waste of time

 
Imported quote 16223
We all know Srila Prabhupada was mahatma. We have faith in him. We like to hear a philosophical discourse proving Srila Prabhupada in intellectual language. And it will benefit our preaching to know the sastric references; how he is saktyavesa-avatara, how he has a spiritual body, and how his knowledge is never imperfect. It will strengthen us to know these things. As Krsnadasa Kaviraja has said, one should not avoid argumentative logic in defense of Krsna and His devotees. But that is not the only way we know he was a pure devotee. We know because we were with him and saw what he did; because he entered our hearts ad planted the seed of the devotional that is still growing for each of us. I am not saying the new disciples to Krsna consciousness cannot know this. In fact, by the feelings-in-separation (vipralambha) of his disciples in parampara, new bhaktas today are knowing Srila Prabhupada just as sweet, sometimes sweeter, than those who were on the planet at the same time he was. It is a fact, association with Srila Prabhupada is growing sweeter, and we are realizing his presence even more, day by day, by the power of devotional service in disciplic succession. His Holiness Kirtanananda Swami helped me realize this when I spoke to him and confided that I had so much intimate association with Srila Prabhupada in the beginning, in 1966, but later my physical intimacy diminished. He said, "But now you are more closely with Prabhupada with every breath than you were even then." I happily admitted it was a fact. Although I very proudly consider it my greatest personal fortune that I was there in 1966, it is a fact I was then less Prabhupada conscious and less Krsna conscious than I am now. So it is also a fact that new devotees, the disciples of his disciples, may find themselves bathing in more Prabhupada katha and relishing his inspiration as grandfather guru even more than anyone has before. (Wasn't Krsna dasa Kaviraja relishing Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu only after His disappearance by hearing from Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and reading the notebooks of Murari Gupta and Svarūpa Damodara, and reading Vrndavana dasa Thakura's Caitanya-bhagavata?) My point is, let us keep the subject matter of Srila Prabhupada alive and foremost. It will not die with the present generation of disciples. "he reasons ill who says that Vaisnavas die when thou art living still in sound. The Vaisnavas die to live and living try to spread the holy name around." So as an introduction to these 1978 Vyasa-pūja homages to Srila Prabhupada, I would like to churn a little of the ocean of Prabhupada nectar. Why? Because it is a great transcendental happiness. Because we love him and because those who do not know will derive the greatest benefit. To remember and glorify the Vaisnava is to glorify Krsna Himself.    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: That is also sleeping. You go there and sleep and spend money, that's all. Otherwise, what can you do there?    (More...)
Dr. Benford: You can go there and learn.    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: You go there and sleep, that's all. Sleeping. You are spending billions and getting nothing in return.    (More...)
Dr. Benford: It seems worth more than that.    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: No, nothing more, because these four principles-eating, sleeping, mating, and defending-are the background. If you have no knowledge beyond this body you cannot go beyond this bodily category. You have no other jurisdiction of knowledge. It may be very gorgeous polished bodily knowledge, but your whole range of activities is within these four principles of eating, sleeping mating, and defending. This knowledge is prevalent among the lower animals also. They know how to eat, they know how to sleep, they know how to have sexual intercourse, and they also know how to defend.    (More...)
Dr. Benford: But they don't know anything about nuclear physics!    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: That does not mean that you are improved over the animals. It is the same thing, only polished, that's all. You are improving from the bullock cart to the motorcar, that's all. It is simply a transformation of material knowledge.    (More...)
Dr. Benford: There is knowledge about the structure of the physical world.    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: But it is a waste of energy, because in your activities you cannot go beyond this bodily jurisdiction of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. You may make a very nice apartment for sleeping, but when you sleep you get the same quality of enjoyment as when the dog sleeps. The dog may sleep on the ground, and you may sleep in a very nice apartment, but when you are asleep your condition and the condition of the dog are the same. You may be sleeping in a nice apartment and he may sleep on the grass, but both of you are forgetting everything. You forget that you are sleeping in a nice estate or in a nice skyscraper building, and the dog forgets that he is sleeping on the ground. But what is the use of this nice apartment? When you sleep there, the dog and you become one. You may have so many electrical appliances and other material conveniences, but when you sleep you forget everything. Therefore this gorgeous sleeping accommodation is simply a waste of time.    (More...)
Dr. Benford: You seem to place emphasis on what knowledge does for you. What about the sheer joy of discovering how nature works? For example, now we think that we understand matter like this [he indicates the grass on which they are sitting]. We think that we know from experiments, theory, and analysis that it is made up of particles that we cannot see, and we can analyze the properties of it through experiment. We know that it is made up of molecules. We understand some of the forces that hold it together, and this is the first time we knew this. We didn't know it before.    (More...)
Dr. Benford: I seem to view the world as-    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: Suppose I take this grass. I can write volumes of books-when it came into existence, when it died, what are the fibers, what are the molecules. In so many ways I can describe this insignificant foliage. But what is the use of it?    (More...)
Dr. Benford: If it has no use, why did God put it there? Isn't it worthwhile studying?    (More...)
Srila Prabhupada: Our point is that you would rather study the insignificant grass than the God who has created everything. If you could understand Him, automatically you would study the grass. But you want to separate His grass from Him, to study it separately. In this way you can compile volumes and volumes on the subject, but why waste your intelligence in that way? The branch of a tree is beautiful as long as it is attached to the main trunk, but as soon as you cut it off it will dry up. Therefore, what is the use of studying the dried-up branch? It is a waste of intelligence.    (More...)

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