Spiritual education

Expressions researched:
"spiritual education"

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 14.16, Purport:

There is also a prayer in the Vedic literature that states:

namo brahmaṇya-devāya

go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca

jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya

govindāya namo namaḥ

"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brāhmaṇas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world." (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.19.65) The purport is that special mention is given in that prayer for the protection of the cows and the brāhmaṇas. Brāhmaṇas are the symbol of spiritual education, and cows are the symbol of the most valuable food; these two living creatures, the brāhmaṇas and the cows, must be given all protection—that is real advancement of civilization. In modern human society, spiritual knowledge is neglected, and cow killing is encouraged. It is to be understood, then, that human society is advancing in the wrong direction and is clearing the path to its own condemnation. A civilization which guides the citizens to become animals in their next lives is certainly not a human civilization. The present human civilization is, of course, grossly misled by the modes of passion and ignorance. It is a very dangerous age, and all nations should take care to provide the easiest process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to save humanity from the greatest danger.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.25.1, Purport:

Welfare activities for the benefit of the citizens were aimed at understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The human form of life is especially meant for understanding God, our relationship with Him and our activities in His service. Because the kings took charge of the spiritual education of the citizens, both the king and the citizens were happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this regard, we should remember that the monarchical hierarchy of Prācīnabarhiṣat comes from Mahārāja Dhruva, a great devotee of the Lord and the most celebrated disciple of Nārada Muni.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.41, Purport:

We should have firm faith that the Lord is supreme and that if we surrender to Him, He will take charge of us and indicate how we can get out of material life and return home, back to Godhead. Without such surrender, one is obliged to accept a certain type of body according to his karma, sometimes as an animal, sometimes a demigod and so on. Although the body is obtained and lost in due course of time, the spirit soul does not actually mix with the body, but is subjugated by the particular modes of nature with which he is sinfully associated. Spiritual education changes one's consciousness so that one simply carries out the orders of the Supreme Lord and becomes free from the influence of the modes of material nature.

SB 7.5.53, Purport:

The entire world is interested in the materialistic way of life. Indeed, practically 99.9 percent of the people in the three worlds are uninterested in liberation or spiritual education. Only the devotees of the Lord, headed by such great personalities as Prahlāda Mahārāja and Nārada Muni, are interested in the real education of spiritual life. One cannot understand the principles of religion while staying on the material platform. Therefore one must follow these great personalities.

SB 7.5.53, Purport, Purport:

One must follow in the footsteps of such great personalities as Lord Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kapila, Manu, the Kumāras, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Bhīṣma, Janaka, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Yamarāja. Those interested in spiritual life should follow Prahlāda Mahārāja in rejecting the education of religion, economic development and sense gratification. One should be interested in spiritual education. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading all over the world, following in the footsteps of Prahlāda Mahārāja, who did not like any of the materialistic education he received from his teachers.

SB 7.6 Summary:

One may wrongly think, "In the beginning of our lives let us enjoy material facilities, and in old age we may become Kṛṣṇa conscious." Such materialistic thoughts are always useless because in old age one cannot be trained in the spiritual way of life. Therefore, from the very beginning of life, one should engage in devotional service (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23)). This is the duty of all living entities. Material education is infected by the three modes of nature, but spiritual education, for which there is a great need in human society, is transcendental.

SB 7.6.4, Purport:

We see materialistic persons busily engaged in economic development all day and all night, trying to increase their material opulence, but even if we suppose that they get some benefit from such endeavors, that does not solve the real problem of their lives. Nor do they know what the real problem of life is. This is due to a lack of spiritual education. Especially in the present age, every man is in darkness, in the bodily conception of life, not knowing anything of the spirit soul and its needs.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.6.12, Purport:

The people of this age are inclined toward industrial enterprises for comfortable living, but they refuse to endeavor to execute devotional service, by which they can achieve the ultimate goal of life by returning home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately, as it is said, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). People without spiritual education do not know that the ultimate goal of life is to go back home, back to Godhead. Forgetting this aim of life, they are working very hard in disappointment and frustration (moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo mogha jñānā vicetasaḥ (BG 9.12)).

SB 8.16.19, Purport:

There are different grades of living entities, but all of them are more or less under the impression of the bodily conception of life. In other words, all living entities in this material world are more or less devoid of spiritual education. The Vedic civilization, however, is based on spiritual education, and spiritual education is the special basis on which Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna. In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa instructed Arjuna to understand that the spirit soul is different from the body.

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change." (BG 2.13) Unfortunately, this spiritual education is completely absent from modern human civilization. No one understands his real self-interest, which lies with the spirit soul, not with the material body. Education means spiritual education. To work hard in the bodily conception of life, without spiritual education, is to live like an animal. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate vid-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). People are working so hard simply for bodily comforts, without education regarding the spirit soul. Thus they are living in a very risky civilization, for it is a fact that the spirit soul has to transmigrate from one body to another (tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13)). Without spiritual education, people are kept in dark ignorance and do not know what will happen to them after the annihilation of the present body. They are working blindly, and blind leaders are directing them.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.20.24, Translation:

Through the various disciplinary regulations and the purificatory procedures of the yoga system, through logic and spiritual education or through worship and adoration of Me, one should constantly engage his mind in remembering the Personality of Godhead, the goal of yoga. No other means should be employed for this purpose.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

"What is the highest standard of education?" Lord Caitanya began His inquiry, and Rāmānanda Rāya immediately replied that the highest standard of education is knowledge of the science of Kṛṣṇa. The standard of material education is sense gratification, but the highest standard of spiritual education is knowledge of the science of Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 2, Purport:

When human society gives up these elementary faults enumerated by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (atyāhāra, etc.), all enmity will cease between men and animals, capitalists and communists, and so forth. In addition, all problems of economic or political maladjustment and instability will be solved. This pure consciousness is awakened by the proper spiritual education and practice offered scientifically by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 2:

The time one devotes in a Kṛṣṇa consciousness temple cannot be taken away. It is an asset—a plus, not a minus. The duration of life, so far as the body is concerned, may be taken; however one tries to keep it intact, no one can do it. But the spiritual education we receive in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be taken away by the sun. It becomes a solid asset.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.3:

Because in the past strong objections were raised against including religious classes in the schools, they have been excluded, and now severe reactions are being seen in today's youth. I think that excluding spiritual studies from education thwarts all chances for the human mind to awaken and blossom. Because of a lack of spiritual education, today's youth are undisciplined. Students who do not pray or meditate in the early morning, and again in the evening, gradually become agnostics, and their minds float about aimlessly without purpose.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 2:

In Bhagavad-gītā it is definitively established that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is established, also, that our only duty is to render transcendental loving service unto Him. Thus, once we really understand these two facts from the pages of Bhagavad-gītā, then we can enter into the primary classes of spiritual education.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 21, Purport:

As clouds pour water on a blazing fire in the forest and thus extinguish it, the intelligent men who work as the spiritual masters of society pour water on the blazing fire of miseries by disseminating spiritual knowledge and inspiring the richer section of the society to help in the cause. Temples of worship, for example, are constructed by the rich, and these temples are meant to impart spiritual education to people in general. The periodic spiritual ceremonies are held for inspiration, and not for exploitation.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

So Arjuna is preparing the ground, how to receive the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. Because spiritual instruction will begin to separate the soul from the body. Unless one understands that there is a soul different from this body, there is no spiritual education. This is the basic principle.

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

If you do not understand what is soul, what is spirit soul, then where is spiritual education? So Arjuna was affected. He says frankly, dṛṣṭvā tu svajanaṁ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam: (BG 1.28) "What is this? I have to kill my own men." Svajanam. Svajanam means own men. "No, no." Sīdanti mama gātrāṇi: "Oh, I am shivering." Mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati: "My mouth is being dried up." We have got this experience. When there is danger, these things happen, so many symptoms.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, November 17, 1972:

After death, as it is explained in this verse, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), the living soul is not destroyed after the destruction of this body. Therefore he remains, and his finer dress, subtle dress, is there—mind, intelligence, and ego. So according to the composition of his mind, he develops another gross dress. This is the process. So you, spirit soul, you are always the same, although you are changing dress. Our problem is that we are perpetually changing dress, but our desire is to have a permanent life. That is spiritual education. You can have a permanent life, permanent dress, permanent knowledge, if you become free from this dress-changing problem. That is called mukti.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Mexico, February 12, 1975:

So long we identify with this body, that "I am Mr. Such-and-such," "I am American," "I am Indian," this is all ignorance. When you actually understand that you are not this body—therefore you are not American, nor Indian nor Mexican, but you are spirit soul—then your spiritual education begins. And that is... In Sanskrit it is called ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." Spiritual... Spirit soul has no connection with this material world.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:

So spiritual education means, spiritual enlightenment means, first of all, we must try to understand the jīva. Because jīva is the small particle of the Lord. So that we can understand the quality of the Lord. Just like if you test a small particle of gold, then you can understand the composition of gold. If you test a little drop of water from the ocean, you can analyze the chemical composition of the sea. Similarly, if you can analyze the characteristics of the living entity, then you can at least understand what is God, what is the characteristics of God.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:

Therefore the beginning of spiritual education is to understand one's self, this self-realization. How to realize self? We have to take knowledge from others. Knowledge means..., to acquire knowledge, to learn from the teacher. So here is the supreme teacher, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the supreme teacher by everyone, by all the great sages formerly, like Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Devala, Asita. All other great sages.

Lecture on BG 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968:

"You are lamenting on the body of your grandfather and teacher, even they change their body, what is the cause of lamentation? They will exist." This is the beginning of instruction of Bhagavad-gītā or spiritual instruction. Unless one understands this simple fact, that the soul is different from this body, the soul is eternal, the body is temporary, changing... Because without understanding this, there is no spiritual education. A false education. If one identifies with this body, there is no understanding of spiritual knowledge.

Lecture on BG 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968:

Yes. A man is crying, "Oh, my father is dead," or "My friend is dead, my..." so on, so on, crying. But one who is dhīra he knows, "What is this death? He has changed his body, so there is no question of lamentation." So how much spiritual education required to come to this point?

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973:

So one who has realized this thing, that "I am not this body, I am spirit soul, and living by nature's arrangement, I have been allowed to live in such and such body," then he is learned. That is the beginning. So Kṛṣṇa, from the previous verse, that is actual spiritual education. In the world, these rascals are going on, spiritualists. They do not know the very first thing of spiritual knowledge, that "I am not this body."

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

So Bhagavad-gītā is not very high class Vedic literature. It is just the entrance, ABCD of Vedic literature. ABCD, entrance. Just like matriculation examination, school-leaving examination, then you enter into college, and then get your graduate, become a graduate, and then post-graduate, so the Bhagavad-gītā is just entrance for, entrance examination for spiritual education. It is not very... It is written for the common men, common men, common men, householders, less intelligent men, woman class, like that.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Bombay, March 21, 1974:

So this is the beginning of spiritual education. Dehāntara-prāptiḥ. We have to change this body, transmigrate from this body to another body. That's a subtle way, but no university teaches how the soul is transferred from one body to another, what kind of body you are going to get next. There is no such science. But that is the real problem. Therefore we have to hear from Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān, the Supreme, the person who can give you perfect knowledge. That is the process. If you really want knowledge, you have to hear from Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He came personally.

Lecture on BG 4.18 -- Bombay, April 7, 1974:

And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a sannyāsī. Rāmānanda Rāya belonged to the second class. He was not a brāhmaṇa. In Orissa, the Karana,(?) they are accepted as śūdras. So he belonged to that community, Karana(?) community. But he was so learned in spiritual education that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu agreed to talk with him about spiritual advancement of life.

Lecture on BG 4.19 -- Bombay, April 8, 1974:

Therefore present policy is that "Engage them in work only, and never mind. There is no need of spiritual education. There is no need of jñāna. You throw them out, then. Now work just like ass. That's all." This is the modern policy of the whole world, engage them. In England and other countries, they want to see that everyone is engaged in working. Then their factories and other things will go on. And if one is engaged in philosophy, jñāna, then the work will stop. So they do not like this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement anywhere. We are not liked.

Lecture on BG 9.10 -- Calcutta, June 29, 1973:

There is no educational system to understand ātma-tattvam. Ātma-tattva... The human life is meant for understanding ātma-tattvam. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahman, ātmā, the same thing, absolute. The human life is meant for inquiring about ātmā, what I am. And when he comes to the understanding ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is his perfected education... Otherwise he remains a fool, rascal. So there is no educational system to teach people that he's not this body. He is ātmā, spirit soul. That is the beginning of spiritual education.

Lecture on BG 16.10 -- Hawaii, February 6, 1975:

According to Ayurvedic medical science this body is working under three elements, kapha, pitta, vāyu. Therefore it is called tri-dhātu. So the whole world is going on on this concept of life. They have no spiritual. Even big, big professors, big, big, they also say that "This body is everything. After the body is finished, then everything is finished." But that is not the fact. That is the first spiritual education to understand, that "I am not this body." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." And Kṛṣṇa begins this preliminary education in the Bhagavad-gītā-

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.4 -- Rome, May 28, 1974:

Because people have no knowledge about the next life, they are not interested with the spiritual education. That is the difficulty. They are not at all interested. Why people do not come here? They think that "These people will say that there is life after death, and if you do not do nicely, you will have to suffer. All this nonsense we have to hear, utopian." They are not interested. They are so dull. The facts... Kṛṣṇa is giving example. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāram... (BG 2.13).

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- London, July 23, 1973:

Therefore Sūta Gosvāmī says, "That type of religion which actually gives spiritual education, and by spiritual education one develops his forgotten love of Godhead." Love of Godhead is there in every one of us. It is now forgotten. We have to simply awaken it. Otherwise how these English boys, these American boys, the Canadian boys or gentlemen, they are taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so seriously? It is not something artificial. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness was there. It is being awakened under certain prescribed method.

Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Vrndavana, November 3, 1972:

There is no protector. Kṣatriya means one who protects people from being injured. Therefore the kṣatriya class, they were royal families, and the brāhmaṇas, they were meant for giving spiritual education. Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇa. And the vaiśyas, they were meant for trading, agriculture and cow protection. As the kṣatriyas were interested, entrusted for protecting the citizens, similarly the vaiśyas were entrusted for protecting the cows. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). So now vaiśyas, they have got big, big factories, they can maintain big, big factories, but they cannot maintain a cow. That is the position. Similarly, Kṣatriyas, they have taken different occupational duties. Brāhmaṇas also, they have left their occupation. Only everyone has come to the platform of śūdras.

Lecture on SB 1.5.11 -- London, September 12, 1973:

Asmin dehe, in this body, there is the proprietor of the body, dehī, who possesses this body. But there is no information. Nobody knows. There is no education on this point: what is that proprietor of this body. They are simply going on, like cats and dogs. Cats and... If you try to instruct a cat or dog, "My dear dog, you are not these bodies," he'll not understand. He is so grossly in ignorance, it is very difficult for him to understand that he is not this body. But human being, although at the present moment they are grossly ignorant for want of spiritual education, still, because he is human being, he can be educated. He can be revived to his original consciousness, which is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 1.7.18 -- Vrndavana, September 15, 1976:

We suffer in so many ways, especially rheumatism and indigestion. Then blood pressure, headache, so many things. Therefore one should be trained up how to become dhīra. These things, disturbances, make us adhīra, and we should be trained up to dhīra. That is spiritual education. One has to know it. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). These sufferings, mātrā-sparśāḥ, tan-mātra. On account of the senses, sense perception, we suffer. And the senses are made of material nature.

Lecture on SB 1.7.18 -- Vrndavana, September 15, 1976:

Mahārāja teaches that immediately, from the beginning of life, as soon as one is four or five years old, he should be educated about Brahman. That is called brahma-jijñāsā. Beginning. That is wanted. And for him there is need of guru. One who is inquisitive or serious about inquiring about Brahman, he requires guru. Guru is not a fashion. Guru is necessity. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Tad-vijñānam. Tad-vijñānam means spiritual education.

Lecture on SB 1.8.28 -- Mayapura, October 8, 1974:

"All living entities are My part and parcel." Why he shall take the skin? Because the skin is made by Muhammadan or the skin is made by Christian or skin is made by Hindu... He's not the skin-observer. He is observed the within. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Within this body the spirit soul is there. This is the education of spiritual education in the beginning—just see inside, introspective, not outward seeing. Those who are seeing outwardly, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātu..., they are asses.

Lecture on SB 1.8.52 -- Los Angeles, May 14, 1973:

Therefore, spiritual education begins from this body. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe, in this body there is the spiritual spark who is the proprietor of the body. This is the beginning of spiritual education. What is, the scientists cannot imagine, or they have no idea, from there we begin our education in spiritual life, beyond their jurisdiction, beyond the jurisdiction of the scientists.

Lecture on SB 2.2.5 -- New York, March 5, 1975:

For social upkeep there are four āśramas, namely brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. This is for spiritual. And called social, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. This is social division. And there is spiritual division also, because we are combination of matter and spirit. I am the soul. I am living within this material body. This is actual position. I am not this body. This is the beginning of spiritual education, that "I am not this body."

Lecture on SB 2.2.5 -- New York, March 5, 1975:

One who understands fully well that he's not this body, then the spiritual education begins. And so long we are in the bodily concept of life, there's no question of spirituality. Spiritual education for whom? For the human being. Also very advanced human being, not ordinary human being. At least the civilized human being.

Lecture on SB 2.3.17 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1969:

The duration of life, so far your body is concerned, that may be taken away. That will be taken away, however I may try to keep it intact. Nobody can keep it; it will be taken away. But the spiritual education which you are receiving in this class, oh, either the sun or sun's father, his father, nobody can take it away. It becomes a solid asset. Therefore we should utilize our consciousness, how to make it a solid asset. And that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you chant twenty-four hours very easy thing—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma... That means this time cannot be taken away by the sun.

Lecture on SB 2.3.20 -- Bombay, March 24, 1977, At Cross Maidan Pandal:

Therefore mind is superior than the senses, and the mind cannot act if you have no intelligence. So manasas tu parā buddhiḥ. And if you can go beyond the intelligence, then you can find out what is soul. So it requires study. It requires education. The education is there. The books are there. The teachers are there. Unfortunately you are not interested to take the spiritual education. You are now interested in technology, how to hammer, that's all.

Lecture on SB 3.28.1 -- Honolulu, June 1, 1975:

One is called sat-patha, and one is called asat-patha. Asat-patha means..., asat means which will not exist. That is called asat. And sat means which will exist. The spirit will exist; matter will be finished. Now you have got this body. You have got this body. This body will be finished, everyone knows. But the spirit soul within the body, that will not finish. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). That is spiritual education in the beginning.

Lecture on SB 5.5.24 -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1976:

The same arrangement for spiritual education... Not that by birth, because one is born of a brāhmaṇa family, he remains a brāhmaṇa although he becomes less than śūdra. No. There must be education. The twice-born, he must approach the spiritual master. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Just like the Sattva Satyakāma, Jabala-Satyakāma Upaniṣad. The boy approached Gautama Muni that "Kindly accept me, your disciple. Initiate me." Formerly, without becoming a brāhmaṇa specially, they were not initiated. So in those days all the families were very pure.

Lecture on SB 5.6.7 -- Vrndavana, November 29, 1976:

Spiritual education means, beginning is, to understand that "I am not this body." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am beyond this body." But in the case of Kṛṣṇa or His different expansion, plenary expansion, there is no such difference, deha dehī.

prakṛta kariya mane viṣṇu-kalevara

apārādha nāhi āra iṅhāra upara(?)

Lecture on SB 6.1.25 -- Honolulu, May 25, 1976:

Therefore śāstra says that one who is in the bodily concept of life, he's animal. He's animal.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

svā-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma-ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

Go-kharaḥ. Go means cow and kharaḥ means ass. I repeatedly say this. So unless we understand that I and you, we are not this body, there is no question of spiritual understanding or spiritual education.

Lecture on SB 6.1.28-29 -- Honolulu, May 28, 1976:

So we have to go to the platform of soul. That is spiritual education. But there are so many other stages. Somebody's stopping in the mind. He's thinking that this is the final. Philosophy, poetry, imagination, the mind mental... As we see that mostly your Western philosophers, they are stuck up on the platform of mind. That's all. They're thinking this is the final. So far I've studied only Socrates. He has reached up to the point of soul. Otherwise, all Western philosophers, they're on the mental platform.

Lecture on SB 6.1.44 -- Los Angeles, July 25, 1975:

Similarly, the father and the mother, the guru, the friend—everyone should be actually well-wisher of his friend, dependent, when he gives spiritual education. Then he is friend. Otherwise they are enemy. Pitā na sa syāj jananī na sa syāt. The sastric contraception means that "If you cannot educate your sons how to stop repetition of birth, then don't become a father. Don't become a mother." This is śāstric... "Don't become a guru. Don't become so on, so on, well-wisher, if you cannot stop."

Lecture on SB 6.1.44 -- Los Angeles, July 25, 1975:

So how it can be stopped? Unless there is spiritual education, unless one is spiritually enlightened, you have to undergo the process of birth, death, old age and disease. You may talk very highly and foolishly, but the process of nature, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9), that you cannot stop. That is... Therefore any education which does not give enlightenment on the subject matter of how to stop death, they are all foolish talking. That's all. This is the conclusion, not bhadrāṇi, abhadrāṇi. Sambhavanti bhadrāṇi viparītāni cānaghaḥ, kāriṇāṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sti. Guṇa-saṅgaḥ.

Lecture on SB 7.5.23-24 -- Vrndavana, March 31, 1976:

Real education is to understand oneself, self-realization, and with that purpose one should make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that beginning with śravaṇam. As we are hearing, without śravaṇa there is no beginning of spiritual education. Satāṁ prasaṅgād mama vīrya-saṁvidaḥ. That śravaṇa, hearing also, should be accepted from devotee, from real devotee.

Lecture on SB 7.6.3 -- Toronto, June 19, 1976:

So this sukham, indriya-jam (indistinct), sense gratification. Here it is said deha yogena dehinam. Dehī, this is not understood. The dehī and deha. Dehī yogena dehinām. Dehī means the person who possesses this deha. That is not understood. That is the beginning of spiritual education in the Bhagavad-gītā. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). You ask anybody, I think 99.9% will be unable to understand what is dehī and deha. This is our modern education. Dehina and deha. Dehī, the Sanskrit word, that is called inprotra (indistinct) a state in. (indistinct) When you possess something, then in Sanskrit, I means to say, prota.

Lecture on SB 7.7.29-31 -- San Francisco, March 15, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

The brahmacārī system means he should live with the spiritual master and collect fund. Of course, in India still, the system is there that in the four kinds of social orders, the brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa... There are four divisions in the social order. First the righteous, pious students-students with purified life and a spiritual education. That is called brahmacārī. Then gṛhastha, family life, living with wife and children. Then vānaprastha, retired life. Then sannyāsa, renounced life. So these gṛhasthas are meant for maintaining three other āśramas.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11 -- Montreal, August 17, 1968:

Aviduṣaḥ means rascal, without any education. Without any education. They have got all these university degrees and without education? Yes. Why? Because they have no spiritual education. So aviduṣaḥ. So mānaṁ janam aviduṣaḥ karuṇo vṛṇīte. When Kṛṣṇa says or God says that "Give Me this...," Just like He is begging from Bali Mahārāja, Vāmanadeva, "My dear King, will you give Me a little land?" So his spiritual master, he was a demon. He forbade Bali Mahārāja not to promise, because He is Viṣṇu. "He'll take everything from you." That's a nice story.

Lecture on SB 7.9.33 -- Mayapur, March 11, 1976:

When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was approached by Sanātana Gosvāmī, his first question was ke āmi: "Who am I?" This is the first education, spiritual education. And the same thing is taught in the Bhagavad-gītā because Arjuna was too much identifying himself in the bodily conception of life: "I belong to this Kurus' family, so if I kill them, then family will be ruined. The women will be widows, and they'll be corrupted.

Lecture on SB 12.2.1 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1968:

When one understands the importance of spiritual life, that is reformation. So automatically he offers to a learned person to accept him as his disciple. That point is, acceptance of a disciple, is the second birth. He is called dvija. Dvi means second, and ja means janma, or life. So saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ. Dvija, second life, means reformation and acceptance of spiritual master. Then education, spiritual education, begins. And what is that spiritual education? The Vedic literature, just like Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vedānta.

Lecture on SB 12.2.1 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1968:

When one has educated himself sufficiently in the Vedic literature, he is called vipra. And at that time the spiritual master... Or before that. Before accepting him as a student for spiritual education, the disciple was given a badge which is called sacred thread. You have seen my sacred thread. So that sacred thread is offered. One who has got the sacred thread, is to be understood that he is twice-born. His second birth is also there. First birth is from the father and mother, and second birth is from the spiritual master and Vedic literature. The spiritual master is the father, and Vedic literature is the mother.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

We have to become designationless, free from designation. We shall forget. Not that "Here are some foreigners. Pick up some quarrel with them and try to drive them away. Why they have come?" So many nonsense things are going on, for want of actual spiritual education. This is not good, at least, for Vṛndāvana. This is not good. People have not been educated properly with the Vṛndāvana spirit. Therefore things are happening like that. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam: (CC Madhya 19.170) how to engage the senses, being freed from designation, in the service of the Lord. That is Vṛndāvana life.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.103 -- Washington, D.C., July 8, 1976:

So "I do not know anything about it, simply I'm depending on Your mercy." That is kṛpā kari. That is surrender. In this way, we can make advancement in our spiritual education, and we must carry out the order of the spiritual master. Just like you are singing daily, guru-mukha-padma-vākya cittete kariyā aikya āra nā kariha mane āśā. Āra nā kariha mane āśā **—do not think otherwise.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976:

In the Vedas there is no such thing as ahaṁ paraṁ brahmāsmi. No. They are misusing. The... Instead of understanding... Brahman, every one of us, we are Brahman. There is no doubt about it. But unfortunately, by mistake, by illusion, I am thinking, "I am this body." So spiritual education means first of all one has to understand that ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman. I am not this body." That is the beginning of spiritual education.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976:

One has to become first of all... Not become. Just to understand one has to come to the platform of Brahman. Then spiritual education begins.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

naśocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9 -- Los Angeles, May 13, 1970:

So there are two kinds of education: material education and spiritual education, brahma-vidyā and jaḍa-vidyā. Jaḍa-vidyā means material education. Jaḍa. Jaḍa means "which cannot move," matter. And spiritual education... Spirit can move. Our body is combination of spirit and matter. So long the spirit is there, this body is moving. Just like coat-pant is moving so long a man wears it. It appears that the coat is moving, the pant is moving, but actually the living entity is moving, and the covering, the dress, appears to be moving. Similarly, this body is moving because the spirit soul is moving.

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 9 -- Los Angeles, May 13, 1970:

Massachusetts Technological College, so I inquired that "Where is that technology to study the mover?" But they have no such arrangement. They could not answer satisfactorily. So that is avidyā. So here, in the Īśopaniṣad, it is said, andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye avidyām upāsate. Those who are engaged only in material advancement of education, the result will be that they will go to the darkest region of existence, andhaṁ tamaḥ. It is very dangerous position that at the present moment there is no arrangement in any state, all over the world, about spiritual education. It is pushing the human society to the darkest region of existence.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Bombay, December 22, 1975:

Actually, God is the proprietor. What is the state? That is artificial. This state, American state, or African state, Russian state, these are artificial. Actually the land belongs to God. We are demark: this is India, this is Russia, this is America. That is the beginning of spiritual education, to understand this fact:

īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ

yat kiñcid jagatyāṁ jagat

tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā

mā gṛdha kasyasvid dhanam

(ISO 1)

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Mayapur, February 21, 1976:

This body is antavat. Anta means it will be finished. Everyone knows his body is not permanent; it will be finished. Anything material—bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19)—it has a date of birth, it stays for some time, and then it annihilates. So the spiritual education begins from the understanding that "I am not this body." This is spiritual education. In the Bhagavad-gītā the first instruction given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna is this, that we are not this body.

General Lectures

Class in Los Angeles -- Los Angeles, November 15, 1968:

First of all this body, gṛha. Gṛha means "house, living place." So I am the soul, I am living, and this body is my first living place. This is also gṛha. I am not this body. Just like I am living in this apartment, I am not this apartment. Similarly, I am living in this body, but I am not this body. This is the beginning of spiritual education. Unless one does not understand that "I am not this body; I am living in this body," there is no question of spiritual education. He does not know what is spiritual and material.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

Man knows, at least, he should try to know, "What I am? What is God? What is this world? What is our interrelation?" This is man's business. This is called athāto brahma jijñāsā. In the Vedānta-sūtra, the first sūtra, aphorism, is atha ataḥ brahma-jijñāsā: "This human form of life is meant for inquiry about the spirit, Supreme Spirit, Brahman." That is the beginning of spiritual education.

Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 4, 1968:

So spiritual education—first to understand "What I am," then "What is God," "What is this world." "What is our interrelation," then "What is God's position," "What is my position," "How I shall deal with God"—these things are spiritual education, and human life is meant for that purpose. The nature gives chance to the living entity, this developed consciousness of human being, in order to understand these things. And if he is fortunate enough to understand that he is spirit soul, he is Brahman, then the Bhagavad-gītā gives definition of such man that brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā: (BG 18.54) as soon as he comes to the understanding of spiritual platform, then he becomes joyful, immediately—freed from all anxieties.

Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, January 13, 1969:

Either in human society or in animal society, we are born all ignorant. Therefore, in the human society the system is that children are given education. Why? Because it is supposed that the child is born ignorant. Similarly, as we give material education to the children, it is the duty of the parents to enlighten them with spiritual education. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says that "Nobody should desire to become a father, nobody should desire to become a mother, unless one is able to save the child from the impending death."

Lecture -- Bombay, March 18, 1972:

Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The society must be divided into four classes of orders. There must be intelligent class of men, who are called brāhmaṇas. They must give spiritual education to society. Not that everyone should remain laborer and work hard day and night like hogs and dogs for sense gratification. It is a very dangerous civilization. You cannot expect any peace and prosperity in this type of civilization.

Speech -- Vrndavana, April 20, 1975:

This transformation of the body, that is natural. But within the body, the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa is there. That you have to understand, that is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. We have to understand what is there within the body. That is the beginning of spiritual education. Unfortunately, the whole world is going on under the impression that "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am European..." That is condemned in the śāstra.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣu abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: He says, "One's spiritual education must continue at the point he left off. If there were to be a conscious existence after death, it would, so it seems to me, have to continue on the level of consciousness attained by humanity, which in any age has an upper thought-variable limit."

Prabhupāda: That is clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that the past consciousness, that passion, the consciousness is continuing. So even the body is destroyed, the consciousness continuing. So due to the consciousness he gets another body, and again, in that body, the future, past consciousness works. So, if, if, if in the past life he was a devotee, again he becomes devotee, and from the point where he died, the material body became destroyed, again, as soon as he gets a body, the same consciousness begins to work. Therefore we find somebody quickly accepts Kṛṣṇa consciousness and sometime it takes delay.

Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: The fifth... (break) This is the continuation of Carl Jung. The fifth type of rebirth is called transformation, and this is a form of indirect rebirth. One may use the initiation ceremony of the twice-born, of the brāhmaṇa. In other words, one has to witness or take part in some rite of transformation. This may be a ceremony, and through his presence at the ritual the individual participates in divine grace.

Prabhupāda: That is transfer, transformation of the body into knowledge. Dvija, this word, exact word, is dvija. One birth is by the father and mother, and the next birth is by the spiritual master and Vedic knowledge. That means..., that is also liberation. He understands that he is not this material body. That is spiritual education. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). So birth of knowledge, that is called dvija.

Philosophy Discussion on Plotinus:

Prabhupāda: The same thing—an American is thinking, because the body has been gotten from America, he is thinking "American." That similarly an Indian, a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, all these designations, due to the body. So when he understands that "I am not this body," this is spiritual education. That "I am different, I am part and parcel of God," then he becomes liberated, impersonally. And when he makes further advancement, and he comes to the platform of understanding the Supreme Truth as the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, and he engages himself in Kṛṣṇa's service, that is his actual life. Kṛṣṇa, in the spiritual world, in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planets, so they can be promoted to any one of them—in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. Then he is happy as associate of Kṛṣṇa. He can enjoy life eternally.

Philosophy Discussion on Plotinus:

Prabhupāda: Similarly we, when we divert our attention to the illusory energy, then we fall down, and although we remain the same part and parcel of the Lord, but the influence of the material energy covers us, and we identify with the covering elements, and life after life bodies changing, and we are identify with the covering, and this is our miserable condition of material existence. And therefore first education is that "I am not this covering." That is spiritual education. That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā instruction, that "You are not this body.

Philosophy Discussion on Thomas Aquinas:

Hayagrīva: To get on to another point, Aquinas believed, or rather he opposed sex for any purpose other than the begetting of children, and not only should sex be used only for the begetting of children, but that when one begets children one takes the responsibility of giving them a spiritual education.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is Vedic injunction, that don't beget children unless you can give the children relief from the cycle of birth and death. One should not become father and mother. That is responsible father and mother. And without this responsibility, if a man gives birth to a child and if a woman bears the pregnancy, that is prohibited. One should not become a father, one should not become a mother unless they are competent to give freedom to the children from the cycle of birth and death.

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Radio Interview -- March 12, 1968, San Francisco:

Interviewer: Then there is a similarity to Catholicism. The priest is supposed to be celibate.

Prabhupāda: Certainly. Anywhere there is spiritual conception, sex life is not indulged. Anywhere, either it may be Christianity or Hinduism... Sex life is materialism. That is opposite number of spiritualism. So people are trained gradually to refrain from sex life. And in the sannyāsa life he's completely trained. Therefore he's allowed to move in the society for preaching spiritual education.

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1970, Indore:

Guest (4): And Mahārāja, what are your impressions of the youth of this country?

Prabhupāda: I have no estimation of this country or that country. I know everywhere, because spiritual education is lacking, everywhere the boys and girls are fallen.

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1970, Indore:

Guest (4): Is secularism coming in way of spreading spiritual education?

Prabhupāda: Secularism is a bogus thing. You see? That is an indulgence, "Whatever you like, you can do. Whatever religion you follow, that's all..." No. That is not good. The state should be responsible for the spiritual progress of the citizens. Now, especially in our country, we say it is Hindustan, Bhāratavarṣa. So we are not giving the bhāratīya or Hindu spiritual cultural education. So that's a great loss of the secular state.

Room Conversation -- December 12, 1970, Indore:

Guest (4): Do you think that the present democratic system will be able to impart a spiritual education?

Prabhupāda: No.

Guest (4): Then what system do you advocate?

Prabhupāda: Of course, so far Vedic culture is concerned, they advocated monarchy because the one man's training, a good king guided by the brahminical culture, although it was autocratic sometimes, but because the king was very cultured there was no possibility of doing any harm to the citizens. But democracy means simply they are given the post by votes, and they may be all rascals.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- June 14, 1972, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: So they left their luxuriant residence as ministers. But when they went to Vṛndāvana, they had a cottage.

Devotee (1): I think the impulse is more or less a reaction to their alienation for material life. They feel so alienated from artificial material life that they think maybe, that simply more..., they think animalistic would be more desirable.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: The inclination may be right, but the spiritual education is lacking. They don't have the teacher.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee: Education.

Prabhupāda: That is the defect of modern education.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Two Buddhist Monks -- July 12, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: That... Again I am quoting that Professor Kotofsky. He said, "Swamiji, after this body there is no life." That is their conviction. This is the primary teaching of spiritual life, that we have got next life. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. Dehāntaram. After giving up this body, you have to accept another body. This is the first lesson of spiritual education. But they do not understand the first lesson even. What is their spiritual understanding?

dehino 'smin yathā dehe

kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir

dhīras tatra na muhyati

(BG 2.13)

Room Conversation With David Lawrence -- July 12, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: You are attempting. I am very glad. So you can inquire from me anything. The first thing I shall request you, the first principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or the first ABCD of spiritual education, is to understand the constitutional position of the living entity. He is, he is spirit soul. He's not this body. The spirit soul is living within this body, but the, the body's not the spirit soul. This thing must be understood very clearly.

Room Conversation with British Man -- August 31, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: So, in this way, as soon as we understand or become convinced that I am not this body, then spiritual education begins. (If) I am different, then the next question will be, then what for I am working? Naturally at the present moment we are working for this body, maintenance of the body. For eating, sleeping, having facility for sex life or sense gratification and to protect this body from being harmed. This is our business. But if I am not this body, then, I am spirit soul, then the next question will be, what I am doing for the spirit soul?

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Bhurijana dasa and Disciples -- July 1, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: This is the beginning of spiritual life, to distinguish between the soul and the body. One who does not understand that there is soul, there is no spiritual education because he is animal. The animal does not know that there is soul. A dog thinks, "I am this body." So this is the beginning of spiritual education. Therefore Kṛṣṇa instructs first this thing. Everyone is acting on the conception of body as self.

Room Conversation with Bhurijana dasa and Disciples -- July 1, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: We... Our work is on that platform, dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanam jara tatha dehāntaram (BG 2.13), dehina, not the deha, dehi. We are not working on deha. Deha means body. And dehi means the owner of the body. So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is about the activities of the owner of the body, not the body. But the whole world is going on on acting on the body. That is the difference. Therefore it takes very, very, long time to understand. Those who are thinking, "I am this body..." One who knows that "I am not this body; I am soul, spirit soul," then his spiritual education... They do not know what is spiritual education.

Room Conversation with Bhurijana dasa and Disciples -- July 1, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: What do they mean generally, spiritual education?

Satsvarūpa: Some religion, knowledge about one of the religions or nowadays meditation, like that.

Prabhupāda: Meditation? What is the ultimate goal? That means no perfect knowledge. The so-called meditation is very popular, but what meditation? What is subject matter of meditation? You can close. It is closed?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with three Trappist Monks, Psychologists from the University of Georgia, and Atlanta Lawyer, Michael Green -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Young children should be educated from the very beginning about God consciousness or the science of God. We had the opportunity in our childhood. My father taught. And then, when I was grown up, my spiritual master taught. So for that reason we have got some sense. Spiritual education should be given...

kaumāra ācaret prājño

dharmān bhāgavatān iha

durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma

tad apy adhruvam arthadam

(SB 7.6.1)

This is statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja. He was a five-years-old boy and a devotee.

Room Conversation with three Trappist Monks, Psychologists from the University of Georgia, and Atlanta Lawyer, Michael Green -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: "This human form of life is very rarely obtained, and we do not know when we shall die. So before our next death we must be spiritually equipped. That is the business of human life." There is no guarantee when death will come. A child may also die tomorrow. There is no guarantee. Therefore spiritual education should begin as soon as a child can understand something. Because there is no guarantee that he will remain for many years. There is no guarantee. So the business of human life is to revive our lost relationship with God.

Room Conversation with three Trappist Monks, Psychologists from the University of Georgia, and Atlanta Lawyer, Michael Green -- March 1, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: That is the privilege of this human form of... Therefore as soon as possible, the spiritual education should begin, immediately. If the child simply can understand, "God is great," that is immense profit for him. (break) ...means from five years to twenty-five years, brahmacārī, he has nothing to learn except God, brahmacārī. Brāhme carati iti brahmacārī. He is simply interested in Brahmān. That is called brahmacārī. He has no material interest. That is the foundation of spiritual life. Brahmacārī.

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Young man: But can one be egoistic and be spiritual at the same time, I mean, be proud of himself, not as a body, but proud of his state of the spirit?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Now we are bodily busy. Because I am identifying with this body, therefore my misunderstanding is there. But if I understand I am not this body, then my activities will be different. So first of all, you have to understand that I am not this body. That is the beginning of spiritual education. (break) ...with this body, we remain an animal, because animal cannot understand that he is not body. Try to understand that you are not this body. And what is the difficulty?

Conversation with Governor -- April 20, 1975, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: This is the beginning of spiritual education, that every one of us is not this body. Unfortunately the whole world is in darkness, and therefore every human is identifying with this body and thinking wrongly, 'I am Indian,' 'I am American,' 'I am brāhmaṇa,' 'I am this,' 'I am that.' To drive away this misconception of life is actually manava-dharma. We must know that we are not this body but spirit soul, and as such, we are part and parcel of God and therefore qualitatively one with God, exactly like a small particle of gold is also gold as is the gold from the big gold mine.

Morning Walks -- June 18-19, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: Unless they are taught about spiritual attraction, everyone will be finished. (break) ...very childhood they should be given spiritual education. (break) ...by repressive method you will never be successful.

Siddha-svarūpa: Yes. Repression is also due to frustration. That they can't convince someone... (break)

Prabhupāda: Russians are doing that by repression.

Room Conversation with Dr. John Mize -- June 23, 1975, Los Angeles:

Dr. John Mize: The body and soul are different, yes. So it seems to me too.

Prabhupāda: That's nice. That is the beginning of spiritual education. People do not understand. I have seen many European big, big professors. They do not have any clear conception that the body and the soul, different.

Morning Walk -- June 27, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: A temporary life for fifty years or sixty years, they are busy, making very, very, gorgeous arrangement. This is asuric civilization. He does not take it very seriously that "I am encaged in this material body. My first business is how to get out of it and remain in my spiritual body." They get one type of body, and, like cats and dogs, engage, how to keep that body in sense gratification. That's all. (break) ...spiritual education, that "I am spiritual, spirit soul. I am encaged in this body. I want freedom. That is my first business, how to become liberated."

Conversation with Professor Hopkins -- July 13, 1975, Philadelphia:

Prabhupāda: In Chapter Two it is said... Arjuna was lamenting that "I shall fight and the other party they are my brother, so I will be sinful. So many problems will come." He was thinking like that. So Kṛṣṇa first gave him lesson that "Why you are thinking on the bodily concept of life? You are not body. You are spirit soul." Then He gave spiritual education.

Morning Walk -- September 30, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, no. This is the beginning of teaching, that "You are not this body." If you remain in the false understanding that "I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am Englishman," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," there is no spiritual education. Mohita. That is called mohita. Tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair, mohitaṁ nābhijānāti. He remains in ignorance. (aside:) (Hindi) Jaya.

Morning Walk -- October 2, 1975, Mauritius:

Prabhupāda: So we can return. (break) Whole educational system is defective because there is no spiritual education. That has made everything impossible.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: One young boy in Johannesburg wanted to join us. He is sixteen years old. So his headmaster said, "What you will do without an education?" They think that this is the greatest ignorance. These are the leaders of education, the headmaster.

Morning Walk -- October 2, 1975, Mauritius:

Prabhupāda: ...spiritual education, he remains an animal. That's all. (break) That is Vedānta-sūtra, athāto brahma jijñāsā. To find out the ultimate goal, that is education. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), "Wherefrom everything is coming," that is education.

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

Prabhupāda: "I believe; you believe..." You may believe something, I may believe something, but everything should be on the scientific basis. That is wanted. So unless we understand this point, that "I am not this body; I am something else than the body," there is no question of spiritual education.

Morning Walk -- November 10, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: That is the beginning. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, He says, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Because everyone is rascal, he is thinking, "I am this body." Arjuna was also thinking, "How shall I kill my other side, my brother, my nephews?" Bodily. Therefore the beginning of spiritual education is to understand that "I am not this body; I am soul." That is the beginning. For so many years people are reading Bhagavad-gītā, but still they are in bodily concept. That is the misfortune.

Morning Walk -- November 17, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...government is making secular. That means they think that there is no need of this spiritual education.

Dr. Patel: Sir, the secular means, I mean, respect for all the methods of worship.

Prabhupāda: There is no method.

Dr. Patel: But they means secular means no dharma. That is their definition. It is a wrong definition.

Prabhupāda: That is a defect of the government, that they do not know what is spiritual life. They have no knowledge. Mūḍhas. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). They do not know this. They cannot also explain what is the aim of life. That Professor Kotovsky, such a big man, he said, "Swamijī, after death everything is finished."

Morning Walk -- December 19, 1975, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Not vultures. It is called hog civilization. The hog, they eat anything and they have sex with anyone.

Dr. Patel: Yes, yes. These animals they don't distinguish between their own bodily relatives.

Prabhupāda: Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭan kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). This is instruction. Where is culture? Culture is lost. So therefore there is no value of education. And besides that, education means spiritual education. Brahma-vidyā. This education how to make aeroplane or a nice bridge or a machine, this is called kalā-vidyā. This is not vidyā.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Nalinīkaṇṭha: "We see materialistic persons busily engaged in economic development all day and all night, trying to increase their material opulence, but even if we suppose that they get some benefit from such endeavors, that does not solve the real problem of their lives. Nor do they know what the real problem of life is. This is due to a lack of spiritual education. Especially in the present age, every man is in darkness, in the bodily conception of life, not knowing anything of the spirit soul and its needs. Misguided by the blind leaders of society, people consider the body to be everything, and they are engaged in trying to keep the body materially comfortable. Such a civilization is condemned because it does not lead humanity toward knowing the real goal of life. People are simply wasting time and the valuable gift of the human form, because a human being who does not cultivate spiritual life but dies like the cats and dogs is degraded in his next life. From human life, such a person is put into the cycle of continuous birth and death. Thus one loses the true benefit of human life, which is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and solve life's problems."

Prabhupāda: Now discuss on this point amongst yourselves whether it is rightly said or wrong. If anyone has any objection. Yes?

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Nalinīkaṇṭha: Yes. You say that the problem is that there's a lack of spiritual education in their lives.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the defect always, especially in this age. There is no spiritual education. Hm? Do you think, Dr. Wolfe, there is spiritual education? Is there any in the school, colleges, universities?

Hṛdayānanda: He's saying if there's any real spiritual education in the colleges and schools.

Dr. Wolfe: To produce new sense-gratifiers.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: They do not know what is the aim of life. Therefore there is no spiritual education. They do not know. Read further. You shall always hold classes. Read these books, discuss, try to understand. Then time will be properly utilized. Don't talk useless things. Some engagement. So long as you are engaged in the service of the Deity, that is very good. Otherwise, you should hold class, read these books, discuss amongst them. Then the proper utilization of time. Avyartha-kālatvam (Cc. Madhya 23.18-19).

Conversation with Clergymen -- June 15, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: We say that we should not..., we are not simply supplying food. Anyone who is coming, he is getting spiritual education. Not that it is a free hotel. No. It is not that. We give them spiritual education. You come here, you take your shelter, you take your food and learn how to be first-class man. That is our program. Don't be implicated in sinful activities.

Interview with Professors O'Connell, Motilal and Shivaram -- June 18, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: This is the beginning of spiritual education. One has to learn it, that "I'm not this body; I'm within this body, and I'm transmigrating from one body to another." That means repetition of birth, death, old age and disease. This is the main problem of life. So human life means to make a solution of these problems, not to be entangled with these problems again and again.

Evening Darsana -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). So unless one is properly educated, where is the talk of advancing? So this is the beginning of spiritual education, to understand that the living entity is eternal and the body is changing. And then next question will be that if the body is changing, then this body will be changed, so after my death what kind of body I am going to accept? That is education.

Interview with Newsweek -- July 14, 1976, New York:

Interviewer: My question is because they are receiving this education, physical and spiritual education so that they will be free of corruption and sin, they might still, even with this education, they still might not be intelligent, what you consider intelligent people.

Prabhupāda: No, there are different types of education. Just like in the material world. There is education for medical man. There is education for engineer. There is education for so many other departments. Similarly, there is education how to make one man spiritual. So we are going to give education how to become spiritually advanced. That is our purpose.

Press Interview at Muthilal Rao's House -- August 17, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: And according to Vedic version, anyone who is identifying with this body, he is animal. So under the circumstances-(aside:) Hare Kṛṣṇa—we are trying to revive the spiritual education of the human society. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. What is spirit soul, what is its identification, what is God, what is our relationship with Him, how to work on that plan.

Room Conversation -- August 25, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: That is the beginning of spiritual lesson. Because that is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. Everyone of us, we are identifying with this body. Just like if somebody asks what you are, "I am Mr. such and such, I am Indian, I am this, I am that." He is giving identification of the body. But that he is not. He's not this body. That is self-realization. That is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13)—two things—deha, this body, and asmin dehe, there is dehinaḥ, the owner of the body. That is the beginning of spiritual education. Because generally almost 99.9% people, they are thinking that I am this body.

Room Conversation -- August 25, 1976, Hyderabad:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That attachment or no attachment, he is different from the body. That is the first lesson of spiritual education, that one has to understand that he is not the body. That is Brahman realization.

Room Conversation (Bullock Cart SKP) -- September 12, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Now I have seen in Delhi, the government is advertising, "Go back to the village." Rascal, you are manufacturing wine and keeping them engaged whole day in the work. So after being tired, he requires some wine. And why he'll go? And no spiritual education, no cleanliness. Simply inviting "Go to the village" they will go?

Morning Walk -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It is free. Everything is free. We are not going to charge anything. Retired man, come here, take this spiritual education. This is our whole system. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Morning Walk -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It is completely educational. Spiritual education. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). It is not religious sentiment. Some Arya-samajis told me in Durban, South Africa, that "Why you are bringing this Hindu idea?" And this is not your Hindu idea. Kṛṣṇa said kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā. Does it mean that only Hindus, from boyhood they become youth, and the Musselman does not? What is this nonsense?

Morning Walk -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda:People are so misguided they cannot understand this simple word, this spiritual education. They say Hindu idea. That only the Hindu boys grow to become young men. The Muslim, the Christian, they do not grow up. Just see how much in darkness they are and how much they require this education.

Morning Walk -- December 29, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: How the world is in need of this spiritual education. And they cannot understand it. Just see how they are dull and rascal headed. Hindus grow only. Huh? Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanam... (BG 2.13). Kṛṣṇa said from boyhood to yauvanam, it is Hindu idea. The Arya-samaji friend told me, why you bring this Hindu idea? How much dull they are just imagine.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: To rise early in the morning and attend maṅgala-ārati is compulsory. It is part of this education, spiritual education. And not to eat more than necessary. Then you'll not sleep more. You'll find, if you observe fast, you won't feel sleepy. Have you tested this?

Evening Darsana -- February 26, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: And therefore I say that education has been so wrongly given that they are restless like animals due to the modern civilization. The beginning of spiritual education they cannot accept. What they will make, further progress of spiritual life? Beginning, ABCD, they are so restless, they cannot take. This is the position.

Room Conversation -- October 29, 1977, Vrndavana:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bhavānanda Mahārāja was saying how last night you were saying that there's nothing nicer and more fortunate than to be the pūjārī of a Deity. He says as regards to starting of the dispensary and also organizing a health teaching center for educating the boys by the latest audio-visual methods, he said that you seemed to be very earnest about it. In fact, he says that you told him to start as soon as possible.

Prabhupāda: No. Ours is spiritual education, no medical education.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Gandhi Memorial Fund -- Calcutta 5 July, 1949:

The theistic temples all over India are actually the different centres as are the churches and mosques all over the world. These sacred centres were meant for diffusing spiritual education and by this process of spiritual culture the disturbed mind could be trained up in concentration for higher duties which every human being must do

Letter to Brothers -- Allahabad 1 January, 1955:

(25) He may enhance his spiritual education taking lessons from Geeta, Bhagavata, Science of Devotion, Lord Caitanya etc. and prepare for the examination of Bhakti-Sastra, Bhaktisiddhanta, Bhaktivedanta etc.

Letter to Visitors' Book -- Delhi 18 September, 1960:

In my opinion temples are centres for educating the public in spiritual values and I have a mission to organize all temples for that spiritual education. Temples are not meant for ordinary householders engaged simply in the matters of animal propensities. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Lord Deity, the predominator of the temple; can only be allowed to remain in the temple, otherwise not.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- San Francisco 21 March, 1968:

The business of the Brahmins is to teach people spiritual education. Fighting is means for the Ksatriyas. Therefore, we must find out some means for protecting our students in future to save them from this unnecessary botheration.

Letter to Syama -- San Francisco 11 September, 1968:

In the Vedas it is stated that simply by understanding Krishna, one understands everything. This means there are two departmental educational policy; one departmental education is spiritual education, and the other departmental educational system is material education. One who is highly elevated in material education, cannot understand about anything spiritual.

Letter to Syama -- San Francisco 11 September, 1968:

But one who is elevated highly in his spiritual education can understand anything material. In other words, all material things are dependent on the spiritual soul. Just like your body, my body, this material body, they have developed on the basis of the spirit soul. Therefore, Krishna being the Supreme Spirit, one who tries to understand Krishna, he can understand everything else.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Syamasundara -- Los Angeles 24 April, 1970:

So practically the business man's brain is working, but when we see the business man alone in the room we see that he is not working. So we have to understand God from authoritative sources by spiritual education by being trained under the experienced guidance of a self-realized personality, otherwise how we can understand such vast subject matter delineating about God?

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Gurudasa -- Honolulu 13 May, 1972:

If we open a branch in Madras, actually there are so many poor children there. Spiritual education and food, that is proper. Simply supplying food is nonsense. Spiritual education means just to inject in their ears about our philosophy, externally they chant beads, wear tilak, without any discrimination of Hindu or Muslim or anything.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Acarya Prabhakar Mishra -- Bombay 1 May, 1974:

Human life is especially meant for spiritual education or Krsna Conscious education. For eating, sleeping, sex life and defense it is not very much necessary for the human being to receive education, because naturally every living being has natural education for these demands of the body. Therefore for the human being spiritual education is essential: atatho brahmajijnasa. You are a competent scholar and very intelligent personality so if you understand this philosophy of life then immediately I shall be able to cooperate with you.

1976 Correspondence

Letter to Personal Secretary to the President of the United States -- Honolulu 9 May, 1976:

It is a great fortune for the American people that they "Trust in God." Why shouldn't this spiritual education be given to the American people in an organized way? The whole world is going down and becoming Godless. If the American people, who trust in God, constitutionally, take this movement seriously, it will be a great service to the human society. We are prepared to cooperate in this connection if the American Government takes it very seriously.