God is a Person

[MushiMushi]

Hi…

There are many of us who feel the connection in the impersonal all pervading Brahman realization that God is the Source of all material manifestations and the all pervading vibration AUM, as described my many great big mayavadi philosophers. In other words God is in Everything and constitutes Everything. Without this there would be no material existence… I would wager that the large majority of the world would believe this as it is so blatantly obvious to even the most spiritually immature that; when we see a beautiful sunrise or a drink icy cold water or look into the heavens we can see, touch and taste God through our senses. For the most part many of us would be satisfied with this realization and go about cultivating our spirituality in order to one day merge into the Brahman effulgence. This methodology constitutes the concept of Oneness that I see spoken of so much on this site, and it is definitely one of the primary spiritual realizations that must take place on the path of spirituality. It occurs when one understands that He or She is NOT the body but an eternal spiritual ‘spark’ or spiritual particle; part of a bigger much larger Whole that constitutes the Brahman effulgence of the Lord…

Next on the ladder of God realization is the realization that God is present in the hearts of all living entities as Paramatma or Supersoul. The Christians refer to this as the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost… This realization is a lot more complex to realize as one has to really go beyond the temporal constraints of the mind and turn your attention inward towards the inner Self. Once one reaches the inner realm you will notice that the subtle spirit or soul has become somewhat a slave to the mind. The mind is the ‘controller’ of the body and the soul and the Supersoul are the observers of the actions of the mind, as it works to satisfy the sensory needs of the body. This is where we sometimes get an intervention, where our inner Self begins to speak to us and offer us guidance if we are able to hear and ad hear to what It is saying to us. This happens when one can effectively begin to control the mind through meditations, yoga or prayer / mantra.
The Paramatma is the Divine inner God voice that speaks to us on matters of the spirit and guides us to higher realizations. Once one becomes fixed on the realization that He or She can see God in everyone then they are said to be Self Realized souls who can see that God is in all living entities.

Finally we come to the platform of Bhagavan realization; or the realization that God is in fact a Person. Not just that He is a Person, but He is the Original Person. The Origin of everything. Everything in this material manifestation has three features. It is created at a certain date. It exists for a certain number of years and then it is dissolved, annihilated. So everything is taking place from the Source – The Supreme Personality of the Lord. The cosmic manifestation (Brahman effulgence) is also emanating from Him. It is existing on His external energy or it is maintained by His external energy and so finally everything material ultimately dissolves or is annihilated. So after annihilation the power merges into Him. This is the way of creation, maintainance and disillusion. Now the question about the Supreme Power of Supreme Source is: “What is the nature of the Supreme Source? Is it matter or living force?” The Veda’s say that “No, it cannot be matter.” As from matter nothing can be created automatically. We have no such experience because unless there is some living force behind the matter there cannot be anything created. In other words Just like a car or anything material. Suppose the motor car has got all the machinery and subtle machinery equipped but still the motor car cannot move automatically. There MUST be a driver, and the driver is a living force. Therefore, the Origional Source of everything must be a living force. And what kind of living force you may ask? It means that He knows everything. Just like an expert motor mechanic known when there is fault he can detect the problem based on his knowledge of such machinery. In other words when the motor car stalls, he can immediately detect how and why the motor car has stopped… So he tightens a screw here does something there and the motor car is fixed so that it can be in motion again. Therefore the Veda’s says that the original Source all emanation knows everything… Directly and Indirectly… He is an expert… Just like if you think: “I am the creator of this body. I am a living soul… As I desired, I have created this body by my energy according to my desire, in which I know experience life… BUT although I am claiming my body, I do not know how the body is working. These finer details are unknown to me…. I cit my hair but I do now how how my hair seems to grow again. I cut my nails but I do not know what the function is that makes my nails grow again. I can not manipulate this function according to my own will. Neither do I know that when I eat, this foodstuff is turning into different types of secretion in my abdomen, and this secretion is distributed. I have read how this thing called digestion happens inside my body, but as far as I am concerned I do not know how my food stuffs are transformed into blood, how the blood is transmitted to different parts of the body and then I regain my energy. These things I cannot know. But the Supreme Personality of Godhead knows, indirectly and directly both: how this material cosmic manifestation is working. He knows everything. How the moon is rising, how the sun is rising… How the oceans are steady and not trespassing upon the land… Such a big ocean can over flow any city or any land immediately within a second but it is not doing that. So Supreme direction is there. Therefore the Veda’s says that the Original Source of everything is sentient. Conscious… And consciously is controlling everything. The next question can be raised is. “Where is He getting this knowledge from?” He is the Origin… We as humans have this idea that any living being gets its knowledge from others. Just like we have gotten our knowledge from our teachers, mentors, spiritual masters and guru’s. The disciples of these guru’s are getting their knowledge from Guru, so then knowledge is being given by somebody. It has got a source. But, if the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Origin, how did He get this knowledge of creation, maintainence and annihilation? The answer is ‘sva-rat’. He did not get this knowledge from anyone. He is self-sufficient Himself in knowledge. That is the nature of God. He does not require to get knowledge from anyone superior because nobody can be superior to God. Neither equal to God. “asamaurdha” Nobody is equal to Him. Nobody is greater than Him.

