Reincarnation and Beyond

[Moti]

Reincarnation and Beyond


In August of 1976, Srila Prabhupada spent a few weeks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, fifteen miles north of London. During that time Mike Robinson of London Broadcasting Company interviewed him in his quarters. In their conversation, which was broadcast shortly afterward, Srila Prabhupada revealed that Krsna consciousness is "not some ritualistic ceremony of 'I believe, you believe,' " but a profound philosophical system in which the science of reincarnation is explained clearly and concisely.

Mike Robinson: Can you tell me what you believe--what the philosophy of the Hare Krsna movement is?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Krsna consciousness is not a question of belief; it is a science. The first step is to know the difference between a living body and a dead body. What is the difference? The difference is that when someone dies, the spirit soul, or the living force, leaves the body. And therefore the body is called "dead." So, there are two things: one, this body; and the other, the living force within the body. We speak of the living force within the body. That is the difference between the science of Krsna consciousness, which is spiritual, and ordinary material science. As such, in the beginning it is very, very difficult for an ordinary man to appreciate our movement. One must first understand that he is a soul, or something other than his body.
Mike Robinson: And when will we understand that?
Srila Prabhupada: You can understand at any moment, but it requires a little intelligence. For example, as a child grows, he becomes a boy, the boy becomes a young man, the young man becomes an adult, and the adult becomes an old man. Throughout all this time, although his body is changing from a child to an old man, he still feels himself to be the same person, with the same identity. Just see: the body is changing, but the occupier of the body, the soul, is remaining the same. So we should logically conclude that when our present body dies, we get another body. This is called transmigration of the soul.
Mike Robinson: So when people die it is just the physical body that dies?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. That is explained very elaborately in the Bhagavad-gita (2.20): na jayate mriyate va kadacin... na hanyate hanyamane sarire.
Mike Robinson: Do you often quote references?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, we quote many references. Krsna consciousness is a serious education, not an ordinary religion. [To a devotee:] Find that verse in the Bhagavad-gita.
Disciple:


