During a serene lunch break by Lake Ontario, a spontaneous encounter with a young man named George transformed a potentially uneasy moment into a thoughtful exchange about spirituality. Embracing the opportunity, I conveyed some nuggets of spiritual knowledge, fostering connection and understanding. Then I chanted my mantras. Ultimately, I left the encounter gratefully, having made a new friend.
I sat at one end of the bench and prepared to chant my Gayatri mantras. This big burly young man came and plonked himself right on the other end. The whole bench shook with the force of his landing. All other benches were empty, and this man chose to sit on the same one I was on.
The unkempt, untidy, muscular fellow was looking at me with some unusual interest… I wondered if I should move… was it going to be trouble? But I decided to stay there and chant my Gayatri mantras there anyways. After all, Krishna is non-different from His Names. I was in safe hands, come what may.
To make matters worse, this young man lit a cigarette. Oh no, I thought, how can I chant here amidst all the smoke? But still I resisted the urge to move. There was after all a reason why the Paramatma, the Supersoul in his heart inspired him to sit there. On the lone occupied bench on the entire pier.
All this happened one afternoon earlier this week, on my lunch break. Mantras on the pier that looks onto Lake Ontario – a typical lunch time routine for me. I took a slow walk, beads in hand, softly chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Then I chose an empty bench, which was not hard to do. Even though it was bright and sunny, it was still cold, about plus two degrees Celsius. So I had the pier all to myself, or so I thought. Krishna clearly had other plans!
Thus the intelligent person who places his faith in the Paramātmā or the Supreme Personality of Godhead begins to advance toward a blissful eternal life of knowledge.
Suddenly he asked me, interrupting, “Are you praying to the the Buddha?”. I said I was chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. He said “I believe it all, the cross, Buddha, all”.
So then George, who is from Greece, and I had a nice little chat. We spoke about how there is only one God and we know the same God by different names. I chanted peacefully. George just sat there, taking a puff, looking at me, taking a puff…
As he smoked, I was hoping the smoke didn’t blow my way, and it didn’t, for the most part. Except for the last puff – the wind changed directions that moment. But then, he threw away the cigarette, and with a “be well, my friend” got up walked away.
Why had I wanted to avoid the interaction? What was the difference between this brief interaction and the ones that we view as more significant? Yes, the time span was different. This one was a few minutes, the others, a few hours, days, weeks, months, years, or even decades.
But no matter what, we have to part ways, is it not? We sometimes meet each other again, our paths cross again… but is it guaranteed that they will? So why did I want to get away from George? It was the mind that was playing tricks, that’s all!
Thereafter, Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, understood that the materialistic association of husband, friends and relatives is like the association in a hotel full of tourists. The relationships of society, friendship and love are created by the māyā of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly as in a dream. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, Devayānī gave up her imaginary position in the material world. Completely fixing her mind upon Kṛṣṇa, she achieved liberation from the gross and subtle bodies.
सा सन्निवासं सुहृदां प्रपायामिव गच्छताम् । विज्ञायेश्वरतन्त्राणां मायाविरचितं प्रभो: ॥ २७ ॥ सर्वत्र सङ्गमुत्सृज्य स्वप्नौपम्येन भार्गवी । कृष्णे मन: समावेश्य व्यधुनोल्लिङ्गमात्मन: ॥ २८ ॥
It is best to serve another soul whenever we get a chance. No postponing. After all, who knows if and when our paths will cross again?
I don’t know why George chose to sit next to me. I wonder if he just wanted to have an interaction with another human. But I feel that Krishna, God, inspired George. I hope I served the soul passing for George for the brief length of our interaction! I hope that the few nuggets of spiritual knowledge was pleasing to the soul in the body called George. I pray that my effort was pleasing to Krishna, who sits in my heart as well as George’s as Paramatma, the Supersoul.
I am glad I overcame my preconceived notions about this young man. It was by Krishna’s grace. Otherwise I would have missed the service opportunity, maybe even conveyed some misunderstanding to George. It is not very pleasant when someone tries to avoid you, especially if you don’t know why.
Too often, spiritual people end up pushing others away. This is because we are not in tune with the dictations of God sitting within our heart. It is because we fall prey to the urges of the mind.
I then chanted my Gayatri in peace. I continued chanting the Mahamantra after. Finally, it was time to get back to the office for a quick lunch and my next meeting.
It all ended well. I made a new friend, George from Greece. I prayed that he also experience Krishna in the form of His His Names, some day.
Some people say that God has only one son. But God is unlimited. So why can’t God have more than one son? And why not daughters? Are we misunderstanding something here?
One of the ideas floating around in this world for quite some time is that God has only one Son.
And that Son is Jesus Christ. Originally known as Jesus of the Christ.
So, the argument goes, that if you’re not an “official” Christian, or following the dogma of the present-day so-called Christians, then “you sir, are going to hell” as I’ve been told often.
Unfortunately, these angry so-called Christians have never stopped and calmed down long enough to have a proper conversation, so I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this with them. But I hope it will help others of all denominations, faiths, affiliations, and orientations.
There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed a Son of God, God the Son. If you look at his teachings and his life, it is clear that Jesus Christ purely followed the word of God and lived trying to spread the word around.