So we can see with the examples above that God is in fact a Living Entity and that we resemble Him, as we are made in His image. This is said to be the highest spiritual realization, whereby if one can come to this platform we can begin to build a loving relationship with the Supreme Person, and then our worship becomes single pointed and fixed upon Him, because we need to realize that without Him we cannot be. As we are part and parcel of Him in quality but not in quantity.

I welcome a discussion on your own God Realization and how you too are becoming conscious of the Divine Energies of the Lord at work on your day to day workings.

Blessings of Love and Light

[jamwolfsky]

Purusha….This is what emerged in my brain cells after reading your post 🙂 .
The passage in the blood and your cells of nutriments is a simple process of biophysics called absorption created by a differentiel concentration of molecules between the extra-celllar liquid and the intracellular liquid:lol:(just kidding) .
What I find intriguing and beautiful is the synthesis of organised biology, (embryology, histology).

[Will]

…thank you Mushi for bring this to the Book…

…I would like to share some Light from the Urantia Book on the subject…the first five papers …

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…paper one…

A Synopsis of Paper 1: The Universal Father

The Universal Father is the first source and center of all things. He is a creator, a controller, and an upholder. All enlightened beings worship God the Father and have one supreme ambition-to become like him.

Messengers from Paradise carry God’s divine command throughout the universes: “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect.” Humans cannot be perfect in the infinite sense, but can become complete in divinity of will, personality motivation, and God-consciousness.

The Father is known by many names, but reveals himself only by nature. God is primal reality and the source of all truth. He is universal spirit, eternal truth, infinite reality, and a loving father. Affectionate dedication to doing his will is the only gift of true value that humans have to offer God.

God is an eternal, infinite, true, good, and beautiful personality beyond the imagination of the human mind. He delights in his children. The manifestations of the Universal Father in the local universes are his Creator Sons. It is eternally true: “He who has seen the Son, has seen the Father.”

God-knowing mortals have within themselves three experiential phenomena that constitute positive proof of God’s existence: God-consciousness, God-seeking, and the desire to do God’s will.

God is an eternal power, a majestic presence, and a glorious ideal. He is a perfect personality, a person who can know and be known, love and be loved. Personality is not just an attribute of God, it is the revelation of God to the universes. Human personality is the shadow cast by the divine personality. Mortals view personality from the finite toward the infinite, but God’s perspective moves from the infinite to the finite.

The human body is literally the temple of God; a divine fragment of the Father dwells within each mortal mind. The benefits received from this presence of the divine Father are limited only by the mortal’s capacity to receive and discern spiritual reality. God participates in the struggle of every imperfect soul in the universe who seeks to ascend. It is true that in all our afflictions he is afflicted, for in him we live and move and have our being.

Humans attain divine union through progressive spiritual communion with God and wholehearted, intelligent conformity to his will. Mind yielded to spirit becomes increasingly spiritual and ultimately will achieve oneness with the divine.

…paper two…

A Synopsis of Paper 2: The Nature of God

Our understanding of God is handicapped because our minds are limited. Humans can best understand the nature of God as it has been revealed through the life and teachings of Jesus.

God the Father unfailingly meets the ever-changing demand for himself all over the universe. He knows everything. Universe Sovereigns may engage in adventure; the Constellation Fathers may experiment; the system heads may practice; but the Universal Father sees the end from the beginning. To God, all time is present, there is no past or future. He is infinite in all of his attributes.

God is perfect. In the universes, perfection is relative, but on Paradise, perfection is undiluted. He is perfect in beauty and goodness; there is nothing lacking in his divine character. His justice is tempered with mercy. God is inherently kind, compassionate and merciful. It is never necessary to persuade him to love us; our need is wholly sufficient to insure the flow of his grace.

Everything good comes from God. Love is the dominant characteristic of his personality. The highest reason to love God is that he guides us, step by step, life by life, until we stand in his very presence. God literally sends his spirit to live and toil with us as we pursue the eternal universe career.

God is good; he is our eternal refuge. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up the wounds of the soul. It has been said that God loves sinners but hates sin. It is true that God loves sinners, but he has no attitude toward sin because sin is not a spiritual reality. Iniquity is inherently suicidal. The inevitable consequence of deliberate rebellion against God is loss of existence.

