A very interesting conversation.............

[Guest guest]

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with Krishna. He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

 

Prof: You are a Hare Krishna devotee, aren't you, son?

 

Student: Yes, sir.

 

Prof: So you believe in God?

 

Student: Absolutely, sir.

 

Prof: Is God good?

 

Student: Sure.

 

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

 

Student: Yes.

 

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to Krishna to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But Krishna didn't. How is this Krishna good then? Hmm?

 

(The student is silent.)

 

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

 

Student: Yes.

 

Prof: Is Satan good?

 

Student: No.

 

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

 

Student: From...God...

 

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

 

Student: Yes.

 

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

 

Student: Yes.

 

Prof: So who created evil?

 

(The student does not answer.)

 

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

 

Student: Yes, sir.

 

Prof: So, who created them?

 

(The student has no answer.)

 

Prof: Tell me, son. Do you believe in Krishna?

 

Student: Yes, professor, i do.

 

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Krishna?

 

Student: No, sir.

 

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your Krishna?

 

Student: No, sir.

 

Prof: Have you ever felt your Krishna, tasted your Krishna, smelt your Krishna? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Krishna or God for that matter?

 

Student: No, sir. i'm afraid i haven't.

 

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

 

Student: Yes.

 

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your Krishna doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

 

Student: Nothing. i only have my faith.

 

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

 

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

 

Prof: Yes.

 

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

 

Prof: Yes.

 

Student: No sir. There isn't.

 

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

 

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.

 

Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

 

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

 

Student: What about darkness, professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

 

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

 

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light..... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

 

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

 

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

 

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

 

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.

 

Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.

 

Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

 

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

 

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

 

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

 

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

 

(The class is in uproar.)

 

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?

 

(The class breaks out into laughter)

 

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all

 

due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

 

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

 

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

 

JAI SRI KRISHNA!!!!!

 

[Guest guest]

What appears to be truth without Me is certainly My illusory energy, for nothing can exist without Me. It is like a reflection of a real light in the shadows, for in the light there are neither shadows nor reflections.

 

PURPORT

 

In the previous verse the Absolute Truth and its nature have been explained. One must also understand the relative truth to actually know the Absolute. The relative truth, which is called maya, or material nature, is explained here. Maya has no independent existence. One who is less intelligent is captivated by the wonderful activities of maya, but he does not understand that behind these activities is the direction of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.10) it is said, mayadhyakshena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: the material nature is working and producing moving and nonmoving beings only by the supervision of Krishna.

 

The real nature of maya, the illusory existence of the material manifestation, is clearly explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Absolute Truth is substance, and the relative truth depends upon its relationship with the Absolute for its existence. Maya means energy; therefore the relative truth is explained to be the energy of the Absolute Truth. Since it is difficult to understand the distinction between the absolute and relative truths, an analogy can be given for clarification. The Absolute Truth can be compared to the sun, which is appreciated in terms of two relative truths: reflection and darkness. Darkness is the absence of sunshine, and a reflection is a projection of sunlight into darkness. Neither darkness nor reflection has an independent existence. Darkness comes when the sunshine is blocked. For example, if one stands facing the sun, his back will be in darkness. Since darkness stands in the absence of the sun, it is therefore relative to the sun. The spiritual world is compared to the real sunshine, and the material world is compared to the dark regions where the sun is not visible.

 

When the material manifestation appears very wonderful, this is due to a perverted reflection of the supreme sunshine, the Absolute Truth, as confirmed in the Vedanta-sutra. Whatever one can see here has its substance in the Absolute. As darkness is situated far away from the sun, so the material world is also far away from the spiritual world. The Vedic literature directs us not to be captivated by the dark regions (tamah) but to try to reach the shining regions of the Absolute (yogi-dhama).

 

The spiritual world is brightly illuminated, but the material world is wrapped in darkness. In the material world, sunshine, moonshine or different kinds of artificial light are required to dispel darkness, especially at night, for by nature the material world is dark. Therefore the Supreme Lord has arranged for sunshine and moonshine. But in His abode, as described in the Bhagavad-gita (15.6), there is no necessity for lighting by sunshine, moonshine or electricity because everything is self-effulgent.

 

That which is relative, temporary and far away from the Absolute Truth is called maya, or ignorance. This illusion is exhibited in two ways, as explained in the Bhagavad-gita. The inferior illusion is inert matter, and the superior illusion is the living entity. The living entities are called illusory in this context only because they are implicated in the illusory structures and activities of the material world. Actually the living entities are not illusory, for they are parts of the superior energy of the Supreme Lord and do not have to be covered by maya if they do not want to be so. The actions of the living entities in the spiritual kingdom are not illusory; they are the actual, eternal activities of liberated souls