One with God (Lectures, BG)

Expressions researched:
"one with Brahman" |"one with God" |"one with Him" |"one with Krishna" |"one with You" |"one with krsna" |"one with the Absolute" |"one with the Lord" |"one with the Paramatma" |"one with the Supersoul" |"one with the Supreme" |"one with the brahma effulgence" |"one with the brahmajyoti" |"one with the cosmic consciousness" |"one with the impersonal Brahman" |"one with the impersonal Brahman" |"one with the purusa" |"one with the spirit whole"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 6, 1972:

Those who are not devotees, they aspire to become Kṛṣṇa. Their aspiration is to merge into the existence of the Supreme, or to become one with Kṛṣṇa. But in devotional service it is not the desire of the devotee to become one with Kṛṣṇa, but sometimes to make Kṛṣṇa as the order-carrier of the devotee. To become one with Kṛṣṇa, it may be a very great position. But to become the, I mean to say, command, commander of Kṛṣṇa, that is another thing. That position is greater than to become one with Kṛṣṇa.

So there are five kinds of liberation. Sāyujya, the first liberation is supposed to be sāyujya, means, to become one with the Supreme. The Māyāvāda philosophers, monists, they aspire after sāyujya-mukti. But the devotees, Vaiṣṇavas, they do not aspire after sāyujya-mukti. Their, for them, there are other, four kinds of mukti: sārūpya, sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya. And those who are still further advanced, they do not want any kind of mukti, neither of these five kinds of muktis.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Now, one thing we must also explain—the liberation, the conception of liberation. So there are different, five kinds of liberation. One of them, liberation, is to become one with the Lord, one with the Supreme. That is called sāyujya-mukti, to merge into the existence of, of the Supreme. That is also another. That is one of the five liberations. That is not the only liberation. That means we all individual beings, we are individual constitutionally.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Now, from God we have become many. Now, suppose I or you want that I don't want to keep myself as one of the many. I want to become one with Him. If you like that, that is called sāyujya-mukti. So God does not deny you. "All right, you merge into Me." But that does not mean all other manies also merge into Him.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

So some of the living beings may merge into the existence of the God. That is called sāyujya-mukti. But there are many millions and millions and billions of... Ananta. They want to keep their existence and enjoy the association of God. That is the difference between jñānī and bhakta. The jñānī's ultimate aim is nirveda-brahmānusandhānam(?). They want to become one with the Supreme. He does not, a jñānī does not want to keep himself separately from the Supreme. He wants into the merging.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Sāyujya-mukti means liberation by becoming one with the Lord.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, November 17, 1972:

You can create one small sputnik, and take credit. But God can create innumerable universes simply by breathing. So your energy, your power, is different from God's power. But in quality, you are one with God.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa says that "At present we are individuals, and in the past we are individuals." Then one may say, "In the future we may become one, amalgamated," as the Māyāvādī philosopher says that as soon as we become liberated, we become one with the Absolute. No, that is not fact. Here it is said, na ca eva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ: "It is not that in future we shall not remain individual. We shall remain individual."

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:

"All" means Kṛṣṇa says, "I, you, and all the other peoples, kings, and soldiers, we shall remain as individual." Then where is oneness? This Māyāvādī theory that after liberation we shall all become one with God, that is not mentioned here. This is bogus theory. Real, that we remain individual.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:

You are also qualitatively one with God. You have got creative power. Just like we are creating this flying machine, sputniks. That is also flying in the sky, and the Paramātmā has created the millions of planets floating in the sky. So you have got the creative power, but you cannot create like that, Paramātmā. That is the difference.

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

The, every living being is trying to lord it over the material nature. That is his disease. He wants to lord it. He's servant, but artificially, he wants to become Lord. That is the disease. Everyone... Ultimately, when he fails to lord it over the material world, he says, "Oh, this material world is false. Now I shall become one with the Supreme." Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. But because the spirit soul is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, so by nature, he is joyful. He is seeking after joy. Every one of us, we are working so hard to find out some pleasure of life.

