The concept of the God

The concept of God  according to the Upanishads and Vedas

The Prayer

"From the unreal lead me to the real!
From darkness lead me to light!
From death lead me to immortality"

Today we learn about the concept of God according to Upanishads and Vedas.....
The form of God is formless.
“Na tasya pratima asti”

1 “There is no likeness of Him.”
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19, Yajurveda 32:3]

2 There is no Form of Nirguna Brahma or God as Supreme Consciousness.

“His formless form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye.”
Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20

3 His Formless Form can’t be seen. Though He manifests Himself as Sakar Saguna Brahman, no one can see Him with present eyes or material eyes. To see His Supreme and Original Form one needs spiritual perfection. “No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality, and pastimes of God through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” (Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu 1.2.234).

4 God says: “You cannot see me with your present eyes. Therefore I give you divine eyes so that you can behold my mystic opulence” (Bhagavad-Gita 11.8)

5 “Shudhama papviddham”
“He is body less (Here Body means the physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organ. Brahman has unique transcendental formless spirit body which is infinite like space) & pure.” (Yajurveda 40:8)

6 “He (Brahman/Paramatma) does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He has a unique transcendental spiritual/spirit body which is infinite and omnipresent like space. Brahman is omnipresent soul and Soul “itself” is his spiritual body. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence.”
(Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.7-8)

God is experienced in two aspects as Nirakar and sakar

Nirakar....
Nirakar Nirguna is the eternal all-pervading and omnipresent divine consciousness.

The Absolute without qualities, is impersonal, without Guna or
attributes, Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without special characteristics), immutable and eternal.

This “Formless” form of God is called Sat-Chit-Ananda Rupa (Eternal-Truth-Consciousness-Bliss-Form)

Sakar....
Saguna Sakar is the manifestation of God in form. Qualified absolute, came from the Sanskrit Saguna (सगुण) “with qualities” and Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) “the Absolute.” The personal aspect of the Ultimate Reality. This Saguna Brahman is eternal, undecaying and non-differentiated from Nirguna Brahman.

7 “The Lord of the universe, Lives inside the universe, And without being born, Appears in many forms, And only the wise realize his real form” - (Rig Veda Purusha Suktam 2.3)

8  Although I (Supreme transcendental Brahman) am unborn, imperishable, unchangeable and God of all living entities I do incarnate (Sambhavami –cause to be born or produced) by using my Maya/Illusive energy. (Maya:- the combination of material and mental elements e.g. five elements, five internal senses, five organs of action, five external sense base also called sense objects, One vital breath, mind, intelligence ) - (Bhagavad Gita 4:6)
Meaning – Even though I am unborn I appear (unreal appearance different from original) to be born & embodied because of my Prakriti/Maya/Illusive energy of which I am the controller. I never get influenced by three modes of nature. 

My transcendental infinite/formless space like form never cease to exist when I incarnate. My birth & death in personal form are just empirical reality similar to the mirage in desert or reflection of an object in the water.

In Hindu Vedic religion there is only one Supreme God which exist at two different levels of reality. Vedas call it by the name of “Brahman”, “Parabrahma”,” Paramatma” Hindus worship this Supreme God both in personal & impersonal form. 

Trinity..
[Imp Note: - In Western religions, absolute reality is known as Holy spirit/Supersoul and when it is applied individually it is known as soul while in Vedic culture Absolute reality is called as Brahman/Paramatma/Parabrahma and when it is applied individually it is called as Atman. In Western religions personification of absolute reality is called God in heaven and in Vedic religion it is called  Ishwar or Bhagavan.]

Trinity..... Trimurti

Brahman is ever present root/real consciousness of Trimurtis and by using infinite Brahman consciousness Trimurti create, sustain and destroy the world of illusion.

Brahman is real, root and source consciousness of all the existence and non-existence as well as all that is manifest and hidden.

The Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) & their avatars are the manifestation of one Supreme Brahman. 

Even though Trinity & their Avatars have different divine bodies but they have same single Atman/Soul (innermost core/root and essence ) that is Supreme Brahman.

Trinity and their Avatars are not different from each other. They are one but have manifested in different divine bodies.

Normal human being considers divine bodies as Supreme God because they wrongly identify divine bodies of Trinity and their avatars with spiritual body/space consciousness of Supreme Brahman which pervades & resides in (not diametrically but as a level of reality and real consciousness) divine body of Trinity as Atman/Soul.

