Normal (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"normal" |"normality" |"normally"

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Press Interview -- December 30, 1968, Los Angeles:

Journalist: We here in this country are taught, and we have the Puritan background, that sex is a bad thing. And hopefully we're coming out of it, but when young people, a person reaches the age of puberty... Here in this country, I don't know from other countries. He begins to have a terrible, obviously a terrible problem. Now I'm stating something that's obvious. We've all gone through this. But it seems that is has been impossible for the western churches to give to the young people something to hold on to so that they can understand number one that what they're feeling is a normal beautiful thing, and number two, how to cope with it. And there is nothing in western culture that teaches or helps a young person to cope with this thing that is a very, very difficult problem. And I went through it. We all have. Now do you in your message, give the young people something to hold...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Journalist: ...to hang onto, and if so, what?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes I give.

Journalist: What?

Prabhupāda: I ask all my disciples to get married. I don't allow these boys living with boyfriend, girlfriend. No. You must get yourself married, life like gentlemen, treat your wife as assistant, treat your husband as your provider. In this way, I am teaching them. This boy was married just four days before. He is professor. So I have got so many of my disciples married, and they are living very happily. This girl is married. Formerly, they were living with girlfriend, boyfriend. I don't allow that. I don't allow that.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Radio Interview -- February 12, 1969, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā the last instruction is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). The Lord Kṛṣṇa says that "You give up everything. Just surrender unto Me, and I take charge of you." So we have surrendered unto Him, yes, completely. So what we hear, we do that.

Interviewer: Among your followers is the part of their lives which is not involved with the rules of your organization or with the formal meetings. Are there...? Do they simply proceed with their normal lives and work at jobs?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes, work.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 14, 1971, Gorakhpur:

Prabhupāda: If it remains simply for a while that is sufficient to kill you. There is no question of how long.

Devotee (1): It's just that you don't look very... You don't look like your normal self. There's no...

Prabhupāda: Sometimes they do business, simply water they inject. Yes. Simply water and take fee. They know there is no necessity of medicine; still, they will inject some water, distilled water, and take the fees. I have seen the doctors and some, I mean to say, ordinary man, illiterate. "What kind of treatment you want? Injection or medicine?" So naturally, he will say, "The best one. I want to..." "Then you have to take injection."

Conversation with Prof. Kotovsky -- June 22, 1971, Moscow:

Prof. Kotovsky: But does that mean the students, they abstain for normal West European universities their own, all their... How to explain it? Their... For instance, can a normal student from, for instance, from one of the best universities, who is attending lectures in normal way, etc., also be initiated and admitted to your community?

Prabhupāda: No, both ways. Both ways. If you want to be initiated, you are welcome. If not, you come. Try to understand our philosophy. Read our books. There are so many books, magazines. And question, answer. Try to understand the philosophy. It is not that all of a sudden a student comes and becomes our disciple, no. They first of all come, associate, try to understand. Then... We do not canvass. When he voluntarily says that "I want to be your..."

Prof. Kotovsky: No, yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. There is no canvassing.

Room Conversation with Dr. Weir of the Mensa Society -- September 5, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: He takes spiritual body, or develops a spiritual body and goes back to home, back to Godhead, which means eternal, blissful life of knowledge our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for that purpose. We are trying to bring all men..., of different dimensions, different divisions, to come to this position, always thinking that I am part and parcel of God. My real position is to serve God. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. The business of the finger is to serve the body. So long it is in normal condition, the finger is meant for serving the body. When the finger is painful or in abnormal condition it cannot serve the body. Similarly, the living entity, being part and parcel of God, when we cannot serve God that is his abnormal condition. And when he serves God that is his normal condition. That is designation-less position. That is our program.

Room Conversation with Dr. Karan Singh, -- November 25, 1971, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: That is the duty. Just like these fingers. Suppose if this finger is not working, I have got another finger. But if this finger does not satisfy me, that means it is diseased condition. It is not a normal condition. Similarly, we are parts and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). So we are parts and... If we do not satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that means we are in diseased condition, unhealthy.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation and Interview with Ian Polsen -- July 31, 1972, London:

Ian Polsen: And one needs guidance.

Prabhupāda: Yes. First of all we have to know ourselves. To know ourselves means self-realization: "I am not this body. I am spirit soul." Then what is this spirit soul? Naturally, part and parcel of God. Therefore as spirit soul my duty is to serve God. That is religion, plain thing. Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body. It is serving me. That is healthy condition. If there is any pain—"Oh, this finger cannot scratch. I'm feeling pain"—that is irreligion. So long the part and parcel of my body, the finger, cannot serve me, it is not normal condition. So every living being is part and parcel of God. So long he's unable to serve God, that is his material condition. But as soon as he's engaged actually in the service of God, that is his real liberated position. Same example: If the finger is diseased, it cannot serve. But when it is serving, that is healthy condition. Similarly, we living entities, we are part and parcel of God. When we are not engaged in the service of the Lord, or God... Everyone is engaged to some service. Somebody's serving his family, somebody's serving himself, somebody's serving his government, somebody's serving so many things. And somebody's serving even cats and dogs. So these are all mad condition. So when he turns to God... Service he must give. Nobody can say, "I'm not serving anybody." That is not possible. You must be serving somebody. Just like you are serving government, he is serving some office, because service is our nature. So we are not happy because the service is misplaced. When the service is rightly placed, then it is our normal condition.

Room Conversation and Interview with Ian Polsen -- July 31, 1972, London:

Prabhupāda: Hm.

māṁ ca yo vyabhicāreṇa

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

(BG 14.26)

As soon as you are engaged in the service of the Lord, you are in healthy condition, there is no suffering. Just like these boys, they did not know Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa, two years or three years ago. But since they have been engaged in the service of, they are feeling very nice, healthy. Everyone is asking me, "Why so many young men are attracted by this movement?" (laughs) They think it is movement. No. They have taken the real occupation-serving Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they have (indistinct). When one is normally situated, naturally he feels happy and he's healthy. When in the diseased condition, he cannot be happy. When the disease is gone, in healthy condition, naturally you'll be happy.

Conversation with Bajaj and Bhusan -- September 11, 1972, Arlington, Texas, At Their Home:

Guest (2): Swamiji, Kṛṣṇa says in Gītā that "Do your duty without, unmindful of result." But when we do our duties, or so-called normal karmas, we are always aware of the result. Like when you do a job you're aware that you're getting a check every two weeks and so on. Similarly, even the small things in our life, we are always first looking for the result as a matter of, I mean, these worldly people we are.

Prabhupāda: The result is... Here there is no check. Just like these boys, these American boys, European boys. They have seen enough checks and they can pay enough checks. But they are not after checks. They are after Kṛṣṇa's service.

Conversation with Bajaj and Bhusan -- September 11, 1972, Arlington, Texas, At Their Home:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Before they came they were not eating meat, but when they come here they normally, they buy it, they cook it, and they not only just... They buy, themselves, and they do everything.

Prabhupāda: London... (Hindi) Practically cent percent Indians, they eat meat.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 27, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Finer sort. Normally silicate is shining, but this is not shining because it contains various mixtures. Not only soda, but other magnesium, calcium silicates.

Prabhupāda: Silicate of soda is mixed with soap also.

Morning Walk -- May 4, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: What do they charge per day?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They are getting much more than the normal scientist because manual labor is very expensive here.

Brahmānanda: About seven, eight dollars an hour or something like that?

Prabhupāda: And they work for how many hours?

Brahmānanda: Eight hours.

Morning Walk -- May 5, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: There are sometimes white, they say, suppose when I am injured, my external something hurts. They say the white blood corpuscles are responsible to protect the body. But when the white blood corpuscles is not enough, then infection normally occurs.

