God's Impersonal Feature - The All Pervading Expansion
When confronted with the vastness of the universe, many thinkers conclude that the creator must be an infinite, formless energy. This idea forms the basis of many philosophies that view the Absolute Truth strictly in its impersonal feature. While the Vedic literatures confirm that this formless, all-pervading energy certainly exists, they also reveal that it is merely a partial manifestation of the Supreme. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands His energy to support the cosmos, but He never loses His original, personal identity. Śrīla Prabhupāda extensively analyzes the nature of this impersonal feature, explaining how the universe rests upon it, why meditating upon it is incredibly difficult, and why the ultimate goal of spiritual life is to move beyond the formless energy to realize the Supreme Person. By understanding the limitations of the impersonal feature, we can save ourselves from a troublesome path and directly embrace the joy of pure devotional service.
The Expansion of the Lord's Energy
The impersonal feature of the Lord is not a myth; it is the fundamental energy upon which the entire material creation rests. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord pervades the universe through this unmanifested (avyakta-mūrti) feature, yet He remains personally aloof from the material contamination.
- Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina: "In My impersonal feature I pervade this entire universe." Thus the avyakta-murti, the impersonal feature, is certainly an expansion of Krsna's energy.
- Murti means "form," but because His (God's) impersonal feature is inexplicable to our limited senses, He is the avyakta-murti form, and in that inexplicable form of the Lord the whole creation is resting.
- The Lord exists in His impersonal form by such expansion of energy, and the complete creation rests on His impersonal feature.
- The complete manifestation of the cosmic situation is an expansion of the Lord Himself in His impersonal feature. All things are situated in Him only, yet He is not in them.
An Incomplete Step in Realization
While empirical philosophers and dry speculators often conclude that the formless energy is the supreme reality, the Vedas classify this as an incomplete realization. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the impersonal feature is simply the glowing rays emanating from the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth is not the highest. Above the impersonal feature is the Paramatma feature, and above this is the personal feature of the Absolute Truth, or Bhagavan.
- The impersonal feature of the Absolute, the Brahman effulgence, is but the rays of the personal body of Krsna. These rays of the personal body of Krsna are cast all over the creation of the Lord.
- The impersonalist gives stress to the impersonal form or feature of the Lord and does not believe in the original personality of the Lord, but the Vaisnavas accept the original form of the Lord, of whom the impersonal form is merely one of the features.
- When the empiric philosopher tries to approach the Absolute Truth, he can reach only as far as the impersonal feature of Godhead, without knowing anything about the Lord's transcendental pastimes.
The Troublesome Path of Meditation
Attempting to achieve spiritual perfection by meditating on a formless, unmanifested energy is a highly frustrating endeavor. Śrīla Prabhupāda, directly quoting the Bhagavad-gītā, explains that because the human mind requires a form to focus upon, those attached to the impersonal feature face immense difficulties and uncertain results.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita: For those whose minds are attracted to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.
- It is remarked by the Lord Himself that those who are attached to this impersonal feature of the Lord suffer a very troublesome task because no one can concentrate on the impersonal feature.
- One cannot fix one's mind upon an impersonal something. Bhagavad-gita therefore says, kleso dhikataras tesam avyaktasakta-cetasam: For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome.
- One should not take up this troublesome path of self-realization (understanding impersonal feature of the Supreme) because there is uncertainty in the ultimate result.
The Limitation of Formless Bliss
Even if an impersonalist successfully merges into the impersonal feature, their spiritual journey is not permanently secure. Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals that because the impersonal realm lacks dynamic, personal loving exchanges, the soul eventually becomes dissatisfied and often falls back down into material life.
- Transcendental loving affairs of the Lord are unimaginable to empiricists involved in the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth.
- So this is the position. So because they cannot remain in that impersonal feature they come down again to these material varieties of life. That is called envious.
- Real transcendental pleasure is realized in the glorification of the transcendental Lord, and not in the feeling of being situated in His impersonal feature.
Conclusion
A systematic study of the Vedic literatures provides perfect clarity on the hierarchy of spiritual realization. As Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly explains, the impersonal feature of the Lord is a factual reality; it is the all-pervading, unmanifested energy (avyakta-mūrti) upon which the entire cosmic manifestation rests. However, accepting this feature as the ultimate end of spiritual life is a fundamental philosophical error. The impersonal feature is merely the brilliant radiation emanating from the eternal, transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are frustrated by the miseries of material life often seek shelter in this formless energy, but Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself declares in the Bhagavad-gītā that this path is extremely troublesome (kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām). Because the living entity is constitutionally a person seeking loving relationships, it is practically impossible to fix the mind on an impersonal void. Even if a practitioner endures the severe austerities required to merge into this feature, the victory is often temporary. Bereft of the transcendental bliss found only in the loving service of the Supreme Person, the soul eventually longs for variety and is prone to falling back down into the material world. Therefore, intelligent spiritualists—the pure Vaiṣṇavas—do not waste their time with the troublesome meditation on the impersonal feature. Instead, they bypass the formless light and dedicate themselves directly to the blissful, eternal, and personal loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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