na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire

"For the soul, there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."
Mike Robinson: Thank you very much for reading that. So can you explain to me just a bit more? If the soul is undying, does everybody's soul go to be with God when they die?
Srila Prabhupada: Not necessarily. If one is qualified--if he qualifies himself in this life to go back home, back to Godhead--then he can go. If he does not qualify himself, then he gets another material body. And there are 8,400,000 different bodily forms. According to his desires and karma, the laws of nature give him a suitable body. It is just like when a man contracts some disease and then develops that disease. Is that difficult to understand?
Mike Robinson: It's very difficult to understand all of it.
Srila Prabhupada: Suppose somebody has contracted smallpox. So, after seven days he develops the symptoms. What is that period called?
Mike Robinson: Incubation?
Srila Prabhupada: Incubation. So you cannot avoid it. If you have contracted some disease it will develop, by nature's law. Similarly, during this life you associate with various modes of material nature, and that association will decide what kind of body you are going to get in the next life. That is strictly under the laws of nature. Everyone is controlled by the laws of nature--they're completely dependent--but out of ignorance people think that they are free. They're not free; they're imagining that they're free, but they are completely under the laws of nature. So, your next birth will be decided according to your activities--sinful or pious, as the case may be.
Mike Robinson: Your Grace, could you go back over that just for a minute? You said that nobody is free. Are you saying that if we live a good life, we in some way determine a good future for ourselves?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Mike Robinson: So we are free to choose what we believe to be important? Religion is important, because if we believe in God and lead a good life...
Srila Prabhupada: It is not a question of belief. Do not bring in this question of belief. It is law. For instance, there is a government. You may believe or not believe, but if you break the law, you'll be punished by the government. Similarly, whether you believe or don't believe, there is a God. If you don't believe in God and you independently do whatever you like, then you'll be punished by the laws of nature.
Mike Robinson: I see. Does it matter what religion you believe? Would it matter if one was a devotee of Krsna?
Srila Prabhupada: It is not a question of religion. It is a question of science. You are a spiritual being, but because you are materially conditioned, you are under the laws of material nature. So you may believe in the Christian religion, and I may believe in the Hindu religion, but that does not mean that you are going to become an old man and I am not. We're talking of the science of growing old. This is natural law. It is not that because you are Christian you are becoming old or because I am Hindu I am not becoming old. Everyone is becoming old. So, similarly, all the laws of nature are applicable to everyone. Whether you believe this religion or that religion, it doesn't matter.
Mike Robinson: So, you're saying that there's only one God controlling all of us?
Srila Prabhupada: There's one God, and one nature's law, and we are all under that nature's law. We are controlled by the Supreme. So if we think that we are free or that we can do anything we like, that is our foolishness.
Mike Robinson: I see. Can you explain to me what difference it makes, being a member of the Hare Krsna movement?
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krsna movement is meant for those who are serious about understanding this science. There's no question of our being some sectarian group. No. Anyone can join. Students in college can be admitted. You may be a Christian, you may be a Hindu, you may be a Muhammadan--it doesn't matter. The Krsna consciousness movement admits anyone who wants to understand the science of God.
Mike Robinson: And what difference would it make to someone--being taught how to be a Hare Krsna person?
Srila Prabhupada: His real education would begin. The first thing is to understand that you are a spirit soul. And because you are a spirit soul, you are changing your body. This is the ABC of spiritual understanding. So, when your body is finished, annihilated, you are not finished. You get another body, just as you may change your coat and shirt. If you come to see me tomorrow wearing a different shirt and a different coat, does that mean you are a different person? No. Similarly, each time you die you change bodies, but you, the spirit soul within the body, remain the same. This point has to be understood; then one can make further progress in the science of Krsna consciousness.
Mike Robinson: I am beginning to understand, but what I'm finding difficult is how this ties in with the large numbers of your people we see handing out Hare Krsna literature on Oxford Street.
Srila Prabhupada: This literature is meant to convince people about the need for spiritual life.



* THE HARE KRISHNA SAINT TORTURED AND POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS JUDAS DISCIPLES

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupad...p_poisoned.htm



* MATERIALISTIC SCIENTISTS EXPOSED BY THE HARE KRISHNA SAINT

http://members.lycos.co.uk/spexpose/



* WHAT IS KRISHNA CONCIOUSNESS?

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupad...kc/what_kc.htm



* PRABHUPADA Your ever well wisher

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupada1/

[Moti]

Reincarnation Continued 2........


Mike Robinson: And you're really not concerned whether or not they join the Hare Krsna movement?
Srila Prabhupada: It doesn't matter. Our mission is to educate them. People are in ignorance; they are living in a fool's paradise, thinking that when their body is finished, everything is finished. That is foolishness.
Mike Robinson: And you are basically just concerned to tell them that there is a spiritual dimension to life?
Srila Prabhupada: Our first concern is to tell you that you are not this body, that the body is your covering (your shirt and coat) and that within the body you are living.
Mike Robinson: Yes, I think I've got that now. If we could go on from there--you said that how you lived made a difference in your life after death, that there are natural laws that determine your next life. How does the process of transmigration work?
Srila Prabhupada: The process is very subtle. The spirit soul is invisible to our material eyes. It is atomic in size. After the destruction of the gross body, which is made up of the senses, blood, bone, fat, and so forth, the subtle body of mind, intelligence, and ego goes on working. So at the time of death this subtle body carries the small spirit soul to another gross body. The process is just like air carrying a fragrance. Nobody can see where this rose fragrance is coming from, but we know that it is being carried by the air. You cannot see how, but it is being done. Similarly, the process of transmigration of the soul is very subtle. According to the condition of the mind at the time of death, the minute spirit soul enters into the womb of a particular mother through the semen of a father, and then the soul develops a particular type of body given by the mother. It may be a human being, it may be a cat, a dog, or anything.
Mike Robinson: Are you saying that we were something else before this life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Mike Robinson: And we keep corning back as something else the next time?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, because you are eternal. According to your work, you are simply changing bodies. Therefore, you should want to know how to stop this business, how you can remain in your original, spiritual body. That is Krsna consciousness.
Mike Robinson: I see. So if I become Krsna conscious, I wouldn't risk coming back as a dog?
Srila Prabhupada: No. [To a devotee:] Find this verse: janma karma ca me divyam...
Disciple:

janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." (Bg. 4.9)
Srila Prabhupada: God is saying, "Anyone who understands Me is free from birth and death." But one cannot understand God by materialistic speculation. That is not possible. One must first come to the spiritual platform. Then he gets the intelligence required to understand God. And when he understands God, he does not get any more material bodies. He goes back home, back to Godhead. He lives eternally; no more change of body.
Mike Robinson: I see. Now, you've read twice from your scriptures. Where do these scriptures come from? Can you briefly explain that?
Srila Prabhupada: Our scriptures are coming from Vedic literature, which has existed from the beginning of creation. Whenever there is some new material creation--like this microphone, for instance--there is also some literature explaining how to deal with it. Isn't that so?
Mike Robinson: Yes, that's right, there is.
Srila Prabhupada: And that literature comes along with the creation of the microphone.
Mike Robinson: That's right, yes.
Srila Prabhupada: So, similarly, the Vedic literature comes along with the cosmic creation, to explain how to deal with it.
Mike Robinson: I see. So, these scriptures have been in existence since the beginning of creation. Now, if we could move on to something I believe you feel very strongly about. What is the main difference between Krsna consciousness and the other Eastern disciplines being taught in the West?
Srila Prabhupada: The difference is that we are following the original literature, and they are manufacturing their own literature. That is the difference. When there is some question on spiritual matters, you must consult the original literature, not some literature issued by a bogus man.
Mike Robinson: What about the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna...
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting Hare Krsna is the easiest process by which to become purified, especially in this age, when people are so dull that they cannot very easily understand spiritual knowledge. If one chants Hare Krsna, then his intelligence becomes purified, and he can understand spiritual things.
Mike Robinson: Can you tell me how you are guided in what you do?
Srila Prabhupada: We take guidance from the Vedic literature.
Mike Robinson: From the scriptures you quoted?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, it's all in the literatures. We're explaining them in English. But we're not manufacturing anything. If we were to manufacture knowledge, then everything would be spoiled. The Vedic literature is something like the literature that explains how to set up this microphone. It says, "Do it like this: some of the screws should be on this side, around the metal." You cannot make any change; then everything would be spoiled. Similarly, because we are not manufacturing anything, one simply has to read one of our books, and he receives real spiritual knowledge.
Mike Robinson: How can the philosophy of Krsna consciousness affect the way people live?
Srila Prabhupada: It can relieve people's suffering. People are suffering because they are misunderstanding themselves to be the body. If you think that you are your coat and shirt, and you very carefully wash the coat and shirt but you forget to eat, will you be happy?
Mike Robinson: No, I wouldn't.
Srila Prabhupada: Similarly, everyone is simply washing the "coat and shirt" of the body, but forgetting about the soul within the body. They have no information about what is within the "coat and shirt" of the body. Ask anybody what he is, and he will say, "Yes, I am an Englishman," or "I am an Indian." And if we say, "I can see you have an English or an Indian body, but what are you?"--that he cannot say.
Mike Robinson: I see.
Srila Prabhupada: The whole modern civilization is operating on the misunderstanding that the body is the self (dehatma-buddhi). This is the mentality of the cats and dogs. Suppose I try to enter England, and you stop me at the border: "I am an Englishman," you say, "but you are Indian. Why have you come here?" And the dog barks, "Rau, rau, why are you coming?" So what is the difference in mentality? The dog is thinking he's a dog and I'm a stranger, and you are thinking you are an Englishman and I am an Indian. There's no difference in mentality. So if you keep people in the darkness of a dog's mentality and declare that you are advancing in civilization, you are most misguided.
Mike Robinson: Now, moving on to another point, I gather the Hare Krsna movement has some concern for areas of the world where there is suffering.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, we have the only concern. Others are simply avoiding the main problems: birth, old age, disease, and death. Others have no solutions to these problems; they are simply talking all kinds of nonsense. People are being misguided. They are being kept in darkness. Let us start to give them some light.



