Is the Highest Truth Personal or Impersonal?

Sometimes some of my readers put forward the argument to me that the highest conception of the supreme is formless and impersonal. They argue that the personal conception of God is a mental crutch to help the neophyte transcendentalist fix his mind on the supreme until he is advanced enough to keep his mind fixed on the impersonal, formless supreme. However, these sort of arguments do not hold any weight at all if we consider the words of Krishna as spoken in the Bhagavad-gita 7.8:

mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva

"O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread."

If we try to present a truth higher than the person Krishna, we are speaking against the authority of Bhagavad-gita. If we try this, we are foolishly presenting ourselves as someone who thinks they know more than God Himself. This is philosophically a very dangerous position to take considering how much we are ignorant of even those things that are going on around us here in this material world. Therefore it is best that instead of speculating that we know something more than God, we should take advantage of the knowledge Krishna has revealed to us in the Bhagavad-gita and thus immediately come to the platform of spiritual enlightenment.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Destruction of Criminal Tendencies...

Is there any research institution to reduce and eventually achieve the destruction of all criminal tendencies in human beings?

Sevak,

Damodar

Answer: ISKCON...

Yes. There is an institution dedicated to the eradication of all criminal tendencies in human beings. That institution is known as ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

However, it should be noted that no research is required. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna appearing as His own devotee has already revealed the method. This is a verse composed by Him, which describes the cleansing effect of chanting the holy names of God:

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

"Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step."

Simply by spreading the chanting of the holy names of God all over the world we can put a complete stop to crime and terrorism.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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