Free will in the Spiritual Planets - There is ALWAYS choice to be with Narayana in Vaikuntha or Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan, or leave if one wants.

This painting description below does not mean when we enter Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavan, we loose our free will, individuality and the sense of self.

We are eternally an independent living entity and that "sense of self", individuality and unique personality is NEVER lost in the Spiritual World.

There is ALWAYS choice to be with Krishna or leave, even if the guru tells you, you have no choice!

Or Krishna promises you, that once you enter Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan, you never again fall down.

No! You CAN fall down if you choose, but by doing so you are carving your way to the hellish material creation Prabhupada has told us (in a letter sent to me May 1975)

And there is NO material cause to one's fall down, it is simply due to free will.

The 4th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam tells the story of one devotee who chose to go to the material world and after many, many lives again meets up with Krishna.

The following Conversation took place in Melbourne, Australia June 25, 1974 between Srila Prabhupada and his disciples.

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

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.

Devotee – “In the Srimad-

Bhagavatam, it says that Krishna did not want us to come to this material world. If Krishna did not want us to come, why are we here?”

Srila Prabhupada – “Yes. You forced Krishna 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?” Because you are Son of God you have got independence, full independence, almighty—therefore you have acquired the quality of your father. You have got little independence. So God does not interfere with your little independence. If you persist that “I must go and enjoy independently,” so God says, “All right, you can go.” This is the position. You have to take sanction. That is a fact. But when you persist, God sanctions. And you come and enjoy”.

Srila Prabhupada emphasizes the point to his disciple -

"You have already promised to follow the rules and regulations of our ISKCON Society, so therefore there is NO choice, you MUST follow, otherwise you are carving you way to hell!"

I now understand Prabhupada's letter to a disciple about him "having no choice" once he had promised to follow the basic principles of Krishna Consciousness.

Prabhupada's words were -

"You have already promised to follow our teachings, therefore you have NO choice, you must follow, you have promised!"

But then Prabhupada says -

"Otherwise if you do not follow our teachings of chanting 16 rounds a day and following the 4 regulated principles, then you are only carving your way to hell!"

So technically if one does not follow, then "he IS making a choice" which is entering hellish life.

So, even though Prabhupada said you have no choice, actually there IS always a choice -

1 - The Krishna Consciousness path.

or

2 - The path of Hellish life.

Therefore what Prabhupada really means is a choice has already been made, and a promise to follow given, so now one is obliged to live by that promise and honor that promise as a decent human being.

This is Prabhupada's main point.

Therefore, one should keep their promise to the Spiritual Master and follow our ISKCON Society principles.

Prabhupada emphasizes the point-

"You have already promised, so therefore there is NO choice".

However, Prabhupada's point is very clear and that is one should keep their promise because it will lead to the only positive outcome, going back home, back to Godhead.

So in other words, as Prabhupada says, if you reject your previous comittment to surrender to our Krishna Conscious principles, then by making that choice of rejecting your previous promise to follow the instructions of the Spiritual Master.

Then that act of NOT honoring your promise IS really "choosing" to foolishly carve your pathway to hellish life in the material world of repeated birth and death.

So there is ALWAYS a choice for the jiva soul.

It is the same when Krishna says-

"Those who enter My eternal Abode (Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan) NEVER again fall down to the material World".

Yes, Krishna will ALWAYS keep that promise however, the jiva may choose to reject Krishna's offer and come to the material creation anyway.

Therefore it is NOT just Krishna's promise of eternal deliverance for the jiva soul of going back home back to Godhead that automatically means the jiva soul will ALSO agree and accept that promise to NEVER again fall down to the material creation.

No, the jiva souls also have THEIR free will too and may reject Krishna's offer to NEVER again fall down from Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan and choose to enter the material creation.

The point of this comment is only mutual  "reciprication between the jiva soul and the Lord",  can their be true love, pure genuine personel devotional service and selfless dedication between the jiva soul and Krishna.

It is NOT a one way street where ONLY Krishna dictates EVERYTHING and squashes the individuality, sense of self, and unique character the jiva soul has.