Prabhupāda: Anyway there is change of corpuscles. And with the change of corpuscles there is change of body. That is scientific. Therefore body is changing every moment, so why not after death? Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13).

Room Conversation with Indian Guests -- July 11, 1973, London:

Guest (8): Because apparently, you know, to a layman, this killing wasn't an act which will please Kṛṣṇa, and that, what Arjuna did, kill such a big army and everything, it will... Normally you know, a layman would have thought it won't please Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa, if you cannot meet Kṛṣṇa, you can meet with Kṛṣṇa's representative. Kṛṣṇa may not be physically present, but His representative is physically present. You can talk with him. That is the system of Bhagavad-gītā. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Paramparā. Kṛṣṇa says that "I talked with the sun-god." Imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). "First of all I talked with the sun-god." Vivasvān manave prāha. "Then he talked with his son, Manu. Then Manu talked with Ikṣvāku. In this way..." Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, there is a disciplic succession. So if you can be in touch with that disciplic succession, then Kṛṣṇa's representative is there.

Room Conversation with Father Tanner and other guests -- July 11, 1973, London:

Father Tanner: But would you think of a young man as wise man? Isn't it normal that a young man is working his way towards wisdom?

Prabhupāda: The wise man becomes by knowledge, not by age. Even an old man, if he has no knowledge, what is...? He is not wise man. Wise means one who has attained knowledge. He may be young, he may be old. It doesn't matter. Vidyatvaṁ vayasā vinā. In Sanskrit word, that one becomes elderly without being advanced in age. That means he knows the knowledge. Therefore he is elderly. An elderly person means advanced in knowledge, not by age.

Room Conversation with Reporter from Researchers Magazine -- July 24, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: So, if big, big scholars say, when Kṛṣṇa says that man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī... (BG 18.65). The scholars say, "It is not to Kṛṣṇa." You see? If now, I can frankly say, if leaders like Dr. Radhakrishnan, Gandhi and others, they mislead people, then how the people will be in normal condition? This is the position of India at the present moment. The leaders... Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). The leaders are blind. They have no training. They are not in disciplic succession. They do not know what is what, and they are taking the part of leadership, then everything is spoiled. Jāti-dharma, kula-dharma. And they have created varṇa-saṅkara.

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor -- August 13, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is self-satisfaction. Yayātmā suprasīdati. Ahaituky apratihatā. So the bhakti cult is open for everyone. Ahaituky apratihatā.

Professor: Yeah, but people following you, could, could they stay in normal life, I mean have a business, etc...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Why Not? There are so many...

Professor: You, for instance, do you do that?

Prabhupāda: He's a householder. Yes.

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, Dr. Suneson -- September 5, 1973, Stockholm:

Prabhupāda: The instrument which he is using for speculation, that instrument itself is imperfect.

Professor: Well, normally our knowledge will be imperfect in some way or...

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Professor: Normally our knowledge is imperfect in one way or another.

Prabhupāda: How it is perfect?

Professor: Im...

Haṁsadūta: Imperfect.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation with Dr. Christian Hauser, Psychiatrist -- September 10, 1973, Stockholm:

Dr. Hauser: One, one very normal problem that I meet very often in patients is the security to feel that one can believe in something, a security of... Always there is... Very often there is an ambivalence. "Should I believe? Should I not believe? I have a, a..." Swaying to and fro.

Prabhupāda: No. Believe... There is no question of believe. Suppose you are hungry. I give you some food. I say: "You are hungry. Take this food." So when you take this food, you'll believe that: "Yes, my hunger is now satisfied. I'm getting strength." That is belief. So you are hungry, and if I give you some food, if you don't eat, then how you can believe that your hunger is now satisfied? You must eat. So we say: "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." So why not chant? Where is the loss? If there is any gain, let me take it. That is belief.

Room Conversation -- September 18, 1973, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Why to lament? "Oh, everyone is becoming good men. Nobody's coming in the prison." It is to be lamented? That nobody's coming in the prison house, it is very good news. But that will not take place.

Guest (3): Should it affect the normal duties?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Guest (2): Should it affect the normal duties?

Prabhupāda: Real duty is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is normal duty. All, all other duties are abnormal duties, crazy duties. Just like pāgala, they're all crazy.

Morning Walk -- December 3, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They say, "At the time of evolution, the cells, the genes, sometimes..." Normally the gene is perfectly copied for the next generation, but sometimes there is a mistake in copying. Just like in the printing press sometimes we do some mistakes. Just like that, there are some mistakes along the path of evolution. So those mistakes, sometimes they just, according to the circumstances, they can stand, and they form a different living entity because of the difference of the genes.

Prabhupāda: But the mistake is continuing forever, because you'll find the varieties of living entities ever-existing. Therefore the mistake is permanent. So when it is permanent, it is not mistake. It is intelligence.

Morning Walk -- December 6, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: No, actually, transcendental meditation is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but these people are saying that if I compare with a man who is practicing transcendental meditation with a normal man, then... They compare different, these tests, they're called physiological tests.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That physiological test, you can do between man and animal. The animal will be found better. Their circulation of blood is most natural.

Morning Walk -- December 13, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But how about the normal chemicals which are...

Prabhupāda: Normal chemicals must be. Then of the whole world... The material world is made of chemicals. So wherever you go and see, the chemicals in different, what is called, element, they are present. You cannot see but chemicals because you have no eyes to see the soul. So you simply see the chemicals which is produced by the soul. Just like anything you keep for some time, when it is decomposed, you find so many chemicals, extra. So now they are mistaking. The chemicals are not... They are effects, they are not cause. When a thing is decomposed, you'll find so many extra chemicals. Our point is that because a thing is decomposed, so many chemicals come out, not that on account of these chemicals it has given... A dead body. A dead body—not that because the chemicals have come, therefore he is dead, no. Because the body is dead, therefore so many chemicals have been produced. Try to convince this rascal like that, that "You are seeing the extra chemicals. They are not cause, they are effect." Sometimes when a rascal cannot understand two things, which is cause and which is effect, they misunderstand effect as cause or cause and effect. That is imperfect knowledge, illusion, taking the effect as cause. That is their mistake. Whole basic principle of their knowledge is mistake, illusion, on account of imperfect senses, and they are cheating. On account of imperfect senses, they cannot understand what is cause and what is effect. And without knowledge, they have become teacher. Therefore they are not teacher but cheater. This is the conclusion.

Morning Walk -- December 13, 1973, Los Angeles:

Yaśomatīnandana: One who is learning by seeing.

Prabhupāda: Yes. One who knows that these material things, it has got a beginning and it has got an end... In every day we see that. Even with our body we see that it has a beginning and it has an end. I have seen my father was born and he died. So I am also born; I'll also die. My son is also born; my son will die. This is real experience. But if somebody says that "I shall not die. We are trying to become immortal," so that is foolishness. That is foolishness. By experience from time immemorial, historical reference, there is no such thing as immortality. But if somebody says, "By chemical evolution we shall become immortal..." Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness proposition is that human life is meant for factual knowledge or ultimate knowledge. But these rascals are checking that progress. That means the prerogative of human life is being denied to the human society. So this kind of hindrances should be stopped, either by soliciting or even by force, because the human society is being ruined. These things have to be stopped. Therefore I was inquiring that "Why American went to Vietnam?" To stop communism, but that sort of stopping will not make any solution. We have to stop demoniac civilization. Then the human society will be happy and in normal condition.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Irish Poet, Desmond O'Grady -- May 23, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: Just like I am feeling comfort by using this sense, touch sense, hand, in this way, but I am not master because at any moment this hand can be paralyzed. So I am not the master. The master is Kṛṣṇa. So if it is engaged in the service of the master, then it is in its normal condition. And then we are liberated. And this purification you can take very easily by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa—that means immediately associate with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's name and Kṛṣṇa, nondifferent. So as, if we associate with fire it becomes warm, the quality of the fire comes; as it is materially possible, spiritually it is possible in perfect order. Process is the same. You associate with Kṛṣṇa, and you become Kṛṣṇaite, as pure as Kṛṣṇa.