Lecture on BG 2.46-47 -- New York, March 28, 1966:

We have got eternal relation with the Supreme Soul qualitatively, qualitatively, not quantitatively. We are one with the Supreme qualitatively. Just like a drop of ocean water qualitatively is equal to the mass water in the ocean. The mass water in the ocean is salty, and the drop of ocean water, if you taste it, you'll find it is also salty. So the chemical composition of the water, either in drop or in vast mass, is the same.

Lecture on BG 2.48-49 -- New York, April 1, 1966:

Brāhmaṇa means who knows that "I am not this body; I am the... I am the... I am in spirit, conscious. I am soul, spirit, consciousness," one who knows perfectly well this understanding and the science also, that "I am qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord," ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The Vedic mantra says, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That means "I am Brahman. I am not this matter.

Lecture on BG 2.48-49 -- New York, April 1, 1966:

Brāhmaṇa means who has known that "I am spiritual identity. I am qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. I am the part and parcel of the Lord." This knowledge, one who has developed highly and perfectly, he is called brāhmaṇa. And kṛpaṇa means who has not utilized this human form of body to understand that he is spiritual identity, Brahman, but he simply knows that "I am this body, and because this body is born in a certain place, so I am identified to that country or to that society or to that family."

Lecture on BG 4.1-2 -- Columbus, May 9, 1969:

Thousands and thousands of times Kṛṣṇa appeared on this world, but He remembers everything. And I cannot remember about my childhood. So how can I become one with Kṛṣṇa? These Māyāvādī philosophers, they are declaring that "I am God." How you can? What is your qualification that you become God? God is not so cheap thing. People have taken it that "Everyone can become God. Every one of us God." This is another illusion, another māyā, because we do not know what is God.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:

The energies and the energetic is the same. Śakti-śaktimator abheda. Just like sun and the sunshine, they are the same. There is no difference. But the molecules of the sunshine particles, that is not equal to the sun. These truths we shall always remember. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvāḥ. Therefore these are inconceivable. We are simultaneously one with Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, and at the same time different.

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Bombay, March 25, 1974:

Pure devotee means he has no other desire, no material desire. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, zero.

So what is that? Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). Jñāna and karma and bhakti. Bhakti is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, but jñāna is abhilāṣi..., there is desire for liberation, to become one with the Supreme. So that also should be given up.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Vrndavana, August 3, 1974:

The example is given: just like a green bird enters into the green tree. It does not mean that the bird is mixed. No. The bird is keeping its independence as an individual. But it appears to others, those who do not see properly, that it has merged into the tree. It has actually not merged. And because it does not merge, therefore they fall down. They again come out. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ... Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking, "Now I have become one with the Supreme." But actually, that is a false impression. Māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means actually it is not fact, but he's thinking like that. Vimukta-māninaḥ.

Lecture on BG 4.12 -- Vrndavana, August 4, 1974:

Just like the fire and heat, that is the same quality. In the heat there is warmth, and the fire there is warmth. Still, the heat is not the fire. This is called inconceivable, simultaneously one and different. This is the perfect philosophy. Everything is one with the Supreme, and at the same time it is different. This is perfect philosophy given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lecture on BG 4.13 -- Johannesburg, October 19, 1975:

Equal in quality, not in quantity.

This is perfect understanding of philosophy. This is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, inconceivably one and different simultaneously. We are one with God in quality, but we are different in quantity. This is the understanding. Because we are particle of God, we have got all the qualities. Not all the qualities. They have calculated, big, big saintly persons, we have got seventy-eight percent of the qualities of God in very minute quantity.

Lecture on BG 4.13-14 -- New York, August 1, 1966:

The Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and I am qualitatively one with Him. I am also, although I am small... Just like a particle of the sea water, that is also salty. That is also salty. The taste of a small drop of sea water is the same as the taste of the big, vast, big ocean of the, Atlantic Ocean. So the quality is the same. Similarly, I may be small. I may be a spiritual atom. My position is that I am spiritual atom, and the Supreme Spirit is all, the greatest, but that does not mean I am different from the quality.

Lecture on BG 4.26 -- Bombay, April 15, 1974:

Therefore in the śāstra (it) says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "Those who are thinking that 'Now we have brahma-jñāna, knowledge, and we have become one with Brahman, therefore we are now liberated,' vimukta-māninaḥ, that is not liberation." The liberation is not there because tvayy asta-bhāvāt, because the senses are not yet engaged in the service of the Lord." They do not know the Personality of... Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They cannot be liberated.

Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:

Somebody says, "I am God." I am God in this sense, that God is like me. Just like if you say, "I am American," your president is also American, so exactly you are like president, American. There is no harm. But if say, "I am as powerful as President Nixon," that is not applicable. Similarly, "I am God" means I am qualitatively one with God. It does not mean I am as powerful as God. That does not mean. He is the supreme controller. I have got the controlling capacity or I do control in my limited circle, but He is the supreme controller.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

Prabhupāda: There are some yajñas to be performed by everyone for purification. So a sannyāsī does not require to perform the yajñas. So by stopping that ritualistic performance of yajña, sometimes they think that they are liberated. But actually, unless he comes to the standard platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no question of liberation. Go on.

Devotee: "Actually they are self-interested because their goal is to become one with the impersonal Brahman."

Prabhupāda: Yes. There is demand. The impersonalists, they have got one demand, that to become one with the supreme impersonal being. But a devotee has no demand. He simply engages himself to serve Kṛṣṇa for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

When Prahlāda Mahārāja was asked by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, "My dear boy, you have suffered for me so much, so whatever you want, you ask for it." So he refused. "My dear master, I am not doing mercantile business with you, that I will take some remuneration from you for my service." This is pure devotion. So yogis or the jñānīs, they are demanding that they should become one with the Supreme. Why one with the Supreme? Because they have got bitter experience by the separation of material pangs. But a devotee has no such thing. The devotee remains, although separate from the Lord, he is fully enjoying in the service of the Lord.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 13, 1972:

You cannot go back to home, back to Godhead, by your own speculation. That is not possible. Ciraṁ vicinvan. You can go on speculating to become one with God. That is another thing. But if you actually want to know God and see God, then as Kṛṣṇa says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: (BG 7.14) simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa and māyā will give you no more trouble. You can see Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

To become one with the brahmajyoti means... Just like one bird enters into the green tree. It appears that it has become one. The tree is also green and the bird is also green. So when the bird enters the tree, it appears that the bird is now mixed up. But that is not the fact. The bird keeps his individuality, and at any time, when he wants, he can come out of the tree and fly anywhere.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Vrndavana, August 10, 1974:

Phalgu-vairāgya. Phalgu means false. False. The phalgu, from River Phalgu is... Here, in India, there is a River Phalgu. You'll see that there is no water on the surface of the river. But if you push your hand within the sand, you'll get water. So phalgu-vairāgya means that I am giving up, renouncing everything, superficially, but within me there is a desire how to become God. I am giving up, but I cannot give up this desire. There is big, big philosophy on this point. The... They are trying to become one with God. But a devotee does not try to become one with God or separated from God. They are satisfied. In whatever condition God keeps him, he's satisfied.

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was a friend of Kṛṣṇa. How he conquered? Now, Kṛṣṇa became his driver. The Personality of Godhead, who is the Supreme, everyone's master, He became a menial servant of Arjuna. So God is so lovable, and He reciprocates His love in this way. So you can conquer. Just like Kṛṣṇa became the son of Nanda Mahārāja, and when He was child, He took the shoes of Nanda Mahārāja on His head just like child play. You see? So these are symptoms of conquering God. What you... You are trying to become one with God? Oh, you can become father of God. You can become father of God. God has no father but He accepts His devotee, His lover, "Oh, you are My father."

Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966:

You have to submit. You have to render transcendental loving service. That is the way. Bhaktyā tv ananyayā. Tv ananyayā means without any adulteration. Adulter... What is that adulteration? "Now I love God for some material benefit." That is adulteration. "I love God to become one with Him." That is adulteration. This adulteration in devotional service will not help you. Unadulterated.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

Acyuta means the Supreme Lord who never falls, who never falls down. We are cyuta. Although we are qualitatively one with God, but we have got the tendency of falldown. Therefore we have fallen down in this material world. But Kṛṣṇa does not fall down. When Kṛṣṇa comes, He is not like us. And if you consider Him as one of us, then you must be rascal number one.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 22, 1976:

Modern material civilization means to create wants. That is karmī. So they want. They will never be happy. They want this, that, that, that, that, that. There is no end. And jñānīs, when they are baffled, they want to become one with God, mukti. And yogis, they want to show some magic, the magical power. So the karmīs, jñānīs, yogis—everyone is in want. They cannot be happy. And when you come to the position, "My Lord, I do not want anything. Simply I want to serve You. Give me this opportunity," that is perfection.