The jiva-soul ALSO has THEIR say in where they want to spend their existence too.

Krishna, like the Guru, can NEVER force one to surrender to Him because that "choice to surrender" to the Lord is also up to the individual jiva.

Otherwise if there is force, where one's individuality and a sense of an independent self is squashed, then how can there be genuine love?

Krishna NEVER forces the jiva soul to love Him. And Krishna NEVER forces the jivas to surrender to Him. 

He does not want a mindless slave as a servant.

The relationship MUST always be one of reciprocation between the Lord and the jiva-soul (His devotees and aspiring devotee.)

Only then can "real" love exist.

We are all eternally independent living entities and that "sense of self" and individuality that allows each individual jiva soul to have their own unique characteristics, abilities and talents, is NEVER lost in the Spiritual World.

The photo of chanting Hare Krishna is the formula to help one always think of Krishna as your dearest friend, or reciprocal master.

So always chant Hare Krishna and perform Sankirtan (chanting on the streets of all major world Cities and Towns)

We are all unique individual jiva souls (persons).

Therefore there is ALWAYS the choice made by the jiva soul to be with Krishna, or leave His association in Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan, even if the some tell you, you have no choice, no, there is ALWAYS a choice!

Krishna also promises in Bhagavad Gita that once you enter Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan, you NEVER again fall down. 

No! You CAN fall down if YOU choose.

But by doing so you are carving your way to the hellish material creation of repeated birth and death Prabhupada has told us.

And there is NO material cause to one's fall down, it is simply due to free will.

The ''outer'' surrounding Brahmanda universe encases and surrounds our inner smaller material universe within the Brahmanda.

The massive Brahmanda is the outer shell covering our small material universe deep inside the Brahmanda. 

Our small material universe is encased by 7 material layers that make up the surrounding Brahmanda. 

Billions of these Brahmanda universes are coming from the Bodily pores and breathing of the sleeping Maha-Visnu. 

In the painting below, we see deep within each of the billions of Brahmanda universal shells coming from the Body of Maha Visnu, is a secondary universe where Maha-Visnu expands to Garbhodakashayi Visnu and from Him Lord Brahma appears and builds the many planetary systems within the secondary universe.

Each of the millions of Brahmanda universes has a secondary universe within it that are all different sized with each having a different  number of planetary systems.

This is based on how many heads the Lord Brahma has in each of the secondary material universes.

For example in our inner universe called Bhu-Mandala Brahma has four heads, while in other universes inside their Brahmanda they have 10, 20, 50, 200, 10,000 or could have a million heads according to the 5th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.  

The material creation is a multi-universe spread throughout the creation that takes up 1/4 of the spiritual sky.

The other 3/4 of the spiritual sky is the perpetual abodes of Vaikuntha where the four armed Visnu resides, and the central planet known as Goloka-Vrindavana, the home of Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes.

From Garbhodakashayi Visnu deep inside the surrounding Brahmanda as seen in the painting, a stem grows from His naval with a lotus flower at its end. This is where Lord Brahma resides.

As said above, in our material universe that is deep within the surrounding massive Brahmanda shell, Brahma creates or builds the 14 different planetary systems that all exist within the lotus stem growing from Garbhodakashayi Visnu's naval.

The universal space within the lotus stem is simultaneously where our 4 billion mile diameter material universe exists that houses the 14 planetary systems collectively called Bhu-Mandala.

It is important to understand that each "secondary material universe" inside the Brahmanda, like our Bhu-Mandala universe with its 14 different planetary systems, are encased and surrounded by that greater universal body called a Brahmanda.

The outer Brahmanda covering of our inner small 4 billion mile diameter material universe is made up of 7 massive material layers 

1 - Earth, 
2 - Water, 
3 - Fire, 
4 - Air, 
5 - Sky, 
6 - Total material energy (mahat-tattva),  
7 - False ego.  

That all collectively reveal the size of our Brahmanda shell that is 44 quadrillion 444 trillion 444 billion miles in diameter as seen in the below painting, or double that size if measured from the outer edge of the inner material secondary universe.

