The Heavenly and Hellish Planets

 Shukadeva speaks the Bhagavatam circa 3000 B.C.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic scriptures, we get information about the heavenly and hellish planets in this material universe. In the heavenly planets there is an extremely high standard of material enjoyment. The denizens of the heavenly planets also enjoy a fabulously long (not eternal) duration of life. In the hellish planets there is extreme suffering. The term of suffering in the hellish planets may be profoundly long, though not eternal, according to ones individual adverse karma. 

Don't Miss The Chance of The Human Form of Life

On this planet Earth there are a great number of life forms such as plants, insects, aquatics, birds, animals, humans, etc. From the Vedic scriptures we find that a different individual spirit soul inhabits each and every living organism. As of 2014 A.D. there are around 7 billion human beings on this planet earth. That is only a small percentage of the total living beings on Earth. For example, by some estimates, the ants alone number 10 quadrillion on Earth. So the human form of life is very rare, and only the human has the intelligence to understand the science of God. The Vedas say that if a human does not use his/her rational intelligence for this higher purpose in life, then in the next life, he/she falls down to a lower species. Again, according to the Vedas there are 8,400,000 species of life, and the soul has to transmigrate through each one until he/she reaches the human form of life again. The concession is, as per the Vedas, that if one simply begins the process of Bhakti-yoga or devotional service to Krishna, then one is guaranteed at least another human form in the next life. If one completes the course then he/she is transferred to eternal life in Krishna-loka or Vaikuntha.  http://krishnaite.blogspot.com/2014/03/krishna-loka-and-vaikuntha.html

Can't Have The Kingdom of God Without God

According to the law of karma when a nation is very religious then prosperity eventually follows. But after achieving prosperity if the people give up religion then the prosperity will eventually fade. People who try to do good but endorse irreligious principles are not real friends of society because irreligious activities result in suffering.

Self Realization

At present we are imprisoned by the illusion that we are our material bodies which get old, diseased, and die. But we are not a material body. We are individual identities transcendental to matter. We are without beginning or end. But we are under the illusory energy of God, and therefore we are suffering. By Krishna's (God's) mercy we can be freed and realize our spiritual identities. The reality is that we are eternal servants of Krishna. Now we have to realize that, and that is self realization. In the present era the principal process for self realization is mantra-yoga, specifically chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Krishna-loka and Vaikuntha

Krishna-loka and the Vaikuntha-lokas are the eternal planets beyond the material world. In Krishna-loka, Krishna resides with his devotees; in the Vaikuntha planets, Krishna's various Vishnu (Narayana) expansions reside with their devotees. In these planets there is no birth, death, old age, disease, or any kind of misery. One can be promoted to this region by becoming a pure devotee of Krishna or Vishnu. 

The Krishna Lifestyle

Accepting the Krishna lifestyle means having a sane, clean, enlightened, happy life and a very bright future in the next life. It is based on the teachings of the Vedic scriptures and spiritual masters. One worships, glorifies, and serves Lord Sri Krishna while avoiding drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, nonvegetarian food, and gambling. According to the Vedas, suffering in this life and the next life is due to ignorance. People do not know that many of their activities are producing adverse reactions according to the laws of nature or karma. Any person who accepts that he or she is an eternal servant of The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, and tries their best to follow the path given by the Lord in the Vedas and taught by the spiritual masters in disciplic succession is liberated from the cycle of birth and death in the material world. It may appear that such a person is of defective character but he/she will quickly advance and attain Krishna very soon. We have been in this material world for an inconceivably long time so even a  few more births is relatively soon.

Japa

 Japa is chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare / hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. In ISKCON Srila Prabhupada set the standard that devotees should chant at least 16 rounds of japa per day. Without chanting on the Krishna bead one starts on the first bead next to the Krishna bead chanting the mantra once per bead to the other end then start at the end bead going back in the other direction etc. There are 108 beads on a strand of japa beads, so one chants the full mantra 108 x 16 times a day. One should also chant the Pancha-tattva Maha Mantra once at the beginning of each round: sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda.  Click here for a good resource: http://krishnastore.com/other-items-tulsi-japa-beads-om-69_72.html

The Three Modes of Material Nature

As per Vedic philosophy, as jivas or spirit souls we are always under the influence of God's energy. The liberated souls are under the influence and protection of the Divine Nature and the prominent symptom is that they love the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This love of Godhead avails happiness trillions of times greater than the love of this material world. The fallen souls are under the influence of the material energy or maya. This is also called the illusory energy. By eternal constitution we are loving servants of God, not independent enjoyers. The illusory energy facilitates the illusion of being an independent enjoyer, but this illusory "enjoyment" is temporary and not fully satisfying to the soul. The illusory energy is actually functioning as three energies called the three modes of material nature. The three modes are 1) goodness  2) passion and 3) ignorance or darkness. In the mode of goodness one can see things as they are. In the mode of passion one is not sure what is right or wrong. In the mode of ignorance one considers  irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion. A complete course on this subject matter is found in Bhagavad-gita Chapters 14 and 18. Please click here for the complete Bhagavad-gita As It Is, translation and explanations (purports) by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acharya of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).