Volunteer
Belief and actual knowledge

He ended the discussion by stressing the difference between mere belief and actual knowledge. "The more you become eager to know God, God will reveal Himself. From our side, we should not be stereotyped. People in different sects of religion, they say, 'We believe.' But they do not want to go further than they believe. That is very difficult. You must be dynamic and progressive, then you will have. I have talked with many sects, especially Christian priests. They will say 'We believe', no more further than that. So knowledge is not like that. Knowledge must be progressive. 'We believe there is no soul of the animal' -- bas, fixed up. You believe like a rascal, so I shall remain rascal. What is this? We should be progressive, that is wanted. Of course, in the lower stage one may have a type of belief, but if you want more clearly, you must be progressive. According to vedanta system, the life, human life, is only for inquiring about Brahman. Athato brahma jijnasa."

It was getting late, about 11 P.M. Leaning back in his chair Prabhupada tipped his head. "We shall talk again."

Before sending everyone to take rest he handed out pieces of pera to one and all. Manjari's baby boy Namacarya, who was born here in Teheran only three months ago, had been sleeping most of the darsana, but he had just woken up. Prabhupada offered the sweet, but the boy didn't respond. "Oh, too young," Prabhupada said, withdrawing it. Then, seeing Manjari become slightly crestfallen that her son would not receive the transcendental maha-maha-prasadam, he made her smile again by handing it to her, telling her to keep it for later.


- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!

Join ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT