God and the Impersonalists - The Fallacy of Māyāvāda Philosophy
The ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, Bhagavān. However, many transcendentalists fail to reach this conclusion. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that impersonalists, bewildered by the Lord's dazzling effulgence, mistakenly conclude that God is ultimately formless, a philosophical error that halts their spiritual progress outside the gates of the spiritual planets.
The Impersonalist Destination
The Supreme Lord is equal and merciful to all, awarding destinations according to one's desires. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while the Lord grants pure devotees entrance into His personal abodes, He awards both the impersonalists and the slain demons shelter in His all-pervading spiritual effulgence.
- The Lord is so kind that He gives shelter to everyone - both impersonalists and devotees.
- He (the Lord) gives shelter to the impersonalists in His impersonal Brahman effulgence, whereas He gives shelter to the devotees in His personal abodes known as the Vaikunthalokas.
- The impersonalists, yogis and enemies of the Lord enter into the Lord's transcendental effulgence.
- Impersonalists and the enemies of the Lord are, because of attraction to God, allowed to enter into His kingdom, but they are not allowed to enter into the Vaikuntha planets or the Goloka Vrndavana planet of the Supreme Lord.
The Fallacy of Formlessness
To deny the form of the Lord is an indirect rejection of His supremacy. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that denying the personal feature of God, or offensively suggesting that His incarnations assume material bodies, is the most dangerous and misleading theory propagated by the Māyāvāda school.
- The atheists directly say there is no God, and the Impersonalists say there may be God, but He has no form. It is indirectly saying that there is no God.
- The impersonalists do not have the power to go beyond the effulgence of God and arrive at the Personality of Godhead, from whom this effulgence is emanating.
- Impersonalists accept one aspect of the Lord's features, the all-pervasive aspect, but they cannot understand His localized situation in His transcendental abode, where He always engages in fully transcendental pastimes.
- The most dangerous theory of the impersonalists is that when God comes as an incarnation He accepts a material body created by the three modes of material nature. This Mayavada theory has been condemned by Lord Caitanya as most offensive.
Severe Austerities vs. Joyful Devotion
The path of impersonal realization is exceedingly troublesome and ultimately incomplete. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the path of the impersonalist requires severe penances that yield only partial realization, whereas the path of bhakti purifies the soul easily and joyfully through personal reciprocation with the Lord.
- Even the Mayavadi impersonalists who flatter themselves and believe that they have become the Lord themselves are not abhijnah or svarat, fully cognizant or fully independent. The Mayavadi monists undergo a severe process of austerity and penance.
- The impersonalist undergoes a series of difficult programs on account of his impersonal meditation. But the devotee, due to the Lord's personal service, progresses very easily.
- Bhakti means sravanam kirtanam visnoh, chanting and hearing about Lord Visnu. Impersonalists cannot be purified, for they do not offer personal prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Dry Vedic knowledge makes you impersonalist, only a partial realization. Therefore bhakti must be there. Bhakti means without any result or karma and jnana.
The Superiority of the Pure Devotee
A devotee is never bewildered by the false arguments of the monists. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the highest spiritual pleasure is found not in merging into the void, but in relishing the beautiful, transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa, a realization that completely defeats the impersonalist's goal.
- The pleasure feature of the Lord is understood by the pure devotees only, and not by others. The impersonalist is satisfied simply by understanding the all-pervasive influence of the Lord. This is called Brahman realization.
- The impersonalist who feels transcendental pleasure in striving to become one with the Lord is defeated when he sees the beautiful transcendental features of the Lord.
- The impersonalists' false arguments claiming the formlessness of the Supreme Truth do not appeal to a devotee of the Lord, even though such a devotee may not be very advanced in devotional service.
- To the faithful the Lord reveals Himself in His form, quality and pastimes. The Lord is not formless, as wrongly conceived by the impersonalist, but His form is not like one that we have experienced.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly differentiates the sublime path of personal devotion from the highly flawed and incomplete philosophy of the impersonalists. The Māyāvādīs, bewildered by their own mental speculation and dry austerities, commit the grave offense of denying the eternal, transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they consider the Lord's form to be a product of material nature, they are philosophically aligned with atheists and are barred from entering the personal spiritual planets of Vaikuṇṭha. However, the Supreme Lord is causelessly merciful. Just as He grants liberation to the demons He personally slays, He awards the impersonalists shelter within the brahmajyoti—the dazzling spiritual effulgence emanating from His body. Yet, this Brahman realization is only a partial understanding of the Absolute Truth. A pure devotee, securely situated in bhakti-yoga, easily surpasses this glowing effulgence to realize the supreme pleasure feature of Bhagavān. Even a neophyte devotee remains completely unimpressed by the false, formless arguments of the impersonalists, knowing with firm faith that the Supreme Lord eternally exists as a beautiful person who lovingly reveals Himself exclusively to His surrendered servants.
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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 and the Impersonalists. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.