The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a spiritual movement; it is not material movement. And from scriptures, from authoritative Vedic literature, we understand that Kṛṣṇa, although He is living in His abode far, far away from us, He is also everywhere:
- goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto.
- ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
- tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
- goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
- govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.37)
This prayer says that Kṛṣṇa expands His internal energy of bliss and knowledge, ānanda-cinmaya. Ānanda means bliss, happiness. Ānanda. The spirit soul is ānanda-moya avyasat. The nature of the spirit soul is joyful, happy, and because we are spark of that spiritual—we are spiritual spark, or part and parcel of the Supreme Lord—therefore our nature is to seek joy. Whole living entities—either birds, beasts, human beings—everyone is seeking happiness, because that is the nature. Nature of the spirit soul is to seek happiness.
Unfortunately, we have been conditioned. We have been conditioned by these material laws. Therefore we cannot, I mean to say, fully realize what is that happiness. For example, in your country, United States of America, you are known all over the world the richest nation. Actually you are. But some section of your younger population, they are not finding happiness in this material advancement.
They are frustrated, they have invented some other way of living, known as hippies, or something like that. Why? They are all sons and daughters of rich men. Their parents are puzzled how to settle up their sons and daughters. They are not happy. So many, I mean to say, endeavors are going on, from the government side, from private side, how to control. But actual defect they do not see. They do not see that happiness, real happiness, is not possible simply by material advancement. That is the defect.