Srila Prabhupada - "Beginning with the covering of earth, each covering is ten times greater than the previous one. Thus we can only imagine how great each universe (Brahmanda shell) is, and there are many millions of universes." (SB Canto 6 Chapter 16 Text 37)

Srimad Bhagavatam - "This universal egg, or the universe in the shape of an egg (Brahmanda shell), is called the manifestation of material energy. Its layers of water, air, fire, sky, ego and mahat-tattva increase in thickness one after another. Each layer is ten times bigger than the previous one, and the final outside layer is covered by pradhāna. Within this egg (deep inside the Brahmanda shell) is the universal form of Lord Hari, of whose body the fourteen planetary systems are parts."

Srila Prabhupada's purport  - "There are seven coverings (of the Brahmanda shell), each one ten times greater than the one preceding it. The layer of water (although, inother places in Bhagavatam, it says earth layer is first layer) is ten times greater than the diameter of the (inner) universe (4 billion miles in diameter), and the layer of fire is ten times greater than that of water. Similarly, the layer of air is ten times greater than that of fire. 

These dimensions are all inconceivable to the tiny brain of a human being. It is also stated that this description is of only one egg (Brahmanda shell) like universe. There are innumerable universes besides this one, and some of them are many, many times greater. It is considered, in fact, that this universe (our Brahmanda shell) is the smallest; therefore the predominating superintendent, or Brahmā, has only four heads for management.

In other universes, which are far greater than this one, Brahmā has more heads. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is stated that all these Brahmās were called one day by Lord Kṛṣṇa on the inquiry of the small Brahmā, who, after seeing all the larger Brahmās." (SB Canto 3 Chapter 26 Text 52)

The painting below does not reveal the correct size of our small 4 billion mile diameter inner Bhu-Mandala universe that is deep inside our massive outer surrounding Brahmanda.

If it did, you would not even see our smaller inner material universe because the surrounding Brahmanda shell is so massive in size.

Srila Prabhupada - "On the ground our earth looks flat but when you go up you will see our Earth planet is a ball (A global round sphere" (Lecture New York 1966.)

The Earth planet is a "round global sphere" in the ocean of outer space.

It is NOT flat as the misinformed foolishly believe, Srila Prabhupada tells us this.

Srila Prabhupada - "On the ground our earth looks flat but when you go up you will see our Earth planet is a ball (A global round sphere" (Lecture New York 1966.)

The Sanskrit word "Dvīpa" has two meanings -

1 - "Islands" or "continents"

 2 - "But also round planetary globes or spheres" situated in the ocean of outer space Srila Prabhupada explains.

Srila Prabhupada - "The planets are called dvīpas. Outer space is like an ocean of air. Just as there are islands in the watery ocean, these planets in the ocean of space are called dvīpas, or islands in outer space" (Chaitanya Caritamrita Madhya 20.218, Purport)

At the death of the material bodily vessel, the jiva-soul takes with them the same mentality, sense of self and character to the new material body they enter.

Great Wisdom! 

Yes, Death is GREATLY over rated, everyone expects big mystical changes.

Wrong!

Are there big changes to ones character when one gets out of an old run down car and gets into brand new shinning car?

No, you take with you the same mentality, sense of self and character.

It has ALWAYS been part of the human race's nature to seek out what's in and around their surroundings, even a child from the day it learns to walk, is out their discovering the world they live in.

Why do we seek out what's on our Earth and now the universe? What drives us?

Billions of dollars are wasted searching and seeking for answer to the human races question of what is really out there in this world and the universe, and what is the real purpose of human life.

Has man always had this desire to discover the extent of their surroundings?

Or is our existence in this material creation unnatural to the soul?

Of course it has ALWAYS been part of mans nature to seek out what's in their surroundings, even a child from the day it learns to walk, is out their discovering the world they live in.

The fact is, instinctly we are all seekers and travellers that stride to find out for themselves what's going on in the world. 

