Understanding spiritual knowledge

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promede Puri Goswami  Maharaja

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada

 Q. Where is Devi Dham located?

  A. DeviDhama is in the region where there is the influence of the illusory energy on the living entities. The  endeavoring materialistic worker who is striving to go the higher planets as Bhu,Bhvar,Sva ,Maha ,Jana ,Tapa or fall to the lower planets as Tal,Atal,Vital ,Sutal.Patal,Talatal,Rasatal is called  likewise as a worker seeking fruits of his labour. Their mood is if one worships the higher demigods and amass pious activities then they can be promoted to those heavenly planets where they will be able to enjoy with beautiful heavenly girls while their  bad activities can lead them  to the lower planets where they will be punished for all such activities. The nature of work is that when one is engaged in one type of work it will generate the exact fruit but at the time of enjoying the fruits of that work nevertheless,  another string of  opposing reactions results  from  such activities. In this way ,work  can lead to further work in a vicious cycle without respite from time immemorial. Just as  if one attains the position of the higher demigods but even there competing with one another in opposition because of selfishness  takes place which can breed sinful reactions. Hence after one's pious activities are finished these people will be punished by having to take birth in different wombs in the material world. Hence the fruits of the materialistic worker is very lowly and according to the Katha Upanishad , one is forced to go up and down these temporary planets repeatedly.

Q.Whre is the illusory energy situated?

A, The Illusory energy is  the Lord's external energy and therefore she is situated with the Lord .The meaning of external energy is that it is able to expand and  work externally outside the spiritual world at any place . On any living entity becoming adverse to the Lord, the the illusory energy then quickly tempts him to strive to attain the different planets whereby he repeatedly wanders from one planet to the other .After experiencing much suffering , he finally takes up to the service of the Lord , it is only then Maya Devi loosens her hold on the wandering living entity. Both the hedonist nonbeliever and those attempting to enjoy in the higher planets are considered devoid of proper knowledge. The result of their intense desires for enjoyments  is that they  punished with suffering for their pains. Even if some from those were trying  to renounce material life notwithstanding,  fall into the trap of  attempting to advance by mere speculative knowledge .consequently  suffer and enjoy in spite of their efforts. 

Those Buddhists as  who believe in emptying the mind or who attempt to merge in the void  also believe  in the  creation. All types of flickers of  happiness or sorrow to them are simply transient effects in acquiring of knowledge .They further state that if one can empty one's mind of all thoughts completely  such transient effects will disappear and one may be able to  achieve nirvana. The Vedic verse nasato vidyate bhavah that in the state of complete no motion or void  there is no question of creation, but yet don't we see oil sometimes seeping from the sand naturally? To understand that pleasure and distress are transient, one too needs to have consciousness. To deny the existence of the soul together with consciousness is never possible hence all the  facts pertaining to complete annihilation (void) are never possible'.In the round shaped Earth there are both personalities with  proper consciousness together with  inert material objects. It is only when one is attached to the material things by one's egoism  that one becomes bonded with material objects  but with detachment and the proper association will make one free and qualify for liberation. To quote one  has to  free one oneself from the attachment to material nature  as in Sankhya philosophy not logical as like  describing gold as  a stone plate. The Sankhya philosophy has not stated a reason for the  resultant entanglement of the living entity in matter. If there is no obvious cause for that entanglement and it had already taken place at the start ,then  even  after attaining  apparent liberation  there is a chance that one can again become entangled in material nature. Even  any aspirant may try sincerely but ordinary trifle problems can cause  great obstacles in his path. To simply to depend on one's strength for the soul  to break free from the entanglement of material nature as the sankhya philosophers claim is like a lame person hoping to ascend the Himalaya mountains and so  will end up of the same becoming a laughing stock in society circles. It is for this reason that The Lord declared in the Geeta that only by surrender to Him ,can one overcome the insurmountable illusory  energy. 

The next fact to discuss  is that of the feminine energy , supported by the worshippers of the Goddess who claim that She is the original energy.  It is known that her votaries usually pray to Her for wealth, beauty and enjoyment and in other case to be merge in the void  as one of the forms of liberation of the soul.   In the platform of  absolute mergence, there is no way of understanding this energy .Just as one observing a moving object can understand there is an energy moving the object  .Similarly those who claim that that feminine  energy  was the original energy must surely understand that there must  definitely be a power house for  producing that  original energy. In taking shelter of a certain  object only then   can  the energy of that object  be inferred. In one sense, they are non different as that energy  emanated from that source .Just as usually  energy  emanating from  power  source transforms into a form that is visibly palatable to the source of that energy  which provided it.. However  the energy by itself  is never the witness of Her actions.   In the scriptures of the Goddess, most of Her votaries pray for  temporal material enjoyments   and pleased with their worship the Goddess bestows  on them all types of  temporary boons.  If we use a stone to crack nuts and offer it to the Lord in the form of the sacred Salagram stone that will develop our creeper of devotion. But on the other hand ,if we were to use the Holy Salagram to break nuts simply to eat for our pleasure, how in any way that will be actual devotion is for the Saktas to contemplate?  The devotees understand how very offensive that type of mentality is!  The Saktas do not understand that for causeless devotion means instead of satisfying one selfish desires there is the  proper option of pleasing the senses of  Lord Krishna  In fact, the Goddess Herself does not seem to have any qualms  in giving trivial temporary gifts to Her ignorant votaries .If a child prays for poison from any ordinary man ,usually that is immediately refused without hesitation..  Therefore to claim that the original energy is  that of the feminine energy ,the giver of all material  boons seems to be completely illogical. In short ,these votaries are in the wrong direction heading towards the void or they are just some material workers praying to a particular demigods for material benefits as She is not the supreme deity.   

