Mental speculation (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"mental speculation" |"mental speculations"

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview -- February 1, 1968, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: The idea is that any religious movement without philosophical basis, it is simply sentiment or fanaticism. And philosophy without idea of God is simply mental speculation. Therefore religious principles combined with philosophy, that is perfect. So the younger section become attracted to this movement because we are giving some religious principle based on philosophy.

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

Caller: Well, is there some kind of a spiritual signal you get within yourself that tells you this?

Prabhupāda: No, your question is what I am? So this what I am, you can search yourself by your mental speculation, that is one way. Another way to understand your position, from higher authority. So we take this process. We understand what I am from higher authority, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that He is God, and He says, "All these living entities are My part and parcels." So we are component parts of the Supreme Lord. Therefore as the component part of machine is to cooperate with the full machine, so our duty is to cooperate with the Supreme Lord. That is our identity.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Interviewer: Yes, but so have all of the great teachers been concerned with consciousness. It's a question of whether or not it's achieved. I presume that's why you work at this.

Prabhupāda: Yes. But thing is that there are two processes for understanding the Absolute Truth. One is ascending process, and one is descending process. We accept that descending process. Ascending process means trying to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of one's limited knowledge. Our knowledge... However I may be great, my senses are imperfect. You see? I cannot understand the sun, although I see every day sun, without understanding the sun as it is from authoritative books. Simply by seeing, by, simply by sense perception, we cannot understand. Now, this machine, simply by seeing, I cannot understand. But if I hear from authorities that "This is this; this is that," that understanding is right. Similarly, Absolute Truth cannot be understood by mental speculation, however a great thinker he may be. It must be understood from the authorities. So that... We follow that principle. We try to understand Absolute Truth from the lips of the Absolute Truth, not otherwise. That is the difference.

Room Conversation -- April 11, 1969, New York:

Prabhupāda: The direct manifestation is the spiritual world and the indirect manifestation is this material world. Indirect manifestation means it is simply a shadow of the spiritual world. Just like in the Bible also it is said the man is made after God. So you have got two hands, one head, two leg. So the mental speculation is said that these devotees, they create God according to their own feature. Because I am two-handed, and therefore I create God with two hands, Kṛṣṇa. But actually, the fact is not that. Actually, because Kṛṣṇa has got two hands and we have got an imitation body of Kṛṣṇa, therefore we have got two hands.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Television Interview -- July 29, 1971, Gainesville:

Interviewer: Don't you think there are very good reasons for the existence of these rules and regulations in this respect?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Rules and regulations must be established on philosophy. Otherwise it is sentiment, defective. Religion without philosophy is sentiment, and philosophy without religion is mental speculation. They should be combined, philosophy and religion. Then it will be perfect.

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

Prabhupāda: Mind is instrument. The mind's position is accepting and rejecting. Intellect helps the mind what to reject and what to accept. And that intelligence is of the soul. That ground of intelligence is the soul. First of all bodily concept is gross life, ordinary, like animals, they do not know except the body. Higher than bodily concept of life, the exercise of the mind, mental speculation. That mental speculation is adjusted by intelligence and that intelligence belongs to the soul. Therefore soul is the ultimate and soul is the part and parcel of God. Therefore God is the supreme. So the mental speculation or the evolution of mental exercise when it comes to the summit, that is God realization. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). When one realizes "God is everything," that mahātmā, that great soul is very rare. That is the statement in Bhagavad-gītā. Mahātmā means whose mind is great. The mind is great. He's not thinking ordinary things. He's thinking of greater subject matter. They are called mahātmā, broader minded, broad-minded.

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

Prabhupāda: Our process of test is, how far he is advanced in God consciousness. That is our test. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. It is said yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā (SB 5.18.12). If one has developed God consciousness all good qualities must develop in them. All good qualities. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. And one who has not developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness, he cannot have any good qualities because his business is mental speculation, mano-rathenāsati dhāvato... By simply mental speculation, he'll be fixed up in this material world.

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

Dr. Weir: Mental speculation alone is sterile.

