Questions & Answers With Srila Prabhupada
Dear Swami Bhaktivedanta,
I’ve read that your Krishna Consciousness is a non-sectarian science of the soul. How is it, then, that you follow some particular concept of God- Krishna rather than a more universal concept, such as the One, or the All-Pervading Light?
Krishna and the Vedic View
[A Question and Answer with Sirla Prabhupada, published in Back to Godhead magazine, 1968]
Dear Swami Bhaktivedanta,
I’ve read that your Krishna Consciousness is a non-sectarian science of the soul. How is it, then, that you follow some particular concept of God- Krishna rather than a more universal concept, such as the One, or the All-Pervading Light? I like your movement very much, but I do feel this to be a clear contradiction in your philosophy. Yours truly,
Owen Darcy
My dear Mr. Darcy,
Thank you for your interest, and for your question also. I assure you that Krishna is not a concept: He is the Supreme, Original Person. Everything that exists is His energy, and He is the sole Energetic. He pervades His energy because He has complete and limitless control over it. All that exists, then, is of Him, from Him, possessed, pervaded and maintained by Him- therefore He is the One, All-Pervading, and the Resting Ground of the Universes. But He is more even than this. He is thus held to be an Individual: the Whole is more than the sum of the parts. This omnipotence is called the Lord’s simultaneously one and different Nature.
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Dear Swami,
I have always read that self-realization can only be attained by cutting oneself off from human society. Do you agree with this? Thank you,
Jereld Penne
Dear Mr. Penne,
No, I don’t agree. In India also this was long held to be true but my Spiritual Master, Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati taught that one can use the implements of modern civilization for the service of the Lord, and thus attain to the highest perfection. This was his great contribution. In the Bhagavad Gita, as well, Lord Sri Krishna says that he who preaches the message of God to his fellow men is the most dear devotee (Chaps. XVIII, verse 68). One must, of course, be among one’s fellow men in order to do this.
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Dear Swami,
Is Krishna really Nirvana?
Thank you,
William Guttenroth
Dear Mr. Guttenroth,
Nirvana is the negation of material life; Krishna is the positive joy of spiritual existence.
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Dear Swami,
Your philosophy states that the soul or Self is eternal, and that God, the Supreme Self, is also eternal. If this is so, then how is God to be considered the Creator ?
Sincerely,
Mary Welch
Dear Miss Welch,
Creator means the Source, and creation means the emanation from that Source. The Creator and the creation are both eternal- but the creation depends upon the Creator, and not vice versa. It is like the sun and the sunlight. They are always together, but the sun is supreme and independent, while the sunlight is subordinate. Still, they are not separable, as we are eternally inseparable from God.
Ever your well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
About the Author
HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
Respected sir,
Thank you so much sir for clarifying my doubt. But I have many questions and I will put it one by one. I am reading “Bhagavat Geeta, as it is” and I have so many doubts. Before reading it, I thought all the four divisions are made by men for their own gain but when I read shoka no. 13 of chapter 4, I got to know about the four divisions that are made my Krishna.
So my question is, Is it right to behave people accordingly their divisions? For eg. If a Brahmin is a fraud by nature and is harming others, should we still respect him as God included him in the catagory of brahmin. If a Shudra is kind in nature and is in God’s consciousness, should we degrade him just because God made him a Shudra? Because now a days this is what people doing and I feel it is wrong because they are forgetting Lord Rama also ate the lipped plums offered by Shabri, who was a Shudra but kindly explain what was the purpose of Krishna when he made this division? It is hard to understand that if Lord Krishna doesn’t support discrimination of castes then why he made this division. Please kindly explain.
Thank you,
Hare Krishna sir.
Hare Krishna Meenu
Krishna did not make this caste system that is going on in India today. That is a horrible system used to exploit people. The Indian caste system is based on birth. If my father is a brahmin, I am a brahmin. That is not the system made by Krishna. Krishna clearly explains in Bhagavad-gita ‘guna karma vibhagasa’, I have created this system and divided men according to their qualities [guna] and work [karma] and when you read the eighteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita you will see that Krishna very clearly states what are the qualities and what is the work of each of the divisions in the Varnasrama system. So birth has nothing to do with it. It may be an advantage. If one has a father who is a qualified brahmana then he can train his son nicely and the son has the chance of becoming a qualified brahmana also. But he is only a qualified brahmana if he has the qualities of a brahmana and if he works as a brahmana.