And that is why man has climbed big Mountains like Mt Everest, left Europe in the 15th Century to prove Earth is a globe and not flat as previously taught by the Catholic Church

And while travelling to the far East, discovering new lands like the Americas.

New discoveries in the 16 century AD in this new land called America, had never previously been seen before in Europe, India, China or anywhere in Asia.

New foods like potatoes, Tomatoes, Pineapples, peanuts, Cashew nuts and other varieties of nuts, Avocados, Beans, coco, Cassava, corn and Maize, Papaya, Peppers, Quinoa, Squash, Sweet potato, Sunflower, Tomatillo, chia seeds now used in bread, Amaranth,etc.

All these foodstuffs was discovered by those seekers who also searched out the surrounding world they lived in.

Therefore this ''desire'' today to continue this search into outer space, spending billions of dollars, should not be surprising because it is inherent in mans nature to discover this universe and what's in it, and frankly no one will EVER stop this continuous search.

This is why it is so important to offer everyone who is a seeker of of the universe the Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita As It Is and Caitanya Caritamrita.

Because, when it comes to ''journey to other Planets'' then they should be encouraged to study ancient Vedic texts and see the universe through the eyes of shastra (Vedic texts) and stop wasting their billions of dollars depending on their material mundane senses.

The material matrix or energy is a 1/4 of the Spiritual Sky, the jiva-souls can enter this temporary place if they choose to leave Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrindavan (3/4 of the Spiritual Sky where Narayana and Krishna reside) and do their own thing.

All material bodily vessels that houses the perpetual anti-material jiva soul, are made of sound vibrations and light waves slowed down to appear as a solid form.

They are not an illusion as impersonalists, mayavadis and mundane scientists suggest.

These material bodily forms, made of material energy, are very real but temporary, the human material body is also a walking bundle of frequencies that covers ALL the individual jivas that are confined and housed in our human material biological body we are in.

It is important to understand that we are the ''prominent'' individual jiva soul dressed up with an external biological material garment that is made up of billions of other jiva souls, also confined and contained to there individual cells in the material body.

The material bodily containers number 8 million 400 thousand different forms that all jivas are confined too.

Such vessels are instruments through which we, the jiva soul, evolve and experience our independent material desires in the temporary material manifestation.

Karma - "What goes around comes around"

Karma - "What goes around comes around"

Everything happens, not by chance or accident, but caused by one's past actions, good and bad, in this life or previous lives.

Therefore everyone is born into a situation they deserve rich or poor.

Nothing happens by chance like car accidents, cancer, plane crashes, murder.

What happen to John Lennon (one of the famous Beatles) in December 1980 is the result of something he did in this life or a past life that had caught up with him in his present material bodily vessel.

What actions we sow, good or bad over millions of life times, is what we gradually reep.

The reactions to our past actions gradually unfolds upon each material body we possess.

The material bodily vessel is a garment the jiva soul wears while in the material creation

Therefore, each of us have a karmic bank balance that follows us everywhere we go, to every material body we take over eternity or for as long as we choose to stay in the mundane material creation.

No one knows what is coming their way because the "cause" of their pain, suffering and disappointment, or moments of enjoyment, pleasure and happyness, is now long ago forgotten, happened thousands, even millions of life times ago.

We are all eternal beings, anti-material perpetual living entities (the jiva-tattva) originally from the the never decaying Spiritual Worlds of Vaikuntha and Goloka Vrindavan that can NEVER be destroyed.

The concept of Karma (action and reaction) does not exist there.

We are now in this temporary material creation that is 1/4 the size of the Spiritual Sky because we "chose" to foolishly come here long, long, long ago.

There is no death for the life force or soul (anti-material jiva-tattva or soul) occupying the material bodily vessel, the jiva-soul is beginningless and endless, only the material body deteriorates, wears out and merges back into material elements.

There is no material cause to our fall down, it is simply choice and free will.

While in this temporary decaying material creation, there is only a change of material bodies for the eternal jiva soul.

This happens when our present material bodily vessel wears out and becomes unfit for the jiva soul to occupy.