In this world, everyone is trying to get liberation from material pangs. Those who follow Buddhist philosophy are trying to get liberation from the material miseries by reaching nirvana. Nirvana means “the stage when everything is extinguished”. The Buddhists want to make everything void; they want to make all material varieties zero. That is the sum and substance of Buddhist philosophy. And Mayavada (impersonalistic) philosophy is more or less similar. It is the second edition of Buddhist philosophy. The Buddhists want to make everything zero without life and the Mayavadi philosophers say, “Yes, we should make the material varieties zero, but keep life”. That is their mistake. Where there is life, there must be variety; life without variety is not possible. This is the defect of Mayavada philosophy. Although the Mayavadi philosophy claims to be directed by the Vedic conclusions, Lord Siva, however, admits that this philosophy is manufactured by him in the age of Kali in order to mislead the atheists. “Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His transcendental body”. “But I describe the Supreme as impersonal. I also explain the Vedanta-sutra according to the same principles of Mayavadi philosophy”. In the Siva Purana, the Supreme Lord says: “My dear Devi, sometimes I teach Mayavadi philosophy for those who are engrossed in the mode of ignorance. But if a person in the mode of goodness happens to hear this Mayavadi philosophy, he falls down, for when teaching Mayavadi philosophy, I say that the living entity and the Supreme Lord are one and the same”. Mayavadi philosophy has the audacity to reject the purpose of Vyasadeva, as explained in the Vedanta-sutra, and to attempt to establish a doctrine of transformation which is totally imaginary. According to the Mayavadi philosophy, the cosmic manifestation is but the transformation of the Absolute Truth, and the Absolute Truth has no separate existence outside the cosmic manifestation. This is not the message of Vedanta-sutra. The transformation has been explained by Mayavadi philosophers as false, but it is not false. It is only temporary. The Mayavadi philosophers maintain that the Absolute Truth is the only truth and that this material manifestation known as the world is false. Actually, this is not the case. The material contamination is not exactly false; because it is relative truth, it is temporary. There is a difference between something that is temporary and something that is false. Krishna consciousness is different than Buddhist and Mayavadi philosophy. Krishna consciousness brings you to real life – a life of devotional activity in the liberated stage. But it is often difficult to understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Why? That is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam [7.5.30]: matir na krsne paratah svato va mitho ‘bhipadyeta grha-vratanam. Grha means “house”, and vrata means “vow”. So the Bhagavatam says, “One who is too interested in maintaining a comfortable family life cannot understand the philosophy in attaining bodily comforts, a nice wife, a nice apartment, a nice bank balance. These things are his aspirations, and nothing more.
Source: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2014 edition), “The Quest for Enlightenment”, Page 58 A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2012 edition), “Teachings of Lord Caitanya, The Golden Avatara”, Page 238, 239, 310

 

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