So in India now almost all of the people claiming to be brahmanas do not have the qualities of a brahmana and do not work as brahmanas. So they are cheaters, they are rascals. And this is the downfall of Indian civilization.
At the same time there is a natural division of people and everyone falls within the definition of one of the four divisions and for the proper function of society people have to work according to their nature in these four divisions. But it is like the different parts of the body: the arms, the legs, the head, etc. So all are parts of the body and all are equally important. Special protection may be given to the head but the head is also completely dependent on the arms and the legs. So it is not that one part of the body is looking down on another part of the body. No. All have their duty to perform and for the benefit of the whole body they have to work cooperatively and do their duty.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Respected sir,
I have seen a video on social networking site where some people where hitting a man so mercilessly just because he teared up a poster of a Hindu God. I know hurting someone’s sentiment is a sin but was it ok to hit a man in the name of religion. And felt more pain when I saw the coments on the video and many people were in support of those people.
A guy wrote in a comment referring to the shrimad Bhagavat Gita that Lord Krishna himself said that “if you sustain your religion your religion would sustain you”. He justified those people’s deed by taking shelter of Lord Krishna . although I have faith in my God that he will never support violence in the name of religion and that guy clearly misunderstood his sayings. I read the Bhagavat Gita and I only reached up to third chapter.
I want to ask that what does Lord Krishna mean by saying ” save your religion” or is it really said by the Lord. And kindly clarify, Is that violence in the name of religion fine according to the Bhagavat Gita as that guy said in a comment?
Thank you
Of course there are cases when one can kill for Krishna. That is the whole point of the Bhagavad-gita. Krishna is encouraging Arjuna to be violent, to kill the people on the other side in the battle, that is his duty as a Kastriya.
So violence is necessary at times. But these things have to be done under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna who understands that time and the place and what should or should not be done.
Krishna did not say anything like “if you sustain your religion your religion would sustain you” and modern Hinduism has nothing to do with Krishna consciousness actually.
So I suggest you read Srila Prabhupada’s books to understand these things deeply yourself.
Last month, I read the article http://iskconbirmingham.org/whats-wrong-with-eating-meat
With grace of Lord Krishna, I’m vegetarian by birth. While reading the above mentioned article, I found that we all have to offer food before eating to the supreme lord. This is the thing I’m gonna implement ASAP.
But my best friend is non-vegetarian 🙁 when I talked with her on this she said in other countries also, people are eating non-veg food. Secondly, she said by eating non-veg food she is maintaining ecological balance.
I’m convinced with the facts mentioned in the article. But last night, I read somewhere that “intent” is very much important. No one intentionally step on an ant, slapping on arm killing mosquito so as not to catch malaria etc. So far we are eating any kind of food (veg or non-veg) to sustain the life we all are sinfree.
She is eating non-veg because she found it tasty.
I want my friend to be free of these sinful food she is eating. Please give me some evidences(shlokas, references etc.) where it is clearly mentioned so that she not able to deny because she is very clever person.
Please help!!!
Hare Krishna
We can not convince everyone to become Krishna conscious and we have very little potency to convince anyone until we become pure devotees of Krishna ourselves. So the first thing is you need to become a pure devotee yourself. It is like if someone is drowning in the ocean but you can’t swim. You may think, “Let me jump into the ocean and try to save him, but you can not swim. So the result would be that both of you would drown. So the thing is you have to learn how to swim yourself if you want to be able to save a drowning man…
So please take seriously reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, and strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication.
Actually we do not ask anyone to become vegetarian. We do not preach vegetarianism. We are not vegetarians. We are devotees of Krishna and we only accept Krishna prasadam, food that has been prepared with love and devotion and offered to Krishna.
It just so happens that Krishna only accepts offerings of foodstuffs in the mode of goodness from fruits, vegetables, grains and milk products.
So we don’t care in the beginning what the people are eating. We get them to chant Hare Krishna and take Krishna prasadam and read Srila Prabhupada’s books and from this gradually they will automatically give up eating meat and just eat Krishna prasadam.
