Lightning (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: And John Locke, Locke is the..., is most famous for his conception of tabula rasa, or blank slate, that a child is born with no innate ideas. He states that "If there are innate or inborn ideas, all men would have them." That is to say, there would be universal consent. He writes, "This argument of universal consent, which is made use of to prove innate principles, seems to me a demonstration that there are none such because there are none to which all mankind give a universal consent." So it cannot be argued that all people have an innate or inborn idea of God since there is no universal consent on this subject. Well, do innate ideas have to be universal? Might not some living entities have some innate ideas and other living entities have others? Why does an innate idea have to be universal and apply to everyone?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Innate idea is that there is somebody. That is developed consciousness. The animals, they cannot think, on account of nondeveloped consciousness, but even in human society, uncivilized society, they have got the innate idea of some superior form. When there is lightning, they offer obeisances. When they see big ocean, they offer obeisances, something big. So that innate idea is universal, to offer obeisances to something wonderful. But this innate idea of accepting something supreme and offering respect is not developed in the animal. So this innate idea is there. When it is not developed, it is animal, and when it is developed, then it is human being. And a perfect human being is he, when he has developed this innate idea to the fullest stage. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.Page Title: | Lightning (Lectures) |
Compiler: | Labangalatika, Visnu Murti |
Created: | 01 of Dec, 2008 |
Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=9, Con=0, Let=0 |
No. of Quotes: | 9 |