I was asked the question that if we as spiritual beings (residing within the body) are truly eternal, meaning without a beginning nor an end, does that make us God-like? Are we then not different from God? And does this mean that we are somehow Gods?
The Vedic/Yogic teachings are that the individual soul (ātma/self) is a part and parcel of God and therefore “Inconceivably, simultaneously one yet distinct” from God –acintya-bhedābheda-tattva in Sanskrit.
We examined some authoritative Vedic verses about this:
This is the truth: As sparks of similar form spring forth by the thousands from a strongly blazing fire, so from the Absolute Truth are produced the various living beings, O gentle one, and there also do they go. - Mundaka Upanishad 2:1:1
As tiny sparks fly from a fire, so all the individual souls have come from the Supreme. - Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 2.2.20
auṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ
pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya
pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate
The Supreme Soul is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance. - Śrī Īśopaniṣad Invocation
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān
nityaḥ – an eternal; nityānāṁ – a vast number of eternal beings; cetanaḥ – cognizant or conscious; cetanānām – a vast number of cognizant or conscious beings; ekaḥ – one alone; bahūnāṁ – of many; yaḥ – one who; vidadhāti – He awards; kāmān – desires;
He is the eternal among all eternal entities, and the chief conscious being among all conscious beings. Among the many living entities, He is the chief, who fulfills their desires. Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad 6.13 & Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13
Īśvara is a special Puruṣa, unlike other puruṣas, being untouched by afflictions, actions (material activity) and the fruit of actions, and latent impressions or material desires. In Him the seed of omniscience is unsurpassed (infinite). He is also the Teacher of all ancient teachers (sages), being not limited by time. The transcendental sound personifying Him is AUṀ. - Yoga Sūtra 1.24-27
Īśvara [Supreme Soul / Paramātmā] 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.” - Bhagavad-gīta 18.61.
sa nityo nitya-sambandhaḥ
prakṛtiś ca paraiva sā
The same jīva is eternal and is for eternity and without a beginning joined to the Supreme Lord by the tie of an eternal kinship. He is transcendental spiritual potency. - Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.21
By chance, two birds have made a nest together in the same tree. The two birds are friends and are of a similar nature. One of them, however, is eating the fruits of the tree, whereas the other, who does not eat the fruits, is in a superior position due to His potency.
The bird who does not eat the fruits of the tree is the Supreme Soul, who by His omniscience perfectly understands His own position and that of the conditioned living entity, represented by the eating bird. That living entity, on the other hand, does not understand himself or the Lord. He is covered by ignorance and is thus called eternally conditioned, whereas the Personality of Godhead, being full of perfect knowledge, is eternally liberated. – Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.11.6-7