Divine truth is universal, but our understanding of truth is finite and therefore only relative. Evolving persons can be certain only as far as their own personal experience extends. That which is true in one part of the universe may be only partially true elsewhere. The search for truth requires a search for the creative design that pre-exists all universe phenomena.

Truth is both beautiful and good. Beauty is true and good. Goodness is true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness in the human experience.

…paper three…

A Synopsis of Paper 3: The Attributes of God

God is omnipresent; he alone can be in numberless places simultaneously. He rules in the local universes through his Creator Sons who are discernible to lower orders of beings and can compensate for God’s invisibility. God is greater than all of his combined creations. Although he exists throughout the universes, the universes can never encompass his infinity. God pervades the physical universes of the past, present, and future. He is the primordial foundation of material creation.

Individually, humans are indwelt by Father fragments, and the effective presence of God within each person is conditioned by the degree of cooperation provided. Fluctuations of God’s presence are not due to whims of the Father but are directly determined by the mortal’s choice to receive him. God has freely bestowed himself without limit or favor.

God is energy. He is the cause of all physical phenomena; he controls all power. The power of God does not function blindly, but it is nearly impossible to explain the nature of his laws. From the limitations of our mortal perspective, many actions of the Creator may seem arbitrary and cruel, but God’s actions are always purposeful, intelligent, kind, and wise.

God knows all things. He is the only personality who knows the number of all the stars and planets. His consciousness is universal, his circuit encompasses all personalities. God is never subject to surprise. The potential force, wisdom, and love of God is not reduced by his self-bestowal on subordinate creatures and creations. If creation should continue eternally, the power of God’s control from the Isle of Paradise would be adequate for such an eternally increasing creation; God would still possess the same potential as if his power had never poured forth into the universe. Likewise, sending Father fragments to indwell the mortals of numerous worlds in no way lessens the wisdom and perfection of truth of the all-powerful Father.

The nearest approach to God is through love. Finite mind cannot know the infinity of the Father, but it can feel the Father’s love.

The uncertainties of life do not contradict the universal sovereignty of God. Creature life is beset with certain inevitabilities. To develop courage, we must grapple with hardships. To develop altruism, we must experience social inequality. Hope results from being faced with insecurity, and faith arises when we live in such a way that we know less than we can believe. The love of truth is created only in an environment where falsehood is possible. Idealism comes as we struggle for a better world. Loyalty cannot emerge unless we live with the possibility of betrayal, and unselfishness results only if we have a self-life to forsake. To appreciate pleasure we must live in a world where pain and suffering are possible. The only evolutionary world without error would be a world without free intelligence. Man must be fallible if he is to be free.

The sovereignty of God is unlimited. The universe was not inevitable. It was not an accident, neither is it self-existent; it is subject to the will of the Father. God the Father loves us, God the Son serves us, and God the Spirit inspires us in the adventure of finding the Father.

…paper four…

A Synopsis of Paper 4: God’s Relation to the Universe

Divine providence is not the childish material ministry that some mortals imagine it to be. Providence is possible due to related activities of spiritual beings who continuously work for the honor of God and for the spiritual advancement of his children. Providence is consistent with the perfect nature of God.

The watchword of the universe is progress.

God uses unlimited forces and personalities to fulfill his purposes and sustain his creatures. God creates, upholds, preserves, and renews all material and spiritual things. Without God, there would be no such thing as reality. The Father unceasingly pours energy, light, and life into his creations.

Much that appears haphazard to the human mind seems orderly and constructive to higher minds, but even high spiritual beings come across apparently fortuitous inter-associations of forces, energies, intellects, and spirits. The medley of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual phenomena in the universes undoubtedly accrue to the glory of God.

Nature is the perfection of Paradise divided by the evil and incompletion of the unfinished universes. Evolution modifies nature, diminishing the error of relative reality while augmenting the content of Paradise perfection. It is wrong to worship nature. Although nature is pervaded by God in a limited sense, it is also a manifestation of the imperfect results of the universe experiment of cosmic evolution. Apparent defects in the natural world do not indicate corresponding defects in the character of God.

God is incapable of wrath or anger. These emotions are hardly worthy of human beings, much less of God. God is the only changeless being in existence; he is self-existent and independent. God is all-wise and all-powerful. He has no limits other that those which he imposes on himself.

God’s absoluteness pervades all levels of universe reality. He is eternally motivated by love. In science, God is the First Cause; in religion, God is the Universal Father; in philosophy, God is the one being who exists by himself.

