistic.* How are we to make sense out of this apparent contradiction? This is the classic philosophical problem of the one and the many: what is the relationship between the one overarching singular ultimate reality vs. the many things that appear to the eye? In Hinduism, the one is the Brahman while the many are the personified deities or manifest forms (murtis) of the One. Regarding the question of Oneness in relation to all beings... Perhaps this analogy will help: Compare the One and the Many to a Forest and the trees. One forest is comprised of many trees. We can look at the whole (forest) or the individual trees (many). If you are in the forest, among the trees, it is hard to see the forest. You tend to only see many trees. You are too close to see how they are all just one forest.