Teachings of Lord Caitanya 1975 Chapter 20 - The Goal of Vedanta Study: Difference between revisions
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Pages in category "Teachings of Lord Caitanya 1975 Chapter 20 - The Goal of Vedanta Study"
The following 130 pages are in this category, out of 130 total.
A
- Actually the body is not the living entity, but the doctrine of transformation accepts the body as the living entity. Every conditioned soul is undoubtedly contaminated by this doctrine of transformation
- Actually the example of the rope and the snake is not completely irregular. When we accept a rope to be a snake, it is to be understood that we have experienced a snake previously. Otherwise, how can the rope be mistaken for a snake?
- All material nature is divided into these eight elements (five gross elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether and three subtle elements: mind, intelligence and false ego) which together comprise the inferior nature, or energy, of the Lord
- 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 He (omkara) has no material form, He is unlimitedly expanded, and He has unlimited form. By understanding omkara one can become free from the duality of the material world and attain absolute knowledge
- Although Sankara was attempting to cover the Supreme Lord by his Mayavadi philosophy, he was simply following the order of the Supreme Lord. It should be understood that his teachings were a timely necessity but not a permanent fact
- Although the living entity's mind, intelligence & identity are beyond the range of this material world, when he enters into material world due to his desire to dominate matter, his original mind, intelligence & body become covered by the material energy
- Another name for this inferior nature is maya, or illusion. Beyond these 8 inferior elements (5 gross elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether and 3 subtle elements: mind, intelligence and ego) there is a superior energy, which is called para-prakrti
- Any representational incarnation of the Supreme Lord is nondifferent from Him. Such an incarnation or representation is as good spiritually as the Supreme Lord
- As far as the manifestation of the supreme energy is concerned, there is no question of transformation
- As far as the omkara pranava is concerned, it is considered to be the sound incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As such, omkara is eternal, unlimited, transcendental, supreme and indestructible
- As Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita: "Amongst vibrations, I am the syllable om." (BG 9.17) This means that omkara is nondifferent from Krsna
- As mentioned in the Mandukya Upanisad, the rope for a snake and the oyster for gold examples have their different applications and can be understood as follows
- At the present moment a person may consider himself to be matter, but in his liberated state he will understand that he is not matter but spirit soul, part of the infinite
B
- Because Lord Visnu is in no way touched by matter, He is not subject to enjoy material nature the way the living entities do
- Because such vibrations of transcendental sound (Omkara or Hare Krsna) can deliver a conditioned soul, they are known as tara, or deliverers
- Because the Absolute Truth has such inconceivable energies, the material quality of ignorance cannot pertain to Him
- Because the living entities are infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme, there is a reciprocation of feelings between the infinite and the infinitesimal
- Because the living entity is eternally part & parcel of God, when he is liberated, he revives his original, eternal, part-and-parcel identity. The realization of aham brahmasmi (I am not this body) does not mean that the living entity loses his identity
- Because the living entity is infinitesimal, he is covered by an inferior energy
- By accepting such a secondary word (tat tvam asi) and leaving aside the principal vibration (omkara), he (Sankara) has given up a direct interpretation of the scripture in favor of his own indirect interpretation
- By the letter O, Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is indicated; by the letter U, Krsna's eternal consort Srimati Radharani is indicated; and by the letter M, the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord, the living entity, is indicated
- By vibrating the sound of omkara, or of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one can be delivered from the contamination of this material world
D
- Despite being a material product, if the sun can maintain its original temperature & yet produce so many byproducts, is it difficult for the Supreme Absolute Truth to remain unchanged in spite of producing so many by-products by His inconceivable energy?
- Despite the fact that unlimited energy is always being generated, the Supreme Absolute Truth remains always the same. He is not affected by the emanation of unlimited energies. Sankaracarya has therefore incorrectly established his theory of illusion
- Due to such a false interpretation, omkara comes to be considered something material, and consequently omkara is misunderstood and praised as being simply an exhibition or symbol of the Lord
- Due to the infinite desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is existence in the spiritual world, and due to the infinitesimal desires of the living entity, there is existence in the material world
F
- Foolish mental speculators think that after liberation one's identity is lost, but that is not so
- For the Supreme Absolute Truth, there is no change. It is simply that a by-product results from His inconceivable powers of action. In other words, a relative truth is produced out of the Supreme Truth
- From Vedic literatures we understand that the Absolute Truth has varieties of energy and that the living entities and the cosmic manifestation are but a demonstration of His energies
H
- Had there been no infinitesimal living entities, the Supreme Lord would have been inactive, and there would not be variegatedness in spiritual life
- He (omkara) is the beginning, middle and end, and He is beginningless as well. When one understands omkara as such, he becomes immortal. One should thus know omkara as a representation of the Supreme situated in everyone's heart
- How can there be meaning to the word "lord" if there is no one to overlord? The conclusion is that the living entities are considered to be expansions of the energy of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the energetic
I
- If He (the Absolute Truth) were alone, how could He have produced or generated the infinitesimal living entities?
