Talk About the Absolute by bhaktisiddhanta 5 pages.doc

8/10/2019 Talk About the Absolute by bhaktisiddhanta 5 pages.doc

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Talk About the Absolute

by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad

[A Talk to Mr. William Henri John Vandorstok of Batavia on 26.12.193.!

In India as in Europe we find people hold different views but all of them may be classed into three divisions. One

class of people are seekers of fruits by their action. Another class wish to annihilate themselves. And the third claswant in their true selves as absolute infinitesimals, to be in touch with the Absolute Infinity rejecting all non-

absolute features. e belong to the third party.

!he seekers of fruits by their action are called karmakandins in the "anskrit language. !he #hristian thought is

included in karmakanda. In India we have also that sort of idea, that a person is to be judged by his action. $e getsomething in return as a reward of his pious deeds. %irtue and piety are the main principles that are wanted by suc

doers. &ost of the people understand this view. !hat is what I do is either rewarded or reprimanded. e think that

we should live a pious life in order that we may be rewarded in our ne't life with all sorts of enjoyments. e havegot subtle bodies in which we are rewarded or punished. !hat body is not e'actly similar to the ordinary gross

body, the mortal coil which we see here. Egyptians thought that they should have one life and that they should hav

no occasion of having future lives. (ut persons who subscribe to the theory of metempsychosis think that they wilhave future lives when they can make up for the nefarious acts done in their present lives or in their past lives and

receive grace from the dispenser of justice. !hey are fruitseekers. !hey want to gratify their senses.

!here are persons who hanker after knowledge. !hey want to secure knowledge by the empiric method. !hey

target annihilation to be their final goal. !hey think they should merge in the Integer - the Absolute, and that all thundesirable situations of this world will end by merging. In that case observer, observation and observed, these

three situations are eliminated. hen all the activities of the senses such as hearing, tasting, smelling, seeing and

touching will cease, the observer, observation and the observed will mi' up together and there will be no occasionof knowing, willing or feeling. All volitional, cognitional and emotional activities will cease. !hese have given us

bitter e'perience) and, so, according to the empiricists, we should try to make an end of them, that it would be

better for us not to think of anything which will reciprocate our senses. !his idea is formulated by theorists likepantheists, agnostics and sceptics. !hese people think that they will be able to secure happiness by destroying

themselves.

!he third view is the theistic view. e believe that there is a *ersonality of +odhead and that we are personas. e

reuire our troublous situations to stop and to get a peaceful position where we can freely move and haveeverything - whatever we are in need of and this has given a direction to the Absolute, ho is represented as a

*ersonality. In the Absolute *ersonality we find three features - that $e is Ever-e'istent. $e is ever full of

knowledge and $e is the ountainhead of unceasing bliss. In $im there is no factor of time, no factor of ignorance

or less knowledge. In $im there is no discrepancy, no defect, no inadeuacy nothing of the kind. In the conceptionof +od, we find $e is the Emporium of all bliss, all knowledge, and no acts of nescience or ignorance are to be

associated with $im, and we need not seek after any fruit for our purpose leaving $im aside. $e need not give us

anything. e are to serve $im as servitors, $e being the only ord. In this world we find that hundreds of absolutinfinitesimals trouble themselves with the undesirable elements of these phenomena. If the undesirable elements

are simply driven out, eliminated, then a desirable position can be had. (ut in the conception of heaven, we find

that it is meant for our purpose, to get our wishes for enjoyment fulfilled, for our enjoyment apart from theenjoyment of the Absolute. !he enjoyment of the Absolute is full, whereas our enjoyment is liable to be involved


