Is God an objective reality or subjective reality only?

[Guest guest]

In neuroscience, it seems that God is only a subjective reality. God is just a way of looking at things, and doesn't exist at all apart from our perceptions of life. Basically, the feeling of God is simply in the brain, and doesn't exist apart from it. Which is ironic, considering the Vedic rishis believed that one would have to distance himself from sense perceptions to realize God.

 

Is there such a thing as God really? Or is God merely a state of mind where one is fearless, filled with love for all beings, etc.? And if God is only subjective, then how can God help anyone? I can understand why God would be pursued, even if it were purely a psychological state, but is there any objective reality to God, or is it merely a metaphor for freedom and liberation from anxieties and worries of the world?

 

If God is merely a psychological state, then isn't one's personal and moral development an issue for that person alone? And where does trust in God come in if God doesn't really exist, because God isn't there to help anyone, it's only you who exist to help yourself?

 

Where does destiny, spirit, etc. come into play then? Are these all just vagaries of perception and nothing more? If this is true then the idea of shaktipat, where a guru transfers or awakens his disciple's shakti can be nothing more than a form of hypnosis/mental trickery, the idea of reincarnation and all such ideas are mere fantasies.

 

I'm not saying they are, in fact I really hope there is a God out there, that can be perceived apart from our own perceptions, that there is a spriit out there that helps us evolve, and is responsible for our well-being. But right now, I'm feeling that God doesn't exist apart from our perceptions, and so right now even after doing a lot of meditation, I feel rather hopeless because I've become increasingly fragmented in my mind, and there doesn't seem to be a way out for me. I was hoping God would help me, and that what I was doing was right (basically my approach was to try to see if there really was a God, to liberate myself from my anxieties and have full faith in Him and tackle life head-on without worries as everything is planned out, and God has a plan for me). Right now I feel hopeless as my meditation was supposed to integrate my consciousness, strengthen my conviction in God, increase bhakti, make me more functional in society and be at peace. Right now I feel the opposite of everything I just mentioned, and I don't know how to fix it.

[Guruvani]

How can anybody look at this greatly complex universe and all the amazing things of this world and not understand that there is some supreme intelligence that has designed and is maintaining everything.

 

Even the human body with it's complex brain and senses is a work of master craftsmanship.

How anyone cannot see that some supreme artist, engineer and master craftsman has created the whole things is most amazing.

 

Realizing God begins with faith.

You can't understand or realize God without a good foundation in the basic faith that indeed there must be a God.

 

Because God is so much greater than us, our first step in knowing him begins with faith.

Without faith, you cannot know God.

 

Faith is the gate to the inner world.

[Guest guest]

 

How can anybody look at this greatly complex universe and all the amazing things of this world and not understand that there is some supreme intelligence that has designed and is maintaining everything.

 

Even the human body with it's complex brain and senses is a work of master craftsmanship.

How anyone cannot see that some supreme artist, engineer and master craftsman has created the whole things is most amazing.

 

Realizing God begins with faith.

You can't understand or realize God without a good foundation in the basic faith that indeed there must be a God.

 

Because God is so much greater than us, our first step in knowing him begins with faith.

Without faith, you cannot know God.

 

Faith is the gate to the inner world.

 

I have only implicit faith, which I was hoping to make explicit. If I had no faith whatsoever, I wouldn't be aspiring for God. Yet, while I've gone through a number of changes in my life, I've also had moments of crises, like I'm going through now. To me, everything seems so empty and devoid of divinity. I feel like my sanity is hanging by a thread, and my only hope lies in God. Yet, that God so far has withheld His hand from me, no matter how many appeals I have made to Him. I've worked so hard to do whatever is required, even changed myself in order to be receptive to Him, and yet I still do not hear Him or feel Him in my heart.

 

As for how things can be so complex in this world, that is a matter that has two viewpoints, none of which can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The scientist proclaims complexity arose simply from simple processes of evolution, physics and chemistry, purely a product of blind chance. While it does seem that this particular universe is tailored towards supporting life, scientists do think that there are innumerable universes out there, parallel to this one (something I think the Vedic conception of the universe may even agree on), and many of them probably do not support life, and that this universe's ability to support life is purely a product of blind chance once again.

