Metaphysical
concept of God in Hinduism (is God Impersonal or Personal?)
Gods general ultimate form/nature is formless pure consciousness (Nirakar Nirguna/without form/Impersonal) but it can manifests into divine form (Sakar Saugna/with form/personal). God has the ability to manifest into any kind of form and shape. If someone says that God cannot have the Ability to have a form then it is contradictory to his own attributes. Nothing is said to be impossible for God. It is very necessary to acknowledge that the Brahman “itself”, “Whatever it is” is in unmanifest state & beyond imagination but as it gets covered/concealed in Prakriti (Prakriti is material energy of Brahman e.g. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, five senses, mind, & intelligence) it appears to be manifested as personal form. Here at the above place, the meaning of manifestation is taken in sense of that which appears to have taken form/symbolic and but it is unreal from an absolute perspective and empirical reality from the human perspective. Unmanifest absolute Brahman is analogues to the infinite source of unmanifest electric energy while its personal Sakar form is analogues to the lightened bulb. When unmanifest electric energy is supplied to filament enclosed in glass bulb it appears in the form of light. In the same way, the unmanifest Brahman when gets covered/embodied in Prakriti it appears to have taken form. The Formless Brahman is analogues to Air or water & its personal form is analogues to balloon filled with air or water. Air and water both are formless but when they are contained in a transparent balloon then they appear to have taken form but that does not mean that Air and Water both elements have lost its properties of being formless. In the same way, the formless Brahman when it resides and pervades the Body made up of material and mental elements from within universe it appears to have taken form but in reality, it does not lose its formless nature. The God with Form (limited consciousness of mind) is unified with Formless God (unlimited consciousness of Brahman). Vedas mostly describe Nirakar Nirguna Brahman which is formless, omnipresent, eternal consciousness. Vedas mention Supreme God as Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma of Trinity). [Take a note that Brahman is not any kind of energy but it is pure consciousness of space. Example of electric energy is only for understanding purpose.]
Gods general ultimate form/nature is formless pure consciousness (Nirakar Nirguna/without form/Impersonal) but it can manifests into divine form (Sakar Saugna/with form/personal). God has the ability to manifest into any kind of form and shape. If someone says that God cannot have the Ability to have a form then it is contradictory to his own attributes. Nothing is said to be impossible for God. It is very necessary to acknowledge that the Brahman “itself”, “Whatever it is” is in unmanifest state & beyond imagination but as it gets covered/concealed in Prakriti (Prakriti is material energy of Brahman e.g. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, five senses, mind, & intelligence) it appears to be manifested as personal form. Here at the above place, the meaning of manifestation is taken in sense of that which appears to have taken form/symbolic and but it is unreal from an absolute perspective and empirical reality from the human perspective. Unmanifest absolute Brahman is analogues to the infinite source of unmanifest electric energy while its personal Sakar form is analogues to the lightened bulb. When unmanifest electric energy is supplied to filament enclosed in glass bulb it appears in the form of light. In the same way, the unmanifest Brahman when gets covered/embodied in Prakriti it appears to have taken form. The Formless Brahman is analogues to Air or water & its personal form is analogues to balloon filled with air or water. Air and water both are formless but when they are contained in a transparent balloon then they appear to have taken form but that does not mean that Air and Water both elements have lost its properties of being formless. In the same way, the formless Brahman when it resides and pervades the Body made up of material and mental elements from within universe it appears to have taken form but in reality, it does not lose its formless nature. The God with Form (limited consciousness of mind) is unified with Formless God (unlimited consciousness of Brahman). Vedas mostly describe Nirakar Nirguna Brahman which is formless, omnipresent, eternal consciousness. Vedas mention Supreme God as Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma of Trinity). [Take a note that Brahman is not any kind of energy but it is pure consciousness of space. Example of electric energy is only for understanding purpose.]
“Ekam
Sat-Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. “The One Being, the wise diversely
speak of.”- (Rig-Veda 1.164.46)
“The source and
origin of the gods, ruler of all, May Supreme God, the great seer, who
anciently created the golden germ, endow us with clear intellect.” -(Svetasvatara
Upanishad III.4)
“Great indeed
are the Devas (demigods) who have sprung out of Supreme God.” -(Atharva
Veda)
Hinduism is an
open-minded discipline. It is a discipline that does not use force on its
follower. That is, it does not dictate the follower to act by one step by step
recipe it gives, condemning all other recipes. Hinduism describes everything as
divine and sacred because God is everywhere and in everyone.
Supreme Self has truly created this real world, everything belongs to God but
it also pervades everywhere. Hinduism speaks about all-pervasiveness and all-controlling nature
of the Supreme Being. The Changing things that appear in the physical and
mental world may be realized as divine: the Supreme Self that shines unmixed in everyone
and everything, beneath all names and forms and qualities of personality
and world. He pervades everywhere — is explained by the use of
phrases such as “He is near and also very far” (yaddure yadvantike); “He
is within and without” (tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasya
bahyatah); “He moves and yet does not move” (taddhavato’nyanatyeti
tisthat). These apparently contradictory attributes reveal his achintya
Shakti/unthinkable nature (which may not be understood under human senses but
exists).
“All this that
is in front is but Supreme God, the immortal. Supreme God is on the right, as
well as on the left; above & below too, is extended Supreme God alone. The
Supreme God is both inside and outside occupying everything. This world is
nothing but Supreme God, the highest.” - (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.11)
“All this
entire universe belongs to God; who lives in it, in every smallest bit of it.
It moves(from the human perspective), and yet it does not move (from
absolute perspective). God is far beyond the furthest reach of space and time;
and yet He is immediate, forever close, and inseparably present here. He is
here inside, in everything; yet it is outside all of this. God shines pure,
through everything unconstrained by the muscled body, unaffected by all ill,
untouched by any taint of sin.”- (Isha Upanishad, stanzas 4-8).
Katha Upanishad it is
said: “Paramātmā is the same everywhere, in every world, on every level
throughout the entire Cosmos. Until you recognize this you will continue to be
reborn. Paramātmā remains the same – in past, present, and future. It is the
same in the heart of an ant or an elephant, in every living being. It is the
Cause of everything.”
Thus the major
difference between the Hindu and the Abrahamic beliefs is while Abrahamic
religions speak relatively partial attributes of the God, Hinduism speaks about
complete attributes.
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