Conceiving God - Limitations of the Human Brain
The attempt to understand the Infinite with a finite instrument is the fundamental struggle of the conditioned soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the human brain, being tiny and limited by material concepts, is ill-equipped to measure the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the Lord's activities and energies are "inconceivable," they often appear contradictory to mundane logic. Consequently, those who rely solely on mental speculation—whom Śrīla Prabhupāda often terms "frog-philosophers"—fail to grasp the true nature of the Absolute Truth, often settling for imaginary or incomplete definitions.
Tiny Brain and Inconceivable Potencies
The primary obstacle in conceiving God is the magnitude of His potencies compared to the smallness of human intelligence. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that we cannot even fully understand the laws of material nature, let alone the spiritual energy. A common brain cannot process how God acts as the master of all energies or how He sustains the entire cosmic manifestation while remaining a person.
- Actually the tiny human brain is unable to conceive of the activities of the Lord, which are therefore called inconceivable. Yet the frog-philosophers still try to give some imaginary explanation.
- A common brain in the conditioned state cannot conceive of how these inconceivable energies abide in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, how He exists in His innumerable forms as the master of both spiritual and material energies.
- The tiny human brain cannot conceive how these potencies of the Lord can act. Man can give some vague explanation of the laws by which such phenomena are made possible.
Impersonalism: A Failure of Conception
When the intellect fails to accommodate the idea of a person possessing unlimited, omnipresent power, it often retreats to impersonalism. Śrīla Prabhupāda argues that the voidist or impersonal concept is actually for "less intelligent" persons who cannot conceive of the transcendental form. Because they equate "form" with "limitation" (based on their material experience), they conclude that the Unlimited must be formless.
- So this impersonal idea of God is for the less intelligent person, not for the intelligent persons. Those who are, I mean to say, favored with poor fund of knowledge, they cannot conceive about the Personality of Godhead.
- The Mayavadis, they cannot conceive how immeasurable, unlimited. Therefore as soon as they take it that God is unlimited, immeasurable, they take it for impersonal.
- In the Bhagavad-gita (BG 12.5) it is stated that those who are much inclined to the formless conception of the Supreme Truth are more troubled than those who can intelligently conceive of the personal form.
Universal Form for Neophytes
To aid those who cannot perceive anything beyond matter, the Vedas provide the concept of the virāṭ-rūpa, or Universal Form. This is a conceptual visualization where the material world itself—planets, mountains, oceans—is meditated upon as the body of the Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that this is a concession for neophytes/gross materialists, allowing them to begin conceiving of God within the tangible reality they are attached to.
- In the virat-rupa the material manifestations of different planets have been conceived as His legs, hands, etc. Actually all such descriptions are for the neophytes. The neophytes cannot conceive of anything beyond matter.
- As the gross cosmic manifestation is conceived as the gigantic body of the Lord, so also there is the conception of His subtle form, which is simply realized without being seen, heard or manifested.
- The materialistic view of exploitation of the material resources is occasioned by the illusion of the external energy of God and if anyone wants to realize the Supreme Truth by conceiving of the universal form of God, he must cultivate the service attitude.
Realizing the Transcendental Form
The ultimate truth is that God is a Person with a specific spiritual form, quality, and pastimes, but these are wholly transcendental to material physics. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that we cannot understand this through "experimental knowledge" or logic. The contradiction that God walks yet does not walk, or that He is smaller than an atom yet larger than the universe, is resolved only through the revelation granted to a faithful devotee.
- To the faithful the Lord reveals Himself in His form, quality and pastimes. The Lord is not formless, as wrongly conceived by the impersonalist, but His form is not like one that we have experienced.
- The Lord may appear in any of His many, many spiritual forms, but He is not materially composed, nor has He any difference between body and self. That is the way of conceiving the spiritual form of the Lord.
- With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate such contradictions (God walks and does not walk), and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our limited powers of understanding.
Conclusion
The human brain's inability to conceive of God is not a proof of God's non-existence or formlessness, but rather a proof of His greatness. Śrīla Prabhupāda guides us away from the pitfalls of demigod worship, impersonalism, and gross materialism, urging us to accept the Vedic conclusion. By admitting the limitations of our own intelligence and adopting a submissive service attitude, the "inconceivable" Lord reveals Himself, allowing us to know Him in truth.
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