Category:God Is Not Impersonal
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category vigorously refutes the misconception that the Absolute Truth is ultimately an impersonal void or formless energy. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses simple but profound logic: since all living entities are individuals with forms, senses, and intelligence, the supreme father from whom they all emanate must also be a person. God is the supreme puruṣa, possessing an eternal spiritual form full of knowledge and bliss (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha). The impersonal Brahman is merely the glowing effulgence emanating from His transcendental body. Although Vedic literatures sometimes describe God in impersonal terms, this is solely to deny His having mundane, material qualities, not to strip Him of His divine personality. The ultimate conclusion of the scriptures is that God is the Supreme Person, engaged in eternal, blissful pastimes with His pure devotees.
- The Origin of Personality: Since the living entities are conscious individuals with form and intelligence, the Supreme Lord, who is the original source of everything, must inherently possess these personal attributes.
- The Meaning of Impersonal Descriptions: When the Vedas use impersonal descriptions, they simply intend to deny the presence of material characteristics in the Lord, establishing that His senses and form are purely spiritual.
- The Source of the Brahman Effulgence: The impersonal Brahman is not the ultimate realization of God; it is the spiritual light emanating from the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The Supreme Enjoyer: The Lord possesses a complete, spiritual form with transcendental senses, allowing Him to display artistic sense, perfect intelligence, and exchange loving relationships (rasa) with His pure devotees.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God Is Not Impersonal - The Supreme Transcendental Person.
Pages in category "God Is Not Impersonal"
The following 41 pages are in this category, out of 41 total.
A
- According to Svetasvatara Upanisad, although Brahman has no material hands and legs, He nonetheless walks in a very stately way and accepts everything that is offered to Him. This suggests that He has transcendental limbs and is therefore not impersonal
- As soon as one accepts the various energies of the Absolute Truth, one must immediately accept the Absolute Truth to be personal, not impersonal
G
- God is accepted as the supreme father. In Christianity also it is accepted, the supreme father. In every religion He's accepted the supreme person, supreme father, supreme master. So how He can be accepted as imperson?
- God is materially impersonal, just as the executive head of the state may be impersonal in the government offices, although he is not impersonal in the government house
H
- His identity being fully spiritual, His form, name, quality, and paraphernalia, etc., have been elaborately distinguished from matter, and therefore He is sometimes misunderstood by less intelligent persons as impersonal
- How then can He (God) be impersonal? His musical taste, artistic sense and standard intelligence, which is never fallible, are different signs of His supreme personality
I
- In the beginning Kuntidevi gave us the understanding that God is the supreme purusa, the Supreme Person. He is not impersonal
- It is said that He (God) can run faster than anyone. Those who are running after other planets are certainly persons, and if the Lord can run faster than all of them, how can He be impersonal?
M
- Many verses can be quoted from the Upanisads and Vedas which prove that the Supreme Godhead is not impersonal. In the Katha Upanisad (2.2.13) it is also said: He is the supreme eternally conscious person, who maintains all other living entities
- Mayavadi philosophers cannot understand these transcendental forms of the Lord, and being disappointed, they say that the Supreme Lord is impersonal. But that is not a fact; whenever there is form there is a person.
S
- 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
- Since He is addressed as the primeval philosopher and maintainer and well-wisher of the universe, the Supreme Truth cannot be impersonal. This is the verdict of Sri Isopanisad
T
- The Brahman effulgence is impersonal, but the cause of that energy is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From Him, in His abode, the Vaikunthas, this brahma-jyotir emanates. He is never impersonal
- The conclusion is that the Lord is not impersonal in the ultimate issue. He is the Supreme Person and He has His different activities. He is the leader of all living entities, He descends at His will and by His personal energy to reclaim the fallen souls
- The fact remains, however, that the Absolute Truth is full of energy and is a person as well. It is not possible to establish Him as impersonal
- The impersonal descriptions in the Vedas intend to deny mundane characteristics in the Supreme Lord. They do not intend to establish the Supreme Lord as impersonal
- The impersonalist must know from this verse that the Lord is not impersonal, for He has His genitals, on which all the pleasurable objects of sex depend
- The impersonalists or the voidists, so where is their God? So there is no God for them. Impersonal. So there is no activity. What they will hear and where they will chant? If you have no activity, then what shall I hear about you
- The Lord is neither impersonal nor impotent. Rather, He is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha (BS 5.1), the eternal form of knowledge and bliss. Thus He has all the symptoms of spiritual bliss. Feeling separation from one's beloved is also an item of spiritual bliss
- The Lord is not impersonal in His abode, which is always nirasta-kuhakam, as stated in the very beginning of the Bhagavatam. Therefore both the impersonal and personal features of the Lord are acceptable, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures
- The Lord is not impersonal; He has His eyes, legs, hands and everything else, and because we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord we also have these things. But His hands, legs, eyes and senses are not contaminated by material nature. BG 1972 purports
- The Parabrahman is as much a person as the individual entities. Neither the Lord nor the living entities are impersonal
- The process of thinking of the Supreme is mentioned in this verse (BG 8.9). The foremost point is that He is not impersonal or void. One cannot meditate on something impersonal or void. That is very difficult. BG 1972 purports
- 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
- The Supreme Godhead is the Supreme Person; He is not impersonal
- The Supreme is also a living entity; He is not impersonal
- The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is neither impersonal nor formless, but His body is nondifferent from Him, and therefore He is known as the embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss
- The Supreme Lord's pastimes are more attractive to liberated souls than to mundane people. He is of necessity not impersonal because it is only possible to carry on transcendental rasa with a person
- The supreme truth addressed by omkara is purusa, the Supreme Person; He is not impersonal. Unless He is a person, how can He control the great, stalwart controllers of this universe
- The Vaisnava philosophers know perfectly well that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can never be impersonal or void, because He possesses innumerable potencies
- The Vedanta-sutra says, janmady asya yatah: (SB 1.1.1) "The Absolute Truth is that from which everything emanates." The Absolute Truth is described as adi-purusa. The Absolute Truth is therefore a person and is not impersonal
- There are innumerable self-luminous planets there, and in each one an expansion of Krsna resides. They are four-armed and have innumerable names. They are all persons - they are not impersonal
- There is no question of the Lord's being impersonal. He is always Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates are also persons
- These are some of the instances of His (God's) complete independence and perfection. That He has nothing to do does not mean that He is impersonal
- These particular descriptions of meditation on the smile, laughter, face, lips and teeth all indicate conclusively that God is not impersonal. It is described here (in SB 3.28.33) that one should meditate on the laughter or smiling of Visnu
- This means that the Absolute Truth is not without mind, intelligence and senses. In other words, He is not impersonal
W
- We should understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu is not impersonal. He is a transcendental person, and the basic principle of the cosmic manifestation is His energy
- Whatever you see in yourself, that is there in God. So God cannot be impersonal, because we are all persons
- Why the Supreme Personality should be impersonal? No. He is person, but we have no sufficient information of Him; therefore we are envious. Defying