In the Spiritual World There Is Real Life and Eternal Pleasure
The material world is often described as a perverted reflection of the spiritual reality. This implies that for every temporary, flawed feature we encounter here, there is an original, perfect prototype there. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the spiritual world is not a void; it is the realm of real life, real variety, and eternal pleasure, where the soul engages in dynamic relationships with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Transcendental Variety
The impersonalists, possessing a poor fund of knowledge, imagine the spiritual world to be zero or void. In reality, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the spiritual world contains all the varieties of enjoyment found here—houses, gardens, rivers, and trees—but they are made of spiritual energy and are therefore eternal and conscious.
- In the spiritual world there are also houses, there are also gardens, there are also rivers, there are also cows.
- They (the Mayavadi philosopher) want to make the spiritual world as zero or imperson due to less intelligence. But actually, real life, real pleasure, eternal pleasure is there in the spiritual world, not in this material world.
- As in the material world there are varieties, similarly in the spiritual world also there are varieties; but those varieties are of the same quality, spiritual quality. That is called one. That is oneness.
Pure Relationships
The interactions we experience in this world—friendship, parenthood, and romance—are not false; Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that they are reflections of the eternal relationships that exist between the Lord and His devotees. In the spiritual world, these five rasas exist in their pure state, free from the contamination of material lust and exploitation.
- In the spiritual world there are five kinds of relationships with the Supreme Lord - santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. The perverted reflections of these rasas are found in the material world.
- In the spiritual world there is no sex intercourse. There is no sex life. Although there is man and woman, but there is no sex intercourse.
- Actually, the activities of sense gratification are material. In the spiritual world there are symptoms like kissing and embracing, but there is no sense-gratificatory process as it exists in the material world.
Harmony in Diversity
One of the defining characteristics of the material world is that individual interests clash, leading to disagreement. In the spiritual world, individual identity and variety remain, yet Śrīla Prabhupāda points out there is total harmony. This is because every living entity is attuned to the desire of Kṛṣṇa.
- In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement. That is the difference.
- In the spiritual world, everyone has a spiritual body. There is no conception of material existence there. In the spiritual world there is only service and the receiving of service. There is only sevya, seva, and sevaka.
Time Without Destruction
Śrīla Prabhupāda notes one more point regarding time: it is a destructive force in the material world, causing creation, sustenance, and eventual dissolution. In the spiritual world, time exists to facilitate the ever-fresh pastimes of the Lord, but it has no power to destroy or degrade.
- Everything in this material world is limited, and for this reason there is creation, sustenance and dissolution. However, in the world of unlimited energy, the spiritual world, there is neither creation nor destruction.
- In the spiritual world there is undoubtedly time, but it has no control over activities. Time is unlimited, and the spiritual world is also unlimited, since everything there exists on the absolute plane.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the spiritual world is the home of the living entity. It is not a place of negation but of positive, unlimited enjoyment. Kṛṣṇa descended to this planet to demonstrate the factual, ever-blissful nature of that abode. By understanding that "there is" everything in the spiritual world—but in its perfect, original form—we can direct our desires toward that eternal destination.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category In The Spiritual World There Is.... We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.