Free will can NEVER be "surrendered" because our choices define who we individually are as a contributing devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) never lose their voluntary self expression of free will in Vaikuntha or Goloka-Vrindavana.
Devotee - "Srila Prabhupada why did Krsna give us free will if He knew we could fall down to the material world?"
Srila Prabhupada - "If you have no free will, then you are a stone. The stone has no free will, you want to be stone? Then you must have free will. But don't misuse your free will. But don't try to become stone either. That is not life." (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
Devotee – "In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it says that Krsna did not want us to come to this material world. If Krsna did not want us to come, then why are we here?"
Srila Prabhupada – "Yes, you forced Krsna to allow you to come. Just like sometimes a child forces his father. Father says, "My dear son, do not do this. Do not go there." But he insists, "Oh, I must go. I must go." “All right, you go at your risk. That’s all. And you suffer. What can be done? It is because you are Son of God you have independence, full independence, you have free will, therefore you have acquired the quality of your father. You have got "little independence", so Krsna does not interfere with your little independence. If you persist that "I must go and enjoy independently," so Krsna says, "All right, you can go." This is the position. You have to take sanction. That is a fact. But when you persist, Krsna sanctions. And you come to the material world and enjoy." (Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974)
Devotee – "Why doesn’t Krsna save me from thinking independently from Him?"
Srila Prabhupada - "That means you lose your independence. That is force, in Bengali it is said, "If you catch one girl or boy and you demand you love me, you love me, you love me, is that love? "You love me otherwise I will kill you!" Is that love? So Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, on the point of revolver. "You love me, otherwise I shall kill you!" That is not love; that is threatening. Love is reciprocal, voluntary, good exchange of feeling. Then there is love. Not by force; that is rape. Why one is called lover, another is called rapist?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C.)
Guru-kripa – "How is it that one can become envious of Krsna?"
Srila Prabhupada – "You have got little independence, you can violate. Because you are part and parcel of God, God has got full independence, but you have got little independence, proportionately, because you are part and parcel, if he likes, he can return (to the material creation). That independence has to be accepted, little independence. We can misuse that. Krsna-bahirmukha haïä bhoga väïchä kare. That misuse is the cause of our falldown." (Conversation, Mayapur, Feb 19, 1976)
Genuine love or bhakti is a "two-way street," it is never a one-way slave/master impersonal mentality. All marginal living entities (jiva-souls) are eternal individual persons with their own unique independent personality separate from Krsna's Personality.
Free will allows the jiva-soul to offer voluntary individual personal contributions in the spiritual world, both "giving and receiving" So one can experience loving exchanges between two, the jiva-souls and Krsna.
In Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana there must always be this type of reciprocation and loving exchanges, where the jiva-souls naturally expresses their own unique personal offerings while serving Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes.
Having free will in the spiritual world is the constitutional make up of every marginal living entities (jīva-souls) unique independent character and personality that only works in a "two-way" relationship with Krsna, otherwise one is just dead mindless stone.
Srila Prabhupada - "Unless there are two persons, where is the question of love?" (Teheran, Iran, Aug 9th, 1976)
The full potential of one's free will is voluntarily realizing that one's eternal position is being Krsna's eternal servant in the spiritual world's of the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka Vrindavan, which are the jiva-soul's real eternal home.
The material universes were designed so we always fail (because of it's temporary nature) The fact is, we are not supposed to be here in the material creation, it is NOT our real home.
The material creation we live is occupied by material bodily vessels, which are foreign to the eternal nature of the jiva-souls full spiritual non-decaying qualities.
In this material world that we foolishly call home, we experience so many misfortunes, confusions, and unnatural conditions like experiencing the progressive decay of our material bodily vessel we are temporary in over its lifetime.
For the jiva-soul this material creation and material body is not natural because the jiva-soul within the material container is indestructible while the material bodily vessel is temporary and always in a state of decomposition.
Foolishly, we are conditioned to think this decaying and decomposing material creation is normal, not realizing we are not the material bodily vessel, but are actually the eternal undestructable passenger within it, the jiva-soul.
The miseries the jiva-soul experiences while trapped in an aging material bodily vessel, are experienced because we have forgotten our true eternal spiritual essence and identity and have instead identified with the material body, foolishly thinking it is who we are.
This constant identification with the material body causes us pain, yet we don’t want to give it up, we are in illusion believing such a temporary material covering will bring us happiness.
In our misunderstanding of who we are, we foolishly hold on to our temporary material bodily vessel that only causes us endless suffering.
We ignorantly try and do anything to preserve and maintain our material bodily vessel, foolishly thinking it is who we really are, not realizing it is a outwardly decaying dress that the real self (jiva-soul) is trapped in as a passenger.
This material creation and material body is like a bridge. We should learn to cross the bridge, not build a house on it. A bridge is meant for one purpose only, to take us "from one side to the other. It is not a place to stop on, or try and make it a permanent residence.
This material creation and material body is like a bridge. We should learn to cross the bridge, not build a house on it. A bridge is meant for one purpose only, to take us "from one side to the other. It is not a place to stop on, or try and make it a permanent residence.
This human form of life, when used properly under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual teacher, can take us from the land of illusion, attachment, and repeated birth and death, to our true home, to the land of eternal endless love, where there is no birth, disease, old age and death, to the land of Krsna and Visnu.
We should use this very rare human material body for the purpose for which it was built for, to help us re-establish our eternal relationship with Krsna and get out of this place of birth and death, and return back home to the Kingdom of God.
But we tend to be foolish, we try hard to hold on to our illusion in the material creation as long as possible, forgetting that the death of the material bodily vessel is inevitable, and nothing in the material creation is permanent.
If there is one thing devotees lament in their hearts, it is when someone dies without having used his or her rare human bodily form of life to attain their full potential, which is realizing they are Krsna's eternal servant as an eternal spiritual person with an ever youthful eternal spiritual body that exists for infinity.
Sadly, many have given up the chance to attain self-realization and have died like dogs or cats and then are forced to take their next birth in the animal Kingdom or even lower species.
The human form of life is the only species of life where one can inquire about who they really are, where they came from, and where they are going, and learn how to become self realized after finding a bonafide spiritual master or teacher (like Srila Prabhupada)
We must learn to use the human form of life and inquire about who we really are in the material bodily vessel because the fact is, we are not this decomposing material body.^^^.
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