- If the Absolute Truth can possibly be covered by ignorance, how can it be said to be Absolute?
- If the jivas are artificially placed on the same level with the infinite Supreme - for both of them are Brahman, or spirit - bewilderment will certainly be the result
- If we study the living entities in the cosmic manifestation, it will appear that they are not different from the original Absolute Truth
- Ignorance and knowledge are conceptions in this world of duality, but in the Absolute there is no duality. It is simply foolishness to consider that the Absolute is covered by ignorance
- Impersonalists, however, give more importance to omkara than to the Personality of Godhead, Krsna
- In all Vedic literatures, including Bhagavad-gita and Visnu Purana, much evidence is given to distinguish between the energy and the energetic
- In Bhagavad-gita (BG 7.4) it is clearly stated that earth, water, fire, air and ether are the five principal gross elements of the material world and that mind, intelligence and false ego are the three subtle elements
- In Bhagavad-gita the Lord has in many places given importance to omkara, (BG 8.13), (BG 9.17), (BG 17.24). Similarly, omkara is given importance in the Atharva Veda and the Mandukya Upanisad
- In his Bhagavat-sandarbha, Srila Jiva Gosvami says: Omkara is the most confidential sound representation of the Supreme Lord
- In spite of producing unlimited quantities of gold, the touchstone remains the same. We therefore hear some sages say that the Supreme is the ingredient or cause of this cosmic manifestation
- In Srimad-Bhagavatam there are statements to the effect that the supreme atma, the Lord, has inconceivable and innumerable potencies
- In the Mandukya Upanisad it is said that when omkara is chanted, whatever is seen as material is seen perfectly as spiritual
- In the spiritual world or in spiritual vision there is nothing but omkara, or the one alternate, om. Unfortunately, Sankara has abandoned this chief word, omkara, and has whimsically accepted tat tvam asi as the supreme vibration of the Vedas
- In the Supreme Absolute Truth there is every possible inconceivable energy existing
- In the Svetasvatara Upanisad it is stated that the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead is full of inconceivable energies and that no one else possesses such energies
- In the Taittiriya Upanisad it is clearly stated, yato va imani bhutani jayante: The Absolute Truth is the original reservoir of all ingredients, and this material world and its living entities are produced from those ingredients
- In the Vedanta-sutra the distinction between the energy and the energetic is accepted from the very beginning. In that Vedanta-sutra the first aphorism (SB 1.1.1) clearly explains that the Supreme Absolute Truth is the origin or source of all emanations
- In Vedic literatures there is information of a material product called "touchstone" which simply by touch can transform iron into gold. The touchstone can produce an unlimited quantity of gold and yet remain the same
- Interpreting the verses of Vedanta-sutra according to one's own whim is the greatest disservice to the self-evident Vedas
- It is called avidya, or ignorance, because under the spell of this material energy one forgets his actual position and his relationship with the Supreme Lord
- It is concluded that Lord Krsna, or Visnu, is not of this material world. He belongs to the spiritual world. One who considers Him to be a material demigod is a great offender and blasphemer
- It is doubtlessly essential for the infinite to have infinitesimal portions which are inseparable parts and parcels of the supreme soul
- It is offensive to attempt to qualify the infinite as being subject to the spell of ignorance
- It is stated in Brahma-samhita (5.5) that the Supreme Spirit has many variegated and inconceivable energies. Nor should one think that there is any possibility of ignorance existing in the Absolute Truth
- It is the conclusion of Vaisnava philosophy that this cosmic manifestation is a by-product of the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord
O
- Omkara is as good as any other incarnation of the Supreme Lord
- Omkara is the most auspicious representation of the Supreme Lord. Such is the description given by Mandukya Upanisad
- Omkara is the reservoir of all the energies of the Supreme Lord. Sankara is wrong in maintaining that the words tat tvam asi are the supreme vibrations of the Vedas, for tat tvam asi are secondary words. tat tvam asi suggests only partial representation
- Omkara is the ultimate representation of all the Vedas. Indeed, the Vedic mantras or hymns have transcendental value because they are prefixed by the syllable om
- Once we accept the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord, we will find that there is no duality at all. The expansion of the energy of the Supreme Lord is as true as the Supreme Lord
- One should not foolishly interpret an Upanisadic description and say that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead "cannot" appear Himself in this material world in His own form, He sends His sound representation (omkara) instead