 

Of course the spiritualist's viewpoint is that there is a designer behind it all, that is God, and that God has tailored life the way it is. I think both points are equally valid, though logic can be twisted to support either viewpoint.

 

Also, has anyone ever heard of any true miracles or powers exhibited by mystics that could not be a product of pure deception like magicians do? As many spiritualists claim there is such a thing as spirit, and that it can work miracles in many ways, there has been no hard scientific proof of such a thing. One can take it upon faith, but faith is not easy, and faith can be blind. And how do you know that whatever faith you have does not lead you to become deluded in the first place? Faith should exist, but it should be supported by a solid foundation of reasoning and experience.

 

Also, this "inner world" you are talking about, how do we know it is not only a subjective reality, meaning only real for the experiencer, while someone else cannot enter into that same inner world and experience the same things or verify the events that the experiencer is experiencing? And even if they can, how do we know this is not something that's the product of the mind being tricked into believing it sees what the other person sees?

 

The mind is easily tricked as has been shown time and time again, so where does it come that we should rely on any such thing as faith in our reasoning that there is something out there when we do not readily perceive such a thing?

 

And if faith is needed to realize God, how does on cultivate that faith and make it explicit? I've tried going this route, and there are times when I feel connected to God, but it's only a feeling, and one that has no empirical basis behind it. There was once a time where I met a swami in a subway station who I thought was a messenger from God, but whatever he said about me hasn't come true as of yet, although he said that by this time things should turn around for me and I will be helped by God. Unfortunately I feel the opposite right now, that God, if He exists, hasn't moved at all to help me, and that I'm alone in my despair.

[Beggar]

Excerpt of "Follow the Angels, The Path of Dedication by

Swami B. R. Sridhara:

The objective entity is all maya, all bhoga. What we see as the object of our enjoyment is illusion and concoction, maya. When everything is revered, worshiped, and treated with respect, then we are in Vaikuntha, in Vrndavana. It is mentioned in Caitanya Caritamrta, vaikunthera prthivy-adi sakala cinmaya (C.c. Adi-lila 5.53): everything is made of spiritual stuff and superior to us. Below there is Maya and above there is Yogamaya, the land of the Lord. We want to get out of this entanglement, this separate interest. What is superior, we imagine that to be inferior to ourselves and want to use it for our own purpose and enjoyment. The world of enjoyment is a concocted one.

We should learn to see that everything must be treated with reverence and with serving attitude, everything. Then we can come in contact with the dhama, the land of the Lord, where every particle is to be worshiped. Everything holds a superior position. What is really supernatural, we are treating it as though it is naturally part of the sense experience. No. Just try, bhidyate hrdaya-granthis cidyante sarva-samsayah, ksiyante casya karmani mayi drs e 'khilatmani (Bhag. 11.20.30). Disassociate the ego of separate existence totally from enjoyment. Abolish the tendency to enjoy, to utilize whatever we find to satisfy our senses. This angle of vision, this maya, this ego, the center of such experience should be totally abolished. Dissolved. And all doubts will be cleared when we find ourselves in that plane.

When we are free from the clutches of separate interest, then all suspicion and doubt will be cleared. We shall feel this through direct soul experience, the experience of the inner senses that we possess. Then there will be no need for all our attempts and efforts; they'll stop. No special endeavor must be undertaken for our purpose because we have no separate existence. We are particles in the Infinite and that which is feeding the Infinite will feed us also.

We shall find the general interest everywhere. We are not separate, so there is no necessity of acting for our special interest. We shall see the divine arrangement for everyone, including every grain of sand. We are one in the whole and the main current is doing everything, so no karma, no action is necessary on our own behalf.

Then it will become very clear that we have our duty in that universal flow, and we are one of them. We are particles there. Automatically the universal force handles us in such a way. That is Yogamaya, the Lord's internal potency, not Mahamaya, the controller of the material universe. That plane is not acted upon by separate interest, but influenced by the general interest of the whole. We have our movement there, and that is service, not enjoyment.

[Guruvani]

 

I have only implicit faith, which I was hoping to make explicit. If I had no faith whatsoever, I wouldn't be aspiring for God. Yet, while I've gone through a number of changes in my life, I've also had moments of crises, like I'm going through now. To me, everything seems so empty and devoid of divinity. I feel like my sanity is hanging by a thread, and my only hope lies in God. Yet, that God so far has withheld His hand from me, no matter how many appeals I have made to Him. I've worked so hard to do whatever is required, even changed myself in order to be receptive to Him, and yet I still do not hear Him or feel Him in my heart.