Prabhupāda: Mental speculation, mano-rathena. Ratha means chariot, one who is driving on the chariot of mind, mano-rathena. The chariot of mind will take him, will fix him only on material conditions. So long one remains in the material conditions of life, he cannot have good qualifications. One has to transcend this material platform and come to the spiritual platform. Then his natural good qualities will come out automatically.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- April 2, 1972, Sydney:

Prabhupāda: Simply sitting down like this. He cannot ask whether he is hungry or not. His daughter is always attending, giving him some food, then he is eating. Otherwise, he does not say. Lost everything. He has mentioned Bhagavad-gītā as a mental speculation, in his Indian Religion. So he is such a great offender, he must suffer. But it is good for him. Because he is a gentleman, therefore his offenses are being compensated in this life.

Conversation with the GBC -- May 25, 1972, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Watchtower. They have complained(?). So we have nothing to (indistinct) them. The world is degrading to the lowest status, even less than animal. The animal also do not support homosex. They have never sex life between male to male. They are less than animal. People are becoming less than animal. This is all due to godlessness. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12), godless civilization cannot have any good qualities. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano rathena asato dhāvato... They simply go to the untruth by mental speculation.

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

Prabhupāda: So we understand from Bhagavad-gītā that God says, Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: "Always think of Me, become My devotee, offer your obeisances unto Me." So any religion that has no conception of God, how he can think of God? If I think of something, that something must be known to me; otherwise how can I think of it? If I imagine something, that is not wanted. My imagination of God... God is not a thing to be imagined by me. He is a concrete thing. Therefore according to our philosophy, any so-called religion which has no conception of God, that is not religion. That is simply mental speculation. We accept that religion means the law given by God. But if you do not know what is God, what is His law, then where is religion? Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that all types of pseudo religion is rejected.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 26, 1973, Jakarta:

Prabhupāda: Religious idea without philosophy is sentiment, and philosophy without religion is mental speculation. They should be combined. Religious idea supported by philosophy. Then it is correct. And philosophy without religious idea is simply mental speculation. They should be combined. That combination of religious idea and philosophy, you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā, provided you accept Bhagavad-gītā as it is. If you interpret Bhagavad-gītā in your own way, then you'll miss the point.

Morning Walk -- April 25, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathena... Manorathena (SB 5.18.12). These rascals, they are simply speculating on the mental platform. That's all. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). They are entrapped by the external energy, by mental speculation. They have no value. All these scientists, philosophers, they're on the mental platform, speculating. I am certi... I say this. You say: "No, I say this." You see. Who is correct?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It doesn't matter.

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

David Lawrence: I think it would be a great deal more popular than studies of the Bible.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

David Lawrence: Because there isn't the (indistinct)

Prabhupāda: Now, there is psychology. There is philosophy.

David Lawrence: Yes, indeed.

Prabhupāda: Everything is there. And religion without philosophy is sentiment. And philosophy without religion is mental speculation. Two things must be combined.

David Lawrence: Yes, yes.

Prabhupāda: That is Bhagavad-gītā. Yes.

Room Conversation with Mister Popworth and E. F. Schumacher -- July 26, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: You can defend your theory but that will not help purification of the society. That will not help. Take it for granted. You can make so many theories but if you remain impure, if you are not God conscious, all these theories will be useless. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathe... (SB 5.18.12). This is simply mental speculation. Mano-rathena, hovering on the mental plane, you can jump from this to that, but that will not solve the problem. Mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ. So we do not act on mental speculation. It may be our credit or discredit. That is different thing. We simply follow the standard policy. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now, everything is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, how to become a brāhmaṇa, how to become a kṣatriya, how to become a vaiśya, how to become a śūdra, or how to remain less important than the śūdras. The societies must be divided in different divisions. They should work conjointly...

Room Conversation -- September 2, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: That is our Vedic evidence. Whenever we speak something, immediately quote from Vedas. This is our process. If it is accepted by the Vedic process, then it is perfect. Just like in the law court. You are lawyer. You are arguing. When you quote from a judgement, previous judgement, it is accepted. Similarly, when you give authoritative statement support of your talking, then it is perfect. That is the way. Otherwise, what for these books are there? If it is mental speculation what is the use of these books? But as soon as we speak something, we immediately support by quoting from Vedic literature. And that is perfect. And now you have to possess little knowledge. Just like Kṛṣṇa says, how Kṛṣṇa is perfect. Kṛṣṇa is giving example side, by side. Yathā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Asmin dehe, as there is the soul, there is the soul, asmin dehe, and he's having different types of bodies, kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā.