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some troubles. All these miserable situations should be cleared out for the purpose of safety- for our peace. !he

eternal peace can only come if we are at all sanguine to engage ourselves in the service of the ord, I mean, the*ersonality of +odhead. +od has got spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, spiritual nose, spiritual tongue, spiritual skin an

spiritual mind) not material things like us. Our senses are made up of material things and there is no such element

in +od. +od is the Emporium of all desirable elements. $e is found to be Eternally E'isting, $e is ull of/nowledge, $e is Omniscient and $e is All-blissful. $e delegates $is power to certain absolute infinitesimals, or

in other words, the absolute infinitesimals are endowed with such potencies which enable them to transact affairs

with the Eternal Authority. 0ow we are placed in a region where all sorts of imperfections and undesirablesituations are prominent, and we reuire that our bitter e'perience should devise some means to get rid of these

unpleasant situations, the painful situations must be kecked out from activities. e should be prepared for the stag

where we can realise our own real selves. e need not trouble ourselves here engaging ourselves in amusements

and other things. e reuire that some prudent, preparatory measures should be adopted when we have got life,that we should have discretion to judge our desirabilities and have comparative study of the revealed scriptures tha

have come to us and can ameliorate our conditions and give up the passionate desires that are engrossing the

people who are busy with annihilating themselves or busy with fruit- seeking purpose. !he third party is known adevotees or bhaktas or who possess bhakti which is the vehicular agent to carry us to the Absolute. It will be the

uniting tie between the *ersonality of the ord and our personalities. Our persons should be united with the

*ersonality of +od, and that *ersonality of +odhead is purely spiritual and has no mundane reference. If we wishto know $im by any mundane reference that would be like trying to send rays from the retina to the sun. (ut we

should receive rays from the emanating disc of the sun. "o by the mercy of the "upreme ord we will be able to

know what $e is, and after learning this, we will engage ourselves for $is purpose. e will have nothing else to din this world. e have got the only purpose of associating ourselves with the "pirit, with the Over-soul. hen we

will leave this mortal coil, this tabernacle of flesh and bones, we will have some occupation at that time. e need

not think that in the subtle bodies we will have some enjoyment. !his enjoyment is temporary and in the long run

becomes the cause of binding us with grosser coils. (ut if we have any mind to engage ourselves with the Eternitywith All-knowledge, with One ho is devoid of ignorance and ull of Incessant (liss, we must be reciprocating

with $im, we should be participating with the Absolute and with the non-absolute features here. Our phenomenal

e'istence is not all sympathetic to us. Our so-called relatives show that they are very kind to us, but in the end wefind that they reuire to draw something from us. !hey are not actually kind to us. e should not be dissuaded by

their influence. e should have a stern will to give up all our passionate enjoying habits, as well as the inclination

for self-annihilation which the empiricists seek. !he desire for annihilation as well as the tendency for enjoymentare to be sacrificed at the altar of devotion. e should be prudent and accept the ideas of the devotees and not the

annihilating temperament of the agnostics nor the fruit-seeking temperament of the ordinary people of the world.

!hey do wrong things. !hey enjoy instead of serving, and we reuire that we should be set free from all these

wrong ideas of the speculative people of the world. e have got the history of civilisation for the last ten thousandyears, and we e'pect that the world will run for some ten thousand years or more when some trouble will arise and

the human race will be destroyed by some influence which we cannot foretell now. "o, the Absolute is to be

enuired. hat $e is. hether $e is a human-being, or whether $e belongs to the lower creation, or whether $e iof stony character. hether the Absoulte is neuter, masculine or feminine. et us be acuainting ourselves with al

these ideas and thoughts- about the ne't world and the Absolute. hether the region of the Absolute has all sorts

manifestive phases, whether these phases are agreeable and free from invasion of wrong thoughts. "o, if we wantto clear our wrong ideas and thoughts, we will have to surrender to the Absolute Infinity and then we shall be in

touch with $im. e will have the opportunity of dovetailing ourselves with $im and no other ideas and thoughtscan dissuade us from having a touch with the Absolute. If we can secure the tendency of love for the Absolute, we

will be attracted by $im. $e $imself is ove. e have no loving tendency, whereas $e is full of love. e shouldtry to meet the merciful strain by which $e wants to attract us to $im - to $is region where there is no defect, no

disagreeable feature, no ignorance and no undesirable situation. e should go back there. e need not carry our

bones and flesh there. !he proprietor of these bones and flesh is to go there, leaving here all these dints for theenjoyment of jackals and dogs and those creatures of the lower creation who have no devotional motive at all, wh

do not want to come in touch with the Absolute Infinity. &ost of the people of the globe are very busy with getting

fruits, gratifying their senses by attending cinemas, driving motors, and they are uite diffident to serve those whocan guide them to the Absolute region. All the undesirable situations which impede our course are to be eliminated