 

As for how things can be so complex in this world, that is a matter that has two viewpoints, none of which can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The scientist proclaims complexity arose simply from simple processes of evolution, physics and chemistry, purely a product of blind chance. While it does seem that this particular universe is tailored towards supporting life, scientists do think that there are innumerable universes out there, parallel to this one (something I think the Vedic conception of the universe may even agree on), and many of them probably do not support life, and that this universe's ability to support life is purely a product of blind chance once again.

 

Of course the spiritualist's viewpoint is that there is a designer behind it all, that is God, and that God has tailored life the way it is. I think both points are equally valid, though logic can be twisted to support either viewpoint.

 

Also, has anyone ever heard of any true miracles or powers exhibited by mystics that could not be a product of pure deception like magicians do? As many spiritualists claim there is such a thing as spirit, and that it can work miracles in many ways, there has been no hard scientific proof of such a thing. One can take it upon faith, but faith is not easy, and faith can be blind. And how do you know that whatever faith you have does not lead you to become deluded in the first place? Faith should exist, but it should be supported by a solid foundation of reasoning and experience.

 

Also, this "inner world" you are talking about, how do we know it is not only a subjective reality, meaning only real for the experiencer, while someone else cannot enter into that same inner world and experience the same things or verify the events that the experiencer is experiencing? And even if they can, how do we know this is not something that's the product of the mind being tricked into believing it sees what the other person sees?

 

The mind is easily tricked as has been shown time and time again, so where does it come that we should rely on any such thing as faith in our reasoning that there is something out there when we do not readily perceive such a thing?

 

And if faith is needed to realize God, how does on cultivate that faith and make it explicit? I've tried going this route, and there are times when I feel connected to God, but it's only a feeling, and one that has no empirical basis behind it. There was once a time where I met a swami in a subway station who I thought was a messenger from God, but whatever he said about me hasn't come true as of yet, although he said that by this time things should turn around for me and I will be helped by God. Unfortunately I feel the opposite right now, that God, if He exists, hasn't moved at all to help me, and that I'm alone in my despair.

 

Faith comes from prayer, many pious deeds and self-sacrifice.

You cannot demand God to be revealed to you.

All you can do is try and humble yourself enough and show enough sincerity that God will consent to grace you with a strong faith.

 

You can't live a life of materialistic ambition and then demand God to become revealed to you.

To find God you must live a pious life of spiritual pursuit.

You can't get your hand out of the cookie jar with a fist full of cookies.

First, you have to begin to let go of your material attachments and material ambitions and sincerely practice a religious life of devotion to realizing God.

 

So, stop demanding God to reveal himself to you and try to act in a way that you can get the attention of God and then everything will become very easy in realizing God.

 

Be humble.

Know you are unfit and insincere.

Pray to God.

Pray to God.

Pray to God sincerely and you will find that faith will grow as you begin to connect with God through prayer.

Don't pray for material things and don't demand God to become revealed to you.

Just pray to God to give you the chance to serve him and love him without material reward.

Prayer is a direct line to the Lord in the heart.

Sincere prayer will be answered.

If you are not humble enough to pray to God, then you can forget about ever realizing or knowing God.

 

Pray.....

Hare Krishna...........

[Guest guest]

 

Faith comes from prayer, many pious deeds and self-sacrifice.

You cannot demand God to be revealed to you.

All you can do is try and humble yourself enough and show enough sincerity that God will consent to grace you with a strong faith.

 

You can't live a life of materialistic ambition and then demand God to become revealed to you.

To find God you must live a pious life of spiritual pursuit.

You can't get your hand out of the cookie jar with a fist full of cookies.

First, you have to begin to let go of your material attachments and material ambitions and sincerely practice a religious life of devotion to realizing God.

 

So, stop demanding God to reveal himself to you and try to act in a way that you can get the attention of God and then everything will become very easy in realizing God.

 

Be humble.

Know you are unfit and insincere.

Pray to God.

Pray to God.

Pray to God sincerely and you will find that faith will grow as you begin to connect with God through prayer.