So don’t bother trying to convince your friend to be a vegetarian. Get her to chant Hare Krishna, read Prabhupada’s books and give her Krishna prasadam.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Swami,
If everything that happens in the Universe is a Lila of Krshna, then how does karma come into existence? Is Krshna not responsible for all the good and bad that exists in the world? I am sorry if I am committing a mistake by asking this question. But, I wish to be clear in my thoughts, in order to follow the path of Krshna consciousness with no doubts in my mind about Krshna.
Everything that happens in the universe is not the lila of Lord Krishna!! Where do you get these crazy ideas from?
Krishna has nothing to do with the material world. Krishna is in the spiritual world. Krishna never comes to the material world. When Krishna appears like He did five thousand years ago in Vrindavan actually He brings the spiritual world with Him. He does not come to the material world.
So when Krishna appears then everything is His pastimes. But this material world is created by Krishna for us. For our pastimes… Not for His pastimes…
Karma means work. So karma comes into existence as soon as anyone does some work, good or bad, in the material world. And there will be a reaction to that work. That is one of the laws of nature. Of course Krishna has made these laws.
We are all individuals. We are the same as Krishna, except Krishna is unlimited and we are very tiny. So we are responsible for our own activities. It is us exercising our limited independence who are creating all the good and bad that exists in this world. It is our responsibility, not Krishna’s responsibility. That is why we have to suffer the reactions of our karma life after life…
i do not have a guide who i can interact with personally while reading or seeking explanations and interpretations from the Bhagavad Gita, where can i get this kind of support? would you please be able to assist me.
i love Krishna Bhagwan. i feel him every day. he comes to me in my dreams too. I feel him calling me. I am looking for a guide to get closer to him. I have a special bond with Krishna bhagwan.
If you have any question from reading Prabhupada’s books please post it here and I can try and answer for you.
Hare Krishna,
I have a question not regarding your previous email. This is a little unconventional of a question to ask but I’m conflicted about something I have been considering. I have been wanting to get surgery to fix my nose for as long as I could remember but I wonder what Krishna will think of this. Am I doing something wrong by changing a feature God has given me? Am I placing importance on a physical feature that is meant to be temporary? I truly want to have the surgery and make this change but I don’t want to lose my connection to God. I don’t want to make the wrong decision, for my spiritual path. If you could give me some guidance, I would appreciate it.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Neya
We do not have to bother too much about our material bodies. Only we need to maintain them by keeping clean and providing food to keep it nourished. Otherwise Krishna consciousness means understanding that we are not these material bodies, but we are the spirit soul within.
So it does not matter what the body looks like and we want to become detached from the body, not more attached to it. So thinking of changing your nose is maya. It doesn’t matter what your nose looks like. As long as it works. You can breath through it. That is all you need it for.
So better to forget about it. And forget about your body alltogether and realize you are not this material body but you are the spirit soul within the body. The body is constantly changing and it will get old and ugly but you, the spirit soul, within the body, are eternally youthful, full of knowledge and full of transcendental bliss. So Krishna consciousness means forgetting about the material body and getting to know your actual spiritual nature.
So forget about the nose, it is fine the way it is. And chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
dear swamiji
I need your help..
I know that this world is a false image…
our soul is the purest one…. i have felt it also earlier….
but now watching world i feel jealous; excited; and every time thought of other persons
earlier i have felt the absolute truth….but it was for short time..
now it is very difficult for me as i am feeling that i m not fit or perfect in my society……how to believe that its a false image….
Hare Krishna Babu
We don’t say the world is false.
World is real and can be used in the service of Krishna or in the service of maya.
Maya is illusion. Of course practically everyone in the material world is serving maya and is in illusion. But that does not make the world false. People are in illusion but the people are real and the world is real.
Missing point is engaging everything in the service of Krishna. That has the power of spiritualizing the material world.
So to see things clearly and to get out of the illusion we need to become Krishna conscious. Once we become Krishna conscious we will no longer fell jealous or excited on seeing other persons. Rather we will be seeing Krishna and will be very satisfied with that and will not be disturbed by the people in the material world but will feel compassion towards them and want to help them see Krishna also.