!he enjoying and empirical activities are obstructing our ways and we should try to drive them off. e should wa


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that we should be in touch only with the Absolute. As devotees, we are always in touch with $im and never

dislocated from $im. e want to serve $im. e want to regain our position. e need not pass our time just as theordinary people do. e should submit to the heaven-sent messenger and follow his dictations. Our philosophies

and empirical knowledge will be of no use to us. Our devotion should not be directed towards dogs, horses, men

and women and other objects of the phenomena. e need not serve such things. e should be determined to comein touch with the Absolute ho is very different from the non-absolute phenomena. Any person or thing that serv

the *ersonality of +od, we should be friendly with that. And if any person or thing proves hostile in the cause of

$is service, we should leave that off. e should not, try to understand the spiritual plane from the materialstandpoint of view.

Q:hat do you understand by spiritual land1

A:(y "piritual world we mean where we can have association with the spirit. !he Absolute reserves the right of

not being e'posed to human senses. !he human senses are all prisoners. !hey are all blind fellows. !hey cannot se

$im. 2ather they indulge in wrong ideas and give trouble to the people. !he word 3+od3 has been created by man!he direction is uite right, but what men produce in their factory is wrong. !he people are engaged in non-

absolute propaganda4 !his should cease.

Q:!hose who work for the welfare of the people, are they not good1

A:"ome people try to be good to enjoy a peaceful life. !hey are friendly to others to get their help in return.

Q:$ow we should know the will of +od1

A:e are absolute infinitesimals and $e is Absolute Infinity. If we are sincere and submit to $im, we will come i

touch with $im and know $is will. !here are self-sufficient people who think they can, by their empirical

knowledge, know everything. (ut the Absolute cannot be known by our empirical knowledge. !his attempt would

be like sending rays from the retina to the sun to know what the sun is. e should have nothing to do with theagnostics and karmakandins of this world. !hey will try to dissuade us from having an aptitude for devotion. !he

devotees are the most intelligent people. e should await the day when the &erciful ord will send his messenger

to give us the civil death by which all connections with the worldly people cease. e shall then be able to live thelife of a devotee. Our selection of friends should be among the devotees. !he agnostics and karmakandins will onl

lead us to trouble. !he devotees are the only prudent and judicious people. !he path of devotion is the shortest and

easiest way. It is better that whatever we have gathered in this world, we should leave aside. e want to disowneverything that are deemed to be uite suitable to persons who are busy with the mundane affairs, e should be

3!rinadapi "unicha3, that is, consider ourselves less than the blade of a grass. e have now secured some non-

absolute things which are uite inefficacious for our purpose. e should simply submit to the instructions of the)devotees who are busy to come in touch with the Absolute.

Q:hat do you think of the yogis1

A:e do not subscribe to the principle of yoga. !he yogis think that they should have some-thing for their own.

!hey have no eternal purpose. !he Indian yogis think that when they come in touch with the Absolute, they will b

restored to their position and they will have nothing to do later on. !hey simply want emancipation from alltroubles. !he yogi thinks that when his duties are finished he will be able to pass his time in indulgence. "o

indulgence is the careful object of a yogi. And for this they strive for emancipation from the bonds of karma. !he

devotees are first class yogis, but they care very little for emancipation. !hey do not reuire these things. A devotewould be more happy to abide by the decision of the *rovidence instead of throwing off the troublous situation he

has been put into. !he yogis are inclined to have their passionate desires satisfied, they reuire peace for

themselves.!hey do not want to engage themselves in the service of the ord, but they try to get something fortheir own. If a yogi is at all successful in his endeavours to come in contact with the Absolute, $e shows his stony

aspect at that time. !he yogis think that +od should be represented as a neuter thing, that no idea of se'ology

should disturb their minds. !he yogis want to reach kaivalya or 3Iswarsajujya3 and 3(rahma-sajujya3. !hey want


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be made +od like the slave 3Altamas3 who usurped the throne of his master. !hese are wrong ideas. !he yogis are

never successful in their attempts and we should not adopt the principles of a yogi. In paradise all sorts ofenjoyment are supplied. (ut who is the enjoyer1 $e is a poor man who has got all sorts of bitter e'perience in this

world.

