Who is God?

The idea of Vedic knowledge is to draw a clear line between material and
spiritual existence. There is nothing more confusing then concluding that the
material and spiritual nature are eternally combined or identical. I mentioned
before that some religious sects think that the soul and body are identical or
one. The soul cannot exist without a gross, material body. That is their
philosophy. And then in the name of spiritual or religious activities they
actually perform material activities.

These are mundane religions, and they are based on the bodily identification.
Because I took birth in certain county, region, in a certain family,
tradition, religious tradition, therefore I'm Hindu, Christian, Muslim, etc.
And they more or less perform material activities. There is not much spiritual
activities evolved. It is still based on the body. Because I'm Christian and
you are Muslim, we have to fight. Because only Christian God exist, there is
no Muslim God. And the Muslims claim, "No, no. God is Muslim God. There is no
Christian God." They say like this, "My God, your God. My God is better then
your God." And then they fight. What kind of religion is this? It is the same,
old bodily identification in the name of religion. They have no clear concept
of God.

We can actually ask any of this religious people, in general, (there are
always exemptions, also among Christians, Muslims...) "What is God?", and you
will get as many answers as there are different varieties of species of life.
Someone will say "God is nature", "God is love", "God is nothing", "God is
everything", so many different answers. But nobody actually knows what God is.

Just like I may know the president of the state. I might know so many
qualities of him, activities of him: "He is the president, he is very
powerful", so many things, but these are external manifestations of that
personality. But who actually knows him? Just a few people. Very few people.
Maybe even close relatives don't know him. Because to know some person, you
have to associate with that person for a reasonable amount of time. Isn't it a
common sense? If I want to know any person, we have to associate, live
together, talk with that person, see how he behaves in different situations
and circumstances. If it is danger, how does he react. Is he fearless person
or extremely afraid? We have to study that person. And then we know. So, it is
not so easy to know God. Although many religious persons claim, I know God.
And then you ask them, "What is God", and they say, "God is nature". These are
external aspects of God. It doesn't refer to the personality.

Krishna confirms in Bhagavad-gita, aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam
pravartate, "All the material and spiritual worlds emanate from Me". So that
is also God. And this world is also God, and every aspect of this world is
also God, it is common sense. The material energy is also God, and love is
also God. Anything in this world is God.

Here we have spiritual mathematic. It is said Krishna is everything, but
everything is not Krishna. They cannot understand this, it is too difficult.
Also impersonalists, they cannot solve this problem of mathematics. And still
he is perfect. Isopanisad says, om purnam adah purnam idam purnam purnat
udacyate: "For He is the complete whole, and although so many complete units
emanate from Him, he still remains complete". So Krishna is that factor. In
spiritual mathematics one plus one equals one, and one minus one equals one.
By material logic we cannot understand that.

The living entity, and the relationship between the living entities, love and
emotion, nature, the beauty of nature, the sunrise, the sunset, so many
things. Even in Bhagavad-gita there is a whole chapter dedicated to that
point. Krishna says, "I'm the sun, I'm the moon. Among the aquatic bodies I'm
the ocean. Among the ferocious animals I am the shark and I'm the lion. Among
the nonmovable objects I'm the Himalayan mountain." He did not say Meru,
because Meru is much larger. Meru sometimes moves, but not the Himalayas. In
other words, Krishna points that "anything fantastic, wonderful in this world,
it is Me", because that is the general conception of people about God. "If I
think something is very wonderful in this world, this must be God.

Just like drugs in the 60's, that was very wonderful experience, for many
young people, hippies. So they concluded, "Oh, this is God. This is completely
spiritual and transcendental." So that is natural. Whatever I like I think,
"This is God. This is the highest. There is nothing beyond." So it is true, it
is a fact. But still, Krishna explains further in that chapter, "Arjuna, you
should know that this wonderful creation, all the wonderful aspects of this
material creation, is just a tiny, tiny, fragmential part of my opulence. You
should know, with only a tiny part, ekamsena sthito jagat, tiny part of my
energies, power, I support and pervade this entire material creation.