Human religious thought confuses associated Deity personalities with the Universal Father himself. This failure to recognize the difference between God the Father and the local universe creators and administrators is a source of great confusion on earth. Mortals also suffer from primitive concepts of God. The idea of appeasing an angry God, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifice and penance represents a repulsive philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. It is an affront to God to teach that innocent blood must be shed to win his favor or divert his wrath. The human race is destined to know the beauty of character of the Universal Father, that which was so magnificently portrayed by Jesus when he sojourned on earth.

…paper five…

A Synopsis of Paper 5: God’s Relation to the Individual

A fragment of God lives within the intellect of every normal-minded, morally conscious human being. This fragment, the Thought Adjuster, guides mortals unerringly through the spiritual journey that leads into the presence of God the Father in Paradise.

God yearns for the association of every created being who can love him. Through the indwelling Adjusters, we can seek intimate personal communion with God’s divine spirit as we advance inward through the ages toward Paradise. We cannot fail to attain the destiny God has established for us if we yield to the leading of his spiritual guidance.

The indwelling Thought Adjuster allows us to more fully discern the presence of other spiritual influences. Realization of contact with the Adjuster is primarily limited to the realms of the soul: lack of intellectual consciousness concerning the indwelling fragment does not disprove its existence. Proof of the divine Adjuster’s work lies wholly in the fruits of the spirit that appear in the life of the believer.

Worship springs from a creature’s spontaneous reaction to the recognition of the Father’s nature and personality. Prayer contains an element of self-interest, but worship exists for its own sake. Mortals worship God, pray to and commune with the Son, and work out the details of earthly life with the offspring of the Infinite Spirit.

Nonreligious activities seek to bend the universe to the service of self; religious individuals seek to devote their activities to the service of the universe. Philosophy and art create bridges between nonreligious and religious activities by luring people into contemplating spiritual realities. Religious experience is essentially spiritual and cannot be fully understood by a material mind; the realities of religion are beyond mortal capacity of intellectual comprehension. Religious experience unifies human consciousness, promotes philosophic substantiation of ideal moral values, and leads to the spiritual satisfaction of worship-the experience of divine companionship.

God-consciousness includes the mind, the soul, and the spirit through the realization of the idea of God, the ideal of God, and the spirit reality of God. The experience of God-consciousness remains the same throughout history, even though the theological definition of God changes with each advancing epoch.

A human mind that possesses the capacity to distinguish right from wrong and to worship God, in union with a divine Adjuster, is all that is required to initiate the existence of an immortal soul. Eternal survival is wholly dependent on the choice of the mortal being. Survival is assured when the mind, soul, and Adjuster together believe in God and desire to be like him.

Personality, bestowed by God the Father, is one of the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe. Capacity for divine personality is inherent in the Adjuster, and capacity for human personality is potential in the cosmic-mind endowment of the human being. Mortal personality is observable as a functional reality only after the mortal mind is touched by the Adjuster.

The material personality and the prepersonal Adjuster together can create an immortal soul; mortal man alone either wills or inhibits the creation of this surviving self. No other being or agency in the universe can interfere with the sovereignty of mortal free will regarding eternal survival, and no creature can be coerced into the eternal adventure against his will.

The Universal Father is personally conscious of all personalities at all levels of self-conscious existence. As gravity is circuited in the Isle of Paradise, as mind is circuited in the Conjoint Actor, and as spirit is circuited in the Eternal Son, so is personality circuited and centered in the Universal Father.

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[echo]

It is wrong to worship nature. Although nature is pervaded by God in a limited sense, it is also a manifestation of the imperfect results of the universe experiment of cosmic evolution. Apparent defects in the natural world do not indicate corresponding defects in the character of God.

That’s a strange thing to say. I always though of nature as god… If a human can see god in another human and can see beauty in that, but dismisses the beauty of nature, than they have missed the point. God is imperfection and imperfection is perfection. w.out the ability to evolve life would cease to exist. The writer goes on to say how refusing to acknowledge God’s existence is to cease to exist. I see a conflict in reasoning. w.out nature (plants, animals, bacteria, etc.) we couldn’t sustain life. If anything, humans should be praising the earth and it’s nature to evolve and continuously support life. If you’re talking about a limiting way of thinking believe that god is a human. Because when you do that you lack the basic needs to evolve.

Apparent defects in the natural world do not indicate corresponding defects in the character of God.

No they don’t. But humans are not perfect. They need defects in the natural world to support their growing (or evolving) consciousness. And when we say consciousness we mean the connection to the oneness of the earth, of nature itself. By tapping into the idea of “oneness” people can release their preconceived ideas of everyday life. The things that don’t really matter to the earth (like social, monetary, and political systems, why you go to work everyday or what to get someone for their birthday). But when they focus on reality and connect it to the idea that things are natural and are constantly shifting, then a connection is made.