But to understand these things actually we have to become Krishna conscious and there is a process and we have to learn the process form the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. There we will find the answers to all of our questions and the solutions to all of our problems.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In HInduism and some others that we should not eat meat. I always say animals or anything that had a face I do not eat and so I’m a vegetarian. My friends don’t understand. They are Christians they say and they say that Christ had fish at the last supper per se. So question is WHY would Jesus Christ eat an animal or fish that was killed when one of the commandments says “Tthou shal not kill” when Christ did not kill the fish to eat it, but wouldn’t He be supporting that habit by eating. So what is a good answer to keep saying to people on this subject. Jai Krshna Jai
It is very hard to preach about not killing animals to a meat eater. They will not understand it. That is what eating meat does. It make the mind dull and meat eaters can not understand spiritual knowledge. So the best solution is to get them to hear and chant Hare Krishna, to feed them with sumptuous Krishna prasadam and to get them to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is the only tested and proven way to convince meat eaters to become devotees of Krishna.
Hare Krshna: I am still learning to be a Lord Krshna devotee coming from a Sai Baba devotee. Please tell me more on what I should be doing inmy life. I am 72 years of age AND I’m reading Srila’s books, however something seem to be misssing my life in order to be motivated. Please kindly help me figure his out. I wish I had a STEADY Guru right at this point where I can email everything and anything I need help with. My mind is so busy with material life which I’m still living with it. Apparently I know I’m off balance in my constitutions. I’m suppose to be a Pitta, but I’m all over the place and always changing my mind for ths and that and yet fully intuitive. I’m suppose to reach my Enlightenment years at the age of 80 and so right now it seems I got everything coming my way to where I can’t hndle it all AT ONCE.
Please advise me now on what to do.
Jai Sri Krshna Jai and I’m in Canada with NO Lord Krishna Temple CLOSE BY for me todrive to.
Hare Krishna
You just have to strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you are 72 years old then it is time to wind down the material side of your life and just concentrate on becoming a pure devotee of Krishna. At that age there is no point in trying to become materially successful. That is the time to become spiritually successful.
If you would just read Srila Prabhupada’s books you would find the best guru there. And Prabhupada will answer all your questions and more. You just have to be prepared to read his books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Swami,
Is Buddha really incarnation of god Vishnu. Truly I have really a lot of question to ask. For example I can’t control my desire what can I do for it. Do all avatars live in one time. Rama is Krishnas previous self but is Rama and Krishna individual?
Hare Krishna
Yes. Buddha is an incarnation of Visnu. There is a famous song, das-avatara-strotra, and this das-avatara is very famous in India. It means the ten incarnations of Visnu. And Lord Buddha is one of the ten incarnations of Visnu. Of course Lord Visnu has many more than ten incarnations. But this illustrates that Lord Buddha is certainly accepted as an incarnation of Lord Visnu by the Vaisnavas.
Everyone lives eternally. It is like the sun is always shining. It may be nighttime where we are at the moment and we can not see the sun shining. But the sun is still shining on the other side of the earth. So it is like that with the incarnations of Krishna. All the pastimes of Krishna are going on eternally. So yes, all the avataras are living at the one time, but like the sun only appears before us during the day, we can only see it during the day, although the sun is also shining at night. Similarly the avatars of Lord Visnu are all existing eternally and their pastimes are all eternal, but they are only visible in this particular universe at certain times.
Understanding the nature of Rama and Krishna is not possible in the conditioned state of life. Because we have only had such a limited experience and because Rama and Krishna are completely transcendental and have a completely different existence to anything we have experienced in the material world we can not expect to understand Rama and Krishna with our materially conditioned mind and senses.
The way to understand is by submissive hearing from a bona fide spiritual master.
So to understand these things you need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and you need to follow the things you will find Srila Prabhupada instructing you to do as you read his books. Then, by hearing from and following the instructions of a pure devotee of Krishna your heart will become purified and your consciousness will become elevated and then you will be able to understand, at least to some extent, the nature of Rama and Krishna. But you have to elevate your consciousness first, otherwise you will not be able to understand, you will try to understand Rama and Krishna within the things you have experienced in the material world, but They are not in the material world. They are avan manasa gochara, They are beyond the conception and imagination of the material mind and beyond the ability of the material senses to perceive. So there is no way to understand Rama and Krishna with the material mind and senses. You have to hear about Them from a pure devotee of Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
dear sir,
I wan to know who is god and is lord Krishna is our real father,is Bhagvat Geeta is real(sorry) please clear my doubt Iam realy very confused.
