Common Misconceptions: Impersonalism

Q. Does man's evolution progress from one world to another?

Q. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna Himself says that He is 'aum', and in His impersonal feature He is Brahman. Why does ISKCON not give due regards to aum and impersonal Brahman, "nir vishesha shunya vadi"? [Editor's Note: This is part of the pranama mantra for Srila Prabhupada describing his mission to defeat the impersonalists]. Also, we have to be humbler than the grass, so why develop a superiority complex over other modes of worship of His potencies, which are He Himself (how can His potencies, lower or higher, be different from Him)?

Q. I wanted to know about the concept of transmigration of soul which is preached in the Bhagavad-Gita, but this transmigration is no where mentioned in the Vedas. In fact, the Vedas also say that God has no form; please clarify on the same.

Bhagavad-gita is integral part of Vedic literature; in fact it is popularly called Gitopanisad, for it summarizes the essence of all Vedas, and has emanated directly from the lotus mouth of the Supreme Lord, as do all of the Vedas.

Q. I couldn't follow one sentence in the purport of Bhagavad Gita verse (10.38): "Among the confidential activities of hearing, thinking and meditating, silence is most important because by silence one can make progress very quickly". Could you please elaborate this?

Q. I was listening to Srila Prabhupada's lecture on BG 2.7-12 where he mentions about why God became many. Srila Prabhupada states that God became many individual beings to enjoy His pleasure potency. But we also learn that our material existence is due to our propensity to own, control and enjoy independent of the Lord. How to connect these two understandings?

Q. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1st canto 5th chapter, Srila Prabhupada says that Vedanta-sutra is the complete deliberation on the impersonal Brahman and yet he also says that Srimad Bhagavatam, which is purely Personal is the natural commentary. How to reconcile this two apparently contradicting statements?

Q. Is it limiting, on an absolute level, when one claims an exclusive name/form as being the highest realization of Godhead? In other words, once someone says the highest can only be this, it seems to impart a restriction on God based on the condition of the particular consciousness (of that individual).

Q. 1. How can we understand the Absolute nature of Lord Sri Krishna? What do we mean by "Absolute Truth" and in what sense is Lord Sri Krishna the Absolute Truth? This question came to my mind when I overheard someone saying that all qualities in the material world are relative, i.e. to say someone is tall doesn't suffice because a person considered tall in India would be considered average height in USA.

Q. 1. There are still people (at least in India) who believe God is impersonal and say that devotion is just a stepping stone for realizing the Supreme Truth which they say is actually impersonal.

Q. Lord Vishnu incarnated as Buddha and preached voidism. Lord Siva appeared as Sankaracarya and preached impersonalism. Why are there different and deliberate attempts to confuse people by preaching false beliefs when they are already struggling with Maya?

Whatever the Supreme Lord does is all-merciful, even if we may not initially understand how it is so. By hearing from His authorized representatives we can begin to understand His mercy.