Hare Krsna,
It is important to understand the concept of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva to understand the difference between personalist and impersonalist points of view. This theory of simultaneous oneness and difference between the individual soul and the Supersoul is propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. According to the acintya-bhedabheda principle, the living entity is eternal (nitya) like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the difference is that the Supreme Lord is the greatest, no one being equal to or greater than Him, whereas the living entity is sūkṣma, or extremely small.
A popular example is taken of the sun. the sunshine is not different from the sun itself, but it is simultaneously also different. One may be in the sunshine, but he is not on the sun itself. Similarly, the living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord; they are same in quality but not in quantity. The living entities are infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord.
The Supreme Lord is one but His expansions are various. Ete camas kalah pumsah, Krsna tum Bhagavan svayam (SB 1.3.28). There are many expansions of the Supreme Lord but Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
“The Personality of Godhead 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.” (Sri Isopanisad 1)
The difference between the personalist and impersonalist point of view arises here. The impersonalists say that everything is one. Although so many emanations emanate from the Lord, they say that they are same as the Lord. Not everything is one. The trunk is not one with the leaf, but ultimately because the root is the cause, so there is no difference between the trunk and the leaf.
“The true understanding is that the differences are manifested by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The seed is manifested as a tree, which displays varieties in its trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits.” (SB 7.9.31 P)
In the 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krsna gives several examples how everything is His energy. He says that of all the Adityas He is Visnu; of the Maruts he is Marici; of all the Rudras he is Lord Siva; of priests He is Brhaspati, and so on. This does not mean that Visnu, Marici, Rudras, Siva,etc., are same as the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself. It simply means that Krsna is the source of everything and everyone; but He retains His supreme position always. Even when He comes to this material world, He is always Krsna – the Supreme Lord. The baby form of Krsna is still Bhagavan. Krsna does not lose His “Godhood” just because He appears in various forms and incarnations in this material world. He is like the sun that can never be covered by the clouds. The clouds can obstruct out vision of the sun momentarily; but can never cover the sun. Similarly, when the Supreme Lord appears in this material world, He can never be covered by maya. Otherwise why would Krsna say that by simply surrendering unto Him, we can overcome maya (daivi hy esa gunamayi – BG 7.14).
Therefore the impersonalists’ view that the Supreme Absolute Truth, transforming Himself into the universe, loses His separate existence is wrong. Rather than considering everything in the world to be Lord, we must see everything as the property of the Lord.
“Everything, whatever we see, is the manifestation of the Supreme Lord; therefore, everything should be engaged in the service of the Lord. This is oneness. The difference between the impersonalist and the personalist is that the impersonalist does not accept the separate existence of the Lord, but the personalist accepts the Lord; he understands that although He distributes Himself in so many ways, He has His separate personal existence…There is a nice example regarding the sun and the sunshine. The sun, by its sunshine, is spread all over the universe, and all the planets rest on the sunshine. But all the planets are different from the sun planet; one cannot say that because the planets are resting on the sunshine, these planets are also the sun. Similarly, the impersonal or pantheistic view that everything is God is not a very intelligent proposal. The real position, as explained by the Lord Himself, is that although nothing can exist without Him, it is not a fact that everything is Him. He is different from everything. So here also the Lord says, “You will see everything in the world to be nondifferent from Me.” This means that everything should be considered a product of the Lord’s energy, and therefore everything should be employed in the service of the Lord. One’s energy should be utilized for one’s self-interest. That is the perfection of the energy.” (SB 3.21.31 P)
The personalist devotees properly understand the isavasyam principle that everything is owned and controlled by the Lord. They understand the subtle oneness and difference of the Supreme Lord and His various energies. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Everything is an expansion of Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet everything is not the Supreme Godhead, and He is not everywhere. Everything rests upon Him and yet does not rest upon Him.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 