Room Conversation with Robert Gouiran, Nuclear Physicist from European Center for Nuclear Research -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: What is the meaning of renunciation?

Robert Gouiran: Well, normal meaning.

Prabhupāda: No meaning?

Guru-gaurāṅga: The normal meaning.

Robert Gouiran: Normal meaning of the word...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Robert Gouiran: Usual meaning of the word.

Prabhupāda: Yes, What is the usual meaning of the word? First of all you say that...

Robert Gouiran: Renunciation is to get freedom.

Prabhupāda: Renounce means, renounce means, renounce means to give up. This is the ordinary meaning.

Room Conversation with M. Lallier, noted French Poet -- June 12, 1974, Paris:

Pṛthu Putra: So what should the soul do if he cannot imitate God?

Prabhupāda: Yes, the soul... Just like the same example. The child should be guided by the father and mother. Similarly, we should be guided by God, Kṛṣṇa. That is our normal life. And the guidance is given personally by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. So if you follow the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, and be guided by God, then you are happy exactly like a child is happy when he's under the protection of the parents.

Room Conversation with Mr. Deshimaru -- June 13, 1974, Paris:

Yogeśvara: Yes, he must understand that he is crazy.

Prabhupāda: Yes. He must know... He may understand or not understand. Somehow or other, he has become crazy. So if the craziness is cured, then he is normal man.

Room Conversation with Reverend Gordon Powell, Head of Scots Church -- June 28, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Hmm, no. Practically, we have very little suffering from disease. The devotees... We are spending so much money, but we don't spend for doctors' bill. You see?

Reverend Powell: Well, normal doctors, but now, we explain to our patients that the doctor normally works with the physical level, and the psychiatrist works with the emotional mental level, but the church works with the spiritual level. And just as Jesus...

Prabhupāda: Spiritual level means to cure his material disease.

Reverend Powell: Yes.

Prabhupāda: The material disease is birth, death, old age and disease.

Garden Conversation Excerpt -- July 11, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: ...atomic bomb there. Huh? (laughter) It is a burning mass of... Suppose it is a burning mass. So what atomic bomb will act there?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Atomic bomb normally acts as, ah, what happened is the particles floating in the atmosphere, like chemicals, chemicals, what happened is this explosion offers this, ah, fundamental particles like neutrons, electrons, they bombard further atoms which are already in the atmosphere. So one by one they knock out these smaller particles called electrons. They move very high velocity. There is a very tremendous energy, amount of energy released. So one... So suppose first atomic bomb, ah, the, ah, the energy-bringing substance like electron, neutron, hits another atom, and then it knocks out several of that sort, and then it makes a chain reaction, not stopping because..., and thereby several atoms they will knock each other, one by one, without stopping. Small particles, so much energy has got. But in the sun planet, where it is so hot, it is already probably more powerful that the atomic bomb itself.

Prabhupāda: Therefore this example. (laughs) What it will act, the atomic bomb, in the sun planet? Similarly, Brahmā might have possessed some power, but what is that power in comparison to Kṛṣṇa? Every power is derived from Him; so Brahmā's mystic power cannot act on Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk at Marina del Rey -- July 12, 1974, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Tampering with the machinery of God. They try to manipulate in a different way so that they can get some deviation from the normal.

Prabhupāda: There is no deviation.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Woman Sanskrit Professor -- February 13, 1975, Mexico:

Guest (1): ...and abstract investigations. Now, in normal Western thinking we do deny the very purpose of that question. As a matter of fact, we never ask it. Since time when Leibnitz did ask this question we all forgot it, or deliberately we suppress it. We simply say, "All right, let's be concerned only with those things which we can deal with effectively in material world. And the question of purpose let's leave aside." Now, I suppose that within this system of thought which you have...

Prabhupāda: I may tell you two things. The purpose is... That is experienced by every one of us, what is the purpose of life, what is the purpose, anything. That, everyone, we can understand very easily. The purpose is ānanda. Pleasure. That is the purpose. There is no difficulty to understand what is the purpose. The purpose is pleasure-seeking. Or purpose is pleasure. One who hasn't got the pleasure, he's seeking after it. That is the purpose. Purpose is ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is the Vedānta-sūtra. Everyone of us, seeking ānanda. The scientific knowledge, philosophy, or even driving the car or whatever you are doing—the purpose is ānanda. That is a common factor. Purpose is... Why I am eating palatable dishes? I can eat anything, but I am seeking that "This sort of foodstuff will please me." That is ānanda.

Room Conversation -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: He is the also scientist, professor of physics.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: "Defects and Errors in Scientific Research," it will be a title and we will find out all the mistakes that normally found in scientific research. That will be written by Mādhava Prabhu.

Prabhupāda: And add "and how to make it perfect." Find out the defects. Don't be, what is called...?

Rūpānuga: Negative.

Prabhupāda: Negative only.

Conversation with Devotees on Theology -- April 1, 1975, Mayapur:

Pañcadraviḍa: One of the principles, I'm told, of psychology's is whether a person can pass semmina or not. If he can pass semina, then he's considered normal, and if he can't, he's subnormal. This is the standard.

Acyutānanda: So he has said to...

Prabhupāda: Now our next point is that we say that God, the person, is identical with His name. Now, if, by meeting God, by seeing God, you become purified, then by chanting His name also, you'll become purified, because we say God and His name, identical. But if, by meeting God, you become immediately purified of material contamination, similarly, by chanting God's name you immediately become purified. So what is that name of God that acts immediately, exactly like God? So far Kṛṣṇa name is concerned, it is practically that so many thousands of men, they are chanting "Kṛṣṇa," and they are becoming purified. So find out any other name which can act equally. Then that is accepted as God's name, not by imagination.

Morning Walk -- May 8, 1975, Perth:

Paramahaṁsa: So the people are very afraid to cause any upheaval. They are afraid that immediately the government will just come and kill them. 'Cause the government has all the weapons. They have the tanks and the guns and everything. And the normal people, they don't have any weapons.

Prabhupāda: This is the age of Kali-yuga. Therefore the only shelter is Kṛṣṇa. There is no other way. In India it's practically dwindling. Now there is no reason they are not sanctioning our temple. They do not give any reason. "No!" Why "No"? "We don't give any reason." And "Kīrtana is nuisance, nuisance." They are doing that already.

Room Conversation with Justin Murphy (Geographer) -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: As far... Yes.

Justin Murphy: ...beyond say the normal sixty-five or seventy years that I might live in what I imagine to be this body?

Prabhupāda: The knowledge should be acquired from the beginning of life, from childhood. But if by circumstances I could not get this knowledge from childhood, then we should begin immediately. Because unless we get this knowledge, our life remains imperfect. We remain animal. The animal does not know this. And after evolutionary process, coming to the human form of body, if we keep ourself in the darkness of animal life, then our this opportunity is lost. This is the first problem. Unfortunately, the modern education is... Leaders, they have no education, and they are thinking just like animal that "I am this body." Therefore you are thinking you are Australian, I am thinking I am Indian, he is thinking American, he..., only on this bodily concept of life. But we are not this body. We are different from this body. So unless we understand this point, our aim of life, our standard of civilization, is incorrect.

