Published on July 19th, 2024 | by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Science of God

The science of God, a film produced and edited by William Kerr during Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Melbourne in 1974. The “Science of God” was made possible by funding by the Australian government and was made available to schools and libraries as an educational resource on the Hare Krishna movement.

DIVINE GRANCE COMES ROLLSING IN

Srila Prabhupada: Hallowed be thy name, my Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead. Let your holy name be glorified.  This is our movement. It is not a sectarian, it is a very scientific movement. Scientific movement because at the present moment, we are all Godless. Forgotten what is God, and what to speak of His name.  They do not believe in God, and what to speak of His name, fame, His place, His activities, His form, His qualities, how we can know?

  There is no educational system about the science of God.

This movement, Krsna Consciousness movement, is teaching the science of God.

God is absolute.  Absolute means there is no difference. Just like, in the relative world, this is relative world. Material world means relative world.  Relative world means the son. As soon as I say the son, there must be a father.  As soon as I say friend, there must be another man, friend.  As soon as I say water, there must be something as water. But in the absolute world, the name “water” and the water is the same. This is called ‘absolute.’  No different separation. So in the Kingdom of God, God is God, and His son is also God.

So, by chanting Hare Krishna, you are directly in contact with God. This is the meaning of Hare Krishna.

We think we are enjoying, but we are suffering, actually and because we cannot understand what is suffering, suffering there is. Sometimes you come to understand, but we are accepting this suffering as enjoyment.

A man is working very hard, very hard, whole day.  This is not enjoyment. You have got a car. You are running at 70 miles speed, going to your business, and there you are earning a hundred and thousands of dollars, so you are thinking that you are enjoying, but this labor is suffering, you forget. And in order to forget this suffering, then I take to wine, take to this, take to that, to forget this suffering.  So actually we are suffering, but we are accepting it as enjoying. This is called illusion.

Anyone who is very much sensuous, very much attached to sense gratification, they are called demons and those persons who do not indulge in sense gratification but utilize this body, this life, for God realization, Krishna realization, they’re called gods. There are two classes of men, demons, and gods. Those who are engaged in God consciousness, they are not God, but godly and those who are not… because this human life is meant for this purpose, are forgetting our father, forgetting our God.

We are criminals within this material world.  Therefore, our only business is how to get out of this prison house and go back to home, back to Godhead.

God is like you and me, a person.  But He’s pacific ocean, we are drop, that’s all.

Devotee: The question was in Srimad Bhagavatam, which is a scripture that we study, it says that Krishna did not want us to come to this material world. The question is, if Krishna did not want us to come, why are we here?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes.  You forced Krishna to allow you to come. Just like sometimes a child forces the father.  Father says, “My dear son, do not do this, do not go there.”  But he insists, “Well, I must go, I must go.”  “Alright, you go, at your risk.” That’s all, and you suffer, what can be done?

Because you are son of God, God has got independence, full independence, almighty therefore you have acquired the quality of your father.  You have got little independence. God does not interfere with your little independence.

Beginning from Lord Brahma down to the worms in the stool, gradually, according to your work, according to your desire, you manufacture your different types of body and enjoy and suffer, that’s all.

Indriya means senses, we cannot understand what is Krishna, or God.  His name, His form, His attributes, His pastimes, we cannot understand by these blunt material senses. Then how it is to be understood? After all, this human life is meant for understanding God. That is the only business of human life. The nature, material nature, gives us this opportunity to have this human form of life.

The facility of this life, of this form of life, is given to us just to understand God.

Other forms of life, cats and dogs, trees, and so many other things.  There are 8,400,000 forms of life.  So in other forms of life it is not possible to understand what is God.

If we call all the dogs of your country, “come here, we shall talk about God.” But there is no possibility of understanding. But in the human form of life, there is possibility.  Doesn’t matter whether it is in India or America or Australia. Any human being, if he tries, and if he reads the scriptures: never mind, Bible, Bhagavad-Gita, Bhagavatam, then he will understand God.

The beginning of the Srimad Bhagavatam.  Absolute truth is that from whom everything has come into existence.  Now, what is the nature of the absolute truth?

Everything means there are two things.  Matter and spirit.  Two things. Just like this table is matter.  We, living entities, we are spirit.  We are spirit soul. This material body is my covering.  Just like dress.  Everyone of us is dressed. Covered by some kind of dress.  Similarly, all living beings, they are dressed by the material covering. So we, the spirit soul, part and parcel of God, at the present moment, we are covered by two kinds of dresses.  Subtle dress: mind, intelligence, and ego, and the gross covering. Subtle means we know there is this thing but we cannot see.   Just like you know I have got mind and I know you have got mind, but I don’t see your mind and you don’t see my mind. I know you have got intelligence, and you know I have got intelligence, but we don’t see what is that intelligence.  Similarly, identification. I am this consciousness.  Then also you have got consciousness, I have got consciousness but we don’t see.  So things which are not visible to these material eyes, that is called subtle. The spirit soul is still [more] subtle. So, human life is meant for understanding that spirit soul and the Supreme Soul.

