Since we are finite parts of the holographic whole, God-dess lives within us. When we attune ourselves to the spiritual plane, God-dess awakens within us, and we consciously engage in a loving relationship–the perfection of spiritual life.
Radha-Krishna also live in Braj, the spiritual abode. Like them, it consists of existence, consciousness, and bliss. As such, it differs from the material world. Braj and Radha-Krishna remain inseparably related. We cannot think of Radha-Krishna without Braj, nor Braj without Radha-Krishna. In their blissful forms, they eternally stay in Braj and metaphorically never leave it.
Just as there are infinite manifestations of Radha-Krishna, there are infinite manifestations of their abode. For each manifestation of Radha-Krishna, there exists a corresponding manifestation of their abode. Braj is the original and highest abode because it represents an ultimate place to be, just as Radha-Krishna are the original and highest forms of God-dess we can relate to. Highest means the most excellent, complete, or full manifestation we can comprehend.
Radha-Krishna and their abode are highest because their sweetness eclipses their majesty. They do not appear as God-dess, or even sovereigns, but as young lovers, eternally engaged in amorous sports with their beloved confidants and friends on the bank of the river, in the green groves laden with sweet smelling flowers, all of which breathe an enjoyable atmosphere of freedom and sweetness.
All other forms of God-dess we know of and their abodes are partial manifestations of this sweetest lushness. Devotees with perfect spiritual vision see Radha-Krishna’s sports all over the world, as well as in Braj, India, and in their own hearts. We enter the spiritual Braj and Radha-Krishna’s pastimes only through natural devotion, the way of the heart. Devotion through regulative principles leads to different, more majestic, and less sweetly innocent forms of God-dess.
Braj is a place of pilgrimage in Uttar Pradesh, India, but the spiritual Braj exists in the hearts of devotees wherever they are. Radha-Krishna’s pastimes go on there now and forever. One can see them only by the grace and sweet will of Radha-Krishna or their beloveds.
Eternal friends enrich God-dess’ pastimes by participating in various relationships in these spiritual realities. From our perspective, some of them engage in these sports without beginning because in the spiritual world there is no beginning of time as we experience it here. To us, others attained their roles through grace and devotional practice in the material world, but from the perspective of the spiritual world, they have always been there as eternal participants in Radha-Krishna’s pastimes. An eternity in this world is less than the blink of an eye there. We can describe it as “anti-time.†Thus, in a manner of speaking, we already live in the spiritual world and are temporarily dreaming this world. It is as real as we want it to be.