* THE HARE KRISHNA SAINT TORTURED AND POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS JUDAS DISCIPLES

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupad...p_poisoned.htm



* MATERIALISTIC SCIENTISTS EXPOSED BY THE HARE KRISHNA SAINT

http://members.lycos.co.uk/spexpose/



* WHAT IS KRISHNA CONCIOUSNESS?

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupad...kc/what_kc.htm



* PRABHUPADA Your ever well wisher

http://members.lycos.co.uk/prabhupada1/

[Urban Ranger]

Moti, you have been asked not to continue this incessant copy-and-paste crusade of yours.

24 hours of vacation.

[Nubclear]

This is soooo obviously someones DL.

[Boris Godunov]

Only 24?

His actions on other threads show he's just here to spam with preaching. Permaban!!!!

[BeBro]

I demand his head!

[Seeker]

Wow that has to be the MOST unaggressive, accomodating interviewer EVER...that dude from the "LBC" 'really pursued the hard questions that matter'.......

..let me guess the cult only allows people who, if not full members, are extremely sympathetic to the cause to interview them...

This is like Rael being interviewed by another Raelian "Gee Rael, tell us again about the Space-Gods?"

Or Sun Myung-Moon being interviewed by a Moonie: "Tell our viewers again, Beloved Father/Your Grace/Leader/Fuhrer/Exalted One, how your Science of Reproduction 'unites mysticism and modern science AT LAST"

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Seeker
Wow that has to be the MOST unaggressive, accomodating interviewer EVER...that dude from the "LBC" 'really pursued the hard questions that matter'.......

You read it!!!!

That is sooo pathetic

[Troll] I bet DaShi wouldn't have read it...... [/Troll]

[Boris Godunov]

Too bad Mike Wallace didn't do the interview. The first question would have been, "So how do you live with yourself when you're such an obvious fraud who lives to cheat his delusional followers?"

End of interview.

[monkspider]

You guys are being too hard on him. I think he is creating some thought-provoking threads. It wouldn't hurt anyone to consider a new viewpoint every once in a while.

[Boris Godunov]

How can you consider his threads thought-provoking when he clearly hasn't put any thought into them?

[Urban Ranger]

The problem is Moti never ever puts any thoughts in his own words. There's no need for tons of copy-n-paste threads, all you need is just a link.

[mrmitchell]

I sure hope we reincarnate. Only getting one chance at this whole life thing wouldn't be very fair of God.

[Ted Striker]

urban ranger you bastard i was just about to find out where the curry was, but you had to ban him

Can I get an Sun Certified Java developer in here to show me where it is?

[Space05us]

This is soooo obviously someones DL

actually he's not. run a google on "moti prabhupada" and you get a few other forums hes gone and done his cut and paste crusade on.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
urban ranger you bastard i was just about to find out where the curry was, but you had to ban him

PM him

[Ted Striker]

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
How can you consider his threads thought-provoking when he clearly hasn't put any thought into them?

True, but some of the subject matter is thought-provoking, even if it required no actual thought from the original poster.

Besides, you have to remember, 90% of the threads around here are copy/paste garbage anyway. This is merely par for the course.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


You read it!!!!

That is sooo pathetic

[Troll] I bet DaShi wouldn't have read it...... [/Troll]

I dont usually agree with the good comrade, but here I must make an exception. pathetic is a good word

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


You read it!!!!

That is sooo pathetic

[Troll] I bet DaShi wouldn't have read it...... [/Troll]

Why? Is it about Japan?