But when people forget that mistakes or defects are caused intentionally they forget that things are shifting and they need to adapt. It’s basically saying that spiritually a human would be unable to adapt to the idea of “God” if they said he was only present in living things, let alone one human being. Not only is it limiting to refer to one self as god, but when other people refer to a living being as this idea it can also be very limiting. Why? because god is on the level of oneness. If someone is god or referred to as god, than that would mean nothing else could be a part of the equation. What god means to me is much different than the meaning most people have built around the word. To me, god is an attraction, pure positive energy that can flow through your body, your mind being the magnet. Your mind can attract any kind of energy if it has this connection to nature, be it positive or negative. But the idea of god is to connect all “souls” onto one frequency so ‘God’ can be felt at anytime. To be attracted to either side of the spectrum, either positive or negative.

[MushiMushi]

@echo – I fully agree with what you are saying, RE: God and Nature. As Vedanta shows, our spirits can incarnate even as plant life or animal and insect life. After all these things are living breathing, mating, sleeping entities as well… and what makes them different from us and the core spirit level that we have been discussing.

I found the post by Will very inspirational and all and all a good read as it brings one closer to understanding the true nature of the Supreme. I do find however that with our own realizations, we often miss the mark as we are trying to explain something from our own perspective (I guess it works for some people) but I would rather hear the truth from someone who has been there, has studied and realized and seen the truth first hand. Rather that then continue on a path of speculating. Not to say that your realizations are wrong or anything… They are wholly correct, but there are gaps in your theory (as with most) that beckon further investigation. “God is an attraction”… Yes He most certainly is the most attractive 😀 In the Veda’s Bhagavan Sri Krishna is known as “The All Attractive One”. Because He is the one who steals the hearts and minds of those near and dear to Him. When you talk about energy flows and the like, you make things complicated for that which has such ‘human’ propensity. I mean; we don’t try to explain the act of love by the various endorphins and the amount of seratonin that is being released into the spinal column… No we feel love… It is very natural and safe… This human touch through which God has the propensity to compel us to love Him, occurs through nature and appreciation for creation (Thats how I got hooked) and then slowly He begins to show us more about Himself as we become more and more God conscious and we start to develop a relationship with Him. He listens to us and reciprocates immediately. We are never lost to him because He resides in each of our hearts. No exclusions… All of manifested life contains God’s Divine spark.

The question for me has always really been… “Well yes I know God is very real… I know He is all encompassing, omnipresent, primeval, and eternal and full of Love, Bliss, Knowledge and compassion… But who is He?” Where does He come from?” “What does He do all eternity?” “And how did I end up here of all places? Why am I not with Him anymore?” I wished and prayed for a realization to give me the answers I was looking for… And I found all of them and many man more in Vedanta. I also completely agree with what the author of Will’s article says when he talks against ritualistic sacrifice to the demigods. As God is not in need of such things. All He really requires is our Love, Devotion and Attention. When the mind becomes fixed on Him, body becomes spiritualized and then we will attain Him.

I look forward to that day 😀

[jamwolfsky]

Brother Mushimushi,on which level of the ladder do you consider yourself 🙂 , first , second or third. As a Pleaidian christian buddhist, I have a natural allergy to cast systems, even in disguise behind methodology ;).

[MushiMushi]

😆 Jam

Well the Veda’s described the caste system many many thousands of years ago and they worked for people of those ages… Back in those by gone days being born into a family meant you would inherit the family trade. IE Soni (Jeweler caste did what they and their fore fathers did best… make Jewelery). Brahmins would study Vedic scripture and perform the nessasary rituals because they were qualified to do so…

However the caste system was abolished many many years ago, as the modern ages the population density of the world makes it unreasonable for anyone to follow strict casting, as there are so many people on this planet compared to way back when, and the age that we are currently in is the MOST FALLEN according to vedic cosmology. So casting does not work nowadays. However it does work… Currently we are being ruled by 4th class Sudra (working class men) and that is why our society is so shot, poverty is a problem and sex life has become a focus of life. Where as if the countries were run by 1st class men like Brahmins, then proper religious practice would be followed and people would be grounded on a solid foundation of spiritual practice. Today it is almost taboo to discuss Godliness because of the fallen condition of the age.

I am fortunate to be part of revolution in vedic consciousness brought about by the mercy of the Godhead Himself, when He incarnated on this planet in the 1500’s AD to abolish caste laws and give His mercy to all and give all the opportunity to become liberated by meditating on the sacred maha mantra. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. His name was Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was so merciful that he took to Muslim men as initiated disciples to carry on his Krsna (God) Conscious Cult throught India and abolish the caste system.