In fact, what to speak of his life, even the so-called death of Jesus Christ was simply a way to spread the glories of God. It is superficial to understand that Jesus Christ was killed, because we know, of course, that spirit soul, Atma, can never be killed.
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः । अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामह: । वेद्यं पवित्रम् ॐकार ऋक् साम यजुरेव च ॥ १७ ॥
pitāham asya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca
I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.
In other words, God, in His feature as God the Father, declares that He is the father of the entire Universe, not just Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, God declares that He is also the Mother of the Universe! Indeed, how could God not be omnipotent to also be the Mother of the Universe?
Finally, God states that He is the grandsire, or the grandfather of this Universe. Why does God say that? Because while God is the Primary Creator of this Universe, he employs the services of one of His sons, Brahma, as the secondary creator. In other words, God gives birth to Lord Brahma, who then, under instruction from God, creates the Universe, the many different planetary systems, the species, and so on.
प्रचोदिता येन पुरा सरस्वती वितन्वताजस्य सतीं स्मृतिं हृदि । स्वलक्षणा प्रादुरभूत् किलास्यत: स मे ऋषीणामृषभ: प्रसीदताम् ॥ २२ ॥
pracoditā yena purā sarasvatī vitanvatājasya satīṁ smṛtiṁ hṛdi sva-lakṣaṇā prādurabhūt kilāsyataḥ sa me ṛṣīṇām ṛṣabhaḥ prasīdatām
May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahmā from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahmā, be pleased with me.
As we have already discussed hereinbefore, the Lord, as the Supersoul of all living beings from Brahmā to the insignificant ant, endows all with the required knowledge potent in every living being…
In the beginning of the creation, Brahmā is born first without any father and mother because before Brahmā there were no other living beings. Brahmā is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and therefore he is known as Aja…
A spiritual master is not a theoretical speculator, like the mundane scholar, but is śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham.
In Christianity, there are 3 concepts of God, and all of them are supported by the Vedic Literature.
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
God the Father is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His “non-different” expansions, known as Vishnu Tattva, or the Quality of being endowed with the full potency of God Himself.
God the Holy Spirit is called Paramatma, or the Supersoul dwelling within… not just within each living entity but also within every atom and within the space between the atoms.
The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.
Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.
In other words, the inspiration to act is provided by God according to the desires and earnings of the individual spirit soul.
Which brings us to the question, who is then God the Son?
Srila Prabhupada makes this clear.
The example of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s being the Supreme Personality of Godhead is appropriate in regard to understanding the spiritual master. The spiritual master is called sevaka-bhagavān, the servitor Personality of Godhead, and Kṛṣṇa is called sevya-bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is to be worshiped. The spiritual master is the worshiper God, whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the worshipable God. This is the difference between the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The servitor Personality of Godhead is called the Son of God.
When we look at the life and example of Lord Jesus Christ, it is clear that Jesus Christ can be called the servitor Personality of Godhead, or the Son of God. This is similar to Lord Brahma, who, in addition to be born directly from the navel of an expansion of God, also acts in accordance with the will of God.
So far we have detected at least two sons of God. So, does God only have two sons?
An ordinary animal or insect in this world can have more than two, a dozen, even thousands of offspring, and God can only have one or two?
But God said that every living entity is a son (or daughter) of Him above. But we don’t worship every living entity as a child of God, even though we do respect all living entities as part-and-parcel of God.
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
So while we respect every living entity because they are claimed by God, we don’t necessarily give them all the same respect as given to Lord Brahma or Lord Jesus Christ.
Why is that? It’s called “oneness in purpose” or “na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ” or “no difference in purpose”, or in completely harmony.
Let’s take a mundane example… suppose we have a great businessman, and the businessman has several sons and daughters.
Some of the businessman’s sons and daughters act according to the direction of the father in the father’s business empire, and yet others rebel against the father and act against his instructions.
In the general world, the obedient sons are known as the “real sons” of the father, whereas the other children are known as “sons or daughters in name only”.
This example applies to many souls in so many different contexts, for example, “true citizens” are those who act in the interest of the nation, “true students” are those who fully follow the instructions of the teacher, “true professionals” are those who act for the good of the profession. Such souls act in a certain way even if it is not according to their own personal interest… in other words, they put the higher common interest ahead of their own.
Which brings us to our answer.
The Spiritual Master is the True Son of God.
And the Bibilical statement:
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
John 14.6 (King James Edition)
What this means is that unless someone acts in the spirit of Lord Jesus Christ teachings, example, and actions, they cannot approach God the Father.
And what is this “way” of Jesus Christ? This humble attitude…
Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.
When we look around in our own limited knowledge of the scripture and history, there are many such sons (and daughters) of God.
So, the understanding that Jesus Christ is the “Only Son of God” is incomplete, at best.
To claim that is to have no understanding of God’s infinite unlimited potency. Unlimited names, Unlimited forms, Unlimited pastimes, Unlimited qualities, Unlimited activities, Unlimited Universes, and naturally Unlimited sons and daughters.
As we are now living on this planet, there are many sons and daughters of God who walk the earth with us. Let us learn to recognize them and follow in their footsteps.
And if we can’t spot them? Then we are just as unfortunate as those poor fools who couldn’t spot Jesus Christ when he was here on this planet in person, and those who cannot spot how great is Jesus Christ even today. These poor fools cannot spot others who are purely following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of God.
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 