Morning Walk -- December 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: ...one is yogi. Karmī, jñānī, yogi or bhakta. What is the difference between karmīs, jñānīs, yogis and bhakta?

Hṛdayānanda: Karmī wants to enjoy the gross senses, the jñānī wants to enjoy the subtle mind, mental speculation, the yogi wants to manipulate the universe, mystic powers,...

Prabhupāda: Material power.

Hṛdayānanda: And a devotee has no material desires. (He wants) to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes. And unless one is factually desireless, he cannot be happy. The karmī, jñānī, yogi, they are all full of desires. Therefore they are unhappy. Karmīs are the lowest of the unhappies, jñānīs are little advanced, yogis are little more advanced, and the perfection is the bhakta, devotees. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye (Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). This is bhakta. (break) ...siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta. Bhukti means karmī, and mukti means jñānī. And siddhi, aṣṭa-siddhi, magic power, mystic power. That is called siddhi.

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

Prabhupāda: Atheism, yes. Atheism.

Karandhara: They're not talking about God at all. They're just talking about something they're searching for, sense gratification.

Prabhupāda: No, no, no. Yes. "Now we shall create female as God." What power you have got? God is already God. You cannot create God, a female, or dog. You can create anything, as you..., by mental speculation, but that is not a fact.

Umāpati: They say, "Man was made in the image of God," and now women are saying...

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Umāpati: They say, "Man was made in the image of God," and now women are saying, "Women are made in the image of God. Therefore God is female." And that is their logic.

Prabhupāda: No, no, man or woman, you cannot create God. That is the first proposal. God is not your creation. You are creation of God. You cannot say, "God should be like this. God should be like that." That is nonsense. God is not under your dictation. You are under the dictation of God. That is God.

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

Prabhupāda: You cannot put others into difficulty because God is equally merciful to everyone. But you don't care for God. Therefore you do whimsically whatever you like. So you are putting yourself in difficulty. This is the position. (break) ...mahad-guṇāḥ. Therefore without God consciousness, nobody is qualified. Nobody is qualified. Everyone is damned, condemned. (break) ...asato dhāvato bahiḥ. By mental speculation he will simply prolong his material existence, that's all. And that is troublesome. Material existence means just this. The dog is material existence. It is a standard of suffering. But he does not know. Under illusion he is thinking that "I am very happy." So everyone is thinking that "I am very happy," but he's in condemned condition.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 3, 1974, Los Angeles:

New Devotee: I'm very new to this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement and I'm not as firm as your devotees. Right now I'm being torn in half. Māyā is so strong and I see so much of what you say. Is there...

Prabhupāda: What is this?

New Devotee: Doubts.

Prabhupāda: What is your doubt?

New Devotee: Mental speculation.

Prabhupāda: So you want to continue it or stop it?

New Devotee: Stop it.

Prabhupāda: Then stop it. Take instruction from the śāstra. Don't speculate. That will not help you. The same example, a child's speculation, "Who is my father?" He will never be successful. But as soon as he asks his mother, "Who is my father?" Immediately knowledge: "Here is your father." Finished.

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: And therefore, mental speculators, they have been condemned. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). Because they carry on, or they are carried by the chariot of mind, manorathena. Manorathena asati. Manoratha, when you drive on the chariot of mind, you cannot get any fixed idea. Because mind is flickering. Saṅkalpa-vikalpa. Mind's business is "Accept this, and again reject it." So all these speculators are doing. Somebody is putting forward some theory, and after some years he will himself reject or somebody else will reject. So manorathena, by mental speculation, you remain on the material platform. You cannot get any spiritual idea. Therefore harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Anyone who is not in the spiritual platform... Spiritual platform means to be a devotee of the Lord. The Māyāvādīs, because they are not devotees of the Lord, they are not on the spiritual platform. They are on the material platform. They are speculating, spirit—"something negation of matter." That's all. That is mental speculation. It is bad. "Good means negation of bad." They are thinking like that. They do not know, in this material world, bad and good are both the same thing. Because it is matter. That they do not know.