So it is not enough simply to know that this world, with all his varieties,
beauties and aspects is God. It is not enough. Just like a boss of a big
concern or a company. It is not enough to just experience the varieties of his
company, like the building, the people engaged, the machines, this and that,
so much money going in and out. Most of the time he's not even there. Usually
one hour in the mourning he is sitting behind his desk, smashing people. Then
he just drives away and everyone thinks, "Oh, he is so busy." But he is just
playing golf, enjoying life. So it is same with God. Just with a tiny fraction
of His energy, His personality, He is present in this world, just to check,
"the things are not going too chaotic. That is His Paramatma expansion. He is
one hour in office. But actually Krishna in the spiritual world just enjoys
life, existence, by playing on His flute. Krishna is not so stupid to play
golf. Just hitting a ball. No, he is playing a flute. He enjoys with millions
of gopies, His devotees.

So to know that God, that personality, it is something else. You have to visit
that boss of that company at home. And then you learn that person. You learn
to know that person. So, God is not so cheap. Sometimes we pray to Him,
"Please give me my daily bread", and that's it. Some think that God is the
Supreme Personality of Baker. He is the Supreme Baker, always delivering bread
to people. He states in Bhagavad-gita, "I have nothing to do with this world".
Bhinna prakrtir astada. "It is My separated energy". Just when we visit the
bathroom, some energy separates from us. He is enjoying somewhere else, not in
the toilet, in the bathroom. But we are trying to enjoy in the bathroom. We
are trying to enjoy Krishnas separated, dead energy. But it is still Krishnas
energy. Those who understand that, they will make advancement.

Just like the nail is a part of the finger. But the nail, you can say is
lifeless, without any sensation. You can cut it and you will not scream. But
the rest of the finger is totally different, so sensitive. Just imagine, you
take needle and pinch the needle in the tip of your finger, or just underneath
the nail. Just imagine. So painful. Two totally different substances. Like
this we can understand. And still, the nail is growing. Although it seems to
be lifeless, dead. How can it grow? It is connected with the finger. If the
nail is disconnected from the finger, it cannot grow. So the same thing is
with this material energy. It is separated from Krishna but still connected to
Krishna. It appears to be lifeless, no consciousness here, in this material
energy, but still it is growing, because Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita,
"This material energy, this world, is constantly changing". The cause of it is
Krishna, Paramatma, pervading this entire material creation, energy. But it
appears to be dull, lifeless, separated.

So it is very nice example. You can study like that. Prabhupada often said,
"Just by studying our own self, our body, we can understand God. This body is
just like this universe, the same principle. The universe is God's universal
body, but still, He is far, far away from this universe. He is both, because
He is the complete whole, the Absolute Truth. That is another point. There is
nothing which does not exist in God.

There is big conflict for the Christian philosophy. They cannot really settle
the problem of evil. What is evil. Because if God is everything, if He created
everything, how can He create evil? Then they think there must be competitor
of God, and that's Satan. God does not create evil, so it is created by Satan.
He is the competitor of God, His eternal enemy. Sometimes, very rarely but
sometimes, they are fighting, but they are equally strong, so there is no
defeat. At one point they are separating again. Then God tries to win all the
living entities on His side, and Satan tries to preach to the living entities
and win them on his side. That's the only conclusion you can draw. But there
is no competitor of God. Isvara parama krishna. He is the supreme living
entity, the supreme controller. Any other living entity existing or ever
existing will be His subordinate servant. That's Vedic philosophy.

But then how can we say there is evil? Why does he create evil, bad things in
this world? So then we have to understand the different positions of God and
the living entity. First of all, it is not created by God. If there would be
no living entity, just God alone, there is no necessity of this entire
material creation. It would not exist. Just like if there were no criminals in
the society, there would be no need of a prison house. But because there are
living entities who by nature want to perform criminal activities, at that
point there is necessity, a need for a prison house. But can you because of
that blame the government? Why did you build this prison house? So many evil
things are going on in the prison house. We cannot think like that. So also,
God never creates evil of this world, He has no interest. It is only being
created because of the desire of the living entities. They perform these
activities.

