There Are No Contradictions In God!

God is one, but people understand the Absolute Truth from different angles of vision. The unintelligent see contradictions in Him, but sober devotees find no contradictions. In Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) the Lord says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: “As one surrenders unto Me, I reward him accordingly.” The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of everything, including all knowledge, all truth, and all contradictions. 

In Śrīmad–Bhāgavatam 6.9.37, it is mentioned that a rope is one truth, but some mistake it for a snake, whereas others know it to be a rope. Similarly, devotees who know the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not see contradictions in Him, but non-devotees regard Him as the snakelike source of all fear.

Why Do Various Acharyas Speak Different Philosophies & Contradict Each other?

Lord Buddha appeared in India 2600 years ago. After Lord Buddha, Śaṅkarācārya came. After Śaṅkarācārya, Śrī Rāmānujācārya came and, after Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, came and 536 years ago, Lord Caitanya came.

Although superficially we may see that Lord Buddha is speaking something which is contradictory to Śaṅkarācārya’s teaching, or Rāmānujācārya is speaking something contradictory to Śaṅkara, ultimately there is no contradiction. It is a question of studying and understanding how they were paving a step by step way for the ultimate spiritual realization. 

Lord Buddha

Lord Buddha taught nirvāṇa, detachment from matter. He did not speak anything about the spirit soul. Because of the circumstances in which he was speaking, the humans at the time were not able to understand the constitution of spirit, therefore he did not say anything about spirit. He simply preached nonviolence. We should not be killing animals. 

Lord Buddha’s view is that you can be happy only when you are free from consciousness. Lord Buddha says that consciousness is a production of this combination of matter and if you dismantle the material body, then there will be no more consciousness and thus there will be no feeling of distress or happiness. This is called nirvāṇa. This is called the zero movement. Sunyavadi.

If a rascal child is always doing something nonsense, then first of all stop him. Make him zero. Then a good lesson can be taught. Just like if there is some disease in the eyes, if you simply say, “pluck it out,” that is not treatment. The treatment is you must remove the disease or cataract and then your eyesight will be revived. We should not stop consciousness. If my consciousness is stopped altogether, then what do I gain? That means my death. My whole existence finished. Consciousness cannot be destroyed as mentioned by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gita 2.12, we are always existing eternally.

Śaṅkarācārya

Then comes Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya preaches that this zero is not sufficient. There is positive.” “You are the consciousness and this body is false.” Spirit is the real thing and matter is false.” Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā.  

However, he did not say about the activities of spiritual life. He simply gave hint that matter is false. If we think for years that “I am consciousness. I am consciousness. I am consciousness,” do you think we shall be happy? Since consciousness is now attached to the body, consciousness must act through the body.

Simply understanding that I am not this body, I am consciousness will not help you. You have to engage your consciousness in the matter of serving the supreme consciousness. 

Example of a Naughty Boy

An example would be A naughty boy, creating some mischief. The father calls him, “My dear boy, can you do this?” “Yes, father, I can do it.” So he turns his attention from mischief-making to doing something good. Children want to be active. You cannot stop them. You cannot say “stop and sit down here.” 

Artificially, you can do it. By the fear of the father or the mother, he can sit down for a moment. But that is not possible. You must give him good engagement. This is nature. It is not possible to stop consciousness from working. 

So either to think that “Stop consciousness altogether,” that is not perfect, and either to accept I am simply consciousness, without any conscious engagement, that is also not perfect. 

You have to understand that you are consciousness, not this body; at the same time, you have to engage your consciousness in the supreme activities. Unless you do that, your life will not be perfect.

Vaishnava Acharyas

Then the Vaishnava acharyas came, Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Śrī Madhva Ācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They described the actual position of spiritual life and how to engage our consciousness in the service of the Supreme consciousness Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore these are gradual steps to realize the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu made this process very easy: He asked everyone to simply to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and to engage in the devotional service of the Lord.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, everything is Kṛṣṇa consciousness and there is no contradiction. It is a question of degrees of understanding and realization (BG 4.11). Everyone is searching after Kṛṣṇa. Suppose Kṛṣṇa is on the top of the hundredth step, somebody has covered five steps, somebody has covered ten steps, somebody has covered a hundred steps. So either, Christian, Mohammedan, or any religion or philosophy they are searching after Kṛṣṇa. But it is a question of degrees, how far they have gone forward. The ultimate realization is, [Bhagavad Gita. 18.66]: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. That is the final stage.

If one understands Kṛṣṇa from the Bhagavad-gītā and becomes situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, engaging himself in devotional service, he has reached the highest perfection of knowledge offered by the Vedic literature. When you come to the stage of loving God, that is perfection.

Please read Bhagavad-gītā as it is and attain the ultimate realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: https://prabhupada.io/books/bg 

 

References

  1. Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on BG 3.27 on Jan 1, 1976 in Madras (Chennai), India
  2. Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gītā 2.55-56 —New York, April 19, 1966
  3. Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gītā 2.58-59, New York, April 27, 1966