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1974, Los Angeles:

Bahulāśva: How is bad and good the same thing, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Just like we are walking on this street. Sometimes we say, "This is very good." And sometimes, "It is very bad." But the street is the same. So how it is good and bad? This is simply mental speculation.

Bahulāśva: Sense perception?

Prabhupāda: Eh? Mental speculation. When it is dry... So dryness also, sometimes it is, "Oh, it is very dry, bad." And again, say dry, we shall say, "Oh, today is very good." It is simply mental speculation.

Devotee: It is like wet stool and dry stool. It is still stool.

Prabhupāda: Eh? Yes. (Chuckles) Yes, that is the example. The dry part of the stool, they say, "Oh, this part is very nice." He forgets that, after all, it is stool. So what is the dry or moist? Just like they are making scientific advancement. But the death is there.

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Relativity, relativity, law of Relativity. What is, what is food for one is death for other, the same thing. So how you can say the food is good or bad? Is it not? "One man's food, another man's poison." So how you can distinguish this is food or poison? One man will say, "No, it is food." Another man will say, "It is poison." So how you'll distinguish? So this good and bad is simply mental speculation. Because it is in the material platform, there is nothing good. Everything is bad. Otherwise why Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). In the name of "dharma," so many rascaldom is going on. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. It is not dharma. And Bhāgavata says, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra: (SB 1.1.2) "This cheating type of religious system is rejected from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam." All so-called religions, they're simply cheating. Cheating. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ. Kaitavaḥ means cheating. Everything is cheating. They say, "We are advancing." What you are advancing? The problem, birth-death, is there. So what is the meaning of your advancement? Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇām (SB 1.1.2).

Morning Walk -- January 9, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Manorathena asati dhāvato bahiḥ. By mental speculation, you will remain on this asati, in this temporary field. Asat means "which will not exist." Anything in this material world, you take, that will not exist. Anywhere man can say. The skyscraper building is constructed, but everyone knows that it will not exist. Some day it will fall down. Everyone knows. It will never exist. That is explained by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā, that "If you think that by combination of matter, life has come, so life was not there before the combination. And this combination will dismantle. So life, there will be no more life. So why these three period you are lamenting? There is life." Because according to this theory—"The combination of matter makes life"—so before combination there was no life, and the combination dismantled, there is no life. So beginning and end no life.

Morning Walk -- February 19, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa says that, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55).

Mr. Sar: Ah. Yāvān yaś cāsmi...

Prabhupāda: He never says that "By mental speculation, one can understand." He never says.

Mr. Sar: He's beyond the reach of the mind.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu... (Hindi)

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

(BG 7.3)

So to know God, it is not very easy job. And in the Vedas also, it is stated, nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena. So this process is not good.

Morning Walk -- February 23, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: The so-called jñānīs, they are on the mental platform. Therefore, they are also materialists. Therefore Brahmā... You'll find in that Brahma-stotra, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "Give up this attempt to reach the Supreme by mental speculation." Jñāne prayāsam uda..., namanta eva: "Be submissive." Namanta eva sanmukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām: "Just hear from devotee the news of the message of God, Kṛṣṇa." That is the process recommended. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva sanmukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. Sthāne sthitāḥ. You haven't got to change your place. Śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. You hear from the realized soul and try to apply in your practical life. Then, one day, although God is unconquerable, He will be conquered by you. This is recommendation by Brahmā.

Morning Walk -- February 23, 1974, Bombay:

Dr. Patel: I heard sometimes in bhakti-yoga that you have to become pure, you have got to leave your body consciousness and become soul conscious...

Prabhupāda: That is soul consciousness.

Dr. Patel: In the other conscious, and then...

Prabhupāda: Body consciousness is mental speculation.

Dr. Patel: That is what I say. You must go beyond that.

Prabhupāda: Ah. This is the gross body and subtle body. So when these jñānīs, they think that they have become liberated, but they are entrapped by the subtle body. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya...

Dr. Patel: These yogis...

Prabhupāda: Then they are also, the same thing: gross material thing.

Morning Walk -- April 3, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Now, this is to be understood, how "You are all-pervading by Your influence, by Your power." That means "You are always there." "You" person is there. Just like a big man, big businessman, is sitting in his room, but he is all-pervading, all-pervading.

