Prabhupada interrupted his management meeting to speak with him. He spoke frankly, as a sadhu, or "one who cuts", asking why the man did not join with the preaching work. "You are trying in your own way. But Krsna does not like that program. You can manufacture your something, idea, but Krsna will allow or not. I tell you, this is practical. You are a qualified man, foreign-educated man, and you have come back for the last one and a half years. Still you are in nothing. It is surprising. That means Krsna does not want you to do that something. You take it from me. These boys have come because they found, outside Krsna consciousness, life is nothing. That's a fact. Therefore they are sticking to this. They knew it very well. That outside Krsna consciousness the whole world was vacant, 'Nothing for us.' That is a fact. Therefore they have got something here. They are not foolish rascals, they're sticking for nothing; there is something. It's a fact. So for nothing, 'Oh, we have suffered.' And come to something. If you want."
He quoted a verse to the effect that one has to see the material world as having no value. "If anyone wants to go to Bhagavan then he has to make this material world voluntarily nothing, niskincanasya. Niskincana means nothing. Kincana means something, and nih means not -- then nothing. So one who has made this material world as nothing. How it is made? Brahma-bhutah prasannatma. Because with this something, as soon as one will stick to this something, he'll suffer. Sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat. Because he has accepted this rascal situation, asat. Asat means either temporary or bad. Asat, temporary or useless. So this material world is ... temporary we can know it is. But it is useless, that we do not know. Therefore we struggle. 'Let me go, let me fight, fight, fight, fight.' That is maya."
He used two striking examples to illustrate how maya induces us to chase after illusory goals. "A man is sitting on the ass. And his hand just on the front of the gadha, ass, he's putting some grass. And the gadha is thinking, 'I will eat this grass,' he's going forward. But the grass is also going forward. This is very instructive. The grass is, say one feet, above his head. And the man is sitting on his back. But because this gadha does not know that 'Actually this man is sitting on my ... As soon as I go forward, the grass also goes forward.' But because he's ass, he does not know. He thinks that 'If I go a little forward I'll get the grass.'"
His other example was that of an animal chasing a mirage. As the animal moves forward, so the mirage also moves. "So this material world is like that. Ask anybody, any so-called successful. Unless he's an ass, nobody will say that this is very comfortable. So best thing is to become niskincana. Niskincanasya bhagavata-bhajana. This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instruction. Bhagavata-bhajana means niskincana. You make nothing this material world. That is real Krsna consciousness. And so long I'll make this material world something, then I'll suffer."
- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu
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