I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatî Gosvâmî. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya deva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivas adi gaura bhakta vrinda.
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Thank you Srila Prabhupada for showing us over the years, that we are all Krsna's eternal contributing servants in our full spiritual potential.
The following offering to you are my personal realizations inspired by your wonderful writings and lectures.
The individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) have their our own unique individual identity and personality that is beginningless and endless as confirmed in Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - "This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same." (BG, Ch 2 text 24)
"Surrender" does not mean one needs to extinguish their unique identity, individuality and personality to become Krsna's servant. Such impersonalism makes one no better than dead stone.
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!" (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)
All jiva-souls (marginal living entities) are independent unique individuals who can voluntarily choose how to contribute in their own unique way in their service to Krsna.
Srila Prabhupada - "In the spiritual world service is voluntary, some devotees want to serve Krsna as flower; so they become flower there. If I want that, to be a flower I shall lie down at the lotus feet of Krsna, then he becomes flower, voluntarily, and he can change his, 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." (SB, Canto 6 Ch 1 text 1-4, Melb, Australia May 20, 1975)
In the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana, Visnu and Krsna only expect voluntary personal offerings from the jiva-souls because such willing service initiates loving reciprocal exchanges between the Lord and His devotees in a "two-sided" loving exchange. The unique quality of free will allows individual acts of self-expression that leads to personal offerings.
Real love or service is based on a "two-way" exchange where the student Vaisnava is carefully nurtured to eventually achieve the personal goal of voluntary loving contributions that are the foundations of pure devotional service.
Such loving exchanges can only be fully expressed when the jiva-souls realize they each have their own independent characteristics and unique personality separate from Krsna's Personality, endorsed by free will.
Without free will, one would never have the vision to intelligently contribute in their relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or increase and expand one's awareness of who they are as a contributing independent individual marginal living entity (jiva-soul). Having "free will" therefore is the eternal constitutional make up of EVERY "marginal living entity (jiva-soul)," and the foundation for ALL jiva-soul's contributing relationship with Krsna.
Loving devotional service is ALWAYS based on a "two-way" voluntary exchange of personal feelings manifesting as loving acts of reciprocation between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, who voluntarily contribute their own unique expressions (offerings) of devotional service to Him as the real act of surrendering to Krsna's will.
On the other hand, actions expressed in a "one-way" domineering mood that do not encourage personal voluntary contributions, is dangerous impersonalism.
Personalism is only possible in a "two-way" exchange of feelings and emotions that expands, enriches and multiplies loving affection, sentiment and exchanges between the jiva-souls and Krsna.
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." (BG, Ch 9 text 2-5, New York City, Nov 23, 1966)
The individual jiva-souls (marginal living entities) can NEVER exist independently from Krsna however, they MUST have their freedom and independence to be a contributing individual, otherwise the jiva-souls are no better than impersonal puppets controlled by a puppet master.
Therefore, the jiva-soul's independent personality, identity and free will allows diversity and independent self expression, allowing the individual jiva-souls to make their own contributions or offerings, and even allows them to reject Krsna if they choose.
All these conditions must be allowed to exist otherwise loving exchanges with Krsna can NEVER exist.
Krsna will always allow a separate existence for His marginal living entities (jiva-souls) endorsed by having free will. This allows them to have their own unique personality for the purpose of creating a "two-way" voluntary exchange of individual loving expressions that encourage unique contributions and personal offerings.
Free will allows the individual jiva-souls to independently express themselves separately from Krsna and gives them their own unique personality.
This gives the jiva-soul's existence personal responsibility, purpose, creativity, hope, identity, a unique stand alone personality, allowing personal contributions of self-expression that makes the individual jiva-souls the independent PERSONS they are eternally.
These qualities establish the jiva-souls (marginal living entities) as independent PERSONS, as a spiritual bodily form whose eternal home are the Vaikuntha planets and Goloka-Vrindavana, within Krsna's eternal endless pastimes.
In the spiritual world personal voluntary expressions of loving exchanges expressed through free will, are ALWAYS encouraged by Krsna in His eternal relationship with the jiva-souls, this adds variegatedness, flavour, variety and mystery to the relationship between the individual jiva-souls and Krsna.
The Kingdom of God therefore, is NOT a "one-sided" dominating impersonal domain devoid of free will (freedom of self-expression), that does not allow personal independent contributions or offerings to God (Krsna), meant to expand, enrich, flavour and add mystery to the relationship.
Genuine loving relations and service are ALWAYS based on voluntary reciprocal exchanges and contributions between TWO, not just one (impersonalism)!
Srila Prabhupada - "The impersonalist philosophy is oneness, so how there be love with just one? Is it possible? Have you got any such experience that love means one? No, love means two, there MUST be two." (SB, Canto 2 Ch 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence (free will) means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that you cannot ever fall down, that is not independence. That is force." (Mayapur, June 20, 1973)
Free will only has meaning when the jiva-souls can express themselves in a two-sided relationship by contributing to the relationship's expansion of nectarine mellows.
Srila Prabhupāda - "Love means a relationship between "two persons," then there is exchange, then there is love. I must deal with you open-hearted, you must deal with me open-hearted, then there is love. So if you want to love Kṛṣṇa, God, then these things must be there." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)
Thank you Srila Prabhupada for your wonderful guidance.
Your fallen yet inspired servant Gauragopala Dasa (initiated 10th July 1972)
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