The goal of human life is to re-awaken our original pure love for God, Krishna. We souls exist to have an intimate loving relationship with Him. We can never be happy by rejecting that relationship and denying our true nature. The things we do in this world indicate our true, eternal nature. We have to love; it’s unavoidable. Having turned away from Krishna, we try to fulfill our need to love and be loved by searching for ideal relationships in this world. But exchanges of love here are never perfect and cannot last forever. Awakening pure love for Krishna is perfection. Nothing else will satisfy us. Everything that exists in the material and spiritual worlds is meant to support our relationship with Krishna. Human life is a chance for us to reestablish that relationship. That endeavor should be the focus of our lives. Because love includes service, pure love for God is called pure devotional service, or Bhakti. The ways to awaken Bhakti are the substance of the practice of Bhakti yoga. Learn More… in ISKCON centers "That which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns—that is My supreme abode." –Sri Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 8.21
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD The Vedas tell us that beyond the limited material world is the infinite spiritual world, the abode of Krishna and His expansions, and our original home as well. Everyone there is eternal and absorbed in ever-increasing happiness. Transcendence is not static, but full of dynamic variety and rich with spiritual qualities. Spirit by nature is conscious, and every aspect of the spiritual world—plants, animals, people, hills, rivers, houses—is a fully God-conscious person The main feature of the spiritual world is that everyone there loves God (Krishna and His expansions) with the fullness of their being. When we purify our hearts and awaken our innate love for Krishna, we become qualified to enter the spiritual world to take up our eternal service to the Lord. Once attaining the spiritual world, we souls never have to return to the material world. __________________________________________________________________ * Description of Goloka In the Srimad-Bhagavatam we find descriptions of Lord Krishna’s eternal home, such as this one: “Goloka, also called Vrindavana, is always full of cows. There are many waterfalls, which are always pouring water, and the sound is so sweet that it covers the sound of the crickets. And because water flows all over, the forest always looks very green and beautiful. “The inhabitants of Vrindavana are never disturbed by the scorching heat of the sun or high summer temperatures. The lakes of Vrindavana are surrounded by green grasses, and various kinds of lotus flowers bloom there. The air blowing in Vrindavana carries the aromatic pollen of those lotus flowers. When the particles of water from the waves of the Yamuna River, the lakes, and the waterfalls touch the bodies of the inhabitants of Vrindavana, they automatically feel a cooling effect. “Vrindavana is such a nice place. Flowers are always blooming, and there are even various kinds of decorated deer. Birds are chirping, peacocks are crowing and dancing, and bees are humming. The cuckoos there sing nicely in five kinds of tunes. “Krsna, the reservoir of pleasure, blowing His flute, accompanied by His elder brother Balarama and the other cowherd boys and the cows, enters the beautiful forest of Vrindavana to enjoy the atmosphere. They walk into the midst of newly grown leaves of trees whose flowers resembled peacock feathers. They are garlanded by those flowers and decorated with saffron chalk. Sometimes they are dancing and singing and sometimes wrestling with one another. While Krsna dances, some of the cowherd boys sing and others played on flutes; some bugle on buffalo horns or clapped their hands, praising Krsna, ‘Dear brother, You are dancing very nicely.’ ” “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending cows yielding all desires in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.” –Sri Brahma-samhita 5.29
