If you take a piece of coal, you can wash it hundreds and thousands of times, it never becomes white. And these are material things, but spiritually you can reform

Expressions researched:
"If you take a piece of coal, you can wash it hundreds and thousands of times, it never becomes white. And these are material things, but spiritually you can reform"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

If you take a piece of coal, you can wash it hundreds and thousands of times, it never becomes white. And these are material things, but spiritually you can reform. It doesn't matter. If one comes to the spiritual platform then everything is possible. Otherwise not.

760626 - Conversation B - New Vrindaban, USA

Prabhupāda: What is the reason they are given equal facility, still they are so wretched, poor, ruffian?

Hari-śauri: Just low class. They have no . . . There's no intelligence how to utilize their wealth correctly.

Prabhupāda: Same thing in Africa.

Hari-śauri: I think you give that example. If you give . . . If there's a dog and you put him on a king's throne, (Prabhupāda laughs) he'll still come and lick your feet.

Prabhupāda: Yes, he'll lick up shoes. Another example is given: aṅgārā śveta . . . (Bengali saying). If you take a piece of coal, you can wash it hundreds and thousands of times, it never becomes white. And these are material things, but spiritually you can reform. It doesn't matter. If one comes to the spiritual platform then everything is possible. Otherwise not.

Hari-śauri: They're always looking for a platform of equality.

Prabhupāda: The black men.

Hari-śauri: No, just the people in general, for happiness. Because they understand that if there are so many different groups, then there will always be fighting and dissent. So they are always looking for some compromise how to get the groups to live together.

Prabhupāda: This is equal—Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise not.