GOD IS A PERSON & WE ARE ALL ETERNALLY INDIVIDUALS

Dedicated to my spiritual master His Divine Grace Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami 'Srila Prabhupada'


Introduction
 na tv evaham jatu nasam

na tvam neme janadhipah

na caiva na bhavisyamah

sarve vayam atah param

Bg 2.12

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be – Lord Krishna

God is an individual - a person
The Mayavadi theory that after liberation the individual soul, separated by the covering of maya, or illusion, will merge into the impersonal Brahman and lose its individual existence is not supported herein by Lord Krsna, the supreme authority. Nor is the theory that we only think of individuality in the conditioned state supported herein. Krsna clearly says herein that in the future also the individuality of the Lord and others, as it is confirmed in the Upanisads, will continue eternally. This statement of Krsna's is authoritative because Krsna cannot be subject to illusion. If individuality were not a fact, then Krsna would not have stressed it so much-even for the future. The Mayavadi may argue that the individuality spoken of by Krsna (in Bg 2.12) is not spiritual, but material. Even accepting the argument that the individuality is material, then how can one distinguish Krsna's individuality? Krsna affirms His individuality in the past and confirms His individuality in the future also. He has confirmed His individuality in many ways, and impersonal Brahman has been declared to be subordinate to Him. Krsna has maintained spiritual individuality all along; if He is accepted as an ordinary conditioned soul in individual consciousness, then His Bhagavad-gita has no value as authoritative scripture.

Conclusion

If individuality refers to the empirical universe, then there is no need of teaching by the Lord. The plurality of the individual soul and of the Lord is an eternal fact, and it is confirmed by the Vedas as above mentioned.

 
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada


Dr Jagadeesh TG - Prabhupada Dasa/ RadhaKrishna Sevak
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PHASES OF REALIZATION OF THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH

Dedicated to my spiritual master His Divine Grace Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami 'Srila Prabhupada'

Introduction


Krsna and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. Therefore Lord Krsna is referred to as Bhagavan throughout the Gita. Bhagavan is the ultimate in the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding, namely Brahman, or the impersonal all-pervasive spirit; Paramatma, or the localized aspect of the Supreme within the heart of all living entities; and Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna.

Conception of Absolute Truth

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11) this conception of the Absolute Truth is explained thus:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate

"The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases of understanding by the knower of the Absolute Truth, and all of them are identical. Such phases of the Absolute Truth are expressed as Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan."

These three divine aspects can be explained by the example of the sun, which also has three different aspects, namely the sunshine, the sun's surface and the sun planet itself. One who studies the sunshine only is the preliminary student. One who understands the sun's surface is further advanced. And one who can enter into the sun planet is the highest. Ordinary students who are satisfied by simply understanding the sunshine -- its universal pervasiveness and the glaring effulgence of its impersonal nature -- may be compared to those who can realize only the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth. The student who has advanced still further can know the sun disc, which is compared to knowledge of the Paramatma feature of the Absolute Truth. And the student who can enter into the heart of the sun planet is compared to those who realize the personal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth.

Conclusion

The bhaktas, or the transcendentalists who have realized the Bhagavan feature of the Absolute Truth, are the topmost transcendentalists, although all students who are engaged in the study of the Absolute Truth are engaged in the same subject matter. The sunshine, the sun disc and the inner affairs of the sun planet cannot be separated from one another, and yet the students of the three different phases are not in the same category. Bg 2.2

Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada


Dr Jagadeesh TG
Prabhupada Dasa
RadhaKrishna Sevak
http://www.doctor-soul-healer.blogspot.com/ :
http://www.folknet.in/ :
http://www.drjgdsh.wordpress.com/
www.twitter.com/drjgdsh :
Facebook – Jagadeesh Gurumurthy:
Indya Rocks – Dr Jagadeesh’s Blog.

 

The Real Soul Doctor - Jagadguru Srila Prabhupada

LEVELS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Dedicated to my spiritual master His Divine Grace Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami 'Srila Prabhupada'

Introduction : The Complete Whole
The complete whole is comprised of the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time and karma, or activities, and all of these are explained in this text. All of these taken completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the complete Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole.

Impersonal brahman
It is explained in the Bhagavad Gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete Supreme Person (brahmano hi pratisthaham). Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra to be like the rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Brahman-Paramatma-Bhagavan
Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramatma. In the Fifteenth Chapter it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Purusottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramatma. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. He is Bhagavan.

Conclusion - The 3 levels of realization
The Brahma-samhita begins in this way: isvarah paramah Krishnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam. "Govinda, Krishna, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternity, knowledge and bliss."

Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat (eternity) feature. Paramatma realization is the realization of sat-cit (eternal knowledge). But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ananda (eternity, knowledge, and bliss) in complete vigraha (form).

The Real Soul Doctor - Jagadguru Srila Prabhupada

 

PS - Read Srila Prabhupada's 'Bhagavad Gita As it is' for more insights.

 

Prabhupada Dasa

RadhaKrishna Sevak

http://www.folknet.in/ (For more spiritual insights)

www.twitter.com/drjgdsh (Free BHAGAVAD GITA TWITTER COURSE)