Please read Bhagavad Gita As It Is:
http://www.AsItIs.com
I totally agree as what you said. However yet haven’t quite touched on my question “it is still a beleif”. I understand that the Science Of God is to do with one self. Therefore it is hard to proof, but say chanting Hare Krishna….focussing on the words…which is enhancing your mind,than your intelligence and than elevates your soul…so forth. Accordding to some other “Scientist”, psychology say to speak….the mind, intelligence…soul can be controlled simply by meditating,focusing on one thing, listenning to particular kind of music which enhance neurotransmitters “brain cells” directing better control of your mind…peace ful life, stress free etc. The experiments has proven it being effective SO why chanting Hare Krishna?? Why not other means of doing so?
ronee
you said Accordding to some other “Scientist”, psychology say to speak….the mind, intelligence…soul can be controlled simply by meditating,focusing on one thing, listenning to particular kind of music which enhance neurotransmitters “brain cells” directing better control of your mind…peace ful life, stress free etc. The experiments has proven it being effective SO why chanting Hare Krishna?? Why not other means of doing so?
now dear brother in bhagwat geeta 6th chapter it is given how to meditate .
and bhagwat geeta is thousand of years B.C so scientist got formula of meditation from bhagwat geeta itself just surrender krishna and realize his presence . and if u are not able to do it so then u will not be able to get ur own answer so dear brother ur answer is inside u and u are trying for reply from some one else .
The science of god is a science as any other. We are scientists dont sentimentality, that is our light in the darkness in order to achieve a higher light. Scientists claim that the propositions of the knowledge of God escapes any scientific treatment, but they are wrong. The Science of God is a science such as physics, chemistry or otherwise and is also based on experimentation and observation and its results are completely verifiable.
But science of God is a trascendental science and its experiments are of different nature, since they imply a greater difficulty of the ordinary science experiments, because while the material experiments are performed with external elements in the science of God the object of experimentation is one self and it is not easy to do with us what we commonly do with other elements in scientific experiments.
In a scientific experiment is taken the element in its natural and pure form and is isolated from everything else. Since nature does not always manifest things in a pure form and without mixing, before it is necessary to isolate the object of study. Once this has been done, certain changes take place in the element, to be observed carefully. Under different conditions, the item will react in different ways. That is how are discovered the laws governing the reactions of the element. The body of knowledge on these laws is called “science.”
The Science of God and of the conscious being is a question regarding the source of their consciousness. The being neither exists in pure form, as it is conditioned by its partnership with the body consisting of five material elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), the five senses of perception (sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell) are also the five senses of action (speech, walking, grasping, evacuate and urine), and the five objects of the senses. The object of the sight is light, the object of the touch is the texture, the object of hearing the sound, the object of the smell is the scent and flavor is the object of taste). There are too the three subtle senses, that is: the mind, the intelligence and the false ego. The mind is the sense of thinking feeling and desire. The intelligence is the sense of determination to discriminate, and the ego is the sense of the identification whith the body. Moreover, the vision of the element experience (the being) is stained by the six enemies of the conditional soul: the selfishness, lust, avarice, wrath, gluttony, jealousy and bitterness.
So the first condition of a scientific experiment is the isolation and purification of the element to experiment. This is not easy to achieve. We can easily manipulate objects that are outside of us, we can set off a hydrogen bomb, or send a man to the moon, but when it comes to doing something to change the soul of the former association with objects external to it, we are in front of something different.
Human nature has a tendency to ridicule what is difficult to achieve. This partly explains the attitude of the scientists at the science of God. But there are many people who, despite their apparent difficulty, have carried out experiments in the light and the science of God is the result of the generalizations made by them. The detailed treatment, accurate and systematic (scientific) that makes the laws, stages, classes and conditions of the various experiments of the science of God easily convince anyone that takes place, that the science of God is, wherever you look, a science.