And now we have the problem with the mayavadi philosophy, because we conclude,
the desire of the living entity is also created by God. He is the Supreme
Creator. Everything is created by Him. Then the desires of the living entity
are also created by God. So therefore God created evil, evil desires, bad
desires. But that is wrong, because then there would be no independence of the
living entity. That's exactly the mayavadi idea, everything is one.

But there is individual existence. Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita, "All these
warriors existed in the past, in the present and in the future." Krishna
clearly states, "I also existed in the past, in the present and in the
future." He makes that distinction. It is a very difficult verse for the
mayavadis. Because Krishna already established before the difference between
the body and the soul. So why should Krishna again come down on the bodily
platform, just stating in general, "Our bodies existed in the past, present
and future, but our souls are eternally one"? He already established the
difference between the soul and the body. Then he states that "I, you and all
this warriors existed in the past, in the present and will continue to exist
in the future, and that obviously refers to the soul."

So Krishna is the supreme soul, and all other souls are subordinate to Him.
Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. It is stated
in the sastras that many, many conscious living entities... What is the
difference between those many, many living entities and the supreme soul? They
are all subordinate to that Supreme Soul, and He maintains them eternally.
They depend on Him. That is the difference.

Now we may become envious on God. Why is He the Supreme Soul? Why not me? Why
am I subordinate? Because of that thought we are in this material world. And
here we can imitate Him. We can control so many things, we can control this
body. Even that we cannot do. We cannot control even our own senses. Anyway,
He gives facilities. "Now you have your own world, and be god." But then
Krishna teaches us what are the consequences for that activity. You have to
take the responsibility for your creation, for your activities. And then we
suffer, because our activities are bewildered.

God's activities and creation are perfect, He is never bewildered. Therefore
Krishna states: "I have nothing to do, still I am active but I am never
affected by my activities." Because He is perfect. But we are not perfect like
God. We are very, very small, tiny, insignificant, and our disconnection from
Him is our imperfection. Prabhupada gives the example of a tiny screw. If that
screw is separated from a very important, highly sophisticated machine, and
has an extremely important function in that machine, if it is disconnected, it
is completely valueless. You don't pay even one dinar for it. But if that tiny
screw is again connected with the machine, it has so much value. If you miss
that screw you will pay anything.

So imperfection or things without value, these are the activities of this
world. That is what we call evil or bad things. It is disconnected from the
all-good God. That immediately means bad. He is good and if something is
separated from Him, that is bad. Bad, evil, illusion, all these terms. We can
also give another example, just like a mother and a child. Just imagine. A
mother and a child, in front of a stop light, they want to cross the road.
Now, the light is still red, the cars are passing, but the child wants to run
over the street. Then the mother grabs the child in the last moment, in a
rough way, the child almost falls on the floor, because a big truck almost hit
the child. But it is not very intelligent if some other onlookers come to the
mother and say, "Why are you so cruel?" It was done out of love. But the child
suffers at that moment. He is completely bewildered and is crying. But that is
only for the child. He is confused, in pain, feels insulted, so many things.
But it was for the highest benefit of the child, done out of love.

That is exactly the position of this material world. We have very foolish
desires. Out of love Krishna fulfills those desires, but He is always pulling
us back, saving us by the laws of material nature. That is Krishna's pullback.
You cannot go too far, otherwise you will suffer too much. So we experience
that pullback by God, by His laws of nature. Naturally we feel very confused,
insulted, we suffer, and then, of course, at one point we blame God. Just like
the child, at that moment he hates the mother. "Why you pulled me like this?
It is painful, I hate you." That is like saying that God created evil in this
world. No, we have our individual existence. Therefore we can develop, or
have, individual desires. And the scope of our individual desires is in the
scope of: to surrender to God or not. That is our freedom. If we could only
have one choice, surrender to God, serve Him, then we are slaves. Just like in
some countries, they give so called freedom to the citizens. You serve the
country, or you go to Siberia. He gives a nice choice. You can serve Me, or
you can imitate Me. Then he gives us the playground of this material world.