I fall into all of the above (on the three realizations) as they are all correct but one is just deeper than the next… There is no right way or wrong way… Just deeper understandings of the same subject matter… God is one… He can’t be two… 😉

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
By Stephen Knapp

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu [pronounced Chaitanya] (February 27,1486 to 1534 A.D.) was born in Navadvipa, Bengal, on a full moon night during a lunar eclipse. It is typical for people to bathe in the Ganges during an eclipse and chant the Lord’s holy names for spiritual purification. So, everyone in the area was chanting the holy names when He was born. His parents, Jagannatha Misra and Sachidevi, gave Him the name of Vishvambhara, meaning the support of the universe, because astrologers had predicted His super human qualities and that He would deliver the people of the world. He was also nicknamed Nimai because He had been born under a nima tree.

During His childhood He exhibited extraordinary qualities, even having philosophical discussions with His mother. While growing, His brilliant intelligence began to become apparent. While still a child, He mastered Sanskrit and logic to the point of defeating local pundits, and established the truth of His spiritual and Vedic philosophy. He became so well known that many logicians of various religious and philosophical persuasions began to fear His presence and refused to debate with Him. Thus, Sri Caitanya established the authority of the Vaishnava tradition through the process of debate and logic.

Then, when Sri Caitanya went to Gaya on the pretext to perform ceremonies for the anniversary of His father’s death, He received Vaishnava initiation from Ishvara Puri. Thereafter, He lost all interest in debate and simply absorbed Himself in chanting and singing the names of Lord Krishna in devotional ecstasy. Upon returning to Navadvipa, He gathered a following with whom He would engage in congregational singing of the Lord’s holy names. Thus, He started the first sankirtana (congregational devotional singing) movement, and established the importance of chanting the names of God in this age as the most elevated of spiritual processes, and the prime means for liberation from material attachments.

At first, His chanting with people was for the few participants who were a part of His group, but then Sri Caitanya ordered that the ecstasy of love of God be distributed to all people of the area. He gave no recognition for the privileges of caste, or for position, or type of philosophy a person had, or yogic asceticism. He only emphasized the devotional chanting of the Lord’s holy names, using the Hare Krishna mantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) which can bring out the natural loving sentiments for God.

It was at the age of 24 when He shaved His head and took the order of sannyasa, the renounced stage of life, when He accepted the name of Krishna Caitanya from Keshava Bharati during the initiation. He then spent four years traveling through South India, and also visited Vrindavana and Varanasi. During this time he also gave special instructions to Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, who then also spread the glories of the Divine Love for Radha and Krishna. They settled in Vrindavana where they spent their years in writing many books elaborating the instructions of Lord Caitanya and the glories of bhakti for Radha and Krishna. They also revealed the places where Radha and Krishna performed many varied pastimes in that land of Vrindavana, which have remained special spots where devotees can become absorbed in the bliss of love of Radha and Krishna.

Lord Caitanya spent His remaining years in Jagannatha Puri. During this time He was absorbed in ecstatic devotion to Krishna in the loving mood of Radharani, in which He would lose all external consciousness. He freely distributed the divine nectar of this love for Krishna to everyone and anyone, day and night. Even His presence or mere touch could transform everyone that came near Him into the same devotional mood. He remained like this until He finally left our vision at the age of 48.

Lord Caitanya is considered and was established by Vedic scripture as the most recent incarnation of God. The Lord always descends to establish the codes of religion. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.6-8) where Lord Krishna explains that although He is unborn and the Lord of all living beings, He still descends in His spiritual form in order to re-establish the proper religious principles and annihilate the miscreants whenever there is a decline of religion and a rise in irreligious activity.

Though there are many incarnations of God, all incarnations are known and predicted in the Vedic literature. Each incarnation performs many wonderful pastimes. But in Kali-yuga, the Lord descends in the form of His own devotee as Sri Caitanya in order to show the perfect example of how devotional service should be performed, and to stress the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra for this age by inaugurating the process of the sankirtana movement (congregational chanting).

Predictions of the appearance of Lord Caitanya can be found in many Vedic texts. One of the oldest prophecies concerning Sri Caitanya’s appearance in this world is found in the Atharva-veda verse, starting as: ito ‘ham krita-sannyaso ‘vatarisyami. In this verse the Supreme states: “I will descend as a sannyasi, a tall, fair, and saintly brahmana devotee, after four to five thousand years of Kali-yuga have passed. I will appear on earth near the Ganges shore and with all the signs of an exalted person, free from material desires. I will always chant the holy names of the Lord, and, thus, taste the sweetness of My own devotional service. Only other advanced devotees will understand Me.”

