Thread: Brahman versus God.

There's been a question on my mind lately, and I would like to hear people's opinion on this topic. (Disclaimer: for the purpose of this particular conversation, I would rather we don't talk about the possibility of there not being any Higher Power.)

I did make a few reference to this in other threads, but I have met someone from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and have been to a "mass" in South America, where I sang on my knees, gave gifts of prasadam, smell of flowers, water, warmth of fire, etc. to Krishna. Then, people asked questions. It was great.

The person I knew in this group explained to me that Krishna (God), has 3 forms:
1. Brahman (The essence of everything)
2. Body (A spiritual person, like you and I, (but not made of physical energy), who looks like a handsome blue man.)
3. Something within our heart, much like the Holy Spirit of the Catholic Trinity.

So, personally, not having had any more direct experience of God than the fact that I live in this world, my definition of God is the first one: Brahman, the essence of everything.

Now, the person I knew said that understanding/knowing God in his (2.) form was the best. And I do think that most people do think of God, as another person, not made of our same matter but of some divine material.

Not knowing anything about beings that live on "higher planes" as ours, I sometimes wonder if I can say "Shiva, (or God or Krishna), thank you for everything that you gave me" because what if, there are such beings that have those names but as great as they are, they are not the creators of the world or not in control of our lives? What if they are simply, like, Buddha, souls like us, who transcended this life, and can now hear prayers, have small influences on our lives, live on a higher plane?

I know I am probably being really confusing, but it is hard for me to imagine Brahman, the essence of everything, which I and you are part of, also be incarnated in a separate body/individual. How would that person be more Brahman than I? If I am a part of Brahman, how can God in a body comparable to mine be Brahman in its whole?

I just don't know if I can accept Brahman as a person yet. It seems like a dangerous venture, perhaps giving too much credit to a none-the-less worthy being.

I am really interested in hearing people's thoughts on this, I want to play with these ideas.

[EDIT] The initial topic was to discuss how people felt about seeing the Higher Power as an entity with a body or as a representation for the whole of life. If anyone still wants to discuss this, do comment and we will further discuss it, but I do welcome people to speak about anything related to clarifying how a person sees and interacts with this Higher Power, and other concepts that need to be clarified for someone to better understand this relationship with this Higher Power.