Category:God and the Living Being are Qualitatively One
Theme Analysis
The relationship between the Supreme Lord and the living entity is the central subject of Vedic philosophy. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the living entity (jīva) is an eternal, fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the part is derived from the whole, the living entity and the Lord are qualitatively exactly the same. Both are purely spiritual, eternal, and full of knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently uses the analogy of a drop of ocean water compared to the vast ocean, or a small spark compared to a blazing fire. The drop of water contains the exact same chemical composition (saltiness) as the ocean, and the spark has the exact same illuminating and heating quality as the fire. Thus, the famous Vedic aphorism tat tvam asi ("Thou art that") means that the living entity is of the exact same spiritual nature as God, not that the living entity is God Himself.
While they are qualitatively one, there is a vast, unbridgeable quantitative difference. The Supreme Lord is infinite, all-pervading, and unlimitedly potent, whereas the living entity is infinitesimal and possesses limited potency. This quantitative difference explains why the living entity falls into material illusion. If the living entity were equal to the Lord in quantity, it would be impossible for the soul to be covered by the external material energy (māyā). The Lord is the supreme controller of māyā, while the minute living entity has the tendency to be controlled by it.
Understanding this dual nature of qualitative oneness and quantitative difference—known as acintya-bhedābheda-tattva—is crucial for true self-realization. The impersonalists (Māyāvādīs) make the fatal error of assuming that because there is qualitative equality, the living entity and God are equal in all respects. Such incomplete knowledge keeps them bound to the material world. True liberation and the highest ananda-maya (blissful) stage are achieved only when the living entity realizes its qualitative spiritual identity and, recognizing its quantitative subordination, voluntarily engages in the loving devotional service (bhakti-yoga) of the Supreme Lord.
- The Analogy of the Spark and Fire: Just as a spark is identical in quality to the fire but vastly different in size, the living entity is qualitatively one with God but quantitatively minute.
- The Cause of Conditioning: Because the living entity is quantitatively infinitesimal, it has the tendency to be overpowered and covered by the illusory material energy.
- The Flaw of Impersonalism: To claim absolute equality with God based solely on qualitative oneness is incomplete knowledge; one must acknowledge the quantitative difference.
- The Perfection of Oneness: True oneness is experienced in the spiritual world when the pure, qualitatively equal soul engages in the loving service of the supreme master.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: God and the Living Being are Qualitatively One - The Philosophy of Simultaneous Oneness and Difference.
Pages in category "God and the Living Being are Qualitatively One"
The following 71 pages are in this category, out of 71 total.
1
- The Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one (BG)
- The Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one (CC and other books)
- The Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one (Conv and Letters)
- The Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one (Lectures)
- The Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one (SB)
A
- A drop of the sea water is also the same, qualitatively. The same chemicals. Similarly, we, being part and parcel of Krsna, we are not subjected to the material condition
- After acquiring perfect transcendental knowledge, one acquires qualitative equality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, becoming free from the repetition of birth and death. BG 1972 purports
- After finishing this chanting, one should think himself qualitatively one with the SPG, who is full in six opulences and is worthy to be meditated upon. Then one should chant the following protective prayer to Lord Narayana, the Narayana-kavaca
- All living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and are qualitatively one, but they are now differently shaped in 8,400,000 species of life, just like many different ornaments manufactured from the same source of gold
- All the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are as good as the Lord qualitatively, but quantitatively there is a great difference between them, for the Lord is unlimited whereas the living entities are limited
- Although both the Supreme Lord and the living entities are qualitatively fire, there is yet a distinction. Visnu the Supreme is infinite, whereas the living entities, which are but sparks, are infinitesimal
- Although fire is always fire, it is exhibited in a size proportionate to the size of the wood. Similarly, although the individual soul is qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, he exhibits himself according to the limitations of his present body
- Although qualitatively one with the Lord, the living being, due to contamination of the material world, is pervertedly manifested, he experiences so-called happiness and distress in the material world
- Although qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, the living entity has the tendency to lord it over material nature; however, being infinitesimal, he is actually controlled by material nature
- Although the living entity and the Supersoul are one in quality, the individual soul has to pursue the instruction of the Supersoul. That is the state of liberation
- Although the Supreme Lord and the living entities are quantitatively related as the whole and the parts, the parts are nevertheless qualitatively one with the whole
- As far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- As fragmental portions (of God), they (the living entities) are qualitatively one with the Supreme, but they are not unlimited
- As one who is interested in gold accepts all the differently shaped gold ornaments, a Vaisnava, knowing well that all living entities are of the same quality as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepts all living entities as eternal servants of God
E
- Even though the qualities of all entities, including the Lord, are equal, the Supersoul is different from the individual soul by quantitative power of expansion
- Every living being is limited by time and space. Even though a living being is qualitatively one with the Lord, quantitatively there is a great difference between the Supreme Soul and the common individual soul
F
- From another point of view, it is understood that the jiva living entity is qualitatively one with the Lord, and thus his knowledge in the pure state of life cannot be covered by nescience, especially in the presence of the Supreme Lord
- From the Bhagavad-gita, as well as from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is known that qualitatively the Lord and the living beings are one
I
- If the individual living being were equal to the Supreme Lord both qualitatively and quantitatively, there would be no question of his being under the influence of the material energy
- In all the Vedas the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are stated to be of the same quality - cetana, or spiritual
- In knowledge the living entity is qualitatively one with the Supreme Brahman, but the quantity of the Supreme Brahman is not the same as that of the living entity, who is part of Brahman
- In the previous mantras it has already been discussed that no living being-not even the powerful demigods-can surpass the Supreme Being in any respect. Therefore ekatvam does not mean that a living being is equal in all respects to the Supreme Lord
- In the transcendental world, the servant and master are one. That is the absolute platform. Although the relationship is servant and master, both the servant and the served stand on the same platform. That is oneness
- It is said that a living entity is eternal and, as such, qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. Then what is the reason he falls prey to the material and commits so many sinful activities by the influence of the material energy?