Dr. Patel: But he must have got special powers deputed to certain people. And these are that vibhūtis. Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. That is vibhūti. That does not mean... Māyāvādī philosophy is: "Because He has spread everywhere, therefore He is imperson." He remains person, without any change, avyaya. But still, He is spread. That he is asking that "How I shall understand You, that You are spread everywhere." Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). That is... So we have to understand from Kṛṣṇa how He is all-pervading, not that mental speculation. "Just like if you take a thing and distribute all over, the original thing is lost." Not like that. Original Kṛṣṇa is there.

Morning Walk -- April 8, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore in their sampradāya it is a custom, as soon as he takes sannyāsa, he becomes Nārāyaṇa. "Namo nārāyaṇa." (laughs) That is an allurement. So this... Even one says that he is follower of Śaṅkarācārya, but there is no meaning in it. Unless one is a sannyāsī, he cannot say that he is follower of Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya took sannyāsa at the age of eight years.

Indian (1): He died about thirty-nine.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Thirty-two. (break) ...never think what is the truth of life. Everyone. So somebody is taking sense gratification as truth of life. Somebody is taking mental speculation as truth of life. So many ways. But Bhāgavata says, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1). We worship the Supreme Truth. Namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. The Supreme Truth. (break) ...say Brahmā, oṁ. Not Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. No, they'll never say. Sometimes they say, "Nārāyaṇa." That is, means thinking himself as Nārāyaṇa. (laughter) Daridra-nārāyaṇa, this nārāyaṇa, that nārāyaṇa, Swami Nārāyaṇa.

Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: Paro dharmaḥ. Paraḥ means first-class. But a simply sentiment will not help. Therefore religion must be based on philosophy, and my spiritual master used to say this, that "Philosophy without religion is mental speculation, and religion without philosophy is sentimental." They should be combined. Philosophy and religion must be... Or religion must be based on philosophy. Then it is perfect. We cannot separate these two things. Simple philosophical speculation will not help, and simple sentiments, rituals, formalities, will not also. They should be combined. So this combination is here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā.

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

Prabhupāda: In this particular body I am busy with some temporary things. And as soon as I change my body, then another temporary thing. Eh? The... Suppose the big Romans. When they were Romans, they constructed all these big, big buildings. But if the Romans have changed into birds, they're no more interested in this body. They're interested in making some complicated nest on the top of the tree. This is going on, life after li... This knowledge is lacking. Therefore it is said, manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni... They are struggling on this mat... (break) ...physical world by concocted mental speculation. That's all. As soon as the body is changed, then everything is changed.

Room Conversation with Professor Durckheim German Spiritual Writer -- June 19, 1974, Germany:

Professor Durckheim: Yes, but this is a very good example because the dream of the tiger comes very often. And it always means that you are pursued by some of your inner instincts, yourself. So you discover in the image of the tiger something which is not right in yourself.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that experience is also material. That is not spiritual experience. That experience is going on continually so long we are materially attached. Because in the material world we are constantly changing our body. Your experience in childhood is different from the experience at this time. So as we are changing our body, we are getting different experiences, and all those experiences are photographed within the mind. And they sometimes come out and make an intermixture, and we see dreams and so many contradictory things. This is going on, mental speculation. That is hovering on the mental plane. That is not spiritual plane.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

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

Prabhupāda: Religion, as it is passing on at the present moment, "a kind of faith," this is not religion. This is not religion. According to... Religion means dharma, the characteristic. Just like you are eating something salty, something sweet. So the sugar, the characteristic, it is sweet. That is religion. And the salt is salty. The chili is pungent. So these characteristic is religion. So you'll have to find out religion, what is your real characteristic. That is religion. Now, religion is going, "I believe in this way." That is another thing, sentiment. Religion without philosophy is sentiment, and philosophy without religion, mental speculation. Those two things must be combined, philosophy and sentiment. Then it is religion.

Room Conversation with Svarupa Damodara -- February 28, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: He asked him, that rascal chemist, that "If I give you the chemicals, can you manufacture life?" That time he said, "No, that I cannot say." Why do you say like that? In the beginning, in New York, that store front, the Satsvarūpa is with..., and Hayagrīva and... And you chant simply. You were also there. So this chanting is proving efficient. That is Vedic knowledge. It is not theory. Our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not theory or mental speculation. It is a fact.