Don't pray for material things and don't demand God to become revealed to you.

Just pray to God to give you the chance to serve him and love him without material reward.

Prayer is a direct line to the Lord in the heart.

Sincere prayer will be answered.

If you are not humble enough to pray to God, then you can forget about ever realizing or knowing God.

 

Pray.....

Hare Krishna...........

 

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this idea. I don't know who you are to say that I am unfit and insincere, I make no such accusations against you. Thanks for your advice, but your advice to me is not helpful at all. I don't believe one has to completely sacrifice the material world to enjoy the spiritual. That makes no sense to me, as I believe in a life of balance, where one can be in the world and yet rise above it with devotion to God. Service to God comes in many forms and ways, and I believe my way is to help the world progress to a better understanding of God through science and philosophy. Or at least, that is my aspiration. I want to help in this world in my own way, but first I need help from God as I feel completely lost.

 

I held very high ideals at one point not too long ago (in fact, just a few weeks ago), where I thought all that was needed was God and nothing else mattered, but that's not true. I had aspirations of living as a sincere devotee of God, monk-like, and yet at the same time being of service to the people in whatever career I chose. I sought to integrate my consciousness and live purely and act as the hand of God in helping others, and I truly believe until I am whole I cannot help make others whole, or be in a position to be of service to anyone in any real way. It is true that I have ambitions in the material world, but they do not harm anyone, and I believe I am a broken individual spiritually, who has come to knock on God's door and ask for assistance. It makes no sense to me to say become completely spiritual and you will find God, and abandon the material world. What good is that? How does God help if I end up helping myself to remove myself from the material world? And from what frame of reference can I honestly say this was a worthwhile venture? Simple feelings do not suffice for truth, as removing myself from the material world, is in my opinion no better than indulging myself with recreational drugs and alcohol as a way to forget the world. Especially when some of those recreational drugs have no serious side effects and can make you convinced you "see" or "experience" God.

 

I'm not out to make a lot of money, though I do believe in walking the path of my destiny and fulfilling my life's purpose whatever that may be, while having full faith in God. My problem is a lack of guidance from God, especially when I need Him most.

[yogesh]

I just want to know are you waiting for a Thunder Strike from heaven to proclaim that there is God?

 

What if God (seated in the heart as Parmatma) is using someone (like say..Guruvani) to tell you what you have to do.

 

Yet the mind is very stubborn and the false ego takes over and says "How dare You Tell Me!!! Who the Heck Are U? You Don't Know me."

 

With this type of attitude how can you expect God to reveal himself to you.

 

In order to know God you have to take the position of being in a humble state of mind Like Grass in the wind that bends or become tolerant like a tree accepting arrows like words cutting our False Ego.

 

The only way to see God is Through reading Bonafide Scriptures handed Down from Master to Disciple and associating with like minded devotees.

 

But please do take the advice given here.

What have you got to lose????

 

But please do not give up Whatever Faith you may Follow eventually God seated in your heart Will Guide You/Send someone to You.

 

If I have offended you Dear Guest please forgive me.

 

Thank You

 

Hare Krsna

 

Jay SirlaPrabhupada

[Guest guest]

 

My problem is a lack of guidance from God, especially when I need Him most.

 

If you believe in the existence of God, then you have guidance every moment. You may not always know it or you may find out later but you do have it already.

 

Your problem which is also a problem for many people is your expectation. You expect God to respond to you in a certain way in a certain situation and when that does not happen your faith wavers. The truth is it is simply not possible to determine how divine assistance occurs but you can be sure it is happening all the time. It is not the case that once you believe in God you will have a roller coaster ride in life with no problems. But even if one falls sick and undergoes suffering it is part of a grander plan.

 

If you can accept this instead of the false hopes provided by many preachers out there which only lead to disappointment you should have no problems with your faith and will never feel lost.

 

Om

[gHari]

God exists. It is we who don't.

[anadi]

 

God exists. It is we who don't.

 

There is no time we never existed.

[anadi]

guruvani said:

 

stop demanding God to reveal himself to you

 

and the idea is that one should qualify to see God.

 

The most important point is that,

without being qualified to see a particular form of the Lord, you can not see Him , even if He appears in a chariot of fire;

you will pull Him into your material conception, proving that it might have been anything else but God.

 

One should qualify to see God.

