Category:God Is Not Material
Theme Analysis
The philosophical essence of this category establishes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and everything associated with Him is entirely spiritual. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord's name, form, body, garments, and activities are not material. When the Lord descends into the material world in forms such as a human, a boar, or the worshipable deity (arcā-vigraha), less intelligent people and Māyāvādī philosophers mistakenly assume He has accepted a material body. However, because a material body is subject to the three modes of nature and can be neither omniscient nor omnipotent, God's form is definitively proven to be purely spiritual (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha). His holy name is nondifferent from Him, and His transcendental pastimes exist completely beyond mundane conceptions.
- The Transcendental Body: The Supreme Lord possesses an eternal body of pure goodness, knowledge, and bliss. Because He is omnipotent and omniscient, His form is undeniably not material.
- Spiritual Name and Pastimes: The Lord's holy names (like Kṛṣṇa and Rāma) and His extraordinary activities are completely transcendental. Chanting His non-material name grants ultimate liberation.
- The Incarnations and Deity Form: Whether the Lord appears as a human, a gigantic boar, or the arcā-vigraha in the temple, His form is always spiritual. He has the supreme power to transform matter into spirit.
- Refuting Demoniac Misconceptions: Demoniac persons and impersonalists falsely claim that God assumes a material body when He descends. True knowledge means understanding that "formless" simply means having no material form.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God Is Not Material - The Supreme Spiritual Identity.
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "God Is Not Material"
The following 21 pages are in this category, out of 21 total.
A
- All the forms of that Supreme Person are eternal. (Maha-varaha Purana) The Supreme Person has a form, with hands and legs and other personal features, but His hands and legs are not material
- Although He (the Lord) is not of the material world, He is much more than simply a negation of material variegatedness. He is positively the supreme enjoyer of spiritual variegatedness, of which Laksmi, the internal potency, is the fountainhead
- Arca-vigraha form may be seen as material by the imperfect eyes of foolish people or kanistha-adhikaris, but such people do not know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient, can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter, as He desires
H
- He (The Supreme Personality of Godhead) may assume the body of a human being, but that body is not material
- His (the Supreme Lord's) name is not material; otherwise how could one get liberation by chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Rama? The names of the Lord like Rama and Krsna are nondifferent from the person Rama and Krsna
T
- That the Lord is formless or impersonal means that He has nothing like a material form and is not like any material personality
- The activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in maintaining His devotees are transcendental, not material. He exists in everything as the cause and effect, yet He is separate, existing beyond this cosmic manifestation
- The Christians pray in the church, "Oh, God, give us our daily bread." So God has got ear so that He will hear and supply. But His personality, His word, His hearing, they're all transcendental, nonmaterial
- The form of the boar, therefore, in which the Lord appeared, is nothing of the material world
- The Lord puts on a dress that is yellow, but such a garment is never to be considered material. The garments of the Lord are also the Lord. They are nondifferent from the Lord because they are spiritual in nature
- The material world consists of three modes - goodness, passion and ignorance - but the spiritual world is pure goodness. It is said here (SB 3.19.30) that the form of the Lord is pure goodness, which means that it is not material
- The pastimes and activities of the Lord are not material - they are beyond the material conception - and the conditioned soul can benefit by hearing such uncommon activities
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is omnipotent and omniscient. Therefore, because a material body can be neither omnipotent nor omniscient, the Lord’s body is surely not material
- There are many incarnations of the Supreme Lord: Varaha murti (the boar form), Kurma murti (the tortoise form), Hayagriva murti (the form of a horse) and so on. Yet we should never think any of Them material
- To follow the instructions of the Lord is to associate with the Lord. The Lord is not a material object whose presence one has to feel for such association. The Lord is present everywhere and at all times