Ishvara - God within Creation

Out of Spirit’s formless state of bliss consciousness, there emerged an aspect of Itself that operates within the world of form – God, the Creator. Creation was started so that Spirit could experience Itself in multiple forms. The formless consciousness of Brahman exists outside of creation and is indivisible. So Brahman’s first step was to replicate Itself within creation in a form that could become the many. The Eastern mystics refer to this God within creation as Ishvara or Iswara. It is Ishvara that undertakes and manages creation on behalf of Brahman. Ishvara is the mirror image of Brahman active within creation. As such, this aspect of God is somewhat easier to comprehend.

• Ishvara has many names that have come from the various religious and spiritual traditions, e.g. God, Divine Mother, Shakti, Prakriti, Kali, etc. The names that will be used interchangeably herein are Ishvara, Divine Mother, and God (within creation).

• Mystics who have seen God in form are seeing Ishvara. The Divine Mother can take on any form and often assumes a form that is close to the heart of the one to whom It is appearing to. Mystics who have experienced the Ultimate God beyond form are experiencing Brahman.

• Ishvara is the manifested form of Brahman. Adi Shankara uses a metaphor that when the "reflection" of the Cosmic Spirit falls upon the mirror of maya, it appears as Ishvara. Thus Ishvara is true only in the pragmatic sense. Being a reflection, Ishvara is an image of Brahman, as real and as illusory as everything else in creation. To mankind, under the spell of maya, Ishwara is real. Once one experiences oneness with Brahman, one sees that all of creation is a dream projection of Brahman and, as such, everything within creation, including Ishvara, is an illusion. However, within the illusory creation, Ishvara is the image of Brahman and the manager of Brahman’s dream creation.
  

“According to Advaita Vedanta, when man tries to know the attributeless Brahman with his mind, under the influence of Maya, Brahman becomes the Lord. Isvara is Brahman with Maya – the manifested form of Brahman. Adi Shankara uses a metaphor that when the "reflection" of the Cosmic Spirit falls upon the mirror of Maya, it appears as the Ishvara or Supreme Lord. The Ishvara is true only in the pragmatic level. God's actual form in the transcendental level is the Cosmic Spirit. Ishvara is, in an ultimate sense, described as "false" because Brahman appears as Ishvara only due to the curtain of Maya. However, just as the world is true in the pragmatic level, similarly, Ishvara is also pragmatically true. Just as the world is not absolutely false, Ishvara is also not absolutely false.” ~ Dal Singh
 
“Ishvara is God in His aspect of Cosmic Ruler … by whose will all universes, in orderly cycles are created, maintained and dissolved. The Lord has no form, but in His aspect as Ishvara He assumes every form.” ~ P. Yogananda 
 
“The Mother is closer than the Father. The Father aspect of God represents that part which is aloof from His creation. The Mother is creation itself. Even among mankind, the human father is more disposed than the mother to judge their erring children. The mother always forgives …The Mother ever responds with compassion … Of course, in the highest sense God is none of the[se] forms” ~ P. Yogananda
 
“To be completely enlightened is to go beyond Iswara, to know the Impersonal Reality[Brahman] behind the personal divine Appearance ~ Shankara
 
“The universe and its movements are a vivid mental picture in the Cosmic Mind, in the mind of Isvara.” ~ Sivananda
 
“The Lord in His transcendent or inactive aspect in creation and the Lord in His immanent kinetic aspect as the Creator of the universe and beings are not two, but One: the Supreme Spirit, Ishvara. As the ocean with waves and without waves is the same ocean, so Spirit, with or without creation, is ever a unity.” ~ P. Yogananda              
 
“Iswara, the personal God, the supreme creator of the universe really does exist. But this is true only from the relative standpoint … Iswara has a physical body, a form and a name, but it is not so gross as this material body. It can be seen in visions in the form created by the devotee. The forms and names of God are many and various and differ with each religion. His essence is the same as ours, the real Self being only one and without form. Hence forms He assumes are only creations or appearances. Iswara is immanent in every person and every object throughout the universe. The totality of all things and beings constitutes God. There is a power out of which a small fraction has become all this universe, and the remainder is in reserve. Both this reserve power plus the manifested power as material world together constitute Iswara … Iswara, God, the creator, the personal God, is the last of the unreal forms to go. Only the absolute being is real. Hence, not only the world, not only the ego, but also the personal God are of unreality.” ~ Ramana Maharshi

“The Cosmic Mother [Ishvara] could not exist nor operate without the power and guidance of the unmanifested Divine … He mysteriously manifests through her, making her feel that she is the creator, while in reality He is the unseen Origin of all.” ~ P. Yogananda 

“In the Advaita Vedanta of the Upanishads as well as in the philosophy of Shankara, Ishvara is regarded as the Lord and ruler of Maya and its world-appearance, including all souls. Brahman is the conscious Ground and Source, while Ishvara serves an executive and creative function. Ishvara can be prayed to, worshipped, envisualized, and realized; Brahman, however, is formless and absolute … the transcendent Source and Foundation of all.”
~ Swami Abhayananda

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