Two Insights Into The Person Who Configured Seeds

“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.4)

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सर्व-योनिषु कौन्तेय
मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः
तासां ब्रह्म महद् योनिर्
अहं बीज-प्रदः पिता

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir
ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

Two friends are seated together in a car. Someone else is driving. The two friends are in the back. They observe the lush greenery that flashes by the window, in the constantly changing view. The scenery is beautiful and a stark difference from how the landscape looked but a few short weeks ago.

One friend remarks that the regeneration process is amazing. The leaves know exactly when to appear. Though they previously fell to the ground, changing color and all, that was coordinated with the weather. It is as if the branches knew the leaves had no chance of surviving during the winter.

Now, the same tree has leaves again. Different ones, but in appearance almost identical. Someone must have configured that. To say that there is no God is foolish. To believe that something so precise, so accurate, and with so much intelligence came about through chance or randomness is by itself contradictory. An expected result, which has intrinsic properties that can be studied and grouped together to form something known as a science, cannot occur from the lack of intelligence.

The second friend agrees and decides to up the appreciation. They remark that it is more amazing how the entire structure took shape from a small seed. The intelligence must have been programmed into it, like a flash card holding an executable with its necessary runtime libraries and data files. This seed is always perfect in its configuration. There is no outside intervention necessary.

Moreover, seeds that look identical will always only produce the result they are previously configured with. The pit of the avocado has the intelligence to extract elements from material nature for producing a tree that yields avocadoes. The tomato seed will only produce plants that yield tomatoes. There is not much difference to these seeds, but just notice the intelligence required. Not only does this prove there is a God, but that highest being of all must also be the most intelligent.

The two friends are in agreement on these observations, but the disagreement begins when trying to identify the person who configured the seeds. The two friends have completely different points of view, based on how they were raised, the tradition of spiritual life they follow, and the books they have studied.

1. He is an old, angry man

“The person who configured those seeds lives in the heavenly realm. He is obviously old. No one is older than Him. He is also vengeful. You have to give your life over to Him. Otherwise, you are doomed. This is your only chance. If you fail to profess your faith, if you do not believe in Him, there is nothing good you can expect in the afterlife. You will have no opportunity for rectification. This is your one and only opportunity.

“You must profess your faith in front of others. You officially convert to this religion. Once you do that, after being born again, we are free to talk further about this person who configured the seeds to grow trees that produce fruits. We will be on the same team. It is so easy. Why would you want to continue in a life of sin?”

2. He is nava-yauvanam, living in the realm described as Vaikuntha

“The person who configured the seeds is the kindest and the most merciful of all. He is free of the defects of birth, old age, disease, and death. He can surely be angry whenever He desires, but He otherwise has no reason to be. He is satya-sankalpa, which means that any desire can become true when He chooses.

“If you are looking for a specific picture of Him, know that He is nava-yauvanam. This refers to someone who has just entered the teenage years. The Supreme Lord never ages beyond this, if you want to make a comparison in terms of time and its impact on the human body.

“This is but one insight into His nature. There are other ways to view Him. In fact, our discussion about the seeds is something like an impersonal way. We are still worshiping God. We are still connecting with Him. As far as fear of punishment in hell, the suffering begins from the time of birth. Every person is already suffering. You do not need to frighten me about a future hellish condition when nothing can be worse than the guaranteed separation from friends and family. We form attachments that, by rule, eventually become detached from us.

“I contend that worshiping the person who lives in Vaikuntha, which is a place free of anxieties, should have immediate benefits. We should feel a difference right away. After all, since God is Absolute, thinking of Him is just as good as being with Him. If we are by His side through thinking of Him, the question of the afterlife, of up and down, goes away. Do you see what I mean? The Sanskrit words are guna and dosha. They have no meaning anymore if you understand God in truth.”

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

…

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada repeatedly emphasizes that there can only be one God. Though there may be different implementations in the systematic way of understanding Him, the target is always at the same place. It is like different people travelling through a maze. They may be at different points along the way, with varying degrees of progress, but the destination is a single location.

To say that one person will suffer a hellish existence for eternity because their understanding of God is a certain way is foolish. Especially if that understanding incorporates the science of the material nature itself, with its twenty-four elements, the difference between matter and spirit, the influence of fruitive activity, and the way time brings about the guaranteed and appropriate changes, then any other understanding would have to be considered subordinate.

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते
तांस् तथैव भजाम्य् अहम्
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते
मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

“All of them – as they surrender unto Me – I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.11)

As they follow Him, they are rewarded. This is the principle revealed in Bhagavad-gita. Everyone is always connected. Even the staunchest nonbeliever is essentially connecting with Divinity through their obstinance. The distinction with genuine spiritual life is that it brings the most complete understanding possible, and so the reward commensurate with that understanding is also complete, free of defects.

In Closing:

As the maker of the seed,
Life from there to proceed.

The two friends can agree,
But different religions to see.

One that mean and old saying,
Another as teenager displaying.

Test from how devotion to grow,
Whether closer towards Him to go.