God Is Personal - The Original Feature of the Absolute Truth
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Absolute Truth is realized in three phases: Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. Of these, the Bhagavān feature, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the most complete, as it encompasses both the impersonal and localized aspects while remaining the original person.
The Personal Nature of the Absolute
The recognition of God as a person is the foundation of actual spiritual understanding. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the Lord is not a vague or abstract force; He is an independent individual who directs His universal affairs through His wonderful potencies.
- As soon as one accepts the various energies of the Absolute Truth, one must immediately accept the Absolute Truth to be personal, not impersonal.
- The Absolute is personal, but He is independent. He does not require to personally take a brush and colors to paint the flowers, for His potencies act so wonderfully that it appears as if flowers have come into being without the aid of an artist.
- The Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is never impersonal. All the Vedic scriptures glorify the transcendental performance of His various personal activities and pastimes.
- Daksa prays, "One may think of You (God) as personal, impersonal or imaginary, but I wish to pray to Your Lordship that You fulfill my desires to see You as You actually are."
Simultaneous Personal and Impersonal Features
One of the most profound aspects of the Lord's nature is His ability to be personal and impersonal at the same time. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes this as the Lord's inconceivable potency, where He is present everywhere through His energy yet remains personally situated in the spiritual sky.
- He (God) is simultaneously personal and impersonal by His inconceivable potency, or He is the one without a second, displaying complete unity in a diversity of material and spiritual manifestations.
- The members of the Bhagavata school, adopting the perfect conception of the Lord, accept His inconceivable potencies and thus understand that He is both personal and impersonal.
- In Bhagavad-gita (9.4) the Lord says, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah: "All living entities are living on Me or on My energy, but I am not everywhere." He is personally always situated in the spiritual world.
- Since (God's) His body is the complete whole of everything that be, one cannot assert that He is impersonal only. On the contrary, the perfect description of the Lord holds that He is both impersonal and personal simultaneously.
The Spiritual Form of the Supreme Person
Although the Lord has personal qualities, Śrīla Prabhupāda cautions that His body is not like the material bodies of conditioned souls. His form is the complete whole and possesses attractive qualities that fascinate even those who have already achieved spiritual liberation.
- Here in this verse (in SB 2.1.19), it is definitely assured that the Supreme Lord is not impersonal. He is a person, but His body is different from those of conditioned persons like us.
- His (God's) transcendental qualities are so attractive that even the liberated souls (atmaramas) are also attracted by them. Although possessed of all personal qualities, He is nevertheless omnipotent.
- The Lord is personal although impersonal, He is atomic although great, and He is blackish and has red eyes although He is colorless.
- The spiritual world is a manifestation of His (The Supreme Personality of Godhead) personal, internal potency, whereas the material world is a manifestation of His material, or differentiated, energy.
Diminishing Faith in the Age of Kali
Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the tendency to reject a personal God is a sign of declining human intelligence. In the current age of Kali-yuga, people are losing their capacity for spiritual realization and are increasingly described as fools for denying the personality of the Lord.
- Because everything is diminishing, God consciousness is diminishing also; therefore it is natural to receive news that faith in a personal God is diminishing. In Bhagavad-gita (7.15), one who does not accept a personal God is described as a mudha, a fool.
- Recently newspapers are reporting that faith in a personal God is diminishing. This means that people are becoming more and more foolish. This is natural in Kali-yuga, for as the age of Kali progresses, bodily strength, memory and mercy diminish.
- Lord Jesus Christ, he was Vaisnava. He directly gave you the idea of personal God.
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "The Koran certainly establishes impersonalism, but at the end it refutes that impersonalism and establishes the personal God."
Conclusion
To truly understand God is to understand Him as the Supreme Person. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the personal feature of the Lord is not a material projection but the ultimate reality that supports all other spiritual realizations. While the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā are valid aspects of the Absolute Truth, they find their source and perfection in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By accepting the personal nature of the Lord, as taught by great authorities like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Jesus Christ, a sincere soul can begin a relationship with the Divine that transcends the limitations of material life. Rejecting the personality of God is a characteristic of declining intelligence in this age, whereas recognizing Him as the original person is the key to entering the spiritual world.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God Is Personal. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.