Also, in a verse from the Sama-veda, starting as: tathaham krita-sannyaso bhu-girbanah avatarisye, the Supreme Being says that He will descend to earth as a brahmana-sannyasi at a place on the shore of the Ganges. Again and again He will chant the names of the Lord in the company of His associates to rescue the people who are devoured by sins in the age of Kali.

The Mundaka Upanishad (3.3) also relates the prophecy of Sri Caitanya in a different way. It states, “When one realizes the golden form of Lord Gauranga, who is the ultimate actor and the source of the Supreme Brahman, he attains the highest knowledge. He transcends both pious and impious activities, becomes free from worldly bondage, and enters the divine abode of the Lord.”

Another prophecy of the appearance of Sri Caitanya is found in two verses in the Bhavishya Purana. It states:

ajayadhvamaja yadhvam na sansayah
kalau sankirtana rambhe bhavisyami saci sutah

“The Supreme Lord said: ‘In Kali-yuga, I will appear as the son of Saci, and inaugurate the sankirtana movement. There is no doubt about this.’”

anandasru-kala-roma-harsa-purnam tapo-dhana
sarve mam eva draksyanti kalau sannyasa-rupinam

“O sage whose wealth is austerity, in the Kali-yuga everyone will see My form as a sannyasi, a form filled with tears of bliss and bodily hairs standing erect in ecstasy.”
Another is from the Svetasvatara Upanishad (3.12): “Mahaprabhu [the great master], the Supreme Being, is brilliantly effulgent and imperishable like molten gold, and [through sankirtana] bestows spiritual intelligence on the living beings. In the guise of a sannyasi, He is the source of spiritual purity and liberation.” Another is from the Vayu Purana: “In the age of Kali I shall descend as the son of Sachidevi to inaugurate the sankirtana movement.” This is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) where it states: “In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish [like that of Lord Krishna], He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”

The great classic Mahabharata (Vishnu-sahasra-nama-stotra, 127.92.75) confirms that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not different from Lord Sri Krishna: “The Supreme Lord has a golden complexion [when He appears as Lord Caitanya]. Indeed, His entire body, which is very nicely constituted, is like molten gold. Sandalwood pulp is smeared all over His body. He will take the fourth order of life [sannyasa] and will be very self-controlled. He will be distinguished from Mayavadi sannyasis in that He will be fixed in devotional service and will propagate the sankirtana movement.”

The Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.19-20) also explains how the Supreme Lord Himself describes how He will appear as His own devotee to perform and teach devotional service by inaugurating the sankirtana movement, which is the religion for this age.

How He is the “great master” or will “bestow spiritual intelligence” is described in another Upanishad. This is one of the lesser Upanishads known as the Chaitanyopanishad, or Sri Caitanya Upanishad. This comes from the ancient Atharva Veda. In this description there is not only the prediction of His appearance but a description of His life and purpose, and the reasons why His process of spiritual enlightenment is so powerful and effective in this age of Kali. The Chaitanyopanishad is a short text with only nineteen verses. All of them are very significant.

The Sri Caitanya Upanishad (texts 5-11) explains that one day when Pippalada asked his father, Lord Brahma, how the sinful living entities will be delivered in Kali-yuga and who should be the object of their worship and what mantra should they chant to be delivered, Brahma told him to listen carefully and he would describe what will take place in the age of Kali. Brahma said that the Supreme Lord Govinda, Krishna, will appear again in Kali-yuga as His own devotee in a two-armed form with a golden complexion in the area of Navadvipa along the Ganges. He will spread the system of devotional service and the chanting of the names of Krishna, especially in the form of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Another interesting story about the prediction of the appearance of Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga is related in a lengthy conversation between Murari Gupta and Damodara Pandita, two contemporaries of Sri Caitanya. It is found in the Sri Caitanya Mangala, a biography of Sri Caitanya by Srila Locana Dasa Thakura. Among the many things they discuss are the symptoms and difficulties found in the age of Kali, how Lord Krishna appears on earth in this age, His confidential reasons for doing so, and how He revealed to Narada Muni His form as Lord Gauranga that He would accept while appearing on earth in this age. In this form He would distribute love of God to everyone He met by chanting the holy names. This conversation is very enlightening.

Within this conversation they further relate an incident recorded as the Vishnu-Katyayani Samvada of the Padma Purana. This is a conversation between Lord Vishnu and Katyayani (Parvati), Lord Shiva=s wife. The story is that one time the great sage Narada Muni acquired the maha-prasada, personal food remnants, of Lord Narayana, Vishnu, and gave a morsel to his friend Lord Shiva. Shiva tasted it and he began to dance in ecstasy, to the point of disturbing the earth. When he was approached by Parvati about why he was dancing so, he explained what happened. However, she was unhappy and angry that he did not share any with her. Being devoted to Lord Vishnu and concerned for the spiritual well-being of all conditioned souls, she then vowed that if she should get the blessings of Lord Vishnu, she would see to it that the Lord=s maha-prasada was distributed to everyone. Just then Lord Vishnu Himself appeared and conversed with her. He assured her that He would appear in the world as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the age of Kali and would keep her promise and spread His mercy in the form of maha-prasada, food that has been offered to Him, and the chanting of His holy names to everyone, distributing His mercy everywhere.