M
- Merging into the spiritual existence is the living entity's realization of qualitative oneness with the Supreme Lord in His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But the actual ananda-maya stage is attained when one is engaged in devotional service
- My dear friend, I, the Supersoul, and you, the individual soul, are not different in quality, for we are both spiritual. In fact, My dear friend, you are qualitatively not different from Me in your constitutional position
O
- One can attain the Supreme Brahman by becoming Brahman. This means that one must qualitatively become one with Brahman. By attainment of Brahman, one does not lose his eternal Brahman identity as individual soul. BG 1972 purports
- One must qualitatively become one with Brahman
- One should not be satisfied simply by knowing the qualitative equality of the Lord and the living being. One should know the Lord as much as can be known by our limited knowledge
- Out of these (the Supreme Lord, the living being, nature, time and space and the process of activity), the Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one
Q
- Qualitatively the living being and the Supreme Lord are equal, but quantitatively they are different, for the Lord is unlimitedly potent whereas the living entities, being infinitesimal by nature, have limited potency
- Qualitatively the living entity is the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because of his forgetfulness he gets different bodies in different planetary systems
- Qualitatively, God and the living entities are one, but quantitatively the living entities are small fragments of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is full, powerful and opulent
- Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kutastha. BG 1972 purports
S
- Sahadeva said, "Since everyone is part and parcel of Krsna, there is no qualitative difference between Krsna and all living entities. Everything is an emanation of Krsna's energies, material and spiritual"
- Since He is aloof from the material emanations, He is free from their interactions and is Lord of material nature. You should therefore engage in His devotional service, thinking yourself qualitatively one with Him
- Since the spiritual world is a manifestation of the Lord's internal energy, the living beings within that internal potency are qualitatively one with the Lord without contamination from the external potency
- Some (living entities) are great in quantity, and some are small, but qualitatively they are of the same nature
T
- The Brahma-sutra states that according to the principle of sakti-saktimator abhedah, the living entity is simultaneously one with and different from the SPG. Qualitatively the living entity and the Supreme Lord are one, but in quantity they are different
- The cosmic manifestation is the gross material body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who enjoys the taste of the material mellows by expanding His parts and parcels, the living entities, who are qualitatively one with Him
- The individual soul and the supersoul are qualitatively one, and therefore both of them are known as Brahman, or spirit. But knowledge of Brahman is very difficult to understand
- The living being is a spiritual spark, as spiritual as the Lord Himself. The only difference is that the Lord is great and the living being is small. Qualitatively they are one, but quantitatively they are different
- The living entities are qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, just as the sparks of a fire are qualitatively one with the fire
- The living entities, although qualitatively one with the Supreme, are infinitesimal, and not infinite. Had they been infinite, there would have been no possibility of their being covered by ignorance
- The living entities, as distinguished from incognizant matter, may be qualitatively equal to the Lord in cognizance, but the living entity can never be equal to the Lord in full knowledge of past, present and future
- The living entity is, after all, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, Krsna. In other words, Krsna's constitutional position and the living entity's constitutional position are the same qualitatively
- The living entity's spiritual position is as good as gold, as good as Krsna in quality. The difference of individuality continues, otherwise there is no question of bhakti-yoga. BG 1972 purports
- The personified Vedas continued, "Both the Lord and the living entities are called nitya, eternal, and so are qualitatively one, yet the singular nitya, or the Supreme Lord, is the controller, whereas the plural nityas are controlled"
- The predominated living entities are part and parcel of God, in quality they are one with God
- The quality of knowing belongs to the living entities and to the Supreme Soul. Thus the living entity can also experience the activities of dreams and wakefulness. In both stages the knower is unchanged, but is qualitatively one with the Supreme Brahman
- The small particles of soul are just like sparks of the larger soul. The greatest soul is the Supersoul, but the Supersoul is quantitatively different from the small soul
- The sun and its rays are one and the same qualitatively. Similarly, the Lord and the living entities are one and the same in quality
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity are qualitatively one; both are defined as purusa. The quality of purusa exists both in the Supreme Godhead and in the living entity
- The Vedic version tat tvam asi, "Thou art the same," means not that everyone is God but that everyone is qualitatively of the same nature as God
- The Visnu-sahasra-nama prayers mention the Lord's name as sanat and sanatanatama. The Lord and the living entities are both qualitatively sanatana, or eternal, but the Lord is sanatana-tama or the eternal in the superlative degree
- They're all maintained by God. Therefore He's called chief living being. Quality, the same. He's living being; we are living being
- Those who are under the misconception that the living entity and the Supreme Lord are equal in all respects, both qualitatively and quantitatively, are mistaken, and they are still bound to remain in the material world
W
- We being part and parcel of God, qualitatively we are one; quantitatively we are different. Although we are different, still, in the spiritual world we can enjoy the same facilities in cooperation with God
- When a living entity, thinking himself different from Me (Anantadeva), forgets his spiritual identity of qualitative oneness with Me in eternity, knowledge and bliss, his material, conditional life begins
- When a living entity, thinking himself different from Me (Krsna), forgets his spiritual identity of qualitative oneness with Me in eternity, knowledge and bliss, his material, conditional life begins
- When a living entity, thinking himself different from Me, forgets his spiritual identity of qualitative oneness with Me in eternity, knowledge and bliss, his material, conditional life begins
- When the Supersoul tells the conditioned soul, You and I are one and the same, it is to remind the conditioned soul of his spiritual identity as being qualitatively one