Garden Conversation with Dr. Gerson and devotees -- June 22, 1975, Los Angeles:

Dr. Gerson: There has been a lot of bad propaganda that the children at Gurukula are unhappy and that they're not developing normally as children or human beings, and I would like to overcome that propaganda by showing that they are.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that the managers of the Gurukula, they should take care of. But if they follow the instruction which I have given for conducting Gurukula, then there is no question of... What is the general defect they are finding out?

Morning Walk -- July 14, 1975, Philadelphia:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Soul is always staying in the subtle body, and the subtle body is left when he goes to God or kingdom of God.

Ravīndra-svarūpa: One thing I'm trying to understand is how is it that the soul wants different things and then the material body acts according to the desires of the soul? So there is a cause and thereis an effect. Normally all our cause and effect, we see one material thing causing another material thing to happen. But how is it the spirit causes? What is the connection that spirit causes matter to do so many things? The spirit is manipulating the matter, but how? How is that contact there?

Prabhupāda: Contact? It is already in contact. You are in the material body. It is already in contact.

Ravīndra-svarūpa: But I don't understand how that contact is working.

Prabhupāda: Contact is working under the direction of God. The individual soul desires, and God arranges to fulfill his desire with the help of prakṛti.

Morning Walk -- July 18, 1975, San Francisco:

Paramahaṁsa: He became world famous. So they concluded that anyone who wanted to could get normal information from normal sources and theoretically construct an atom bomb. But they don't have the equipment, but they have the knowledge now. So they're proposing in that sense that any terrorist organization within the next five years will be able to invent their own atom bomb.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's a fact.

Morning Walk -- August 24, 1975, Delhi:

Jayapatāka: ...Śrīla Prabhupāda, the deputy director of tourism of the government of West Bengal came out to visit Māyāpur. He said that many people have been wanting to see Māyāpur and Navadvipa. And the nearest guesthouse they have is Berhampur. They have a guest house at Berhampur. So they wanted to know the possibility if a bus of twenty-four people could use our guesthouse. They offered thirty rupees a night per room and said that normally they pay six rupees per meal. They wouldn't smoke or break any rules while they go in the building.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. Let them come. So in one room, one person?

Jayapatāka: Two people. Double room.

Prabhupāda: Thirty-two rupees?

Jayapatāka: Thirty rupees.

Prabhupāda: Thirty rupees. And meals?

Jayapatāka: Six rupees a meal they are accustomed to pay.

Prabhupāda: That's very nice.

Morning Walk -- September 25, 1975, Ahmedabad:

Prabhupāda: No, before that.

Kartikeya: But he must be transferred, I think. Normally they are having the transfer.

Prabhupāda: You can inquire it.

Kartikeya: Chatterjee.

Prabhupāda: Chatterjee and Mukherjee. Maybe Chatterjee, Bengali. So if he is there, you can say that "Bhaktivedanta Swami wants to see you."

Morning Walk -- September 29, 1975, Ahmedabad:

Kartikeya: Normally six. (break)

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) ...mandāḥ, all bad men. Mandā sumanda-matayaḥ. And if he is supposed to be a good man, he will manufacture some mata, manda-mata, not approved by the śāstras. This is going on. They will not hear Kṛṣṇa. They will give quotation from Brahma-kumārī. This is the greatest defect of modern civilization, that they won't accept real authority. They will create some authority. Or rascal, he becomes authority. Especially in India, this is the drawback. In the Western countries they do not know much about this. Therefore they accept what I say. But here they bring so many.

Room Conversation with the Rector, Professor Olivier and Professors of the University of Durban, Westville -- October 8, 1975, Durban:

Prof. Olivier: Even the German word wissenschaft that we normally use, which covers, as you say, everything—this is not translatable. The word science is...

Prabhupāda: But in Sanskrit there are two words, jñāna and vijñāna. Jñāna means theoretical knowledge, and vijñāna means practical knowledge. So vijñāna is taken as science. Just like you... Theoretically you know that two hydrogen-oxygen mixed together becomes water. And when you do it practically in the laboratory, that is science, vijñāna. So jñāna-vijñāna-sahitam. In the Bhāgavata it is said, jñānaṁ me paramaṁ guhyaṁ yad-vijñāna-samanvitaḥ. Knowledge of God should be practical application in life. That is vijñānam. And according to our philosophy, unless one has got perfect knowledge of his self-identification, he remains an animal.

Room Conversation with Bill Faill (reporter) -- October 8, 1975, Durban:

Faill: Yes. One can be a student of Kṛṣṇa consciousness while going about a normal daily life.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban:

Prabhupāda: So long you'll have desire for material...

Prof. Olivier: This is what is normally in the Hindu religion, you know, which it is not so, of course, in the Christian religion.

Prabhupāda: It is not the question of religion. This is the, I mean to say, our position, real position. Religion develops. Religion is a kind of faith. That develops according to time, circumstances, people. But reality is this, that we are spirit soul. We are now conditioned by the laws of material nature, and we are carried away by the laws of material nature and transmigrating from one body to another, sometimes happy, sometimes distressed, or sometimes heavenly planet, sometimes lower planet. This is going on. And human life is meant for stopping this process of transmigration and revive our original consciousness, and go back to home, back to Godhead, and live eternally, blissful life of knowledge.

Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban:

Prof. Olivier: Yeah, but now would he have what is normally in the Western world called a theological degree?

Prabhupāda: He has...theological degree, he has studied all these books. This is theological. But there is no such thing at the present moment.

Room Conversation -- October 29, 1975, Nairobi:

Prabhupāda: So the child, he knows taste with tongue and eats. That he knows. So immediately anything he captures, he brings to the mouth, naturally. He hasn't got to be educated. So our position is like that. We being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, our natural tendency is to serve Kṛṣṇa. Natural tendency. It is not artificial. When you forget Kṛṣṇa, that is artificial. So our normal life means to love Kṛṣṇa, to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is our normal life. Without serving Kṛṣṇa our life is abnormal, madman's life. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says... When you forget Kṛṣṇa, He comes to preach the normal life. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam (BG 18.66). This is normal life. So Kṛṣṇa does not require your help. He can create many helpers. But for your good Kṛṣṇa comes, that "If you want normal, happy life, then surrender unto Me." This is the proposal. Therefore the whole Bhagavad-gītā, all Vedic knowledge, is there. We have forgotten our position. Our posit..., normal position, is to love and serve Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- November 21, 1975, Bombay:

Mahāṁsa: We have plenty of rice now, and also the dahl will be harvested in about fifteen, twenty days. And the village people, this is their normal food, rice and dahl.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's fine.

Mahāṁsa: So we can distribute to all the villagers.

Prabhupāda: Distribute rice and dahl and little vegetables, and they will come, take prasādam and chant.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 15, 1976, Calcutta:

Prabhupāda: We don't find. That is normal. Kṛṣṇa can do anything. You cannot imitate Kṛṣṇa.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Also...

Madhudviṣa: No, it seemed like that was the style during those days, long hair.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Morning Walk -- January 16, 1976, Mayapur:

Jayapatāka: (Bengali)

Prabhupāda: Who is in charge? (Bengali)

Bhavānanda: It's normally closed, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break) ...spending money unnecessarily.

Morning Walk -- March 21, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Oh. So we can.... But that will be very hastily. That.... The road is all right?

Jayapatākā: That.... The road to his place is all right. There's a shortcut from Krishnagara; if that's taken, then for a while, one kilometer, there's kacā road. After that, there's very, there's clear road with no traffic. Otherwise, if we.... We normally take that in the vans and in the jeep. We save about half an hour. But that way you have to go through one mile of kacā road. Otherwise, if you go by all pākā road, then it's a good road. Just takes a...

