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Interv AUC 1976-04-27 Press--This Religion Is Yours Also
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ANNOUNCER: The
following is a conversation,
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with His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,
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recorded on the 27th of April
1976, in Auckland, New Zealand.
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INTERVIEWER: Your Grace, have
you been to New Zealand before?
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PRABHUPĀDA: Twice.
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When the Deity was installed,
I installed personally.
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Then I think I came last year here.
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You’re the leader of how many disciples
or devotees throughout the world?
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Personally, I have got not
less than ten thousand.
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But I was deputed by
my Guru Mahārāja
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to make propaganda in
the Western countries.
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So this movement… Of
course, I have started in the
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Western countries, but in India,
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it is very common
movement, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
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Everyone knows.
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Are you at all
concerned about the,
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what seems to be an increasing number of
gurus and swamis throughout the world?
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That I could not follow.
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PUṢṬA KṚṢṆA: The question is:
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“Are you concerned with
the increasing number of
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- gurus and swamis
around the world?”
- No.
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We are concerned that in spite of so-called
education and advancement of civilization,
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people have been kept in
darkness about real knowledge.
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So it is our little attempt to awaken
them to the real platform of knowledge.
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Well, what do you hope to achieve by
your short visit here to New Zealand,
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where you don’t have a
very big following at all?
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Just to encourage my disciples.
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They’re also trying their best to spread
this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
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So if I occasionally visit,
they become encouraged.
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That’s why.
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Is your movement still growing?
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It was very popular here in the
Beatles’ era and so on and so forth.
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Yes, George Harrison
is a good boy.
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He likes me.
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He has given us a big house in
London about 200,000 pounds’ worth.
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It’s 250,000 pounds.
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Yes.
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So would it be true to say that,
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perhaps without George Harrison
of the Beatles the religion wouldn’t
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- be as well known as it is today?
- No, not like that; that is not that.
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But in the Western countries
nobody comes forward
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to give us some contribution.
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But this boy is very nice, he
gives us sometimes some thing.
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He gives, and another boy,
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who is the great-grandson of Mr. Henry
Ford—his name is Alfred—he also helps us.
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But mostly we get our income
by selling these books.
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We are selling books daily
about $200,000 daily.
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That is our main source of income.
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And I have made a trust will in
which fifty percent of the collection
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is spent for reprinting the books,
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and fifty percent is spent for
spreading this movement.
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One thing New Zealand cities, are
passing bylaws which seek to ban
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the chanting of your
disciples in the streets.
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Do you get much
opposition like this?
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Yes, but we don’t depend
on the city authorities;
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we depend on Kṛṣṇa.
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But does it worry you
that your disciples,
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perhaps annoy city officials by their
chanting and their activities in the streets?
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The city authorities,
they like our chanting?
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They’re annoyed.
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Well they don’t really understand,
what we’re trying to do.
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They see it as something new, and
they may feel a little threatened.
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We’ve found all over
the world, though,
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that people are coming to accept,
now that they understand the
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character of people
that we’re developing.
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But do you think
that’ll happen here?
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Oh, yes.
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I think every government is looking to
develop people of high moral character.
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And our society is doing that.
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Do you attempt to speak with
governments and city officials
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and that sort of thing to
spread your message?
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I think you have talked
with these city authorities.
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DEVOTEE: Yes.
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Here is the boy, he can…
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Yes, we’ve spoken with some
of the government officials.
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I’ve spoken with or I’ve
had contact with the cities
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where we have not personal
contact but through the mail,
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and also some contact with
the minister of immigrations.
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How long do you intend to
keep traveling and, and…
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If I stayed four days in each center,
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it takes one year to
travel all the centers.
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Four days in each center
takes you one year.
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Three days.
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Yes.
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We have got 102 centers
all over the world.
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So how many centers
does that make it?
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Over a hundred.
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A hundred and two.
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Do you spend your whole year
traveling, or is it only part of the year?
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Huh?
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Do you spend your whole year
traveling, or only part of the year?
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I am traveling either in Europe,
America, Africa, Canada,
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India, everywhere.
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So, do you have a
home, or do you have…
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I have 102 houses, but
nowhere I am allowed to live.
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That is the difficulty.
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How old are you, Swami?
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- How old?
- What do you think?
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- Oh,… How old?
- When one becomes old?
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Do you know?
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Well, how many
years do you have?
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Yes.
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- How many years?
- I am eighty years.
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Eighty.
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How long have you
been a Hare Kṛṣṇa man?
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Ten years.
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I began this movement when
I was seventy years old.
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What were you before that?
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I was householder.
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And I retired, and I was living in
Vṛndāvana, a holy place in India.
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My Guru Mahārāja
asked me to do this.
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So I could not begin earlier.
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So I thought it wise to
begin at seventy years.
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So somehow or other,
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Kṛṣṇa has given us some opportunity to
get cooperation of these young boys,
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and they’re helping me.