There are two questions we need to do to try to establish whether a body of knowledge can be called science: 1 • To what extent has come to describe the nature of the object that looks? 2 • How necessary or absolute laws that are discovered?
Judged in the light of these questions, we conclude that the cience of God is the only one can be called truthfully science and is the only science that deserves that name, since only science of God is the only science that gives us knowledge, the basic science of all sciences and its laws are the only laws necessary.
The development of modern science has led scientists to accept that they are unable to discover the true nature and laws of an object.
Follow chanting Hare Krishna.
Is there a way to conenct with you on FB or otherwise?
No, just here, if you have a question ask it here and I will answer.
🙂
dear ronee, i would like to reply to you. im not a full time krishna devotee but i follow krishna consciousness being a college student. krishna has a personal form but it is not a material form. you and me possess this body made of matter and our body has a form which is limited. but krishna possesses spiritual body which is called sat-chit-ananda vigraha which means full of eternal knowledge and bliss. this spiritual form is not limited and he pervades the entire material and spiritual universe and yet he is a person. that is the internal potency of the supreme lord.
Thankyou Sandesh for your input. Beautifully expressed. So one can perceive Krishna in any way they like? Krishna having a “spiritual
form” is just one way of perceiving it? example, one can perceive Krishna as The light, Energy etc etc.
Knowing Krishna well enough to be “certain”, is indeed is a believe! = Accept as true; take to be true.
Very well answered “the 1st paragrapg” Madhuvisa-dasa,
Madhuvisa-dasa says;
Yes. I have seen Krishna. I do not believe in Krishna, I know Krishna. Not very well, but I do know Him well enough to be certain that He exists and that He is a person…
Ronee replying,
I call that a believe and so will any individual on the street! 🙂
Oh sorry, it is there! My mistake, apology 🙂
Dear Madhuvisa-dasa,
I replied to you but it doesn’t seem to be appearing?
🙂
Dear Madhudvisa-dasa
I truly do appreciate your reply.
Madhudvisa-dasa says;
“The example given is you can not taste the sweetness of honey if you try to simply lick the outside of the bottle. To taste the honey you have to open the bottle. And to “open the bottle” of Krishna consciousness you have to surrender to Krishna and serve Him according to the directions of His pure devotee. There is no other way to understand this…”
Ronee replying;
Honey doesn’t take years to taste whereas knowing Krishna “GOD” do exist will take years? There is a difference which is that “honey” takes short time. You know “yes, tasted honey and now know how it taste like”, whereas to know “not Believe”, Krishna is a long process, till you “know” Krishna exist, we have to have a faith in Krishna being real?
As you said you “know Krishna is the Supreme”, very fortunate that you know! Have you seen Krishna or do you “believe”, you seen Krishna or is it that your mind creating the faith in Supreme Krishna?
Madhudvisa-dasa says;
“As far as your second point saying that God does not have personality would be limiting him. Then you would be saying that we have something that God doesn’t have. That is very limiting. Then you would say that God has no feelings, because feelings require personality, He has no ability to have relationships, because relationships require personality, so you would go on and on like this and ultimately conclude that God can not do anything, and we are so much greater than God because we can do all these things…. But you would be very wrong of course.”
Ronee replying;
A personality by its VERY NATURE IS LIMITED. A personality is always limited therefore giving something that is unlimited (God) a personality (limitation) will limit.
Isn’t God beyound action and doesn’t God do nothing but yet work through us!
In Bible it is my understanding that when they say we are made in the “image of God”, they are refering to our spiritual aspect NOT our personality/ego or body.
If he is unlimited then why are we giving him personality which is unlimiting?
God Bless 🙂 Ronee
There is one Vedic verse “Atmavan manyate jagat.” It means “what I am thinking, the whole world is thinking.” Generally people are like this. And you are feeling like this also. You are seeing that you are person and you feel limited in so many ways therefore you think that every person must be limited like you. But that is not the case. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is not limited in any way. You can not understand how this can be because when you think person you think limited person. But Krishna is a person and He is not limited.
Yes. I have seen Krishna. I do not believe in Krishna, I know Krishna. Not very well, but I do know Him well enough to be certain that He exists and that He is a person…
Chant Hare Krshna and be happy!
