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One of my favorite places to do home programs is Melbourne's Bhakti Bhavan. It is a small eight unit apartment building unofficially called as such, located two blocks away from ISKCON's temple in Melbourne, Australia. The unique feature of Bhakti Bhavan is that every apartment in the building is rented out by devotees. This means that when the devotees have their regular home kirtan programs there are no neighbors to make complaints about the kirtan. They can freely let their kirtans explode in ecstasy with no inhibition. The programs are so well attended that the devotees have to literally squeeze in. The space is so tight that we cannot bow down and offer obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, the acharyas, and Lord Krishna as we normally on such occasions. We have to offer our obeisances from a sitting position. Since not everyone can fit in the living room of the host apartment, those who cannot fit in attend the program from the porch by hearing and seeing through the windows. The program consists of Hare Krishna kirtan, lecture, questions and answers, and then tasty Krishna prasadam. Who said that you can't experience transcendental bliss here in this material world?



Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

Bhakti  Bhavan Home Program
Melbourne, Australia 27 December 2011

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Overflowed Assembly Relishes the Nectar

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Question: Switching from Vaikuntha to Goloka?

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am wondering if those souls on the Vaikuntha planets can ever hope to be promoted to Goloka Vrindavan. It seems to me that perhaps someone who, having achieved the ultimate goal of life, promotion to those Vaikuntha planets, might in time, as his knowledge and bliss and longing to serve Krishna increases ad infinitum, realize that he has not actually achieved the real ultimate goal of unlimited bliss as a personal associate of Krishna. It seems to me that such a soul, if he were not then eligible for promotion to that most blissful of planets/relationships, would feel as though he were actually in a kind of hell.

Or are those who attain to the Vaikuntha planets kept forever under Krishna's veil of yogamaya to prevent them from ever realizing further and protect them from such a fate?

Please enlighten me.

David J.

 

Answer: Full Freedom in the Spiritual World

Srila Prabhupada explains that the spiritual world is a world of full freedom. Everyone is free to serve the Lord according to their heart's desire. If a resident of a Vaikuntha planet prefers to serve on Goloka Vrindavan, he can do so. Generally no one changes their position because everyone is fully satisfied. But if for any reason someone wants to change their position, they can easily do so simply by their desire.

The yogamaya potency of the Lord is not covering the inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets.  Rather it covers the inhabitants of Goloka Vrindavan to make them forget that Krishna is God so that they satisfy Krishna's desire to be another one of the villagers there in Goloka Vrindavan without anyone knowing that He is God.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

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