Monotheism: one god.
Atheism: no gods.
Monism: one reality.
Monatheism (suggested): one reality and no gods.
Some Hindu monotheisms are monistic, i.e., God does not create anything other than Himself but appears to Himself as other. In nontheistic monism, an impersonal reality appears to Itself.
Abrahamic monotheisms: one creator and many creatures.
Nontheistic monism: one reality and many appearances.
Monistic monotheisms: one creator of many appearances.
In nontheistic monism, the beginning of consciousness is the apparent creation of the phenomenal universe.
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth..."
Visual perception discloses a sky above, a ground below and many objects in a space between. The single reality permeates space but becomes conscious of itself by appearing to itself as many discrete objects separated by apparently empty spaces.
Abrahamic prophetic traditions have to be monotheist whereas Indian contemplative traditions can be polytheist, monotheist, atheist or monist. Thus, the prophetic traditions correspond to only one phase of the contemplative traditions.
Prophecy and prayer presuppose a deity whereas contemplation presupposes only consciousness and reality and therefore can be expressed through mutually incompatible theories. Indian philosophical systems refer to many souls, one soul or no soul.