So, here there are some of the preliminary qualifications, as given in our spiritual school of bhakti-yoga in the Gaudyia tradition,

by one of the most prominent teachers, Rupa Gosvami, in his Nectar of instruction.

 

One’s attempt to see God begins with learning to control

- the impetus of speech - vaco vega

- the agitation of the mind - manasa vegam

- the onset of anger - krodha vegam

- the vehemence of the tongue in tasting things - jihva-vegam

- the urge of the belly - udara vegam

- upastha vegam - the agitation of the genitals

[gHari]

No. The only qualification to see God is krpa, mercy. And that is causeless.

 

No one can ever become quaified to see God just by becoming a refined nice guy.

[Guruvani]

It must be an awful thing to go through life not knowing about God.

Fortunately for me, when I started to search for God as a young man I came across the books of Srila Prabhupada and I found out all about God.

 

I am always looking at co-workers and all sorts of non-devotee types and I am thinking "this person doesn't know the meaning of life, the goal of life or who is the Supreme God" and I can't really imagine what it must be like to go through life not knowing God.

It must be very weird.

I feel sorry for people who don't know God - Lord Krishna.

[Guest guest]

 

Faith comes from prayer, many pious deeds and self-sacrifice.

You cannot demand God to be revealed to you.

All you can do is try and humble yourself enough and show enough sincerity that God will consent to grace you with a strong faith.

 

I dont agree that we cannot demand God, and in my experience, we can demand God if we have true love for Him beyond any doubts in all our senses. I demand and He answers and it works for me. (But my demands are not on materialistic aspect, but its more personal with God Himself and it always works for me).

R

[brajeshwara das]

 

 

You have true love for Him beyond all doubts?

[Sridas]

In the bible it states Krsna (God) knows us far better than we know ourselves, He and those who check our data base of progress ...activities, thoughts, actions, prayers, demands, aspirations, desires, tendencies, inclinations etc. are monitoring the soul just as a computer keeps a record of your sufing history only that original system is far more refined.

what keeps us from accessing the Super subjective world is the ahanka ?(false ego ) it is controlled, we are controlled even tho we want to control it/Him, the reality is we have very little power to control.

 

To fit into his divine dimention we need cent percent adjustment to His will which is saranagati and that played out thru his Agents of divinity, as the adjustment is made and the conditioned black box of the false ego is dissolved, they will allow us entrance to the higher domain. The system is perfect and ether-tight, foolproof, to keep us imposters from super imposing our virus ridden consciousness on the Lords sweet play.

You wll find a hint of this in Srila Sridhara Maharaj's prayers to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur whereby he expresses how there are guardians who protect that holy domain from misrepresentation and how there was/is a screening process like a water purifier that Srila Swarup Damodar and others would protect any offering or eulogy etc. that was discordant from entering the ears and heart of Mahaprabhu.

Similarly we see how Mahadev protects the holy dham from imposters.

Otherwise the whole play of divinity could become chaotic anarchy.

We can only enter that realm by the graceful grant of the Sweet Absolute thru pleasing those dear to Him/Them. Then they will shift our consciousness when they see us fit to fit into the divine play. Then experience will grace the soul, with undeniable, irressitable attraction. Untill that time we live in the world of anxiety, bound up in our conditioned patterns of maladjusment .

How to correct it? Listen to the sadhu and follow their advice, do sadhu seva and when their video surveilance cameras are satisfied the heart is changing some small glimpse and incentive may dawn in our consciousness bringing satisfaction and inner fullfillment!!!

For a while at least untill we are subjected to the next level of inner service devopment and if we come up to the mark then we may metriculate to an even sweeter form of service .

[Guest guest]

Gaura Hari: The only qualification to see God is krpa, mercy. And that is causeless.

 

 

Humble says: <b> Yes , but </b>as the Gita says: we will see God as much as we want to see Him. The degree of our surrender determines how much God will reveal Himself.

 

Kripa is causeless and it showers unconditionally to everyone, however you have to be under the rainclouds to be avail of it. In the same principle, love of God is available to everyone but God shows special love to his devotees because they are surrendered to Him.

[Guest guest]

Jai Sri Radhe

 

 

After you have settled down with your angst, and have properly undertood the ISKCON or GM perspectives then you have to see the Babajis of Radha Kunda. Many of them are very simple yet very profound.

