God Is The Supreme Living Entity - The Ultimate Conscious Person
Śrīla Prabhupāda constantly emphasizes that the Absolute Truth is not an abstract concept, an impersonal force, or a dead stone. The Vedic literatures clearly establish that both the Lord and the individual souls are living entities, but they are not equal. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme living entity, the original conscious person who maintains everyone else.
The Chief Conscious Person
To understand the nature of God, one must recognize His personal, living nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that even basic dictionaries define God as a being, and the Vedic texts expand upon this by confirming that He is the supreme living force among all others.
- In the English dictionary when you consult the word God, it is stated there, "the Supreme Being." What is that Supreme Being? We are all living being, but amongst ourself there is comparative, superlative positions.
- God is also a living entity like us, but He is the Supreme. Krsna appears just like human being, but He is Supreme.
- God cannot be plural number. God is always singular number, one. If God is plural number, then that is not God. That plural-number God may be the living entities. We are living entities, and God is also living entity, but the supreme living entity.
- The supreme living force is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is also the supreme entity.
Qualitative Oneness and Quantitative Difference
The impersonalist philosophy often confuses the living entity with God because both share the qualities of eternity and consciousness. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda draws a clear line: while we are qualitatively one with God as eternal spirit, we are quantitatively minute and subordinate.
- From all Sastric point of view, the living entity and the Supreme Lord, or the Supreme Living Entity are always simultaneously different and one. One in quality, and different in quantity. This simple thing is understandable by any common man.
- God is great; we are small. Otherwise, we the same. God is also living entity; you are also living entity. God is eternal; you are also eternal. God is full of bliss; you are also full of bliss. So quality, there is no difference.
- The Mayavadi philosophers, try to equate the minute living entities with the supreme living entity. Because they recognize no distinctions between them, their philosophy is called Advaita-vada, or monism. Factually, however, there is a distinction.
- He is the supreme living entity and is never affected by maya, but we are subordinate, minute living entities, prone to be affected by the limitations of maya.
The Supreme Maintainer
To further clarify the difference between the supreme living entity and ordinary living entities, Śrīla Prabhupāda points to the principle of maintenance. The true greatness of God lies in His unlimited ability to provide for all other conscious beings.
- What is the difference between God and ourself? God is also a living entity like us, but He is the chief living entity. He is maintaining all others. Therefore we have to ask God, "Give us our daily bread." He is the maintainer.
- God is the supreme living entity, and we are subordinate living entities. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. That one living entity, one eternal, He is supplying all the necessities of life to the plural number eternals.
- There is no limit to the demands of the different kinds of living entities, and the supreme one, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, alone maintains them and supplies them by His inconceivable energy.
- All living entities are provided for and maintained by the Lord because He is the supreme living entity. But foolish creatures, although actually under the control of the supreme living entity, defy His existence, and that state is called maya.
Our Constitutional Position
Because the tiny living entity is an eternal part and parcel of the supreme living entity, its natural function is to serve Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that true liberation and harmony are found only when the soul revives this inherent, serving relationship.
- A living being in his pure state is not conditioned by the laws because in his pure state he is conscious that a living being is eternally subservient to the Supreme Being.
- We must forget whether we are Christian, Moslem or Hindu, and we must understand that we are living entities whose constitutional position is to render service to the supreme living entity. When we reach that stage of understanding, we are liberated.
- Maya means disharmony between the living entities and the Supreme Lord, and Vaikuntha means harmony between them. Actually all living entities are provided for and maintained by the Lord because He is the supreme living entity.
- The Lord is the controller and benefactor of all living beings. That is the verdict of all Vedas. He is the supreme eternity and living entity amongst all the eternal living beings.
Conclusion
The impersonalist philosophy that attempts to strip the Absolute Truth of consciousness and personality is fundamentally flawed. Śrīla Prabhupāda clearly establishes that both the minute soul and the Supreme Lord are eternal, conscious individuals. However, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme living entity, the absolute master who possesses unlimited power and maintains the entire cosmic manifestation. Dead matter cannot organize itself; it requires the touch of the supreme living force. The material disease is simply the minute living entity's foolish attempt to claim equality with God. True spiritual life begins when the conditioned soul recognizes its eternally subordinate position. By abandoning the illusion of independence and utilizing its minute free will to serve the supreme living entity, the individual soul returns to its natural, joyful state in the eternal association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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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 The Supreme Living Entity. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.