Prabhupāda: No, we shall go...

Jayapatākā: ...little longer.

Prabhupāda: It doesn't matter. We shall go by the pākā. Kacā road may damage the car.

Morning Walk -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: But you create a situation; therefore become diseased.

Guru dāsa: Otherwise it wouldn't be called "diseased," because it would be normal to be sick. But disease means...

Prabhupāda: Normal life means no sickness.

Guru dāsa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: And as soon as there is sickness, that means punishment. So if you want to be punished, then violate the hygienic laws. You can see that there is hospital and medical treatment and medicine—for whom?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Sick people.

Prabhupāda: No, for the human society. Not for the birds, beasts. But they follow nature's law. But this rascal violates nature's law and suffers.

Recording of TV Interview -- April 20, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Well, the scientists make research. One does wrong thing to do that. So our process is to carry out the order of the higher authorities. So my Guru Mahārāja, my spiritual master, asked me to do this. (inserted kīrtana)

Carol Jarvis: But you led a rather normal life—before this you were married. You were a businessman.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- April 20, 1976, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Well, the scientists make research. One does wrong thing to do that. So our process is to carry out the order of the higher authorities. So my Guru Mahārāja, my spiritual master, asked me to do this. Therefore...

Carol Jarvis: But you led a rather normal life—before this you were married. You were a businessman.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Carol Jarvis: What made you change suddenly?

Prabhupāda: By this association. Just like we are holding meeting, and so many boys, girls, they come. If somebody is capturing the idea, he makes further progress.

Room Conversation -- April 22, 1976, Melbourne:

Brian Singer: We normally say he's dead.

Prabhupāda: No, no, death.... What is the distinction between death and life? You are now dressing with these coat, pants, and this same body, same hair. Now, something will be minus—you'll be called dead. What is that something? That you do not know. Eh?

Brian Singer: The "you."

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Devotee (2): Yes, the person.

Brian Singer: The person.

Prabhupāda: Person. But the person you have never seen. You have never seen. I am seeing you: I am seeing your body, hat, coat, pant, hair. That's all. And dead body also, I will see the same thing. But I say, "Now the person is gone." Then but you have never seen the person. Now you say the person is gone, but before that, you were never interested with the person; you were interested with this body, coat, pant, hair, and that's all. That's all. That is ignorance.

Room Conversation -- May 4, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: Oh, you are adding two more.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Well, we had almost finished two. They'll be added in June, so that will make eight, a total of eight. And they're having a normal program going on nicely. And Madhudviṣa Mahārāja also went to visit the other temples. He said in Boston they've gotten.... I think they've already gotten it, right? That restaurant? Ambarīṣa Prabhu has gotten the most wonderful restaurant there, just around the corner from the temple. So it will be very, very high class restaurant with waiters, and...

Prabhupāda: Now, this New York restaurant being organized, other restaurant will follow.

Morning Walk -- June 9, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Full of these souls. They have no forms. Just like sun. Sunshine means small illuminating sparks. (break) (out of car:) Flowers, they are good medicine for dysentery. (break)

Hṛdayānanda: ...surrounded by mountains, but normally the air is so dirty, it's not possible to see them, but today it's so clear.

Prabhupāda: (break) ...bluff subject.

Room Conversation With Scientists -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: There are in fact some reports in the last few years that there is some bacteria that can survive in the medium of ammonia-ammonia is alkaline solution. Normally life survives in...

Prabhupāda: Life survives in fire, water, fire. That is our information.

Room Conversation -- July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: But that is not your laboratory children. That is God's children. That is another thing. That is not your laboratory children. You want to produce children in laboratory? Then do that. That is our challenge.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But this, one of our arguments now, we argue that these molecules that (indistinct) for example DNA, even if they make it, still it just... It means it's a molecule. It is not going to function normally, as we find in a living cell, in a living body. So this has nothing to do with the life processes. The molecules they make, they may do so many reactions, but still there is a fundamental difference in the living body and this simple, that... To determine that it's never possible to create life in the test tube. The have timetables, Śrīla Prabhupāda, in about fifty years, that's about the turn of the century, that about 2001 we are going to make such and such bodies and...

Prabhupāda: All imagination.

Evening Darsana -- July 7, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: When the finger is unable to give any service, then it is diseased. If there is some pain in the finger, I want to use this finger for some purpose, to pick up this flower, I cannot do it, that means it is diseased. Similarly, we living entities, part and parcel of God, when we are unable to give service to the Supreme, that is our diseased condition. That is not normal condition. And when we are actually able to give service to God, that is our healthy condition. So in the materialistic way of life we are diseased. Because we are diseased, therefore we have to accept birth and death. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1). So we have to get free from this diseased condition.

Room Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Yes. (aside) No, call Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Dr. Sharma: I shall write in books and give it to the editors here to use it the way they best can. I normally publish... I only last month got a medical prize, a large prize, for medicine. My name is known internationally, medical journals. So I'll submit it to the Book Trust.

Prabhupāda: So, you are qualified medical man?

Dr. Sharma: No, I am only in research. I am not qualified to practice medicine, but in clinical medical practice and clinical journals I am qualified. I used to be...

Prabhupāda: From chemical point.

Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York:

Hari-śauri: He said he can understand meat-eating is sin, but when we are doing our ordinary work and normal functions, aren't we killing so many other things? So is that sin or not?

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is also sin. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that whatever you eat, bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt (BG 3.13). Anyone is cooking something, meat or vegetables, for his own eating, he is eating only sin. It is not that the vegetarians are not sinful and the meat-eaters are sinful. Everyone is sinful if it is not cooked for Kṛṣṇa. It is not that we are propagating that you become vegetarian. We are propagating that you become Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our propaganda. But because we are trying to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, we offer something to Kṛṣṇa.

Room Conversation -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.

Bhagavān: This, in July, this is normal weather now, in August and July. But generally in July it has some rain.

Prabhupāda: This year...

Bhagavān: Yes. And it was the hottest weather in a hundred years.

Prabhupāda: Now.

Room Conversation With French Commander -- August 3, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm):

Translator: He says this brings to mind a question to him, that now that he has received Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he would like to know from you how he should behave in his normal life, because he'll be living very far from the temple. He's two thousand kilometers away from us, and he wants to know how his life should be conducted now that he has become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Prabhupāda: That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Ninth Chapter. The whole Bhagavad-gītā he has to study, he'll understand. Especially in the Ninth Chapter. Beginning from Seventh to... All the chapters, especially Seventh to Twelfth chapter. He can open that Bhagavad-gītā Seventh Chapter. French.

Translator: This is French, yes.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Read it.

Evening Darsana -- August 9, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: That, that... This is also a misunderstanding. You are thinking you are a Muslim. Why?

Ali: It's just by normal definition.

Prabhupāda: Yes, because you are born of a Muslim father or a Muslim country.

Meeting With Member of Parliament, Mr. Krishna Modi -- August 31, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Here simply difficulties. In comparison to other countries, I have seen that it is simply difficulty. Frankly speaking. And to speak more frankly, why there is emergency? Emergency means bad government. Otherwise, there is no necessity of emergency. Emergency proves the government is not going nice. Is it not? Why emergency? If it is normally going on nicely then where is the question of emergency?

Krishna Modi: Emergency means there is something unnormal.

Prabhupāda: Yes. If it is normal there is no question of emergency. That is the proof. Another thing, personally, from the Vedic point of view, I don't think India is ready to take actually democracy. Mass of people, they do not care for politics. You have better experience. There, in other countries, even a small man, he has got political sense.

