GOD CONSCIOUSNESS-HIGHEST YOGA

[Guest guest]

Krsna consciousness is dormant in everyone's heart,

and when one

comes in contact with devotees, it is awakened. Krsna

consciousness is

not artificial. Just as a young boy awakens his

natural attraction for a

young girl in her association, similarly, if one hears

about Krsna in

the association of devotees, he awakens his dormant

Krsna consciousness.

Ms. Nixon: What is the difference between Krsna

consciousness and Christ

consciousness?

Srila Prabhupada: Christ consciousness is also Krsna

consciousness, but

because at present people do not follow the rules and

regulations of

Christianity--the commandments of Jesus Christ--they

do not come to the

standard of God consciousness.

Ms. Nixon: What is unique about Krsna consciousness

among all religions?

Srila Prabhupada: Primarily, religion means to know

God and to love Him.

That is religion. Nowadays, because of a lack of

training, nobody knows

God, what to speak of loving Him. People are satisfied

simply going to

church and praying, " O God, give us our daily bread. "

In the Srimad-

Bhagavatam this is called a cheating religion, because

the aim is not to

know and love God but to gain some personal profit. In

other words, if I

profess to follow some religion but I do not know who

God is or how to

love Him, I am practicing a cheating religion. As far

as the Christian

religion is concerned, ample opportunity is given to

understand God, but

no one is taking it. For example, the Bible contains

the commandment

" Thou shall not kill, " but Christians have built the

world's best

slaughterhouses. How can they become God conscious if

they disobey the

commandments of Lord Jesus Christ? And this is going

on not just in the

Christian religion, but in every religion. The title

" Hindu, " " Muslim, "

or " Christian " is simply a rubber stamp. None of them

knows who God is

and how to love Him.

Ms. Nixon: How can one tell a bona fide spiritual

master from a fake?

Srila Prabhupada: Whoever teaches how to know God and

how to love Him--

he is a spiritual master. Sometimes bogus rascals

mislead people. " 1 am

God, " they claim, and people who do not know what God

is believe them.

You must be a serious student to understand who God is

and how to love

Him. Otherwise, you will simply waste your time. So

the difference

between others and us is that we are the only movement

that can actually

teach one how to know God and how to love Him. We are

presenting the

science of how one can know Krsna, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead,

by practicing the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and

the Srimad-

Bhagavatam. They teach us that our only business is to

love God. Our

business is not to ask God for our necessities. God

gives necessities to

everyone--even to one who has no religion. For

example, cats and dogs

have no religion, yet Krsna supplies them with the

necessities of life.

So why should we bother Krsna for our daily bread? He

is already

supplying it. Real religion means to learn how to love

Him. The Srimad-

Bhagavatam (1.2.6) says,

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo

yato bhaktir adhoksaje

ahaituky apratihata

yayatma suprasidati

First-class religion teaches one how to love God

without any

motive. If I serve God for some profit, that is

business--not love. Real

love of God is ahaituky apratihata: it cannot be

checked by any material

cause. It is unconditional. If one actually wants to

love God, there is

no impediment. One can love Him whether one is poor or

rich, young or

old, black or white.

Ms. Nixon: Do all paths lead to the same end?

Srila Prabhupada: No. There are four classes of

men--the karmis, the

jnanis, the yogis, and the bhaktas--and each achieves

a different goal.

The karmis work for some material profit. For example,

in the city, many

people work hard day and night, and their purpose is

to get some money.

Thus, they are fruitive workers, or karmis. A jnani is

a person who

thinks, " Why am I working so hard? The birds, bees,

elephants, and other

creatures have no profession, yet they are also

eating. So why should I

unnecessarily work so hard? Rather, let me try to

solve the problems of

life--birth, death, old age, and disease. " Jnanis try

to become

immortal. They think that if they merge into God's

existence, then they

will become immune to birth, death, old age, and

disease. And yogis try

to acquire some mystic power to exhibit a wonderful

show. For instance,

a yogi can become very small: if you put him into a

locked room, he can

come out through any little space. By showing this

kind of magic, the

yogi is immediately accepted as a very wonderful man.

Of course, modern

yogis simply show some gymnastics--they have no real

power. But a real

yogi has some power, which is not spiritual but

material. So the yogi

wants mystic power, the jnani wants salvation from the

miseries of life,

and the karmiwants material profit. But the

bhakta--the devotee--doesn't

want anything for himself. He simply wants to serve

God out of love,

just as a mother serves her child. There is no

question of profit in a

mother's service to her child. Out of pure affection

and love, she cares

for him.

When you come to this stage of loving God, that is

perfection.

Neither the karmi, the jnani, nor the yogi can know

God--only the

bhakta. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (18.55),

bhaktya mam

abhijanati: " Only through the process of bhakti can

one understand God. "

Krsna never says one can understand Him by other

processes. No. Only

through bhakti. If you are interested in knowing God

and loving Him,

then you must accept the devotional process. No other

process will help

you.

 

 

 

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