[brajeshwara das]

Yes, fool-proof. That is why this fool is here. With the mercy of the Vaisnavas one day maybe I will be granted a visa to that world!

[Guruvani]

 

Yes, fool-proof. That is why this fool is here. With the mercy of the Vaisnavas one day maybe I will be granted a visa to that world!

 

A visa is only a temporary, conditional entry. There is no visa to the spiritual world, only eternal existance.

Anyway, we should not be concerned about any visa for entry.

We should only be concerned about a permit to remember Krishna and serve him.

Entry to that realm should not be our concern or our desire.

We should only be concerned that the Lord grant us eternal remembrance of him.

[brajeshwara das]

 

A visa is only a temporary, conditional entry. There is no visa to the spiritual world, only eternal existance.

Anyway, we should not be concerned about any visa for entry.

We should only be concerned about a permit to remember Krishna and serve him.

Entry to that realm should not be our concern or our desire.

We should only be concerned that the Lord grant us eternal remembrance of him.

 

Visa = eternal remembrance, a grant from the Lord descending to us. That is always how I thought Srila Sridhar Maharaj intended it to be understood. Also it was not a temporary entry but entering into His eternal service:

 

From Search for Sri Krishna:

 

In the Bhagavad-Gita (15.6) Krishna says, “One who reaches My abode never returns to this material world (yad gatvana nivartante tad dhama parama mama). The dissolution will go on in the plane of the material world, but if you can secure a visa for that land, if you can enter into that soil, you will never be mishandled. When the sun, moon, and stars are all dissolved, your eternal self, your devotional ego, will be quite safe in My plane.”

 

I certainly agree that what we should strive for is service above all else, Gurudeva please send me to hell itself if that is your desire. That is the ideal.

[Beggar]

Srila Sridhar Maharaja: “This is Vedic culture. Absolute knowledge has always been imparted by this process alone, and never by the intellectual approach. Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) used to give the analogy of the bee: honey is in a bottle, the cork is in place, and the bee has taken his seat on the glass. He tries to taste the honey by licking the bottle. But, just as the bee cannot taste the honey by licking the outside of the glass bottle, the intellect cannot approach the world of spirit. We may think that we have attained it, but that is not possible: a barrier is there, like the glass. Intellectual achievement is not real achievement of higher knowledge. Only through faith, sincerity, and dedication can we approach that higher realm, and become a member. We can enter that higher higher plane only if they grant us a visa and admit us. Then we can enter that land of divine living.”

[Guest guest]

 

Srila Sridhar Maharaja: “This is Vedic culture. Absolute knowledge has always been imparted by this process alone, and never by the intellectual approach. Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) used to give the analogy of the bee: honey is in a bottle, the cork is in place, and the bee has taken his seat on the glass. He tries to taste the honey by licking the bottle. But, just as the bee cannot taste the honey by licking the outside of the glass bottle, the intellect cannot approach the world of spirit. We may think that we have attained it, but that is not possible: a barrier is there, like the glass. Intellectual achievement is not real achievement of higher knowledge. Only through faith, sincerity, and dedication can we approach that higher realm, and become a member. We can enter that higher higher plane only if they grant us a visa and admit us. Then we can enter that land of divine living.”

 

 

So how do you determine what is delusion and what is Real? If the intellect cannot enter the arena of the spiritual (something a person by the name of Gopi Krishna also asserts, who had an awakened kundalini), how does one determine that the experience he is having is real and worthwhile? That it's genuinely spiritual, and not just delusion? That God really exists? That we really are eternal spiritual beings and not just flesh and blood?

[Beggar]

Srila Sridhar Maharaja:

"The innermost hankering of every living soul is for beauty, love, affection, and harmony; not for power, knowledge, or anything else. This is the diagnosis of the whole creation in time and space: their common cause is one. But it is rare for a soul to reach such a clear stage of hankering for reality as to understand this point. Few souls are to be found in this world who are really conscious of their innermost necessity, who realize, "We want Krsna! We want Vrndavana!" Such sincere souls are not easily found."

 

 

 

"An intellectual understanding of Krsna consciousness is impossible. Just as a bee cannot taste honey by licking the outside of a glass jar, one cannot enter the domain of higher spirit through the intellect.

Only by service will Krsna be satisfied and come down, only then will we be able to understand the nature of higher plane. This is Vedic knowledge.

"We are tatastha-sakti, marginal potency, and if we want to know any truth about higher reality, we must realize that it is more subtle than our existence, it is super-subjective: It can touch us, but we cannot climb up to that domain out of our own sweet will. Only if we are given the grace which can take us up can we go.

"One who has this understanding will be able to combat all the existing intellectualists. The intellect has no capacity to enter into the higher subjective area. That supreme truth is atindriya-manasagocarah: beyond the plane of the senses, mind, and intellect. This expression manaso vapuso vaco vaibhavam tava gocarah by Brahma, admitting to Krsna that He was beyond the reach of his body, mind, and words, was not only a lip-deep statement of the mouth. If we want to know the absolute truth, the only condition for realizing Him is a submissive attitude. In that way, He may be satisfied with our attempt and reveal Himself to us. Divine revelation is not a matter of research within this world–we should have a sincere heart to serve.

Srimad Bhagavatam (7.5.30) it is written:

 

 

matir na krsne paratah svato va

mitho bhipadyeta grha-vratanam

adanta-gobirvisatam tamisram

punah punas carvita-carvananam

 

 

"Srimad-Bhagavatam tells us that we can try to enter the world of higher reality through intellectualism, but we will again come back, baffled in our attempts. If we try to press with our intelligence to enter into that domain, we will come back dissatisfied in despair and will wander here within this mortal world again and again.

 

 

sreyah srtim bhaktim udasya te vibho

klisyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

tesam asau klesala eva sisyate

nanyad yatha sthula-tusavaghatinam

 

 

"O Lord, those who want to have a clear conception of You through their intellect find their attempts useless. Their endeavors end only in frustration, like those who try to beat rice from an empty husk." (Bhag. 10.14.4)

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[Sridas]

So Absolute Truth is not to be understood by the help of any other knowledge. Only through scripture, the saints and the Lord within the heart, Paramatma, but only God can make Himself known if He wishes. The sun is known only by its light and not with the help of candlelight or any other light. So the source of all knowledge, real knowledge, real love, that can be seen by the ray of that thing, not by anything else. It is self-evident, not dependent on anything else. This is the characteristic of the Absolute. When you naturally come to the sun you will know the sun. From the darkness, you cannot conceive of the sun.

In Kuruksetra, Drtarastra told, "They are seeing you in a very noble figure, but I am blind, I cannot see. Please remove my blindness for the time being, I want to see you, then again you can make me blind" Krsna stated, “No, it isn’t necessary to remove your blindness to see Me, you remain blind. If I say you will see Me, so it will be.” And Drtarastra, a blind man could see Him. So our only capital is saranagati, surrender, to increase the humble negative side of us. Depending totally, extreme intensified dependence on Him. If we can move His heart, then He will come before us, so no positive attempt may be successful.

Actually in reality we are to go to the temple not to see the deity, as Prabhupad (Saraswati Thakur) would say, just to do eye exercises, rather we are to try and make ourselves seen by the deity. We have to excite His sweet will, appeal to His sweet will by sacrifice, and surrendering yourself. “I cannot see You but You can make Yourself visible to me.” This is the position. So what am I to do? Increase my sincere negative, humble, appealing side. By increasing that we can attract His heart and when He wills, He will reveal Himself, otherwise not.

I cannot be a subject and make Him the object of my sight. He is the subjective reality and we are to make ourselves the object of his vision through devotion.

Whatever is recommended by guru and vaisnava, that is necessary for our service, that is most important. Try to understand the real inner meaning of surrender, saranagati, preparedness to do anything to satisfy Him and His devotee. We have to weigh the dictation from on high, so much so, our Guru Maharaj once told, “If the sadhu asks for some flour , then we take flour, but then he changes his mind, ‘No, No, I now want some water.’ One can’t object, ‘Oh, you wanted flour, now take it.’ That would be aparadhe. What order he has given previously, he has his freedom to change. He has the right to cancel that. And from our side whatever comes down to me from above, I am to surrender to that without hesitation. That can promote my position to a higher service, that will be more acceptable to the Supreme Lord. Otherwise our positive self-confident, independent attitude will always keep us at a distance from Him.

Srila Sridhara Maharaj