Material life is called tama. Tama means darkness. Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. This is the Vedic mantra. "Don't remain in darkness." But people cannot understand that, "I am living in the light. Why I'm darkness?" So darkness means without any spiritual enlightenment. That is darkness. So the Vedic injunction is "Don't remain in darkness. Come to the light." The light is my spiritual life, and material life means darkness. Because he does not know what is going to happen next. You are under the laws of material nature. The nature will act according to the association you make, exactly. You do not know that you are infecting some contagious disease. You may not know it, but it will act. In due course of time, you'll develop that disease and suffer. Similarly, without knowledge, in ignorance, imperceptibly we are associating with a certain law of nature, and we shall be victimized. We may not know it, but we shall be victimized. That is the life of ignorance. A child does not know that if he touches the fire it will burn and it will cause some disease, some sore. He does not know. But he, somehow or other, if he touches fire, these things will come. This is the life of ignorance. You do something, you do not know what is the effect. But the effect will come, and you'll have to suffer. You know or not know, it doesn't matter. That is ignorance. Life of darkness. The Christian theologicians, they say that, "Why shall I suffer for my . . .?" They do not believe in the karma, fruitive activity. But that means ignorance. They have no sufficient knowledge. Karma is there and effect is there, but they do not know it. Poor fund of knowledge. Therefore it is failing. They have failed, these Christian priest, to explain everything philosophically.
So advanced Westerners, they are now educated in science philosophy, they are not attracted with these dogmatic views. So to remain in ignorance is animal life. To be enlightened is human life. And the topmost enlightenment is to understand God and to love Him. That is topmost enlightenment. Unfortunately, there is no education to know what is God, and what to speak of loving Him. This is modern civilization—ignorance. A civilization of ignorance. They do not know what is what. Simply speculating, wasting time, talking all nonsense. This is going on in the name of education. But actually they are in ignorance. They do not know what is what. They are reading so many philosophical speculation, horrible condition of the so-called philosopher, scientist. Simply "I believe," "In this believe, that believe." You believe . . . I believe something. That is your . . . (indistinct) . . . your belief is not final. That is creating chaotic condition. You believe some way, I believe something, he believes something. What is the profit? Chaos.
So all these philosophers, scientists, they believe, "I believe," as if his belief will be a doctrine. Why he believes like that? People also accept like that. Nobody questions that a person says: "I believe," that means he is not in perfect knowledge. But in Vedic śāstra, there is no question of belief. This is the fact. Jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi (Padma Purāṇa). It never says that, "I believe there are so many aquatics." No. Clear declaration, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi: there are nine hundred thousand different forms of life in the water. Bās. This is Vedic knowledge. It never says: "I believe." What is the meaning of belief? You must know definitely and declare it. That is Vedic knowledge. Speculation is not allowed. Truth must be declared as it is.