Without following (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"without any following" |"without following" |"without hearing and following" |"without seriously following"

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Reporter from Researchers Magazine -- July 24, 1973, London:

Reporter: ...experience in life.

Prabhupāda: There is no life. A simple thing, that if you disobey the orders of Lord Christ, how will you become a Christian, first of all? Where is your Christianity? Simply rubber-stamping "I'm Christian" you become a Christian, without following the tenets?

Reporter: Same as you were saying, Nehru was not a brāhmaṇa, but only because he was called brāhmaṇa. So...

Prabhupāda: No, why Nehru? Everyone.

Reporter: Everyone.

Prabhupāda: Everyone. Unless he follows the principles of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, how he becomes one? Therefore we have concluded everyone is a śūdra. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Christian Priest -- June 9, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Purport.

Pradyumna: "The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. No one can be a bona fide spiritual master without following this principle of disciplic succession. The Lord is the original spiritual master, and a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message of the Lord as it is to his disciple. No one can be spiritually realized by manufacturing his own process, as is the fashion of the foolish pretenders. The Bhāgavatam says: dharmaṁ hi sākṣād-bhagavat-praṇītam—the path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord. Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help one progress in spiritual life. One has to approach a bona fide spiritual master to receive the knowledge.

Room Conversation with Devotees -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Then?

Cāru:

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā

dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ

yajante nāma-yajñais te

dambhenāvidhi-pūrvakam

(BG 16.17)

"Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only without following any rules or regulations."

ahaṅkāraṁ balaṁ darpaṁ

kāmaṁ krodhaṁ ca saṁśritāḥ

mām ātma-para-deheṣu

pradviṣanto 'bhyasūyakāḥ

(BG 16.18)

"Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demon becomes envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in his own body..."

Prabhupāda: Next stage. "What is God? I am God." Then?

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Yoga Student -- March 14, 1975, Iran:

Prabhupāda: That is ācārya. So ācāryavān puruṣo veda. Without following the ācārya, if we simply theorize, that is not good. Just like the same example: if you want to put some thesis, the university regulation is that he must be guided by three experienced professor. You cannot simply put forward your thesis without being guided by the experienced professors. That thesis will not be accepted. Similarly, here Arjuna directly hears from Kṛṣṇa. So he says that "You are Parabrahma. Now I understand." Now people may say that "You are accepting Him Parabrahma. Where is your authority? You are friend. You can say Parabrahma or anything—out of love. That is not final." Therefore he quotes that... What is that? Āhus tvāṁ ṛṣayaḥ sarve: "All the big, big ṛṣis, they have accepted You." Svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me: "And You, the Supreme Person, You are also speaking to me. And so far I am concerned, I have realized now that You are the Supreme Lord, Parabrahma."

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 11, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Both required. The matches must be also all right, and the wood must be also. Then there is fire. If one of them is defective, then, it will not.... But when you go to the fire, you become dry. But willfully we put again water. This nonsense business makes us late. This process is already there, how to become dry. But instead of taking the process, we put water. Then how it will be ignited? The rules and regulations is the drying process. But without following the rules and regulation, if you again become a victimized by māyā, then there is water and again dry it. So this is going on, watering and drying, watering and drying. No straightforward process for drying. That will help. But difficulty is that we dry and again water.

Morning Walk -- April 13, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: It can continue. It can continue.

Dr. Patel: They come down there and just stay for pleasure. Because this temple.

Prabhupāda: No, no, nobody can stay without following our rules and regulations. That is not our...

Dr. Patel: Externally they may follow. They may be people, out of difficulty...

Guru dāsa: Everyone is in difficulty.

Prabhupāda: It will be an institution for teaching spiritual life. So if he does not take the teaching, then it is not...

Dr. Patel: One thing, you must have a Sanskrit school.

Prabhupāda: That we can have. Sanskrit is already there in the books.