Room Conversation -- September 5, 1976, Vrndavana:

Akṣayānanda: We have sixty. About sixty. There are, many women are there. Normally there has been about...

Prabhupāda: Up to fifty I take charge. I shall pay hundred rupees per head.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We don't need more than fifty, Śrīla Prabhupāda, because Hyderabad needs devotees.

Prabhupāda: If there are more they can go to other centers.

Room Conversation -- October 31, 1976, Vrndavana:

Hari-śauri: Where they... That observation, so-called observation means that they give them all kinds of drugs which make them very dopey and then they influence them to try to become normal again, what they think is normal. Sometimes they give them electric shocks which ...

Prabhupāda: In the lunatic asylum.

Press Conference -- December 16, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: What do you mean by meditation?

Guest (4): I don't know, but normally it is understood to be...

Prabhupāda: Then why you are talking of meditation?

Guest (4): Normally as it is understood by.

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Guest (4): Concentration.

Prabhupāda: Which concentration? What is the subject?

Guest (4): It can be from man to man, from... One may do it on Kṛṣṇa and one may do it on...

Prabhupāda: That is not standard. If meditation is according to one's whims, that is not meditation.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Mr. Malhotra: Aṅguli. (Laughs) It is one part, to say many.

Prabhupāda: No. You should be, should be senses. Just like this aṅguli, I am asking, "Do like this." It is my servant. After all, it is part of the body, it is my servant. If it cannot serve my body then it is diseased. Similarly we are part and parcel of God. If we cannot serve God, that is our diseased condition. The same example. This finger is part and parcel of my body. But I ask finger, "Please come here, to my nostrils." If it cannot do, then it is diseased. It is not in normal condition. So anyone who does not serve the whole, part and whole, he is diseased. He is not in normal condition. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇera dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Therefore because we have forgotten this relationship with God, declared ourself as God, that is diseased condition. Therefore God comes and He orders, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam (BG 18.66). "Surrender unto Me. Don't talk nonsense." That is God. So when we agree, that is our perfection. Not to artificially become God, but to agree to serve God. That is liberation.

Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona:

Mr. Malhotra: That is okay. But from the normal, you know...

Prabhupāda: That is your study. That is foolish study. Therefore He says avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). The rascals think that I am one of the human beings. If he is one of the human beings, how he can say mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). In the human society, there are big men, you are big man, I am small man, he is still more, he is still more, he is still bigger. There are so many varieties. But He says "No more superior than Me." That is God.

Morning Walk -- December 25, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Two days I had been in Mahabaleshwar, and our host was sleeping. (laughter) So I asked them, "Let us go immediately, otherwise we'll be infected." (laughter) So I left that place.

Guest (1): A normal day of life...

Hari-śauri: Śrīla Prabhupāda, it's five to seven. You can go down now. (break)

Hari-śauri: Will you be speaking this morning Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Hm? No. (break)

Guest (1): One question is almost complete, and they have become sort of influence of (Hindi) reception or whatever name you call it.

Guest (2): Why have you said Cinmayananda, atheist?

Prabhupāda: There are so many statements. In his book there are so many statements. Does he recommend to worship Kṛṣṇa?

Room Conversation -- December 26, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, any machine, that defect will be there.

Indian man: But that we have been working for twenty years in Ahmedabad. Everybody is very happy there, and they're actually making money out of it. The fertilizer that is there is about four times what is normally achieved. So good maintenance are required for any...

Prabhupāda: (sneezes loud) I have no objection, but I've got experience. In Māyāpur it is failure.

Room Conversation -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Women cannot do it.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: And a lot of the tourists who come, they are husband, wife and all together. Why don't we let them wear normal dress but have men and women in the same class.

Hari-śauri: We could... It's just a suggestion, but what about if you have...

Prabhupāda: Normal dress, that is standard.

Room Conversation -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Women, it is only possible in our Vaiṣṇava bhakti-yoga—women and men can be given equal right. There is no other system.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They can wear a normal dress.

Hari-śauri: If they wear those big robes... Sometimes I see... It's a one-piece thing. It comes down to their ankles. If they wear something like that, it's all right.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Because they want to do something different. They want to see different things. If we give them a pajama and kurtā, we'll still make them do bhakti-yoga, but it's...

Prabhupāda: Bhakti-yoga, chanting, dancing there will be. They can join.

Room Conversation -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: First of all, try to understand Bhagavad-gītā. Then go to the sari of gopī. You do not know what is Kṛṣṇa and you are going to His gopīs. This is another malinterpretation. You are studying Bhagavad-gītā, talk of that. In the Bhagavad-gītā the gopīs' saris are not mentioned. So why you are bringing gopīs' saris now? This is our fault.

Guest (2): Normally, you know our people...

Prabhupāda: No, no. This is our fault There is no mention of gopīs' saris. We are talking of Bhagavad-gītā, why you are bringing gopīs' saris?

Guest (2): Because that...

Prabhupāda: Again because. There is no subject matter there. You have no right to bring that. That is our fault. To bring a horse before a cart. We are talking of Bhagavad-gītā. There is no mention of Kṛṣṇa and gopīs' saris there. So let us talk. Finish that.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Roof Conversation -- January 5, 1977, Bombay:

Indian (1): All hours... 'Cause passion will come you, when at times of anger gets temporarily the better of you, what is the guidance which can bring you back to normality? Because in anger you can do a lot of things. Because you lose, spontaneously you lose your temper. Though it can be for the good...

Prabhupāda: When you can conquer over your anger, then you become gosvāmī. Vāco vegaṁ krodha-vegam. Krodha-vegam. Mānasa-vegam udara-vegam upastha-vegam, etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt (NOI 1). A guru... One cannot become guru who has no control over these things: vāco vegam, the urge of speaking nonsense. Vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam, the urge of anger. Mānasa-vegam, urge of mind. Udara-vegam, urge of the belly. Upastha-vegam, urge of the genital. In this way, all the six vegas, one who can control, he is fit for becoming guru.

Conversation on Train to Allahabad -- January 11, 1977, India:

Prabhupāda: Envy is envy. But it is my book. I am selling. So I can take the price anywhere. That is my right. You have nothing to say. You stop your men to purchase, that's all. Otherwise I'll sell anywhere and I shall spend anywhere. I have got the right.

Rāmeśvara: Normally they do not attack you.

Jagadīśa: We are voluntarily doing all this.

Rāmeśvara: We're voluntarily. But one of their main arguments is that before someone joins the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement he has great affection for his father, his mother, his brothers, his relatives. And after he joins the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement he has nothing to do with them anymore, and sometimes he even calls them demon.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the fact.

Conversation and Instruction On New Movie -- January 13, 1977, Allahabad:

Rāmeśvara: Sometimes we get gṛhasthas to join us, but they are not strong enough to do saṅkīrtana. So then we can encourage them to do some business like a normal gṛhastha in the world, to give some money to...

Prabhupāda: That Kṛṣṇa... Svakarmana: "All right, be engaged in your occupational duty."

Conversation and Instruction On New Movie -- January 13, 1977, Allahabad:

Rāmeśvara: ...about chanting.

Prabhupāda: Yes. "Why it is happening? Why we have given everything. Our father, mother, our home, our comforts, our ideas, stereotyped, our religion, culture—everything we have given up. So don't you see the power of chanting? You may think it is bad, but see the power. Similarly, these diseased person, if they chant, it has got power to bring him in the normal condition. The power is there. It is already proved. You say it is brainwash, but the power is there. Reaction is there. That's a fact. You are admitting. So now, whether this reaction is good or bad, that you cannot judge because you are bad. But impersonally, if you judge, you see how the power is, that we were drunkards, we were woman-hunter, we were meat-eaters—we have given up. You cannot give up even smoking cigarette. So just this is the power. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12)." Why don't you take this side? The power is there. The electric power is there, either you use it for heater or for cooler. That is your na... But the power is there. Without this power, it cannot run on, either heater or cooler. Give them this recipe(?). "You have to admit. You are admitting that 'Your Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra working on the brain.' So the power is there. You have admitted."