Now our rational intelligence will say, "Wait a minute, that is just the
analogy you gave. You can surrender to Me, or you can go to the Siberia of
this material world and suffer." But it is not like that. It is stated and
confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in one lecture that first the living entity
takes on the position of Brahma, when he falls, and he has so much freedom.
His body just consist of pure intelligence. He is living for billions of
years, as long as this universe last. And he can create like anything. He has
a very special life. And some Brahmas learn immediately, they have
intelligence, "I am wasting my time. Let me go back to Godhead." They return
after that lifetime, immediately.


The cause of suffering of the conditioned souls

Is God responsible for the suffering of the living entity?

The Supreme Lord has nothing to do with the happiness and distress of the
conditioned souls. This is very often wrongly understood, that God does not
create our suffering. Srila Prabhupada gives the nice example of the lotus
flower or lilly. It is not a fault of the sunshine that the bumblebee is
captured in the flower. It is due to the attachment of that bumblebee. He is
attached for that nectar inside the flower and then if there is less sunshine,
the flower closes and the bumblebee is captured.

So the nature of this material world is that there is material happiness and
material distress. That's the nature of this world. But the living entity is
somehow attached to this world. We can leave this world at any time. It is up
to us. But no, we want to stay. We are attached to the nectar insight of this
world. Therefore we experience happiness and distress. Sometimes the flower
lilly of this material existence closes and we suffer very much, sometimes it
opens and we feel some happiness. That is not a creation of the Lord, of the
sunshine, of the sun lord, analogically speaking. It is the nature of this
world. Of course, you might argue that the nature of this world has its cause
in the Supreme Lord. So in one sense you could argue, "It is a creation of the
Lord". That's a fact, everything is a creation of the Lord, there is nothing
outside. And He explains that in Bhagavad-gita very clearly. Aham sarvasya
prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate. "All the material and spiritual worlds
emanate from Me." Mattah parataram nanyat kincit asti dhananjaya. "Everything
rests on Me, just like pearls string on a thread." So in one sense, He is the
cause of all causes.

But why does He state that He stays in neutral position? Because it is a fact.
Ultimately He has nothing to do with this material world. It is simply being
created due to the desire of the living entities. That is the actual fact.
Just like Srila Prabhupada once gave one lecture and one devotee, actually it
was Sacinandana Swami, he was a bhakta at that time, he asked Srila Prabhupada
one question: "Why did Krishna created maya?" And Prabhupada looked at him
heavily and said, "You created maya". It is actually our creation. We want
this world. Are people not attached to this world? Of course they are
attached. They want this world. Although they suffer in this world, but they
cannot give it up. Just like so many practical examples in life. There are
many people that are addicted to activities causing suffering. Just like when
you see this advertisements for cigarettes. There is always a small line at
the bottom of the poster stating that "If you smoke this cigarette it will be
dangerous for your health because it contains certain substances." But still
people cannot give it up. Or drinking alcohol. Every time there is so much
suffering. The poor fellow, drunkard, he's lying in the street, and he has to
vomit and he takes rest overnight, his head lying on that vomited stuff. Then
his liver is finished, his stomach is screwed up. But he cannot give it up.
That is his fault. He could just give it up.

All the conditioned souls in this world could just go home, back to Godhead.
If they complain about the Lord's creation, "Why did you created this bad,
evil material world?" Then what do they want? You want some happiness? You can
also find happiness here. "No it is too temporary." So eventually they give a
perfect description of the spiritual world, of Krishna's transcendental abode.
So then you just offer them, "All right, it is your desire to live in a world
which exactly resembles the spiritual world. Then why don't you go there?" And
then they will say "No. There is one problem in the spiritual world. There is
one person we don't like, because He is the Supreme and we have to surrender
to Him." Then all right, stay in this material world and think that you are
the Supreme. It is not a fault of Krishna. That's due to the attachment and
ignorance of the living entity.

And Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita that He has nothing to do with the
happiness and suffering of the living entities. It is actually because of the
desire of the living entity. So now again you may argue, "How can the living
entity desire suffering?" That's because the living entity is in ignorance. It
does not have sufficient knowledge. It has the desire and Krishna fulfills it,
there is another desire and Krishna fulfills. And eventually there will be
suffering. Just like the small child. "I have the desire to play with a sharp
knife." So the mother will give, "Here." Of course, first she will not give,
and Krishna points out in so many ways through His Supersoul aspect in the
heart, "Don't do it", through the agency of shastras, Vedic scriptures,
through His representatives, pure devotees. Krishna comes Himself, and they
all have the same message: "Don't entangle yourself in the sharp knifelike
activities." But no, nobody listens. They want to do it. So then Krishna
provides, "Go ahead. Play with the sharp knife." And we think we are so
expert. We can play with the sharp knife, we throw it in the air, catch it.
And in one point we miss one turn and it goes right through the hand. And then
we feel very bad, so much pain. But then you cannot accuse the mother, "Why
did you caused this pain to me?" It is unfair. Because the child wanted to
play with that sharp knife.

So we wanted to play with this material world, we wanted to imitate Krishna,
we wanted to control, we wanted to be the enjoyer. So Krishna in so many ways
pointed out, "Don't do this". But if we insist, life after life, Krishna at
one point will say, "Go ahead. Go through the school of hard knocks. And then
learn yourself." That's also Krishna's mercy because we don't want to listen
to Him. And He is so kind that He gives us the facilities to learn ourselves.

So now we ended up in quite miserable condition of life, locked up in this
body, in the advanced age of Kali. If we learned enough lesson we should
surrender to Krishna and go home, back to Godhead. And Krishna points that in
Bhagavad-gita too. "Simply give up your playlike activities, your dharma, your
so-called duties, and just surrender unto Me. That will make you happy,
nothing else. Any attempt to be happy in a different way will not work."

That is the simple understanding of the Krishna conscious philosophy. Those
who are intelligent, they will actually do it. Krishna consciousness is meant
for intelligent people. It doesn't mean material intelligence. Otherwise we
would have so many members, so many devotees, because there are many
intelligent people in this world. But Krishna defines Himself what does
intelligence actually means. One who is surrendered to the Lord, he is
intelligent. It is natural, because he knows that He is the Supreme powerful
entity. If you are smart, you will surrender unto Him. There is one saying,
"If you cannot fight somebody, surrender unto him". That is intelligence. You
know that person is ten times stronger then you. Then just surrender, "I don't
want to cause any problem." He will say "OK, just leave me alone." Then you
are out of danger.

But those who are not intelligent want to fight. "No, I will fight Krishna."
There were so many unintelligent "great" personalities in this world who tried
to fight Krishna like Kamsa, Sisupala. They were so powerful. Also Ravana, he
was very, very powerful. He could terrorize the whole universe. Even Indra and
Chandra had to surrender to him. Just imagine how powerful he was. He
conquered other planets. And all those demons naturally wanted to fight
against Krishna, but they were all defeated by the Lord. And still, we are
small, tiny, tiny Kamsas and Sisupalas, but still we want fight the Lord.

So for our case he doesn't incarnate. He will just let us know, "You just try
to fight My energy, and then we shall see". And now they are trying to fight
against nature, against the material energy. But it is very, very difficult.
They try to conquer so many things in this world, but they always fail to do
so. Sometimes Prabhupada used to challenge the scientists, and he used to say,
"In the morning there is so much fog, so just get rid of the fog. Just do that
little feat, if you are so advanced. Trying to control nature, manipulate
nature. Just dissipate the fog." So then they might invent some big, nuclear
bomb to dissipate the fog. And they think the problem is solved. But after 20
years all the people who were living around, their hair is falling... So
Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita, daivi hy esa guna mayi mama maya duratyaya.
"You will not be able to overcome my material energy. You cannot fight it".