How can an eternal entity possibly be created, manifested or produced?

Vrajanātha: You said earlier that the spiritual (cit) world is eternal, and so is the jīva. If this is true, how can an eternal entity possibly be created, manifested or produced? If it is created at some point of time, it must have been non-existent before that, so how can we accept that it is eternal?

Bābājī: The time and space that you experience in this material world are completely different from time and space in the spiritual world. Material time is divided into three aspects: past, present, and future. However, in the spiritual world there is only one undivided, eternally present time. Every event of the spiritual world is eternally present.

Whatever we say or describe in the material world is under the jurisdiction of material time and space, so when we say, “The jīvas were created,” “The spiritual world was manifested,” or “There is no influence of māyā in creating the form of the jīvas,” material time is bound to influence our language and our statements. This is inevitable in our conditioned state, so we cannot remove the influence of material time from our descriptions of the atomic jīva and spiritual objects. The conception of past, present, and future always enters them in some way or another. Still, those who are dedicated to understanding the pure transcendental viewpoint can understand the application of the eternal present when they comprehend the purport of the descriptions of the spiritual world. Bābā, be very careful in this matter. Abandon the inescapable limitations of words and have spiritual realization.

The jīva is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, that his eternal nature is to serve Kṛṣṇa, and that he is now bound by māyā, because he has forgotten that eternal nature. This understanding is shared by all types of Vaiṣṇavas, and all of them consider that there are two types of jīva: nitya-mukta and nitya-baddha. The subject has been explained in this way only because the conditioned human intellect being controlled by pramāda (the tendency to be illusioned), is unable to comprehend a subject matter. Realized sādhakas, though, experience transcendental truth through spiritual trance. Our words always have some material limitation, so whatever we say will have some māyika defects. My dear son, you should always endeavor to realize the pure truth. Logic and argument cannot help at all in this regard, so it is futile to use them to try to understand inconceivable subject matters.

I know that you will not be able to understand these subjects in a moment, but as you cultivate these transcendental moods within your heart, you will realize cinmaya-bhāva more and more. In other words, all the transcendental moods will manifest themselves in the core of your purified heart. Your body is material, and all the activities of your body are also material, but the essence of your being is not material; you are an atomic conscious entity. The more you know yourself, the more you will be able to realize how your svarūpa is a tattva superior to the world of māyā. Even if I tell you, you will not realize it, nor simply by hearing will you attain it. Cultivate the practice of chanting harināma as much as possible. As you go on chanting harināma, these transcendental bhāvas will begin to manifest in your heart naturally, and to the degree that they do so, you will be able to realize the transcendental world. Both mind and speech have their origin in matter, and they cannot touch the transcendental truth, even with the greatest endeavor. The Vedas say (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.9):

yato vāco nivartante

aprāpya manasā saha

Speech and the mind return from brahma, being unable to attain Him.

I advise you not to inquire about this matter from anyone, but to realize it yourself. I have just given you an indication (ābhāsa).

- Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in Jaiva Dharma, chapter 15.