Monday, July 21, 2008

Formless God, and God with form

Many thinkers posit God as infinite and impersonal, and that He cannot be finite and personal. This conception limits the almightiness of God. Just as invisible hydrogen-oxygen gas can be condensed into vapor, or water, or frozen into a solid as ice, so God the impersonal Spirit and invisible Cosmic Consciousness can and does materialize Itself into a Great Light, into an Intelligible Voice of any language, into any desired form, and into a finite personal body.
~ God Talks with Arjuna by Paramahansa Yogananda, p. 443

Think of Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, as a shoreless ocean. Through the cooling influence, as it were, of the bhakta's love, the water has frozen at places into blocks of ice. In other words, God now and then assumes various forms for His lovers and reveals Himself to them as a Person. But with the rising of the sun of Knowledge, the blocks of ice melt. Then one doesn't feel any more that God is a Person, nor does one see God's forms. What He is cannot be described. Who will describe Him? He who would do so disappears. He cannot find his 'I' any more.
~ The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 148

4 comments:

AutoDT said...

Hi Srini! :)

Beautiful quotes.

'He is both infinite and finite,
and we are His reflections
on earth.'
(Cyrus Rumi)

Namaste, peace and honour to you.

Srini said...

"He is both infinite and finite,
and we are His reflections
on earth" -- Nice one cyrus!

Here's one more quote from Ramakrishna,
"Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well."

Namaste.

AutoDT said...

How beautiful and relevant! :)

Thank you for sharing this quote from Ramakrsihna.

Namaste, peace and honour to you.

Cyrus

Unknown said...

We are definitely his reflection!!! Peace to you...