Question: In Krishna Consciousness, the process is to get beyond the disease of material existence. The first part of his question, how to do this, second part of his question, what is the end result after taking to this process.

Srila Prabhupada: The process is to transfer yourself from material energy to spiritual energy. We are under energy.  God has got two energies.  Material energy and spiritual energy. We are also energy.  We are marginal energy.  So, marginal energy means we can remain under material energy or on the spiritual energy. As we make our choice, marginal, just like on the beach you find sometimes on the border of the water, the water is covering the land and sometimes the land is open. This is called marginal position.  Similarly, we are marginal energy of God, living entities.  So we can remain under the water means material energy or we can remain open also, on spiritual energy.

Question: What is our view of Lord Jesus Christ?

Srila Prabhupada: Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ?  He’s son of God.  The best son of God. So we have all respect for him.  Yes.

Question: Saint Francis, the founder of this particular order which we have been invited to speak to, found God in the material world, and used to address the aspects of the material world as brother and sister.  Brother tree, sister water, like that.  What is your view upon this?

Srila Prabhupada: Real God consciousness.  It is real God consciousness. Not that I am God conscious, and I kill the animals.  That is not God consciousness. To accept the trees, plants, lower animals, insignificant  ants even, as brother. This is explained in the Bhagavad-Gita.  Sama means equal, to all living entities, to see the spirit soul.

Anyone, it doesn’t matter whether he is man, or cat, or dog, or tree, or ant, or insect, or big man. They are all part and parcel of God.  They are simply dressed differently. One has got the dress of tree, one has got the dress of king, one has got insect. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-Gita.

One who is pandit, his vision is equal.

So, if St. Francis was thinking like that, that is higher standard of spiritual understanding.

[Morning walk]

Should we turn back, Prabhupada?   -Yes

Srila Prabhupada: What does this sound mean?

Devotee: It means to begin to roll.  Action.  It means action. When they snap that it’s the beginning of the shooting.

The boy who is following the cart, in the red, is making one documentary film all about your stay here in Australia.  Then it will be distributed to the government.  Actually this is an independent film, you can put it into library, people can get it for their schools, colleges.

To understand Krishna is very difficult job.  Krishna has personally said in the Bhagavad-Gita.

Out of many, many millions of persons, not only at this age, in the past also. Out of many millions of persons, one is trying to become perfect. Generally, they have no knowledge what is perfection.  Perfection they do not know.  The perfection means to stop this process of birth, death, old age, and disease. That is called perfection.  Everyone is trying to be perfect but they do not know what is perfection.

Perfection means this:  that when you are free from these four imperfections. What is that?  Birth, death, old age and disease. Nobody wants to die.  But there is forcefully, “You must die.”  That is imperfection. But these rascals, they do not know.  They think that we must die. But no, because you are eternal.  You are not meant for death but nature is forcing you–must die.

[Srila Prabhupada reading] His navel is like lotus flower, His eyes are like lotus flower, His feet, lotus feet. So lotus is the comparison of the beauty of different limbs or parts of the transcendental body of Krishna. God is the supreme being, full with six kinds of opulences.  Therefore, He attracts everyone. This is the definition of the word ‘Krishna.’

This Bhagavad-Gita is spoken by Krishna, the perfect person. The pains and pleasures, on account of this material body, we have to feel but if we come to the spiritual platform, that is understanding of the soul then in any condition we shall be happy.

Question: Do you consider your movement the major form of enlightenment emanating from the United States today?  What order of priority is your movement in the White House psychological warfare department?  Also, do you plan to attend our July 4th demonstration again this year to try and ….. it up and divert people away from taking up real political issues concerned with Australian government?

Devotee: One question at a time.  I can answer them for you if you like. Our movement is not coming from the United States. If you have a paranoia, a stigma around everything coming from the United States, that’s your hang-up, not mine.  Second of all, our spiritual master, he came to the United States to start this Krishna Consciousness movement because he got a free ticket on a boat to go there.  And because of the mercy of this one lady who gave him the free ticket on the boat, he came to America on the orders of his spiritual master. This is the reason he came to America to start Krishna Consciousness. If you had extended him a free ticket he probably would have come to Australia first. He was a penniless monk in India, and he was trying to follow the orders of his spiritual teacher by spreading love of God.

Question: Some people would say that Krishna Consciousness is too austere.  It should be taken in stages. What is there austere? You are starving?

We say don’t eat meat.  Is it very great austerity? No illicit sex.  We don’t say no sex.  Illicit sex.  Where is the austerity?

Devotee: Devotees, they must rise early in the morning, take cold bath.

Srila Prabhupada: That is healthy.  Because early to rise, early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy and wise. That’s fact.  What to speak of early to rise, I practically don’t sleep at night.  Only two hours.  Still, I go up early in the morning.  What is so wrong?  No, I don’t sleep in.

So everything is alright?  Give him these flowers.

Devotee: Should I distribute this rasgula? Srila Prabhupada — Yes.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Tags: God, independant, Material World, science of god

About the Author

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.

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