Sunday, May 22, 2022

In the spiritual world all relationships with Krsna are equally blissful to each other.

Just like one may like a carnation flower, while others may choose to like a rose flower.

There is always freedom of expression and choice in the Kingdom of God and all are equally blissful.

This means the individual jiva-souls in the spiritual worlds can always voluntarily express themselves there in their own unique way by offerings personal contributions to Krsna.

Real love or service can only exist when free will allows the jiva-souls to voluntarily participate in loving devotional exchanges and contribute to their relationship with Krsna in their own unique way.

Srila Prabhupada - ''Love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you simply take from him, but you don't give. Oh, do you think it is very good? No. It is not good. That is not love. That is exploitation. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't offer you anything, that is simply exploitation." (Lecture on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 text 2-5, New York, November 23, 1966)

Srila Prabhupada - "The jiva-soul's position in the spiritual world is voluntary. Some devotees want to serve Krsna as flower; they become flower there. If I want to be a flower I shall lie down at the lotus feet of Krsna and become flower, voluntarily, and can change from flower to human body. That is spiritual life. There is no restriction. If some devotee wants to serve Krsna as cow, he serves Krsna as cow, as calf, as flower, as plant, as water, as ground, field, or as father, as mother, as friend, as beloved, anything. It is inconceivable, yet a fact." (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.1-4 - Melbourne, May 20, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada - "Because you are Son of God you have independence, you have acquired the quality of your father, so God does not interfere with your independence. If you persist that "I must enjoy independently," God says, "All right, you can go." This is the position, if you persist, God sanctions. And you can come here and enjoy." (Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974)

Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that is not independence, that is force." (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada - Free will means that you can act wrongly. That is free will. Unless there is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where is free will then? If I act only one sided, that means I have no free will. Because we act sometimes wrongly, that means free will."

Hayagriva - "A man may know better but still act wrongly."

Srila Prabhupada -"Yes, but that is free will. He misuses his. Just like a thief, he knows that his stealing, it is bad, but still he does it. That is free will. He cannot check his greediness, so in spite of his knowing that he is doing wrong thing—he will be punished, he knows; he has seen another thief, he was punished, he was put into prison— everything he knows, but still he steals. Why? Misuse of free will. Unless there is misuse of free will, there is no question of free will." (Excerpt from: Philosophy Discussions with Srila Prabhupada – Rene Descartes)

The individual jiva-souls are independent living entities in the spiritual worlds and have their own unique personality and sense of self that is separate from Krsna's Personality, yet are simultaneously dependent on Krsna as His parts and parcels.

The reason why Krsna gives the jiva-souls their independence and free will is so they can choose how to serve Him in their own unique personal way, or even reject Him if they choose.

This means the jiva-souls can always contribute their own unique offerings out of unconditional personal love, without the need of any pressure or force from Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada - ''We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love cannot be one or love cannot be executed only by one, there must be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, there must be lover, there must be beloved, and the transaction, then there is love." (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 2 text 6, Delhi, November 12, 1973)

Srila Prabhupada - ''The impersonalist philosophy is oneness. So how can there be love with just one? Is it possible? Have you got any such experience? Love means one? No. Love means two. There must be two, the lover and the beloved. Kṛṣṇa is already lover. He's so lover of you that He's trying to get you back. That is Kṛṣṇa's attempt. "Please, My dear boy, or My dear friend, My dear servant..." (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)

Surrender to Krsna in the spiritual world does not mean giving up your free will and allowing Krsna to control all your every actions, deeds, words and thoughts.

No, the jiva-souls in the spiritual world are not programmed non-thinking drones who only obey and never contribute to the relationship with Krsna in their own unique way by thinking for themselves.

The jiva-souls can never lose their free will in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavana, or the individual ability of self expression of offering their own personal contributions to Krsna that are unique to each individual jiva-soul.

Only by having free will can genuine loving exchanges and reciprocation take place, and without free will the jiva-soul is no better than dead stone Prabhupada has warned us.

Furthermore, Krsna never interferes with the free will of the jiva-souls because if He did and never allowed them to have their free will to make their own choices in the spiritual world, then that also would mean loving exchanges of voluntarily reciprocation with Krsna would never exist.

If one is forced to worship Krsna or Visnu then that is not out of genuine love.

That impersonal version of Krsna's abode of Goloka-Vrindavana or the Vaikuntha planets where jiva-souls are forced to surrender their free will and allow that bogus version of God to take over your existence by forcing you to do only as you are told denying any personal contributions is bogus and dangerous impersonalism.

Having genuine free will on the other hand, allows the jiva-souls to be themselves, which is an independent unique contributing person who can always voluntarily choose for themselves their own personal offerings to Krsna.

Voluntary service is the bases of real surrender in Goloka-Vrindavana and the Vaikuntha planets which are the permanent eternal homes and origin of all marginal living entities (jiva-souls).

The jiva-souls in Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavana are forever voluntarily expanding the expression of their unique individuality with an increasing variety of personal devotional offerings based on free will, it is never a nonsense one-sided dictatorial relationship with Krsna as Prabhupada explains.

Krsna does not control the surrendered jiva-souls by force like a puppet master controls every movement of his puppets with the manipulation of the strings, denying self expression, individual contributions and voluntary service.

However, Krsna does control His pure devotees with love, by serving them more than they can ever serve Him.

And the pure devotees reciprocate with unconditional love for Krsna.  

Srila Prabhupada - "Krsna does not want to become a lover by force, from 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; no, that is rape. Why one is called lover, another is called rape?" (July 8, 1976 in Washington, D.C.)

If the jiva-souls had no free will in the spiritual world then they are no better than dead stone Prabhupada tells us.

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." (August 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)

Srila Prabhupada - "As living spiritual jiva-souls we are all originally Kṛṣṇa conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. When the superior energy is in contact with inferior energy, it becomes an incompatible situation. But when the supreme marginal potency is in contact with the spiritual potency, Harā, it becomes the happy, normal condition of the living entity. This transcendental vibration of chanting-

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

This is the sublime method for reviving our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As living spiritual souls we are all originally Kṛṣṇa conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of live, we are all trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in her complexities.

This illusion is called māyā, or hard struggle for existence over the stringent laws of material nature. This illusory struggle against the material nature can at once be stopped by revival of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (The "Happening Record Album" recorded December 1966 New York City, USA)

Devotee – "When we are in the spiritual sky and serving Krsna, we have a perfect relationship with Krsna, what causes us to fall down in the material world, because we’re already serving Krsna?"

Srila Prabhupada – "Because you desire to fall down. Here it is explained that Don’t fall down."

Devotee – "Srila Prabhupada, I can’t understand why we should have an impure desire when we are already serving…"

Srila Prabhupada – "Because you have got little freedom. Why one is not coming here and going to the liquor shop? It is his desire and free will."

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, 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 and suffer. What can be done? So because you are son of God you have acquired the quality of your father so God does not interfere with your independence (free will)." (Lecture Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974).

Srila Prabhupada - "Unless there is chance of doing wrong or right, there is no question of free will. Where is free will if I can act only one sided? That means I have no free will. Because we can act wrongly, that means we have free will." (Discussions with Srila Prabhupada – Rene Descartes).

The marginal living entities (jiva-souls) never lose their free will because they are eternal as Bhagavad Gita explains,

"For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (BG Chapter 2 Text 20)

Free will has nothing to do with matter (the material body), free will is a symptom of the eternal jiva-soul not dead matter.

Free will is the constitutional makeup of every jiva-soul in Vaikuntha and Goloka-Vrindavana where nothing material (Maya) can exists.***

















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