Five Questions To Tell So Much About God

By krishnasmercy on June 13, 2023 • ( 0 )

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.4)

Download this episode (right click and save)

मया ततम् इदं सर्वं
जगद् अव्यक्त-मूर्तिना
मत्-स्थानि सर्व-भूतानि
न चाहं तेष्व् अवस्थितः

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ
jagad avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni
na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says that no one else can tell so much about God. The information flowing from the descending process, with the source of the Supreme One, is as complete as one can imagine. The knowledge reaches the limits of the capacity of the human mind.

Specifically within the bhakti tradition, which directs prayers and offerings towards God the person, there is the ability to answer questions that otherwise remain a mystery. From asking a few basic questions we open the doors to a whole new world of understanding. It is this understanding for which every person longs but may not be fortunate enough to reach.

1. Is there a God?

The answer is resoundingly and emphatically in the affirmative. If you have to ask, it means that there is something missing. As long as we are not satya-sankalpa, we are inferior. In fact, whatever we think we are doing, whatever we think we are responsible for, whatever impact we think we are making, actually requires the cooperation of higher forces.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

In the most basic understanding, God is the Supreme Being. His desires come true as soon as He thinks of them. He can make anything happen. He gives life to the lifeless, which is dull matter. He takes life away from that which is otherwise full of life. This is evident in the transformation known as death.

2. What is my relationship to Him?

We are like Him in quality. We are made in His image. This is why we have some autonomy, some freedom of motion, some ability to influence outcomes, and the gift of discernment and sound judgment. We are superior to the material energy; we are the life force manipulating that which is otherwise lifeless.

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः।
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति।।

mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ।
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati।।

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.7)

At the same time, we struggle. We follow the dictates of the senses. Deep down, we know it should be the other way around, that we should have some control, but the struggle is still there. God is different from us in this way. He is never under the control of any external force.

3. Will He ever forget about me?

There is the relationship based on scientific qualities. We are simultaneously one with and different from God. There is also the relationship based on disposition. The Supreme Lord actually never leaves us. When we forget about Him, when we fall into the illusion of maya, we think that He is either far away or nonexistent.

He actually never forgets us. We only forget Him. We think that we can rise to the highest stature, dominate the world, and have complete power, but that delusion has no bearing on the relationship. The option to return to His shelter is always there. The doors are never closed to eternal life in transcendence.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

4. What does He look like?

As He is not limited to a single name or classification, God can appear differently depending on the nature of the interaction. To those who cannot conceive of a being distinct and superior to all others, there is the interaction through an impersonal feature. If we can see the entire universe, we can see God. If we can see the entire collective, taking every fragment from the micro perspective and gathering them into a single abstract, that is one way of seeing God.

This feature is known as the avyakta-murtina. It is unmanifest, but a murti, all the same. It is still worshipable. All beings are in Him, but He is not in them. God is not a component of any object’s existence. Rather, everything already exists in Him.

When we go beyond the impersonal, we have various transcendental forms upon which to gaze. These are known as saguna, for the purposes of our understanding. There are distinguishable features. As Krishna, the Supreme Lord is a beautiful, two-handed youth who carries a flute and always enjoys, without a care in the world.

5. Where does He live?

The avyakta-murtina is everywhere. This means that we can see God anywhere. In the tree. In the horizon. In the rainfall. In the birth of a newborn child. In the departure of an elderly and respected member of the family.

The personal form, which is non-different from the avyakta-murtina, resides in the spiritual world known as Vaikuntha. This place is free of anxieties. A liberated soul can physically travel there. They can also create a replica environment wherever they are, through their devotion, always describing the glories and singing the auspicious names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.