Room Conversation -- May 5, 1976, Honolulu:

Prabhupāda: They get knowledge free, then why they should purchase? If you give them the opportunity that we take material, knowledge free then why they will purchase?

Bhūrijana: If we can become Kṛṣṇa conscious without following the rules and regulations, why follow the rules and regulations? That's what I was thinking a while ago.

Prabhupāda: They should follow what their spiritual master says. Book selling, there is no question of moral and immoral. They must sell. Just like in fighting. Where there is fight, the soldiers, to gain victory, there is no question of moral and immoral. He must.

Bhūrijana: Śrīla Prabhupāda, but I think the thing I understand least, is that if they are not doing what you want... I mean... I'm sitting before you now and you're telling me and I'm listening, and you are my spiritual master. I must accept.

Garden Conversation -- June 28, 1976, New Vrindaban:

Prabhupāda: So read something.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Chapter Sixteen, text number seventeen.

ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā

dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ

yajante nāma-yajñais te

dambhenāvidhi-pūrvakam

Translation: "Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes perform sacrifices in name only, without following any rules or regulations."

Prabhupāda: Modern yogic society. "Transcendental Meditation." Whatever nonsense they like, they do. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that yogis should sit down in a secluded, sacred place, and they are seeking after America's big, big cities. Hmm? They find out yogic class in America's big, big cities, hotels. This is their program. The prescription is that one should sit down in a solitary sacred place, alone, and these rascals are holding class. All smokers, drunkard, woman-hunters, (laughs) they are yogis. Hmm? What do you think? Is it all right?

Evening Darsana -- July 7, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: I can argue, and you can argue, but you may argue more than me. Another person can argue more than you. In this way, you do not come to the conclusion. And śrutayo vibhinnā. So far scriptures are concerned, there are also different scriptures. Nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam. And a philosopher is not a philosopher if he does not agree with others, if he does not agree other philosophers. So in this way, you are perplexed. Therefore it is advised, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). We should accept the authority, and then we shall be benefited. So the authorities are mentioned in the śāstra, who are authorities. So if we follow the authorities, then we get the conclusion. So Kṛṣṇa is the authority accepted. At least in India, all the Vedic authorities, Vedāntists, they have accepted, Kṛṣṇa is the authority. So we simply follow what Kṛṣṇa says, and we get benefit out of it. Then it is all right. And without following authority, if you go on arguing, there is no end. The same example, that two lawyers, both of them are learned scholar.

Evening Darsana -- August 12, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: We are not manufacturing anything. That is the guru-paramparā system. And if we follow strictly the line of mahājana, then there is no question of mistake. It is not blind faith. The superiors are following, and we are also following. Of course, there are books, there are everything. Śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-pañcarātra-vidhi (Brs. 1.2.101). Everything is there. So there is no question of being mistaken. The guide is there, the spiritual master is there. So there is no difficulty. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). That is the best way, follow the mahājana. Unfortunately, the mahājanas, without following mahājana, everyone is becoming mahājana in his own way. And that is being supported, that you manufacture your own way of spiritual progress, that is all right. That is dangerous. That is dangerous. And that is going on now. You can manufacture in your own way. And there are thousands who are coming, manufacturing their own way and spoiling the whole thing. That is the... Otherwise there is no difficulty, mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. We are therefore requesting people that don't be misled. Here is the greatest mahājana, Kṛṣṇa Himself. You follow His instruction. It is very easy, there is no complication.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 3, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:

Hari-śauri: Because we actually understand the value of the guru.

Prabhupāda: We are the greatest Christian. We follow his instruction; we accept him as guru.

Hari-śauri: Yeah. Without following the guru's instructions, there's no question of appreciating who he is or his work.

Prabhupāda: And this word, Jesus, the Christ, it is not?

Hari-śauri: Well, originally they say it was "Jesus of the Christ."

Prabhupāda: (indistinct) Christ means...

Hari-śauri: God.

Prabhupāda: Yes.