by Ellen Perlman

Ellen Perlman of the UCLA Computer Science Department was one of net.religion's most distinctive voices in 1984–1985. A practitioner of Zen, Tibetan Tantrism, and contemporary Paganism, she brought first-hand experience to theological questions that others debated abstractly. In this March 1985 post — written in response to a challenge from Rich Wagstaff about whether religion requires the worship of a deity — she lays out a sophisticated comparative theology: Buddhism's non-theism, the female cults of Tara and Kwan-Yin, Hinduism's complex relationship with a supreme deity, Taoism's immanent universe, and her own Pagan theology of the divine within.

Her central claim is striking: the deity is not a being "out there" but a quality waiting to be manifested within the practitioner. "I am the Goddess" is not a claim of omnipotence but of responsibility — "not only the human community, but within the entire universe." This is the theology of immanence articulated by a working practitioner in the early years of the internet, years before such ideas became widely circulated in Western spiritual culture. Perlman was one of the architects of early online Pagan discourse.

Rich, dear, i think that thousands, if not millions, of Buddhists would beg to differ with some of what you have to say about the definition of religion depending on the worship of a deity/many deities/ a divine being/ or whatever. Certainly, there are different sects of Buddhism who may have different definitions, but my personal experience (with Zen & Tibetan Tantrism) shows that there is no deity which is worshipped. Does that make Mahayana Buddhism NOT a religion? Gautama Buddha is NOT a god. He was a human who showed a path to liberation from suffering to others by his example. He is NOT worshipped. The Buddhists do believe in the existence of deities; these, however, are NOT worshipped, for they, too, have finite lives and must be reborn. They do not represent an ultimate goal.

Representations in Buddhist art of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, etc., are not to be worshipped, but are to be taken as examples each of us can follow, or as symbols of principles to be lived, embodiments (anthropomorphic) of abstractions.

Some, of course, were borrowed from the cultures in different regions that Buddhism spread through, and some became almost separate from mainstream Buddhism (the Tibetan cult of Tara, and the Chinese cult of Kwan-Yin, for example — also, it is interesting to note that these two are or became FEMALE embodiments, while most other symbolic forms are male, though Tantrism tries to balance the male-female problem, to some extent).

Nor does real Hinduism worship a SUPREME deity. The union of Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva was a much later idea and still not one which is all-pervasive in Hinduism. Does that mean that Hinduism is not a religion?

Taoism has no deity/divinity. We are all one with the universe, as seen on this planet as Nature. But this is NOT a divinity, as it is something we are already part of, and is NOT outside of us (try as Western man may to "harness" & "control" Nature, forgetting that he is part of it himself).

i'm a contemporary pagan. Sure, i have images of goddesses & gods, but i consider them as symbols to focus on, as ways to develop and enhance those characteristics within me. They are not beings outside of me, somewhere Out There. As in Buddhism & Taoism, they are waiting for me to manifest them. We are not separate. i am the Goddess. This does not mean that i can do anything i want to. i must be responsible for my actions within not only the human community, but within the entire universe. (Talk about the weight of the world on one's shoulders! And i'm not saying that i am always successful in this endeavour.)

Rich, don't take the dictionary definition as the ultimate source of meaning. It, too, has biases which reflect those of the people who write it. After all, the writers were raised in Western Judeo-Christian sexist ethnocentric society, and their definitions will reflect this. The fact that research was done, and that certain illustrious university types are associated with dictionaries does not guarantee that they will be free of prejudice. They just can throw their prejudices around with a bit more weight.

Colophon

Written by Ellen Perlman ([email protected]), UCLA Computer Science Department, posted to net.religion on 13 March 1985. This is Perlman's fourth archived post from the UTZOO net.religion collection; her previous pieces addressed Paganism and religious diversity, Wiccan and Pagan books, and Pagan meditation and ritual practice. Original Message-ID: [email protected].

Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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