In framing my discussion of divinities in my thesis text, I will structure my terminology thus:
When referring to the Jewish god I will say G-d, the Muslim god, Allah, the Christian one, God. When describing the Hindu conceptualization of manifest destiny, Ultimate Reality, all that animates life on Earth, the beings inhabiting an infinite number of hellish and heavenly realms and dimensions in time and space, I will say Atman/Brahman. This indicates the importance of the relationship between the lone self (Atman) and it's connection (yoke, yog, yoga) to Everything (Brahman). Another term that can be used is Oneness, but it may perhaps imply a more western interpretation of Hinduism, or a neo-Hindu western religion. In regards to Buddhism, I will say śūnyatā, which means 'nothingness', emptiness, the nonexistence of self (an-atman, when compared to the Hindu context it came from).
When speaking in general terms, I will simply say god or gods. This will not indicate any specific notion of 'divinity', but will refer to various systems of selfhood.
When referring to the Jewish god I will say G-d, the Muslim god, Allah, the Christian one, God. When describing the Hindu conceptualization of manifest destiny, Ultimate Reality, all that animates life on Earth, the beings inhabiting an infinite number of hellish and heavenly realms and dimensions in time and space, I will say Atman/Brahman. This indicates the importance of the relationship between the lone self (Atman) and it's connection (yoke, yog, yoga) to Everything (Brahman). Another term that can be used is Oneness, but it may perhaps imply a more western interpretation of Hinduism, or a neo-Hindu western religion. In regards to Buddhism, I will say śūnyatā, which means 'nothingness', emptiness, the nonexistence of self (an-atman, when compared to the Hindu context it came from).
When speaking in general terms, I will simply say god or gods. This will not indicate any specific notion of 'divinity', but will refer to various systems of selfhood.
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