Room Conversation -- January 19, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: Now, the... Externally, it appears that anyone can be kidnapped simply by the certificate of the psychologist.

Rāmeśvara: Yes. That is the real point, that this is like Nazi Germany. This is insane. So because it is so anti-American, then many people who would not normally connect themselves with our movement are now coming forward to help us.

Prabhupāda: Yes, they must. Otherwise the freedom is lost. Anyone can be kidnapped.

Conversation During Massage -- January 23, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: So if we faithful, we are faithful to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will help.

Rāmeśvara: Normally in the age of Kali there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Prabhupāda: No. This worldwide movement is a history. People have forgotten Kṛṣṇa or God. Is it not?

Satsvarūpa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: They simply..., a official church and temple, and they have no serious attachment, simply kaitava. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). That is another kind of cheating. He's not religious, but he's posing himself: "I am Christian," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim." That's all. He does not know what is religion. This is going on. Religion means direct touch with God. That is religion. So they have no idea of God. How there can be religion? Here is religion. We do not do anything which is not in interest of Kṛṣṇa. That is religion.

Room Conversation -- January 27, 1977, Puri:

Gargamuni: In the court they also have no standard. They don't know what moral life is. They think this is normal.

Prabhupāda: At least you should take our books, that "This is our statement. Defense is. You first of all read this; then give your judgment."

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- January 30, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Prabhupāda: So we first of all protested that matter comes from life, not life comes from matter. So when you concluded, they were silent.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yeah, they were almost pindrop silent, all of them. Normally they ask many questions, this type of lecture. But not this time. There were some at the beginning.

Prabhupāda: So our triumph is ahead.

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- January 30, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Actually we started looking some on this astronomy thing. About this Sūrya-siddhānta. Sadāpūta is especially interested because he's a mathematician. So normally astronomy is subject of mathematics. So he found this copy in Princeton just recently, last month or so. There we found that the idea is very similar to modern science in the Sūrya-siddhānta. But we heard that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Prabhupāda translated Sūrya-siddhānta, but we are not getting a copy of it. So he asked me to look in Calcutta, and some astrologers.

Prabhupāda: He had some disciples, some astronomer. His name can be had from Calcutta.

Pradyumna: Mohinī-mohana?

Prabhupāda: Ah! Mohinī Śāstrī. Mohinī Śāstrī. He was his disciple.

Morning Walk -- February 1, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Then in 1828 this German chemist whose name is Frederick Muller, he synthesized, it is called urea. Urea is a chemical that comes out of urine. It's normally in urine from..., called inorganic compounds. So he announced that there's nothing strange about the organic world that happens in the living system. So from that time onwards they thought that life can be studied in terms of chemistry. But it is already 150 years since that theory but nothing happened. Nothing's understood.

Prabhupāda: That I have already discussed, that from orange tree you can get that acid, citric acid?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Citric acid.

Prabhupāda: But from citric acid, you cannot get orange tree. That is not possible. A living tree can produce citric acid chemical, but citric acid cannot produce a living... Therefore chemical comes from living being, not the living being comes from the chemical. This is the conclusion.

Room Conversation -- February 18, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Bombay officers, they, more than fifty percent, they eat in that tiffin-carrier.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. I think the restaurants make a big part of their business from that tiffin business in Bombay. Our... These other religions, just like Christianity, Judaism, they are accepted by the people and by the government because the people who are part of their religions are very normal in terms of doing business and society, etcetera. But we are very exceptional in every way. We don't...

Prabhupāda: Therefore they say "brainwash."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We don't fit into the normal pattern of things—no jobs, no proper dress. Everything's strange to them, because we don't want their culture. It is so abominable.

Prabhupāda: Yes. This is brahminical culture. They don't want it.

Room Conversations -- February 20, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: So we should send him a letter of congratulations. "May God bless you for such right judgment. Be... Live long life to serve God." Like that, make a nice... That is our mission.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Very honest and sincere people normally appreciate our movement. Only those who are envious...

Prabhupāda: Envious we don't care for. We don't mind. Never care for them. I didn't care anyone, any times, even my Godbrothers. Neither I care just now. I'll go on with my... Why? We are doing our duty. That's all. Under higher authoritative order. Have no fear. It is not personal gratification. So arrange for Manipur. We shall go. Let us go.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Actually they have no knowledge. Why? The only fault is there is no God. Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ (BG 7.15). So one... That is the basic fault. Everyone is trying: "There is no God. Science." This is the basic principle. So the whole human society is suffering on account of these fools and rascals. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is para-upakāra, how to bring them in peaceful condition, in normal mental condition, and make this life successful by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So we have to do it very carefully. It is para-upakāra.

Room Conversation -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: All nonsense.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That is why we rejected our so-called religious heritage. We could see that there was no substance to it. And the leaders were just like normal debauchees of any other groups. They weren't spiritual. I used to remember seeing the priests and the rabbis getting drunk, smoking cigarettes, talking nonsense just like everybody else. There was no difference except for the dress.

Prabhupāda: This is everywhere. In India also.

Morning Talk -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. So will the government accept?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: In United States there is a group in Pennsylvania, and they say that they will not undergo any kind of normal education, because it is polluted, and they have their own education, and they are permitted. Even from six, seven years old, from first grade. They are called the Amish people. (some noise in background) That's not a door, Śrīla Prabhupāda. That's heavy dropping of heavy items.

Prabhupāda: Another point, in secular, the scientific knowledge, two plus two equal to four. If somebody says, "No, in our opinion it is five," will it be accepted?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I didn't hear what you were saying.

Prabhupāda: If two plus two equal to four. If somebody says "In our opinion it should be five..."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, no one will accept that.

Prabhupāda: Similarly, if government requires teaching the science that this body is not yourself, you are different from the body, if some other sect, they say, "That it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā; it is meant for the Hindus, not for us," will it be accepted?

Room Conversation about Harijanas -- April 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Caste system should not be abolished, but it must be properly established. That is wanted. If you have got any defect in the eye, not that the eye should be plucked out. But it should be treated and brought into the normal condition. That is wanted. That we admit. You want to become brāhmaṇa without brahminical qualification. Not only you, everyone wants.

Room Conversation -- April 10, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, he can eat. He flies from one planet to another. Just like one bird flies, he starts from one tree and takes rest another. The Garuḍa bird, they do that. They start from one planet and take rest in another planet. This is their flying. And while flying, they lay down eggs, and the eggs, while falling down, become birds. By the heat.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's very scientific. Because normally the bird has to sit on the egg for producing heat to hatch the egg.

Prabhupāda: The heat is produced by the, what is called, motion.

Morning Conversation -- April 19, 1977, Bombay:

Girirāja: The normal rate... It's 220 yards. The normal rate is about a hundred rupees a yard. So it'd be 22,000 rupees.

Prabhupāda: Oh, that's all right. Give him.

Girirāja: I'm sure that on that basis we can definitely settle now.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Make a settlement.

Girirāja: We'll try for less...

Prabhupāda: No.

Girirāja: ...but if we pay the normal rate we can definitely settle it now.

Prabhupāda: No, normal rate we shall pay. Finish.