9 “The Lord of the universe, Lives inside the universe, And without being born, Appears in many forms, And only the wise realize his real form” - (Rig Veda Purusha Suktam 2.3)

10 Although I (Supreme transcendental Brahman) am unborn, imperishable, unchangeable and God of all living entities I do incarnate (Sambhavami –cause to be born or produced) by using my Maya/Illusive energy. (Maya:- the combination of material and mental elements e.g. five elements, five internal senses, five organs of action, five external sense base also called sense objects, One vital breath, mind, intelligence ) - (Bhagavad Gita 4:6)
Meaning:
Even though I am unborn I appear (unreal appearance different from original) to be born & embodied because of my Prakriti/Maya/Illusive energy of which I am the controller. I never get influenced by three modes of nature. My transcendental infinite/formless space like form never cease to exist when I incarnate. My birth & death in personal form are just empirical reality similar to the mirage in desert or reflection of an object in the water.

Whenever & wherever there is a decline in Dharma/righteousness & religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend (Sruja-send myself forth/Descend/take visible form) myself (aham-I/Me, atmanam-self). (Bhagavad Gita 4:7)
Though unborn, it appears to be born in diverse ways. (Yajurveda 31.19)
The Lord takes on the manifold form. (It) transformed Himself in accordance with each form; that form of His was for the sake of making Him known. (e.g.:- just like the presence of unmanifest electric energy can be recognized by lightened bulb) (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.5.19)

"God appears in both ways as the formless Brahman and as the personal God". They are both dimensions of his personality. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.1)

He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and he is the prime cause of all causes.”(Brahma Samhita 5.1)
16 There are two forms of Brahman, the material & the immaterial, the mortal and the immortal, the solid and the fluid, sat (being) and tya (that), (i.e. sat-tya, true). (The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.1)

Therefore it can be understood now that God has two forms  Nirakar Nirguna & Sakar Saguna
These two form Characteristics of God like all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful, pure, infinite etc. remains the same. Just like water has three forms – liquid, solid & vapor, though it appears in different forms the core substance the constituents of water remains the same in all forms.

In the same way, the Brahman/God is one without second & has the ability to manifests in different forms at the same time anywhere on the earth & still remaining present everywhere. 

Its formless feature is omnipresent & infinite like space and it is able to manifest in many numbers of forms at different places at the same time without ceasing the existence of its ultimate omnipresent nature. God is Supreme Soul which itself is a Spiritual body.

One should have the idea about Atman/soul, Brahman/super soul, and divine bodies within which Atman/Brahman is residing as reality in order to understand all the scriptures and basic concepts. Brahman and Atman are same from the absolute perspective but when Brahman is referred individually it is called Atman.

A true devotee sees Brahman/Supreme soul situated as Atman/soul in all living beings & also in himself equally everywhere. (Bhagavad Gita 6:29)

God says....
Whoever sees (perceive) me everywhere and everything in me, for him I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. (Bhagavad Gita 6:30)

Such a yogi, who serve me through devotional service by perceiving (knowing that) me as only one situated in all living beings he remains always remains in me in all circumstances. (Bhagavad Gita 6:31)

He is considered perfect yogi who compares his own atman/soul/self and sees it as equal everywhere in every living being both in happiness and distress. (Bhagavad Gita 6:32)

All creations of the creator is same.
God says...
I am the atman/soul/self, established in the hearts of all beings, O Gudakesha. I am the beginning, middle and also the end of all beings.– (Bhagavad Gita 10:20)

I am seated in the hearts of all living beings, and from me come memory, knowledge, as well as forgetfulness. I alone am to be known by all the Vedas, am the author of the Vedanta, & the knower of the meaning of the Vedas. (Bhagavad Gita 15:15)
Next...

What could be the nature of God......
Nature of the God
Verse:-

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam

Purnat Purnamudachyate

Purnasya Purnamadaya

Purnameva Vashishyate

Om shanti, shanti, shanti

(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Isavasyopanishad)

The meaning:
‘That’ (The absolute spirit/Brahman) is infinite,
‘This’ (Soul/Atman) is infinite.
From ‘That’ ‘this’ raises and manifests itself.
From ‘that’ when ‘This’ is separated, what especially remains is ‘That’.

When infinity is separated from infinity the remaining is always infinity.

The self of God is like space - That which appears like space is God.

Whatever that exist is existing relative to empty/consciousness of space. 

Consciously Space is different from light, darkness and dark matter. The existence of light, darkness and dark matter are relative to a consciousness of space.
[
Scriptures mentions that self of God is like space.

Man is a creature of his Kratumaya (क्रतुमयः, will, purpose).

Let him, therefore, have for himself this will, this purpose: The intelligent, whose body is imbued with life-principle, whose form is light, whose thoughts are driven by truth, whose self is like space (invisible but ever-present), from whom all works, all desires, all sensory feelings encompassing this whole world, the silent, the unconcerned, this is me, my Self, my Soul within my heart.