Q1. I don’t want to belief but want to know if there is such thing as God? Belief is not good enough!
Q2. If so why are we limiting it by saying “The Supreme Personality of God Head”, because that is limiting…..giving God “personality” is limiting if God is the supreme…..
I will ask more questions but for now i may stop here. thankyou kindly. God Bless 🙂
Dear Ronee
Yes. Two questions is enough at one time. Thank you for that.
In Krishna consciousness we do not “believe” in God. We know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the beginning of course you may not know that Krishna is God, but the scientific process of Krishna consciousness is so nice that if you follow it carefully under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master then it will not very long and you will also know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
I know this may sound a bit unreasonable to you and you may not be satisfied with this explanation. I have had so many experiences in the past 25 years of my life as a devotee of Krishna that prove to me beyond any doubt whatsoever that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that Srila Prabhuapda is a pure devotee of Krishna. But it is something you have to experience by following the process of Krishna consciousness. Otherwise you will never know. The example given is you can not taste the sweetness of honey if you try to simply lick the outside of the bottle. To taste the honey you have to open the bottle. And to “open the bottle” of Krishna consciousness you have to surrender to Krishna and serve Him according to the directions of His pure devotee. There is no other way to understand this…
As far as your second point saying that God does not have personality would be limiting him. Then you would be saying that we have something that God doesn’t have. That is very limiting. Then you would say that God has no feelings, because feelings require personality, He has no ability to have relationships, because relationships require personality, so you would go on and on like this and ultimately conclude that God can not do anything, and we are so much greater than God because we can do all these things…. But you would be very wrong of course.
Even in the Bible it is clearly stated that we are made in the image of God. So whatever we have God has it also. The difference between God and us is that He is unlimited in every way and we are tiny and infinitesimal in every way. But in quality God and us, the living entities, are the same. Like the entire ocean and the drop of ocean water are the same in quality. If you analyze the drop you will find salt and if you analyze the entire ocean you will also find salt. But to say the salt in the drop is equal to the salt in the ocean would be a mistake. It is equal in quality but not in quantity. There is a very small amount of salt in the drop and a huge amount of salt in the ocean.
So it is with God and us. We are the same in quality, but in quantity God is unlimited and we are very tiny…
So God certainly has personality. Everything we see in this world is a perverted reflection of what is present in God and in the spiritual world. So our personality is a perverted reflection of God’s personality.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
I always wondered what the level in which one should be considered a devotee? But never got a satisfactory answer. The answer that I give is: One of the numberless krishna`s names is Hrisikesa “The One Who Control the senses.” So to be a devotee means be over the control of the senses, something that gives us knowledge. Channakya Pandit says: “There is no better feeling of happiness than the knowledge.” So be over the level of control of the senses means to have knowledge cit and Ananda blessedness.
These world is asat temporary and dukalayam full of distress, anityam asukham lokam.
Hare Krishna Gaurasundar Prabhu
A pure devotee sees that everyone is a devotee, he sees that everyone is serving Krishna except himself. And this is true. Everyone is playing their part in the plan of Krishna in one way or another.
These things you will know as you make more advancement in Krishna consciousness.
In the neophyte stage, kanistha adhikari, the devotee can not see who is a devotee and who is a nondevotee. In the madhyam stage he has advanced and then he can see the difference between the devotees, the innocent and the demons. This is the preaching platform. The preacher associates with devotees and preaches, gives mercy to the innocent and he avoids the envious demons. But, as I mentioned before, when the devotee comes to the paramahamsa stage he sees everyone serving Krishna…
It is not something I can explain really but something you will realize as a result of your surrender and service.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Dear Swami
Where does one begin the first step?
How does one make that first step?
What does one do?
What books are recommended after reading the Bhagavad Gita- as it is?
We chant Hare Krishna,
now we want to do and learn more
Hare Krishna Andrew,
There are lots of books by Srila Prabhupada about continuing spiritual life by Krishna Consciousness. see Krishna.tv . But, the SOLE purpose of all these literature’s and rules and regulations, is to get you to chant Hare Krishna.
sincerely, Gadadhara das