Guest (2): Swami, I'm going to work to formulate this question. I don't know if I can speak it clearly. Now it's true that a soul must evolve through perhaps many lifetimes in order to reach the point at which he is ready to attempt renunciation. Right?
Prabhupāda: No. Renunciation, that depends on your understanding. If you understand that "This thing is not good," you can renounce it immediately.
Guest (2): Then in order to reach the level at which you can understand that...
Prabhupāda: No, no. There is no question. It is no question of understanding. If you understand in a minute... That depends on the student to understand. Something, "This is bad; this is good." Now if you understand it properly, that "This is not good, bad," so you can renounce it immediately. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59). So that depends on your capacity to understand what is good, what is bad. If you think that this material existence, repeated birth and death and changing this body, is not good, then you can immediately renounce and you can prepare yourself for spiritual life. But if you think that "Oh, it doesn't matter I am repeating my birth and death. It is good," then you cannot renounce.
Guest (2): Well, let's take the situation of an individual who is very deeply addicted to the senses, such as sexual...
Prabhupāda: That is only practice. There are processes by which you can give up so much addiction to sex life. There are processes.
Guest (2): Processes which would not fall into the category of what a psychiatrist would call repression? Something that would cripple the mind in some other way?
Prabhupāda: No. Why? Therefore I say if you think it is good... First of all you have to decide whether sex life is good or bad. First of all you have to understand this. If you think that sex life is very nice, then how can you give it up? It is not possible.
Guest (2): You have to approach it with jñāna.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Jñāna. That is called knowledge. But it is a fact that sex life is not good because there are so many inebrieties. Just like modern civilization, they prescribe contraceptive method. Why? Why? Unless there is some bad result of sex life, why they are prescribing this medicine? Why? If it is good, then why the medicine counteractive? Therefore it is to be accepted it is not good. By reason. Why there are contraceptive methods? Let everyone enjoy sex life and let the result be there. Why contraceptive method? Therefore it is not good.
Guest (3): It's against the reproduction of human species.
Prabhupāda: That means that is not good. You think that is not good therefore. Therefore this process is not good. If the result is not good, then process is not good.
Guest (3): Well, if everybody remained celibate,
Prabhupāda: That you can voluntarily do. That is brahmacārī. That is restraint. That is mahātmā. That is recommended in Vedic life, that you can have sex life only for children. That's all. Therefore sex life without any desire of children is not good. Yes.
Guest (2): Now, what is the situation of an individual who is double-minded and split, who is perhaps convinced, okay, intellectually, but nonetheless is torn by very deep emotions and distractions, very deeply sunk in māyā. Are there ways of dealing with his kind of problem? Do we have to force him, or is there some...
Prabhupāda: First of all you have to understand that this material life... Material life means birth, death, old age and disease. Just try to understand. Do you like repeated birth, repeated death? Do you like?
Guest (2): I have to work for those now.(?)
Prabhupāda: Do you like? First of all answer. Do you like it?
Guest (2): No.
Prabhupāda: Do you like old age?
Guest (2): No.
Prabhupāda: Do you like disease?
Guest (1): Oh, no.
Prabhupāda: That is materialistic life. As soon as we get this body, there is birth, there is death, there is old age and there is disease. Therefore if you want real happiness then you have to get free from all these four—miserable life. That is spiritual life. You have to become free from birth, you have to become free from death, you have to become free from old age, and you have to become free from disease. That is real life. "I don't like this" means this is not real life. The real life is different. So if that real life you want, then you have to follow the process. That is being discussed here. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet (SB 5.5.1).
Guest (4): Will the Swami give another service in the Arlington Street Church any time in the future?
Prabhupāda: Arlington?
Jadurāṇī: Are you going to be there again, he wants to know.
Prabhupāda: Arlington Church? Yes, I was there.
Guest (4): Will you be there again some time in the future?
Prabhupāda: That, if you arrange, I can go. I am at your service. I have dedicated my life for this. Whenever you call me, whenever you invite me, I can go anywhere. Why Arlington Church? I can go to any place. Because it is my duty to give you, to deliver you this message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. That is my duty.