Comments on Homosexuality by Srila Prabhupada
While working on ITV’s new Prabhupada DVD set, we have discovered and recovered a large amount of new footage ( 2.5 hrs). Not surprisingly, Srila Prabhupada comments on one of the controversial phenomena’s that has been making headlines recently – the homosexuality of priests.
We submit the transcript without comment. We don’t think it needs any. It will be released with the DVD set in September. (Plug: 23 DVD’s for $99 – 100% compatible worldwide! Jaya!)
Prabhuapada: Priests should be ideal character and they are advocating homosex? Now where is the ideal character man? If the priestly class are going to hospital for drinking habit and they are allowing man to man marriage and homosex then where is ideal character?
Social Worker: But homosexuality is a sickness, it is an illness. Just like a person cannot see would you punish him for not seeing? You can’t punish a person for being homosexual. That’s what our society says.
Prabhupada: Now, anyway, the priestly class is sanctioning homosex. Sanctioning. They are allowing homosex.
Social Worker: Yes, well we say…
Prabhupada: …and there was report that man and man was married by the priest. In New York there is a paper, “Watchtower,” – that is a Christian paper, I have seen in that paper – they are condemning it – that priest is allowing man to man marriage.
And they are passing a resolution – homosex is passed, all right. And in Perth [Australia] you said that the students are discussing about homosex, in favor of homosex. So where is the ideal character? If you want something, tangible business, train some people to become ideal character. That is this Krishna consciousness movement.
Social Worker: But people say what is ideal to you is not ideal to them.
Prabhupada: I am giving the example – ideal character.
Social Worker: Yes, but it is one opinion.
Prabhupada: No. It will not depend on opinion. Opinion, what is the value of opinion if the people are all asses? There is no opinion. One should take as it is enjoined in the sastras. No opinion…Now suppose if we instruct a man, “Do not have illicit sex.” Have you got any objection?
Social Worker: Yes. I have.
Prabhupada: You have? Illicit? If I say…
Social Worker: Yes. I like sex, and my wife likes sex. We just enjoy it; we couldn’t live without it.
Our marriage is happier because we have sex.
Prabhupada: Just see, this is the condition.
Social Worker: Well, it’s our life, and our marriage is happier with sex.
Prabhupada: No, we don’t prohibit sex, but we prohibit illicit sex.
Social Worker: Well, we use the pill; we use contraceptives; we use all kinds of things because it makes our life…
Prabhupada: Why do you use contraceptives?
Social Worker: Because we don’t want any more children.
Prabhupada: Then why don’t you stop sex?
Social Worker: Because we like sex. We enjoy it.
Prabhupada: That means go to physician, I want to do everything I like, still I want treatment. This is the position. You want…
Social Worker: I didn’t come for treatment.
Prabhupada: No, no, you have come for treatment here. Because you are paid to control the society, your activities, therefore you have come here for treatment. But when I prescribe medicine you don’t accept it.
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Hare Krishna!
Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
I’m Aspiring for Rtvik initiation From Srila Prabhupada after four years,
As well I’m finding very difficult to leave Homosexual thinking, because from my childhood I get attracted to boys, I need to leave because Prabhupad doesn’t like that, so I too don’t like that , I’m a Prabhupadanuga and I oppose bogus Gurus as well,
Please give your Golden advises to leave it faster as soon I can
Jaya Prabhupada!!
Sex life is the most difficult attachment and it is the same for everyone. It doesn’t really matter if we are attracted to men or women, the principle of sex attraction is the same, and the devastating results on our spiritual lives are the same. So no matter what sexual attraction we have we have to control it to make advancement in spiritual life. So the way to control sex life is by being constantly engaged in Krishna consciousness. Always chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books and always being engaged in serving Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee spiritual master. If we keep ourselves constantly busy serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then we have no time to think about sex. That is the way.
And also we have to control the tongue. Tongue, belly and genitals are all in a strait line and to control the genitals we have to control the tongue. The tongue has two activities, one is vibrating, so we have to train the tongue so it only ever vibrates Krishna katha, that means we have to limit the tongue to chanting Hare Krishna and talking about Krishna, and the other function of the tongue is tasting, so we have to limit the tongue to only tasting Krishna prasadam, foodstuffs that have been cooked by devotees and offered to Krishna.
So these are some of the things, but the point is we have to become Krishna conscious to control sex desire. If we actually become Krishna conscious we will experience a higher, spiritual taste that is far greater than anything we could every experience from sex. So the point is to enjoy a higher spiritual taste. We have to come to this platform, where we are actually relishing spiritual, transcendental pleasure from chanting Hare Krishna and serving Krishna. So while we are enjoying this higher spiritual pleasure thoughts of sex will be distasteful to us.
So it is a whole process and Srila Prabhupada has written so many books about it to teach us the process. So we need to READ PRABHUPADA’S BOOKS. All your answers, and much more, are there waiting for you in Prabhupada’s books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Swami Prabhupada told it like it is and still does through his recorded talks and books.
He is right on the mark in regards to homosexuality.
As far as heterosexuality, didn’t he advocate restraint?
Hare Krishna Dino
Yes. Srila Prabhupada, and the Vedas and the Bible and the Koran and every real religious and spiritual book on the planet teaches that homosexuality is sinful, demonic, wrong and should not be done.
And yes, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna teach that sex is only to be used for having Krishna conscious children. So married devotees are only permitted to have sex when they want to have a child. So in Krishna consciousness there is no sex for enjoyment. Only sex for having children.
So even the married devotees are prohibited from having sex generally, they can only have sex to have children, which is the actual purpose of sex… To have children…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hi! hare krsna, i’d like to ask you aboutwhat we should do if someone has homosexual preferences how does it fits with that comment, i agree with not having sex andnot looking for it, but for example isn’t it that this movement, this hare krshna movement is for becoming a happier person, so how can we change that part of us that makes us different for example, if i say that i like women i would like to form a family but the problem is that i love men, so how can i or we as homosexual people manage that specific aspect due to, this ‘little’ fact makes us happy or unhappy depending on the side you see, so i do like krshna but that part is kind of killing me because i’m not abble to love someone that makes me happy, well nowadays it is possible but only throught sharing life but no sex, that would be ok but only thinking that i will not fulfill the right manner this movement clames, completedly harsh my develovoping throught out so i would really like to now how can i manages this part cause it makes my life to a total disaster, i cannnot be with someone i love but neither with someone this institution allows, cause i don’t want to cheat on me or my potencial partner or couple, so, please inlight me on this part i do need a statement that makes me understand. thans hari bolo!
Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisances.
Forgive me if I am wrong for the following. I think the confusion stems from what you believe the term ‘happiness’ to be. You seem to be looking at happiness from a physical point of view, one that is fueled by material desires. However, one should actually be looking at happiness from a spiritual view point. This is the only thing that should be desired if anything. Spiritually one should only be looking to please the spiritual master and if one gains physical happiness from this then this is a bonus. So anyone who is heterosexual or homosexual, should not be desiring/lusting to find a partner as this would be only to satisfy human desires.
Also, illicit sex is prohibited – sex should only be used for procreation, not to feed ones sexual desires. Therefore, practicing homosexuality in this light would be seen as wrong but so would heterosexual sex be deemed as wrong if contraceptives were to be used.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krsna.
Correct Milan–if I may paraphrase a Bible quote–‘there is a way that seems right to a man but the end is destruction.’
One of the reasons we are seeing the fall of once great Christian “faiths” is that instead of changing a person by adherence to their Holy Scriptures, they are changing their scriptures or ignoring them in order to accommodate an increasingly corrupt culture.