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What is your opinion
of the Guru Maharaj-ji?
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- What is your opinion
of Guru Maharaj-ji?
- Huh?
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Not only Guru Maharaj-
ji, so many Mahārāja.
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So this movement is authorized.
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Others, they are some
imaginary sentiments.
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That’s all.
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This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is
authorized movement, Vedic culture.
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And they, in the name of Vedic
culture, talking some nonsense.
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That’s all.
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That is the difference.
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Do you know about
Guru Maharaj-ji?
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No, no.
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None of you?
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You’ve met him?
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Huh?
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You’ve met him, have you?
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No, what business I
have got to meet him?
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He says that he is God.
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Do you believe that
bogus statement?
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That he’s God?
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- Do you think he’s an egotist?
- Do you think he’s an egotist?
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That is all simply foolishness.
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If somebody says “I am God,” do you
think it is very reasonable statement?
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Bogus.
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Simple thing, bogus.
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Bogus?
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Bogus!
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Oh, bogus.
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Do you believe that Hare
Kṛṣṇa is the only true faith?
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Yes.
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This is real knowledge.
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We have got, I have
already told you,
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only on this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement,
there is one book by Professor Judah.
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Have you got that book?
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No.
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He has written one
book very authorized,
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'Hare Kṛṣṇa and Counterculture'.
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So we are being accepted by learned
circle, and who cares for these rascals?
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Nobody cares.
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Only some sentiment.
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There is no science;
there is no knowledge.
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Here it is authoritative knowledge
based on Vedic culture.
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But if you consider your religion
to be the only religion…
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It is not my—everyone’s.
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You are in ignorance; you do not know;
therefore we are trying to educate you.
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It is yours also.
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It is not a personal thing.
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It is meant for the living entities.
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That you people, you do not
know, that we are all living entities.
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There is slight description
of the evolution by Darwin.
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But he’s also not in
perfect knowledge.
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The real fact is the…
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I am not this body,
you are not this body.
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I am living entity within this body.
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Just like you are within
your coat and shirt.
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The coat and shirt you are not.
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Similarly, we living entities, we are
within this gross and subtle body.
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The gross body is made
of earth, water, air, fire,
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and the subtle body is made of
mind, intelligence, and egotism.
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So we are within this.
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So nobody knows; there
is no educational system,
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what is our real
constitutional position.
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We are wrongly
accepting this body.
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And that kind of acceptance
is there in the animals.
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The dog also thinking
that “I am this body.”
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So if I am thinking like
that, “I am this body,”
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then what is the difference
between the dog and me?
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We are educating him
from that point of view,
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that the living entity is entrapped within
this body, and according to his desire,
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he’s changing different types of body and
undergoing continually birth and death.
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So in order to save him from
the cycle of birth and death,
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one has to understand
God, or Kṛṣṇa.
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Kṛṣṇa means God.
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Then he comes to his real,
identical position as spiritual body,
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and then he lives forever.
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He lives forever.
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Just like a man changing constantly
dresses; that does not mean he’s dying.
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Similarly, we do not die.
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na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
[Bg. 2.20]
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After destruction of this
body, we are not dying.
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We remain.
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But we simply accept
another body.
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So this is a great botheration.
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But people are in ignorance.
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They’re thinking that after
death there is no life.
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This ignorance is a great, I
mean to say, difficult position.
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So we are trying to educate
them how to get out of this
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entanglement of
cycle, birth and death.
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And therefore there are so many
books on this subject matter.
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It is a very serious movement.
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It is not compared to the
so many rascal movements.
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So if you are serious, you
can study our books,
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you can try to understand
the philosophy, science;
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then the whole human
society will be benefited.
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Well, I’m sure many New
Zealanders would like to know
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- the very reason why your…
- Oh, everywhere we are liked.
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No, why do your followers chant
the Hare Kṛṣṇa chant in the street?
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What is the reason behind this?
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Reason is that Hare Kṛṣṇa…
Kṛṣṇa is the name of God, Kṛṣṇa.
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So if you… Kṛṣṇa is
absolute, God is absolute.
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God’s name and God,
there is no difference.
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That is absolute idea.
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So if you chant Kṛṣṇa’s name, that means
you associate with Kṛṣṇa, directly, God.
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And by associating with
God, you become purified.
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Then the dirty things within
your mind… You are thinking,
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“I am this body,” as the
dog is also thinking,
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“I belong to America,”
“I belong to Australia,”
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“I belong to New
Zealand,” “I… India,” and…
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These wrong
conception will go away.
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Then we’ll understand that “I am
not this or that; I am spirit soul,
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part and parcel of God.”
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Then real knowledge begins, and if we act
accordingly, our life becomes successful.
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So this movement is not
meant for you and me—
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for everyone who is
intelligent human being.
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Thank you, Swami.
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That wraps it up for me unless
anybody’s got any more questions?
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- Thank you, thank you very much.
- Hare Kṛṣṇa.
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Thank you very much
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