Nature of the Absolute

Universalist Radha-Krishnaism offers a panentheistic theology. The personal Absolute enfolds even the formless, attributeless Absolute, which we call Undifferentiated Oneness. God-dess’ power to reconcile the irreconcilable reconciles our imperfect, contradictory ideas of qualified and unqualified Absolute in a higher synthesis.

We cannot fully express the infinite unbounded Absolute in words, but this does not mean we cannot express it at all. We reject the idea of the Absolute as ultimately pure, undifferentiated being. The Absolute must exist as a positive concept to be intelligible and real. Since nothing positive exists without attributes, the Absolute must be qualified. Being infinite, the Absolute must be determined and qualified in endless ways. It encompasses all and lacks nothing. The idea of personality remains consistent and essential to the infinite Absolute. God-dess possesses character, which implies something definite and limiting, but God-dess remains unlimited in the sense of being immeasurable and all encompassing.

Vedic writings portray the Absolute as both qualified and unqualified, often clearly describing the Absolute as both qualified and unqualified in the same breath. Those who wish to merge with the unqualified Absolute may do so. Those who wish a relationship with the personal Absolute, God-dess, may do so. The Absolute is both-and. God-dess reciprocates according to our mode of approach.

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