- One who understands omkara and Visnu as being one and the same and all-pervading never laments in the material world, nor does he remain a sudra
- Only in the state of ignorance can one accept the Mayavadi conclusion that this cosmic manifestation & the living entities are false or illusory. No sane man would impose ignorance & illusion upon the Supreme Absolute Truth, who is absolute in everything
S
- Sankara has falsely argued that if the transformation of energy is accepted, the Supreme Absolute Truth cannot remain immutable. But this is not true
- Sankara has not given such importance to the omkara. However, importance is given in the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Puranas and in the Mahabharata from beginning to end. Thus the glories of the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are declared
- Sankaracarya gives the example of a rope being mistaken for a snake, and sometimes the example of mistaking an oyster shell for gold is cited, but surely such arguments are ways of cheating
- Since neither Visnu nor the living entity are of the material creation, someone may inquire, Why were the small particles of spirit created at all?
- Sripada Sankaracarya has unceremoniously obscured the Krsna consciousness described in the purusa-vedanta-sutra by manufacturing an indirect interpretation and abandoning the direct interpretation
T
- That the sound vibration of the Supreme Lord is identical with the Supreme Lord is a fact. This is confirmed in the Narada-pancaratra
- The conception of a snake is not untrue or unreal in itself. It is the false identity that is untrue or unreal
- The conclusion is that the living entities represent one of the energies of the Supreme Lord, and as infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme, they are called jivas
- The conditional state of the living entity is his diseased condition. Originally the living entity and the original cause of this cosmic manifestation exist outside the state of transformation
- The creative function of the living entity is properly manifested in the liberated state. If the living entity's activities are manifest even when he is materially conditioned, then how is it possible for his activities to stop when he attains liberation
- The emanations are the energy of the Supreme, whereas the Supreme Himself is the energetic
- The energies are not separate from the energetic; therefore the living entity and cosmic manifestation are inseparable truths, part of the Absolute Truth. Such a conclusion should be acceptable to any sane man
- The energy of the Supreme Lord is divided into three: para, ksetrajna and avidya
- The foolishness and ignorance of the Mayavadis are revealed when they try to explain how it is the infinite is covered by ignorance
- The greatest blasphemy is to consider Visnu and the living entity on the same level
- The infinite portion is the Visnu-tattva, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the infinitesimal portion is the living entity
- The infinitesimal living entities are emanations from the original infinite spirit. In their constitutional position as infinitesimal spirits, there is no trace of matter
- The infinitesimal living entities are not the enjoyers of Visnu, but they are enjoyed by Visnu. Only the greatest offender thinks that Visnu is enjoyed
- The living entities are factually beyond this covered inferior energy. They have their pure spiritual existence and their pure identity, as well as their pure mental activities. All of them are beyond the manifestation of this material cosmos
- The living entities are not as great as Narayana, Visnu, who is beyond this material creation. Even Sankaracarya accepts Narayana to be beyond the material creation
- The living entities cannot attain knowledge of Visnu by enjoying their habits of mental speculation
- The living entities enter into the supreme existence when they are liberated, and they do not change their original constitutional position
- 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 entity in his original constitutional position is pure spirit
- The living entity's entering the state of liberation may be compared to a bird entering a tree, or an animal entering the forest, or a plane entering the sky. In no case is identity lost
- The Lord has innumerable incarnations, and omkara is one of them
- The material cosmic manifestation is a product of that covered maya-sakti
- The para energy is actually the energy of the Supreme Lord Himself; the ksetrajna energy is the living entity; and the avidya energy is the material world, or maya
- The principal word in the Vedas, pranava omkara, is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. Therefore omkara should be considered the supreme sound. However, Sankaracarya has falsely preached that tat tvam asi are the supreme vibrations
- The sound representation or name of the Supreme Lord is as good as the Supreme Lord Himself
- The sun has been producing unlimited energy from time immemorial, and so many by-products result from the sun; yet there is no change in the heat and temperature of the sun itself