Lecture on BG 9.20-22 -- New York, December 6, 1966:

In this age of Kali, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy—this is called Kali—in this age this is the simplest method and direct, direct action. Just like in military art there is a word, "direct action," this is the spiritual direct action, this Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. But because it is very simple, sometimes those who think themselves as very intelligent and advanced, they think, "Oh, what they are doing, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa? We are meditating, we are philosophizing, and we are doing penance and austerities and following the rituals, so many things." So practically, they are, according to Bhagavad-gītā they are not directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, but they have taken different paths as ahaṅgrahopāsanam, thinking himself as one with the Lord, pantheism, thinking everything the symbol of God, and thinking the universal form as the Supreme, in different ways.

Lecture on BG 10.3 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

Nobody can say that we are completely different from God, and nobody can say we are completely one with God. We are both, one and different. These things are to be understood analytically like this, as it is explained here. This is understanding of Kṛṣṇa. If you try to understand Kṛṣṇa and your position in such nice analytical way from authoritative sources, then at once you become free from all sinful activities. This process.

Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:

We are one with Kṛṣṇa in the sense by quality. As Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda, eternal life, blissful life, knowledge, full of knowledge, we are also like that in minute quantity, not like Kṛṣṇa. But there is the same quality. But now we are covered by this material energy. That Kṛṣṇa is never covered. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourselves although the quality is the same.

Lecture on BG 13.22 -- Bombay, October 20, 1973:

Everyone is trying to become God, and the last snare of māyā is that one is claiming that "I am God." When he tries to become big businessman, big zamindar, big minister, big president, or in the society, big rich man, big, big always. And when he fails to become all kinds of "bigs," he wants to become one with God. By mixing, by merging into God, he will be the biggest. That is the philosophy. So basic principle is how to become big. Otherwise... Because unless I become very big, I cannot enjoy.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Sanand, December 26, 1975:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said,

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta

kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma ataeva śānta

(CC Madhya 19.149)

He said that bhukti-kāmī, the material persons who are desiring improvement in this world, in this life, and going to the heavenly planet next life... That is called bhukti. And mukti... Desiring liberation, that is called mukti, and... Or become one with the Supreme Brahman, that is mukti. And siddhi, yogis, they are trying to achieve some success in aṣṭa-siddhi, aṇimā, laghimā. So everyone is desiring. So therefore Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma: "A devotee of Kṛṣṇa is not desirous of anything, either bhukti, mukti, or siddhi." The purport is, so long you desire something, you'll never get peace of mind. And a bhakta does not desire anything. He is satisfied with any position, whatever is offered to him by Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 17.1-3 -- Honolulu, July 4, 1974:

Although we are qualitatively one with God, still, being very small quantity, our power, our knowledge, our understanding—everything is proportionately small. You must first of all understand that, that we are simultaneously one and different. One means qualitatively one. A small particle of gold, you can call it gold, but it is not the gold mine, This is called dvaita-vāda, advaita-vāda. The rascals they think "Because I am gold, I am as good as the gold mine." No, That is not. Gold mine is very big, powerful, immense value. So we should not forget this.

Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "There is no more superior truth beyond Me. I am the Supreme Truth." Paraṁ brahma param... Arjuna understood it. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). This is understanding. This is paramparā understanding. If you want to understand Bhagavad-gītā, if you want to understand Kṛṣṇa, then you have to follow the footprints of the mahājanas. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). As Arjuna understood it. How Arjuna understood it? Paraṁ brahma, "the Supreme Brahman." We are all Brahman. There is no difficulty to understand ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That's all right. But we are not Param Brahman. We are Brahman because part and parcel of Brahman, qualitatively one with Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi.