The Krsna consciousness movement is very, very important for the human society. It is not exactly a religious movement as it is understood in the Western countries

Expressions researched:
"the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for the human society. It is not exactly a religious movement as it is understood in the Western countries"

Lectures

Arrival Addresses and Talks

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for the human society. It is not exactly a religious movement as it is understood in the Western countries. Religion is described in the English dictionary as "a kind of faith." Faith you may accept or may not accept, but religion is the word, as we understand from Sanskrit dictionary, it cannot be rejected, or you and your religion cannot be separated. Therefore we should understand very clearly that we are experiencing two things: one is matter, and another is spirit. Just like there is a stone and there is a small ant. The stone, it may be very big, but it cannot move; it has no life. But the small ant, although it is very small, it has life.

750211 - Lecture Arrival - Mexico

My dear devotees, ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to see you again, I think after four years? Three years. I was trying to come here again—I like this place—but due to various engagements and due to my old age also, I could not come earlier. But this time, by the arrangement of our Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja, I have been forced to come here. (laughter) So I must thank you for your nice reception. I was received by police escort very nicely, and I remember once I traveled with the governor of U.P. in 1962 from Lucknow to Kanpur. So exactly we were driving in the same fashion, escorted by the police motorcycle. So anyway, I am so pleased to see you, that you are interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for the human society. It is not exactly a religious movement as it is understood in the Western countries. Religion is described in the English dictionary as "a kind of faith." Faith you may accept or may not accept, but religion is the word, as we understand from Sanskrit dictionary, it cannot be rejected, or you and your religion cannot be separated. Therefore we should understand very clearly that we are experiencing two things: one is matter, and another is spirit. Just like there is a stone and there is a small ant. The stone, it may be very big, but it cannot move; it has no life. But the small ant, although it is very small, it has life.

So there are two things, we can very easily understand: one is dead matter, and the other is living force. We are actually living force. Living force, we are covered by the matter, and according to the different types of covering, we are representing different types of living condition. So this living force, being encaged by the dead matter, it is a struggle for existence. The living force trying to get out of the material encagement, that is called struggle for existence. The living force by nature is jubilant. The supreme living force is God, Kṛṣṇa, and we are part and parcel of the living force. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, two kinds of energies: one material energy, one spiritual energy. The material energy is earth, water, air, fire, sky, mind, intelligence, etc., and the spiritual energy is the living force which is trying to lord it over the material energy.