Transcendence and Immanence
A 5-Dimensional Comparative Analysis of Abrahamic and Brahmic Spiritualities
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. (with ChatGPT assistance)
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Cell Biology
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
July 2025 | Substack Exclusive
1. Introduction
What happens when we treat the world’s major religious traditions not as isolated truths or competing dogmas, but as complementary projections of a deeper reality?
This question motivates the following 5-dimensional Venn-type Comparative Analysis (5VCA) of two of the world’s oldest and most influential spiritual traditions:
The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), and
The Brahmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism).
To guide this comparison, we apply a new definition of complementarity drawn from semiotics, systems theory, and quantum logic:
A and B are complementary aspects of a third entity C, or C is the complementary union of A and B. In other words, Reality (C) appears as A or B depending on the method of observation.
This triadic view echoes the PSGIT principle—a metaphysical framework I have developed integrating Phenomenology, Semiotics, and Geometry through Irreducible Triadic Relations (ITR).
2. A 5-Dimensional Venn-type Comparative Analysis (5VCA)
3. Complementarity in Action: God Beyond and God Within
The most profound insight from this analysis may come from the C(C) dimension, which views A and B as two sides of a greater unity. This “third entity,” C, is Reality itself—experienced as God beyond (Abrahamic) or God within (Brahmic), depending on the direction of spiritual gaze:
When the divine is approached through history, we find a transcendent, personal God who enters the world through command and covenant.
When approached through inward contemplation, we find an immanent, nondual Self—a silent presence pervading all beings.
4. Toward a Universal Theology
This analysis does not collapse differences into sameness. Rather, it illuminates their structural relationship:
The Abrahamic religions offer a powerful narrative of moral awakening, divine justice, and sacred history.
The Brahmic traditions reveal the timeless depth of consciousness, the architecture of samsara, and the way of liberation.
Together, they sketch the geometry of a unified spiritual cosmos—one that is both transcendent and immanent, personal and impersonal, historical and eternal.
5. Final Thought
Just as light can appear as wave or particle depending on how we observe it, the Divine may appear as Yahweh or Brahman, as Allah or Ātman, depending on the lens of our inquiry.
This is not relativism. It is complementarity—the hallmark of a truly triadic metaphysics.
Let us embrace both wisdoms, east and west, not as rivals but as mutually illuminating mirrors of the Real