God's Impersonal Effulgence - The Divine Rays of the Supreme
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When individuals first awaken to spiritual life, they often experience the Divine as an all-pervading, formless light or energy. This perception is entirely valid, but it is only the beginning of the spiritual journey. The Vedic literatures identify this infinite spiritual light as the brahmajyoti, or the impersonal effulgence of the Lord. Unfortunately, many philosophers and yogīs mistake this initial realization for the ultimate goal, striving for lifetimes to merge into its formless existence. Śrīla Prabhupāda systematically clears away this misconception. He explains that the impersonal effulgence is simply the glowing rays emanating from the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By understanding the true nature of this light, the necessity of penetrating it, and why pure devotees completely reject the desire to merge into it, we can safely navigate past the snare of impersonalism and awaken our eternal relationship with the Supreme Person.
The Nature of the Spiritual Light
The brahmajyoti is not a vague, independent energy; it is intimately connected to the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this all-pervading effulgence consists of the personal bodily rays of the Absolute Truth, and it is the original source of all illumination in the material universes.
- The supreme feature of the Absolute Truth is personal - the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The impersonal Brahman is His effulgence, like the light diffused by a powerful fire.
- The third feature of the Absolute Truth is Brahman, the all-pervading impersonal effulgence of the Absolute.
- This experience is called advaita-vada, or realization of the oneness of the Absolute. The impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman consists only of the personal bodily rays of the Supreme Godhead, Sri Krsna.
- The light of the sun and the moon is also originally emanating from the brahmajyoti, which is the impersonal effulgence of the Lord.
The Incompleteness of the Impersonal View
While realizing the impersonal effulgence is a genuine spiritual achievement, it remains a partial understanding of God. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that one should never be satisfied with this preliminary stage, as it fails to capture the full personality, opulence, and dynamic nature of the Supreme Lord.
- Although the first realization of the Supreme Absolute Truth is impersonal Brahman, one should not remain satisfied with experiencing the impersonal effulgence of the Supreme Lord.
- If we simply take one side of the Supreme Personality of Godhead - His impersonal effulgence - that one side does not fully explain the Absolute Truth.
- Genuine self-realization consists not of perceiving the impersonal effulgence of the Lord, but seeing face to face the transcendental form of the Lord.
- By conceiving of the Absolute in this way, one can at the utmost reach the impersonal effulgence of God, known as Brahman, but one cannot make further progress to Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead.
Penetrating the Brahmajyoti
The blinding light of the brahmajyoti actually serves as a veil that hides the Lord from the unqualified. Śrīla Prabhupāda, referencing the Īśopaniṣad, teaches that the sincere spiritualist must pray to penetrate this dazzling effulgence in order to see the Supreme Person and enter the spiritual planets.
- Although the impersonal effulgence, the brahma-jyotir, is the first realization, one must enter into it, as mentioned in the Isopanisad, to find the Supreme Person, and then one's knowledge is perfect.
- One has to penetrate the impersonal effulgence to see the face of the Supreme Lord. If one desires to reach the source of the sunshine, he has to travel through the sunshine to reach the sun and then meet the predominating deity there.
- Impersonal Brahman, being formless, is described as adrsya because the impersonal effulgence of brahmajyoti covers the face of the Supreme Lord.
- In that impersonal effulgence there are spiritual planets, which are known as Vaikunthas, chief of which is Krsnaloka.
The Destination of Demons and Monists
Perhaps the most startling revelation regarding the impersonal effulgence is who attains it. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the severe austerities of the monist philosophers lead them to the exact same destination awarded to the atheistic demons who are killed by the Lord. Therefore, devotees consider merging into this light a type of punishment.
- The impersonalist philosophers are in one sense like the enemies of the Lord because the out-and-out enemies of the Lord and the impersonalists are both allowed to enter only into the impersonal effulgence of the brahma-jyoti.
- When Krsna kills a demon, the demon's demoniac activities are killed, and he immediately becomes a saint and merges into the supreme impersonal effulgence, the brahma-jyoti.
- The personified Vedas continued, "Your (the Lord's) enemies also concentrate upon You, thinking always of how to kill You, and yogis undertake great penances and austerities just to attain Your impersonal effulgence."
- If one is destined to remain in the Lord's impersonal effulgence, he misses the opportunity to render service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore devotees consider remaining in the impersonal Brahman effulgence a kind of punishment.
Conclusion
A thorough study of the Vedic literatures provides profound clarity on the nature of the Absolute Truth and the hierarchy of spiritual realization. As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully explains, realizing the impersonal effulgence, or brahmajyoti, is merely the first step on the path of transcendence. This infinite spiritual light is not the original cause of creation, nor is it a void; it is the brilliant illumination radiating directly from the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just as sunlight emanates from the sun planet, the brahmajyoti emanates from the Supreme Lord. To remain satisfied with this light is a grave philosophical error, as it provides only a partial, incomplete understanding of God's true identity. The dazzling glare of the impersonal effulgence actually acts as a covering, hiding the exquisite face of the Lord from those who lack devotion. The sincere spiritualist must pray, as directed in the Īśopaniṣad, for the Lord to remove this glowing veil so that one may penetrate the light and enter the variegated spiritual planets (Vaikuṇṭhas) situated within it. Most strikingly, Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals that merging into this impersonal effulgence is the ultimate achievement of Māyāvādī philosophers, yet it is the very same destination casually awarded to the demons who are killed by the Lord's own hands. Because merging into this formless light completely strips the living entity of the opportunity to engage in the blissful, eternal, and reciprocal service of the Supreme Person, pure devotees view it not as a liberation, but as a punishment to be strictly avoided.
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