Q.Where is the Lord Situated ?      Here we are speaking of the two handed form of SriKrishna ,of dark blue hue of color ,bearer of the flute   and complete with knowledge ,eternity and bliss -iswarah  parama krishna sachinanada vigrahah       .He is complete with all opulence.  He is established in His Supreme position, the cause of all causes and there is nobody who has  come before that Supreme Being. From Him, all spiritual and material world evolve hence in that  aspect  He stands above them. From His internal energy ,the spiritual worlds are manifested and He always resides in the midst of these.  The internal energy manifests His pure associates with the other necessary spiritual  utensils for the pleasure of His eternal service .    There are three compartments where the moods of opulence ,magnanimity and nectarine mellows  flourish and  are nourished. Similarly, the holy Dham too has these three divisions .Sri Krishna in Goloka Dham where the primary mood is love in nectarine mellows. Then SriKrishna Chaitanya bearing the renounced staff and the rod of renunciation, residing in Nawadwip   with exhibiting the mellows of magnanimity  .Lastly ,there is the four handed blue form of  Lord Narayana holding  the conch, discuss ,flower and mace in the  mood  of exhibiting opulence  as in Dwarka.  There He is engaged in relishing blissfully His eternal pastimes with his  confidential associates  .The external  energy manifests the material realm or Devi Dhama  with all the necessary temporary  material ingredients  while the internal energy  of the Lord evolves the spiritual worlds with all that necessary eternal spiritual ingredients.  There is also the Viraja River  in the middle that separates the material worlds and the spiritual worlds .Until and unless ,one is free from all types of contamination and all types of desires, one can never enter the spiritual worlds. The living entity who is the marginal energy of the Supreme Lord has the equal qualification to enter  either the temporary material world or the eternal spiritual world. The bonded souls who resides in the marginal boundary between the material and spiritual worlds are liable to be effected by the illusory energy while  the eternal associates of the Lord are not affected even in their various pastimes by the external energy   .By misusing his independence averse to the service of the Lord ,Maya devi, the agent of the Lord forcefully covers him in his gross and subtle bodies  while he in turn becomes  deluded into thinking of being the enjoyer as  in exploiting the material world. Finally, in the end after experiencing all sorts of sorrow, he  relents to finally take up again the proper service to the Lord where at that time the illusory energy loses Her influence on him as Her duty is to punish the wayward souls who are adverse to the service of the Supreme Lord. They are  foolish  who simply  think of the despicable work of the illusory energy  while  in fact ignorant of Her actual role as to purify the bonded souls. The scholars understand the non differential knowledge as being the platform of Brahman, followed by the Super soul in the heart and foremost the Supreme Lord : yadadvaitam yad brahmaupanishadam tadapasya tadanubho                                                          yadantarantaryami puruso iti sosyamsavibhava                                                                       sadaisvaryapurna yah iha  bhagavan  sa  svayamayam    

meaning : The Lord is complete with all His opulence as SriKrishna while His effulgence is  that  radiance of the Brahman stage and the Super soul in the heart is His plenary portion. In Bhagavat it is mentioned how Vyasa dev by his  total concentration of the pure  mind in samadhi  was able to perceive  the Supreme Lord in His full glory engaging in pastimes with His associates. Further at the back of the Supreme Lord, he was able to perceive how the illusory energy was conducting Her despicable of bewildering the living entities enveloping them in their bodily identification  through  the three modes of nature with their   performing all sorts of works in a conditioned  state. In the end on taking to the service of the Lord ,they become freed from their contamination.  One who understands the Supreme Lord Krishna is complete with all opulence and energies would be fain to equate the spiritual effulgence  of  Brahman and that of spiritual portion  or the Supersoul  to that of the Supreme Personality, Krishna. The heretics , fruitive workers, those worshipping the Mother ,  Sankhya philosophers and those merging in the void because of their  insufficient knowledge are all classified under the class of  ignorant  people. Those who have some spiritual concept of Brahman and the Supersoul   but due to lack of association with saintly people with knowledge  are unable to perceive this form of the Supreme Lord as Syamasundara  and they are the ones referred to as ekadesh darsi or seeing all of these former mentioned groups without difference  .Such people if they were to acknowledge their weaknesses and able to take to the cultivation of pure devotional service than there is a chance that the  Supreme Lord ,Syamasundara can be understood by them.  On the other hand, if they were to be stubborn and proud that they know enough regarding the Supreme while being  envious of the form of the  Lord then  they  simply become offenders  with being  hurled   down  due to increasing offenses. They never make it to the higher planets but being kicked repeatedly by the illusory energy become bonded. Even those with great austerity who have been able to reach the planet of Brahma  somehow will merge in that material void   but after the dissolution and  the start of the new creation,  they come  again to the material world to  engage  in sense gratification.- ye aravinda vimukta maninas  In short ,those who do not accept the transcendental form of the Lord because of their deviant  intelligence    even after attaining the planet of Brahma are  forced to come back to this material world.