Category:Thoughts of Impersonalists
Theme Analysis
The central thought of an impersonalist is that the Ultimate Truth must be formless (nirākāra). Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this conclusion arises from a "poor fund of knowledge." Because their experience of personality in the material world is limited and temporary, they assume that for God to be unlimited, He must be impersonal. Consequently, they think that Kṛṣṇa's form is a product of material nature (māyā) and that His activities are temporary. This philosophy is driven by a subtle fear of variegatedness; they equate variety with suffering, and thus imagine the spiritual world to be void or zero. Furthermore, the impersonalist falsely thinks himself to be liberated (vimukta-māninah) and identical to the Supreme, often preferring humanitarian work over direct service to the Lord, which they consider a lower stage of realization.
- Rejection of Form: Impersonalists think that "material" refers to form and "spiritual" refers to the absence of form. They believe Kṛṣṇa accepts a material body when He descends.
- The Logic of Limitation: Unable to conceive of an unlimited person, they conclude that the Absolute must be the opposite of the relative—therefore, formless and inactive.
- False Identity: They meditate on the thought "I am the Supreme," believing they are moving the sun and stars, and seek to merge into the Brahman effulgence to destroy their individual identity.
- Misunderstanding Bhakti: They view devotional service as a temporary means or maya, often valuing service to humanity (schools, hospitals) above service to the Deity.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Thoughts of Impersonalists - The Fear of Personhood.
Pages in category "Thoughts of Impersonalists"
The following 44 pages are in this category, out of 44 total.
A
- An impersonalist thinks that his actual identity is in being one with Krsna, but a devotee does not destroy his identity in this way. He lives with full faith that Krsna will kindly protect him in all respects
- Anadrta-yusmad-anghrayah. The impersonalists do not think that the service of the Lord is more valuable than serving the poor man or starting a school or hospital
I
- Impersonalists and monists have misguided their followers because they incorrectly think that the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are equal in all respects
- Impersonalists not knowing the Supreme Truth, think Krsna to be only the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, or a prince, or a powerful living entity. This is also condemned in Bhagavad-gita: "Only the fools regard Me as an ordinary person". BG 1972 purports
- Impersonalists think that the spiritual world is completely void, or, in other words, that there is no variegatedness. This mentality is described here (SB 3.15.23) as ku-katha mati-ghnih, "intelligence bewildered by unworthy words."
- Impersonalists think that “material” refers to the forms within our experience and that “spiritual” refers to an absence of form
- In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, The impersonalists think that I have no form, that I am formless, but that at present I have accepted a form to serve a purpose, and now I am manifested. But such speculators are factually without sharp intelligence
- It is a great falldown on the part of the impersonalists to think that the Supreme Lord appears within a material body and that one should therefore not meditate upon the form of the Supreme but should meditate instead on the formless
M
- Mayavadi impersonalists think that the Lord's form is a product of this material world
- Modern impersonalists consider it (Caitanya’s KC movement) false and cannot understand how the Krsna consciousness movement can utilize it. They are so absorbed in impersonal thought that they take it for granted that all spiritual variety is material
O
- One important statement here (in SB 3.28.30) is dhyayen manomayam. Manomayam is not imagination. Impersonalists think that the yogi can imagine any form he likes
- One must not only think that he is Brahman, but must act like Brahman. One who only thinks himself Brahman is an impersonalist. And one who acts like Brahman is the pure devotee
S
- Since impersonalists cannot understand the source of the Brahman energy, they mistakenly choose to think this impersonal Brahman the ultimate or absolute goal
- Sometimes materialists consider Lord Visnu a material conception. Impersonalists think that above Lord Visnu is the impersonal Brahman
- Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura comments that this verse (SB 6.4.34) is especially meant for the impersonalist, who thinks that he himself is the Supreme because there is no difference between the living being and God
- Such sentiments (anger and mercy) are definitely not absent in the Absolute, as the impersonalists think, making their mundane estimation of the transcendental world
T
- The demigods prayed - Impersonalists think that Your (Krsna's) many names or forms are according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer
- The demigods said: Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are given according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer
- The highest blunder committed by the impersonalists is to think that when the incarnation of God comes He accepts the form of matter in the mode of goodness
- The impersonalists are very much afraid of hearing the activities of the Lord because they think that the happiness derived from the transcendental situation of Brahman is the ultimate goal of life
- The impersonalists cannot understand the principle of satisfying Krsna's senses because they reject the personality of Godhead. Thus they think God has no senses and therefore no sense satisfaction
- The impersonalists simply think that they are liberated, but actually they have no feeling for the Personality of Godhead. They think that when Krsna comes into the material world He accepts a material body
- The impersonalists sometimes describe five kinds of gods that are worshipable, but because they think that the actual truth is impersonal Brahman, they dispose of all worshipable objects at the ultimate end. BG 1972 purports
- The impersonalists think of the Absolute Personality of Godhead in two different ways, as above mentioned
- The impersonalists think that everything is Brahma, everyone is God, therefore they can do whatever they want; and that is a still more dangerous position
- The impersonalists' understanding of God is called nirakara. Nih means "negative" and akara means "form," so nirakara means "negative form." The impersonalists are mistaken when they think that God has no form at all
- The monists and impersonalists who think only in terms of the oneness of the living entities with the Supreme Lord cannot give satisfactory answers to such questions. Such an imperfect reply can hardly satisfy the heart of a living entity
- The most unfortunate persons are the impersonalists, who cannot understand the transcendental variegatedness of the spiritual world. They are afraid to talk about the beauty of the Vaikuntha planets because they think that variegatedness must be material
- The poor fund of knowledge held by the impersonalists cannot accommodate how the Supreme Absolute Truth can be a person, because whenever they think of a person they think of a person of this material world. That is their defect
- The worshippers of the demigods at least have fear of some higher personality, and that may eventually develop into fear of the Supreme Personality. But the impersonalists think that everything is Brahma, everyone is God
- These impersonalists, they cannot think of that a person can be so unlimitedly powerful. Therefore they become impersonalist. They cannot think of. The impersonalists, they cannot imagine...
- They (Impersonalist Mayavadis) think that devotional service is maya and that Krsna or Visnu is also maya. Therefore they are called Mayavadis. Such a mentality awakens in a person who is an offender to Krsna and His devotees
- They (impersonalists) think that when Krsna comes into the material world He accepts a material body. They therefore overlook the transcendental body of Krsna
- They (the impersonalists) think that the control behind this (God's) gigantic manifestation is imagination. Intelligent persons, however, can estimate the value of the cause by observing the wonders of the effects
- They (The impersonalists) think that the existence of the Supreme is just the opposite of active human existence; because the human being has senses
- They (The impersonalists) think, "Both the Supreme Lord and the individual soul enter into the various bodies; so where is the distinction? Why should individual souls worship the Paramatma, or Supersoul"
- They are impersonalists, and falsely thinking themselves as Narayana. Therefore we can immediately test that - Here is a rascal