Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Can one say that soul and life are identical?

Expressions researched:
"Can one say that soul and life are identical"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Yes. Identical... Life is the symptom of the soul. Because the soul is there, therefore life is there. And as soon the soul is not there, there is no more life. There is sun in the sky, and the light is there, sunshine. When the sun is set, there is no more light; it is dark.
Garden Conversation with Professors -- June 24, 1975, Los Angeles:

Peter: Must a person believe in Kṛṣṇa in order to chant?

Prabhupāda: You must believe somebody. You believe in God or not?

Peter: Do I believe in God?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Peter: Um...

Prabhupāda: Doubtful. (laughter)

Peter: Yeah, I guess you could say that.

Prabhupāda: So first of all you have to believe yourself that you are part and parcel of God.

Peter: I don't believe that what I experience is necessarily different from what most of the people...

Prabhupāda: What do you believe? Let me know what you believe. That also you do not know?

Peter: Yeah, I don't know what I believe. That's the problem. OK, true. I grew up without a consciousness of God or without even...

Prabhupāda: Without God.

Peter: Well, I wouldn't say without God but without...

Prabhupāda: But without God, how there can be God consciousness?

Peter: So... I don't think that I experience differently than anybody here, but I think that I express that differently. So, what... If I believe in God in my own way, which is maybe expressed...

Prabhupāda: No, our proposition is that you believe or not believe, there is God.

Peter: Well, how can a person not believe? You have to believe.

Prabhupāda: Just like there are so many criminals. They do not believe in government. They don't care for the government. But that does not mean there is no government.

Peter: O.K., and so...

Prabhupāda: And he will believe when he is arrested and given punishment by the government, then he will believe. The criminal may say, "Oh, don't care for the government." That does not mean there is no government. And as soon as he becomes a criminal, he is arrested and punished. Then he understands there is government. So you believe or not believe, there is government. Similarly, you believe or not believe, there is God.

Peter: O.K. You're saying then that God has a nature and...

Prabhupāda: First of all, there is God; you have to accept. Then you study what is God.

Peter: That we have a nature too, and if we go against our own nature...

Prabhupāda: That we have already explained, that you are nothing but a small fragment of God. So you can study God by studying yourself. Because you are small sample of God. There is no need of searching elsewhere. You study yourself, and you find God because you are the sample of God. So you study yourself, and you find God. God is nothing... He is exactly like you but very big. "God is great." You are small. So from small sample, you can understand what is the great.

Dr. Crossley: I think one of the things that Peter is saying, though, that I haven't really heard you address is that... He's not saying that he doesn't believe. He's saying that he has the same experiences as all the young people here, but he doesn't dress this way. He doesn't chant. He doesn't choose to call this praise to Kṛṣṇa. He chooses to call it something else. How is it essentially different? He's saying it's essentially the same.

Prabhupāda: That he can say also that he does not dress like him, that's all. Not different. Difference is that... We are all differently dressed. It is not that every one of us who is sitting down not differently dressed. But we are not talking of the dress. We are talking ourselves. When I talk with you, you talk with me, you are not concerning about my dress or I am concerning your dress; I am talking with you as gentleman, that's all. What is the impediment of the dress? Anyone can dress as he likes. But he is a gentleman; you are a gentleman. Talk like a gentleman, that's all.

Dr. Crossley: If anyone can dress as he likes, then why do you all dress alike?

Prabhupāda: Yes, we already are. Just find out anyone who is equally dressed with you. Find out anyone. You are differently dressed from me, from them. And if you criticize my dress, I criticize your dress. That's all. Then you go on criticizing dress. Where is the talk between gentlemen? That is our disease, that we are concerned with the dress, this body, not the person who has the dress. That is our disease.

Dr. Wolfe: Śrīla Prabhupāda, the dhotī is not important then.

Prabhupāda: Not important. He can have dhotī, you can have pant, you can have... It doesn't matter.

Dr. Pore: It's part of the beauty of the world. It's interesting, it's fun, it's enjoyable, and I see no reason for denial.

Prabhupāda: There are so many thing enjoyable, but who is enjoying? That is the question. The real enjoyer and sufferer is the soul, not this body. When the soul is out of this body the body is no more enjoyer or sufferer; it is a lump of matter. The sense of enjoyment and suffering is there so long the soul is there. Therefore the soul is important. And if you can study the soul then you can understand what is God.

Peter: How do you know there's a soul?

Prabhupāda: Because you are speaking. Because you are inquiring, I know the soul. Because you are soul, therefore you are inquiring. As soon as the soul is out of your body, you cannot inquire anymore. Inquiry finished.

Dr. Wolfe: Can one say that soul and life are identical?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Identical... Life is the symptom of the soul. Because the soul is there, therefore life is there. And as soon the soul is not there, there is no more life. There is sun in the sky, and the light is there, sunshine. When the sun is set, there is no more light; it is dark.

Dr. Pore: Is the body, then, to be resisted? Is the body to be disciplined, to be resisted, to be ignored? Is that what you're suggesting?

Prabhupāda: Ignored?

Bahulāśva: How to treat the body?

Dr. Pore: How do you treat the body?

Prabhupāda: Make the best use of a bad bargain. (laughter) It is a bad bargain. But we have to utilize it.

Dr. Pore: When you say, then, that everything is a part of God you make an exception of the body, the body is not...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Devotee: No, he's saying that when we say everything is part of God the body is an exception. The body is not part of God?

Prabhupāda: No, why? Body is also part. Yes, that I have explained.

Dr. Judah: māyā-śakti.

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is another energy.

Dr. Pore: Oh, I see.

Dr. Judah: Inferior energy of Kṛṣṇa.

Dr. Pore: Inferior energy.

Prabhupāda: Everything is God's energy, so body is also God's energy. So best use of the body is God's energy should be utilized for God.

Dr. Pore: Hm. (end)

Page Title:Can one say that soul and life are identical?
Compiler:Marc, Rishab
Created:12 of Aug, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1