absolute has no variety
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Imported quote 18046 So the Absolute Truth is not without varieties. That is spiritual variety. That is not material variety. But the Mayavadis, they think that... Because they are seeing the Absolute Truth from distant place, far away, they think that in the Absolute Truth there is no variety. As soon as there are varieties, it is material. That is their misunderstanding. No. The Absolute Truth is described in the Brahma-samhita:
(More...) The background for understanding liberation starts with gaining true identity of the self. In the beginning stages it expresses itself in the desire to be One with the Spirit. This is called Brahman realization. If someone is actually realized in Brahman that is a great thing. It is called Brahma-bhuta stage, and it is characterized by joyfulness. The joyfulness is due to understanding that, "I am not this body." This is carefully described by Lord Krsna in the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. The living entity is there declared to be spirit-soul, or Brahman. In the Third Chapter Lord Krsna reveals that for full realization of Brahman, you have to work in Brahman. Bhagavad-gita (3.5) says, "Nobody can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment." And in his Purport to that verse, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami writes, "This is not a question of embodied life; it is the nature of the soul to be always active. The proof is that without the presence of the spiritual soul there is no movement of the material body. The body is only a dead vehicle to be worked by the spirit soul and therefore it is the nature of the soul itself to be always active, and cannot stop even for a moment. The spirit soul has to be engaged in the good work of Krsna consciousness, otherwise it will be engaged in occupations dictated by the illusory energy." When one realizes "I am Brahman," that means he has no death, just like Krsna, the Supreme Brahman. This is a joyful position, "I am not this perishable body, that is not my self, I am spirit soul." That is all well and good, but then, what do I do? It is not that the liberated state is without activities. This question was asked by Sanatana Gosvami, the learned disciple of Lord Caitanya: "You have said that I am already liberated, now what are my duties in the liberated state?" The impersonalists, however, do not like to take up the devotional service path; they are simply desirous of merging into the One, described as the Brahma-jyoti effulgence. That destination is explained in the Gita. Brahma-jyoti is not material, it is the spiritual effulgence coming from the Body of Sri Krsna; it is eternal spiritual light. This light illumines the spiritual world and the naturally dark material world is lit by its reflection. And to merge in this light is the goal of the impersonal liberation. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, who is a fully realized devotee of the Personality of Godhead, states the disadvantages of aiming at the Brahma-jyoti as the topmost goal: "In the Brahma-jyoti the spirit souls on account of their impersonal views are devoid of a body, exactly as here in maya there are ghosts who are devoid of any gross bodies. The ghost, being devoid of a body, suffers terribly because he is unable to satisfy his senses. The spirit souls in the Brahma-jyoti, although they have no desire for sense gratification, feel inconvenience like the ghost; and they fall down again in maya's atmosphere and develop a material body. In the Bhagavatam therefore it is said that that intelligence of persons who are impersonalists and do not develop the dormant devotional attitude is not pure; because for want of a spiritual body, they come down again to the material world. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said by the Lord that the only way of not coming back to the material world is to be promoted to the spiritual planets. For the impersonalists there is no such assurance of not falling down in the whole Vedic literature. The conclusion is that without developing the spiritual body and without being situated on one of the spiritual planets, the so-called liberation is also illusion, or it is not complete. A spirit-soul who falls down from the Brahma-jyoti to the kingdom of maya may have a chance of associating with a pure devotee, and then he may be elevated to the spiritual planets of Vaikuntha or to the Goloka Vrndavana. From the Brahma-jyoti there is no direct promotion to the spiritual planets."
(More...) Imported quote 19120 The Personality of Godhead being full with all conceivable and inconceivable potencies, He is the Absolute Supreme Whole. And in the essence of such complete potencies in Brahman, impersonal Brahman is partial manifestation of the Absolute Truth. The first letter of the word 'Bhagawan' is 'Bha' which means sustainer and protector. The next letter 'Ga' means leader, pusher and creator. And 'Ba' [van] means dwelling. All living being dwells in the Supreme Lord and the Supreme Lord resides in every living being's heart. Combining all these three the word 'Bhagawan' carries an import of inconceivable potencies in knowledge, strength, energy, opulence, power and influence devoid of all varieties of inferior complex. Nobody can be sustainer and protector in full without such inconceivable potencies without deficiency. The Russian satellite is sustained by so many scientific arrangement completed by so many scientific brains. Can we imagine what gigantic brain and power is required to sustain in gravity unlimited planets and satellite in the unlimited space? After the Russian satellite, we can not bluff away people in general that there is no gigantic brain behind all these arrangement of planetary system. There is no reason to believe that all these gigantic planets are floating without such arrangement. In the same [way] the potency of the Supreme Lord can be explained in terms of the letters 'Ga' and 'Ba' mentioned above. So far protection is concerned everything is protected as much as sustained by the different potential agents of the Lord but He Himself in Person sustains and protects His devotees as much as a King takes personal attention of his children while the state affairs are generally managed by deputed agents. He is the leader of the devotees as we have known it from the Bhagwat Geeta. He personally instructs His devotees to make progress in the path of attaining the kingdom of God.* And on the other hand He is Himself the recipient of all adorations offered by His devotees. He is Himself the objective and goal. And so far the creatorship is concerned, He creates a favourable condition for developing the transcendental love of Godhead. Sometimes He creates a favourable condition of the devotee by snatching away all material things of attraction so that a devotee may seek His shelter only baffled in all other direction. He is therefore the leader of the devotees. Although He is unattached to the business of creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world and He is Himself eternally busy in enjoyment of transcendental bliss amongst His internal parapharnalia, yet as the initiator of His material Energy or the material Nature as well as of the living beings He expands Himself as the Purusha Avataras infested[?] with similar potencies. The Purusha Avatars are also Bhagwan identical with the original Bhagwan like the original lamp is identical with subsequent lamps. The living entities are His minute particles and qualitatively equal. They are sent into this material world for material enjoyment in order to fulfill such independent desire and to manage such affairs of such material enjoyment He deputes Himself in state of companion Super Soul to witness and manage such affairs. The example of temporary mela is quite appropriate in this connection. The citizens of a state assembles in a fair for enjoyment and to manage their affairs a special officer is deputed by the government, such officer is empowered with all governmental power and He is identical with the government. The Paramatma feature is exactly like that of an mela officer. When the mela is finished there is no need of the officer and he returns to his original abode.
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