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Impersonalism - the dreaded philosophy

July 25, 2010  |  Category: News

impersonalism           “Brahmana is the energy feature of the Supreme, its also called the Brahmajyoti. Above this is the Paramatma(Supersoul) feature and highest is the Bhagavan(Supreme personality of Godhead) feature”. Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.11)
           As above mentioned actually impersonalism i.e; Supreme is not a person but is only energy is the partial understanding of the absolute but the less intelligent seekers of either of the schools unnecessarily waste their time by arguing over which one is the best. Which one is best is clear if one scrutinisingly studies the Krishna conscious literatures.
           The biggest loophole in this understanding is that in fact there is no possibility of the existence of the energy separate from the energetic which they don’t accept. We see this in our day today experience; how can one imagine the existence of the Sunlight without the Sun. When one is sleeping in a room and when one sees sunlight in the window one immediately realises that the Sun has arisen and one gets up. Therefore, even a child can understand that this is ridiculous, its actually insane to even imagine this.
Danger of this philosophy is stated in Bhagavad gita 12.5:
           “For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied”.
The danger is 2 pronged: (i) As a living entity is embodied since time immemorial it is very difficult (klesa) for one to think of and focus on the nonperceptual, impersonal and unmanifested feature of the Supreme. So the processes of jyana-yoga are full of difficulties for one who is on the beginning stages of the process – one also has to understand the language of the Upanishads which is very difficult.

(ii) The other danger is that if one somehow succeeds in this process then one might achieve the eternal and knowledgeable feature of one’s existence but the blissful nature would be missing. By the grace of some devotee, such a transcendentalist, highly learned in the process of jyana-yoga, may come to the point of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. At that time, long practice in impersonalism also becomes a source of trouble, because he cannot give up the idea. Therefore an embodied soul is always in difficulty with the unmanifest, both at the time of practice and at the time of realization. Every living soul is partially independent, and one should know for certain that this unmanifested realization is against the nature of his spiritual blissful self. One should not take up this process. For every individual living entity the process of Krishna consciousness, which entails full engagement in devotional service, is the best way. If one wants to ignore this devotional service, there is the danger of turning to atheism.

           Thus the process of centering attention on the unmanifested, the inconceivable, which is beyond the approach of the senses, as already expressed in this verse, should never be encouraged at any time, especially in this age. It is not advised by Lord Krsna.


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