- The Supreme Absolute Truth has His inconceivable potency, out of which this cosmos has been manifested. In other words, the Supreme Absolute Truth is the ingredient, and the living entity and cosmic manifestation are the by-products
- The Supreme Absolute Truth is complete in His perfection when He is both infinite and infinitesimal. If He is simply infinite and is not infinitesimal, He is not perfect
- The Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is compared to a blazing fire, and the innumerable living entities are compared to sparks emanating from that fire
- The Supreme Lord is the Absolute Truth, the energetic, and as such He has His energies. When His energy is not properly manifested, or when it is covered by some shadow, it is called maya-sakti
- The true variegatedness which exists in the Absolute Truth is a product of His inconceivable energy. Indeed, it can be safely concluded that this cosmic manifestation is but a by-product of His inconceivable energies
- The Vedas state that everything is generated from the Absolute Truth, everything is maintained by the Absolute Truth, and, after annihilation, everything enters into the Absolute Truth
- There is no difference between the body and soul of the Supreme Lord Visnu, although in the material world there is always a difference between the body and the soul
- There is no meaning to a king if there are no subjects, and there is no meaning to the Supreme God if there are no infinitesimal living entities
- There is no need to ask, therefore, why God created the infinitesimal portions; they are simply the complementary side of the Supreme
- There is no possibility of change, ignorance or illusion being in Him. The Supreme Brahman is transcendental and completely different from all material conceptions
- There is no question of transformation as far as the Supreme Absolute Truth is concerned
- They (the Mayavadi philosophers) simply say, "It is due to ignorance," but they cannot explain why the living entities are covered by ignorance if they are supreme
- Things material are enjoyed by the living entities because the living entities are superior, whereas material nature is of inferior quality. Thus the superior quality, the living entities, can enjoy the inferior quality, matter
- This cosmic manifestation is not false, as Sankaracarya maintains. Actually there is nothing false here. The Mayavadis say that this world is false because of their ignorance
- To become Krsna conscious or spiritually conscious and to engage in the transcendental loving service of Krsna are signs of the liberated stage
U
- Understanding the inconceivability of the Absolute is the only solution to the question of duality. This is because duality arises from the inconceivable energy of the Absolute
- Unintelligent persons cannot grasp how the cosmic manifestation and the living entity are simultaneously one and different from the Absolute Truth. Not understanding this, one concludes that this cosmic manifestation and the living entity are false
- Unless we take all the statements of Vedanta-sutra as self-evident, there is no point in studying Vedanta-sutra
W
- We must always remember that the Supreme Lord has His creative function and that the infinitesimal living entities have their creative functions also. It is not that their creative function is lost when they are liberated and enter into the Supreme
- When a chair is produced out of wood, it is said that a by-product is produced. The Supreme Absolute Truth is immutable, & when we find a by-product - the living entity or this cosmic manifestation - it is a transformation, or a by-product of the Supreme
- When a human being identifies himself with the material body, he may be said to be mistaking a rope for a snake, or an oyster shell for gold. The doctrine of transformation is accepted when one thing is mistaken for another
- When explaining the first aphorism of the Vedanta-sutra, Sankara most unceremoniously tried to explain that Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is impersonal. He also cunningly tried to switch the doctrine of by-product into the doctrine of change
- When the infinitesimal living entities are engaged in their infinitesimal desires for material enjoyment, they are called jiva-sakti, but when they are dovetailed with the infinite, they are called liberated souls
- When the living entity is uncovered from these material or inferior energies, he is called liberated. When he is liberated, he has no false ego, but his real ego again comes into existence
- When we accept a mirage to be water in the desert, there is no question of water being a false concept. Water is a fact, but it is a mistake to think that there is water in the desert
- When we find a by-product - the living entity or this cosmic manifestation - it is a transformation, or a by-product of the Supreme. It is like milk being transformed into yogurt
- When, by mistake, we consider the rope to be a snake, that is our ignorance. But the very idea of a snake is not in itself ignorance