Morning Walk -- May 8, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: So we have to study Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life. Except—this is the clear and simple truth—except chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, there is no other business of the human being. So this preaching is also chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is preaching. That has been shown by all the disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. All the Gosvāmīs, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and others, only did that, how to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no other business. That is sannyāsa. He has no other business. To preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to convince Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that's all, no other business. We don't take part in politics, sociology, and mental speculation, "science," or so on, so on, all nonsense. We reject, all kicked out. That is the perfection. It is simply waste of time. These are all superficial.

Room Conversation with Carol Cameron -- May 9, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: The whole theory, Darwin's theory, is a false theory. It has no sound background. He says it is theory. Theory is not science. I can propose some theory, "It is like that." But that is not science. Science means observation and experiment. That is science. You observe how the rules are working, and when you practically bring them into experiment, then it is science. If you simply theorize, that is not science. Mental speculation. It has no benefit. You can speculate, constructing a castle in the air. That is not a very good thing. You should present something which will benefit the people, and practical. That is science.

Room Conversation with Jesuit -- May 19, 1975, Melbourne:

Jesuit: When he reaches a higher state of activity, where he really loves all mankind, and he loves God...

Prabhupāda: That is a kind of concoction.

Jesuit: A kind of?

Prabhupāda: Concoction, mental speculation. Why should you love mankind? Why not tiger?

Jesuit: Because they are my brothers and sisters.

Prabhupāda: So, brother and sister everyone loves? In the family, everyone loves his brother and sister. Does it mean that he's a very big man?

Jesuit: Because there is a common father, God is the father of all...

Room Conversation with Two Lawyers and Guest -- May 22, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: "Anyone who is God conscious, a devotee, he has got all the good qualities. What we consider as good qualities, he has got. And similarly, one who is not a devotee of God, he has no good qualities because he will hover on the mental platform. There are different platform: bodily concept of life, general, "I am this body. Therefore my business is to satisfy the senses." This is bodily concept of life. And others, they are thinking, "I am not this body. I am mind." So they are going on mental speculation like philosophers, thoughtful men. And above that, there is intelligent class of men, practicing some yoga. And spiritual platform means above that. First bodily concept, gross, then mental, then intellectual, then spiritual. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is on the spiritual platform, above body, mind and intelligence.

Morning Walk -- June 10, 1975, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: So aprakṛta is this platform of the soul. Kṛṣṇa's activities, that is aprakṛta, completely far beyond these material ideas, material platform. Material platform, pratyakṣa. Just like you want to see the arrangement. That is pratyakṣa. Then aparakṣa, accepting the authority's version. Pratyakṣa, parakṣa. Then aparakṣa, then adhokṣaja, beyond your mental speculation. Then aprakṛta, spiritual. Spiritual platform is not understood by machine, material machine. Then what is the spiritual platform? Kṛṣṇa is understood not by machine. Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: (BG 18.55) "Through devotion only." So devotion is not machine. That is spiritual activity.

Morning Walk -- July 14, 1975, Philadelphia:

Ravīndra-svarūpa: So this mental speculation or this "perhaps" and "maybe" is a misuse of his specific power to understand God.

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The life, human life, is meant for enquiring about God, and God is explaining Himself about God. Instead of studying Bhagavad-gītā very scrutinizingly, they are wasting time. "The cells, this, that, atom." That's all, wasting time Just like we are driving this car. So we can utilize it for going from one place to another. So there is no need of studying how the car is moving, how many parts are there.

Room Conversations -- July 26, 1975, Laguna Beach:

Prabhupāda: This is knowledge, path of knowledge.

Satsvarūpa: "... and what is contrary to these is ignorance."

Prabhupāda: That's it. There are eighteen or twenty items of knowledge. The human society is not interested with those eighteen items, and they are simply interested in so-called economic development, technology, mental speculation. That is ignorance. That is not knowledge. They do not know what is knowledge. Just like the first item is... What is that? Amānitvam.

Morning Walk -- October 9, 1975, Durban:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They think the moon is just reflecting light from the sun.