It is better for us not to be agnostics, yogis, karmakandins and empiricists. Empiricists want to secure e'perience o

the things of this world like a5 versity man. !he knowledge acuired by this method at the thirtieth year proves tobe insufficient at the fiftieth year. And the knowledge acuired at the fiftieth year proves to be insufficient at the

seventieth year.

!he "upreme ord disclosed before the people the true system of devotion. !here was no party who could claim abetter system. !he karmakandins and jnanins gave up their established ideas and thoughts, they all submitted to th

true and loving wishes of the "upreme Authority hom we want to seek. !he "upreme Authority is to be served

and not the things which are hostile to the "upreme Authority.

hat should be "upreme Authority 1 hat is $e1 "hould the word 3it3 serve for targetting the Absolute 1 Or thepredominating aspect as5he5or the predominated aspect as 3she3 should be taken up 1 !he followers of the Old

!estament like that the principle of 3it god3 should be taken up, that +od should be neuterised and no personal

forms should be attributed to $im, - in order to differentiate $im form the phenomenal e'istence. "ome people sa

that if only the subjective aspect is ascribed to +odhead then the objective aspect of +odhead is neglected. "o wereuire that +odhead should comprise both subjective and objective aspects. !here must be some objects for the

subject, otherwise the subjectivity cannot stand. hen we talk of some relationship, the reciprocating portion

should never be neglected. In theism we find that the predominating part should reciprocate with the predominateparts - these two parts should comprise the hole !hing , otherwise the *lenary is divided into two, or is divided

into three.

$ere in this world we find the following relationships - between husband and wife, between master and servitor,

between friend and friend and between children and parent. In the transcendental region the "upreme ord is theonly object of these relationships.

$e is the only $usband, the only &aster, the only riend and the only #hild. !here is also the neutral relationship

with +odhead. "o in all we find there are five kinds of relationships we can have with the "upreme ord. In the

0ew !estament +od is described as +od the ather, +od the "on and +od the $oly +host) but they neglect the fivrelationships mentioned above. "ervice of +od in these five relationships has been given to mankind by "ree

/rishna-#haitanya. "ervice is the only function of the soul. e ignore the body when we are busy with the servic

of the ord.

Q:hy do you reuire service 1

A:e should have our engagement. 3Aradhananam sarbesham %ishnoradhanam param3 of all the occupations the

best occupation is to attend to the service of the Absolute. &an wants to ord it over the phenomena, but in the

long run he becomes a slave of the phenomena. or instance, there are people who wish to enjoy smoking andinto'icating liuor, but ultimately they become slaves of those habits. e devotees do not want our entities to be

absorbed in the Integer - we want to adopt the process of devotion and have some permanent engagement. e

should e'amine what we really are. Are we the e'ternal frame, the emporium of senses or the mind 1 If we analys

we find that these are foreign elements incorporated into us. In order to get rid of all these dirts, the only course leto us is devotion which is service, service fully filtered and unalloyed.

Q:6o you know the Absolute gradually, or at once 1

A:!he knowledge of the Absolute can be had at once - there is no factor of time and space. If we are at all

sanguine to know $im, we must have some sort of objective reference for $is subjective activity. 0ow we are buswith worldly affairs) we think we are men and women. Instead of doing so, we reuire that we should be serving


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$im, and when $e participates with our pure selves, we will be set free from all the tempting influence of the

different things of 0ature. e reuire that we should go back. ike a shooting star, we have strayed out of therange of $is attraction. ike a comet, we are journeying without cessation. Our eternal conditon is that we are

absolute infinitesimals, and as such) we should dovetail with the Absolute Infinity. !he function between $im and

us is love. $e is the over. If $e loves us, we will be taken back. If $e has an apathetic tendency for us we will beaverse to $im, and will be undergoing 78 millions of births and deaths, again and again. It would be judicious for

us that we should go back to the Absolute Infinity, and that all our engagements should be with $im, and not with

anybody else.

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Talk About the Absolute by bhaktisiddhanta 5 pages.doc