Morning Conversation -- April 29, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. And we don't care for the lunch. What is the... I am sitting idly. I haven't got to work hard. I don't require food, little fruits even. Those who are working, they require food to get strength, but I am sitting idly, and brain is working. So so far my physical necessity, there is no necessity of food. But I may not so depend on that going to the bath, toilet. I require... And that is also not required. There are many persons. That Rajda... I... He was also... I have seen many men. For rising up, they require help.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, that's normal in old age. That's not unusual.

Prabhupāda: I can walk. There is no difficulty. But getting up... I can... If I try, I can get up also.

Morning Conversation -- April 30, 1977, Bombay:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No, that's okay because when it is shot it will be reduced even further. This is... You shouldn't go by the space. It's already bigger than a normal size page. But when it is... It'll be shot by the camera and reduced.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: But relatively, it looks like there's a lot of space here.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. You can make it even more, but then it's going to become very small. It is all done proportionately. This is another sample. This is about thirty-five lines. One, two, three, four, five, six...

Prabhupāda: This is better composition than the former.

Room Conversation -- May 8, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: Same thing. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. So jīva is also Brahman. It is same thing, but very small particle. That's all. You can understand the nature of God by studying the nature of jīva. It does not take much hard... He said, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke. Manaḥ... Because now... He says, manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). "So why he's struggling? Because he's depending on the mind and the senses. He's not depending upon Me." They are creating mental creation, concoction, and acting sensually. Therefore the normal condition... Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body, so it is the duty of the finger to act according to my desire.

Room Conversation -- May 8, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Indian man (1): Surrender is state of complete submission to God.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Surrender is perfection. Just like that is the example. Finger is the part and parcel. If it works, then it is normal condition. If he does not work, then he's diseased. That is explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). You understand Bengali?

Indian man (1): Hm.

Prabhupāda: This is the normal condition, that he fully surrenders and acts according to the dictation of Kṛṣṇa. This is surrender. He says also, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65)—four things. It doesn't require any... It is very easy. If you like, you can think of Kṛṣṇa always-man-manāḥ. And unless you love Kṛṣṇa, how you'll think of Him? Mad-bhaktaḥ. And bhakta will worship-mad-yājī. And worshiping means offering obeisances-māṁ namaskuru. These four things can do, any... Even a child can do. But they'll manufacture and ultimately come to the conclusion-void, finished. So our request is that life is not zero. It is a fact. Don't spoil it.

Room Conversation -- May 8, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Indian man (2): Can one be a householder, I mean, with his normal worldly life, and at the same time be a...

Prabhupāda: First of all, what do you mean by householder?

Indian man (2): I mean continue the normal, occupation of one's...

Prabhupāda: Say me. Explain what is householder.

Indian man (2): Looking after one's business, after one's...

Prabhupāda: So that is... Dog is also doing that business.

Room Conversation -- May 8, 1977, Hrishikesh:

Prabhupāda: There is no question of compassionate. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. You are in a normal stage. Śocati. Compassion is also śocati: "Oh, this man is poor. I'll help him." That is śocati. That brahma-bhūtaḥ, na śocati na kāṅkṣati. That is really... Where is compassion? He has taken this material body. He has to suffer. What is, your compassion will help him?

Indian woman (5): But it seems to come...

Prabhupāda: That first of all you understand. You have to die. If I think, "Oh, you should not die," so what my, this compassion will help you? You have to die. Then what is the use of this compassion? If you give him something that he will not die, that is real compassion. Suppose if there is a boil here, I am suffering, and you come, "Oh, you are suffering?" is that compassion?

Talk with Svarupa Damodara -- June 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: I therefore say America is my fatherland. India is my motherland.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes, in the normal dealing also...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- June 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. And I also started telling him little bit about what the significance of this conference will be. (describes own preaching activities and plans for scientific conference for some time) And I requested him to participate in this program and... It will be very meaningful as a normal...

Prabhupāda: So you are listing all the men who will participate?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. I'm going to have all the... I'm leaving tomorrow in the morning, and I'm leaving for Bombay. From there I'm leaving to the States on Friday morning.

Prabhupāda: I want to give you the best place in Bombay.

Conversation, 'Rascal Editors,' and Morning Talk -- June 22, 1977, Vrndavana:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Few years ago there was a German physicist Schroedinger(?). He wrote a book called What is Life? And he said life could be understood just like physics. Then this Freeman Dyson(?)... He's a very renowned scientist in Princeton University. He gave a lecture in our university at Emory about few months ago. He was speaking about cosmic manifestations of the universe. And I asked a question about this Schroedinger's(?) approach, saying that Schroedinger is a very well known and Nobel Prize-winning physicist. He stated that life could be understood in terms of physics and chemistry. I asked him, "What do you think about this approach?" His answer was "Schroedinger did not know at that time that the physics of modern science, especially quantum physics, cannot be explained without invoking consciousness." That means life is a different entity than normal physics and chemistry. So they are starting to realize, at least to some extent, that life could be completely different process than was planned about few years ago.

Prabhupāda: So on the whole, they have not come to the platform to know about life. That's all right.

Letter from Yugoslavia--'Books!' -- June 30, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He was there. This is the first time that you were here during the rainy season. So normally, I guess... This year, it couldn't handle it any more, the wall. In five minutes, ten minutes' time, one bucket of water comes in. So much comes in through the wall. So one man has to stay there.

Prabhupāda: One man has... So how to stop it?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I know. The pipe has to be replaced.

Prabhupāda: So do it nicely so that in future it may not.

Conversation -- July 1, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: So if you kindly take up the general management, you are welcome. Money is being squandered. I know that. If you can save some money, that is your great success.

Mr. Myer: And then we must try to follow the local customs here. What happens when people come to the temple, they normally like to offer flowers, special pūjā. And it might mean that we require more pūjārīs, and also we need some more public relations because today there are not many people to conduct these guests around the..., visitors who came to worship.

Prabhupāda: No, they are different men. They are coming from different country.

Doctor Visit and Conversation -- October 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Let me hear Hare Kṛṣṇa and peacefully pass away.

Dr. Gopal: But I think I am not making any hindrance in your normal routine. And whatever medicine I am giving you, I will cut it down by fifty percent now.

Prabhupāda: If I can pass in that way, that will be very nice.

Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Yes, that's all right.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I wanted to know whether... The person who's singing is Śveta-varāha from Māyāpur. In Māyāpur they use a small microphone, not for the drums but for his voice, and he has a very sweet voice. So normally we don't use mic at all, but sometimes the devotees don't know how to sing very sweetly. Whether we should use a small microphone for his voice?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Room Conversation -- November 4, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Bitter.

Bhakti-caru: Yes. So should I mix it with some sweet? Like... I normally give the powder with glucose so that the glucose will give you some sweet taste. But distilled medicine, the water thin, watery medicine, that is tasteless. It tastes like water.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Let us follow this medicine until its prescribed time, Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: Give me. (swallows medicine)

Room Conversation -- November 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Hm. That will continue.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: So if the treatment is continuing, if the treatment is working, why not continue it under the guidance of this kavirāja for some time? His point is this. This is what I've seen, Śrīla Prabhupāda, being your secretary all these months, that whenever you took milk you would get cough. For the first time I see there's no cough coming. Another problem, you couldn't pass urine. Now there's double the amount of urine. Another thing, you couldn't pass stool. Now it comes normally. At least it comes without any artificial means. So the one thing that has not yet come is strength, and kavirāja is suggesting what you yourself had always said, "If I can drink milk, I will get stronger." So if the kavirāja's treatment... To my feeling it has worked. At least symptoms... The symptoms have been better under his treatment than any doctor so far.

Prabhupāda: That will work.