Category:Nearness to God
Theme Analysis
The concept of nearness to God is a profound paradox in Vedic philosophy. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is simultaneously far, far away in His transcendental abode of Goloka Vṛndāvana, yet He is extremely near, situated within the heart of every living entity as the Supersoul. Although He pervades the entire cosmos both internally and externally, those absorbed in material anxieties remain completely oblivious to His presence.
To bridge this gap and draw nearer to the Lord, the conditioned soul must adopt the process of devotional service. This begins with hearing transcendental sound from a bona fide spiritual master and executing prescribed duties like varṇāśrama-dharma. However, personal endeavor alone is insufficient. One can only achieve true proximity to the Lord by receiving His causeless mercy. Often, the Lord displays this mercy by stripping away a devotee's material attachments, thereby forcibly dragging the sincere soul nearer to His lotus feet.
The ultimate perfection of this nearness is realized when the devotee abandons the false desire to become God and instead embraces the mood of a humble servant. By fully surrendering, the devotee may eventually attain the liberation of sāmīpya—the eternal facility of residing intimately near the Supreme Lord in the spiritual sky. In this state, the pure soul acquires a spiritual body endowed with opulences that are almost equal to the Lord's, allowing for uninterrupted, blissful loving service while maintaining an awe-inspiring reverence for His omnipotence.
- The Omnipresent Paradox: The Supreme Lord is simultaneously far beyond the immeasurable material sky and intimately present within the heart of every living entity.
- The Barrier of Anxiety: Material anxieties and attachments prevent the conditioned soul from perceiving the nearness of the Absolute Truth.
- The Necessity of Mercy: While personal endeavors like varṇāśrama-dharma and hearing transcendental sound are helpful, ultimate nearness is achieved only by the Lord's causeless mercy.
- The Perfection of Sāmīpya: The highest goal is to become a humble servant and achieve the liberation of living eternally near the Supreme Personality of Godhead in a spiritual body.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Nearness to God - The Paradox of the Supreme Presence.
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "Nearness to God"
The following 17 pages are in this category, out of 17 total.
A
- Although born of his dead father, King Prthu would still remain just like fire. Just as fire is not easily approached, King Prthu would be unapproachable by his enemies, even though they would appear to be very near him
- Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very difficult to approach, He is very near to us because He lives within our hearts. As soon as God understands that one is seeking His favor by fully surrendering, naturally He immediately takes action
B
- But because of our material anxieties, which are inevitable in this material world, we cannot understand the Supreme Lord, although He is situated so near to us
- By dint of one's personal endeavor one may go nearer to the Lord, but without the Lord's mercy one cannot reach the ultimate point. Such understanding of the Lord is possible only by devotional service, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita - BG 18.55
L
- Laksmiji was present near Narayana, engaged in the service of the Lord, and still, without contact with Laksmiji, Narayana begot Brahma. That is the omnipotency of the Lord
- Laksmiji was present near Narayana, engaged in the service of the Lord, but still, without contact with Laksmiji, Narayana begot Brahma. That is the omnipotency of the Lord
- Lord Caitanya's philosophy is not to become God, but to become servant, servant, servant of God. The more one becomes the lower grade servant of the Lord, the more he is devoted nearer to the Lord
T
- That is the way of dragging a sincere soul nearer to God. The poor boy was being looked after only by his affectionate mother, and yet the mother was taken from the world by the supreme will in order to put him completely at the mercy of the Lord
- The brahmana attained the liberation of samipya, the facility of living near the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The Lord is far away but very near also. The abode of the Lord is beyond the material sky, and we have no means to measure even this material sky. If the material sky extends so far, then what to speak of the spiritual sky, which is altogether beyond it?
- The Supreme Truth exists both internally and externally, in the moving and nonmoving. He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all. BG 13.16 - 1972
- There is calculation that suppose God is cent percent perfect. So when you get you, your spiritual body, you may not be as powerful as God, but almost near to God. You get seventy-eight percent