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Re: Impersonalism is Unintelligent - Bhagavad-Gita 7.24
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To: alt-hindu@cis.ohio-state.edu
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Subject: Re: Impersonalism is Unintelligent - Bhagavad-Gita 7.24
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From: susarla@owlnet.rice.edu (H. Krishna Susarla)
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Date: 26 Jan 1995 18:54:06 GMT
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From news@larry.rice.edu Thu Jan 26 13: 41:38 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Rice University
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References: <3g42nc$kbo@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
In article <3g42nc$kbo@ucunix.san.uc.edu>, cbwillis@netcom.com (C. B. Willis) says:
>
>H. Krishna Susarla (susarla@rice.edu) wrote:
>: Bhagavad-Gita 7.24
>
>Thank you H. Krishna for bringing up the topic of the impersonal and
>personal God. After I read the excerpt below, I later went to my
>Radhakrishnan BG translation and commentary, and I got what seemed to be a
>180 degree interpretation, to the effect that the impersonal, formless God
>is to be seen as more fundamental or superior to the personal God. Could
>anyone comment on this discrepancy on what would seem to be central ideas
>to Hinduism and Vedanta?
>
I would be happy to. In the Vedic tradition, spiritual knowledge must be
passed down through a sampradaya, or a line of disciplic succession of
spiritual masters which originates with the supreme spiritual master, God
Himself. The analogy I have often heard used is that of picking mangos. One
way of doing this is to have people positioned next to each other along the
tree, gently passing the mango from one person to another. Yet another way
is to toss the mango several feet at a time, with each person catching it
and dropping it to the next person. In both cases, the mango gets to the
bottom of the tree, but in the latter method, it may be squishy and
unrecognizable due to its rough handling.
Similarly, if we wish to learn the spiritual knowledge properly, we must
also hear it as it has been passed down from spiritual master to spiritual
master in disciplic succession. We can each come up with our own interpretations,
but since we are imperfect people and relatively ignorant of spiritual
matters, it follows that we can gain a more perfect understanding by consulting
the authorized spiritual masters whose duty it is to preserve this knowledge.
Unfortunately, in this Age of Kali, there are many self-styled saints and
scholars who ignore the Vedic principle of disciplic succession and proceed
to interpret on their own. As a result, there are so many different and
contradictory explanations of scriptures given. Politically, this entire
hodgepodge of theories and speculations has come to be known as 'Hinduism,'
with the point stressed that every interpretation is okay. But this is
actually not Vedic, and if one wishes to learn about God (as opposed to simply
making a show of it), then one should seek out a genuine guru (one whose
disciplic succession originates with God, with the teachings remaining
relatively unchanged throughout).
Personally, I like reading Swami Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-Gita because
he is a part of one of the authorized sampradayas (there are others, I'm
sure, but they may not be as well known). I didn't like everything Prabhupada
said at first, but then I realized that my personal likes/dislikes should be
put aside, as I was not a spiritual authority and was hardly in a position
to say that he was wrong about something simply because I disagreed.
Eventually, I accepted his teachings because they strike me as sticking to
a literal interpretation of scripture. Other Gitas that I have seen do not
do this, especially with regard to 7.24.
Hare Krishna,
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- Hari Krishna Susarla - "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, -
- susarla@owlnet.rice.edu - become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and -
- Rice University - worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, -
- Class of 1995 - surely you will come to Me." -
- Biochemistry - - Bhagavad-Gita 9.34 -
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