Prahupada: So why it is not reflecting to other planets, only to the moon? Why special advantage to the moon? They have no reason. All rascals' philosophy. Why particularly to the moon? Why not others? Simply theories and mental speculation. They have no scientific. And the śāstra definitely gives the distance of the moon from the sun planet-1,600,000 miles. Then similarly (sic:) 1,600 million up, the Mars, then Venus, then..., everything. And moon is specifically mentioned that "It is so brilliant because there is fire, blazing fire. And the blazing fire is so illuminating that even at night it looks white, bright." This is reasonable because... Not that it is being reflected by the sun. The sun can reflect other planets, but it is there, fire. Just like sun there is fire, similarly, moon there is fire.

Morning Walk -- October 29, 1975, Nairobi:

Prabhupāda: Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathenāsato dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). Nondevotees, they are simply pulled on by the mental speculation: "This will be very nice. This will be very nice." Mano rathena on the chariot of mind... Asataḥ, material. Asat means material, "that will not exist." They will be busy in such things. Real, eternal necessity, they'll not be interested. They do not know. "Now, this beautiful city, it is my city, my country. Everything all right." But he has no knowledge that "After fifty years, when I shall die, where will be my city next?" That he does not know. For the time being, I shall be able to live here for twenty-five years or fifty years. That's all right. And next time, where I am going... A commonsense affair.

Cyavana: That's a third-class mentality, to be satisfied with that city...,

Prabhupāda: Temporary...

Morning Walk -- November 19, 1975, Bombay:

Yaśomatī-nandana: They say it's a very nice book of knowledge. They don't want to pursue spiritual life.

Prabhupāda: Then why they become authority?

Yaśomatī-nandana: Yes, that is their rascaldom.

Prabhupāda: If they do not accept authority, why they become authority? Who will accept them? If everything is depending on mental speculation, then why they should be accepted as authority?

Morning Walk -- December 12, 1975, Vrndavana:

Hari-śauri: The sixteenth chapter describes it very nicely...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca, na vidur āsurāḥ (BG 16.7). In which way we have direct out activities, in which way we shall have to stop our activities: they do not know. Āsurāḥ janā. Because they don't take direction from God. They make their own way of speculation. So therefore, they are animals, or demons. Because they do not take direction during life, therefore at the end Kṛṣṇa comes, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). All mental speculation, creation, is taken away at death. (to passerby:) Hare Kṛṣṇa! It is said, kṛṣṇa nama koro vai ar sabe miche palaiba patha nāi yama āche piche: take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, don't try to escape. Because behind you there is Yamaraja! (laughs) He will finish your all concoction.

Conversation on Roof -- December 26, 1975, Sanand:

Prabhupāda: The philosophy classes are being closed now in the universities.

Harikeśa: It is useless.

Prabhupāda: Yes. They're thinking it is useless, simply mental speculation. And Bhagavad-gītā says, tattva jñānārthaṁ darśanam. Philosophy means to find out the ultimate truth. That is philosophy.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 8, 1976, Nellore:

Prabhupāda: This is idea. Mano-rathena, by mental speculation, asato dhavato, they will come to materialism. As soon as they will hover over mental concoction, they will remain in the material pool, because mind is subtle form of matter.

Morning Walk -- March 25, 1976, Delhi:

Prabhupāda: Within mind you can think, "I have become emperor of the world." That you can do. Who can check you? But that is not the actual fact.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: That is the characteristic.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is mental concoction. Within mind you can think, "I have become the proprietor of the banks, all the banks." Madman that is. He's a madman.

Ātreya Ṛṣi: They have so many philosophies, but it's all mental.

Prabhupāda: All mental. We say, therefore, don't say "philosophy." We say "mental speculation."

Morning Walk -- April 15, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Real culture is how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. (Hindi)...no illicit sex, no gambling, automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samā... If you simply turn these people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all good qualities will come automatically. All good qualities. That is wanted. And we are practically seeing that. Simply by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, lover of Kṛṣṇa, they are becoming qualified. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). There is no good qualification for a nondevotee. He'll simply act on mental speculation, that's all. It has no value.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes people are amazed that we've given up such sinful activities. Prabhupāda: Yes, they should be amazed, because they are mental speculators.

Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal -- June 28, 1976, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: If you do not belong to sampradāya, mahājana, then you are useless. You cannot concoct any religious system. So either you be Christian or Hindu it doesn't matter. You have to follow the mahājana. If a Christian says, "I don't believe in St. Thomas," what kind of Christian he is? Similarly, it doesn't matter who is a mahā... But real mahājana is he who is strictly following the principle as enunciated by God. That is religious system. Otherwise there is no religion. There is no question of religion. It is simply concoction. Mano-dharmi, mental speculator. Mental speculation is not religion. Religion is the order of Kṛṣṇa and one who follows that order, he is religious. That's all.

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

Hari-śauri: If they don't produce some new theory, or some new discovery...

Prabhupāda: That means they prove their own foolishness. Why do you produce new theory? If there is perfect knowledge? That proves their foolishness.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It's also called intellectual exercise.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: They want to...

Hari-śauri: Mental speculation.

Prabhupāda: That's all. Manorathena. Asati dhāvato bahiḥ. Mental speculation.

Yadubara: It's all based on that. Because if you don't speculate mentally, you don't get a degree.

Prabhupāda: That's another thing. A fool is accepted by another fool. That is another thing. They're getting Nobel Prize and so on and so on. That is different thing. Fool's paradise. All of them are fools. And they have created their own paradise.

Interview and Conversation -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Rūpānuga: Until we finish the book and are able to establish a teaching situation. Right now our men are really concerned with finishing so we have some good propaganda.

Prabhupāda: No, one thing is, research means again that mental speculation.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: But our research is different though.

Prabhupāda: So they have... People will understand that it is another type of mental speculation. But ours is not that. We take it as Absolute Truth. So how to convince them?

Interview with Religion Editor of The Observer -- July 23, 1976, London:

Cline Cross: I mean, would you count Jesus Christ as gold?

Prabhupāda: Yes, why not? He's speaking about the supreme controller, God, so why should we not? Anyone who is speaking about God... (break) Religion without science or philosophy is sentiment. And philosophy without religion is mental speculation. So they must be combined together. So far the controller is concerned, this is scientific understanding. Just like the father... We consider... Why we? Everyone. Either he is Christian or Muhammadan or Hindu, the conception of God is generally accepted as the supreme father.

Press Interview -- December 31, 1976, Bombay:

Indian man: So it's a very revealing thing, you deny Ramakrishna Paramahaṁsa...

Prabhupāda: I don't deny. You accept, you accept. My point is unless it is authoritatively mentioned in the śāstra, we reject.

Indian man: But śāstras were written thousands of years ago. Life might have changed.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. In the śāstras it is not said that after passing of many years the śāstra becomes obsolete. This is another ignorance. Śāstra is not like that. You write some mental speculation and after some years it changes. That is not śāstra. Śāstra is this... Just like the Bhāgavata was, five thousand years ago it was it was written... And the symptoms of Kali, Kali-yuga is written there in the Twelfth Canto.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 27, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: We believe Kṛṣṇa. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "Nobody is better authority than Me." And we see our gurus, they accept. So we are in safe side. Just like if a child takes information from his guru, mother, he's safe side. So we are in the safe side. They are not in the safe side. They are hovering, speculation. Speculation is no knowledge. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). And mental speculation means they will remain in ignorance because there is no knowledge. It is simply gymnastic of the mind. It is no knowledge.

Conversation with Surendra Kumar and O.B.L. Kapoor -- June 26, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Not gives. He exands Him...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Expands Himself. So Balarāma is wondering, "How is it possible that everyone is so attracted?" Then the explanation is, "He's Kṛṣṇa." So these books are there. People are automatically attracted. I don't think they're so attracted to any other books.

Prabhupāda: No, what other books? Rubbish. I say, rubbish. There is no book. Mental speculation is not book. Garbage.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Food for crows.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes. It is garbage. Tad-vaga-visarga-janata..., pragrnita, tad vayasa-tīrtham: "Garbage for the crows." Yes. No swan will come there. That is already explained. Kṛṣṇa has at least saved us from reading this garbage.

Room Conversation -- October 13, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: According to our śāstra, mind is meant for speculation. It does not give us any definite knowledge. My mind is working in one way; your mind is working another way. There is no conclu... Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). This is the result of mental speculation. And Gītā also says that manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). This spiritual spark, being bound up by the mind and the senses, is struggling hard on the material nature. And he's simply struggling. No fixed up condition. Everyone will say, "I think this is right." What is right, he does not know. That is struggle. Is it not?