Q: Gorakhnath describes God as a Oneness of Shiva and His Shakti. Do you agree with this Philosophy of a Father-Mother God?
Yes and No. For us in this relative existence, there appears to be a duality of Consciousness/Energy. But that is a misperception. There is only Consciousness.
For us, when consciousness is unmoving it is spirit, and when it moves it is shakti (energy). But that is only in our mind. The seeming two are really always and only One.
Brahman is Nirguna, beyond qualities or attributes and beyond relationship. Therefore Brahman is neither Father or Mother, because that would define Brahman in terms of our relative experience. Our true nature should be defined by Brahman–the nature of Brahman should not be defined by what we think/experience is our real nature. We must not project on to Brahman a duality that only exists in our limited intellect. That is why Sri Ramakrishna said that when we really know Brahman we keep quiet. And why our American poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote:
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
It is the dreamer that we must find and know.
Further Reading:
- Shiva and Shakti: A Yogi’s Perspective
- Seeing the One in All
- The Story of Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath the Great Yogis