Another book is the Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa by Sanatana Gosvami. Sanatana lived about 500 years ago in Vrindavana, India and was a great scholar of the Vedic scripture. A portion of the book contains an anthology of an amazing assortment of verses from the Vedic texts which predict the appearance of Lord Caitanya. Besides some of the quotes we have already cited, he includes verses from such texts as the Chandogya Upanishad, Krishna Upanishad, Narada Purana, Kurma Purana, Garuda Purana, Devi Purana, Nrisimha Purana, Padma Purana, Brahma Purana, Agni Purana, Saura Purana, Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana, Markandeya Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, Vishnu Purana, Skanda Purana, Upapuranas, Narayana-Samhita, Krishna-yamala, Brahma-yamala, Vishnu-yamala, Yoga-vasistha, and the Tantras, such as Urdhvamnaya-tantra, Kapila Tantra, Visvasara Tantra, Kularnava Tantra, and others.

These and other predictions confirm the fact that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would appear to specifically propagate the chanting of the holy names. Furthermore, in the Fourth Chapter of the Antya-lila of the Caitanya Bhagavata, which is a biography of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu written by Sri Vrindavan dasa Thakura who is said to be an incarnation of Srila Vyasadeva, Lord Caitanya explains: “I have appeared on earth to propagate the congregational chanting of the holy names of God. In this way I will deliver the sinful material world. Those demons who never before accepted My authority and lordship will weep in joy by chanting My names. I will vigorously distribute devotional service, bhakti, which is sought after even by demigods, sages, and perfected beings, so that even the most abominable sinners will receive it. But those who, intoxicated with education, wealth, family background, and knowledge, criticize and offend My devotees, will be deprived of everything and will never know My true identity.” Then Sri Caitanya specifically states (Antya-lila 4.126): “I declare that My name will be preached in every town and village on this earth.”

This verifies the fact that the chanting of the maha-mantra is the rare and special opportunity given by God for all to be relieved from the problems of the age of Kali and of material life in general. As confirmed in the Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.77-78), it is Sri Krishna Caitanya who inaugurates the congregational chanting of the holy names, which is the most sublime of all spiritual sacrifices. Intelligent people will worship Him through this means, while other foolish people will continue in the cycle of repeated birth and death in this material world.

In another place of the Caitanya-caritamrita (Antya-lila, 20.8-9), Sri Caitanya specifically tells Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya that chanting the holy names is the most practical way to attain salvation from material existence in this age, and anyone who is intelligent and takes up this process of worshiping Krishna will attain the direct shelter of Krishna.

He also strongly opposed the impersonalist philosophy of Shankaracharya and established the principle of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. This specified that the Supreme and the individual soul are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different. This means that the Supreme and the jiva souls are the same in quality, being eternally spiritual, but always separate individually. The jivas are small and subject to being influenced by the material energy, while the Supreme is infinite and always above and beyond the material manifestation.

Sri Caitanya taught that the direct meaning of the Vedic shastras is that the living entities are to engage in devotional service, bhakti, to the Supreme, Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Through this practice there can develop a level of communication between God and the individual by which God will lovingly reveal Himself to those who become qualified. In this understanding the theistic philosophy of Vaishnavism reached its climax.

As previously explained, there is a system of self-realization especially recommended for each age. In the age of Kali, people are not attracted to spiritual pursuits and are often rebellious against anything that seems to restrict or stifle their freedom to do anything they want. Since in this age we are so easily distracted by so many things and our mind is always in a whirl, we need an easy path. Therefore, the Vedic shastra explains that God has given us an easy way to return to Him in this age. It is almost as if He has said, “Since you are My worst son, I give you the easiest process.” The Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila, 3.40) confirms this and says that the Supreme Being descends as Sri Caitanya, with a golden complexion, to simply spread the glories of chanting the holy names, which is the only religious principle in this age of Kali. In this way, God Himself has given the method of chanting His holy names as the most effective means to reach His spiritual abode.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not become much involved in writing. In fact, He only wrote eight verses, but His followers compiled extensive Sanskrit literature that documented His life and fully explained His teachings. For more complete descriptions and elaborations on His life, activities, and philosophy, as written by His close associates, these books that you can order are presently available through various outlets.

[MushiMushi]

Lord Krishna shows His Universal Form

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu

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